Generation Catalano

I have the flu or something. And I hurt my back while making Thanksgiving lunch. I moved my heavy Kitchen-Aid, but didn't notice anything. A bit later I was hunched over rifling through a drawer of our dining room hutch for a gravy spoon and OUCH. I stayed hunched. I powered through lunch and then fed Livi, took a rest with her until the sun woke us up. Then Gingie (thank the Lord for Gingie) watched the girls while I laid on a heating pad for an hour. (Shawn was out of town/coming home from a family funeral.)

I'm still pretty sick and my fever has spiked to 102. Advil should bring it down ... I hope? I don't know. I feel like crap. And my back still hurts.

Hey - I wrote about wanting my insides to match my outsides ... but I guess this is more like my insides matching my other insides (physical and emotional)? Ugh.

One good thing I read on Twitter today: The Agony & The Angst: An Oral History of My So-Called Life.

Proud to be generation Catalano, but I was sad that the interview didn't include Claire Danes, Jared Leto or A.J. Langer. The first two are too popular now I guess to talk about something they did so way back, and Langer married someone in another country and is out of the public eye basically.

SO - NaBloPoMo complete for today. Really hoping I get well enough to get a hair cut tomorrow afternoon.

Free TV is Not Frustration-Free TV

We've been without cable and DVR for more than a year, but we still had regular cable because the company never turned it off (we're still Internet and phone customers and overpay for that so I didn't feel too bad about that, although maybe I should?). It was just the basic 60 or so channels, and I'd watch the networks and maybe one or two others on occasion (big fan of Hallmark and Lifetime for Christmas movies, and I watched the heck out of Big Bang on TBS).

But now the cable company has started "transitioning to digital," which means if I were going to keep even the basic level of cable we'd have to get a digital converter box to somehow change the signal. I'd obviously have to start paying, and when I looked it up it's like $33/month. Well, I like TV, but not $400 per year without the ability to time shift programming. (See: cheapness in all my latest posts!)

The cable company is also in a fight with the local NBC affiliate, so that signal is blocked through our remaining wall cable channels. My mom had given us an indoor antenna to try when we initially canceled cable (I forget why she bought it - maybe for herself and it didn't work in Indy?). Last week The Black List (on NBC) was new, so I used that as a reason to give the antenna a try.

It works, and NBC is very clear as is Fox. I've been able to try a few times and get ABC, which is good because we like their weather guy (and making fun of their local news coverage - OMG). But for the life of me I cannot get CBS. All the stations are within 10-15 miles of us, and we can get some that are even farther away from the local CBS affiliate (WAFB if anyone is doing a search for "WAFB signal not working over the air" or something -- not that I have a solution yet). It has something to do with UHF vs VHF signal (VHF being weaker apparently, although the ABC station is that type too and I was able to eventually get it to work OK).

I want CBS for Big Bang Theory (new episodes) and the weekend news -- LOVE their weekend anchor, probably my favorite local reporter. Obviously I've dramatically cut back on my TV watching and shows I'm involved with - watching more with Amazon or similar. (Remember NaBloPoMo a few years back and I listed every show I watched as its own post -- that schtick lasted me nearly the entire month! Now it would be about three or four posts, so progress (?). )

ANYWAY, back to the actual problem - do we try another antenna, i.e. throw some more money at it? I can try to adjust the antenna a few more times (somewhere I read online that someone was able to get the signal by raising their antenna and the signal stayed even when they lowered it back). I know the channel (9) so I can just keep trying to force the antenna to search for it as I move it around, but so far it hasn't been able to lock on. If you're local and figure it out will you let me know?

For the love - why can't anything just be EASY!?!?!?!?!

Caught Up on The Mindy Project

Because I am cheap (frugal?) I don't have a Hulu account, so I've been missing The Mindy Project that moved there from Fox (which is still dead to me). My mom did a free week trial from Hulu over the holidays (although it said it was a free month in the original email -- I know because I almost signed up myself). She didn't cancel soon enough because of another shady email technique and so paid $7.99 for the month (or maybe just for the remaining three weeks? I'm not sure on that).

