Here's my fashionably late list of favorite things of 2005:
Favorite Album: Picaresque by The Decemberists
I had never heard a single song by The Decemberists until October, but every day since then I've listened to at least one song from this album (and usually the whole thing, sometimes more than once).
My basis for a great album is that (nearly) every song is likable and each has a unique sound. You get huge bonus points if yours songs are actually about something (i.e., they tell an actual story). It doesn't have to be something thrilling, but I'm kind of bored with the standard, "I loved this girl, she left me," songs. Picaresque is chock full of amazingly unique songs like "The Bagman's Gambit" and "The Mariner's Revenge Song," both of which tell a story (literally) and are endlessly fun to listen to.
Runner up for favorite album was Plans by Death Cab for Cutie.
Favorite TV Season/Series Finale: Six Feet Under
I had my problems with the show's middle area, but by god if it didn't have the best series finale I've ever seen. I still think about that last episode on a regular basis.
Favorite TV Show (2004-2005 season): 24
2005's season of 24 was probably its best yet. Each episode was packed with action and drama and they seemed to finally perfect the format. Kudos to the person who kept the Kim character off the show and even more kudos to the writers for slowly reintroducing all of our favorite characters as the season went along.
Runner up for favorite show was Lost, but it couldn't win because I didn't start watching it until it was released on DVD. I love the show now (and watch it regularly), but it didn't seem right to choose it as number one.
Favorite Photo I Took: Katia, in Shinjuku
It was hard to pick only one, since I took 1,945 photos in 2005, but I chose as carefully as I could. The lights in the background, the look on her face (and the memory of where we were and how much fun we were having at the time) makes this my favorite photo of the year.
Runners up for favorite photo I took where: Corners, Reflection and Streetlight Snow. You can view this list of favorites on Flickr (where you can comment and view different sizes).
Favorite Game: Resident Evil 4
This is basically a no-brainer. RE4 was a complete reinvention of one of the greatest game series of all time, and it's actually better than ever before. That so rarely happens. I had fun every minute I played this game. That happens even less. If you haven't played this game, go buy it immediately (especially now that it's also available for the PS2).
Favorite Non-Blog Website: Flickr
I love Flickr. I really do. So much. Occasionally, I'll mention Flickr and someone will ask me what it is and I almost lose it—everyone in the world should be using it. Seriously, if you're not—start. Right now.
Runners up for favorite non-blog website were del.icio.us and Digg.
Favorite Blog or Similar: Three-way tie between Daring Fireball, project.ioni.st and Defective Yeti
It seems cliche to choose DF, but it's still one of the only sites that I read all of the content on. Every article, everything. project.ioni.st is great because of the amount of different content that's posted on a daily basis and DY is just really fun to read.
Favorite App: TextMate
Finally, someone did it right. TextMate is by far the best editor on the Mac and, quite frankly, any platform. I've been using it since it was first publicly released and I love it to death. It's worth twenty times its price but, unlike BBEdit, doesn't cost a fortune. Allan Odgaard is my hero.
Runner up for favorite app was NetNewsWire, but I felt like that really would have won more in 2004 than 2005, since I've been using it for a long time now. But still, NNW is a fantastic app.
Favorite Movie: Batman Begins
There's not much to say other than: I love super heroes, I love Batman, I loved this movie. I never thought it could be better than Tim Burton's Batman, but it was.
Runners up for favorite movie were Sin City, Syriana and King Kong, although I didn't see enough movies this year.
Favorite Purchase: Two Dell 20.5" LCD Displays
I'm sure in the long run my favorite purchase of 2005 will end up being the Quad G5, but since I bought that on December 28, I have to give these displays the title. They use the same screens as the Cinema Displays, but I got them for much cheaper and having two displays is a place from which you cannot return to the world of a single display.
Favorite Vacation or Trip: Japan
This was easy to choose. Going to Japan has been a dream vacation for years and in 2005 we spent nearly two weeks there and loved every minute of it (well, maybe not when we were on crowded buses in Kyoto). Tokyo was the most interesting place I've ever been in my life and I will definitely go back and hopefully sooner than later.