I decided to hold off on blogging about a paper I'm supposed to do and actually do the paper instead...maybe I'll get to blogging about it later... if you don't know what I'm talking about or why, you should really read the last post if you haven't already - truly Amazing poetry!!
In truth I probably won't blog again until after this semester is over, which I Guess is like pretty much next week, and then there's finals the following week? EEE! I have to say this semester has been quite epic. Lets see what details I can recall...
Anatomy: Explaining to Lily about bone growth and why her legs are hurting, with demonstration pix from my textbook. Learning exactly what a brain aneurysm is just two weeks before one of my amazing friends has one! (He's doing much better, by the way, YaY for medical technology and amazing doctors!!) Studying for Days for a test just to end up with not a passing grade! (...story of anyone elses' life?)
Spanish: I can't talk about it. No. I really can't and yes it really was That bad! egh. Lets just say I get to do it All over again Next semester! (er...that would be as in in the fall!)
Interpersonal Communications: Watching the Family Stone for the first time. Watching a clip from both While You Were Sleeping and My Big Fat Greek Wedding! Listening to some country song and having the whole class be shocked I've never heard of it (Yack to country!! EwE! Really?) ((LoL sorry ...guess that'd be my East Coast side jumping out there.))
Critical Theory: (Aah Yes! My very favorite!) Reading, Learning, Discussing, Debating some of the greatest literary theorists of all time! Including Derrida, Foucault, Berube, Aristotle and Plato (who knew!), Levi-Strauss (only I still can't figure out the relation between him and the jeans...) ((and why are they all men?)) (((we discussed that point too and it turns out there were some women too...like...well, that might have been where I'd stopped reading))) ((((and no, I really don't think my professor will ever read this ;))))
Oh yeah...and then there's Life that happened too: moving to a new apartment... ...wow...either my memory really has become that bad or that's all that really went on this semester...quite uneventful compared to previous semesters! We Love the new place, by the way! Just delightful!
LoL Speaking of having moved, this may make no sense, but I think it's very funny! I met with my counselor today and I've only really been seeing him about once a month and in several previous sessions I mentioned the apartment I lived in and how I'd Love to move cuz it'd gotten cruddier and very neglected by the manager...
Anyway I guess last session I'd finally "officially" declared I'd hold off on moving till next year some time.
So in today's session, I don't even remember exactly how it came up...but I mentioned in passing something like: "well, and with moving to a new place and blah blah blah..." and there's this lengthy pause and he's looking at me and finally says, "so...I'm assuming when you say 'moving to a new place' you mean figuratively? You didn't actually ...move...?" and I answer him: "Oh yeah! Didn't I tell you?? I moved over Spring Break! It all just happened so fast!"
Anyway...Wow, are you Still reading? Alright! Well Thank you and Ciao for now till after finals!!
Wish Me Luck!! :) I'm Sure I'll Need It!!!
Sincerely,
Suzy
P.S. I think my crockpot bbq pulled pork is ready!! :) mmmmm yummy!! how exciting!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
A Poem by Claire Conolly
This is not my poem. One of my friends knows the person who wrote it and sent it to me after a significant discussion about language and how peoples' attitudes correlate with words... that what people think of something depends upon whatever that something is called or named, which is an idea I'm using for my Lit Theory paper. Anyway, enjoy. I'll blog more about it l8r.
Sincerely,
Suzy
The first time I noticed I was different
Was when Wade leaned over to me in
daily mass and said,
Look, white girl. The priest is about to eat one of your friends.
Up until that point, I was five years old.
Everything was technicolor. I returned
to class that day colorblind--things were
either black, grey, or white. I was
the only one like me in a room of 33. I
hadn't ever noticed. I had not yet felt
loneliness.
We spent the whole month of February
cutting out pictures of Martin Luther
King and pasting them across the room.
We learned about dreaming. I was glad
that he had saved me from slavery. On
the 28th, I raised my hand and asked
my teacher excitedly if March was White
History Month. I couldn't listen to the
birds chirp for weeks, everything I heard
sounded like laughter.
