Nothing of Note

I don't have much to say these days. I'm not sure why. It's not that there's been any lack of activity. It's probably more to do with the fact that I spend most of my work week writing, so when it comes to putting things down here, it's hard to think of things to write, my fingers start to pre-ache and I doubt my ability to write anything more compelling than what sets one law firm apart from the crowd (in truth, very little sets one law firm apart from another - they are either compassionate, aggressive, or professional, or slight variations on these three). So why am I sitting in front of my computer now? Why am I typing? I've no idea. Well, partly it's because when I drove over to MCAD to see if I could still access the computer room and log in to work on Photoshop, I found a class going on in there. I ended up over at the Spyhouse Coffee Shop on Nicollet. I've been coming to this place over the last couple weeks. I like it. I even bought one of their super cool retro mugs. Last month I was writing furiously to finish a short mystery I'd begun last spring. Overall, it's not bad, but it needs a lot of molding - the atmosphere is not right yet. I also need to develop it further. I think I might try and work it into a mystery novel and pitch it to one of the publishers that print off millions of mass market mysteries. I made the story local so it could perhaps be sold locally - all those Summit / Grand Ladies could sit in their coffee and tea shops reading my conventional drivel and smile with recognition of the local places I mention.

Another thing that has been fun is that I've gotten a bit Ghetto with my (still minimal) TV watching. The station of choice these days is "The CW" (Ooh! It sounds just like "The O.C."). I watch it for two reasons:

1st: I like watching "People's Court" with Judge Marilyn Milian - "The Hottest Judge on TV" so her show's intro says.

I like watching her because there is something comforting about seeing someone who has all the answers and is so sure of herself that she even shouts it. I admire people who can think through things quickly and clearly - I've never learned how to do this. I waiver and worry too much about reactions to my opinions. I like her cuz she's not crusty like Judge Judy. I think I take comfort in watching people open their mouths in disbelief when they realize that all their emotions and feelings don't have anything to do with justice. What they are looking for is mercy.

This reminds me of a quote by the late, great forgotten, Atheist turned Catholic apologist, G.K. Chesterton: "Children are innocent and love justice, while most adults are wicked and prefer mercy." I wonder if it's true. I think the first part is. The part I keep coming back to is "most adults are wicked." Who of us wants to be defined in this way? Yet, these things go through my head cuz I'm not quite comfortable with the notion that we are all basically good. Given the opportunity, I think that I generally will act in a self-serving manner. I've had to be taught to be less so. Hopefully those of us with wicked streaks can find justice tempered by mercy.

At any rate, I didn't plan on writing all that.

2nd: Thank Allah for a good new show! I've gotten hooked on the CW's Monday night show "Aliens in America" about a Wisconsin family and the Pakistani exchange student who lives with them - they thought they were getting a European jock.

This show is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. Raja is quite possibly one of the most sincerly charming, most hysterical characters I've seen in a while. Here's a preview clip:

I was going to try and end this blog by drawing some comparison between these two shows, between Marilyn and Raja and their views of the world, but that would get a bit too much like a sermon. And while I enjoy a good sermon (having grown up listening to my father in the pulpit at church every Sunday.), I am not a preacher and not good at composing sermons.