Anja and I have been wracked-the-eff-up all weekend with a wretched wretched relapse of what must be that pig virus that everyone's talking about. But illness has one perk – TELEVISION (or, rather self-granted-permission to watch lots o' it). This weekend I've seen multiple pretty good to very good movies on the HBO (Grey Gardens [the hollywood one], Changeling, Horton Hears a Who, with Horton coming in tops on my list).
[For some reason, at least for a year, we've got a package in which it was cheaper to get HBO than not to, so, for the first time in my adult life, we've got it! Too bad all the best series' have moved elsewhere, but it's nice to catch a Conchords first run, and that Larry David guy may finally be growing on me a little, maybe.]
BUT the point is that this sick, lost weekend has allowed us time to finally begin watching our library-borrowed Mad Men, Season One, That's right, I said season ONE – go ahead, judge if you must. (& now I'm eager to go read all the stuff that Cherchez's written about MM, but I fear spoilers. [Sarah, can you send me just your season one posts?]) We're both enjoying it muchly. In many ways, it's about the most feminist TV I've ever seen, almost makes me want to start a blog about masculinity or sumpin'.
I wish my mom were around to discuss it and tell me how this version of life for American women in the late-50s, early 60s was, well, really that bad. (and, come to think of it, to ask my uncle, who was one of those guys, a Mad Ave artist, albeit a Jew, whether it was really that good in terms of perks and lifestyle) And how Mad Ave, say, compared to academia back then. And I will ask my dad, but Sheila Berger's take on Mad Men would've been very interesting indeed, I'm sure. I'm actually sure how much she'd like the show, but I'm pretty sure she'd be a Don Draper fan whether she liked it or not.
And she woulda loved Horton, too, almost as much as when she read it to me back in the day.
More organized thoughts when the fever's all gone. Bundle up! Take your vitamins! xoxo -j
