The ’00s get a lot of shit for being the decade when we as a culture held talent and inventiveness and originality at bay with pitchforks and flaming bags of poo. But, fortunately, there were a few songs that were able to slip through, and here are 25 of them for your enjoyment. Some are happy, some are sad, and some are – gasp! – covers, but to me they all share the musical fearlessness and the lyrical and emotional honesty that defined the best art of this cookie-cutter, feckless, CGI’d, vocodered horror show of a decade. Also, since we hear at TNG like to consider ourselves pretty fearless and honest and original (often to our detriment), we thought a few good tunes would be a pretty fitting end to our crazy year.

I know. I know. Senator Diane Savino’s speech on the floor of the New York State Senate in support of NY’s marriage equality bill is week-old news. But we haven’t put the video up yet, and it still makes me really happy. Plus, you never know, there might be some folks out there (like the New Jersey state legislature) who haven’t yet had the pleasure, so… enjoy! :)

I’ve got some got some good news and some bad news. The bad news is it’s another dreary Monday morning in one of the most economically, politically, spiritually and artistically bankrupt decades on record. The good news, however, is it’s one of the last dreary Monday mornings of one of the most economically, politically, spiritually and artistically bankrupt decades on record. So to mark the occasion, I thought it might be nice to compile a mix of some of the sunniest, funniest and most inspirational songs of the last ten years. Lord knows, we all could use it right now, right? So sit back and enjoy a few hours of songs meant to make you smile and chair-dance, chair-dance, chair-dance!

So as we all head home or wherever to give thanks, I thought it might be nice to send you all off with a little bit of love. Here are 30 of my personal favorite love songs from the last ten years. This was actually really, really difficult and, obviously, there are a ton of great love songs that didn’t make the list. So if I did something dumb, feel free to lash out in the comments. And, yes, I know the last time I tried to make mix of love songs, I was not in a very healthy place, so I got into a little bit of trouble on account of my pessimism. Fear not. I promise this time will be different. But that’s what they all say, isn’t it? ;)

Happy good morning, everyone!

If you’re anything like me, you answered that with a hearty, “Fuck you very much!” because you, friend, are also NOT a morning person. This, brave weekday warrior, is the post for you.

As you’ve no doubt already noticed, Amelie is on vacation for the next two weeks. So when thinking about how to fill this space, my thoughts turned to the only thing I kind of sort of know a lot about (besides how to kill a relationship in 2.3 seconds, of course): music. It’s been a few months since I made a random mixtape, and with the decade fast drawing to a close, I thought it might be nice to, over the next few weeks, make a few “Best Of…” compilations, much like our new Music Editor, Rohan, did a few weeks ago. This morning may I present the first: The Best Morning Music of the ’00s.

So as some of you TNG early-adopters know, some of us here have a major hard-on for that once-brilliant televisual masterpiece known as Gossip Girl. Well, even though it’s taken a nasty tumble downhill this season (why do high school soaps insist on making the characters go to college?!), I still for some reason feel the need to keep up with it. Who knows why? Boredom? Habit? Blake Lively‘s big fake hypnotic hover-boobs? Who knows? But this week, something so shocking happened, something so horrifically, hilariously bad, that I almost spit my Gatorade clear across the room.

It just occurred to me that this survey probably should have had a Halloween theme. Huh.

Anyway, welcome to this week’s Friday Staff Survey. Last week, we had a lot of fun with game I call “Top Three.” Basically, I asked the staff to give me their top three favorite books with a one sentence explanation for each one. And since everyone seemed to enjoy it, I thought why not try it again? So this week we’re moving away from the library and into the cinema. Pray tell TNG staff, what are your top three favorite movies and why? Check out what we all had to say below. And if you’ve got a great movie suggestion and you want to play as well, feel free to do so in the comments. Do it to it!

As the decade draws to close, it’s fun to think back on some of the horrific fashion trends that have come and gone. What was the worst? Hard to say. There were so many bad ones, right? Is it Ugg Boots? Shutter shades? Ironic t-shirts? Leggings? Deep-V’s? Crocs? Nope, I say there’s one that towers above them all (yes, even Crocs!), because there’s nothing in my humble opinion that screams “I’m having a Jon Gosselin-style midlife crisis!” or “I just tried out for Rock of Love 5!” or “I’m a giant douchebag with a weird rhinestone tiger fetish!” quite like the sparkly, airbrushed monstrosities of Ed Hardy. Maybe I’m weird, but I just don’t understand why grown-ass people would want to pay far too much money to wear a tacky t-shirt with a bedazzled prison tattoo emblazoned across the front, but then again I’ve never tried meth. To each their own I suppose.

We’re looking for a few dedicated editorial assistants. If you’re a word nerd and have a couple hours a week to devote to making sure our subjects agree with our verbs, we’d love to have you on board. There might even be free entry to TNG events in it for you. Plus, there’s the satisfaction of knowing you’re actively contributing to making the world a typo-free place.

Did the thought of that make you so happy that maybe you teared up a little? Perfect! Email me at <"a href="mailto:rocky@thenewgay.net">Rocky@thenewgay.net for more details.

For your survey this week, riddle me this: In order, what are your top three favorite books and why? But you only get one sentence to explain each one! (Run-ons don’t count, but semi-colons definitely do!)