10 FAVORITE THINGS

Hello, class! It's time for us to get to know each other. So let's list some of our favorite things. I'll go first, okay?

These aren't necessarily my 10 favorite things ever; they're just the first 10 things that come to mind. In no particular order:

1. This year in music.

The amount of good music that's been released in the past 8 months is staggering. The Roots, The Black Keys, Broken Bells, Arcade Fire, Sleigh Bells, gorillaz, The National, Spoon, The New Pornographers... 2010 is on fire. If you don't think we're in a cultural golden age, then I don't know what to tell you.

2. avclub.com

A spin-off of the Onion (one of my other favorite things), this is probably my favorite website right now. I love the articles on forgotten b-movies, the sharp criticism of pop culture, and the deep love of films and music both good and bad. For better or worse, these people are my people.

3. Biking as a default mode of transportation

Most experts agree that biking is awesome. I just got my Peugeot about a month ago after borrowing my dad's old street bike, and I love it. It's not the easiest way to get around, but I don't buy gas very often and I'm in much better shape than I was when I got to Tuscaloosa.

4. Mad Men

Mad Men is what's up. As far as I know, no show on television can touch it as far as production values go, and the acting is always top-notch. I thought about being an advertising major, but decided I didn't want my job to be selling people things they don't need. (Sorry, APR majors.) I love this show.

5. American Graffiti

Most people know it as "that movie George Lucas made before Star Wars"- okay, that's a lie, most people don't really know it at all- but American Graffiti might just be the best movie about teenagers ever made. I'm a sucker for character studies, and this one follows a group of high-schoolers the day before graduation in 1962. With a rock and roll soundtrack that almost literally never stops, I find it pretty irresistible.

6. Chuck Klosterman

Klosterman writes essays explaining why football is the most liberal sport, why rock and roll conventions are anything but rock and roll, and how Kurt Cobain is like David Koresh. That probably all sounds like nonsense, but he's got a keen wit and sees things that most people would never notice. I've burned through two of his books this month.

7. My new house

I've lived in one apartment after another since leaving my parents' house in 2007. 3 of my best friends and I finally got a house this year, and I'm loving it. It's spacious, ridiculously cheap, and is often filled with friends squatting for the weekend. It's awesome.

8. Twitter

I used to think Twitter was for narcissists who thought the world revolved around them. I swore it off forever, but a friend convinced me to rethink my position. Now I love Twitter. Sheakespeare said that brevity is the soul of wit, and I couldn't agree more.

9. Being in classes again

I spent last semester working as a co-op for the Center for Public Television. It was awesome experience, and I enjoyed it, but I am jazzed to be back in classes again. Working real hours like a real grown-up is something I'm trying to delay, right? At least until the spring, when I'm working for them again.

10. Parliament-Funkadelic

Dear reader, I will not attempt to explain in this humble blog the spectacle and mind-blowing awesomeness of Parliament-Funkadelic. Put frankly, you either get it or you don't. So put a glide your stride, a dip in your hip, and come on down to the Mothership.

-Hamilton