Opinionist: Ask a Dilettante

On Sundays, Houstonist runs opinion pieces relevant to life in Houston. The opinions expressed below are entirely those of the author.

Happy December 31st! Since our resolutions pretty much stay the same from one year to the next (lose weight, get a better job, spend more time with the kids, get the drinking under control, stand up to that troll under the bridge), we need another way to note the passage of time. People in Thailand mark the new year with a squirt gun fight. The Scots like to swing a big ball of fire around their heads. Around here, we make lists. Lots and lots of lists. Best of. Worst of. Most Popular. Least Favorite.

You have champagne to chill and last-day-before-the-new-diet gorging to finish, so you don’t have time to sift through hundreds of lists to get to the good stuff. Dilettante has done some of the sorting for you. Except for the political - you'll have to find your way through that muck on your own.

Dilettante's End-of-Year List of End-of-Year Lists

2006 was definitely the year we began to look to ourselves for entertainment. You Tube's most-viewed videos for the past year include a dog that doesn't know how to share, Noah taking a picture of himself every day for six years and nerdy-cool videos from OK Go. One of Dilettante's favorites didn't make it into the top 100 but is worth a view.

If you are one of the 55 million people who blog, here's a snarky list of clichés you should remove from your lexicon (according to one of the comments, I just used "snarky" incorrectly - whatever).

Rolling Stone collected the Top 25 Re-cut Movie Trailers, which proves just how important editing and mood music are to the story.

Bookslut says you can judge a book by its cover.

National Geographic is about more than naked boobies. Here are the magazine's top 15 stories of the year.

Did you just have a baby? See if junior is listed among the 100 most popular baby names in 2006 or among the ten most intentionally-bizarre baby names celebrities thrust upon their offspring.

Knittas take note: here's a worst of 2006 list for the knitting world, including offensive-to-the-senses glow-in-the-dark knitting needles and the scandal over yarn's fiber content.

Our fair city received a few nods, including being named the third best place to do business in the US and the number one spot for people traveling with dogs.

If you're fond of ratings, check out music and Nielsen rankings for the past 12 months.

The New York Times magazine reviewed the past year in ideas.

Dilettante noticed an interesting trend while traveling around the internet - bloggers, Flickr users and the like created top [insert number] lists for their own posts. Guess they based those rankings upon the preferences of their mothers or their spouses? Everybody's a star...

Happy Year of the Pig.

Photo: flickr user Bri...D.

Have an opinion you'd like to share? Drop us a line at opinion (at) houstonist (dot) com.