Got the new litter boxes all ready for the cats to move in!
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ok, got the TV box mounted behind the TV, it only sticks out like 3 inches and still looks pretty good on the wall with no cables visible
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"text": "ok, got the TV box mounted behind the TV, it only sticks out like 3 inches and still looks pretty good on the wall with no cables visible"
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did you know you can just buy cup rinsers for your house??
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"text": "did you know you can just buy cup rinsers for your house??"
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we also moved the couch in today!
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"text": "we also moved the couch in today!"
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It's kitchen organizing day!
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"text": "It's kitchen organizing day!"
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I got the Frame TV hung on the wall, next up is to hide the box behind the TV.
If I had really planned ahead I would have put a panel in the wall so the box could live inside the wall and the TV would be flush, but I wasn't actually sure about the Frame TV when we had to make that call.
Normally it wouldn't be a huge deal to retrofit it, but this is a shear wall so there's actually plywood behind the drywall which makes the whole thing a lot more complicated. Plus there's also a million power and network cables inside the wall already so I'm not even sure there is room for a panel anyway.
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Lily insisted on getting a fancy doorknob for her office, but couldn't pick one out on her own, so I finally found this and put it in today!
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"text": "Lily insisted on getting a fancy doorknob for her office, but couldn't pick one out on her own, so I finally found this and put it in today!"
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I had to swap the outlet for a recessed outlet because the printer is almost exactly the full depth of the cabinet 😅 I don't know how we cut it that close after building the cabinet specifically for this printer! Either that or the outlet could have been 3 inches higher and it would have been fine. Works fine now tho.
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"text": "I had to swap the outlet for a recessed outlet because the printer is almost exactly the full depth of the cabinet \ud83d\ude05 I don't know how we cut it that close after building the cabinet specifically for this printer! Either that or the outlet could have been 3 inches higher and it would have been fine. Works fine now tho.",
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I mounted this tiny Yololiv webcam on the back wall of Lily's office so she has a way to show off her wallpaper and desk on her livestreams!
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Best dish rack ever! I finished mounting the tray and built the rack above it. I think I'm still going to add a peg board to the left of the rack in order to be able to hang things from hooks.
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"text": "Best dish rack ever! I finished mounting the tray and built the rack above it. I think I'm still going to add a peg board to the left of the rack in order to be able to hang things from hooks."
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{
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"url": "https://cathieleblanc.com/2026/01/04/turning-in-my-keys/",
"published": "2026-01-04T10:15:41-05:00",
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"html": "<p>I officially retired on Friday, January 2, 2026. I finished the last tasks of my \u201ctermination\u201d that morning. I took the last load of stuff out of my office. I left my laptop at the tech help center. And I returned my keys to the Facilities office. The woman who took my keys thanked me for all I have done for the university over the years. And she congratulated me for getting out of \u201cthis hellhole.\u201d Her kind words about my many years at PSU made me cry.</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://i0.wp.com/cathieleblanc.com/wp-content/uploads/20260102_1154007E22198868089142040074.jpg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1\" alt=\"Comic of one woman handing keys to another woman. Text: The woman at Facilities who took my keys as I retire today made me cry with just a few kind words\" /></p>\n<p>Over the past few weeks, there have been several gatherings for the many people who were leaving PSU on January 2. At each of these gatherings, any kind words have made me cry. It was annoying. Although I am retiring several years earlier than I expected to, I am happy to be leaving. I am excited about the future. I have lots of projects I want to work on. And traveling I want to do. And people I want to see and hang out with. Retirement is going to be great. And yet, the tears haven\u2019t felt like tears of joy. I know part of that is the anger I feel that many of my colleagues who left \u201cvoluntarily\u201d on January 2 did so because they were lied to about the alternatives. I worry for my colleagues who are not as close to their desired retirement age as I am. I am sad that so many of PSU\u2019s best teachers and scholars no longer work at the University. These mixed feelings\u2013joy and excitement mixed with anger, worry, and sadness\u2013are partially responsible for my tears. But I began to notice that the tears spring up (present tense because they haven\u2019t stopped with my official retirement date) when people say kind things about my time at PSU.</p>\n<p>I had breakfast with Scott earlier this week and he recommended a podcast that he\u2019s been listening to. <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/all-there-is-anderson-cooper\">Anderson Cooper\u2019s <em>All There Is</em></a> is an exploration of grief. Scott particularly recommended the second episode \u201cGrateful for Grief\u201d with guest Stephen Colbert. I listened to it yesterday. Colbert is brilliantly insightful as he talks about how his life changed at 10 years old when his father and two older brothers died in a plane crash. A couple of his insights helped me to better understand my own mixed feelings about leaving PSU. Clearly, despite my happiness about leaving PSU, I am grieving. I think I am grieving the loss of an ending to my PSU career that coincides with the warm feelings that I have had about the university for most of my time there. I never imagined this is the way my time at PSU would end. This insight alone was helpful. But Colbert went on to talk about how people often don\u2019t know what to say to someone who is grieving. He said that when he was a kid, he felt alone in his grief because no one would talk to him about it. All he wanted was for someone to acknowledge his experience. That would have made him feel less alone. Humans just want connection to other humans, especially about events that are important to them. I think this is the main thing that makes me cry when someone says something kind about my retirement from PSU. They are acknowledging my long years of experience at the university, which makes me feel \u2026 seen? Less alone? Appreciated? I\u2019m not sure yet but the idea that the very act of acknowledging my experience is what makes me cry resonates. Colbert went on to say that our modern society has lost a lot of its rituals around grief. We no longer expect a surviving spouse to wear public displays of their grief for some set period of time, for example. Those rituals are mechanisms for public acknowledgement of the experiences of those who are grieving. <a href=\"https://lizahl.com/2025/12/24/resigned-no-relief/\">Liz wrote movingly</a> about the challenges of leaving the university at a time when the administration has ditched our traditions of acknowledging the contributions of those who are \u201cretiring.\u201d The lack of those rituals does make the leaving more difficult. Colbert then said that talking about grief, bringing it out into the open so that it isn\u2019t \u201csecret and weird,\u201d is so important in transforming that grief into something we can live with, or even be grateful for. Cooper gave the example of his mother telling the story over and over and over of how his brother died, almost like a litany. This resonates with me as well. For example, at a New Year\u2019s Eve party, my former colleagues and I talked about and dissected and analyzed situations and conversations from the last three years yet again. I remember thinking, even as I participated, that we were wallowing in the misery of what has happened. But Cooper and Colbert have reframed our discussions for me. We were working through our grief. We were connecting. We were acknowledging our shared experience. This will make us all feel less alone and allow us to perhaps get to the point where we are grateful for our grief.</p>\n<p>I have been thinking about this podcast a lot since hearing it yesterday, I am grateful for my experiences at PSU. I\u2019m working on being grateful for even the worst of them. For example, without the worst of them, I would probably not be retiring yet. And I am happy to be retired, looking forward to doing more of the things I love.</p>",
