Episode 351 || Holiday Kids' Table
This week on From the Front Porch, Annie sits down with her cousin Ashley and her brother Chet to talk about what they’re reading, watching, listening to, and buying this season.
To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, visit our new website:
Annie’s List / Reading
Bright Evening Star by Madeleine L'Engle (not available)
Picking Cotton by Erin Torneo, Jennifer Thompson-Cannino, and Ronald Cotton
These Precious Days by Ann Patchett
Annie’s List Watching
Merry Kissmas
The Holidate
Very Merry Bridesmaid
8-Bit Christmas
Love Hard
Annie’s List/ Listening to
Emily P. Freeman's The Quiet Collection (podcast)
Finishing up The Rise & Fall of Mars Hill (podcast)
Red (Taylor’s Version)
Chet’s List/Reading
Robert Bly, Iron John: A Book About Men (not available through The Bookshelf)
Austen Hartke, Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians (not available)
A.P. U.S. Government and Politics material
Chet’s List / Watching
Seinfeld
Survivor
Great British Baking Show
Chet’s List / Listening
Wolves in the Throne Room, Diadem of 12 Stars
Deafheaven, Sunbather
Page CXVI, Advent to Christmas
Ashley’s List / Reading
Hooked by Sutton Foster
No Cure for Being Human by Kate Bowler
Ashley’s List / Watching
One Tree Hill
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Ashley’s List/ Listening to
Red (Taylor’s Version)
From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com.
A full transcript of today’s episode can be found below.
Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.
Thank you again to this week’s sponsor, Visit Thomasville. Whether you live close by or are passing through, I hope you'll visit beautiful Thomasville, Georgia: www.thomasvillega.com.
This week, Annie is reading Golden Boys by Phil Stamper. Ashley is reading Wild Spectacle by Janisse Ray. Chet is reading Iron John by Robert Bly.
If you liked what you heard in today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff’s weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter and follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.
We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.
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episode transcript:
Annie [00:00:02] [squeaky porch swing] Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the South. [music plays out]
[as music fades out]
“At Christmastime, we get a gift. The world opens, just slightly, to the possibility of mystery.” ― Addie Zierman, from the foreword to Bright Evening Star, by Madeleine L’Engle
I’m Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia, and this week, I’m joined by my very favorite relatives for an episode of the Kids’ Table. Every season, I sit down with my cousin and frequent Bookshelf contributor Ashley Sherlock to chat about what we’re reading, watching, listening to, and buying. As we enter the holiday season and gather around our families literal kids’ tables (yes, we still sit at the kids’ table), I thought it would be fun to bring in one of our other kids’ table members, my brother, Chet Butterworth. Chet is a high school teacher in Chattanooga, Tennessee; he’s an avid reader of nonfiction, and we all literally grew up together.
Chet [00:01:21] Hi.
Annie [00:01:22] Welcome to the show, Chet.
Chet [00:01:24] Hey. Glad to be here.
Annie [00:01:27] And welcome back, Ashley.
Ashley [00:01:28] Thank you.
Annie [00:01:30] It's the holiday season, and I thought it would be fun for us to chat as we do around our family's kids' tables. I did want to give people a sense of what our family holiday seasons and Christmases were like. And so I'm going to ask you guys the question that Jordan asked me the other night and I had to think about it, which is, and Chet, I'll let you go first. What is your favorite Christmas gift you were ever given in childhood?
Chet [00:02:01] My favorite Christmas gift ever given in childhood? I don't really know. I'd have to think about it in the time period that would be too long for a podcast, but I'm going to go with my skateboard that I got in fifth or sixth grade because that kind of changed my life.
Annie [00:02:22] That's what I would have guessed. So I feel like that's a good answer. Ashley, what about you?
Ashley [00:02:27] OK, I need to know if you have a guess for mine because I can only remember you asked the question now I can only remember two Christmas gifts that I have ever received in my entire life. One of them is a gigantic stuffed Blue's Clues Blue Dog. I Think from your mom. And one one is a really cool bike that I found out that I was getting on accident. I don't know. I don't know if you were here, but Caroline and I were. We were at mom and pop this house on Christmas Eve and we were going out to the back porch to play because everybody was like mostly done with everything. And I open the back door, saw a bike with a big red bow on it, and I was like, I don't think I was supposed to see that and then closed it and we did not play. I think that's my favorite gift just because of the story.
Annie [00:03:18] Yes, there's a story attached. My answer was, and I don't know, I think this was my favorite. I mean, I got American Girl Dolls for a long time. Like probably well past the age most girls were receiving American Girl Dolls. And I really did love them. But I don't know if it's because I've seen the video footage, but I do have very fond memories of the desk that I was given. And that was the that was what I told Jordan. That was my answer. And I think this sets up our personality types for the show because people are familiar with Ashley. They know she's in any Enneagram nine. The fact that she didn't even tell anyone she'd found that bicycle is perfect evidence of her personality. And then Chet is actually like me, an Enneagram five. I think he's an INTJ, is that right?
Chet [00:04:11] Yes.
Annie [00:04:12] So we are very similar, but also very different. Chet is much cooler than I am, and the fact that his favorite gift was a skateboard, I feel like is evidence of our differences. So Chet is the punk rock Butterworth and I am the yacht rock Butterworth, which is accurate. OK, so we're going to do this kind of round robin style. We're just going to chat about what we're into right now. So, Ashley, do you want to kick us off with something you are reading right now?
Ashley [00:04:45] Sure. I picked up Hooked by Sutton Foster. This, I think this is, however, many episodes we have been doing The Kids' table, I have brought up Sutton Foster for almost every single one of them. Her book came out in October. I didn't get to it until the end of November, but is fantastic. It's a memoir says it's about crafting, but it's really about her familial relationships, especially her relationship with her mom, and it's actually quite touching.
