What a great start to the new year! On a personal note, I am now on my literary agency’s website!!! If you missed the How I Got My Agent post, get on it. My sister’s baby shower was also this month which was so beautiful!! As far as the other notes…

I totally skipped my December Wrap Up, My Year in Review, and the January On My Radar posts. I just didn’t have it in me, y’all. So I’ll do what I can in this post to catch you up. That means this post will be long. So. I’ve made it easy to distinguish when I’m talking about what if you want to skip to a certain portion of the post. Anyway, thanks for reading! Let’s get into it!

End of the Year Wrap Up

Since I skipped out on my usual end of the year surveys, here’s a brief recap of my favorites of 2017.

Favorite Movies/Documentaries That I Watched in 2017: Get Out, Coherence, Arrival, Wonder Woman, The Girl With All the Gifts, Jumanji, Moana, Batman & Bill, Mommy Dead and Dearest, Gaga Five Foot Two, Spielberg, Bright Lights

Favorite TV Shows That I Watched in 2017: 12 Monkeys (Syfy), This Is Us (NBC), Superstore (NBC), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox), Blackish (ABC), Fresh off the Boat (ABC), The Good Place (NBC), Angie Tribeca (TBS), Insecure (HBO), The Orville (FOX), Future Man (Hulu), 60 Days In (A&E)

Best Season Finales: The big reveal at the end of the Timeless (NBC) Season 1 finale was absolutely fantastic! I also really enjoyed the Season 2 finale of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (The CW). I think the Superstore (NBC) Season 2 finale is one of the best season finales the 2017 TV season. And I definitely was not expecting that verdict in the Season 4 finale of Brooklyn 99 (Fox). Finally, the Season 2 finale of Shades of Blue (NBC) was absolutely bananas! That ending!!!! Oh my God.

Best Series Finales: The Vampire Diaries (The CW), The Mindy Project (Hulu), Switched at Birth (Freeform) and I want to mention Orphan Black (BBC America) but I still can’t bring myself to watch the end of it *cries*

Favorite Episodes: For The Walking Dead (AMC), I especially loved Episode 7.11 “Hostiles and Calamities” and Episode 7.12 “Say Yes.” In Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) Episode 13.10 “You Can Look (But You’d Better Not Touch),” Bailey, Arizona, and Jo treat a pregnant teen inmate at a maximum security women’s prison. It’s tense and vulnerable and so emotional. Definitely a standout of the season. Also, Episode 13.18 “Be Still, My Soul” in which Maggie’s mother dies definitely brought tears to my eyes.  The Mindy Project (Hulu) Episode 5.12 “Mindy Lahiri is a White Man” follows Mindy as she wakes up one day and experiences her life as a white man. Need I say more? Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox) Episode 4.16 “Moo Moo” is one of the best episodes of season four, in which Terry is stopped in his own neighborhood in a case of racial profiling. While the office is dealing with that, Amy and Jake babysit Terry’s daughters during which they have to explain racism and prejudice since they keep asking questions. Oh boy ha ha. Once Upon A Time (ABC) aired a musical (Episode 6.20 “The Song in Your Heart”) which was REALLY good… I mean, it had better be since it’s Disney. It’s by far the best musical episode that the 16-17 TV season saw. That said, this was LONG overdue for Once and also, I’m still bitter that Galavant is no longer a thing on ABC so this brought up some bitter feelings to say the least. Anyway, bravo, ABC for showing the other networks how it’s done! Next….the season 8 premiere of Bob’s Burgers, “Brunchsquatch” was an entirely fan-animated episode. Over 62 sketches o fan art were used to create this episode and it was absolutely amazing. Definitely one of my top five, maybe even top three episodes of the entire series. Angie Tribeca (TBS) was on fire this season and I’d go so far as to say that my favorite season yet is three. In particular, I could not stop laughing during Episode 3.09 “Germs of Endearment” and even thinking about that episode makes me smile, it was so great. The season 12 premiere of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FXX) “The Gang Turns Black” follows the gang who discover that they are black people after an electric short occurs while they’re watching The Wiz. Once in this upside down world where they are black instead of white, they have to navigate the world as black people and figure out how to get home. It’s just as politically incorrect and absurd as you’d expect from a show that thrives on its politically incorrectness. The police scene at the end was a bit much but overall, this is one of the best premieres of Sunny. As for New Girl Episode 6.13 “Cece’s Boys,” watching the boys go on a spa day, which started out well but turned traumatic when they got their sexy parts waxed…oh my goodness. I could not stop laughing! This was absolutely hysterical! The Last Man on Earth Episode 4.06 “Double Cheeseburger” had me in  tears, it was so funny. Superstore Episode 2.15 “Super Hot Store” was one of my favorite episodes this season. I touched on the main parts of what I loved on Twitter after I watched it and you can read that thread here. Veep (HBO) Episode 6.04 “Justice” is one of the best episodes of the season and season 6 is one of the best seasons of this series. Just laugh out loud funny straight through. Constant entertainment. This is why I love this show. Oh man, I love TV.