"text": "I officially retired on Friday, January 2, 2026. I finished the last tasks of my \u201ctermination\u201d that morning. I took the last load of stuff out of my office. I left my laptop at the tech help center. And I returned my keys to the Facilities office. The woman who took my keys thanked me for all I have done for the university over the years. And she congratulated me for getting out of \u201cthis hellhole.\u201d Her kind words about my many years at PSU made me cry.\n\nOver the past few weeks, there have been several gatherings for the many people who were leaving PSU on January 2. At each of these gatherings, any kind words have made me cry. It was annoying. Although I am retiring several years earlier than I expected to, I am happy to be leaving. I am excited about the future. I have lots of projects I want to work on. And traveling I want to do. And people I want to see and hang out with. Retirement is going to be great. And yet, the tears haven\u2019t felt like tears of joy. I know part of that is the anger I feel that many of my colleagues who left \u201cvoluntarily\u201d on January 2 did so because they were lied to about the alternatives. I worry for my colleagues who are not as close to their desired retirement age as I am. I am sad that so many of PSU\u2019s best teachers and scholars no longer work at the University. These mixed feelings\u2013joy and excitement mixed with anger, worry, and sadness\u2013are partially responsible for my tears. But I began to notice that the tears spring up (present tense because they haven\u2019t stopped with my official retirement date) when people say kind things about my time at PSU.\nI had breakfast with Scott earlier this week and he recommended a podcast that he\u2019s been listening to. Anderson Cooper\u2019s All There Is is an exploration of grief. Scott particularly recommended the second episode \u201cGrateful for Grief\u201d with guest Stephen Colbert. I listened to it yesterday. Colbert is brilliantly insightful as he talks about how his life changed at 10 years old when his father and two older brothers died in a plane crash. A couple of his insights helped me to better understand my own mixed feelings about leaving PSU. Clearly, despite my happiness about leaving PSU, I am grieving. I think I am grieving the loss of an ending to my PSU career that coincides with the warm feelings that I have had about the university for most of my time there. I never imagined this is the way my time at PSU would end. This insight alone was helpful. But Colbert went on to talk about how people often don\u2019t know what to say to someone who is grieving. He said that when he was a kid, he felt alone in his grief because no one would talk to him about it. All he wanted was for someone to acknowledge his experience. That would have made him feel less alone. Humans just want connection to other humans, especially about events that are important to them. I think this is the main thing that makes me cry when someone says something kind about my retirement from PSU. They are acknowledging my long years of experience at the university, which makes me feel \u2026 seen? Less alone? Appreciated? I\u2019m not sure yet but the idea that the very act of acknowledging my experience is what makes me cry resonates. Colbert went on to say that our modern society has lost a lot of its rituals around grief. We no longer expect a surviving spouse to wear public displays of their grief for some set period of time, for example. Those rituals are mechanisms for public acknowledgement of the experiences of those who are grieving. Liz wrote movingly about the challenges of leaving the university at a time when the administration has ditched our traditions of acknowledging the contributions of those who are \u201cretiring.\u201d The lack of those rituals does make the leaving more difficult. Colbert then said that talking about grief, bringing it out into the open so that it isn\u2019t \u201csecret and weird,\u201d is so important in transforming that grief into something we can live with, or even be grateful for. Cooper gave the example of his mother telling the story over and over and over of how his brother died, almost like a litany. This resonates with me as well. For example, at a New Year\u2019s Eve party, my former colleagues and I talked about and dissected and analyzed situations and conversations from the last three years yet again. I remember thinking, even as I participated, that we were wallowing in the misery of what has happened. But Cooper and Colbert have reframed our discussions for me. We were working through our grief. We were connecting. We were acknowledging our shared experience. This will make us all feel less alone and allow us to perhaps get to the point where we are grateful for our grief.\nI have been thinking about this podcast a lot since hearing it yesterday, I am grateful for my experiences at PSU. I\u2019m working on being grateful for even the worst of them. For example, without the worst of them, I would probably not be retiring yet. And I am happy to be retired, looking forward to doing more of the things I love."
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{
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"name": "2025 in machine knits",
"content": {
"text": "This is a retro-post. Jump scare!\nI sure have read a lot of 2025-in-review posts recently! I am impressed by all that you have accomplished.\nHere's my 2025 wrapped (in yarn), in 20 photos about my machine knitting this year!\nDescriptions and links below.1, 2, and 3: my machine and samples from my first workshop at the Brooklyn Textile Arts Center (TAC). Workshop day 1. Workshop day 2.\n 4 and 5: my first hats.\n 6: a Fair Isle patterned hat, made after disassembling and cleaning my machine carriage.\n 7: socks with hems too tight to wear\n\n 8, 9, and 10: three little guys! First little guy, second little guy, third little guy.\n 11: A bag for a power brick I made for a friend.\n 12: (Not-so-) secret first sweater.\n 13: A scarf from my workshop day in Berlin.\n 14 and 15: little green bow, little red bow.\n 16 and 17: my ribbed hand warmers, producer Amy's ribbed hand warmers.\n 18: A swatch for the knitalong sweater.\n 19: Finished knitalong sweater.\n 20: My current machine setup, with added ribber, 3D printed parts for the ribber cover and to cover the new AYAB electronics. Photo from this WIP sweater knitalong post.\nI feel like I should be knitting more and, sure, I should. But this is also a lovely set of accomplishments from August to the end of the year.\nThis is reflected, a bit, in the growth of my knitting setup.\n\nI got a knitting machine stand, so Amy and I don't have to fight over counter space for our fiber arts projects.\n At long last, I replaced the electronics with an AYAB interface board\u00a0and spent an incredible\u00a0 undocumented-on-my-blog amount of time making some badly designed 3D parts to replace the cover. These hold the row counter and AYAB board as well as keeping stuff and cats out of the machine.\n I found a new-ish-in-box KR-850 ribbing attachment on the electronic bay. The box was damaged in shipping, and it was missing its plastic cover, but I was able to 3D print a replacement ribber cover just fine. And now I can do ribbing!\nI'm looking forward to a lot more in 2026! Here are some ideas so far:\nI have acquired, but not yet used, a KRC-830 color changer. I'm excited to tinker with multicolor designs!\n I love Saga's sweater in Alan Wake 2, and there's a pattern for making it. I don't know about making the whole sweater, but I think it'd be fun to make something like a hat using the fair Isle design bits.\n I want to make a cardigan for myself of some kind. I don't yet know what kind! That's hard.\n I want to keep up with the folks in the machineknit.community, who are planning a whole 12-month set of online classes and meetups to skill-up and level-up.\nSee you in 2026. Happy knitting!!",
