I had a pop culture FILLED November my friends! I saw Broadway (& NPR) stars, I went to New York and saw a show, I ate great food, and I got to stay at the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport. The next time you find yourself flying through New York, do whatever you can to stay at the TWA Hotel. It is a VIBE. You are immediately transported to the 60’s and it is an excellent time! Okay, here’s the rest of the pop culture I loved this month…
Live Theater
A friend invited me to join her when Och & Oy! A Considered Cabaret with Alan Cumming and Ari Shapiro recently performed at the Reser Center and it was such a fun evening! I didn’t realize that Ari is from Beaverton, and Alan Cumming always has crazy fun stories. It was a wonderful evening of music and stories and a lot of laughing!
When I was in New York I finally got to see Some Like it Hot and it was even better than I expected, and I expect a LOT from Amber Ruffin! When the show tours and comes near your town, make sure to go. It was such a fun theater experience, the music was fantastic, it was funny and that mid-show/early second act lull never arrived. I loved it!
Reading
I have officially completed my 2023 Reading Challenge which I don’t hit every year. If you are a social media addict like most of us, and even if you aren’t, Extremely Online by Taylor Laurenz was an excellent read (ok listen). She deep dives into the beginnings of social media and how it got to where we are today. It was fascinating. I learned a lot and remembered many things I had shoved way out of my mind.
I also listened to Britney Spears memoir The Woman in Me and I LOVED it. It was an excellent audiobook (Michelle Williams will be winning her Grammy here!) The amount of people who failed this woman from early in her life up until a few years ago is devastating. I’m proud of her for not reading the book, not doing interviews for the book, and not sparing any love for her family and the people in her life who put her through so much pain.
I finally picked up Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? and I loved it! It is a quick read and the story is fascinating. It wasn’t what I was expecting the story to be, and I thought it was excellent.
I’m heading to the coast this weekend with friends and hoping to get some reading in, although we have a lot of games and cult documentaries to get through too…
Listening
This is weird, but if you’re like me, maybe it’s helpful. Last month while reading Real Simple I discovered that I could setup Background Sounds on my iPhone and it’s been a game changer. On the plane or in a waiting room, or even when my husband is watching sports and I want to read on the couch, having the sound of the ocean instead of the sniffling and coughing of people has helped me to tune out and enjoy my book or meal or watching the train roll along the Columbia River.
As far as music, the new Chris Stapleton album has been playing around the office a good deal lately. I’m still working my way into the Christmas music season though.
It wasn’t a crazy month for podcasts however, I did listen to two audiobooks which doesn’t help. I finished listening to The Dream about coaching which was good (not great). The usual podcasts kept me sane: What a Day, Vibe Check, OPB Politics Now, some episodes of The Daily, but the best podcast episode I listened to was from Think Out Loud and it was a day in the life with the Oregon Zoo veterinarian Carlos Sanchez. I’ve been a zoo member for years now (both in Seattle and Oregon) and this was SUCH a fun interview to hear about his relationship with the animals and all the caregivers at the zoo. When the Oregon Zoo announced a few days after this podcast that both a black rhino and one of the elephants were pregnant I was even more excited knowing who’s taking care of them! This could be a fun family road trip podcast listen.
Watching
As a Hillsboro Hops fan we were thrilled to see the Diamondbacks make it to the World Series, and even more fun that 11 players were former Hops. So when the Hops invited us all to watch one of the games live (on TV in a local restaurant), it was a super fun sporting experience with a large group of people who all love the Hops and Diamondbacks!
I finished The Morning Show and Big Mouth earlier this month but it’s been a weird TV month. Some reality TV is back but we’re starting to feel the effects of the strikes from earlier this year. Combine that with travel and Thanksgiving, it’s been a weird TV month.
I enjoyed this season of Upload but feel like it’s a show better binged (I did appreciate 2 episodes a week at least!) We finally started Lessons in Chemistry which I wanted to save up to binge and it’s off to a GREAT start.
What pop culture kept you sane over the holidays? What are you looking forward to as we hurtle towards the end of the year? Next month I’ll be back with some year end top ten lists for you…
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