The Best of 2013
So, I’m not one of those people who got married, had a kid, or made a million dollars last year. And yes, there were some bad spots (like making the decision to euthanize my oldest cat). I worked, I wrote, and I let myself obsess with some pop culture amazingness. And I know I’m a little late to the game (I did say I would have this up last week, but never had a chance to finish it), but I’m a (mostly) busy girl, and I still wanted to get my list of my own personal favorites of 2013 out there. The majority of this list is pop culture related. There aren’t any fashion trends or makeup fads, sorry beauty lovers. I tend to not care about fashion. I wear what I like. But a good story, or a good song? I could talk about those for days.
30. Finding out more about certain celebrities and their drug use
Demi Lovato might have checked into rehab a long time ago, but she got way more candid this year. And so did Joe Jonas. And Miley Cyrus. And Melissa Joan Hart. Even Zac Efron checked into rehab for a while. I’m not someone who eats up celebrity gossip with a spoon. But I adore celebrities who have the courage to use their own experiences for good, and who find a way to be honest with their fans. Demi Lovato went public with her rehab story before she was ready to, and she paid a price for that. She relapsed. Hard. From what it looked like. But she owned up to that on a nationally televised interview. And she’s become a much more real person to the public for it, not a just an unattainable star. I love her for that. (Maybe I should have titled this section I developed a girl crush on Demi Lovato?)
29. Girl Meets World gets a series pick up
Argh. I feel like this show was announced by Disney four years ago, and I’m still waiting for it. I was so, so, so, excited about this. Boy Meets World is one of my favorite family shows of all time. Looking back on it now, I love that it was just about a regular group of suburban kids. Nowadays, people would probably complain that it’s too vanilla for them, but I love it so much. Because of my love, I have high hopes for Girl Meets World. Part of that comes from Rowan Blanchard actually looking exactly like what you would expect the offspring of Corey and Topanga to look like. Also, she is adorable, and a fan of the original show. I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high, but I just can’t help it. This show needs to premier soon. I’m tired of waiting. (FYI: It’s scheduled to premier sometime this summer.)
28. Binge watching Scandal on Netflix
If ever there was a show made for binge watching, this is it. I’m not even watching season three. I’m waiting for it to get to Netflix instead. I got to the series late, starting to watch it just as the third season began airing. I almost wrote it off as just another prime time soap with Olivia and her affair that she hides from all of the people she supposedly cares about, but her gladiators, primarily Huck and Quinn, are actually what brought me back to it. I love that this group of so very damaged people who cannot get their own lives back have rallied around this one woman to make other people’s lives better, to fix the problems that they can’t fix in their own lives. It’s very poetic for such a heavy political soap. I love it.
27. Blackfish shedding light on captive predators
I’ll be straight up with you: I have not actually watched this documentary. I don’t want to see it. I feel like documentaries like these are not made for the people who are already familiar with the subject. They’re made to enlighten the people who aren’t. I’m glad that there were so many people in the public eye who didn’t really have an opinion on Sea World’s practices that watched it and tweeted about it to their followers. It opens a dialogue that needs to be heard. Here’s the thing about Sea World though - they do a lot of good work in terms of rescue and rehabilitation of injured marine animals. They also do a lot of conservation work. Do the bad things that result from a predator being kept in a cage outweigh the good they do? It’s hard to say. Everyone is going to have a different opinion on that. There are other marine rescue organizations that do great work without keeping an animal that will kill the marine biologist looking after it on hand. But a lot of these animals that are kept and trained to entertain and educate are held because they don’t have the skills to survive in the wild on their own. It’s a complicated issue that I’m happy to see more people begin to explore.
26. The Miley Cyrus transformation
I’m not saying I approve of twerking or near naked music videos. To each his own. Musicians all have their public personas they use to introduce people to the sound they want to sell. Madonna’s had so many personalities that I’ve lost count. What I like about Miley’s complete transformation is that she showed people that a child star can go in a completely different direction as an adult without losing all of their fans. I like that she’s not apologizing for putting on the show she wants to give. And she’s doing everything on her own terms without the backbone of the Disney corporation behind her.
25. Kristen Bell is now a Disney Princess
I didn’t actually see Frozen until after the new year, but I’d already had the soundtrack on repeat. How has Bell never been cast in a Disney animated role like this before? She has the absolute perfect voice for this. I actually think she, Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, and Jonothan Groff need to get together and do some sort of massive animated fairy tale. Throw Anna Kendrick into the mix as well. I don’t care what they do. I just think the voice talents of Tangled and Frozen are some of the best in recent animation history. Perfection. Other than that, Kristen Bell had a hell of a 2013 - baby, wedding, Veronica Mars, successful tv show, independent films. I think she won last year.
24. One Direction’s Midnight Memories
I can’t get over how much I enjoy this group. I really thought that I would be over boybands as an adult. Maybe it’s because they aren’t super polished with slick dance moves. Maybe it’s because they allow each other equal turns at the spotlight. Or, you know, it could be the obvious - their vocals are fantastic and their songs are super catchy. I don’t think I’ve actively disliked any of their music so far. They’re able to be fun, and then follow it up with some seriousness, and still seem like real people who just enjoy making music.
23. Australians taking over US television
If you know anything at all about my television viewing history, you know that I have a soft spot for Australian TV, especially tween and teen programming. Blue Water High, H2O, Dance Academy, I love them all. Those Aussie TV producers seem to really know what they’re doing. And they have a knack for casting up and coming talent. It used to seem like so many of the actors in American shows were from Canada, mainly because so many series film in Vancouver and Toronto, but nowadays, we’ve got a bit of an Aussie invasion going on. Making their way to US produced shows this TV season: Claire Holt, Phoebe Tonkin, Luke Mitchell, Adelaide Kane, Rebecca Breeds (her show did get canceled, but I think she still gets props for making it though pilot season), Caitlin Stasey, Eka Darville (though he pretty much just guest stars on everything), Lachlan Buchanan, and pretty much the entire cast of the summer series Camp, which was fantastic - and I’m sure there are so many more, but that’s all I’ve got off the top of my head. I love seeing so many of these familiar faces being recognized for their talent. It reminds me of Emilie de Ravin getting her start on Roswell, though the landscape of TV has changed quite a bit since then.