"html": "<p><i>This is a retro-post. Jump scare!</i></p>\n<p>I sure have read a lot of 2025-in-review posts recently! I am impressed by all that you have accomplished.</p>\n<p>Here's my 2025 wrapped (in yarn), in 20 photos about my machine knitting this year!</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/b8/05/05/16/d3fd3f51a8e5150590135518482f471cb43c862303eedf50c4ea4ace.\" alt=\"\" />Descriptions and links below.<ul><li>1, 2, and 3: my machine and samples from my first workshop at the Brooklyn Textile Arts Center (TAC). <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/08/02/182236/\">Workshop day 1</a>. <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/08/03/201439/\">Workshop day 2</a>.</li>\n <li>4 and 5: <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/09/08/machine-knitting-whats-up-with-that/\">my first hats</a>.</li>\n <li>6: a Fair Isle patterned hat, made after <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/09/22/machine-knitting-carriage-return-to-work/\">disassembling and cleaning my machine carriage</a>.</li>\n <li>7: <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/09/18/machine-knitting-forbidden-socks/\">socks with hems too tight to wear</a>\n</li>\n <li>8, 9, and 10: three little guys! <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/09/20/134528/\">First little guy</a>, <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/10/12/212748/\">second little guy</a>, <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/11/11/082149/\">third little guy</a>.</li>\n <li>11: <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/10/19/machine-knitting-a-bag-for-bricks/\">A bag for a power brick I made for a friend</a>.</li>\n <li>12: <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/10/20/machine-knitting-the-secret-sweater/\">(Not-so-) secret first sweater</a>.</li>\n <li>13: <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/11/09/143450/\">A scarf from my workshop day in Berlin</a>.</li>\n <li>14 and 15: <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/11/27/113507/\">little green bow</a>, <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/12/13/112707/\">little red bow</a>.</li>\n <li>16 and 17: <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/12/13/machine-knittin-moar-mittens/\">my ribbed hand warmers</a>, <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/12/02/machine-knittin-some-mittens/\">producer Amy's ribbed hand warmers</a>.</li>\n <li>18: <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/10/26/machine-knitting-sleeves/\">A swatch for the knitalong sweater</a>.</li>\n <li>19: <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/12/25/machine-knitting-sweater-knitalong-complete/\">Finished knitalong sweater</a>.</li>\n <li>20: My current machine setup, with added ribber, 3D printed parts for the ribber cover and to cover the new AYAB electronics. Photo from <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/11/22/machine-knitting-front-panel--looking-forward/\">this WIP sweater knitalong post</a>.</li>\n</ul><p>I feel like I should be knitting more and, sure, I should. But this is also a lovely set of accomplishments from August to the end of the year.</p>\n<p>This is reflected, a bit, in the growth of my knitting setup.</p>\n<ul><li>\n<a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/09/12/machine-knitting-taking-a-stand/\">I got a knitting machine stand</a>, so Amy and I don't have to fight over counter space for our fiber arts projects.</li>\n <li>At long last, I replaced the electronics with an <a href=\"https://www.ayab-knitting.com/ayab-interface/\">AYAB interface board</a>\u00a0and spent an incredible\u00a0 undocumented-on-my-blog amount of time making some badly designed 3D parts to replace the cover. These hold the row counter and AYAB board as well as keeping stuff and cats out of the machine.</li>\n <li>I found a new-ish-in-box KR-850 ribbing attachment on the electronic bay. The box was damaged in shipping, and it was missing its plastic cover, but I was able to <a href=\"https://www.printables.com/model/860667-brother-kr830kr850-ribber-cover\">3D print a replacement ribber cover</a> just fine. And now I can do ribbing!</li>\n</ul><p>I'm looking forward to a lot more in 2026! Here are some ideas so far:</p>\n<ul><li>I have acquired, but not yet used, a KRC-830 color changer. I'm excited to tinker with <a href=\"https://manual.ayab-knitting.com/1.0/how_to_knit/dbj_middle-color-twice/\">multicolor designs</a>!</li>\n <li>I love <a href=\"https://www.alanwake.com/story/sagas-sweater-pattern-knitting-guide/\">Saga's sweater in Alan Wake 2, and there's a pattern for making it</a>. I don't know about making the whole sweater, but I think it'd be fun to make something like a hat using the fair Isle design bits.</li>\n <li>I want to make a cardigan for myself of some kind. I don't yet know what kind! That's hard.</li>\n <li>I want to keep up with the folks in the <a href=\"https://www.machineknit.community/spaces/17045915/content\">machineknit.community</a>, who are planning a whole 12-month set of online classes and meetups to skill-up and level-up.</li>\n</ul><p>See you in 2026. Happy knitting!!</p>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Marty McGuire",
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"_id": "46953906",
"_source": "175"
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{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2025-12-25T11:00:00-0400",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/2025/12/25/machine-knitting-sweater-knitalong-complete/",
"category": [
"machine-knitting",
"sweater",
"KnitFactoryImpl",
"knitalong"
],
"name": "Machine knitting: sweater knitalong complete!",
"content": {
"text": "Yeah, I'm retro-posting. Hello from the future, ding-dongs!\nThis post is part of a series, as I play catch-up on KnitFactoryImpl's knitalong of a set in sleeve crew neck sweater for channel members.\nIn the previous installment, I wrote about failing to get a good neckline for this sweater.\nWell, I decided to try sewing it up as-is, rescuing dropped stitches as I went. After my hand-warmer adventures, I was a little more confident about how to sew up a ribbed edge.\nYes, that's a dropped stitch in the back of the collar. No, I haven't fixed it, yet!The process was slightly harrowing, but resulted in dropping only one stitch! What! Incredible!\nSo, of course, at this point I put in a box because I was afraid to finish it. I had intended this to be a gift for producer Amy upon her return from Berlin in early December. When she came home, we had other stuff going on, I got distracted, and I definitely wasn't constantly thinking about this unfinished sweater every day.\nJust finish the sweater, Marty!\nNo! Well, okay! I mean: sort of!\nWhat I\u00a0did\u00a0do was finish seaming the neck and shoulders before Amy left in mid-December to visit family. I packed it with a length of yarn and a tapestry needle, as well as links to the videos on how to finish the sweater.\nI gifted producer Amy a sew-it-yourself sweater kit. \ud83d\ude05\nIn truth, this was actually her idea. Several times she brought it up and I declined, insisting I would finish it, but eventually I relented.\nSo, the rest of this story is hers!\nOkay, uh, finish the sweater, Amy!\nShe did! After watching Carson's video, and finding another video explainer or two on mattress stitching, this was Amy's on-the-road project for December.\nBeginning to attach a sleeve.A sleeve half-attached.One sleeve fully attached.One sleeve fully attached, one half-done.Two sleeves attached!One sleeve fully seamed.It's done! -ish!She got it finished on December 24th and popped it in the wash.\nFinished and washed.A happy sweater model.On Christmas morning, she found Santa had delivered a perfectly decent sweater! A bit short in the sleeves, and there's that dropped stitch in the back of the collar, but it's recognizably a sweater! And, according to producer Amy, it is quite cozy and I have seen her wear it several times. Amazing!\nThanks for reading\nWhile I'm still somewhat embarrassed that I didn't finish the sewing-up on the sweater, I am really proud of how it turned out. I'm grateful that Amy graciously took it on as a DIY project. I certainly learned a lot, and Amy learned some new techniques, and we have finished a successful collab together.\nAnd it looks like a thing!\nThis feels like a pretty great project to have accomplished at the end of 2025. A year that has been panned by critics, and most everyone, alike.\nUntil next time!",
