My Favorite Pop Culture Moments of 2008

I'm feeling a little better since my first post of today, and felt really inspired to wrap up 2008 in terms of popular culture. These are the top 10 moments I feel really captured and molded my 2008. Enjoy.

10. Paris Hilton runs for president. When the McCain camp was running ads revolving around the celebrity factor of his opponent, Paris Hilton released her response. She filmed an excellent campaign commercial where she made some, I hate to admit it, fantastic points, on the energy crisis. See you at the debates, bitches.

9. Russell Brand hosts the MTV Video Awards. MTV was apparently hit by the economy as much as the rest of us in 2008 and brought in Russell Brand, a relatively unknown British comedian, to host the Music Video Awards. After his opening bit insulted President Bush and the Jonas Brothers' vow to remain virgins until marriage made the audience squirm with shock, awe and discomfort, my friends and I were sure MTV put him on the next emergency flight to Britain. 

8. Twilight. Not my favorite to participate in, but the phenomenon I found the most fascinating in 2008 was the takeover of "Twilight." Subbing, at least three students per class would be reading the book. My peers were reading the book. My peers' parents were reading the book. People ran to the movies. Grown women fantasized about teenage vampires. I stood by in awe mumbling, "W...T...F..."

7. Sharon Osbourne Attacks Megan Hauserman. Sharon Osbourne hosts "Rock of Love Charm School." Megan Hauserman tries to manipulate her way through yet another reality show and fails. Sharon Osbourne is amazing. Megan insults Ozzy. Sharon pours a drink on her. A cat fight ensues. The crowd goes wild.

6. Kaitlyn Maher on America's Got Talent. A four-year-old girl brought tears to the eyes of, I'm guessing, 60% of Americans in June. When Sharon Osbourne asked her if she was from New York, the little girl said, "Um. I'm from America." If that didn't bring tears, Sharon asking her if singing made her happy should have. If you were completely heartless, you too were reduced to mush when she started singing, "Somewhere Out There." Adorable. 

5. Fanny Pak. I love a gimmick, and Fanny Pak was a walking one. Easily my favorite on MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew," they gave me a deeper appreciation for hip hop on the Missy Elliot episode. I texted for them week after week, and they were still robbed of a win. I was crushed. 

 4. The Snuggie infomerical. At first, I found myself mumbling to myself that the Snuggie was a product for the epitome of lazy people. Upon more investigation and struggles to keep my quilt over my shoulders as I made my morning coffee, I realized I was one of those lazy people. Please, someone give me a Snuggie. 

3. The Britney Comeback. Perhaps not a big-time pop culture moment, but the first time I heard Britney Spears' "Womanizer." I tried to change the channel and escape from the Big Britney Comeback of 2008, but it was on two channels. So after several seconds of "womani-shit, zer, womani-damnit," I let myself go and found myself rocking down the road. It's Britney, bitch. 

2. Tina Fey as Sarah Palin. Need I say more? Who could forget seeing Russia from our houses or my personal favorite, "for all you Joe Six Packs playing a drinking game at home...maverick." If you're keeping score, the Vice Presidential Debate was also the night of El (Vice) Presidente margaritas for Jessica and I. A couple of regular Jane Six Packs ourselves. 

1. A RickRoll of Epic Proportions. My personal favorite pop culture moment of 2008? When Rick Astley, himself, RickRoll'd the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Honestly? The Rickroll has re-invented Rick Astley, and as he sat around his feast that evening, I'm sure he was thankful for YouTube. 

So much to reflect on...

As of this morning, I have so much reflecting to do - but I think I'll do my best to focus on the good things that came of this Christmas, rather than the bad, because this year was honestly the best Christmas I've had with my family in a really long time. It was warm, cozy and not over the top, gift wise. It was as close to perfect as you can get. 

Even the boyfriend's family part went much better than I expected. I'd like to blame the smooth going on my excellent coffee-making ability and my delicious cookies and monkey bread, but I'm sure it would have been smooth even without those things. (But...the coffee and monkey bread were stellar) 

The nerd that I am got my external hard drive and green bags from Santa, along with a few other goodies, including a grown up school bag for my master's endeavors, some place mats and enough money in Starbucks and the Lost Dog to last me a good while. John added to my obsession with the show "Weeds" by providing me with seasons 1 - 3, some Hunter S. Thompson CDs and Beatles' Monopoly. We had delicious roast beef for dinner, with potatoes and vegetables and I made a pretty killer pumpkin pie and a ton of cookies. 

The holidays bring out the most Suzie Homemaker in me. 

Christmas Eve at Trinity was beautiful, I sang and rang, to keep things short. The day with my family was incredible. We all sat around my house, a little lazy, opening gifts and taking money from each other in Beatles' Monopoly. (Anyone ever finished a game??) We ended the night with "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," pie and hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps. 

