Chapter 201: Favorite

Okay, so today was a day where I didn’t really do much of anything. I did laundry. I made ringtones from the new Christina Aguilera album, “Bionic,” which I probably won’t actually end up using. I made lunch for my Mom when she came home on her lunch break. I cleared out some stuff on the DVR. I finished watching the season of Jessica Simpson’s “The Price Of Beauty.” These are my accomplishments for the day. Not much, is it? I am writing, or at least starting to write, this early in the day in attempts to save myself a little time this evening and hopefully get to bed earlier than usual. I have been thinking about doing this specific blog post with this specific title for a while now. I was thinking about the fact that I make reference to things being in my top five or top ten favorites, particularly recently, but realized that I have never actually laid out what the other favorites are and such. So, if I am detailing a year in my life I figure dedicating an entire blog to listing my favorite things is probably worth giving a shot. So, I decided to compile some lists.

Before we get into that, though, I did want to talk a little bit about the whole concept of making lists and categorizing things. I don’t know why or how it started but it has been a long-standing pastime for many of the people in my life and I to list things in the order we like them for as long as I can remember. My earliest memories of doing this were with my best friend in the entire world, Don, from when we first met. We would listen to the music that we loved back at that time, particularly the Spice Girls, and spend hours on the phone discussing our favorite songs on their albums in the order that we liked them. We would often do the same with the Spice Girls themselves, (Mine is still Melanie C, Geri, Victoria, Melanie B and Emma.) I always kind of thought that this was simply something that came with the excitement of youth but it didn’t go away as we got older. In fact, Don and I started finding that more and more of the people we knew did the same thing and would wind up in these big group discussions where everybody was listing their favorite Madonna albums in the order they liked them, then breaking each album down track by track and putting those in order. Now that I am 26 years old, I find that I talk about these types of lists a lot less but still do them in my head all the time. I think it is simply because I don’t have like-minded people around me at this point in my life, at least not like-minded in that sense. The people in my life these days don’t share the same interests as I do, for the most part, and thus this type of listing and such just doesn’t happen out loud. This has led to me simply referring to a lot of different things as “my favorite,” as opposed to going into detail about the order in which they actually fall. So, here is where I am going to let all those lists inside my head out. So, here come a bunch of top ten lists.

My 10 Favorite Musical Artists Of All-Time:

10. Dashboard Confessional
9. Alanis Morissette
8. Darren Hayes/Savage Garden
7. Celine Dion
6. Jewel
5. Spice Girls (Together and Solo)
4. Courtney Love/Hole
3. Kylie Minogue
2. Liz Phair
1. Madonna

Now, there are countless other artists that I would list amongst my all-time favorites, including Aaliyah, Blondie, Christina Aguilera, Dolly Parton, Dixie Chicks, Fall Out Boy, Idina Menzel, Janet Jackson, K’s Choice, Kelly Clarkson, Lori McKenna, Missy Elliott, Natalie Imbruglia, No Doubt/Gwen Stefani, Olivia Newton-John, Shakira, Sheryl Crow and Whitney Houston, who are not on this list. I love them all but it is only a list of 10. The most prevalent artist missing from this list, though, is Mandy Moore. Mandy Moore is the only person, of all the musical artists in this world, who I genuinely call my IDOL. Mandy Moore is an incredible artist and I love her more than most artists out there but while compiling a list of the top 10 of all-time, there were simply too many artists who I have been listening to and loving consistently since I was just a child to make room for her. Still, like I mentioned, she is my idol and has been one of my biggest musical influences/inspirations in my life.

Now, I have long held the rule that somebody cannot be listed amongst my favorite artists of all-time until they have released at least three albums that I have absolutely loved. Because of this rule, there simply has to be a separate list for artists that are a little newer who have affected me in a very big way and are moving up the ranks of my favorites.

My 10 Favorite Recent Musical Artists:

10. Kate Voegele
9. Miley Cyrus
8. Utada Hikaru
7. Taylor Swift
6. Natasha Bedingfield
5. Boomkat
4. Alexz Johnson
3. The Veronicas
2. Scissor Sisters
1. Lady Gaga

This list also could have included plenty of other artists, many of whom only have one album at this point, like Adam Lambert, Katy Perry, etc., or artists who have been around a while but I have only recently discovered, like Owl City and Lights – Even Barbra Streisand, although I wouldn’t dare list her amongst such newbies.

