Oh my lard, readers, it has been a crazy adventure. And by adventure I mean I have done literally nothing but convulse/rest/look pathetic in bed for a solid seven days, then in my recovery period I went to work, came home and fell asleep. The flu. Bad. I am paler than usual and have very little creative juice available.
I know I left you all hanging in the middle of GAY SEX WEEK. Never fear, it shall resume next week. Having the flu is totally not on my sexy lifestyle agenda and every time I thought “It’s International Fisting Day I need to finish my blog post” I followed up with “Oh my goddess this hurts so bad (good thing everything is temporary).” I like to add the good thing everything is temporary to the end of unpleasant experiences, it is helpful in maintaining a good attitude. So next week, patient readers. I have more GAY SEX WEEK gems!
The one thing I am really up on are the things you can stream instantly on your computer, since that is what is seeing me through these days. Most of what I’ve been watching are courtesy of the recommendations of friends. Hopefully this blesses my fellow crusaders against the flu virus. Grab a popsicle and some clear liquids and start streaming!
It snowed in October on Saturday. It was crazy. And cold.
What I’m Streaming Lately on Netflix Watch Instantly
Yeah, I know they went through it with their whole “We’re raising prices, we’re splitting in two, wait no we’re not!” thing. I dumped my DVD component and I think I’m just fine with streaming only. $7.99 a month isn’t bad.
Breaking Bad
Basically, this chemistry teacher who is living the American reality of barely making it on his salary finds out his wife is surprise pregnant, his son is 16 and has cerebral palsy, and he is diagnosed with lung cancer with 18 months to live. His money making plan to ensure his family’s future? Cooking crystal meth. There are three seasons available on Netflix and I have ripped through the first two. The show is high intensity, moody and moves slowly. The acting is exquisite. I am often reminded of the advice I got when I was in college “Never trust a tweaker.” This show is like Weeds meets Bill Nye the Science Guy meets Dexter. Queer content: minimal.
Friday Night Lights
My sports knowledge and interest are about even at zilch. I thought briefly about cruising gay softball leagues for dates but even the chance to get laid didn’t bring me out to the ballgame. So it speaks volumes to the writers of Friday Night Lights that it kept my interest for five seasons straight that I binged on for about 2 months. The characters are riveting, the marriage between Kyle Chandler (I mean, Coach Taylor) and Tami Taylor is very realistic, so is their relationship to their teenage daughter Julie. The dreamy Tim Riggins is basically the brooding alcoholic most girls dream of. Football plays a major role in the plot and I found myself learning and caring about the game. I found it much easier to follow the show on Netflix than I did when it aired on tv–sometimes it moves slow but then turns on a dime. Queer content: a couple characters come out but the plots never really go anywhere.
Joan Rivers: Piece of Work
Joan Rivers is all show biz all the time. This documentary of a year in her life is really fascinating, I love how she constantly reinvents herself. I also really admire her admitted workaholism well into her seventies. Did you know she and Melissa Rivers processed the suicide of Melissa’s dad by writing and starring in a TV movie about the experience of his suicide? It’s bananas. Queer content: it’s show biz. Lots of queers around.
Kevin Smith: Too Fat For 40
I wish Kevin Smith would jump on the body love bandwagon, considering what a good advocate he ended up being after he got kicked off a Southwest flight for being too fat.* Body accepting he is not, but he is a great storyteller and this performance video of his 40th birthday party/live performance in Red Bank is really interesting. Essentially Kevin takes a question from the audience and tells one riveting story after another from his life as a director and midlife developed pothead. I aspire to being able to be that good of a storyteller. Queer content: Kevin goes on at length about his gay bear friend who teaches him about gay bear terminology–pretty accurately.
What I’m Streaming Lately on Hulu for Free
American Horror Story
Starring Connie Britton, the mom from Friday Night Lights, and Dylan McDermott, I was sold on the cast already. It was created by Ryan Murphy of Glee/Nip/Tuck fame and this show is as scary as Glee is obnoxious/addictive. Now, this really depends on your definition of what is scary and I am more of a psychological horror movie person. But they play the strings like a good violin and yet I find it compelling and want to know more about this creepy murder house (flashbacks to different histories of the house pepper each episode) and watch more. Queer content: former owners of the house were a gay couple, I can’t decide how I feel about them being discussed the way they are–mostly I’m annoyed at the kinkphobia and wonder if that will get resolved later on.
Pan Am
While this show doesn’t have the amazing storytelling, characters or cast of Mad Men, it certainly has the costumes and props. It’s very adventurous, much like a Nancy Drew novel, and a great eye candy sort of thing to keep your mind off your ailing body. I suggest watching the behind the scenes content on Hulu–lots of real Pan Am flight attendants from the 60s talking about their real experiences and how it is incorporated into the show. Queer content: So far none.
Parks and Recreation
This is a show I tried when it first aired and couldn’t get into it. Then I binged on it one night while working on my taxes and was swayed. The characters are hilarious–I especially love government hating bureaucrat Ron Swanson and the ceaselessly self-promoting Tom Haverford. It is rare I’m interested in anything enough to watch it more than once but I’ll happily go through the first few seasons on Netflix again and again and the most recent episodes on Hulu. Queer content: minimal.
What I’m Borrowing From a Friend on DVD
The Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 2
Someone on TMZ was tweeting that if you have a favorite Housewife you shouldn’t be allowed to procreate. I think that is crap. The Real Housewives is a really well-crafted show based on folks who have (or appear to have) lots of dough and lots of time on their hands to wallow in drama. On the surface this would drive me crazy but for some reason the alchemy in certain casts is really great. My BFF Brian loaned me this season of this cast and I found it helpful to watch to keep chugging through the agony of the flu. All of these women are incessantly complaining about castmate Danielle, who is one of those people who is so out of touch with reality that knowing her might make you question your own grip on reality–I’ve known a lot of Danielles in my time. Also I love Caroline’s no-nonsense attitude and her wacky adult kids. Queer content: gay friend of Caroline’s son makes a few appearances (more in season 3).
Anyway, friends, back with more soon. Send your healing vibes my way! Happy streaming!
*By the way, I will never fly Southwest. Ever. I don’t care how cheap it is, they keep kicking people off their planes for really fucked up reasons.
Holy shazoidle, all of this tube-tastic tv-watchin’ sounds wonderful. Particularly for a snowy-in-October day. Clear soup and streaming videos, here I come!
I love Friday Night Lights so much! But I think that’s partially because I’m a small-town, southernish girl who grew up with a dad much like Coach Taylor. I was a blubbering mess during the series finale.
I’m giving American Horror Story a shot, even though I was completely creeped out by the quasi-rape scene in the first episode.
Southwest really is terrible. Kicking off fat people and queer people for kissing, and my straight friend who was trying to nurse her son…I just don’t understand why they think it’s acceptable to treat their customers this way!