I worked my last (very busy) day at the LHBP. Today was supposed to be the last, but we heard news this morning that my aunt passed away early this morning. This brings me to the downside of the holidays. This is all going to turn out to be a blessing in disguise, but, until we get to the blessing part, it's a bit difficult. Mom and I are headed to Rhode Island to be with my cousin on Monday. 

Not a good way to end the year - but, everything happens for a reason, I'm sure of it. 

Hope your holidays were filled with good food, company and gifts. Have a safe transition into 2009. I should be a little more perky come a few days from now. 

It's Christmas, so by all means, throw some walnuts on it!

It's Christmas Eve. There is no way I have enough time to write, but my coffee is still warm and tasting of sweet, sweet gingerbread CoffeeMate and it truly is the season of giving - regardless of how much time I have. 

My parents arrived safely yesterday. George H.W. and Barbara were wisked away in a government motorcade on the runway yesterday, so my father couldn't risk getting arrested by the secret service in an attempt to get me an autograph. My mom did manage to talk to a Secret Service agent at the gate who was just being extra sure the motorcade left the runway safely. My mother talks to everyone. The former president and first lady apparently like commercial airlines...I'd still demand Air Force One. 

Either way. I spent all of yesterday being one of the mothers you see on a 1950s television show. I scrubbed tubs and toilets, chased little Marley with the vacuum cleaner, Swiffer wet jetted and spent several hours baking Christmas cookies. I'm still not finished with the cookies, but I have a house that would pass any white glove test and boxes of cookies and enough powdered sugar to have this house sorely mistaken for a crack den if the wrong company came over. 

Tomorrow, the boyfriend's family members are coming over. I'm not sure how many, or who exactly, but they're coming. 

Now. I'll give you a brief look into an only child-style Christmas. My family moved from Rhode Island to North Carolina when I was four. When we moved, we left all of our extended family in New England. Christmas Day in my house, for as long as I can remember, has been incredibly chill. We never really had location obligations, unless it was across the street to a friend's holiday gathering of sorts. Even when I moved to Maryland, our Christmas mornings started whenever our biological clocks told them to start, we opened our gifts with the sweet company of coffee and some sort of breakfast. 

I never did the holiday parody of coffee at this house, brunch at this house, cookies here and turkey dinner and vodka drinks there (everywhere?). I have never had time obligations on Christmas Day. 

Tomorrow morning, I play Christmas hostess at 10 a.m. This means I have to be up, bright-eyed and pretty, baking some sort of coffee treat and have fresh-ground coffee brewing and ready to go. This throws off my entire Christmas flow of opening gifts and doing nothing. It's an adjustment that few people understand I have to make, and I am confused as to why on Earth people can do this to themselves year after year. 

Maybe things will go better than expected. I suppose this is finally what most people consider a "normal" Christmas Day. 

I'm still excited, don't get me wrong. I get into this time of year more than most people do. Maybe the holiday bebop won't be as bad as I'm anticipating. (When all you have to go off of is a very sit-com Christmas, you have a right to be terrified) 

However, I should get to showering, last minute shopping and wrapping and cookie baking and grocery fetching. 

If any of you are doing any big shopping today (shame on you), please consider the impact any number of these last-minute gifts will have on your loved one's holiday before you make a purchase in a pinch. 

Blogging from a PC

Today's adventure not only comes to you from New York, but it also comes to you from my dad's Dell lap top. I apologize in advance for any formatting that comes off looking less than anal-retentive neat or random spacing between words, I'm having an incredibly difficult time with this.

It's not that I didn't travel without my lap top, no no, I would never do that. Apparently, classy New York hotel room is too good to let my little MacBook hook up the internet. Whatever, my MacBook could do little computer laps around their intolerant web browser. (I can't hate too much on a hotel with a pillow menu)

(It took me at least five minutes to type that, because letters were jumping into the wrong words)

Right, so I'm in New York. Positively my favorite place on the planet. I could never live here, mostly because of financial restrictions, but I'd also get really irritated with tourists, but visiting makes me feel a little more alive inside each and every time. This being said, I was given the most incredible compliment today. While elbowing my way through the crowd at the tree in Rockafeller Center, someone commented on the fact that I was using my elbows, head down method of crowd control and said, "she must be from New York."

Actually, I'm just short and when you're short the elbows-out, head-down method is survival, but thank you, tall New York tourist!

We've done the traditional window drooling at Tiffany's (future husband, whoever you are, start saving...I apparently have good taste) and other such high-end stores. My only purchases so far were to appeal to the child in me and were an M&M magnet for the fridge and mocha premium M&Ms from the M&M store in Times Square.

Both completely necessary.