Most Memorable Guest Stars: Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) guest starred on 12 Monkeys (Syfy) Episode 3.06 “Nature” which was epic. Rashida Jones (Angie Tribeca) guest starred on Blackish (ABC) in the Episode 3.21 “Sister, Sister” as Rainbow’s sister and was absolutely hilarious. Constance Zimmer (UnReal) guest starred on Angie Tribeca (TBS) as Angie’s (aka Rashida’s) doppelgänger which was SO much fun to watch. Those two. What a riot! Niecy Nash (Scream Queens) also guest starred on Angie Tribeca, the season three finale, “”Go Get ‘Em, Tiger” and was absolutely hysterical. Scott Bakula (Quantum Leap) made a pitch perfect cameo as himself in the season 12 premiere of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FXX) “The Gang Turns Black.” Tony Plana guest starring on NBC’s Superstore (Episode 2.17 “Integrity Award”) made for a really exciting Ugly Betty reunion!

Favorite Quotes:

Blackish (ABC)
Episode 3.21 “Sister, Sister”
“I want her to reach her full potential like me, you know. Doctor, wife, mother, doctor.” – Rainbow
“You said doctor already.” – Dre
“It’s a big deal. I mean, I save lives, Dre.” – Rainbow
“Not all of the time.” – Dre

The Middle (ABC)
Episode 8.12 “Pitch Imperfect”
“Here’s the thing Axl, you haven’t been around a lot…I sold the business.” – Mike
“What?! I was supposed to be a diaper heiress.” – Axl
“You wouldn’t be an heiress.” – Mike
“Well not now!” – Axl

Modern Family (ABC)
Episode 8.14 “Heavy is the Head”
“If you pretend to be who people want you to be, you can have as many friends as you want! God, I would love another crack at high school!” – Alex

Life in Pieces (CBS)
Episode 2.16 “Dirtbike Old Mechanic Earthquake”
“Whoa! You guys feel that? It’s an earthquake…drill!” – Tim
“Ugh.” – Kids
“You said you were going to China Town for dumplings.” – Sophia
“Yeah, and Triple Dragon has the best dumps in town.” – Tyler
“I know you think that shortening words is cool, but it’s not.” – Samantha
“That’s exactly why you don’t have a boyf.” – Tyler

Scorpion (CBS)
Episode 3.16 “Keep It In Check, Mate”
“Who’d ever think I’d be the one giving emotional advice to a genius?” – Walter
“It’s the blind leading the blind.” – Toby

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (The CW)
“You really don’t know how old I am, do you?” – Tommy
“I know you’re older than eight and younger than me. Hey, tell you what, why don’t we just go get a bunch of popcorn and watch whatever we want? Sounds good? All right. Vamonos, Boots. And also, FYI, boobs are really just sacks of yellow fat, so not worth the whole obsession” – Rebecca
“Ugh…!” – Tommy
“Now, where does your mom keep your car seat?” – Rebecca

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox)
Episode 4.18 “Chasing Amy”
*Terry dances*
“Stop dancing.” – Captain Holt
*Terry continues to dance*
“Stop. Dancing. – Captain Holt
*Continues dancing.”
“This is a direct order. Stop. Dancing.” – Captain Holt
*Dances*

Episode 4.16 “Moo Moo”
“They’re six, they can take the subway.” – Rosa
“Rosa, that’s crazy. They’re babies. Terry, just call them an uber.” – Gina

Episode 4.22 “Crime & Punishment”
“Charles, you’re -“ – Jake
“In a wheelchair, yep. My back gave out while I was dyeing my pubes.” – Charles

Making History (Fox)
Episode 1.01 Pilot
“History isn’t made by remarkable people. It’s made by unremarkable people doing remarkable things. How are you going to make history, today?” – Chris

New Girl (Fox)
Episode 6.12 “The Cubicle”
“Taking a limo to the bank, what is she, a cartoon cat?” – Schmidt

