If I want to play the role of a hipster, I can do my part okay. I reviewed advanced copies of Chutes to Narrow by The Shins and Youth & Young Manhood from the Kings of Leon. I saw the White Stripes play to an audience of maybe 20 people, right before they blew up. I usually have a good eye on what new books and movies are out there. What I want to establish here is this: When it comes to pop-culture consumption, I can hold my own.And yet.

I arrived varying degrees of late to Friday Night Lights, The West Wing, Doc Martin and Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. I discovered His Dark Materials long after publication and started the Bones series by Kathy Reichs after she’d already published a good 14 books. Music is a constant game of catch-up so when I’m not actively participating in the conversation, I’m playing like I know what’s up (“They sound familiar. Tell me more.” “Yeah, I think I remember hearing them.”) and hoping you don’t catch on.

Most recently I’ve been trying to catch-up midway through things. At one dinner party everybody was Mad Men this and Mad Men that. On our drive home that evening, Wonder Boy and I made the immediate decision to find out what the show was about. Through a combination of Netflix and on-demand TV, we’ve caught up. We recently did the same with Scandal (!) and I’m in the midst of listening to back-episodes of the Pop Culture Happy Hour and Professor Blastoff podcasts.

In the grand scheme of things, I know none of this matters. But the world in which I circulate is full of pop culture references and I like to keep up. Even where I have the obvious blind spots (Star Wars, LOTR movies, Harry Potter), I can usually follow along in the conversations well enough.

Every day I am sifting through so many things – books, magazines, movies, music, podcasts, articles, blogs, websites, social media… I have to pick and choose and I’m usually pretty confident about the choices I make. And then you attending a dinner party where you (and maybe your date) seem to be the only ones not in the know.

This post originally appeared on Kate’s Point of View. © Kate. All rights reserved.