Eventually, I distinctly knew who was Puerto Rican,
Mexican, and African-American. This
mattered. I always wondered where the country
of Caucasia was on the map. If I found it,
I could show everyone where I was from. I
knew it would make me proud. This time,
however, I had learned not to ask any questions.
I wore two push-up padded bras over my
AA cup breasts from 6th to 8th grade.
I remember a boy asking me out one day
in 5th grade just so he could dump me in
front of the class, stating it was because I
"had no ass."
I bought bronzer and fake tanning lotion
and put it on nightly.
My classmates called me 'orange.' I decided
this was a step up; at least it was a color.
I didn't remember my skin ever hurting
Michael, at least not while I was in it. I
didn't know why he had a bat. I remember
the nurses hands, they were soft like my
mother's. I never noticed their hue, just
how they felt on my chin as she looked
me in the pupils. She concluded,
Concussion.
It was the nicest thing I'd been called in
weeks. She asked me what happened.
I remembered the way Michael's smile
struggled with itself, how the rage almost
overcame his satisfaction, and how the
conflict created a snarl in which the ends
of his lips upturned while he pressed
the center of them together conclusively.
I still recall how I reflected in his eyes-how I hated
that I could see myself so brightly, how
I didn't think to run or fight, just observed
that I needed a little more bronzer.
I told her I ran into the monkey bars.
When I finally entered high school and learned that
there was a thing called "white privilege,"
I wondered where I could get some. I resented
the other light-skinned kids in my class- they
were so oblivious, so clean, so entitled. They
expected me to wear their clothes, talk just like
them, have rich parents. They wanted me
gentrified. They would say the 'N' word when
greeting each other. It sounded like a swinging
bat.
I would see them when I looked into the mirror.
I would tell myself
I deserved it.
Sincerely,
Suzy
The first time I noticed I was different
Was when Wade leaned over to me in
daily mass and said,
Look, white girl. The priest is about to eat one of your friends.
Up until that point, I was five years old.
Everything was technicolor. I returned
to class that day colorblind--things were
either black, grey, or white. I was
the only one like me in a room of 33. I
hadn't ever noticed. I had not yet felt
loneliness.
We spent the whole month of February
cutting out pictures of Martin Luther
King and pasting them across the room.
We learned about dreaming. I was glad
that he had saved me from slavery. On
the 28th, I raised my hand and asked
my teacher excitedly if March was White
History Month. I couldn't listen to the
birds chirp for weeks, everything I heard
sounded like laughter.
Eventually, I distinctly knew who was Puerto Rican,
Mexican, and African-American. This
mattered. I always wondered where the country
of Caucasia was on the map. If I found it,
I could show everyone where I was from. I
knew it would make me proud. This time,
however, I had learned not to ask any questions.
I wore two push-up padded bras over my
AA cup breasts from 6th to 8th grade.
I remember a boy asking me out one day
in 5th grade just so he could dump me in
front of the class, stating it was because I
"had no ass."
I bought bronzer and fake tanning lotion
and put it on nightly.
My classmates called me 'orange.' I decided
this was a step up; at least it was a color.
I didn't remember my skin ever hurting
Michael, at least not while I was in it. I
didn't know why he had a bat. I remember
the nurses hands, they were soft like my
mother's. I never noticed their hue, just
how they felt on my chin as she looked
me in the pupils. She concluded,
Concussion.
It was the nicest thing I'd been called in
weeks. She asked me what happened.
I remembered the way Michael's smile
struggled with itself, how the rage almost
overcame his satisfaction, and how the
conflict created a snarl in which the ends
of his lips upturned while he pressed
the center of them together conclusively.
I still recall how I reflected in his eyes-how I hated
that I could see myself so brightly, how
I didn't think to run or fight, just observed
that I needed a little more bronzer.
I told her I ran into the monkey bars.