"html": "<p><i>Yeah, I'm retro-posting. Hello from the future, ding-dongs!</i></p>\n<p>This post is part of a series, as I play catch-up on <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kntNWiaZVM\">KnitFactoryImpl's knitalong of a set in sleeve crew neck sweater for channel members</a>.</p>\n<p>In the previous installment, <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/11/24/machine-knitting-neckline--show-and-tell/\">I wrote about failing to get a good neckline for this sweater</a>.</p>\n<p>Well, I decided to try sewing it up as-is, rescuing dropped stitches as I went. After my <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/12/13/machine-knittin-moar-mittens/\">hand-warmer adventures</a>, I was a little more confident about how to sew up a ribbed edge.</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/31/f2/f3/f6/0485b8c75adaf235df59041276e6e06917dd26d789b8fb2298babf98.\" alt=\"\" />Yes, that's a dropped stitch in the back of the collar. No, I haven't fixed it, yet!<p>The process was slightly harrowing, but resulted in dropping only one stitch! What! Incredible!</p>\n<p>So, of course, at this point I put in a box because I was afraid to finish it. I had intended this to be a gift for producer Amy upon her return from Berlin in early December. When she came home, we had other stuff going on, I got distracted, and I definitely wasn't constantly thinking about this unfinished sweater every day.</p>\n<h2>Just finish the sweater, Marty!</h2>\n<p>No! Well, okay! I mean: sort of!</p>\n<p>What I\u00a0<i>did</i>\u00a0do was finish seaming the neck and shoulders before Amy left in mid-December to visit family. I packed it with a length of yarn and a tapestry needle, as well as links to the videos on how to finish the sweater.</p>\n<p>I gifted producer Amy a sew-it-yourself sweater kit. \ud83d\ude05</p>\n<p>In truth, this was actually her idea. Several times she brought it up and I declined, insisting I would finish it, but eventually I relented.</p>\n<p>So, the rest of this story is hers!</p>\n<h2>Okay, uh, finish the sweater, Amy!</h2>\n<p>She did! After watching Carson's video, and finding another video explainer or two on mattress stitching, this was Amy's on-the-road project for December.</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/e5/37/6c/e5/b592a041e029515f82d387bcae9fefbee69180b6e3de863f72f29802.\" alt=\"\" />Beginning to attach a sleeve.<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/dc/03/66/48/844e6302d8e7da4fe17149d9182997071fe46c648aefe3f990261036.\" alt=\"\" />A sleeve half-attached.<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/1d/f2/f1/3e/46392ed81fd8f9dcd250a23c4cc8ebb74bb8fa92739898ce3c9135b7.\" alt=\"\" />One sleeve fully attached.<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/3c/8f/d4/e4/3141c88eca6c3b948660a0d449e36dd9c41984a1aaf5353b69d7c7ec.\" alt=\"\" />One sleeve fully attached, one half-done.<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/80/99/64/24/53e2d0bcdd2559f6bb96a02817a6dd4345856ea2ba7d5461b8b00a58.\" alt=\"\" />Two sleeves attached!<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/22/61/e7/f3/9833a72aa10bf8f5b748ef206e8a5b1bac6d42ec273485f36323f148.\" alt=\"\" />One sleeve fully seamed.<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/3c/11/d0/d9/5be6559c997dcfbf46e56d7395656d0540cc9f6cb6228724d67ce42f.\" alt=\"\" />It's done! -ish!<p>She got it finished on December 24th and popped it in the wash.</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/e9/d6/55/39/358cde1f2849916039c19239e24d63382a504edf9809de1f648d9623.\" alt=\"\" />Finished and washed.<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/46/45/5a/9b/06c321c1efe060f7da55eed6540c0c0993abfaa67367c0bb1ae0fb35.\" alt=\"\" />A happy sweater model.<p>On Christmas morning, she found Santa had delivered a perfectly decent sweater! A bit short in the sleeves, and there's that dropped stitch in the back of the collar, but it's recognizably a sweater! And, according to producer Amy, it is quite cozy and I have seen her wear it several times. Amazing!</p>\n<h2>Thanks for reading</h2>\n<p>While I'm still somewhat embarrassed that I didn't finish the sewing-up on the sweater, I am really proud of how it turned out. I'm grateful that Amy graciously took it on as a DIY project. I certainly learned a lot, and Amy learned some new techniques, and we have finished a successful collab together.</p>\n<p>And it looks like a thing!</p>\n<p>This feels like a pretty great project to have accomplished at the end of 2025. A year that has been panned by critics, <i>and most everyone</i>, alike.</p>\n<p>Until next time!</p>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Marty McGuire",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/",
"photo": "https://martymcgui.re/images/logo.jpg"
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"_id": "46952330",
"_source": "175"
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Want to read: The Language of the Night by Ursula K. Le Guin (ISBN 9781668034903)
{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2026-01-02 16:58-0800",
"url": "https://gregorlove.com/2026/01/to-read-the-language-of-the-night/",
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"text": "Want to read: The Language of the Night by Ursula K. Le Guin (ISBN 9781668034903)",
"html": "<p>Want to read: <span class=\"p-read-of h-cite\"><a class=\"u-url\" href=\"https://gregorlove.com/isbn/9781668034903\">The Language of the Night</a> by <span class=\"p-author\">Ursula K. Le Guin</span> (ISBN <span class=\"p-uid\">9781668034903</span>)</span></p>"
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"type": "card",
"name": "gRegor Morrill",
"url": "https://gregorlove.com/",
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"_id": "46945298",
"_source": "95"
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{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2026-01-01T06:03:50+00:00",
"url": "https://cleverdevil.io/2026/just-got-home-did-i-miss-anything",
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"name": "Just got home, did I miss anything? \ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffb \ud83c\udfc8",
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Jonathan LaCour",
"url": "https://cleverdevil.io/profile/cleverdevil",
"photo": "https://cleverdevil.io/file/e37c3982acf4f0a8421d085b9971cd71/thumb.jpg"
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"_id": "46928550",
"_source": "10"
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{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2025-12-31T00:00:00-08:00",
"url": "https://beesbuzz.biz/blog/7591-2025-%F0%9F%94%9C-2026",
"category": [
"resolutions",
"not resolutions",
"aspirations",
"goals",
"reflections"
],
"name": "2025 \ud83d\udd1c 2026",
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "fluffy",
"url": "https://beesbuzz.biz/",
"photo": "https://beesbuzz.biz/static/headshot.jpg"
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"post-type": "article",
"_id": "46918486",
"_source": "2778"
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Just made the first batch of habanero hot sauce in the new kitchen! 64oz
{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2025-12-30T20:56:06-08:00",
"url": "https://aaronparecki.com/2025/12/30/12/",
"category": [
"hotsauce",
"cooking",
"habanero"
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],
"content": {
"text": "Just made the first batch of habanero hot sauce in the new kitchen! 64oz"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Aaron Parecki",
"url": "https://aaronparecki.com/",
"photo": "https://aperture-media.p3k.io/aaronparecki.com/41061f9de825966faa22e9c42830e1d4a614a321213b4575b9488aa93f89817a.jpg"
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"post-type": "photo",
"_id": "46917721",
"_source": "16"
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{
"type": "entry",
"author": {
"name": "Jared White",