She couldn't really find anything on there she wanted to watch so is definitely canceling, but while she had an active account she gave me the password so I could watch The Mindy Project episodes that have been airing on Hulu. I got caught up last night. *SPOILERS AHEAD*

Basically I don't much like this season of Mindy. The pregnancy stuff was lame (especially since she's an OB-GYN so she should have been more educated about her birth options) and then her relationship with Danny is so dumb and dissolving. Before this season the show was a romantic comedy and there was a big sweeping romance to put them together. Now it's just meanness and ugliness and not actually talking to each other. Yech. But in the very first season Danny was really sh*tty to her - he said something about her weight that I would have never been able to recover from enough to like him let alone have a baby with him. (And even though Mindy "looks" big on TV she's really a 6 or 8 so not actually heavy at all in the real world, and again he's supposed to be an OB-GYN too and the weight comment was in context of her as his patient or something ... if I'm remembering correctly. Just YECH.)

I'm not sure where the show will go from here, because the end seemed pretty clear that she was going to stand up for herself and break up with him. They do have the baby together, and they work together so it's not like they'll just write Danny out of the show (I think?). A point of contention in their relationship is whether she should stay home or go to work, and he wanted her to have another baby immediately, which doesn't make much sense since, as again they're supposed to be DOCTORS.

I may sign up for a free trial of my own after the rest of this seasons episodes air and watch them then. I'm definitely not paying $8/month (so basically $2/show because they add one to the queue ever week) for a show that's infuriating more than it's funny ... although it is still quite funny and I like the Morgan character v. much.

Screen Time Update: Three Years Old

What a difference a year makes.

As Jane grows up her exposure to technology and media is increasing. It's still limited, but I'm much less strict (see media use decisions post from last year). She's watching a Thomas video with Aunt B as I type this. Also at Thanksgiving I didn't keep her away from the TV playing football. And on the drive she gets to watch a couple PBS Kids shows on the Kindle with her headphones (we do the same on airplanes). And there's a Lego Duplo train game on my Kindle that she can play sometimes. I'd say we usually limit it to 30 minutes/day total screen time, and some days there's none. Usually we don't watch on the weekends, and school days are structured so that there really isn't a good time to watch.

My aunt sent me this HuffPo article with the extreme headline 10 Reasons Why Handheld Devices Should Be Banned for Children Under the Age of 12. It's typical Huffington Post extremism (and I'm certainly a target HuffPo liberal reader), but I much prefer the links to posts at the end of the original article: This post has elicited a number of responses from other bloggers. You can read some of those here and here.

In any case Jane doesn't get a handheld device of her own or unsupervised use of any technology. Her exposure is certainly all non-violent (although we went to a birthday party that had a Captain American movie playing so there was some violence there, but I didn't know what to say without being totally rude!).

We're doing our best, and Jane is developing and happy. So we'll just keep going. Meh. Meh. Meh.

Cutting the Cord: Goodbye to Cox Cable

Static Noise by Douglas Cootey on Flickr

After 3+ years as a Cox cable customer (and 3 years before that as a Time Warner customer and probably 3 years before that as a Cox (?) customer in Maryland and Virginia ... and I can't even guess what the cable company was called in Stillwater, but say another 2 years there after I moved out of the dorms), I've been talked into cutting the cord. It isn't that we can't afford to keep it. It's that we're choosing not to.

Our promotional rate, which was the bundle for phone, internet and cable, expired. And the customer service rep didn't care to renegotiate with us like they did last year. So the logical thing to do, rather than pay $200+ for all three services was to drop cable, especially as it's the most expensive and we get a discount on the internet no matter what (thanks, LSU).

I mainly use cable for the DVR -- and I watch network shows, some USA, TNT and TBS. That's it. I don't watch HGTV or Food Network anymore. I also couldn't record all the shows I wanted (only two at a time, and Wednesday has become a packed night for shows I like). We rarely watch sports. It seems like a lot to pay for content that's mostly available otherwise streaming on the Internet.

Or that I could learn to do without.

Yikes.

The cable was supposed to be cut off on Wednesday. So far it hasn't, but I know I'll dissolve a bit when it does. And I have until next Wednesday or Thursday to return the cable box.