Episode 6.18 “Young Adult”
“Ferguson! Where have you been?! When you leave the house, you take your cell phone with you.” – Winston (to his cat)

The Last Man on Earth (Fox)
Episode 3.15 “Name 20 Picnics…Now!”
“Well, well, well. What’s going on here?” – Phil
“I was just having a picnic with Melissa.” – Todd
“Oh, that’s weird. I don’t think I ever remember you having a picnic before.” – Phil
“No, yeah, I have picnics all the time.” – Todd
“Oh you do? All the time? All the time. Why don’t you name 20 picnics you’ve had before.” – Phil

The Orville (Fox)
Episode 1.10 “Firestorm”
“This is gonna sound like I’m talking out of my ass.” – Cmdr. Kelly Grayson
“Then please try to enunciate.” – Isaac

The Mindy Project (Hulu)
Episode 6.02 “A Romantical Decouplement”
“So does this mean you’re not moving to Philadelphia?” – Tamra
“No, I can’t. I can’t move the dogs in the middle of a school year.” – Morgan

The Good Place (NBC)
Episode 1.11 “What’s My Motivation”
“I wasn’t a failed DJ. I was pre-successful.” – Jiyanu/Jason

Episode 2.04 “Existential Crisis”
“I’m gonna be the velociraptor.” – Eleanor
“Are you trying to say valedictorian?” – Chidi
“No!” – Eleanor

Great News (NBC)
Episode 1.03 “Chuck Pierce is Blind”
“Mom where are you? you’re supposed to make copies of The Rundown for everybody, I can’t be doing your job.” – Katie
“Okay, the copy machine said it needed toner so then I went to Sephora and I couldn’t figure out how to put it in so I -“ – Carol

Episode 1.07 “The Red Door”
“I should never have read Portia’s email.” – Katie
“Did you see the one about you and Greg? That wasn’t true, right?” – Carol
“No, but why is that so hard to believe? I mean, I’m a sexy girl, right, Mommy?” – Katie

Powerless (NBC)
Episode 1.04 “Emily Dates a Henchman”
“If you so much as lay a finger on my action figures, I will stick my lawyers on you, you son of a bitch! Yes! I will see you this Sunday at the brunch, Mother.” – Van

This is Us (NBC)
Episode 1.17 “What Now?”
“You got white doves?” – Randall
“They don’t make black ones, Randall.” – Beth

Angie Tribeca (TBS)
Episode 3.01 “Welcome Black, Blotter”
“So as we’re swapping personal stuff, I uh, I’ve decided to start dating again. I’m staring down the dark blank abyss of retirement and it would be nice to drag someone down with me.” – Atkins
“We’ll keep an eye out, sir.” – Angie

“Do we have anybody inside the animal rights movement?” – Atkins
“We had a mole, but they rescued him and set him free.” – Geils

Episode 3.02 “Mardi Gras”
“Oh my God, Geils. Check this out. A rich, white man disappeared from a swamp near New Orleans.” – Angie
“I guess New Orleans’s stream of good luck has finally come to end.” – Geils

“Hang on guys. If I were the type of person to give up easily, none of y’all would have seen The Good Wife.” – Angie

Episode 3.09 “Germs of Endearment”
“We need a quarantine to determine how far the virus has spread.” – Atkins
“So we’ll put a condom on the city.” – Mayor Perry

So Long: 2017 saw the end of Syfy’s Incorporated and Dark Matter (the latter of which was Syfy’s best sci-fi show in years). We also said goodbye to Bates Motel (A&E), Rosewood (Fox), Powerless (NBC) No Tomorrow (The CW), Frequency (The CW), and Making History (Fox) to name a few. Notable mentions to Grimm, The Strain, Episodes, and Time After Time which I watched but not often enough to contribute to any success these shows had. Anyhow, they will all be missed. Annnnnd onward!

*****

On My Radar in January

When it comes to what I was most anticipating this past month…movie wise, it was the expansion of The Shape of Water and the release of The Maze Runner: The Death Cure. So far, I’ve seen The Shape of Water and it’s visually one of the best, if not the best movie I will see all year. A pleasant surprise this month was Proud Mary. It was very formulaic but overall, I still really enjoyed myself.

As for TV, wow, this year started off with a bang with the premieres of grownish on Freeform and The Chi on Showtime! I love, love, love these shows!! Both shows have already been renewed for season 2!!! Talk about #BlackGirlMagic! Woo!! Black Lightning also made its series premiere on The CW and I absolutely love it! All new seasons of 60 Days In, Victoria, and The Path launched this month – stay tuned for my season long review of The Path!

