torture on tv.

i am so, so sick of seeing people tortured on television. I had had it with Jack Bauer a while ago for torturing captives in order to "stop terrorism" (which, by the way, is the OPPOSITE of what torture does).

In cop shows, the torturees are always women. They are almost always sexually abused/raped. They are often partially naked, and they often end up dead (except the one they save at the end).

These shows are lazy. Rather than putting resources into good writing, plots and characters, they throw a naked girl in a dirty room with chains and force the audience to watch as she is tortured, brutalized, or anticipates both while the heroes (strong men and sympathetic, emotionally tortured women) work on finding out where she is.

CSI (all of them), Law & Order (especially SVU), Crimial Minds, Without a Trace; they're all guilty of the worst kind of television - exploitative, sexist, and violent. For no reason.

"The Wire", an extremely violent and brilliant cable show had maybe one scene in all five seasons that matched the above description. They killed loads of characters. But each death had a reason; each instance moved the plot forward or developed the characters. "The Wire"'s writers didn't throw in a torture scene and call it a plot. Once a week. Every week. With new characters who disappear the next week. That's just lazy. And irresponsible.

jetblue still sucks.

interesting comment on jetblue post. i saw those poor continental travelers stranded in bangor. they arrived about 8 hours after us, and did have to fend for themselves in bangor. and i'm grateful that jetblue put us up. but i'm pretty sure it was only because they were publicly shamed last summer after leaving passengers on the runway for hours.

let's face it. there is no "best thing out there." there's only getting there. and getting there for more money.

thing i learned today

i love being active but i also love vacation. if i could live an active vacation and never work, i would be really happy. i think this is called "being retired and rich."

thing i learned 1/8/09

i can get really cranky and nothing can pull me out of it. just have to wait it out.

thing i learned 1/7/09

love my friends. my friends are awesome.

thing i learned over the holidays: JetBlue SUCKS.

I had a major flight fiasco on my trip to the east coast from CA on Saturday, 12/20. Our flight was supposed to be direct to Boston. But the plane coming to pick us up from JFK didn't have enough fuel to "handle the headwinds," so it stopped in Salt Lake City on its way to Oakland. It was grounded there for weather, and we were 5 hours late departing CA.

But that was just the beginning....we arrived in the Boston area, which was just waking up from a snowstorm. They were plowing the runways...and we didn't have enough fuel to circle the Boston skies. So we landed in Bangor, ME.

On Sun 12/21 we were supposed to be spending time with D's family celebrating Christmas and seeing pageants. We missed it all. We spent all day locked in a "ghost terminal" (no stores, restaurants...not even a vending machine) in Bangor. Our flight crew had clocked out on their flying time. They needed to rest, and we needed a crew to fly up from NYC so we could get to Boston. But another storm hit the Northeast before we could get a flight crew. So we stayed in Bangor. Overnight.

Despite the gracious crew, the Pizza Hut pizza they provided (the only thing we ate all day), and a night in a hotel (courtesy of JetBlue, thank you), I'm still grumpy. We were late leaving Bangor the next day, and arrived in Boston a full 30 hours late.

I've never heard the "not enough fuel for the headwinds" excuse before, but figured it was a fluke. Then it happened again.

On my return flight to Oakland, CA from Boston, MA on 12/31, our flight needed to stop in Denver, CO to refuel. We arrived 3 hours late in Oakland. We got a $25 voucher for our trouble.

What bugs me is not so much the inconvenience of it all - missing Christmas with family, losing sleep and days of vacation. Not so much the inadequacy of $25 for this inconvenience. Not even the fact that we received $25 for a 3 hour delay and NOTHING for a 30 hour delay. None of this bugs me all that much.

What really bugs me is that I paid for two nonstop flights. I got two layovers (one of them reeeeeally long). If JetBlue can't supply planes to make it all the way across the country in one flight, then they shouldn't be selling nonstop tickets.

I have been a loyal JetBlue customer for 4 years. I told my family to fly JetBlue when they visit. I told my friends. Even when they quietly stopped flying direct SFO to Boston, I stuck with them. I went to Oakland.

My loyalty to JetBlue over the years has gotten me...well, nothing. Nothing. So, I might as well throw loyalty to the wind and fly whatever's cheaper. And that won't be JetBlue.

thing i learned today

don't procrastinate the morning away because you work best in the morning and evening.

BTW

i went home for the holidays. it was snowy.

From smiles

thing i learned today: embrace strangers

or at least don't fear them quite so much....

thing i learned 1/6/09

some kids respond really, really well to the countdown. "you have 5 seconds to get into your pjs.....5.....4......3.....2....1."

also, question: is 30 too old to be a babysitter?

also - i'm getting increasingly sensitive and weepy in my old age. when you're tearing up at Puff the Magic Dragon, you know things have changed.

also - one little thing said by someone else can throw me into a downward spiral of life reevaluation.

thing i learned 1/5/09

even though kaiser is a healthcare organization and tells you to take the stairs, they hide the stairs in the middle of their buildings, among examination rooms and stethoscopes.

our pelapa....in yelapa

From Yelapa Nov 08

my brother came to visit for t-giving. or, at least he intended to visit for t-giving. instead, he bought a non-refundable plane ticket for the week before t-giving.

So, d and i were free to plan a mini-vacation at the last minute. we went to yelapa, mexico.

From Yelapa Nov 08

We flew to Puerto Vallarta the day after t-giving, and then waded through yelling taxi drivers to grab a cab and then a water taxi south to the small fishing village of Yelapa. It was JUST what we needed. Yelapa is home to native indigenous people...and a number of american expats who live there part of the year.

From Yelapa Nov 08

our host was Isabel, an 82 year old expat who has lived in yelapa for 38 years. our pelapa was the best one she had (er- the only one available for the dates we needed!) and the highest up on the hillside. despite trading head colds, we really enjoyed ourselves - tasting ceviche, incredible fish tacos, daytripping to the marietta islands, and just hanging around. sigh. it was sooooo relaxing.

From Yelapa Nov 08

we were so sad to leave!

From Yelapa Nov 08