Sunday Evening

It's been a while since I've written an update. The weekend's gone well so far. Andrea came up for a visit, and we spent most of our time lazing around my apartment, playing Fable and catching up on old episodes of 24. Andrea left early this afternoon, and I've spent the rest of the day getting ready for work tomorrow. I think I might be starting to get the hang of ironing, but it still takes me about ten minutes per shirt and I can't get rid of all the creases, no matter what I do.

I still have to put my sheets back on the bed, but Intervention is playing on A&E and I'm having a hard time tearing myself away. The show is tragic, but beautiful. Too often, television shows portray contrived weakness or, in the case of most Reality TV, people placed in bad situations with the hope that they'll show us the worst of themselves.

Intervention requires no contrivances. It's the story of drug users that have hit rock bottom, and the efforts of their families to turn things around. It's beautiful because it shows the side of people that you never see - frail, weak, tragic, and, beneath it all, holding onto a faint glimmer of hope.

I'm not sure what it is about Western society, but it often feels as though we can't show weakness. We demand so much, and fail to acknowledge that we were never meant to be perfect. The show is raw, and real, and emotional.

I sometimes think that there are times when I lose perspective, and forget just how good I have things. Watching a former professional NBA basketball player, a man that has has been reduced to stealing his nephew's PlayStation, come to terms with the beauty and horrible price of building a new life... well, it tends to put things in perspective.

It's a beautiful show. I'm completely surprised by it, but it's the truth.