It is no secret that I love to read. I was looking back at my Goodreads list and reflecting on what I read this year. I decided to share some of the favorite books I read this year. Some were released in 2025, and some were not. There is no ranking on this list, and they are in a random order:
Cher: The Memoir, Part One by Cher. I decided to get the audiobook because Cher recorded it with additional help from Stephanie J. Block. And as I listened to this, it made me appreciate Cher’s perseverance even more, because there were many people who took advantage of her career, yet she still fought hard and, in the end, won.
Careless People: A Story of where I used to work by Sarah-Wynn Williams. Sarah Wynn-Williams used to work at Facebook as the Director of Public Policy, and she shares her firsthand experience working there. And still proves that your job isn’t your whole life and being.
I Leave It Up to You by JinWoo Chong. The plot centers on a man named Jack who wakes from a coma and realizes his old life has vanished, and now he has to rely on his family and reconnect with them to find himself and get a new start.
Candy Darling: Dreamer, Icon, Superstar by Cynthia Carr. This book dives into the life of Candy Darling and her desire to emulate silver-screen stars, such as Kim Novak. However, she became an icon in her own right.
This week’s contributor spotlight is from the amazing Oceanna! (Instagram: @oceanna )
“When you think about toys, it can be easy to just picture some cheap plastic or a childhood trip to Toys R Us…but behind some of the most loved toys in history is an artist whose work carried real weight. Their styles influenced entire eras of toy design, from soft-sculpture dolls to collectible characters to fashion-forward icons. Here are five women whose art transformed toys.
Rose O’Neill
Illustrator and cartoonist Rose O’Neill created the Kewpies in 1909, first appearing in magazine pages before leaping into postcards, books, and eventually some of the earliest mass-produced character dolls. Before Mickey Mouse or Hello Kitty ever existed, O’Neill gave the world an illustrated character who could live across multiple mediums. O’Neill used them in suffrage imagery to blend sweetness with social messaging. As the highest-paid female illustrator of her time, she paved the way for character licensing and collectible design. If you’ve ever collected a vinyl figure, mascot toy, or blind-box character, you’re living in the world O’Neill helped create.
2. Jackie Ormes:
Jackie Ormes, the first Black woman cartoonist to be nationally syndicated in the United States, brought style and social commentary to her groundbreaking comic strips in the ‘40s and ’50s. Her strip Patty Jo ‘n’ Ginger for the Pittsburgh Courier led to Ormes’s partnering with the Terri Lee Company to release the Patty-Jo doll, a stylish Black fashion doll in an era when most Black dolls were harmful caricatures.
Ormes used both her comics and her doll designs to challenge stereotypes and broaden what representation in toys could look like. Her art carved space for Black children to see themselves reflected with joy and sophistication.
3. Margaret Evans Price:
In the early 1930s, children’s book illustrator Margaret Evans Price co-founded Fisher-Price and became the company’s first art director. Her gentle, storybook-inspired drawings set the tone for the brand’s earliest wooden pull toys, many of which featured her characters and fairytale aesthetic. Fisher-Price’s foundational principles centered on intrinsic play value, ingenuity, strong construction, good value for the money, and action. The idea that early childhood toys should feel warm and whimsical traces straight back to Price’s illustrations. Her influence still echoes in Fisher-Price design language today, making her one of the quiet architects of American childhood.
4. Martha Nelson Thomas:
Martha Nelson Thomas was a Kentucky folk artist who began hand-sculpting soft “Doll Babies” in the 1970s. Each doll was lovingly stitched and came with its own adoption certificate (sound familiar?). Her work emphasized nurturing and emotional storytelling in a way mass-market toys hadn’t yet embraced. Xavier Roberts later commercialized the concept without her consent (I’ll be more blunt…he stole it). Cabbage Patch Kids, the soft-sculpture babies craze of the 1980s owes everything to Thomas’s warm, handmade vision. She introduced a new emotional blueprint for play, proving that designing heart‐first can spark a toy phenomenon. Cabbage Patch Kids has gone on to sell more than 130 million dolls in the 20th century, becoming one of the most successful toy lines of all time.
