2015 List of “Best of” Lists

Source: The Year in Fungi – The New Yorker

Five mycological highlights from 2015, including banana killers, rainmakers, and the zombie cure.

Source: Top 25 News Photos of 2015 – The Atlantic

The past year has been a series of tumultuous news stories, from the massive migration crisis and the war and terror those migrants are fleeing, to historic images of faraway Pluto, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling supporting same-sex marriage, and widespread protests about continued inequality.

Source: The Year in Drone Video: Real Estate, Architecture, and Cities – In the Air – Curbed

Source: Ten LGBTQ News Stories the Mainstream Media Ignored in 2015

Truthout recaps some of the LGBTQ stories the mainstream media missed, ignored or just plain got wrong in 2015.

Source: The Most Intriguing LGBT Characters of 2015 | GLAAD

A handful of characters caught the eye of viewers and critics alike this year by telling unique and exciting stories, here are some of the (mostly) new LGBT characters in 2015 that stood out from the crowd.

Source: The Lives They Lived – The New York Times

Remembering some of the artists, innovators and thinkers we lost in the past year.

Source: The 10 Best Feminist Quotes of 2015

Source: The best book cover designs for 2015

Check out more great covers at the NY Times, Buzzfeed, and The Casual Optimist. Compare with last year’s picks.

Source: The Year That Was and Wasn’t – The Morning News

We asked writers and thinkers to tell us: What were the most important events of 2015—and what were the least?

Source: Highlights from 2015 | Gender Spectrum

Source: The best (or worst) news media corrections of 2015

A compilation of the best, or worse, or most convoluted, or contrived, or outrageous, or downright silly media corrections.

Source: Best Pure CSS Pens of 2015

Best Pure CSS Pens of 2015

Source: The 10 Best TV Shows of 2015 | Village Voice

Source: Top 15 classes of 2015 | Northern Illinois University

Continue Reading2015 List of “Best of” Lists

Annual “Best of” Lists for 2014

  • Post author:
  • Post category:Books
  • Post comments:0 Comments

A small selection of “best of” lists from 2014.

The Man Booker Prize – 2014 Finalists
— awarded to The Narrow Road to the Deep North: A novel by Richard Flanagan

Pulitzer Prize – The 2014 Winners Fiction Finalists
— Awarded to The Goldfinch: A Novel by Donna Tartt

Newberry Medal Award 2014 Finalists
— Awarded to Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo

PEN – Literary Awards Winners 2014

New York Times – 100 Notable Books of 2014

New York Times – The 10 Best Books of 2014

The Washington Post – The ten best books of 2014

Publisher’s Weekly – The Best Books of 2014

Amazon – The Best Books of 2014

Good Reads – Best Books of 2014

Autostraddle – Top 10 Queer and Feminist Books of 2014

Mother Jones – The 19 Best Photobooks of 2014

New York Times Sunday Book Review – The Best Book Covers of 2014

Buzzfeed – 24 Movies You Probably Missed This Year, But Should Totally See

Buzzfeed – The 39 Most WTF Moments Of 2014

Reuters – Best photos of the year 2014

Wall Street Journal – Year in Photos 2014

Nasa on Instagram

IO9 – The Most Amazing Science Images Of 2014

Mubi: Best Movie Posters of 2014

Rolling Stone – Rob Sheffield’s Top 25 Songs of 2014

Continue ReadingAnnual “Best of” Lists for 2014

Annual “Best of” Lists for 2013

I’ve put together much more comprehensive lists like this in the past, but time and priorities have interfered this year. Here are the end-of-year retrospectives that I was able to review and enjoy this December.

100 Notable Books of 2013 – New York Times

50 Book Covers for 2013 – The Casual Optimist

The Best Book Covers of 2013 – New York Times

Notable Children’s Books of 2013 – New York Times

Most Talked About in 2013 – Facebook Stories

Best photos of the year 2013 from Reuters.

The Top 10 Photos of 2013 from Time.

The 45 Most Powerful Photos Of 2013 from BuzzFeed.

Continue ReadingAnnual “Best of” Lists for 2013

Annual “Best of” Lists for 2012

Top 10 Science Stories of 2012 – Discover Magazine

2012: The Year in Pictures – New York Times

2012 Year in Pictures: Part I – The Big Picture, Boston.com

2012 Year in Pictures: Part II – The Big Picture, Boston.com

2012 Year in Pictures: Part III – The Big Picture, Boston.com

The 140 Best Twitter Feeds of 2012 – Time.com
“TIME’s social media editor Allie Townsend & social media associate Amy Lombard pick the 140 Twitter feeds that are shaping the online conversation in 2012.”

