I AM DISEASED! Seriously, I’ve been sick for the last two weeks. Nasty virus thing that has succeeded in making me be in lots of pain and really, really cranky.

Not that I’m complaining! Or, well, I guess I am. But that’s not my point.

This is just what happens when you spend three years (or four or five or however long it’s been) being stressed and sleep deprived and whatever. You run your defenses down and then bam! You get diseased.

Soooooooooo yeah. There’s that.

But when you’re sick, there’s suddenly lots of time for things like books. And Netflix. Last time I had a cold, I watched all of Battlestar Galactica.

This time I’ve been watching season 1 of Ally McBeal. Ah, Battlestar was kinda better. But it’s been really interesting revisiting a show I used to watch a bit now that I’m in the correct demographic. Certain things hit home (career focused lady struggling with dating issues), other things I have a harder time relating to (the fairly prudish morals for a show focused on dating). I can’t quite figure out why pretty much every episode has been about sex discrimination to one degree or another. It starts out with Ally being sexually harassed and losing a job, later it happens to Georgia, Elaine organizers a lawsuit against Richard, then the delivery girl counter sues… etc. etc. etc.

While I certainly acknowledge that the fair treatment of women is an issue worth discussing (duh, I’ve discussed it), every episode? Come on. I can’t even decide if I agree with the message or not because there’s not really a clear message. It just feels like a plot device to get Ally all worked up about one thing or another.

Aaaaand yeah. I dunno. Why am I still watching it? Cause I remember really enjoying later seasons and I’m curious to know what I missed before Robert Downey Jr sucked me in. I’ll go with it a little longer but I’m honestly not hugely impressed with season 1 so far. It’s okay but that’s about it.

Have also been watching a fair number of movies.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Liked way more than I thought I would. See it!
Friends with Benefits: Also liked it way more than I thought I would. But maybe wait for video. Unless you love chick flicks.
Chinatown: Film noir, LA water scandal, brilliant writing, Roman Polanski, Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway. See it. Duh.
The Heiress: Montgomery Clift, Olivia De Havilland, William Wyler adaptation of Henry James’s Washington Square. On TCM as part of Summer Under the Stars. I love Summer Under the Stars. Burt Lancaster is on Thursday. Yay.
Blade Runner: Is Ridley Scott really making another one? A remake, a prequel, a sequel, whatever it is. Why? WHY???
The Player: Wanna know what working in Hollywood is like? Watch this with Barton Fink and Sunset Blvd thrown in for good measure. And there you go.

And if you wanna know what I’ve been reading (currently: Dune), come find me on Goodreads.

Highly recommend Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. It’s delightfully bizarre. Also recommend Dance with Dragons, most recent entry into George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series (ahem, Game of Thrones). Read the books in order though or you will be shitcrazy lost. But seriously, Dance was worth the wait. Now I get to wait some more for the next one! Whee!

Also really good read was The Help. Movie, maybe less good. I don’t know. The Help made me love the characters, each distinct and strong in their own ways. The movie made it much more about “white girl comes to the rescue of the helpless black ladies.” And as frequently happens in adaptations, a lot of the subtleties that made me enjoy the book so much were completely left out of the film. Or changed in ways that made no sense. Plus the pacing was really tedious. It was very stop and go which made the fairly long movie feel REALLY LONG. So the movie was just kinda meh. Really liked the book though!

This season of True Blood: Sucks. I’m sorry. It just does.

What else is everyone reading/watching? What’s going on out there?