Parenthood- The Series

Does your family get on your nerves?  Are you like me, and think that there is no family as whacky, loving or disfunctional than yours?  Then you should be watching Parenthood.

Airing on NBC on Tuesday nights at 9 central time, Parenthood is one of those series that has managed to take a virtually unknown cast (sans Craig T. Nelson, of  the 1990's tv series "Coach" and various movie roles) and create a raw, realistic family unit.

Set in the San Francisco area, the Braverman family is headed by parents Zeek(Nelson)  and Camille(Bonnie Bedelia), a couple who began their relationship in the free love Hippie days of the 1960's.  They share four children, Adam(Peter Krause), the oldest sibling to whom each family member- including the parents- look for advice and strength;  Sarah (Lauren Graham), a free-spirited single mother of two teenage children whose ex husband deals with drug and alcohol addiction; Crosby (Dax Shepherd), a direction-less single father of a bi-racial son, whose ex girlfriend only introduced him to his son at the age of five; and Julia (Erika Christensen), a high powered lawyer, mother of an only child, whose husband is a stay-at-home dad; adult children who range from thirty to forty something.  Rounding out the cast are a collection of seven grandchildren; three teenagers in various stages of teenage angst, one adolescent who deals with Asperger's Syndrome- a form of autism, two six year olds and an infant.

This show is not afraid to tackle the issues of any family; teenage sex and drug abuse, bi-racial families, behavioral disorders, you name it, the show handles it, and usually in a pretty realistic way; not everyone in the family agrees, and the problems aren't typically wrapped up in the one hour segment, but the storyline usually ends with an affirmation of the family's love for one another, even when they fight.

One of the criticisms of the show is how the cast "talk over" each other, interrupting the dialogue and literally fighting for the stage.  I think this is one of the most realistic aspects of the show.

Perhaps my favorite aspect of the show is the soundtrack that goes along with each episode, showcasing various indie groups, as well as being headed by Bob Dylan's version of "Forever Young".

Even if you think you're not ready to tackle the issues of parenthood, I promise you can relate to this show. If you are a brother or sister, mother, father, son or daughter, this is a show for you.

I Will Always Love You

Quick exercise- Google Whitney Houston and see how many results you get.  My query garnered 2,550,000,000 results in .14 seconds. Click here to view results. The untimely death of the diva has been front page news since last Saturday afternoon. I guess my question is this; is this much hype warranted?  Don't get me wrong; I am very sorry for her family's loss, and I, too, feel the sense of sadness that she was lost so young.  But I must be honest; I'm a bit surprised at the publicity, considering how long Houston has been out of the spotlight, especially for any positive reasons.

On Monday, one of my coworkers commented "You know, the truth of it is that I grieved for Whitney Houston a long time ago when she threw her talent away on drugs and alcohol".  I find this statement callous and dispassionate, even though there is a ring of truth to it.  But this is what makes it such a tough comment; have we really become so cynical that we no longer believe a person can redeem themselves while they still have breath to breath?  True, Houston may have never revived her singing career; her voice was less than stellar on her last album.  But what of the reported efforts to turn her life around?  Don't they count as a reason to consider someone of value to mourn? Or do we only mourn when the deceased had something to offer, some visible talent to idolize?

On the other hand, we are a country at war, and I daresay that neither you or I could name the U.S. Army soldier who also died on Saturday, only his death came through the instrument of war? No?  Private First Class Cesar Cortez of California.  All that to say that we are a country who gives attention and praise, and apparently grief, to those who entertain us, but completely ignore those who fight for us.  I can understand why some feel that Ms. Houston's death has received unwarranted facetime.

But perhaps we should take a lead from Houston's own family.  They have reportedly declined a public spectacle to honor Houston, opting instead for a private memorial service in her home church in New Jersey, with only a handful of celebrities in attendance.  The one concession the family has made is to the service being televised. Plans for Houston's Funeral  Will this be enough to satisfy the information-hungry masses? One can only hope that the family is left to bury their loved one with dignity.

