Erin Shaw Street

Ciao 2009 (A Pop Culture List)

I could write a maudlin post about 2009, its ups and downs, along with reflections on life, loss, and various bruises and triumphs along the way. But who would do that? (Well, me, see this post).

But for now, I present my very own "best of" pop culture 2009 list. Cause after being a brooding, serious writer, what do I do best? Watch TV! Here goes, my best of screen, stage, music and trends.

(Note: most of these are new to 2009 but there are a smattering of pop culture experiences that were just new to me. Also, it's clearly not comprehensive, and like all lists, completely subjective according to the writer's own highly partial taste.)

There are nine categories a) because it's 2009 b) because I couldn't come up with a tenth that I could fairly evaluate.

Best Movie: Up In The Air

I laughed and cried at the familiarity of life on the road (and recognized more than a few hotels in the film), but you don't have to travel for a living to appreciate this brilliant film. Jason Reitman ("Juno") produced a film that captures the bittersweet nature of travel, the beauty and challenge of its solitude, and the longing for connection that everyone seeks. George Clooney flexes his acting muscles, and Anna Kendrick is one to watch for a best supporting actress nomination. Plus the soundtrack is perfect.

Runner Up: Michael Jackson, "This Is It"

Best New TV Show: Modern Family

OK, big confession here: I haven't watched "Glee." It was a simple oversight on my TiVo schedule  (and if it doesn't get on the TiVo rotation it's doesn't get watched) but I am going to download. That said, Modern Family is the best depiction of the humor of family life since, dare I say, the Bluths of "Arrested Development." Very Christopher Guest-esque, this well written gem is smart, relatable comedy. Family dynamics have never been this funny (touching too).

Runner Up: Community

Best Non-Fiction (Tie): Happens Every Day by Elizabeth Gillies and Lit by Mary Karr 

I can't pick a fiction favorite because I didn't read much fiction this year (so many interesting stories in truth, right?) Both of these books are by women whose lives fell apart, told in painstaking detail, and how they picked up the pieces. What can I say, I'm a sucker for redemptive tales by strong women.

Runner Up: MommyWood (Tori Spelling). Because it's important to balance one's serious reads with true works of art ;)

Best Concert: Lady GaGa (Fox Theater, Atlanta)

This is an incredibly tough category, because I saw some great shows this year. Maybe I am just picking GaGa because it's fresh on my mind (just three days ago), but I don't think so. I wasn't a hardcore GaGa fan before, but was converted after this two hour non-stop production. More than just kooky costumes, this girl can sing (see: her performing "Speechless" on piano accompanied by an orchestra). And dance. And bring together musical influences from Queen to Madonna, blending them into her own brilliant style. And to think she was singing in small clubs on Fire Island a year ago.

Runner Up: Ben Folds (Ryman Theater, Nashville)

Honorable Mention: Pete Yorn (Workplay, Birmingham)

Best New Favorite Thing to Do With an iPhone: Tweet

I know, put down the phone, Erin. And Twitter is certainly not exclusive to the phone, but since joining Twitter in Feb. it's been my favorite thing to do with my little friend, iPhone. It has its skeptics: "who cares if you are drinking coffee," etc., but as a communicator, I've found it to be one of the most helpful tools to connect with people in meaningful ways in 2009. With Twitter I followed breaking news, met friends with similar interests (a pug lover in Columbia, South Carolina for instance), and connected with media and non-media friends right here in Birmingham. Lunch with three mom bloggers I never would have met? Check. Restaurant recommendations wherever I traveled? Yep. Killer story ideas? Yep, found them all on Twitter. (To any of my friends who aren't convinced: let me give you the 15 minute tutorial.)

Runner Up: I Am T-Pain App

Best Fashion Trend: The Snuggie

Technically it debuted at the 2008, but I think we can all agree that the Snuggie hit its stride this year and hasn't stopped.

Runner Up: It being OK for everyone to tuck their jeans into boots

Best Award Show: The Tonys

Even though I didn't get to see them live like my mom and brother. No hard feelings or anything. The Oscars were such a snooze this year, but the Tonys made up for it with performances from the remarkable "Billy Elliot" (which I saw on Broadway  later in the year, phenomenal) and "Hair," plus appearances from Liza and Dolly.

Best Exercise Trend: Hula Hoop

I wrote about and became a convert to hooping this year. And though it certainly wasn't invented in 2009 it gained serious momentum this year, with even the First Lady hooping.