22. Writing Portrait’s Top 30 Under 30 - and some of my faves making the cut
I’ve been writing for Portrait for over four years now, but the Top 30 Under 30 has always been our biggest feature, and has always been someone else’s responsibility. It’s always fun for me when we run the bigger polls to see how the votes climb during the time before we start writing the article. It was really fun, though a little stressful, to get my chance to write the 2013 article. Even more so because there were quite a few people who I love who made the list this year, even some who have been nominated the last few years without even placing - like the House of Anubis cast who are all so incredibly talented. I was really happy to see Ariana Grande rank without being part of a cast as well because she has just blown up this year, and she’s so talented. It was such a great experience for me.
And if you are so inclined, you can check out the article here.
21. Discovering Teen Wolf
The internet as long been telling me that this is the kind of show that I could get behind. And the internet was right. That doesn’t happen often, at least not in my experience. I marathoned season one on Netflix in two days, only because I had to work. And I followed that up with season two almost immediately. I finished in time to start watching season three in the fall with very few things on my mind: Dylan O’Brien and Holland Roden can do no wrong, this show could make a mess of every storyline ever but it would still be compelling enough for me to watch it, and since when can MTV show that much blood and get away with it? It fast became one of the most enjoyable shows for me to watch. And it still is. I know there has been a lot of backlash to the kinds of characters that get killed off on this show - read: minorities and women - but I think the series is set up for Scott to be the main character. It’s his journey, and everyone else is simply incidental. Is he my favorite character? No. Am I going to be upset if the rumor that one of my favorites is going to be killed off in 2014 turns out to be true? Yes. Am I going to stop watching? Probably not. It’s a fun enough show that I would likely still want to see what happens next.
20. Ally Carter finishes Gallagher Girlsand works on Embassy Row
I am not in middle school or high school. Clearly. And I was not in middle or high school when I started reading the Gallagher Girls series. I think that most of Ally Carter’s readers were, and as a result, they grew up with these characters. Let me tell you, you don’t have to be a teen grappling with your own identity issues to watch these spies in training do the same. The idea of feeling like you fit perfectly into one niche and then turning that idea on its head doesn’t just apply to teens. Ally Carter ended the series beautifully this year as the girls at the center of the stories prepared to graduate from the Academy that prepared them for a life in espionage. Did I love every book in the series? No. In fact, my review of the first book in the series is nowhere near glowing. But as a whole, they make a near perfect picture. And I have loved her other Heist series so much, that I am on the edge of my seat waiting for Embassy Row next year. I think Ally has a knack for taking ordinary teens and placing them in extraordinary stories.
19. Pentatonix covers Lorde
I have this crazy love for a cappella music. I don’t fill my playlists with it all the time, but there is something amazing about groups of people who can transform music into something full and wonderful with just their mouths. Pitch Perfect made a cappella cool again, but Pentatonix are real artists. They have done so may amazing covers over the last few years, but I think this one is my favorite of last year:
18. Ravenswood debuting
I was kind of iffy on the idea of a spinoff of something that didn’t have these supernatural elements in its original novel format. But here’s the thing - the Pretty Little Liars novels are pretty terrible. I say this as someone who read the first nine, yes, that’s right, nine, before giving up on them. I think the writer, and this is just the feeling I get from the writing style have not met her personally, just wanted to extend her contract with the publisher to make more money of off characters she already knew inside and out. It was easy for her to say that these privileged mean girls would make targets for more than just one pissed off person and keep going with new As every few books. It got old really fast. Not to mention, the characters never seemed to learn from their mistakes. But, I digress. The spinoff of the television series is proving very entertaining for me. And it’s got such a great cast. I didn’t think Nicole Anderson and Tyler Blackburn would have such great chemistry, but they are amazing on screen together. I just don’t see this series lasting too long. I think it makes a great idea for one or two seasons. Beyond that, I think it will be incredibly difficult for the writers to sustain creative story ideas. Doesn’t mean I’m not looking forward to them trying.
17. The rise of the baking blog
Some of you might know that in the last year, I have discovered baking to be a very therapeutic way to work through writer’s block. It really amazes me how many great blogs purely devoted to people developing their own baking recipes are out there. They’ve really grown in popularity over the last year, and I am loving it. I’m not someone who wants to fool around in the kitchen and create my own stuff. I like finding existing recipes and making them my own. Sally’s Baking Addiction is my favorite. And she’s even got her own cook book releasing this year! She’s got some seriously amazing stuff on there, and she deserves all of the success coming her way.
16. All of Brad Kavanagh’s covers
The former House of Anubis star has been devoting a ton of time to music since the show ended, even building his own studio. He has such an amazing voice. His original music is great, but I do so love to see when a musician puts their own spin on a well-known track. He’s picked some songs that I don’t even really like to cover on his youtube account, and he manages to make me want to listen to them. He’s got one of those voices that is understated, but very expressive. Kind of like Ed Sheeran. Which is maybe why he’s done a few covers of Ed’s work. I think the two of them could be gold together. But one of my most recent favorites of his is actually Brad’s cover of a One Direction song.
FYI: His covers are available on iTunes now too.
