Music to My Ears

Finally! Paul McCartney's solo career is now available on iTunes. Hooray!

I know this dates me -- as both old and young -- but some of my earliest memories are of dancing around my living room singing along with Wings. Something about those silly love songs, you know?

I'm currently reevaluating my iTunes library to make room for the cute Beatle in my nano. And you know what? Listening to "Maybe I'm Amazed" as an adult? Wow, Paul's raw vocals really get to me. I'd give just about anything to have a man sing like that to me.

So, it's not quite the entire Beatles catalogue. I don't know if they'll ever reach an agreement on that. But for now, it's pretty darn close!

Online Dating Update

After a few weeks of searching around, I have signed on to Chemistry.com - that's the new online dating service that has all those anti-eHarmony ads going. What the heck, right?

I've been doing it for about 2 weeks now, and there are some guys with interesting potential that I have started emailing. For some reason, though, they keep matching me with middle-of-the-road to conservative types. Eh?

And, after having a fun dinnertime conversation tonight about how several of us in our extended group of friends have gotten matched up with people we actually know.... well, I logged in tonight, and it took all of 2 weeks for me to be matched up with someone I've gone out with before! Yes, DC is indeed a very small town for singles.

Tasty as Pie

Today, I took advantage of the great weather and the long weekend and my boss's willingness to let us cut out early to meet up with Joyous for a rare midafternoon movie treat. We were both curious about that quirky new movie Waitress, so we made our way to G-town to check it out.

Keri Russell (aka Felicity, aka the Babysitter who was Seduced) stars as a small town Southern gal who's stuck in a dead-end marriage and trying to find a way out of her life. The only thing that gives her any real pleasure is making pies, and she has a real gift for it - making such scrumptious looking concoctions with such colorful names that you will start to get some serious cravings watching this movie. Suddenly, she finds herself pregnant and resentful... which leads her to the ob-gyn's office where she meets the doctor who will change her life.

Keri is so very... charming, and beautiful, and real. She plays miserable and hopeful and spiteful and hopeless all equally well. Jeremy Sisto plays her sumbitch husband to a tee, Cheryl Hines is a kick as a fellow waitress sidekick, and Adrienne Shelly - who wrote and directed the movie and was tragically murdered before it ever opened - is touching as another waitress who has a romantic side story of her own. If you're not already in love with Nathan Fillion, I bet you will be by the time this movie is over. (That "teach me to make pie" scene in the kitchen made me teary....) And Andy Griffith, as the town's resident old codger with the heart of gold, just about steals every scene he is in.

Waitress is getting some darn good reviews, so I hope this movie sticks around for a while. I fully recommend you check it out -- and if you miss it in theaters, there's a very good chance I'll be buying it in the future to add to my own personal collection!

The Ultimate LOST

Finally, after months of antici-say it!-pation, tonight was the season finale of LOST. Season 3 may have come in with a bit of a whimper, but it sure went out with a bang!

*Spoiler alert for all you people who don't know me well yet*

What can I say? Damn fine television. Thank you, Damon and Carlton and J.J. I don't know what I would do without this delicious obsession. Maybe read more books? Or hang out with friends on Wednesday nights? Ah, but I can do that any other time. (And between now and February, when season 4 premieres.) For now, it's been a helluva lot of fun spending the last 16 Wednesday nights on the Island.

So, now that we are three years in to this adventure, this supernatural action-packed mind-boggle of a show, what do we know about the big picture? I do believe that we now know that the crazy plan of marching to the radio tower and flipping the switch in the Looking Glass in order to establish the phone signal worked - and the call did get through to Naomi's boat. And we can infer that somehow that call to the boat led to the 815ers' rescue, and that they left the Island. Or at least some of them did. Or do. (Chronologies are a challenge with this show.)

But at what cost? Because this time... while we thought we were watching flashbacks, we were actually watching flash-forwards - seeing Jack's life after they left the Island. And it was not so pretty. He's attempting suicide, he's an addict, he's out of control. And, at the last moment, we learn that he's still in touch with Kate, and he's trying to convince her they need to go back to the Island. Yowza! When the writers promised us a game-changing season finale, that could've been just talk... but I think they delivered!

