This year I planned on ripping all my CDs to my MacBook. Didn’t happen. It’s tedious, there’s never time, the litany of excuses goes on and on. That changes next year.

Why? Because if we’re planning on buying a new home in 2013, I need to shrink my portion of digital goods considerably. There’s no excuse to not have everything loaded onto a computer that can be accessed via home sharing. Flipping content from computer to other devices in the home is really awesome and I’m finally seeing that potential.

What does it mean? I need an iMac. While everyone is going smaller — whether that’s iPads or MacBook Airs — I’m realizing that I need a machine that can comfortably store all the CDs and DVDs I own locally that I can then access on mobile devices. My MacBook just won’t cut it. I want something that can whirr quietly upstairs and be the classic home computer. I think iMac fits the bill.

Wish me luck in 2012 in getting our digital life together! (Do people still even buy used CDs and DVDs?)

Now it’s not so easy. I still really enjoy music and film, but there’s just no pressing need for me to “own” any of it. Does this mean I’m facing a future of ties for every gift going forward?

Less than 10 years ago I would still scurry to bookstores and record shops, or spend beyond my means on DVD sales online. Then that suddenly stopped.

Now, as I try to make sense of my home without being overrun by my toddler’s toys, I find myself wishing I’d made better use of the library. Where’d all this stuff come from? When did I ever think I’d read all the books I bought on whims, or watch all the DVDs I hoarded. Let’s not even talk about the music that accreted in my apartments over the years.

Since things started going digital in one form or other I’ve been reluctant to go all in. For those of us who’ve had physical media all our lives, a hard copy is a reassuring thing. Now I wish I’d taken the plunge sooner.

This is all to say I’m purging vast swaths of my cultural collections. If you’re someone who still likes these things, be in touch. You get dibs.

Now those gigs, along with similar ones at book and movie rental shops, are disappearing. What’s a geeky kid to do for those jobs we take on summer break, or those we take after, say, getting out of grad school?

Sure, you can always sign on at a temp staffing firm, but where’s the fun in that? I know plenty of people who’d sooner take a job that paid less at a cool shop. What those gigs don’t have in pay, they make up in prestige. How can one do underemployment in style these days?

Here’s what I’d like them to fix:

• Shared queues. This is a great feature that was spared the chopping block in the past year. It’s the thing that ensures that Helen and I share our account and that everyone gets their picks. Historically, Helen’s gotten two discs and I got one; she’d burn through seasons of TV while I slogged through art house flicks. It’s pretty great, right? It’d be even better if Netflix could tell us which titles were on streaming for both queues, instead of just selecting my queue and leaving it at that.
• New releases. I get it. This is an embarrassment that Netflix wants you to forget by bringing you more streaming content. I’m not convinced. Even if we can’t have new releases for 28 days plus however long it takes to get them to us, could we at least see what new stuff is out there, even if it’s just to pointlessly update our queue. Is that so much to ask?
• Social features. These were horrible when they had them, but they might’ve improved them rather than wiping them out outright. I know social features aren’t easy to do. It’s hard to know what people want. But I can’t think of any other online movie service that people love more than Netflix. I’m guessing the community could’ve made helpful suggestions. It wouldn’t have had to involve much work probably. At this point they could probably get away with some degree of Facebook integration and let that platform do the heavy lifting.

Now, I’m thrilled that they’re leveraging their streaming content to the max. Putting that stuff on any screen is great. I’ve heard plenty of people say there’s nothing good in the streaming library, but that’s just because they’re not really into the art house content. I love it! I can’t wait until I can watch an episode of 30 Rock on my iPhone as I ride the train. I just think that these tweaks will go a long way to improving the service for the long haul.

So, go ahead and surprise me, Netflix!

Very happy to finally see Inception, my first movie in the theater since Charlie was born. Far cry from the last movie I saw in the theater, which was Adventureland, if memory serves.

Great, big movie. It’s the sort of stuff that makes you want to shake anyone who tells you art should conform to the new financial realities brought to us by piracy. I love small movies, but if everything were shot on handhelds I think film art would just die altogether. What would be left to do? If the world were only filled with amateur Cassavetes, we’d be a pretty dour bunch, wouldn’t we? I mean, is there even a point to getting into the thought puzzle at the core (?) of the film? I feel like I’m still absorbing the movie.

Did anyone see The Prestige, Nolan’s stopover flick between Batman Returns and The Dark Knight? Guess not, because if they had I think more people would think of him as the M. Knight Shymalan you don’t laugh at…yet.

Speaking of Shymalan, the crowd burst into laughter once his name was mentioned in the trailer for Devil. Dude’s not hitting his way out of this slump, unless he intended to be the new Ed Wood.

Conversely, how stupid do I feel for having ever bought Equinox, which I watched exactly one time? I think I’d hasten to add a follow-up to Pullquote’s post: how many DVDs do you own that sit on a shelf or in a drawer that are untouched? I confess to more than my fair share of these.

I feel sheepish even taking part in conversations like this now. I used to eagerly await regular emails from Criterion about their latest titles and then make notes in priority order about which I’d buy when they went on sale. Now that I’m less bullish on buying any sort of physical media, they’re hardly a blip on my radar. I will admit that I nearly jumped for joy when I read that they were releasing Red Desert, which is possibly my favorite Antonioni movie, even though I always say it’s L’Avventura.

Wondered if it was possible for anyone to actually make a film that captures the soul-crushing hopelessness of war without delivering a hamfisted message that turns people off. The Hurt Locker did that for me. Granted, it hasn’t changed the fact that we’re still heavily engaged in both Iraq and Afghanistan, despite electing a President who promised to change all that.

Work harder, Obama.

Watched An Education recently. Wondered what Band of Outsiders would’ve been like with a happy ending.