I wrote a few days ago about my best things from 2022. That post covered media that I was particularly enthralled by or enjoyed from this past year. Now, I thought I would discuss my best things from 2022 that are tangible.
Apple
I am going to round up the first few into a category of Apple devices. I began my past few Best Of’s writing about an iPad. First it was an iPad Air that I inherited from my father. Then I upgraded that to an iPad Air in green. This year I upgraded that iPad to an iPad Pro, for several reasons. First: FaceID. I can’t overstate how buggy TouchID has been for me, and what a frustrating user experience it is when it doesn’t work properly. Second: USB-C. This is apparently the connector of the future, and it charges much faster than Lightning. Third: external display. While I have yet to use this feature, having just now been enabled in a software update, I am eager to get an external display and use it with my iPad. Fourth: the Smart Connector. This leads into another best thing, the Magic Keyboard. Being able to connect a keyboard without using Bluetooth, that also gives me a trackpad? Genius! I have used my used Magic Keyboard for many months and I use no other iPad stand or keyboard. It is perfect for my needs. And, when I need to truly go mobile, I can just disconnect from the magnets and go.
Next up, still in the Apple category, are my AirPods Pro. I got these in the spring of ‘22 because my wife and I were taking a trip via aircraft, and I hate dealing with jet noise in the airplane. Enter active noise cancelation! I know there are a plethora of other headphones that have that feature, but the ability to effortlessly connect to my iPad or iPhone just by picking up the device is magical. For me, a huge part of technology is the user experience. I am an Apple customer for exactly that reason. Any other tech I have used has been overly frustrating or clunky. AirPods Pro have other features I love, but the ANC is my top feature.
Action Figures
If you follow me elsewhere, you know I dabble in toy photography. I started with LEGO, but since have moved almost exclusively into traditional action figures, and specifically the Black Series Star Wars from Hasbro. This year I collected quite a few of those figures to bolster my collection, but one of my favorites actually was the most expensive I have ever purchased and it wasn’t a Hasbro. This was a Tamashii Nations Ronin Mandalorian and Grogu.
This figure reimagines the Mandalorian as a wandering samurai warrior, complete in Japanese samurai armor. Little Grogu sports a top-knot and is pushed in a wooden cart. The Mandalorian Disney+ show is directly influenced by Lone Wolf and Cub, a Japanese manga from 1970, and this captures that mashup perfectly. The price of the figure is completely justified by the quality, and it is one you really need to see in real life to appreciate the level of detail and thought that went into its creation. (I did not take the above picture, it is from the marketing materials. I have yet to photograph this figure for myself.)
Other action figures I picked up include an Ant-Man figure I really want to use in some creative pictures, a George Lucas as a Stormtrooper, a Buzz Lightyear from the Pixar film Lightyear that came out this year, and a Rocketeer figure. All of these speak to me in some way, or are deep dives into my personal nerd that I appreciate on many levels.
Tools
I’ve started to collect tools for use in making and household projects. I finally got a toolbox for them all. I had a basic toolbox with the removable insert, but it was crammed full, and the plastic hinges were warping and it needed replacing. I bought a Craftsman toolbox on wheels, with multiple levels of various sizes, and a few removable inserts that fits my needs perfectly. It is portable, in that I could wheel it places or put in the back of my car, but mostly it stays in the under-stairs closet, which is fine. The top part, with my most used tools, actually separates from the wheeled portion, so that I can take it places.
For upstairs I bought a tool bag exactly like the one my dad keeps his electrical tools in (my dad being an electrician by trade) from a military surplus store, and keep a few tools I need for drawing and making there. I also have a new Lufkin tape measure I bought after seeing Adam Savage use it on Tested. It is neon green on black, and I think the numbers glow in the dark even, though why you would use a tape measure in the dark is beyond me, but hey! Why not? Anyway, it is a fantastic tape measure, and I use it to help me rearrange furniture and measure things. I mean, what else do you use a tape measure for?
In Conclusion
I am reminded that my Best Thing from 2021 was life itself, having faced real death in the hospital with Covid in January of that year. Certainly objects in space are fleeting and transient. Tech comes and is replaced with something new and better. Tools wear out or are no longer useful and are upgraded. Toys bring fun and joy, but can sit in a drawer in between uses. Even the media I love exists outside “real life”.
My true best things of 2022 remain my life, my wife, my family (including my two fur children) and those I am privileged to call friends. As my mentor-from-a-distance Adam Savage is fond of espousing, I want to collect experiences and moments of meaning. That is all I truly possess, and anything else can be lost or taken away. With that in mind, what are your Best Things from 2022, tangible or intangible? I’d love to hear about them, so send me an email or something.
Here’s to a great 2023, and may we all be blessed with many Best Things in the year to come!
a simple man 