Geeking Out in Spring 2026
Roundup
I spent this spring with my nose to the grindstone at work—I barely wrote, barely read, barely felt a creative spark. Most of my time was spent lesson planning and grading, as I was covering an extra class. I found, however, that inspiration still strikes, as long as I cast a wide net for what counts as “inspiration.” I found beauty in things—even painful things—that happened to me this Spring. And all this constriction has made me more ready than ever to take in the summer.
What I geeked out about this Spring:
Song: “Avalanche” by Grace Ives
Poem: “Blackberry-Picking” by Seamus Heaney
Toughest News: Anthony Head’s death
Favorite News: Artemis II
TV: Hacks
Substack Post: “The Fool” by James Worth
Drink: Polar Poolside Grape Popsicle Seltzer Water
Food: Two Easy Ways to Fancify Your Salad
1. Song: “Avalanche” by Grace Ives
It was very difficult to choose a favorite song from Grace Ives’s new album, Girlfriend. I chose “Avalanche” because of its great melody, its engrossing structure, and the rich sonic landscape. My favorite moment comes around 1:20, in the second verse, when the song seems to organically stumble upon echoing piano and stabbing strings. The moment feels full of an ambiguous hope. Grace seems to be hurdling forward in her life indiscriminately, perhaps, like an avalanche.
Honorable Mentions:
Most sweet: “Know You Then” by Ratboys
Most intense: “Beat Up Chanel$” by Slayyyter
Most gay: “RUNWAY” by Lady Gaga and Doechii
2. Poem: “Blackberry-Picking” by Seamus Heaney
I teach “Blackberry-Picking” at the start of a unit on Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. The uncanny mix of tenderness and existentialism sets the perfect tone for the strange novel. The childish belief that it’s possible to hoard freshness gives way to a harsh truth in the end: attempting to hoard something only creates the opportunity for rot. It’s a beautiful poem about instead celebrating the present moment:
Once off the bush
The fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour.
I always felt like crying. It wasn’t fair
That all the lovely canfuls smelt of rot.
Each year I hoped they’d keep, knew they would not.
3. Toughest News: Anthony Stewart Head’s death
I know there’s always something parasocial about being sad when the actor who plays one of your favorite characters of all time dies. Part of me is sad, of course, selfishly, because this forecloses the possibility of him ever returning in a reboot (but, really, will it ever happen?). But I don’t like that part of me. I want to mourn the person. And yet, I don’t know the person. All I know is: he played Giles, and Giles gave me a model for what a man who deeply respects women and younger people looks like. So, I want to mourn the person who saw the beauty in that character and who played him in a powerful, convincing, and often hilariously playful way.
One of the most troubling moments in Buffy occurs in the second season, when Buffy’s boyfriend, Angel, turns evil after they sleep together for the first time. This is, of course, an atrocious allegory that seems to encourage abstinance and shame. Or, at least, it could’ve been. If it wasn’t for Giles.
When Buffy tells Giles what she and Angel did to make him turn evil, she’s mortified. This is the last thing she wants to talk about with an adult whom she respects, and she’s worried his stuffy British vibe will manifest, in this situation, as shame. Instead, he delivers this gem:
Do you have any me to wag my finger at you and tell you you acted rashly? You did, and I can. I know that you loved him, and he has proven more than once that he loved you. You couldn’t have known what would happen. The coming months are going to be hard, I suspect on all of us, but if it’s guilt you’re looking for Buffy, I’m not your man. All you will get from me is my support and my respect.
As a teacher who works with teenagers every day, I’ve tried to absorb this sentiment. When I can, I remind them that they have my respect—even if they feel like they’ve failed.
I’m nearing the age now—40 years old—that Head was when he began as Giles. I’m trying my best to manifest his wisdom. I guess I’ll need to keep watching Buffy to fully internalize those lessons.
4. Favorite News: Artemis II
One of my first pieces on Geek Out was about Samantha Harvey’s novel Orbital. In that piece, I admire the way the novel explores with calm curiosity the simple question: do humans need to go to space? Why not just use data-collecting instruments? Why bother with all the messy needs of human bodies—what’s gained? I love this deeply humanistic question, and the novel explores it with such a light, impressionistic touch. But it doesn’t really answer it.
