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Nice

You know, it’s nice not being a professional writer. I can stare at this blank screen all day and not have to come up with a single idea. It’s nice. I was sitting here, trying to think of something to blog about and then it hit me – nothing. There’s nothing on the screen when you first start but as you continue, the screen fills up. In addition to that, I was conveying the idea that I’m not a professional writer but someone is reading this. The difference? I’m not getting paid, stupid. What do you think ‘professional’ means anyway? Jeez.

You know what else is nice? Sunny days with cool breezes like today. It was beautiful outside but if I lived in weather like this everyday I think I’d get bored.

[Major snip here. Don’t worry, you didn’t miss anything]

You know what else is nice? The smile from a pretty girl. How about a hug from a child. All nice things. Clothes that fit well. Not making a typo in something you’re writing. Winning an argument. Having the right answer when somebody asks you a question. Nice…

[Another snip here. If I refer to something that doesn’t make sense, it probably came from one of these ‘snips’. I’ve tried to be careful but I’m human].

“The Wonder Years” is back on TV in re-runs. I had forgotten the youthful innocence of that show. Also showing: “Alice”. I guess I didn’t realize that show was on for 9 years. When I was in school (at some age, I’ve forgotten) I would come home and my Mom and I would watch that show. I tried to relate to the problems Tommy was going through but I really liked the ‘zingers’ that were handed out at Mel’s Diner. “Kiss My Grits”, “Stow it!” etc.

There is one major difference between these shows and what’s on TV today: Theme Songs. For “Alice”, Linda Lavin sings the song over the opening credits. The pictures convey the back-story of what you’re about to see – how Alice got in her predicament.

“The Wonder Years” opens with Joe Cocker crooning a Beatles cover tune. The credits run as home-movies of the young ‘Arnold’ family roll like a warm box of popcorn.

It just seemed like the old shows were more interested in letting you know what the basic jist of the show was whereas today, they figure you already know. I think a small art form was lost. I’m trying to think of the shows I watch now that have opening credits.

“How I Met Your Mother” has an opening theme song with pictures of the cast ‘in the past’.

“The Office” has home-movie style shots of Scranton, PA then drops into shots of the cast as their names are shown at the bottom.

“ER” used to have a nice opening that showed each cast member in character shots with their name underneath. Now it’s just a quick nod to what the opening song used to be.

On the other hand “Monk” has a pretty nice opening sequence. Music by Randy Newman. The song talks about his fears and phobias while you see them displayed from past episodes. The first season had an instrumental song open the show. It was jazzy and bouncy and I liked it. Then they changed it. I still think it’s nice.

“Cops”. Uh-oh, bad boys gonna getcha.

“Desperate Housewives” has a pretty unique opening but I don’t know that it sets the tone correctly for the show.

There are other shows I watch but these stick out in my mind.

You know what else is nice? TiVo. I like that it remembers to record shows I sometimes forget. I also like that it can snag shows it thinks I might want to watch. If I don’t want to see it? I delete it. It’s as easy as that. I had to take “Grey’s Anatomy” off of TiVo because the show is notorious for running a minute or two long, which TiVo would cut off. So I have to remember to set the VCR or watch it on Friday night.

A new thing channels are starting is to have the whole episode online. I’m not sure why they’d “give it away” like that, but it’s nice. There were a couple of “Grey’s” episodes I missed both nights and I watched them online. Like this past week I had fallen asleep early and I must have set the VCR incorrectly on Thursday. I forgot to set it on Friday when I was out until all hours. So I eased into Saturday and ended up watching the episode online.

I’ll leave this by the doorstep[Did I refer to that earlier? It may have gotten deleted].

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