On discovering Nurse Jackie.

June 8, 2009-June 28, 2015.

In two days.

Season/Episodic teevee addiction is here.

And so are the Golden State Warriors.

AND

a bit more on writing.

The Daily News

1  Over the weekend I discovered Nurse Jackie. The news of David Bowie stopped these presses, so today's DN is what yesterday's would have been. So let's entertain with the teevee sitcom called Nurse Jackie. In a nutshell:

2  Peyton Place in a New York hospital.

3  It's a Season/Episodic show about a nurse who works the ER of a hospital, and who is addicted to every speedy drug known to man. Or woman.

4  According to this show, every person walking around is addicted to something. Not a bad premise.

5  LOTS of foul language and R-rated stuff, but it also contains some moments of excellent writing, as well as some moments of serious cringe.

6  Symbolically, the hospital is called All Saints, and it contains lots of Catholic statues, classic paintings, and praying souls, who pray in a reasonably large chapel. Great show, and great series. But after I invested two entire days watching an Season/Episodic teevee show, I stepped back and looked at that scary trend.

7  We have become a nation that agonizes over teevee shows. Not that we never did, but it has become a national addiction. 

8  Nice to be retired, but yeesh.

9  For the record, I normally spend lots more time writing, which is slower, and walking, which is healthier.

10 I must confess, however, that I shoved those things aside and became absorbed in the show for two straight days. The reason: the show itself addicts. 

11  Lots of teevee and movies demand tons of viewing hours. 

12  Interesting to think about so that you could avoid doing it. Don't you think this is a tremendous waste of time?

13  I've seen younger people spending hours designing conspiracy theories about Disney films. 

14  I give up. I'm not going to do any resolutions, but I do think I'm going to cut much of that nonsense out of my life. It's scary to think of how many people zone in to these shows, all the time. I assume it is the "liberal" media controlling us. And if you buy that one...but I won't go there. 

15  Moving On, Part One: You hit a point where you understand these three letters: SMH.

16  Ah, at some point you have to move out of the picture.

17  What kills me is that right down the street, the Warriors played the Kings the other night. I went to Raley's and bought all sorts of food, and almost stuck all of it in the fridge and then headed to the Arena. I thought better of it. Or worse. At this point, I really wish I had. I could throw a rock and hit Sleep Train Arena. Why did I not unplug the teevee, put the groceries in the fridge, walk down the street, and weasel my way into the game? I'm capable of doing all those things.

18  Instead I wasted time watching a teevee Season/Episodic (I shall refer to them as SE's hereafter). Watching a live Warriors/Kings game is now on my bucket list, especially since the Kings will be moving downtown next year. 

19  So near, and yet so far.

20  I'm convinced I could have used my wiles to weasel my way inside. 

21  But enough of that. 

22  The Warriors are 36-2. I have a short period of time to enjoy this stuff live. 

23  36-2. That is simply an unbelievable stat. Last year, Tom Tolbert mentioned the Warriors early on, and mused at how unbelievable the team was, and still his. Next time I hope to follow through and go watch some basketball. I don't make resolutions, but if I did, that would be one. 

24  Moving On, Part Two: I'm so glad I made no resolutions. 

25  I think I'll keep moving and teaching.

26  It's fun. Especially since I control what I wish to throw out there, and I've thrown nonsense out there for almost 20 years. After pulling out books on writing, I now have demons shouting at me as I compose. Stephen King's On Writing haunts me. 

27  Each day I tell myself, "Edit, edit, edit!" "Active voice!" "Lose those adverbs!" "Omit needless words!" I throw that one back into the arms of Stephen King, who stole it directly from Professor Strunk. And only then do I toss it out there at no cost. I also have one piece of writing advice of my own, and I offer it to you right now. 

28  Here is my advice, which I have offered out there before: When you edit your writing, and you find a sentence that makes no sense, shout  these words to yourself: "What the heck are you trying to say?" And then omit, change, and simplify. Boom.

29  Good work if you can get it. 

30  Moving On, Part Three: On the Wings of David King: Here is a joke I claim I made up. Are you ready? Okay.

31  Didja hear the one about the carpenter who kept misplacing his sharpest tools?

32  Yeah, he was a saw loser.

33  That was inspired by Stephen King's older brother, David, who  made up jokes. 

34  I lifted the following David King jokes from Stephen King's On Writing:

35  

      Stan: "What did the Beaver say to the oak tree?"

    

      Jan:  "It was nice gnawing you."

36

      1st Beatnik: "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"

      2nd Beatnik: "Practice man practice!"

37  Gotta love it.

38  Truly, I wrote most of this two day's ago.

39  I time-traveled to last night.

40  I fell to rest in my chair, Le Luge, and continued into a sleep that featured some episode from the immortal Veronica Mars. Does it ever get better than this?

41  Yes, right after I wrote about SE teevee, I fell right into another. I justified it because it was series that lasted a few short seasons.

42  Like so many other people, I'm a bloody hypocrite.

43  Comes with being human.

44  Moving On, Part Four: I put my phone on vibrate when I write this stuff, but I just got two successive phone calls, and one text, almost causing me to spill my carefully balanced coffee.

45  Vibrate, if you don't know, is what you put your phone on to silence it. At least that's the idea.

46  It doesn't silence it at all. It makes it nervous to the point that were it a heart, it would probably need someone to yell "Clear!"

47  I almost went over. Two missed calls and a text. 

48  I don't get many calls or texts, so it felt like a drive-by.

49  I better go.

50  I'm running the risk of boring myself to death.

51  Don't get old.

52  See you again.

53  Peace.

~H~

fin.