Because of the Olympics my regular shows aren't even on. Next week, the first one without cable and with new episodes of my shows will be my true test. We should still have over-the-air access to the network stations, but I can't get to the TV by 7 when prime time starts. And with no way to even record my favorites (like, is a VCR even a possibility any more?) I'm going to be relying heavily on weeks later streaming online, which I know doesn't work for every show.

I really wish I had a hookup for the TV that would make it like a computer screen, i.e. that I could connect to network websites and watch shows that way once they're available. I have a Roku (thanks, Grandma Dale), so I can watch Amazon Prime and other content (PBS, etc.) on the TV but it doesn't provide a full browsing experience.  I've been looking at stand-alone DVRs, which you would think exist as a replacement for VCRs, and haven't been able to find one that seems right (or that doesn't have a monthly fee attached -- without even giving access to content).

I am trying not to be a sheep. But gosh, I love being a sheep and having my TV content available when I'm ready for it.

Christianity on The Mindy Project

I watch a lot of TV, and one show I actually really like is The Mindy Project. I like a woman-led project, and the show has laugh-out-loud moments and characters I care about (ish).

But recently there's a storyline with Mindy's "Cool Christian" boyfriend that has me scratching my head and wondering if I should stop watching. Instead I thought I'd just write about it.

Mindy has started dating a pastor, which on the surface sounds great. Christianity being portrayed in pop culture seems like a good thing. Christians are people too, etc. But the storyline unfolds bizarrely and in a way that is incompatible with my understanding of how Christians, particularly pastors, should believe (which flows into how I think they should behave).

Mindy goes to Pastor Casey's church service and watches as he is treated like a rock star in the pulpit (he wears a collar, and the sanctuary is typical pews and raised pulpit area, but otherwise seems like a contemporary-type service). I've never seen a preaching session or church dynamic like that, although maybe I'm just out of it/used to my traditional, methodical church experience.

But how Mindy and Casey's relationship unfolds is definitely weird when viewed through the lens of my expectations of Christianity and pastoral behavior.

There are sex scenes, including a shower one that would be funny if I weren't thinking about "what?!" He asks Mindy to convert to Christianity, breaks up with her when she won't and then changes his mind ("G" told him to make it work/that they can overcome the differences/that she's the one/etc.).

The season finale has Casey deciding to go to Haiti for a year and inviting Mindy to go with him. They're going to live together in a tent for a year -- with plenty of "making love" as he calls it. WHAT?! Would a mission trip anywhere be like that, with unmarried people living together as if it's not a thing?

So I still haven't decided what I think, other than "HUH!?!?" I also know that TV is not at all representative of what life actually is, so maybe that's just what this is? But it still bothers me more than any other ridiculous storyline on TV.

What do you think?

Breastfeeding on Modern Family

One of the shows I watch is Modern Family. It's a sitcom done in the faux documentary style that seemed to start with The Office.

Anyway, last night's episode (which I watched about a half hour after it aired and was tempted to blog about right away), included Gloria, the sexy second wife of the grandfather, nursing her new baby while she signed for a package. They digitally pixilated her boob, and the dialogue made clear that the baby was nursing/not like it was popped off and it was just a boob that she was showing. There were jokes about her breasts, that she is too free with her body, etc.

Most of the time they were making those jokes she was clothed -- with the low cut tops she wears in which you could see even more of her breast than what was pixilated around the baby's head. I really don't understand why the breast when used for its intended function (even fictionally) is something that requires digital alteration lest we be scandalized. But when it's on display for sexual purposes we have no problem with it.

Furthermore, I don't know why depictions of breastfeeding have to be like that -- somehow shameful or sexual. And I guess it stuck in my craw even more because this particular show uses boob humor on a regular basis.

I know my thoughts aren't fully formulated or useful, but I had to put it out there since it struck me as just wrong and distasteful.

Nielsen Rater

Our household was chosen to fill out a TV diary for the Nielsen company to determine ratings. I'm sure everyone gets to do it once in a while.

Jane never watches TV, and Shawn rarely does, so it was mostly my TV watching ... and it pretty much mirrored my November 2012 project to write a post about every show I watch. Lovely.