My Top 10 Albums Of All-Time:

10. The Veronicas - The Secret Life Of The Veronicas
9. No Doubt - Return Of Saturn
8. Lady Gaga - The Fame
7. The Veronicas - Hook Me Up
6. Fall Out Boy - From Under The Cork Tree
5. Scissor Sisters - Ta-Dah!
4. Dashboard Confessional - Dusk & Summer
3. Madonna - Ray Of Light
2. Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters
1. Mandy Moore - Wild Hope

I was initially planning on compiling a list of my favorite songs of all-time, as well, but doing the albums was difficult enough. I knew these were the albums that would be included but putting them into an order was a lot to deal with. Okay, so not a lot to deal with but you know what I mean. Besides, individual songs are a little too fluid to work with in that way. You can really connect with a song for a while but when your mood changes or your life changes, you suddenly don’t find it as appealing. Sure, a great song will always stick with you but it would be too much to narrow down a list of those songs. So, we move on to film.

My 10 Favorite Films Of All-Time:

10. Up In The Air
9. The Devil Wears Prada
8. Muriel's Wedding
7. Josie & The Pussycats
6. Shut Up & Sing
5. The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants
4. Legally Blonde
3. Mean Girls
2. Rent
1. I'm Going To Tell You A Secret

For those who don’t know, “I’m Going To Tell You A Secret” is a documentary following Madonna on her 2004 Re-Invention Tour. It is an absolutely stunning film and one that has changed my life immensely. I would say the same for “Rent” …I mean, except that whole bit about it being a Madonna documentary. “Shut Up & Sing” is the Dixie Chicks documentary, which I urge everybody to see if you haven’t. These are all just movies that I can watch over and over again without complaint.

My 10 Favorite TV Shows Of All-Time:

10. Friends
9. Beverly Hills 90210
8. Desperate Housewives
7. Glee
6. Dawson's Creek
5. The View
4. Ugly Betty
3. Golden Girls
2. The L Word
1. Degrassi: The Next Generation

Many of these are shows that I grew up on, like Friends, Beverly Hills 90210 and Dawson’s Creek, while some are shows that I have seen every single episode of and never get tired of, like Golden Girls & Desperate Housewives. The others are just shows that I have never managed to tire of after several years of watching, like The View, Ugly Betty & Degrassi. Of course, I had to include a new show, as well, because it is already better than most shows I have seen in my lifetime - Glee! Then there’s the L Word – despite it’s craptastic ending, I absolutely loved it. They have all really moved me in one way or another.

My 10 Favorite Beauty Products:

10. NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Black Bean
9. Pop Beauty Eye Topper Palette
8. Clean & Clear Morning Burst Facial Cleanser
7. Urban Decay Summer Of Love Palette
6. Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse Concealer
5. NYX Mascara in Black
4. Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eyeliner Pencil in Bourbon
3. Christian Siriano for VS Makeup Eyeshadow in Gilded Fierce
2. Urban Decay Primer Potion (original formula)
1. NYX S104 “Every Color Imaginable” Eye Shadow Palette

This list is kind of constantly changing. How could it not? I am constantly buying new shit that I fall in love with.

My 10 Favorite Articles Of Clothing:

10. Siegfried My Old Denim Jeans
9. Old Navy Thin White & Blue Striped Cotton Hoodie
8. Michael Brandon White Linen Drawstring Pants
7. DKNY Blue Guitar T-Shirt
6. Black Calvin Klein Vertical Logo Polo
5. CINTAS Black Uniform Pants
4. Old Navy Lavender Heather V-Neck T-Shirt
3. Hello Kitty Bubble Wand Necklace
2. DKNY Black & Gray Pinstriped Vest
1. Calvin Klein Plain White T-Shirts

The Siegfried My Old Denim Jeans are only at the bottom because they ripped recently, otherwise they’re probably be number 3 or 4. Anyway, that is enough with making lists. I think you all have a pretty good idea of my favorites of all of my favorite things at this point. Sure, there are plenty of other lists I could create here but they would all pretty much be offshoots of these lists. Anyway, making lists isn’t as fun as it used to be, I suppose. I think the reason for this is because I have grown to a point where I understand that I will feel more of a connection to different things at different times, so lists will be forever evolving. With beauty products, for example, I am constantly buying new things that have the potential to knock any one of those items off of that list any time. The same really goes for all of these lists. I think, really, the reason I am less into making lists nowadays isn’t because I don’t have people to discuss them with but because I am always trying to keep my eyes facing forward. I love everything on every list included here but I am always looking for something else to love. This could be a problem if I am EVER in a relationship again. Hell, it has been a problem when I was in relationships in the past. I suppose it is all just a part of being me. In the meantime, my Mom is on her way home with dinner and it is “Glee” night, so I am going to end this here. Hope you had fun with my lists! Goodnight!