2021 was a year of change, responsibility, growth and adulting. We were able to sneak in a little bit of travel and visiting family and friends. I ran 584 miles, biked 504 miles, took Cheddar on 235 miles of walks and completed 21,000 pushups. I coached another successful lacrosse season for the cats. We watched Cheddar grow over his first year of life, bought a new car, purchased and moved into our first home, made some small renovations and realized how much work owning a house is. TV shows, music, movies, podcasts and YouTube videos are still prevalent in my life, but not as abundant. It was a slow year blogging, I only wrote one blog a few days ago. I did not produce any videos or vlogs outside of a few Deer Tick concerts, but Cheddar did make his mark on TikTok and even had a viral hit. Here are my “best” lists from 2021.
You can find my best lists from the previous 7 years here: 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
Best Moment: In 2021 we watched our dog grow from puppy to adolescent and bought a house in Downers Grove, but there was no better moment than on July 22nd when Rachel told me we were going to be having a baby! Our official due date is March 27th, but it is likely we will be parents much sooner. Stay tuned for future Mom & Dad life!
Best Vacation: We made it back to Hawaii in 2021 for our five year anniversary. We started in Oahu to see Aly & Ryan who are currently living there for work. Then we ventured over to Kauai for some adventure.
Runner up Vacation: We returned to New York City in November to visit John and Melissa. We visited Central and Prospect Parks, I ended up going on my longest run of the year (18 miles) when I ran across the Manhattan, Brooklyn, & Williamsburg Bridges, and we saw Deer Tick twice at Webster Hall.
Best TV Show:
My favorite TV show this year was Money Heist aka La Casa De Papel. I watched all 5 season on Netflix, for the full experience be sure to tune in with the original language (Spanish) and english subtitles. Runner up shows this year: Broadchurch (netflix), Mare of Easttown (hbo max) and Squid Game (netflix).
Take a peek at all the TV shows I watched in 2021: A Teacher (hulu), Better Call Saul Season 4 (netflix), Bloodline (netlifx), Bobs Burgers (hulu), Bridgerton (netflix), Broadchurch (netflix), Dark (netflix), Dave Season 2 (hulu), Flight Attendant (hbo max), Heist (netflix), History of Swear Words (netflix), Homecoming Season 2 (amazon), Imposters (netflix), John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise (peacock), Long Way Up (appleTV), Made for Love (hbo max), Mare of Easttown (hbo max), Money Heist (netflix), Raised By Wolves (hbo max), Ratched (netflix), Rick & Morty (hulu), Shrink Next Door (appleTV), Sopranos Season 1 (hbo max), Squid Game (neflix), Succession (hbo max), Ted Lasso (appleTV), The Undoing (hbo max), The White Lotus (hbo max), You Season 3 (netflix).
Best New Movie I Saw:
Movie theaters are still closed and movies are slow to come out. Best new movie for this year was Bo Burnham: Inside (netflix) - a 2021 film by YouTube legend Bo Burnham. Bo gives an inside look at what we all were doing and thinking during the early days of the pandemic.
I also watched: Soul (Disney +), I Care A Lot (netflix), Moxie (netflix), Space Jam 2: A New Legacy (hbo max), He’s All That (Netflix), and 8-Bit Christmas (hbo max).
Best Documentary:
I love documentaries, and the one that hit me in the feels the most this year was kid90. A film by Soleil Moon Frye about growing up as a child celebrity in the 90s. Reminded me of the early Jcubed days.
I also checked out Seaspiracy (netflix), Beanie Mania (hbo max), Juice Wrld: Into the Abyss (hbo max), Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage (hbo max), The Last Blockbuster (netflix).
Best Album: My best album of 2021 was Sour by Olivia Rodrigo. Nothing but bangers on this thing. Do yourself a favor and listen from cover to cover.
Runners Up: Lil Nas X - Montero, Deer Tick - Live at Fort Adams, Kenny Hoopla & Travis Barker - Survivors Guilt: The Mixtape, Arlo Parks - Collapsed in Sunbeams
Click the photo of each album to give them a listen.
Best Songs: 164 songs by 164 artists for 2021. You can listen to them all now by checking out the Spotify or Amazon Playlist below.
Spotify Playlist / Amazon Playlist
If you don’t stream, here are my favorite 15 tracks from 2021:
Hurt - Arlo Parks
If She Could Only See Me Now - Deer Tick
Kiss Me More - Doja Cat
Serotonin - girl in red
Be Sweet - Japanese Breakfast
New Light - John Mayer
Peaches - Justin Bieber
hollywood sucks// - Kenny Hoopla & Travis Barker
That’s What I Want - Lil Nas X
Introvert - Little Simz
The Opioid Diaries - The Offspring
good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo
Kyoto - Phoebe Bridgers
Nowhere Generation - Rise Against
Narrator - Squid
Best Music Video: Lil Nas X is the ultimate troll. In his music video for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” he slides down a stripper pole into hell to give the devil a lap dance. People were not happy.
Best Concert: While concerts did not make a full return in 2021, they started to gradually come back. I attended larger outdoor events Lollapalooza and Pitchfork in August/September. My first indoor concert was not until mid-November when I saw Deer Tick four times in 12 days. Madison to Chicago to New York x 2. I was front row for all shows except Madison. All four Deer Tick shows were awesome, with my favorite set being night two at Webster Hall in NYC. Click the video below to check it out. And enjoy full sets from Chicago or NYC Night One.
Best Podcasts: I did not listen to many new podcasts this year. In fact it was the first time since 2016 that I did not release a podcast blog. The one podcast I kept coming back to this year was Pardon My Take, a sports podcast that makes me chuckle and is mainly about football with guest interviews. I also listened to a good amount of All Songs Considered, a music podcast about new releases and current indie music.
Best YouTube Channel: This girl, fifibisnar, who did guitar loops had probably my favorite videos from YouTube this year. Soothing tunes to relax to.
Best Maluta Vision Video: No actual Maluta Vision videos this year. Hoping to get back to some videos that are in the queue in 2022. Cheddar did make his debut on TikTok and even had a viral hit.
That closes out my biggest year of growth in 2021 and all my “best” things from it. Here’s to all the continued growth in 2022.
See ya next year!
Josh