5. Kitty Black Perkins:
When Kitty Black Perkins joined Mattel in the 1970s, Barbie’s world lacked genuine representation. As one of Mattel’s first Black fashion designers (and eventually Chief Designer of Fashions & Collectibles) she changed that forever. Her most famous creation was the first Black Barbie in 1980. Not a Black doll in Barbie’s universe, she was Black Barbie and featured her own unique sculpt, natural hair, red gown, and an aesthetic rooted in Black beauty and glamour. Beyond that one historic doll, Perkins reshaped Barbie’s entire fashion direction during the late ’70s and ’80s. The sharp suits, metallic fabrics, dramatic silhouettes, and bold glam that defined Barbie’s golden era? Kitty Black Perkins expanded Barbie’s universe and helped generations of kids see a fuller, more exciting world reflected back at them.
These women all shared a belief that art could shape how children imagine, explore, and understand the world. Their creative fingerprints are everywhere in modern play, from the dolls kids cradle to the characters they collect.
If you’re interested in learning more, I’ve created videos on these women (and many other toy stories!) on my social pages.
I came to the game kind of late when I first saw Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (1977).
I am a big fan of Paul Williams, who composed and wrote so many of my favorite soundtracks. Such as the soundtracks for The Phantom of the Paradise and The Muppet Movies, and countless others. So when I was looking at this Internet Movie Database profile. I did not recognize the title “Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas.
So, out of curiosity, I found a version of the title on YouTube.
I watched it and enjoyed it so much that I watched it twice more! What I really loved about this Christmas special was the songs and the continuous message that, even when times might look like they are in despair, you gotta use your brain and your know-how to succeed. Also, it does not hurt that Kermit the frog makes a special appearance during the beginning and end of the special!
This special is based on a book of the same title by Russell Hoban, published in 1971. The plot of the book centers around Emmett Otter and his mother, Ma.
They have both recently suffered a loss in their family. Pa Otter passed away, and Emmett and Ma try their best to make ends meet. Ma washes clothes and irons clothes for the rich set of townspeople of Frogtown Hollow. While Emmett does odd handyman jobs with his Dad’s toolbox, which is filled with tools. However, when it comes time for the richer set of people to make good and pay Emmett and Ma, they are often met with criticism and delayed payment. If they get paid at all.
With Christmas fast approaching, both Emmett and Ma are informed of a contest offering a monetary prize. Both of them entered separately without knowing that they did, because they wanted to give something that the other verbally expressed. Emmett really wanted a guitar, while Ma wanted a piano. However, they are both faced with a difficult decision because, in order to participate in the contest, both of them have to sacrifice a heavily used item that they both used in order to work and make money. Emmett is convinced by his friends to form a band, and he has to make a hole in the washing bin that Ma used to make her living. Ma has to sell Emmett’s toolbox to get the money to make a costume she needs to perform in the contest.
In 1977, Jim Henson came out with the one-hour Christmas special that was created in Toronto, Canada. It first made its debut on December 4, 1977, on CBC, and it did not make its US debut until December 17, 1978, on HBO, which was an up-and-coming TV channel at the time.
The Christmas special has the same bones as the book, though it includes the amazing Riverbottom Gang, whose band is called the Nightmare. Who was a last-minute submission in the contest and ended up taking the prize from Emmett and his Jug Band.
However, not all is lost for Emmett, his jug band, and Ma! After the contest, Emmett, his band, and Ma realized the sacrifices they had made for each other to enter it. Ma came up with the idea of combining their two songs together, and they decided to try it out while walking home.
Their singing catches the attention of Doc Bullfrog, who was one of the contest judges walking, and is the owner of one of the restaurants in town.
And he decides to hire Emmett, the jug band, and Ma to sing at his restaurant regularly as the restaurant’s entire staff. So no more washing and ironing clothes for Ma, nor no more doing odd handyman jobs for Emmett. They are all destined to work in their passions all along!
What Christmas specials are your yearly tradition? Comment below!
Today’s song of the day is “Turbo Lover” by Judas Priest (1986). This song is from their 1986 album called Turbo.
This is one of my favorite cover album arts from Doug Johnson. He also did a lot of their album covers, but this one stands out to me the most. Turbo was Judas Priest’s tenth album and was released on April 7, 1986, by Columbia Records.
The lyrics to Turbo Lover have themes of sex, auto-eroticism, leather, fun, and escaping on your motorcycle on the open road to an unknown destination. The writers of this song are Rob Halford, K.K. Downing, and Glenn Tipton.
This song is deemed a favorite on the Turbo record, and I agree. This song, along with the music video, makes you want to put it on repeat.
What song and band should I write about next? Comment below!
Black Christmas is a movie I watch every Christmas season because I think the holiday season can be scarier than Halloween. This movie was directed by Bob Clark, who also helmed the family-centric Christmas movie A Christmas Story.