Alcatraz

My husband and I must be the DVR king and queen of the Midwest; we are now in the habit of setting the device to record any new shows we think we might want to follow, in addition to the 10-15 regular shows already in the queue. Once in a while, we come across a gem that we add to the regular offerings and follow religiously, and sometimes we can't delete the show fast enough. For the most part, though, the jury is out until we've watched a few episodes.  Such is the case with Alcatraz.
Based on the theory that Alcatraz didn't close in March 1963 as previously supposed, but the 300+ inmates and guards simply disappeared, and a mass cover up ensued. Each episode follows one of the inmates (or guards, or both) who have mysteriously reappeared 49 years later, having not aged one day, and are reaking havoc in the San Francisco area.  The suspects are hunted by a 20 something year old female cop, a comic store owner with 2 PhD's specializing in Alactraz, as well as a former guard who, as a young man, discovered the empty "rock". Once the criminals  are apprehended, they are returned to a pristine "ward" housed under Alcatraz
There is plenty of action, and I like the premise of the show; being a history buff, this kind of appeals to my delight in the idea of "time travel".  But there are a lot of unanswered questions as well. Why are these prisoners and employees just now returning, and where have they been?  Why haven't they aged?  What is the former guard's connection?
I'm willing to wait it out for a few episodes, and willingly suspend my disbelief, to have these question s answered.  But what bothers me the most is that these questions don't seem to be raised in the show. There doesn't seems to be a sense of suspense to have the questions answered, just to get the prisoners back.  
I'll give it til the end of this pilot season, and then we'll see...

Class Post 1/26

     I spent most of my weekend working on a project for another class, a literary journal review.  Let's just say I wasn't thrilled about this, but actually I ended up reading most of the stories in the journal and enjoyed being curled up, reading short stories from some very talented authors.
     The journal I reviewed was titled  ZYZZYVA.  I suppose the unusual name is what drew me to this publication initially; the inside cover includes this dictionary entry:
                                                             Zyzzyva(ZIZ-zi-va)n. Any of various tropical American weevils of                                                         the genus Zyzzyva, often destructive to plants. The last word in
                                                        certain dictionaries.
    If I had to guess, I’d say the title of the publication is derived from the later, rather than the former.
    The guidelines for publication are limited to West Coast writers and artists only, specifically  Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon or California. The publication’s website states that they have been publishing West Coast writers (and the occasional author east of California) since 1985, and focus specifically on prose, poetry and visual art.  No reason is given for this exclusivity, but given the location of the publication (San Francisco), this seems logical.
     Zyzzyza accepts submissions year round, and they request submissions in full; no previews or inquiries.  There are no maximum page requirements.  No information is given regarding payment for submissions, but they do offer unpaid internships, which they highlight on their page.
    Zyzzyza is published three times yearly, in April, September and December. The edition I reviewed is the Winter 2011 edition, No. 93, and the ratio of prose to poetry was fairly equal; each category had seven selections represented, along with two nonfiction essays and one play. Scattered throughout the issue was photography from a photojournalist’s trip to Vietnam.  The edition also highlighted two fictions by never before published writers.
     One of the “huzzahs” for this journal caught my eye: “If you have never subscribed to a little magazine, this is a great place to start. Recommended for all.”  Elle Magazine affirms this sentiment; “Gracefully skirts the line between hip and highbrow”.  Yet another endorsement from USA Today reads “Unusually pleasing to the sensibilities”.  I would have to absolutely agree.  Much detail is given to the publication; the text font is even custom made specifically for Zyzzyza.  The pages are recycled ecru, and have the weight that makes you want to pick up the book and read.  Even the smell of ink, which so often is associated with small publications on non-slick paper, is tantalizing to my senses.
    As for the content of the poems and prose, I do not see any specific unifying element save the geographic locations of their authors.  There is a variety of writing style and content.
    The only drawback of this publication in my opinion is that the first several pages are advertisements for local businesses in the San Francisco area.  But even this is somewhat cool, since they are quirky businesses, such as Small House Rikyu, a company that specializes in building 144 sq ft homes out of salvaged wood.
    There is no facepage or letter from the Editor, but the journal hardly needs one.  Picking up this publication was like catching up with an old friend and picking up right where you left off, even if you’ve never met.

Class Project

This semester, in addition to my thoughts on life in general, I will be using this blog for a class project in editing and publishing, rather than setting up another blog. I apologize to those who view it for class, as you will probably get updates for my other posts, and I also apologize to those of you who follow my blog regularly, since you will get class posts that might not interest you.  What can I say, I can barely keep up with one blog, let alone creating another!

