Ty Dykema 2020, am I right, y’all? I began the year so sick that folks legitimately began to worry if I’d make it. Then I turned 30 in March, exactly one week into when the pandemic lockdown began here in Michigan. I thought things were wild then, we all did, but as you reading this know, everything ramped up to eleven. Suddenly there was ample time to reevaluate and recalibrate my personal life a bit.
I worked on a lot of things I’d avoided for a long time, and I’m certainly not done. I normally have a long list of fun moments and proud accomplishments to list here before I rank things for y’all to check out, but this year I just want to keep that to myself and my loved ones. What I will say is that I have learned to love myself in real, more meaningful ways, especially as a Disabled person, and I hope you reading this get to experience that yourself in whatever way you need. You deserve to be here and to be safe, fulfilled, and celebrated. Thanks.
Top 15 albums that came out this year:
- Melkbelly –PITH (Carpark/Wax Nine)
- Bartees Strange – Stay Alive (Memory Music)
- Pity Party – Concrete (self-released)
- Nothing – The Great Dismal (Relapse)
- Ratboys – Printer’s Devil (Topshelf)
- Mac Miller – Circles (REMember/Warner)
- The Lawrence Arms – Skeleton Coast (Epitaph)
- Pop Smoke – Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon (Republic)
- Hum – Inlet (Earth Analog/Polyvinyl)
- Gleemer – Down Through (Other People)
- Laura Jane Grace – Stay Alive (Polyvinyl)
- Touche Amore – Lament (Epitaph)
- Fiona Apple – Fetch The Bolt Cutters (Epic)
- Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou – May Our Chambers Be Full (Sacred Bones)
- Dogleg – Melee (Triple Crown)
Top 5 EPs that came out this year:
- Roundhouse (Consume Fanzine)
- Vagabonds – Liminal Space (self-released)
- Soul Glo – Songs To Yeet At The Sun (Secret Voice)
- Abner – Abner MMXX (self-released)
- Mindforce – Swingin’ Swords, Choppin’ Lords (Triple-B)
Top 5 documentaries I watched for the first time this year:
- Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution (2020) dir. Nicole Newnham & James Lebrecht
- The Last Dance (2020) dir. Jason Hehir
- I Am Not Your Negro (2016) dir. Raoul Peck
- Yes, We Fuck! (2015) dir. Antonio Centeno & Raul de la Morena
- This Is Paris (2020) dir. Alexandra Dean
Top 10 books I read that resonated with me this year:
- The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison
- The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
- Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories From The 21st Century edited by Alice Wong
- Daring Greatly: How The Courage To Be Vulnerable Transforms The Way We Live, Love, Parent, And Lead by Brene Brown
- Sitting Pretty: The View From My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body by Rebekah Taussig
- Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Davis
- Diverse Voices Of Disabled Sexualities In The Global South by Paul Chappell
- Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law by Haben Girma
- The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
- When We Do Harm: A Doctor Confronts Medical Error By Danielle Ofri
Post a comment