2012: The Year in Words – Merriam-Webster Online

Best Books 2012 – Goodreads
“Announcing the winners of the 2012 Goodreads Choice Awards, the only major book awards decided by readers.”

Best Books 2012 – NPR
NPR puts together a number of “best of” lists for literature in different genres.

Best Books of 2012 – Barnes and Noble

Best Books of 2012 – Publisher’s Weekly

10 Best Books of 2012 – New York Times
Wow – women actually have 3 of 10 spots on the list! Way to go, NYT, you guys are making progress. Maybe next year, we’ll even get 4 spots, given that women write 70% of all the books published.

Favorite Book Cover Designs of 2012 – NYTimes.com
“We asked people in and around the world of graphic design to name one of their favorite book covers from 2012 and briefly describe its appeal.”

Best Movies of 2012 – Roger Ebert

Best of 2012: The EW movie awards – Entertainment Weekly

Best of 2012: The EW TV awards – Entertainment Weekly

The Naughty and Nice of 2012 TV – everybody and television

Best & Worst of the Year – TV Guide

The Best Albums Of 2012 – VH1

50 BEST ALBUMS OF 2012 – Rolling Stone

The Best Games of 2012 Awards – Gamespot
“There was a noticeable change of direction for the gaming industry in 2012. As many developers shifted their gaze toward the next generation, the big-budget games that would normally fill our time were in much shorter supply.”

Continue ReadingAnnual “Best of” Lists for 2012

links for 2010-01-19

Continue Readinglinks for 2010-01-19

Farewell, 2009 (a year in pictures)

We had a pretty calm but eventful year in 2009. I spend a chunk of January getting our staircase room painted, and we also stripped the wallpaper and painted a bedroom at Stephanie’s rental house. I also went back on a walk through of my former home at 2165 N. Penn. I discovered that although I love the house, I don’t miss it at all.

Painting the Staircase Room
New paint at our house

At the end of February, we visited our friends Daniel and Melissa in Michigan while Stephanie competed in the Deborah Burgoyne North American Invitational 2009. We had a wonderful time with our hosts, and I discovered I had no idea how to take good photos of skating with my camera, as you can tell.

Deborah Burgoyne North American Invitational 2009 - 061
Stephanie on the ice.

In March, we planted lots of flowers in containers on the porch and in flowerbeds, and we built new bookshelves from Ikea for Stephanie’s books in the dining room — a much more pleasant space now that we’ve rescued all her books from boxes and organized them.

Final Bookshelves in Place

In April, I started taking more photo walks around Indianapolis, and began a much-needed photography class.

Photo Walk Broad Ripple

Presidential Portraits

Garfield Park Orchid Show

In May, I worked on my photography at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and by snapping lots of images of flowers and of friends.

Fast Friday at IMS 2009

May Flowers

Patsy's Cookout

In June, I turned 41 and we had a pizza picnic in our backyard to celebrate.

My Birthday 2009

And at the end of the month, we joined the Eastern Caravan with other New Beetle owners to Roswell, New Mexico for the Return to Roswell car show. It was a nice long, fun trip and a a great time to see lots of Stephanie’s friends (both human and VW).

Stephanie and BJ

Jason and Lisa

Spacepod

Return to Roswell 2009 - Little Rock to Amarillo

Return to Roswell Car Show

Return to Roswell Car Show
During the trip I took one of my all-time favorite photos of a ragged man with a three-legged dog:

Three-Legged Dog

In July, I got way behind in my photo editing because we were so active, and I still haven’t edited all the photos from Stephanie’s visit from her niece Raven, or from our trip to Moline, Illinois for my cousin Katie’s wedding. I participated in the Scott Kelby photo walk along the Canal in Indy, though, and took a few other nice photos:

Stephanie

I'm so cute

Salvia by the Water

in August, we bought a scooter, so we spent a lot of time studying for learners motorcycle permits and learning to ride it.

Scooter Riding

We also spent time with friends and visited the State Fair.

Dinner at Siam Square

Dill pickle popcorn

Stephanie and I both started a knitting class in mid-May of this 2009, but it wasn’t until August that I really had any pictures of projects to show off.

Gryffindor Scarf

Striped Scarf

In September, I continued to lag behind on the photos. We had a Labor Day cookout, and spent more time with friends.

Labor Day Cookout

Labor Day Cookout

Doug C.'s Birthday

October was another busy, busy month. My sister had a new baby – Penelope – over in England, for one thing, so I have four nieces (Erika, Riley, Annabelle and now Penny).

