Silver Linings Playbook collected digital dust on my Netflix queue for months. I didn’t want to watch a movie about mental illness. As I’m already dealing with enough in my life and surroundings.

That’s why escapist TV shows like Sex and the City, Love Life, Ted Lasso, Mad Men, and The Flight Attendant are my preferred entertainment options right now. Although real-life shit happens in each series, it’s suspended by glittery TV magic, keeping me tethered to the story, while allowing me to avoid the crushing mendacity that’s invaded real life. Mostly, I want to see happy endings on the…

The HBO Max series is an alcoholic’s worst nightmare

We’ve all had too much to drink. And anyone drunk has been hungover. You’re perplexed at how awful you feel despite knocking back 12 drinks in record time. Your mind is foggy, your limbs numb. If you really went ham, then you might even wonder how you got home, or how you landed in bed with a total (nameless) stranger.

Some people learn from their drinking mishaps. In fact, I know people who put down the bottle for good after their first hangover (true story). Yet I know even more people…

It was only a matter of time before movies and shows about the pandemic hit streaming services.

I don’t watch every show and movie. I’m sure there have been other fictional stories with the coronavirus pandemic as the setting. But HBO Max romantic comedy and heist movie Locked Down is the first film I’ve seen that involves the pandemic. (I haven’t watched Songbird.) I was hoping Locked Down would help me get through what’s hopefully the final stretch of covid, but it only made me feel more sad and miserable. As if I needed to feel even more helpless.

Locked…

Contains mild spoilers for Love Life.

I didn’t want to write about Love Life.

For those who have yet to tune in, the HBO Max series follows Darby Carter (Anna Kendrick). Darby, similar to other tropey rom-com characters, is searching for love throughout her twenties and thirties. Yet like most twenty- and thirty-somethings, Darby struggles to love herself. If you’ve read my essays, you know this storyline is my ideal setting for a TV series, movie, or just about anything in life. …

Cruises bring out the worst in humanity.

You know, like wastefulness: putting more food on your plate than you can eat and throwing away whatever you don’t finish. Or not picking up after yourself. People drop food and rubbish on the ground and don’t pick it up. Or acting like you’re the only person who exists yet being on a boat that houses thousands of guests and workers. And so on and so forth.

Hear me out: I love cruises.

But I can’t stand how countless privileged guests continuously treat the staff like shit because they think they’re better than…

Despite wanting to know when my favorite authors write in hopes of somehow taking what works for them and adapting it to my writing routine, I’ve concluded that I’ll never have a set writing schedule. The sooner I finally accept that, the better. But seriously — because I’ve been having this conversation for years.

My friends and family members know all about my writing schedule woes. It comes with the territory of creating a new schedule every week and telling them about it. I’ve tried everything. Morning writing, 9-to-5, night writing. At times, it all works. But mostly, nothing works…

I’m not a pretentious person. I know… by writing those words, I come off as pretentious. What I mean is, well, I’ll give you an example: I rather eat at McDonald’s than a fancy steakhouse — even if money weren’t an issue. (Maybe I’m just an idiot.) I’ve spent countless Fridays and Saturdays purchasing *dinner* from 7-Eleven. Sure, alcohol is usually involved, but I love 7-Eleven. Mostly, I crave sloppy food that takes up the entire plate.

I don’t desire sophisticated food for the sake of sophistication. Likewise, I don’t prefer highbrow movies and shows for the sake of them…

Contains spoilers for Dash & Lily.

Watching eight holiday-themed episodes of Dash & Lily makes me long for the day when we’re allowed to leave our homes again — at least without masks. It’s almost impossible to watch the Netflix holiday rom-com and not dream about living in a post-pandemic world, especially if you’re like me and tend to put everything on a pedestal.

I dream of the day when I can finally visit New York City, the setting of Dash & Lily. Every year, without fail, I tell myself — and anyone willing to listen — that I’m going…