Annie [00:05:19] Did you cry?
Ashley [00:05:21] Maybe a bit.
Annie [00:05:24] And did you listen to this or did you read the physical copy?
Ashley [00:05:28] I have. I read the physical copy, but apparently she reads the audio book and I might listen to it.
Annie [00:05:34] Yes, several people have recommended that audio book to me, which we're going to get to this in a second. But I am having trouble focusing on everything. And so maybe audio books is where it's going to be for me for a while. Chet, what are you reading right now? So curious. Like, what have you been reading? What can you share with us?
Chet [00:05:52] Well, since I'm in the school year, I don't really have a ton of time to read everything that I want to. But I'm in a book club and there's three guys in the book club and we each pick a book and read it. And right now we're reading a book called Iron John: (subtitle) A Book About Men. I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of it, I'm not I'm not a big fan of the book. It's kind of I never read Wild At Heart, so I could be speaking out of place here, but it feels like a Wild At Heart for hippies.
Annie [00:06:31] God bless.
Chet [00:06:32] So the last book that we read for Book Club was Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians. And so reading these two books back to back is like a mega whiplash and interesting. But yeah, there's some. There's some like really good stuff in Iron John where I'm like, Wow, I like that. Like, he makes fun of Reagan on the first page that might get edited out then, but then it says other things and you're just like. But I don't know, and then it's just a weird book, like he's a poet, like one of these deep, I guess, are called deep myth mythos people, deep poetry people. I don't know. That's not my specialty. So it just seems like he could be making deriving meaning out of any of these old ancient poems and just willy nilly, I don't know. But anyway, it's a frustrating book to read, but it's good to read books that are frustrating, which is one of the reasons I like that I like this book club for because we all bring different things to the table.
Annie [00:07:47] That's yeah, I think that's the beauty of Book Club. I we've talked about it. I think we talked about it recently on an episode of Literary Therapy here. The whole point of a book club is to get to sit around, and you may not like every book you read together, but that would be also be really boring if you just sat around. We're like, We like this. And so I that's why I love book clubs because sometimes they force me to read things I wouldn't normally read or I would give up on. And your book club sounds pretty low key because there's just three of you. But I remember distinctly the like rule of the great books classroom was if you did not read the selected passage for the day, you were expected to come to class and listen and engage in the conversation that way, but you could not talk about something you had not read. And I I personally apply that rule to my own book clubs when I show up, I don't always get to finish the book. And so and there have been occasions where I've not finished the book because I didn't like it. And so when I go, I have to kind of close my mouth and wait and see, Wait, why did other people in my book club really love this? Or what did they find interesting that maybe I didn't pick up on at all? That's why I advocate for book clubs a lot. I think they're important.
Chet [00:09:02] Big fan, big fan of the book club.
Ashley [00:09:03] I got to give me one of those.
Annie [00:09:05] Yeah, Ashley, I think you'd enjoy it.
Ashley [00:09:08] I don't think I've ever written a book club. I don't know why, but...
Annie [00:09:12] I think, yeah, it's the first thing I did when I graduated college was I started a book club. I think because I miss, you know, nerd alert, just messing around talking about books. Although, OK, so my first one is not a book because again, having trouble focusing, I do have a book I want to recommend, but I read the most interesting article. I read several articles, but I'm going to recommend two of them. This is why book I love Book Club. I'm really interested in an article club that's like my 2022 thing I might want to try, but I read this article about Anthony Broadwater. Maybe you've heard of him. He was recently exonerated and found not guilty for a crime he had been convicted of and and was sentenced to 16 years in prison, for which Jordan and I have participated in some things through the Innocence Project of Florida. So I'm always interested in stories like this. However, this one is especially interesting to me because so Anthony Broadwater was accused and convicted of raping a woman named Alice Sebold. You might recognize her name because she's a New York Times best selling author of the book The Lovely Bones. Do you remember that weird movie with Stanley Tucci?
Ashley [00:10:30] Yes.
Annie [00:10:30] And and then she wrote a memoir about the sexual assault and rape case called Lucky, and she talks about ID'ing him, and it has since been found out that he was innocent. And so it is very reminiscent of a book I read a few years ago called Picking Cotton, which was a Thomas County one book selection. And this and it's uncanny kind of the similarities, but not uncanny, because I think this does happen quite a bit. And so there are two really good articles. I highly recommend the article by The Washington Post, which is more of kind of a factual representation of the case and Anthony Broadwater's story. And then there's also and I was I wasn't sure because sometimes editorials are, you know, have these clickbait headlines. But Jezebel actually had a really great article all about what is Anthony Broadwater owed? And specifically, what is he owed, if anything from author Alice Sebold and Alice Sebold has come out and written an apology, though of course, an apology feels when somebody has spent 16 years in prison for something they didn't do, an apology feels small, and the internet has of course, identified that as small. And so it's been really interesting, and I would at least recommend those two pieces, though I'm sure there are others, but the entire story is just really fascinating and heartbreaking and just an interesting look at the criminal justice system, which I think we're constantly evaluating the the criminal justice system. So anyway, not necessarily light Christmas holiday fare. But I do think worthwhile and worthy of reading and discussing in your families and around your tables at. Ashley, anything else you're reading?
Ashley [00:12:13] Sure. Not a lot of variety happening over here for me lately. So another memoir that made me cry is No Cure for Being Human by Kate Bowler. If I know, I know a lot of people listening have probably seen it everywhere. But if you've seen it and have not read it, it is definitely worth picking up.
