You can’t tell it from the weather, but Memorial Day marks the unofficial beginning of summer. To get the season started, here’s a little rundown of what has been on my pop culture radar lately:

TV
• I am loving Fargo. It is probably odd to start a summer list with a television show where the blizzards of North Dakota feature heavily in the storyline (and I admit that I originally only tuned in for a Martin Freeman fix), but the cast and story are engaging and intriguing.

• I loyally watched the Supernatural ninth (!) season finale. I love my Winchester brothers, honestly I do, but they have literally run out of ideas. And yet… I’ll be there for the season premiere for season ten.
• Most of my TV watching is tragically unhip. I didn’t care for Orphan Black, and I don’t have HBO which means I miss out on Game of Thrones, Veep, Girls, True Detective and Silicon Valley. Please hold your spoilers until 2018 or so.

 

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MUSIC:
• I’m slowly becoming desensitized to the song “Happy.” At first, I couldn’t stand the song. Then, I just passively stopped changing the radio station when I heard it. (It was pointless since it seemed to be playing on all other stations at the same time.) The other day I found myself actually singing along. It’s very disconcerting to discover how weak-minded I am to the power of suggestion.
• Hologram Michael Jackson is creepy. We’re all on the same page on this, right?

 

FOOD:
• As summer approaches, I will share with you my secret food-related shame. I don’t own a grill. You see, I am that person who has to run home at least once a week to make sure she unplugged her iron/curling iron/coffeepot. The thought that I can be responsible for turning off a propane tank and also ever again sleep through the night seems like a lovely dream.

 

BOOKS:
• My sister loaned me “Someday, Someday Maybe“, the book written by Lauren Graham of Gilmore Girls fame. Loved it! A really fun and surprisingly genuine story of a wannabe actress in New York in the mid-90s. So, to sum up, Lauren Graham is a talented actress, gorgeous, funny and a wonderful writer. I hate her.

• I’m trying to whittle down the list of new Booktrope books I want to read, but it’s difficult because there are so many good ones! Check out the list of recent releases: Booktrope: Latest Books
• I picked up Chestnut Street, a book of stories by Maeve Binchy the other day. She’s one of my favorite authors who died in 2012. Chestnut Street is a clear attempt to emotionally manipulate her fans into reading anything with her name attached, including half-written scraps of stories that were probably never intended for publication. Knowing all this, I’ve started reading it anyway. (Please see above that we have already established my disturbing level of weak-mindedness.)

 

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DVDs:
• Stop what you are doing and watch the movie Philomena. And if you’re Catholic, this movie will mess with your head enough that you will need to sit in a dark room to decompress for an hour or two. Then, stop what you’re doing and watch it again.
• The Lauren Graham book naturally led to a Gilmore Girls binge-a-thon. I’m already on Season Four, but admit to fast forwarding heavily through the Jess years. I’m still amazed by the strength of the writing and the supporting cast and still annoyed that neither of these were recognized with an Emmy.

 

MOVIES:
• If they gave awards for “Funniest Movie Trailer”, the movie A Million Ways to Die in the West would win hands down. I have seen movies that didn’t make me laugh as hard as the 60 second trailer did. I can’t wait for its release.
• I can’t quite work up the excitement necessary to go see Godzilla, but it seems un-American to not attend a “The-earth-is-destroyed-by-X” movie during the summer.

 

So there we have it! Summer is almost here and I’m ready for it. Unless you want a hot dog on the grill. For that we’ll need to hit a Sea Dogs game. Speaking of which, I forgot to talk about summer sports! I guess that will have to wait until next time.