What went wrong with this little rescue? It's too soon to tell... but we know now that Naomi was not hired by Penny Widmore. I think we're going to learn that Penny is the ultimate good guy in all of this, and she may be the only outsider we can trust. So when Penny says that's not her boat, I believe her. Naomi was lying about something, so if it's her people that picked up our castaways, then I'm guessing something nefarious happens.

Jack showed himself willing to make sacrifices in order to pursue his agenda of getting off the island - even if they weren't necessary. (Think Kate will ever tell Sayid, Jin, and Bernard that he was willing to let them die to save a phone?) So what does Jack end up doing between now and his future self that turns him into such a wreck? I think there will be more sacrifices and poor judgment to come, and it'll be even more heart-wrenching to watch because we will all know that Future Jack regrets every minute of it.

And, Kate ends up with somebody, somebody who seems to not want her hanging out with Jack back in the real world. Is that our Sawyer? And who in the heck died in the future to set off Jack's latest tear? Could it be Locke? Although I can't imagine him leaving the Island. Maybe Juliet? They never did say a gender....

This was an extremely satisfying finale. We had action, suspense, edge-of-your-seat moments, real emotion, and some shocking twists that have really set up a very different agenda for the remaining 3 seasons. They are all focused on getting off the Island... but what if Ben's right? What if it really is better for all of them if they stay? What is the Island's secret???

Hurley was awesome, Sayid and Sawyer are both still safe (be still my beating heart that loves twisted tough guys), and Charlie had perhaps the most graceful and touching exit I've seen in a long time. With his last breath, he imparted the important information that may just give them all a chance. With all her resources, can Penny now race to try and find them before whatever bad happens with Naomi's crew? Not likely, but you never know with Island funky-time.

Could this be leading to a Desmond-Jack showdown? If Locke's love for Team Island wasn't enough to defeat Jack, could the star-crossed love of Des and Penny end up saving the day? That's my bet, and I would be really happy if that ended up being what the rest of the series is about.

Just no more flash-forwards of Jack with that beard!


------------------------------------------------------------------

For fun - mine if not yours - I like to keep track of the things I yell out loud to my tv screen during LOST finales. So, I leave you with my various exclamations of the night:

Noticing the cast list..... WALT!!!!

Don't kill Tom! He's Mr. Friendly! Oh, good, he's okay.

After perhaps my new favorite scene of all time, when Rose tells Jack "If you say 'Live Together, Die Alone' I will punch you in the face." Rose, you kick ass! Jack sucks!

Bernard, you sweet stupid dentist! You just gave them all up! But I probably would have too...

Uh oh, trouble on Love Rhombus lane....

Hurley! Don't put yourself in danger! Oh no, 2 weeks in a row when Hurley's been rejected because of his size. Makes me want to cry. He better not be one of the ones to die tonight.

I know that eyeball... LOCKE!!!! Wait, is he paralyzed again? Don't shoot yourself! Wait... WALT!!!!

Shut up, Jack. (I probably said that at least 3 times.)

Who's in the coffin? Is it his Dad? No, that was in Australia, this is LA. Who else do we even know from Jack's life?

Ah, Greta and Bonnie, we hardly knew ye. Patchy, will you stay dead this time?

Wow, Addict Jack had a really bad beard.

Ben is so crazy evil!

Holy sh$t! Are they dead??? Holy sh$t!

Aw! - in the moment when CFL and Alex shared their first mother-daughter moment, tying up Ben.

In rapid succession:

Yay! Yay! Yay! They're alive!

Uh oh, but now Sawyer's in danger!

HURLEY! IN THE VAN!

Sayid, you're such a badass.

Oh, man! - After Sawyer got his revenge on Tom. Too bad, I had started to like the guy. Does this mean the softer side of Sawyer is now gone, after his epic "sins of the father" moment?

Seems like Jack has always been pretty good at screwing up his life. Why is he the leader again?

Ohhh, seems Charlie and Des are the only ones left in danger.

"Good vibrations" - really? Do you trust that code?

An incoming transmission? What? PENNY!!!!

Who's Naomi??? Not Penny's Boat!

Oh, Charlie. So sad, but you've had 2 really good episodes. And you really are trying to save everyone.

So, Alex was born on the Island.

Naomi's evil! Ben may be right!

LOCKE! Score one for Team Island! Ah, the long-awaited Jack and Locke showdown.

