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…

1. Thor: Ragnarok – progressed the MCU well with a deft bit of comedy too. Much needed after Thor: The Dark World, imo.
2. 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

1. 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.
2. 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…

1. McDonald’s: Behind The Arches by John F. Love
2. And on that Bombshell: Inside the Madness and Genius of Top Gear by Richard Porter

See what else I read this year.

Games

1. Overwatch – I’ve remained pretty much consistently addicted to this all year. I’m still decidedly average, though.
2. Marvel’s Spider-man – a fantastic solo-player game that really makes you feel like you’re the titular superhero.

Work

1. 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.
2. I was a contributor to WordPress 5.0! Daring to mention this, though, didn’t come without its issues, though.

Travel

1. 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.
2. 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

1. 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.
2. One of our cats, Penny, had to be put down after being accidentally poisoned. It hit me hard 🙁

Food & Drink

1. 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.
2. Vegan food is in the news at the moment, for all the wrong reasons. My favourite restaurant this last year – LOV in Montréal.

Music

1. 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.
2. 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.