Annie [00:12:34] Hmm. That book is so good. Chet you might like it, too. Kate Bowler is a professor of Divinity at Duke.
Chet [00:12:42] Oh, OK,.
Annie [00:12:43] Listeners are probably like thinking, why would Chet care about that?
Chet [00:12:49] Yes, I feel I recognize that name, but I was about to say something, and then I was like, Oh, actually, I don't. I'm not sure if I really know or so I'm not going to say anything. But it sounds familiar.
Annie [00:13:01] Do you listen to her podcast, Ashley Bowler's podcast?
Ashley [00:13:04] I listened to it one time to do research or a job application, but that's it.
Annie [00:13:11] So I I do not listen to her podcast, but I really would like to. I loved the book, and I would really like to listen to her interview with Stanley Tucci. That's a second Tucci reference, because his memoir is so good. I just finished his memoir and it's excellent and she interviews him. And I think that would be really interesting because Stanley Tucci also had a bout with cancer that I did not know about until I read his book.
Ashley [00:13:32] Oh, I feel like I didn't know that. Or maybe you told me that. You probably did.
Annie [00:13:37] That book is excellent, and so is Kate Bowler's book. Kate Bowler's book made me feel OK again.
Ashley [00:13:42] Yeah.
Annie [00:13:43] Chet, are you reading anything else?
Chet [00:13:46] I read a lot of articles and I read a lot of primary, like the primary documents that I assign to my students. I go back and reread those a lot, but right now it's just kind of reading what I'm assigning to my students and stuff like that.
Annie [00:14:03] Can you tell the listeners what you teach so they know what kind of articles you're talking about?
Chet [00:14:07] I have one foot in the social studies department where I teach AP United States government and politics. And I have another foot in the religion department at the school. It's a private school and I teach comparative world religions and then occasionally I have some random social studies electives thrown my way. But those are my two primary courses that I teach AP US Gov and World Religions.
Annie [00:14:35] The things we're not even supposed to talk about.
Chet [00:14:37] Yeah, I get paid to talk about them. It's great. I love it.
Annie [00:14:41] I am reading two books right now. One, I just finished that. Ashley I know you would really like is These Precious Days by Ann Patchett. I think I might be an outlier in that I prefer Ann Patchett nonfiction to fiction. And but truly, when I say I can't focus right now, I really do mean that I can not focus on anything. I'm not. We're going to get to what we're watching. Like, I don't know, the brainpower just isn't there right now. And I thought my holiday season would be full of rom coms because those would be light and fun. And I read a couple of those and then thought, I cannot read these all December. I can't do it. Even even I have my limits. And it turns out that essays are a really great thing to read right now because it's like reading a book full of articles. And so I would read a couple of essays, laugh, maybe cry and then put it down and then pick it back up again. And Ann Patchett, to me, is a master of her craft, and so I highly recommend These Precious Days her latest essay collection. And then I also am reading for Advent. I didn't really create. I have not done a reading practice for Advent, but I am reading through the book Bright Evening Star by Madeline Lingle, which I really love because she writes about the mystery of faith so well. And I find that very comforting this time of year. So I've read one of her other books before. I think Miracle on 10th Street was what I read a couple of years ago, and I'm really liking this one, and it's easy to kind of pick up and read a little bit and then put it back down. So that's kind of my advent reading. Anything else you guys are reading that you want to share before we move on to the next next thing?
Ashley [00:16:17] I'm saving mine for the end. Yeah.
Annie [00:16:22] OK. All right. So let's go to watching, and I am very curious. Chet, why don't you start here and tell us what you are watching right now?
Chet [00:16:30] What am I watching? I am binge watching Seinfeld. Big fan. It's on Netflix now. Oh, we just finished the latest season of Great British Baking Show. And, you know, Big Giuseppe fans. So spoiler alert. I loved seeing him take home the gold, and something that we did in the past year was we started binge watching Survivor like the old seasons. And so now we are currently watching the season that's coming on TV right now, and we have a big group that gets together some friends and we have we do like a fantasy survivor type thing on Wednesdays, so we watch that on a week to week basis. And then any kind of waking moment that I have on watching Seinfeld. If I'm not teaching or on a bicycle.
Annie [00:17:26] I want to ask about the week to week, do you like, you know, after binge watching so much, is it kind of fun to return to that model of like appointment television like every Wednesday, you watch an episode of Survivor?
Chet [00:17:40] If it we're not tied to a social gathering. No, I don't think I would like it. It's too stressful. It's too intense. Like the waiting. I'm not. I don't like that. I mean, streaming has really ruined probably a lot of my brain capacity. I was just talking with a student today of like, Yeah, I can I can watch like six hours of a 22 minute show, back to back to back to back, but I can't hardly stay at sit through a 90 minute movie. Yeah, and I feel like that also kind of applies to like watching a show week to week. It's like the waiting. It's my my patience in that venue has been destroyed by streaming services. So if it were not tied to like we, we usually have like somebody makes soup and we bring soup. And if we're not tied to like the social thing, they'd be too too stressful. I would just wait to stream it all.
Annie [00:18:41] Oh, fascinating. Ashley, what are you watching right now?
Ashley [00:18:46] OK, so I wasn't going to talk about this, but now I want. I want to know, have either of you seen One Tree Hill? Because I don't think you have?
Annie [00:18:54] No, no. I was out for my time. I think. I think I'm not too old. Yeah.
Ashley [00:19:00] That's what I thought.
Chet [00:19:01] I saw Gilmore Girls yesterday.
