What I Was Watching ~ Q3 2023

Documenting my days ... what I'm watching, both while working out and as a "date" with Hubs, is part of the timeframe. For the third quarter of 2023, there were eight series, with multiple seasons of a couple shows. Top two rows were watched in the gym while on the treadmill or elliptical, the bottom row was upstairs with Hubs.

• The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: This was my first "YouTube" vlog series. A modern-day adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and I LOVED IT. I actually started watching during a trip to California (just during longer Uber jaunts) and then finished it up at home. So cute. I'm a bit P&P fan and have read many reimaginings of the story. 
• The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Season 5 dropped a bit ago and it just took a little time to make it back onto my viewing schedule. I liked it a lot, and it was interesting how they tied everything up to conclude the series. I'll miss it. 
• The Last of Us: Not familiar with the game at all, but lots of familiar faces in the show. I like apocalyptic/vampire/zombie stuff, so this was up my alley. 
• Special Ops: Lioness: A good action series, although a little tough to watch at times (violence, torture and death). Some big names it this one too.
• Living With Yourself: My #3 mentioned this one to me (not so much of a recommendation as a comparison to a book we'd read, Mickey7). It was interesting.
• The Lincoln Lawyer: I remember I watched the movie adaptation a while back, not enough that I remembered the storyline at all to compare. I actually didn't really care for this and had to push a bit to even finish the first season. I don't plan on continuing. 
• Barry (Seasons 3&4): So ... this jumped the shark during season three (I think). Just got way weird. Pushed through to the end, but wasn't really enjoying it anymore. Weird way to end it all to complete the series ...
• Better Call Saul (Seasons 1, 2 & 3): Hubs and I had watched Breaking Bad together years ago, and Hubs had watched the first few seasons of BCS. I knew it had good ratings, but I'm not a fan of prequels, or anything with "spoiler" possibilities. As this happens before BB, we KNOW certain people, no matter how dire the circumstance, will survive, because they are in Breaking Bad, which happens in the future. A little slow moving, but enjoyable and interesting. 

The final five (bottom right corner) were watched upstairs with Hubs. A couple movies were watched on a plane ride, the rest were all in the gym while walking or other exercise. Several with sequels this quarter.

• John Wick (1, 2, 3 & 4): Sometimes you feel you need to watch a movie just to understand some pop culture references. I figured perhaps it was time I dipped into Wick. The first three were on Peacock (with ads, I almost gave up on them then just pushed though) with the fourth(final?) on Paramount. I didn't love these ... the first one just drops you into the world (should I know who John Wick is already? Everyone else seems to) and I wondered if I had started with the wrong one. I'd heard references to "his dog" so that makes sense now. The second ... there is a moment in it (SPOILER if you haven't seen the series I guess ...) where Wick's mark chooses to take control and take her own life, going out on her terms. You know, if WICK had done that just a bit before, then all the death and destruction and disruption of the rest of 2, and then 3 and 4, wouldn't have had to happen. Honestly, was his life worth all it cost? What if he had just said NO and gone out. I guess the franchise wouldn't have been as lucrative. I can't quite believe I continued watching, shaking my head the whole time as he was constantly shot, chopped, hit by cars and thrown off buildings ... yet always survived. The whole "world" was interesting. Was that the final one?
• Creed (1, 2 & 3): I'd watched the original a while back, and did a rewatch of it before moving on to the two sequels. I'm not big on boxing, but I did like these.
• Book Club (1 & 2): I'd watched the original a while back, and did a rewatch of it before moving on to the sequel. Cute enough. I have joined two book clubs this year.
• Interstellar: Lots of big names and familiar faces in this ... I thought perhaps I'd already seen it, but I hadn't. I really liked it. A lot. 
• Hypnotic: This was okay, had some shades of  "Inception" and I'd had a bit of a question about the daughter (she looked very Hispanics for being Ben's daughter with the woman in the picture). I recommended this to my son and he liked it.
• Plane: Lots of action - enjoyable, just suspend disbelief. Action is always good while on the treadmill, gets the adrenaline up and makes me willing to hit an extra gym session to find out what happens. 
• Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris: This was a cute, slow, little show. Hubs happened to go to Paris shortly after I watched this.
• We Have A Ghost: Cute, felt young, but was enjoyable.
• To Kill a Mockingbird: I'd never seen this all the way through. I'd read the book and seen some clips here and there. I'd done a re-read of the book, and read the graphic novel (amazingly true to the source material, more so than the movie) so it was time to give the movie my attention. Borrowed the DVD from the library.
• Stranger Than Fiction: Will Ferrell in a more serious role. Hubs and I had watched this years ago and gave it a re-watch at a cabin get-away. Can't get the kids to give it a go ... I wonder what they'd think of it.
• Mamma Mia: I'd caught Hubs humming some Abba songs and recommended he give this a try. I'd already seen it but was more than willing to give it a rewatch. As cute as Pierce is ... he can't sing.  This and the 2nd Bookclub had a similar "twist" ending. 
• Hercules: Another musical re-watch at the cabin.
• The Nice Guys: I'd seen this, as had Hubs, but I think this was the first time we watched together.
• Emily the Criminal: Just okay - sad. 