I just wish Psych were on -- for reasons other than being recorded in the dumb TV diary.

I got $30 cash in return for completing the diary which is nice. But I was more than a little annoyed when they called the house TWICE during the week of the survey at almost 9 p.m. Fortunately Jane slept through both jangling rings, but I was pretty aggravated.

This is what it's come to I guess.

Christmas Movies

Something I didn't mention in my TV watching confessions was how much I like to watch TERRIBLE Christmas/holiday movies.

ABC Family, Lifetime, Hallmark. Those would be my channels in years past -- I can't count how many of the lame-oh, eye rolling movies I've watched. They're so bad they're good, at least to me.

I remember a particularly good/bad one we watched at Shawn's Aunt Diannia's house -- Wilford Brimley suddenly grabbed his left arm and Diannia shouted "heart attack!" And sure enough, that's what he had. Shawn and I still sometimes shout it out randomly and crack up, years later.

Last year I watched many while Jane was still small and sleeping all the live long day. But this year I'm not sure if I'll watch any of them. I've seen ads in some of the magazines I read -- which I'm letting subscriptions lapse as I can stand it, because seriously -- so I've seen a few I would LIKE to see. I think there's one with TorI Spelling. I mean, come on! Donna Martin in a TV movie with a holiday twist?

But I'll make due with plenty of Christmas tunes and a particularly annoying Jingle Bells-playing monkey (a gift to Jane last year at her Indiahoma shower ... not that I'll name names).

Whatever the case playing with Jane is always better than any old movie...

The End: What I Would Watch and What I Don't Watch

So NaBloPoMo is at an end. Again, I don't think I won any of the prizes given by the organizers, despite being a diligent, if boring, daily blogger. I also am having second (third? fourth? sixteenth?) thoughts on the wisdom of spelling out my TV habit so clearly, especially when it comes to implicating Shawn in a few of the shows. I know it's not a good habit, and I could spend time dissecting why I succumb to it and don't really try to break it. Maybe next November?

Ah, I just remembered another show I DO watch: Rizzoli and Isles (which came back on this week after hiatus -- TNT). I like Angie Harmon a lot, but the show itself is really hokey. Another police drama with two female leads (detective and medical examiner), but they've both been the target of at least one serial killer (sometimes two) and the show is only a couple years old. Anyway, that gives you an idea of its quality...

I also watch basketball -- NBA and college especially in the spring -- so our TV gets use for that. (Although it's such a small TV that watching sports on it is pretty difficult.) Otherwise I think I've pretty much spilled my guts about my TV habits. **red face**

But pressing on, since embarrassment is a hallmark of this blog. So, what I WOULD watch if I had more time, was willing to spend money on premium channels, etc.

• Dexter (already seen all the seasons but the current one ... got hooked during the writer's strike when they showed clean versions of the show on CBS)
• Homeland -- another Showtime show with Claire Danes (I've seen most of her work since MSCL) that EVERYONE is talking about. I've heard about it from my mom, on NPR, on a variety of blogs, etc. 
• West Wing -- it's streaming free with Amazon Prime, and I would love to go back and watch every episode. I saw many of the later seasons but not as many of the first and never all in order.
• HGTV and DIY, specifically House Hunters and house renovations shows like House Crashers, Bath Crashers, etc. I used to spend hours with those on as background.
• Food Network -- Good Eats is an awesome show. I know it's no longer being filmed BUT Alton Brown has specials on the network and I'm sure they still air old GE eps (and they're really great even when re-runs). Also Trisha Yearwood apparently has a show on Food Network. I love her music and her cookbooks, so I'm sure I would love that show.
• Law & Order: SVU reruns. I watch some of these, but I would love to have a marathon day and just watch my favorites. Ditto for Law & Order: Criminal Intent reruns. Love me some Bobby! (Who I saw once in NYC.)
• Speaking of Ice-T (of SVU fame), I love the show Ice Loves Coco -- a reality show about Ice and his wife. It's so funny and bad. I've seen three episodes: once at the gym and two at my sister's house recently because I was channel surfing while waiting to pick up Shawn at the airport.

I'm sure there are many more, but these are what have been tumbling around in my head this month as I've been writing this series. There are also probably current prime time shows that I could easily get hooked into, but I do my best to avoid any new show trappings!