Ashley [00:19:02] OK it is not as good as Gilmore Girls, but I would like to know. I mean, Dawson's Creek forever for Annie. But I would be interested to know what the two of you think because I watched in college and like, liked it for what it was. You know, like, it's not good TV, but like, I watched the whole thing and enjoyed it, and now I'm watching it with Caroline and she cannot get enough of it. And so I, if you ever have like, spare time or something, you need something to watch. Watch One Tree Hill and then compare it to Dawson's Creek or even Gilmore Girls.
Chet [00:19:38] Is it like a Midwestern O.C.? Remember The O.C.
Ashley [00:19:42] I love The O.C.
Annie [00:19:44] Loved The O.C.
Chet [00:19:47] So in the Midwest?
Ashley [00:19:48] It's Dawson's Creek, but with more attractive people.
Chet [00:19:52] In basketball, right? And there's basketball?
Ashley [00:19:56] Pacey is not pacey is the most attractive person on Dawson's Creek, but he does. He doesn't compare to anybody else on One Tree Hill. Look, I'm a Pacey fan. I love Pacey, but these people are just like objectively more attractive.
Annie [00:20:12] Too attractive? Are they too handsome?
Ashley [00:20:14] Yes, there are too, they are all too handsome. Too beautiful. But no, that's why you're still going to say with Dawson's Creek. But I still want to know what you think.
Annie [00:20:22] So here's my question my internet friend Marcy every January picks a show that she has never seen that she will like, watch, start to finish, and some examples are Dawson's Creek, Superstore. Like she just picks a show that she missed when it originally came out. And she kind of she calls it the show that kind of gets her through her winter doldrums. So here's my question, Could One Tree Hill be that for me? Like January and February Jordan's at work like he works a lot, and so it's a I need to watch a show that he will not want to watch. And that sounds like maybe One Tree Hill might be good.
Ashley [00:20:57] Yeah. Jordan will not want to watch this. I think it could be. The episodes are long their hour long episodes 45 minute episodes, but it's very dramatic. But I do think this could. This could be that show for you.
Annie [00:21:11] OK, maybe I'll try it. I don't know. I'm a little reticent because I feel like I don't have the nostalgia factor like helping me love it. Like I know, part of the reason I love Dawson's Creek is from watching it in college. And so I don't know, but maybe I'll try it.
Ashley [00:21:26] I think there's potential.
Annie [00:21:28] OK, I have a theory. So Jordan and I have been watching a lot of holiday Christmassy things, and every night like Jordan will ask me, Hey, are you ready to watch The Family Stone, which is one of my favorites or are you ready to watch... Love The Family Stone. Do you like it?
Chet [00:21:46] I'm a fan. Yeah.
Annie [00:21:48] Oh man, I love that. I love that movie. Every night he like, asks me, Are you ready to watch It's a Wonderful Life or like some of these classics. And I told him, no, because in my mind, as of this recording, we are recording on December 5th or 6th. And I think right now is the time for the B or C Team Christmas movies. And then the closer you get to Christmas, then you watch the ones you really love. Like, I feel like if I watch The Family Stone now, I will need to watch it again before Christmas. And so in that vein, let me tell you some B and and C movies that we have watched in the last couple of nights. I apologize in advance for all of them. The first is wait. OK. The first is called A Merry Kissmas.
Ashley [00:22:42] Is that a Hallmark movie?
Annie [00:22:44] I don't think it is only because they kiss so much, and I feel like hallmark movies. They only kiss once at the end. Yeah, it's like it's some kind of I couldn't find it on Netflix. We think it's some off brand, maybe it's a Lifetime. We don't know. But it is called Merry Kissmas.
Chet [00:23:00] Starz. On Starz.
Annie [00:23:00] Jordan. Sure. Yeah. It Starz. Jordan thinks it's better because that leads have chemistry, but there is a magic elevator, so I don't know what to do here.
Ashley [00:23:12] How did you how did you guys land on that one? That seems very off brand.
Annie [00:23:17] Yes. I honestly could not tell you. Similarly, we watched on Saturday night because it was on TV. We still get cable. It's part of like living in a small town like our phone and our trash is tied up in with our cable. And so we get cable and we watched A Very... wait what is it called? A Very Merry Bridesmaid starring Emily Osment.
Chet [00:23:39] You sound like Dee Dee.
Ashley [00:23:40] Oh, Caroline's excited about that one.
Annie [00:23:43] Yeah. Caroline, still love it. Jordan and I felt ambivalent, although I am rooting for Emily Osment's career. We watched the Netflix movie The Holidate starring Emma Roberts.
Ashley [00:23:54] I saw that last year.
Chet [00:23:56] We started that.
Annie [00:23:57] Y'all. Is it good?
Chet [00:24:00] We turned it off.
Ashley [00:24:01] I don't think so.
Annie [00:24:02] I don't think it was good. I kept thinking, I think I watched it last year because wasn't it a last year movie.
Ashley [00:24:10] Uh huh.
Annie [00:24:11] And I just thought, Why is Kristin Chenoweth here? Why? What is going on? I just had a lot of questions. And why is Emily no offense to Emma Roberts, but I just wanted to wash her hair for her. It just felt like she needed a good hair washing. I say all that to say I have a legitimate recommendation. None of those are good. Don't watch them. Also, don't watch Love Hard. Did not like it. It's on Netflix. Do not recommend. OK, but what I do recommend.
Ashley [00:24:37] Is that a Christmas movie.
Annie [00:24:39] It is a Christmas movie.
Ashley [00:24:40] Doesn't sound liek it.
Chet [00:24:42] Is it a parody, a romantic parody of Die Hard?
Annie [00:24:46] No, but I think there are Die Hard references in it. I just did not enjoy it at all. You know what?
