Let the Season Begin!

Taking a note from one of my favorite blogs, I’m here to remind you that this week begins the premiere of Fall TV.  Of course, in my house, we don’t really get excited until the end of September/beginning of October when shows like Heroes, Grey’s Anatomy, Ugly Betty, and The Office (oh I’ve missed you Michael Scott) begin.  And then blessed January when Lost returns to fill an island-sized hole in my life (where did that crazy island go?).  But it’s nice to be reminded of the impending start of our favorite shows by the less-anticipated premiers while we, instead, watch the last episodes of our summer favorites like The Closer and Psych and spend the next couple of weeks catching up on last season’s favorites that have just come out on DVD.

And, to make your life easier, let me direct your attention to this: that’s right, folks.  Someone has taken even less work out of your TV watching exercise.  TV Addict has generously supplied a calendar of all of this season’s premiers.  It kind of reminds me of the schedule of aerobics classes from my gym: I’ll only consider going to one, maybe two of those classes, but daggum it that whole calendar will be tacked to my refrigerator and contemplated as though I really would do Zumba (ha!). 

So, set your DVRs, prepare the popcorn and chips, and prepare to lose yourself in the world of heroes who actually never do fight crime, doctors who actually don’t spend that much time doctoring, and an office where the boss does the least amount of work possible.  Oh, and as a personal recommendation, don’t forget to watch (or at least DVR and watch at a more reasonable hour) this week’s Saturday Night Live season premier, hosted by Michael Phelps.  I cannot wait to see who plays Sarah Palin!

Oh how I’ve missed you, fall TV.

The Ghost of Television Past

I have a sort of fondness for all things associated with my childhood. Chances are, if I liked something as a child, I will always bear a nostalgic love for it – Smurfs, Kings Island, Barbies, soccer, etc.  The opposite is true as well; when Elmo pushed Grover out of the Sesame Street limelight, I black-listed that little red puppet from my heart.  I can’t account for my uncontrollable clinging to the things of my childhood, but there it is.  I’ve learned to deal with it.

But it was because of my sentimental attachments that I anticipated with guilty pleasure this decade’s reincarnation of 90210. Now, had the show been totally new, with no strings to the past, there’s no way I would have watched it – too Gossip Girl for me. But by snagging enough of the show’s original actors to make an appearance here or there, the show convinced me that I needed to watch it – for my childhood.  How could I not tune in to check on Kelly Taylor, Brenda Walsh, and Nat at the Peach Pit? I want to know how Kelly ended up as a school counselor and what’s up with those crazy Walsh twins (as a side note, I’m pretty sure 90210 is where my dislike of alliterative twin names began; Brenda and Brandon?  really?). So I watched, knowing deep down that it would be nothing like the 90210 that I watched because my older sister did and I wanted to be just as cool as her and her friends

And it is, in fact, a bit too Gossip Girl for me.  It’s also trying a bit too hard to reincarnate 90210 past (way to base the show, once again, on the innocent family moving in from the midwest). And before it started I felt like there was a good chance I would only watch the pilot and then move on.  But that’s not true.  Instead, I’ll watch it with the TV on mute, only turning the sound up to see what’s happening with Brenda and Kelly.  Because daggumit I want to know who Sammy’s father is.  Is it Brandon?  I want to know.  And until I know I will, with a slight hint of shame, be tuning in on Tuesdays evenings.

Don’t judge me.

Gold Medal Blogs

Need another way to obsess about the Olympics? (And believe me, no judgment here if you do.) My less-obsessed husband found this site where you can track the blogs of numerous Olympic athletes.  My personal favorite is the blog of Dave Durante, who is the only alternate on the US men’s gymnastics team not to get to compete in the team competition.  You might also know him as the man NBC would not get the freakin’ camera off of when he broke down in tears at the end of the team competition.

But maybe the coolest thing about this blog ring is the plethora of athletes found there.  One of the most common complaints I’ve heard about coverage of the ‘08 Olympics has been the focus on American athletes rather than the entire field.  Well, this site lets you get to know a little bit more about athletes from all over the world, in both major and minor sports. It’s pretty interesting to read the thoughts of so many athletes, rather than only hearing interviews (often given by horrible, annoying interviewers – I’m talking about you, Andrea Kremer) with the winners.

