What I’ve Been Watching #6

I’m very committed to watching Gilmore Girls at the moment, which is one reason why I haven’t watched other shows here recently. I did cave and watch the first episode of Listen to Your Heart. I’m not sure how I feel about it currently, nor if I’ll continue watching it.

Since I haven’t been going anywhere due to lockdown, when we can safely try to normalize our lives again, I’ll just summarize the month of April [or however long] of what I’ve been doing in a life update post. It’ll mostly consist of new recipes I’ve made during this time that will be FWMD posts someday.

As of now, I’m super glad we are both safe and healthy. It has been difficult to stay motivated, but I’m still trying to be firmer with my schedule and implement the tips that I mentioned in my last blog post regarding comfort during this time to stay on top of things.

I’m currently reading again after “not having enough time” to do so. I’ve realized how much I’ve missed reading because I don’t want to put my book down. Be on the lookout for some book reviews soon! I’m a romance sap, so that’s what the majority of them will be, possibly.

Anyways, here are some things that I’ve been watching lately.

TV Shows

Tiny House Nation (2017)

Seasons 1-3 (2014-2016)

I watched this series on Netflix and it’s different from what I expected after watching Tiny House World, which is international and can be watched on Hulu. They are two different shows but they have the tiny house living concept in common. The international version is like House Hunters and prompts the potential buyer(s) with three houses to choose from.

Tiny House Nation focuses on building a custom tiny home for the client(s). It’s cool because you can see their plans and ideas when building the home, and the creators are so good at utilizing and building personal furniture and items to build in the home.

Highlighted thoughts:

• In one episode, the designers created three benches that you put together to make a patio table — by far one of the coolest things they’ve invented
• I dig the elevator furniture that they create to utilize their limited space
• They managed to build a section to keep a cat and a dog separate from one another while the couple was away, wowza

Although I would like for the set up to be similar and have the clients choose between homes like the international show, I really enjoy the creativity of this version even more. What was comical about the international show is how people wanted to live in a home about the size of the picture, yet they were complaining about how the home had no bathroom, kitchen, or privacy! I suppose you can’t have it all if you are seeking to live in a home with a few hundred square feet. Most of all, what about a washer and dryer? That and a bathroom would be some of my top concerns.

Luckily for this show, the designers were able to include all the necessary amenities, although they were significantly larger than what I would really consider a tiny home.

According to this article I found on realtor.com, a tiny house is between 100 to 400 square feet, and rarely 500.

I don’t even know the exact size of what a 100 square feet home would be, but that seems so crazy to me.

Gilmore Girls (2000)

Season 2 (2002)

Stephen has been loosely watching Gilmore Girls with me [mainly because I have it on about 70% of the time] and his reaction to seeing Jess arrive in Stars Hollow was hilarious. You just had to hear how he sounded; it was too funny.

His mom and sister watched the show growing up, so he remembers some characters — one being Jess. He is pretty memorable, so it naturally makes sense to me.

Oh, I remember him. He’s a bad boy.

Stephen

Edited synopsis to remove some spoilers:

The season opens with Lorelai accepting Max’s proposal. Christopher returns with a new girlfriend, Sherry, who he seems ready to settle down with. Both Lorelai and Emily are disappointed that he wasn’t ready to settle down with Lorelai, but they remain in friendly contact.

Rory spends the season in a relationship with Dean, while Tristan, the main rival for her affections from the first season, is sent away to military school. Luke’s nephew Jess comes to stay with him after getting into trouble at home in New York and his interest in Rory is plain.

Wikipedia

I hadn’t realized how quickly Jess is introduced in the show, but his presence definitely stirred up the jealous, insecure streak in Dean. Although, Rory did cause it to come out of him because of her developing feelings for Jess that she tried to resist by staying with Dean. Even Rory Gilmore has to date a bad boy, right?

Highlighted thoughts:

• I don’t know which I want more: Luke and Lorelai or Christopher and Lorelai together. Possibly her and Chris, but people would riot since poor Luke has always wanted a chance with her
• Dean getting ripped apart by Richard was painful to watch, poor kid. Imagine if Rory would’ve brought Jess over first, then Dean might’ve looked like a saint. This was the first time where Rory got into a riff with her grandpa, but good for her for defending Dean!
• I’m slightly sad that Tristan’s gone. [I suppose becoming Lucas Scott in One Tree Hill worked out better for him.] I think he could’ve really grown as a character with Rory’s influence. Their relationship was pretty much up in the air, but I think she would’ve went for him if it were under different circumstances
• The best film is the one that Kirk made and directed. The girl that plays Chloe O’Brian from 24 was in it. I miss her

Season 3 (2003)

Edited synopsis:

The season opens with Lorelai having to break the news to Richard and Emily that she and Christopher aren’t getting back together, although this does result in her mending her rift with Luke. Rory is estranged from Christopher for a time but later gets back in touch, resulting in the girls attending Sherry’s baby shower and supporting her in labour until Christopher arrives. Lorelai has trouble getting back into dating.

Rory tries to forget about her kiss with Jess by throwing herself into her relationship with Dean, but Dean breaks up with her when she spends a dance marathon obsessing over Jess and his girlfriend Shane. Rory and Jess get together, and the positions are reversed when Dean starts dating one of her old classmates, Lindsay Lister, and they become engaged. Jess takes a job at Wal-Mart to buy a car and skips class to take extra shifts.

Wikipedia

Highlighted thoughts:

• It’s always just a dream. That’s one way to start off with a season because it was such a bizarre start
• Jess is being the typical boy in this season and I shouldn’t root for his and Rory’s relationship, but there’s something about him that keeps tugging at my heart, which you probably know why if you’ve watched the show
• Why was getting engaged a good idea, Dean? Clearly that is going to be a disaster
• Rory is really bad with maintaining a healthy relationship it seems. It was great with Dean in the beginning, but it went downhill quickly
• Everything and anything Kirk does is worth watching, trust me

Movies

Enemy (2013)

Stephen’s all excited about Dune, which will be releasing in theaters this December, and he wanted to watch a movie by the same director. So, we watched Enemy on Netflix this past week.

Synopsis:

Adam Bell (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a glum, disheveled history professor, who seems disinterested even in his beautiful girlfriend, Mary. Watching a movie on the recommendation of a colleague, Adam spots his double, a bit-part actor named Anthony Clair, and decides to track him down. The identical men meet and their lives become bizarrely and irrevocably intertwined. 

Rotten Tomatoes

According to RT, It’s labelled as Mystery & Suspense. You really have to use your brain for this one because it may leave you confused at the end. We ended up having to look up what the end scene meant.

Highlighted thoughts:

• Anthony was super aggressive and his sweet, pregnant wife didn’t deserve to have this jerk as a husband
• Lots of symbolism and many hints are throughout the movie, so make sure you pay close attention to them!

I don’t want to list too many thoughts because I don’t want to spoil the movie if you’re interested in watching it. I’m sure knowing what I know now the movie would make sense the second time. It wasn’t a scary movie, but it was definitely mysterious.

• Could you live in a tiny home?
• What have you been watching lately?
• Any recommendations on what to watch?

I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe!