Flight into Fantasy, Television, Blogging

Stealing artifacts from the tombs of imperial Shalala enriched the rebellion, no doubt. Princess Lamama and her troops gained much needed credibility amongst the farmers. The reality of war left Her Highness contemplative, bordering on a spasm of indecision. She would never let on, though, because she refused to let her people down. No...war was inevitable.




Princess Lamama appreciated the wise, but no less daring, negotiation strategies offered by her best officer, the Flying Rakoko. She worried secretly, however, that his bindings to his unworthy family, the Stringsoms, would prove his undoing. She needed more time, a limited commodity.

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M and I built our own kite yesterday to take advantage of the windy afternoon. To our delight, the little guy flew! We learned that a tailless kite means no flight, but a tail, weighed down by ribbons made from a retired pillowcase, leads to flight. We were definitely empowered with the knowledge, buoyed even. We’re gearing up to helping J with his science project about kites. The above are pictures I uploaded last night to a gallery of mine, along with some built-up captions, explorations of fantasy, about a lone Princess battling dark forces. The first picture is from earlier in the year…sorting cans from bottles for recycling, the second is our kite.

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I move on to television, thinking about Simon’s very interesting response below which I can appreciate. I won’t argue against the premise that no household is improved by television. Flying a kite, reading books, building Lego houses, drawing, writing, playing tag outside, talking to one another, etc. are all preferable activities to be sure.

But…but…I love television, nevertheless. I record lots of dramatic programs and mysteries, as well as the occasional episode of “Supernanny” (for research purposes, you understand). As a family, we watch the latest movies, M and A watch their special programs, and J watches anything to do with skateboards. We do this in addition to all our other stuff. It's part of our family life.

First, it’s a learned habit – television was big in our house while I was growing up. We watched often, during dinner, in the evenings, with or without my parents. My favorite ritual took place on Sunday nights when we’d see the Disney hour, Lawrence Welk, and the National Geographic specials. We had the best time together, all five of us. Because of the t.v., my parents’ bedroom became a bastion of pleasure for us children. My mother spent a lot of time there reading, napping, knitting, crocheting, rug-making. Always with the television on. Years later, when my parents were on the verge of divorce and my father would spend time away from the house, when we children were all in college with one foot in the real world and one foot still at home, my sister and I would get food from our favorite Chinese restaurant, bring it to the house, and then arrange ourselves with drinks and dishes and sit with my mom in her room to watch whatever show was on. “Golden Girls” was our favorite program. We also had a weakness for made-for-t.v. movies. In fact, those movies were great relief for me during law school, as a break from the intensive studying.

So was born my television habit.

Secondly, it’s equivalent to comfort food – I am comforted, I escape, when I watch television. The kids go down and D and I flip on the t.v. to catch our favorites. We laugh, we cry, we snuggle. When my father died, I had a hard time sleeping so I’d turn the television on as company. I’d take a leave from grieving for just a little while that way. I continue to use the television when times are difficult.

Lastly, it’s pure entertainment. When you can’t go outside, when you’re too tired to read, it’s nice to simply “veg” and enjoy the stories.

Educational? Sometimes, but I won’t kid myself or anyone who asks. I’m rather unabashed in my love for television. Perhaps you can tell, perhaps my vocabulary isn’t as sophisticated because I’ve abandoned heavy literature or non-fiction studies for “Desperate Housewives.” Perhaps I can tell when I give up the deeper thought in writing for a lighter, shorter version. I don’t know…all I do know, is that Simon is right. I don’t kill the television because *I* can’t give it up. So there.

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On blogging…why? As I said before, I like to practice my writing, to keep it up, no matter what it is. I’ve totally been enjoying the comments I get (I won’t say I’m a comment-a-holic, not yet). I see this blog as a place where I get to explore “me” in my rather challenging environment. It’s a place to vent a little. Perhaps, ultimately, I just want to wave my hand and jump up and down…much like people sometimes do in a crowd when a television news camera aims in their direction, while taping a reporter.

Hi! Yoo hoo! Hi everyone! Look at me!

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Princess Lamama gave up her dreams of war when she lost crucial support from the farmers - she couldn't fight what amounted to a cult mentality. The Valley Shalala would have to wait for freedom.