So the new TV season starts tomorrow night, and that means that I'll soon have new things to talk about. Before that happens, I guess I should get you up to date on what I've been watching this summer.
The only new TV show I've been watching is Swingtown, and I love it! I really hope it does come back again in some form. They can put it on HGTV for all I care; just bring it back! It's a much gentler show than people were expecting, and I've come to really care about the characters. Plus I love the hair and clothes and furniture and music. And the swimming pool!
In reruns, I've been continuing with Grey's Anatomy, and am now almost at the end of Season 3. I also watched Season 4 of Angel, which was a chore to slog through. I'll try to catch up with Season 5 next time it comes around; I hear it promises to be a lot more fun.
I already told you about how I tried to watch The Prisoner and gave up halfway through. Other DVD treats I've enjoyed this summer have been the first two seasons of Northern Exposure, which were even better than I remembered from my teenage years, part of season 2 of Bullwinkle, and some classic Doctor Who. Now I've started working on Beauty and the Beast. (The series, not the Disney movie, for those of you who are too young to remember.) I love it so much! I would marry it if I could! Actually, I guess I'd marry Vincent, but that would make Catherine sad, and we couldn't have that.
So that's the story of my summer, screenwise at least. It seems like I didn't accomplish all I set out to, but Lady Love makes fools of us all, I guess.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
I apologize for the lull in actual text
My traffic stats show that my readership has gone way down, and I guess it doesn't take a marketing analyst to know why that is. I've been awfully introspective lately in a way that's not very entertaining. Well, hopefully that will change on September 1 when the new TV season begins and I get something external to talk about again. On the other hand, I'm usually so busy during fall quarter that I might not get a chance to write much here at all. So I guess we'll all just have to wait and see what happens.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Saturday night at the disco
Here's a little something to brighten your Saturday night, but as for me, I'm going to go to bed and sleep well for a change.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Here in the dark with you
I won't try to tell you that Darling Lili is my favorite movie of all time, but this song is the highlight of it.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Card games
You might not guess it, but I've played the "temperamental genius" card a lot of times in my life, especially with my family. When something was going on that I didn't like, I would just flash that card out of my deck and walk away scot-free. Now I'm finding out how annoying it is to have that card played at me, but I can't really say anything when it's a trick I've used to good advantage so many times myself. Self-awareness is a terrible thing, isn't it? Oh, to be a sea cucumber!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Mary Richards and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day
As if it wasn't bad enough with the YouTube videos, now I've discovered I can embed a whole Hulu video in my blog! Don't worry, I don't plan on doing it all the time, but I thought I should try it once. This is my favorite episode of Mary Tyler Moore, and the way my life is going right now seems a lot like Mary's in this episode.
An advice column
Because my love life is in such a state of flux these days, I've been reading a lot of relationship articles. And so I finally decided to just write one of my own.
The Top 10 Things that Men Should Know about Women
1. Women are like old-fashioned TV sets with dials. We stay on whatever channel we were on when you were last watching. So if the last thing that happened between us was awkward and weird, our brains will stay in that state forever unless you replace it with a better memory. On the other hand, if the last thing you said was something incredibly wonderful, that memory can carry us for months or years of no contact at all. Seriously.
2. From your point of view, we cry all the time. But that doesn’t mean we’re leaking. And telling us to stop will only make it worse. It’s just something you’re going to have to deal with. And half of the time when we’re crying, it’s because we’re happy anyway.
3. When we’re alone with you and laugh for no apparent reason, it’s not because we think you’re a dork. If we did think you were a dork, our response certainly wouldn’t be laughter, but more like a cold shoulder. We laugh when we’re nervous and excited, so if we’re laughing for no apparent reason, it probably means that we’re nervous and excited to be with you. This is a good thing.
4. We don’t need every encounter with you to be Oscar-worthy. Don’t feel like you have to say something profound or witty or profoundly witty every time that we’re together. All that we really need to know is that we’re still important to you, and you demonstrate that best just by being yourself, not by putting on some show.
5. As a corollary to #4, we don’t need you to keep showing your plumage forever. In the wild, males often do put on a display to attract a female’s attention, but once they’ve got it, they put those pretty tail feathers back into storage for another year. Time you spend preening in front of a girl you’ve already got sitting beside you is time that could be spent on actually building the nest together. And that’s what you really want, right?
