Gone to Carolina Archive: It's All About Media

Twins 3-3 (Monday's game postponed due to snow) Braves 3-4
Good writing...good art... can elicit a sigh of satisfaction from me.
I'm still sighing with satisfaction over the movie Chicago. Every single thing about that movie is satisfying. There were wonderful surprises... "Richard Gere can sing?"
My brothers, Doug and Lis, say you can almost hear a collective sigh of satisfaction each Wednesday night after West Wing is over. Never mind that the show is a so bleeding-heart liberal, it's just such good writing. I like a show that is challenging to watch, and West Wing is. You have to hear every single sentence to keep on top of it. I tape it, even while watching it, so that I have back-up if I get lost in the dialogue.
Unfortunately I can get a fanatical about it.
To the point of being rude.
Last Wednesday I got home from choir with 3 minutes to spare before the show came on (just about the ONLY advantage to living in the Eastern Time Zone!). Had a note to call my friend Cassie. She wanted to confirm lunch for the next day. I dialed her number. She said "hello". I said "Yes. Gotta go, West Wing is starting". She said "okay". I hung up.
I'm glad Cassie is understanding!
Back to art and satisfaction....I'm reading Louise Erdrich's new book, The Master Butchers Singing Club What a wonderfully satisfying book. The kind you really don't want to put down. It's a fast read, but every once in a while, a sentence stands out that just evokes a response from the reader...it's just so good you want to share it. I read this sentence to my husband last night. As a writer I knew he would enjoy this, even without reading the book or knowing what it is about:
"...Delphine stepped out of the cool locker into the presence of a woman known in town as Step-and-a-half. She was a rangy stray dog of a woman who was probably still young--she looked between thirty and forty--and yet moved with an air of ancient bitterness."
There is some very satisfying writing to be read on the internet. I've been following two blogs for more than a month now, and each morning I find myself checking both of them to see what has transpired. It's become as addicting as the two measly cups of coffee I get each morning, and the rush really sets in when I can drink the coffee and read these blogs at the same time. Here are the links:
The Julie/Julia Project This is the journal of a New York woman who is cooking her way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child.
Fanatical Apathy This is Adam Felber's blog. He is a writer, comedian and regular on NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me! Another addiction of mine.
That's it for now. Twins play their make-up game this afternoon at 4:05 Eastern. The snow day was no doubt a good thing for them. They had a tough weekend.