15. Falling in love with Austin and Ally
Could this show be more adorable? I don’t think so. For the most part, I am over the idea that children’s shows have to feature a main character who isn’t just a kid. Miley was a pop star, Liv is an actress, Sam and Carly were internet queens, Austin is a pop star, Jessie wants to be an actress, the kids at Hollywood Arts all wanted to be famous… It’s kind of become a thing with programming for tweens. I get that it’s largely because the networks want to be able to showcase singing and dancing abilities as well. That’s fine. All of the people playing these kids are incredibly talented, and these shows are entertaining. I just want a show about kids being kids to be as popular. I think Austin and Ally has done the best at balancing that. Yes, because it’s a comedy for kids some of the characters are incredibly outlandish, but that’s okay. Austin and Ally developed a real friendship based on something ridiculous. And it’s been so fun to watch the kids on this show grow. They’ve done such a great job taking them from cheesy sketches to a real relationship, and I appreciate the way the show has been handled.
14. CW actually making quality tv decisions
CW is a fledgling network, and I get that, but they have the history of the WB behind them. The WB had some quality teen programming back in the day, even if none of it was ever going to be ratings powerhouse. Shows like Dawson’s Creek, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and Seventh Heaven were long running staples. They specialized in teen soaps. The CW is still known for its campy teen dramas, but it’s made a move to age its audience up a bit, which is a good one. It’s got successful genre shows like Supernatural that it can build on, and Arrow has really taken off. Though I don’t watch it regularly, The Originals was a good gamble by the network as well. I’m interested in The 100 and Star-Crossed, and Reign has been a really interesting watch as well. I’m also super excited for next year’s The Flash. I think movie in a genre direction, but keeping their shows appealing to twenty-somethings is the smartest decision they could have made. More of this, please.
13. Ariana Grande owning the AMAs
I kind of adore this girl. I love that she had enough drive, and her family believed in her enough, that she got to audition for a Broadway show at 14, even though they were from Florida. That alone warms my heart. But this girl has had such an interesting career path since then. Obviously, she’s doing the acting thing to get to the singing thing. She’s made that pretty clear. But she’s pretty fun to watch on kid’s shows. And I love that she didn’t decide to sign with a Nickelodeon or Disney owned label and do the bubblegum pop route. She could probably kill a bubblegum pop song with her eyes closed without reading the sheet music, let’s be real. But I like that she decided to do music that she had to really sell. I don’t like some of her songs as much as others, but she’s such an amazing talent, and she was like a Cinderella story come to like at the American Music Awards this year. Amazing to watch.
12. Ming-Na is following me on Twitter
To be fair, she follows a ton of fans who promote her work. But you guys, Ming-Na freaking follows me on twitter! It definitely made a bad day better when I saw that notification on my phone. Too fantastic. I love her. Brad Kavanagh also follows me on twitter, if I’m going to be braggy with this section. It’s interesting to me when celebrities follow their fans. You know they can’t really be going through their feeds and checking what everyone is saying, but it’s a nice gesture.
11. Psych - the musical
Because of scheduling conflicts, I still have not seen all of last season of Psych, which is one of my favorite crime shows ever. But, I did tune in to watch the much anticipated (and long awaited) musical episode of the show, which looks like it was set prior to a lot of last season’s episodes anyway. It was fantastic. Psych is the perfect series to do a musical episode. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, it’s very punny, and the entire cast can either dance or sing, or both. I loved every single minute of it. It was such a fun treat for the fans with obscure call backs to some of the episodes, as well as blatant links to past events. It was pretty perfect.
10. Everything Has Changed music video
My love for Taylor Swift knows no bounds. She could become a raging bitch in interviews, and I would probably still love her because her music is so fantastically accessible. She writes music that could come from any girls’ journal. But combine Taylor Swift with Ed Sheeran? That is musical gold. I hope they do more music together. And the music video for their song is just too cute. It might even be my favorite music video of all time. I love the use of these young actors who look so much like them, and the clear planting that you’re supposed to see the artists in their action. It’s just perfect.
9. Thousand Words by Jennifer Brown
I adored this book so much. It’s such a timely piece too. I think we all known that teenagers often make impulsive decision that can haunt them, but tv and movies have been showing that with all of our advancing technology in interesting ways in the last few years. The idea of taking naked pictures and sending them to someone via an electronic device is not a new one. But the generation who is going to be reading this book is the one that’s seen Vanessa Hudgens, Heather Morris, and Renee Olstead, amongst others, get hacked and have their pictures all over the internet. These are high profile young people who could have lost huge projects because of these pictures. And I think we forget that the consequences for someone who is not in the public eye can still be pretty severe. Such a fantastic and emotionally charged read on something that is so much a part of our world today.
You can find my review of the book for Portrait here.
8. Veronica Mars funded by Kickstarter
How cool was Veronica Mars making history this year? The movie earned millions on Kickstarter in a matter of hours, which just blows my mind. Of course, I did provide funding for said movie. And yes, I now have an official t-shirt that I will be wearing when the movie premiers on March 14. I cannot wait. I don’t even care if I, for some reason, don’t like the outcome of the movie. I care about the fact that the story gets to have some closure, that I get to revisit some of my favorite characters from my teenage years. It’s so fantastic to have that happen. I know a lot of people think that this will change the way people make independent projects now. I don’t think that’s going to be the case. I think that it will be a great tool for artists who have a huge (and generous) following, but I’m cautious about saying it will change everything. It would be an interesting change to see take place though.
