at the beginning of the year i started a playlist and added or subtracted songs that i was really feeling and here’s where i ended up: 24
some records from this year i spent a lot of quality time with:
daudi matsiko the king of misery
erlend øye la comitiva
beth gibbons lives outgrown
michael kiwanuka small changes
rachel chinouriri what a devastating turn of events
kim deal nobody loves you more
mustafa dunya
little simz drop 7
doechii alligator bites never heal
baby rose/badbadnotgood slow burn
rosie howe lover, other
hiatus kaiyote love heart cheat code
willow empathogen
orion sun orion
hurray for the riff raff the past is still alive
billie eilish hit me hard and soft
common/pete rock the auditorium vol 1
jessica pratt here in the pitch
gossip real power
i have literally never been offered a brand partnership so you know i mean these for real:
best soft and juicy face cream i get at the grocery store: l’oreal midnight cream
hospital discovery i have incorporated into my actual life: boost glucose control
perfect mittens that i: wear unironically
show i loved that: maybe nobody else watched?????
obsessed with: felt trivets
best pre-mixed cocktail for lazy bums: on the rocks pineapple jalapeño margarita
this instagram lady: has good mocktail recipes
best $4 hand cream: gold bond
best wildly different movies about the exact same damn subject: reality and winner
bestest and most beautifullest lip oils that make you look shiny and youthful: all the ilia balmy glosses but especially saint
hung this: gorgeous reesabobeesa print in the bathroom
obsessed with: jenny bird gold chains
tastiest beer i’ve had in a minute: old nation B-43 grapefruit
delightful podcast that made me cry laughing the entire way through: my babe caleb interviewing trixie mattel
my office smells like: wildberry egyptian musk incense
cutie bath bombs made by cool witches: crystal bar soap
obsessed with: kiehl’s musk oil layered with nemat vanilla musk oil
i am simply unable to resist: a novelty foodstuff
prettiest nail stickers for childish adults who can’t deal with regular manicures: jin soon chroma dots
snl parody song that is literally a bop i can’t get outta my head: here i go
snl sketch from the same episode i have watch 732 times: the way marcello screams “what’s in your wallet” in acting teacher completely undoes me
obsessed with: this cheap lamp
this year i discovered curl mousse and these three are straight up superstars: pattern beauty and the doux’s mousse def and crazy sexy curl
how i keep the subaru smelling cozy as hell: ds&durga wild brooklyn lavender (actually this is not fully true, within twenty minutes of opening it i had headache and couldn’t stop freakin sneezing, so these are in the garbage but i do need someone to know that i am ridiculous enough to buy designer air freshener for the vehicle i mostly use to transport the dog to school)
if you see me in red lipstick it’s probably: lisa eldridge velvet ribbon (the greatest lipstick of all time and it’s not close)
obsessed with: dog sweaters
i’ve been taking these: brain-boosting (???) mushroom chocolates
got some new: house clothes
this year my constant sniffling nose and i got really into: gorgeous handkerchiefs
the self-help book i’m currently working my way through: the perfectionism workbook
the crossword puzzle book i’m currently working my way through: a24’s 99 TV crosswords
the killer new book i’m currently working my way through: vantage point sarah sligar
no matter what i’m always gonna have an enormous, gooey soft spot for: twee ass songs that sound like this
obsessed with: these bedsheets
i’m still chugging these: salud electrolyte powders
my favorite tiny desk this year that maybe you didn’t watch because you’ve never heard of him but just trust me okay: elmiene
stupid fancy mayo i bought as a goof but now refuse to live without: dill pickle ayoh
great concert from this year: neko case whose voice is as clear and powerful as ever
another outstanding concert i saw this year: rachael and vilray, who sing like gorgeous angels!!!!!!!
obsessed with: coloring on my phone
soap i use because i don’t like the inside of my butt cheeks feeling too slimy or ~moisturized~ ugh: lume lavender sage bar
day bag big enough to drag my laptop to the coffee shop in: cos canopy (it’s on sale!)
before i start not buying dumb shit in 2025: should i get this delightful deviled egg platter?
essential sleep item i cannot imagine living without: lectrofan white noise machine
clunky, hideous orthopedic shoes that i wear every single day and will likely be buried in bc they’re so good: finn comfort huelvas
still the uncontested best tp in the world: charmin ultra strong (please consider me for one of those bear suits, i will wear it with pride)
obsessed with: firm toothbrushes
best reason to passively continue paying for audible credits i don’t even have enough ears to use: my podcast husband, leon nayfakh, has two new bangers backfired: the vaping wars and backfired: attention deficit and even though i’ve already said this one million times please know i would follow this man into an active volcano he is such a dreamboat!
