I want to know everything
I want to be everywhere
I want to fuck everyone in the world
I want to do something that matters

Does it really need explaining?

But it got me to thinking; I thought about how I would break it down into my personal components. I feel overwhelmed with how many different things I would love to do at any point in time and I end up deciding on none of them. Sometimes this is due to laziness; other times, depression. Right now, I’m going to lean towards the latter. It’s hard to focus on anything when you are just not happy in the slightest. I blame the long waits between rounds of MLB playoffs. I haven’t watched a game since Monday! So depressing.

Of the things that populate this list, some aren’t serious, some are very unlikely, some are impossible — and it’s certainly impossible to do all of them. Some things are simple activities, others are lifelong ventures. Some things are general, others are arbitrarily specific. Some things are just emotional and behavioral traits that I wish were different. But they are all things that crowd my head and fill me with disappointment when it comes to not accomplishing any of them. And this list definitely isn’t all-inclusive.

I want to:

Read every halfway decent book.
Watch every film Armond White has given a negative review.
Learn how to play Go.
Solve every crossword puzzle.
Play through every acclaimed video game.
Be better than you at every multiplayer video game.
Create an iPhone app.
Travel to every country the average person actually knows.
Live in numerous cities.
Write in my journal each night Doug-style.
Attend an Olympics.
Be closer with my friends and family.
See the Earth from space.
Take beautiful pictures.
Fall painfully in love again.
Experience a World Cup firsthand.
Accumulate a million Twitter followers.
Write a book.
Decimate my carbon footprint.
Upload a video to YouTube that subsequently goes viral.
Pen a movie script.
Learn to dance well.
Donate and volunteer more.
Run a 5K in 24 minutes.
Master Photoshop.
Keep abreast of every development and breakthrough in science.
Try stand-up comedy.
Listen to every well-known album.
Game the stock market.
Become a monster at chess.
Eat at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
Blog everyday.
Stop being a moronic poker player.
Formulate some semblance of a coherent worldview.
Bang everyone’s mom — and well.
Learn to draw and paint.
Frustrate people with my Scrabble ability.
Peruse every influential newspaper and magazine.
Check out every beloved television show.
Pick up the guitar.
Let go of pointless regrets.
Keep up with every interesting blog.
Build a PC.
Not care what anyone thinks.
Watch every important sporting event.
Hustle douchebags at pool and darts.
Learn a bunch of languages.
Initiate conversation effortlessly with anyone.
Memorize dozens of mixed drinks.
Become a scratch golfer.
Get awesome at tennis.
Run a Major League baseball team.
Taste every beer and wine and spirit.
Be able to discuss politics intelligently.
Buy a front-row seat to the final of every major sport.
Have the ability to bust out 100 pushups in a row.
Develop some sense of style.
Learn to cook awesome shit.
Get a chance to start over.

And I want to do all these things while getting at least seven hours of sleep a night.

This is the third year-end post I’m writing, and it seems each year I expand the scope. First year was just movies, second year was basically all forms of entertainment, and now for 2008, I will add sports to the mix. (Sports are a form of entertainment, but they are also a competition.) And let’s start with that, as it was quite possibly the best year for sports in my lifetime.

Sports

It was a year defined by the changing of the guard. The Tampa Bay Rays came out of nowhere to win the AL East, and then capture the pennant. Rafael Nadal upended Roger Federer’s pursuit of six straight Wimbledon titles, and also took his #1 ranking. While the Rays may not be able to keep up with the Yankees and their newly acquired army of free agents, the Nadal-Federer rivalry reached its climax in the 2008 Wimbledon final. They’re off to a good start in 2009, though, so maybe they’ll prove me wrong.

It was also a year of fallen dynasties, meaning it was a year of schadenfreude for the vast majority of the country. The Patriots were unsuccessful in their quest for a perfect season in their very last game, possibly the greatest Super Bowl ever played, and the Yankees missed the playoffs for the first time in 15 years. Not to mention that Tom Brady got his leg totally shattered and screamed out in pain.

But there were some familiar faces and teams on top: The Lakers and Celtics faced each other in the NBA Finals for the first time in over 20 years, renewing their epic rivalry and making fellow New Yorkers hate their piece of shit basketball organization even more. Tiger Woods once again showed how much better he is than every other golfer by beating them on one knee at the U.S. Open. On the tail end of the spectrum of achievement — but in the same realm of expectation — the Cubs managed to yet again totally choke in the playoffs, while the Mets once again failed to even reach them.