7. Crime procedurals making me love them all over again
If I had any kind of guilty pleasure, I feel like it would be crime shows. I don’t consider any of the shows that I watch to make me feel “guilty” though. I love a good story, no matter where it comes from. Mysteries were my first love as a child - I devoured Nancy Drew stories. And my grandmother used to give me her Mary Higgins Clark and Patricia Cornwell novels to read. I think crime shows give me this nostalgic feeling for the love of reading I had at the time. It really doesn’t matter to me how predictable the mystery is, or what kind of mystery it is, I love them all. Some of the shows that I love, and though I don’t always watch them in order, I still watch them: NCIS, NCIS: LA, Criminal Minds, Hawaii Five-0, Major Crimes, Rizzoli and Isles, Law and Order: SVU, Psych, White Collar…. And I feel like I’m forgetting some. But I think you get the point. So many of these shows went through major changes in 2013, especially in terms of casting and closing out continuing storylines. They all proved that if you have good writers though, they can change things up without ruining the show.
6. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Most definitely my favorite book I read in 2013. It’s like the journal of anyone who has ever participated in a fandom. And it is amazing. I cannot recommend it enough to people who waited in line for hours to buy a movie ticket, or went to a midnight book release party, or devoured fanfiction, or chatted with other fans in forums online. It’s just this great look at what fandom can do for someone. The main character is someone who uses the fandom that she fell in love with as a kid to escape the pressures of everyday life. She immerses herself in this fictional world instead of facing things in the real one. And I think that is something that a lot of the really devoted fans do, whether they want to admit to it or not. Most of the time a fantasy is better than reality. My review of this isn’t up on Portrait yet, but when it is, I’ll add in a link.
5. Agents of SHIELD made its debut
I was so thrilled that Marvel was making a live action television show. My eight-year-old comic book loving self would have seen it as some sort of nerd victory. And I know there’s been a lot of complaints about the slow movement of the show, but I like it. I think we’re in a binge watching phase of series viewing right now. So many things can be watched on Netflix, or downloaded on the internet, that I think people have forgotten what it’s like to look forward to watching a story unfold every week. People want the answers they want and they want them now, and tv didn’t used to work like that. People have problems with Skye as a character as well, and I will admit that I have them too, but there are some scenes where you can see what the writers want to do with her, so I have faith they’ll take her in the right direction eventually. I’m just glad there’s a Whedon show on television again, and that it’s about the people behind the superheroes. I mean, this would be like Buffy having focused on all of her help instead of the chosen one. It’s a great idea. I am seriously in love with it. It is the only show this television season of which I purchased on iTunes season pass, so that should tell you something.
4. The Agents of SHIELD podcasts I’ve been listening to
I’ve never really been big on listening to podcasts of people discussing television shows. There were a couple of podcasts I listened to during the run of LOST, but a lot of that was mainly because that was such a great show for fandom collaboration. That was the kind of show where if you missed something, chances were someone on the internet caught it, screencapped it, and posted a theory about it on their blog. I think there were four podcasts that I listened to during the run of the show, but my favorite was The LOST Podcast with Jay and Jack. Those guys were fantastic. A couple episodes into Agents of SHIELD, I thought that this could wind up being a similar show, a show that could unite its fandom in theoretical discussion, so I went searching for a good podcast. I listened to the first episode of seven or eight shows, and there are two that I have settled on One is Phantastic Geek’s Agents of SHIELD podcast. The two guys that run that have varying degrees of experience in the podcasting world and in entertainment journalism, but they always have great discussions. They record their podcast immediately after the show airs, so it’s always their initial thoughts on the episode, which I appreciate. I also listen to The S.H.I.E.L.D. C.A.S.T. which is done by four people who work in entertainment journalism, and all have really different points of view on the show, so it’s very interesting to listen to them dissect the episodes. I love them both equally though. It provides for a great addition to the thoughts in my own head, and makes me think about the show a little bit more.
3. Writing for Marvel’s Agents
Though activity on the site has considerably slowed in the last month due to a couple of show hiatuses, I love that I get to write about a show I adore with this fansite. The site is for fans of the show Agents of SHIELD. They have a forum where fans can talk about the show, and then they feature a lot of written content. They did have someone writing recaps, but I’m not sure what happened with her. I haven’t seen any recaps the last few episodes. I write reviews of the episodes every week, which I’m having lots of fun doing. I usually write notes during my first viewing of the show, when I watch and live tweet it, and then I go back and watch it a second time while I’m writing my actual review. I also get to write featured content for the site, like ‘5 Reasons We Love Agent Simmons’ or the ‘SHIELD Gift Giving Guide.’ I think the gift guide was my favorite. It’s fun, like window shopping and getting to write about it.
You can check out the site here.
2. Portrait making it through some tough times
I have written for Portrait for over four years now, and in that time, I’ve seen a lot of writers come and go, but over the last year, we’re down to only a handful of writers now. There are three or four of us who do the bulk of the articles for the issues. We’ve had issues with our server, image copyrights, and so many complaints from fans during our bigger polls, but we’ve managed to keep the site open, and I’m grateful. I love writing for Portrait, no matter how stressful it can be sometimes. Portrait is the primary reason I’ve been able to keep writing. If I get stuck on a short story, I’ll work on an article for Portrait to clear my head. (And if that doesn’t work, I bake.) We’ve received so much thanks from actors and authors that we’ve featured from their twitter accounts, and I’ve had so much fun with it. It’s a great addition to my writing resume, and I’d be so sad if it closed down. So, here’s to another year at the site!
Help keep us open! Read the articles on the left side of the homepage, check out the blog running through the middle, and vote in our featured poll at the top! You can check out the site here. Also, if you purchase anything through the Amazon links in our articles, a portion of that money comes back to us to pay for hosting fees.
