Pop Culture Loves

There have been a plethora of great things about having a newborn baby, but one of the best things has been my rekindled love of my Pop Culture time. Because I'm now splitting time between two, tiny, needy individuals, the time I have to check out my favorite TV shows, websites, and YouTube clips has been upgraded to official unwinding status.

Not having anyone to hang out with me at the hospital for most of my recovery time, I was able to delve into a few treasures I'd been saving up for a few months.

The first was Kanye West's new album "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" (edited, of course!). Though it may seem that I'm a little fanatical when I say this, I was determined to listen to the entire album all the way through on the first time.

My favorite songs were "Power" and "Monster," though I thought the whole thing was fantastic. I'd like to say that there was definitely a benefit to enjoying the album as it was put together, but maybe I was a bit maniacal in waiting so long to enjoy this CD.

I also plowed through a pop culture podcast called Extra Hot Great, which covers the gamut of television, movies, music, and other cultural ephemera with a twist -- these people actually know what they're talking about. Tara Ariano, David Cole, and Joe Reid work for or formerly worked for Television Without Pity and I was looking for a way to reconnect with their smarts and snark. My favorite podcast out of the bunch featured Mark Blankenship, of one of my favorite websites The Critical Condition, waxing poetic about the best music of 2010. This podcast makes me wish that I had a commute to a non-existent job every day, so I could focus on one thing for an hour. Instead, I guess I'll have to wait until I'm checked into a hospital again for delivering another baby or some flesh-eating bacteria.

And since I've been home from the hospital, I've been ingesting my pop culture in small bites, which is why I've been digging on blogs that give me a lot of bang for my few seconds of time.

I have been lucky to know so many talented people in my life, not the least of which is my favorite Josh of all Joshes, Josh Lehrman. Not only is he involved in the movie/TV industry, he is a stand-up comedian in the southern California area. He is going to incredibly detest that I'm linking to his (curse-laden) website, but It's True Because It's Funny is perfect for late-night feedings: entertaining, reads well on an iPod Touch, and makes me remember all of the times I wished I was as funny and smart as my friend Josh. And seriously, the cursing on this site is not for the faint of heart.

Though I do not consider myself creative in any way, I still like to dream that, if given an unlimited budget, I'd be able to give my home a makeover of epic proportions. Apartment Therapy helps me to live vicariously through the home decor-minded people who are featured there. This photo to the left portrays an attic that I have oogled and drooled over more times than I'd like to admit. I wish I had the smarts when I downloaded the picture to grab a link to the actual house it's from, but I don't. Getting sources is definitely a goal on my to-do list.

On a nerdy note, when the Autobiography of Mark Twain was announced for publication, I geeked out and dreamed of reading it all in one sitting. On Christmas morning, my father opened a box that contained that book and I realized that my dream was futile. That book is not kidding around -- it's huge! I'm hoping that when I get my hands on it someday, I'll be able to a) pick it up with my feeble muscles, b) finish it, and c) not embarrass myself by dropping constant Twain quotations in everyday conversations.

And I couldn't forgive myself if I let my mom miss this YouTube clip of her favorite Josh, Josh Groban, satirizing her least favorite celebrity, Kanye West, and his Twitter account. Come on, Mom, if Josh Groban can have a sense of humor about Kanye, you can at least give him a shot, right? No? Oh, well, then....