Last month today (May)

The Boys! Eurovision! Off Campus!

Jun 03, 2026

Hi! Catch up with February, March, April. If the entry is too long for email, you might need to click on a variation of “view entire post“ at the bottom. Thank you for reading, ily.

[This post contains spoilers for the final episodes of The Boys.]

May 4

Watched Wuthering Heights last night. Wasn’t into it as much as I expected to be as an Emerald Fennell enthusiast. The story barely scratched the surface, and I didn’t clock major chemistry between Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.

I did like how horny it was and enjoyed the costumes and cinematography, even if the movie was so dark at times I had to squint to figure out what was going on. (Why?) Fan of the kiss me so we’ll both be doomed scene. The teaser is still phenomenal.

The better news? I have been listening to Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights obsessively today, and I’m low-key desperate to read the book. Not only do I think I would like it, but it seems like the kind of twisted tale I can make my entire personality.

Don’t usually care for stories set in the past, which is why I haven’t read many classics. The toxicity, though? The haunting?? I will eat it up.

May 5

The Romanian government collapsed. Our economy keeps tanking, and we’re likely going to lose billions in EU funding.

Just another day for ~~you and~~ me in paradise.

The Met Gala happened last night, I don’t even feel like making snarky comments about it. Sabrina was the musical guest, she did a duet of Landslide with Stevie Nicks. Love love love the bubble dress.

May 6

The trailer for the Legally Blonde prequel series Elle is out. Will this be… Elle versus grunge? Because I’m fond of both and don’t know who to root for.

May 7

This week’s episode of The Boys was underwhelming. With only two to go, I’m starting to doubt the show will finish strong.

It’s disappointing because last week’s was great, so I hoped it meant the show is diving into its final stretch with confidence. Unfortunately, this season so far seems more like setup for spin-off/prequel Vought Rising than conclusion to The Boys, which bums me out. They cancelled Gen V, the other spin-off focused on teens, which I liked. And as much as I enjoy looking at Jensen Ackles in his Soldier Boy costume, I’m not sure I have much interest in the upcoming prequel. Especially since they keep droning on about how much Soldier Boy was into Stormfront, a literal Nazi.

I assumed Stormfront might be Homelander’s mom, but I guess not so much, since Soldier Boy didn’t seem bothered by the fact that she and Homelander boinked. I then thought maybe she’s going to make an appearance this season. Nothing so far.

All this setup means sacrificing storylines for The Boys’ characters. For instance, Kimiko hints at a conversation she and Starlight had about becoming immortal. Why did that happen off-screen? Baffling. The episode ends with a big twist, feels unearned.

You probably have absolutely no interest in this if you don’t watch; thanks for indulging me.

Ren released a new song, Neurodivergent, with Chris Webby. I don’t vibe with all of his music. The songs I do vibe with, I do so on a visceral level.

Also, Paris Paloma put out Stem the Flow. “I wasn’t born an angry child, but I became an angry man.” Poetry.

May 11

Visited my friend this past weekend, it was nice catching up.

We went to see The Devil Wears Prada 2. So good!! I was anxious because the original is one of my favorite movies of all time, but they delivered a fun sequel that has something to say about the state of print media.

May the bridges I burn light my way? Iconic. Could have done without Andy’s romantic subplot, it brought absolutely nothing to the table. Other than that, no major complaints.

We also had sushi, a first for me (meh), and drank tasty gin and tonics. Mine had pepper and cucumber (yum).

The next day, I walked through the city before heading to the train station. Hit up a bookstore. Bought a delicious panini. Crossed my fave square with music blasting in my ears. Got overwhelmed by longing.

I was ambivalent about leaving the city when I moved back to my hometown months ago. Turns out, when you live somewhere day after day, you tend to lose sight of what makes the place special. That overhyped Chicago song came on shuffle, had to sit down to take it all in. The sun was out, people were roaming around, the vibes were immaculate.

My hometown may have been where I grew up, but the city is where I became the marvelous person I am today. I may not be done with it yet.

(The Chicago song is appropriately hyped, apologies.)