6. If a woman isn’t talking to you as much as usual, it means that something is wrong, not that she decided to give you a vacation! What’s wrong may or may not have anything to do with you, but she probably wants you to ask about it in a non-confrontational way. This will win you major brownie points, and you’ll get more if you just let her talk about it and don’t immediately start trying to find a solution.
7. When something is bothering you, it’s nice if you can give us a clue about it. We don’t expect to have a major therapy session with Kleenexes and hugs, but if you can just find some way of filling us in on the broad outlines of it, it would be really helpful and let us know that you’re not mad at us (which is, heaven help us, what we always assume first.) If you can just say something like, “My boss is being a jerk” or “The starter on my pickup is acting up,” you’ll save yourself a whole lot of nagging and wheedling to find out what’s wrong.
8. About nagging and wheedling: it really wouldn’t happen so much if you’d just deal with the issue in the first place. If you think you can wear us down, it’s not going to work, unless we decide to give up on you totally, which you probably don’t really want. So if your answer is “no,” just say it the first time and get it over with. And “I need time to think” is also a response that’s better than stony silence.
9. Your silences always do seem stony to us, unless they occur right after something marvelously wonderful you’ve just said. (See #1.) Remember that women need feedback at all times, and we also need something to look forward to. So if you can say something like, “I’m busy studying for a test on Friday, but I can talk to you a lot that night,” or “I’ll be done with this busy time at work after April 15th,” it lets us know the reason for your silence and will let you actually get a lot more accomplished.
10. What we need to know more than anything, and that covers a multitude of sins, is how you really feel about us. And if you can manage to say it once, afterwards you won’t need to spell it out so completely again. If the words “I love you” scare you, find some other way to say it. Just say it somehow, and I promise we won’t laugh at you.
The Top 10 Things that Men Should Know about Women
1. Women are like old-fashioned TV sets with dials. We stay on whatever channel we were on when you were last watching. So if the last thing that happened between us was awkward and weird, our brains will stay in that state forever unless you replace it with a better memory. On the other hand, if the last thing you said was something incredibly wonderful, that memory can carry us for months or years of no contact at all. Seriously.
2. From your point of view, we cry all the time. But that doesn’t mean we’re leaking. And telling us to stop will only make it worse. It’s just something you’re going to have to deal with. And half of the time when we’re crying, it’s because we’re happy anyway.
3. When we’re alone with you and laugh for no apparent reason, it’s not because we think you’re a dork. If we did think you were a dork, our response certainly wouldn’t be laughter, but more like a cold shoulder. We laugh when we’re nervous and excited, so if we’re laughing for no apparent reason, it probably means that we’re nervous and excited to be with you. This is a good thing.
4. We don’t need every encounter with you to be Oscar-worthy. Don’t feel like you have to say something profound or witty or profoundly witty every time that we’re together. All that we really need to know is that we’re still important to you, and you demonstrate that best just by being yourself, not by putting on some show.
5. As a corollary to #4, we don’t need you to keep showing your plumage forever. In the wild, males often do put on a display to attract a female’s attention, but once they’ve got it, they put those pretty tail feathers back into storage for another year. Time you spend preening in front of a girl you’ve already got sitting beside you is time that could be spent on actually building the nest together. And that’s what you really want, right?
6. If a woman isn’t talking to you as much as usual, it means that something is wrong, not that she decided to give you a vacation! What’s wrong may or may not have anything to do with you, but she probably wants you to ask about it in a non-confrontational way. This will win you major brownie points, and you’ll get more if you just let her talk about it and don’t immediately start trying to find a solution.
7. When something is bothering you, it’s nice if you can give us a clue about it. We don’t expect to have a major therapy session with Kleenexes and hugs, but if you can just find some way of filling us in on the broad outlines of it, it would be really helpful and let us know that you’re not mad at us (which is, heaven help us, what we always assume first.) If you can just say something like, “My boss is being a jerk” or “The starter on my pickup is acting up,” you’ll save yourself a whole lot of nagging and wheedling to find out what’s wrong.
8. About nagging and wheedling: it really wouldn’t happen so much if you’d just deal with the issue in the first place. If you think you can wear us down, it’s not going to work, unless we decide to give up on you totally, which you probably don’t really want. So if your answer is “no,” just say it the first time and get it over with. And “I need time to think” is also a response that’s better than stony silence.
