I've Officially Watched ALL THE TV

One of my favorite things about having a newborn is waking up in the middle of the night to feed them.  Yes, you read that right. I like waking up because it's just me, a quiet babe and NETFLIX!!! I've done some serious damage to Netflix in the past six months. (Also, I started writing this post about two months ago, and since then I've become slightly less fond of waking up in the middle of the night. I'm ready to be a functioning human again... anyyyyy day now. K, Keats?)

One time I said something pretentious to Victoria about being superior TV watchers--because we've seen Freaks and Geeks as well as Firefly. RIP, shows. And some of the shows I've been watching follow that pattern... I wouldn't necessarily suggest them to everyone because they are kind of obscure. A few of them anyways.  But I've already watched most of the big binge watching shows (Friday Night Lights, Arrested Development, Breaking Bad...) so I had to move on to a few more creative series. Ok, brace yourself for a lot of TV and then some books.



Sherlock -- I'm loving the BBC lately. While I loved (and continue to love) Doctor Who more than Sherlock, I think Sherlock probably appeals to a wider audience. The seasons (sadly) only have three episodes a piece, so they are quick to catch up on. Benedict Cumberbatch is like, so hot right now and Steven Moffatt has now surpassed Amy Sherman-Palladino and Rob Thomas as my favorite writer. Seriously, you should watch this one.



Doctor Who -- Where to start with this very special show? I think it's very intimidating to people because it went on the air in 1963, so there's just a lot of show out there.  My dear friend Christina helped me navigate the show because it's kind of ridiculous to think you would watch all of it--especially because many of the episodes are actually missing. The basic premise of the show is there's this alien (The Doctor) who can travel through time and space and so he does, and he saves the world over and over and when he dies, he regenerates with a new body, making it possible for the show to keep going. My favorite summary of the show: It's about being bigger on the inside. The show rebooted in 2005... and has gotten better and better every season (in my opinion.) If you were going to watch it, this is what I'd do. Watch (the new) S1 E1. If you like it, keep watching. I didn't like it in the beginning because it looks kind of low budget and I wasn't a fan of that particular Doctor. So I stopped and picked up at Season 2. And then it got awesome and then even awesomer.  There's a new doctor in season 2 and he's my fave. And then the next doctor comes when Steven Moffatt (remember him from Sherlock?) becomes head writer and then it gets REALLY good.  Instead of the low budget, cheesy sci fi show it looked like in 2005, it's turned into this movie quality adventure. I actually went and saw the 50th anniversary special in 3D at the movie theatre--alone like a big weirdo. Kids, it's amazing. I promise. Christina and I would be happy to help you figure out how to best love it. Even Finley loves it. He's seen about two episodes and loves to pretend to be the Doctor and talk about time travel.



The Walking Dead --  I feel like this is one of those shows that everyone is watching. We were a bit late to the party because... well it's about zombies and that didn't really sound like my jam. But it is. Oh is it ever my jam. And Sol's jam, even though it freaks him out. For some reason it doesn't freak me out quite as much even though it is GROSS. We love it. The second half of the season picks up in February--plenty of time to catch up with the first 3.5 short seasons.



House of Cards --  Man, this show. It is awesome. I tend to not like political shows (I couldn't get into the West Wing. Sorry Kristin.) Watch it.



Orange is the New Black -- Also awesome. Netflix is kind of killing it with these original shows.



Wilfred -- What? You haven't heard of the show where Elijah Wood's best friend is a dog--who he sees as a man in a dog costume? What a surprise. This is not one that I would recommend to everyone--it's fairly offensive but also, all the time hilarious.

Twin Peaks -- And I would barely even recommend this one. I really liked it--but because I'm a fan of TV. It's one of those cult shows that apparently hipsters watch. Whoops. It's from the early 90s and kind of awesome. It's a bit sci-fi, a bit cheesy, and pretty fun.



Last Man Standing -- After giving Victoria a really hard time for loving this show, I literally reached the end of Netflix and started watching it. And it fills me with nostalgia--reminding me of Home Improvement and the glory days of JTT, and also of my dad. When I emailed him to ask if he had seen it, he replied, "It's filmed at our house. I am the writer." And I almost believe him.

Seriously, I watched all those seasons since Keats was born. Impressed? In between all that I've been keeping up with my current favies... Trophy Wife, GIRLS, Parenthood, Modern Family, New Girl, Mindy Project, Cougar Town, Community, Parks and Rec and Downton Abbey. Which is actually a shorter list than the average TV season.

Eventually I got tired of watching TV and read obsessively for a few weeks until I ran out of things to read on the Kindle. I don't want to read a real book made of, like, PAPER because then you need a light when you are feeding a baby in the middle of the night. But here's what I read.



Well, this series was kind of touted as the next Hunger Games and so I read it. They were ok. Don't get me wrong, I still read all three in less than a week, but its more because I'm a junkie for media and less because they were awesome. It's another dystopian society type book with a strong female lead--although I kind of found her annoying and got a little tired of the author describing her middle school  appropriate love interest. They were interesting though. And there's movies coming out, so if you want to be hip, you should read them.



These two were both awesome. I'm a sucker for anything JoJo Moyes writes because its all awesome and because the typography on the cover kills me. Both books were about stolen/recovered fine art and were really interesting. Although be warned about The Goldfinch--because I read it on my Kindle I did not realize its like 700 pages long. It's a doozy, but totally worth it.



These two were another set I greatly enjoyed. Shauna Niequist feels like she could be your pal and writes in such a relatable way. Bread and Wine was short stories that had recipes to go along with them--the whole book rotated between making me hungry and making me miss my friends. I read Cold Tangerines a few years ago--all three are great books!



And these ones are kind of random. I haven't quite finished The Astronaut Wives Club, but its a fun story of the wives of the astronauts. (Yes, that's basically what the title says, but its a really accurate title.) Seating Arrangements was a New England story taking place within a wedding weekend. I mostly like it because I fancy myself a New Englander deep in my heart. And Okay for Now is definitely juvenile literature, but it was still a fun read.

And that's what I've been doing since July in the middle of the night. I only wish I had more arms--or better yet, a second body!--so I could do slightly more productive things while nursing Keaton. Folding laundry... filling Etsy orders... dishes... showering...

Now go watch Doctor Who. And if you have suggestions for things I should binge watch next, let me know. I'm almost done with Last Man Standing and (no offense, Vic...) but I kind of feel like I've hit rock bottom with regards to quality television. XOXO.