Good day everyone. I am sitting here trying to think of something to write about. I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer and write about the dumpster fire that is 2026 so far, but I am finding it a little difficult to be inspired by anything that wouldn’t turn into a hugely negative rant. I just don’t think any of us need that today.
So instead, get ready for another installment of brain vomit.
I recently realized that I have not been watching as many of my normal TV shows. Don’t get me wrong, I still watch a fuck-ton of the most random shit, but I think my tastes are changing. I find myself watching a lot of British competition shows, and not just The Great British Bake Off. I am obsessed with The Great Pottery Throwdown and Handmade: Britian’s Best Woodworker. I have even watched a few episodes of The Great British Sewing Bee.
Who have I become that I get so excited for these type of shows?! But here we are. I mean, I am strangely obsessed with these shows without zombies, gore or hateful housewives. Me?!
But there is something so pure and lighthearted with these British shows. The contestants are always so supportive of each other and their work. It’s so uplifting to see that — just real people succeeding or failing at their craft. I get so invested in whether or not someone’s guggle jug is going to crack in the kiln or if a one-armed wood worker is going to finish sanding his garden bench before they call time.
I have teared up and even full-on ugly cried during almost every single episode of almost every single one of these shows. There is no back-stabbing or sabotage going on, no fake or forced drama. Just lots of encouragement and praise to their fellow contestants.
Maybe that is what I love about these shows. It’s a competition, yet it doesn’t feel overly competitive. Creative people celebrating creativity without having to dis someone else’s work or gloat and be a dick because they did well.
I mostly watch these shows right before bed. They calm me and quiet some of the frenetic noise that plays on loop in my head. It helps when I am overthinking and makes winding down easier.
For those that are interested, I watch most of these shows on the Roku channel. Yes, I have to watch commercials like I live in olden times, but I try to make it into a fun little game: Can I jump out of bed, go pee and be back under the covers before the commercials end? The answer is usually no. I pee for the longest time. Getting old is stupid.
Another bunch of shows that I am suddenly into are anime/manga. No, I do not know the difference between anime and manga, but I’m sure some studious little know-it-all homo is going to tell me after this gets published.
For years I could not be bothered by anything anime. I’d joke that the only “ANIME” I liked was Tina Turner. (Give yourself a second to get that joke, because I think it’s hilarious!)
Anywho, I am just not a huge fan of that type of drawing style, but I do like weird shit. And some of the stories in these anime and manga shows are so fucking bizarre that I eventually gave in and gave them a chance.
Attack on Titan is fucking bonkers. It’s set in a world where humanity lives in towns or cities protected by big-ass walls that keep these weird, man-eating, humanoid giants called Titans out. Then shit hits the fan when one breaks through the wall, letting a bunch of the giants in to start munching on the townsfolk.
I was sucked in because of the blood, gore and carnage galore, but I became very invested because of the well-told and layered storyline. I was surprised by the level of creativity and character development within that strange world. It’s almost 100 episodes, and I finished the entire series in seven weeks. Who needs sleep when you keep saying to yourself, “Just one more episode”?
Then I had to deal with that horrible feeling — something akin to depression — that you feel when you finish binging a good show or a great book. So Castlevania and Castlevania: Nocturne were my next binge, and I loved those as well. Right now, I am about halfway through Record of Ragnarok on Netflix. It’s pretty good. Gods versus humans in ridiculously over-the-top fight scenes.
Let me know what you think my next binge should be.
For those that ask me about book recommendations.: I enjoyed I, Medusa by Ayana Gray. It’s a Greek tragedy about how and why she came to be the snake-haired villain that we know and love.
I kind of enjoyed the Kick at the Darkness trilogy by Keira Andrews. It’s about two guys that fall in love during the zombie apocalypse. Oh, and one of them is a werewolf. It would go from action and adventure to hardcore gay porn. I am no delicate flower, but it got so graphic and detailed when they would have sex, that I would feel uncomfortable. In the second book, it went from a mother being bitten by a zombie and bleeding out in front of her young son to what felt like a tutorial on fisting.
I guess it is the gay horror equivalent to my grandma’s “romance” novels.
I absolutely hated Elphie: A Wicked Childhood by Gregory Maguire. It’s a prequel to his book Wicked. Not one likeable character in the entire book and that includes Elphaba. Hated it!
The latest Dan Brown book about Robert Langdon, The Secret of Secrets, is pretty good and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is phenomenal.
Thank you all for indulging me as I babble about bullshit, and a sincere thank you to everyone that reached out to check on me or sent a condolence message about Brenda Love. I cannot express to you all how much that meant to me. I appreciate each and every one of you. So, THANK YOU! And remember to love more, bitch less and be fabulous! XOXO, Cassie Nova