Just as I did with my Best of 2009 post, I would rather share my favorite Best of the Decade lists than make my own. Since I don't like any of the names given to this past decade, I am just going with Best of the Decade. I have included lists in the topics of television, movies, music, books, video games and technology. Please feel free to add your favorite lists in the comments.

Television
1. Lost, Idol and Ozzy among decade's TV Top 10 - Yahoo News (List by the Associated Press)
2. Decade's Best TV Moments - Boston Globe TV Critic Matthew Gilbert
3. Best of the 00s in TV - TV with Alan Sepinwall
4. 10 Best TV Shows of the Decade - Entertainment Weekly

Movies
1. The 50 Best Movies of the Decade (2000-2009) - Paste Magazine
2. Best of the Decade: Sci-Fi Movies - Techland
3. 10 Best Movies of the Decade - Entertainment Weekly
4. The 10 Best Trailers of the Decade? - Rotten Tomatoes
5. The Ten Best Animated Films of the Decade - Movie Retriever

Music
1. 100 Best Albums of the Decade - Rolling Stone
2. 100 Best Songs of the Decade - Rolling Stone
3. 10 Best Albums of the Decade - Entertainment Weekly
4. The 50 Best Music Videos of the Decade (2000-2009) - Paste Magazine

Books
1. Books: The 10 Best of the Decade - Entertainment Weekly
2. The 20 Best Graphic Novels of the Decade - Paste Magazine
3. 20 Best Science Fiction Books of the Decade - io9
4. Best Books of the Decade (2000-2009): Top 10 for Teens - Common Sense Media
5. Best Books of the Decade: 2000's - Goodreads

Video Games
1. The 20 Best Video Games of the Decade (2000-2009) - Paste Magazine
2. The Top 50 Videogames of the Decade - Destructoid

Technology
1. Best Products, Services and Technologies of the Decade - PC Magazine
2. The Most Influential People of the Decade (in technology) - PC Magazine
3. The Top 10 Gadgets of the Decade - ABC News
4. The Biggest Technology Flops of the Decade - US News & World Report
5. Best Websites of the Decade (2000-2009): Top 10 for Teens - Common Sense Media
6. Best Websites of the Decade - About.com

Celebrities
1. 10 Biggest Celebrity Scandals of the Decade - ivillage.com
2. Entertainers of the 00s: YOUR Top 10! - Entertainment Weekly

If you are still looking for more Best of the Decade lists, Paste Magazine has many more than the ones I've used above, with some very creative categories. Please add your favorites in the comments. A decade only ends once every 10 years. I'll read all the Best of the Decade lists I can find. Happy Holidays.

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As her fans already know, Shailene Woodley plays Amy Juergens, the lead character on The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Amy found out that she was pregnant during season one and is now a teenage mom. I just had the pleasure of speaking with Shailene Woodley on a conference call interview. She couldn't have been nicer.

Shailene discussed the personality of her character, Amy. Lately, she has not been as sweet and nice as before. This is partly because all teenage girls go through mean stages in high school and partly because of the hormones from being post-partum that are causing mood swings.

Shailene gave some hints as to what will happen during the second part of season 2, beginning January 4th, 2010. According to her, there might be another pregnancy on the show, late in the season. There will be much confusion in Ben and Amy's relationship and Ricky will deal with ups and downs. A new guy comes into the picture? Amy and Ricky will always have the family connection and he is the only person that Amy can confide anything to, but they will continue to be just friends, at least for now.

In real life, Shailene said that her and the other cast members all get along great. When the show began they were all thrown together and they bonded quickly. It is like high school without the drama. They will often play music or watch YouTube videos together and laugh during down times on set. She raved about how nice and down to earth Molly Ringwald is. Shailene hasn't had the chance to get to know most of the casts of other ABC family shows.

Playing Amy has allowed Shailene to see just how difficult being a teen mom is. Kudos to anyone who has been able to do it. It would be difficult for her to have to give up her dreams. Although she doesn't often meet currently pregnant teens, Shailene is often approached by moms in their thirties and forties that became pregnant as teens and they love watching The Secret Life.

Shailene Woodley's favorite television shows are Top Chef, Project Runway and Glee. If she could guest star on any TV show her choice would definitely be Glee, which she described as an amazing show that is fun to watch with friends. Her favorite band is the Foo Fighters and she also enjoys many lesser known indie bands.

Shailene would like to see her character, Amy, grow up a little. In the new season the show will be exploring this in an optimistic way. She thinks that Ben has a lot of growing up to do and that Ricky is not responsible enough for a relationship.