So you'll notice I do not watch any reality TV (although I would watch Ice Loves Coco, definitely a reality show). I used to watch America's Next Top Model in the first couple cycles -- back when I was in the target demographic I guess. And house hunting shows could count as reality? (HAHAHA, no.) Before we got married I watched hours of horrible bride shows and WAY back when MTV was new to me I loved watching Real World/Road Rules type stuff in college. But otherwise I'm pretty reality free. I also don't like singing competitions (I like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, but I never actually saw the American Idol competitions) or talent competitions (I've watched a handful of America's Got Talent episodes at other people's houses, and while mildly entertaining definitely not how I choose to spend my TV time).

Basically give me a script, some pretty people, a mystery and a good love story and I'm on board. (OK, I'm also on board if the show is pretty terrible, as evidenced by what I watch.)

Hope you had a great November. See you next year.

What I Watch: Cougar Town and Dallas

Two shows that are on hiatus and are more than a little embarrassing to say that I watch.

I started watching Cougar Town when it premiered -- I think the same time as Modern Family -- because it's created by the Scrubs people (and I love Scrubs) and just kept watching it because it was so wacky and weird.

The show is about a group of friends in their 40s, love to drink wine and play a game called Penny Can. They live in Florida. Originally it was about a divorced woman (Courteney Cox) going after much younger guys, but it evolved into a much better show. The title doesn't make any sense now, but they make jokes about it in the title cards -- a blink and you'll miss it kind of inside joke I guess.

It was on ABC but apparently is now moving to TBS starting on January 8. I'm glad I looked it up, as I'm not sure my DVR will automatically record something that's on another channel.

The revamp of Dallas wasn't something I was interested in watching BUT my mom and aunt were here during the series premiere and we decided to have a look. It was so bad it was good. And even Shawn got nostalgic and would watch it with me. 

I don't know how they're going to handle the next season now that Larry Hagman, aka J.R. Ewing, is dead. My mother-in-law said they'd already filmed the next season (or next part of it, since it's a TNT show with split up seasons) so at least they can write him out gracefully. Sadness.

One of the lead characters is played by an actor (Jesse Metcalfe) I first saw on the soap opera Passions. That show premiered when I was in high school -- maybe the summer right before college, and so I watched it religiously for a while. Eventually I stopped and they don't make it anymore. It was REALLY bad.

Passions also had the guy who played Keith on later seasons of Scrubs, so maybe he'll show up on Cougar Town in future seasons (lots of other actors from Scrubs have been on the show), and it will make these two shows being in the same post make a little more sense. Basically writing two-for-one because I'm running out of days in NaBloPoMo!

What I Watch: Star Trek

A local channel - ME TV - plays the original Star Trek every Saturday night at 8 pm. Our DVR records it, and Shawn and I will watch an episode whenever we feel like intentionally watching TV together, which isn't often but is usually on Saturday evenings.

When we were dating we'd watch Star Trek: Next Generation together--my first introduction to the Star Trek universe. Although we had the string quartet play theme song as we walked down the aisle after being married we are far from Trekkies.

Shawn has seen most of the original series episodes, but I haven't. And even the ones I have seen I forget and like to watch again. There are a few Shawn will say "let's skip" and some that he hasn't seen or doesn't remember. He wants to skip "Trouble with Tribbles," but I keep saving it on the DVR hoping he'll change his mind and we can watch it again. It's hilariously weird.

The show is so campy and funny, and I'm a big Spock fan. I love Kirk's over-acting and the wacky sets and 60s-style costumes. I love the interplay with Bones and Spock and the inevitable "He's dead, Jim" almost every episode. Poor red shirts (a red shirt crewman almost always dies during an away mission).

The version we watch has had its external shots redone with CGI, so we don't like that as much/would prefer the authenticity of the model ships being filmed on a painted backdrop (or however it worked back then). Otherwise it's a good show we can share, and I guess we'll watch it until we get through all five seasons.

What I Watch: Fringe

Fringe is a show I've watched since its beginning, and I'm not really sure what it was that drew me. Actually it was probably Joshua Jackson. I've always been a Pacey fan myself. But I found I really liked the show, which is another that I watch with a strong female lead in Olivia.

