2024 in Review: A Year to Remember
This year was... eventful, to say the least. Every month brought new challenges, triumphs and memories — and it was probably my best one yet.
Man, what a year. Once again, it feels like 2024 came and went like the wind, yet simultaneously felt like it would never end. Culturally, it was the year Kendrick ended Drake, Chappell Roan dominated the charts, Brat Summer stole the show and the Rizzler stole our hearts. Politically, it was the year we fell out of a coconut tree, Elon began his oligarch era, health insurance corporations came under fire and Trump, well… he won.
As we march into the new year, uncertain of the future that lies before us in a world plagued by strife and gripped by zealots, I’ve been thinking quite a lot about where I am and what’s next. I experienced quite a lot this year. It was the year I embraced my independence, moved to New York (actually New York, not just Jersey City), got over 60 bylines in one of the biggest magazines in the world and completed my master’s degree in magazine journalism. Oh, and I turned 24.
To commemorate this monumental year in my life, I’m breaking down each month and highlighting some key moments and stats that reflect what 2024 looked like to me.
January
Favorite Song: “Generator” by Justice
Favorite Album: Neo Metro City by Vantage
Favorite Game: Baldur’s Gate 3
I started 2024 thinking about jobs. Not only my prospects of finding one in the future, but the general state of my industry as well. Two weeks into the month, Twitter (I will never call it X) blew up when dozens of employees at Pitchfork announced they were laid off en masse as Condé Nast merged the music criticism platform with GQ. Now in my second semester of my master’s program, I was taking a class on profile writing, and I figured that for my semester-long assignment writing about someone going through a major life change, this event could be the perfect catalyst for my piece. I reached out to Amy Phillips, the former executive editor of the platform was laid off from the platform, and got to work on preparing for the piece (we’ll come back to this later).
January wasn’t particularly eventful for me, as I was mostly just getting situated with the next stage of grad school and applying to summer internships. I did get to meet and interview EJ Dickson, former senior writer for Rolling Stone and current senior writer at The Cut, which was super cool. I also started working on another profile of Angel Rodriguez, co-founder and president of Avenues for Justice — an alternative to incarceration program for inner city youths in NYC. 2024 was off to a good start.
February
Favorite Song: “All Ur Luv” by Wavedash, Madeon and Toro y Moi
Favorite Album: Matt’s Missing by Matt Martians
Favorite Game: Persona 3: Reload
In February, I found myself in criminal court. Across the hall from where Donald Trump was being indicted for 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, I met Angel in person for the first time and got a tour of his AFJ office. Aside from learning about the criminal justice system, I tried my hand at teaching others — writing my first how-to piece about picking up the guitar. I also did my first vox pop, a form of journalism I will always dislike doing.
Outside of my journalistic pursuits, I showed my older brother Cody around New York for a couple of days, went to the MOMA for the first time and spent dozens of hours playing the newly released Persona 3: Reload, a game I had been eagerly awaiting for quite some time. With the final season of Curb Your Enthusiasm beginning this month, I also began a weekly watch party with my friends Will and Jackson — a tradition we would couple with competitive games of Catan.
March
Favorite Song: “On Our Way” by Nobuo Uematsu
Favorite Album: Chorus by Mildlife
Favorite Game: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
March started off with a bang. In my NYU cohort’s inaugural karaoke outing, I unveiled my rendition of Supertramp’s “Goodbye Stranger” to the world (everyone in attendance March 2nd at AWOL NYC), shared a killer duet of The Strokes’ “Hard to Explain” with Olivier and sang along as my friends left no crumbs on the stage. It was a blast, and karaoke quickly became our new go-to social activity.
The month’s classwork had me all over the city. I wrote a test drive piece about my first visit to an Adult Children of Alcoholics meeting in Park Slope (haven’t published it yet, but planning on it soon!) and began interviewing Washington Square Park’s resident poet laureate Peter Chinman (which I later published in People). I also continued my longform profile of Amy, interviewing her and other music journalists throughout the month.
March also meant Spring Break, so I was able to return home to Arizona for a week to spend some much-needed free time with my friends. I hung out with my friend Libbi at her bar in Phoenix, celebrated my best friend Kevin’s 23rd birthday and recorded a new song with my bandmates in Tucson. After I returned to the Big Apple, my other best friends Jay and Mitch came out to visit me to end the month off as well as it started.
April
Favorite Song: “Delorean Dynamite” by Todd Terje
Favorite Album: Persona 3 Reload Original Soundtrack by Atlus Sound Team
Favorite Game: Overwatch 2
Favorite Movie (finally made a Letterboxd lol): Monkey Man
April was full of pleasant surprises. One of my professors took our class to a taping of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and I was able to exist 30 feet away from one of my childhood heroes, Daniel Radcliffe, as he held up adorable puppies. My good friend Jack, who was my co-captain for our high school lacrosse team, came to visit New York and we spent a day catching up in Chinatown. I also saw one of my favorite rappers, RiTchie, perform at Elsewhere in Brooklyn to promote his new album Triple Digits [112]. Oh, and I found out that I had been accepted for my summer internship with People Magazine!