obsessed with: dressing like a large toddler
fave sports play-by-play guy to develop a freakish obsession with: gus johnson (special shout out to kevin harlan’s hall of fame ass as well)
the most delicious cracker????? (impulse buy from target that really fucking worked out in my favor): town house sea salt pita crackers
obsessed with: see eyewear
real good blush: tarte amazonian clay in drama
real good cream blush: danessa myricks yummy skin in jubilee
real good blush for old bitches who can’t believe it’s not still 1998: mac burnt pepper
genuinely hilarious commercial i can’t stop quoting: the way matthew mcconaughey says, “jerry’s eating rice! huh!”
insanely delicious swiss chocolate sticks? slabs?? my girl holly sent me for christmas whose website i’ve had open for a week as a torture exercise: läderach frischschoggi
best cheap cover for a subtle menopause beard: nyx color corrector
perfect non-foundation looking-ass foundation: make up for ever matte skin velvet
at the end of the year i look forward to: the hater’s guide to the williams-sonoma catalog
at home i switched from diet coke: to diet pepsi (sorry, BUT: to me it tastes better)
obsessed with: pastry pups
i found a new purveyor of: big head hats
who the hell knows if they work but i: take these magnesium supplements every night
i destroyed my old min & mon wallet so i: got this new one
one thing i wanna do next year is: read + more + short + story + collections (and also this one and this one and this one and probably this one and absolutely this one ooOoOOo and definitely this one, too)
for father’s day i sent mel: this bougie ass olive oil
best new colin farrell show: the penguin
did you hear me on the new season of normal gossip: emotional support fruits
my current favorite: charles barkley clip
obsessed with: thinking that if i buy this planner i might actually use it
a handful of podcast recs:
the good whale (freeing free willy)
scamfluencers (scammer stories)
you didn’t see nothin’ (investigating a 1997 chicago hate crime)
diabolical lies (“cynical internet feminists”)
everything is fine (for women over 40!)
the mismatch (heated nba debates???)
slow burn season 10 (the rise of fox news)
book report:
2025 i’m gonna try to do a better job of tracking what i read, because i hate getting to the end of the year and frothing with jealousy over everyone else’s perfectly-curated lists. how are people so organized. even if i try to type a note in my phone it’s like “what? what are you doing?” and auto-deletes as it launches itself from my clammy grip. my stoner brain is not built for recollection!! so this is gonna be a random sampling of things i can dig out of the dark recesses of my mind because what am i gonna do, get up and go look????
i know i read woo woo by ella baxter because i blurbed it. blurbing is so stressful, because i do not know how to talk about why i like something in the kind of words publishers want to see on their bookflaps. i fully understand why siskel and ebert chose the simple yet effective thumbs up; if i could just say “RAD” and be done with it the whole process would be a lot easier. i don’t know how to convincingly use words like “luminous!!” i just got an early copy of sucker punch by scaachi koul and here’s the thing: scaachi is an incorrigible demonic goblin, but she’s so funny and so good at writing that you almost forget she’s a mean bitch. i also blurbed two other books that aren’t out yet: lynn steger strong’s the float test about siblings at odds (my jam) and kristen arnett’s stop me if you’ve heard this one about a lesbian clown (it’s not my biography, i swear). i emailed kristen’s editor “she really put her whole clownussy in this one” and like??? grow up??????
i think i missed the blurb deadline for nat cassidy’s forthcoming when the wolf comes home but let’s be serious here: i’m crazy about his work. he’s so good, i will read any- and everything he writes. mary? loved. nestlings? loved. rest stop? made me want to peel my skin off but guess what i loved that, too. speaking of peeling off your skin, i just read this 500-page horror novel called the swarm by andy marino and wow did it make me want to scratch myself to death! four of my most beloveds wrote killer books i read this year, too: ambition monster (“a gutsy and powerful look at workaholism”) by jennifer romolini and slow dance (“if you, like me, think thirty-somethings methodically working through their issues is very hot, slow dance is the book for you”) by rainbow rowell and sandwich (“joy in book form”) by catherine newman and tell me who you are (“the silent patient meets gone girl”) by the god louisa luna, all extremely excellent. hot springs drive (“an urgent, vicious blade of a novel about a shocking betrayal and its aftermath”) by my dawg lindsay hunter came out at the end of last year but it’s good as hell and what is time anyway, it counts. i gave that book to so many people this year. ooh i also read two good thrillers that both played with the traditional thriller format: bright young women by jessica knoll and the god of the woods by liz moore. also great off the top of my head: hampton heights by dan kois, i was a teenage slasher by stephen graham jones, and all the colors of the dark by chris whitaker, which had me up in the middle of the night sobbing on the toilet at this swanky brooklyn hotel. i read more than this but who cares!
some newsletters i love to read and pay for:
priyanka mattoo’s the multitude
j wortham’s channeling
katherine may’s the clearing
ariella elovic’s snack time
corinne fay’s big undies
joanna goddard’s big salad
emily kirkpatrick’s i love mess
emma gannon’s the hyphen
allie jones’ gossip time
hunter harris’ hung up
elizabeth day’s daylight
cat marnell’s beautyshambles
ochuko akpovbovbo’s as seen on
steph halchin’s the lit list
okay we did it. love you so much, happy happy new year.