Spencer TuckermanWelcome back to the most slapdash thing I write all year. Brands should pay me to be featured here.
Lindt Lindor Valentine's Cherry Vanilla White Chocolate Candy Truffles
You ever though about how these are a ball of hard chocolate filled with flavored, soft chocolate? This is a candy for babies that they’ve marketed as a luxury food item for adults. Ridiculous. Honorable mentions: Coconut, Birthday Cake
Kirkland Signature Butter Toffee Cashews
Falling in love with any item from Costco is a real gamble because they’ll hook you and then take it away without notice. I haven’t seen these in a while, so they’re probably already gone. I did manage to dispose of a 24oz bag. That’s more than one (1) pound of cashews coated in candy.
Trader Joe's Cookies & Creme Pretzels Slims
Realizing a lot of this list is going to be junk food.
Mini Motorways for iPhone/iPad
As someone who grew up obsessed with Roller Coaster Tycoon and SimCity 3000, this scratches a similar sandbox, strategy itch. I don’t play many video games, but when I do, it’s typically obsessively for a week or so before I lose interest and drop it. I got hooked on this two separate times in 2025.
2021 Anaba Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast
We took a family vacation to wine country this year. I’ve always enjoyed wine, but didn’t know enough about it to drink it often, so I went with the goal of getting into it, and I succeeded. What I didn’t expect was getting obsessed with a specific wine, or that wine being a Chardonnay. But this stuff is insane and has become my new favorite summer drink.
My beloved Cleveland Guardians
The MLB app did a “wrapped” this year, which informed me I watched one hundred nine (109) Guardians games this season, a figure which does not include nationally televised games, Apple TV+, or those I attended in person. I will not be a father until next year, but this feels like a great head start.
Zab’s Datil Pepper Hot Sauce (St. Augustine Style)
I’ve always been a big hot sauce guy, and this one, which I discovered in Palm Springs this summer, is my new favorite.
It’s super hard to give a brand like this a facelift. Graeter’s is part of the fabric of Cincinnati, so changing the way it looks and feels is risky, but they nailed it. It has the same character, just looks better.
Likewise, altering a recipe that’s been part of Cincinnati culture for 75 years is a bold move. Somehow, I think I like it… better? It’s all the best parts of Skyline, just feels a little bit lighter. Now I’m scared they’ll stop serving it. It’s all I order.
Mario Kart World
This was a really expensive purchase for a few weeks of obsessive entertainment, but the game is very good.
Traveling within the U.S.
It feels like the type of people who romanticize travel overlook America. We traveled a lot this year, and never left the United States. Sonoma/San Francisco (gorgeous), Denver (awesome weekend trip), Chicago (still my favorite big city), Indianapolis (hard to beat the distance/price), Lexington (I recommend staying at The Manchester), and Palm Springs (maybe my new favorite vacation??). You can do a lot without leaving the country.
MJ Lenderman’s “Knockin’” live in concert
I saw MJ Lenderman during the aforementioned weekend in Indianapolis. It was a great show, but “Knockin’” was transcendent.
Timothée Chalamet & Adam Sandler for Vanity Fair
An old legend and a young legend link up in what may be the best YouTube video of the year. I think I smiled through this entire thing.
Home networking (???)
I’ve had a NAS for my file storage and media server for years, but in 2025 I kinda lost my mind. Nobody cares enough about this to hear the details, but suffice it to say that I now have a cabinet in my basement full of hard drives, computers, and smart home devices attached to the internet.
The Friday Beers video where they go to Harry Potter World
I watched dozens of foreign films in 2025 and I would say this YouTube video is slightly less enriching than any of those, but I also didn’t cry tears of laughter watching Éric Rohmer’s The Green Ray, so who’s to say which was more worth my time? (Ollivanders Wand Shop is the best comedy scene of 2025.)
TV shows
I watched movies like a person with a mental illness, which doesn’t leave a lot of time for TV, but I actually watched more than usual this year. Here’s what I liked:
The Chair Company - Season 1
The best thing Tim Robinson has ever been a part of, in my opinion. I understand why Friendship needed to be the movie and this needed to be the TV show, but this one’s actually better and successfully nails down and fleshes out a lot of the film’s themes.
The Pitt - Season 1
Maybe my favorite show of 2025…? It’s completely riveting and also has some of the best character work I’ve seen in years. When the season ended, I was literally sad that I wasn’t going to be able to “hang out” with my “friends” anymore. Season 2 is out next week!
The Studio - Season 1
I’m not sure I can even recommend this to the average person, but if you are eyeballs deep in movies like I am, there’s not a better TV show to get distracted by. Sometimes it felt like they were making this for me, specifically.
Severance - Season 2
It felt like I waited five years for this season to arrive, and when it did it was met with universal acclaim before it seemed like everyone decided they hated it, which is the mark of a good show. I liked Season 2!
Bonus: Kenny vs. Spenny
Okay, this one’s not new, but I have been watching it a lot this year. Kenny vs. Spenny was a Canadian TV series that ran from 2003 until 2010, and I think it entered my orbit via late-night syndication in 2006ish on probably Comedy Central. Each episode of the show features a challenge between two best friends. The winner gets bragging rights, the loser suffers a “humiliation” determined by the winner. This show is mean, hilarious, and absolutely repulsive—like someone combined Rob & Big with Jackass. I love it. Do not watch while eating.