Things that got me through the week
Okay, friends, it’s Friday. Despite the fact that I work most Saturdays, Friday still feels like the end of the week and thus, a day to coast as much as possible—I mentally instituted that years ago, and it has absolutely, 100% improved my life, highly recommend. It is also (and therefore) a good excuse to share some bright spots—or, as the title says, a few of the things that got me through.
Oh! When I wrote earlier this week, I hadn't realized that comments weren't activated. Apologies for that—they should be good to go now. May I suggest that you take them for a spin to tell me/us about any little things that got YOU through the week? Something that made you laugh, that caught your attention and allowed you to stop doomscrolling, that pleasantly surprised you, that gave you warm fuzzies. A piece of media, a moment you observed, a good random fact, a new-to-you animal, something that delighted you.
Here are mine.
A Joyfully Chaotic Spelling Bee
We actually discovered Guy Montgomery’s Spelling Bee during my hiatus, and we blew through every available episode months ago. HOWEVER. It bears recommending anyway, because watching it truly was one of my personal highlights of 2024.
It’s a Kiwi panel show in which comedian Guy Montgomery puts other comedians through the most horrific spelling bee of all time—it’s the perfect blend of really smart and really dumb; it’s styled like a decades-old low budget borderline-public access show (even Guy’s ties look like he got them from Goodwill in 1974). It’s such a wonderfully maddening game (for the contestants) that when one of them mutters I HATE YOU GUY MONTGOMERY, it’s both totally understandable and still absolutely gut-busting.
It made us laugh until we cried—literally—so much and so loudly that we kept pausing and rewinding so we wouldn’t miss anything. Guy Montgomery is a madman in the best possible way; his game show host persona is distinctly Muppet-y, with a tiny dollop of that Norm MacDonald thing of staring into the camera and waiting a beat for you to catch up with him, but in a friendly, playful way. His humor often comes at you sideways—he's the kind of clever that leaves you constantly playing catch-up, but somehow it just makes you enjoy him more. Because of that, on the rare occasion that a contestant is able to fluster him, it creates a moment of genuine, pure joy for everyone involved, very much including him.
His sidekicks—Sanjay on the New Zealand version and Aaron on the Australian version—can't be described, they just need to be experienced.
This clip is a good example of what you’ll get, and if you like it, all available episodes (two New Zealand seasons and one in Australia) are on YouTube:
I’m desperately hoping for more, but if this is it, I’m so grateful for these & I will 100% watch them again.
Horror Novels Galore
The 2024 Bram Stoker Preliminary Ballots have been released! I’ve only read a few of them, so I am VERY excited to have a whole bunch of horror novels—middle grade, young adult, and yes, even pearl clutch adult—to plow through.
Rather than doing the classic link-to-each-book thing, I made handy Bookshop lists for those three categories (let me know if these don't work for you—I'm still feeling out the functionalities of this new-fangled platform):
If those carousels don't work for you, or you want to see the whole swath of categories—and there are a bunch—click on through to the Stoker website.
Yeah Buddy!
If you were—or should I say ARE, I think once you’re a fan, it’s for life—a fan of Space Ghost Coast To Coast and/or The Brak Show, do yourself a favor and follow Andy Merrill on BlueSky.
For me, he’s right up there with Chuck Tingle in terms of putting off-beat and warm-hearted stuff out into the world. Having Brak back in my life, in PUPPET-form, no less, is something I didn't know I needed, but boy howdy, I did:
A very special message for anyone listening.
— Andy Merrill “Brak” & I maybe love🫘 (@amerrill2.bsky.social) January 21, 2025 at 4:11 PM
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Anddddddddddddddd... your turn!