1. Making the decision to leave my job.
To be perfectly fair, I came to this decision back in October. I decided to start looking and applying for other jobs. I have not actually found another job yet, or given notice at my current one, but it’s really time for me to move on. I’ve said over and over that I find retail interesting, and I do, but it’s an industry that is very difficult to love. It’s provided me with a lot of writing inspiration, but it is most definitely not what I want for a career. I’ve started writing for a content mill (where I actually get paid!), and I’m actively pursuing local writing jobs now instead of sitting on my hands and wondering what if while I pound out fanfiction or participate in writing challenges. I decided it was time to get serious. (Not that writing fanfiction isn’t serious, because I will always think that’s a great creative exercise.) And I am so excited about it.
30. Finding out more about certain celebrities and their drug use
Demi Lovato might have checked into rehab a long time ago, but she got way more candid this year. And so did Joe Jonas. And Miley Cyrus. And Melissa Joan Hart. Even Zac Efron checked into rehab for a while. I’m not someone who eats up celebrity gossip with a spoon. But I adore celebrities who have the courage to use their own experiences for good, and who find a way to be honest with their fans. Demi Lovato went public with her rehab story before she was ready to, and she paid a price for that. She relapsed. Hard. From what it looked like. But she owned up to that on a nationally televised interview. And she’s become a much more real person to the public for it, not a just an unattainable star. I love her for that. (Maybe I should have titled this section I developed a girl crush on Demi Lovato?)
29. Girl Meets World gets a series pick up
Argh. I feel like this show was announced by Disney four years ago, and I’m still waiting for it. I was so, so, so, excited about this. Boy Meets World is one of my favorite family shows of all time. Looking back on it now, I love that it was just about a regular group of suburban kids. Nowadays, people would probably complain that it’s too vanilla for them, but I love it so much. Because of my love, I have high hopes for Girl Meets World. Part of that comes from Rowan Blanchard actually looking exactly like what you would expect the offspring of Corey and Topanga to look like. Also, she is adorable, and a fan of the original show. I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high, but I just can’t help it. This show needs to premier soon. I’m tired of waiting. (FYI: It’s scheduled to premier sometime this summer.)
28. Binge watching Scandal on Netflix
If ever there was a show made for binge watching, this is it. I’m not even watching season three. I’m waiting for it to get to Netflix instead. I got to the series late, starting to watch it just as the third season began airing. I almost wrote it off as just another prime time soap with Olivia and her affair that she hides from all of the people she supposedly cares about, but her gladiators, primarily Huck and Quinn, are actually what brought me back to it. I love that this group of so very damaged people who cannot get their own lives back have rallied around this one woman to make other people’s lives better, to fix the problems that they can’t fix in their own lives. It’s very poetic for such a heavy political soap. I love it.
27. Blackfish shedding light on captive predators
I’ll be straight up with you: I have not actually watched this documentary. I don’t want to see it. I feel like documentaries like these are not made for the people who are already familiar with the subject. They’re made to enlighten the people who aren’t. I’m glad that there were so many people in the public eye who didn’t really have an opinion on Sea World’s practices that watched it and tweeted about it to their followers. It opens a dialogue that needs to be heard. Here’s the thing about Sea World though - they do a lot of good work in terms of rescue and rehabilitation of injured marine animals. They also do a lot of conservation work. Do the bad things that result from a predator being kept in a cage outweigh the good they do? It’s hard to say. Everyone is going to have a different opinion on that. There are other marine rescue organizations that do great work without keeping an animal that will kill the marine biologist looking after it on hand. But a lot of these animals that are kept and trained to entertain and educate are held because they don’t have the skills to survive in the wild on their own. It’s a complicated issue that I’m happy to see more people begin to explore.
26. The Miley Cyrus transformation
I’m not saying I approve of twerking or near naked music videos. To each his own. Musicians all have their public personas they use to introduce people to the sound they want to sell. Madonna’s had so many personalities that I’ve lost count. What I like about Miley’s complete transformation is that she showed people that a child star can go in a completely different direction as an adult without losing all of their fans. I like that she’s not apologizing for putting on the show she wants to give. And she’s doing everything on her own terms without the backbone of the Disney corporation behind her.
25. Kristen Bell is now a Disney Princess
I didn’t actually see Frozen until after the new year, but I’d already had the soundtrack on repeat. How has Bell never been cast in a Disney animated role like this before? She has the absolute perfect voice for this. I actually think she, Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, and Jonothan Groff need to get together and do some sort of massive animated fairy tale. Throw Anna Kendrick into the mix as well. I don’t care what they do. I just think the voice talents of Tangled and Frozen are some of the best in recent animation history. Perfection. Other than that, Kristen Bell had a hell of a 2013 - baby, wedding, Veronica Mars, successful tv show, independent films. I think she won last year.
24. One Direction’s Midnight Memories
I can’t get over how much I enjoy this group. I really thought that I would be over boybands as an adult. Maybe it’s because they aren’t super polished with slick dance moves. Maybe it’s because they allow each other equal turns at the spotlight. Or, you know, it could be the obvious - their vocals are fantastic and their songs are super catchy. I don’t think I’ve actively disliked any of their music so far. They’re able to be fun, and then follow it up with some seriousness, and still seem like real people who just enjoy making music.
Click to view23. Australians taking over US television
If you know anything at all about my television viewing history, you know that I have a soft spot for Australian TV, especially tween and teen programming. Blue Water High, H2O, Dance Academy, I love them all. Those Aussie TV producers seem to really know what they’re doing. And they have a knack for casting up and coming talent. It used to seem like so many of the actors in American shows were from Canada, mainly because so many series film in Vancouver and Toronto, but nowadays, we’ve got a bit of an Aussie invasion going on. Making their way to US produced shows this TV season: Claire Holt, Phoebe Tonkin, Luke Mitchell, Adelaide Kane, Rebecca Breeds (her show did get canceled, but I think she still gets props for making it though pilot season), Caitlin Stasey, Eka Darville (though he pretty much just guest stars on everything), Lachlan Buchanan, and pretty much the entire cast of the summer series Camp, which was fantastic - and I’m sure there are so many more, but that’s all I’ve got off the top of my head. I love seeing so many of these familiar faces being recognized for their talent. It reminds me of Emilie de Ravin getting her start on Roswell, though the landscape of TV has changed quite a bit since then.
