THESE THINGS TAKE TIME

2023. The year of the Barbie movie, expanding my knowledge of the Adventure Time universe, listening religiously to Rainbow Kitten Surprise and Jean Dawson, and finding my new favorite book "Cloud Cuckoo Land." Amidst the most amount of change, exhaustion, and adversity I've ever encountered this year, layers of media swaddled this scared kid into a person even me a year ago would think is the coolest ever.

At the top of this year, I was reading The Castle of Otranto for my Honors Gothic Lit class by Burt Pond in Belton, Texas, listening to a Jazz in 1959 Essentials playlist. I had mistook my comfort for complacency in this place, but I knew I was on my way out. With that, I felt led by hope for where I was headed, and peace in soaking up this temporary slice of life I knew I was placed in for a reason.

This year, a lyric from The Smiths entered my life and became a bit of a mantra for my persistent MO-bility this year:

But you know where you came from

You know where you're going

And you know where you belong

(1984, The Smiths, These Things Take Time)

What a profound and grounding triptych for silly me to follow, but it has found its way to the forefront of my mind in all of 2023's new-ness: finally delving into my new major of Media Arts, in my new place in Denton, with my new job reminding me of the outside world and, in general, what hard work can mean in all of its forms.

This is my platform, and I word vomit enough as it is, so I decided to pick 1-5 books, shows, films, and albums and/or songs that's kept me afloat this year. For those who care for more, buy me a coffee and you'll wish you didn't. We'll get looks from employees seeing I've barely taken two sips and we've been there 3+ hours. Forgive me Lord, for I am a chronic sipper.

With that, here's Mo's Media 2023:

January

Book: The Castle of Otronto by Horace Walpole (the only book I read this month)

Show: Brand New Cherry Flavor on Netflix

Film: Mark Mylod's The Menu or Martin Scorsese's The Color of Money

Album/Song: SOS by SZA

You Make Me Feel... (feat. Sabi) by Cobra Starship

February

Book: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (still in my Gothic era as we can see)

Show: Only Murders in the Building on Hulu

Film: Luca Guadagnino's Bones and All, Alejandro Iñárritu's Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), or Joel Crawford's Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Album/Song: Whipped Cream & Other Delights by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd or Work Out by Rainbow Kitten Surprise

March

Book: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr (duh) or Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

Show: Cheers on Hulu

Film: Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, Alice Rohrwacher's Le Pupille, Damien Chazelle's La La Land, and Martin McDonagh's The Banshees of Inisherin

Album/Song: Red Moon in Venus by Kali Uchis

Costa Rica by Dreamville

April

Book: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Normal People by Sally Rooney, or Angels in America by Tony Kushner

Show: Normal People on Hulu

Film: Dario Argento's Suspiria, anniversary screening of Joel Coen's The Big Lebowski, John Mulaney's Baby J, and Ari Aster's Beau is Afraid (I wrote an essay on genre theory about Beau that received a 98; it deserves a bit more recognition than its own blog post in my opinion)

Album/Song: CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST: The Estate Sale by Tyler, The Creator

No Hands (feat. Wale & Roscoe Dash) by Waka Flocka Flame

May

Book: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Show: Rick and Morty or Angels in America on Max

Film: Allan Moyle's Empire Records, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, and Rob Epstein's The Times of Harvey Milk

Album/Song: French Exit by TV Girl

Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffett

June

Book: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (undoubtedly my fav/only book series of this year)

Show: Smartless: On the Road on Max

Film: Jennie Livingston's Paris is Burning, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and Wes Anderson's Asteroid City

Album/Song: The Rise of Hobo Johnson by Hobo Johnson (got to fulfill my middle school dreams of seeing him live this month)

III. Telegraph Ave ("Oakland" by Lloyd) by Childish Gambino

July

Book: The Mayor of Castro Street by Randy Shilts or Choke by Chuck Palahniuk

Show: Adventure Time on Max, I'm a Virgo on Prime Video, or The Bear on Hulu

Film: Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, Greta Gerwig's Barbie, or Gene Stupnitsky's No Hard Feelings

Album/Song: Starcatcher by Greta Van Fleet (saw their show this month; this summer, I was FED with amazing live music)

Familiarity by Teezo Touchdown

August

Book: Advika and the Hollywood Wives by Kirthana Ramisetti or Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Show: The Sex Lives of College Girls on Max

Film: Jason Reitman's Juno (I'd already seen before, but watching it three times in the first two weeks of this month deserves a shoutout), Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, Paul Bartel's Eating Raoul, and Emma Seligman's Bottoms

Album/Song: Unreal Unearth by Hozier

Starface* by Jean Dawson

September

Book: The Castle on Sunset: Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont by Shawn Levy

Show: Sex Education on Netflix

Film: Molly Gordon & Nick Lieberman's Theater Camp

Album/Song: How Do You Sleep At Night? by Teezo Touchdown

Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 by Kanye West

October

Book: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More by Roald Dahl

Show: Bob's Burgers on Hulu

Film: Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira, Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, and Larry Charles's Dicks: The Musical

Album/Song: Stick Season (We'll All Be Here Forever) by Noah Kahan

FAMJAM4000 by Jordan Ward

November

Book: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt or The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Show: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off or The Fall of the House of Usher on Netflix

Film: Sofia Coppola's Priscilla, Neal Brennan: Blocks, or Wes Anderson's The Swan and The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

Album/Song: RENAISSANCE by Beyoncé

Linger by The Cranberries & Sarah by Alex G

December

Book: The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Show: Adventure Time: Distant Lands or Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake on Max

Film: Emerald Fennell's Saltburn, Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron, William Oldroyd's Eileen, or Wong Kar-Wai's Fallen Angels

Album/Song: SIX: The Musical Soundtrack or literally anything by Jean Dawson

PIRATE RADIO* by Jean Dawson

AND! When I'm not jamming to some tunes, here are my go-to podcasts:

Emergency Intercom

Raiders Of The Lost Podcast

SmartLess

The Broski Report with Brittany Broski

The Letterboxd Show

The TryPod

When Cinephiles Attack

and last but not least...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Just as I feel our musical platforms' "year in review" comes too early to account for those last-minute hyper-fixation artists (me with Mr. Jean Dawson), this will be published with stranded media remnants that I will try to remember to carry into next year's recap.

2024. The year of more films, more series, more books, more music, and more LIFE. I have a couple shows lined up including those included above, the likes of Noah Kahan and Teezo Touchdown. I'll be seeing my first stage performance of Chicago at Bass Hall, continuing to feed the theatre kid in my soul. My media goals for the upcoming year: seeing all of Michael Cera's filmography and the entirety of the Studio Ghibli catalog, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Prayers up for my future self putting herself through Earwig and the Witch.

I had my word for this year (NURTURE) and a lyrical mantra (The Smiths), but I've to find the ones I'll lead with for next year. They come to me in random excerpts of books or TikTok poetry slideshows or dismissive comfort show reruns. They may appear in my dream tonight, on the road back to Denton in a couple weeks, or when I'm moshing with Grant and Teddy at Teezo at the end of May.

THESE THINGS TAKE TIME.

Thanks for sticking around. See y'all next year.

Cheers,

Mo.

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