LOVED/HATED LIST 2025
Time for my 34th annual "Loved/Hated" list!
Here it is, my “Loved/Hated” end of year list for people who still read and have attention spans longer than a 5 second video!
LOVED: Doing stuff I wanna do.
HATED: Doing stuff I don’t wanna do.
LOVED: The fact that Facebook is basically Craigslist now.
HATED: Facebook.
LOVED: When someone sends you a card for your birthday or Christmas and there’s money or a gift card in it.
HATED: When someone sends you a card for your birthday or Christmas and there’s no money or gift card in it.
LOVED: “One Battle After Another” (film) Timely, exciting, funny, beautiful direction and cinematography.
HATED: “The Beast In Me” (limited Series on Netflix) Sophomoric/faux prestige garbage except for Matthew Rhys.
LOVED: Female Americana Artists/Songwriters (especially Margo Cilker, Sierra Ferrell and Waxahatchee)
HATED: Political/Social Issue songs (even with narratives I agree with) that are too on the nose and lack subtext and artistry/timelessness.
LOVED: Curious people.
HATED: People who say stuff like “there’s no good music anymore.”
LOVED: Donating to several worthwhile charities throughout the year because if you can help just one person, it’s worth it.
HATED: Virtue signaling.
LOVED: ChatGPT helping me (kind of) learn 5th grade math.
HATED: That stupid ass AI announcer voice that tries to speak with gravitas in all YouTube and Instagram explainer videos.
LOVED: Dept Q (Netflix show)
HATED: Cable News (all of it)
LOVED: Kindness
HATED: Man’s inhumanity to man
LOVED: “Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend” (podcast) My personal hero at his most personal and funny.
HATED: “Armchair Expert w/ Dax Sheppard” (podcast) He gets ALL the best guests because it’s so popular but he sucks at interviewing, gushes over the guests too much and has at least 5 malapropisms per show.
LOVED: Using words like “malapropism” to sound smarter than I am.
HATED: The collapse of Western civilization.
LOVED: Chipotle
HATED: Ordering at Chipotle and feeling the intense stress of trying to order fast enough to not piss off the employee or the people behind me but most importantly my wife (for forgetting the guac).
LOVED: “6-7” (LIGHTEN UP, IT’S FUN!!)
HATED: When people use the phrase “not gonna lie” to preface almost every innocuous statement they make - why would you ever need to clarify that you aren’t going to lie about whether or not you like Doritos??
LOVED: Any short stories by Simon Rich (author).
HATED: Any book that’s longer than 300-400 pages…I have Reels to watch!
LOVED: Elvis Presley (always and forever).
HATED: Kid Rock (always and forever).
LOVED: “Warfare” (film)
HATED: Warfare (actual)
LOVED: Guitars, Cadillacs, Hillbilly Music.
HATED: Cutaway Acoustic Guitars/Cybertrucks, Bro-Country Music.
LOVED: The Philadelphia Eagles.
HATED: Not receiving a Super Bowl ring despite my many contributions to the team.
LOVED: Rewatching all Indiana Jones movies once a year except for “Temple Of Doom” and “Crystal Skull” ‘cause they suck.
HATED: The last scene in “The Departed” where they show an ACTUAL rat and treat it like some sort of revealing metaphor like I’m in 2nd grade (evergreen hate).
LOVED: That latest Apple update that sends texts from unknown numbers to spam.
HATED: Group texts (generally) but ESPECIALLY ones where ONE asshole has an Android phone and the rest of us civilized people have iPhones and it turns the whole freaking thread green and I can’t edit my typos and oh my god I hate this so much.
LOVED: Critical thinking skills.
HATED: People who don’t vote.
LOVED: When sports talking heads make fun of the Dallas Cowboys.
HATED: When sports talking heads use the phrase “to (insert name)’s point” or “to his point” every single time they answer a question.
LOVED: “Friendship” (film)
HATED: The last scene in “The Departed” where they show an ACTUAL rat and treat it like some sort of revealing metaphor like I’m in 2nd grade (God, I hate this ending).
LOVED: People with spatial awareness while walking through a store (2% of population).
HATED: People without spatial awareness while walking through a store (98% of population).
LOVED: Money (for me)
HATED: Money (not for me)
LOVED: Love
HATED: Hate
LOVED: My family and friends (awww).
HATED: Pretty much everyone else.
