The TP25 Challenge

Twin Peaks first came into my life in seventh grade. I was lucky enough to catch the pilot episode; I remember being nervous in the back of Dad's car as he drove us from his apartment in Chicago back to our home in Wisconsin. But we made it in time, and I plunked myself down on the old gray futon, and got lost in the show's special magic. Mom was out on a date with John Brady, and she's told me that she remembers being in the bar with him and glancing up at the TV and thinking, "Oooh, this looks so spooky! I wish I was home watching this instead...." It's been my favorite show ever since; I've gotten loved ones to watch it (*some more than once); been to the festival in North Bend; indirectly/partly moved to the Pacific Northwest for grad school because I'd been lured by the Douglas Firs and sycamores and fog and owls. My writing room is decorated in part with Twin Peaks art; these pieces form a tapestry alongside my mannequins, dolls, other artwork, carousel horse lamp; antler-eared lamp-boy. Even Gage, my third grade Cabbage Patch Kid, hangs out here.

2014 was a (bloodied) banner year for Twin Peaks, and things are only going to get crazier and more fantastic from here. First the Blu-Ray release with Fire Walk with Me's 90 minutes of deleted scenes gave us goosebumps (or is that owlbumps?). Then David Lynch and Mark Frost announced they'd be bringing Twin Peaks back for a third season, which will pick up 25 years later. Fan dreams (with or without mention of that chewing gum you like) came true! Cooper literally dreamed about the future and now we get to see how his dreams play out! Showtime is airing the 9-episode season, Frost and Lynch are writing every episode, and Lynch is directing every one. Plus, Mark Frost is writing a book about the lives of the Twin Peaks characters, released sometime this year, that will bridge seasons two and three of the show. Sigh. Swoon. Joy.

Special thanks goes to Welcome to Twin Peaks (www.welcometotwinpeaks.com) for their infectious TP updates, and to Charlie Eadie and Mary Hutter, dear friends I met at the Twin Peaks festival. You all keep me in the loop.

In honor of the cult classic's 25th anniversary this year, I've decided to watch Twin Peaks once again, but for my first time I'll be watching the show in "real time." Most episodes of the show covered one calendar day, with some exceptions -- a couple episodes equal one day, and at one point the show skips ahead a few days. Still, the events in Twin Peaks -- everything from the search for Laura Palmer's killer to Special Agent Dale Cooper's literal and figurative chess game against his brilliant, deranged ex-partner Windom Earle -- take place in about a month. Laura Palmer's body was discovered, wrapped in plastic, on February 24th.

Might you join me? Maybe you can help stir up and crack open the magic of Twin Peaks and part the Black Lodge's red drapes to help Cooper escape back to Twin Peaks or to the White Lodge? I can hear his heels clicking against the zigg-zagged black-and-white tiled floor as he continues to search for his way out....

Here's my viewing schedule:
Tuesday, February 24th: The pilot (or "Episode 0") -- the original U.S. TV broadcast version
Wednesday, February 25th: Episode 1
Thursday, February 26th -- Episode 2
Friday, February 27th -- Episode 3
Saturday, February 28th -- Episode 4
Sunday, March 1st -- Episode 5
Monday, March 2nd -- Episodes 6 & 7
Tuesday, March 3rd -- Episode 8
Wednesday, March 4th -- Episode 9
Thursday, March 5th -- Episode 10
Friday, March 6th -- Episode 11
Saturday, March 7th -- Episode 12
Sunday, March 8th -- Episode 13
Monday, March 9th -- Episode 14
Tuesday, March 10th -- Episode 15
Wednesday, March 11th -- Episode 16
***skip ahead
Sunday, March 15th -- Episode 17
Monday, March 16th -- Episode 18
Tuesday, March 17th -- Episode 19
Wednesday, March 18th -- Episode 20
Thursday, March 19th -- Episode 21
Friday, March 20th -- Episode 22
Saturday, March 21st -- Episode 23
Sunday, March 22nd -- Episode 24
Monday, March 23rd -- Episode 25
Tuesday, March 24th -- Episode 26
Wednesday, March 25th -- Episode 27
Thursday, March 26th -- Episode 28
Friday, March 27th -- Episode 29
Saturday, March 28th -- Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, the feature film prequel
Sunday, March 29th -- The Missing Pieces (*the compilation of remastered deleted scenes)

Voila!

In addition to reading Mark Frost's new Twin Peaks novel this year, I'll also be revisiting:
The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, written by Jennifer Lynch, David's daughter
The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper: My Life, My Tapes, written/"heard" by Scott Frost, Mark's brother
Mark Frost's The List of 7 and its sequel, The 6 Messiahs -- juicy, supernatural takes on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and what inspired him to create the character of Sherlock Holmes

I'll see you in the trees,
Nathan