It's now my only Friday show, but before it was on Thursdays after Bones. I had to choose between Fringe and Grey's Anatomy (I chose Fringe, but I could always watch Grey's online later).

Fringe is a scifi show that's not like any scifi I've ever watched ... not that I've watched a lot of scifi. It is not something that Shawn likes at all -- in fact he makes fun of me for watching it BUT sometimes he likes it because of the Walter and Peter dynamic ... the Walter character has some pretty good one liners and zingers.

Basically the show is about a team of FBI agents who investigate paranormal events (X-Files-ish I guess, but with the addition of a wacky scientist who's had part of his brain removed, making him hilariously weird). There's definitely some hardcore romance, which I love. But the longing is so prolonged. Every time Peter and Olivia get together they write some way to tear them back apart.

There was a huge storyline with an alternate universe, complete with a Fauxlivia. Our Olivia was trapped on the other side in a prison in the dark, and that was the cliffhanger end of a season. I can't tell you how many times I thought of that over the summer -- wondering how they'd ever set it right. Even knowing it was just a character and nothing was even remotely real I still WORRIED about Olivia. (Spoiler: they did sort everything out, although not without doing some damage to the Peter-Olivia relationship ... which then got re-written or re-wired when Peter disappeared from existence only to be pulled back by their love, but their history never actually happened ... or something. Still not clear on that one.)

This is Fringe's final season, and it's like a COMPLETELY different show. We've fast forwarded to 2036 (the characters didn't age because they were frozen in amber for 20 years), and they have to fight to reclaim the earth from future people who have come back to trash its resources. It's bizarre and frustrating, especially because with the super powerful enemy "The Observers" it seems impossible for them to actually triumph.

I keep watching though because I believe that they will triumph. I want to see the resolution of the Peter and Olivia love story. And at this point it's habit. I've watched every other episode so I might as well see it to the end.

Pop Culture Nexus is a site that has a feature on Fringe -- screen caps of the episodes with funny commentary. It stays true to the show -- it's not written in a mean way, as the writer LOVES Fringe. But it adds another element of entertainment to the show I think. I haven't been reading it this season, but I did for a while last season. It's full of spoilers though, so if you watch the show or plan to (previous seasons are available on Amazon for streaming ... free with Prime), probably avoid that site.

What I Watch: Psych

Psych might be my favorite current show. It's another crime show -- mostly a comedy but with some drama mixed in.

I love Shawn and Gus, and Shawn and Juliet. I love the goofy jokes, 80s and 90s references and the wacky crime solving team.

Another show that I started watching because my mom turned me onto it. And I LOVE it. It's another show I can watch again and again in syndication. I might even watch it if I had the DVDs (I only have DVDs of two shows: My So-Called Life and Felicity).

Anyway, I watched tons of reruns on Ion and USA during my pregnancy. I wouldn't be surprised if Jane recognized the theme song: "I know, you know that I'm not telling the truth. I know, you know you just don't have any proof..."

What I Watch: The Big Bang Theory

I love this show, and it's one of the few that Shawn will watch with me regularly and intentionally. It's centered around academics -- totally stereotyped but also hilariously accurate sometimes.

One of the characters is socially inept but also OK with it (his mother had him tested so he knows he's not insane) -- Sheldon is so funny, and the actor who portrays him (Jim Parsons) does such an amazing job with his body language and dry one-liners.

Sheldon has a "girlfriend" in later seasons -- Amy Farrah Fowler -- who is played by Mayim Bialik, formerly known as Blossom (whose book Beyond the Sling I recently read).

We always laugh out loud at this show, sometimes because it reminds us of something we've experienced, but usually just because it's so outlandish and such a ridiculous portrayal of the way academia works.

It's definitely one of my favorite shows and one I would be sad to give up if I ever did abolish TV entirely. It's also one that I can watch repeatedly in reruns, which I did earlier this year when Jane was still small enough to keep facing away from the TV (what a bad mama!).