Finally, books! Chainbreaker by Tara Sim, The Cruel Prince by Holly Black, Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman, Unearthed by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner, and Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed among many other titles released this month and so far I own two (soon to be three) and have read (and loved) one of them. Looking forward to reading the others as soon as I can! Okay, enough on my radar, here’s what I actually got to doing…

*****

January Wrap Up

Out & About

I started off 2018 by going to a handful events! When it comes to book Q&As/signings, I made sure to be front and center for the LA launches/tour stops for Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu, Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison, Love Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed, and Zenith by Lindsay Cummings and Sasha Alsberg. I also ventured out to Upright Citizens Brigade to see Quinta Brunson lead a comedy show with special guests. The standout comedian guest for me was Jak Knight. He is funny. But back to Quinta, if you haven’t watched her web series, Quinta Vs. Everything, GET ON IT.

Movie Pass

I finally got Movie Pass!!!!! Movie Pass is a service where you pay $10 a month to see unlimited movies (though it’s one movie PER DAY) each month at the pre-selected movie theaters that allow Movie Pass. The catch is that you have to check in on the app first and you must be within 100 yards of the movie theater you choose to do that and then you can actually go to the theater to “buy” the ticket with your Movie Pass Card. Also, your Movie Pass is only good for one person. Which is fine for me since I go to the movies by myself all of the time but really, with this gem, there’s no excuse not to have your loved ones get their own Movie Pass. Needless to say though, with these catches, it’s not going to be easy or possible to see a big movie on opening night, since pre-order tickets for opening nights usually sell out. So you’ll still have to pre-order the old fashion way if you must see something opening night. But if you’re not concerned about that, I’d highly recommend getting in on Movie Pass.

I’ve known about Movie Pass for years but never jumped the gun because it was too expensive. BUT THEN they went and dropped the price dramatically last year and oh my goodness, I wanted IN on that. Still, I knew that everybody and their momma was going to get in on the deal and it would be chaos what with the company being completely overwhelmed with the influx of new customers and I was right (just check the comments and articles all over the web), so I waited it out as long as possible (including waiting until after the holiday season) for the dust to settle. With the Oscars coming up though, I could wait no longer. I joined! I’m going to *try* to keep a thread here so you can follow along my Movie Pass journey. So far, so good. I didn’t fall into the horror story category of waiting forever for my card to arrive or having issues with the card/getting a ticket on my first try. What was the first movie I ended up catching with Movie Pass? Coco! It was so lovely and I am so, so, so glad that the Latinx community has a Disney*Pixar movie that is so completely and unapologetically for them. It was beautiful. Since getting my card, I’ve seen four movies with the card – it would have been five the card worked at a different location I was trying out. The differences with the new to me location were that I had never been there ever in my life before and there were no self-service machines so I couldn’t just do it myself. I prefer self-service machines, so I’ll stick with the two theaters that I’ve been going to (Regal at LA Live & The Grove’s movie theater) as my main options. But I do want to try out all of the nearby theaters that Movie Pass claims to work at just to see how smooth the process is at each theater.

Vegan Stuff

On the vegan side, I’ve officially been vegan for an entire year! I have a big post all about that coming soon, so stay tuned! Anyway, what have I tried recently? Well, I made sure to try the Whole Foods TLTA Sandwich that Tabitha Brown made famous as the TTLA with her viral video. I ate the first half of the sandwich in five minutes, so clearly it’s a winner. It’s really cheap too for the hefty amount of tempeh that they put on the sandwich. A steal, I’d say.

As for new food items… I tried the fala-full sandwich at Veggie Grill and it was SO GOOD and also SO filling. OMG. Speaking of Veggie Grill, if you’re in the LA area and are deciding between the Hollywood location and the West Hollywood location, go to the West Hollywood location every time. The Hollywood location is overall not as clean but I’ve never had a problem at the WeHo location. Also, I can never not get a chocolate chip cookie when I go to Veggie Grill, they’re so good. One of these days, I’m just going to buy all of my favorite vegan chocolate chip cookies from around town and do a taste test to determine which is my absolute favorite.

As for new to me places, I checked out the newly opened Dankness Dojo in Downtown LA and got the Double Cheeseburger made with the Beyond Burger. It was delicious. Very filling, I couldn’t even finish it all. I’d get that again (but I won’t for awhile because I want to try their tacos and the rest of their menu first).

