In Treatment

Last night there was nothing on television, and so I checked out In Treatment, which I had been meaning to do for a while. I don't have HBO, so I watched a bunch of the episodes online and found them to be fascinating. It might be the fact that I'm a social worker, but I was immediately hooked.

That said, there are some things I didn't love. I felt some of the dialog was too awkward and scripted. I think Paul makes a little too much use of the "How did that make you feel?" question, which makes him sound like the stereotypical shrink. And, of course, there's the unrealistic amount of drama that seems to be a requirement for any television drama show out there.

What do I mean? Well, Paul is a therapist. He sees clients all day. These clients have issues (some more serious than others... we assume he has more than the 4 clients we see, and that we're just getting to see the ones with the most interesting stories). Those people already bring their own drama: relationship confusion, suicide attempts, family relationship issues, etc. That level of drama, though high, is believable because those are the kinds of things that therapists deal with regularly as they help people.

What I found a little over-the-top was the fact that Paul's personal life falls to shambles within the first few episodes. This isn't to say that therapists don't have challenging personal lives every now and then, but the writers took his personal life crises from 0-60 in the span of three episodes. I understand that the angle of a therapist examining his own life troubles while also being a therapist to others who are examining theirs is interesting. But do his life troubles have to be so big?

Twenty-five of each twenty-seven minute episode is spent in a therapy session, with just two people talking (or three, in the case of the couple who are in therapy). It is intense and raw and powerful. And at the same time, there is something about it that I just couldn't connect with.

But I kept watching. So HBO must be doing something right.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This past weekend I purchased a Wii online (thankyouverymuch, eBay), and last night it arrived.

I have been obsessing about getting a Wii for a while now, and found an auction where I didn't have to overbid, so I went for it.

Of course, it came yesterday, which is the day of the week when I speed walk home from work, scarf down a bowl of cereal for dinner, and then race off to babysit. So when I got home and saw the boxes, all I could do was wave at them. Lucky for me, the parents I sit for on Wednesdays never stay out late, so I came home and set it all up and bowled and boxed and loved every second of it.

And, as I had hoped, I am sore today (hopefully from the boxing and not the bowling), which already justifies the expense (Gym membership or Wii? Wii, of course!).

So tonight I'm grabbing pizza with a friend, and then we're coming back to my house to play any of the 14 Wii games I now own (I got Wii Play in addition to Wii Games and have 2 of each controller, so we can even box together!).

Bring on the fun. Bring on the sore muscles. Bring on the friends coming out of the woodwork wanting to come over and play Wii.

Round Things Roll

I hated high school chemistry. However, I got through it because my high school chemistry teacher, Mr. Brown, was awesome. Though I've managed to forget most of that class, one lesson sticks out in my head. We were all paired up around our test tubes and bunsen burners and all of the sudden we heard the unmistakable sound of a test tube crashing to the floor. Without missing a beat, Mr. Brown made use of the teachable moment by exclaiming, "Look - round things roll!" A reminder to all of us not to leave our test tubes unsupervised, but said in a silly way that kept anyone from feeling badly about the broken test tube.

*******************************************

When I was home in Maine a few weeks ago, I went to Marden's and along with a whole lot of yarn and a few dress shirts, I picked up some Easter egg dye. I figured I could have some friends over for an egg dyeing party sometime before Easter.

Last weekend when I did my grocery shopping, I picked up a few cartons of eggs in preparation for the easter egg dyeing festivities. It wasn't until after I had purchased all the egg dyeing supplies that I looked at my calendar and realized that between classes, babysitting, and dinner at my friends' house, I didn't have any free time to host an egg dyeing party.

Sooo, I called up my friends who were hosting the Friday night dinner and asked if they thought it would be fun to do egg dyeing after dinner. Always up for an adventure, they said yes. There were six of us at dinner, and we all had a blast sitting around after dinner and decorating eggs. I came back home with 8 colorful hard-boiled eggs that night.

******************************************

For the past two mornings, I have fixed my usual breakfast of cereal, and also a hard boiled egg.

For the past two mornings, I have put the hard boiled egg on the counter while I poured my cereal and milk.

And for the past two mornings, my egg has rolled off the table and crashed to the floor.

Apparently, round things (still) roll.

Survivor: Micronesia - Episode 7

Ah, you sneaky Episode 7, coming on a Wednesday night this week.

I had just enough time to watch before heading to work this morning (I like a leisurely breakfast) and here are my thoughts:

- I loved Cirie the last time she played, but this time, she just annoys me. I understand that she's not a strong swimmer, but she stayed on the boat, so why was she complaining and making a big deal about it. Shouldn't she know by now that no one likes a whiner?

- Speaking of complaining, all the girls sitting around complaining about Ozzy and Erik getting coconuts was just rediculous - the guys are getting them food while they sit on their butts. I don't think they're in a position to be complaining.

