Netflix

[Xenophon]

There are some excellent documentaries on Netflix that I enjoy. Check out Fantastic Fungi. It is one of the most informative and enjoyable documentaries I have ever watched. Few people realize how pervasive fungi are on our world, and how vital they are to our very existence and survival.

If you enjoy Fantastic Fungi I'd also recommend the Moving Art series. It doesn't have commentary but does a great job of showcasing the beauty all over our planet. Super enjoyable to throw on when cleaning the house, wanting something special to play in the background during dinner, or just when I'm trying to relax a bit.

[Sledge]

If you've got any Netflix shows you've really enjoyed, feel free to list them here and tell us why you liked them!

This will sound cliché, because everyone fell in love with this show, but Stranger Things was really well done. It has suspense, horror--but not the startle kind, which I hate--friendship, and it all takes place in the 1980s; and we all love nostalgia.

Also, if you haven't been watching TV, what do you do with your free time? (Real question.)

[canpakes]

… I'd also recommend the Moving Art series. It doesn't have commentary but does a great job of showcasing the beauty all over our planet. Super enjoyable to throw on when cleaning the house, wanting something special to play in the background during dinner, or just when I'm trying to relax a bit.

These are excellent.

One episode showcasing the Pacific Northwest featured music by pianist Ludovico Einaudi, who is wonderful to listen to. We tried to locate that particular episode on a later date but were unable to do so. Wish that we could find it again …

Einaudi is excellent in concert; we were very lucky to catch him in Mesa a few years back, and will gladly see him again if he makes a Utah visit.

[Xenophon]

Also, if you haven't been watching TV, what do you do with your free time? (Real question.)

Speaking for myself I read, listen to podcasts, work in our garden, and hike to fill most of my free time. We also have a hard rule in the house that the TV stays off until we all have had a chance to talk about our day, generally while we prepare and eat dinner. We committed a few years ago to consuming less television and honestly it was the right call for us.

[Moksha]

The wife and I really enjoyed The Queen's Gambit.

My daughter talked me into watching it with her. It was enjoyable. Now she has me watching Bachelor in Paradise with her. It is one of those sacrifices fathers make for their adult children.

[Sledge]

Speaking for myself I read, listen to podcasts, work in our garden, and hike to fill most of my free time. We also have a hard rule in the house that the TV stays off until we all have had a chance to talk about our day, generally while we prepare and eat dinner. We committed a few years ago to consuming less television and honestly it was the right call for us.

Okay, I don't mean to derail, but I am curious.

Reading is great, but it's not very "social" meaning it's not a shared experience. So does each family member read their own book in silence, or what? I've always wondered how that works.

[Xenophon]

Okay, I don't mean to derail, but I am curious.

Reading is great, but it's not very "social" meaning it's not a shared experience. So does each family member read their own book in silence, or what? I've always wondered how that works.

It depends really. Often we will read different books in silence, sometimes we will read the same books. The wife and I will always talk to each other about what we are reading as well, which always helps. When there is a fiction book we are both interested in we often read aloud to one another. When her siblings live/d with us we encouraged the same behavior. We've also never had a TV in the bedroom or even multiple in the house, always just the one in the living room.

For us we just found we weren't really that "social" while watching TV either. Sure you are consuming the same program but it never felt like we more engaged with each other than when just discussing what we are reading or listening to. This isn't to set us up as TV haters or something either. There are still lots of programs we enjoy. We just looked at our lives a few years ago and decided TV was not scratching the itch when it came to fulfilling our lives and we made a conscious effort to change.

[Jersey Girl]

Also, if you haven't been watching TV, what do you do with your free time? (Real question.)

The last time I followed any kind of television programming at all was the summer when Caylee Anthony went missing and even then, I never sat in front of the tv and simply watched it. I'd be working on something else at the same time.

Anyway, all of my time is free time now, in the sense that I can do what I want for as long as I want and whenever I want. I choose not to spend it watching tv because I feel like it doesn't hold any real value for me or hold my interest.

I do follow a small collection of youtubers who upload once or twice a week. Oh I and do watch The View on youtube, but not every day. I follow and research murder cases start to finish online. So...what else do I do? Um, well...it depends on the season I guess. I live out in the sticks so my lifestyle is probably a bit different? I garden (indoor and outdoor), getting ready to can jam and dehydrate some stuff. Right now we're doing forest management (dirty work) which means I'm dragging wood around on the property, putting it in piles, sawing the limbs off some trees, and getting it ready to load and deliver. It's the first step in our preparation for winter. All roads lead to winter around this place.

I've been to our local farmer's market a couple or three times. I rejoined an association of artisans and crafters, I've been making product since January and now packaging it for sale in fall. I do the usual, cook/clean/pick up groceries routines, maintenance on the house, serve and visit with family. Otherwise I spend time talking to the cat, the deer, watching out for bears, listening to the quiet and smelling the trees.

I'd typically travel in summer but haven't for the past 2 years. No one knows why.

In winter I take online classes that usually last 6 weeks each. I recently discovered a good online Bible devotional I'm going to continue using over winter. I read, make stuff, learn stuff, I don't know, dance in the kitchen...I show up here and interact, I increase my work on two online support groups during winter. Whatever. I just do stuff.

I know it looks like I'm here all day long but I'm not really here. I'm off doing things and only pop in and out of the computer. Anything else you wanna know?

[Jersey Girl]

Speaking for myself I read, listen to podcasts, work in our garden, and hike to fill most of my free time. We also have a hard rule in the house that the TV stays off until we all have had a chance to talk about our day, generally while we prepare and eat dinner. We committed a few years ago to consuming less television and honestly it was the right call for us.

Okay, I don't mean to derail, but I am curious.

Reading is great, but it's not very "social" meaning it's not a shared experience. So does each family member read their own book in silence, or what? I've always wondered how that works.

Sledge, I don't consider this a derail. At all. See what you said about reading not being social? I don't think of watching tv as a social experience. I feel like it gets in the way of interacting with my people. It's funny, because growing up back East the television would be on a lot and used for background noise at night. We have relatives back home that to this very day, if they are home, the tv is on. What must bring comfort to them, drives me up a wall now. I'd rather have meaningful conversations with my people than sit in a room and watch tv with them.

[Res Ipsa]

Also, if you haven't been watching TV, what do you do with your free time? (Real question.)

Speaking for myself I read, listen to podcasts, work in our garden, and hike to fill most of my free time. We also have a hard rule in the house that the TV stays off until we all have had a chance to talk about our day, generally while we prepare and eat dinner. We committed a few years ago to consuming less television and honestly it was the right call for us.

If you replace "work in our garden" with "board gaming," we'd be twins.