Olga Belogolova

TOP 30(ish) SONGS OF THE DECADE

(this list is probably missing a lot of great songs…but it’s just off the top of my head)

• “Read My Mind”(2007) by The Killers
• “Grey Street” (2002) by Dave Matthews
• “The Blower’s Daughter” (2003) by Damien Rice
• “Walk On”; “In a Little While” (2000); “Original of The Species” (2004) by U2
• “Island in the Sun” (2001) by Weezer
• “The Middle” (2001) by Jimmy Eat World
• “Time to Pretend” (2007) by MGMT
• “Paper Planes” (2007) by M.I.A.
• “Valerie”  (2007) by Mark Ronson ft. Amy Winehouse
• “Last Nite” (2001) by The Strokes
• “The Seed” (2003) by The Roots
• “The Scientist” (2003) by Coldplay
• “Use Somebody” (2008) by Kings of Leon
• “I’m Yours” (2008); “The Remedy” (2002) by Jason Mraz
• “40 Days 40 Fights”; “The Further I Slide” (2002) by Badly Drawn Boy
• “Home” (2005); “Everything” (2007) by Michael Bublé
• “Stronger” (2007) by Kanye West
• “Broken Strings” (feat. Nelly Furtado); “Love is Hard” (2008) by James Morrison
• “Everything’ll Be Alright (Will’s Lullaby)” (2006); “Today” (2006) by Joshua Radin
• “Mima’amakim” (2005) by Idan Raichel Project
• “Son’s Gonna Rise” (2004) by Citizen Cope
• “Ces Soirées Là” (2000) by Yannick
• ”Ose “ (2003) by Yannick Noah
• “Qu’est-ce que tu fais?” (2002) by Corneille
• “Tu No” (2002) by Gemelli Diversi
• “Your Body Is a Wonderland” (2000) by John Mayer
• “Apologize”(2006) by One Republic
• “1963” (2007) by Rachael Yamagata
• “Stranded” (2005) by Van Morrison
• “Lesson Learned (2006) by Ray Lamontagne

TOP MOVIES OF THIS PAST DECADE

BEST CHICK FLICKS

Bridget Jones Diary (2001)

Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)

Mean Girls (2004)

The Notebook (2004)

Pride and Prejudice (2005)

BEST FOREIGN FILMS

Amelie (2001)

“L’augerge espagnol”  (2002)

Love Me if you Dare/Jeux d’enfants (2003)

Happily Ever After/ Ils se marièrent et eurent beaucoup d’enfants (2004)

The Lives of Others (2006)

La Vie En Rose (2007)

FRENCH FILMS NOT IN FRENCH SO I CAN’T  CALL THEM FOREIGN

Chocolat (2000)

Modigliani (2004)

BEST CULT FILM SERIES

The Harry Potter Series (2001-Present)

SEXIEST FILMS

Closer (2004)

Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005)

BEST COMEDY

High Fidelity (2000)

Greenfingers (2000)

BEST WINNERS

The Pianist (2002)

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

TOP TV SHOWS OF THIS DECADE

BEST DRAMAS

1. Mad Men (2007-Present)

2. Dexter (2006-Present)

BEST OF GIRLY SHOWS

1. Sex and the City (1998-2004)

2. Gilmore Girls (2000-2007)

BEST OF THOSE “AWESOME GROUP OF FRIENDS” SHOWS

1. Friends (1994-2004)

2. Dawson’s Creek (1998-2003)

3. Coupling (2000-2004)

4. How I Met Your Mother (2005-Present)

BEST COMEDY

1. Arrested Development (2003-2006)

BEST BUTT-KICKING FEMALE SHOW

1. Alias (2001-2006)

BEST VAMPIRE SHOWS

1. Moonlight (2007-2008)

2. True Blood (2008-Present)

BEST CANCELLED TOO SOON SHOWS

1. Veronica Mars (2004-2007)

2. Pushing Daisies (2007-2009)

TOP ONLINE TOOLS OF THE DECADE

1. Duh. As soon as my older sister got a Facebook account, I was more eager to get my college email than ever before. Screw getting my list of classes or my dorm assignment. I wanted Facebook and back then, the magic key was having a college e-mail.  Facebook is the best (or worst) thing that ever happened to college students, stalking, dating, and everything else under the sun these days.
2. Maybe it’s because we all like wasting our time or we have all become visual people,  but YouTube has not only changed the way we spend our hours and define “celebrity,” but also how we socialize and even how we run our democracy. In 2008, both candidates had their own YouTube channels.
3. From Gmail, Picasa and Youtube (see above) to Google Maps and even Google Android, Google has become one of the biggest movers and shakers of the online world. For me, it has changed the way I check my email, share documents, share pictures, manage my time, search for information, do marketing, check traffic and soon enough, it will even change the way I use my phone (when I get over myself and buy one already).
4. Am I the only one who remembers using computer software Encyclopedia Britannica for my 5^th grade projects? Searching for information and the way we can all contribute to Diderot’s idea of the “Encyclopédie” is one of the most amazing things that happened to us (and especially lazy students) in the past 10 years. Someone even quoted it in an essay at Oxford.
5. Most people I meet still don’t really “get” Twitter or want to give it a chance. Maybe I wasn’t as excited about it as I was about getting my Facebook account set up, but as I navigated the world of Twitter, I learned that it is a great tool. 140 characters has now become the definition of concise and trending topics has changed the way we think about news and world events. It’s also comforting to know that if I get stuck in a foreign jail as a journalist, I can let my friends know via one word tweet. That could have helped Bridget Jones…
6. For me, as a journalist, this has changed so much. Citizen journalism has changed my career aspirations, my industry, and even our world’s definition of truth and objectivity. With over 100 millions bloggers out there right now, it’s a tough market. The good stuff? Blogging has also changed the way I can expose my writing, share my ideas and the reason I am writing this right here, right now, using CMS.

TOP 10 COOL THINGS I GOT TO DO THIS DECADE

Every magazine, newspaper and blog is starting to wind this decade down with some superlatives and lists of best things of this past decade. For the next couple days leading up to the New Year and the new decade, I will be posting my very own Top 10 lists. The first one, below, is about me.

• Traveled to Jordan on a Journalism Press Trip (2009).
• Got published – two chapters in U Chic: The College Girl’s Guide to Everything (April 2009).
• Studied abroad at Oxford University (2008).
• Traveled Europe while studying abroad (Spain, France, Scotland, Wales) – (2008).
• Traveled to St. Petersburg for the second time (2006).
• Traveled to Israel for the first time (2006).
• Visited more new US states than I did in the previous decade (Texas, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, etc).
• Attended and graduated from college (Boston University) – (2005-2009).
• Attended and graduated from high school (2001-2005).
• Met some of the most amazing people and cultivated long-lasting and meaningful friendships.

Here’s to the excitement, achievement, adventure and discovery of the next decade!