When I finally entered high school and learned that
there was a thing called "white privilege,"
I wondered where I could get some. I resented
the other light-skinned kids in my class- they
were so oblivious, so clean, so entitled. They
expected me to wear their clothes, talk just like
them, have rich parents. They wanted me
gentrified. They would say the 'N' word when
greeting each other. It sounded like a swinging
bat.
I would see them when I looked into the mirror.
I would tell myself
I deserved it.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
I Did It!
I officially Unregistered for graduation today!!
And my relief outweighs my guilt!
So all that thought came down to a very clear and immediate decision!
I'm still looking at and considering summer classes. I wouldn't have to take math but I could take that awful computer class and creative non-fiction and Spanish conversations, worth one credit and the key to Not forgetting Everything I've learned thus far. Honestly I can't imagine taking a whole semester off...whatever would I do? ((everything and anything else :)) Well, I'm still just thinking about it; anything would seem lighter than the past two semesters. I have until Monday before I can register for those anyway.
In the meantime I have lots of homework to keep me plenty busy: an essay for Theory, an essay for Spanish - in Spanish (Ick!!), an Anatomy test and the usual Friday's test in Comm...all on or before Monday. Ridiculous. Even the teachers are talking about the end of semester not coming soon enough. Apparently I'm not alone in feeling that this semester seems longer than all the rest.
I think my blogs will become more interesting once school lets out too...they'll be about something more than just school...Lets see...what could that be?
I'll refrain from resorting to mentioning the weather, though it was Finally Beautiful today!! Wasn't it?? I took the kids and the dog and a friend and his dog to the park today. I used to envy people, watching them at the park with their dogs, wishing I had one of my own. There's something so serene and peaceful about dogs and kids and parks. It doesn't get much better, really :)
And here it is...I'm reaching the point of beyond tired, where I can't do anything more productive for the day...my brain seems to shut off and I spend the rest of my evening thinking it's too early to fall asleep but it's been too long a day to do anything else at all that requires more than lying in bed with my eyes open not falling asleep...maybe I'll actually go to sleep though! Bed at 10! A decent night's sleep?? Whatever would that be like? Bet I'd be able to get up on time in the morning!
Well then, there it is...that's what I'll do.
As an aside...This particular blog is completely useless ((aka very boring!)) and for that I apologize. I'm ever so suddenly very sleepy... and I'm now trying to make my blogs shorter as I realize most people don't have that much time to read and I don't have that much time to blog...
Cheers to you!!
Sincerely,
Suzy
And my relief outweighs my guilt!
So all that thought came down to a very clear and immediate decision!
I'm still looking at and considering summer classes. I wouldn't have to take math but I could take that awful computer class and creative non-fiction and Spanish conversations, worth one credit and the key to Not forgetting Everything I've learned thus far. Honestly I can't imagine taking a whole semester off...whatever would I do? ((everything and anything else :)) Well, I'm still just thinking about it; anything would seem lighter than the past two semesters. I have until Monday before I can register for those anyway.
In the meantime I have lots of homework to keep me plenty busy: an essay for Theory, an essay for Spanish - in Spanish (Ick!!), an Anatomy test and the usual Friday's test in Comm...all on or before Monday. Ridiculous. Even the teachers are talking about the end of semester not coming soon enough. Apparently I'm not alone in feeling that this semester seems longer than all the rest.
I think my blogs will become more interesting once school lets out too...they'll be about something more than just school...Lets see...what could that be?
I'll refrain from resorting to mentioning the weather, though it was Finally Beautiful today!! Wasn't it?? I took the kids and the dog and a friend and his dog to the park today. I used to envy people, watching them at the park with their dogs, wishing I had one of my own. There's something so serene and peaceful about dogs and kids and parks. It doesn't get much better, really :)
And here it is...I'm reaching the point of beyond tired, where I can't do anything more productive for the day...my brain seems to shut off and I spend the rest of my evening thinking it's too early to fall asleep but it's been too long a day to do anything else at all that requires more than lying in bed with my eyes open not falling asleep...maybe I'll actually go to sleep though! Bed at 10! A decent night's sleep?? Whatever would that be like? Bet I'd be able to get up on time in the morning!
