My Rough Attempt at a "Best Of 2007" List

All I heard for months before I turned twenty-one was that it was going to be “the best year of my life.”  I assumed this meant champagne would rain from the sky, the name of the company would be changed to “Matthew Murphy’s ABT” and I would publish somewhere around eight or nine novels (preceded by an award winning series of short stories, of course) in between winning a few Oscars.  Four months into 2007, it became clear that the words predicting the year’s triumphant bragging rights were but a cruel joke. 

2007 goes down as the most difficult year of my life (or as Homer Simpson would say “The most difficult year of your life…so far”).  Emotional and physical tests were fired at me as gruesomely as paint ball guns shot at close range; there’s no denying that my wounds splattered across the surface for all to see.  It was a year where I had no choice but to call out for help from whoever would listen. 

Writing a post to close up such a tumultuous year is all but impossible.  There is no pleasant way to wrap up dynamite that exploded already.  The different challenges I faced throughout 2007 have taught me more about myself, and the world around me, than the twenty years preceding it.  In that sense it has been a spectacular year;  spectacularly frightening in every way.

(Superfluous Pom shot.)

I’ve always had a tendency for vices in the form of arts and entertainment, but never have I been more dependent on the happiness that different art forms create than in the past twelve months.  There were days, months even, where my best friends were the singers who floated out of my speakers.  Characters on TV personified my problems, and opened up emotions in myself that I kept bottled up.  Paintings created fifty years ago peered out from books and whispered that they understood my emotions.  Art found a way of impacting me like never before. 

One of the most disappointing parts about being ill for so long is that it hasn’t allowed me to get out and see as much theater, or museums, as I would have liked in 2007.  The only portion of this list that I feel to be definitive in any way, is the list of best albums.  I immersed myself in music during my illness, and the albums that follow create the soundtrack of my so called “Epstein” life.

(Chocolate Covered (Oddly Leafy) Strawberries: The Cure-All Food.)

(Michael Lowney and Nick McCarvel: The (Slightly  Creepy) Cure-All Friends.)

A difficult repercussion of music playing such an important role in my year, is that many of the albums that I fell in love with are forever associated with my struggle.  Certain songs come on and suck me back into the mindset I existed in when I first discovered them.  Many of these albums made my year, but several of them are ruined for me because of their place in the library of my illness. 

While there may be worse years to come, I can’t help but hope that I’m coming out of a particularly dark spot in my life.  For everyone who has stood by me in the past year, thank you.  I can’t imagine how monotonous this blog must have become at times.  For everyone that toasts health on New Years Eve, say it and mean it.  You never know how quickly health, or life itself, can be taken away.  Cherish it while you have it. 

Here is a look back on what helped make this difficult year great…even in the smallest ways.   I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR EVERYONE ELSE'S ADDITIONS! 

(Voice your opinion.  Raise your (on-line) hand.)

ALBUMS:
1.    M.I.A-Kala
2.    Arcade Fire- Neon Bible
3.    Nicole Atkins- Neptune City
4.    Radiohead-In Rainbows
5.    St Vincent-Marry Me
6.    LCD Soundsystem- Sound of Silver
7.    Rilo Kiley- Under the Blacklight
8.    Sara Bareilles- Little Voice
9.    Alicia Keys-As I Am
10.    Amy Winehouse-Back to Black
11.    Kevin Drew-Spirit If...
12.  Feist- The Reminder
13.    Mark Ronson- Version

THEATER/ DANCE/ CONCERTS:

1.    Company-Broadway Revival
2.    Nederlands Dance Theater
3.    Eurydice
4.    Xanadu (#1) - With Michelle Dorrance.  Nothing beats the first time. 
5.    M.I.A. at Terminal 5
6.    Alessandra Ferri’s  Farewell
7.    Xanadu (#4)- With Marcelo Gomes.   During the strike, which brought the performance to volcanic levels.
8.    Decadance at Cedar lake
9.    Audra McDonald in “110 in the Shade”
10.    Xanadu (#2)- With David Hallberg and Nick McCarvel.  A pleasure to share with my two best friends. 
11.    West Side Story 50th Anniversary at Gypsy of the Year

MOVIES:
1.    The Lives of Others (technically released in US in February 2007)
2.    Ratatouille
3.    No Country for Old Men
4.    Knocked Up
5.    Once
6.    Hairspray
7.    La Vie En Rose
8.    Superbad
9.   Juno
10. Lars and the Real Girl

