Comfort Food for the Soul

As you may have surmised from my last update, I’ve been a little overwhelmed of late. Things are changing way too fast. More often than not, I feel like this sea turtle:

Crawl across the sand. Only to be hit by a wave. (Waves??? What the fuck are waves doing here??? I thought this was supposed to be the ocean!)

And in times of stress, I seek out comfort food. Mac and cheese, Nutella. Wine.

But comfort food for my expanding waistline isn’t the only way I cope with stress. I’m also a big fan of intellectual comfort food, and for me, that means reruns.

I don’t know why, but there’s something incredibly soothing about watching or reading something I’ve already experienced a million times before. If I’m reading it again, it must be good, right? And there’s no worrying about what’s going to happen at the end.

I’m not the only one who does this, either. This American Life did a segment on reruns back ages, including an interview with Starlee Kine, who likes reruns of bad TV better than new TV.  The first time I listened to it, it was like a lightbulb went off over my head. I wasn’t alone in loving the rerun.

So it’s no wonder that in the last few weeks, I’ve rewatched all of the original Star Wars movies (episodes I-III never happened. Do not even think of trying to tell me different.), X-Men 1, 2, and 3, the episodes of Friends when Monica and Chandler are getting together, bits and pieces of the Twilight movies. Buffy. I’ve even dipped into my cheesy romance flick collection, from Kate and Leopold to While You Were Sleeping.

Why yes, I do find this comforting.

And it’s the same when it comes to books. I’ve re-read my favorite Black Dagger brothers (all of Zsadist, and bits and pieces of Rehvenge, V and John Matthew), Eidolon and Lore’s books from the Demonica series, and my favorite M/M romance ever, Admit One. Even a few books that aren’t romances. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Water for Elephants, Ender’s Game.

The only problem is, I’ve got a few more weeks of upheaval ahead of me, and I’m running out of reruns. Which means…I may need to read/watch new things, in order to have more things to re-watch/re-read.

So I’m taking suggestions. What’s your idea of intellectual comfort food? What movies and books could you go through over and over and over again?

10 Comments:

  1. Chris Guilbeaux

    Hi Jeanette,

    I also adore all of the Brotherhood of the Dagger series. My absolute favorite!! John Matthew is my favorite, then V, then Rehvenge…you get the idea. lol

    If you love this so much, please check out the Lords of the Underworld by Geno Showalter. They are as fabulous as the Black Dagger series.

    I hope you enjoy!!

    On fanfiction as GuilChris and I’m a big fan or yours. ;)) Mwah!!

    • I read the first Lords of the Underworld book recently and wasn’t hooked. :/ Is there a particular demon-bearer you like best? I might not have gotten hooked on BDB either if I hadn’t been promised that I would love Zsadist.

      Thanks for the suggestion and fun to meet another BDB fan.

  2. Books: The Distance from the Heart of Things and Shiver.
    Movies/TV: My So Called Life The Princess Bride and Enchanted 🙂

    • LOVE the Princess Bride! And I adored My So Called Life back when it was on the air. Worried it would gave me adolescent-flashback squirms now but maybe I’ll give it a shot.

      Shiver and Enchanted were on my list. Bumping them higher in the queue!

  3. Heather McGovern

    I do this too! Big Bang Theory reruns = happy comfort. Friends, Seinfeld, & Buffy. All are like old friends. Movie comfort is The Hunt for Red October, Jaws, Terminator 2, and X-Men 1 & 2. I’ll also read Lisa Kleypas historicals for a guaranteed HEA. Yah, I’m all over the place w my cyborgs, subs, and Regency romance. =)

  4. I have so many favourites – Gone With the Wind. I re-read this every couple of years and watch the movie as well. Dirty Dancing is my feel good movie and watching it once is not enough, I have to watch it over & over again until I feel better. Love Actually, Pride & Prejudice TV series with Colin Firth, Bridget Jones Diary for the laughs. There’s also a series that the BBC did called ‘Lost in Austen’ in which this modern day girl, who loves Pride & Prejudice goes back to Regency England & meets Mr Darcy. It is so well done & so funny.

    Books I re-read regularly are Pride & Prejudice, Jane Eyre, The Time Traveller’s Wife. That’s all I can think of at the moment.

    Annette

    • I love so many of these! Gone With the Wind is lovely, though I’ll admit to being partial to the Matthew McFayden Pride and Prejudice. The Time Traveler’s Wife was beautiful – definitely due for a re-read.

      Thank you!

  5. My comfort books/tv shows/movies mostly involve murders, but I do have a few that are normal. Otherwise if murders and mayhem in fiction give you comfort, then I can hook you up! Lol

    Movies/tv shows

    • Jane Austen Book Club (movie)
    • Any Jane Austen adaptation or something with an Andrew Davies screenplay.
    • Lord of the Rings
    • Hellboy (comics included)
    • My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
    • Midsomer Murders (or any British murder mystery)

    Books

    • Envy & Charade by Sandra Brown
    • The In Death series by J. D. Robb

    And if those don’t work, then there’s always playing hours and hours of Mass Effect!

    • Ooh! Lord of the Rings movies are usually among my staples. I’ve just relied on them too much recently so I had to give them a break. All things Austen are good escapism (with a dash of gender/class commentary just to keep things interesting!). Never would have guessed My Little Pony to follow on Hellboy’s heels, but I guess that’s why I love you so much.

      Great suggestions. Adding them to my list!

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