Best of 2012

Best of 2012 List:

Sharon's Novels

(1) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
(2) Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler
(3) Native Son by Richard Wright
(4) Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
(5) Sophie's Choice by William Styron

David's Novels (all by Chuck Palahniuk)

(1) Fight Club
(2) Invisible Monsters
(3) Haunted
(4) Choke

Best Public Reading: Dante's Inferno at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine

Our Favorite Movie Rentals

(1) 2 Days in New York
(2) Vertigo
(3) The Way (El Camino)
(4) Farinelli
(5) Midnight in Paris
(6) The Wave
(7) The Skin I Live In
(8) We Bought a Zoo
(9) Carnage
(10) The Breakfast Club


Best Opera of the Year

The Ring Cycle by the Metropolitan Opera Company:

Das Rheingold
Die Walküre
Siegfried
Götterdämmerung

Four operas, some lasting seven hours plus, with the incredible music by Wagner.  The fantastic technological set design did not at all distract from the music and storytelling (as some reviewers claimed); this is definitely an opera everyone must see once in a lifetime.

Best Art Exhibits/Gallery Shows/Public Art

(1) The Value of Water @ Cathedral of St. John the Divine
(2) New Photographers - Yuji Obata's time capture photographs of snowflakes in Japan @ Danziger
(3)The Game of Kings: Medieval Ivory Chessmen from the Isle of Lewis @ The Cloisters
(4) Cloud City by Tomas Saraceno on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
(5) Discovering Columbus by Tatzu Nishi @ Columbus Circle
(6) Passing Glances by Peter Bulow @ Fort Tryon Park
(7) Jacco Olivier @ Madison Square Park
(8) Pet Sounds @ Madison Square Park
(9) Helio Oiticica "Penetrables" @ Galerie LeLong
(10) Buckyball by Leo Villareal @ Madison Square Park 

Best Broadway: The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Best Off Broadway Shows: Gatz (6 hour marathon play that included the entire reading of The Great Gatsby) and Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 (an electro-pop musical based on the novel War and Peace set in a Russian nightclub - absolutely stunning and phenomenal)

Best Family Show: The Christmas Spectacular at Rockefeller Center

Best Parade - Sharon marching with Manhattan College in the St. Patrick's Day Parade

Best TV Series: Breaking Bad (currently watching on DVD)

Best Sporting Events: Yankee Game (Cap Night in June) and Brooklyn Nets vs. New York Knicks (Knicks win with 3 pointer by J. Kidd with seconds left)! at new Barclays Center (David went with his brother Daniel in December)

Sporting Milestone: David runs his first NYC Half Marathon!

Best Science Experience - Inwood Stargazing (saw conjunction of Venus and Jupiter, Mars and Saturn rising!)

Best Travel Destinations

(1) San Feliu
(2) London
(3) Catskills
(4) Woodstock


Best Vegan Experience: Four Course Vegan

Best Ice Cream: L'Arte del Gelato 

Best Vegan Ice Cream: Lula's Sweet Apothecary

Best Shakespeare: Richard III at the Globe Theatre in London

Best View of NYC: Tree Lighting @ Rockefeller Center


Top 5 Reasons to Love New York City:

(1)VEGAN Capital - 4 Course Vegan (before they moved to Cali), Fabulous Vegan Restaurants (Peacefood Cafe, Quintessence and Caravan of Dreams) and even a Valentine's Vegan Pop-Up in Williamsburg {made it easy for David to be a 6 day a week and Sharon a 3 day a week vegan}
(2) Washington Heights and Inwood Community: Little Seed CSA, Harvest Festival, Easter Egg Scramble, PSK Soccer, NatureMania and Fort Tryon Bulb Planting
(3) Zoos and Wildlife Conservation Centers (Alexi and Sharon visited all 5 this year: Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, Queen's Zoo and Staten Island Zoo)
(4) Cycling - biking Alexi to school in the Weehoo, bike commuting to work, Blessing of the Bicycles, family rides along the Palisades, the Hudson River Greenway, and around Central Park, NYC Century and Alexi learning to ride his own bike with pedals (no training wheels!)
(5) Subway Musicians