Who's on the other end of that phone??? (This one I actually said twice, for 2 back-to-back scenes.)

Who's Jack meeting? Is that... NO! KATE?!?!? Holy crap, is this in the FUTURE? They got off the Island!!!

Holy freakin' game-changing!!!!!

Damn. February is a LONG LONG way away!

------------------------------------------------

In the meantime, you can catch me and my LOST universe friends still chatting away about this episode and the whole series over at this blog and its message boards. Yeah, we're obsessed. But we're cool with it. :-)

My First Trip to Chicago

Won't Be My Last.

I was amazed at how pretty it was!

And I drove my friends crazy with mid-day text messages about standing on the banks of Lake Michigan, which was the most amazing shade of blue.

LOST in Chicago

Even though I was away at a conference for the last five days, where my stories are on an hour earlier, I was still able to make it back to the hotel in time last night to check out "Greatest Hits." Hooray! Although I've been totally jonesing not being able to check my favorite blog and its message boards all week -- so that's next up, after I share with you my spoilerific reactions to the 2nd-to-last episode of Season 3:

Charlie
This was the episode where Charlie was supposed to die. Just about everyone thought so, including Desmond and Charlie himself (and me!). The whole ep worked its way up to it, with flashbacks to Charlie's "Greatest Hits" - the best moments of his life - and a rather emotional story on the beach as Charlie prepared himself by saying goodbye to Claire and Aaron and rather dramatically refusing to let Desmond take his place. We've all been told that Charlie is going to die, and Des has been having visions of it for nearly half the season now. So, leave it to LOST to give us a big old emotional fake-out last night.... or did they? I was pretty shocked - in a good way - when rather than showing Charlie drowning in the Looking Glass station, the final scene showed him very much alive and at the wrong end of the barrel of a gun... considering next week's finale is called "Through the Looking Glass," I have a feeling we'll learn Charlie's fate pretty soon. But, unlike before, my guess is that now Charlie will live... even though everyone in the camp, guided by Desmond, will think he has sacrificed himself for the greater good. I bet the castaways won't see Charlie again until midway through Season 4.

The Looking Glass
So who are those people guarding the Looking Glass station? And does anyone know they're still down there? Juliet said it's been flooded and unoccupied for years. Was she lying, or is that what she had been told? And if those people have been stranded... well, they've had to be getting food and other supplies somehow. So someone must know they're there. Is Ben keeping them secret? Or are they still in touch with Dharma? Most importantly, will Charlie be able to flip the switch to stop jamming the signal so that phone can get a signal to Naomi's ship? Obviously, lots of questions here!

Desmond
Desmond's vision turned out to be totally wrong. Or was it? He told Charlie he would drown... but did Desmond really know about the Looking Glass inhabitants? More worrisome, what if suddenly Desmond is having trouble with his visions - can we no longer trust the insights of our time-traveling Scot? And why didn't Desmond show up right before the rain when Charlie was playing on the streetcorner? Are we to believe it was just a different day?

Nadia
Huh? Why was Nadia the woman Charlie saved in a mugging? Will we ever have an explanation as to the interconnectedness of all our survivors?

Ben
Remember back in the beginning of the season, when it just seemed possible that Ben was a misunderstood guy? That he was doing what he needed to do to protect his people and the island's secrets? I remember thinking that, once we all knew the whole story, it might turn out that Ben really was the "good guy" he claimed to be. Not so much anymore. I had a moment of grief for this notion when Karl and Alex were talking last night. Karl said something about how "your father will kill me this time." And I thought, oh a few months ago I would've sympathized with Ben, dealing with raising a teenage daughter. But now? I thought, "You bet your ass he will, Karl!"

Locke
It appears that neither Alex or Richard followed Ben into the jungle, so they don't know where to find Locke, bleeding out in the pit. But they both know that something very bad has happened, and while we saw Alex run off to Karl to plead with him to warn the castaways, we didn't see what happened to Richard. Did he go off in search of Locke? I'm sure that our island shaman will survive, I'm just not sure if we'll see him next week or if we have to wait for his messianic return next February!