9. Your silences always do seem stony to us, unless they occur right after something marvelously wonderful you’ve just said. (See #1.) Remember that women need feedback at all times, and we also need something to look forward to. So if you can say something like, “I’m busy studying for a test on Friday, but I can talk to you a lot that night,” or “I’ll be done with this busy time at work after April 15th,” it lets us know the reason for your silence and will let you actually get a lot more accomplished.
10. What we need to know more than anything, and that covers a multitude of sins, is how you really feel about us. And if you can manage to say it once, afterwards you won’t need to spell it out so completely again. If the words “I love you” scare you, find some other way to say it. Just say it somehow, and I promise we won’t laugh at you.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Come, come, elucidate your thoughts
I think that this song should be required listening for all males over 16. I'm just saying.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
The water is wide
A few weeks ago, one of the points of our sermon at church was "God challenges you in areas where you need the most work." I knew immediately what the preacher was talking about. My big sticking points have always been separation, uncertainty, and risk. And guess what? When I look ahead to this coming year, it seems that its prevailing features are going to be separation, uncertainty, and risk. I don't like this one bit! But if I want to the carrot dangling for me on the other side, I have to cross this chasm. But do I have to like it?
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Magic
Usually when I'm trolling for Andy Gibb stuff on YouTube, I just look for his original songs, but I came across this video today, and all I have to say is, "Wow!" I think I like it better than the original.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
The change is made
So our topic today is transformative power. Those of us who study literature use this term to describe a character who comes along and changes everything in the story. A good example is the character of Randle Patrick McMurphy in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." He comes to the mental hospital and changes everything for everybody. You know that even after he's gone, nothing will ever go back to the way it was.
This year I've met a lot of people with transformative power. The first of those was Aethelred Eldridge. He came, he did what he needed to do, and he left again, and I'm the better for it. Although I wish I could see him once in a while, I know that I don't need to, and that he's already given me everything that I needed from him. From what I've read, that's the way most people feel about Aethelred.
But on July 9th, a different person with transformative power walked into my library, and not for the first time. In one short month he changed everything, and now that he's out of sight, I can't just sit back and say, "Oh well, that's the way the cookie crumbles." Sometimes the point of somebody with transformative power is that they're supposed to stay.
This year I've met a lot of people with transformative power. The first of those was Aethelred Eldridge. He came, he did what he needed to do, and he left again, and I'm the better for it. Although I wish I could see him once in a while, I know that I don't need to, and that he's already given me everything that I needed from him. From what I've read, that's the way most people feel about Aethelred.
But on July 9th, a different person with transformative power walked into my library, and not for the first time. In one short month he changed everything, and now that he's out of sight, I can't just sit back and say, "Oh well, that's the way the cookie crumbles." Sometimes the point of somebody with transformative power is that they're supposed to stay.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
I go for you
This one is certainly not as polished as the album version of this song, which is smooth as silk. However, Andy gets at the raw emotion of the song here in a way that the album version just doesn't. Proving that maybe you have to be willing to make a fool of yourself in order for people to know how you really feel.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
On the other hand...
But after talking to some other people about what happened last night, maybe I shouldn't get too discouraged. They are telling me that my glass is half full, not half empty.
The after-Christmas letdown
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Not a very good day
So what do you say when you've lost your best friend? This is the 5th time in my life I've done this, so you'd think it would get easier, right?
Monday, August 4, 2008
Once Upon a Time
I thought that IMDB knew about every show that had ever existed, but I was wrong. They didn't have any information on a show I loved to watch when I was home from school, Once Upon a Time. Fortunately, that website I've linked to has picked up the slack and even has three full videos to watch. I'll have to check one out when I get home tonight. And yes, part of the reason why I became a librarian is because of Marian. (Although they still don't let me operate the book machine around here!)
Long time coming
80's music videos can be so strange, and they often (intentionally or unintentionally) obfuscate the meaning of the song. Take this one, for example.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Regeneration is everywhere!
I've been thinking a lot about the Doctor and his regenerations, and I've also been thinking a lot about Betty Crocker, because of this 60's dinner party I'm throwing next weekend. This morning as I was waking up, it suddenly occurred to me that people shouldn't be so surprised that the Doctor can regenerate, because Betty Crocker has regenerated many times. (The 1972 version is the "real" Betty Crocker to me, just like the 5th Doctor is the "real" one as well.) So has the Morton Salt Girl, the Downy baby, and many other advertising slogans. If those fictional characters can totally change their appearance and we don't bat an eye, why shouldn't the Doctor?
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