Like last year, instead of the standard ‘year in review’ post, I thought I’d so something different and create a list of “twos” for 2018. These can be 2 good things, 2 bad things or a mixture. But just two.
Films
Films that came out this year that were my favourites…
- Thor: Ragnarok – progressed the MCU well with a deft bit of comedy too. Much needed after Thor: The Dark World, imo.
- Solo: A Star Wars Story – brought about the end of the proposed ‘Star Wars Stories’, which was a shame. A good film documenting what made Han Solo, well, Han Solo.
See what else I saw this year.
TV

- The Good Place – my wife got me into this. I’ve not been some enamoured by the most reason series but it’s been great up to that point.
- Star Trek: Discovery – as a life-long (okay, my late teenage years) Trekkie, I really appreciated this new take on the franchise. I’m looking forward to the second series, which is due out soon.
Books
My 2 favourite reads of the year were…
- McDonald’s: Behind The Arches by John F. Love
- And on that Bombshell: Inside the Madness and Genius of Top Gear by Richard Porter
See what else I read this year.
Games
- Overwatch – I’ve remained pretty much consistently addicted to this all year. I’m still decidedly average, though.
- Marvel’s Spider-man – a fantastic solo-player game that really makes you feel like you’re the titular superhero.
Work
- My first WordCamp talk! And it actually went well (albeit for some technical problems). I’d also wanted to attend a smaller WordCamp and this killed that second bird too.
- I was a contributor to WordPress 5.0! Daring to mention this, though, didn’t come without its issues, though.
Travel
- Portugal – I went to Portugal twice this year. Once for the support team meet-up and then, later, for a conference. A lovely country that I’ve never visited before.
- Montreal – my second trip to Canada in as many years, this time to the east coast and, more specifically, the French-speaking part of the country. The whole place is like a mini-French city.
Life
- I did my first show since joining Automattic, appearing (and being gruesomely killed) in Jekyll & Hyde. It was nice to return to the stage. In 2019, I will be performing in Hair.
- One of our cats, Penny, had to be put down after being accidentally poisoned. It hit me hard 🙁
Food & Drink
- Back in September I gave up meat and alcohol. Although I’ve gone back to eating meat, it’s much reduced now. I’ll be trying other changes in my diet in the coming weeks.
- Vegan food is in the news at the moment, for all the wrong reasons. My favourite restaurant this last year – LOV in Montréal.
Music
- I’m pretty open-minded when it comes to music but jazz is something I’ve not really been “into”. That changed when I joined Matt Mullenweg and a number of other colleagues at a jazz club, whilst in Montréal.
- For a long time, I’ve been a fan of film music and, more recently, the music from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I came across a YouTube video compilation which was a year old and, unfortunately, incomplete. So I made my own – and a follow-up – which have been incredibly popular.
Talk to me!