Last year, at some point, I realized I just didn't feel as happy as I used to, and believe it or not, I figured out the reason was that I was not reading. I've been a reader my whole life, and I just stopped making time for it. Between work, friends, television, and the daily grind of life, I just wasn't reading much. I decided to make it a point to do some reading at least two or three days a week, even if it was just a chapter at lunch, and my mind started to feel better. I wasn't as wound up, and I was resting better. Reading is indeed fundamental for me to be happy. My biggest reading challenge was the Song of Ice & Fire series, which I finished last week. A huge undertaking, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and join so many others in wishing George R.R. Martin would write faster.
I watched my best friend's daughter graduate high school and go off to college. That bright eyed, inquisitive little girl became a woman before my eyes. A woman I'm glad to know and call my friend. She has become a beautiful, strong young woman who is confident in herself and knows what she wants in life. She is intelligent, curious, and creative, and I adore her (plus, I introduced her to Doctor Who. Yay!) I finally got her mom to recognize the eye stopping, jaw dropping wonder that is Nathan Fillion. Weirdly enough, she watched Castle first then FINALLY watched Firefly after years of me raving about it.
Oh yeah, Doctor Who. David Tennant will always be MY Doctor. Not just because he makes my heart skip a beat because I love all that he brought to the character. Matt Smith grew on me, but I'm still riding the fence about Peter Capaldi (I haven't watched the final 2 episodes of the current series -- I just finished "In the Forest of the Night."). I like what Capaldi brings to the role, and the darkness of this Doctor is something interesting. What I don't like is Clara, I think. Shoehorning her into every aspect of The Doctor's life (Impossible Girl I can live with, hiding under the bed & grabbing his foot as a child, not so much) is bothering me. Her near rejection of the new face, her lying to Danny, her all over the place mood. There's so much about her that bothers me now, I'll be happy to see her go. It feels like the creative team is trying too hard to make her important, and she just makes it hard for me to enjoy the show. I thought Amy would always be the modern companion that most annoyed me, but Clara has taken a solid lead.
Also on the Doctor Who front, I decided to start at the very beginning (a very good place to start) with William Hartnell and watch the show in its entirety. I'm about halfway through Jon Pertwee now. Hartnell's crabby, crochety, grandfatherly Doctor was a joy to watch, and I found Patrick Troughton's childlike wonder and deceptiveness entertaining, and unlike my husband, I liked the recorder! I loved Jamie as a companion! I like the stories with Jon Pertwee, but his attitude towards Jo gets under my feminist skin. I realize it is a product of its time, but sometimes I find myself just getting mad at The Doctor. My husband is itching for me to get to Tom Baker (HIS Doctor!), but I sort of fell out of watching with the whole gallbladder thing. Maybe I'll find time to watch the DVD downstairs today & sent it back to Netflix (Why isn't all of Doctor Who streaming?!)
Just a brief bit on the other shows I've become enchanted with (in the order my brain thinks of them): NCIS, NCIS: New Orleans, Bones, Sleepy Hollow, Castle (of course), Once Upon a Time (think the Fables comic on television), Gotham (several episodes behind on this one), How to Get Away with Murder (way behind on it), The Chew (Michael Symon & Mario Batali? Yes, please!) and anything Alton Brown touches. I've developed something of an addiction to Alton Brown. We've seen his live show twice this year, and it was amazing both times. I love watching Food Network but still am not in love with cooking. (Note:Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is awesome, but I'm still in Season 1 because Hubby made us stop until he saw Thor 2 (which took forever) and now he doesn't want me to watch without him but he keeps finding other things to watcth!)
Because of The Chew and Food Network, my food horizons have expanded a bit. I now like cabbage. I've learned that many of the vegetables I hated growing up had nothing to do with the taste. I'm a textural eater, and if the food is mushy, my taste buds reject it. The majority of the vegetables I ate during my childhood were cooked in the fine Southern tradition of being cooked down to mush, and I don't like mush. Cabbage, spinach (in the raw form or in a dip/casserole), and broccoli are back on my menu now as long as they are cooked well. My husband has removed his ban on salt (Thank you, Alton Brown and Michael Symon!), and we're cooking at home more, which has been fun!
Lastly, there is football. What can I say about this season? As a Gamecock and Bears fan, it has not been the greatest of seasons. The Gamecocks are struggling on defense and cannot seem to keep it going for four quarters. Up by 14 points in three games only to blow the lead in the fourth!!! And the Bears? Travesty is the only word that comes to mind. For the life of me, I don't understand why Cutler is still the QB!! And can we get Lovie back, please? I'm a Gamecock for life. I love my team (I bleed Garnet & Black, Forever to Thee, Sandstormin' in the Cockpit, and all that jazz!) , and a bad season won't change that, but winning the last few games of the season would go a long way towards bolstering my Gamecock Pride!
I guess that's all the randomness in my brain for now. I can't promise that I'll be more consistent in blogging, but I'll try.
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