The wait is almost over. The Secret Life of the American Teen will begin again on Monday night, January 4, 2010 at 8:00pm ET on ABC Family. The Secret Life of the American Teenager volume 3 DVD, from the first half of the current season, will be released on December 22, 2009. Christmas gift, anyone?

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Does your teen, or you, watch movies, television shows, or other videos on their mp3 players. If so, you know that it means holding the player while watching. idox, an iPhone and iPod accessory design/manufacturer has created the Traveler Series to help.

The idox Traveler Series is designed to hold your iPod Nano (4th or 5th generation), iPhone or iTouch stationary and upright to more easily enjoy videos, podcasts and more. It is a very simple device to make the phone or mp3 player hands free. All buttons and ports remain accessible, so you can still easily charge, pause and turn off. You can keep your device in the idox, close it shut and use it as a protective case.

You can purchase the idox Traveler Series holders directly from the idox website. This should make a great gift for teens or anyone who spends time on their iPhone, iTouch or iPod Nano.

See Also:
Top 20 Holiday Gifts for Teens
10 Cool New Gadgets from the Consumer Electronic Show NY Press Preview

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I thought of writing my own top 10 of 2009 lists but decided that I do not feel qualified to make them. I don't watch every television show or read every book, etc to make those decisions. So instead, I decided to search for and share a variety of top 10 lists that I found online and enjoyed. These lists cover the topics that I discuss on this blog: TV, movies, music, education, technology and books.

1. Best of 2009: PopSugar Rush's Top 10 Biggest Stories - PopSugar TV

2. The App Store's Biggest (Official) Hits of 2009 - Gizmodo

3. The 30 Best Careers for 2009 - U.S. News & World Report

4. Best Books of 2009 - Publishers Weekly

5. Best of 2009: top 5 Wii Games - Wired

6. Top 10 Date Movies of 2009 - Your Tango

7. Nielsen's Top 10 TV shows of 2009 - THR - The Live Feed

8. The Best TV Lines of 2009 - The Chicago Tribune: The Watcher blog

9. STARmeter Top 25 stars of 2009 - IMDB

10. AFI picks top 10 movies and television shows for 2009 - Variety

11. Top 10 Real Time technologies of 2009 - Read Write Web (Link on page to many other top 10 tech type lists)

12. YALSA's 2009 Teens' Top 10 Books - American Library Association

13. Top 10 songs of 2009 - Aol Radio Blog

14. Video Games of the Year 2009 - Yahoo! Games (Top 5 and the best one in 13 categories)

15. BuddyTV's Best of 2009 - BuddyTV  (Includes TV's Sexiest Men, TV's Sexiest Women, Best & Worst Shows, Top Reality Moments, Best Relationships, Breakout Stars, Best Episodes and TV Trends)

I am sure that there are many more top 10 lists out there that I have yet to find. However, I hope you enjoyed these as much as I did.

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Our fascination with vampires does not seem to be abating any time soon. Movies, television show and books, especially books, are being cranked out as fast as possible to meet the rising demand. Vampire related entertainment vehicles have been big hits ever since Dracula, but never have they taken over our culture so overwhelmingly.

Vampires have always appealed mostly to females, especially teens and young adults. While looking through Amazon.com, I found 5 books about vampires, written within the past 6 months, mostly written for young women. If you are a fan of The Vampire Diaries, Twilight, or any other teenage vampire stories, you might get a kick out of these:

1. The Vampire Is Just Not That Into You - A comical take on the hit advice book He's Just Not That Into You. Undead dating specialist Vlad Mezrich has all the answers, utilizing quizzes, Top Ten lists, language analysis, real-life (and real-death) testimonials, and fancy charts to show you what you need to do in order to get your vampire and keep him forever.

2. Never Bite a Boy on the First Date - Cute young adult novel in which a teenage girl becomes a vampire, one of her classmates are killed and she is falling for another vampire who might be the killer.

3. The New Vampire's Handbook: A Guide for the Recently Turned Creature of the Night - A comical take on what you need to know if you've been turned into a vampire.

4. How to Catch and Keep a Vampire: a Step-by-Step Guide to Loving the Bad and the Beautiful - How to woo, win and forge a relationship with a vampire. Why are we so attracted to them? Can we tame them? A humorous book for readers fascinated with vampires.

5. Bite Me! - A young adult novel about a seventeen year old female vampire.

The above are summaries, not reviews, as I have not read them, although I'm thinking of getting one or two of them. I have been a vampire lover ever since I read my first Anne Rice book, Interview with a Vampire. I was fascinated with the vampire lore in her books and couldn't get enough. Luckily, there is a never-ending supply lately of vampire pop culture for me to consume.

See Also:
Nightlight: a Parody - Twilight Lampooned
Why are Vampires so Popular

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