I don’t know if you’ve picked up on this here over the past few months, but wedding planning was a lot of work. A lot of exciting but stressful work. Between that and running my own business, I had a lot on my plate. Occasionally (frequently) I needed to just completely shut wedding thoughts (worries) out of my mind and indulge in some brain candy. In the normal course of life, this would mean diving into some books. But even a book can take too much mental effort sometimes. Instead, I sank into a good old-fashioned Netflix binge, with shows that were that fine line between not-requiring-thought and still-entertaining (and met the Ian-is-not-interested requirement). And also a pair of video games: one that was pure escapism, and one that didn’t allow room for outside thoughts.
The Shows
Haven: Strange paranormal happenings in New England, with a good dash of star-crossed romance thrown in. Average acting, but some very nice eye candy. The first 4 seasons are on Netflix. The final season is still airing right now.
Hart of Dixie: Big city doc moves to small southern town. The normal shenanigans ensue. This was a good mix of drama and comedy, with some solid romance through-lines. I am more a fan of Rachel Bilson now than before. First 3 seasons on Netflix, the 4th on Amazon.
Charmed: This was definitely my heavy hitter. All 8 seasons are on Netflix! Witchy sisters try to balance life, love, and magical destiny. Moderate campiness. Heavy on the late 90’s/early 2000’s nostalgia. Underrated for its strong women characters.
The Games
Dragon Age: Inquisition: This was the first game of it’s type that I’ve played myself (instead of just having seen Ian play). Epic fantasy adventure, very well-written, awesome character development. I played this through 2 times, to explore different story options and character abilities. Ian may have gotten miffed I was hogging his computer (this one isn’t available on Mac).
The Talos Principle: If Myst’s world-building and scenery got together with Portal’s puzzle-maker and sci-fi setting, this game would be their love child. This was not so much a relax-the-brain escape as a ‘requires single-minded focus so I couldn’t possibly think about wedding stuff’ escape. Plus robots and lasers are always fun.
I still had a few episodes of Charmed left after getting back from our honeymoon, so I’m only just now in search of a new show. I need something with a lot of seasons. Luckily, it doesn’t need to be the same level of no-effort, since wedding planning and business launching are done.
Have any recommendations? What’s your latest Netflix binge?
