Con’s Consumptions (Sept 2026)
My focus this past month has really been on the structure of the stories & analyzing the way they were written. It’s funny because growing up, one of my least favorite subjects was English class… & now at 29, here I am filling my free time with doing this out of pure passion.
One of the shows I started watching this month was Abbott Elementary. In one of the episodes Ava, the notoriously slacker principal, shadowed one of the history teacher’s classes because of a parent complaint. Then she just kept going to the class every day because she was interested in what he was teaching & wanted to keep learning more. There was this moment where another teacher suggested that Ava maybe actually appreciated learning now that she was an adult.
I guess the theme this past month has been both teaching & learning. The irony is that I am even living across from a school this month. So every day I am faced with looking at a middle school, while simultaneously watching Abbott Elementary. The themes of my life are so funny… it is like they are so in my face that I couldn’t even look away if I tried. I’ve been thinking about what I have to teach. What lessons can I pass on that I wish someone had taught me? What will learning look like with AI? If AI is wiping out junior roles, who's responsible for making sure young people still get a chance to learn? How do we help people unlock their own creativity?
All topics that are running around in my head.
I watched the pilot & then turned it off, but I had some friends convince me to give it another chance & watch a couple of episodes. The pilot felt a little cheesy to me, like I’ve seen this show before… friends in their 20’s who are roommates & get into hijinks together. But I gave it another shot & I am so glad I did.
So yes, the concept isn’t new… but the hijinks & the writing were. The acid episode in season 2 was great writing. The roommates were taking acid & they set a 30 minute timer before the trip happens & they discover there is a raccoon in the house right after taking it & setting the timer. So the whole episode corresponds with the timer running down & the journey of getting the raccoon out of the house so it isn’t in there for their trip.
BRILLIANT WRITING. That is all.
Kidding… I obviously have more to say. I just find that these characters are so well developed. The contrast of how they handle things brings up so many natural points of friction for the show. They could have everyone doing the most mundane thing & each of the characters can make the whole thing so entertaining. As a watcher, I just keep thinking “That is so Melissa” or “That is SO Janine”.
I’ve found that ensemble sitcoms can sometimes get into the territory of being too unrealistic. The characters can be a bit over the top & the scenarios they all get put in escalate to a point that just… wouldn’t happen. But with Abbott, the humor comes more from the dialogue & who the characters are, rather than the scenario getting bigger or more outrageous. Don’t get me wrong… there are still heightened moments, but it is more rooted in reality.
I also love that it is a proper 22 episode season… these streaming shows are 10 episodes & when it is a show that is 30 minutes… you blow right through it.
Rosebud Baker is a comedian & used to be a writer on SNL. Her memoir was such an interesting structure. The whole concept was that she accessed her story through somatic things that happened in her life through the span of her being pregnant & giving birth to her daughter. I think we all know that the body keeps score & this was such an amazing representation of that.
The book is woven beautifully with a combination of trauma & humor. Those two things can intertwine in life a lot more than you think. She talks about her addiction, her childhood, the grueling process of becoming a comedian, how she got her job at SNL. The book is so human & her voice shines through in every moment.
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
My friends got me this book & the only caveat they gave was that I really have to pay attention to the characters, because there can be one small character mentioned, then they all of a sudden pop up later in the book with zero context. Very Game of Thrones.
This was one of the most wild non-linear formats I have ever read for a book. Every chapter was from the perspective of a different character, & like I said, that character could have been mentioned once earlier in the book.
I do think there were moments where things did go off the rails a bit & it seemed unnecessary. The author was trying to make certain sub-arguments about different societal related things… that really took away from the investment in the characters & threads. The chapter about ‘The General’ & the last chapter specifically.
One of my favorite moments throughout was the PowerPoint chapter that was focused around pauses in music. An autistic son was obsessed with the length of pauses in songs & their impact on the song. The dad was getting frustrated by this & didn’t understand the obsession. Until the mom goes: “The pause makes you think the song will end. And then the song isn’t really over, so you’re relieved. But then the song does actually end, because every song ends, obviously…”.
I liked that… because of the non-linear structure of the book, the stories all were told in a way where at the end of each character’s connection, you think it is the end, but really it is just a pause of varying time frames, until it comes back around & then… it really is over.
IS THIS THE END? - Chelsea Cutler
I just know this is going to land as my favorite album of the year. I’ve loved the singles she has been dropping throughout the year & it was a bit of a switch up in her sound, which she acknowledges.
I went to an early listening party for the album in Hollywood. Chelsea was playing through the album & explaining the creation behind each song. The thing I noticed from the intro on, was that sonically the whole thing brings you into the world of the album. There were moments where I forgot what room I was in during the initial listening.
The album spans her life over the last couple of years, where she went through a significant long-term break up & she was rediscovering who she was outside of that. She was also discovering her queerness outside of being in a long-term relationship. She had to stand in it alone for the first time & started dating. Dating as a queer person after coming out in your 20’s is such a distinct experience. It can mean you have dated your whole life, but now you are just dating for the first time as your true self & actually understanding what you really desire. You can feel like a teenager, while at the same time in every other area of your life, you are an adult moving through the world. It is like that one part of you was stunted. & it can feel lonely, unless you are surrounded by other queer people going through the same experience. You are making mistakes others may have made in dating when they were younger & it is still something you have to go through to learn & grow.
She talked about how thematically the album was hard to package, but in the end it just captures that journey & it is messy & doesn’t have one set theme.
My favorite song on the album is THE CAR RIDE HOME. I actually teared up listening to it at the party… it captures a specific feeling & bottles it in the song.