I continued working on my longform profile of Amy, and was finally in the last stages of the writing process. I also took portrait photos of her to accompany the story at Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn. Additionally in photography world, Olivier and I set forth in our duties as photo leads for our Collage Magazine class project and underwent a whirlwind weekend of photoshoots to prepare for the magazine’s unveiling next month. With most of our pieces ready to go and our second semester nearly at an end, we were on pace to finish on a high note.
May
Favorite Song: “Silver Joy” by Damien Jurado
Favorite Album: Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder
Favorite Game: Fallout 4
Favorite Movie: Challengers
May was a month of culmination. I finished my profile about Amy, my classmates and I presented our magazine Collage, and I began touring new apartments in Brooklyn — I was finally finding my way out of Jersey City. The semester came to a close, and I was happy to have some free time before I started at People Magazine next month. My dad came to visit me for a few days, helping my friend Will and I as we looked at apartments. Dad and I also watched The Holdovers together, which quickly cemented itself as one of my favorite movie soundtracks of all time.
My classmates and I did another round of karaoke, but this time I reserved us a private room at Karaoke City in Koreatown. Olivier and I put everyone on to the greatest song of all time, “Goodbye Horses” by Q Lazzarus — a song that’s lived in my brain rent-free since I first played Skate 3 back in 2010. The rest of the month was pretty tame, and was mostly spent just watching the new Fallout show and diving back into Fallout 4 to reminisce. I appreciated the free time, though, as I knew that my next few months would be a lot busier.
June
Favorite Song: “She’s Leaving You” by MJ Lenderman
Favorite Album: BRAT by Charli xcx
Favorite Game: Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC
Favorite Movie: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
In June, I became acquainted with the 9-to-5 experience (although it was really 10-to-6). On the 3rd, I began my internship at People Magazine. I woke up early and took the PATH train down to the World Trade Center, dressed up in business casual for the first time in ages. For my first month at the publication, I learned the ropes from my editors and other writers, going to trainings alongside my fellow interns and getting bylines wherever I could. I wrote about various celebrity happenings, including the Tony Awards, which I transcribed the entirety of for my coworkers. I had never watched an awards show from start to finish, and I had never done a live transcription of an event like that. I also attended a panel at the New York Film Festival, where I watched a screening of Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets followed by a discussion between Scorsese, Robert de Niro and Nas.
Aside from my work at People, I went to a Yankees game with Will and Jackson and celebrated Jackson’s birthday at Margaritaville in Times Square, feeling the spirit of Jimmy within us as we chowed down on Cheeseburgers in Paradise. To close the month out, my mom came to visit. I showed her around the city and spent some quality time together at my apartment, watching Big Fat Liar together for the first time since I was a kid.
July
Favorite Song: “No Excuses” by Childish Gambino
Favorite Game: Borderlands 3
Favorite Movie: Twisters
July brought the work grind to the forefront even more. The Summer Olympics in Paris toward the end of the month required a lot of prep work, so it was all hands on deck. I was all over the map at People, writing about everything from the 2024 ESSENCE Festival of Culture to Billie Eilish’s Chicken Shop Date. Aside from that and the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, I dipped my toes into politics coverage for the first time, writing about Joe Biden’s endorsement of his running mate Kamala Harris for the 2024 presidential race. I even got the opportunity to see one of my favorite artists of all time, Childish Gambino, perform his final album Bando Stone and the New World live at Little Island two weeks before it released on streaming — checking off my bucket list to see two of my artistic heroes (Donald and Steve Lacy) performing together in the flesh.
I also finally moved to New York! I stepped off the PATH train at 14th Street for the last time in the foreseeable future, my suitcase beside me and my backpack weighing heavy on my shoulders — my eyes wide with opportunity as I officially became a New Yorker. For real this time. Within days I became acquainted with our home’s feline friends, Chico and Betty. Chico especially has taught me a lot in our time together, especially the importance of locking my door when I’m not home (I discovered quickly his aptitude for opening doors — his unique technique makes use of his long, stretchy body) so that he doesn’t tear down my flimsy curtains held up by even flimsier thumbtacks.
After I got settled in to our new digs, my friend and bandmate Kate came out to the city and we were able to shoot the cover photo for our new single, “Forgive/Forget” at Fort Greene Park (shoutout Olivier for the incredible photo work, per usual). I also got to see another musical hero of mine, Joe Bataan, as he performed a free concert at Prospect Park at the grand age of 81 and took a much needed beach day in Rockaway with my friends.
