Hollywood Quilting

Spring has arrived, though apparently the temperature is going to drop 20 degrees overnight. I've been enjoying 60 degree temperatures, lighter clothing, and sunny days. I have not, however, been enjoying spring's companion: allergies. Nevertheless, I've made some quilting progress this week. Nothing ready to unveil but one complete baby quilt, one in-progress, and one in my mind. The latter two are for twins who were getting evicted (their mother's words, not mine) this morning.

My quilting time is also my (internet) TV time, and this week I caught up on Numb3rs. It seems like the season finale is going to be the show's finale as well. My mom and sister introduced me to this show a couple years ago (though it had been on the CBS docket for quite a few seasons by then). Quilting time gave me time to work my way through the show from season 1 to the present. For those unfamiliar with the show, it features an FBI team aided by the team leader's (Don) math genius brother (Charlie). 

While the show received some (fair) criticism for poorly integrating real math into the plot, I still enjoyed it. Then again, I love crime shows and I'm not a mathematician (though one of the best college classes I took was a math class, for which I made a math quilt for a project, a quilt based on Fibonacci numbers). I think the show could have done more (and very valuable) work elevating the role of women as protagonists -- in the roles of FBI agents and mathematicians. But, I think it made (small) strides by simply casting a woman (Amita) as a mathematician/computer scientist who, as the show progressed, demonstrated she was as smart as any of the men portrayed. It was also gratifying to see TV show a relationship between Charlie and Amita, in which intelligence, even brilliance, brought them together (never mind the problematic origin of the romantic relationship in a grad student-faculty advisor dynamic). Family relationships comprised the best element of the show: whether immediate family or the larger network of family and friends, the relationships (good and bad) and character development felt real. As a result, it was a fun show to watch while quilting -- well-paced, well-acted, and enjoyable to watch. 

Watching TV shows in 43-minute chunks lets me take a break from my work to quilt, make progress on projects, and multi-task...then again, I'm not always good at limiting myself to one show! While Numb3rs will disappear from the rotation, I discovered NCIS this winter which now has a firm spot in my TV lineup and may be my new favorite show....more on that another time.