Deathwatch
So now that Charlie will live to see probably at least another day... the deathwatch is ON. Rumors about that several characters will dine in next week's finale, and I need to start emotionally preparing myself now. (If one of them is Sawyer, there will be grieving. Seriously.) I think the only 2 characters who are actually safe are the ones who are already in peril - Locke and Charlie. So, here is my list of who I think the potential casualties might be, with most likely at the top:

• Ben - creating a power vacuum in the Others and leaving room for Locke to step right in, thereby ensuring the colossal Jack vs. Locke battle that's been brewing since they crashed on that island.
• Sayid or Sawyer - I don't think they'd kill them both. Sayid is shown all tied up on his knees in the preview, which doesn't seem promising but is no guarantee of anything. And while Sawyer's storyline may have achieved resolution with killing Anthony Cooper, I think they're also positioning him as very likely to rebel against Jack and lead the castaways himself. But the LOST powers that be keep hinting at major shocks in the finale, and I think taking either one of these 2 strong popular characters out would indeed be a shock. But I hope I'm wrong, cuz I want them both to live and continue fighting with Jack. And being awesome. And hot.
• Rose or Bernard - Come on, they didn't bring them back for just one episode and give them cute little scenes for nothing. With Bernard as a shooter, my money's on him to go - which I believe would be the end of all the Tailies except those now living with the Others.
• Juliet - She's trying so damn hard to leave the Island that she's pitting everyone against everyone else, and it's impossible to tell where she stands. That means there are a whole lot of people who don't trust her, and should she end up in the line of fire.... well, that may be the end for her, and it could give Jack all kinds of annoying torturous emotions to further fuel the love triangle for another season or two.
• Alex - The more I think about this idea, the more I love it. It would be so tragic for Alex to be killed, just as Danielle is learning of her existence and just as she and Karl are starting to break off on their own. That would leave Danielle devastated, and a truly off-her-rocker CFL would be a force to reckon with. And, if Ben survives and somehow feels responsible - oh, the juicy guilt that Michael Emerson could play. This is my vote as my favorite option - sorry Alex!
• Jack - Just to make me happy and throw everyone into a tizzy!

The Emergence of a History Geek

I just read a great quote from Harry Truman:

"There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know."

Over the last several months, I have totally become a history geek.

Sure, I have always had a sort of general interest in history - enough so that my career involves more than the usual exposure to the people and places of the past - but it's only been recently that I have started to become really excited about learning as much as I can, particularly about our own American history.

I am currently mid-way through my new favorite tome, Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals. If you had asked me a year ago, I would never have guessed that I would be devouring a nearly 900-page (with footnotes) book about Lincoln and his Civil War Cabinet. But I can't get enough of it! I even have the next 4 history books I want to read lined up on the shelf - another about Lincoln and the Civil War, one about the Emancipation Proclamation, one about the history of the American Presidency, and Goodwin's Pulitzer Prize-winner about Franklin and Eleanor.

I have recently had the pleasure of being able to see Ms. Goodwin speak in person, and Justice Stephen Breyer, and Presidential historian Michael Beschloss, and Lincoln assassination author James Swanson, and soon I will see Walter Isaacson speak on his new book on Einstein. Our book club got together last week to discuss Manhunt and the Lincoln assassination, and thanks to the enthusiastic research of a fellow emerging geek we all tested ourselves with a Presidential history quiz. And guess what? I'm having a great time spending these evenings being a total history geek!

Ten years out of college, I am starting to feel somewhat academically inspired again. There's a real high to learning more about our own history, cuz it helps us understand so much more about today. And -- bonus -- it's fun!

Guess Who Had a Birthday?

Trusty cat Cleo just turned 10! Who's a big girl now? :-)

It's a cause for celebration! Tuna for breakfast and extra play time, hooray!

LOST Behind the Curtain

Well, we learned a lot on tonight's episode. Or did we???

**Spoilers ahead. Kinda. Cuz I can't figure it all out!**

This was the LONG-awaited Ben Linus flashback episode. Hooray! Let's learn more about tv's most mysterious and bug-eyed villain!

So, what did we learn?

Flashbacks

* Ben was NOT born on the island. He was born prematurely outside of Portland (aha, that explains that reference) while his parents were on a hike. His mom died in childbirth, but they were "rescued" by a happy-looking couple who happened to be Dharma Initiative employees who bring Ben and his dad, Roger, to the Island. More on Roger in a sec.

