Sometimes You Just Gotta Laugh

In my last post, I mentioned that I was a compulsive list maker. The paper scraps that litter our home are proof of that. These little gems are usually scripted by multi-colored pens and are literally just random thoughts that need to be jotted down, lest they be forgotten. And that is why I like a good meme (I like the "archaic" e-mail versions, too). When I face facts, it's sort of a "get out of blogging free" card. Fun to do, interesting to read but not too much creative thought required.

So I took a photo of some of my lists. Below you see a segment of my home workstation...

It's sort of a window into my life, if you think about it:

1. The Bubble Gum tape confiscated from my oldest 3-year-old after I heard, "Mommy, Isabelle just ate some of my gum."
2. A Barbie hairbrush. If you have 1 or more girls, you probably relate to the gazillion plastic hairbrushes that accompany EVERY Barbie, Princess, doll, etc. You can really never have too many of these.
3. A paper, yellow gingham shirt from my eldest's new paper doll book.
4. The Mini DV tape featuring my oldest daughter's 6th birthday party from this past weekend.
5. The corner of my IBM laptop that I use for my day job. The job that often runs into the night.
6. My stack of lists containing work related notes, reminders to send a few e-mails, a film idea, phones numbers, etc.
7. Pens. Indelible ink and gel.
8. Burt's Bees Lip Balm that has been mauled by our stupid dog, Shakespeare. His personal ad would would read something like: "Likes wet washcloths, dirty Kleenex and lip balm..."

Yep, that's my life in a nutshell. It is what it is.

Oh yes, the aforementioned multi-colored pens... There is a similar batch on my desk at the office. I like pens. What can I say?

I would like to call your attention to the mug. As you can see, the front is emblazoned with the words "yada, yada, yada". I purchased this mug at the NBC store the year that Seinfeld ended its run. My husband and I are huge Seinfeld fans. I was even quoted on the front page of the local newspaper when the last episode aired. It was the end of an era resulting in a gaping hole in our Thursday night line-up. Yes, we missed Jerry and his friends.

So, as any sitcom fan will tell you, you really hope that the spinoffs rightfully succeed and give you the opportunity to continue to see some of your favorite comedic performers. And the Seinfeld spinoffs came and went.

- The Michael Richards Show (2000) - Didn't watch it.
- Bob Patterson (2001) - Didn't watch it.
- Watching Ellie (2002) - Watched it. Didn't love it.
- Listen Up (2004) - Watched it. When there was nothing else on. It was okay.

But now we have The New Adventures of Old Christine. And it is funny. I don't often laugh out loud at the TV but this one makes me laugh. More than a "heh-heh" or a "ha". I have officially abandoned "The Donald" for Julia Louis-Dreyfus and this strong ensemble piece. Julia has the same great comic timing she had on Seinfeld but it is applied to a more mature and softer character. Clark Gregg plays her ex-husband and he has a lot of credits, including the screenplay for What Lies Beneath. He is one of those "I've seen him somewhere" actors. There's a cute kid and strong guest stars - Wanda Sykes, Andy Richter and others I can't name off the top of my head (the "I've seen him somewhere" actors).

Bottom line: sometimes you gotta laugh - and this show makes me laugh.

Furthering the Seinfeld connection, I received two e-mails from a good friend of mine from high school. The first was with the sad news of the death of a mutual friend's father. The second was with the news that Andy Robin and Gregg Kavet, former Seinfeld writers and writer/director team for Live Free or Die, won the jury prize at SXSW Film Festival (down in MaryAn's neck of the woods). Andy Robin played Jonathan Harker to my gender-bending Dr. VanHelsing in our high school's production of Dracula. See? It's that 6 degrees thing again. Click here to view the BBC's featurette on the making of the film.

And finally, in an effort to level the playing field (see Sanctum of the Scriptweaver or Could You Describe The Ruckus?), I'm providing the X-chromosome view of some of Hollywood's powerhouses...

Ahhhhh... As Anna Nalick and Drew Barrymore say, "just breathe."

Tags: New+Christine, Seinfeld, Andy+Robin, Live+Free+Or+Die, SXSW+Film+Festival