What is that about? Well, for one thing, I spent so much time traveling (that is time spent traveling not time traveling like Back to the Future--you know, just to be clear) for work that whole months do seem to be a bit of a blur. I can put together a chronology of airports more easily than a run down of cultural events of the year.
Should I go back and research? If I have to do that, were the people all that impactful? Should I have been taking notes all along? Maybe I will do that for 2009. How to proceed?
Well, let's be honest, I don't think that anyone is really sitting on pins and needles waiting to read who I am going pronounce the most interesting of the year. No need to pressure myself. That said, I give you my "Top 8 of 08--As Best As I Can Remember It".
1) I am not going to go from eight to one to try to build up the suspense. Besides, my top of the top is the same person who is on everyone else's list--Barak Obama. I decided to not get political in my blog, but this isn't really about politics. This is about social change. I don't need to go through all of the reasons. You have seen them a hundred times in every other list including Time's Most Fascinating Person of the Year. In so many ways, Obama took 08.
2) So, I just said that I am not going to get all political, and I am not. However, just as Obama was culturally significant, so was Hillary Clinton. She was a contender, and she is going to be the most influential woman in the US. It makes me happy beyond words to know that my friends daughters have a smart, successful role model in H-Rod. If Obama is the man, Hillary is surely the woman. [Full disclosure, I am a total Clinton Democrat. I heart Bill, and I love me some H-Rod. I will, by and large, keep it out of the blog, though.]
3) Now to pseudo-politics: Tina Fey. Yes, she is on every one's list this year, as well she should be. Let's be clear, though, I have loved Tina Fey long before her Sarah Palin imitation. I have seen many celebrities in NY, but she was the only one who, when I saw her on a street corner on the Upper West Side two or three years ago, that I actually wanted to talk to. (I didn't. What do you say? "I think that you are super cool"? Uh, OK. "And you are . . . ?") I loved Tina Fey pre-30 Rock (though I heart 30 Rock). I loved Tina Fey in the Weekend Update and "Mom Jeans" skit years. To paraphrase a quote in the New Yorker, Tina Fey is the sex symbol for all men whose lips do not move when they read. Score one for the smart women. (Two, really. See above re: H-Rod.)
4) Britney Spears. I am not proud of it, but I am constantly fascinated by Britney Spears. This year she deserves it, though. To start a year with two forced psychiatric hospitalizations and end it with three MTV awards and a hit album is pretty damn amazing. Yes, Womanizer is a highly repetitive and annoying song. Still, it is the choice ring-tone for numberless tweens and college students. I don't want the little girls in my family and my friends families to want to grow up to be Britney Spears, but I do give her credit for turning things around. The events of 2007 were truly sad, and I hope that the about face that has started for her this year continues.
5) I know that if I were to say that I am including a male movie star who passed away on this list, many people would assume that I am talking about Heath Ledger. I am not, though. I am talking about Paul Newman. While he was a great actor, the example he set of how to not just be good but to do good is inspiring. Who knew that salad dressing would lead to change in so many children's lives? That is a legacy that will live long after his movies are forgotten.
6) Now, a nod to the world of sports. Joe Paterno has been the head coach at Penn State for the past hundred years or so. He is a man who has largely worked without a contract, and is one of the lower paid coaches in college football. Still, at age 82 and having had to coach most of the season from the press booth due to a hip injury, Joe Pa still took his team to the Rose Bowl this year. He has been unpopular at times for not allowing some talented athletes to play because they were not making the grade in their classes. Joe Paterno doesn't care about the money and doesn't care about the critics. He cares about his players and he cares about the game that he plays with so much integrity.
7) In the category of "Not a Person but a Thing"--the IPhone. I know that the first IPhone didn't come out in 2008, but I got my IPhone this year. Proof that, yet again, Apple leads the pack. That is influence.
8) Finally, it is always popular to put a "regular person" on these kinds of lists. I actually am putting a whole lot of regular people in this spot. The American People make my list because this was quite a year. We have weathered (and are continuing to weather) financial storms, have made a sea change in the American political landscape by coming out in droves to vote in Barak Obama, saw scandal (Blagovjevich and Maddoff) and tragedy (Caylee Anthony and the Santa killings in CA being just two of the many) and still kept of ticking. This has been a tough year, and we have another one coming up. We voted for hope and change, though, and that means that we stand a chance. Kudos to us.
Now, let me just mention the people who I refuse to put on this list: Tom Cruise (He made a movie and admitted that he behaved like a loon. Big deal.); Sarah Palin (The female Bush. A woman who can't speak intelligently and shoots wildlife from a helicopter is no one's role model.); the pregnant man (We all know how it works. It is a matter of plumbing.); Eliot Spitzer (You broke my heart Eliot. Such a huge lack of integrity is shameful.); Oprah (On principle.)
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