May 2026 Grab Bag

I’ve been tip-tapping my toes to a lot of new music this past month. Maybe the absolute barren wasteland of pop music from last year is finally giving way to some fertile soil? Only time will tell. Let me know what music you’ve been listening to recently!

1. The first two episodes of the new Apple TV show Widow’s Bay have been delightful! Love the premise – a mayor trying to drum up tourism in a clearly haunted New England town – and excited to see where the series goes
2. Pop star stan wars make it hard for me to glean actual opinions about new releases, but for me personally I really love Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drop Dead” – unsure if that’s a hot take or the general consensus, but it’s on heavy rotation for me

3. Obsessed with this site that lets you dive into reading trends across the Brooklyn Public Library system 
4. Didn’t read that much this past month, but the two books I did were really good: Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah was both depressing as hell and absolutely electric to read; God of the Woods by Liz Moore had that expansive, wandering quality I love in a crime/mystery novel
5. I love a love song that’s a little insane, so my lil ears perked up when I first heard the chorus of Jesus Christ in a Miniskirt by Meg Smith during the credits of Forbidden Fruits – love a deranged girlie! 

6. Very charmed by Australia’s Pokemon Go-esque payphone game 
7. Turns out Casablanca is a very good movie. Who would have guessed? This rewatch I was really struck by how this was released while World War II was still going on – really gives it a sense of dire urgency I hadn’t picked up on originally  
8. I say I’m a secret country music fan, but that mostly just means I’m a big fan of Kacey Musgraves. I love the sparse, dusty quality of her new album Middle of Nowhere – the single “Dry Spell” is fun and silly, I also particularly like “Abilene” and “Mexico Honey”

9. Paddington in Peru might not reach the perfection of Paddington 2, but it’s still pretty darn good
10. This week I picked up shiitake mushrooms, broccolini, lemons, and green garlic from my local food co-op and threw them together with some miso and a splash of whiskey and had it with pasta. It was delightful! Felt like I was cosplaying a food YouTuber 

Now I’m going to go back to listening to Drop Dead on repeat. Hope your past month has been treating you kindly! 

Each month I highlight an organization that’s important to me. I encourage people to check out the cool work they do, and also to find causes within their community to support as well.

Today I’m highlighting the Center for Asian American Media.