Scattered thoughts #1

Ted Lasso, Scandoval, The Rachel Incident, mochi donuts, and puppy pics

I got this idea through Hmm, That’s Interesting. It’s a nice break from the pressure of writing essays and a distraction from working on my novel. Sometimes writing is my favorite thing to do, other times I wonder if today is the day it will eat me.

So here we are. Scattered Thoughts is a fun way to share some of the things that have been on my mind over the last week while keeping me in the habit of updating this Substack regularly. Pop culture, snacks, dog photos, and books all promise to make their way into the mix.

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What I’m Watching

(and what you should maybe watch too):

Like any good American, I’d like to start with TV. We watch a lot of it. This used to be something I was ashamed of, convinced I should be spending my time on something more productive. Now, I don’t care.

I’ll talk to you all day about my favorite TV shows. It’s to the point that when I go out with someone and they say they don’t watch a lot of TV, or we simply don’t have the same taste, I don’t know what to say to them. Who even are you? I think

And look, we don’t watch that much. Most nights I wind down work at 5 pm, take our dog for a walk, shower, and read for 45 minutes. Then, we start dinner before finally having a well-deserved plop on the couch, where we watch TV for about two and a half hours before bed and more reading time.

So here’s what we’ve been watching lately, in no particular order. I love nothing more than a good TV gossip so please, if you’ve seen these, give me your take!

Ted Lasso: We’re late to the Ted Lasso party but finally closing in on the end of Season 2 (no spoilers, please!) and I get it. I avoided this show for a long time thinking it would be kind of stupid and sometimes it is, but it’s also much funnier than I imagined. I had a long chuckle at the reference to “female singer-songwriters trying to change the overflow of dogs in the shelter” joke since then it’s been A-Ok in my book.

Side note: when I texted my mom that I had a crush on Roy Kent she said “of course you do.”

What does that say about me???

Love is Blind: This is our dinner show. We like to pair certain shows with certain foods and for a while we only watched this on nacho night but it’s too good to only watch on one night, so here we are. We are just wrapping up honeymoons and while it’s not as good as past seasons (so far), I have trust that it will get there.

True Detective: I’ve loved Jodi Foster since I was a little girl watching her in Silence of the Lambs. I used to quote this scene at friends.

I didn’t have a lot of friends.

Anyway, it took no convincing to watch True Detective Season 4. It was spooky if a bit rushed, and I do wish they’d spent more time on one or two storylines rather than the six or so they played with. Even still, I love Jodi Foster. Did you know she almost got attacked by a lion once?

Also is there anyone better than Graham Norton?! And Olivia Coleman on the couch too!!

Mare of Easttown: It’s amazing. Best show I’ve seen in a while and funnier than I expected. Kate Winslet is brilliant. Go watch it if you haven’t seen it already. The trailer does it no justice at all, but here it is:

Vanderpump Rules: Probably this show should have ended ages ago but I’m so happy it didn’t. Scandoval completely revitalized it and while it will never be the pinnacle of reality TV like Seasons 1& 2 (truly is there anything better?) I’ve enjoyed watching the group slowly fall apart as they inch further into their 30s, struggling with all the pressures of being very hot and very rich.

Can we finally all agree Sandoval is terrible? Who didn’t see this one coming?

What I’m reading:

This year I’ve made it a goal to read 30 books. I’ve been averaging about 2 books per month so I’m not sure how I’m going to get to that goal, but I’m trying not to get too wrapped up in it. The main thing is how much I’ve loved reading lately. It’s made me a better writer and probably a better person. It’s certainly made me more relaxed.

I don’t understand how to use Goodreads but I’m here if you do and want to be friends. (is that a thing?)

This year I've so far read Promising Young Women (loved. I adored The Rachel Incident too. Caroline O‘Donoghue if you’re reading please write more adult fiction!), Adelaide (heavy, but really enjoyed), Search History (It’s not, as I thought, anything like The Novel Obsession which I loved. Still, it was a good read) and None of This is True, which was my first venture into "thriller" (is that what it's classified as?) and I couldn’t put it down. I'm definitely going to read more of Lisa Jewell's books, so if you have a recommendation let me know!

I've just started Sirens & Muses. It’s too early to comment, but so far so good. As someone who went to a now defunct art school, I love the art school setting. I’d love more books like this, art school or really any college setting that still qualifies as adult fiction. If you know of any, please drop them in the comments.

I have a tendency to want to read mainly first person present tense since that's what I write in, but lately I’ve found a lot of my TBR shelf is third! Don’t worry, I’ve since ordered a stack of new books in first person to add to the pile:

Still in transit: ‘All Grown Up’ by Jami Attenberg and ‘In a Not So Perfect World’ by Neely Tubati Alexander

Other random thoughts:

Mochi donuts: I had these for the first time this weekend and oh. my. god. Where have you been all my life?! If you have mochi donuts in your area, please go try them ASAP.

Tiny pup: Recently I’ve been going through my mom’s old hard drive and it’s been a TREASURE TROVE of photos from my past. I’ve especially loved getting to see angsty pre-teen Angela:

I live in Boston. I don’t watch baseball. That hat was only there to cause trouble.

Then there was rebellious teen Angela:

Still proud of that guitar pick choker necklace tbh

And most importantly, Sawyer as a tiny pup

SO SMALL!

oh, how young we both were

I’m working on a post with more of these soon, probably in the next week or two so stay tuned!

Novel update: Revising a novel is the most challenging and simultaneously rewarding thing I’ve done thus far. Unlike physical exercise there is no immediate reward or payoff or really anything to tell you that you’re doing it right.

Sometimes I think I’ve written a great line only to realize the next day I hate it. Most of the time I hate everything I’ve written only to go back a few days later and think, not bad. It’s just the cycle of things.

I guess this is why you have beta readers (hello, are there more of you out there?) but even then you have to be careful. So for now I’m doing a lot of re-arranging, re-writing, and eventually, letting it breathe. My goal is to be done this draft by end of May and the to be querying again by the Fall. I admit, that’s a bit lofty but I don’t know how to exist without goals and targets so there we are.

To wrap up, thank you for going on this weird journey of scattered thoughts with me. If I haven’t scared you off, I’ll see you here same time next week!

<3