Howdy folks, February isn't over yet, which means it's not to late to try out a new idea I just had: a little round-up of my favorite things I watched, read, or listened to last month! Who doesn't love a pop culture round-up? Especially if that round-up doesn't even feature stuff that's particularly recent or popular? How fun is that, right? I mean, do you really want to read another article about HBO's The Last of Us?
Without further ado, here's the best of the Lisa lifestyle this past month:
Best (audio)Book of (my) January: I'm Glad My Mother Died by Jennette McCurdy, narrated by the author
Okay, I know I said the round-up wouldn't be things that are that popular, and child star Jennette McCurdy's memoir was pretty damn popular. But it came out last year, so I'm still late enough to the party to be a cool kid.
Most people (including me) previously only knew McCurdy as Sam Puckett, the main character's best friend in Nickelodeon's iCarly and the star of the spin-off Sam and Cat. Finding out that a ubiquitous presence of my mid- to late-childhood had an incredibly troubled personal life, including extremely relatable struggles with a hoarding mother, perfectionism, and mental health issues, was stirring. I had never really considered who the actress behind Sam really was, though I found her the most compelling character in a show that seemed to be on constantly while I was in middle school. In hindsight, I would probably say that I found her attractive, so she seems somewhat important to the narrative of my early misunderstood lesbian experience. Yep, love Sam on iCarly and find the concept of the movie The 40-Year-Old Virgin to be aspirational. Nothing but a good Christian girl here. (For real, I was envious of the fact that Catholicism had nuns while female Presbyterian ministers at my home church were still stuck being married, blech.)
I digress. The point is Jennette McCurdy is an intensely familiar and rather comforting presence to have return to my attention. And while any trauma I faced in my childhood and my mild eating disorder-like symptoms pale in comparison to her wildly abusive mother and years-long struggle with honest-to-God anorexia and bulimia, to hear a voice from my childhood media describe the process of growing up under unusual conditions and still managing to overcome it all to be, from what I can tell, a pretty decent and well-adjusted woman is inspiring. Her narrative doesn't shy away from any experience, no matter how bodily or unusual. She describes her first instance of obsessive-compulsive order, which included ritualistically touching the hem of her underwear, and graphic depictions of the effects of bulimia with the same detailed matter-of-factness that she described meeting her co-star Miranda Cosgrove or participating in fun church games as a kid.
McCurdy's unflinching detail includes the treatment she received for her eating disorders from an eating disorder specialist named Jeff. Jeff is a professional so great at his job that I gained secondhand therapy from her descriptions of some of her sessions. From reflecting on McCurdy's experiences, I feel like I learned things about myself (including that my autism has symptoms perhaps remarkably close to OCD, which I felt able to talk about after this book) and practically made a new friend in the parasocial relationship I have now formed with Jennette McCurdy. What more could you want from a book?
Best Movie of (my) January 2023: Puss in Boots: The Final Wish
Another fashionably late popular installment. This movie was released in late December of 2022 but still managed to be the second highest grossing animated film of that year, and for good reason.
I love animated family films. I resent the Disney Company, but, for now, I have no reason to boycott Dreamworks, so this movie was an easy yes for me when my brother suggested we go see it. It was everything I love in a family film: beautiful animation, animal characters, unambiguous morals, an exciting adventure through a fantasy land but also through the characters' hearts as they grow and realize that the real journey was the friends they made on the way. Also, I'm not a big fan of bears, but damn did I LOVE this rendition of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. I kinda like bears now. This movie is out here doing the Lord's work of converting unbelievers. Or should I say, "un-bear-lievers?" Or "un-bear-lovers?" Is that too much? Probably.
Also, not only does this movie have animal characters, but the two main characters are cats. Badass cats. Fashionable badass cats. One of them practically even has a disability since she was declawed. What an absolute icon.
This movie made me laugh, made me cry, made me hum the opening song for weeks afterwards. (Puss is, after all, my "fav'rite fear-less HEEE-EEEE-ROOOOO.") It presented me with plot twists that didn't seem patently obvious, but I, an accomplished media scholar, could figure out ahead of time with relish. I have grown a lot since I watched The Pikachu Movie and was the only person in the entire theater shocked by every plot twist. Though that movie was a tough one. I mean, who could expect the nice, well-dressed man in the extremely fancy penthouse office to be the villain? Unheard of.
