Favorite Albums of 2011

The last part of my favorites lists of 2011 is my favorite albums of 2011. I'm doing things a little bit differently than usual, as I'm typically pretty methodical in breaking down a top 20. Because of my trip, I fell way behind on music, and for those who are obsessed with music it becomes pretty obvious that staying on top of what's new and what's good is a full time job in a lot of ways. With the trip and a job search going back-to-back, my music obsession waned and I became more of a casual fan.

Plus, 2011 really was the year of Spotify for me. I pretty much only listen to music on there at this point, and with my driving time now more focused on podcasts, there's just less time for new music.

That said, it seems like 2011 was a pretty solid year for music. My list is after the jump and in in more of a general order, favorite to least favorite, and proves that I favor old favorites to the new hotness those kids these days are listening to.

Favorite TV Shows of 2011

Treat yo self to my list

Today's 2011 in Review list is going to be...my favorite TV shows of 2011!

Now, to be honest, being gone half of the year made it pretty easy to fall behind on a lot of TV shows. That said, I did my best to catch up on the ones I used to love and there were some I honestly couldn't miss no matter what I did. Regardless, because of missing so many, this will only be a top five list.

But what a top five! I love all five of them, with one of them having a new season coming on my birthday and the top pick having a theme song that currently is my ringtone. Yeah! Find out my picks after the jump.

Favorite Movies of 2011

To start off my favorite of everything in 2011, I'm going to lead off with my favorite movies of 2011. Now, just to be clear, this isn't the best movies of 2011. Sure, you could make an argument that Lars Von Trier's Melancholia was a significantly "better" film than anything on my list, but man, I just didn't enjoy it (mostly because Kirsten Dunst's spectacular performance was tied to a character who was utterly reprehensible in every way someone can be reprehensible).

So this isn't about best, it's just about the movies that I look back on as the ones that I enjoyed the most for base level enjoyment mixed with overall quality.

But that's enough of that. On to the list, of which the keyword is "nostalgia," which you can find after the jump.

Note: I still haven't seen a few movies that could easily make this list, so my apologies to War Horse (saw the play - amazing! - and seeing the movie today), Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Tree of Life, The Artist, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and a range of other assuredly great movies.

Second Note: I FORGOT TROLL HUNTER! Troll Hunter is amazing! Must watch!

The World Trip Wrap Up

Partying in Edinburgh with a kilt, a tweed vest and a fantastic hat

Well, my life is finally starting to get figured out. After an immense time away from this blog and from real life, it's time to start this blog back up. I've got a new job starting up January 5th at Anchorage's Nerland Agency, so I figured it was about time to get reconnected with sharing every single little detail about my life with you even if you don't want to know them.

And I'll start with doing something I should have done a long time ago - wrapping up my world trip adventure by sharing my favorites of anything and everything I did. And it was a pretty good time. It turns out that dropping everything and adventuring for half a year is actually as fun as it seems like it should be. Shocking, right?

Look for more from me sooner rather than later, and click through the jump to see that wrap up. Also, if you're interested in anything from my trip in specific, please ask me!