Also, because I missed posting a December wrap up, now’s a good time to mention that I also visited the recently opened completely vegan Bodhi Bowl (my new favorite place – stick with the food though not the smoothies – you can make yourself a more satisfying smoothie at home), Blaze Pizza (where they make your pizza, vegan or not, however you want it right in front of you and it is DELICIOUS), and Spoke Bicycle Cafe (which has amazing potatoes and a great atmosphere to chill/write). Also, shout out to Cocobella Creamery, a 100% vegan ice cream shop which I’m quite happy about, I must say! And with that, here are some photos of the goodies before diving into the usual part of the wrap up!

E-book/Book/ARC/Audiobook Haul
* Chainbreaker by Tara Sim
* Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu
* Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
* Love Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed
* The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller by John Truby
* Zenith by Sasha Alsberg, Lindsay Cummings
* A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo
* Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert
* Someone to Love by Melissa de la Cruz
* Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Movie, Blu-ray, DVD, & TV Reviews
* Grown-ish (Freeform) Series Premiere

Books I Read

If you’d like to keep track of my reading progress as it happens and reviews as they are posted, feel free to follow me on Goodreads!

Books On My Shelf/E-Books I Own That I Read:
1. Love Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed
December
2. The Witch Boy by Molly Ostertag
3. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Library Books (Physical & E-books) That I Read:
1. Loving vs. Virginia: A Documentary Novel of the Landmark Civil Rights Case by Patricia Hruby Powell, Shadra Strickland
2. Ms. Marvel, Vol. 8: Mecca by G. Willow Wilson, Marco Failla, Diego Olortegui, Ian Herring
3. Jessica Jones, Vol. 2: The Secrets of Maria Hill by Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Gaydos, Matt Hollingsworth, Javier Pulido
4. Saga, Vol. 3 by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples
5. Giant Days, Vol. 3 by John Allison, Whitney Cogar, Lissa Treiman
December
1. Ms. Marvel, Vol. 7: Damage Per Second by G. Willow Wilson, Takeshi Miyazawa, Mirka Andolfo
2. The Walking Dead, Vol. 28: A Certain Doom by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, Stefano Gaudiano, Cliff Rathburn, Dave Stewart
3. Giant Days, Vol. 2 by John Allison, Lissa Treiman, Max Sarin, Whitney Cogar
4. Saga, Vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples
5. Wonder Woman Vol. 1: The Lies by Greg Rucka, Liam Sharp
6. Uglies: Shay’s Story by Scott Westerfeld, Devin Grayson, Steven Cummings
7. Spill Zone by Scott Westerfeld, Alex Puvilland, Hilary Sycamore
8. Spill Night by Scott Westerfeld, Alex Puvilland
9. The Legs Are the Last to Go: Aging, Acting, Marrying, and Other Things I Learned the Hard Way by Diahann Carroll

Audiobooks That I Listened To (Own/Library):
1. Here We Are Now by Jasmine Warga
2. Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded by Hannah Hart
3. Binge by Tyler Oakley
4. Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari, Eric Klinenberg
5. A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo
6. Blessed Life: My Surprising Journey of Joy, Tears, and Tales from Harlem to Hollywood by Kim Fields, Todd Gold
7. Love, Life, and the List by Kasie West
8.  The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
December
1. Self-Inflicted Wounds: Heartwarming Tales of Epic Humiliation by Aisha Tyler
2. The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey
3. Champion by Marie Lu
4. Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra, Dhonielle Clayton
5. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
6. The Young Elites by Marie Lu
7. What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Books That I Read In-Store:
1. Comic Genius: Portraits of Funny People by Matt Hoyle
2. Rad American Women A-Z: Rebels, Trailblazers, and Visionaries who Shaped Our History… and Our Future! by Kate Schatz, Miriam Klein Stahl
December
1. Carry This Book by Abbi Jacobson

My favorite reads last month & this month were: Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded by Hannah Hart & The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Movies & Documentaries I Watched

Watched in December 2017 + January 2018
January
Coco (Movie Theaters)
Proud Mary (Movie Theaters)
I, Tonya (Movie Theaters)
The Shape of Water (Movie Theaters)
The Post (Movie Theaters)
December
Jumanji (Movie Theaters)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Movie Theaters)
What Happened to Monday? (Netflix)
A Christmas Prince (Netflix)
Christmas Inheritance (Netflix)
Bright (Netflix)

My favorite movies last month and this month were: Coco, Proud Mary, & Jumanji

Until next month, happy reading and viewing!