Finished This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum on audio. It revolves around Benny and Joy, friends who run a podcast where they cover survival stories. When Joy and her husband disappear, Benny is desperate to find them.

Enjoyed this! A big chunk is romance, tracking Joy and Benny’s friendship over the years (and maybe more?). Joy suffers from narcolepsy, intriguing. The mystery is kind of predictable, but also kind of subversive.

Audiobook narrators Julia Whelan and Sean Patrick Hopkins did an excellent job. Whelan is prolific by this point and has such a soothing voice, I could listen to her narrate anything. The production was top-notch, which counts for a lot given that the book features a podcast. You even get a bonus podcast episode at the end, nice touch.

All in all, consuming via audio is often the same as reading with my eyes, for me. This time, it elevated the story.

May 13

Went to visit my belongings, most of which are in storage in the mountain village where my grandparents used to live. Needed a dress for my high school reunion and warm-weather clothes.

There’s a restaurant there that I keep telling people sells the best pizza in the world. I picked up some, and it was less earth-shattering this time around. Not taking back my endorsement, but further investigations are a must.

May 14

The Boys episode 7 is out, I continue to be underwhelmed. While I was expecting something bigger to happen after last week’s twist, this felt like a pretty typical outing. The plan to defeat Homelander is contrived, to say the least.

That said, the acting has always been solid, and the cast is the stuff of dreams. Laz Alonso, who plays M.M., got a chance to shine here. The episode ends with a major death that made me tear up, mainly thanks to Karen Fukuhara’s performance as Kimiko.

There’s only one episode left (panicked).

May 16

High school reunion was yesterday. 20 years. My emotions!!

We met up at the school, which brought up many memories. Each of us spoke about what we’ve been up to, there were tears, my knees were actually shaking when it was my turn. Former teachers were present.

I was stressed about the fact that I haven’t collected significant accomplishments over the past decade. The majority of my former classmates are now doctors, or software engineers, or the like. No one cared. Should have figured, we always got along well.

We then partied like it was 2006, drinking and chatting and dancing to songs I didn’t realize I still knew the lyrics to. A girl from a parallel class asked how writing my book is going. I was taken aback because I don’t mention writing a book often since I’m not actively writing a book. She not only remembered but insisted I post about it on Instagram when it’s done because she wants to read it.

That brief exchange was more motivating than 15 self-help books. Have no choice but to finally give it a shot.

I got home after 4 am. My body is in pain, but my soul is happy.

May 17

Spent last night watching Eurovision. Haven’t tuned in in a long time. Never liked Romania’s entries, and our country hasn’t sent contestants in the last two years because we didn’t have the funds.

Our comeback was with Choke Me, a fitting Eurovision song. It placed third after the public vote, one of our best results. Alexandra has a fantastic voice, and the staging was awesome.

I also rooted for Moldova and Ukraine, obviously, and I liked the entries from Croatia and Poland. Thought Greece had the most Eurovision song. It turned out to be Bulgaria. Bangaranga won.

Eurovision is a silly contest, that’s part of the charm. One of the most fun aspects is screaming at the TV during the jury vote. I won’t explain the entire process because it’s convoluted, but the jury vote involves representatives from each participating country awarding points to their favorite entries, 12 max.

Those points are then added to the televote - the general public can vote in the lead-up to the finale, the only caveat being that you cannot vote for the country you reside in.

See, convoluted?

Anyway, Romania placed low following the jury vote, but got a lot of points from the televote. It helped that the song was decent, many Romanians live overseas, and we put together some resemblance of a marketing campaign to promote Choke Me.

Now, it’s an unspoken rule that countries usually give high scores to neighbors or culturally connected states. All of this preamble to say that, right now, Romania is in uproar because neighbor Moldova awarded us 3 measly points.

It’s VERY serious. The lady who had to announce the points on live TV even felt the need to post a social media video apologizing for the whole thing. I find the “scandal” hilarious. Like, when someone is slighted because they didn’t get a tea invite in a British period drama. Not polite!!

May 19

Oh my god, the head of Moldova’s public broadcaster resigned over the Eurovision jury debacle. I hope they make a movie about this one day.