We attended the IndieHandicraft Exchange:

INDIEana Handicraft Exchange

Went to a friend’s solo photography show:

Convergence (Solo Show)

Went to a progressive mystery play at a mansion in our neighborhood:

From Dark Pages Progressive Mystery Play
Hosted a praying mantis on our porch:

The Visitor

Went to see They Might be Giants at the Vogue:

They Might Be Giants

Decorated for Halloween:

Neighborhood Walk

Took lots of walks around the neighborhood before it got too cold:

Neighborhood Walk

And then drove to Durham, North Carolina to see our friends Lisa and Jason get married:

Lisa and Jason's Wedding

Took lots of photos of Fall Color:

Autumn Leaves

And attended our friend Garrett and David’s Halloween party:

Dave & Garrett's Halloween Party

November was equally busy. We attended Johnathan’s birthday:

Jonathan's Birthday 2009

And spend weekend after weekend raking leaves. And raking, and raking, and raking…

Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves

We went to a Naptown Roller Girls double-header bout:

Naptown Roller Girls at Pepsi Coliseum

And went out to eat a few times:

Sam at Lunch

Maria's Pizza

And at the end of November, we drove to Iowa to visit our family at my grandparent’s farm for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving at Grandma's 2009

Thanksgiving at Grandma's 2009

Thanksgiving at Grandma's 2009

In December, we kicked off the holidays by baking cookies for a White Elephant gift exchange hosted at our house, after decorating.

Christmas Decor

Christmas Cookie Baking

White Elephant party

We also did a lot more knitting:

Striped Scarf

Went to a birthday party:

Sam's 3rd Birthday Party

And we went to several Christmas gatherings both here in town and up north with Stephanie’s family and friends.

Sam's 3rd Birthday Party

Christmas morning

Spike at Grandpa Doug's house

2009 was a productive year for us. I learned some new skills and honed some old ones, and spent quality time with family and friends. I’ve done a lot less writing this year than in past ones, and taken a lot more photos instead. I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or a bad one – I’m fairly happy with what I’ve accomplished.

I also have about 10 years of photos on Flickr now. I took my first digital photos in 1999, bought my first digital camera in 2000, and have gone through three cameras since. I’d do a retrospective of the whole decade, but I’ve already made this post much longer than I ever intended to.

I think the first decade of this millennium was a really unfortunately one in many ways, and I have hope that the next will go much better. I plan to spend the next ten years writing about and photographing it as well.

And of all the photos I’ve taken this year, this is a gallery of my very favorite ones.

Favorites 2009

Continue ReadingFarewell, 2009 (a year in pictures)

links for 2009-12-10

Continue Readinglinks for 2009-12-10

Annual “Best of” Lists for 2004

Kottke.org’s Best Links of 2004

Roger Ebert’s Best Films of 2004

MSNBC’s Year in Pictures 2004

The Washington Post’s best photos of 2004

The NY Times Year in Pictures 2004

Discover chooses the top 100 stories in science for 2004

Amazon’s Best Books of 2004

Amazon’s Best DVDs of 2004

Salon Magazine’s The top 10 books of the year

Salon Magazine’s Top 10 movies of the year

NPPA’s Best of Still Photojournalism 2004

American Library Association’s 2004 Best Books for Young Adults

Popular Science’s Best of What’s New 2004

Merriam-Webster’s 2004 Top Ten Favorite Words

Inc. Magazine’s 2004’s Top 25 Companies

The Economist’s list of the best books of 2004

New York Times Book Review’s list of the 100 notable books of 2004

National Board of Review’s Films Awards for 2004

Continue ReadingAnnual “Best of” Lists for 2004

My “Best of 2003” Retrospective List

Best TV show: Joan of Arcadia.

Honorable mention: Celebrity Poker Showdown, The Amazing Race 4

Best Fiction: Life of Pi.

Honorable mention: American Gods, The DaVinci Code

Best Non-Fiction: Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look At The Right

Honorable mention: Indiana Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities, and Other Offbeat Stuff

Best Song: Crazy in Love – Beyonce

Best Album: Home – Dixie Chicks

Honorable mention: Elephant – The White Stripes

Best Movie: Return of the King

Honorable mention: Cold Mountain, Master and Commander

Best DVD: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended Edition)

Honorable mention: Spirited Away

Best Website: Friendster.com

Honorable mentions:
Eschaton by Atrios
Television Without Pity
Tee Vee – Home of the Vidiots

Most Evil GOP Bastard: Tom DeLay
In the field of GOP bastardy, few can compare with the malevolent influence of the GOP House majority leader. Known as “The Hammer,” this Texas power broker maintains tight control of his “peers” through his prodigious fundraising (he apparently lets lobbyists write their own legislation).

A big list of “best of” lists from major news outlets, etc:
What Do I Know’s Best of Lists

Continue ReadingMy “Best of 2003” Retrospective List