Chet [00:24:51] It doesn't sound like something you should Google.
Annie [00:24:53] No, don't Google it. But let me tell you, watching these movies does give you an appreciation for the craft that is acting and for the craft that is writing. If you're ever if you've ever been one of those people who's like actors, they don't work like, that's not a real job. Then you watch some of these movies and you're like, Oh, how I wish a real actor or actress was starring in this film, because then you just think Nora Ephron was a genius. But there's a good one. I have one for you, for real. Everyone should watch on HBO Max Eight Bit Christmas. Have you heard of this?
Ashley [00:25:27] No.
Chet [00:25:28] Only from a text message from you.
Annie [00:25:30] OK. That's right, because when I like something, I evangelize for it. You're welcome, everyone. And I think you all would love it. Jordan and I watched it. It stars Neil Patrick Harris. It's on HBO Max. We thought I thought it was going to be a Jordan movie, like kind of goofy, like jingle all the way kind of thing.
Chet [00:25:49] Love it, that's an A Team movie.
Annie [00:25:51] So it it has those elements you this is why you're going to love it. Has this element sculpt the nostalgia factor for those of us who grew up in the 80s and 90s and it also had like an Annie element, you'll understand when you watch it, but it is delightful. Highly recommend for your whole family. It is B, I think it is B or A Team. Could become an A-Team movie through the years. Only wish I could own it on DVD.
Ashley [00:26:15] When did it come out?
Annie [00:26:17] Actually, it came out this year. It's a this year movie.
Ashley [00:26:20] Interesting. I'm always hesitant about, like this year movies. Not this year in particular, but new Christmas movies.
Annie [00:26:26] That's because of the ones, I just mentioned to you that are all terrible. But this one is really legitimately good, and I really am just sad that I can't own it because it's one I would want to own.
Ashley [00:26:37] Along those same lines, have you seen Happiest Season on Hulu?
Annie [00:26:42] I didn't like it.
Ashley [00:26:43] With Daniel Levy. I don't think I did either.
Annie [00:26:46] I wanted to love it and I didn't.
Ashley [00:26:49] Same. I started it and I was like, Is this going to end up being like the Holidate? And in a way it was my favorite part was Daniel Levy's part was him pretending to be a straight man. But other than that? Not a fan.
Annie [00:27:03] Yeah, I just did not like that, either. Which is a bummer. Anything else you guys are watching?
Ashley [00:27:09] You know, I know you've seen The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, right?
Annie [00:27:12] Yes.
Ashley [00:27:14] Chet have you?
Chet [00:27:15] I have never heard of that.
Ashley [00:27:17] OK, well, it's written by Amy Sherman-Palladino, who also wrote Gilmore Girls, it's not new, it's not new, but I think it's really good. I'm thoroughly enjoying it. The first episode had me had me hooked. It ended exactly the way I wanted it to, and I'm on season two right now and still having a great time.
Annie [00:27:37] Has Zachary Levi showed up yet?
Ashley [00:27:40] Uh no.
Annie [00:27:42] He's my favorite part of that show, and I can't remember he shows up in season two or three.
Ashley [00:27:46] Must be three.
Annie [00:27:48] OK. You know who I really can't stand is her whoever the ex-husband. I just I have a hard time liking that show because I do not like his character.
Ashley [00:27:56] I don't enjoy him by everybody else. I'm having a good time. I just really, I really like Midge. She's everything I want her to be. So far.
Annie [00:28:04] Amy Sherman-Palladino knows how to write the fast dialogue, too. Like, she's so smart.
Ashley [00:28:10] Amy Amy Sherman-Palladino is like, she's all over the show. Like, you can't. Yes, you can't know if Amy Sherman-Palladino and not recognize that this is hers.
Annie [00:28:20] OK. Ashley, what have you been listening to?
Ashley [00:28:23] This is not helpful for anyone, but I can't stop listening to Red, Taylor's Version.
Annie [00:28:29] That's on my list, too.
Ashley [00:28:31] That's the number one thing I get my get in the car and it's Taylor Swift and I go to work and it's Taylor Swift, like, I'm just always listening to Taylor Swift.
Annie [00:28:41] CHet have you listened to the Taylor's Version Red?
Chet [00:28:44] We listen to, we listened to it all the way down to Florida. I don't know how much of the album we listen to, but I'm more of a reputation and after Swifty.
Annie [00:28:56] Yeah. What's your favorite Taylor Swift album? Is Reputation yours?
Chet [00:29:00] I have a number of songs from Reputation on my workout playlist, but a big fan of some of the songs on the one after that with the like pinkish album cover.
Annie [00:29:13] Lover?
Chet [00:29:14] Lover? The one about walking down 16th Avenue. Big fan. And then I really like. The one with a black and white Folklore or Evermore? Folklore.
Annie [00:29:26] Folklore, I love Folklore, Folklore and 1989 are my two favorite albums. Ashley, what are your favorite Taylor Swift albums?
Chet [00:29:35] I think it might be Reputation, and based on my present listening pattern, Red.
Annie [00:29:42] Red is a good album.
Ashley [00:29:43] I love songs from the vault.
Annie [00:29:46] I do, too. Which one's your fave?
Ashley [00:29:48] I don't know. Maybe. Wait, wait, what's it called? I listened to it literally every day. The Moment I Knew.
Annie [00:29:57] Oh, OK.
Ashley [00:29:58] That's from the vault, right?
Annie [00:30:00] I think so. To be honest with you now, I don't know now I'm doubting myself.
Ashley [00:30:05] Yes me too.
