dvr hoarding & political animals

Hi, I’m Ash and I’m a DVR hoarder.

For as long as I’ve had access to a DVR (years and years, now) I’ve saved shows and movies like they might later save my life. Half hour comedies, one hour dramas, whatever movies happened to interest me on all those expensive premium movie channels. All of it. I save and I save and I save and I watch that available storage space bar disappear and I get more and more tense, awaiting the day that I’ll have to cull the herd in order to let my recording habit survive.

The culling isn’t hard, not at all really. By the time it arrives, I’m so disconnected from the things I’ve recorded that I no longer have any real need to keep them around. The movies and special recordings go first, then anything canceled, then anything that might constitute a mini-series type situation. There’s a thrill to deleting, a cleansing rush. “I am no longer obligated to watch or care about that thing,” I think. “I’m free.”

But then the potential regret. “I really wanted to see that movie, didn’t I?” and “A lot of people said John Carter was really good!” and “But you really do want to watch The Newsroom!”

I struggle with my hoarding because the line between save and delete is fine, baby’s hair fine, finer than, like, the breath of a ghost. There’s no rhyme or reason to it and I probably couldn’t explain it if asked. “That show feels better than that show.” or “I’ll feel bad for that one if I delete it.” My decisions are irrational and meaningless, but I am capable of making them swiftly.

The other day, in a preventative move against a future shouting match over the lack of disk space on the communal DVR, I went to work. I got rid of the awards shows that my dad neither watches nor cares about, but somehow always sets to record. “Peace out, Grammys,” I said. “Smell ya later, Golden Globes.” I cleaned off a couple dumb things I’d recorded to show my girlfriend and then forgotten to delete because no, I don’t need to keep an episode of House Hunters that I recorded in November. Then I got to USA’s show from last summer Political Animals.

I thought, “Meh, I’ll delete that one. It’s just a mini-series!”

But I was feeling lazy and I didn’t particularly want to get off the couch, so instead of deleting those last four episodes, I sat there and watched them all. And how glad am I that I did?!

What a good show! What a good thing! Even with all of its issues — it’s lacking in characters of color (Though there are some present, none are really leads, and Brittany Ishibashi is severely underutilized.) and it has a particularly difficult time dealing with women which is frustrating because it’s a show about an incredibly smart, powerful woman featuring several smart, powerful, engaging female characters and yet there are still heinously catty interactions between female characters, poor handling of complicated relationships (Carla Gugino’s relationship with her boss/boyfriend could’ve been great, but they fumbled her terribly.) and women insulting men by comparing them to women/girls — it was a fun, engaging, and emotional experience!

It’s got all kinds of smart people talking quickly and authoritatively about politics and journalism and it’s got that sort of fun and witty political drama element and it’s got good looking people and likable people and beautiful, heartbreaking family relationships and it was just super satisfying.

It’s got a seriously compelling, evolving relationship between Sigourney Weaver’s Secretary of State and Carla Gugino’s DC Journalist.

It’s got (G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S) fraternal twin brothers (James Wolk and Sebastian Stan) where one is the fuck-up and one can do no wrong but they love each other anyway!

It’s got Ellen Burstyn as the feisty drunk grandma who is the constant, sassy voice of reason and support! (And a WONDERFUL relationship between her and Sebastian Stan’s character, oh man.)

It’s got a womanizing, cheating former president dad who, despite his massive failures as a human, really loves his family and his ex-wife.

It’s got the sassy grandmother and the perfect brother’s uptight fiancee smoking pot in the Secretary of State’s kitchen and bonding!

It’s got an impromptu elopement which the entire overbearing (WITH LOVE) family manages to crash during the single most dramatic/shocking event of the presidential term. An event that made me sob! But I won’t spoil because it was so much better not knowing it was going to happen.

And it’s got Sigourney Weaver playing a Hillary Clinton-esque badass and playing her with wit and humanity and tenderness and palpable concern for her family. If there’s one thing I left this show with it’s that Elaine Barrish is not to be fucked with.

Sadly, USA pulled their full episodes from their video hub and OnDemand, so the only place to watch the show legally is by buying episodes through Amazon but, you know, if you’ve got a space twelve bucks sitting around, I don’t think it’d be poorly spent.

And maybe, just maybe, you’ll learn from me and try to be just a tiny bit less arbitrary when you’re trying to free up space on your DVR. I think I will.

the casual-ass internet book club: march 2k13

February was a success for the Casual-Ass Internet Book Club! In that I read and posted about it but also someone else read and posted about it! The ever-awesome Rae posted about The Woodcutter here. Having someone else express the same things about a book you both read is so satisfying.

So, for March, I did the same song and dance last month — recent purchases and wishlists and blog posts other people had made about things they’d recently liked and best of 2012 lists and on and on — but then I remembered that my gf had just bought me a book as a surprise! A young adult diystopia! And it was one that sounded really good! And had a blurb from Suzanne Collins!

From Amazon: In the aftermath of a war, America’s landscape has been ravaged and two-thirds of the population left dead from a vicious strain of influenza. Fifteen-year-old Stephen Quinn and his family were among the few that survived and became salvagers, roaming the country in search of material to trade. But when Stephen’s grandfather dies and his father falls into a coma after an accident, Stephen finds his way to Settler’s Landing, a community that seems too good to be true. Then Stephen meets strong, defiant, mischievous Jenny, who refuses to accept things as they are. And when they play a prank that goes horribly wrong, chaos erupts, and they find themselves in the midst of a battle that will change Settler’s Landing–and their lives–forever.

