In the interest of keeping my brain from completely atrophying during winter break, I'll be attempting to spend the rest of the month watching a documentary a day.

Why documentaries and not say books or whittling? I need something to take up two hours every day. Tough place to be in, sure. And as much as I love books (and, yes, whittling), I'm not going to do either for two hours a day.

And perhaps foremost in this equation, as the weather turns ever more sour, I find myself hesitating to leave the house (except for supplies and my daily trip to the gym). And, as opposed to plain old movies, documentaries give me a feeling of productivity, like I'm learnin' sumfin, while my body wastes away on my surprisingly comfortable IKEA couch.

Of course, I'll be documenting my dive into documentaries on these here (web) pages. It (further) gives me something to do while making me feel smart-like. But don't expect much depth in my posts. It is winter break after all. I'll touch on the films I see, what stood out to me and, who knows, probably go off on a few tangents or two.

I'll also be requesting suggestions on what to watch. I've seen my share of documentaries, but don't be afraid of suggesting something that might seem obvious because I'd also like to be able to walk away from this knowing I've seen most of the major works in this genre. I'd also like to find new favorite "hidden gems," too, so don't worry if it sounds too obscure either.

So, without further ado:

I actually began this little experiment in self-preservation yesterday with "The Union: The Business Behind Getting You High." Like a lot of documentaries, this one had an obvious agenda pushing the narrative of the film. The agenda, perhaps obviously, in this movie is the legalization of marijuana.

It reminded me, in that way, a lot of another recent documentary I've watched: "Forks Over Knives." I was already fairly versed on each film's subject, but I still was surprised by how much new light was shed for me on these issues.

I also now have a greater suspicion of the role lobbyists play in our political world and how that affects our day-to-day lives (which seems rather fitting for a movie ostensibly about stoners to make me MORE paranoid about the government).

Perhaps most importantly to me though were the two films' ability to make me question, unintentionally I'm sure, any beliefs I might have had that coincided with their own stance.

For instance, I'm a vegan. The message behind "Forks Over Knives" is one I, in general, support. I do believe that diet can fix a lot of our country's health problems. I do believe a diet of mostly plant-based foods is the ideal way to eat in a first world country like the U.S. where we have the luxury to make such choices. But there were also points in the film where I questioned some of the science I was being shown.

Same goes with The Union. I'm sure a lot of the information presented in the film was accurate, but am I really supposed to believe the film presented a clear, full picture of the marijuana industry, such as it is? Not really. And I don't believe the film could have done so anyway. Not within two hours at least.

But, see, that's why I like documentaries. They present me with a unique spin on an issue, a life, a thing, a band, a person, and send me spinning like a Tazmanian devil afterwards looking for more information on that subject.

I might have bitten off more than I can chew with this little project, but it should be fun. And that's more than I can say for my last few winter breaks.