I’ve watched a lot of movies so far in 2022, but not many were more exciting for me than the Rescue Rangers movie.

(Sunday Paper, Year VII, Issue 22)

If you’re new here - or maybe missed the intermittent explanations along the way - I’ve been engaging in a little experiment in 2022.

I’ve been making time almost every day to take in some movies or music.

I find when I do this it sparks something in my brain that makes me a little more creative and I also find inspiration to work.

This week was particularly prolific in terms of taking in other people’s work…which means I was either avoiding my own or maybe feeling the need to be extra inspired.

Regardless, here we are at the end of May and I thought, since I’m taking the next month off (stay tuned for the girls!), it was a good time to take stock of how the experiment is going.

Unlike when I did ‘365 New Things In 2013’, I just don’t have a good name for this project. I hate that I have to say each time I talk about it that I’m listening to a new album or watching a movie I haven’t seen before. It’s so many words. But there’s nothing that really sums it up quickly. The document where I’m keeping track was even hard to title - it’s called “2022 Media Consumed”….which I don’t like.

So bear with me as I skirt direct references to any kind of blanket title.

The reason this is good for me is that there was a lot of stuff (see? ‘Stuff’ doesn’t sound good either) I missed growing up. I just didn’t like sitting down for a movie, and instead of listening to a lot of music I listened to a lot of sports radio.

As I got older I decided if I was investing a few hours into something it would be a sports game rather than a movie.

So here I am, playing catch-up.

(The funny thing is, I did love my cartoons. I always made time for The Disney Afternoon, even when I was maybe a little too old for it? My favorite was Chip ‘N Dale Rescue Rangers and last weekend I watched that new movie with the girls, which was fun.)

Another reason this is good for me - and I’ve mentioned this before - is that it helps me with making a decision. It would be very easy for me to waste the couple of hours I plan on devoting to a movie by scrolling through a streaming service debating what to watch.

But knowing that the time is limited I just try to watch the first thing I haven’t seen that I always meant to see that I happen to land on. Luckily there is a lot to choose from in that category.

I am also in a good place in life right now to do this. We’re trying to have a family movie night with the girls every week. This has taken a bit of a hit in the spring with everyone’s busy spring schedules, but it should be much easier to do over the next few months. So there’s one movie a week, which we can all watch together.

But also, the girls are at an age where they don’t much want me involved with everything they’re doing at every moment, so it’s not like I’m watching a movie at the expense of quality family time.

In other words, I couldn’t have done this many other years during parenthood.

If I have a couple of hours in between work assignments or it’s night time and the Mets had a day game, I’ll watch a movie.

If I’m out doing yard work or doing a bunch of driving, I’ll listen to an album.

It’s really working out well.

The total count so far - I’ve listened to 70 albums that I hadn’t heard before, and I’m at 49 movies. (Most I haven’t seen before. One was an intentional repeat to watch with the girls - Honey, I Shrunk The Kids - and the other was an accidental repeat, though I’m not sure if I ever saw it all the way through - Moneyball.)

The end of June marks the official halfway point, but I feel good about the pace I’m on, and my approach to it. I’m not forcing myself to do anything and I think I’m using my time wisely.

And, most importantly, I hope to have produced something creative of my own by the end of it all.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

See, this whole difficulty characterizing what I’ve been watching and listening to - that’s why I’ve been throwing them into the ‘What I’ve Been Enjoying’ category - I mean, I have enjoyed most of what I’ve seen/heard, but this was a holdover from something else! I couldn’t think up something new and better! Anyway, here’s what I did this week:

“Goldfly” - Guster
“Space Oddity” - David Bowie
“Led Zeppelin” - Led Zeppelin
“Led Zeppelin II” - Led Zeppelin
“Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night” - Bleachers
Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers
Mean Girls
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Top Gun
CODA
Up

Notes

*A word on the Rescue Rangers movie - in case you’re unaware, it’s a new movie that came out on Disney+ and if you’re my age and you loved the show when you were younger, you’ll probably like it. The girls liked it enough because they were humoring me…but there’s clearly a nostalgia element to it and I can’t see most young people enjoying the movie without the context of having grown up with the show. I’d love to know, though, if anyone enjoyed it without that context…feel free to let me know.

*I haven’t give you a running update in a while, and that’s because there hasn’t been a whole lot of running going on. Part of the problem is there’s nothing on the horizon that I’m training for, which is an important motivational piece for me. Still, I did get out a couple of times this week for short runs…which is a couple more times than I’ve been out in previous weeks.

*The Rangers have come from behind to force another Game 7, this one in the second round of the NHL Playoffs. It’s been fun having playoff hockey that I’m invested in. I won’t be heartbroken with a Rangers loss the way I would with a Mets playoff loss - it’s been a fun run to watch. But it would be even better if they keep it going into the Conference Finals.

*This is always fun - back in November or so I started a new bottle of Vitamin C and there were 150-200 capsules, I don’t know, and I gave it the ol’ “The next time I’ll need a new Vitamin C will be around Memorial Day,” and here we are Memorial Day weekend and I’m starting a new bottle of Vitamin C. That’s fun for me.

*It’s not been an easy week, I’ll say that much. I’m trying to take my mind off the world with tasks and keeping myself busy - I ran Saturday, Sunday and Monday I’m hoping to get some yard work-type of stuff done - but it’s been a real heavy-hearted time.

*I will be handing the reins over to some guest posters over the next month or so, but as always you can keep tabs on my thoughts and happenings at the social media links below.