"url": "https://jaredwhite.com/",
"photo": null
},
"url": "https://jaredwhite.com/articles/favorite-tv-shows-of-2025-bakers-dozen",
"published": "2025-12-29T08:51:34-08:00",
"content": {
"html": "<img alt=\"\" src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/mariposta/image/upload/w_1200,c_limit,q_65/awesome_movie_nokl5q.jpg\" /><h2>I normally don\u2019t care for long lists like this, but I enjoyed such a wide range of television this year, I simply couldn\u2019t narrow it down.</h2>\n\n<p>Going into 2025, I had a concern that the era of \u201cprestige TV\u201d was behind us. That we would increasingly find ourselves watching paint-by-numbers shows with smaller budgets and smaller ambitions. Stories which sound good on the surface but ultimately without a lot to say. <em>Fluff.</em></p>\n\n<p>That, I\u2019m pleased to say, did not happen. In fact, I had such a good time with so many different shows, it was hard to limit myself to any particular theme or genre. So I simply made a list. Y\u2019all have no doubt been bombarded with year-end lists, thus my commentary on each show will be kept to a minimum. Hopefully you\u2019ll find some common ground with my thoughts, and perhaps find a nugget or two you didn\u2019t know about!</p>\n\n<p>While I do have 13 entires sorted, that isn\u2019t to say I greatly prefer (4) over (9). All of these shows made a big impression on me for one reason or another. But I <em>will</em> say that the number one show is in first place by a pretty significant margin. It\u2019s not that the other shows aren\u2019t so good. It\u2019s just that this show is one of the greatest seasons of television I\u2019ve ever seen in my life. (I wonder if you can guess what it is?)</p>\n\n<p>Alright, enough of my blethering. Let\u2019s start with a couple honorable mentions before counting backwards from 13 to 1. (And stick around for the wrap-up where I share a grab-bag of real disappointments.)</p>\n\n<h3>Honorable Mention: Stranger Things S5 (Netflix)</h3>\n\n<p>I <em>love</em> Stranger Things. How could I not, being such a nerd about retro 80s synth music and action-adventure movies of that era? And yes, I\u2019ve certainly been enjoying this final season. With the finale episode still to come, I have no doubt they will stick the landing. Yet I can\u2019t help but feel this season is rather superfluous. Could they have come up with a tighter storyline for season 4 and ended the series there? <em>Absolutely.</em> I won\u2019t say much of what happens this season is \u201cfiller\u201d because it is all quite interesting and well done, but at some point, can we <em>please</em> stop traumatizing these poor kids & families and leave them in peace? \ud83d\ude05</p>\n\n<h3>Honorable Mention: The Handmaid\u2019s Tale S6 (Hulu)</h3>\n\n<p>I had many complicated feelings watching this final season of an explosive TV show about a fascist far-right theocracy taking over the United States while living under a fascist far-right theocracy taking over the United States. And I was frustrated that, while this show was very good right up to the end, it ultimately didn\u2019t feel like it had much to teach us about how we might deal better with our present moment. For the curious, <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/podcast/124/\">I shared many of these thoughts in detail on the Fresh Fusion podcast.</a></p>\n\n<p>With that down, let\u2019s begin the list starting with number 13:</p>\n\n<h3>13) The Beast in Me (Limited Series, Netflix)</h3>\n\n<p>I won\u2019t say too much about this here <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/links/20251118/the-beast-in-me-could-have-dazzled\">because I already reviewed it</a>, but I definitely enjoyed the series. Though I wished it could have been a small notch higher in quality (mainly with regards to the plot), with the two lead actors being <em>incredibly</em> delicious playing their cat-and-mouse game, it\u2019s one not to miss.</p>\n\n<h3>12) The Witcher S4 (Netflix)</h3>\n\n<p>Surprised to see this make the list? Me too! All signs pointed to this season of a rapidly-degrading show being quite terrible, and I suspect quite a few fans are boycotting <em>The Witcher</em> at this point. Yet I\u2019m also willing to go out on a limb and say the more toxic corners of the fandom took things too far. I will admit I am not a connoisseur of the books nor the games, so I\u2019m unable to compare the show to those media. All I can tell you, as a <strong>huge fan</strong> of the first season, this season really felt like it touched back on the fun and mayhem and good-natured camp of the early show. And was Liam Hemsworth a not-bad replacement for Henry Cavill? Surprisingly, yes! I quickly settled into the new vibe. And I would argue episode 5 is among the best of the whole series. I am definitely looking forward to the fifth and final season.</p>\n\n<h3>11) Dept Q S1 (Netflix)</h3>\n\n<p>On paper, we\u2019ve seen this story a million times. Dodgy old codger working as a police detective is seemingly on his way out, but he\u2019s given one more case (or in this case, many cold cases) to attempt to solve, and with his rag-tag bunch of misfits at his side, he saves the day and earns back the respect of his colleagues (in spite of his unorthodox approach and maddening personality). And yet\u2026this show <em>totally works</em> as a fresh installment in the genre (especially the Scottish vs. English cultural jabs throughout). Glad to know a second season is in the works!</p>\n\n<h3>10) Death by Lighting (Limited Series, Netflix)</h3>\n\n<p>We all know how President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Did you know how President James Garfield was assassinated, and why? Me neither! This show managed to take an obscure corner of American history and transform it into riveting television, while also inspiring me to pull up Wikipedia and brush up on my presidential timeline. Michael Shannon crushed it as Garfield, and Nick Offerman as a larger-than-life Chester A. Arthur is a real treat.</p>\n\n<h3>9) The Diplomat S3 (Netflix)</h3>\n\n<p>Yes, I watched a lot of Netflix this year (I really tamped down on my streaming subscriptions part-way through the year), but I promise I\u2019ll get to some other networks shortly (plenty of Apple TV on the way). At any rate, the first season of <em>The Diplomat</em> exploded onto the scene in 2023, and it was followed up with an equally fantastic second season in 2024. Given the truly bonkers cliffhanger ending of that season, I wondered if this third season might go off the rails or continue to serve as truly excellent political thriller material (with a healthy dose of personal comedy on the side). I\u2019m pleased to report this season did not disappoint. Bring on the next installment!</p>\n\n<h3>8) Paradise S1 (Hulu)</h3>\n\n<p>I\u2019m a little surprised to see this show popping up on a lot of people\u2019s year-end lists. I wasn\u2019t completely blown away by it, but I did really enjoy it. It\u2019s a slow burn in spots, and a handful of the plot points feels fanciful even within the fanciful sci-fi premise, but I think there\u2019s enough meat here that future installments could really take the show to the next level. And who doesn\u2019t love seeing James Marsden as a himbo all-American president dude with mush for brains but a heart of gold?</p>\n\n<h3>7) Your Friends & Neighbors S1 (Apple TV)</h3>\n\n<p>We\u2019re roughly at the halfway point, and from here on every show I\u2019ll be mentioning isn\u2019t just really good, it\u2019s <em>outstanding</em>. And this one is no exception. It\u2019s funny that Jon Hamm went from appearing in Apple TV ads specifically because he wasn\u2019t in any Apple TV shows, to finally making his network debut on <em>The Morning Show</em>, to starring as the lead in a show of his own. And what a show this is! Everything you think this show is about starting off, it then zigzags in another direction. The life themes it explores are clever, the action is comedic while also feeling like the stakes are high, the interpersonal relationships are always fascinating, and Jon Hamm has never been more Daddy in all of the best ways. While at the end of the day Hamm will always be Don Draper to my mind, I think Andrew \u201cCoop\u201d Cooper is shaping up to be his next great role.