Still Here

 

Yesterday I watched six hours of NURSE JACKIE, perhaps the most depressing show ever run on SHOWTIME. I've seen it before, but I just couldn't summon up the energy to do anything else. Part of the problem was I bought this really comfortable chair six weeks ago and it did not seem worth leaving it.  My bottom, as big as it is getting now that I don't get to walk, is already imprinted on it.  

The walking is over now because it is too cold and icy outside so I have worn a path through my house trying to get some steps in.

This bingeing on Jackie came after completing the book, THE MAN IN THE EMPTY BOAT.  I was assured this story would buck me up but really it did not. After recounting the tragic story of the death of his sister from a flu that went haywire, Mr. Salzman, on holiday, bonded with a dog he didn't expect to like. When the dog got sick, I almost gave  up. So a book can be almost entirely depressing, but if at the end, the man and dog bond it is considering uplifting. Interesting.

It was interesting though how every member of his family was anxious. And anxious to the point it was crippling. When his brother almost succeeded in a business, he had to give it up because success made him so anxious. I never thought of anxiety as being genetic really, but in this case it was both environmental and genetic. I am thinking my family was a pretty anxious group too.

BLACK SPOT (Netflix) is another downer of a story. If you don't die from murder in this town in France, you will die from drink because there is nothing else to do. And here's a question. Why are all of these European imports so dark? Dark visually. Even when it's daytime, it never seems sunny. Rather like Detroit in winter. And all of the characters seem washed of any bright colors clothes-wise. I would think it was my failing vision but FLIGHT ATTENDANT is bright enough. Maybe these European countries are still following that idea about filming using natural light.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT, based on the novel, is a thriller and slickly done but still a bit of a downer too. What if you wake up with your one-night stand dead beside you? What if you are a drunk and have blacked out the night? What about if no one is who they seem to be? What if the dead guy haunts every scene? Can't remember if that was in the novel.

Movies: FAST COLOR was an "almost" good movie about three generations of Black women who have special powers. But the world they live in is apocalyptic and I found it hard to wade through the bad stuff happening to get to the somewhat hopeful end. 

Anyway, NURSE JACKIE is calling. I only have a week to finish before it leaves Netflix. 

Sorry if this depresses you. No doubt, I will feel better tomorrow.  (Ah, yes, I do. Must have been KINKY BOOTS).

What are you up to?