I Stand Corrected

Last fall while driving to dinner in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, some good friends and I fell into a discussion about TV shows we liked (or not). It soon became clear that I was the odd woman out. Everyone else seemed to love The Big Bang Theory. I told them that I used to love it, but lost interest when the female characters of Amy Farrah Fowler and Bernadette were added to the show. We talked about a few other shows, I think, but that's the only one I clearly remember. What I remember most was when one friend (whom I dearly love and deeply respect) said that it was clear she and I could never watch TV together.

That comment didn't shatter me emotionally or anything. I thought it was kind of funny, actually. But I didn't forget it, either. It's not as if it weighed heavily on my mind or filled me with guilt or made me regret admitting how I felt. It just came back to me from time to time, usually when I saw an ad for an upcoming episode of  The Big Bang Theory. 

I've never been one of those people who forms an opinion about something without feeling as if I know what I'm talking about. So when everyone around me decides to boycott a particular show based on what they think it's going to be, I watch a few episodes to find out exactly what it is before I start acting as if my opinion has merit. I try not to mindlessly follow trends, get caught up in the latest fad, or watch a show I think is poorly written, sloppily edited, and/or badly acted just because "everyone else" is watching it. I will confess to being irritated by trailers and ads telling me that "all of America" is talking about or watching something that clearly "all" of America is neither talking about nor watching. (Channeling my inner Sheldon here.) 

Because I'm not much of a joiner, I'm usually the last person I know to see a popular movie or read a bestselling book just because it's popular. I doubt you'll ever find me first in line to get tickets to anything. 

But I digress . . . 

A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with my youngest daughter during which she asked if I was caught up on Big Bang. I told her I was anything but caught up and, in fact, had missed several years of episodes. But again, the conversation with my friends loomed up in my memory and I decided that maybe I should try a few episodes to see if I really didn't like the upgraded cast or if I might (gasp!) have been wrong to quit watching so quickly. 

It took me a few episodes to really begin to appreciate the "new" ladies in the group, but I have to admit that after watching a couple of episodes after my writing day is finished, I actually like them quite a bit. I'm really not sure which relationship I like most.  A few days ago I watched an episode in which Amy Farrah Fowler referred to "Boyfriend/Girlfriend singalong night," and I've giggled about that on and off for days.  

I'm sure nobody has lost sleep over my opinion here, but when I'm wrong I like to say I'm wrong. So this is me, admitting that I was wrong. 

photo credit: Funky64 (www.lucarossato.com) via photopin cc

I Think I Can, I Think I Can

Got a late start on the packing this morning, probably because Val and I stayed up until nearly 2 am. Since I'm not a night person, staying up that late always knocks me. We dragged out of bed at a little after 9, and took another hour to get the cobwebs out of our heads before we actually did anything. I spent the day working in my office, going through massive amounts of accumulated stuff that felt like important items in my life a month ago and has suddenly become trash. We hauled a load of stuff to the dump (free today for fall cleanup, yay!) rounded up all of our pictures from all over the house, which we're going to wrap and pack tonight while we watch yet more of the backlog on the DVR. 

First up, an episode of The Forgotten which I'd really like to see do well, but may need a bit of a shakeup on the writing staff. Some of the dialogue is pretty lame. But I really liked Christian Slater in My Own Worse Enemy which suffered a cruel and untimely demise because it was an excellent show -- smart, fast, unique, and entertaining -- but it had the misfortune to be on NBC. Just look at the network's schedule for the last few years and you'll see that I'm right. If it's a good show with intelligent writing and good acting, NBC will axe it. I keep hoping that Enemy will show up on the USA Network, but I have yet to see my hopes realized 

NBC's track record makes me worry for Trauma, which I think has a lot of promise -- and not just because my cousin is part of the sound-editing team on the show. I've only watched the pilot episode so far, but the sound effects were pretty amazing ... oh, and the story was pretty good too. I think the actors will come into their own and I'm hoping the show will get a real shot. 

Next up: Modern Family, which is the only new sitcom I've even bothered to look at. So far, it makes me laugh, so I'm giving it a thumbs up. Last year my sitcom of choice was Worst Week, which made me laugh until I hurt for the first 4-5 weeks and then lost steam. Too bad, too. Those first five weeks were really funny.

But enough of that! I really need to get back to work. I have to be out of this house and have it completely cleaned one week from tonight. No time for lollygagging! 

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from the blog On My Mind Today

Counting Down .... 8 Days to Go

The big cross-country move is on schedule. We leave here in just 8 short days. In the past three weeks, I've had my moments of panic--moments when the reality of packing up all I own and heading off cross country on a giant leap of faith seems so huge and overwhelming it takes my breath today. But until today, even during those occasional "What am I doing" moments, this move felt like some kind of dream.

Today, as I arranged to have my utilities shut off -- not transferred as I've done a dozen times before, but stopped! -- the dream became a reality. This move is the right thing to do. I know it. Everybody around me knows it. But that doesn't stop those moments of panic from hitting every now and then. 

Tomorrow, the serious packing begins. My books have been sorted, packed, and donated. Tomorrow, I'll pack the rest of my office.

Tonight, I'm catching up on some of the shows stored on my DVR.

I'm on the fence about NCIS: Los Angeles. I think both Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J are doing a good job. The rest of the cast feels kind if disjointed, and the writing's a little uneven but I'm willing to give them time to pull it together. But this team of government good guys doesn't feel like a team of government good guys. I get that the show's creators don't want it to feel like an exact duplicate of the original NCIS, but sticking these guys in a villa and having them run around like a bunch of hot dogs with no direction and nobody in charge doesn't really work for me.

I've moved The Good Wife off my to-watch list and onto Thanks But No Thanks! The show's trailers made it look like something new, unique and interesting--the life of a political wife in the wake of her husband's public scandal. But that's not it at all! It's just another mediocre lawyer show. Yawn.

I held onto Ugly Betty for a couple of years, but abandoned that one like a rat jumping off a sinking ship. It was charming for the first season, a little tired in the second, but by season 3 I was getting seriously annoyed. I mean, really! Wouldn't you think the girl would learn something about fashion after three years? Become just a smidgen less naive after three years in Manhattan? Not our Betty! And a person can only make the same mistake so many times without coming across as TSTL (too stupid to live.) 

I've also abandoned the Walkers of Brothers and Sisters this year. A cast full of thoroughly unlikable characters doing nothing but arguing week after week. It's sad, really. I really wanted to like it, and yes, I know they're supposed to be dysfunctional, but nobody ever learns anything. Nobody ever changes anything. This week Nora screws up everybody's life by being too controlling. Everybody freaks out. Nora apologizes tearfully, and then she does it all over again the next week. I'm okay with a little bickering, but constant stupid bickering without relief just gets old. I thought about crossing it off my life last year, but decided to hang on to see if the producers would redeem it. They didn't. 'Nuff said.

And now, I believe I've procrastinated just about long enough! More soon. 
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from the blog On My Mind Today