August
Favorite Song: “Tension” by Kylie Minogue
Favorite Album: Imaginal Disk by Magdalena Bay
Favorite Game: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Favorite Movie: Alien
My band’s new single dropped on the 2nd to start August off right, just in time for Chico and Betty’s Housewarming Bash — signaling an end to DJ Verbtown’s prolonged hiatus. Friends and drinks were aplenty, and our humble home in Ridgewood was finally christened to no one’s chagrin. I rocked out with my favorite band King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard in Queens, got super into The Witcher lore after hours of gameplay and finished out my final weeks at People Magazine. To end things off with a bang, I published a profile on Michael Alan, better known to friends and fans as “Alien”, a wickedly talented artist and interesting person who I had gotten to know over the course of a few meetups. After my time at People concluded, I took a little free time before my last semester of grad school kicked off in September.
September
Favorite Song: “Deep Sea” by Snail Mail
Favorite Album: Manning Fireworks by MJ Lenderman
Favorite Game: Astro Bot
Favorite Movie: American Cuck
Worst Movie: Megalopolis
The final third of the year was also my favorite, and it started with a stellar birthday month. I chronicled my last first day of school ever with a fit pic for my mom (thank you Chloe), got the old mirrorless up and running again for my photojournalism class, saw the incomparable Geordie Greep at Union Pool with Matt and Jackson and celebrated my Kobe year with some cohort karaoke and a midnight screening of one the worst movies I’ve ever seen (Megalopolis). It was balanced out by the fact that I saw my favorite short film of the year, American Cuck, however. During my birthday shenanigans I also made sure to pay a visit to one of my favorite New York bars, Hell’s Kitchen’s Barcelona Bar — revered (by me) for their variety of themed group shots. School-wise, I watched the Emmy’s and published a next-day review on my Substack, and took hundreds of photos around the city for photojournalism. It was good to have a camera back in my hands, and it helped me figure out that I want photography to play a more significant role in my career going forward.
October
Favorite Song: “Rose Quartz” by Toro y Moi
Favorite Album: The New Sound by Geordie Greep
Favorite Game: Metaphor: Refantazio
Favorite Movie: Climax
October was actually appropriately spooky for once, given that I spent a considerable amount of time hanging out in cemeteries. For my midterm photojournalism project, I made photos of three different cemeteries across New York, from Brooklyn to Sleepy Hollow. I took some portraits of cosplayers at the Medieval Festival, too, for my first pseudo-Ren Faire experience. I also got a little nostalgic about my favorite California haunt.
On a less spooky note, I saw my most streamed artist of the year — Toro y Moi — for the third time (and spent an absurd amount of money on merch), and I saw my favorite comedian, Conner O’Malley, in a ridiculous standup set at Town Hall. I also brought out Old Faithful (my homemade Hot Rod costume) for a Halloween-themed birthday party that I went to with Matt.
November
Favorite Song: “Sophisticated Space” by Sidney Gish
Favorite Album: VEGA INTL. Night School by Neon Indian
Favorite Game: Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Favorite Movie: Gladiator
I got active in November. I attended my first ever New York City marathon to take photos of the day’s racers and supporters, chronicled the life of a superhero in the days leading up to his big fight with his archnemesis and buckled down for the final weeks of my master’s program, interviewing dozens of people and writing thousands of words for my final projects. I enjoyed a lovely friendsgiving in the city where I got to cook my mother’s tuna casserole and share it with my friends. I also found out that I got an internship at Newsweek come January — assuaging my fears of joblessness following my master’s degree. With all of the pieces in place, it was finally time to finish strong.
December
Favorite Song: “Together” by Thomas Bangalter and DJ Falcon
Favorite Album: Alive 2007 by Daft Punk
Favorite Game: Marvel Rivals
Favorite Movie: Nickel Boys
December was a fitting end to a fantastic year. After crunch time concluded and I completed my final projects and capstone, I commemorated the completion of my master’s degree with my cohort at our program’s celebration. It was a bittersweet moment, knowing that I’d never have to go to school again but I wouldn’t be able to see my new friends as frequently — but the friendships we forged are unforgettable, and I know that our karaoke nights won’t become just a thing of the past. I also celebrated some friends’ birthdays, hitting some new bars for the first time and staying out a little later than I am used to.
Once my New York duties were relinquished for the time being, I flew back home to Arizona to close out the year. I saw friends and family I hadn’t seen in months, including my sister and nephew in Oregon, and relaxed to my heart’s content. I did get sick for a few days toward the end, which always seems to happen to me for some reason, but What We Do in the Shadows kept me in good company. And for New Year’s, I let loose with some old friends for a night to remember.
If you made it this far into my obnoxiously long 2024 recap, I applaud and appreciate you. Thank you for humoring my public act of self-reflection. I hope many more of my years in the future will end up like this one.