Bob Clark has a very interesting film history to his name. He was not a one specific genre kind of director. Rather, he enjoys directing across different genres, and if you look up his filmography, you will see what I mean.
Black Christmas starred Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder, and John Saxon. It is about a sorority house receiving these obscene and creepy prank calls that lead to a killer who starts killing the ladies in the house.
Roy Moore, who wrote the script, incorporated some real-life situations and mixed them with the urban legend of the babysitter. I first heard about this urban legend when I was a child. I later found out that it is an older urban legend that started around the 1960s. (Source: Wikipedia) It is a cautionary tale about a girl who goes to babysit a neighbor’s kid, a friend’s parents’ kid, or a teacher’s kid. It is the first time they are babysitting and left alone in a stranger’s house. Later in the evening, the babysitter starts getting weird, creepy phone calls asking her about the children she is taking care of. She calls the police, only to be told that the bizarre phone calls are coming from inside the house. The end result is that when the babysitter checks on the children, the children have met a fatal demise, and the caller has left the house. Although this urband legend does have some truth behind it. It is loosely based on the unsolved murder of Jannett Christman, who was found dead in the house that she was babysitting at.
Although there was some discussion of who committed the murder, no one was ever charged with the crime.
The script was also inspired by various murders around the Westmount neighbourhood in Montreal, Quebec, during the Holiday Season. And was also inspired by the crime and killing spree of serial killers William Heirens and Edmund Kemper. Roy More’s script was initially titled “Stop Me,” but personally, I am glad they changed it to “Black Christmas” instead.
Some Fun Facts about the movie: The snow about the sorority house was not real and was foam that was given by the local fire department.
Despite it being a horror movie, Olivia Hussey said it was a lighthearted time between takes.
There is a novelization based on this movie that explains the characters more and fleshes out their actions.
Most of the actors’ clothes in the film are theirs because the movie had a limited budget.
The main reason Keir Dullea decided to make the movie was that he could visit his parents, who lived close to the location.
Better Davis was offered the role of Mrs. Mac but said no.
Rob Zombie’s favorite movie.
Source: Internet Movie Database, Wikipedia, and YouTube.
On Small Business Saturday, here are some fantastic small businesses that shared their favorite items from their store:
Kerry Quinn’s Kitsch:
Hand-made Greeting Cards
Old Fashioned Cocktail Christmas Card: Retro Santa, Watercolor Holiday
All designs have been hand drawn, scanned, and printed digitally onto 80lb card stock. All cards are blank inside. Kraft envelope is included with every card purchase. Single cards are packaged individually in clear sleeves. Sets of 8 are packaged in clear boxes.
The fused glass oak leaf ornament is perfect for holiday decor or given as a gift. Inspired by heirloom glass, Beetle Glass ornament collections are created to be part of a treasured holiday display year-after-year.
-measures approximately 5-3/8″ x 3-3/4″ *due to the handmade nature of the item, slight variations can occur
VCR of Death has been around for ten years now. This shirt celebrates that milestone by bringing together a collection of some of the best weirdos that have been featured on the page over the past decade. It also features the VCR of Death logo in blue across the back. It’s a beauty.
“Shipping details: I don’t print the shirts one at a time on demand. Instead, my shop prints and ships in big batches. The next big batch will ship out in the second week of December, so get your orders in before then if you want your shirts before the holidays!”
LUNCHMEAT:
Lunchmeat Home Video Horror Calendar 2026 (preorder- Calendars will arrive early January 2026):
“The most rewind-radical calendar ever created! HVH celebrates the most incredible, influential, and awesome horror movies ever to haunt video store shelves!”- @Lunchmeat
Where would I be without the magic that is NightFlight? I would be very sad, actually, so I felt that it was necessary to share this fantastic offer from them:
Just make sure when you sign up, use the promocode: BLACKFRIDAY25
Some movies are only worth watching once. It’s been checked off your to-watch list, and you are ready to move on. These movies that I selected are SIMPLY NOT THAT. These particular movies have left an impression on me that I tend to revisit them more often than I want to admit. They also tend to linger in your mind long after watching, and you begin to ask a lot of questions about the movie. So much so that you ended up watching them the next day to see if you could gain a little clarity about what you had just watched. Here are five movies that sprang to mind:
Santa Sangre:
Santa Sangre (1989), directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky and starring Axel Jodorowsky, Guy Stockwell, and Thelma Tixou. The first time I watched Santa Sangre was in college, when I was looking for a movie with surrealist themes. Not really knowing which direction to head in, I used the internet and searched for the weirdest surrealist movies. I got a couple of promising leads, but Santa Sangre had the more unique title, so I decided to take a chance. And OMG, when I watched it for the first time, I literally went to rewatch it immediately. I had no idea what I just watched, but it intrigued me so much.
