Suburbia

Netflix kept insisting we'd adore the tv show Weeds so I finally listened to it and had it mailed. It's cute. I'm not in love with it at the moment, but I like a lot of the characters and its got some promise. And the little boy is a doll. I liked it enough to go ahead and get season two and to give it 6 stars.

Requiem for demonic Dexter

The second season of Dexter was even better than the first. Dark and funny and smart, I strongly suggest you check it out. I really adore the brother and sister dynamic on here.

Oh, Ira

I have a deep and lasting crush on Ira Glass. I'm completely hooked on the The American Life radio show. I wish more things could be This American Life-like. So of course, I jumped on the chance to watch the first season of their Showtime TV show.

I don't think anything can take the place of the hour long podcasts I love, but these shows are a wonderful fix. They cover things like hot dog stands, childhood fads, and cloning beloved animals. It ranges from the all out quirky to the upsetting to the heart wrenching (my god - the man who spends so much time at his wife's grave - sob!).

This show is so wonderful! I'm giving it a 9.

High school awkwardness

We watched Freaks & Geeks over the last few months. Such a good series! Its great to find gems like this, but a bit of a bummer to find out how brief they were.

Anyway, I want Bill to live across the street so I can be entertained by his sweet and hysterical ways. Harris can come by too. How about an 8 on this one? Word to the wise though - after watching these awfully adorable kids night after night, don't go look up and see what they are doing now right away. The sudden transformation from awkward teens to adults is kind of a shock to the system.

Other readings and watchings

I thought I was reading Nocturnes for a challenge, but apparently I wasn't. Still, it was a fast read for being a relatively big book. All creepy-ish short stories, many were less than 10 pages long. I appreciate an author who can pack a punch into such a short space. The one that has stuck with me the most though was the first rather longer tale with the unfortunate title of "Cancer Cowboy" - way better than it sounds.

My little brother is my library fairy. He works in the library so now and then when I pop in to pick up my reserved books, I'll find a surprise for me. The Rabbits was the most recent one. It is a kids book but its so freaking ominous and dark. The art is beautiful and the message is haunting.

As for watchings, we have managed to see some things in between all the packing and pitching out. Lars and the Real Girl has been on my to-see list for a while. It was quirky and interesting. I though Paul Schneider who played the brother was pretty terrific in it. It was a very sweet story.

We managed to watch the first season of The Shield as well. I like it! I'm not a big fan of Michael Chiklis, but he's good as the mostly detestable Detective Mackey. My only complaint is the character of Julian. He doesn't seem real and there's so very little backstory on him that it seems like he just popped into existence. Almost like they just decided they needed a gay cop so they threw one in without thinking too much about his character. Maybe that will be rectified in the next season.

It'll turn you into mush

Okay, so I should have known that a book written by and about a man who lost his wife very young in life would turn me into a teary eyed mushball. Sometimes, its good to be a mushball! Read Love is a Mix Tape if you're in need of some musical nostalgia and a good cathartic bawl. I really really liked it.

We breezed through the first season on Monarch of the Glen over the long weekend. The husband put it right when he referred to it as Northern Exposure in Scotland. Very fun and cute with scenery that makes me want to smack myself for not having a passport right now.

I watched only half of the David Attenborough special The Life of Birds before i had to return it to the library. It's stunning! I'm going to have to check it out again and just sit in front of it with my sketchbook at the ready to try to capture some of its interestingness. The best was this bird:

The kakapo is very endangered and ridiculously cute. Flightless, it looks like a cartoon version of a pudgy parrot/owl/groundhog.

Yay for Project Runway

I seriously love the show and I'm so glad its back. My favorite outfit from last night is nothing I'd ever wear, but I think its pretty cool.

Carmen's outfit just had such pretty combinations of fabrics and colors. Very striking.

New Obsession

Are you watching Pushing Daisies yet? If not, you should be. Freakin adorable and the best set design I've ever seen on a tv show.

And speaking of pretty rooms - go vote for Jamie's mad decorating skills on Apartment Therapy. I want her to come and prettify my place now too.

Thursday!

So nerdily excited for this Thursday. Why? Well cause The Office is back of course.

Also looking forward to My Name Is Earl and Scrubs, but The Office tops the list.

I'm okay with my nerdy giddyness. Who doesn't need a weekly fix of Dwight?

The War

On Sunday I'll be tuning into this:

According to the PBS site:
THE WAR, a seven-part series directed and produced by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, tells the story of the Second World War through the personal accounts of a handful of men and women from four quintessentially American towns. The series explores the most intimate human dimensions of the greatest cataclysm in history — a worldwide catastrophe that touched the lives of every family on every street in every town in America — and demonstrates that in extraordinary times, there are no ordinary lives.