What a month, huh? I have very little to say about May 2025. I didn’t do a lot of writing and some pieces I was really proud of got rejected from my usual humor-writing sites. What do you do when you get rejections? I usually turn to cheese fries, but I’m opening to learning more. Anyway, here’s most of the media I consumed this month.
Watching
The best thing I watched all month was The Rehearsal season 2. I don’t even know, you guys. One of the most fascinating shows I’ve ever seen, and it ends on an absolute high note. Put Nathan Fielder in charge of the FAA!
I also rewatched Bunheads, Amy Sherman-Palladino’s one-season follow-up to Gilmore Girls, because at the end of the day I am a silly little boy. It’s about Sutton Foster who marries a guy she barely knows and the guy dies immediately so she inherits the dance studio his mother (Kelly Bishop) runs. I love Bunheads, it’s much spikier and a little more grounded than GG; you really get to watch the characters grow and evolve, and there’s also a lot of dancing! Dancing, I say!
I am also loving this season of Taskmaster. Obviously Jason Mantzoukas is hilarious, but I’m also obsessed with Fatiha El-Ghorri; I have never seen someone give less of a fuck on a reality competition show, and everything she says makes me laugh.
The Devil’s Plan. Obviously. I cannot get enough of this show where competent people play complicated games. Do you want to watch a group of likable nerds puzzle out the solution to a Knight’s Tour? Does the thought of watching 61 hands of math poker not sound terrible to you? Then run don’t walk to The Devil’s Plan and its 20-minute-long rule explanations. It might be my favorite show???
Of course I am watching The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, and of course I think any sword that is raised against Taylor Frankie Paul will fall (including those brandished by her own family). This season, the Pale Wraith herself, Mikayla, really got to shine. As with the first season, the true villain is not Demi but the Republicans and Mormon Church who have denied these poor women any kind of sex ed or access to contraception!!
I also watched, and strongly recommend, Pee-Wee As Himself. I never really got Pee-Wee Herman; even as a child, I was like, is he a child or a adult? Is he real or a character? (It didn’t help that I didn’t actually see the Tim Burton movie until I was well into high school, as the film does a good job of establishing the reality of the character.) But once I saw this documentary, I was like, OH, he’s in drag! I get it now. The doc is also just really interesting for anyone who’s creative, or a performer, or queer, or interested in art and performance. I thought it was very insightful and deeply moving.
I am really not into movies right now. The only new movie I watched this month was Mickey 17, and it didn’t really hit for me. It was fun to watch Robert Pattinson flail around, though.
Listening
Some tunes I’ve been digging this month: the queer punk stylings of Ekko Astral’s pink balloons; David Bowie’s triptych of Berlin albums (Low, Heroes, and Lodger); Janelle Monáe’s early sci-fi masterpieces, The Archandroid and The Electric Lady; and Pom Pom Squad’s playful Mirror Starts Moving Without Me. I also spent a lot of time painting my house and listening to the Fun Home soundtrack. It really puts you in the mindset of being a closeted gay guy who loves doing housework and hates his family!
Oh and also I remembered this song existed the other day and that was very nice!
Reading
The Unmothers by Leslie J. Anderson - a horror novel in which a reporter comes to a small town where a horse has given birth to a human baby and something sinister lurks in the forest. I really enjoyed this! Very moody and nicely fleshed out.
Stag Dance by Torrey Peters - a novella + three short stories. The short stories are good to very good, but the titular novella is pure magic, in which a group of lumberjacks working on an illegal logging operation decide to throw a dance where some of them will attend as women. Peters’ writing in this is acrobatic and magical, very George Saunders-esque in the way it plays with language. Great stuff!
Woodworking by Emily St. James - a novel about a middle-aged teacher named Erica, a newly out trans woman, who strikes up a friendship with her trans student Abigail; drama ensues! St. James really nails not only the disorientation and fear that comes with gender dysphoria but also the joy of finding community with other trans people. It’s a pleasure to spend time with her characters.
A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz - I’ve been on a bit of a Anthony Horowitz kick this year; I like his mysteries! This one involves a fictionalized version of Horowitz teaming up with the prickly Detective Hawthorne to investigate a murder at a literary festival on a small island. I did call the murderer in this one, but I enjoyed the ride regardless.
We are watching the same tv and I am thrilled about it. The rehearsal in particular I'm excited about. Nathan Fielder is a true master of the edit and I can't stop rewatching and taking apart how he structures his episodes. My favorite show in a long time DAAAAAMNIT