May 20

Watching The Boys finale tonight. I’m nervous.

The ending seems inevitable. Starlight will kill The Deep. Butcher will kill Homelander. Hughie will kill Butcher. This doesn’t mean that the show is predictable. It’s a sign of how well these characters have been built over time. It’s effective storytelling.

Could the entire show end with Homelander undefeated, ruling the world? Sure. That may be accurate to the cynical nature of the series, but you can keep the cynicism alive by allowing Vought to persevere, highlighting the cyclical nature of humanity. After all, fascism is somehow back. Plus, the show has a hopeful undertone about a bunch of misfits standing up to the evil powers that be. Ending on such a bummer note doesn’t make sense.

They could also make Homelander live a pathetic existence without his powers. Neah, we deserve to see him die gruesomely. Sorry for the entitlement, it comes out when I care.

Will miss these lunatics for sure.

May 21

The Boys finale was ok! I am pleased!!

Things happened more or less as I predicted, it was fun to watch the mayhem ensue. They nailed the emotional beats, which is what matters for me. I enjoyed the callbacks, laughed, and teared up multiple times. When Piano Man started playing, I was a goner. It left me content that I spent five seasons with these characters. That’s a successful finale in my book.

I shall continue to be fond of the show, which gave us two great seasons, one amazing one, and two that were so-so but had their moments. Some characters like Noir 2 and Sister Sage drew the short stick. All the spin-off setup was grating. Soldier Boy’s weird characterization this time around left me scratching my head.

Even so, The Boys remains a great critique of corporations and celebrity culture. Things went downhill when Homelander basically became the corporation and also America as a whole, but I guess you don’t have much of a choice when an actor plays him so brilliantly. I thought the religion stuff this season was interesting, and I loved that they chose to show how people who prop up fascism because they want to be close to power end up fucked in the long run.

While Antony Starr is tremendous as Homelander, probably my favorite TV villain of all time, the entire cast was excellent. Karl Urban repeatedly nailed the fine line between despicable and lovable. Precious nepo baby Jack Quaid shone as Hughie, the show’s beating heart. Chace Crawford was consistently pathetic and funny as The Deep. Also, shoutout to Valorie Curry as Firecracker and Colby Minifie as Ashley. Amazing work.

The season 3 trailer remains one of the best things I’ve ever seen, and that iconic Entertainment Weekly digital cover will be in my heart forever. Farewell, goodbye, please don’t reboot it.

In lieu of an elegant segue from guts and blood to romance, I also watched the entire first season of Off Campus over the last few days.

The show is so cute?? It’s based on a series of books by Elle Kennedy, which don’t appeal to me, and I was skeptical about it following hockey players so soon after Heated Rivalry. Went in with low expectations, was pleasantly surprised.

Besides cute, it’s funny and steamy and unexpectedly deep at times. It’s about a college girl who enters a fake dating pact with a hockey player to make her crush jealous. You follow their entourage, too, which consists of the girl’s best friend and even more hockey players. Looks like every season will revolve around a central romance. I’m hooked.

The show snuck up on me. By the midway point, I was embarrassingly invested not only in the central romance, but the side one as well. Allie Hayes, you are a queen, and I adore your wardrobe! Also, the show made me root for the hunky hockey player and not the brooding indie musician? Who am I??

Everyone is hot! The soundtrack is great! The show tackles heavier topics like rape and domestic violence. I thought it did a good job. There’s a conversation between the main character and her mom that healed something inside me.

If I come across as giddy, it’s because I am. Off Campus made me giggle and blush and want to rewatch it immediately. Highly recommend if rom-coms are your thing.

May 22

Watched Until Dawn last night. The movie is based on a video game and revolves around a group of friends who get trapped in a time loop and die over and over again in gruesome ways.

All I knew about it going in was that Bre wrote nice things about it back when it was in cinemas, didn’t bother to research further. Went in thinking it’s a horror comedy for some reason, but no. It’s just… horror? The audacity. I don’t tend to watch horror movies on my own because I am chicken. Unfortunately, by the time I realized there wouldn’t be as many jokes as I’d hoped, I wanted to know what was going on.

