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Wednesday, June 29, 2016

The Golden Age of Television

If you're at all into pop culture, you know that everyone says we live in a golden age of television, and by golly, they're right. I live alone, I'm not outdoorsy, and for some reason I don't read books anymore. Taken together, that's just a fancy way of saying that I watch a lot of TV and even I don't have time to keep up on everything I want to.

In an effort to organize my brain and also kill time at work, here's a list of all the shows I'm watching right now.

Rules for this list:
1. It can be in hiatus, but it must be an ongoing series. It can't be over.
2. I must be caught up with every single episode as of today, June 29th.
3. These are dumb rules and I shouldn't have listed them out.

Basically, these are all shows that are either running or have run in the last year, aren't canceled, and that I'm caught up on. So, in order of how quickly I remembered them:

1. The Mindy Project



I want to be her.

2. The Flash

 

Definitely more than eye candy, but that's a good reason to watch it too.

3. Vikings



One of the few straight up drama/action shows on this list, but I love it SO freaking much.

4. Archer



Sometimes I dream in H. Jon Benjamin's voice.

5. Broad City



I definitely don't want to be their friend, but watching them from afar is amazing.

6. Inside Amy Schumer



Like Amy Poehler only more drunk and young enough to be my friend.

7. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver



I can't say he's better than Jon Stewart, but he might be better than Jon Stewart.

8. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee



So far it's the show that should have replaced The Daily Show. 

9. Supergirl



DC television is doing WAY better than DC movies right now.

10. Adam Ruins Everything



I want his job.

11. Casual



Big fan of the dark comedy.

12. You're the Worst



I want to punch all of these characters all of the time and I love it.

13. Indian Summers




Like Downton Abbey for those who got sick of the gaspy drama and all the white people.

14. Mercy Street



It's not my favorite PBS drama, but it's not my least favorite either.

15. Jessica Jones



The best comic book TV/movie franchise to date.

16. Transparent



This is probably one I wouldn't mind stopping to make room for others.

17. Master of None


More Aziz Ansari, please!

18. The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt



PinOOOOOT NOIR!

19. UnReal




EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE WATCHING THIS SHOW!

20. Veep



One of the funniest shows on TV right now and no one is talking about it.

21. Silicon Valley




A hilarious sausage fest.

22. Jane the Virgin



Of all the shows on this list, this one might be the most perfect.

23. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 



Rachel Bloom is my newest crush.

24. New Girl




Not matter how far it falls, I just can't say no!

25. Bob's Burgers



There is not a single moment in this show that I don't love.

26. Brooklyn Nine-Nine



Look at that cast - LOOK AT IT!

27. Mr. Robot



This show is Fight Club level good.

28. Project Runway



Yes, I've been watching this show for 14 years.

29. iZombie



It's basically Veronica Mars with zombies, so you know it's good.

30. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia 



The type of show I should hate, but I just can't help loving.


That was WAY more than I expected. No wonder I don't read anymore.

Plus I'm behind on Orphan Black, Outlander, Fargo, Better Call Saul, Rick and Morty, Orange is the New Black, and Daredevil.

I won't even list things I need to start.

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

30 by 30

Apparently this is a thing. I didn't know this was a thing until the other day, but the idea intrigues me. Unfortunately, I am only 10 months away from my 30th birthday, and from what I can tell by a basic Google search, this is a list you should be working on for a good decade. Depending on how this pans out I may do a 40 by 40 and give myself a full 10 years, but I tend to give up on and/or forget about goals pretty regularly.

Anyway, I figure I need to go pretty easy on myself if I want to finish 30 things in 9 months.

1. Go skydiving

This one should hopefully be pretty easy since my plan is to go skydiving for my 30th birthday already. Easy stuff, remember?

2. Go see Magic Mike Live show in Vegas

Again, this is a trip I'm already planning on doing for my birthday. It's going to be amazing.

3. Pay off student loans

This one will be pretty tough, but I'll give myself some leeway. Right now I'm on track to have these paid off about six months after my birthday. "By 30" technically means "before 31," right?

4. Watch 100 best movies 

I'll probably end up shortening this to 50. Or 10. Cause right now I'd have to watch about 3 movies per week, and while I watch a crazy amount of TV, I don't watch movies all that often.

5. Play clarinet again (learn a song)

This will be hard. Maybe I should start with "play the clarinet enough so you don't sound like a beginner."

6. Play piano again (learn a song)

This will be easier. I think.

7. Start knitting a blanket

I have a nerd blanket all planned out, but figuring out the patterns has been really difficult so I've stalled on that one. I'll be happy if I just get one square done.

8. Get buff

It's arbitrary, but I don't like not having muscles. Of course, this would require that I start going to the gym again and doing weights, which intimidates the crap out of me.

9. Grow out hair (touch shoulders)

This list is a work in progress. My hair hasn't touched my shoulders since I was 18, so this may be hard to pull off.

10. Start up Omage-o-Meter again

I have another blog where I watch every movie they referenced in the TV show, Spaced (based off of the (Omage-o-Meter captioning on the show) and review it and/or ramble while referencing the references. I stopped after 5 movies because I couldn't get through 2001: A Space Odyssey. Also I went to grad school.

11. Write in journal regularly

I used to be good at this. It probably wouldn't be too difficult to be good at it again.

12. Learn to make paella

Classic Puerto Rican dish that my family has every Christmas. Surprisingly, I've never helped my mom make it. I don't cook, but I need to at least know how to make that dish.

13. Read something - Les Mis? Count of Monte Cristo? Presidential biography? 

Something big. Something I've been meaning to read for a long time but haven't. Or in the case of Count of Monte Cristo, something that I love but haven't read since high school. I'm bad at reading these days, so this will be tough.

14. Go camping

The last time I spent the entire night outside was in 2006. Well, not including the night I slept in line at Comic Con for Hall H. Can that count?

15. Add photos to portfolio 

I have an actual portfolio of some of my favorite photographs just for myself, but I haven't added anything in years. Maybe since high school. I just bought a DSLR and I need something to motivate me to get good at photography again, because right now I suck a lot.

16. Replace windshield

Half way through this list and I'm already scraping the bottom of the barrel. But I only have 10 months (plus a year grace period)!

17. Think of 13 more things to add to this list