The Decade's List of Lists

I love making lists at the end of the year. I guess it helps mark time, or put things in context. I don't know .Maybe it's just navel-gazing.

At any rate, we're now at the end of an entire DECADE! So obviously I am 10x more excited to make some lists. So! Here it is. My list of lists to close out this decade.

First up!

Top 10 Things I Did This Decade

10) Saw Jump Little Children in Concert!

They broke up before the start of the decade, and thought I'd never see one of my favorite bands live. Surprise! They did a reunion tour in 2019! Spoiler Alert: They were great.

9) Learned to Love Thai Food!

For some reason, I never got into Thai food when I was younger. I've never been picky, and love all manner of sushi, Indian, and what-have-you. But it took me until my mid-30s to finally acquire a taste for this particular delectable south Asian spiciness. Now it's some of my favorite food around.

8) Gained a Lot of Weight!

This isn't a great thing, obviously. But it is definitely one of the things I was best at this decade. I'm hoping the next decade is all about good clean living.

7) Learned to Skateboard!

I wanted to do it my whole life, but was always afraid to. Then sometime in 2018 I figured it was finally the perfect time... when I was in my late 30s and a fall could mean a devastating tragedy. So far, so good!

6) Grand Canyon Trip!

Heather's and my first big trip as a couple! It was beautiful, it was exercise, it was good old fashioned wholesome American vacation fun.

5) ESL Ministry Program!

It's where I started flirting with Heather, and it turned into a once-a-week gig for 8 years. I met so many amazing little kids there. Egyptian, Malaysian, Kurdish, Honduran. It was a tiny little U.N. every week, and I loved so many of them.

4) Bought My First House!

In 2011 we moved into 60's ranch-style house that needed a lot of work. It's the home we brought our first baby home to, and it still holds a ton of memories. Also the first time I really thought "Wow! I'm a grown up now!"

3) Moved to Atlanta!

I moved a lot as a kid, but I haven't lived outside Nashville as an adult. This was the first big move of my life, and it seems to be working out okay?? This is pretty fresh so we'll see, I guess!

2) Adopted Two Children!

Adoption is hard. Raising kids is hard. And yet, it still turned out to be some of the most fun I had all decade. And it just keeps going, and going, and going!!

1) Got Married!

I started off the decade with a bang, by marrying Heather during a devastating Nashville flood. My Nana always said rain on your wedding is good luck. Well, we had a ton of luck on May 1, 2010.


Wow! What a decade! What a list! But hold on, folks, 'cause we're not through with THIS list of lists! Next up is the movie section, starting with...

My Top 5 Most Underrated Movies

John Carter

This was a great adventure movie helmed by famed Pixar director Andrew Stanton. Marketing ruined this movie’s chances, along with the terrible title that makes it sound like a presidential biopic.

The Planet of the Apes Trilogy

I think these did okay financially, but I never hear anyone talking about this series. They are so, so much better than they have any right to be. Great effects, great action, and a frankly insane amount of heart and character development.

Knight and Day

It’s like a Bond movie, but from the Bond girl’s perspective. What is it like to be an ordinary person thrust into the middle of an action movie? It’s got Tom Cruise playing this demented version of his usual action role, and Cameron Diaz being… Cameron Diaz. Anyway, it’s good!

TinTin

Steven Speilberg does an animated Indiana Jones movie with Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, and Toby Jones. It has a 3-minute action scene in one continuous shot. It has a character powered by booze. It’s one of the best adventure movies ever made. Seven people saw it.

Hotel Transylvania 3

From purely an animation standpoint, this is a monster achievement. Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter’s Lab, Samurai Jack) it takes computer animation and treats it like hand-drawn. The squashing and stretching the characters do is unlike any computer animated film ever made. The posing must have been so ridiculously difficult for the animators, but it pays off. It’s much less concerned with pulling your heartstrings than being a modern-day Loony Tunes cartoon.

I'm telling you, these are some great, underrated gems. Check some of them out! While we're talking movies, though, let's get to the big ones! Here are...

My Favorite Movies of the Decade (by Year)

2010: The Social Network

Runners Up: Toy Story 3, Inception, True Grit

2011: Hugo

Runners Up: Moneyball, The Adjustment Bureau, Crazy, Stupid, Love

2012: The Avengers

Runners Up: Moonrise Kingdom, Lincoln, Beasts of the Southern Wild

2013: Gravity

Runners Up: Oblivion, About Time, The World’s End

2014: Interstellar

Runners Up: Guardians of the Galaxy, Grand Budapest Hotel, The Lego Movie

2015: Inside Out

Runners Up: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Mad Max, The Martian

2016: Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Runners Up: Arrival, Zootopia, Captain America: Civil War

2017: Thor Ragnarok/Coco

Runners Up: Dunkirk, Blade Runner 2049, War for the Planet of the Apes

2018: Into the Spider-Verse

Runners Up: Annihilation, Infinity War, Mission Impossible: Fallout

2019: Endgame

Runners Up: Little Women, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Irishman

And how about...

The Top 8 Actually Alright Movies I Only Watched Because of My Children

Hotel Transylvania

See above.

Sing

Matthew McConaughey voices a koala and delivers some of the best acting I've ever heard from him. This movie was also a gateway drug for my children into actual grown-up music.

The Secret Life of Pets

Albert Brooks is an old hawk who wants to eat a tiny dog voiced by Jenny Slate, but they become friends. That isn't the plot of the movie, it's just a thing that happens that I think is funny.

Trolls

This is one of the weirdest mainstream animated films I've ever seen. Aggressively ugly and bonkers, yet it stars the most vanilla, obvious actors imaginable. How did this get made?

The Croods

It's got something to say about being hopeful for the future, not fearing what you don't understand, and trusting those with imagination and intelligence. Also Cloris Leachman is a caveman.

Boss Baby

It's sweet, got some great art direction, and it makes Maggie crack up. It's better than its premise.

Captain Underpants

Another celebration of animation. The humor is so dumb, but it made me laugh a lot. Also, Weird Al wrote the end credits song and it's a BANGER.

Teen Titans Go! to the Movies

This is kind of Deadpool for kids? Or Animaniacs for comics nerds? It's super self-aware, self-deprecating, and a fun skewering of superhero tropes.

Okay, friends, that's all I've got in me for now. Look for part two in the New Year!