The Artemis II mission answered it in real life.
The four crew members of Artemis II had to know each other’s skills, histories, and needs to such an intimate degree that they were almost completely anonymized. They could’ve been any four random humans. They were part of an experiment. Except they weren’t: some of them were distracted by the views; some of them went on this mission to represent minorities who they related to; some of them saw it as a Patriotic quest. I love the cognitive dissonance between “humans in space” and these four specific people in space. Nothing expresses it better than the naming of a lunar crater “Carroll,” after the late wife of mission commander Reid Wiseman. It’s the stuff of cheesy inspirational movies, except it wasn’t cheesy and it wasn’t a movie. So I’m just left feeling inspired by the whole thing, and I’m not ashamed of it. I’m in desperate need of that kind of inspiration.
5. TV: Hacks
When the Stranger Things finale closed the series with a bizarrely safe (though slightly enigmatic) ending, I’d felt relieved. I think television shows in general, since the disastrous finale of Game of Thrones, have been going safe in their finales. Hacks follows this trend, with a slight exception: the whole final season feels like a ten-episode victory lap. After four seasons of surprising tension and occasional cringiness, the fifth season was total fan service. I won’t spoil anything about the final episode, but it’s truly a testament to the power of friendship and the life-saving force of comedy. It’s a perfect season of TV—I expect I’ll rewatch this season on its own since it captures all of my favorite things about the show so perfectly.
6. Substack Post: The Fool by James Worth
Substack fiction writer James Worth occasionally publishes a non-fiction essay. Despite his stunning fiction, which explores psychological profiles of his characters with an understated grace, his non-fiction tends to be my favorite of his work. In this piece, The Fool, he investigates the phenomenology of writing, asking questions about how a creative person can balance ego and death drive. He puts it succinctly below:
It’s an awfully silly thing to have faith before the imminent and infinite void but the other option is to be one long noiseless fart and get swallowed anyway.
7. Drink: Polar Poolside Grape Popsicle Seltzer Water
I can never be sure whether I’m enjoying something that has purple branding, or if my favorite color is purple and so my brain forces me to enjoy it. Either way, this limited-edition summer flavor tastes like popsicles somehow. It’s a very full flavor—perfumy, almost. I’m the only one I know who really likes this flavor. But to me, it’s nostalgic and sweet and feels like a surprising treat. I’ll keep picking up more until it’s run its course.
8. Food: Two Easy Ways to Fancify Your Salad
I usually pack a salad for lunch about two times a week. They get…boring. I found a way to make them feel more elevated and also more satisfying. You can add these two ingredients to whatever you’d planned to put in your salad—they basically go with any lettuce/veggie/protein mix. Think of them as simply elevating the vibe of your salad. These two ingredients have made me so much more excited to eat salad for lunch!
One: tahini dressing
5-6 tbsp water
2 tbsp tahini
1/4 cup olive oil (flavorful olive oil is best)
juice and zest of one lemon
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
Combine and shake!
Two: parmesan chickpea crunch
1 can chickpeas
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 oz shredded fresh parmesan cheese (no desiccated parmesan for this recipe)
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
(one) dry roast chickpeas for 10 minutes at 425 degrees. (two) remove from oven, mash chickpeas with fork and add all other ingredients. mix it up well and place back in oven for 15-17 minutes.
The chickpea crunch and tahini dressing add a savory feel to any salad. Paired together, it almost tastes like deconstructed hummus: crunchy chickpeas and smooth tahini dressing. It’s very good! And like I mentioned before, it goes with any veggie. It’s especially good, though, with broccoli and radish. Enjoy! Let me know if you try it!
If you enjoyed this top eight, take a look at previous roundups:
Thank you so much for reading Geek Out! If you’re enjoying, please consider liking, sharing, and commenting. Your engagement inspires me to keep writing!
Oof, I hope summer’s been good to you so far other than the stingray incident. I finally started sleeping in this week, and I’ve been out for just over three weeks! I enjoyed going through the recs. The excerpt you included of James Worth’s nonfiction was a much needed reminder at the moment, so thank you for including that.
When I get into a creative period where writing is flowing easily, sometimes I have to read less, so I haven't felt caught up. Your roundup is a perfect way to remedy that! And learn new stuff to boot! Thanks for this.