Sunday, June 27, 2010

I like to think of it as heatstroke prevention.

I'm convinced that Athens is the hottest place in Georgia north of the gnat line. In fact, I would not be surprised if Satan himself vacationed here when events happen that result in his own home freezing. I have no factual evidence to back either statement up, but when I walk outside at 7:00 in the morning and immediately break out into a sweat, that's all the evidence I need.

At work on Friday afternoon, I noticed that the weather icon in the bottom corner of my monitor was a red thermometer with three red flames coming out of it. Uhhh...where is the Channel 2 Severe Weather Team now that the thermometer is on fire? I think this is a much bigger deal than 1/8' of snow so I did what any other fair-skinned maiden would do...I drove home from work with the AC on full blast and upon my arrival home, walked promptly to the thermostat and cranked it down to a cool and refreshing 74. Look, I can't help it that I'm cold-natured and frugal and keep it on 78 during the summer. I also decided that there was no other way to ride out this heat wave than to sit in front of the TV for hours on end doing absolutely nothing at all.

In all honesty this is rather uncommon because usually when I watch TV I'm doing other stuff around the house too. But not this weekend because as luck would have it, it was also a Free! Preview! Weekend! on all 532 HBO channels that AT&T offers. So needless to say I loaded up the DVR and am set for at least the next 17 weekends.

I probably would have gotten more accomplished (read: watched more TV) had I not had to walk outside in the sweltering heat at least once every 3 hours or so to walk Cash, or if I had not kept falling asleep. [On Saturday I was kind of like a 5 month old because I had a morning nap and an afternoon nap.] So because I've absolutely nothing else in the world to write about than the countless hours I spent watching TV, I'm going to make this post even more painful to read than it already is. Here's the rundown:

Friday Night Lights [the series, not the movie]. Y'all...I don't know who those writers and producers thought they were fooling when they cast Taylor Kitsch to play the role of a high schooler/new high school graduate, because I've never seen a 19 year old who looks like him. And I see them all day long. Too bad Dillon isn't a real town because I'm kind of jealous of Tammy Taylor's life.

Baby Mama. I love Tina Fey. And Amy Poehler. Why haven't I seen this movie already? Oh, probably because I hardly ever watch movies.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. I don't remember ever hearing about this movie when it was out in the theatres and I'm pretty sure that I would have never even paid $1 to one of those red boxes that are all over the place now for the privilege of watching it. However, I am a fan of Jennifer Garner and I could listen to audio of Matthew McConaughey all day long, and who doesn't love the classic tale of bad boy meets good girl and they live happily ever after?

FIFA World Cup 2010: USA vs. Ghana. I had high hopes for Team USA and I really thought that they had a chance at least up until around the 63rd minute or so. It's all a blur after that because I'm pretty sure the vuvuzelas lulled me right into dreamland.

March of the Penguins. Perhaps I was thinking that surely it would cool things off here if I watched a movie featuring Antarctica. While that proved unsuccessful, I am happy to report that I did actually learn something during my weekend of doing nothing. [Which I guess that means it wasn't really a weekend of doing nothing now was it?] The emperor penguin is pretty incredible. It's amazing what they will do for their young. And seriously, Morgan Freeman as the narrator? Loved it.

Sense and Sensibility. Oh, Jane Austen...you get me every single time. "Whatever his past actions, whatever his present course, at least you may be certain that he loved you."... "But not enough, not enough."

Perhaps here I should include the ones that I began but didn't make it through due to a condition known as heavy eyelids: Duplicity (twice). Sex and The City. X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

By this evening, I was disgusted with my own lack of activity and determined that in order to prevent anymore blood clots from forming, I should probably move around a bit. So I took Cash on a jog and then I came back and did the much dreaded Shred. Only to round the evening out with Run, Fatboy, Run....while eating pizza.

Run, Fatboy, Run. Typical British flick which means I've got to watch it again in order to determine if I really like it or not. After all, I am the girl that referred to Notting Hill as Nodding Off for I don't know how long.

So the point of all of this is not to reveal my aspirations of becoming the next Gene Siskel or Robert Ebert. It's to say that we all need down time. And it's ok to be perfectly content doing nothing but sitting at home watching TV every once in awhile. I'm learning a lot about learning to be content. Maybe I'll share more on that later. Or maybe I'll bore you all to tears with another post about television. But for those of you who made it all the way through to the bitter end, there is a reward. In the form of Justin Timberlake...


**Edited to add: My Sister's Keeper. This is the movie that I watched on Saturday night. How in the world could I have forgotten this one? Probably because it's the saddest movie ever so I just repressed it. Otherwise I would need to pop some uppers to come out of the funk that it almost put me in. Jodi Picoult...you are a dark soul.

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