Rambling About Coupling

Last night we hooked up the most adorable piece of equipment I’ve ever seen: the Roku.  It is adorable!  So tiny and cute and precious.  It needs a name.  We’re a family that names and nicknames everything: children, cats, cars, dishwashers, everything.  It should be called something like “Tiny” or “Sweet Pea” or “Cutie Pie” or “My Preciousssss.”

All of that is a long way of saying that we are now a family sans cable.  Jimmy worked from home today, so I didn’t have the terror of coming home and not knowing how to access programming, but that day is coming.  Probably tomorrow.  Tonight, it took us a few minutes to decide what to watch on Amazon Streaming, but we decided on season 2 of Coupling.

Oh, Coupling.  What a great show.  We caught episodes on BBC America several years ago, and for Christmas one year, I bought Jimmy the complete series.  If you’ve never seen the series, I urge you to right away.  Coupling ran from 2000-2004 and is about a group of friends a la Friends only much, much funnier and raunchier.  If you can watch only one episode, I urge you to watch “Lesbian Spank Inferno.”  Every time we see it (and we’re watching it as I type this), we are on the ground laughing

Most of the cast is unknown to American audiences, but two of them stand out.  Steve, the lead, is played by Jack Davenport.  If you’ve seen any of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, then you have seen him as Norrington.  You can also see him in Smash. Jane, Steve’s wacky ex, is played by Gina Bellman who currently stars in Leverage on TNT.

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Tonight is the next Powerball drawing.  I’ve antied up at work for a ticket pool and Jimmy has as well.  I would love to win $500 million.  I have no illusions about its likelihood, but it is fun to imagine how we would spend it.  Do you do that?  Do you ever think about what you would do if you suddenly had millions of dollars?  The funny thing is that when I was a child, $1 million seemed like a lot of money.  Now, however, $1 million would not be enough to majorly impact our lifestyle  No, I wouldn’t turn down a cool million if it were offered to me (not in any kind of Demi Moore, Indecent Proposal kind of terms although that might be wishful thinking on my part), but after taxes, you’d probably have $500K left.  I’d probably put it in the bank and let it grow.  And that’s your lottery advice from me tonight.

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I’ve been adding a lot of books to my Amazon wish list.  My wish list functions as an online Post It note for me.  It’s where I add things I want to remember like books for me or books or toys for Daniel.  I’m thinking about starting Far From the Tree next.  Have any of you heard about it or started to read it?  There have been several books I’ve had to ignore because I can’t read them due to the fact I’m a parent now.  Books like Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio that is about a 3 year old named Daniel who disappears one day while his mother is at work.  Sure, it’s set in the 30s but no,no, no, no, no!

OK, that’s enough babbling.  I can’t believe there are only a couple days left in November.  How is your holiday decorating going?  How do you stay centered during the insanity that is December?

Blather On (Kind of like Ramble On without the LOTR References)

In which I blather or babble or talk about nothing at all (much like Seinfeld.  A high school classmate once told me that I reminded him of the characters on that show, and at first I was flattered (since at the time it was a huge hit and considered a cultural touchstone and funny) but later I wondered if it were actually an insult since the characters are quite shallow and narcissistic.

• Life has been a little out of control lately, one of those times in which thing after thing goes wrong and you begin to wonder what deity you offended and ponder researching karma cleansing.  We went to Asheville for our honeymoon in December 2001, and on our way to Chimney Rock, we passed a small house (more of a shack really) that advertised tarot readings and roadside colonics.  I wonder if that place is still there?
• I’ve been trying to write a post for over a week, but the spirit does not move and I wonder if I will ever complete it or if it will remain forever in purgatory.  And if I do finish it, will it be worth reading or will it be a piece of pretentious crap?  You all don’t want to read yet another post inspired by Breaking Bad, do you?
• I’ve been in class since Monday, and it’s been frustrating and I’ve been taking out my frustration on Twitter.  It’s a market intelligence class focused around teaching us how to perform that service for clients.  In theory, I’m hot and bothered to do that.  I’ve wanted to do more market research for years and thoroughly enjoyed my research classes.  I’m hoping to become a practitioner for work.  In reality, the class is excruciating.  I could teach this class.  Hell, my cats could teach this class.  The class does not need to be 3 days, and we are learning cutting-edge topics like how to use Wikipedia as a “smart pill;” how to conduct an interview; the pros and cons of contacting people via email or phone.  And the instructors read the slides.  If you have been following my tweets about the class, thank you for indulging me.
• I’ve been reading Gone Girl  since Sunday. By the time I post this, I might have finished it (was able to sneak in a few chapters during class; multi-tasking you know!).  What a bizarre book about two people who are almost completely unlikeable and therefore well-suited to each other.
• It’s October.  I love October.  Fall energizes me, and I can almost feel the energy pulsing through my veins.  The downside is that the year picks up speed as we approach the end of the year, and there is not enough time to do anything.  I bought mums in September that are still not planted and living in containers on my porch.  I need to find a Halloween costume for Daniel.  I need to get out my Halloween village.  It’s only October 3, but I already feel behind.  I did swap out some of Daniel’s books for books on Autumn and Halloween.  That may be as good as it gets this year.  Oh, in case you missed it, Dresden coined the phrase “Tree Porn,” and that’s porn we can all love.
• Lightning took out our coffee maker and cable box on Saturday.  Our kitchen is now filled with the sounds of non-stop Thomas DVDs and a jittery lack of caffeine.  Farewell, unwatched recorded episodes of Through the Wormhole.  Adieu, Tuesday night Chopped marathons. On the other hand, no more Guy Fieri and Diners, Drive-ins and Dives!
• I was mortified to discover that I have been using “utilize” incorrectly. However, I wonder if it is correct in this context: I utilized “utilize” in a sentence to have some meta grammar fun. No?
• We took Daniel to a Day Out with Thomas two weeks ago, and we had a great time.  It was a much better experience than last year because a) he was a year older and b) it wasn’t raining.  He loved riding on two trains, including a beloved caboose.  It was little boy heaven.
• I tweeted and posted to FB this amazing article about infertility, but if you haven’t read it, please do.

OK.  I’ve wasted enough of  your time with this blather.  Here are a few pics from a Day Out with Thomas:

Daddy and Daniel

 

Mommy and Daniel on the caboose

 

Tell me something good or odd in your world right now!