I don't want to leave tomorrow as early as I have to - but the handbells at Trinity Episcopal Church in Shepherdstown need me...I'm the 'ilent' and 'night' in "Silent Night"...I'm important and needed at the last rehearsal before Christmas Eve.

I'm tangenting, however, because I'm really trying to say - I needed this. My holiday spirit has been all but broken because of bra sales and an alarming amount of holiday cynicism. It was saved last night when my dad and I walked past Saks Fifth Avenue and watched snowflake lights dance and flash while "Carol of the Bells" played. I know it's commercial, I know it's not the true meaning of Christmas, but everyone on the street gathered around and watched and I honestly felt like Christmas was finally here.

I'm baking cookies on Tuesday, and it's going to be wonderful!

But, for now, I need to get off this PC. I'm getting frustrated.

The Holidays - Grown-Up Edition

I think today marks the end of my first grown-up holiday. I'll be leaving on a northbound bus to a northbound train today around 1:00. As a matter of fact, I should be packing currently, but figured I would give this Thanksgiving a bit more thought before I am banished to a train of either screaming children already high on holiday sweets or creepy people who want to be my friend. 

My parents only moved to Texas in February, and it's a bit of an adjustment from when they lived two hours away from Shepherdstown at our home in Forest Hill, Md. When it all comes down to it, the only attachment I really had left in Forest Hill was its proximity to me. Really there can't be any place farther (culturally and physically) away from me when I'm in West Virginia. But, in this life you do what you have to do, and Texas was their big (pun completely intended) have to do. 

I don't think the previous paragraph really ties in with anything, but it seemed important so bear with me. One of my journalism professor's biggest complaints about my style of writing was that it never really connected. (Hey, man, hasn't he ever heard of stream of consciousness?)

Back to my first grown-up holiday. In my conversations with the people in the train stations and dining cars I met on my way down, I actually told them "I'm going to my parents' house for Thanksgiving." This is something I never could have envisioned saying. I was always "going home for the holidays" or "heading back to Har/Co" (which, if you're from Harford County, for whatever reason Har/Co is synonymous with home). This time, I was going to my parents place, this is the first house they've had in my lifetime that I cannot possibly associate any ties of "home" to. 

This, to me, is bizarre and one of the first signs of being an adult. To make it more grown-up, they're coming to my house for Christmas, you know, that whole trading off of holidays that old people do. 

Esh. Holi-daze. 

Regardless, my visit here was nice. Much more positive than my summer visit. It's cooler - but still warm, mind you - and there are more people squirming about because the temperature has dropped below boiling. We went to a hockey game (yes, ice) and it became so apparent that Texans love their sports teams, regardless of the sport. Texans are a proud people in a way that no one in this country is proud of their state and I actually have to commend them for that. Everyone should be proud of where they live, that's what the homeless hippy I met in Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco said. 

"I want you to say where you're from, and smile while you're saying it!" And, as it turned out, he had family in West Virginia. 

I head home to mountains of West Virginia and mountains of Christmas decorating to do, holiday shoppers to defeat (read: sell up) and children to combat. I have a kitty who needs her stitches removed. The "Vagina Monologues" need auditioning for and I need to get myself into tip-top holiday shape (not exercise. ew). 

But first, a train. 

Happy First Day in Advent (if you're down with Christianity). If not, happy Sunday. To shoppers - I hope you got all of the sales you intended this weekend. To fellow retailers - I hope you survived the rush wherever you work. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was going to carry over a note I put on Facebook last night. One that told everyone how incredibly thankful I am for them this year and every year on Thanksgiving, but I'm feeling so inspired because of the attached video (I'm not kidding) I decided to do a different one. So, be thankful. 

It's Thanksgiving. When the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade started this morning, so did my favorite season of the year. The season of love and happiness, good music and great food. The season of even greater company that lasts from Thanksgiving Day (minus evil, evil Black Friday) through January 6 (Epiphany...you know...the Twelve Days of Christmas, all that?). 

I told my friend Ryan that I was going to make this the hap-hap-happiest holiday season ever, because let's face it, with the news these days we all need it. I'm even going to try my hardest to be downright peppy towards the holiday shoppers that come in to LHBP.

I woke up this morning to make a pumpkin pie from scratch and my father's family's meat and potato stuffing. So Suzie Homemaker. I love how the house smells right now. Mom put an 18 pound turkey in the oven about a half hour ago. (Yes, I'm aware 18 pounds is entirely unnecessary for three people, but apparently it was free) I can't wait for the turkey-induced coma that awaits me this evening. 

I'll keep it short so you all can get to your eatin'! Happy Thanksgiving to all. Give thanks, eat, drink and merry make. Enjoy the start of a fantastic holiday season! (And, this stop motion video - I hope it doesn't happen to my pie...)