Movies

Unlike last year, when I saw three out of the five films nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, I haven’t seen one nominated from 2008. And I don’t really care all that much. The film that I missed that I most want to see wasn’t even nominated anyway — The Wrestler. Meanwhile, a Holocaust film that recieved meddling reviews was nominated (The Reader). I can understand The Dark Knight not being nominated, but The Wrestler seemed like Oscar-bait — very cool Oscar-bait — but Oscar-bait nonetheless.

Anyhow, enough about an increasingly irrelevant circle-jerk awards show. My surprise of the year had to be Speed Racer, a movie which I regret not seeing in theaters, as the visuals were obviously the star. It was such a cheesy kids movie, but I couldn’t help but have a smile on my face the entire time I watched — the F-Zero racing sequences in particular. The other surprise of the year would be In Bruges, quite possibly my favorite film of 2008. The writing, acting, and cinematography are all top-notch, with Colin Farrell giving the best performance of his career, if that even means something.

The Dark Knight and Pineapple Express managed to exceed even my high expectations for both movies. By now, we’ve all seen and heard how great heath Ledger’s performance was, but I thought James Franco in PE was just as awesome. Other movies that I feel worthy of a mention are Taken (which only just came out in America, edited down to PG-13), which was easily the most badass movie of the year, Gran Torino, if only for Clint Eastwood, WALL-E, Redbelt, Iron Man, Cloverfield, and Quantum of Solace, which I didn’t think was nearly as bad as many reviewers made it out to be. Man, that sentence is a mess, isn’t it? COMMAS. I should’ve just made it one huge run-on sentence Cormac McCarthy style.

Television

Arguably the two greatest cop dramas in television history ended in 2008 — The Wire and The Shield. Though that definition may be doing a disservice to The Wire, as it was more social commentary on the entire ecosystem of the inner city. The Shield, on the other hand, was most definitely about cops — dirty cops to be more specific — and the hammer coming down on all of them. Don’t make me pick between the two, but I will say that the final season of The Shield was most definitely better than that of The Wire.

With those two brilliant shows gone, Mad Men is the class of dramatic television. HBO seriously fucked themselves in the ass not picking it up. I mean, come on, True Blood is probably their most popular drama now. A vampire show.

House, of course, was also awesome last year, as was Lost, as much as I hate to say it. Man, what is with my commas in this post? I’m so sorry. I also *just* watched the first season of Breaking Bad, and that was pretty great. Dr. Tim Whatley does a great job in the starring role. Chuck is also a show I just started watching, and it’s just immensely entertaining. I think that’s it.

Oh wait, I almost forgot — the ending to the Battlestar Galactica half-season finale was one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen. Brutal.

Games

This is where I fell behind this year. I only bought a handful of new games this year for my 360, and I barely played any of them. Grand Theft Auto IV was total shit, Gears of War 2‘s online multiplayer was broken, and Prince of Persia is like a beautiful interactive — but automated — painting. The only retail game that left me satisfied was Burnout Paradise, even if I do have a love-hate relationship with it. Notice how I make sure to say “retail” games. N+ and Geometry Wars 2 left me more than satisfied at their $10 price point. Both totally amazing games.

But while my 360 gaming definitely suffered this year, it was due to my new laptop and Steam. Most of the games bought were not 2008 games, though. Left 4 Dead, World of Goo, and Audiosurf are the exceptions — the awesome exceptions. Left 4 Dead was some of the most fun I’ve had in online gaming and was definitely the game of 2008 for me.

In case you are wondering, yes, I bought Fallout 3, but it doesn’t run as well as I’d like it to on my laptop, so I’ve put it to the wayside for a while. I’m almost tempted to buy the 360 version.

P.S. PS3 lol

Music

Ok, I really have next to nothing to say here. I enjoyed the albums from Queens of the Stone Age, Metallica (still can’t believe it), TV on the Radio, Eagles of Death Metal, Coldplay (shut up), and haven’t listened to the rest enough. I do have to say that Trent Reznor is probably the coolest dude on the planet, giving away a metric shitton of his music for free. I did enjoy quite a few songs on both Ghosts and The Slip.

Books

Haha, new books