22. Writing Portrait’s Top 30 Under 30 - and some of my faves making the cut
I’ve been writing for Portrait for over four years now, but the Top 30 Under 30 has always been our biggest feature, and has always been someone else’s responsibility. It’s always fun for me when we run the bigger polls to see how the votes climb during the time before we start writing the article. It was really fun, though a little stressful, to get my chance to write the 2013 article. Even more so because there were quite a few people who I love who made the list this year, even some who have been nominated the last few years without even placing - like the House of Anubis cast who are all so incredibly talented. I was really happy to see Ariana Grande rank without being part of a cast as well because she has just blown up this year, and she’s so talented. It was such a great experience for me.
And if you are so inclined, you can check out the article here.
21. Discovering Teen Wolf
The internet as long been telling me that this is the kind of show that I could get behind. And the internet was right. That doesn’t happen often, at least not in my experience. I marathoned season one on Netflix in two days, only because I had to work. And I followed that up with season two almost immediately. I finished in time to start watching season three in the fall with very few things on my mind: Dylan O’Brien and Holland Roden can do no wrong, this show could make a mess of every storyline ever but it would still be compelling enough for me to watch it, and since when can MTV show that much blood and get away with it? It fast became one of the most enjoyable shows for me to watch. And it still is. I know there has been a lot of backlash to the kinds of characters that get killed off on this show - read: minorities and women - but I think the series is set up for Scott to be the main character. It’s his journey, and everyone else is simply incidental. Is he my favorite character? No. Am I going to be upset if the rumor that one of my favorites is going to be killed off in 2014 turns out to be true? Yes. Am I going to stop watching? Probably not. It’s a fun enough show that I would likely still want to see what happens next.
20. Ally Carter finishes Gallagher Girlsand works on Embassy Row
I am not in middle school or high school. Clearly. And I was not in middle or high school when I started reading the Gallagher Girls series. I think that most of Ally Carter’s readers were, and as a result, they grew up with these characters. Let me tell you, you don’t have to be a teen grappling with your own identity issues to watch these spies in training do the same. The idea of feeling like you fit perfectly into one niche and then turning that idea on its head doesn’t just apply to teens. Ally Carter ended the series beautifully this year as the girls at the center of the stories prepared to graduate from the Academy that prepared them for a life in espionage. Did I love every book in the series? No. In fact, my review of the first book in the series is nowhere near glowing. But as a whole, they make a near perfect picture. And I have loved her other Heist series so much, that I am on the edge of my seat waiting for Embassy Row next year. I think Ally has a knack for taking ordinary teens and placing them in extraordinary stories.
19. Pentatonix covers Lorde
I have this crazy love for a cappella music. I don’t fill my playlists with it all the time, but there is something amazing about groups of people who can transform music into something full and wonderful with just their mouths. Pitch Perfect made a cappella cool again, but Pentatonix are real artists. They have done so may amazing covers over the last few years, but I think this one is my favorite of last year:
18. Ravenswood debuting
I was kind of iffy on the idea of a spinoff of something that didn’t have these supernatural elements in its original novel format. But here’s the thing - the Pretty Little Liars novels are pretty terrible. I say this as someone who read the first nine, yes, that’s right, nine, before giving up on them. I think the writer, and this is just the feeling I get from the writing style have not met her personally, just wanted to extend her contract with the publisher to make more money of off characters she already knew inside and out. It was easy for her to say that these privileged mean girls would make targets for more than just one pissed off person and keep going with new As every few books. It got old really fast. Not to mention, the characters never seemed to learn from their mistakes. But, I digress. The spinoff of the television series is proving very entertaining for me. And it’s got such a great cast. I didn’t think Nicole Anderson and Tyler Blackburn would have such great chemistry, but they are amazing on screen together. I just don’t see this series lasting too long. I think it makes a great idea for one or two seasons. Beyond that, I think it will be incredibly difficult for the writers to sustain creative story ideas. Doesn’t mean I’m not looking forward to them trying.
17. The rise of the baking blog
Some of you might know that in the last year, I have discovered baking to be a very therapeutic way to work through writer’s block. It really amazes me how many great blogs purely devoted to people developing their own baking recipes are out there. They’ve really grown in popularity over the last year, and I am loving it. I’m not someone who wants to fool around in the kitchen and create my own stuff. I like finding existing recipes and making them my own. Sally’s Baking Addiction is my favorite. And she’s even got her own cook book releasing this year! She’s got some seriously amazing stuff on there, and she deserves all of the success coming her way.
16. All of Brad Kavanagh’s covers
The former House of Anubis star has been devoting a ton of time to music since the show ended, even building his own studio. He has such an amazing voice. His original music is great, but I do so love to see when a musician puts their own spin on a well-known track. He’s picked some songs that I don’t even really like to cover on his youtube account, and he manages to make me want to listen to them. He’s got one of those voices that is understated, but very expressive. Kind of like Ed Sheeran. Which is maybe why he’s done a few covers of Ed’s work. I think the two of them could be gold together. But one of my most recent favorites of his is actually Brad’s cover of a One Direction song.
FYI: His covers are available on iTunes now too.
