woman with popcorn and tv remote on cozy blanket

Pandemic Lessons: Boredom (or: what have I been doing?)

I’m so bored of being stuck at home and not working. There. I SAID IT.

I was furloughed from April and have been made redundant now and am still furloughed, until mid-October when I’ll finally be free. I won’t discuss my feelings on that now, but I am looking forward to moving on to something a hell of a lot better.

Anyway, that means I can’t work until I’ve officially left there. So I have another seven weeks of not working at least. I’m starting to look around and apply for a few that I really like the sound of but it’s not exactly the highlight of my very long, quiet days.

I’m finishing my Leadership & Management diploma on Tuesday. I can’t believe it’s been that long. I’m half way through a Digital Marketing diploma and I’m also doing a Social Media Marketing diploma starting next week. These keep my mind doing something I can put to use and also get me out of bed in the mornings. Otherwise I would be sleeping all day and up all night.

I go through phases of exercising and becoming one with the sofas. I’ve watched a LOT of telly. I read, but a bit less than I was the first couple of months. I write, but again, less than before.

So what have I watched, read, listened to recently? Let’s see…

Telly

Hamilton! I love that this is available on Disney+ and I’ve only watched it 4-5 times? But knowing it’s there is a comfort I didn’t know I needed.

Schitt’s Creek. I’ve watched all 6 seasons multiple times now and hubby is watching it with me this time. It’s so much feel-good, wholesome, snarky goodness wrapped into one amazing show.

I binged all of Sweet Magnolias yesterday (let’s not discuss how I did not even hit 1,000 steps until 7pm okay). It’s really interesting and I love the dynamic of the friendship of the three main ladies.

I watched both seasons of The Politician. I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it was! I was expecting something a bit cheesy to put on in the background. What I got was cheesy yes, but also somewhat fun and much more involved than that. I was a tad annoyed there is no warning for suicide (which happens in the first episode!) so be warned.

The Umbrella Academy S2. It was good, I wish they’d do something that wasn’t the same as the first season though. It seemed much too similar for me.

Warrior Nun. This was exasperating. It doesn’t get really good until the penultimate episode and then ends with a massive cliffhanger of course. The first 8 episodes were a lot of filler compared to the end, they could have done so much more.

What/If. This was interesting, but predictable.

Snowpiercer! I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this one previously. It’s really good and Daveed Diggs is incredible.

Little Fires Everywhere. This was really good. I was a little surprised by how much I liked it. Towards the end it’s heavy on pregnancy and some related drama though.

Harrow S2. We love most things Ioan Gruffudd does and this show is really good. I didn’t realise there was a second season until I saw it on Prime and then we had to watch it!

Cursed. Surprisingly good! Another take on the Merlin legend, but it’s different and interesting.

Bonding. Now I was not really interested in watching this as it had such a bad rep when it came out because of it’s horrible portrayal of sex work. And I agree with a lot of those opinions, it’s awful from that perspective. But the episodes are so short and there aren’t many of them. There is a second season coming and from what I’ve seen the creator is taking all that feedback on board, hopefully it will improve and become something more positive.

Soundtrack. I was only interested in this because Andrew MacMahon did the score for it. But oh my goodness, it’s so good. So. Good.

Raising Dion. I started watching this back in November with my mum, but never got round to finishing it. Finally watched it all, and it’s pretty decent and I love Alisha Wainwright.

Upload. This was something really cheesy we picked to watch one weekend. Then we were hooked.

I told you I’ve watched a lot of telly…

Books

The Book of Dust Volume 2: The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman. The Book of Dust volumes are pre- and post- the His Dark Materials series and follows Lyra through her journey. This one is really good and an excellent set up for the next book. (I also can’t wait for the next season of the His Dark Materials show which is coming at some point!)

The Last Wish: Introducing the Witcher by Andrzej Sakpows. This is the book the Netflix series is based on. I’ve just recently started it and it’s pretty good so far!

Music

Hamilton! Of course! The soundtrack and mixed tape are part of my regular rotation now.

Meghan Tonjes. So Meghan released 40 songs in 4 albums this summer and as always, her music is so poignant and true. And her voice is beautiful.

Taylor Swift. Folklore is glorious.

Andrew MacMahon. He released a new single, Get On My Wave, recently. I’m still a little on the fence about the song specifically, but it’s got a good vibe.

Today I’ve been vibing my full playlist of faves on Spotify and it’s done very well for my mood.

So what have you been doing these last couple of months? Let me know below!