Some things I liked in 2011

I have a love/hate relationship with the listicle. Mostly hate. A little love because I’m a lazy millennial whose attention span is perfect for such a thing. Lots of hate because it bugs me that hard-working reporters get laid off while lazy millennial “lifestyle” writers get paid to create them. Especially this time of year, when end-of-year listicles are everywhere, many of them rehashing the same things we already read about when they first happened. (Please, entertainment writers, we’re aware you all liked Bridesmaids a lot.)

But, let’s face it — I’m a lazy millennial blogger, so an end-of-year list is just my style. But I’m going to be extra lazy about it. Here are some things I liked this year. A bonus for you is that you may not know about them yet.

“My Jeans” by Jenna Rose — I happened to see this on YouTube about a week before the whole Rebecca Black thing blew up. When I first read about “Friday,” I was like, “Oh yeah, it’s like the jeans song.” This one is just as quotable, if less relatable; I mean, we’ve all looked forward to the weekend, but not everyone has seen a picture of Ashley Tisdale wearing his/her jeans. We can dream, though.

Mormon fashion blogs — Yeah, it’s a real thing. I think that if you don’t live near a heavy Mormon population, all you might know about them is Prop 8, “garments” and Mitt Romney, and that’s a little scary. At least for me. But then I found this genre of bloggers and was pleasantly surprised to discover that they’re regular, funny, open-minded ladies, just like the other women I know. I’ve stepped away from the style-blogging thing myself, but I’m glad I was involved in that world for awhile if only because of this discovery.

Okay for Now and The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt — Remember when I was complaining about “The Wonder Years”? These two books are what that show could have been — late-60s teen boy nostalgia done right. Check ‘em out.

Orofluido — I am now the kind of person who buys fancy hair oils, thanks to my Birchbox subscription. (That’s a referral link. Listicles don’t pay the bills, y’all.) Seriously, though, this is good stuff. I’m trying to do that grownup thing where you spend a little more money on great things instead of less money on crap you don’t like as much. The fancy hair oil is a baby step in that direction.

East Walnut Hills — I’m convinced I live in Cincinnati’s most underrated neighborhood. But I want to keep it that way so it doesn’t get overpriced and gentrified (looking at you, OTR!). You should come hang out here, though. We need some more nightlife before things really get in gear around here, but I have faith it’ll happen.

What will I like in 2012?! The possibilities are endless! Stay tuned to this blog, where I probably won’t write about any of them until this time next year.

In which I ruin all your childhood nostalgia

Guys, I’m sorry, but The Wonder Years is not very good.

Here are some reasons why:

• Most of it doesn’t actually take place in the 1960s. The show begins in 1968, so the majority of the seasons depict the ’70s. And who wants to watch that? Everyone knows all the best nostalgia comes from the ’60s. Plus, during the last season, the costume department gets way lazy and the kids look suspiciously ’90s.
• There are no B stories, at least up until the last season. Each episode has just one plot. If the plot is bad, that’s a long 23 minutes.
• And some of the plots are pretty bad. Kevin’s mom worries about him playing too-rough football? For 23 minutes?
• The heavy-handed narration by Future Kevin means the actors do all these long pauses while he’s talking, where they sort of have to emote without moving. It distracts from the otherwise-pretty-good acting.
• Winnie’s kind of annoying.
• Most of the better plots can be seen again a few years later on Boy Meets World.
• Where the hell is Paul for most of the last season?

A classic holiday jam for your playlist

I may get made fun of for still loving BNL (you know, only the most celebrated Canadian alt-rock band of the mid-90s). I’m OK with that, because you better believe I was jamming out to this when it came on in Walmart* today. I’m not that into holiday music, but this is a good one, trust me. They’re triple platinum, are you?

* yes, I’m aware this is sad on multiple levels

And lately, in my spam blog comments

From jigglypuff10@gmail.com: “Hang out at winter jam 2011, going to be a powerful night for our lord!”

Will do, jigglypuff10. Will do.

A Sorkin-esque hint at how I voted today