I love GoodReads for books, and have received a few recommendations of similar sites to try to keep a record of TV/Movies. Have yet to investigate and commit to one. Until then ... my blog is my backup to help me remember what I watched when. 

Q2 ~ April/May/June 2023

 

Second Quarter of 2023 ... there was a little bit of loss as I got back into a bit of a routine, then bang. Again. Back in January 2022, I was doing the whole "New Year's Resolution" thing, setting a goal of 10k everyday and getting back to tracking calories and incorporating IMF when I woke up in the ER, having lost consciousness and cracking my head open. In April, it happened again. Store surveillance caught it, and it's been determined it was a seizure (probably that first time too), but we still don't know why. The outcome was the same (cracked head, loss of consciousness, ambulance, ER, stitches). IF one were interested, I detailed the events on the family blog (Jan2022, April2023). It impacts my activity, and my motivation.

I seemed to recover a little quicker after the April Incident than the Jan2022 episode - but then at the end of May I was hit with something else ... I got up in the morning and nope, getting up wasn't happening. The world was spinning and nausea was right there. It was a Friday morning and I got 500 steps that day (trips to the bathroom). 1000 or so steps on Saturday, slightly more Sunday, but I was bedridden for almost a week. I missed my son's basketball games on Saturday and Monday (a championship that they won, a final set of games with a team he's played with for years). I did a follow-up with the doctor but never really determined what it was ... if it was related to the head injury or seizures? I'd had a tetanus shot the day before (cut myself on rusty metal while gardening) perhaps a side-effect from that? Some inner ear crystals out of whack? It was awful. 

Sleep isn't as much of an issue - I seem to be successful there. 

I guess it's good to have some "health" success.

... shall I acknowledge the snoring struggles though?

Snoring set in strong after my bout with Covid and whatever followed a couple weeks after (Feb2023), although I am fairly certain that it's also weight related. It was my snoring that instigated my last successful weight loss (Oct2020-March2021) and it took care of the issue then, but the weight loss didn't stick, and I'd gained most if it back by later in 2021.  Hubs has had some snoring issues himself in the past, but not much since his weight loss. 

... I have NOT been successful at tracking calories or eating hours.

Not enough data to even warrant getting the graphs for intake or IMF.

Here's a look at LifeCycle ...

... and family stuff

Basketball, pickleball, an MS Walk (SIL diagnosed last year), #3 found his own place (which rearranged some rooms here at home). #2 and his wife got a new doggo, #1 got a new car, Hubs has been hiking, I've still been Zumba-ing ... and going through books!

Very grateful for audiobooks, as in my downtime in April and May, I could not focus my eyes to read or watch TV, but could just listen as I laid in bed for a week (both times). I have an earbud in and listen whenever I can multi-task (driving, shopping, housework, yardwork ... even while watching basketball games). I rate/review everything on GoodReads, and love the data from Storygraph. I'm JenBsBooks on both sites. 

I made a separate post about Q2 TV&Movies... What I Was Watching While Working Out. 

What I Was Watching ~ Q2 2023

The top/left six shows/series were watching while working out. Ally and Boston Legal were a night-time watch if I couldn't sleep, and the bottom row (+ Ted Lasso and a rewatch of Shrinking) were watched with Hubs. We got into a routine of an episode before bed. I really enjoy that little connection. You can see that we got a subscription to AppleTV (had to for Ted Lasso) then made the most of our three month trial with a new Roku. We did cancel at the end of the quarter.

