Glenny From The Block’s Greatest Hits : 2011 Edition

SO!  It’s almost been a full year since I set this puppy up.  Have to say, never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d ever end up with more than five people reading it.  And, even then, I figured three of those would be my Mum. Considering how irredeemably awful the past month has been, I thought it would be a good time to sit back and reflect on some of the better things I’ve done this year and look back at the ten entries I’m the most proud of.  Otherwise known as the five minutes where I started reading a self help book and am trying to be less of a Grinch about myself.  In my defence though, it’s the BETHENNY FRANKEL SELF HELP BOOK, so it’s not all triteness and lame.

Anyway, here are (in no real particular order), the twelve entries I’m the most proud of as a writer and / or blogger (NB – not always the same thing).  If this is your first time here, it’s a pretty good place to start.  ENJOY!

01 – A Makeshift Amy Winehouse Best Of To Remember All The Good She Gave To The World

Still one of the most sincere things I’ve ever written and one of my favourites.  Literally managed to get this done in about an hour.  Sometimes I write pop culture stuff trying to, for lack of a better word, capitalize on the immediacy of an issue (Princess Beatrice’s Hat, Vodafone’s General Awfulness for example) but this was something that I was pretty much compelled to write out of basically the sense of grief I felt on hearing the news that one of my idols had passed.  I wanted to write something that was both respectful to a legend but also something that could provide comfort to people feeling the same thing I was feeling.  Based on the feedback I got, I think I succeeded.

02 – 36 Pictures Of Christina Aguilera Looking AWFUL

And, on the flipside, this was probably both the cattiest and the most enjoyable thing I’ve  done to date.  Because Christina Aguilera is pretty much just THE WORST.  And the wealth of awful pictures available is just astounding.

03 – Why Is Everyone So Afraid Of Ending Up Alone?

One of the big things I wanted to be able to do was surprisingly, not be Perez Hilton Lite, but to be able to fine tune my writing skills again after letting them atrophy for so long.  As some of my oldest friends know, I’ve had a blog since was back before the word blog was ever invented, back when it was underground and anonymous.  One of my favourite things was writing something totally honest and personal and being able to have people relate to it from all over the world, to provide comfort or just to get people thinking.  This got picked up on http://www.samesame.com.au and the feedback I got through that really blew my mind.  It really struck a chord with people in a way that I never imagined.  Mostly because I wrote it in about 30 minutes with no audience in mind, it was just something that was kind of gnawing at the back of my brain.

04 – Things You See That You Can Never Unsee – Aubrey O’Day Edition

This cracks me up because, until recently, it was the single most read post I’ve ever done.  Which is hilarious considering all it is is a truly bizarre picture of a C-grade celebrity with a magic disappearing vagina.  But it’s a hypnotic picture, truly horrifying.  Sometimes it’s the pieces that you put the lease effort in that do the best.  Basically, it’s the american way.

05 – Drunk Live Blogging The Glee Season 2 Finale

I get a rough trot for promoting my rampant alcoholism from my friends on this blog.  But sometimes it produces pieces of insane comedy gold, like this, which devolves into a completely non-sensical take down of the awful (AWFUL) season 2 finale of Glee.  Literally, the last sentence is basically “ahowfihabfukaj*burp*”.  It wasn’t even intended as a live blog, it was just my notes typed while watching the episode, so the whole thing is a happy accident, like one out of every three children born these days.  But it’s retarded beauty is a thing to behold.  Or mock. Mocking is fine too..

06 – The Most Exciting 23 Seconds Of Music You’ll Hear All Year

I remember reading this after I posted it and feeling like, for the first time, what I wrote actually sounded like it could have come from a real life professional music blog, instead of just coming across as the byproduct of Amateur Hour at the local internet cafe.  It’s nothing special, nothing comprehensive.  It’s just a little piece that reads really well and marks the first time I really felt like I was alright at this blogging malarkey.

07 – Single White Meals – Chilli, Lemon & Thyme Pork Edition

Anyone who knows me knows food and cooking are pretty much my biggest passion outside of Sex and The Tweedycole.  While other meals I’ve posted have looked better, sounded more appetizing or, you know, just received twice as many hits, this is one that I think best represents what I was trying to do with the Single White Meals concept and what I’ll be doing a lot more of in the New Year.  Plus, it’s pretty much the fucking tastiest thing I cook, ever.

08 – 12/25

Probably my greatest writing love of all is writing music.  And even though this isn’t the best overall song I’ve ever written, it’s one of my favourites.  And it’s one I keep coming back to on a personal level myself.  And it’s just so timely right now.  I just love this more than pretty much anything – it’s just the right mix of wistful, bitter and sweet and it’s about a single moment in time that was so special to me.  One of the most honest songs I’ve ever written.

09 – Ranking The Past 21 Survivor Winners From Worst To First

This is the kind of article I need to write more of.  If I could get paid to spend the rest of my life doing pieces like that, I’d die a very happy man.  I’d put it higher on here but the picture formatting is fucked and really ramshackle.  But it’s still a total geekgasm for me to do.  And just reading this convinced a handful of my non-fan friends to go and watch the show, which is all a writer could ever ask for..

10 – An Idiots Guide To The Top 10 Moments Of The Scream Series To Date

Another piece that I love just because I managed to so clearly articulate my love and passion for something in a piece that still read both entertainingly and professionally.  It’s probably the one that people shared the most on facebook, which was really cool.  Plus, I kind of wrote the whole thing with my friend Em in mind, so it holds a really sentimental place for me in my heart.  I hope she got to read it somewhere, cuz I think she would have LOVED it.

11 – Jill Zarin Tries Hand At Catwalk Modelling, Becomes Centre Of Orbit For Gay Cosmic Debris

I just love the absurdity of this.  I had a really dry and surreal sense of humor, and this really encapsulated it so well.  Plus, I just love me some Jill ZAAAAAAAARIN!

12 – The 22 Best Shirtless Photos Of Ryan Kwanten On The Interwebs

Just BECAUSE.

 

Anyways Kidlets – I’d better get ready for Christmas Eve dinner now.  But expect an influx of posts over the next few days as I have like seven pretty much ready to go.  I’m on holidays AND have escaped the Hamster Wheel Of Never Ending Doom job that I’ve been consumed by the past few months, so it’s BAU here again.  Enjoy and, most importantly, THANKS!