Watching
Love Island S7 (Peacock) – I have had a completely unhealthy obsession with this season. I watched S6 late and on my own time. S7 I was sat from the get go and heavily invested in the Nicolandria coupling AND so were a lot of people on social media. And now the Island is over and the people are back home with their phones. I gave myself a week to get over it.
Friends & Neighbors S1 (Apple) – Apple TV does not miss…except when it comes to marketing. Friends and Neighbors is a Jon Hamm show where he gets let go from his high end stock blah blah job and ends up stealing from his friends. It’s sooooo good. Jonathan Tropper wrote the show. I went through a heavy Tropper reading phase some years ago and nobody nails the plight of the bored white male like Tropper. Anyway it’s a great show.
KPOP Demon Hunters (2025) (Netflix) – Animated greatness on Netflix. It’s a good movie and the soundtrack is even better.
F1 (2025) – It was exactly what we thought it would be. And I was glad to see it on a giant screen.
Quarterback S2 (Netflix) – I enjoyed Kirk Cousins S1 and I was kinda surprised to see him back. I have loved Joe Burrow for years and watching the documentary after the past two seasons he had was really, really good. How could you not love a kid that starts a sentence “I bought a Batmobile.”
Dogma (1999) – Dogma’s 25 anniversary meant Kevin Smith put the movies back in theaters for a few days. I’ve never seen Dogma in the theater but I own the DVD. It’s one of my coveted millennial heirlooms. I couldn’t make it to see Kevin in person but after the movie they play some clips from his Q&A session. It was a treat.
Other stuff – The Phoenician Scheme (2025) MEH, The Ultimatum: Queer Love S2 (Netflix), Megan 2 (2025), Poop Cruise (Netflix documentary – fun fact: this is the boat we went on in December lol), The Studio (Apple TV) – this is phenomenal we’re just not done yet, Iron Heart (Disney+) – still in progress).
Reading
My only reading goal for this year was to read one Toni Morrison book. I read Song of Solomon and it is the best written book I’ve ever read. OMG.
Sympathy for Wild Girls by Demree McGhee. This is a queer collection of short stories but none of them really stuck out to me in any way.
Yellowface by RF Kuang. I super duper extra really want to read Kuang’s new book that comes out next month but I didn’t want it to be my first Kuang. A lot of reviews for Yellow face were like “the main character is abrasive” but that’s the point. The ending left more to be desired but overall I liked the book a lot. I bought Babel despite it’s page count and might read it before Katabasis but…we’ll see.
The Rules of Fortune by Danielle Prescod. A Black billionaire dies and his family is left to deal with the aftermath of his business dealings. This was a good read. It jumps back and forth between time and character POV but it’s not too hard to keep track of. There’s a lot of backstabbing and resentment as to be expected when it comes to a bunch of money and privilege.
I started reading Elevator Pitch but I don’t like it so I quit. Yay Kindle unlimited.
Everything on the internet sucks so nothing was the best. Like yes I was deeply obsessed with the couple caught cheating at the Coldplay concert because LMAO Chris Martin called you out. But it has quickly diverged into general internet overexposure mess. It was funny though. CHRIS MARTIN WROTE YELLOW AND HE CALLED OUT YOUR AFFAIR. LOL.
We’re twinning! I, too, plan to read a Toni Morrison book this year. I picked “Sula.”
I read every chapter in this last 1/3 of “Yellowface” saying “Oh, no. She’s not gonna do THAT is she—Yep. Yep, she sure is.” One of my fave reads of 2023.
My mother and I saw F1 and spent the entire 2.5 hours whispering “Nope. That’s illegal. Can’t do that. WHY IS HE TELLING HIM TO RACE MAX VERSTAPPEN ON SLICK TYRES IN THE RAIN?!” It was a fantastic time. 😂