& short thoughts on each
Broadly, I enjoy novels that unflinchingly model the interior life of a character or characters grappling with something they can't directly grasp. I think literature's main value is in guiding the reader to a unique, unnameable emotion they will carry forever.
Fifteen Dogs is heartrending, unblinking, and full of love. read in a single sitting, punctuated by bouts of ugly crying. i have one of prince's poems committed to memory.
The Once and Future King moved me in a way i cannot sufficently express. i have tried. i will think about lancelot forever. "he felt in his heart cruelty and cowardice, the things which made him brave and kind"
Stoner is as close to a perfect novel as anyone has ever come. left me speechlessly grateful for having had the chance to study literature.
The Road is an old favorite that i will not return to until i'm a father.
Never Let Me Go may not be the most the most subtle or artistically ambitious novel ishiguro has written, but it's the one I cried the hardest over. ishiguro is my favorite author, and never let me go stands for him on this list.
Norweigan Wood is my favorite novel about coming-of-age.
Models I return to
Meditation from Cold Start to Complete Mastery: a Manual of Global Wayfinding Meditation is the most useful, granular guide to inner work i've ever encountered
A Path With Heart is as close to a wise friend as a book can be.
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism defines a remarkably useful vocabulary for talking about the relationship between tech companies and the public.
...Three, Two, One, Contact: Times Square Red describes an incredibly obvious and useful distinction between 'contact' and 'networking' interactions. one of those forks that can't be unseen.
Three Hundred Ways It Can Hurt To Be a Man is a rare, comprehensive, vulnerable reflection on the way men struggle. too much writing on men's issues is reactionary or neurotically hedged. while i don't agree with all three hundred, i'm deeply grateful this document exists. it made me feel loved and seen in a way little else has.
Games are broadly wasted on gamers
Street Fighter III: Third Strike is a classic i played competitively for a number of years in my early 20's. urien main. retired after placing 17th out of ~1104 at EVO 2024.
Rain World is a singularly powerful artistic accomplishment, and the primarily reason i have faith in games as a valid artform. raw and gorgeous. ignore the dlc.
Spelunky is a perfectly-tuned risk-vs-reward driven sandbox, and the only game i've ever felt compelled to 100%.
Nuclear Throne is a direct injection game-as-visceral-sensory-pleasure. where developers throw around the term 'juice', this is the gold standard.
Dark Souls is one of those masterpieces that has been discussed to death. it's here because it really is that good.
Other things
The Toronto Blue Jays are my favorite sports team. how can you not be romantic about baseball?
Hunter x Hunter is both a descontruction of and love letter to shonen manga, an incredibly formative genre for me. togashi's panel composition is also second to none.
r!animorphs is rationalist fanfiction. i read in a delirious frenzy after a breakup. i don't put it here lightly; it fights its way on this list by being, against all odds, the finest xenofiction i've personally read. ambitious beyond belief. in desperate need of an editor. somehow sticks the landing.
Yung Lean is my favorite musician, and i am deeply grateful to have grown up watching him grow as an artist.
Maud Lewis reminds me of Nova Scotia, where much of my family is from. Her work makes me feel soft and safe.