We are overwhelmed with Best Of lists around this time of the year. Best movies, best performances, best dishes, best dressed, best books: I eat this crap up. If it's on the NY Times Top 10 Books of the Year, I definitely pretend I've read it. If Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl describes it as one of the best morsels of food ever to have passed her lips, I nod knowingly and add: "you just can't beat their beef pho." If Time tells me that Vladimir Putin is their POTY, I grudgingly admit that his place in history is of more importance than J.K. Rowling (but secretly I disagree). If Sports Illustrated tells me that Brett Favre is the best sporty type in the world this year, then I agree he's hot.
What seems clear is that many Best Of lists fail to identify what has been truly important to our world this year: me. And while I am loathe to judge, it seems in the best interest of my readers to share, however arbitrarily, what I know—I mean, consider—to be the most important people, events, products, and ideas of the past year. Herewith, in no clever order, my modest offerings.
- Best television show, cooking: Iron Chef America
- Worst television personality, "cooking", female (5-way tie): Rachel Ray, Paula Deen, Sandra Lee, Giada De Laurentiis, Ina Garten. No links, because they deserve no more publicity.
- Worst television show, ever: The Real Desperate, Slutty, Dumber than Dust, Silicon-Filled, McMansion-Living Housewives of Orange County
- Most gratuitous (and therefore, best) use of male almost-nudity: Woolgatherer's weekly Better than Coffee feature.
- Best decision: Duh. Going back to school; Runner-up: Starting this blog; Honorable mention: Giving up bottled water
- Best comfort food: Wild Rice Baron
- Best neighborhood haunt: The Bulldog
- New neighborhood haunt that tries too hard: Common Roots Cafe
- Best reason to walk right by Dunn Brothers: Urban Bean Coffee
- Wedding of the Year: Lois (that's my mom) and Willy
- Most challenging (sometimes annoyingly so) teacher of the year. Okay, ever: Professor K
- Best writer, tennis: Jon Wertheim
- Best blog written by someone I know: I love them all equally. (Just how dumb do you think I am?)
- Best blog written by someone I'm sleeping with: Eric with a "C"
- Best blog written by someone who just seems like a smarter, better educated, wittier, more famous version of me: The Rest Is Noise, by Alex Ross (also the title of one of the best books of the year)
- Luxury car of the year: Steinway L, Serial No. 376263
- Best yarn discovery: Malabrigo, kettle dyed pure merino wool. It's super soft and cushy, and it's made by a cooperative of women in Uruguay, so it's the feel-good yarn of the year in more ways than one.
- Best reason to turn forty: The Scootercar Signature Cocktail. You'll know more if you're meant to.
- Best place to blow an entire paycheck on, like, two shirts: Len Druskin
- Best casual footwear: Keens
- Best cheap gift: someecards.com
- Best cool stuff when you're shopping for your favorite blogger: branchhome.com
- Best reason to live: Liberty Frozen Custard
- Best way to kill six hours: A Bourne marathon
8 comments:
Great list! I, too, harbor a secret fascination with "Best Of" lists - and their opposites are almost equally appealing. Shall we 12-step?
"Hi, my name is Ms. P, and I'm a listoholic. The last time I read someone else's list was, um, two minutes ago, and I loved it..."
Thanks for the shout-out to my Monday "Better than Coffee" posts. And to think it all started because I was feeling lazy one day...
Best frozen custard dessert treat at Liberty Custard: it's a three-way tie!!!
A. Magic Cookie Bar
B. Chocolate Chocolate Cake
C. Lemon custard, oddly enough
Deb's equating Magic Cookie Bar with Lemon is like equating Jason Bourne with me. Yes, technically both men, but . . .
I didn't realize I had so much interest in the intersection of coffee and wool until this morning. Thank you.
It's not that you're wrong, it's that we're Differently Interested.
I like to add hot fudge to almost everything, and aim for the flavors that support hot fudge. Lemon custard is so good it can carry itself with no added chocolate. Odd, but true.
You like the chewing, I like the smooooooth. You like the sweet. I like the subtle fruity.
I'm going to exercise judgment, and stop the compare-and-contrast now.
I'm OK, You're OK.
Deb, I found the subtle fruit, the sweet and the smooth, but can you tell me where I can find the chewing on the Woolgatherer site?
Oh, wait--are you guys talking about something else?
{ears plugged, eyes tight shut}
I can't hear you anymore -LAAA LAAA LAAA!
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