Executive Summary: Oh, boy. I don’t think I can describe the year 2020 with any particular grace. I’m just glad and grateful and lucky and privileged to still be alive and basically fine at this point. Love to you and yours.

–Sooze, Portland, June, 2021.

The Stuff of 2020

• I lived in Berkeley through May, and then Emily and I moved in together to an apartment in West Oakland in June. 

• I continued producing my podcast And The Next Thing You Know. 

• Jenessa and Trevor got married in a Zoom wedding, because 2020. Mazel tov to the one-year marrieds!

• In July, I saw my family for the first time since the covid shelter orders started in March.  I ended up seeing them in person (outside, masked, distanced, and briefly) about three times in 2020, when, in a normal year, I would usually have seen them on about 8-10 visits, often overnight. 

• I coped with the pandemic by making a lot of chicken stock and egg drop soup and pork meatball soup. And Em and I watched a LOT of TV. And there was neighborhood walking. And a nice bike ride to the farmer’s market at Lake Merritt, one of the most normal-feeling things we did during the pandemic when the lockdown restrictions relaxed for a time.

• I remained employed at Temple Beth Abraham throughout the year, and I’m grateful as heck for that. 

• I lucked out and didn’t get COVID in 2020. 
  
• Emily and I broke up in December, but continued living together into early 2021. It was a very hard few months. But I’m still grateful we had each other’s love and company during the worst, scariest days of 2020. It’s still hard, the after of this breakup. But it’s also getting ever so slightly less hard.

The Media and Culture I Consumed in 2020

The Books

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green (2012) ****

The Pullman Porters and West Oakland (2007) *** by Thomas Tramble and Wilma Tramble – part of the Images of America series from Arcadia Publishing. A quick read, many photographs, about the history of the Pullman Porters Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Union, the first all-Black union shop, and its influence on building the Black neighborhood of West Oakland in the years starting after the Civil War. An essential history I didn’t previously know about Oakland.

The Podcasts

New to me in 2020:

Don’t Ask Tig * Geology Bites * Home Cooking with Samin Nosrat and Hrishikesh Hirway * It’s Been A Minute with Sam Sanders * Lady Don’t Take No with Alicia Garza * The Latter Day Lesbian Podcast

Still listening (select list): 

99 PI * The Allusionist * The Anthropocene Reviewed * Everything Is Alive * I Don’t Get It * Imaginary Advice * Judge John Hodgman * Radiolab * Reply All * Savage Lovecast * Strong Songs * Twenty Thousand Hertz * WTF with Marc Maron

The Movies

Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) **** Excellent, high recommend!

Groundhog Day (1993) **** (rewatch, because 2020.) 

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) *** 1/2  

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) **** (rewatch) – I can’t believe I didn’t realize how much influence it had on Get Out before seeing this again. 

It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) **** (rewatch)

The Lovebirds (2020) *** 1/2

End Times Fun (2020) *** ½ Marc Maron’s comedy special, directed by Lynn Shelton, debuted just as COVID shut down the world. 

Enola Holmes (2020) *** ½ 

13th (2016) **** (rewatch) definitely worth watching more than once. 

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020) *** ½

Ready Player One (2018) ***

Colossal (2016) *** 

Happiest Season (2020) ** 1/2 – disappointing, but now I’m totally in love with Aubrey Plaza, so yay!

Emmett Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (1977) *** rewatch for the first time since I was a kiddo. 

Buffy The Vampire Slayer (the movie, rewatch) (1992) *** – enjoyed it more the second time. 

Rocketman (2019) ***

About Time (2013) ** 1/2

The Core (2003) **

A Very Brady Christmas (1988) * snoozeville. But Normcore Marcia was fun.

The TV

Russian Doll S1 (2019)***** (rewatch, two more times in 2020.) I see something new every time. It’s incredibly deep and hilarious.

Buffy/Angel (rewatch) 1997-2003 and 1999-2004 (varied from ** to *****) – finished both series. Emily’s first time through. 

The Good Place (2016-2020) ***** – in full. I hadn’t yet seen the last season til this year. Masterpiece! 

Schitt’s Creek, S5-6 (2019-2020) **** finished the series (or maybe it took til very early 2021 to finish it?) – if you didn’t like the first few episodes, stick with it. It’s got a lot more heart than you think.

Gilmore Girls (2000-2007) *** – **** and Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (2016) (rewatch of both)

Supernatural (2005-2020!!) *** – **** continuous rewatch through 2020.

Live Performance

lol, nope!

**Actually – I forgot! I saw Mountain Goats (John Darnielle solo) at the Swedish American Hall, SF, on Feb 21, 2020. The last show I saw in the Before Times, which wasn’t actually “before,” but, really, the “Early During” times. Attended the show with Gina, and ran into Kira there, as well!

In Memoriam 

Sylvia, my brother in law Steve’s mom, died at home, just shy of 100 years old, and sharp as ever. May her memory be a blessing! (*See Post Script.)

Dave, the housemate I lived with briefly in Berkeley from December, 2019, until June, 2020, died of a previously unknown heart condition. I had already moved to West Oakland with Emily when I got a call from the coroner’s office informing me of his death. He was in his early 70s, and quite spry, so it was shocking to his community of friends. He was an activist of consequence in Berkeley in the 1970s, and he’d lived in that house all that time. Live long and prosper, Dave.

Post Script Edit

Sylvia actually died in early 2021, and I recorded it incorrectly in my notes for this post. I’ll leave my memorial entry for her here, and will probably make a note in the 2021 entry as well.

Also, forgot, I watched It’s A Wonderful Life and Happiest Season in December. Now included in movies section above!

2020 wasn’t my best record-keeping year, for obvious reasons.