Glee

And now I have a new guilty pleasure-Glee! It helps that I always loved musical theater. I think an entire generation-namely, my kids-missed musical theater. Too bad-it's an awful lot of fun. And apparently I'm NOT out of step on this one-can it be? Can I show I like a whole lot survive? Stay tuned (to Fox) to find out!

On second thought

Reading that last post, it did occur to me that it may just be the dearth of what I consider good programming that prevents me from watching more tv. After all, I watch the Lehrer News Hour when I have the time, and I pretty much never miss Masterpiece Mystery. So I find the time (usually) if it's something I am really interested in. I found the time for Pushing Daisies and Life on Mars. Putting you thoughts to paper (so to speak) can be very enlightening.

Me and Ali McGraw

I remember watching Ali McGraw being interviewed on some talk show when she had just been hired for Dallas (I think it was Dallas, it was one of those prime-time soaps). I have never forgotten her saying that she didn't watch TV, had never seen the show, and envied those who had time to watch tv, because she never seemed to. She went on to talk about her visit to China or some such far-away place, and I thought, yeah, sure, she's real jealous of all of us staying home watching our TV while she's traveling to far-off lands. But, as time went on and my life became busier, I began to see that perhaps she was not being disingenuous. And the other day I did a mental checklist of how much television I watch every week, and realized that it wasn't very much. Certainly not when compared to how much I watched when I was in my late teen and early twenties. At least I think I watched more then. And I certainly do wish I had more time-but to read books, not watch tv. There have been many letters to the NY Daily News from people complaining that since the switch to digital tv they do not get as many channels as they did prior to the switch. My response is, if they are still getting 7 channels, and can't find anything decent to watch, they probably should find something else to do. But that's just me. I think if I lived alone the tv would gather dust, in more ways than one. Whew-good thing nobody reads this blog.

The Annoyed Librarian Blog

I just came across this blog, and liked it so much I have to post it on my blog, even though nobody actually reads my blog. It's weird how the blogosphere works-you think you're writing for an audience, even if you don't actually have one.

I recently read Life, Inc., and am currently reading Cheap. These books are capable of completely depressing any American-actually, I suppose, with globalization, pretty much anyone. I've been feeling more and more lately that the financial deck is stacked against the average American, and these books don't help. Years ago, when credit cards became widely available, the conventional wisdom was that you bought today, instead of saving as people did before they had easy credit, and paid off with inflated dollars. You were being financially savvy. The problem was that in so many cases, people didn't pay the bill on the first go-round, so then they were paying interest on the loan. Instead of being smart, they were just saps. The de-regulation of the banking industry, the outsourcing of jobs-the list of contributing factors is just too long. In Cheap the author asserts that a retiring CEO of Walmart made more in his bi-weekly paycheck than his average employee made in their entire career working for Walmart. That is injustice on such a scale it makes my head want to explode. You can blame people for shopping at Walmart, but for many people that's the affordable place to shop. For myself, I am re-dedicated to attempting to shop locally and buy American. I know it can't be done all the time, but I am going to make a sincere effort. The results will, I hope, be fodder for future posts.

Lone wolf

Well, I realized the other night, during a conversation over the dinner table, that most of my swimming against the cultural tide has to do with television shows. It's not music, or plays, or even books, to a large extent, that has me at odds with most of the American population-it's just TV. Can I really sustain a blog on such a small platform? I don't think so.
So, farewell blogosphere. At least until I find myself really howling out there, alone, in the wilderness.

Memorial Day

I don't know if I am in the minority on this or not. I think on Memorial Day everyone should take some time to think about Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice in our country's name. And then I think people should go and do very American things-like barbeques. But, and I know this is curmudgeonly, I don't think people should go shopping on Memorial Day. There are many reasons, but ultimately, I guess I don't want to think that the best we can do to remember those who died in our country's wars is to go and spend money on, generally, things we don't need all that much. Ooh-too curmudgeonly, even for me.