Winter Watches

*Dexter (Season 5) - In the dark winter months, I welcomed the return of my dark passenger. Unfortunately, he came along with guest star Julia Stiles as a dewy-eyed survivor/vigilante. My only hope was knowing that every season arc ends with these side-kicks getting the boot.

*Portlandia (Season 1) - It seems like it should be funny, but it just misses the mark too much. A few memorable lines, but mostly bad jokes repeated until I wanted to run for the remote. Painful, painful Portlandia. Other people love it, though, so maybe I'm missing something.

*Simpsons (Season 23) - A near-perfect political parody to ring in the new year! Homer dons a gravy boat of freedom and whips up a tea-party-like frenzy before realizing he's gone too far and doesn't make any sense. A fabulous FOX News satire on FOX! And then, followed by a great critique of social media in their take off of the Social Network.

*Downton Abbey (Season 2) - Elizabeth McGovern's fake accent drives me nuts, and I wish I hadn't watched the spoiler episode overseas. I know too much! But otherwise I'm enjoying the return of this period drama with its new element of dark war scenes and their scars reaching into the never quite pristine world of the upper crust.

And back by popular demand, I read a book this month - Annabel by Canadian author Kathleen Winter. It's an exquisitely drawn, poignant portrait of a couple in a remote part of the country who give birth to a mixed-gender child. Raised male, the book follows his and his family's struggle to come to terms with not quite being able to check one box or the other. The book hits at some much deeper questions along the way about nature, relationships, secrets, community, and identity.