The Night King is dead, all hail Bran the Broken. May has been a pretty epic Pop Culture month. I hope you’ve enjoyed it and gotten outside to enjoy some beautiful weather on top of the great pop culture that occurred this month!

Reading

In anticipation of the 3rd season of The Handmaid’s Tale, I picked up the graphic novel version of the book. I’m excited for Margaret Atwood’s sequel coming this fall and can’t wait for the new season to start next week. If you’ve read the book and want a quick refresher before The Testaments this is a great way to accomplish that task!

I’m heading to the coast this weekend for some quick R&R and hoping to enjoy a book and maybe a few comics while I’m there. May was a busy month and not enough reading happened…

Listening

I’m sad I didn’t get tickets to Chelsea Handler and I have’t read her new book yet (but it’s on my short list). However, her new podcast Life Will be the Death of Me is great so far. The first interview is with her BFF Mary McCormack who I also really enjoy and their friendship is exactly what I would expect it to be.

My friends were going on a road trip last week and needed a few podcast suggestions. I couldn’t believe how long I’ve been writing my pop culture round up and how many great podcast series I’ve listened to along the way. It’s time for another true crime mini series (please share your suggestions!). In the mean time I think we’ll check out Blackout (the Rami Malick miniseries) and Small Town Dicks which my friend suggested.

Watching

May has been a pretty epic month for TV. I know I’m in the minority but I liked the Game of Thrones Finale. I cheered when we saw Tormond again and cried when Jon & Ghost were reunited. I’m glad Dani isn’t queen and think Bran was a weird choice but it does break a cycle that it will still somehow be destined to repeat. And I’m honestly just glad Tyrion survived. And Arya.

It got pretty dusty in our house for the Big Bang Theory finale. It’s always been such a sweet and fun show, it filled a light hearted TV show hole in my heart that I will now have to fill with something else.

I’m enjoying this final season of Jane the Virgin but wish Jane & Rafael would just GET BACK TOGETHER ALREADY! I’m not as into this season of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, so we’ll see if I finish the season. I have watched Wine Country twice so far and it will easily be in my “frequent repeat” collection for the rest of time. I didn’t realize that I needed Paula Pell & Emily Spivey in EVERY MOVIE FOR THE REST OF TIME PLEASE.

Earlier this week we went to Schitt’s Creek Live and it was AMAZING. The highlight was Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara singing God Love’s a Terrier obviously. And maybe the Schitt’s Creek Family Feud which I would have lost. But I did come home with a new Rose Apothocary sweatshirt – hooray!

What pop culture has kept you sane this month? Any good binge’s over Memorial Day? What are you looking forward to with this summer pop culture uptick?

April has been a whirlwind – including a great trip across the PNW visiting family and celebrating a 2nd birthday and a 50th birthday (neither were mine). That also meant time to read a book on those flights around the region! All that and the return of Game of Thrones means April is a great pop culture month…

Reading

I thoroughly enjoyed On the Come Up by Angie Thomas. Thomas wrote The Hate U Give a couple of years ago, which I also loved. I love that she has kept her books in the same neighborhood (and I heard her 3rd book will do the same). I also appreciate that while referencing events between books, the characters don’t cross over (yet…)

I have another flight soon that I’m hoping will allow for some time to read ANOTHER book, not sure which one it will be yet…

Listening

Thanks to my amazing client Bronwyn I discovered The Dropout which is about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos. It was CRAZY. I sort of knew the story but WOW Holmes is a piece of work. I read a great follow up piece in Wired about how we expect this kind of behavior from men in business but rarely do we see a woman lie, cheat and steal millions without any sort of guilt. Fascinating…I can’t wait for the miniseries.

