I know everybody says this but... I don't watch much television - really. However, there are a few shows I make a point to turn on, one of which is Weeds, in which "Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) struggles with the sudden death of her husband and agonizes over how she'll support and raise two young boys on her own. Without any discernable career skills, the widow Botwin finds good paying work as the local pot dealer in the pristine, new LA suburb known as Agrestic."
Allrighty then... - what's probably even worse is that my 19-year-old son turned me on (no pun intended) to it over the summer, so I spent a few sleepless nights catching up on all the back episodes of Seasons 1 and 2 so as to be ready for the third when it premiered last month. The theme song is Malvina Reynolds' Little Boxes, and her version played for all of Season 1 - Season 2 found a different musical artist covering the song each episode, showcasing such diverse talent as Elvis Costello, Death Cab for Cutie and The McGarrigle Sisters.
I think the show is clever, intriguing and unpredictable - about the only thing you can count on is that Nancy is going to have some sort of franchise coffee drink (hot or cold) in each scene... which brings me to today's poem-inspired theme...
P.S. My other TV shows of choice: Antiques Roadshow, Iron Chef America and Jeopardy - I happen to *adore* Alex Trebek, and I have a feeling I could, charmingly, get him to stack the deck for me... with Creative Song Lyrics; Alice Hoffman Novel Characters; The Colors of the Rainbow; Best Children's Books of All-Time; and Denim, Batik, and Macrame (oh, my!): Have the 60's Really Come Back?... :-)
POEM: A New Lifestyle by James Tate
People in this town drink too much
coffee. They're jumpy all the time. You
see them drinking out of their big plastic
mugs while they're driving. They cut in
front of you, they steal your parking places.
Teenagers in the cemeteries knocking over
tombstones are slurping café au lait.
Recycling men hanging onto their trucks are
sipping espresso. Dogcatchers running down
the street with their nets are savoring
their cups of mocha java. The holdup man
entering a convenience store first pours
himself a nice warm cup of coffee. Down
the funeral parlor driveway a boy on a
skateboard is spilling his. They're so
serious about their coffee, it's all they
can think about, nothing else matters.
Everyone's wide awake but looks incredibly
tired.
QUOTE: "Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death and sweet as love." ~ Turkish proverb
QUOTE: "Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death and sweet as love." ~ Turkish proverb
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