This time last year, The Modern Gal was posting all kinds of lists for the best of pop culture in 2007. Modern Friends, 2008 has not been as kind to me in the free time department, and I haven’t had quite the same opportunities to partake in beloved indulgence of fine books and movies. What I’m saying is I didn’t read/watch/listen to enough new things to warrant separate posts so instead I’m rolling it all into one tidy post of the year of pop culture that was 2008 for the Modern Gal.

If you want some more authoritative lists, check out pop culture maven Whitney Matheson’s Pop Candy blog. She’s been posting lists of her favorite music, movies and TV shows of 2008 over the past few days.

I can say I did still indulge in some new music, thanks mostly to The Modern Gal’s very first CD release of music loved by you, my modern friends. I’m thinking I may have to make that an annual venture. So here it is, a list of songs that moved me in 2008 (thought not necessarily released in 2008):

1. “Walcott” by Vampire Weekend
2. “Unless It’s Kicks” by Okkervil River
3. “L.E.S. Artistes” by Santogold
4. “Single Ladies” by Beyonce
5. “All I Want is You” by Barry Louis Polisar
6. “Frankie’s Gun” by Felice Brothers
7. “Blow it Out” by the Features
8. “Mercy” by Duffy
9. “Frank and Ava” by Suzanne Vega
10. “Bodysnatchers” by Radiohead
11. “Gone in the Morning” by Newton Faulkner
12. “Chasing Pavements” by Adele

Some live music I dug:

1. Tennessee Shines radio program broadcast on WDVX in Knoxville, Tenn.
2. Smashing Pumpkins

I’ve spent the past two months trying to get caught up on my backlog of magazine subscriptions that piled up from the days I was commuting between cities. Here are some books I did tackle this year:

1. The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham
2. A Death in the Family: A Restoration of the Author’s Text by James Agee, edited by Michael Lofaro
3. Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster
4. Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman

I’m never one to see many movies in the theater, but this year I managed to double my in-theater viewing! That is, I saw two movies at the theater this year instead of just one:

1. Juno
2. Sex and the City

My Netflix queue didn’t fare much better, but I swear that will change in 2009 (In my defense, I spent much of my Netflix efforts this year rewatching all of How I Met Your Mother):

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. Best in Show
3. Over the Hedge

Places I visited this year:

1. Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla.
2. Breckenridge, Co.
3. Washington, D.C.
4. Baltimore, Md.
5. Lake Martin, Ala.
6. About a half-dozen overnight trips within Tennessee

Here’s to hoping that my life is a bit more pop cultured in 2009!