Welcome to Sick Stuff
This is Sick Stuff, a newsletter about Sick stuff to watch, play, read, or listen to from your favorite sick girl.
Okay so who am I and what are we doing here?
Hi I’m Christianna, and I’m a sick girl. I’m chronically ill and disabled living with a condition called dysautonomia. Dealing with a lot of fatigue and a host of other symptoms has the practical effect of me spending a lot of time on the couch, watching tv, playing mobile, switch & PC games, listening to audio books, etc. I consume a lot of content. I consume a full time jobs worth of content. And I like to talk about. So here I am watching all the stuff, from the dregs of Netflix to the best of YouTube, playing whatever cozy game du jour scratches my weird brain itches, and listening to a lot of literary fiction but also sometimes other stuff and I’m gonna tell what bits of it I like. Then you can maybe consume those bits too, or not. Up to you obviously.
Watching
I said it above, but I’ll say it again. I watch a lot of TV. So much TV honestly. And my penchant for garbage is pretty high. But I also watch some shows that are just legitimately good, or even great, and I would put Trying on Apple TV+ in that category.
I watched the first season of Trying some time ago, and enjoyed it but kind of forgot about it. I was fortunate enough to rediscover the second season just before the release of the third season, which is airing week by week right now. Honestly I’m becoming convinced this is one of the best shows being made right now, and it’s a total sleeper because no one seems to talk about it. We know Ted Lasso is the darling of Apple TV+ but Trying is just really lovely. This incredibly sweet and heartwarming show about a couple living in London and trying for kids, is definitely approachable to any human who enjoys having their heart warmed, even to those who (like me) think maybe a family isn’t for them. It deals with universal themes, like comfort, safety and love, and it makes me smile every time and cry sometimes. I think it really found it’s footing in Season 2 and is carrying that into Season 3, so if it’s not an instant hit for you from the first few episodes I would give it a little more time.
Lately I’ve been kind of a sucker for apartment hunting videos on YouTube. Can I explain the unique satisfaction of these videos (especially as someone who has lived in a home they have owned for the last 5 years)? Not really, but there’s a lot of them so I’m clearly not alone. I recently was recommended a London apartment hunting video from Georgia Doust’s relatively new YouTube Channel and then got sucked into Georgia’s channel including vlogs about moving from Australia to London, and European travel vlogs.
Georgia has an easy, laid back air that makes her very watchable, plus good taste and nice footage. If you need a little armchair travel this is not a bad place to get it. She also makes some content about being a design consultant, but I’m there for the vlog type stuff.
Playing
I’ve been in a little bit of a game rut recently, although I’ve just cracked into a few that I’ll definitely share in the future. But for now I wanna talk about the mobile game animal restaurant. Yes, this is a mobile game. No, it is not high brow. Yes, there are ads. No, there’s not much to it. BUT, there are very cute illustrated animals, a restaurant you get to continuously upgrade, expand and redecorate, and lots of different elements to unlock as you progress. I started playing this game cus it was cute and something to do with my hands while I watch TV. I am now totally hooked, and combing the wiki for different combinations of things needed to unlock new customers, recipes, facilities, letters and more. I definitely have a completionist aspect to my brain when it comes to certain kinds of games, and this aspect of Animal Restaurant is really satisfying that part of me. But it’s definitely addictive, you’ve been warned.
Listening To
I was definitely late to the Osemanverse, only discovering the work of Alice Oseman after the release of the now hit Netflix adaptation of her graphic novel series Heartstopper. After tearing through the show, and then rewatching again about two weeks later, I have worked my way through the Heartstopper graphic novel series, and all of Oseman’s other novels.
Quick side note: this falls under the Listening To category because I listened to this in audiobook form, just like I consume almost all of my books in audiobook form since I got sick. Most books you will see me recommending will fall under the Listening To category because that is how I consume them, but hopefully the recommendation holds up regardless of format.
I should say I am not usually a YA person. And that is not intended as a slight against people that love YA, I know there is so much great YA fiction out there these days, I just don’t often read it. But the world Oseman builds, and the community of Queer characters really captured me, and I didn’t want it to end. Loveless was the most recent listen for me, and actually I think it may be once of my favorites. It is based on Oseman’s own experience of attending university and figuring out she is Aromantic Asexual, and the story just rings especially true. In my opinion, all the best books, fiction and otherwise, teach you both something about yourself and something about the experience of others you might never live first hand. This book covered off on both those metrics easily, and in an approachable and enjoyable story. If you haven’t checked out any of Oseman’s work yet, I really recommend it.
Ok friends, I hope this gives you some things to dig into until next time when I bring you more Sick Stuff.