And just like that… another month, another year, and another decade comes to an end. I don’t know if I’ll do these month-end posts next year, but we’ll see what my mood is like at the end of January. There are lots of other things to look forward to and to blog about as the new year approaches.

December was another “fast” month. Here are some of the highlights…

Movies

We watched The Goldfinch, and I hated it. I should have known better, but the previews looked promising. It was a good, and difficult, book to read but I like a book that challenges me. I still think about it. But damn, the movie was a letdown.

We watched IT 2. Another letdown. That’s one King book I’ve never completely finished. I liked the first movie, but part 2 was a bit campy. It reminded me of the gore scenes from the old Nightmare on Elm Street films and how over-the-top and even silly they were at times.

We watched Judy, the best of the three films. Renee was wonderful as Judy though the film covers a very sad time in Judy’s life near the end. Renee sounded fantastic!

Netflix

On Christmas Eve, we watched the first season of “Atypical.” Wow! What a great show. It’s a comedy about a boy with autism and how his family copes with it and their other everyday problems, but the writing is superb. We finished Season 2 and 3 by the weekend after. I highly recommend! Probably one of the best shows I’ve watched this year, and I’m looking forward to Season 4 in 2020.

It’s not on Netflix, but Amazon’s Marvelous Mrs. Maisel released season 3 in early December. It was much better than season 2 and is one of my favorite shows to binge watch. Another one I’m already looking forward to seeing a new season of next year.

Books

I finished reading “Surviving James Dean” by William Bast. I’ve never been a fan of James Dean simply because I’ve never seen any of his three movies, but what an interesting life. This book is from the point-of-view of his best friend and infrequent bed mate.

I started reading “Jackie as Editor” about the life of Jackie Kennedy-Onassis when she became a book editor for Viking and Doubleday. It’s a very interesting read about the book publishing world of the ’80s, to say the least.

On Christmas Eve I did my yearly tradition of reading Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory.” It never gets old.

I also finished “Word of Mouth: Poems Featured on NPR’s All Things Considered.” I picked this up a few months ago to use for my daily poem devotion.

Other Stuff

Speaking of poems, I wrote three poems of my own this month. I also finished the first draft of the book I’ve been working on all year. That was a good feeling. I took a small break from it and then printed it out, and I’ve already started editing.

On the Saturday after Christmas, I took down all the Christmas decorations and began setting up my new 36 gallon fish tank in our dining room. More about that in another post.

Oh, and I also took a week of vacation before Christmas and spent most of that with my family for a holiday visit.

Looking back, I guess it was a pretty busy month. How was your December?

See in you the ’20s! Happy New Year!