* Ben was a very meek and scared little kid, feeling very strongly that his neglectful dad blamed him for his mother's death and always forgot his birthday. He started seeing visions of his mother on the island... and eventually met Richard Alpert, a native "hostile," out in the jungle. More on this later, too.

* By the time Ben's an adult, slogging away in his Dharma jumpsuit, he's made the decision to jump ship.... and he becomes (we think) the lone Dharmite to join the hostiles in the purge. He kills his own father! Yes, his dad was the Roger Work Man in the Dharma van. Ben joins with the hostiles, who seem to be led by Richard.

* Richard DID NOT AGE. (He looked very hot and Jesus-like back in the 70's with that long hair!) But he looks the same now as he did 30ish years ago! Huh? (I was very confused at first.... thinking maybe that was Richard's dad? Or that Richard was Jacob? Or... huh?) But I'm now thinking that true islanders don't age. Maybe it's to do with funkytime on the island, maybe it's something about the healing electromagnetic properties... who knows?

Current (2004) Storyline

* Locke is all badass again, takin' names and tellin' Ben how it is after he returns to camp with his dead dad on his back. He takes down Patchy -- while Tom and Richard sit by and let it happen? more cracks in Ben's armor? -- and forces Ben to take him to see Jacob.

* So, they trek through the jungle to a weird old shack to meet Jacob. And they find.....???? WHAT? The weirdest scene in LOST history? Was there really an unseen Jacob there? Who did Locke hear say "Help me" ?? Was Ben really speaking to some entity? Was something really getting mad and throwing stuff around, or did Ben have booby-traps that he was setting off himself? WHADAFA???? I hope they answer these questions soon, cuz I don't like being this confused!

* After bizarroland in Jacob's shack, Ben brings Locke to a mass grave (creepy) with all the bodies of the dead Dharma folks. And then Ben ups the ante on his own evil and SHOOTS LOCKE!!!!!!! Holy hell! Did not see that coming! In fact, of all the characters, I thought Locke was one of the safest!!! Ben demands that Locke tell him what he heard "Jacob" say... and Locke has to struggle to utter "Help Me..... He said.... Help Me...." Good scene. But, again, WHADAFA? Is Locke going to die? Or is Mr. Healing Man himself going to survive this one to be badass another day?

Back at the Beach

* Circumstances lead to Sayid and the gang introduce the 815ers to Naomi, who tells of her helicopter and ship just offshore... which leads to the inevitable "we can't trust Jack OR Juliet!" argument.

* Sawyer plays the incriminating tape of Juliet for the whole crowd, just to have J&J show up. Jack gets all uppity, as always protecting his beloved Juliet like the triple-conned shmuck I believe him to be, but Juliet insists Sawyer turn over the tape. He does, and plays Ben's response talking about the imminent attack on the beach when they plan to take Sun. Shock! Horror! So, is Juliet helping the LOSTies by getting them to prepare for the Others' attack? Or is she conning everyone, all the time? In this case, I think she's actually on the up and up. But Jack still sucks. (I try to find a way to work that into every post at least once. Jack sucks. Or maybe twice.)

Scenes

* Next week is a Charlie-centric ep. Desmond says that this time, he is meant to die. Bah-da-dummmmm..... or will he? LOST doesn't usually give us exactly what we expect, and trailers are often false. Will the Hobbit be safe? Stay tuned.

* The finale, in 2 weeks, is a 2-hour Jack-centric ep. Yes, again. But it should be about the war with the Others, and it does look fun. Explosions and stuff. Things will go boom! And I have a feeling characters will die.... let's all get ourselves ready. But first, we have to find out if Locke survives?!?!?

Blacklist

In many cases, I think we regular everyday Americans can be just as effective in "voting with our wallets" - or our feet - as we can be at the ballot box. The companies we choose - or choose not - to patronize can say as much about our ideals as who we vote for on election day.

Based on my experience yesterday with eHarmony, I'm now really curious. Wouldn't it be interesting to share information about what companies people choose not to support for personal ideological reasons? Then maybe we can help each other make decisions. Or maybe not, maybe it'll just be fun to rant.

So, faithful readers, are there any companies out there that you refuse to give your money to based on moral or political reasons? That's different than for product-related or bad customer service reasons, which would expand my own list quite a bit. (That's you, Northwest Airlines.)