Runner Up: The American Music Awards

Best Song: Tie: Jay-Z/Alicia Keys "Empire State of Mind"/ LadyGaGa "Disco Stick"

This is the toughest category. How to even choose? So I leave you and 2009 with my favorite song from this year. Or at least one of them ...

Runner Up: Jamie Foxx "Blame It"

Honorable Mention: Avett Brothers "Kick Drum Heart"

Related Posts:

Happens Every Day: More Thoughts

Christmas Day 2009 Video Highlights

Another Christmas has come and gone. We learned a few things today, like 10 a.m. Christmas Day Mass is the absolute best to go to (it was barely half full), and that pug dogs don't love animatronic dinosaurs (but three year old and 43-yr old boys do).

Nate is currently learning how to play Pac Man, thanks to his grandparents' delivery of an old school favorite. I'm getting ready to show him how it's done.

He got tons of great gifts from everyone (especially Santa), and I spent part of the day working on my video editing and posting skills. Am officially crazy about the Flip Video.

Here goes ... snippets from our day:

Christmas Eve Dance Off/ Happy Birthday Baby Jesus

All families have their own traditions. For us, each Christmas Eve we do the following:

1)Sing "Happy Birthday" to Baby Jesus and have a birthday cake (though this year we supplemented with cupcakes from Dreamcakes, yum.)

2)Have a dance party.

So we present to you ... Christmas Even 2009, starting with our holy tradition, then to a salute to LadyGaGa (who Ryan and I are going to see in Atlanta Monday - his Christmas gift to me) then on to a reprise of "Mamma Mia!"

This year we were a little tired so there was some couch dancing.

But still .... Merry Christmas!

Miami Rains

“Nothing in the world is more flexible and yielding than water. Yet when it attacks the firm and the strong, none can withstand it, because they have no way to change it. So the flexible overcome the adamant, the yielding overcome the forceful. Everyone knows this, but no one can do it.” Lao Tzu

        Pulling back the drapes in the hotel room, I could see the palm trees being beaten by the winds. 48 hours in Miami and 36 of them had been a monsoon. But it looked like the rain hadn’t started yet,  so I slipped on jeans and a sweatshirt, headed downstairs and poured a cup of coffee.

     As I stood at the door contemplating walking the block to the beach, the German tourists in the lobby looked at me like I was crazy. Palm trees looked like upside down umbrellas, and the skies grew heavy with clouds. Drops did start to fall, but I walked anyway, in between the mirrored high rises toward the boardwalk.

    It was slick and slippery, devoid of the toned runners and shuffling old women in turbans who frequented this strip of Collins Avenue. But as a native Floridian who now lives four long hours from any beach, a little rain would not deter.

     Zipping up my sweatshirt, I planted my feet on the cool sand and walked to the water’s edge. The brewing storm kicked up the waves, which pounded the shoreline till they made a ridge in the sand. Blue and purple jellyfish had washed up, dotting the little sandy hill. I wished I’d brought my yoga mat, though who was I kidding – I wasn’t going to be doing any sun salutations this morning. The raindrops fell.

    I sat Indian style on the sand, alone on the beach. It was a year ago I came to the same beach on a photo shoot. It was sunny then, and we were shooting models playing volleyball. But there were no models today, no photographer, no assignment. Just the sound of the breaking waves and a storm rolling in.

    Who doesn’t come to the water to contemplate? It's where we all come from.  But sometimes I feel strangely possessive of Florida’s shoreline, like it's a birth right. I was raised on its edge, ate fried chicken at its sunsets with my family as a child, and sat on a narrow pier as a teenager, looking out into the dark nights.

    I took my son to its shores for the first time this year in March, watched him giggle and examine sand between his toes.

     For the joys and sights of this year –the brilliant sunsets in West Texas, the twinkling of the Manhattan skyline – came equal sadness. Weeks after that blissful first beach trip with my son we lost my uncle here in Miami. The losses seemed to continue as the year rolled on. It seemed like each time the phone rang it was with more bad news – illness,  marriages fraying, layoffs, downsizing. Life was not a beach.

    Though I made it seem like it a lot of the time. So did my friends. But we’re editors. We tell you what you want to hear or read, leaving out select details. One of my friends goes by a nickname of “Must Be Nice,” because people are always telling us that when they hear what we do. And it is nice many times.

