Just joining the chip conversation that Dave Rupert, Jonathan Snook, and Peter Mullen have been bloggin’ on their own blogs.

I am not very opinionated on what gets called a chip, so covering “snacks” here too.

1. Tortilla chips should be as thin as possible. Some chip breakage is just expected. Blue corn > white corn > yellow corn.

2. Ruffles are made for dip. Any non-nacho dip should be eaten with Ruffles. Wavy Lays not accepted.

3. Salsa Verde Doritos are best. Pair with (Diet) Dr. Pepper.

4. Pretzels are good if classic Snyder’s of Hanover. Others accepted if covered in yogurt or milk chocolate. The only flavored pretzels are Dot’s honey mustard.

5. Burgers should not be served with chips. Sandwiches should be served with kettle-style chips. Unless a Subway sandwich, then crunchy Cheetos.

6. Pringles are for eating on a boat on a lake. Fits perfectly in a cup holder and floats.

7. All chips taste better in the car. Road trip meal.

This year I questioned why I only include debuts on this list! Some of my favorite television this year was from returning shows including The Afterparty, Mythic Quest, and a brilliant season 2 of The Bear. That Forks episode, sheesh. I loved the endings for Succession, Never Have I Ever, and Loki (which really stuck the landing). And of course LEGO Masters is always a bright spot.

Maybe next year I will include returning series, but for now, here are my fave miniseries and series debuts from 2023.

10. Cunk on Earth

9. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

8. Silo

7. Willow

6. Platonic

5. Lessons in Chemistry

4. Shrinking

3. Beef

2. The Last of Us

1. Poker Face

This list was harder to narrow down than past years. I saw a lot of good movies, but they all seemed to be the same level of good? No major standouts for me! Because of a difficult first half of the year emotionally, I really gravitated towards comfort films and comedies.

Some honorable mentions include Bottoms, Barbenheimer, Missing (a spiritual sequel to 2018’s Searching), Across the Spider-Verse, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Godzilla Minus One (which was a surprise for me). I’ve also been really enjoying the Wonka soundtrack. Also Benny Safdie in Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret.

10. Dream Scenario

9. Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game

8. Quiz Lady

7. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1

6. Joy Ride

5. No Hard Feelings

4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

3. The Holdovers

2. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

1. Past Lives

I love wedding cake. The density of the cake is usually perfect with interesting fillings and real buttercream. A fluffy cake is nice, but I prefer a cake with some body. No whipped cream frosting here. I want the stuff that tastes like a grocery store bakery sheet cake but fancy.

I’ve tried cakes from a few nice bakeries around Phoenix for birthdays and other holidays, but the special occasion cakes just aren’t wedding cake. Good, but not the one.

Then I tried the JFK Wedding Cake.

Montilio’s Baking Company in Boston has been making their Presidential White Cake for over 70 years. JFK and Jackie served it at their wedding (hence the nickname). It’s “three layers of white cake interspersed with raspberry preserves and raspberry frosting, and it’s topped with sweet vanilla buttercream.”

It’s perfect. And you can order it in the dang mail. $90 is a bit rough, but it made for a special moment at my mom’s birthday brunch. And it was delicious.

Magnificent. 10/10 no notes.

Now I’m just counting down the days until the next birthday so I can order it again.

Back in 2010 I bought my first record player, a suitcase-style Crosley for $50. We had a bunch of records Clay’s dad had given us and over the next years I casually collected a couple handfuls of albums—mostly from bands I saw live or special Mondo pressings.

Earlier this year we saw New Found Glory play at Celebrity Theatre and Chad mentioned that their album Nothing Gold Can Stay had been removed from Spotify, unbeknownst to them. It’s back now, but it reminded me why owning physical copies is valuable. It’s hard to balance that with wanting to own less stuff in general, but for my very favorite albums, it feels worthwhile to have them around.

(And now it sure seems like a growing trend with streaming services pulling films and series completely with no way to even purchase them. Thanks I hate it.)

Collecting records can get expensive fast, so I’ve been limiting my purchasing to albums I really, really love. It’s been fun tracking down ones that are now out of print and having lucky timing on cheaper or special edition represses. Lots of ’00s pop punk classics and gems from the ’90s.

I’ve been letting myself get a tiny bit obsessive with collecting all the 7" singles from my absolute faves like Fountains of Wayne and New Found Glory. I got this FlipBin holder for them and it’s great.

I think I’ll probably soon reach a point where I’ve got all the existing albums I want or can actually get (some albums are pretty rare and I just can’t justify spending so much 😭). Luckily lots of albums I love are getting special anniversary represses lately.

Besides the joy of collecting, this has made me actually listen to music. I’ve been sitting down and revisiting beloved albums and not doing anything else. For a while there I got in the habit of having music as background noise while doing five other things. It’s been fun to focus on listening the way I used to.

And finally, that little Crosley player eventually died and I decided it was time for an upgrade. I still wanted the convenience (and price) of an all-in-one turntable. I opted for an Angels Horn H019.

Thanks to some helpful YouTubers I was able to calibrate things, balance the tone arm, and get listenin’ in no time. It sounds pretty great for what I need and I also like that I can close the lid while it’s playing. So far so good!

Now all I need is for Mondo to finally press That Thing You Do.