I'm sure that if I did the research, my list would be a whole lot longer.... but for now, these are the companies that I, as an individual, will not support:

Domino's Pizza

Curves

Wal-Mart

TIME Magazine

In the past, I've also boycotted fast food (but I wasn't strong enough to outlast the temptation for long), Texaco and Snapple for many years.

So what's on your list? And do you think that making these kinds of decisions are actually economically effective, or is it more about feeling the conviction of personal beliefs?

Some eObservations

It's been nearly 3 months now that I've been back on the online dating kick, and there are definitely some trends I've noticed this time around. (Note: important addendum at the end of this post.)

Based on the advice of others who've had some good luck, I skipped Match and went straight for eHarmony. I had heard that people had very different experiences with the latter, so I decided to check it out.

After going out with 3 men, with varying degrees of success but no regrets, I do have to agree with the friend who says "a different quality of men" are on eHarmony. It's true - you can see it even in their profiles, which seem to be more thought-out and actually feature complete sentences. (In the world of online dating, that's saying something.) Perhaps it's because eHarmony costs more and thus is more of a commitment, but it does seem to have people who are more serious and more reliable about the whole thing. Perhaps eHarmony is the site of last resort for us lonely singletons?

So, a few things I've noticed on eHarmony:

• Freakonomics must be the best-selling book of all time! I swear every 3rd guy says it's the most recent book he's read. That and The Da Vinci Code and The Alchemist, both of which are a total turnoff for me. (I do give props to the minority that cites The Kite Runner as a recent favorite.)


• My anecdotal observation is that about 9 out of every 10 guys somehow mention "physical fitness" within the first 2 questions on the profile. Um, right. DC isn't quite Muscle Beach... so methinks that's the guy equivalent of a girl saying she thinks a "sense of humor" is the most important thing. Classic "just say what they want to hear" answers.


• Like on any other online dating site, it's always a mistake to put up pictures of yourselves with other people. If you're a guy and put up a pic with one of your buddies, you run the risk of the "who's cuter" comparison. If you put up a pic with women, it's worse - you either look like you're trying too hard, or you'll intimidate other women who feel like they'll have to compete with the gals in the picture.


• But, a picture of you and your dog or you and a baby niece/nephew is always a winner. We're suckers for that.


• I'd always heard that eHarmony was just filled with Christian military types, but that's not really been my experience. I put that religion was not important to me, and I wanted that in a match too, so I haven't been matched with anyone who comes off as a majorly religious person. (As a friend and I joked, we agnostic/deist/secular humanist types tend to get matched up with other non-religious types with the occasional Jewish guy mixed in. Works for me!) There are a lot of military / defense / government types, but heck, we are in DC. So that's not surprising -- but I've actually found there are a whole lot more IT and computery types. We must all now accept a dating culture in which it's most likely that we can not even explain what our partner does all day - but if it means we don't get bogged down in work-talk, that's okay!

All of this being said, I think it's been very good for me to do this. It's gotten me out of a wintertime rut, has enabled me to meet a few new people and have some interesting conversations (well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad), and I even have met my own online dating goal of finally making it to a 2nd date! There's a lot to be said for pushing your own boundaries, and forcing yourself to get out of your usual comfort zone.

And, though my feminist mom may cringe to hear this, 2 months of free dinners ain't bad, too! :-)

Addendum: Okay, color me embarrassed, but here's a case where I've learned something from my readers. Turns out I should have done a little more investigating of eHarmony before I signed on. It's true, eHarmony does not allow same-sex couples to use their services, and a quick Google search of "eHarmony same-sex couples" turns up a whole lot of interesting and enfuriating links. Dr. Warren is good friends with the Great Satan, James Dobson, and his books have been published by Focus on the Family. So, my apologies for being ignorant of all of this. I'm going to go cancel my eHarmony account now... but with all the above lessons I've learned, I'm ready to go find a different site that is more inclusive. Does anyone have any recommendations? (Which this time I'll research on my own, as well.)

Addendum 2: I did just go on and cancel the account. It takes several screens to do so (typical online tricks), but at one point they make you tell them why. So I did. And, I cancelled 2 days before they were about to charge me again - phew!

Out With the Old....

Tonight's big 2-hour Grey's Anatomy solidifed it for me. That show is on a rapid decline. I am so sick of Mer-Der and Burktina and George the cheat and Izzie "You're my best friend!" Stevens. Blech. They should have all drowned on that ferry, which officially marked when that ship went down.