So here’s the plan!

1. Read the book!
2. Post about it on the internet no later than March 31st
3. Link me to your post in the comments here
4. I’ll do a round-up post on April 1st-ish
5. We can have a casual-ass comment party about the book
6. I’ll announce the next book
7. REPEAT

Your site, Blogger, Tumblr, WordPress, even Twitter is fine! (Just Storify and link!) Whatever works for you!

This is a very casual, kick-back, low-expectations, low-effort deal! I just like the idea of reading the same book and then hearing what people think about it. That’s literally it. FUN, YES?! Good.

If you have suggestions for the next book, please please please comment with them and tell me! I’d appreciate if it was available on Kindle, but that’s the only requirement.

Share this with people if you do it! Tell me if you’re going to do it! Tell everyone!

good shit i liked: february 2k13

“Toy,” on the other hand, is associated with a feeling. And that feeling is what we are trying, time and again, to convey to people. That sex toys are not just mechanical objects that will get in the way of your sex life. They are not ominous gadgets that will turn your girlfriend into a vibrator-wielding recluse. They are toys, meant for adding playfulness and fun to your sex life. In our sex-negative culture, where to even enjoy sex (especially as a woman) is somehow blasphemous, this is important.
Epiphora‘s great post What Should We Call Sex Toys?


Kelly Dewey
I always love Rae‘s posts, but I really loved this pretty arrangement of roses she did post-Valentine’s Day. I love all that layered height and texture! Beauty born of kitty-damage necessity.


the always on-point Anne Emond
Everything Sarah does is great. I especially love her photography and the frank way she talks about fatness. She rules.


Don Carson

What is the date of my commencement at my previous position? Why, I believe t’was a September, as the hot summer winds where just beginning to gently falter, the sweet New England crisp in the air was creeping over Beacon Hill like a rare red squirrel emerging from it’s winter slumber. What date, specifically? Uhhh, I don’t know, the fourth? The fifth? If memory serves, I believe I was living in a house with 5 other 19 year old art students, eating exclusively at “Finagle a Bagel” in Coolidge Corner, and napping at my mother’s basement apartment in the middle of the day. This will not fit in the assigned “date” box! Fuck it! It was probably the fourth, who gives a shit?!
Zoe Hyde‘s Open Letter to the Electronic Resume Form is perfection.


Internet K-Hole [NSFW]

Kelly Dewey

I’m not a big fan of A Softer World, but I loved this one.

the woodcutter by kate danley

One of these days, I am going to choose a book for The Casual-Ass Internet Book Club about which I actually have something significant to say. Today’s not that day.

That being said, The Woodcutter was pretty alright. Spoilers herein. » more: the woodcutter by kate danley

the casual-ass internet book club: february 2k13

Okay, so, January wasn’t the most successful foray into book club-dom, what with how my post was the only one and I didn’t even like the book all that much. But that’s okay! Because this is a project! And I’m stickin’ to it!

So, I went through my recent purchases again and then went through a bunch of things on my wishlist then I stared at my bookshelves for a long time and the I thought about doing The Fault in Our Stars since basically everyone on earth has read it and I already have a copy in my hands and then I went back to my recent purchases and then I tore my hair out and got some utterly useless opinions from my girlfriend and then I decided on Kate Danley’s The Woodcutter because it sounds interesting and good and fun to talk about it regardless of ultimate enjoyment. Plus, it’s pretty cheap, particularly for Kindle and you can even borrow it for free if you’ve got an Amazon Prime membership.

From Amazon: Deep within the Wood, a young woman lies dead. Not a mark on her body. No trace of her murderer. Only her chipped glass slippers hint at her identity. The Woodcutter, keeper of the peace between the Twelve Kingdoms of Man and the Realm of the Faerie, must find the maiden’s killer before others share her fate. Guided by the wind and aided by three charmed axes won from the River God, the Woodcutter begins his hunt, searching for clues in the whispering dominions of the enchanted unknown. But quickly he finds that one murdered maiden is not the only nefarious mystery afoot: one of Odin’s hellhounds has escaped, a sinister mansion appears where it shouldn’t, a pixie dust drug trade runs rampant, and more young girls go missing. Looming in the shadows is the malevolent, power-hungry queen, and she will stop at nothing to destroy the Twelve Kingdoms and annihilate the Royal Fae…unless the Woodcutter can outmaneuver her and save the gentle souls of the Wood.

So here’s the plan!

1. Read the book!
2. Post about it on the internet no later than February 28th
3. Link me to your post in the comments here
4. I’ll do a round-up post on March 1st-ish
5. We can have a casual-ass comment party about the book
6. I’ll announce the next book
7. REPEAT

Your site, Blogger, Tumblr, WordPress, even Twitter is fine! (Just Storify and link!) Whatever works for you!

This is a very casual, kick-back, low-expectations, low-effort deal! I just like the idea of reading the same book and then hearing what people think about it. That’s literally it. FUN, YES?! Good.

If you have suggestions for the next book, please please please comment with them and tell me! I’d appreciate if it was available on Kindle, but that’s the only requirement.

Share this with people if you do it! Tell me if you’re going to do it! Tell everyone!