Annie [00:30:06] I want to talk about All Too Well, the 10 minute version, because I have a literary comparison. Okay, so I listen to All Too Well, the 10 minute version. And I was like, Sure. Thank you so much for sharing this. This is like when we got Harper Lee's first draft of To Kill a Mockingbird Go, Set a Watchman, which unpopular opinion I adored, but the rest of the world hated, and I listened to all too well and I thought, I'm glad to have this because to me, it shows the genius of editing like this is why, like, because no one needs a ten minute song like, I don't need it ten minutes. So I don't need to listen to anything for ten minutes unless I'm timing myself to do something, which I've seen some like TikToks and memes about. And I do think that's fun. Like, if you have a ten minute task now you have a song for that, but it just makes me grateful for an editor. And that's one of the geniuses of reading Go Set a Watchman is realizing, Oh my gosh, like somebody took this and helped Harper Lee craft it to become To Kill a Mockingbird. And I think that is what is interesting about All Too Well, the 10 minute version versus the kind of record album single release.
Ashley [00:31:23] OK, I appreciate that. Good comparison.
Annie [00:31:27] I have also been listening to a lot of Taylor Swift Red. One of my favorite songs from The Vault is just because it's just a real bop, Chet you could add it to your workout playlist. It is Message In a Bottle.
Ashley [00:31:39] Oh, I love that one, too.
Annie [00:31:41] I just think it's fun. I just think it's very fun if you need something. I also am just curious if you guys did your Spotify wrapped?
Ashley [00:31:49] I would prefer to keep that information classified.
Chet [00:31:53] Wrapped? Under wraps?
Annie [00:31:57] Chet did you...
Chet [00:31:59] I'm an Apple Music boy. I'm on my brother in law's. I'm on my brother in law's brother's family account. So I'm on Apple Music because it's free and I don't have to pay for Spotify any more. So I don't get the cool Spotify wrap thing. I get the kind of lame replay thing. But I don't have to pay money anyway, so I'm I'm poor and cheap.
Annie [00:32:24] I did not know honestly anyone younger than 50 years old used Apple Music.
Ashley [00:32:29] Yeah, I was going to say, I think you're the only, you're the only person I know.
Chet [00:32:33] Well, I don't have to pay for it. So that's great. And I get all my brother in law's calendar updates because I'm on his Apple thing now. I get to see what he needs to call his dad.
Annie [00:32:46] What a plus. Chet then what are you listening to right now?
Chet [00:32:51] I'm a very seasonal music listener. My taste in music goes with the seasons, so right now I'm listening to a lot of advent hymns and black metal music to go with the gloomy gray weather, which I love. And you know, that's a juxtaposition that I'm willing to live with. Black metal and and hymns. But that's what I find myself listening to a lot of Wolves in The Throne Room, Dark Throne, Death Heaven, and then advent hymns. So I'm a weirdo.
Annie [00:33:38] Do you have a favorite advent?
Chet [00:33:41] I really love. Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel. I really love just in general. I love old hymns. And I really love modern reimagination of old hymns. But I generally disdain ninety seven percent of Christian music. Except unless if it was written before 1929. I'm pretty OK with it.
Annie [00:34:08] You're just tossing out those statistics?
Chet [00:34:12] I thought it out and I have theological reasons for it. But the older, the better, basically. And that I really appreciate modern artistic takes on those things.
Annie [00:34:25] So speaking of advent, my listening to other than Taylor Swift is I was telling about how I really can't focus on things, and I've just been picking up things in pieces, parts like reading, the Madeleine L'Engel book and pieces parts or whatever. But one thing that I've really been enjoying is Emily P. Freeman's Quiet Collection. So this is like a thing that you can download to your podcast app and they're five minute ish episodes a day. And I think it's just for ten days leading up to Christmas, but you can start it at any time. So I did this last year and really liked it and really am loving it because it's just these five minute reflections essentially leading up to Christmas and kind of honoring the waiting season that is advent. And I really love it, and it's very soothing and calming. I mean, Emily's voice, if you listen to her at all, is very soothing and calming, and I really like that. And yeah, just really appreciate having something to listen to because it feels like advent is such a juxtaposition with my actual real life during this time of year. Maybe other people feel that way, too, but retail retail this time of year is like the opposite of calm, somber penitence. So it's very loud and chaotic, and I love it, but it is a weird juxtaposition. And so I kind of like starting my day with these little reflections. So that's the other thing I've been listening to.
Ashley [00:35:55] Very nice. I've been I wanted to get The Quiet collection, and I haven't. Is it if it's all available?
Annie [00:36:01] It's still available because you can start at any time.
Ashley [00:36:04] OK, and is it an everyday thing?
Annie [00:36:06] When it downloads, I think it downloads all 10 episodes and you can kind of choose or it may just download one a day, but it's just 10 days, which is what I also like so that if you miss one, you don't feel like, Oh no, I'm behind.
Ashley [00:36:18] Yeah, I like that.
Annie [00:36:21] Chet, I wanted to see the other thing that I've been listening to. I'm just about to finish finally, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, and I wondered if you were still listening to that podcast?
Chet [00:36:30] I'm almost done with the last episode that came out yesterday or today.
Annie [00:36:34] Wow, you caught up so quick. Were you listening to it the whole time?
Chet [00:36:38] I started listening to it just a couple of weeks ago and then I think it was my Thanksgiving break and I binge listened to almost all of it, I think, like I caught up.
Annie [00:36:53] It's just such great long form journalism. Ashley I think you would like that too.
Ashley [00:36:57] I think you've mentioned that before.
Chet [00:36:59] Yeah.
Annie [00:37:00] I mean, it's maddening. Don't get me wrong. Like if you listen to it, really angry.
