My goodness, I think it’s been about 5 months! Anyway, things have changed, folks are going back to “school” and some of you have shifting work and family and stuff responsibilities, plus we’ve gotten a little used to “the new normal”. With all of that in mind, I wanted to take the DCIB temperature on if we need to update our routine.
The Friday WatchAlongs are basically perfect for me as they are right now. It gives me something to look forward to and mark the end of the week, the afternoon time means I can still go to bed early and enjoy the evening, and I just love them in general because I love hanging out with all of you.
But that doesn’t mean they have to continue exactly the same! We can switch to once a month or every other week instead so it feels more special.
We can change the start time, back to 1pm Chicago time or up as late as 8 or 9pm Chicago time.
We can change the day of the week too, Saturday Watchalong or Sunday Watchalong instead. Or even Monday or Tuesday WatchAlong so long as it starts after my work hours.
What do you think? My faithful little Friday band, is there another day/time you want? Or other people who haven’t come in the past but would if we changed the day/time?
dontcallitbollywood 
If it were later in the day I could still do it – 3PM CA time (That’s 5 in Chicago right?) I might be able to join in on weekends but it will always be a toss up, my family doesn’t always stay in town. I enjoy the watch-a-longs, obviously because I attend so many of them. For a while there they were like a life line, something fun in to look forward to during times of immense stress. I don’t need them as a life line anymore, but they are still fun.
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They are still a lifeline for me, but that is largely because I am trapped in a bedroom with a foot (saw the doctor yesterday, confirmed it will be a total of 8 weeks start to finish before I can resume normal life. So, I’m only half done. GAH!!!!!!). I get what you are saying. The restrictions haven’t lessoned exactly where I am, but people are smarter and we all know more. I can meet friends outside with masks on, or do a lightening shopping trip, stuff we didn’t know was safe before.
The bottomline is that the Watchalongs only work if people come, so far as I am concerned I could happily do them every week for eternity if I had at least 4 people every week. But if that’s no longer the case, they won’t be fun for anyone, me or the one person who does come or you all reading along afterwards.
Anyway, thanks for your input! 5pm Chicago time isn’t quite as good for me but still doable, might be impossible for Kirre in Finland, and we will see how it would be for Filmikudhi on the east coast.
On Wed, Aug 19, 2020 at 11:04 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I like them but haven’t been able to attend one even for part of the time for weeks because of my renewed obligations, so feel free to disregard this input. Friday is the best day for me, and maybe an earlier start time would mean I could turn up more, but I don’t have much time for anything right now so who knows? When it was proper lockdown they really brightened up my life though, so thank you for that.
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Hmm. I may have to ignore your input depending on what others say. You want earlier, Genevieve wants later, you both said they aren’t as important to you any more. Hmm.
On Thu, Aug 20, 2020 at 1:23 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Totally fair, imo.
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The current time works well for me. I have family game nights every Friday at 7 CT. So 9 CT on Friday might also work but there is a 90% chance I will fall asleep mid-movie. I am not a night person at all. Most Saturday and Sunday mornings (7-10 CT) should work also. Weekday evenings might also work, but I think that’s just a bit more unpredictable with work and other family obligations. I love these watch alongs so whatever you end up deciding, I will try my hardest to make it.
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All right! First person to say definitely for sure you want them to continue! And therefore, your power to pick day/time is very great 🙂
Saturday morning is great for me too (nice start to the weekend), was a Maybe for Genevieve and I think a Probably Not for Popka. Hmm. Lots to consider.
On Thu, Aug 20, 2020 at 8:28 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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The current time works for me since nothing much has changed in terms of anything on Fridays that would make me not watch a movie with you all at that time (3 PM is 11 PM here in Finland and I stay up late anyway with my Night Owl tendencies). 🙂
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Okay, and you might be able to do Genevieve’s preferred time of 2 hours later, but then filmikudhi is out.
What about early Saturday morning my time? Like, 8am Chicago time? What time is that for you and would it work for you?
On Thu, Aug 20, 2020 at 8:57 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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That would be 4 PM here, works for me as well, depending, of course, if nothing is scheduled that day, but if something came up there’s nothing I could do to change it since it is in the middle of the day and not night time (when there is certainly nothing on the to-do list)
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Okay, so optimal times so far are Same Time, when you and Filmikudhi can join as much as ever. 2 hours later, when you and Genevieve could join but not Filmikudhi. 6 hours later when Filmikudhi but not you and maybe not Genevieve could join. Or the next day, when Genevieve would be a maybe and Filmikudhi could join and you would be a maybe.
I think we need more votes, is what I think. This is too hard.
On Thu, Aug 20, 2020 at 9:20 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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You can completely ignore this if you want, since I only sometimes come to the watchalongs. It really depends on the movie for me. I don’t usually come to the watchalongs if I haven’t already seen the movie because then I’ll feel like I’ll miss so much trying to keep up with the comments and also read the subtitles at the same time. So my attendance would be sporadic because it depends on the movie. Plus, NJ seems to be doing well in terms of normalcy, nothing new has opened in a few weeks, but we also haven’t had to reverse anything *knock on wood since schools are reopening soon*
The current time still works fine for me and should work fine for me going forward. I am usually wiped Friday evenings, but maybe working from home won’t make me so tired, and the time is well enough after work that I won’t be rushing. Definitely would never be able to do any earlier than 2:30 PM EST during the week. The plan in my town for school opening is that we’re going to start hybrid mid October, so things might shift for me then. But we’ll deal with that in October.
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Okay, another vote for staying at 3pm CST/4pm EST on Fridays!
On Thu, Aug 20, 2020 at 5:40 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I also don’t think that I’ll be able to make it to another watchalong all that often, but I admit I like theoretically having the option. And I do read up on all your comments afterwards. You couldn’t find a better time slot for me than the current one.
Also, just in general, I think keeping up the watchalongs is a good idea. I was reading this article about some relatively new research that says how important it is for our mental health to feel part of a group/groups. And the thing that most facilitated that was real-time group interactions.
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Awwww, thanks! I like our little WatchAlong group too, and it does make me feel part of something and loved and appreciated and all those good things.
With your vote, on top of Filmikudhi’s and Courtney’s, sounds like I should just keep the current time.
On Fri, Aug 21, 2020 at 1:06 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I never manage to watch along because 3pmC is typically my busiest time of the day. I am, however always home on Saturday evenings, and I’m pretty sure my husband and son would do watch-alongs then as well. Maybe I need to recruit my snarky #3 kid. My house has emptied and maybe I could “visit” with them that way … 🤔. Whatever you decide, I shall try to rearrange and be there. I always have So. Many. Questions.
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I would love to have you join us! Hmm. Maybe I can try a test run on a Saturday and see how it goes, would Saturday mornings work for you at all?
On Fri, Aug 21, 2020 at 9:41 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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