Well then, there it is...that's what I'll do.
As an aside...This particular blog is completely useless ((aka very boring!)) and for that I apologize. I'm ever so suddenly very sleepy... and I'm now trying to make my blogs shorter as I realize most people don't have that much time to read and I don't have that much time to blog...
Cheers to you!!
Sincerely,
Suzy
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Too Many Choices
This is an idea which applies across the board,
one that I've always found less convenient rather than more.
I notice variety of choice especially at the store, 50 types of deodorant, 50,000 types of soap...
And lets broaden the spectrum just a little to choices of where to shop for all that deodorant and soap - grocery stores, or fancy stores like Bath and Bodyworks - and of course lots of choices we make depend upon things like our budget, our mood, etc. and different places offer different things, so sometimes choosing seems likable - especially when it comes to clothes, for me anyway.
Like just the other day I came across this store that I've almost made a point to never go into at all (no, not That one) This store had this different kind of dress hanging in the window - it really was gorgeous! And of course I bought it and it's now a new piece of variety decorating my wardrobe, tempting me with a different choice.
Sometimes choices have to be thought up too, like where am I going to wear such a fancy dress anyway? Now I 'get to' come up with various places or events that I can then choose from.
And then there's the internet, which of course seems like an infinite source for choices, Pandora being my newest discovery for choices of music. Isn't there a name for people who intentionally come up with new choices...No! Of course not! There are a lot of Different names for these types of people, not just one to choose from...
Maybe it's variety that I'm loathing...they go together yet are completely different...
But then there's the writer in me...and what would I do without all of these fun words to choose from, all this variety? Why, that's the very essence of literature!
Hmm...maybe I like variety, it's the initial process of actually making a Choice that I dislike?
((But I dislike being labeled 'indecisive' by anyone also))
Like Choosing what to do with my future. I have three weeks left of this semester and this semester is the key turning point to the rest of my future (or it really does seem that way) I've played with so many different scenarios in my head:
Graduate now - "walk" as they call it. If I do this I'll still have a few classes to take over the summer before I can actually get my degree - it was supposed to be just one class and so this is what I'd planned on, but now realizing it won't be just one class I'm left having to make a very crucial, high pressure choice - go with it, "walk" anyway, take the classes and try not to kill myself over the summer, or:
Take the Summer Off Completely! mmm that seems refreshing. Go back to school in the fall, finish out then or maybe spread those classes through Spring semester too and walk next year... this is the Same thing I've chosen Every year!! Really?? Am I Ever going to finish college?? Aah!
((minus the actual taking a semester off, cuz I can never seem to bring myself to do That))
I was going to graduate now, finish through the summer, get my degree... and then take a year off and start somewhere else next fall - I Was going to finish and go somewhere new This fall, or even last fall! but obviously I didn't factor in my emotional status and overall capability...or Reality! how about that? The reality of the situation...I don't like talking about "reality."
Is this what they call Senioritis? I think I remember being at this point in my life once before...like when I graduated high school (how long ago was that??) and I had to Choose which college to go to and what to do then... I made so many....k....lets not judge past choices, how bout that?
There are many other options I've played with in my head...like going coastal and starting all over in Maine (not a Real option or I'd have done this before now) There are So many things to factor into these choices, one mainly has been the excruciating rise in tuition which is about to hit and the downsizing at SLCC, making it more difficult to get into classes, and of course finishing my novel, which I really do want to do!
Lets breathe for a minute :)
I like the philosophy we've been talking about in Spanish. Don't look at the future so much because we tend to become paralyzed by the future, look instead towards the now...
S0 all Choices aside, what's most important and what needs to be done Now?
