Follow the actor (like follow the color)

Here is a game I like to play. 

Ok, maybe not a game exactly, but, like, a way to discover new things.

I call it "follow the actor" but it's kind of like this "follow the color" thing I use to calm my brain down sometimes. 

Here is how the brain calming works. 

1. I get agitated enough that my brain is thrown off kilter. 
2. I get stuck on a looping thought. 
3. I realize it. 
4. I loop for a bit.
5. Then I remember I have a trick for this!!!
6. I remove myself from a screen (like turn off the tv, close the laptop, move my phone). 
7. I look around the room and see what color stands out to me most in the moment. 
8. I follow that color around the house or whatever place I am. 
9. I keep following it until my brain shuts tf up. 
10. Then I go back to my life.

It sounds mental, but it works for me. It normally takes no more than five minutes, too!

It's not even that dramatic most of the time. I simply let my eyes seek out colors that match my original choice, but something about following colors like this really calms me. 

And it is a tool I can use anywhere. I used it when I took the trip to Texas last year and I had serious "other people" anxiety. 

So when I got to the airport, I told myself I'd follow the color red!

So, whenever my brain got all spinny, I'd put my phone away and take a look at my surroundings, find something red and walk towards it.

It's not as easy as finding a single red thing and following it. That's kind of creepy, okay? Don't follow people. 

You find a red thing and look beyond where you are... when you see another red thing you move towards it, and then when you get there you find another red thing and so on and so forth. 

If I am in a place where I can't move around freely, I use my eyes instead of my whole body. 

It's been really helpful and I started to employ it in TV and Movies when I am stuck for something to watch. I'll pick an actor from something I'm obsessed with and find something else that interests me. 

I've had a TON of luck finding fun quirky, Jacki-y stuff this way. 

Recently, it failed me spectacularly. 

I don't know if you know it or not but "Zola" was my favorite movie of 2021. 

By, like, a lot. It was pure pure art on many levels, but that is an in person conversation after we have watched the movie together.

So, I found myself stumped on what to watch and Taylour Paige had just won a freaking Independent Spirit Award for playing Zola, so I thought I'd see what else she'd done. 

I found Hit the Floor. 

It was about a professional dance team for a fictional Los Angeles basketball team. Lots of dancing is a pretty instant sell for me.

The beginning was pretty watchable. Nothing special.

The writing was words and the acting was acting. Dean Cain was there. He was supposed to be the head coach. I was not convinced. 

Then Jodi Lyn O'Keefe showed up in all her glory. I actually thought she was perfectly cast in this show and was looking forward to a campy performance. Welp. I had hope, but was let down. 

The first three seasons, the dancing kept me watching. Then one character found out they had a mystery heart disease and then randomly died. Like, this disease felt like the writers had written them into a corner and had to google a very complex heart issue to name check so they could justify her death. That is when I knew something had gone very wrong with this show. 

I felt, for some dumb reason, that I had to go the distance. And I am so glad I did, because the last season was a complete shitshow, but not in the good way. 

Like all the main characters save for a few had left or died or whatever, but there was one person who could have redeemed it all. Instead the writers completely forgot what made Kyle magical in the beginning and turned her into an awful caricature. 

But the end was worth it. 100%. 

I'm gonna spoil it because I do not recommend anyone else watch this show. 

In the end, after all this love and loss, all the sportsball wins and losses, and all the DRAMA, this is what happened. 

The basketball team got "cancelled".

It was so abrupt it felt like an after thought. 

In the last five minutes of the final episode, there was a news report that was like, "Welp, the LA Devils are too messy or whatever, so they are not in LA anymore. There's a new team coming in soon. Fuck you Devils! HAHAH Y'all are GONE."

Well, the writing was worse than that, but you get the idea. 

Taylour Paige was great the whole time, though. I expected no less.