The plot is about a guy named Felix, a former circus performer who ran away from a mental hospital and returned to the armless arms of his mother. She happens to be running a super weird cult and forces Felix to kill for her because she wills it.
Director Alejandro Jodorowsky is no stranger to making weird surrealist movies. For a movie he made in 1966 called Fando y Lis.
When the movie premiered at the Acapulco Film Festival in 1968, it so upset viewers that a riot broke out, and it was immediately banned in Mexico.
And that is just one example of how bizarre and unique his films are.
Society (1989) directed by Brian Yuzna. Starring Billy Warlock.
Society is an interesting movie. I watched it due to a friend’s recommendation a decade ago. It is about a guy named Bill who feels like he is included in anything. He does not feel like part of his family; his friends look down on him and consider him a forever outsider. He definitely feels like there is some evil, hidden secret in the wealthy neighborhood he lives in. Unfortunately, little that Billy knows, his gut feelings on all of those were not wrong.
Belladonna of Sadness (1973):
Directed by Eiichi Yamamoto. Recommended by friend @astraleyez . A young girl gets abused by a low-life king and is then banned from her own town. She meets the devil on the outskirts and decides to make a deal with him regardless of the outcome. This is a very hard cartoon to watch, even if it’s in cartoon form.
Dead Ringers (1988): Directed by David Cronenberg and starring Jeremy Irons and Geneviève Bujold.
I am a big fan of vintage Cronenberg movies; I love The Brood, Videodrome, Rabid, and Crash. However, it was this movie that stuck in my mind image-wise. Cronenberg does body horror super well, and this movie is about two twin gynecologists who rebel against the fact that it is tough to tell one twin from the other. Their plan to pull off this charade was working until they both fell in love with the same woman.
Hellraiser (1988): directed by Clive Barker:
I am also a huge fan of Clive Barker. I enjoy his writing, and he has a fantastic way of developing very scary characters that leave a lasting impression. When I first saw all the cenobites on the screen, it made me realize that Clive Barker’s mind for creating such crazy leather-clad characters is AMAZING!!!! Pinhead literally stole the movie because he is the movie!!!
What other movies have left an impression on your mind? Share below!!!! Until next time
This week’s contributor Spotlight is from the amazing @stickfirmations!
“Hello! My name is Michael, and I’m the creator of Stickfirmations, a craft project where popsicle sticks meet pop culture along with mostly sincere positive affirmations. Let me tell you all about it and how it all started.
If you watched Nickelodeon in the ’90s, you might remember Stick Stickly, a popsicle-stick puppet with red googly eyes who hosted segments for Nick in the Afternoon. He held fast to my heart—maybe because his small size, sweetness, and nerves were comforting and relatable to a child facing a big, weird, and scary world. I also loved practical effects, puppetry, and miniatures—how lucky us ’90s kids were to grow up in such a tactile world!
And so, inspired by this cute little guy and fully supplied by my local craft store, I started making my own stick people when I was about 10 years old. Two hundred of them over a three-year period, to be exact! I based them on myself, friends, family, people I saw on TV and in movies, or whoever popped into my imagination. I made a whole world, a whole community of people who smiled back at me and who made my friends and family smile.
I continued making them until it wasn’t cool anymore (age 13), and for the next two decades they lived jumbled in a Ziploc bag buried in a desk drawer, until one day I reappreciated how cool they were and bought a toolchest, lined the drawers with green felt, and placed each stick safely in their new home, to be preserved for some unforeseen future purpose.
That purpose arrived in November 2024, when I was feeling despondent about the state of the world. I took a big gulp of nostalgia and thought, What if I photograph my stick people and pair them with positive affirmations? What if this made not only me but other people feel better? And maybe I can make some new stick people!
So that’s how Stickfirmations began. I’ve felt so much joy giving my old friends new life and crafting new ones, especially when they make other people chuckle. I love making my favorite film and TV characters: Beetlejuice, Pee-wee Herman, Elvira, the Log Lady from Twin Peaks, Jerri Blank from Strangers with Candy. It’s a fun challenge to recreate someone’s likeness on a tiny stick. The limitations of this small scale encourage my creativity, and I find it comforting and meditative to work with my hands at this level—despite the literal pain in my neck it sometimes causes!
