"Azizam," A Nice Indian Boy, and Sour Grapes
May 2025 Round-Up
Welcome to your May 2025 Bi-Monthly Round-Up!
In case you’re new here, every two months I put together a list of all my favorites across a handful of categories, including what I’ve been listening to, watching, reading, purchasing, and more.
Feel free to use the comments section to share your thoughts or let me know some of your own recs from the same time period.
Music I’ve Been Vibing With
I won’t lie to you, I’m still riding high on MAYHEM, especially after listening to Lady Gaga’s episode of the Las Culturistas podcast and watching Gagachella from the comfort of my couch. Rest assured, I watched her set at 10:00 a.m. my time the next morning, not live when it started at 1:00 a.m. PT.
As for sparkly new stuff, I’m getting very excited for Ed Sheeran’s upcoming album. My little Iranian heart was so delighted when he dropped “Azizam” (and a Farsi version featuring the legendary Googoosh!), and “Old Phone” makes me tear up. As an aside, this creator's video about “Azizam” and the difference between cultural appreciation and appropriation spoke to me.
I’m also counting down the days until MARINA’s album drop. The energy of “CUNTISSIMO” is fabulous.
Lastly, a new-to-me song I discovered from a random playlist is “BREATHING UNDERWATER” from Hot Milk. The dual vocals, emo vibes, and exaggerated lyrics take me right back to sixteen. And the key change?? *chef’s kiss*
What I’ve Been Watching
We don’t go to movies in the theater very often now that everything comes out on streaming so fast. That said, we try to support queer films we’re interested in so they keep getting made, and A Nice Indian Boy was super cute! I love Jonathan Groff and tend to like stuff that Mindy Kaling produces too. Fun fact: I went through a Bollywood phase in college, so I especially enjoyed the Bollywood elements in the movie.
We also watched the TV show Paradise at my sister’s suggestion, and that was a wild ride. Sterling K. Brown and James Marsden? Heck yeah! The show kept us guessing the whole time.
Obviously, we wrapped up Drag Race S17 as well (shout-out to Suzie Toot for bringing all the lesbians to her yard after that LaLaPaRuza) and have started AS10. The new battle royale format is intriguing, but I’ll hold my judgment until the season develops further. What I will say is that Bosco has the FULL ATTENTION of our household whenever she’s on screen.
For My Book Nerds
I have one book started on my Kindle and a physical book going as well, but I am creeping through them both oh so slowly because of how busy I’ve been. Thus, my audiobook streak continues.
Two I finished recently were Listen for the Lie* by Amy Tintera (a thriller with a podcast element, which made for a fun listen) and Girl Falling* by Hayley Scrivenor (queer, slow burn mysteryish story with an ending I didn’t see coming), the latter of which was gifted to me through the MacMillan Audiobook Influencers program. If you have any top-notch audiobook recs, let me know!
Products I Recommend
Here are a few items I’ve purchased in the past couple of months that I’m glad I did:
Someone suggested I try the Fruit Riot! Sour Grapes (you can find them at places like Target and Costco), and they are yummy. If you don’t have a deep love for sour candy, then don’t waste your money. But I can tell you right now, I’m going to be going through bags of these quickly throughout the summer. I also need to hunt down the Sour Mango and Sour Pineapple to try.
I keep a variety of fidget toys on my desk because I require something to funnel my extra energy into when I’m on Zoom meetings. I’d had my eye on the ONO Roller fidgets* for a while when ONO reached out to me asking if they could send me one in exchange for an honest review. I jumped at the opportunity and ordered the one that had been sitting in my cart—the ONO Roller Aluminum, Junior Size, in the color Violet*. I love it! It has a nice weight to it, the movement is smooth and practically silent, and it doesn't look like a children’s toy like most of my other fidgets. As for sizing, my hands aren’t tiny, but they aren’t big either, and I’m glad I got the junior size. If you want to try one, use this link*, and the coupon code SHOHREH10 will automatically apply for 10% off your purchase.
I randomly saw a TikTok from a nail artist saying that if your nail clippers are a few years old, it’s time to replace them. My clippers were so old I didn’t even know when I bought them. Yikes. Seeing that sent me down a rabbit hole about nail clippers in general, and I learned that (1) superior nail clippers exist, and (2) the Japanese are the ones who make them! Enter the Takumi Green Bell nail clippers*. These are large nail clippers, so I had to get used to wielding them, but the difference they’ve made in my nails is incredible! I had no idea my old shitty nail clippers were contributing to my nails being so weak. My nails feel much stronger now, and the clippers cut through like butter.
Finding good quality frames that aren’t custom and don’t cost a bajillion dollars is difficult. Thankfully, I recently stumbled upon the frames in the Homeforia Store* on Amazon, and they are excellent. I’ve purchased four so far in a couple of sizes and colors, and I highly recommend them.
Annoyingly, I have joined the night guard club because I unintentionally clench and grind my teeth. I avoided getting one for years because of the expense, but I finally gave in. However, you won’t catch me scrubbing the thing with a toothbrush to clean it. Instead, I bought this ultrasonic cleaner* (also works for cleaning jewelry!) and these cleaner tablets*. So far, no staining or issues. And I only use half a tablet per cleaning cycle, which means one box will last me nearly a year.
I recently went on a massive search for comfy pants for working from home during the cooler months. My requirements were that they not be skin tight, and they must have pockets. I regret to inform you that the Lululemon Softstreme High-Rise Pants won out. I did not previously own any Lulu, but now I understand why people are obsessed with the brand. Thankfully, I got several pairs on final sale for colors they are phasing out. Some of the sale ones are still available in a few sizes here, plus there are the standard colors at full price here. One note: the material is prone to water staining! The marks come right out when you wash them, but you do not want to get caught in the rain while wearing these pants (fine for someone who plans to mostly wear them for remote working).
For Christmas, I gifted Jessie a six-month subscription to Raising the Bar, a non-alcoholic cocktail subscription box. We’re not sober, but we’ve curbed our alcohol consumption for a variety of reasons. Her subscription just ended, and our two favorite discoveries from the experience were Amethyst NA Spirits and Craftmix Cocktail Mixes. We received a full bottle of the Amethyst Lemon Cucumber Serrano in one of the boxes, and it’s so great to mix with stuff (including ginger beer to make a mule and the Craftmix Passionfruit Paloma). We’ve since purchased other flavors of the Amethyst and a variety pack of the mixes.
Miscellaneous
It’s unusual for me to have podcast suggestions since I’m not a big podcast listener, but occasionally a show will catch my attention. Right now, the show I’m fangirling over is Good Hang with Amy Poehler. If you need a new pod to add to your rotation and you adore Amy like I do, this one is fun. Her most recent guest was Michelle Obama *swoon*.
That’s it for this round-up, y’all! If you have questions or want to chat about anything I included, don’t hesitate to comment or reach out via email. You can also find all of the past round-ups you may have missed here.
Queerly yours,
Shohreh
*Links with an asterisk are affiliate links. If you purchase items using those links, I may be eligible for a small commission that helps support my writing and other content.
To get in touch, shoot me an email at hello@shohrehdavoodi.com. For more from me, follow me on Instagram, TikTok, and Threads.
If you'd like to support me outside of becoming a paid subscriber to The Queer Agenda, you're welcome to purchase a gift for me from my Amazon Wishlist or purchase an item for yourself from my Amazon Storefront, which contains all of my most-recommended products.