    There's more to it. For every self-effacing status update are  the  unwritten ones, the anecdotes we only share behind closed doors.

     Who makes recorded sounds of waves, the ones I download to my iPod? This is what I am thinking as I watch the waves come in and  retreat. I play these white noise apps in hotel rooms that I call home. Played them during a long recuperation this summer, back when my body finally collapsed, raised its white flag, and sent me an illness usually reserved for 60 year olds.

    I slept for weeks when I got sick. Things would be different, I promised. I would slow down. Draw my boundaries. Watch my travel. Do more yoga.

     I didn’t do any of these things. Well, except for a little yoga. But that doesn’t matter. I am here now, in the winter of this year, huddled by the Atlantic Ocean, aware of the sharp pain that radiates down my arm, a souvenir of sickness. I am on the beach, right back where I started. The rain comes down harder, and I draw up my knees.

    Later I will swim in the rain in the fancy resort pool, which looks more beautiful on this grey day than any of the sunny times I've visited. I do a somersault while no one is watching, then plunge into the steaming Roman bath nearby.

    It was the "storm of the decade," they later say -- 15 inches on South Beach. It was worse than most hurricanes. But that's water for you. Destruction. Rebirth.

Dreamcakes and Dancing

Look at these cupcakes. Look at them! Tiny and cute. Dangerous. And sitting on my kitchen counter top earlier this week during a Christmas dinner for my former CC colleagues. Dang!

They're from Dreamcakes, a new cupcake bakery in Homewood. And I only had just one. If you believe that then ...

Bless you. And bless the resurgence of cupcakes this year. 

These minis were a highlight of this week. As was a burst of 75 degree weather after the snow; the new Sting album (*the* perfect winter soundtrack), and the past day and a half in Atlanta.

For me it was the final photo shoot in a year filled with photo shoots. And though as usual I can't give away exactly what the story about I can say that I spent time with some incredible dancers and dance teachers in Atlanta.

One of the teachers today convinced me to workout a bit before one of the classes. He immediately figured out that I have a lot of pain in my neck and back and worked with me to isolate and strengthen my core, which instantly made me stand taller and feel better.

I know I look goofy here. I don't care. I'd forgotten how it feels to be in your body in a dance class, since the last one I took I was about 12 and in a much different body than the one I'm in now. It made me want to get back into it, and I'm already looking for programs in Birmingham. Dreamy.

Santa, Thanks For Granting Us Our Wish (SEC Champions!)

As a journalist, I simply can't bury the lede: Alabama has won the SEC Championship and all is right in the world!

The fire is on, the pugs are dozing off, and we've eaten some delicious Target pad Thai and edamame. Who knew?

But what a day. It started by looking out the windows and seeing a dusting of snow in our yard. In Alabama terms: a blizzard. We fell out of bed to get our heaviest winter clothes on (even though it wasn't really that cold).

Nate and I assessed the state of the front and back yards, and he made a huge snow ball, which he promptly decided to take inside.

"Snow is cold. And it's wet." Out of the mouths of babes.

But as a native Floridian who has only seen snow a handful of times, it sure is pretty. Especially when it just leaves traces on the trees and in the grass.

I wanted to bust out my yoga mat and do some asanas in the stillness, but the un-yogi part of myself said, "time to run errands!"

We piled into the car while the white stuff was still sticking and cranked up the Christmas tunes.

For me this means Dean Martin and the Rat Pack, plus the John Waters Christmas CD. Tiny Tim singing "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer."

We sped to our nearby Christmas tree farm, aka, Home Depot, inhaling the crisp air..

Walking through the forest, it just took us a few minutes to find the perfect Frasier Fir.

It was a good call, even if it was about three feet too high for our library, where we always put the tree. Nothing like a little creative cutting.

After a quick change of clothes we drove to our friend Jennifer's house. Each year Jennifer and her family host a Christmas party attended by the one and only Santa.

Nate has visited with him every year, beginning from his first Christmas at seven months old.

Santa is so patient, and takes his time with all the kids (and the adults who are taking a zillion photos).

We didn't know what to expect this year, but Santa and Nate were big buds, and Nate told him how much he loves to play baseball and soccer.

After all the kids visited with Mr. Claus they all gathered round and Santa talked with them as a group, reminding them of the real reason for the season. It was pretty incredible.

Here's the video of Nate chatting it up with Mr. Claus. It was a good day.

Related Links:

Yoga Journal: Karma Christmas