</p>\n\n<h3>6) Alien: Earth S1 (HBO Max)</h3>\n\n<p>I\u2019m not gonna lie: I had absolutely no interest in watching this show. I wasn\u2019t asking for more <em>Alien</em> material. I\u2019m not even a big fan of that franchise. I did enjoy seeing the movie <em>Alien: Romulus</em> in theaters last year, but nothing about that made me clamor for another story set in that universe. And yet\u2026because I heard <strong>so much buzz</strong> about this show right from the outset, I decided to give it a go. I\u2019m so glad I did! It was fantastic, and honestly shocking in terms of the quality of the writing and the energy behind all of the many story beats and <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/links/20250830/alien-earth-looks-stellar\">impressive world-building which I previously wrote about</a>. Sydney Chandler\u2019s portrayal of Wendy is one for the ages\u2026this is now an iconic character within the franchise and I can\u2019t wait to see what happens next.</p>\n\n<h3>5) The Studio S1 (Apple TV)</h3>\n\n<p>Seth Rogen is a god among men. Watch this. All the buzz was completely deserved and then some. <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/20250331/the-studio-is-all-that\">I wrote about being hooked right from the very first episode</a> and it didn\u2019t merely continue that level of quality up to the last moment of the season, it kept ratcheting up the awesome over and over again. If you don\u2019t have Apple TV, you need to subscribe just to watch this. <strong>It is that good.</strong></p>\n\n<h3>4) The Morning Show S4 (Apple TV)</h3>\n\n<p>As one of the OG shows on Apple TV, I was somewhat surprised they were able to keep pushing the story forward this long. I wouldn\u2019t have even been disappointed if this fourth installment was merely decent. I honestly did not expect it to be <em>so-o-o</em> good. But it was. It was brilliant, and in particular, episode 6 <em>If Then</em> stood out as transcendent television, sublime. <em>The Morning Show</em> has never let me down, having set a high bar for that official launch of Apple TV and keeping the pedal to the metal ever since.</p>\n\n<h3>3) House of Guinness S1 (Netflix)</h3>\n\n<p>As John Campea likes to say, all art is subjective. So it\u2019s possible this show won\u2019t land with you the way it has with me. Let\u2019s just say if you poured my brain into a blender, fizzed it all up real good, and then poured a TV show out that I would absolutely adore, <em>House of Guinness</em> is that show. Imagine a group of half-drunk Irish punks laughing in Gaeilge taking a look at stodgy period English TV and then defacing it with spray paint and choice expletives all while the fiddles and drums furiously play, and that\u2019s the manic energy of this show. It grabs you by the collar and the balls, spits in your eye, and tells you you\u2019re gonna love it. And oh boy do I love it. <strong>A true highlight of the entire year for me!</strong></p>\n\n<h3>2) Pluribus (Plur1bus?) S1 (Apple TV)</h3>\n\n<p>In any ordinary year, this would have been my Show of the Year. The only reason it\u2019s not number one is because of the unusual nature of my number one (as you\u2019ll soon see). That this show is my number two is in no way meant to detract from the ingenuity and inventiveness of <em>Pluribus</em>. Many people are coming into this show as fans of Vince Gilligan\u2019s past shows such as <em>Breaking Bad</em>. I never watched that show nor the spinoffs thereof, so I\u2019m not liking this show out of some sense of nostalgia or obligation. <strong>I\u2019m liking it because it\u2019s fucking brilliant.</strong> (Note: there does seem to be a bit of an Atlantic divide, with many Europeans getting hung up on all of the very American foibles of the lead character and finding her quite unlikable. I understand those issues, and yet I\u2019m able to get past all that and firmly join Team Carol.) And while this show is certainly not intended as a direct commentary on the modern scourge of generative AI, I nevertheless can\u2019t help but think a lot about the extractive and dehumanizing nature of Big Tech and what this show may teach us about individuality, creativity, community, and the possible future of the human race.</p>\n\n<p>And now, without further ado, <strong>my number one show of 2025:</strong></p>\n\n<h3>1) Star Wars: Andor S2 (Disney+)</h3>\n\n<p><strong>C\u2019mon.</strong> Could it have been anything else? No, it could not. <em>Andor</em> is a triumph, a pinnacle, a revelation and a revolution. Not only was this season every bit as remarkable as the first season, this exquisitely-crafted and superbly-executed show stands as one of the greatest sci-fi shows in television history and one of the great shows, <em>period</em>.</p>\n\n<p><em>Andor</em> is art, it is message, it is a warning, it is a comfort, and it is an example of how high-concept science-fiction can lead to a story which is far more than the sum of its parts. I struggle to come up with reasons why it might have been better or how it could have been improved. Perhaps the storyline of Bix Caleen was a bit disappointing this season\u2026although even her ultimate fate was completely understandable and in a way its own \u201cnew hope\u201d that satisfies. <strong>I am in awe of this TV show</strong> and expect <em>Star Wars</em> fans will be talking about it for years to come. And I agree with John Campea: this is the best <em>Star Wars</em> since the original trilogy. It just is. And for that, I tip my cap to Disney+ for making <em>Star Wars: Andor</em> possible.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>OK, coming back down to earth, I\u2019ll now share a few of my disappointments for the year. I don\u2019t relish having to trash talk any show, but if a spade is a spade, I will call it.</p>\n\n<p>In no particular order:</p>\n\n<h3>Foundation S3 (Apple TV)</h3>\n\n<p>I had high hopes for this season, and indeed, <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/links/20250822/the-mule-is-a-villain-for-the-ages\">I wrote about the explosive appearance</a> of famed character <em>The Mule</em> and really thought that the quality of the acting and storytelling would continue at that high bar throughout the whole season. Alas, that was not the case. By the final episode, I felt like the plot has completely disintegrated. I kept looking up \u201cexplainers\u201d online to see if I missed anything which might help me feel better about it, but nothing improved my sour mood. To be honest, <strong>I hated the ending.</strong> I really did not care for it one bit (and if you\u2019ve seen it, you can easily guess which big twist I got hung up on). Not only was I disappointed, I\u2019m now no longer looking forward to season 4. I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll watch it anyway, but the showrunners will need to work overtime to win back my trust and indicate they know how to get the show back on track.</p>\n\n<h3>The Hunting Wives S1 (Netflix)</h3>\n\n<p>This show seems to have immediately built up a cult following, which leads me to wonder if we watched the same show. The premise is simple enough, if strange: imagine horny queer people getting it on within an oppressive conservative southern culture and what I can only describe as \u201cgun porn\u201d. Like OK, this <em>could</em> be rather awesome in a black comedy subversive way. And yet it just felt like trash. A low-quality, sleazy romance novel <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/@jaredwhite/115018916390131561\">I have no reason to ever think about or relive ever again.</a> (Pray for me that I don\u2019t fall into temptation and watch the second season when it comes out\u2026)</p>\n\n<h3>The White Lotus S3 (HBO Max)</h3>\n\n<p>I didn\u2019t think this season of the show was bad. Unfortunately I didn\u2019t think it was all that good either. When you have a premise like this where the setting and nearly all the cast completely changes from installment to installment, it\u2019s always a question if the schtick is going to get real old, real fast, or if they can keep it feeling fun and inventive. While I won\u2019t say <em>The White Lotus</em> has run out of steam, I do think this season failed to answer the question \u201cwhy?\u201d I\u2019m not sure I care to watch another season, unless they can find a way to mix things up in a dramatic and interesting fashion.</p>\n\n<h3>Severance S2 (Apple TV)</h3>\n\n<p>I feel terrible putting the second season of this incredible show in my \u201cdisappointments\u201d list. Because this is by no means a bad season of television! I thought <em>Severance</em> S2 was quite good. The problem is the first season was fucking genius, so following that up with something nice and decent is inevitably a disappointment. Look, were there certain episodes and certain moments which I would put up on a level on par with the first season? <strong>Absolutely.</strong> But taken as a whole, I did not vibe with the sequel to my favorite Apple TV show of all time. I hope they can find a way to kick it up a notch with the third season.</p>\n\n<p><strong>And there you go!</strong> My baker\u2019s dozen favorite TV shows of 2025, some honorable mentions, and a few disappointments. All in all, I was very gratified with the available fare this year, and it\u2019s making me excited for all the marvelous adventures which await in 2026.</p>\n\n\n\n <br /><p>\n \n <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/tvshows\">#tvshows</a>\n \n </p>",
