Thursday Night TV

SPOILER WARNING: I am about to discuss things that happened on Survivor last night. If you don't want to know who was voted off, don't read any further until after you've watched it on the TiVo.

This won't be as comprehensive a discussion of my Thursday night viewing as I intended, because my DVR let me down and did not record Grey's Anatomy. This is not as great a tragedy as it once would have been, in the days before I could watch most anything on the internet. Nonetheless I have not gotten around to watching it yet, although various friends have pronounced it good.

I have been watching er for about forever, and I have mourned the leaving of many wonderful characters over the years, but I think last night's episode was one of the saddest ever. I thought the actors did an amazing job of portraying the grief of losing a friend and colleague (been there, done that, twice). I hope they don't plan to spend their final season killing off characters one by one, because I can't handle it.

And on to my real reason for living from Thursday to Thursday: Survivor. Ron and I have watched almost every episode of Survivor ever, through the great seasons and the boring ones, and each season's survivors become our replacement for real-life friends. My BFF Mary Beth has thought several times about applying, and I think she'd be great until she started having DTs from M&Ms withdrawal. I feel that our summer rafting trip proved that I can outwit, outplay, and outlast so I just don't feel the need to deprive others of that opportunity. Plus, how mortifying would it be to have to be pushed up the hill by my big butt AND I would be calling for the helicopter to Loser Lodge before the words "leech-filled swamp" were fully out of Jeff Probst's mouth.

Just a few comments on the players:

Michelle: Probably spent the day after thinking, "What happened? Why did they vote ME off?" What would be the opposite of Miss Congeniality? At least she's not "stuck with the dorks" anymore. I would have voted her off for the tube socks alone.

Ken: Do not let my son find out that "professional video game player" is a career option, lest he decide he is plenty qualified enough and drop out of school in seventh grade. Also, DUDE. Announcing on national TV that you have not kissed a girl in 4 or 5 years? Hott. Since Michelle was voted off, looks like it may be another 4 or 5.

Charlie: Is he making a spectacle of himself or what with his schoolboy adoration of Marcus? His parents surely must have squirmed when he was chosen for the Kota tribe and FLUNG himself into Marcus' arms.

Marcus: Kudos for being secure enough with your sexuality to not freak out about Charlie's puppydog affections. Also, thumbs up on the boxer briefs.

Ace: Eww. And I like bald men. But you are an arrogant snob and after about day 3, people are not going to feel like "descending forward like a swan."

Gillian: I'm not going to rag on her because her daughter is a fellow scrapbooker, but being physically weak, overly perky, and bossy at the same time is not a strategy that has worked well for past survivors.

Randy: You didn't make it through DAY ONE without medical assistance? He can't possibly be as nasty as his online profile claims he is.

That's it for now, but I can't wait till next week. Tomorrow morning we move Thomas into his dorm. I spent the day packing with him, which was an interesting gaze into the 12-year-old male mind. "Two pairs of underwear should be enough, right?"

I Am Woman, Hear Me Sob

I can't be the only one who sniffled all the way through the next-to-last episode of So You Think You Can Dance. (Maybe I can be. What is today's date?) Hormonal or not, I love that show, and the top 4 have been my favorites since the top 20 were chosen. They are all amazing, the trained and the untrained, but I will divulge that I cast my vote for Joshua. I also believe that he is madly and transparently in love with Katee and I can't tell whether she returns the feeling but I suspect she is going to break his heart. It kills me that I may never know the outcome of that situation. The finale is tomorrow night: Between the hours of 8 and 10PM I will not be answering the phone or getting anyone a glass of water or letting anyone outside to go potty fourteen times in an hour.

In other tear-jerking news, I am just about done reading The Shack. I don't want to provide any spoilers, but is an amazing book that clearly arouses strong emotions in almost everyone who reads it. Readers either love it or see it as the work of Satan. It does undoubtedly contain some dubious theology, but I was deeply moved by the characters' conversations about the depth of God's unconditional love for us and why bad things happen to good people.

Wow, I just went from reality TV to religion in one paragraph. Any other unlikely topics I can throw in there? Hmm, I did get my hair cut and colored today, and I went back to my natural color, which is quite a bit darker than I've had it for the past few years. At least I think it's my natural color...it's been so long that I had to try to get some idea from the few roots that weren't gray.

Also, today was Thomas' last day of school until mid-September. They had a dance last night, where he danced with a girl and wanted to know if it was normal that his hands were very sweaty afterward. He also won five awards, academic and athletic, and we are very proud of him despite the sweaty hands.