May 2025 Top Ten

I watched Matilda: The Musical on Netflix and loved it. I was hesitant to watch it because I have fond memories of the original, but I wish I wouldn’t have waited. It’s just as unsettling and wonderful and sweet as the original. And the songs are so great.

I also watched the second Spider-verse movie and enjoyed it. The first was far superior, though.

We read The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett for book club. I enjoyed it. It’s a Sherlock Holmes type mystery in a fresh, unique, fantasy world. I’ll probably read book two at some point.

We watched the animated movie Flow that won a ton of awards. I really enjoyed it. It’s very simple, but can be intense. My kids were pretty fidgety during it (or screaming for the cat to be saved). I don’t think they’ve been that emotionally invested in a movie before.

I read Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution. It was pretty interesting.

I also read Nate Bargatze’s book of memories/essays (?) called Big Dumb Eyes. I enjoyed it, but if you’re not a Nate megafan, you might not enjoy it. This reviewer summed it up pretty well:

“At best, this book comes off like a friendly uncle telling you somewhat charming stories about his childhood. At worst, it's a bunch of flat and unfunny stories told to you by that annoying guy you get stuck sitting next to on a long airplane flight.”

I picked up the cassette of Four by Blue’s Traveler and have been jamming out to it. This song is underrated.

Me and Sammi watched the John Krasinski and Natalie Portman movie Fountain of Youth. It’s…not great. Or good. The dialogue is terrible and the plot is predictable. I read some reviews that it was created with “second-screen” viewers in mind: the actors say what they are doing so people on their phone during the movie still know what’s going on.

Gross.

I’ve been sining Wild Mountain Thyme a lot lately. Probably because the first line is “Oh, the summertime has come.” I’ve been playing it on guitar a bit, too. It’s super easy and beautiful to play. These are the chords I use.

10.

I watched this satire video making fun of Google’s new A.I. program that generates crazy video. A.I. is taking big leaps. It’s unfortunate.