Profluence

   Do you ever feel like you're being hit over the head with a certain idea or theme?  I mean, it just keeps coming up, in every possible area of your life.  That's me with this MOVE thing.  Who knew living a life in motion could apply to all parts of life! 
   I began my spring semester of courses last week in the middle of my diabetic breakdown, realizing that I had movement in my health, but in the wrong direction. Once I cleared the mental obstacle of insulin injections, I was off and running, and in my usual overzealous fashion, I had grandiose goals of ONLY eating healthy foods, exercising instead of watching tv- ever, etc., etc..  After only15 minutes on a treadmill followed by a couple of cookies, I realized that I was forcing this thing, and I would burn out if I didn't find a way to make this a part of my life naturally.
  Right on time, my second lecture in Creative Writing 2 brought me to the next aspect of this journey of movement- profluence. Webster defines profluence as "having the quality of flowing forward".  In literary terms, this means that a story must progress- it must flow-without being forced.  Nothing is worse than reading a book where the plot is forced to move along and feels unnatural.  The goal is to create characters and dialogue that carry the story along.
   What a concept; allowing life to flow naturally!  Obviously, some work is required. Just as a story would not simply move itself along without characters or dialogue, we human beings will not flourish without taking the first steps in the right direction.  But the goal is profluence-the quality of flowing forward.  This strikes me as a completely natural movement that comes from somewhere deep inside the inner dialogue of the heart. So maybe the goal is less about changing the functions of life and more about changing the mental and emotional attitudes of the soul.  And just as the plot of a story will flow out of the characters and their discourse, the greatest moments in life flow from the effort we put in to our character, not our forced plans.

Movement

"We're losing ground".  These are not words you want to hear when you're in the doctor's office, checking your three month labs. "Your A1C (blood sugar 3 month averages) has gone up a lot in the past quarter, and your fasting levels are way over the acceptable amount." I expected this news; I check my fasting levels each morning, and I knew that December was not my best month.  I expected Dr. Yantis to change my oral medication, and was looking forward to getting back on track.
"Tammy, I think it's time for us to switch to insulin injections."  Hey, just go ahead and slap me unexpectedly; same difference.  I was numb. This has been my fear since the day I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I have spent most of my adult life watching my mom give herself injections in the stomach, struggle with the high's and low's.  I don't want to do this. I began to cry uncontrollably, which made me mad, which made me cry more.
Dr. Yantis calmly handed me a tissue. "There's good news and there's bad news.  The good news is you're not my typical diabetes patient; you're not 300 lbs, and your diet is not caused by poor lifestyle. It's genetic.  The bad new is,  you're not 300 lbs, and your diet is not caused by poor lifestyle. It's genetic.  This is a disease for you, and there is no cure, so we have to figure out how to give you the best care for your best life."  I picked up my prescription, went home, and stood in the bathroom, needle poised, for a full 20 minutes before I could finally make myself plunge the medication into my abdomen.  It didn't even hurt.  But the mental block is huge, and I don't know how long it will take me to jump this hurdle.  But I'm working on it.
No one likes to hear the words "losing ground".  But the fact of the matter is,we are either losing ground or gaining ground. Our universe is created around movement; the world spins, humans breathe, landscapes evolve, and if we're not moving forward, we're moving backward.  I have, many times in the past year or so, said "I feel like I'm stuck in the mud and can't move".  This is not accurate; it's more like I've been running around in circles, or chasing my tail, which in and of itself is movement. But eventually, you get dizzy and start moving backwards, if you don't get off the merry go round and push forward.
The diabetes issue is just one more spoke in the "movement" wheel of my life the past few weeks. It began with a sermon series at church, then spread to a discussion of exercise, then to career paths, and now, health issues.  On the one hand, I'm devastated with the realization that I have a progressive disease that cannot be controlled by simple diet and exercise.  Those who know me know that it is difficult to give up this control. But I'm also energized that I'm finally not "spinning my wheels", with this issue or others, and that movement is becoming a theme in my life.
Side note- I just noticed that one year ago today, I posted a blog about diabetes...hmm....