My gym time was down a little this quarter ... I had another incident in April (it's been determined as an unexplained seizure. It landed me in the ER again) and then something (vertigo?) in May that had me down for a solid week.

• Dear Edward: I'd read the book not long before and had been a bit confused at the preview, as it seemed so different (Connie  Britton's character doesn't even exist in the book, featured foremost in the series). It was really different, but still could almost run parallel. The book revealed so much more about several people on the flight, whereas the series featured those people left-behind by the ones who died. The group therapy and friendships formed there reminded me of another book ... The Measure. I ended up really liking the TV series though. 
• The Shining Girls: Another book to series adaptation. Again, the main premise was the same, with a LOT changed. Again, I liked the series through. Very confusing (in both book and TV, but there's some "time travel" and that's always a bit mind bending). 
• The Last Thing He Told Me: Also based on a book, but I haven't read this one ... and don't think I have a desire to after watching the series. It was just ok. I figured things out long before the characters did. 
• Silo: Based on the book "Wool" which I have read, but it's been many years. I really liked the books, I had a hard time getting into the series. 
• Schmigadoon: I'd loved the first season. Here, the couple attempts to return, but it's changed to Schmicago, much darker. The female character mentioned that she'd been in the mood for the fun and fluff of Schmigadoon, and I felt the same way. It was still decent, but not the same.
• Shrinking: I love Harrison Ford, and I majored in Psychology in college ... I loved this series, and was happy when Hubs was willing to give it a go. I was more than happy to rewatch it. 
• Ted Lasso: I'd watched the first season in the gym a couple years ago, and did a rewatch with Hubs, then moved to season 2. We had to re-subscribe to AppleTV for the third and final season. Loved it. 
• Schitt's Creek: We'd watched the first couple of seasons last quarter, and went through the final three seasons this quarter. Learned to love this family. Sad to have it end. 
• Succession: Do NOT love this family ... felt a little obligated to watch the final season. Hubs was so sure that the death was a hoax. A bit glad to have this done and behind us. No likeable characters!
• 1923: A Yellowstone prequel ... had the same narrator from the 1883 for a bit, but all new characters (decedents) and stories. It was a bit spread out (from Montana to Africa) and I thought it was a single season like 1883. Nope, really nothing at all resolved, everything left up in the air for another season. I wish I'd realized that going into it. 
• Party Down (S3): We'd watched the first couple seasons last quarter, and then there was this third season done years later. A little funny to see the time shift, but not a favorite. We finished though.
• Barry (S1, S2): This had good reviews and kept us entertained.
• Ally (S5): I'm a little surprised I enjoyed this series again so much, 20 years later. I did though, I loved it all.
• Boston Legal: Just got through a few episodes (1-5) ... I've turned to books more for my night wind down.

Movies

• Luck: As we had AppleTV, I was watching anything that interested me. This had caught my eye and was cute enough. Some familiar voices ...
• 80 for Brady: I'd seen the previews for this when it was in theaters and it looked cute. I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. It was pretty predictable and silly.
• A Man Called Otto: I would have been willing to see this in theaters, but didn't get around to it. I'd read the book and liked it. I thought the movie was a great adaptation.
• Gold: A random recommendation on a FB group brought this one to my attention. I hadn't heard of it before, even with its big name stars. It was good. 
• Dungeons and Dragons: This was cuter than I expected - but it had good reviews or I probably wouldn't have given it a go. 
• Extraction and Extraction 2: I felt a little like I was missing something as the first one started, wondered if I'd started the sequel by mistake. Was there something before. Both of this were action packed and super violent. 

That's movies and TV from the second quarter of the year ...

What are YOU watching?

 

Q1 ~ January/February/March 2023

 

Well ... another quarter of a year. The first three months of 2023. I was hoping, New Year's Resolutions and all that. The issues from last quarter, not resolved completely, but better. Hoping to get on a schedule, return to routine. BUT ... Covid finally caught me in February and I was sick for a week or so. Didn't feel that awful, but staying sequestered, attempting to not contaminate anyone else (no one else in the family got it). There was a switch flipped in the snoring though ... it's something I've been struggling with (or rather Hubs has been struggling with) off and on. It does seem to be weight related. It was actually the impetus for my loss back in 2020. But with Covid, it's been really bad. After I recovered from Covid, I almost immediately came down with something else (strep? I didn't go in for an official diagnosis) which was worse than Covid. Down for another week+ ... still recovering into March.

