The 10 Top Chops of 2010

Well, here we are at the end of the year. The holidays are well nigh and everyone is busy buying gifts, planning parties, eating, drinking, making merry, and of course, looking back and taking stock of the past year.

Yes, looking back and taking stock is one of America’s favorite holiday pastimes, as is screwing around and doing as little work as possible during the holiday season. Now is the time when magazines, TV shows, newspapers, and even bloggers get lazy and flood the world with top 10 lists rather than do any real writing. The Chop is no exception. We’re always trying to stay busy, and also always looking for a good way to fill the blog on a slow day when not much is happening. Like today.

The Office Christmas Party

So enjoy our choices for the top 10 non-event posts from our archives throughout our first 13 months or so of existence. And remember, we’re making all this up as we go along, so it can only get better.

10– The Best Bars to Visit After an Orioles Game at Camden Yards We name names on the best places to swill suds after an O’s game. See if your favorite spot made the list.

9–House Rules: How to Make a Polite Introduction It’s rude not to introduce your friends to one another, and not much better to do it half-assed. Here’s a simple guide to get it right every time.

8–Chop Style: Five Good Reasons to Wear a Blazer This Weekend We’re big on blazers and sport coats. You should be too. Here are five good reasons why.

7–The Chop Sorts Out Your Love Life There are some very specific and well-established rules to backing out of a date if you ever want to go on another one. This post explains them in detail. (Text messages are not okay after all…)

6–House Rules: The Chop Approves of Brunch More than a meal, brunch is a lifestyle choice, an institution, and a tradition. We approve of it highly.

5–Chop Style: Guide to Thrift Store Shopping: Part II The second in a two part series that will ensure you walk out of the thrift shop looking more stud and less dud.

4–House Rules: Puking in Public Discusses how to gracefully extract yourself with your dignity from that most ungraceful and undignified of situations.

3–Thoughts on Being a Grown-Up Punk If you’re not going to live fast and die young, you’ve got to do something with the rest of your life. Here’s how to be a 36 year old that your 16 year old self would respect, and maybe even like.

2–Chop Style: Rick Dempsey is the Worst-Dressed Man in Baltimore Our gentle send-up of a Baltimore hero who was a great catcher but perhaps not such a great dresser. Bonus: Look for the comment from Rick’s son, Christian Dempsey.

1–How to Stock a Home Bar, Part 2 Also the second of a 2 part series, this is our guide on how to build up a truly impressive home bar on even a modest income. We strive to avoid the pitfalls of most bar building advice, and give you a real strategy for building a bar you’ll be proud to show off and want to drink from every day.

There you have it Baltimore. The best of the best so far. Check those out if you missed them the first time around, and bookmark them if they’re already old favorites.

Happy Holidays, Choppers. Don’t work too hard, okay?