((I recommend rereading this line 2 or 3 times))
This I like. This I can live with! This is refreshing and good and I recommend taking it to heart, in at least one aspect of your own life.
And if you've read to this point, thank you for listening :)
Sincerely,
Suzy
one that I've always found less convenient rather than more.
I notice variety of choice especially at the store, 50 types of deodorant, 50,000 types of soap...
And lets broaden the spectrum just a little to choices of where to shop for all that deodorant and soap - grocery stores, or fancy stores like Bath and Bodyworks - and of course lots of choices we make depend upon things like our budget, our mood, etc. and different places offer different things, so sometimes choosing seems likable - especially when it comes to clothes, for me anyway.
Like just the other day I came across this store that I've almost made a point to never go into at all (no, not That one) This store had this different kind of dress hanging in the window - it really was gorgeous! And of course I bought it and it's now a new piece of variety decorating my wardrobe, tempting me with a different choice.
Sometimes choices have to be thought up too, like where am I going to wear such a fancy dress anyway? Now I 'get to' come up with various places or events that I can then choose from.
And then there's the internet, which of course seems like an infinite source for choices, Pandora being my newest discovery for choices of music. Isn't there a name for people who intentionally come up with new choices...No! Of course not! There are a lot of Different names for these types of people, not just one to choose from...
Maybe it's variety that I'm loathing...they go together yet are completely different...
But then there's the writer in me...and what would I do without all of these fun words to choose from, all this variety? Why, that's the very essence of literature!
Hmm...maybe I like variety, it's the initial process of actually making a Choice that I dislike?
((But I dislike being labeled 'indecisive' by anyone also))
Like Choosing what to do with my future. I have three weeks left of this semester and this semester is the key turning point to the rest of my future (or it really does seem that way) I've played with so many different scenarios in my head:
Graduate now - "walk" as they call it. If I do this I'll still have a few classes to take over the summer before I can actually get my degree - it was supposed to be just one class and so this is what I'd planned on, but now realizing it won't be just one class I'm left having to make a very crucial, high pressure choice - go with it, "walk" anyway, take the classes and try not to kill myself over the summer, or:
Take the Summer Off Completely! mmm that seems refreshing. Go back to school in the fall, finish out then or maybe spread those classes through Spring semester too and walk next year... this is the Same thing I've chosen Every year!! Really?? Am I Ever going to finish college?? Aah!
((minus the actual taking a semester off, cuz I can never seem to bring myself to do That))
I was going to graduate now, finish through the summer, get my degree... and then take a year off and start somewhere else next fall - I Was going to finish and go somewhere new This fall, or even last fall! but obviously I didn't factor in my emotional status and overall capability...or Reality! how about that? The reality of the situation...I don't like talking about "reality."
Is this what they call Senioritis? I think I remember being at this point in my life once before...like when I graduated high school (how long ago was that??) and I had to Choose which college to go to and what to do then... I made so many....k....lets not judge past choices, how bout that?
There are many other options I've played with in my head...like going coastal and starting all over in Maine (not a Real option or I'd have done this before now) There are So many things to factor into these choices, one mainly has been the excruciating rise in tuition which is about to hit and the downsizing at SLCC, making it more difficult to get into classes, and of course finishing my novel, which I really do want to do!
Lets breathe for a minute :)
I like the philosophy we've been talking about in Spanish. Don't look at the future so much because we tend to become paralyzed by the future, look instead towards the now...
S0 all Choices aside, what's most important and what needs to be done Now?
((I recommend rereading this line 2 or 3 times))
This I like. This I can live with! This is refreshing and good and I recommend taking it to heart, in at least one aspect of your own life.
And if you've read to this point, thank you for listening :)
Sincerely,
Suzy
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Final Season, Final Episodes!
The truth is, since Punky Brewster I've never had a favorite show, one that I'd dedicate hours and hours to, watching every episode, picking up little details, anticipating the next episode...
That is, until Monk. I purchased seasons until it got to be too pricey to own them all (though someday I plan on it) and then I borrowed them from the library...multiple times. Like now.