What I Watch: Community

Here's another NBC sitcom that's currently on hiatus. I've watched it since the beginning because of Joel McHale. I was a big fan of The Soup (don't watch anymore because I actually HAVE cut back on TV watching, despite what this month is showing me/us). I watched it back when it was Talk Soup and Skunk Boy was the host. (I didn't watch it when Greg Kinnear was the host, but that's probably because we didn't have cable then.)

Anyway, I think Joel McHale is super cute and funny, so I checked out his show and I liked it and kept watching. It doesn't get the best ratings because it's kind of a wacky only-some-people-will-get-it kinda show. And I like being one of those kinds of people I guess.

This is a show about a group of friends -- originally a study group for some class -- at a community college (I think in California?). The main character, Jeff, was an attorney who'd never completed his undergraduate degree, so he gets fired and decides to go get it so he can get back to practicing law and making money. The other characters are so assorted and have different reasons for being at the school -- some fresh from high school all the way up to an old retired guy played by Chevy Chase.

All in all it's a really clever show. There is some drama behind the scenes with the show's creator being fired and Chevy Chase being apparently a real pill about everything. I have no first-hand knowledge obviously, but I do read things and sometimes information sticks around in my head, although not always in pristine 100% correct condition.

They have really good bumpers at the end of Community (Troy & Abed in the Morning...) but I often miss part of it because of the previously mentioned DVR issue since NBC airs their shows to straddle the break between shows. Annoying!

I'll be glad when the show is back on the air. It was supposed to start in October, but now it's been pushed to February. This is the fourth season, so maybe it will be the last given ratings and the incongruity of being in community college for so long? (Although that's not even the most bizarre thing about the show.) My DVR is set, so whenever it comes back -- Thursday or otherwise -- I'll catch it (or most of it I guess).

What I Watch: Grey's Anatomy

Grey's Anatomy is a drama -- really a soap opera -- set in a hospital in Seattle. I haven't watched it since the beginning. I'm not sure how I got sucked into it. I know my sister used to watch it and I probably started watching reruns on Lifetime (back in Alexandria?!), and so I've watched the newer seasons since then.

I liked Izzy (Katherine Heigl), but her departure was pretty weird and her story line had degraded -- I hated the Denny hallucinations and brain tumor stuff. Otherwise I think Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), the main character, is my favorite. And I like her relationship with Derek (Patrick Dempsey). I couldn't understand the adoption story line -- it seemed very fake that they wouldn't be able to keep their baby with them as a foster child during the process, especially after she had bonded with them. But I'm sure there is some grain of truth there. It was irritating to watch though.

The seasons continue to get more and more drama filled in terms of fantastical things happening to them to make big cliffhangers -- gunman loose in the hospital, plane crash, etc.

I also kept getting confused this year on the timeline -- their progression as doctors from interns to residents to attendings -- apparently takes five years? But this is the ninth season, and so they just became attending physicians and kept referencing "five years ago" when showing clips from season one. I still am not sure I understood that right. Or which seasons were supposed to represent two years.

Thursday is my most jam packed night for TV recording. I usually watch all my NBC comedy shows (whatever three or four are on that I'm watching) and call it a night. I watch the Grey's, etc. later on the weekend.

What I Watch: The Office

The Office hasn't been the same since Steve Carell left, but I still love it because of the Jim and Pam story line. The drama is over there, but I like a happy ending.

I've seen several of the original British "The Office" episodes, but definitely after I had seen the Americanized versions. I probably didn't think it was as funny as it would have been otherwise. I also really like it even though I don't work in an office anymore (and I guess I haven't for much of the run, since I worked from home for several years in there). Especially at the beginning some of the jokes seemed to ring true to life, making them even funnier.

I keep watching this because I'm hooked into the characters' story lines. It's still funny and an OK way to spend 20 minutes. This is its last season though, so hopefully I won't fall into whatever replaces it in the time slot.

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Jane and I made it to Oklahoma no problem. We had a tight connection in Dallas, but our flight arrived and then departed from the same gate. I think it was even the same plane! I was worried about our car seat not making it in the 45 minute layover, but of course it did. The strap on the car seat bag broke, which is annoying and hopefully I can replace it -- let me know if you have ideas for that! -- but otherwise it was an uneventful trip. Jane was fairly good. She didn't cry like I thought she might.