Annie [00:37:06] I think I think that's why I haven't listened to it yet. I mean, you told me that, yeah, yeah.
Chet [00:37:12] I've been a long term person who did not appreciate the work of Mark Driscoll.
Annie [00:37:20] That was so diplomatic of you.
Chet [00:37:22] I know, I'm proud of myself as I've really listened to. I listen to so much of it and kind of smug arrogance of my feeling really justified and in my disdain for that kind of brand of Christianity. But then some of these recent episodes, the one about Bobby Knight was one that just like punched me in my gut. What a what a good episode where he's talking about Mother Teresa and Princess Diana. And like, we all want to be Princess Diana, but none of us can, and we could all be like Mother Teresa, but none of us will, or none of us want to. Oh, shoot. That's real.
Annie [00:38:02] Yeah, I think it's done a really beautiful job of showing. I told. I think I told my our I told our parents earlier today I was like, I think I have come out of a couple of pretty negative church experiences, one of which was pretty reminiscent of some of what was going on at Marcella, just in terms of the narcissism of the leader, et cetera. And so you listen and you definitely are filled with anger. But then there is a component of but and of course, this is a about a Christian church. And so and obviously, that's my faith background. But this idea that God was still moving there anyway and in spite of it all. And I find that to be really fascinating and helpful to kind of balance the kind of anger, frustration or malaise that I feel while listening to it. OK. Tis the season for buying stuff. Ashley, what are you buying?
Ashley [00:39:02] OK, so normally I love buying stuff. This is my time to shine. I love giving gifts and I love getting gifts and I love giving gifts to myself.
Chet [00:39:16] I'm the same. Same.
Ashley [00:39:19] But I'm having a little bit of a hard time with that this year. Not really sure why I'm not going to psychoanalyze myself on a podcast, though. But one thing that I bought and have also received from Chet and Becca this year is fuzzy socks. I bought myself a pair, bought myself a pair from The Bookshelf, which I don't know if you have any left. So if there are still some...
Annie [00:39:46] Yeah, there are a few.
Ashley [00:39:47] OK, if you're listening to this podcast, then give them a call because there's not many left and they're very worth it. And I'm not sure where the socks that Chet and Becca gave me came from, but I'm on a rotation on rotation of three pairs this they just make me so happy. I don't know why. There's just this simple article of clothing. They're very comfortable, and I am a little bit convinced they're good luck because I was wearing them when I got a job offer. So...
Annie [00:40:16] Maybe they are. You'll be like those baseball players who never change their underwear.
Ashley [00:40:22] And T-shirts.
Annie [00:40:27] Chet what are you buying these days?
Chet [00:40:30] I am like Ashley. I really love gift giving. I love I love giving gifts to people. I do not like shopping and I did a lot of shopping this weekend. So unless you want me to unload, like unload all my Christmas gifts that I've been buying for everybody on air. Buying for myself. I also am like Ashley. I like to buy a big, you know, I'm definitely OK with treating myself sometimes, so I buy bike stuff. I like to ride bicycles. And so there's always something that I am wanting. Sometimes I feel conflicted about it because I always want something. But yeah, I buy Christmas presents.
Annie [00:41:22] Are you guys done?
Chet [00:41:25] We are done. We are done.
Annie [00:41:27] Oh you're done? Oh, I envy you.
Chet [00:41:29] I don't know. I don't know if that's actually true, but we're close. We're very close to being done.
Annie [00:41:34] OK? Ashley, are you done?
Ashley [00:41:35] I am not even close. There are still some people that I don't know what I'm getting them, and I am ashamed because I'm better than that and I know it.
Annie [00:41:47] Yeah, it is hard. We did a lot this weekend, but but we did things very differently this year. Like normally we have like a list and I have written down ideas for every person and this year has been more kind of fly by the seat of our pants like, Oh, we think so-and-so would like this. And then I feel like I can say this because I'm 90 percent sure they don't listen to this podcast. But we did the same gift for all of Jordan's family, and it's a cool gift. But it really knocked a bunch of people out because we bought them all the same thing. And so that has also been a little weird. But yeah, it's um, it's been a different kind of shopping season. I did see that like 80 percent of people, I'm assuming Americans. I don't think this was a global report. 80 percent of Americans are choosing to shop small this year. And I wonder if that supply chain related or just post-pandemic trying to be...
Ashley [00:42:40] 80 percent? Wow, that's impressive.
Annie [00:42:44] Yeah. So the other the only thing that I have bought for myself in the last few weeks is this shirt that I'm wearing. And it is a scene from Friends and it says the one where everyone is merry. And it's my favorite thing that I have bought.
Chet [00:43:01] I bought myself a t shirt recently. That was my thing. I wrote it down.
Annie [00:43:05] What kind of t shirt was it?
Chet [00:43:06] It's a there's a band called Danzig, and they have a really iconic logo. They're a metal band and it's a mash up of the Danzig logo and the old cartoon Moose Bullwinkle.
Annie [00:43:19] Oh, that is perfect for you.
Chet [00:43:22] I saw a member of one of my favorite punk bands wearing it was like, I have to have that shirt, so I Googled it and I put on my Christmas list, but I assumed mom would not buy me anything with a skull on it, so I bought it for me.
Annie [00:43:35] You do still sound like your 18 year old self. Leave your notes back at school and mom won't buy anything with a skull on it.
Chet [00:43:43] Yeah, she did buy me a shirt last year from a local coffee shop that had a skeleton on it, and I was proud of her. You know, I knew that was really hard for her, but
Annie [00:43:54] I don't know. Sometimes I do wonder how mom and dad created us. I wonder.