I've spent years refusing to pay for television, so I'm really not up to date on current tv shows, other than ones I hear other people mention and then I'm just curious because I have no idea what they're talking about. I don't see previews over and over on advertisements for the most recent movies unless it's on a DVD and even then I make it a point to skip right to the menu...I've realized I don't appreciate previews the same as other people do, generally taking the 15 minutes of previews at theaters as leeway for not missing the start of the movie. I resent anybody's summaries of movies - to me that's as bad as reading the back of a book (who does that!) Name one or two people in a movie and the genre and even that's sometimes too much.
I've also realized I have a very limited taste for movies. I borrow several from the library (since I work there it's just so easy!) that I never end up watching. I think I'll watch them, so I get them, but then they sit around the house as I review movies I already own, or sadly more likely, episodes of Monk. Maybe it's his voice...or Randy - I Love his humor! He's so pathetic, but Funny! - I just like playing it in the background while I'm doing anything else... but I've also realized I only really like watching movies I've never seen before if I have the time to pay attention to them without doing anything else, like homework or folding laundry or doing stuff online or writing - like I have time to write anymore - and if I don't have time to write, I certainly don't have time to watch a new movie...
But Monk! LoL I guess that's where my endless cravings for these candy apples started! I eat my candy apple watching a new episode of Season 8 of Monk! I lie in bed till two in the morning watching episode after episode!
Okay, in truth I only did that for two days because after the two days I'd seen all the episodes of Season 8, including the last two final episodes! That's right, they've canceled my favorite show! Aak! But I have to say, I do feel like they wrapped everything up So nicely! And unlike some people who love to summarize what they watch, I'll say nothing, other than - watch it yourself!
I realize there are plenty of shows that are far more well done than Monk, several shows that have a better final season or final episode, shows where the characters aren't as stereo-typed or ones that have more depth. But I Love Monk!
So I guess my question is, Why? Why do we latch on to such shows? Any shows? Why are there Trekkies and ...see? I don't even know, what's a show that has a fanatical following? CSI, Scrubs? Sex in the City! There's one that's popular (though in truth I think I've only ever seen half of one episode when I dropped by a friend's house - it's so racy!) Why do we allow these fantastical lives of characters to influence our own life? - and in so many ways!
My reasons for liking Monk, and now that it's all over what I've learned: there are lots of things, and those who know me even a little :) know what most of them are. But the one most influential piece of knowledge I've gained from Monk is the realization that my grandfather is entirely OCD! But unlike the people in Monk, who try to make him stretch and grow and don't quite put up with it so much and most importantly acknowledge the origins of his weirdness, my family dating back to the night my grandparents first met, has catered to my grandfather's OCD-ness, putting themselves out to satisfy his "persnickety" behaviors, accepting that his morning routine of dressing and showering has always taken him two hours, that he gargles for twenty minutes, that it takes him three days to pack a car for a vacation and 10 minutes to fold a towel. He separates his food too - or really just puts one type of thing on his plate at a time.
Throughout the years of my Monk watching I've gained a greater appreciation for Grampa's behavior, becoming proud of the novelties of having an OCD someone in my life, realizing exactly where my OCD-ness comes from. Where his behavior has frustrated and traumatized the rest of the family I even moreso find it endearing and intriguing. It turns out my aunt married someone just like her father! - of course! Isn't that what people do? :) and so I have two very OCD "Monks" in my family, no exaggeration. And it is true, everyone has A Little OCD-ness sprinkled into their personalities, but these two really are the extreme!
Even now I'm watching the final episodes again - with my mom this time because I've made her suffer through my Monk addiction for years now and though she's not as big a fan by any means, she is curious and mildly interested, enough to at least somewhat enjoy them with me :)
So who's the Monk in your life? Or if you're not so die-hard about it, what's your show addiction? Cuz everyone has at least one.
