May’s Beautiful Distractions.

Spelling the Tea by Erin Johnson: I got this at a library sale for $0.50 and I spent too much. The bummer is that this is such a cool idea that was executed so poorly. The writing is atrocious, the characters are lame, and I could not stop rolling my eyes.

Girl Warrior: On Coming of Age by Joy Harjo: I bought this on a rainy day after breakfast in Oakland. I had never heard of Joy Harjo, though I wish I had her voice when I was a teenager. She is completely raw and unfiltered in her exploration of her life. I related so much to so many parts of her book and would have worshipped this book as my Bible as the younger version of myself. I cannot wait to dive into more of her works.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab: I heard such bad things about this but someone (whom I trust) told me to give it a go and it was available on audiobook (thanks Libby!) so I put it on. I immediately found excuses to listen to this. Cleaning, walking, driving. Whatever. Let me listen to it. While I didn’t love the ending… I don’t know what would have actually made me happy.

Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice by Virginia Roberts Giuffre: This one was painful. If you don’t know who Virginia is… what rock do you live under and is there space down there for me? As a mother (and probably not as one), it’s so incredibly hard to hear that there are people out there who have children and do nothing to protect them. In fact, they are the ones hurting their own children. Even before Willow was born, I already knew I’d do everything I could to protect her. To hear about Virginia’s father abusing her and her mother not caring (and even accusing her daughter of “stealing” her husband) made me so sad and angry. She had such a difficult life.

Debí Tirar Más Fotos by Bad Bunny: Listen, this will be my most listened to album of the year and “Nuevayol” will be my most listened to song. If you know me, you might be confused. I don’t speak Spanish but we played “Nuevayol” once and Willow LOVES it. She requests it multiple times a day and it will instantly melt any tantrum. The smile on her face gets me every time. I have a goal of looking up all the lyrics in English so I actually understand it but you really don’t need to. The vibes vibe very hard on this and it’s an incredibly fun album.

Try Not to Freak Out by Sløtface: I heard the song “Nancy Drew” off this album a few years ago and always meant to go back and actually listen to the rest of the album. Now I’m mad I didn’t do that before. When Willow isn’t around, I have been listening to this one on repeat. I really do have to get to the rest of their discography but I can’t let myself let this one go yet.

So Much To Say by Daisy Grenade + all of Daisy Grenade: Daisy Grenade has yet to come out with an album (I’m manifesting it as we speak). They’re Riot Girling the shit out of all their EPs. Their song “How to Hide a Body” was on the same playlist that Sløtface’s “Nancy Drew” was on but I was quicker to jump on listening to all of Daisy Grenade’s stuff (probably because there is less so it wasn’t as intimidating). That being said, they played in San Francisco the other night and I attended. They’re absolutely fantastic live and I can’t recommend them enough.

Jacob and I had a Scream marathon in May in order to watch Scream 7. I have thoughts on all of them (and I’ll probably write them out at some point). But it’s a 10/10 franchise and I won’t hear anything else against it.

Good Boy: I had highly low expectations about this one. Low because the concept is GREAT but also bananas. A horror movie from a dogs perspective? Amazing. But also weird. If done right, GREAT. If done bad, HORRIBLE. Fortunately, this was pretty great. For the entire film, my heart was pounding and I was on the edge of my seat… which is exactly what they were aiming for. Let’s get Indy in every movie!