And we've got to get down to Swingtown

Thank god for Television Without Pity. I haven't visited there much since most of the shows I loved so much ended (Buffy, Angel, The West Wing, Felicity, Everwood, Dead Like Me... to name but a few late-greats) and they stopped recapping the ones I did watch.

Their recaps are indescribably entertaining -- worth reading even if you've seen the episode. I especially liked the West Wing recaps. For example, the recap for Season 4, Episode 20 contains gems like this:

Joe says he thought he heard what sounded like gunshots before, while they were talking. He asks if Josh heard them. Josh: "No, but I heard a brass quintet playing the 'First Noel,' so I just assumed somebody somewhere was locked and loaded." Joe thinks for a moment, trying to remember something -- anything -- from his cram session the night before with the Little Big Book of Sorkinese ("Chapter 1: Yiddish, Yiddishisms and Yinglish. Chapter 2: References to Broadway Musicals. Chapter 3: Sports Metaphors. Chapter 4: Poker and Chess Stuff. Chapter 5: Quotations from Philosophers Ancient and Modern. Chapter 6: Shakespeare and Classical Theatre. Chapter 7: References to 1940s Screwball Comedies. Chapter 8: Scientific and Mathematical Concepts and Buzzwords. Chapter 9: Latin. Chapter 10: Words That Start With 'Dw'...")

Of course, to truly appreciate all of the snarkiness and inside jokes ("Damn you, Berlanti!"), it helps to spend some time on the forums, too. (This is especially true of the Buffy recaps).

To get to my point -- and I do have one -- this summer I've become addicted to Swingtown. Initially, I grabbed a few minutes of the second or third episode that aired, merely out of curiosity. C'mon... a primetime network drama about swingers in the seventies? I wondered how they were going to pull it off. But, curiosity sated, I've come to like it. The series does address topics like open marriages, swinging, the mile-high club, and the like (albeit in scenes with what seems like an unrealistic amount of clothing being worn for such activities), but it also deals with other (non-sex-related) contemporaneous topics like 70s-style feminism, the Nixon v. Carter election, and more timeless issues (censorship, the dynamics of marriage, a neighbor's alcoholism, and even existentialism). Plus it's just good, primetime drama fun. In mid-summer where, if you're not a fan of reality shows, there's nothing worth watching.

But because, as every parent knows, this infant-parenting gig does not always allow an uninterrupted TV-viewing schedule, I've set the DVR to record every episode of Swingtown. So when I sat down today to watch the last episode recorded, I was confused by the "Previously on Swingtown..." scenes. Some of them were unfamiliar! I had missed an episode somehow!

After briefly despairing, I remembered TwoP. It had been so long since I'd visited the site that it looked completely overhauled, but, yes! They recap Swingtown! I was able to sit and read the missed episode, so that I wasn't left in the dark about what I had missed. All was right in the world again. Thanks, Television Without Pity.

* * * * * * * * * *

Of course, in the writing of this post, I discovered that CBS has full episodes for viewing on their website. Oh, well. Live and learn. And TwoP is still great.

Almost Forgot

The Duck is two months old today. Happy Birthday!

Woman Buried Alive Under Unread Blogs

Last spring I finally opened a Bloglines account. I heart Bloglines. I used to waste spend a lot of time clicking through bookmarks of my favorite blogs only to find that they hadn't been updated. Then I finally figured out what a feed reader did, signed up for a Bloglines account, and learned to sit back and wait for the updates to come to me. Like the queen I am.

Since the Duck was born, I've been falling behind in my blog reading. Way behind. Maybe if I wasn't subscribed to nearly two hundred blogs, many that update almost daily (or even more often -- WTF is that all about?!), it wouldn't be as much of a problem.* I've been slowly, day by day, stolen minute by late-night stolen minute, working my way through my Bloglines updates. And feeling guilty that I'm not writing something myself.

Part of the reason for my bloggy-inactivity is that I have so little time to myself to write (as in mentally compose what I'd like to say); part of it is that I have so little time to myself to post (as in physically place my hands on a keyboard). My days are still spent holding a baby who must be held if he's awake and my nights are spent, well... sleeping (we're still clocking eight hours a night minimum, so I can't complain about the busy days).

Two days ago I caught up on Chicky Chicky Baby. Tania wrote last Thursday:

This is the first time in my blogging career (and I use that term VERY loosely) that I've been at a total loss for words. Maybe it's because I missed Blogher this year. Or it might have something to do with that new baby of mine. Or maybe it's all the energy that is required of me to keep watch over my two children.

Amen, sister. I hear you. The Chicky readers gave her some very good ideas in the comments (which I might steal, but I'll give credit if I do). That got me really thinking that I need to get back to the old laptop, but still feeling that it's easier said than done.

Yesterday I decided to tackle Miss Zoot. The last time I read Zoot was May 27, the day before my due date/induction. Since then, she's posted fifty-six times. Fifty. Six. And she has a toddler and newborn of her own. She's doing a great job of leading by example.

Then Akeeyu of herveryown, who's been on a posting hiatus of sorts (or at least, a slowdown) in the six months since the birth of her twin girls (and hasn't posted a single thing since, coincidentally, the Duck's birthday), posted this today.

The universe is sending me a message. I can't rationalize my inactivity any more. I've got to get my mojo back and start writing again.

*As of this exact moment, I have 2695 unread posts in 185 blogs.

Well, that just about says it all

Life at nine months pregnant versus life with a newborn? I just noticed my archives:

Number of posts in May? 21
Number of posts in June? 1

Musical Interlude

I've been so busy, so tired, and life has been so routinely not-noteworthy lately. The early days with a newborn make me feel like I've been deep sea diving; things are often dim and sound muffled and only very slowly can I rise to the surface, lest I get the bends. But real life is starting to draw me back. The Duck is sleeping well at night (in the last week, he's pulled 6-, 8- and 7-hour stretches in that order) which makes me feel more human. During the day, however, he doesn't sleep well and wants to nurse often. I can only assume this is the trade off for the night payout, so thus far I'm willing to accommodate him.

In place of a real post, I offer my new favorite song. I was never a Jason Mraz fan, probably because I was really only familiar with the song "The Remedy" and it just didn't grab me. However, I heard an interview with him on NPR a couple of months ago and then caught "I'm Yours" on Sirius's Coffeehouse station and was hooked. The Monkeyboy particularly loves this video, which contains waterfalls, the ocean, surfing and skateboarding. What's not for a toddler to love?