This morning, I awoke feeling like I had a head full of bees and every joint in my body was composed of a mass of broken glass too large for the socket or skin around it. I also had an urge to lie in bed all day and read the Volume 4 “5 Years Later” Legion of Super-Heroes run, whose post-apocalyptic world-rebuilding, adult themes and intentionally primitive art style were prescient of many of today’s comics. (It wasn’t a 100% accurate premonition of today’s New 52, though, as it still had a lot of humor and glimmer of hope amidst its cynicism.) Often times when I’m feeling poorly, I also find myself wanting to listen to classic George Carlin routines, especially ‘Carlin At Carnegie’, the HBO special which introduced me to his masterful work lo, those many decades ago on my mother’s elderly Sylvania console television with the poor vertical hold. Apparently, I also get even wordier when I’m sick, which means it’s time to wrap things up and get to today’s soon-to-be-heavily-medicated query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) wishes that somebody would deliver nice chicken soup and maybe some Thai food to my remote neck of the woods, but that ain’t happenin’ either, asking: What pop culture helps you to feel better when you’re miserable?
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I find myself revisiting Sailor Moon stuff online. Fan senshi, good stories, wikis… if I had the prohibitively expensive box set, I’d be watching it. It’s very nostalgic for me and makes me feel much better, at least mentally. Like right now – sick as a pig, but reading the ridiculously thorough Sailor Moon TV Tropes pages.
When I had a television: The Price is Right (old Bob Barker, not new Drew Carrey)
Since I cut the cord, I usually just zone out to Let’s Plays on youtube (northernlion mostly)
I always crave Jane Austen when I’m sick. Most of the time I just watch the Kiera Knightly version of Pride and Prejudice (because let’s be honest, if I’m sick enough to stay home I’m too sick to even hold my head up to read).
Listening to critical hit always makes me feel better.
It’s usually The Empire Strikes Back for me. It’s long and I’ve scene it so many times that I don’t feel bad about nodding off through out it. A lot of the Dagobah scenes have the comforting colors and low frequency sounds that tend to just put me right out. After that it’s all MST3K probably Final Sacrifice and Soul Taker.
If I’m just need a perk, then Weird Al (one song or a whole album), old Simpsons or any of the DCAU entries. Sometimes putting an old Pokemon game into the GBA slot of my Nintendo DS.
If I’m really sick, but not go to the hospital sick, then a marathon of some series on DVD such as Forever Knight, Firefly or Buffy, or reading/re-reading a multi-novel series.
If I’m sick enough to be hospitalized (and with my health issues, that happens far too frequently), then the only thing that really helps is fantasy and sci-fi novels since I don’t have a laptop or tablet to go online with and the hospital only has select cable channels enabled in their rooms (no Syfy, BBC America, Cartoon Network or Nicktoons).
The Muppets never fail to lift my spirits.
Shoot! I forgot to put that on my list!!
It has been one of the constant things to cheer me up for as far back as I can remember. When I got my VCR from a “Make A Wish” type group when I was going through chemo in the early/mid 80’s (when a VCR was a few hundred dollars), they included VHS copies of all the available Muppet library (which wasn’t much at the time, but it was a pretty nice starter collection) as well as a few Muppet plushies.
And speaking of Muppets and being sick, when I was sick in January I spent a good deal of time here trying to design my ideal Muppet Whatnot:
http://www.fao.com/whatnots/index.jsp
Once I get $100 that doesn’t need to go to bills, food or med bills, I’ll be ordering one.
Star Wars: A New Hope and Raiders of the Lost Ark, they remind me when I was a kid and everything was wonderful adventure. Also, Hellboy comics. I find his pragmatic attitude to earth shattering events uplifting.
I can watch Venture Bros and their antics to always make myself feel better.
If I’m not too sick to read, The Phantom Tollboth by Norton Juster, hands down. It’s my absolute best comfort food.
If I need to just watch, the movie Get Real or the A&E Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.
If I need to be in the middle and can get to the comic boxes (or convince someone to open them for me), the first 20 issues or so of the original Baxter LSH run by Levitz & Giffen.
If none of those work, just hold the pilllow tigher over my head….