Sleighing (Slaying?) through December

It’s the most wonderful recap of the year!

Happy Monday! Happy back-to-work day for most people! If you think of today as the actual start of 2025, then this December recap really isn’t late at all. Let’s dive in, shall we?

What We’re Reading

Jen: I’m not trying to punish myself with my reading, although if you’ve been following along with my titles for the past few months, that’s what you’d likely think. Everything I’ve picked has been dark or educational, or darkly educational. Since the election, I’ve felt compelled to up the content of what I consume.

I’m almost finished with Dave Cullen’s Columbine and if you think a journalistic book about a school shooting is hard to read, you would be correct. But I have such an appreciation for how he handled this story—his reporting is absolutely top-notch, and he writes with such empathy and understanding. The worst of it was recounting minute by minute what happened during the attack. JFC, that was rough. Yet I appreciate how the carnage was complete by the first 20% of the book, so I wasn’t reading and just dreading what I knew was to come. (Also, it could have been so much worse, had their explosives worked.)

What surprised me was how deeply Cullen got into the difference between Harris’s psychopathy and Klebold’s depression—they were not motivated by the same things, even though they were both ultimately responsible. In no way is Klebold anything but a mass murderer, but Cullen creates compassion for this kid and some understanding of his mindset, while Eric was a full monster, full stop. The most fascinating part of the book is how the media shaped and forever altered perceptions on what happened. There’s just so much to unpack and so much of what we were fed was false.

Not sure if I want to dive into Cullen’s next book on Parkland, or if I want to shift gears and read the book on the Lockerbie explosion next before I watch the Netflix show. Whatever I choose, it’s likely to be grim for some time to come.

Karyn: Well, Jesus, that’s no fun. But who am I to judge? I just started reading A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. I’ve been meaning to read it for years and finally took the plunge, but it’s 833 pages and will take me a while. If you’ve never heard of the book, people say there’s life before reading A Little Life, and life after reading A Little Life. It’s about a group of four college friends who move to New York in search of fame and fortune. The blurb on Amazon says, “A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century.”

So many people I know say it’s their favorite book. Have you read it? If not, start — and we can discuss in a post when I finish!

What We’re Watching

Jen: Ever since October, I’ve been working hard on getting my body in better condition and now it feels like that’s what I’ve been doing with my mind, too. At least in terms of reading.

Fortunately, I am still on my bullshit when it comes to TV.

I actually took time off to hang out with Fletch while he was on vacation. We largely parked ourselves in front of the TV and drank wine and ate cheese. We did tons of holiday movies, including both the Hallmark one on the Chiefs and the Lifetime fictionalization on Taylor and Travis. They were delightful. We watched all the Deadpools and Inception and My Spy, plus the sequel. Also, Bad Boys Ride or Die. As for TV, we watched Man on the Inside, Silo, Bookie, and The Sticky. On my own, I’ve been watching Virgin River. I ate popcorn in many of these instance and almost had a tirzepatide-based incident at Target, so I’ve had to lay off the popcorn. It is my Kryptonite.

The best was renting and watching Wicked on NYE afternoon; it more than lived up to the hype. (I am legit in shock at where Karyn fell asleep while watching it. Legit.)

Karyn: I watched No Good Deed on Netflix with Lisa Kudrow and Ray Romano and loved it! It takes place in my neighborhood, which made it more fun. I also got caught up on Shrinking (season 2 is so good) and Only Murders in the Building (the Melissa McCarthy episode is everything)! I also saw Wicked in the theater, which I enjoyed but fell asleep during, and Nosferatu, which I didn’t like at all.

What We’re Listening To

Jen: During the Twelve Nights of Cocktails (advent calendar), I would sit in the living room, admire my lighting concept, and listen to Steely Dan. Cannot recommend this highly enough. I normally loathe holidays, but between the Dan and the advent calendars, I actually had a nice season. (That we didn’t have to go to the vet ER over the holidays for the first time in many years definitely helped my mood.)

Karyn: I’ve become obsessed with the nightly hoots of an owl that lives in a tree over my driveway or in my neighbor's yard. According to this video of owl sounds, it sounds like a Great Horned Owl or a Long-eared Owl.

Great Horned Owl and Long-eared Owl

It’s my goal in 2025 to find this owl and get a picture of him. I don’t know how I’m going to do it because these trees are enormous, but I’ll find a way. Operation Owl Search 2025 is officially underway!

The owl’s home

What We’re Quoting

Jen: Any and everything about the Lively/Baldoni feud. I am not technically quoting this but I am FULLY OBSESSED with this screenshotted quote:

This whole thing has been a whirlwind/shitstorm and so much has happened since we covered it on the pod a couple of weeks ago. Expect us to keep doing the deep dive because I love mess.

Karyn: “It’s Hootahs. For butts.” This is from the Melissa McCarthy episode of Only Murders in the Building. She plays Steve Martin’s sister and is talking about her husband here:

Melissa: I kicked him out again. He’s living on the boat in the driveway. One too many nights in Can Cans.

Selena: I feel like I’m going to regret asking this, but what is Can Cans?

Melissa: It’s Hootahs. For butts.

Selena: I was right.

Melissa: This is what I married. He’s a pig.

I randomly blurt out, “It’s Hootahs for butts,” to absolutely no one at least four times a week. And then I just laugh and laugh.

What We’re Cooking