The Twenty Best Songs of Two Thousand and Ten

Sure, the year itself may have been less than stellar, but it was a good year for music. I have a relatively broad taste in music, never solely listening to one genre of music - ranging from the electropop explosion, melodic indie rock, bumpin' hip hop, eclectic rock, and even a splash of country pop. So, I have compiled a list of twenty songs that made my year and I believe that are the best of the year.



1. Closer to the Edge – Thirty Seconds to Mars
2. Teenage Dream – Katy Perry
3. Come Back Home – Two Door Cinema Club
4. Animal – Neon Trees
5. Ours – The Bravery
6. Need You Now – Lady Antebellum
7. The Only Exception – Paramore
8. Dog Days Are Over – Florence + the Machine
9. Speechless – Lady Gaga
10. Spitting Fire – The Boxer Rebellion
11. Back and Forth – Operator Please
12. Telephone – Lady Gaga and Beyonce
13. Mean – Taylor Swift
14. Sticks and Stones – Jonsi
15. Neutron Star Collision - Muse
16. Only the Young – Brandon Flowers
17. Eclipse (All Yours) – Metric
18. Radioactive – Kings of Leon
19. Dancing On My Own – Robyn
20. Your Love is My Drug – Ke$ha

Oscar Predictions

Ah, yes - 'tis awards season. This looks like a fierce year that could end up bloody so I've decided to post my predictions early in the main categories. The technical ones will come shortly. The asterisk indicates who I would like to win :D


Best Picture

127 Hours (5)
Black Swan (4)
Blue Valentine (9)
Inception (7)
The Kids Are All Right (3)
How to Train Your Dragon (6)
The King’s Speech (8)
Toy Story 3 (2)
The Social Network*(1)
Winter’s Bone (10)

Best Actor in a Leading Role

James Franco, 127 Hours*
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine
Jeff Bridges, True Grit

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Natalie Portman, Black Swan*
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network*
Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Barbara Hershey, Black Swan
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
Amy Adams, The Fighter*
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech

Best Animated Feature

Toy Story 3*
How to Train Your Dragon
Despicable Me

Best Director

David Fincher, The Social Network*
Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Danny Boyle, 127 Hours
Christopher Nolan, Inception

What Part of Forever

2010 sucked. Sorry to start off on a negative comment but it really did. But not the kind of “sucked” that had no redeeming qualities. There are plenty of things that made the year worthwhile – let’s just say there’s a new, solid foundation. I dove deep into the delicious misery and the comforting melancholy, rummaging through the darkness of the void but emerging out into the sunlight. Okay, enough pretentiousness.

I can imagine that I soon will be accepting the fact that my life on earth will change. My life is cyclical – always changing, perhaps going somewhere, but still going in a circle. It’s time to break out of that. So it’s a good thing I am fully prepared to expect any challenge that will come my way – good or bad. And I apologize for sounding like a self-help book. But in the end, that’s what I’m trying to do, to help myself. In doing so, I also have to accept the fact that this year did, in fact, blow – however, it’s soon coming to an end and I can now embrace a new chapter in my life. New decade, new rules-type of philosophy.

Lying in bed at night, thinking about everything and everyone, knowing who’s in my life, who’s not, and who were, it’s hard to keep everyone in line. My writings have caused friction between friends and I before, never damaging but definitely noticing the remnants of past friendships. Sometimes I wish it wasn’t too late, but I can’t turn back time, nor make it go forward. Things happen. But what’s the point of holding onto the past? People make mistakes, but sometimes the mistake can end up being an eye opener thus making us learn. I guess I just made “learning from your mistakes” sound philosophical, in a sense. Not really, but you get the gist.

These past few years have flown – the post-high school years. One minute you’re complaining about the heat then one minute you notice snow falling from the sky. Sometimes, you forget where you are in life. At least, I do. But, thankfully, there are those people that remind you who you are and what your purpose is. Close friends, to me, are the true backbone in keeping someone’s mindset clearer and functioning. Now, I’m not saying I’m helpless and need people to do things for me – that’s not what this is about. We all fall from the horse sometime, if you can get up with some help that’s great, but if you can get up on your own – that’s even better. But knowing that you had some help in the first place to get you back up, now that is something. Who wants to go at this alone? Bring on 2011.