A year is a really long time — 365 days, to be exact, except in leap years, like this year, when we have one extra day in February. (Because, you know, 365 days in every year would be too easy. This is America.)
    Now that the calendar has flipped to the last month of the year, there are less than 30 days left of the 366 we’ve been given in 2012. I’ve spent them laughing, crying, arguing, celebrating, mourning and loving, thankful for the blessing of each new day.
    Still, I have a hard time remembering all that happened over the year, so to refresh my memory, I turned to — what else? — the Internet; specifically, a list of Yahoo!’s top searches of 2012. Here’s what I found:

    1. Elections: The U.S. has a reputation for taking its pop culture more seriously than its politics, but we may have taken a stand against that generalization this year. The half-billion people who visit Yahoo! every month searched the word “elections” more than any other in 2012.

    2. iPhone 5: This smartphone experienced record-breaking sales in the year 2012; more than 5 million were sold within three days of its Sept. 21 launch.

    3. Kim Kardashian: The celebritant did it again. This year, thanks to her ongoing divorce drama with New Jersey Nets forward Kris Humphries and her current high-profile relationship with Kayne West, Kim K. earned a spot at the top of the list as the most searched person of the year.

    4. Kate Upton: This Sports Illustrated cover model first posed in a bikini for the magazine in 2011 for its infamous swimsuit edition. It worked out for her.

    5. Kate Middleton: The Dutchess of Cambridge ended up on the cover of a magazine, too, after a paparazzo photographed her sunbathing in her royal birthday suit.

    6. Whitney Houston: Whitney’s drug addiction had been chronicled for years, but her unexpected death still sent shock waves through the country. Even worse, she finally was looking as though she was set to make a long-awaited comeback; her death came just 24 hours before her return to the stage at a pre-Grammy gala.

    7. Olympics: Particularly of interest were the advances made by female athletes at the 2012 Olympic Games: The first-ever women's boxing event, an almost eight-month-pregnant Malaysian competitor and the first time in Olympic history that women outnumbered men on the U.S. team all added to the interest of this year's international gathering in London.

    8. Political polls: Although the election campaign had been dragging on for more than two years, the public's focus on the polls became more intense when Mitt Romney earned enough primaries to secure the Republican candidacy for president.

    9. Lindsay Lohan: Child star turned troubled adult, Linds has dealt with a multitude of PR nightmares this year: Multiple stints in rehab, frequent court appearances and various charges and arrests all add up to one hot mess.

    10. Jennifer Lopez: J. Lo is no stranger to Yahoo!'s Top 10 list; she first secured a spot back in 2002. This year, her stint working as a judge on "American Idol" and a divorce from Marc Anthony both gained attention, and her most recent relationship with a much-younger boyfriend, dancer Casper Smart, didn't do much to dim the spotlight.

    Information for this column courtesy of Yahoo!'s "2012 Year in Review" list of top Internet searches for the year.

    Linsay Cheney is the editor of Connect Statesboro, and she loves hearing from readers! Email her at lcheney@connectstatesboro.com.