Obligatory End of the Year List

Hey Gang,

It's that time of the year when everyone on social media  is making lists...lists of hit songs, hit movies, popular news stories, but no one is making a list of the top lists. 

My favorite lists are advice lists like "The Top 10 Signs That Your Significant Other is Bad for you" or "5 Reasons Why You Should Leave Your Toxic Marriage"...terrible relationships tend to make great lists!

There are also itemized accounts of events that transpired during the year, like celebrity deaths lists.   Famous people will go through a roller coaster of popularity while they are alive. When they die, though, they are all unsung geniuses in their field.  People tend to curse the entire year that took the life of their hero. (Suck it, 2016 for taking all of our rock stars and actors)  Remember that one year when no one that was famous died?  What a good year that was!

Don't forget the New Year's lists...People will make a record of what they resolve to change at beginning of January.  I would think it would be hard to come up with brand new resolutions every year.  I  just copy and paste mine from the previous year,  It's a time saver and makes me feel efficient.

Whatever list you compose this year, be sure to put yourself number 1 on it! ( Unless it's the naughty list, then put yourself accordingly.)

Happy New Year,

Cathy Gainer Corporate Trainer

6 Reasons Why Articles Objectify Subjective Subjects.

Hey Gang,

I often read articles from informational websites that tell me that the things I enjoy are bad.  For years I thought that  my favorite movies were entertaining and appealing to me.  Well, it turns out that I was wrong.  The authors of these blog posts offer their opinion to create lists and rankings to make rules on what is normally subjective.  It's fun!

All of the articles that list top the 10 best/worst of almost any forms of entertainment tell me that I have terrible tastes in songs/movies/tv shows and books.  It's all very interesting.  I have found that being over 30 and a woman is a disadvantage to knowing what is good and what is bad in the world of entertainment.

Let's take superhero movies.  I never read comic books as a kid.  I thought DC was a city that the president lived in and that Marvel was something I did when I watched Tony Robbins. That isn't the case.  These superhero movies have been the backbone to the box office for the last decade.  What makes a good movie are stories about people with super-human strength or who are some sort of mutant.  Any other story line will definitely make it on the "worst" list.

The same goes for music.  All of music that I listened to as a young person and enjoyed because of the memories they created are all garbage songs.  I guess good music didn't exist until the dawn of the millennium. 

Thanks internet!  You always teach me new things.

Cathy Gainer Corporate Trainer