2025 so far

I think we need a mulligan

I don’t know about you, but my 2025 has been pretty gnarly. Illnesses, horror show news, today’s inauguration on flipping MLK day, personal sadness! And not just me—every single person I have spoken to this month is going through it. So I offer you a long-distance hug (especially if you are one of the folks who’s had norovirus this month, holy hell there are a lot of you) and my fondest sympathies. Everyone on the internet is either saying not to look at the news or not to look away from the news, and so I find myself being a human ping pong ball. I am not going to watch that cretin get inaugurated, but I am watching what he does, and who he targets, and doing what I can to fight against his inky black heart.

Here are some tiny things that have helped me crawl through January.

Traitors

I don’t know who all the people are, but I am a very longtime Survivor fan, and I did love Bob the Drag Queen’s cameo on Dr. Odyssey, and Alan Cummings’ outfits are worth the price of admission, and did you know that Zac Efron has a little brother, and that he is very, very beautiful? Also (for better or worse) is that a Boston accent really does something for me, in terms of dopamine production, and so Boston Rob is a glorious addition.

Better Man

Not not related to anything in the above paragraph, it will not be surprising to those of you who either know me in real life or have been following my various obsessions on this Substack that I went to see the Robbie Williams monkey biopic in the movie theater. Here’s what you need to know, though—the movie is great. It’s great. I cried about six times. I clapped with glee at the big dance scenes. I actually don’t think you need to know a single Robbie Williams song in order to enjoy the movie. He is cheeky and adorable and he’s played by a CGI monkey. I know that sounds like a terrible idea, but it’s not. I loved it.

A Wilder Shore, Camille Peri

I just finished reading this book, and I have recommended it to so many people since the second I started it. Do you care about Robert Louis Stevenson? You might, you might not! You may have read Treasure Island, you may have seen Muppet Treasure Island, but truly, once again, even if you come to this with no background whatsoever, you will still love it. I think it’s one of the best biographies I’ve ever read. It’s about both Stevenson (waify, tubercular Scot) and his wife (hardy American widow 15 years his senior) and it is, truly, a wild adventure.

An added bonus: when I went to find the cover image, look at what else showed up: god bless you, Belinda Carlisle.

We Love LA

We made this t-shirt to raise money for World Central Kitchen in Pasadena. You can pre-order one now. I could write a book about how much I love Los Angeles. I sort of already did. (It was Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures, and no one read it, but it’s about the Hollywood Studio system, and researching it was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done.) I love my friends and family in LA, I love the light in LA, I love the food and the architecture and the way you can be at the beach or in the mountains or at In n Out within an hour. The destruction from the fires is devastating. I keep sending boxes of books to people, because it’s what I have to send, in addition to money. (I’m sending that too.) Anyway, here’s a t-shirt, buy one for a friend.

Here’s hoping some good shit happens in February.