Being here so far has been a challenge, since Beth is spending time with her boyfriend, my mom is working today and Shawn is en route to his conference. So I'm basically single parenting in unfamiliar (and not childproofed!) environs. I'm exhausted. Add that to the lingering sickies and I'm not a lot of fun to be around. Poor Jane! (And Gran!)

I put Jane in the play pen so I could knock out this post -- and give myself a rest. She took a good morning nap, but this afternoon was way more interested in watching Owen play than resting. So I'm in for it tonight I know.

Gotta get back to Gran's -- AKA land of no Internet. Makes me wish I had an iPhone so I could DrawSomething from there. Until tomorrow...

What I Watch: Up All Night

Let's see, a 30-minute show about new parents with a baby keeping them up all night that premiered in fall 2011 ... yeah, that sounds like something I would tune in for since I also had a baby keeping me up all night then. (In reality she slept great as a newborn ... it's now as a toddler that we're really losing sleep.)

This show stars Christina Applegate, Will Arnett and Maya Rudolph. They tweaked the set up of the show from stay-at-home dad to stay-at-home mom from season 1 (Rudolph being Applegate's boss on a talk show) to season 2 (Rudolph just being a wacky friend with no evident employment), so that's a little weird. It's not my favorite show, but I like the premise of seeing how a fictional family deals with a baby/kid.

(In real life Will Arnett is married to Amy Pohler -- of Parks & Recreation -- and they have two little boys. BUT they recently announced their divorce after 9 years of marriage and it makes me sad. Not all celebrity breakups make me sad -- Robsten, what? -- but this did. I have no idea what happened, obviously, but if I had to pick shows based on loyalty I'd definitely go with Parks & Rec. Not only is it a better show, but I almost always side with the ex-wife in celebrity breakups. Team Aniston! Wow, I am so lame.)

ANYWAY, on the show the baby's name is Amy, who is pretty much the most adorable baby ever ... I assume it's a set of twins, and if I saw them together it would be cuteness overload! On one episode Amy was unable to sleep anywhere but her parents' bed. The solution: put a pillowcase in her crib. Uh, maybe my baby's broken but that does NOT work for us. Jane mostly sleeps in her crib now anyway, but I wear a path between our rooms throughout the night as she wakes up.

Another episode, I think last season, has the family taking a cross-country flight at the last minute for a wedding. They're at LAX, the lines are long, Amy needs a diaper change so they do it in a security bin. Funny. Traveling with a baby is no joke.

And I'm about to do it today. This will be my first flight alone with Jane since she's been able to walk. I'm hopeful it will go OK, as they are two short flights. But she's heavier, we're both a little sick (so worried about her ears!) and we're both used to our routines. I've got my bag of tricks -- some new small toys, snacks, books (favorites and new) -- and hope that we can be OK on our way to OK. At least on the way back Shawn will be with us (he has a conference).

Anyway, Up All Night is a silly little show that isn't at all representative of life with a baby. They take some aspects of it and blow them out of proportion, which is exactly what a TV show should do I think.

What I Watch: Parks & Recreation

Another sitcom in the NBC Thursday night block. I've watched this from the first episode, probably because it just came on after something I already watched. But I actually love Amy Pohler from Saturday Night Live -- she created and stars in the show -- so it's possible it was an intentional decision to start watching.

In any case it's intentional that I KEEP watching.

Pohler's lead character Leslie Knope is a government employee (working in the parks department) in an Indiana town. She's idealistic and efficient and loves her job and town. She's also a goofball and is surrounded by quirky, nutty characters who fit together in really weird ways.

Here's a funny clip with two of my favorite characters, Tom and Donna:



I also really like that characters get together romantically and then seemingly stay together. Romance isn't a big part of the show (although the Leslie and Ben storyline is great), but there isn't a big effort to have some sort of ongoing sexual tension between characters (like Sam & Diane, Ross & Rachel, etc.). Maybe that will change as the series progresses, but I hope not.

The show, like most sitcoms for me, isn't long enough and I wish there were more. I guess if I watched everything on DVD plus extras it might seem right. In any case, I like this show a lot.