Ashley [00:44:00] I wonder that about you guys, too, because I have different parents.
Annie [00:44:07] Not that they're not that we're a disappointment to them in any way. We're just so very different from them. We're so very weird. OK? Anybody else have anything they're reading, watching, listening to that they need to share with the world or with us.
Chet [00:44:20] No. No I don't.
Annie [00:44:22] OK, then the last question I have is back to our family Christmases. And I was just wondering what was your favorite part about our family Christmases growing up?
Chet [00:44:31] My favorite thing about our family Christmas is growing up when I was a kid was that I loved the Christmas Eve party at Mama and Papa House, where like 50 bajillion people would come because mom is like seven of eight and there are just so many people and it was loud and chaotic. And this is how I've changed over time. But that would just me that would send me into like a panic attack now. I just I. So that was like really fun when I was a kid, I guess, because it was loud and exciting. And I think now like my favorite thing that we would do is the small Christmas breakfast that we do. That's kind of more low key. We used to do it, your house.
Annie [00:45:24] Yes, we did it with my house, hoping we're going to do it at my house again this year. Fingers crossed.
Ashley [00:45:30] I hope so, too.
Annie [00:45:32] Yeah. Isn't that weird about childhood? I was reminiscing that those Christmas Eve parties used to be, and I would like to go back or watch video footage or something like, were they as big and as loud and chaotic as I remember? I think that they were. And I loved them. I loved them growing up. And now we get together with mom's side of the family. And it's much smaller now, like Christmas and Thanksgiving were much smaller. But every year I'm like mom who's coming like, I have to like, mentally prepare. And I'm like, as a kid, I didn't care who showed up. Like, I hung out with the same four people and opened presents and it was a blast. My favorite memory is similar. I loved Christmas Eve and I have very distinct memories. Tell me if you guys you two of at some point like the party getting so chaotic or whatever, and then a few of us going for a walk and looking at all the Christmas lights in the neighborhood. And I always thought that was so cool and almost like, if you got a little bit older, you got to go on the walk. That's what I remember.
Ashley [00:46:29] Is that way I don't remember the walks?
Annie [00:46:37] Hey, you weren't old enough.
Ashley [00:46:39] I wasn't allowed to watch Remember the Titans, go on the Christmas Christmas Eve walk.
Chet [00:46:45] Rough childhood.
Annie [00:46:48] So we've all we've all been there, though, when we were with Dad's side of the family and I couldn't watch Mr. Holland's Opus.
Ashley [00:46:57] You around and did the same thing to me.
Chet [00:47:00] I still never seen it. Still never seen Mr. Holland's Opus.
Annie [00:47:04] I think it's pretty good, actually. I think I've seen it since then.
Chet [00:47:07] Robin Williams says that, isn't it?
Annie [00:47:09] No. Dreyfus.
Chet [00:47:11] Where he stands on the table, rips the pages out of the book?
Annie [00:47:13] No, that it no, this is stressing out. No, that's Dead Poets Society.
Chet [00:47:21] Oh, the one about the man. That's the one about the math teacher.
Annie [00:47:24] No. That's Good Will Hunting.
Chet [00:47:28] No that's Stand and Deliver.
Annie [00:47:30] No. Mr. Holland's Opus. He's a band director, and it's Richard Dreyfuss from Jaws.
Chet [00:47:37] Oh yeah. And When Harry Met Sally.
Annie [00:47:40] Richard Dreyfuss isn't in When Harry Met Sally,
Chet [00:47:43] Who's the guy? The short guy? Billy Crystal.
Annie [00:47:50] Gosh, Billy Crystal and Richard Dreyfuss are two different people.
Chet [00:47:53] They're the same. Jaws would have been better if Billy Crystal were in it.
Annie [00:47:58] Oh, I do love Jaws. I I was with Morgan Champion the other night for dinner. Morgan is a friend I've had since second grade, and she was reminiscing. She always reminisces about this, that when I wanted to show her Jaws because I was so excited because I'd gotten to see it and I wanted her to watch it with me. And I made her rewind and fast forward to the bloody parts and watch them over and over again.
Chet [00:48:19] Annie you should listen to black metal. You'd love it.
Annie [00:48:24] Maybe, maybe I'm dark on the inside. Thank you, guys. This is especially lovely because Chet won't be here for Christmas this year, so this is our chance to have our Kid's Table conversations. And yeah, it is sad.
Ashley [00:48:42] We'll have pigs in blankets in your honor.
Chet [00:48:46] Just guttural noises.
Annie [00:48:53] Thank you so much, guys.
Chet [00:48:55] This was fun. I have always wanted to be on a podcast. Well I've always wanted to be on Conan O'Brien, so this is the next best thing.
Annie [00:49:02] We're both. We're both pasty redheads.
Annie [00:49:13] [with faint music playing] From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com.
A full transcript of today’s episode can be found at www.fromthefrontporchpodcast.com.
Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.
Annie This week, what I'm reading is brought to you by Visit Thomasville. [Shares Story] So if you are nearby or far away, I think Thomasville would make a perfect visit for an upcoming trip. To find out more about how you can visit Thomasville, go to: Thomasvillega.com.
Annie [00:49:49] This week, I'm reading Golden Boys by Phil Stamper. Ashley, what are you reading?
Ashley [00:49:55] I'm reading Wild Spectacle by Janisse Ray.
Annie [00:49:58] Oh it's so good. Chet, what are you reading?
Chet [00:50:01] I am reading Iron John by Robert Bly.
Annie [00:50:06] If you liked what you heard on today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us for $5 a month on Patreon, where you can follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic and participate in live video Q&As in our monthly lunch break sessions. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.
We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.