Durham is home to two universities and is spitting distance from two more plus a number of small liberal arts colleges and community colleges. It doesn’t matter if you’re in school, you know someone who is, or you have a friend who teaches for a living. This week the city gave a collective sigh as teachers and students alike acknowledged the end of summer. As a former teacher, I couldn’t help a moment of schadenfreude as I cackled with delight.

Don’t worry; I felt guilty about it later.  It got me thinking about what I had enjoyed the past few months. I’m sure there will be numerous top ten lists of the summer arguing which was the definitive movie or song. I saw my fair share of blockbusters involving superheroes and cheered on John Oliver’s turn at the Daily Show desk, but I wanted to share with you the things that delighted me and fed my creativity that aren’t likely to receive as much press.

10. Searching for Sonny: I would never have found this movie if not for my fellow die hard Veronica Mars friend. We’ve both participated in the VM movie kickstarter campaign, which has been a joy all of its own this summer. Searching is a small indie starring VM’s Jason Dohring. I found myself absolutely delighted with the characters, plot, and zany humor. Everyone who watched that evening enjoyed it, and no one else even had any Veronica Mars nostalgia for Dohring.

9. The Middle: Despite already being on for four years and coming on before Modern Family, somehow I knew nothing about this show. After asking around my social groups, I discovered I wasn’t alone. Let me clear it up for you. It’s about a family living in the fictional town of Orson, Indiana which is in the middle of nowhere. I don’t know if this show would appeal to everyone, but as someone who is from nowhere, Indiana, I laughed so hard through the pilot that I frightened the cat. My husband, who is from the Washington, D.C. area, is constantly asking, “Do they actually do that?”  Yes. The answer is always yes.

8. Will Gordon: Gordon would probably rank even higher on this list if he’d write more often or if I could find a regular blog for him. So far I’ve only been able to find his food/beer related posts on Kinja and Twitter. I’m not even interested in most of the topics he writes about, but he is so freakin’ hysterical. If Gordon wrote about tax law, I would probably read it. He’s foul mouthed and steps way over the lie sometimes, but I can’t drink anything while I read his posts for fear I’ll choke.  Eureka!  He does have a blog, although it’s somewhat neglected.

7. The Scared is scared: I might have actually seen this first in the spring, but it continues to delight me into the summer. It’s a student film that a friend of mine at NC State brought to my attention. He’s a design guy, and I think the filmmaker Bianca Giaever runs in his circles. It’s eight minutes of exquisite storytelling with a 6-year-old narrator. It also happens to hold a huge amount of wisdom on how to face fear.

Warning:  The Silver Linings You Tube clip below contains adult language.

6. Silver Linings Playbook: Yes, by now you’ve probably heard about this movie, but have you actually seen it? I didn’t get around to watching it until it came out on DVD. Still, I don’t know how many times I’ve started a conversation this summer with, “Have you seen it?” and been shocked to have the conversation immediately halt when the person has to admit they haven’t. Part of the problem I think is that people don’t know what this movie is. Romantic comedy? Drama about mental illness? As one of my friends put it while watching, “I’m feeling all the feels.”  It’s everything, and it’s fantastic. It’s one of the best movies I’ve seen in years. As much as I enjoyed Argo, I’ll admit now that SLP should have taken best picture. One of the best scenes is Bradley Cooper’s completely appropriate reaction to reading Hemingway.

5. Hamish and Andy: My husband and I lived in Australia for a few months, and while we were there, we discovered the gem that is Hamish and Andy’s Gap Year. It’s somewhat difficult to describe as we don’t really have an American equivalent. Two nutty guys go to a different country or continent every summer and explore the oddest things they can find and participate in crazy schemes. For example, the summer they went to the United States, they staged a fake dating show in New York to get Andy a date, launched a whole campaign to get Hillary Clinton to invite them for a BBQ, and entered a “hollerin’” contest in North Carolina. This summer they’re in Asia, and we’re laying bets they’ll get arrested at some point. The TV show is our favorite, but they also have a year round radio show.

4. Daisy Cakes: All right, I know this one is a little cruel, because unless you’re local, you can’t really enjoy it. Still, I couldn’t talk about summer joys without including it. Daisy Cakes is a small but cheerful bakery downtown that serves Counter Culture Coffee (another Durham institution, but one that is available nationwide) and mouth-watering baked goods. They also do a mean carnitas sandwich. Every writer needs a favorite spot to escape to, and Daisy Cakes is mine.

3. Lowland Hum: I have never been hip to “the local music scene.”  Mostly because I’ve never been hip. However, I have made an exception to my complete lack of music coolness for this folk duo. I’ve heard them do a number of short sets this summer and attended one full house concert, and I’m enchanted. Their concerts are multisensory with an art installation behind them, lavender oil burning, fresh flowers placed around, handmade lyric books to hold, and even bread to taste. It’s hospitality in music form. They’ve just started a tour with the release of their new album Native Air, so they might be coming your way.

2. Orphan Black: You might have at least heard murmurings about this show by now, produced by BBC America. Perhaps you have a friend like me that every time you see her, she whines, “Have you watched it yet? C’mon, watch it already!”  I’m not one given to spoilers, but I’ve decided it’s okay to tell people it’s about clones. Clones! All of them are played by the masterful Tatiana Maslany, who was robbed! Robbed, I tell you! She should get all the Emmys! All of them!

1. Price Peterson: It was a sad day in Whoville when Price Peterson left TV.com in January to work on a TV pilot. He returned this summer with a quip about dreams dying (sorry Price!) but then immediately launched back into his TV recapping genius. I was a little bit sad for him, but very happy for me. Much like Will Gordon, I don’t care what he writes. I will read whatever Price recaps, even if I don’t watch the show. He’s just so earnestly funny. It’s my good fortune that one of the shows he does is The Vampire Diaries. If you’d like to try a quick taste of Price, you can try his Sharknado recap.

So that was my summer. What brought you joy this summer? What hidden treasures can you share? I’m sad to say I couldn’t offer any fantastic books on my list. I seem to be on a spree of ho-hum books. I did read a couple good ones this spring, but nada this summer.