It was cool. Don’t buy the whole psychological babble, but the friend group had nice chemistry, and I was creeped out at times.

(Please know that I register all your book and movie/show recommendations, it might just take me 8 to 79 months to follow through.)

Olivia Rodrigo has a new single, The Cure. Maisie Peters released her new album, Fluorescence.

Yet, I am most hyped for Există, a song Irina Rimes has been teasing for a long time. It’s finally out. Maybe life is worth living.

May 25

Finished Famesick by Lena Dunham. Liked it lots. She narrates the audiobook, it was like listening to an old friend.

Dunham created HBO show Girls in her 20s. It became a hit and turned her into a celebrity. Girls was very good but unpleasant, featuring characters who are insufferable to an exaggerated degree. I couldn’t look away because it was also self-aware and tackled relevant topics (I’m around the same age as Dunham). It went beyond the idealized portrayals of young women often seen in media, aiming to offer something more authentic. Dunham may indeed be the voice of a generation.

I was somewhat familiar with her trajectory and controversies since, but didn’t keep up religiously. The book does a great job of giving readers the inside scoop. It touches on the show and her other professional endeavors, as well as on Dunham’s health issues and romantic entanglements.

She’s a skilled writer; the prose is great. The juicy bits are juicy, and she doesn’t seem to hold much back. I was surprised by the level of detail when delving into her long-term relationship with Jack Antonoff, for example. She’s also unflinching when it comes to her chronic illnesses, so this is a difficult read at times. I thought the parallel between getting famous and being ill was well-done, and I appreciated how much importance she placed on a big professional/friendship break-up.

Finally, I find it fascinating that she continues to come across as self-aware but also as someone who has massive blind spots. Ultimately, she mentions a delicious encounter with Bruce Springsteen, during which he gives her great advice: a memoir doesn’t have to tell the whole truth; it has to give readers a glimpse into how the writer’s mind functions. Famesick is successful in that regard.

Fjord, directed by Cristian Mungiu, won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes festival. It stars Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan as Romanian parents living in Norway who are accused of child abuse.

This is Mungiu’s second Palme d’Or. The accomplishment is even more impressive given that the Romanian film industry struggles. Every win is solely thanks to the talent and grit of the people directly involved.

Grief is weird. My dad passed away almost 15 years ago. The other day, I saw a clip of Emilia Clarke on a podcast talking about how losing her father felt like losing a safety net she didn’t even know was there. It hit like a thousand bricks, and I ended up accidentally crying in the middle of my workday.

May 29

A Russian drone hit an apartment building in Galați, a Romanian city close to the border with Ukraine. It caused a fire, two people were injured.

This isn’t the first time a drone has entered Romanian territory following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but it’s the gravest incident yet.

We still don’t have a new government.

May 30

Hacks ended. The show has been consistently great. Funny, deep, engaging. I loved each and every season. The relationship between Ava and Deborah is truly special. I’m sad it’s over.

However, I didn’t like the finale as much as the rest of the internet. Found it rushed and emotionally manipulative. Never worried for a second that I wouldn’t enjoy it, like with The Boys, due to the show’s impeccable track record. And yet!

I may need a little more time to digest it, and I like the fact that the penultimate episode can work as a finale as well. Weird move, though.

June 2

This recap was technically supposed to go out yesterday, but I published a Taylor Swift-related post recently, so I’ll wait until tomorrow to send it out. I’ve been in Substack engagement jail for weeks. If writing about Taylor around the same time she announces a new song doesn’t help, I don’t know what will.

Started Wuthering Heights a while back, the book, not as obsessed with it as I thought I would be. My attention span has become lol again. I’ve been better about avoiding social media lately, but I’m having trouble sleeping, which also messes with my ability to focus. As a result, I feel no desire to pick it up, and forcing myself to read isn’t something I’m into.

Summer is officially here. Not a fan. I have nothing major going on, so the plan is to write as much as possible. Hopefully fiction. It’s time I gave it a real shot.

Let the countdown to fall begin.

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