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Really Long Shows You’ve Always Meant to Binge… But Didn’t

[Still from Supernatural, Warner Bros. Television]

2017 has come to an end, and with it, our hopes for checking off the last few New Year’s Resolutions still hanging around from last January. Hopefully you managed to hit most of your big ones – finding a job, perhaps, or keeping in better touch with long-distance friends, or eating more salad – but there are always those little add-on resolutions that seem to slip through the cracks, the ones we think that surely we will get to sometime during the year, but never feel like quite a high enough priority to actually sit down and do.

Like finally binge-watching Supernatural.

Look, if you are one of those people who started watching Supernatural early in its run and have been keeping up ever since, good for you. But for those who were late to the party, thirteen seasons (and counting) is a tall order. That’s 287 episodes of television. You know what you could accomplish in the amount of time it takes to watch 287 episodes?*

You could complete a training program for a full marathon. Twice.**

You could watch the Lord of the Rings extended editions 18 times, with time for bathroom breaks.

You could write a rough draft of a novel.***

You could walk from New York City to Detroit.

Basically, picking up Supernatural now is not just a matter of curiosity; it’s a long-term commitment, like a middle school romance.**** So it’s understandable if you’ve decided that, at this point, no matter how great your friends say it is, the Supernatural ship has sailed. It’s too daunting. Maybe one day if you are ever recuperating from a severe illness, or are put under house arrest, you might give it a go. But as it is, you know better than to put that show on your list of New Year’s Resolutions again. You’ve learned your lesson. Fool you once, CW.*****

Then again, maybe you’ll give it a whirl anyway. Who knows, 2018 may just be a year where you want to hermit away for a few weeks and power through 210 hours of epic battles between good and evil. No judgement. Sometimes building a blanket fort in your living room and watching a full season of television in one sitting really is the best and most logical option.

Here are a few other shows that you’ve heard were good, and you were thinking about watching sometime this year…if you can just find the time.

* or 210.5 hours, assuming an average of 44 minutes per episode

** It takes about 88 hours of activity to train for a full marathon, assuming around a 10-minute-per-mile pace – although you could run at a slower pace and still be able to complete the training program twice in under 210 hours.

*** writing 3.5 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 3 months, assuming you are a person who can draft a novel on that sort of schedule. If you aren’t, no shame.

**** 8.77 days, which… actually, that might be aiming a bit high for a middle school romance.

***** Supernatural has actually been around for so long that it started on The WB, not The CW.

Posted by Lauren Thoman

Organizing Your Comics

Photo by Miika Laaksonen on Unsplash

New Year, New Bookshelf! As far as resolutions go, promising to get those piles and piles of comics organized and looking beautiful is a great one: it’s achievable, cheap, simple, and has an instant payoff. Just looking at shelves of beautiful comics, knowing that all of your favorites are at your fingertips…that’s a warm glow to keep you going in a cold January.

The question is not whether to organize your comic collection—it’s how to do it. Especially for new collectors, the options seem endless. How to keep all those comics in a way that is beautiful, useful, and makes sure that they stay in good condition, just in case they’re worth money one day. If you’re looking at how to organize your growing comic collection this year, we’ve got all your questions answered right here. Happy sorting!

Posted by Rose Moore

Classic Authors Cope With New Year’s Hangovers in 2018

Image by Social Butterfly from Pixabay

New Year's Eve this year looked very different than it would have a hundred years ago. No midnight selfies to post on Instagram, no club-hopping between venues with a $50 cover and too many drunk people, no last-minute Tinder dates to try and find someone to kiss when the clock strikes twelve. Despite these new ways to celebrate, New Year’s Eve has always been an important night to mark in the calendar, and people have always done something to celebrate. A more sedated ball, a house party (not the kind with red solo cups), a family evening around the fire, or some champagne with a few friends have been the go-to for centuries. And while cultural norms around drinking come and go, one thing is for certain: our favorite authors have no doubt dealt with some serious New Year’s hangovers at one time or another.

But how would these classic literary figures deal with the first day of the year if they were in their prime this winter? We have some thoughts.

Posted by Rose Moore

Unusual Fairy Tale Adaptations

Photo by Wilfried Santer on Unsplash

It’s Jacob Grimm’s birthday on January 4 and we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate. And while we’re not cramming 233 candles on a cake – we tried, they wouldn’t fit – we are partying it up with the unusual fairy tale adaptations Grimm and his contemporaries inspired. So, happy birthday, Jacob Grimm. We’ll be over here by the punch bowl hanging out with Hans Christian Andersen and your brother Wilhelm.

Posted by Danielle Mohlman

New Year, New Witch: Advice From Basic Witches

Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash.

2018 is here, and that means time to reflect, renew… and read a whole bunch of posts determined to make this year the best year ever. Which is great, really.

But what if you want to do something a little bit different?

If 2017 was the year that saw you get in touch with your witchy side (or even if you did that a long time ago), you might be wondering about how to bring a little magic to your New Year’s celebrations. Of course, for some witches, New Year’s has already come and gone, as the majority of Wiccan traditions consider Samhain to be the start of the new Wheel of the Year. Others may choose to focus their celebrations of renewal and rebirth during the longest night of the year: the Winter Solstice (aka Yule). However, there’s no reason not to celebrate the calendar New Year as well, and we’ve got some great ways to refocus and bring a little witchy goodness into 2018.

Posted by Rose Moore

Reading Resolutions for an Incredible 2018

[Movie still from Beauty and the Beast, Walt Disney Pictures]

It’s no secret that reading completes us. Studies have shown that reading fiction increases our capacity for empathy, reduces stress levels, and might just help us live a little longer. For 2018, we’re challenging you to reach outside your reading comfort zone – and we’ve come up with a few ideas to get you started. Think of us as your bookish guides on this literary quest.

Posted by Danielle Mohlman