Here comes the end of my teenage years... 2000-2009.

War. Hurricanes. Tsunamis. Deaths. Depression. Scandals. Music. Politics.

I feel like we've seen so much in the past 10 years, I don't think I could even try to recall all of the significant events.

(Image via Flickr)


Everybody's been putting together lists (see: Complex's Best of the 2000s) to commemorate the biggest achievements, the biggest disasters, and the biggest stories. A lot of these lists make me think about how much attention we give to unimportant "news." Remember when Paris Hilton was arrested in 2006? Remember how it was all over CNN and other major news networks? Why do we pay such a ridiculous amount of attention to what are actually fairly insignificant stories? Don't get me wrong -- I'm definitely not immune to this entertainment-hungry disease. It comes from the countless hours I've spent watching TV, reading magazines, surfing the internet, and listening to the radio -- I'm now trained to keep up with the little tidbits. I know my fair share of celebrity news. And it's definitely not always a bad thing to know what's going on -- commemorating Michael Jackson's life after his death this summer was absolutely necessary -- but sometimes it's a bit extra. Why are people hawking celebrity twitter pages to stay up on all the drama and "beefs"? Why is it even relevant?

Okay, so maybe I'm just complaining. But I do think it's kind of ridiculous that, of a list of events/stories/moments/discoveries/people from this decade that I could potentially create, the majority would be fairly silly stuff. Kanye acting up on MTV? Rihanna's new haircut? Paris & Kim's sex tapes? Janet's wardrobe malfunction? The explosion of horrible (... okay, horribly, entertaining) reality TV shows? Jennifer/Brad/Angelina? Britney Spears (in her entirety)?

It's hard to know where to the line between acceptable & unacceptable, so I'm not going to try to do it. I know I'd be making exceptions for particular stories and people. But, I hope that as I live out my 20s in the next decade, that I will be able to pay attention to more that goes on around me. Especially things that directly (or indirectly) affect me.



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Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/linus/42572743


This video is the 2000-2009 decade from the perspective of kids who were born at its start. I wish I could've participated in something like this in 1999 so I could be looking back right now to see what was significant to my 9-year old self!

(It's only 6 minutes, please watch the whole thing!)



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My favorite albums of this decade
Criteria: It was released between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2009. I have listened to the album in its entirety. I have it on my iTunes. I can listen to basically the whole thing without skipping often.

I still have a lot of music left to get & to listen to, so please keep that in mind...


Live in London & More... - Donnie McClurkin (2000)
Can't Take Me Home to Mama - Pink (2000)
*Like Water for Chocolate - Common (2000)
I Care 4 U - Aaliyah (2001)
Popstars - Eden's Crush (2001)
*Room for Squares - John Mayer (2001)
Celebrity - *NSYNC (2001)
*Discovery - Daft Punk (2001)
Songs About Jane - Maroon 5 (2002)
Waiting for My Rocket to Come - Jason Mraz (2002)
MTV Unplugged 2.0 - Lauryn Hill (2002)
Heavier Things - John Mayer (2003)
*The Love Below - Andre 3000 (2003)
Fly Or Die - NERD (2004)
*The College Dropout - Kanye West (2004)
Get Lifted - John Legend (2004)
*Late Registration - Kanye West (2005)
*Be - Common (2005)
*Continuum - John Mayer (2006)
*The Evolution of Robin Thicke - Robin Thicke (2006)
*FutureSex/LoveSounds - Just Timberlake (2006)
Food & Liquor - Lupe Fiasco (2006)
As Cruel As School Children - Gym Class Heroes (2006)
*Alright, Still - Lily Allen (2006)
Finding Forever - Common (2007)
*Life in Cartoon Motion - Mika (2007)
*The Cool - Lupe Fiasco (2007)
*Back to Black - Amy Winehouse (2007)
Version - Mark Ronson (2007)
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (2008)
The Renaissance - Q-Tip (2008)
Seeing Sounds - NERD (2008)
Shine - Estelle (2008)
The Warm Up (mixtape) - J. Cole (2009)


* = on the all-time favorites list.


Since most of my favorites are not on this list, I must say: I hope people come out with some good music in this next decade... if not, I guess I'll just have to make some!