Steps and Minutes ... you can see when I was sick with the lack of data. 

Sleep isn't as much of an issue ...

Graphs get a little off with the addition of some extra hours...

I was attempting to get back into counting calories ...

Got a little off track. With both the eating, and the recording.

 

Tried to get back into IMF also ...but only semi-successful

A look via LifeCycle ...

... and family stuff

Basketball season January/February ... big snow, dinner's out, #3 found his own place - so there was some room changes here at home (needed, per the snoring). 

What I Was Watching got its own post, here's a peek at book life (which will get an end of year reading recap). Added The Storygraph starting in 2023 (loved that it was able to import all my GoodReads data from the past 10+ years) and changed my GoodReads profile name to #JenBsBooks. 

What I Was Watching ~ Q1 2023

The top two rows were tv series I watched while working out ... mostly treadmill time, some elliptical. The bottom row, Ally, I watched on my own before bed, and the other four series were watched before bed with Hubs. 

• The Handmaid's Tale (S5): The full fifth season had been out for a bit, and I finally got around to watching it. It is interesting to note the similarities between feelings toward immigrants today and to those escaping persecution in the show. Hulu.
• Emily in Paris (S3): Just a cute show, I was happy to get back to it. Netflix.
• Banshee (S1&2): I heard some good things about this show, it was available on HBO. The main guy is from The Boys, but he looks a lot different here, took me a minute to place him (and then showed the first episode to Hubs to see if he could figure it out). Very high in violence, language, sex, and no "good" guys per se, but it kept me coming back. 
• The Peripheral: Sci-fi (on Amazon) ... I liked this a lot. 
• The English: Highly rated, but I didn't love it. It was dragging some, although it did peak my interest again near the end. Amazon. 
• The While Queen: Just okay, I was ready for the show to end. Starz.
• Gaslit: Had to really push to even finish. Didn't like it. Starz. 
• Up Here: Musical, with sex and language. Pretty cute. I liked it. Hulu.
• Fleishman is in Trouble: I liked this more than I thought, had some interesting things to think about. Hulu.
• Ally McBeal (S4): Still loving this, even after all these years. Season four has Robert Downey Jr.
• The Bear: This was Hub's pick ... I didn't love it.
• 1883: Hubs and I had watched S1 of Yellowstone, and didn't like it. We've heard so many rave about it and its prequels, I said I'd give a prequel a try (had to get Paramount+). I didn't love how it started during an attack, showing the main gal shot with an arrow, then went back months to show what lead up to that point. I dislike spoilers and knowing what's coming! Don't know that I would have recognized Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, even looking for them! The show was quite depressing. 
• Party Down (S1 & S2): This show has been getting some buzz, having debuted years ago, and just getting a third season now. First two seasons were pretty good. 
• Shitt's Creek (S1 & S2): My #1 son had watched this during his lunch-hours, so I'd seen some parts and pieces, and I'd tried to start it myself, but the mayor was just too cringy. Hubs has been enjoying it, and I enjoy watching it with him. Major laughter.

My Movies - half watched while working out, half with Hubs. 

• Disenchanted: I'd enjoyed the first Enchanted movie ... this was pushing it, but cute enough I guess. Not sure if we got Disney again for a short time or if Comcast allowed access.
• Jerry and Marge Go Large: I'd heard good things about this, but we didn't have Paramount+. When we got the channel for the Yellowstone prequel, I turned on the movie. Cute enough. 
• Jurassic World Dominion: Just okay, but enough action that it kept my interest. 
• Where The Crawdads Sing: I'd read the book and heard good things about the movie. It was good. 
• Dog Gone: Too much like an after-school special. 
• Palm Springs: Recommended by my son, a little over the top, although that wasn't really unexpected with the casting. 
• Causeway: Can't remember which streaming service, and ehhh, didn't care for the movie. 
• Fall: Liked this more than I would have expected, didn't really see the twist. 
• Elvis: I'm not a fan of Elvis or his music, but it was interesting to learn a little about his life. Love Hanks, but felt he was mis-cast here. 
• Glass Onion: I don't really remember the first movie (one of the few I actually saw in theaters) but I enjoyed this. Lots of fun. 
• The Menu: What did we just watch??? That was super weird and I didn't like it at all.
• Hustle: I'd watched this on my own, but thought Hubs would like it.
• The Upside: Another rewatch, introduce to Hubs movie.
• Everything Everywhere All At Once: I know this won a bunch of awards but ... I didn't care for it. 
• The Incredible Weight of Massive Talent: Not great. Hubs pick.
• The Count of Monte Cristo: This was a rewatch for both Hubs and I, and I only saw a portion. 