That is, until Monk. I purchased seasons until it got to be too pricey to own them all (though someday I plan on it) and then I borrowed them from the library...multiple times. Like now.
I've spent years refusing to pay for television, so I'm really not up to date on current tv shows, other than ones I hear other people mention and then I'm just curious because I have no idea what they're talking about. I don't see previews over and over on advertisements for the most recent movies unless it's on a DVD and even then I make it a point to skip right to the menu...I've realized I don't appreciate previews the same as other people do, generally taking the 15 minutes of previews at theaters as leeway for not missing the start of the movie. I resent anybody's summaries of movies - to me that's as bad as reading the back of a book (who does that!) Name one or two people in a movie and the genre and even that's sometimes too much.
I've also realized I have a very limited taste for movies. I borrow several from the library (since I work there it's just so easy!) that I never end up watching. I think I'll watch them, so I get them, but then they sit around the house as I review movies I already own, or sadly more likely, episodes of Monk. Maybe it's his voice...or Randy - I Love his humor! He's so pathetic, but Funny! - I just like playing it in the background while I'm doing anything else... but I've also realized I only really like watching movies I've never seen before if I have the time to pay attention to them without doing anything else, like homework or folding laundry or doing stuff online or writing - like I have time to write anymore - and if I don't have time to write, I certainly don't have time to watch a new movie...
But Monk! LoL I guess that's where my endless cravings for these candy apples started! I eat my candy apple watching a new episode of Season 8 of Monk! I lie in bed till two in the morning watching episode after episode!
Okay, in truth I only did that for two days because after the two days I'd seen all the episodes of Season 8, including the last two final episodes! That's right, they've canceled my favorite show! Aak! But I have to say, I do feel like they wrapped everything up So nicely! And unlike some people who love to summarize what they watch, I'll say nothing, other than - watch it yourself!
I realize there are plenty of shows that are far more well done than Monk, several shows that have a better final season or final episode, shows where the characters aren't as stereo-typed or ones that have more depth. But I Love Monk!
So I guess my question is, Why? Why do we latch on to such shows? Any shows? Why are there Trekkies and ...see? I don't even know, what's a show that has a fanatical following? CSI, Scrubs? Sex in the City! There's one that's popular (though in truth I think I've only ever seen half of one episode when I dropped by a friend's house - it's so racy!) Why do we allow these fantastical lives of characters to influence our own life? - and in so many ways!
My reasons for liking Monk, and now that it's all over what I've learned: there are lots of things, and those who know me even a little :) know what most of them are. But the one most influential piece of knowledge I've gained from Monk is the realization that my grandfather is entirely OCD! But unlike the people in Monk, who try to make him stretch and grow and don't quite put up with it so much and most importantly acknowledge the origins of his weirdness, my family dating back to the night my grandparents first met, has catered to my grandfather's OCD-ness, putting themselves out to satisfy his "persnickety" behaviors, accepting that his morning routine of dressing and showering has always taken him two hours, that he gargles for twenty minutes, that it takes him three days to pack a car for a vacation and 10 minutes to fold a towel. He separates his food too - or really just puts one type of thing on his plate at a time.
Throughout the years of my Monk watching I've gained a greater appreciation for Grampa's behavior, becoming proud of the novelties of having an OCD someone in my life, realizing exactly where my OCD-ness comes from. Where his behavior has frustrated and traumatized the rest of the family I even moreso find it endearing and intriguing. It turns out my aunt married someone just like her father! - of course! Isn't that what people do? :) and so I have two very OCD "Monks" in my family, no exaggeration. And it is true, everyone has A Little OCD-ness sprinkled into their personalities, but these two really are the extreme!
Even now I'm watching the final episodes again - with my mom this time because I've made her suffer through my Monk addiction for years now and though she's not as big a fan by any means, she is curious and mildly interested, enough to at least somewhat enjoy them with me :)
So who's the Monk in your life? Or if you're not so die-hard about it, what's your show addiction? Cuz everyone has at least one.
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