Yay! A New Year, and My 2011 Favorites in Books, Music and Techy Stuff

Now playing on our fridge: This collection reflects much of mine and my family's passions, if we could only add "Yay! Techy stuff!"

On Christmas morning, each of us Wells found a different Yay! LiFE! magnet in our stocking. As they congregated on our fridge later in the day (undoubtedly holding out hope for a bite of  yay! sausage balls! or yay! eggnog!), I realized that they are an astonishingly simple but enthusiastic expression for most of the passions in my life:

Yay! Books! was in my stocking and of course represents my love for reading and writing both prose and poetry.

• Favorite fiction I read in 2011: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• Favorite nonfiction: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
• Favorite poetry book: The Color of Lost Rooms by Irene Latham (which I blogged about here)

Yay! Music! was in my son Matthew’s stocking, representing his strong commitments to marching band and choir at school and church. But of course we’re ALL plugged into music in various ways, including Mike, who built me, yes, built me, an upright, 4 string washtub bass this fall. (Photo below, and more about it in a future blog).

• Favorite album of 2011:  Hugh Laurie’s Let Them Talk. Kelsey pooh-poohed my interest in this CD at first, suggesting Hugh was just another actor cashing in on his fame to make a CD. A few days later, she texted me to please add Hugh to her Christmas list.

Yay! Banjo! was in Kelsey’s stocking, for her passion for playing the banjo, fiddle, cello, guitar, and anything else she can lay down an old-time groove on.

• Favorite live music of 2011: I have to list more than one: Ben Sollee at the Orange Peel in Asheville; Darrell Scott at the Franklin Theater; Sweet Fancy Moses at WDVX’s Blue Plate Special (They may not quite be at the Ben and Darrell level yet, but I’d think they’re cool even if Kelsey wasn’t in the band.)

My upright, four string washtub bass. Yay, my talented, woodworking man!

Yay! Kisses! was in Mike’s stocking, for obvious reasons. But on a more metaphorical level, I would argue, those kisses represent love in all its forms, for God and all the people I’m so blessed to have in my life.

I recently took my spiritual- psychological profile in for a year-end tune up and did this Find Your Passion exercise. It’s safe to say I seem to be on the right path, and the only obvious additional magnet I might need would be one that says Yay! Techy stuff!  (although being an astronaut was one passion I was able to realistically whittle from the list.) With that in mind, I’ll share:

• Favorite gadget of the year: My Kindle Fire
• Favorite apps: Pulse news reader, Read It Later (these aren’t the most exciting apps out there, I’m sure, but I use them all the time!)
• Favorite new social media: Pinterest (follow me on Pinterest)

Here’s to keeping the enthusiasm in our lives in this new year, through our passions and our relationships with others. What blessings.

What will make you say “Yay!” in the new year?

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Disclaimer: I’m in no way connected with Yay! LiFE!, although they seem like fun folks and I may try to convince them they need a Yay! Poetry! magnet. The magnets shown are copyright YAY! LiFE! YAY!, YAY! LiFE! and LiViN the YAY! LiFE! are all trademarks of YAY! LiFE!

I purchased these Yay! LiFE! magnets at Union Ave Books, Knoxville (where I’ll be returning for a poetry reading in February – yay!)