15. Falling in love with Austin and Ally
Could this show be more adorable? I don’t think so. For the most part, I am over the idea that children’s shows have to feature a main character who isn’t just a kid. Miley was a pop star, Liv is an actress, Sam and Carly were internet queens, Austin is a pop star, Jessie wants to be an actress, the kids at Hollywood Arts all wanted to be famous… It’s kind of become a thing with programming for tweens. I get that it’s largely because the networks want to be able to showcase singing and dancing abilities as well. That’s fine. All of the people playing these kids are incredibly talented, and these shows are entertaining. I just want a show about kids being kids to be as popular. I think Austin and Ally has done the best at balancing that. Yes, because it’s a comedy for kids some of the characters are incredibly outlandish, but that’s okay. Austin and Ally developed a real friendship based on something ridiculous. And it’s been so fun to watch the kids on this show grow. They’ve done such a great job taking them from cheesy sketches to a real relationship, and I appreciate the way the show has been handled.
14. CW actually making quality tv decisions
CW is a fledgling network, and I get that, but they have the history of the WB behind them. The WB had some quality teen programming back in the day, even if none of it was ever going to be ratings powerhouse. Shows like Dawson’s Creek, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and Seventh Heaven were long running staples. They specialized in teen soaps. The CW is still known for its campy teen dramas, but it’s made a move to age its audience up a bit, which is a good one. It’s got successful genre shows like Supernatural that it can build on, and Arrow has really taken off. Though I don’t watch it regularly, The Originals was a good gamble by the network as well. I’m interested in The 100 and Star-Crossed, and Reign has been a really interesting watch as well. I’m also super excited for next year’s The Flash. I think movie in a genre direction, but keeping their shows appealing to twenty-somethings is the smartest decision they could have made. More of this, please.
13. Ariana Grande owning the AMAs
I kind of adore this girl. I love that she had enough drive, and her family believed in her enough, that she got to audition for a Broadway show at 14, even though they were from Florida. That alone warms my heart. But this girl has had such an interesting career path since then. Obviously, she’s doing the acting thing to get to the singing thing. She’s made that pretty clear. But she’s pretty fun to watch on kid’s shows. And I love that she didn’t decide to sign with a Nickelodeon or Disney owned label and do the bubblegum pop route. She could probably kill a bubblegum pop song with her eyes closed without reading the sheet music, let’s be real. But I like that she decided to do music that she had to really sell. I don’t like some of her songs as much as others, but she’s such an amazing talent, and she was like a Cinderella story come to like at the American Music Awards this year. Amazing to watch.
12. Ming-Na is following me on Twitter
To be fair, she follows a ton of fans who promote her work. But you guys, Ming-Na freaking follows me on twitter! It definitely made a bad day better when I saw that notification on my phone. Too fantastic. I love her. Brad Kavanagh also follows me on twitter, if I’m going to be braggy with this section. It’s interesting to me when celebrities follow their fans. You know they can’t really be going through their feeds and checking what everyone is saying, but it’s a nice gesture.
11. Psych - the musical
Because of scheduling conflicts, I still have not seen all of last season of Psych, which is one of my favorite crime shows ever. But, I did tune in to watch the much anticipated (and long awaited) musical episode of the show, which looks like it was set prior to a lot of last season’s episodes anyway. It was fantastic. Psych is the perfect series to do a musical episode. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, it’s very punny, and the entire cast can either dance or sing, or both. I loved every single minute of it. It was such a fun treat for the fans with obscure call backs to some of the episodes, as well as blatant links to past events. It was pretty perfect.
10. Everything Has Changed music video
My love for Taylor Swift knows no bounds. She could become a raging bitch in interviews, and I would probably still love her because her music is so fantastically accessible. She writes music that could come from any girls’ journal. But combine Taylor Swift with Ed Sheeran? That is musical gold. I hope they do more music together. And the music video for their song is just too cute. It might even be my favorite music video of all time. I love the use of these young actors who look so much like them, and the clear planting that you’re supposed to see the artists in their action. It’s just perfect.
9. Thousand Words by Jennifer Brown
I adored this book so much. It’s such a timely piece too. I think we all known that teenagers often make impulsive decision that can haunt them, but tv and movies have been showing that with all of our advancing technology in interesting ways in the last few years. The idea of taking naked pictures and sending them to someone via an electronic device is not a new one. But the generation who is going to be reading this book is the one that’s seen Vanessa Hudgens, Heather Morris, and Renee Olstead, amongst others, get hacked and have their pictures all over the internet. These are high profile young people who could have lost huge projects because of these pictures. And I think we forget that the consequences for someone who is not in the public eye can still be pretty severe. Such a fantastic and emotionally charged read on something that is so much a part of our world today.
You can find my review of the book for Portrait here.
8. Veronica Mars funded by Kickstarter
How cool was Veronica Mars making history this year? The movie earned millions on Kickstarter in a matter of hours, which just blows my mind. Of course, I did provide funding for said movie. And yes, I now have an official t-shirt that I will be wearing when the movie premiers on March 14. I cannot wait. I don’t even care if I, for some reason, don’t like the outcome of the movie. I care about the fact that the story gets to have some closure, that I get to revisit some of my favorite characters from my teenage years. It’s so fantastic to have that happen. I know a lot of people think that this will change the way people make independent projects now. I don’t think that’s going to be the case. I think that it will be a great tool for artists who have a huge (and generous) following, but I’m cautious about saying it will change everything. It would be an interesting change to see take place though.
7. Crime procedurals making me love them all over again
If I had any kind of guilty pleasure, I feel like it would be crime shows. I don’t consider any of the shows that I watch to make me feel “guilty” though. I love a good story, no matter where it comes from. Mysteries were my first love as a child - I devoured Nancy Drew stories. And my grandmother used to give me her Mary Higgins Clark and Patricia Cornwell novels to read. I think crime shows give me this nostalgic feeling for the love of reading I had at the time. It really doesn’t matter to me how predictable the mystery is, or what kind of mystery it is, I love them all. Some of the shows that I love, and though I don’t always watch them in order, I still watch them: NCIS, NCIS: LA, Criminal Minds, Hawaii Five-0, Major Crimes, Rizzoli and Isles, Law and Order: SVU, Psych, White Collar…. And I feel like I’m forgetting some. But I think you get the point. So many of these shows went through major changes in 2013, especially in terms of casting and closing out continuing storylines. They all proved that if you have good writers though, they can change things up without ruining the show.
6. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Most definitely my favorite book I read in 2013. It’s like the journal of anyone who has ever participated in a fandom. And it is amazing. I cannot recommend it enough to people who waited in line for hours to buy a movie ticket, or went to a midnight book release party, or devoured fanfiction, or chatted with other fans in forums online. It’s just this great look at what fandom can do for someone. The main character is someone who uses the fandom that she fell in love with as a kid to escape the pressures of everyday life. She immerses herself in this fictional world instead of facing things in the real one. And I think that is something that a lot of the really devoted fans do, whether they want to admit to it or not. Most of the time a fantasy is better than reality. My review of this isn’t up on Portrait yet, but when it is, I’ll add in a link.
5. Agents of SHIELD made its debut
I was so thrilled that Marvel was making a live action television show. My eight-year-old comic book loving self would have seen it as some sort of nerd victory. And I know there’s been a lot of complaints about the slow movement of the show, but I like it. I think we’re in a binge watching phase of series viewing right now. So many things can be watched on Netflix, or downloaded on the internet, that I think people have forgotten what it’s like to look forward to watching a story unfold every week. People want the answers they want and they want them now, and tv didn’t used to work like that. People have problems with Skye as a character as well, and I will admit that I have them too, but there are some scenes where you can see what the writers want to do with her, so I have faith they’ll take her in the right direction eventually. I’m just glad there’s a Whedon show on television again, and that it’s about the people behind the superheroes. I mean, this would be like Buffy having focused on all of her help instead of the chosen one. It’s a great idea. I am seriously in love with it. It is the only show this television season of which I purchased on iTunes season pass, so that should tell you something.
4. The Agents of SHIELD podcasts I’ve been listening to
I’ve never really been big on listening to podcasts of people discussing television shows. There were a couple of podcasts I listened to during the run of LOST, but a lot of that was mainly because that was such a great show for fandom collaboration. That was the kind of show where if you missed something, chances were someone on the internet caught it, screencapped it, and posted a theory about it on their blog. I think there were four podcasts that I listened to during the run of the show, but my favorite was The LOST Podcast with Jay and Jack. Those guys were fantastic. A couple episodes into Agents of SHIELD, I thought that this could wind up being a similar show, a show that could unite its fandom in theoretical discussion, so I went searching for a good podcast. I listened to the first episode of seven or eight shows, and there are two that I have settled on One is Phantastic Geek’s Agents of SHIELD podcast. The two guys that run that have varying degrees of experience in the podcasting world and in entertainment journalism, but they always have great discussions. They record their podcast immediately after the show airs, so it’s always their initial thoughts on the episode, which I appreciate. I also listen to The S.H.I.E.L.D. C.A.S.T. which is done by four people who work in entertainment journalism, and all have really different points of view on the show, so it’s very interesting to listen to them dissect the episodes. I love them both equally though. It provides for a great addition to the thoughts in my own head, and makes me think about the show a little bit more.
3. Writing for Marvel’s Agents
Though activity on the site has considerably slowed in the last month due to a couple of show hiatuses, I love that I get to write about a show I adore with this fansite. The site is for fans of the show Agents of SHIELD. They have a forum where fans can talk about the show, and then they feature a lot of written content. They did have someone writing recaps, but I’m not sure what happened with her. I haven’t seen any recaps the last few episodes. I write reviews of the episodes every week, which I’m having lots of fun doing. I usually write notes during my first viewing of the show, when I watch and live tweet it, and then I go back and watch it a second time while I’m writing my actual review. I also get to write featured content for the site, like ‘5 Reasons We Love Agent Simmons’ or the ‘SHIELD Gift Giving Guide.’ I think the gift guide was my favorite. It’s fun, like window shopping and getting to write about it.
You can check out the site here.
2. Portrait making it through some tough times
I have written for Portrait for over four years now, and in that time, I’ve seen a lot of writers come and go, but over the last year, we’re down to only a handful of writers now. There are three or four of us who do the bulk of the articles for the issues. We’ve had issues with our server, image copyrights, and so many complaints from fans during our bigger polls, but we’ve managed to keep the site open, and I’m grateful. I love writing for Portrait, no matter how stressful it can be sometimes. Portrait is the primary reason I’ve been able to keep writing. If I get stuck on a short story, I’ll work on an article for Portrait to clear my head. (And if that doesn’t work, I bake.) We’ve received so much thanks from actors and authors that we’ve featured from their twitter accounts, and I’ve had so much fun with it. It’s a great addition to my writing resume, and I’d be so sad if it closed down. So, here’s to another year at the site!
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1. Making the decision to leave my job.
To be perfectly fair, I came to this decision back in October. I decided to start looking and applying for other jobs. I have not actually found another job yet, or given notice at my current one, but it’s really time for me to move on. I’ve said over and over that I find retail interesting, and I do, but it’s an industry that is very difficult to love. It’s provided me with a lot of writing inspiration, but it is most definitely not what I want for a career. I’ve started writing for a content mill (where I actually get paid!), and I’m actively pursuing local writing jobs now instead of sitting on my hands and wondering what if while I pound out fanfiction or participate in writing challenges. I decided it was time to get serious. (Not that writing fanfiction isn’t serious, because I will always think that’s a great creative exercise.) And I am so excited about it.