Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

March Pop Culture Round Up

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Well, March was a real crap sandwich over here. Lots of sadness and snuggles, not much ability to focus, and what little capacity I’ve had has been mostly focused on clients and local political work. I’m grateful the sun is coming out and warming things up so I can spend more time with Cliff in the yard running arond and enjoying the fresh air. Here’s a couple things that helped distract me this month.

Reading

I really couldn’t focus much, but on my flight to DC earlier this month I was able to listen to Lisa Rinna’s new memoir – You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It. I really wasn’t sure I’d like it but I do love RHOBH and behind the scenes gossip, and this one had some of that. What was actually great was the talk about her marriage and career and her ability to hustle to make ends meet when life took unexpected turns. Bonus – she’s an Oregonian which is always a good sign!


Late last month I picked up I’ll Have What He’s Having and had a hard time focusing on it. Luckily this past weekend was warm enough to sit outside and enjoy a change of scenery. I was able to zip through the rest of this very sweet and funny book! The book also has “A Guide to Pairing Muppet Movies and Wines.” I had no idea I needed this in my life, but it happened and I am a happier person for it! I’ll read more from this author.

Listening

Similar vibes with my podcast listening this month, I couldn’t get into it much, even the daily news podcasts have been a slog. I am really liking Adults in the Room which is based on Seattle on a story I completely missed in the last 90’s (college will do that). If you’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest or grew up in the 80/90’s with questionable restrictions around student/teacher relationships – this is a podcast to check out.

I started The Idiot, from Serial productions over the weekend and wow this guy is a piece of work! The interviews are fascinating and his incompetence at a botched murder to hire plot is bonkers.

Besides that I’m listening to the new Harry Styles album, more Gorillaz thanks to their SNL appearance, and as always: Yacht Rock.

Watching

Thankfully we’re in that winter sappy romances you don’t really have to pay close attention to, but also no judgement if you do, along with some reality TV to keep things going.

What I’m really loving is all the drama with the cancellation of The Bachelorette, a show I have successfully never watched, WHILE finishing up the latest season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives which is all about the bachelorette preparing for the show. This story really says a lot about how we treat reality TV stars who are clearly in a mental health crisis and need support not spotlights. Lisa Rinna’s book had some good thoughts on this.

Shows I am loving and can’t wait to watch each week include… Shrinking, The Pitt, and Rooster. Rooster is off to a great start – I am glad it’s arrived since Shrinking wraps up way too soon for me. I’m also loving the new season of Top Chef and SNL UK is off to a great start this season!

Okay, a few bright spots in a rough month. I hope you had better pop culture inspiration than I did, hoping to get back into the swing of things in April!

February Pop Culture Round Up

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February was a weird pop culture month for me. I finished a book, couldn’t get motivated to start reading anything else, and mostly just binged the Olympics (everyone watches women’s sports!) and took care of a sick pup. Here’s a few things that kept me going (besides curling) and Crossplay.

Live Theatre

I started off the month seeing The Wiz in Portland with a friend. This is obviously the best version of The Wizard of Oz (well, except for maybe Ted Lasso) with such fantastic music! I haven’t seen the show in ages and it was very fun for all.

The next weekend we had a double date down to Salem to see Nick Offerman on his Big Woodchuck tour. It was VERY fun – in fact his shop manager joined him on tour and built a project from their book during the show. It was VERY fun!

Reading

I finished reading Notes on Infinity this month and it was really good. I feel like maybe I need to have a been a bit closer to college (or in that world) to get a few of the assumed acronyms, but the story was great. It had a very Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow vibe mixed with Elizabeth Holmes and the Theranos story.

I can’t get excited to read right now. I know, it’s the dead of winter (or something like that in the PNW) – I am hoping that a flight to DC next month will help me get out of this funk. Clearly I need a vacation or some warm sunny weather to sit outside!

I am excited to attend the Hillsboro Reads event next month where the book this year is Tilt which I really enjoyed! If you’re looking for a fast and thoughtful read, this is it!

Listening

Nothing too exciting this month, Carol Burnett on Good Hang was fantastic, and the Jonathan Groff episode made me laugh more than once! I also really appreciated the Wirecutter episodes about Making coffee (brewing) and how to buy beans. It made me think more about where my beans come from and when and how I grind them. It may need a re-listen to make sure I got it all before I start spending money on expensive equipment I have clearly lived without…

Watching

Like most of the world I started the month with the Olympics, enjoyed a Benito Bowl distraction (hooray Seahawks!) and have spent the last couple of weeks trying to figure out curling, and enjoying way too much bobsled and luge!

But, every once in a while we needed a break, and I am grateful that The Pitt is back, and that this season of Shrinking has started and is PERFECT. I also finally started watching The Burbs, we all know that Keke Palmer is amazing, and the cast on this show is bonkers great. Great actors getting to be funny and awkward and weird is always a good mix for me.

Okay, what pop culture have you enjoyed this month? What gets you out of a pop culture (or seasonal?) funk? What are you getting excited for this spring?

January Pop Culture Round Up

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We are one month in to 2026 and somehow it feels like it’s already been a full year since Christmas. Although it has been dry and mild weather here in the Northwest, it’s still cold enough that pop culture has been consumed – to keep us warm inside, and to escape from what’s going in the world. Here’s a few things that have given me a much needed break this month.

Reading

I’m trying out StoryGraph this year, if you’ve moved over from Goodreads, let’s be friends!

As usual I am off to a slow start this year – but I did read Everyone is Lying to You at the end of the year and I loved it! It’s a mystery about a MAHA Influencer who goes missing and it was a perfect end of year mystery/influencer commentary/with a bit of religious culty-ness! If you spent the holidays (or let’s be honest – yesterday) doom scrolling, this is the book for you!

I loved My Sister the Serial Killer a few years back, and had eagerly anticipated the authors new book. Cursed Daughters was so great I emailed a former client (who I knew loved her first book) and told her to get it ASAP. It’s a beautiful multi-generational story about a family of women who, yes, are cursed to never have love. I had a hard time putting it down once I got into it.

I also listened to Dinner for Vampires – after multiple friends told me it was great. And it absolutely filled my celebrity cult bucket! On the other end of cult stories, I read a great graphic novel, Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me. I knew nothing about the Mitford sisters before reading this but it was a fascinating story about a family of sisters at the turn of the 19th century who go in drastically different directions throughout their lives – from Resistance to Hitler’s confidant. It was a good time for this story to be told.

Listening

I can’t get enough of Good Hang with Amy Poehler! Sure the podcast category at the Golden Globes was dumb, but YES she deserved to win it (and honestly, Will Arnett is fine, but her beating her ex husband was admittedly VERY satisfying to watch.)

I just finished listening to A Very British Cult and it was fine… maybe I needed to pay better attention but it didn’t feel like it stuck the landing.

My morning podcast routine is The Headlines from NYT, then What a Day, if The Daily is a good topic (rarely – or I’ve gotten enough on it) I’ll listen to that. I really like Alex Wagner so have been listening to some Runaway Country episodes too. If there’s a new Good Hang that’s going to get started on a dog walk for sure. Occasionally I’ll listen to Late Night with Seth Meyers for the Closer Look segment (rarely the interview), few and far between I’ll listen to Pod Save America, and I always keep an eye on Think Out Loud and OPB Politics Now.

Watching

I am now starting my sixth year of tracking everything I watch in a spreadsheet. At some point I really should talk to an app developer and turn this into the next Storygraph, but for now, we have a google sheet.

I did a much needed rewatch of Schitts Creek over the holidays and to start the new year. I am trying to decide my next rewatch binge and leaning towards The Good Place since it’s been a minute. What comfort shows are you watching?

I am so happy that my favorite British comfort show is back, All Creatures Great and Small. It is so lovely and kind and nice to watch. I am also thrilled that The Pitt is back for Season 2! It’s off to a great start, and I am excited for Dr. Robby’s sabbatical, he clearly deserves it.

The Beast Within was so good and creepy and fantastic. Matthew Rhys doesn’t play creepy dudes enough and I wish he would. Claire Danes spiralling is ALWAYS a good time (side quest – she was great on Good Hang!) Marcello Hernandez: American Boy was so funny, and so great, a perfect weekend comedy special.

I also watched a movie (I know!) on a quick weekend trip with friends to the coast. I have had Twinless on my to watch list for a while and we finally watched it. It was so great, very funny, set in Portland and also kind of sweet. We also watched Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart and it was really good, and a great story told from Elizabeth and her family’s perspectives which we haven’t really heard like this before. Check that your windows are locked folks.

Okay, that’s the pop culture that got me through January, what pop culture is helping you start 2026 off well? What are you excited for this year?