Monday, February 01, 2016

Decluttering entertainment

January is over, and although that's normally what I'd consider a slow month, it ended up being very busy for me. I had stuff going on every weekend. February is a little quieter. I actually don't have anything other than the usual church stuff scheduled this coming weekend, and I'm already excited about that. It's been a long time since I had a Saturday to just hang around the house and not have to worry about going anywhere or doing anything in particular.

This weekend's fun was seeing the new Star Wars movie again with a group of friends. Yes, I've seen it twice already, but I hadn't seen it with these people, and we went out to eat together afterward, so it was a social event.

My other movie viewing for the weekend was watching Mad Max: Fury Road on HBO, and I have to say I was a little disappointed. I'd seen so much hype about it. So many of the SF/F authors I know were raving about it and talking about seeing it repeatedly. I was expecting something with unexpected depth for an action movie. Instead, it was basically fight, drive, drive, fight, and the fact that one faction was a group of women fleeing an abusive man didn't really elevate things all that much. I found it all rather boring.

Though I did like the vehicle with the rows of giant drums on the back, the wall of amps on the front, and the guy playing the flamethrower guitar. Because if you're going to head into battle, you might as well bring your own soundtrack. Really, I was more interested in all the ways they put the odd vehicles together with mixes of pieces and parts (and I am not a car person by any means) than in the story. And I liked the previous Mad Max movies.

I've also decided to give up on the Shannara series. I made two attempts to watch the latest episode and finally just turned it off and deleted it from the DVR midway through. I had to admit to myself that I wasn't enjoying it, and time is to precious to waste on things I feel I "should" like. Ditto on the opposite end of the spectrum for Mercy Street on PBS. I can recognize that it's well done, but I don't like any of the characters and am not interested in the story. It was rather liberating to turn the TV off after Downton Abbey. I guess it's like decluttering for entertainment -- if it doesn't bring me joy, I can get rid of it.

On the other hand, Galavant has made me so happy this season. I won't hold my breath for another season because the ratings are so low (what's wrong with people?!!!!), so I'm glad they gave it a nice ending with room for more, but oh, do I want more. And I need this on DVD immediately. It's like instant transportation to the happy place, a sure cure for a bad day. And it turns out you can already get the soundtrack on digital, so I think I need this right now.

Meanwhile, this is something of an anniversary for me. Fourteen years ago yesterday I got laid off from my last job, so today is my anniversary of being my own boss. There have been times when it's been a struggle, and there are frustrations sometimes, but I wouldn't trade it for any other job. I'm getting to live my dream. There aren't a lot of people who are lucky enough to make a living doing something they dreamed of as a child, especially in a field like this. Now I just have to keep at it because I'm too spoiled to go back to a regular job. It would be soul-destroying.

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