I got off on the wrong foot in two ways this morning:
1. I was sure, SURE, it was the weekend. I woke at 4:45 and thought about it happily. I woke up again when Paul got up, and I thought, “Ahhhhh, now he will take care of any kid that wakes up, and I will get sleep.” Then Paul came back from his shower and turned on the light, and I was first outraged (“WHY IS HE DOING THIS TO ME ON A WEEKEND??”) and then appalled (“IT IS IN FACT TUESDAY AARRRRRGGGGGGGGG NOOOOOOOOOoooooooo”).
2. I was dreaming that I was packing up to leave someone else’s house after a stay. It was that part of packing where it’s like, “WHY did we think it made sense to bring so much STUFF?” and “Oh no, MORE shoes??” and “Shoot, I forgot this pile of dirty laundry. I need a plastic bag or something to put it in,” and “This is never going to all fit back in the suitcase” and “I just know we’re going to forget something.” It went on like that for an hour or so of dream time.
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I think I am going to have to rewatch Thirtysomething (Netflix link), now that I am in my thirties. The last time I watched it, I was in my EARLY TWENTIES. I was not married, I had no children, and I was watching it in reruns on daytime television, or on videotapes (VIDEOTAPES) after work. So. Things have changed a bit since then.
I think I might have a different feeling about how EXOTIC it is, now. Maybe it’ll be like magazines, where a magazine called Seventeen is actually aimed at 12-year-olds; and where Cosmo, which acts like it’s a magazine for grown glamorous professional single women living in the glamorous city, is actually aimed at high school and college girls. Maybe Thirtysomething is for earlytwentysomethings who want to feel like they’re getting a peek into their own future—but maybe it would be depressing and unrealistic and eye-roll-y for thirtysomethings who have already seen that future.
You have just given me my next series to watch- Thirtysomething. I too was so so young when I watched it. I think I was in college when we watched it. Was it on Lifetime then? Or was it on for real? I don’t remember but now? I’m 42 and probably oh so jaded. LOL
I have packing dreams ALL THE TIME. There is always another drawer full of stuff or pile hidden under the bed too. And always a deadline. Like a flight about to take off.
My husband and I watched Thirtysomething over the course of last summer. We’d never watched it before and really enjoyed it. Give those people some smart phones, de-friz the hair and eliminate the giant shoulder pads and it could be set in today’s time. Two thumbs up from two people (one being a man who doesn’t really enjoy chick flicks) in their mid to late thirties.
I have the first 3 (or 4?) seasons if you want to borrow them. I started watching season 1 a few months ago (I have to watch tv on the treadmill or I might DIE of boredom) and, well, I didn’t love it as much as I remembered. I only watched a few eps, so I know I didn’t give a good chance, but I am very certain it is NOT a treadmill show. Fair enough. What I came away with most was how much I disliked Hope, who is perhaps the whiniest woman that ever lived.
I do remember how much I adored Gary, though, and he wasn’t on the eps I watched very much. It would be a great winter show, I think. & really, I’m happy to send them to you if you like.
I had never watched ThirtySomething and began watching it on Netflix last summer (2011 when I had a newborn in addition to a toddler). I had to stop in the first couple of episodes because I was so sensitive to babies crying that I couldn’t listen!! But I can’t wait to watch it a year later and less sensitive. I was not allowed to watch it when it came out because I was little and my parents were strict. There was definitely allure for me because it was forbidden and came on after my bedtime. -AF
I have been in A MOOD all day – I didn’t think it was the weekend though. That would have probably put me over the edge. I have a cold, and husband is out of town, and omg my kids talk constantly, and the weather went from 22 degrees Celcius yesterday to 2 degrees and icy rain/ gusting wind today.
Your post cheered me though! Love a Swistle post.
The other night I had a dream just before the alarm went off that I was making ravioli for oldest’s lunch box. Then the alarm woke me up and I had to . . . get up and make ravioli for oldest’s lunch box. It really sucks when my dreams are boring and repetitive of my actual life. Come on subconscious, you can do better!
I watched thirty something as a kid and loved it. Then last year, the husband and I tried watching it on Netflix and he wouldn’t even finish the pilot. He couldn’t get past the feathery hair and suspenders. I think if I would watch it alone, I could enjoy it for purely nostalgic reasons, something my spouse couldn’t quite grasp.
I’m currently well into season 3 of Thirtsomething on Amazon streaming. It all started back in July when I went to visit my mom and she was like,”Look what I found in $1 DVD bin!!!” (season one!) So I watched the pilot with her that night. Honestly, at first I was like, “Mom this isn’t relaxing, I feel like I’m watching what I just went through all day.” Hope is in the process of weaning Janey. I had my youngest, then 14 months with me on the trip and was still very much stuck in the crying baby in public trying to nurse phase. However, the episode “Couples” completely reeled me back in. I think it’s episode three season one. Anyway, once I got back home I immediately looked to see if it was available to watch. Some things are a bit much. There are also some really bad wigs in some of the flashback scenes. But overall it’s fun to watch it now in my thirties in a different way then it was in my twenties. I also enjoy when they talk about what things will be like “Twenty years from now.” I’m like “Hey that’s now or a few years ago!” It’s also refreshing to watch a show from a time before technology was such an almost intrusive part of our lives. Lots of the themes, aging parents, weird things kids do is all really good to see, It’s also fun to watch with a friend and call out things like, “Mr. Busfield I have the broach for your lapel you’ll be wearing in scene two.” If anything it’s great to see what Eliot will be wearing. 80s Fashion! Oh and Ken Olin is so handsome. There’s a Christmas episode that they do in Dick Van Dyke Show style where he seriously, Seriously looks like Don Draper.
I LOVED that show when it was on! Yeah, I was probably in my mid to late twenties. It would be interesting to go back and watch it again now that I’m *cough* fortysomething.
I wonder if I’d get Thunder Cats more now than I did as a kid, what with lolcats being so ubiquitous. Not that I didn’t like ThunderCats as a kid – they just seemed very exotic, like you mention.
Enjoying the blog.
Oh I hate the feeling it is a weekend when it is not. Worst thing ever. I watched a few episodes of Thirtysomething this summer. I definitely see a different perspective now. I might watch one now.
How funny you mention ThirtySomething. I loved that show when it first aired which is odd because I was in high school. But just started re-watching it over the summer and thought I was the only one – there hasn’t been much chatter about it on the Internet.
Aside from the 80’s fashion distractions so many of the stories hold strong and are still quite relevant to today. I kind of love the how everyone’s homes look real – with clutter, smudges on walls, mildewed bathroom tile etc… It’s such a huge contrast to how homes on TV shows are presented nowadays (ex. Parenthood with every character’s home being PERFECT and IMMACULATE). Also, the frizzy hair and dull off-white teeth are kind of refreshing for a change. It’s a reminder that not everyone looks perfect. Nice for a change.
It’ll be fun to read your thoughts on it!
Jen
Jen I love seeing the state of Hope & Michael’s house too! As much as I love Parenthood solid characters and the themes being very realistic, you’re right, everything is so perfect looking. It completely relates back to your post “Spectrum” Swistle. I’ve very much enjoyed watching these shows in tandem.
Oh, BLECHHHHHHH, those kinds of dreams! And you wake up exhausted and frazzled. . . .And then the dreams you’d really like to unfold that slowly: Oh nooooooooo, you’ll wake up from them twenty seconds after they begin or at just the wrong moment. My first dream-conversation with my grandma after she died? Well, didn’t my alarm just go off right after she pulled back from hugging me and started to talk! Grrrr. I hope last night’s sleep was better.