Sunday Nights and First Steps

So I was willingly watching The Walking Dead on Sunday nights (often through my fingers), and getting more and more engrossed in the personalities on the show. What about that season ending... Dale! Shane! Meshone! I'm very attracted to survivor stories: to the emotional and logistical challenges when life itself is at stake; at how groups of people interact and how the dynamics evolve. Blimey, and now I have to wait MONTHS for the next season.

That disappointment was softened by the return of Mad Men. Interesting... there seems to be no particularly strong story arc going through this season, but I'm revelling in the characters and their evolutions. It's feeling very soap-opera-ish. So much so that I'm losing interest in the ghastly Frank/Carla business on Coronation Street (remember we're about 3 months behind the English schedule).

SPOILER ALERT!!!

On Mad Men, I found Megan's decision to go back to acting interesting. She's obviously thrilled with that, and why not? As Joanie said, she's got a rich husband, she can afford to be a failed actress. But I bet she gets somewhere, because, as Peggy said, she's good at most things. Roger and Don are bemused... Roger because he was told my his father what he was going to do for a living, Don because he was a child of the depression and his dream in life was indoor plumbing. Neither man probably had the opportunity or turned their imaginations to what life might hold for them if they followed their dreams. I think Don will be lost at work without her, as I think she's been the reason he's been enjoying it these last few months. And now with her taking classes and doing auditions in the evening sometimes... well, we'll see what happens. I wish we could have Chris Hardwick run a post-show chat segment like Talking Dead for Walking Dead, but I'm lucky to have some very intuitive friends to swap notes with on Monday mornings.

I'm also so excited for a friend who is currently on a long road trip of several months, rediscovering old friends, making new ones, just seeing what's out there for him, accompanied by the most excellent doggy companion. His reinvention of himself at 48 is so inspiring. Happy trails you two!

Whatever demands life makes of us, we all need dreams, and the occasional nudge to help them happen. It's funny how something can seem so onerous and unattainable, until you actually take the first step.

Here endeth the ramble.