The 12 Gifts of Pop Culture Santa

No secret, faithful blog readers: I am a bit of a pop culture junky (a word which spell check does not acknowledge, oddly enough). And Pop Culture Santa has been good to me this year. So, to spread some Christmas cheer, I present the 12 gifts of Pop Culture Santa (I was going to dole one out each day for 12 days...but that seemed like a lot of work).

1. Caroline Forbes, aka Vampire Barbie, The Vampire Diaries. How did a super annoying, super needy, kinda bratty cheerleader become the absolute most awesome thing on an already addictively awesome show? By becoming a vampire. Normally the kiss of death (ha!) on this show, Caroline has become an undead sensation! Seriously, I'm considering naming some kids after her.


2. We Are in a Book by Mo Willems. Gerald and Piggie are back, and this time, things are getting weird. The two friends realize that they're actually part of a book! That someone is reading! Right now! The inevitable stages (fear, panic, messing with the reader) occur, and they're sublime.


3. Zachary Levi's new haircut, Chuck. I approve!

Sure, he's kind of a hairy beast in this picture, but focus on his hair! High five, Chuck's new hair!

4. Cake Wrecks Guaranteed to cause inappropriate amounts of giggling at work!

5. Avatar: The Last Airbender, not to be confused with Avatar or The Last Airbender. I'm talking about the cartoon that lasted 3 awesome seasons and inspired the not so awesome movie, The Last Airbender (what does Avatar have to do with this? Nothing). Funny, exciting, touching, with some excellent voice work and plobnrg art. Watch it, folks. It's the quenchiest thing I've seen in a long time.


6. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. I loved every sentence of the final book in The Hunger Games trilogy. Plus, now I don't have to keep wondering what's going to happen!


7. Troy and Abed in the Morning. If this fake morning show from Community was actually shown on TV every morning, I'd get up and watch it. That's how serious I am. And how awesome it is.


8. Bollywood. Not a genre that I had previously watched, but it's pretty fantastic. The colors, the clothes, the music, the dancing. The guys who look like this, singing and dancing. What's not to love?

This is Shahrukh Khan, super prolific (and dreamy) Bollywood actor.

9. Forever Young Adult Another guaranteed to make you laugh at work. But this time I can justify it as professional development! You probably can't, but hey, I don't know your life. Warning: some of the writer for FYA are...swear-heads. Be vigilant!

10. Zachary Levi's singing voice (as heard in Tangled and that song he sings with Katharine McPhee). Seriously, could I love him any more? He's tall, charming, funny, has that great new haircut (see #3), is cuter than a basket full of puppies, and he sings!

11. Frankenstein by Rick Walton with pictures by the illustrious (ha!) Nathan Hale. Good news/bad news: The bad is that this most excellent parody of Madeline is no longer available online. The good news: that probably means someone wants to publish it! Huzzah!


12. Jane Austen Fight Club. If only this were a real thing. But perhaps it's more magical in snippet form.



13. Robert Roldan, So You Think You Can Dance. Haters be gone! Robert is the business! He kept me running home two nights a week all summer long. He's adorable, he loves his mom, he dances like a fiend (in a good way), and he has that hair. Ack! That hair! Plus, this pictures cracks me up.

Well, there you have it! I know what you're thinking: "Wait, that's 13 things!" I never claimed to be an expert at maths. But I can alphabetize with the best of them. Plus, I couldn't bear to cut any of these little gems out.

Merry Christmas!!! Love,
Your own Pop Culture Santa