Entertainment Value

I was typing an email, the other day, for a TV blogger position I found online, and  I started listing all the TV shows I watch. After a moment, I started laughing.  I sounded like the TV guide.  I had begun with Blue Bloods http://www.cbs.com/  (prime time/blue bloods) and Covert Affairs http://www.usanetwork.com/ (Covert Affairs) and so on, ending up with over thirty some shows. It just depended on whether it was in season or out of season, as to which shows I was watching. And I thought being a t.v. blogger is definitely my calling.

But the truth of the matter is that I love TV shows and have from the time I was little.  And the shows I like in particular are the police dramas filled with investigative techniques and intrigue. The mystery of who done it.  And as the years go by, and technology advances, I'm a sure bet for all good police shows.  I even thought about going to school to be a forensic scientist, at one time.  But circumstances have me watching police drama and writing about it instead.

It's often funny, to some, like my dad, the entertainment value I get from watching these shows.  But, I guess I don't really see that changing.  Shows like Judging Amy http://www.cbs.com/ (prime time/Judging Amy) and CSI http://www.cbs.com/ (prime time/CSI), years ago, brought me a lot of company when my daughter was a baby and my husband was working out of town, for days at a time.

But I think my love of TV, though important for entertainment and company value, when hubby is working late, started many years ago, when my mom and I watched, my very first soap, One Life To Live http://www.abc.go.com/ (daytime), and other soaps and shows of that time.

We didn't have a lot to do then and those shows brought us time together, as mother and daughter.  Time to sit together, sharing laughter and smiles at something funny that was said or done on TV. I think, it was then, that the association with TV and family bonding started. 

I continue to share that tradition with my daughter today, when I watch, The Regular Show, Star Wars, or America's Funniest Home Videos with her.  We laugh and smile as we watch her favorite cartoons, connecting as mother and daughter, as my own mom and I did years ago. And in these times, we share not only entertainment value, but a family bonding value, as well.

Some Might Say It's Just A Smile

One might not think a smile can bring tears to someones face, but it can. It happened to me, last night, not long after I  flipped to the weather channel http://www.theweatherchannel.com  . They were interviewing a man, whose home was hit by a tornado.  He spoke of the tornado coming through, the destruction of much of his home, and then, incredibly, he smiled. I was so moved, at his strength, in the face of catastrophe, that I cried. He and many of the other people interviewed, showed such bravery in the wake of Hurricane Irene, Katia and Tropical Storm Lee.

Many people, these past few days, have felt the power of Hurricane Irene http://www.bing.com/ (Hurricane Irene), Tropical storm Lee http://www.sacbee.com/ (Remnants of Lee bring fresh flood worries to East), and Hurricane Katia, http://www.bloomberg.com/ , (Hurricane Katia to pass between Bermuda, U.S. East coast today), and still they smile and find the positive.  I felt so amazed and emotional while watching this and continue to feel that way. And I know some might say, it's just a smile, but to me it's a symbol of hope, endurance, and the road to rebuilding what the elements have taken away.

But it's not just their smile that amazes me.  It's neighbors, friends, and total strangers come together, lending a hand,to start the road to rebuilding. This is proof of what resilient people we are, and will always be. It makes me proud to be part of a society of people, that are not quitters, that even in the face of destruction, they can still see the bright side. That no matter what, they are going to persevere.

So, really, I know why I cried the last night when I saw that man's sweet smile.  He wasn't defeated by a tornado, touching down and taking away parts of his house, he was doing good. He knew that houses, cars and possessions can be replaced. So in all this devastation, he still found a reason to smile, and that was wonderful.