My car also continues to misbehave. Starbucks is two to two-and-a-half miles from my house. I poured a bunch of coolant in both the radiator and the reservoir, thinking I would be able to make the trip, one way, with only a slight bit of overheating. I was wrong. By the time I arrived here, the needle was just below three-quarters, well over the customary driving temperature. Fortunately I plan on being here at Starbucks for a few hours so it has a chance to cool. If need be, I can stop a few different places on the way back to give it a few minutes to cool down. This is what I had to do the last time I dared to drive it this far— it overheated in the drive-thru line of Del Taco and I had to stop twice on the way back and eat for a few minutes to give the engine a chance to cool a bit.
Doubtlessly my car has not been helped by temperatures in the mid-90's these last two days. Ugh.
The last few days I've watched the two introductory episodes of a new show called "Parks and Recreation." I never heard of the show until I happen to see an ad pop up on Hulu. It stars Amy Poehler so I decided to give it a shot— I'm always open to a new comedy. My initial impression is favorable, but if obvious imitation bothers you, then this is not your show. I say that because the show is filmed the same way "The Office" is— the characters react to the camera because there is an unstated premise that the characters are actually being filmed for some reason. I find it engaging because it allows the characters at once to behave as if they're in a scripted show and then to step back occasionally and behave at a meta level.
In "Parks and Recreation" Amy Poehler plays a government functionary in the Parks Dept of a small town in Indiana (or some other rural "I" state). Her character is eager and completely turned on by all the trappings of government. In this she is almost completely a female version of Steve Carrell in "The Office." Poehler brings a higher level of perkiness to the character though. The current plot of the show concerns a pit— dug out by a construction firm and then abandoned for fiscal reasons— which is on a busy corner in a neighborhood. Poehler's character, seizing on a perceived opportunity to have her own subcommittee, promises to have the pit renovated into a park. As far as I can tell, this park is the plot MacGuffin for at least the first season. Joining Poehler's character is a thoroughly pleasant and corrupt aide; a former romantic interest in a different government department who actually knows how the government works; a woman who lives next to the pit and was the one to mention it in the first episode and who has now been drafted to work for the subcommittee; this woman's boyfriend/husband (I forget) who currently has two broken legs after stumbling into the pit one night and who now spends his days playing Rock Band; and a teenage girl who seems to be Peohler's daughter. (I've forgotten if her actual relationship was established.) The cast and the characters are all likable. I've enjoyed watching the first two episodes, amused by them, if I didn't actually laugh out loud at any point. I give it a thumbs-up for now. Check it out on Hulu.
I've been reading a wonderful book about writing called "The Tao of Writing." In the past I've always spurned these sorts of self-help books, but lately, in a desperate attempt to keep myself motivated, I've turned to several of these books looking for anything that will help me turn the corner. This book is easily the best of the lot so far, and I can say handily that it has helped me immensely— even during these last few weeks when I've been nearly unable to write and depressed by that block. My recent problem stems from the Blizzard story I started to write. I put a lot of pressure on myself to complete it and to write a great story. In doing so, I forgot all about the fundamentals of writing in favor of the dream of a finished product. I put the cart before the horse, so to speak. Then, unable to finish that story, my incessant self-flagellation kicked in and blocked me up good. (That's an entirely different problem I need to work on.) Of course, I need to find a way to make sure that I can eventually write a story when I need to, but what I put myself through these last few weeks was not the right way. This new Tao book has really helped me to see some things clearly.
Well, that's it for tonight. This was comfortable and fun. I hope to see you again soon!
"When Spring comes the grass grows by itself."— from the Tao Te Ching
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