Another year over (and a new one just begun – John Lennon). I hope everyone had a great Christmas and you survived New Year’s Eve. We will get to “New Years’ Resolutions” in another post. Every year I like to do this post to reflect back on the previous year. It’s a great way to think about goals and intentions for the coming year. I’ll try not to be too verbose as we dive into the 2022 year in review.
I traveled a lot more than normal in 2022 but I visited places I’d never been. Places like Wisconsin, Boston, and Gatlinburg. In fact, I traveled so much that I had to work a little bit while visiting my in-laws for Christmas. I will be returning to Wisconsin again, in February; and I would like to visit Gatlinburg and Boston again (minus the Covid) but probably not in 2023.
Yes, I finally caught Covid, while in Boston. Ironically Boston is the only place where we wore masks a lot and that’s the place where we caught it. It was only a mild case and I was back out running after 4 days.
Let’s get into the rest of the 2022 Year in Review.
In Memoriam
2022 was not a good year for iconic celebrities. It started off with the tragic death of America’s Dad, Bob Saget (65 – blunt head trauma). This was one of the hard ones for me as I grew up watching Bob Saget on America’s Funniest Home Videos and, of course, Full House.
Also in television and film, we lost Kirstie Alley (71 – cancer), Kevin Conroy (voice of Batman – 71 – cancer), Leslie Jordan (67 – car accident caused by a medical incident), Robbie Coltrane (aka Hagrid, 72 – organ failure), Anne Heche (53 – car accident), William Hurt (71 – cancer), Tony Sirico (aka Paulie Walnuts – 79 – unknown). We lost the comedic talents of the watermelon-smashing Gallagher (76 – organ failure) and Louie Anderson (68 – cancer).
The iconic celebrities we lost in 2022 are the lovely and talented Angela Lansbury (96 – natural causes), Olivia Newton-John (Grease – 73 – cancer), James Caan (82 – heart attack), Gilbert Gottfried (67 – heart condition), Jerry Lee Lewis (Great Balls of Fire – 87 – unknown), and Ray Liotta (67 – died in his sleep). The Star Trek community took a big hit this year with the passing of the lovely Nichelle Nichols (Uhura – 89 – heart failure). All of these people, along with Bob Saget, defined a generation.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the passing of two of the most influential women to grace this Earth. Barbara Walters (93 – unknown) and the incomparable and incredible Queen Elizabeth II (96 – natural causes) who reigned as the Queen of England for 70 years. I’m not one of those people that lived and breathed the life of the British Monarchy but I do have respect for the woman that lead that country for seven decades. RIP.
On the last day of the year, much like Betty White last year, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away at 96. If you’re a Catholic, like me, this is kind of a big deal. RIP and God bless.
2022 Year in Review: Movies
Ok, time to move on to happier subjects. Let’s talk movies. It was a big year for Marvel with the rest of the phase four movies. These movies include Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The only one of these I have not watched yet is the Black Panther movie. Of the Phase Four movies, The Eternals is the only one I didn’t really care for. I didn’t see any of them in the theater. In fact, all the new movies I saw were available on streaming services; and here they are:
- Matrix Resurrections
- The Batman
- 1Up
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
- Thor: Love and Thunder
- A Christmas Story Christmas
Of the movies on this list, the one that surprised me the most is A Christmas Story Christmas. Everyone was expecting it to be terrible; another example of Hollywood running out of ideas. I’m sure some didn’t like it but I really enjoyed it and you can click on the link to see my full review.
FitBit Stats and Walk to Mordor
Again, I did not participate in any solo races this year (I did help my daughter with her first 5k). The weekend of the Flying Pig coincided with a family event again. Hopefully, in 2023, I can finally get back to more frequent races, though I may put off the half marathon until next year.
Here are my FitBit 2022 stats:
- 4,640,252 steps
- 2,394.71 miles
- ** arrows indicate changes from previous year
I completed the Walk Run to Mordor much later this year, on September 22nd. I lost my momentum over the summer. We traveled a lot, then I caught Covid, then I was sick again a month after that, then I hurt my back. It seems, every time I nearly found my rhythm again, something happened that derailed my progress. When I declare my goals for 2023, one of them will be to complete this challenge before August 27th (the 2021 completion date).
Speaking of which, stay tuned for my 2022 Reading Challenge update as well as my 2023 goals.
/cheers