NED, JIM AND MAL

I owe a great deal to my oldest daughter.

She introduced me to Diet Dr. Pepper, wearing tights in addition to heels higher than 1/2 inch, and to the short-lived-but-cult-classic television show "Pushing Daisies."

She tried to explain the plot to me, but decided it was just better for me to watch the show on DVDs, and she was correct.... again.

With the combination of tightly scripted witticism (Ned: "I hate secrets too." Chuck: "What?! You love secrets. You want to marry secrets and have little half-secret half-human babies."), vivid color saturation in nostalgic yet completely unreal staging, and pie-makers in impossible romances while solving murders, the one word repeatedly used in every review I reviewed (wow - reminds me of the song "see what condition my condition is in")- "quirky."

Ned, who is The Pie-Maker, is the definition of quirky - shy, retiring, secret powers, and desperately in love with a woman he can never touch.

And his hair is perfect.

My son has done his share of opening-mommy's-eyes, to things such as Carl's Jr. menu, 101 ways to completely destroy a bathroom, and the television also-short-lived-but-cult-classic series "Firefly."

He had a copy of "Serenity," the movie made after the show was cancelled, which I automatically had dismissed simply by the creepy DVD cover - spooky, greasy-haired girl and lots of weapons. He finally got me to watch it, and I immediately fell in love with it, and then catch up on all the episodes from T.V.

Another very unique show and script ("It's shiney, Captain!"), a science-fiction, star ship western complete with holsters, cows and back-water planets with mass-produced bad art and underground smugglers of wobbly-head geisha dolls.

And Mal, the captain, is a man who has lost both a political and personal war - burnt by love, bitter and suspicious of anyone outside of his crew. He wears leather suspenders and has the coolest eyes ever.

And I must give my daughter credit also for gently guiding me (translation - hit me with a baseball bat until I paid attention) to "The Office" (the American version), which fortunately has NOT been short-lived and is still on the air.


And of course the main reason I watch it is because of Jim Halpert. Perfectly to-the-limit touseled hair, tall, lanky and simply the sweetest guy in the universe.

Do you see a pattern developing here?

Yes - I am apparently going through some midlife crisis where I get crushes on younger men.

I obviously need help.

But not just yet. Please.

ABOLISH ATVs!

We all have our personal albeit unreasonable prejudices.

I hate peanuts - but I adore peanut butter (creamy - Jiff - particulary on toast).

I am certain that television is leading the downfall of western civilization - but I am also addicted to The Office, NCIS, Eli Stone, Castle and am embarrassed to but will admit I will watch ANY movie which I already have on DVD and/or VHS.

And I absolutely DETEST all-terrain vehicles.

However, I am fully aware of how much fun they are - I used to ride my brother's motorcycle on what in L.A. passed for dirt-bike paths (i.e. Arroyo Seco canyon and the still-in-development section of the Monterey Hills housing area).

Living out on dirt roads far enough off pavement to be are considered prime dirt-bike/ATV has cemented (no pun intended there) my abhorrence of all recreational vehicles because:

1) They raise the dust. Which is Southern Arizona is already totally unreasonable without any additional help - dusting twice a day would be required by any demanding homemaker (which, thankfully, I am not).

2) They frighten the animals - the 3,022,467 rabbits which inhabit my back yard alone, native birds (such as the Glided Flicker, the Black-Headed Grosbeck, and the Thrasher - which honestly are the correct names), and tarantulas, rattlesnakes...

AND (most importantly) HORSES.

Well, most horses.

Actually, some horses.

But not mine.

Sally has is utterly fearless ... except of being seperated from Najale.

And Najale has no trepidation about anything at all... except the crinkling of feed bags, which throw him into an entire panic.

So tonight, as I was letting the horses graze on the neighbor's mowed lawns (keeps their mowing efforts down) right at twilight, when an ATV came thundering down the road right next to us, I felt completely and entirely justified in feeling the utmost rage.

Until the couple riding the ATV, upon spotting the horses and myself, politely, courteously and immediately SLOWED down, crawled past taking special care not to startle the horses, and even called out, "What beautiful horses you have!"

Rats.

Now I have to remove the bumper sticker, don't I?

WILL THE REAL CREED PLEASE COME FORWARD

As a devoted "The Office" fan, I knew that the actor Creed Bratton played with the Grass Roots band, but could never remember any hits the band had back in the 60's.


Now, through the miracle of my new WiFi internet connection, I present to you - the two Creed Brattons.

(Sorry about not being able to post the actual YouTube video - seems YouTube and Blogger are not speaking to each other this week)