Did you know it's a NEW DECADE?!?

Last night, I sat up until maybe 4:30 AM after Rose Bowl festivities (Ducks < Bucks) watching Season 2 of Mad Men and reading lists of things from the past decade. We're talking best TV episodes, best beers, best celebrity freakouts, best weather events... etc.

I sat down and tried to think of my favorite things from the past decade, but because I was mostly TWELVE YEARS OLD in 2000, and you can count 'em on up from there, the stuff that I liked from the beginning of the decade wasn't as mature as my refined tastes reflect now. So, here are my

TOP 10 FAVORITE THINGS FROM 2009

10. Jon and Kate Plus Hate
Watching the Jon and Kate scandal unfold this year was akin to watching YouTube videos of snakes eating mice. Over and over. One of the worst choices by the producers of the show, however, was definitely letting the two star-crossed lovers conduct their interviews on separate couches, as this produced much of the best tension, and, dare I say it, EXCITEMENT!


9. Modern Family Premieres
As I watched the pilot episode of this new ABC sitcom, I immediately (before the opening credits even rolled) knew that this show was something AWESOME. The writing is solid, and it even has twinges of one of my other favorite shows, Arrested Development. If Sofia Vergara isn't nominated for a Supporting Actress Emmy, I'll be pissed (although she should still lose to Jane Lynch from Glee).


8. The Glee Kids Use Performance-Enhancing Drugs
You can't really make a top ten list of 2009 without paying attention to Glee, which may have one of the most devoted fan followings of a network show ever (right up there with Lost and The Office). In the episode "Vitamin D," the school nurse gives the kids drugs to make them happier, but they end up just being hyper, and SOMEHOW produce 2 mash-ups (by themselves, although none of them is taking Music Theory or has any apparent computer skill).


7. Charlie Frost's 2012 flash animation
When I went to go see 2012, I was expecting many things. Much like Roland Emmerich's past film, The Day After Tomorrow, I was expecting people to somehow outpace and outrun natural disasters (much like Jake Gyllenhaal did when he OUTRAN COLD), people to survive while millions around them die, and outrageous subplots with characters that no one really cares about. Lemme tell you, this movie delivered like DOMINO'S. The best part, which was totally throwaway in the movie but can stand alone, is a flash movie (much like the This is the Earth, man, that is one sweet Earth..." flash video from a while back) made by Charlie Frost, a 2012 conspiracy theorist.


6. The Snuggie
2009 can hardly be considered the year of the infomercial, but THE PRODUCT this year (it even reached trending status at one point Christmas morning) was the Snuggie, or a glorified blanket with arms. If the post-lobotomy people in the commercial loved it so much, why shouldn't you? Or your grandma? Or your dog?


My favorite things of 2009 (just like Oprah! ...except she didn't have a favorite things episode this year (We. Are. In. A. Recession.) will continue tomorrow, with favorite things 1-5, when I'm bored again (and after I think about the rest of my favorite things).