- Kathy's departure... Explain this to me. Isn't there some rule about not being able to go home or be in touch with family even if you leave early because then people would know you didn't make it for the whole time? Maybe that's only for the jury? I'm just confused because if I'm right, then how will Kathy be able to be in touch with her family, even if she leaves the game?

- I loved James' Yoda-like wisdom after Kathy left. Not sure when he became a wise old man, but it showed a different side of him and I liked it.

- Was Ami on crack when she said that she thought that Tracy was more into the game than Erik? Really, Ami? Really? When was the last time Tracy climbed a tree for coconuts? Or did anything useful, for that matter?

Quote of the week: "I don't want anyone to think that I'm quitting" (Kathy, when talking to Jeff and her tribe) Ummmm... but you are.

Runner-up quote of the week: "This game IS called Survivor." (James - when pointing out that all the girls on his tribe do is complain)

Sunday Fun

If you usually spend your Sunday nights sitting around and dreading the fact that Monday morning is just around the corner, I highly recommend getting yourself to the nearest imax theater and catching the U2 3D concert movie.

Movies in 3D are crazy anyway, but this was like nothing I had ever seen.

I also recommend spending your Sunday afternoon with a good friend, wandering through a local bookstore and then sitting in a coffee shop for a while. Neither requires conversation, but both offer the opportunity for interaction if desired, which is a nice. It's also fun to wander around together and look at the drunk St. Patrick's Day revelers, then go get dinner before the movie.

And before all that relaxation time, I highly recommend doing lots of productive things like paying bills and grocery shopping and cleaning the kitchen and doing laundry. And if you can find the time to purchase a new hair product that makes your hair feel silky-smooth, then do that too.

In all, a great Sunday and one I'd repeat again anytime.

Survivor: Micronesia - Episodes 1-6

Ok, so I haven't been doing weekly blog entries about Survivor this season because I haven't had the time, but I'm on break this week and trying to catch up on some things and so here I am.

I don't have many specifics to talk about, but here are a few:

1. Chet. He SUCKED. Seriously - he was the most pathetic contestant ever to be on the show. He never once looked like he was trying, and definitely never once looked like he was in the game to win it. Mostly, he just looked consistantly surprised that he was in the game at all, and that he kept avoiding getting voted out. I loved that Probst didn't even try to talk him out of volunteering to go home. I can't think of another time that Jeff hasn't guilt-tripped the person who wants to go home when he has found out about it. That says a lot. Good riddance, Chet. I can't believe you got this far.

2. Speaking of Jeff, I also can't remember a past time when Jeff has had such a heartfelt goodbye with a contestant who has had to leave for medical reasons. Perhaps that's because other medical reasons have been more urgent, and haven't allowed for official goodbyes, but I was really touched by his goodbye to Jonathan. Side note - when did Jonathan become "Penner" and not "Jonathan"??? There's not another Jonathan on this season, so what's the deal?

3. Is anyone else as incredulous as I am that CBS seemed to pick the most pathetic Survivor fans for this season? They're all supposed to be super-fans, but they fell victim to the "our tribe can't pull together to make a shelter in the first 48 hours at our campsite" fate, and none of them seem to be all that knowledgable about much in terms of survival skills and/or strategy (see above rant about Chet). I'm just not really clear what each of them brings to the table that qualifies them as super-fans, because to be honest, I've seen plenty of "regular" players who knew Survivor skills better than this crew. I'm disappointed. I wanted there to be some real competition.

4. James is nice to look at.

5. I love Ozzy. Even though he was stupid enough to vote Joel out and keep Chet for an extra 3 days, I love him. He's incredible to watch in the challenges, and he really plays the game. He's like a male version of Stephanie (ok, not really, but I love him like I loved her). I was having trouble breathing when I thought there was a chance he'd be voted out.

6. Was I right in seeing that in next week's episode, the Airai tribe is scrounging for food? How is that possible after the challenge they just won where people came and showed them how to catch fish and coconut crabs?

In other news, I'm back from my tour of Maine where I stayed with friends, parents, and more friends, played with dogs, played with kids, purchased a whole lotta yarn at Marden's, sang a lot in my car, and got some much-needed (and deserved) relaxation.

Many thanks to my hosts along the way. I can't wait until I no longer have homework as an excuse to keep me here on weekends - I promise more fun weekend playdates post-graduation.

Many thanks, also, to my friend for hosting Survivor night tonight. There is little better than watching Survivor with someone else - especially when we get to catch up and tell each other rediculous stories about severed manniquin heads and air mattresses and such. Good times.

Happy Friday to all and to all a good weekend!

Still Kicking

Ok, I know I've been really bad at updating my blog. Really really bad.

Sorry.

I have started multiple blog entries, but haven't managed to finish any of them, so I know they don't really count.

I'm on break right now at home in Maine with my parents and what may be the cutest dogs ever. With any luck, I might have some updates for you all this week, but until then, here are some photos from this morning's doggie photo shoot: