Websites went into overdrive, producing lists of the best 'selfies' of 2013 - all of which featured Kim Kardashian (who she?) posing in front of a mirror (which tells you, incidentally, that a lot of people who put lists on websites are men).
The 'selfie' catches the spirit of the age, or so we are told: self-obsession is the defining feature of Generation Y to the point that people take photos of themselves in front of dying grandparents, next to teachers who are in labour or invading sports pitches, while being tackled by stewards. No, really.
I'm not so sure any of this is actually that exciting, let alone new. In fact, much of the great art of the past falls into the category of the selfie.



But what a coup for Denmark, the little finger sticking up into the North Sea. Seating was obviously not by size or importance, nor was it alphabetical (United Kingdom - United States, maybe; but United Kingdom - Denmark - USA ?). After The Killing and Borgen, Denmark's political establishment is like Hansel in Zoolander: so hot right now, though for reasons no one can quite understand.

So maybe what is really new about the 'selfie' is that it is the ultimate sign of the democratic times we live in, where it turns out we are all looking for ways to immortalise ourselves and to preserve our legacy in history. After all, those statues of Augustus did a lot more for him that Suetonius' description of him having wonky teeth, terrible hair and awful dress sense.
So as we all turn guardian of the marks we leave in history, it is perhaps worth contemplating the words of one of the eminent sages of our times: as Buddy, puts it in The Incredibles, 'Everyone can be super! And when everyone's super....no one is'. And maybe that, in fact, catches the zeitgeist of 2013.