As for the actual crafting, I start by gluing on the eyes. Then I find the right nose—maybe a piece of popsicle stick, the end of a toothpick, a bead, or a tiny pom-pom. Then I make the mouth—most of the time I draw or paint it, or I might sculpt it out of clay (like I did for Jerri Blank in the photo below). This part is often the hardest, and I usually practice on another stick first. Once those basics of the face are done, I do the eyebrows, which requires a further steady hand and more breath-holding.
Then I glue on the hair, which is almost always made of string. If the hair needs to be curly (like for Jerri again), I dip the string into watered-down glue, wrap it around a thin paintbrush or sculpting tool, and let it dry. Perfect curls each time! The clothes come last and wouldn’t happen with such fantastic variety were it not for a huge fabric store near me. Thank goodness for crafter heavens like this!
I do all of this at my dining room table. My partner has been very patient with me throughout this process.
For the photos, I use my phone, and I’ll either build a small set or backdrop, or I’ll take the stick person outside. Photographing in public always comes with some inquisitive looks.
And finally I add the affirmation using Adobe Express. I’ll choose an affirmation based on a line of dialogue or a character trait from the show or movie the person is in, or it might be something more broad and sincere, like “You are enough” or “You are loved.” I always try to find the right balance between sincerity and irreverence, sweet and salty—my favorite combo.
One of the most rewarding parts of doing this has been the connections and interactions I’ve had with other people, both online and in person. I got to meet the super-nice owner of Marty McFly’s house in Back to the Future when I photographed stick Doc and Marty outside.
Stick Pee-wee accompanied me to a screening of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure on the Warner Brother’s backlot, in celebration of the movie’s 40th anniversary, and he helped me connect and laugh with other Pee-wee fans.
Margaret Qualley reposted stick Monstro Elisasue from The Substance to her stories (Wow, the views and likes on that one! I was not prepared.), as did the director of the movie, Coralie Fargeat. Stick Log Lady had her day in the spotlight when the Instagram account for the documentary about Catherine Coulson’s life reposted her pic along with so many other great fan-made Log Lady art.
I never expected (I hoped!) anyone to repost me or to even like what I was doing. But it’s been happening, and it feels really good. Not for the stats, but for the acknowledgement. For one creative person to see another creative person and say, “I like what you’re doing.” I think social media can be good for this—for connection with like-minded people, for moments of artistic inspiration and support. There’s still kindness out there!
I hope my stick people bring you joy, and I hope they remind you—like Stick Stickly does for me—that small things matter. All of your dreams, your interests, your crafts and skills and hobbies matter, regardless of their scale or their scope, and despite what the world might say you should or shouldn’t do. Especially if you’re an adult. Your dreams matter as much now as they did when you were a kid. You are the maker of your dreams. Don’t stop making them! “
Michael Burge is a crafter, writer, proofreader, film lover, and nostalgic millennial living and dreaming in San Francisco, California. When he’s not making stick people, he’s probably watching Beetlejuice for about the 167th time. His Instagram is @stickfirmations
It’s that time of year again. When Vinegar Syndrome starts, there is a pre-sale for one of their biggest events of the year. There is a Black Friday Sale!
This pre-sale option started on November 1st and ends today, November 4! If you are unsure where to start, here are five recommendations of what to pre-order to beat the rush:
The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (1987)- This movie has been a long fascination of mine. So much so that I bought the soundtrack on vinyl a decade ago, and it has been a prized possession ever since. Some viewers who had watched or seen clips of the movie defined it as gross, but I believe that it is not the case!
At Close Range — this is a blind buy for me. I am a huge fan of Christopher Walken, and to be honest, I haven’t heard of this movie, but the cover art for it looked pretty intense.
The Chain Reaction- Australian cinema is one of my favorites. This movie has a lot going on: Car chase scenes, weird radiation stuff, and the government trying to hide its tracks!
Krazee Kidz Video Party — I am also a devoted fan of AGFA media, and this unique, crazy-sounding title just made me curious, so it was an automatic purchase! And if this trailer doesn’t convince you of the uniqueness, then I don’t know what will!
Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point- During this pre-sale, I always tried to get something that is either a winter or a Christmas theme. This time I decided on this movie.
ladycultblog 