"I reject your reality and substitute my own"

The writer's strike drags on. The good news is, contrary to popular belief, not all reality tv is bad. So here's a list (in more or less descending order) of my top ten favorite reality shows --

1. Project Runway
2. So You Think You Can Dance
3. Top Chef
4. MythBusters
5. Amazing Race
6. Survivorman
7. Dirty Jobs
8. 30 Days
9. America's Next Top Model
10. Survivor

Now, after my usual fashion, a little explanation. Some of these shows actually count as educational while some are more in the guilty pleasures category. Here are a few specific comments --

1. I've watched religiously since day one. I want Jay McCarroll's Chrysler building dress and I want it now!
2. More people watch American Idol and Dancing with the Stars, but this show is so much better! Just watch any routine choreographed by Mia Michaels.
4. "I reject your reality . . ." is a quote from Adam Savage, MythBuster. Nobody has more fun at work than these guys.
6. I believe Les Stroud is mildly insane, but in a very cool, laid back way.
7. Why watch a show about cleaning septic tanks, exterminating roaches, and gutting fish? Mike Rowe, that's why. (and did you know he's from Baltimore?)
10. Well, I quit watching after season two, but I'm afraid I've gotten sucked back in. . .

Goodbye too soon, Heath Ledger

As I'm sure most of you have already heard, actor Heath Ledger died on Tuesday. He was 28 years old. I have been a big fan of his for many years and am sorry to think there will be no more movies from him after The Dark Knight. But most of all, I would like to send my love and prayers to his daughter, Matilda. I could write an entry (as I'm sure many of my peers will) about how sad and confused I am to lose someone who is really a contemporary of mine. Instead, I'd rather thank Heath Ledger for being a part of a major cultural awakening in my own life.

Back in 1999, I saw Heath Ledger for the first time in a movie called 10 Things I Hate About You, which is a modern retelling of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. I love this movie. I've seen it more times than I care to count -- it's a great one to watch if I'm ever having a bad day. My sister and I quote lines from it all the time like, "I know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed? [reply:] I think you can in Europe." Anyway, after seeing 10 Things in the theater, I went home and read Taming of the Shrew before going back to see the movie again. It was really that film in combination with Shakespeare in Love, which came out in 1998, that opened my eyes to the joys of Shakespeare. I've been reading the plays, seeing the movies, and best of all seeing live productions whenever possible ever since. So, Heath Ledger, wherever you are, thank you for introducing me to the bard. I've never been the same since.

"There's a divinity that shapes our ends"
~Hamlet, V.2.10

Watch the birdie

My sister, Joanna, and I recorded our cockatiel, Squeaker, doing one of his favorite things -- talking to a Kleenex. Don't ask me why he does this, but it's seriously cute. You can check it out here, if you're interested.

Tanka poetry

I may not be making blog entries as frequently as I'd like to, but I have been writing. Poetry mostly. My favorite kind to write is tanka poetry, which I recently discovered is not exactly what I always thought it was. . .

I started writing tanka poetry in about 10th grade as a requirement. Our textbooks taught us that tanka is an ancient style of Japanese poetry, similar to haiku, but having 31 syllables instead of just 17. This appealed to me, as I tend to be verbose. So, a tanka poem would have five lines -- two lines of 5 syllables each and three lines of 7 syllables each which could be placed in any order, according to said textbook. Well, I recently Googled tanka poetry when a friend asked me about it, and learned that in fact, there is a preferred pattern -- the lines are traditionally arranged 5-7-5-7-7.

Ack! Does this mean all the poems I've been writing all these years are wrong? Well, once I thought about it a bit I realized, no. That would be silly. For starters, to be a true tanka, it should be written in Japanese so the rules have already been bent. And the 5-7-5-7-7 thing is only customary -- from what I read, there aren't too many hard-and-fast type rules for tanka in English, especially nowadays. Besides, it's supposed to be art, emotion.

Now, mostly I write poetry for myself and don't tend to share it with too many people. But, since it's a new year, I thought maybe I'd step outside my comfort zone a bit and share a few tanka with you all. I looked through my archives and found this poem I wrote years ago that just happens to follow the official pattern:

Dandelion seeds
Drifting away on a breeze
Like so many dreams
You never dared to follow
Dancing just beyond your reach

And here's one from a few days ago that doesn't:

Pyromaniac's delight
Fire destroys to create
Scorched edges, ashes falling
Find what's left behind -
Beauty in relief

So I choose to keep writing with the guidelines I remember from my high school textbook -- each poem should express a single thought or emotion and use nature imagery -- and I'll let the 5 or 7 syllables fall where they may. I find the writing very therapeutic and I would encourage anyone else who's interested to give it a try. Click if you'd like to learn more about tanka