(Expected to be on the list once they make it to the end of the cinematic earth Montana: Atonement, Sweeney Todd, There Will Be Blood, The Savages, I’m Not There)

BOOKS:
1.    The Fountainhead- Ayn Rand
2. The Wind Up Bird Chronicle- Haruki Murakami
3.    The Corrections- Jonathan Franzen
4.    Will in the World- Stephen Greenblatt
5.    Under the Banner of Heaven
Runner Up:  Harry Potter #7

TV:
1.    Friday Night Lights
2.    30 Rock
3.    Pushing Daisies
4.    The Office
5.    Wednesday Night Trifecta- America’s Next Top Model, Gossip Girl, Project Runway.  (The perfect diversion during Eppy-sodes.)

TOP TEN EVENTS IN MY LIFE THIS YEAR:
1.   Spending the summer with Nick McCarvel in New York
2.    Paris
3.    My first published article
4.    Dancing Mercutio w/ Boca Ballet Theatre
5.    The Musee D’Orsey
6.    Performing “The Green Table” In Europe
7.    The release that my first break down, five months into being sick, brought.
8.    Discovering I love photography
9.    Turning 21 At Gay 90’s in Minneapolis
10.   BIP/BONing

Comments

[Deb]

Go, Matt. You are clearly a brilliant artist in so many ways. What you've dealt with in 2007 will imbue you with a depth of character that you can take with you into everything you do. Thanks for your blog, and for the creative energy that emerges in your work in spite of "Eppy," as you call it. Best wishes for you and yours in 2008, and can't wait for Rant t-shirts! Cheers!

[Philip]

Matt, I am happy to tell you that being twenty-one is a mere passing point in life. Things simply get better and better as you grow older - provided you let them.

When I was a teen-ager I thought life ended at thirty. But forty was one of my best years and fifty was better still, and in 2008 I will turn sixty and I can't wait.

So, even though your twenty-first year was not what you expected, I assure you that you will put it behind you. You have so many interests and talents and friends - enjoy them all and have a Happy New Year.

[Rob]

I second that. I'm 28 now and I can barely even remember year 21 beyond where I lived for college and a few other minor things. Life just gets better, believe in that.

[Aisha]

Reading this post nearly made me cry because bits of it are so similar to this year I've just had. Illness and the change it brings to your daily routine can be nothing short of devastating, but your positive attitude is so great to hear. So, since you asked, here are the cultural works that helped me keep a stiff upper lip this year:

CDs: Tha Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Movies: The Painted Veil (I didn't get to see it until 2007)
(Sadly, I found out that Sweeny Todd won't be coming to my Wyoming town at all, so that one won't be on the list until DVD time)

Dance: ABT's Romeo and Juliet in Chicago. I was a super, so I only saw bits of it in rehearsal, but it took my breath away. Having that experience was one of the best things I got to do last year.

TV: Doctor Who. It's pure, delicious British fun!

Anyway, I hope that wasn't too long. I don't really know you at all, but I'm wishing you all the best for 2008!

[lindsey]

I was a super in ABT's Romeo and Juliet in Chicago too!

I loved Will in the World and Ratatouille also. I don't know if you read Tolstoy or Dostoevsky, but their books are wonderful at distracting me from my knee injury. Probably the best music I listened to/discovered was Khachaturian's Masquerade Suite. Great list!

[lindsey]

happy new year!

[jolene]

You forgot to throw in a Nobel prize in the first paragraph! ;)

Sacha Baron Cohen was delicious in Sweeney Todd. Can't wait to hear your thoughts about the movie.

[Esther]

Hey Matt:

I agree with a lot of what's on your list. I thought "The Lives of Others" was brilliant. And "Hairspray" is one of my favorite musicals. I definitely have a weakness for pop-oriented scores.

I saw lots of great theater in 2007, on Broadway and elsewhere. I agree with you about Audra. I'd never seen her before, and I thought she was wonderful in "110 in the Shade." She just has a gorgeous voice.

I'm also with you on "30 Rock." I think it's even more funny this year than last year. I haven't watched "Friday Night Lights." I'm not really interested in high school football in Texas, but you do make it sound awfully appealing.

I'm a big fan of "Mad Men" for the way it brilliantly creates the early 1960s, and I love "Brothers and Sisters." I also loved "Falcon Crest" when I was a kid, so maybe that explains it!

Good luck, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that 2008 will be a happier, healthier year for you.