Not only was this film fun, but I also got to see it in a matinee feature for like $9 with my family and we got smoothies afterwards. What more could you want from a movie?
Best Podcast of (my) January: Reading Glasses, hosted by Brea Grant and Mallory O'Meara on the Maximum Fun network
So, this is actually the culmination of months of dedicated listening in order to catch up on all six years of Reading Glasses. And, as they say the mission of the podcast is on every episode, they did indeed help me read better. The cumulative effect of listening to this podcast for months on end has resulted in a rekindling of a childhood love of reading and the introduction of new reading habits like keeping a log and thinking about wheelhouse items and "reading pathways." And now I will pass the savings onto yoooooouuuu...
Wheelhouse items are the elements of a book (or movie or game, whatever) that appeal to you. The hosts have identified things like haunted houses as a wheelhouse item for Mallory or space for Brea. I have identified things like female protagonists, animal characters, and magic to be wheelhouse items for me. They don't necessarily mean I will like the work at hand: for example, I bought a used book from our local bookstore that was a cozy mystery featuring a female detective/bookstore and cafe owner and her cat, which seemed like it would be totally in wheelhouse, but the writing style was so juvenile that I couldn't stomach it. For real, that author needed to invest in a thesaurus and realize that every line of dialogue doesn't need to have "the youth said" after it. Also, stop calling the barista a youth, like you've done it three times on one page, I get it. That's what pronouns are for; he's the only male character so far; "he/him" will suffice. God.
Anyway, the other bit of reading knowledge I will impart onto you is the concept of "reading pathways." There are four: plot, setting, character, and language. The goal for finding books (or whatever media) that appeals to you is to figure out what your reading pathway is. Maybe the thing you love most is a gripping plot? Relatable characters? Beautiful prose? An enchanting setting? It doesn't have to only be one; there's an episode where the hosts basically rank all four for their personal preferences. And just because one is at the bottom doesn't mean you don't care about it at all. I would say that language is near the bottom for me, but you read my rant in the last paragraph. I dumped that cat mystery because the language was too simplistic. However, sign me the fuck up for just about anything taking place in the woods, especially a magical forest. I also am drawn to castles, small towns, farms, Ireland, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. Can you tell that setting is my top reading pathway?
In conclusion, Reading Glasses has changed my (reading) life for the better. What more could you want from a podcast?
Best Show of (my) January: Derry Girls, available on Netflix
As an honorary Catholic (I think teaching at an all-girls Catholic school for two and a half years earns me this title), I found so much of this comedy about a group of girls (and one boy) coming of age in Northern Ireland during the tail end of The Troubles so. Freaking. Hilarious.
I love coming-of-age stories, and this one incorporates so much of the absurdity of being a teenager, especially in times of political turmoil, in a way that I'm not sure I've seen before. By the end of the third and final season, you feel like you've gotten to know the whole family, and good Lord is Siobhan McSweeney's performance as a jaded nun principal of the all-girls school an absolute delight to watch. The whole cast is strong and each character is distinct, some of them like eccentric cousin Orla or belligerent grandpa Joe toeing the line to caricature without every quite capitulating. Ultimately, my time with the characters felt meaningful and, considering how funny it is, it manages to be quite moving by the end.
I bet you savvy readers have already guessed what I'm about to say.
What more could you want from a show?
Best Game of (my) January: Mario Kart 8 for the Nintendo Switch
My dearest partner Alex has introduced a wonderful thing back into my life: Mario Kart. Now I get to regularly drive recklessly through fantasy settings with Alex, including one time literally drunk driving as Alex and I celebrated her 30th this past month by playing a randomized set of all 48 tracks while taking shots of whiskey. This game is something I regularly look forward to in the evening once Alex and I are done with all our responsibilities for the day, plus it has me learning all sorts of names of Nintendo characters. You can't drive as Cloud Strife through the Midgar subway system though, so that's a shame. But it is great fun.
Say it with me: and what more could you want from a game?
Thanks for tuning in again this week, folks! Remember that you can subscribe to my email newsletter (and thus get notifications of new posts) or you can check out my Tumblr if you want more pictures of cats and, increasingly, reblogged Final Fantasy fan art. It's kinda really what I'm into right now. That, and Jennette McCurdy.
Have you watched or read anything you love lately? Let me know in the comments below or hit me up sometime.
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