Annual "What I Was Watching" - Movies/TV 2022

With a basement gym equipped with treadmill, elliptical and a big TV ... watching while working out is a main motivator, and it keeps me entertained while exercising.  Switching between television series and movies, I get in plenty of shows. Some are sans exercise, upstairs with Hubs, winding down at day's end. I included quarterly recaps in previous posts (with small reviews), but I like an annual look too. 

Movies

I can really only remember watching ONE movie with Hubs (CODA) ... I guess we were more into series (easier to break up into smaller before bed sections). Mission Impossible and Forrest Gump were actually upstairs, #3 watching them in the family room, and I counted those as a rewatch for me as I saw most of them while in the kitchen working. The rest ... were in the gym. 

Q4 ~ October/November/December 2022

Quarterly Recap and Stats. It's February (I will be backdating) I'm so very late. I really lost motivation. September was tough with some family stuff going on, and I really didn't recover and get back on track until December.  Here's the data, for what it's worth...

My low here is 10 pounds up from where I was in August. The scale went the wrong way in November, and I had to work hard just to get back to where I was at the start of the quarter.

Steps (above) and minutes ( below)

Here's a little look at my activity record ...

Food and Fasting ... I didn't keep very good records in October or November. On days I didn't track, I was likely pretty high intake.  I tried to get back to it for December and actually kept calories in check for the first part of the month. 

My Fasting App (Zero) updated and put the calendar graph behind a paywall :( ... If I'm going to have to pay, I'm going to go with a different app. I liked Window, it has good graphs and shows the eating window in addition to the fasting time. I started it up in December ...

Here's a look at sleep ...

... and my LifeCycle look (I'm a homebody, I know!)

Food, Fasting and Fitness aside ... I did a post to remember What I Was Watching and then I always have an audiobook in my ear whenever I can multitask. Here's a look at my books ... #jenBsBooks

... and the family photo collages

2022 ~ #JenBsBooks

 

Another year of reading in the books ... literally ;)  Similar stats to last year, with most numbers bumped up just a little. This graphic is a GoodReads recap... I record, rate and review all my reads there.  Here's a look (with tiny covers) of my year of books organized by rating.  27 5* reads, which is the most I've ever had in a single year. A cousin had posted some favorite reads right when I'd finished up all my holds at the library, so I put his top10 on hold. I had to wait weeks for some of them to come in, but several 5* were from that recommendation.

I've shifted even more to audiobooks ... I didn't keep track of how many I actually read myself, but it wasn't many. I just have more ear time (being able to multi-task while working, driving even while watching #5's basketball games) than eye time ... and my eyes continue to deteriorate. I finally got glasses this year.

Here's my Audible stats ...

Audible is only one of the platforms I listen to audiobooks on. I use my local library/Libby more than Audible, plus other apps like Chirp, Kobo, Hoopla. I added a second library this year too. Love the library! I noted in my monthly collage that all my May books were from the library, I try to note on a GoodReads shelf which are library loans,  AudiblePlus/KindleUnlimited (started a six month gift subscription in November), or ones I've purchased. Ironically ... the recommendation "It Ends With Us" was one of my first reads in January 2023 (before this Audible report came out). 

You can glance at previous annual reading recaps ... 

2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014

At the end of each month, I'd create a collage of the covers of the books I'd read. You can check out the monthly collages on the family blog (JenBsBooks2022). I LOVE Goodreads, but have heard about another book tracking site called StoryGraph. I was able to import my Goodreads history and get some additional data and graphs. 

These are my imported tags from GoodReads ... going forward on Storygraph, I'll be streamlining my tags to (1) if it was audio or read with my eyes (2) stand alone or series and (3) where I accessed it ... from the library, a purchase, KU, Audible Plus, and if I have the book in my KindleCloud. I'll continue to use ALL my tags in GoodReads.

Below you'll find the annual GoodReads reflection ...