Easter Break

Monday is about movies, and sometimes TV. Today, a column about not watching anything. Taking a break from all that watching, sure has helped a lot…

Several days away with no movies. We checked the local listings — but nah, nothing. We could go and watch Project Hail Mary again, no thanks. There were a couple other films I’d already seen. And a couple I don’t want to. That’s no big deal, I’m more than happy to not see a film while away — although I do like going to new-to-me/different cinemas.

Nothing much on the telly either, new films on Netflix = nope. This place has Apple+ but that’s actually a minus.

I have all the streaming I could ever need on my iPad thanks to a YouTube Premium account, but I didn’t watch a thing. Unless you count a mini documentary about GG Allin, sent to me as a recommended watch by my barber.

Netflix is also on there — but I, increasingly, hate that place. And I’m locked into something a bit like my situation with Spotify, where I actively loathe it but still won’t part with it. In the case of Netflix, I’m the odd one out in our house. The others think it is fine, and doing its job — I think it’s awful, and lazy, and I don’t want to bother with it ever. But I also know that because we’ll never part with it, I might as well take a peek now and then. Stupid.

But on holiday, there was no reason to really work hard and be desperate to view anything. So I just got back to ignoring the two books I brought with me, and the one I purchased from the local store.

Some writing in my bag from my group, an extract from a novel and a short story, one piece each from two very good writers — I’ll get to that in time, later today, but not over the weekend.

My own writing. Well, I chipped away and made it — just. I did my Friday post sharing a bunch of links to various YouTube watches and listens — all music related. I wrote a couple of new poems, did the Saturday essay about writing, and the Sunday essay about nostalgia/memory. But no new reviews, or other pieces, and a fraction of what I usually write.

It wasn’t nothing — that’s for sure. I certainly managed to do something.

But for the most part it was early nights, and early starts.

After a couple of weeks of not feeling the best, I reckon I actually watched too many movies. I grabbed at so many things, and watched them all. I got to the point, logging four or five films a day, that I couldn’t remember why I had wanted to watch most of the things. You hit a fatigue point. You get bored instantly with anything.

It wasn’t the plan, but a weekend away with the TV barely on, and no old fashioned DVDs in sight, was probably as important as the antibiotics I got from the doctor.

My latest commitment to myself is a DVD a day. One film. At least. And on that medium.

April hasn’t started well.

But at the same time, I’m preparing for the viewing ultrathon ahead. In that sense, it was brilliant preparation. The very best. Some time off. Some good behaviour.

I’ll get back to the movies this week.