I am a woman so obviously a lot of Homecoming: The Live Album is happening around this house. And I am so grateful that my Monday morning workout class has been including a different version of the Game of Thrones theme song…

Watching

Winter is Here. I am so excited that Game of Thrones has returned and sad that it’s the final season and almost over. I was thrilled to see every character at least pop up in the season premiere. We seem to know where everyone is, and now to see who makes it and who ends up on the throne…

I finally finished Broad City. What a fantastic and hilarious series. I am sad that it’s over but excited to see what Abbi & Ilana have in store for their own future creative endeavors. I also really loved The Other Two, if you didn’t catch the series and need some funny and ridiculous summer TV, start here.

This final season of Jane the Virgin  has all the telenovela tropes I was hoping for from the final season (amnesia!?!!)  I am going to be so sad when it’s over. The final season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was good and I like how it ended but I may need to rewatch that finale. I felt the live musical special after was more memorable. Just me?

I did LOVE Schitt’s Creek and that penultimate episode was FABULOUS. And the latest season of Queer Eye was just what I needed.

What pop culture is keeping you sane this spring? Have you seen Endgame yet? (no spoilers – I may be a couple weeks…)

I hope you’ve had a great month! This month I flew up to visit my BFF for her birthday (and the release of Captain Marvel!) and enjoyed the warmer weather that is starting to peak out and tease us with hopes of sitting outside reading and throwing frisbees for Norm. It also had a few colder nights and a time to catch up on my DVR a bit. PLUS March Madness is upon us (damn you Villanova…) Here’s a few pieces of pop culture I’ve been enjoying in March.

Reading

I caught up on comic books this month – I was WAY over due (and maybe shamed when I went to the comic shop to pick up my box…)

I am on a female comic book author kick lately. West Coast Avengers from Kelly Thompson is still really fun. I like a good “wait is my parent back from the dead or were they lying to me all along?” story line. I finally finished G. Willow Wilson’s Captain Marvel run. She did an amazing job with the series – although that final issue felt like an unnecessary bow tie on the end. I really like Margaret Stohl and her run with Captain Marvel was great. I’m excited for what Kelly Thompson has in store!

Maneater from Portland author Chelsea Cain is a really fun series. Teenage girls no longer get their period, except every once in a while they do and they can turn into attack cats. It’s a clever premise (despite my poor description) and a locally written series (Cain wrote Mockinbird which you need to read ASAP if you want to get into comics but think they’re just for boys who like superheroes.) And, I still read The Walking Dead. I’m enjoying the new group’s leader and what’s in store there. I gave up on the show when Negan showed up, I read it I didn’t need to watch it too.

Listening

A couple of months ago a friend recommended an OPB story about PERS (yes, I know you’re jealous AND also wondering what these acronyms are). I discovered OPB Politics Now and it’s a great way to keep up to date on local political stories that since I don’t subscribe to a regional newspaper (just the Hillsboro Tribune) this gives me some statewide political updates.

I also really appreciated Wesley Morris on The Daily earlier this month talking about the Michael Jackson documentary. I don’t have the stomach to watch the doc but his insights as he grappled with growing up a huge fan of Jackson to processing his impact with his actions was very thoughtful.

Watching

Captain Marvel has been out three weeks and YES I’ve seen it twice. It’s that much fun. It makes me appreciate cats more (no one is more surprised than me by that statement) and Nick Fury.

I’ve also watched the new Amy Schumer special twice (again, it’s that good) and laughed SO HARD. It’s really great, even if her husband is a horrible artist.

I am finally catching up on the final season of You’re the Worst and it’s not as good as the previous seasons. I’m really bummed. I find I can only watch one or two episodes at a time, they’re just so awful now for some reason.

I’m sad that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is almost over. And I’m excited, yet sad, about the final season of Jane the Virgin! I really enjoyed The Other Two and I’m savoring the final few episodes of Broad City, I’m not ready for it to be over yet…

I am still loving this season of Schitt’s Creek so much so that I bought tickets for their tour when they’re in town in May! I am savoring this season of Queer Eye, it’s always just so sweet and good.

March always means March Madness – my favorite sports season. So my DVR is getting a bit more backed up than usual since my weekends are spent yelling at the TV because my bracket is a mess. How’s your bracket doing so far?