"text": "I normally don\u2019t care for long lists like this, but I enjoyed such a wide range of television this year, I simply couldn\u2019t narrow it down.\n\nGoing into 2025, I had a concern that the era of \u201cprestige TV\u201d was behind us. That we would increasingly find ourselves watching paint-by-numbers shows with smaller budgets and smaller ambitions. Stories which sound good on the surface but ultimately without a lot to say. Fluff.\n\nThat, I\u2019m pleased to say, did not happen. In fact, I had such a good time with so many different shows, it was hard to limit myself to any particular theme or genre. So I simply made a list. Y\u2019all have no doubt been bombarded with year-end lists, thus my commentary on each show will be kept to a minimum. Hopefully you\u2019ll find some common ground with my thoughts, and perhaps find a nugget or two you didn\u2019t know about!\n\nWhile I do have 13 entires sorted, that isn\u2019t to say I greatly prefer (4) over (9). All of these shows made a big impression on me for one reason or another. But I will say that the number one show is in first place by a pretty significant margin. It\u2019s not that the other shows aren\u2019t so good. It\u2019s just that this show is one of the greatest seasons of television I\u2019ve ever seen in my life. (I wonder if you can guess what it is?)\n\nAlright, enough of my blethering. Let\u2019s start with a couple honorable mentions before counting backwards from 13 to 1. (And stick around for the wrap-up where I share a grab-bag of real disappointments.)\n\nHonorable Mention: Stranger Things S5 (Netflix)\n\nI love Stranger Things. How could I not, being such a nerd about retro 80s synth music and action-adventure movies of that era? And yes, I\u2019ve certainly been enjoying this final season. With the finale episode still to come, I have no doubt they will stick the landing. Yet I can\u2019t help but feel this season is rather superfluous. Could they have come up with a tighter storyline for season 4 and ended the series there? Absolutely. I won\u2019t say much of what happens this season is \u201cfiller\u201d because it is all quite interesting and well done, but at some point, can we please stop traumatizing these poor kids & families and leave them in peace? \ud83d\ude05\n\nHonorable Mention: The Handmaid\u2019s Tale S6 (Hulu)\n\nI had many complicated feelings watching this final season of an explosive TV show about a fascist far-right theocracy taking over the United States while living under a fascist far-right theocracy taking over the United States. And I was frustrated that, while this show was very good right up to the end, it ultimately didn\u2019t feel like it had much to teach us about how we might deal better with our present moment. For the curious, I shared many of these thoughts in detail on the Fresh Fusion podcast.\n\nWith that down, let\u2019s begin the list starting with number 13:\n\n13) The Beast in Me (Limited Series, Netflix)\n\nI won\u2019t say too much about this here because I already reviewed it, but I definitely enjoyed the series. Though I wished it could have been a small notch higher in quality (mainly with regards to the plot), with the two lead actors being incredibly delicious playing their cat-and-mouse game, it\u2019s one not to miss.\n\n12) The Witcher S4 (Netflix)\n\nSurprised to see this make the list? Me too! All signs pointed to this season of a rapidly-degrading show being quite terrible, and I suspect quite a few fans are boycotting The Witcher at this point. Yet I\u2019m also willing to go out on a limb and say the more toxic corners of the fandom took things too far. I will admit I am not a connoisseur of the books nor the games, so I\u2019m unable to compare the show to those media. All I can tell you, as a huge fan of the first season, this season really felt like it touched back on the fun and mayhem and good-natured camp of the early show. And was Liam Hemsworth a not-bad replacement for Henry Cavill? Surprisingly, yes! I quickly settled into the new vibe. And I would argue episode 5 is among the best of the whole series. I am definitely looking forward to the fifth and final season.\n\n11) Dept Q S1 (Netflix)\n\nOn paper, we\u2019ve seen this story a million times. Dodgy old codger working as a police detective is seemingly on his way out, but he\u2019s given one more case (or in this case, many cold cases) to attempt to solve, and with his rag-tag bunch of misfits at his side, he saves the day and earns back the respect of his colleagues (in spite of his unorthodox approach and maddening personality). And yet\u2026this show totally works as a fresh installment in the genre (especially the Scottish vs. English cultural jabs throughout). Glad to know a second season is in the works!\n\n10) Death by Lighting (Limited Series, Netflix)\n\nWe all know how President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Did you know how President James Garfield was assassinated, and why? Me neither! This show managed to take an obscure corner of American history and transform it into riveting television, while also inspiring me to pull up Wikipedia and brush up on my presidential timeline. Michael Shannon crushed it as Garfield, and Nick Offerman as a larger-than-life Chester A. Arthur is a real treat.\n\n9) The Diplomat S3 (Netflix)\n\nYes, I watched a lot of Netflix this year (I really tamped down on my streaming subscriptions part-way through the year), but I promise I\u2019ll get to some other networks shortly (plenty of Apple TV on the way). At any rate, the first season of The Diplomat exploded onto the scene in 2023, and it was followed up with an equally fantastic second season in 2024. Given the truly bonkers cliffhanger ending of that season, I wondered if this third season might go off the rails or continue to serve as truly excellent political thriller material (with a healthy dose of personal comedy on the side). I\u2019m pleased to report this season did not disappoint. Bring on the next installment!\n\n8) Paradise S1 (Hulu)\n\nI\u2019m a little surprised to see this show popping up on a lot of people\u2019s year-end lists. I wasn\u2019t completely blown away by it, but I did really enjoy it. It\u2019s a slow burn in spots, and a handful of the plot points feels fanciful even within the fanciful sci-fi premise, but I think there\u2019s enough meat here that future installments could really take the show to the next level. And who doesn\u2019t love seeing James Marsden as a himbo all-American president dude with mush for brains but a heart of gold?\n\n7) Your Friends & Neighbors S1 (Apple TV)\n\nWe\u2019re roughly at the halfway point, and from here on every show I\u2019ll be mentioning isn\u2019t just really good, it\u2019s outstanding. And this one is no exception. It\u2019s funny that Jon Hamm went from appearing in Apple TV ads specifically because he wasn\u2019t in any Apple TV shows, to finally making his network debut on The Morning Show, to starring as the lead in a show of his own. And what a show this is! Everything you think this show is about starting off, it then zigzags in another direction. The life themes it explores are clever, the action is comedic while also feeling like the stakes are high, the interpersonal relationships are always fascinating, and Jon Hamm has never been more Daddy in all of the best ways. While at the end of the day Hamm will always be Don Draper to my mind, I think Andrew \u201cCoop\u201d Cooper is shaping up to be his next great role.