Lousy decade for America, great one for SL; The city has been made over, in record time...

The other night, my daughter and I had a an interesting conversation trying to define the decade that was. We came up with war and poverty and global warming, Ipods and texting and Crocs. Not so much to be proud of. Not even a great movie or song or book or car or fashion trend to hang the decade's hat upon.

It was filled with foibles (remember Y2K panic, anyone?), economic crash, scandals, natural disasters, terrorism and celebrity worship. And just 10 years ago, a Blackberry was still a fruit, the Twin Towers were standing tall and "the Depression" was something your grandparents lived through. Nobody is going to miss this woebegotten timespan.

In a Wall Street Journal poll, only 12 percent of people said they felt the last decade was "good." The next survey, for those grinning fewbies, should ask, "And what ARE you smoking?"

Yet in Storm Lake, it was an incredible ten years. Not one without growing pains, to be sure, but when you sit down and think about it, the change has been rapid and amazing - and of course, very, very expensive.

Think of how Storm Lake looks today, compared to 10 years ago.

A massive resort, waterparks and playground where a soggy park and outdated cement pool used to be. A manicured beach where a dirty shoreline with a DNR shack was.

Think of how an aging brick rectangle of a smalltown hospital has rapidly expanded and evolved into a beautiful medical center.

How the university campus has taken on a dramatic new look with an incredible new science center, massive new recreation center, the new art facilities and several massive new residence halls.

Even the timeless lake itself has changed, stubborn dredging effort has cleared water once the coffee with cream to the point you can stand waist deep and see your toes. That's a biggie.

A new State Marina. New grocery store and a new Walgreens anchoring downtown in the very space I used to type this column. New residential developments and apartment complexes. A lighthouse - this one actually within sight of the water. A huge new playground. A new community clinic complex.

Millions and millions and millions of dollars invested in the future of a small community in the midst of rural northwest Iowa. The ethnic and social makeup of the place has changed as well.

Not everyone likes all the change, but one has to admit that it has been ten memorable years - perhaps the most visible decade of evolution since the place was founded.

There is more to do: that skatepark and nature center that have been promised for so long, much-needed housing, a student center for BVU that has been discussed for several years, the new campground on the way, finishing the condos on that bombed-out site failed developers left us with, and the performance auditorium that will be a completing touch on our exceptional school system. Who knows - maybe we will get there in this new decade. If so, it too will be a pretty memorable one.

I know, I know, there's a debate that this isn't really the new decade this season. Some nitpickers will tell you that counting begins with Year One, so technically the decade would be 2001 through 2010, and next January 1 would then start a new decade.

Well, sit on it, brainiacs, I'm three-fourths of the way through filling this darn space, and I'm not about to stop over now.

Thankful, we should be. In a truly crappy decade, the place we call home has managed to be worth remembering.

Less worthy, to say the least, are the celebrity goofiness. One web site collected the Top Ten Stupid Celebrity Quotes of the Year, and who am I to argue?

* 1. Mariah Carey: "Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff."

2. Barbara Bush: "So many of the people in the arenas here were under-privileged anyway. This is working very well for them." (Responding to Hurricane Katrina).

3. Tara Reid: "I make Jessica Simpson look like a rock scientist."

4. Arnold Schwarzenegger: "I think gay marriage is something that should be between a man and a woman."

5. Linda Evangelista: "I don't diet. I just don't eat as much as I'd like to."

6. Paris Hilton: "I'm so smart now. Everyone's always like 'take your top off'. Sorry, NO! They always want to get that money shot. I'm not stupid."

7. Jon Gosselin: "People think I have changed, and I have changed. I'm now the person I know I am."

8. Sarah Palin: When asked what news outlets she reads, she says "All of them." When asked what specific books she reads...guess what? "All of them!"

9. Britney Spears: "I get to go overseas places, like Canada."

10. Jessica Simpson: "I'm not anorexic, I'm from Texas."

If nothing else, keep this list and dig it out anytime things are going wrong, and instantly feel good about yourself.

And a bit of love for the retiring Kurt Warner, who walks away from a $23 million contract because the time is right. Warner's rise from a $5.50 an hour grocery stockboy in Iowa to Arena League to NFL champion is stuff of fairy tales, but off the field he has quietly been an ultimate class act, a sincerely charitable human being, a good father, a person of faith, the rare pro athlete who isn't a train wreck or an egomaniac. If he'd never thrown a TD, only stocked frozen pizzas, he still would have been a good example.