BUT....

I *love* Addison! Kate Walsh rocks - remember when she showed up as the surprise super-bitch to ruin Mer-Der's happiness? And now she's turned out to be the most complicated, endearing, warm, sympathetic character of all of them. I'm glad she's getting her own show! Tonight's spin-off launch was great, and I thought the LA sunshine and more interesting adult characters - played by Merrin (Francie!) Dungey, Taye (hot) Diggs, and Tim (also hot) Daly - were all a breath of fresh air. I'm looking forward to Private Practice.


And I hope Grey's goes away. But at least I know I can stop watching, and not really miss it. I hope Karev ends up with Ava, happily ever after. And, like EW said, I would love to have Bailey and Callie come visit Addison several times a year, cuz those ladies have a friendship that's real and fun. Not like those stupid whiny interns.

LOST In The Brig

We are really moving fast now on LOST Island, heading towards the big May 23 finale. Tonight's episode covered a lot of ground, both on island and in the big-picture storyline...

....And two of our beloved characters finally got the resolution they needed - but will they be redeemed? Do they need to be, or was their revenge actually their destiny?

(Spoilers ahead.)

Do you all remember Charlie's line from very early on, maybe in the pilot? "Guys, where are we?"

Well, tonight we got some very interesting new information on that topic...

...Naomi had coordinates for where to find Desmond, but they weren't for an island. The coordinates were for a spot in the *middle of the ocean* - she never expected to find land there at all!!! But, she came from a freighter just 18 knots away... that can't be far, right?

I love that after all the mystery and speculation, Naomi just laid it all out there - she was on a search and rescue mission to find Desmond, after being hired by Penny Widmore and given those specific coordinates. No more theorizing needed, that's pretty clear-cut. Those Portuguese researchers at the Arctic (or Antarctic?) station were clearly working for Penny and she's been looking for Des all along. That question? Answered.

Even better yet - finally, we tied together the strings of another 1st season mystery - Locke's dad is the real Sawyer! Hooray for all of us who've been calling that for a while! :-) For all the complaints over the years, those writers are really starting to give us a lot, rapid fire!

More tidbits:

- Island interference is blocking all the channels on Naomi's fancy sat phone!

- The "other" flight 815 was found at the bottom of a 4-mile ocean trench, filled with bodies! And Cooper confirmed Naomi's story of flight 815 being found, too!

- CFL apparently makes regular dynamite runs at the Black Rock! (What is she doing out in the jungle anyway?)

- Locke is "extremely special " - but Ben wants to keep Locke down. More deliciously masterful manipulation there!

- Richard gives a hint of those unhappy factions in the Others - will John lead a revolution?

- Locke stole the tape recorder!

- Jack and Juliet, blah blah, probably working together, blah blah, something they should tell Kate but not yet, blah blah, Juliet can be okay, but together they both suck.

And as Anthony Cooper / Tom Sawyer himself said, "If this isn't hell, friend, then where are we?"

One of my favorite parts of this episode was that we got to see the actors playing in new or unusual character combinations - Locke and Sawyer? Sayid and Naomi? Ben and Locke AND Anthony Cooper? Their scenes just crackled! I love that a show that's 3 years old can still give us these scenes with new information and new possibilities that still resonate. (Take that, Grey's Anatomy!)

Scenes for Next Week:

Wow, the awesomeness continues! Locke bargains for info on the Island's history, and it looks like we'll soon learn a lot more about those mysterious Dharma folks. And Sawyer's going to take charge on the beach, busting Juliet as the mole. Can't wait!

Currently

The View from 16th Street is a very dark and a very dry one, on account of this happening this afternoon:

(Photo from The Washington Post.)

Yes, my major thoroughfare of a street is now down to just one lane for traffic cuz there is a GIANT FREAKING HOLE where the water main broke, and the street is all crumbled up for about block. It looks like it really buckled under the pressure.

Apparently this happened about 6+ hours ago. Crews are still working now. My fingers are crossed that we have water back by morning.... though I already called my boss and told her I may be working from home.... or somewhere that has water. Cuz I do NOT go to work without showering!

All Aboard!

Crazy train, now arriving at the station.

Should I buy a ticket???

Or should I just stay home???





Choo choo!