This chilly fall air has me cozied up inside, but luckily earlier this month was warmer than expected for a little more outside reading time. I hope you’ve made the most of October, since we know what’s ahead. Here’s a few things I’ve enjoyed this month…
Reading
I absolutely LOVED Transcendent Kingdom. I will officially read everything Yaa Gyasi writes. Homegoing is the best book I’ve read in 2020 – I loved it so much I bought 4 copies to give as gifts this holiday season. Transcendent Kingdom was a very different story but I appreciated the struggles of the main character with her family and how frankly they wrote about addiction and depression.
The best graphic novel I have read this year is They Called Us Enemy – George Takei’s graphic memoir about his childhood in internment camps. My official Goodreads review was: “Buy it. Read it. Share it with your children. This country will never learn from our mistakes If we never learn the horrible things we’ve done.” We have GOT to start learning from the horrible things this country has done, or we will continue to do them.
I also picked up A Very Punchable Face from the library. It’s Colin Jost’s memoir and if you appreciate him on SNL, you will laugh a LOT. Multiple times there were tears streaming down my face from laughing so hard. It was the EXACT mental health treat I needed this close to the election.
I’m not sure what’s next up on my list, I think there’s one or two things on hold at the library and I still need to read any one of the books I on my shelf I’ve recently purchased or that never ending comic book stack…
Listening
I’m in a bit of news and election overwhelm so I’ve been a little more particular with my podcasts this month. I really appreciated the Pod Save America interview with Obama a few weeks ago. I continue to listen to What a Day to stay on top of it all too. The Daily episode (10/6) on “How a Small Bar Battled to Survive the Coronavirus” was REALLY good.
The recent news about women leaving the workforce has been incredibly upsetting. OPB’s Think Out Loud did a great episode talking with women across Oregon dealing with this issue. This article was also incredibly helpful in putting words around a lot of feelings I’ve had.
Oddly I have been listening to a lot of 90’s music lately. My workout studio had a 90’s class that inspired me to relive high school, it’s been a great break! I also REALLY loved Megan Thee Stallion on SNL earlier this month!
Watching
SNL is back and nothing makes me happier than having this show back on the air. I am NOT sold on Jim Carrey as Biden but Maya Rudolph is SO GREAT it makes up for it. I was also really impressed with how SNL handled the musical act who was seen out at a college party not socially distancing. No one is above the law with Lorne.
I am in the midst of a Veep rewatch – it’s been a nice laugh during the election. I also enjoyed the West Wing GOTV special on HBOMax.
Lovecraft County is such a crazy weird show. I finished it this week and it was BANANAS. Half way through the season they do a whole story about a woman in Korea and 2/3 of the episode is in Korean. I love when shows tell the story that needs to be told. I liked it a lot and loved the journey, but wonder if it should have been a miniseries – I’m not sure where the story will go or if it will just go off the rails next season.
The new season of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction has a great lineup. We were fascinated by the Robert Downey Jr. episodes – where they both talked pretty candidly about their addictions. Dave Chappell is always amazing and it was great to learn about the work he is doing in Ohio where he lives. And I love Lizzo, she was awesome. We still haven’t watched the Kim Kardashian West episode because I don’t know if my eyes can roll that far back into my head. I will at some point I promise…
Ted Lasso was the surprise fall hit that I needed. I have ALWAYS loved Jason Sudeikis so was already on board to re-up my Apple+ subscription. The show is so sweet and funny and exactly what I needed this fall.
The Amber Ruffin Show on Peacock is deLIGHTFUL. She’s such a gem and I always appreciate everything she does on Seth Meyers.
My husband and I loved The American Barbecue Showdown on Netflix. It filled the food competition hole in our hearts.
I watched Ratched over the past month and it was…fine? Beautiful people having sex & murdering others – this time at a mental hospital! Ryan Murphy may be too over the top for me. But Cynthia Nixon & Sarah Paulsen were fantastic as they always are.
This past weekend I watched The Social Dilemma, and it was a lot of information I remembered from reading Bored and Brilliant last year. However, I was fascinated at the end by how these ex-social media execs were handling their own phone/social usage AND how what they’re allowing for their kids. It was an important documentary if you’re online anywhere. It made me consider giving up Twitter and then realizing that for now I WANT it, but need to clean up who I follow so that the overwhelm of information and anger and rage is dialed back a notch or two.
Alright – that’s enough pop culture for one month (never!) – how did October go for you? Any excellent pop culture discoveries I need to add to the list?
A few weeks ago I had a tweet from someone I know asking if there’s a way to unsend a Mailchimp campaign. Evidently there had been an incorrect name used in their campaign, making the event about someone else. Whoops. Typos are the worst. So, I emailed to check in and see if I could help. I had 3 recommendations…
The smoke filled air had most of the west coast stuck inside for about a week this past month. It was hard to not get out and exercise or just sit in the backyard and read. The rain finally arrived to wash away the