One thing you hear a lot when the subject of Netflix series comes up is that unlike other popular series, such as True Detective and Game of Thrones, is that there's no long-lasting online discussion of binge-watched series because of spoilers and because everyone progresses through the series at a different rate and at different times. For example, I just binged my way through Orange is the New Black many months after the series premiered. There's no online place for me to discuss these shows.

It occurs to me that the one entity that could neatly solve this problem is Netflix itself. They know where you're at in the series, and what would be a spoiler or not. So they could offer, at the end of an episode, to whisk you off to an a place where you could read commentary that was current up to exactly that point in the series, and no further. No spoilers. You get the sequential-ness that people get from non-binge-watched shows. A perfect feature that Netflix could offer that really no one else is as well-positioned to offer.

PS: Who's your favorite Orange is the New Black character? Mine is Alex. Makes me wish I could be a lesbian and have a girlfriend like her. (I have a couple of women friends who Alex reminds me of. One is married (to a man), and one I lost track of many years ago.)

I've had a cold for the last week, which has knocked me out pretty thoroughly. Lots of sleep, hot tea, a little writing and coding here and there when I feel unfuzzy, but most of the time, my brain isn't up to very rigorous thinking. I've come to terms with this. I'm a person who's used to moving toward a goal at almost all times. It's a bit distressing for me to be still. But it's also good.

I felt very lucky to get sick at almost the exact moment a new Netflix series came online, House of Cards, season 2. I had watched both the first season on Netflix and the BBC show it's based on. I thought the second season on Netflix was pretty awful. Lots of scenes that were obviously stretched out, presumably because they didn't have enough plot to fill the allotted time, or maybe enough money to fund the production. I watched because I had nothing better to do, but I wasn't impressed, or particularly entertained.

When it was over, there was a void. What to do to fill the time now? A good friend suggested Orange is the New Black, so I gave it a try. It was a little slow and stupid at first. I really wasn't all that interested in a girly show about a yuppie who goes to prison for a year, but by the second and third episode, it was clear it wasn't that. It is a comedy, there are lots of LOL moments, but it's also a great story, with hugely compelling and interesting characters, and the acting is fantastic. By the time the season is over, you have a real kinship with many of the characters, they all have depth, including the main character who most people seem to dislike, but I think that's kind of the point. She's going through a morphing process. Finding out who she really is. Prison is removing the yuppie veneer one step at a time. It's really great television, right up there with the best. Makes you wonder why it isn't the show everyone is talking about and House of Cards is?

There's a chain of beating hearts connecting back in time from you to a fish that crawled onto land, one of your many ancestors.

Here's another interesting idea. That entire chain is entirely female, all the way to the last link, and if you're a woman, including the last link.