Gone Too Soon

We all have those shows we loved that, in our opinion, got cancelled before their time. Shows we think up with a mixture of wistfulness and despondence. They were just so…..great. And now they’re gone.

*Brings hand to head and swoons dramatically.*

But the shows you love that don’t make it out of the first season? Well, that’s its own special brand of horror. They’re around just long enough for you to get invested and then they disappear.

*Starts to get up, realizes the shows are still gone, succumbs to unconsciousness once again.*

The only upside here is that when I finish the stories in my head, everyone gets a happy ending. As a result, all the fictional characters from my stories hate the fictional characters that other people create. I’m so much nicer to those guys.

Anyhoo, here are five shows which have stuck with me even after the networks have yelled “Cut!”

• Cupid

Debuted: 1998

Lasted: 15 episodes (1 unaired)

Reason I loved it: Cupid or not Cupid? That was the question. I was a believer. More importantly, this was the definition of a “feel-good” show. Every episode had me smiling and left me with a serious case of the warm-and-fuzzies.

• Freaks and Geeks

Debuted: 1999

Lasted: 18 episodes

Reason I loved it: I laughed, I cried, I empathized so much with the awkwardness I wanted to look away…but…just…couldn’t.

• Firefly

Debuted: 2002

Lasted: 14 episodes

Reason I loved it: A space western? Yes, please. The world that this story took place in was fantastic. And the characters? I loved them all. Even when I wanted to throw things at them. I wanted to know everything about them. Thankfully, we got a movie, so at least I know where the Reavers came from, but I still have more questions!

• Jake 2.0

Debuted: 2003

Lasted: 16 episodes

Reason I loved it: It had spies, nerds and nanobot-infection-superpowers. It was my dream life. And, also, I wanted Jake and Diane to have nerdy superpower babies.

• The Unusuals

Debuted: 2009

Lasted: 10 episodes

Reason I loved it: The characters, first and foremost. Everyone of them was a little bizarre and quirky, without ever being a caricature. There were reasons for their weirdness and I loved them for it. And, having worked with people who have spoken about themselves in the third person, I will always have a soft spot for Eddie Alvarez.

Feel free to add to my list! I’m always interested in seeking out more shows that will leave me elated and ticked off.

Feeling a Little Red Faced...

Have you ever been embarrassed by the books you don’t like?

I mean, we all have books we can take or leave. That leave us with a sort of “meh” feeling. And as reading is fairly subjective, our “meh” books are likely someone else’s classics. It’s just the way it goes. I’ve certainly loved books other people have hated.

It’s the risk you run when you ask a person what they thought of a story. And it’s cool, because even if it turns into an over-the-top raging argument, you walk away with a different perspective.

But there are definitely those moments where I’m tempted to avert eye contact and make inarticulate sounds when someone brings up a book. Books that it just feels wrong to admit that no, they were simply not my cup of tea.

Still, no book is going to be loved by every person who picks it up. And, since I’ve already told you about all the ridiculous things I’m not embarrassed for loving, I figure it can’t be worse to tell you about the classic things I am embarrassed for not loving. My very guilty displeasures, if you will.

Here are my top three:

-          Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)

o       I love the world of this book, dark and gloomy. But I’ve read it three times and each time have wanted the two main characters to disappear into the moors. I’ve read a number of books that have had lead characters who I didn’t particularly like as people, but I still cared about how their stories ended (Margaret Mitchell’s Scarlett O’Hara, for instance. Not someone I’d want to be friends with, but I had to know how things turned out for her). I was just never able to connect with Catherine and Heathcliff.

-          Grendel (John Gardner)

o       This book has absolutely everything that I love. A new perspective on an epic tale. A fantasy monster telling his side of the story. Seers and dragons. Every component is awesome. But somehow, when it all comes together I find myself staring at the clock more than the book.

-           Romeo & Juliet (William Shakespeare)

o       Perhaps the issue here is that I first read it when I was the same age as young Juliet. And I wanted to smack both her and her Romeo. They meet at a party, are married the next day, and within a week have both killed themselves. A little bit excessive considering their knowledge of each other was pretty much limited to the fact that they were from feuding families and both fairly attractive. I remember thinking that if I read about them talking about something other than how they shouldn’t be together (Maybe hobbies? Favorite foods? A normal day in their lives?) that I could have bought the whole willing-to-die-for-each-other a little bit more.

So, what books are you embarrassed to admit you don’t really care for?

Sick Day

Most days my body and I are great friends. We go on walking trips around the city together. We share ice cream. We run in slow motion through fields of poppies.

But then sometimes I do things to make it angry. Things like paintballing when I’m really not good at paintballing and bruising the poor thing all up. As of result of these moments of inconsideration, my body gets angry. Now, sometimes the ol’ gal can rise above the pettiness and just let things relax back to normal, but other times I just irk her so much that she must have her revenge.

Thus, I am with fever and writing this from bed.

Now, some may not see the causality between my paintballing over two weeks ago and my illness today, but I know what’s up. My body’s a wily one and is known for playing the long game.

Lest you be put off by my feverish ramblings, let me assure you that I am doing my utmost to return myself to the state of health of which I am accustomed. I have everything necessary to mend the fissure between myself and my body:



-          Copious amounts of tea and chicken noodle soup. (I’m a traditionalist.)

-          Pile of books I’ve been looking forward to reading, including:
o       A Sliver of Shadow, Allison Pang
o       Blackbirds, Chuck Wendig
o       The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern
o       A Charmed Death, Madelyn Alt
o       Ever, Gail Carson Levine

-          The Unusuals on DVD. (If the folks from the 2^nd can’t make me feel better, I’m pretty sure my body has officially sided with the squirrels.)

All right, now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back to moaning.