I will say, however, that I am less aggravated by Olympics coverage than so many other people.  I think a lot of the problems come from the 12-hour time delay.  They can’t start live coverage any earlier than 8pm because it’s 8am there.  Do you want the athletes to have to wake up at 4 in the morning or earlier?  I didn’t think so.  And while I agree that many times they have focused on American athletes, they are trying to squeeze a lot in, and their audience would be pissed if they didn’t focus enough on the Americans.  And, quite frankly, in the competitions that the Americans haven’t been competitive in, they have focused on the other countries.  For instance, in the men’s gymnastics team final, you barely saw Alexander Artemev, let alone Jonathan Horton.  So, give them a break – they can’t please everyone. But if you are pissed, go read the blog ring.

Someone Like You Can’t Touch This

Were you at my wedding?  If so, you saw Dave and I perform our first dance as a married couple to Van Morrison’s “Someone Like You.”  Now, we are by no means skilled dancers.  We relied on the rock-from-side-to-side method of dancing.  And we were cool with that.  The only downside was that somehow our DJ found a version of the song that was something like 7 minutes long.  It went on forever and ever and ever.  And people were staring at us (well and why not?  I looked hot!).  And our hips started hurting from all of the rocking.  So we ended up pulling in guests to dance so we could quietly bow out and continue with the rest of our party.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I loved our wedding; it was truly perfect.  But daggumit, if this show had existed three years ago, we would’ve done everything possible to get on it.  How cool!  They teach the couple how to do some funky dance rather than the traditional first dance and the only people that know about it are the Maid of Honor and the Best Man.  One of the brides on tonight’s show was sick, so she wanted to do this to keep the guests’ minds off of her illness, so she and her groom came out after an emotional ceremony and began a sweet, slow dance.  All of a sudden the groom’s hands ventured down, securely resting on her rump.  Her head cocks to the side, the music changes to M.C. Hammer’s “Can’t Touch This,” and they break into their routine.  It was hilarious!

Of course, even choreographers couldn’t give Dave and I rhythm for a wedding gift, but it sure would’ve been fun to try.  Maybe we can break out some “Ice, Ice Baby” when we renew our vows? Stop, collaborate and listen.  Yeah, we can rock to that.

Done.

That’s right people. I’m DONE with classes. Forever. (Okay, this is technically not true. I am taking a French reading knowledge class this summer, but that class has so few requirements that I choose not to count it.) I turned in my last class assignment (the most ridiculous take-home final ever) last night at 10pm (it wasn’t due until 9:30 this morning; I had tons of time to spare!). I turned in the last paper I will ever be forced to write for a class Tuesday afternoon.  I. Am. Done.

Now for those of you all that (sadly) don’t  live and breathe grad school, let me just clarify. This completion in no way should make you think the hard part is over. Sure, I no longer have to cater my research interests to the whims of the professor I happen to have at that moment. There will be no more tedious busy work for me. I will no longer have to balance my teaching load with the work I must do for my own classes. And yet…I still have to prepare for a ridiculous 12-hour written exam by reading something like 200 books. (But I get to choose most of those books. See?  There is an upside.) And then I have to write a dissertation. That will hopefully get published. And land me a job. Preferably a good job. So folks, I’m really just now finishing the easy part (after 20 straight years in school).

Despite that, I couldn’t be happier.  Here is Potter’s representation of how happy I am:

Pretty happy, right? And it’s only going to get better.  Tonight, cable is basically catering to me by offering new episodes of my three favorite shows: The Office, Grey’s Anatomy, and Lost.  Seriously.  They’re just congratulating me. And I appreciate it. Because dang this feels good.

Premier Week

I love TV. I mean I LOVE TV. Nothing in the world helps me relax like vegging in front of some good TV. And my Pop Culture class this semester has finally help me “come out of the closet” as a TV lover. I’m not ashamed, daggumit! So this week, with most shows premiering, has been a good one for me. Heroes and Ugly Betty and Grey’s Anatomy are back in my life. And I’m glad.

But the biggest premier of the week was the culmination of almost 6 months of ruminating and planning. Today was the first meeting of the American Literature Reading Group my friend Jenny and I have been planning. It’s a fairly big deal because we had to deal with quite a bit of red tape and administration pleasing to get here, not to mention getting faculty and grad students (two groups who are notoriously too busy to get involved with anything new) involved. But today went well. We had a good group of people and the faculty especially were wonderful, kind, and helpful. One of the best parts about this group, for me, is getting to know more faculty (and having them get to know me). At WKU I was a big fish in a small pond, so it was quite a change (and a bit unnerving) to get here and be a small fish in a big pond. But slowly and surely I’m sizing up:)

So it’s been a good week. Busy (what with all the TV I’ve been watching;)), but good.