\n\n6) Alien: Earth S1 (HBO Max)\n\nI\u2019m not gonna lie: I had absolutely no interest in watching this show. I wasn\u2019t asking for more Alien material. I\u2019m not even a big fan of that franchise. I did enjoy seeing the movie Alien: Romulus in theaters last year, but nothing about that made me clamor for another story set in that universe. And yet\u2026because I heard so much buzz about this show right from the outset, I decided to give it a go. I\u2019m so glad I did! It was fantastic, and honestly shocking in terms of the quality of the writing and the energy behind all of the many story beats and impressive world-building which I previously wrote about. Sydney Chandler\u2019s portrayal of Wendy is one for the ages\u2026this is now an iconic character within the franchise and I can\u2019t wait to see what happens next.\n\n5) The Studio S1 (Apple TV)\n\nSeth Rogen is a god among men. Watch this. All the buzz was completely deserved and then some. I wrote about being hooked right from the very first episode and it didn\u2019t merely continue that level of quality up to the last moment of the season, it kept ratcheting up the awesome over and over again. If you don\u2019t have Apple TV, you need to subscribe just to watch this. It is that good.\n\n4) The Morning Show S4 (Apple TV)\n\nAs one of the OG shows on Apple TV, I was somewhat surprised they were able to keep pushing the story forward this long. I wouldn\u2019t have even been disappointed if this fourth installment was merely decent. I honestly did not expect it to be so-o-o good. But it was. It was brilliant, and in particular, episode 6 If Then stood out as transcendent television, sublime. The Morning Show has never let me down, having set a high bar for that official launch of Apple TV and keeping the pedal to the metal ever since.\n\n3) House of Guinness S1 (Netflix)\n\nAs John Campea likes to say, all art is subjective. So it\u2019s possible this show won\u2019t land with you the way it has with me. Let\u2019s just say if you poured my brain into a blender, fizzed it all up real good, and then poured a TV show out that I would absolutely adore, House of Guinness is that show. Imagine a group of half-drunk Irish punks laughing in Gaeilge taking a look at stodgy period English TV and then defacing it with spray paint and choice expletives all while the fiddles and drums furiously play, and that\u2019s the manic energy of this show. It grabs you by the collar and the balls, spits in your eye, and tells you you\u2019re gonna love it. And oh boy do I love it. A true highlight of the entire year for me!\n\n2) Pluribus (Plur1bus?) S1 (Apple TV)\n\nIn any ordinary year, this would have been my Show of the Year. The only reason it\u2019s not number one is because of the unusual nature of my number one (as you\u2019ll soon see). That this show is my number two is in no way meant to detract from the ingenuity and inventiveness of Pluribus. Many people are coming into this show as fans of Vince Gilligan\u2019s past shows such as Breaking Bad. I never watched that show nor the spinoffs thereof, so I\u2019m not liking this show out of some sense of nostalgia or obligation. I\u2019m liking it because it\u2019s fucking brilliant. (Note: there does seem to be a bit of an Atlantic divide, with many Europeans getting hung up on all of the very American foibles of the lead character and finding her quite unlikable. I understand those issues, and yet I\u2019m able to get past all that and firmly join Team Carol.) And while this show is certainly not intended as a direct commentary on the modern scourge of generative AI, I nevertheless can\u2019t help but think a lot about the extractive and dehumanizing nature of Big Tech and what this show may teach us about individuality, creativity, community, and the possible future of the human race.\n\nAnd now, without further ado, my number one show of 2025:\n\n1) Star Wars: Andor S2 (Disney+)\n\nC\u2019mon. Could it have been anything else? No, it could not. Andor is a triumph, a pinnacle, a revelation and a revolution. Not only was this season every bit as remarkable as the first season, this exquisitely-crafted and superbly-executed show stands as one of the greatest sci-fi shows in television history and one of the great shows, period.\n\nAndor is art, it is message, it is a warning, it is a comfort, and it is an example of how high-concept science-fiction can lead to a story which is far more than the sum of its parts. I struggle to come up with reasons why it might have been better or how it could have been improved. Perhaps the storyline of Bix Caleen was a bit disappointing this season\u2026although even her ultimate fate was completely understandable and in a way its own \u201cnew hope\u201d that satisfies. I am in awe of this TV show and expect Star Wars fans will be talking about it for years to come. And I agree with John Campea: this is the best Star Wars since the original trilogy. It just is. And for that, I tip my cap to Disney+ for making Star Wars: Andor possible.\n\n\n\nOK, coming back down to earth, I\u2019ll now share a few of my disappointments for the year. I don\u2019t relish having to trash talk any show, but if a spade is a spade, I will call it.\n\nIn no particular order:\n\nFoundation S3 (Apple TV)\n\nI had high hopes for this season, and indeed, I wrote about the explosive appearance of famed character The Mule and really thought that the quality of the acting and storytelling would continue at that high bar throughout the whole season. Alas, that was not the case. By the final episode, I felt like the plot has completely disintegrated. I kept looking up \u201cexplainers\u201d online to see if I missed anything which might help me feel better about it, but nothing improved my sour mood. To be honest, I hated the ending. I really did not care for it one bit (and if you\u2019ve seen it, you can easily guess which big twist I got hung up on). Not only was I disappointed, I\u2019m now no longer looking forward to season 4. I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll watch it anyway, but the showrunners will need to work overtime to win back my trust and indicate they know how to get the show back on track.\n\nThe Hunting Wives S1 (Netflix)\n\nThis show seems to have immediately built up a cult following, which leads me to wonder if we watched the same show. The premise is simple enough, if strange: imagine horny queer people getting it on within an oppressive conservative southern culture and what I can only describe as \u201cgun porn\u201d. Like OK, this could be rather awesome in a black comedy subversive way. And yet it just felt like trash. A low-quality, sleazy romance novel I have no reason to ever think about or relive ever again. (Pray for me that I don\u2019t fall into temptation and watch the second season when it comes out\u2026)\n\nThe White Lotus S3 (HBO Max)\n\nI didn\u2019t think this season of the show was bad. Unfortunately I didn\u2019t think it was all that good either. When you have a premise like this where the setting and nearly all the cast completely changes from installment to installment, it\u2019s always a question if the schtick is going to get real old, real fast, or if they can keep it feeling fun and inventive. While I won\u2019t say The White Lotus has run out of steam, I do think this season failed to answer the question \u201cwhy?\u201d I\u2019m not sure I care to watch another season, unless they can find a way to mix things up in a dramatic and interesting fashion.\n\nSeverance S2 (Apple TV)\n\nI feel terrible putting the second season of this incredible show in my \u201cdisappointments\u201d list. Because this is by no means a bad season of television! I thought Severance S2 was quite good. The problem is the first season was fucking genius, so following that up with something nice and decent is inevitably a disappointment. Look, were there certain episodes and certain moments which I would put up on a level on par with the first season? Absolutely. But taken as a whole, I did not vibe with the sequel to my favorite Apple TV show of all time. I hope they can find a way to kick it up a notch with the third season.\n\nAnd there you go! My baker\u2019s dozen favorite TV shows of 2025, some honorable mentions, and a few disappointments. All in all, I was very gratified with the available fare this year, and it\u2019s making me excited for all the marvelous adventures which await in 2026.\n\n\n\n \n\n \n #tvshows"
},
"name": "Baker's Dozen: My Favorite TV Shows of 2025",
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