Guest-Starring Roles: Cheaper Than Therapy

Have you seen the CBS show "How I Met Your Mother" yet? I mean, it's been on for, like, two years, people! Come on!

I rarely watch it, but this show is freakin' hilarious. It's about a group of New York 20-somethings, told from the point of view of Ted, one of the friends, who is recalling to his future children how he met their mother. The former Doogie Howser, M.D. plays one of the 20-somethings, and I find him perfectly adorable and smarmy in all the best ways. Alison Hannigan, who I loved on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is another, and she's cute and charming and funny. I rarely laugh out loud at something on TV, but this show is reliably funny enough to make me choke on something every time I watch it.

In general, the show is truly one of the best things around, which is why I was stunned when they announced they had cast Britney Spears in a guest-starring role on the show. Seriously? Didn't she do, like, one bad road trip movie about eight years ago?

I just watched the episode. I am just stunned, but she's actually not awful, as long as your expectations are low. Okay, she's still the worst thing about the show, but since it's a great show overall, it all kind of averages out. Her weave looks terrible, her acting is a little community-theater, and she still looks like she's fighting a case of the crazy, but I give her credit for making an effort to derail her own trainwreck.

You can watch the show online for free, here.

Google Keywords Strikes Again

I gotta say, it just gets better and better all the time.

you smell wast rock its coking rock: Your problem is obvious.

Tsunami marketing campaign: Vacation on the beach in Thailand, anyone?

Secret of good photojournalism: There are two. An unlimited budget and a flexible view of situational ethics.

Place to go on a Thursday: Somewhere with dollar beers, I'm thinking.

Only child boring: Let me make a suggestion: maybe it's you who's boring.

My route to college: In a nutshell, be offered an athletic scholarship you don't want. Pay out of pocket to go out of state. Annoy your parents to no end.

Mom on sex machine: ...Please tell me that's another word for, like, an elliptical trainer or something like that.

I wanna be Santa Claus: I don't think the job is open.

Google: You googled Google and ended up here? Really? I think your internet might be broken.

Bad mom blog Molly: Yeah, whoever you are, say it to my face.

Roundup and Aspartame: I guess I should stop watering my African violet with Diet Coke, huh?

April Will Certainly Be Cruel To Me, At Least

Oh, remember back in November? Do you remember that miserable month last year, right after my in-laws were here for three weeks under the most appalling and stressful set of circumstances I really can imagine? That month where I committed to blogging every day for a month, because, well, basically because if everybody jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge I would totally do it too?

So they've made it a thing for every month, not just November, and because blogging every day over here is not enough, not when my job...oh, my job. My job, it is terrible right now. I have no words. It's enough to make me forget to clear my browser history at work. Ever heard of being Dooced? That would be really passive-aggressive of me, wouldn't it?

So the theme is letters, and I like letters, and so I'm going to try it in April. I'm hoping that it will be cathartic for me, and will maybe pad the impact that my professional life is having as it blasts into me full-speed, over and over again.

Things To Do Before I Go, 26-30

OMG! Mighty Girl linked to me!

26. Learn to sew.
27. Own a sports car.
28. Invent a flavor of ice cream.
29. Learn to sail in the Caribbean.
30. Grow my own vegetables.

A Little Over-Emotional, Thanks, And You?

Maybe one of the best Christmas gifts I've ever gotten was the box set of "The West Wing" series. I am devouring it and it is as powerful and inspiring as it was the first time around.

Last night, I was watching one of the documentaries on the show, and they were talking about how Leo McGarry's character came to New Hampshire to see Jed Bartlet while he was still the governor. In a flashback, Leo sticks a cocktail napkin with the words "Bartlet For America" scrawled on it to an easel, and the President, for Christmas, when he's running for re-election four years later, frames the napkin and gives it to Leo for Christmas.

John Spencer, who played Leo, talks in the documentary about the scene where he opens the gift, and he got emotional when he talked about it, the nature of his friendship with Martin Sheen, and Leo's friendship with the President.

Spencer died of a heart attack in December of 2005, and someone on YouTube made this tribute to him. The song playing in the background is "For Good," from the Broadway musical Wicked. Kristen Chenowith, who played Annabeth Schott on "The West Wing" as well as Glinda in "Wicked," performed this song at Spencer's funeral.

I get a little farklempt every time I watch this video. The song is a lovely sentiment and Kristen Chenowith, who I don't care for as an actor, performs it so beautifully. I imagine that filming this episode, which was made several weeks after Spencer's death, must have been incredibly hard for the other actors. Watch Martin Sheen hug Allison Janney when she comes to deliver the news--as she turns away, you can see tears on his face. Josh's face, in the final scene of this video, where he colors in Nevada and puts the final electoral vote count on the board, then looks at the pictures on the bulletin board and finally says "Thanks, Boss"--I'm sure Bradley Whitford isn't doing a lot of acting in this scene either.

Anyway, this is great, if a little emotionally-terroristic.

100 Things to do Before I Go, 16-25

16. Drive fast on the Autobahn.
17. See a Major League baseball game at every stadium.
18. Be great at my job.
19. Make puff pastry from scratch.
20. Own a dog again.
21. Do pilates.
22. Take classes in photography, sculpture, weaving, and pottery.
23. Learn to spin my own yarn.
24. Swim naked in the ocean at night.
25. See my son do something great (win a Pulitzer Prize, lead a big group of people, etc.)

Miles To Go Before I Sleep

After a week at work that has thoroughly kicked my ass to the pavement and laughed while I cried, I've been thinking about other things that I could be doing with my life. Because what better to think about when you've worked a 40-hour week by Wednesday mid-afternoon because you work in the non-profit housing counseling industry and there's an economic recession and a mortgage crisis on?

Maggie Mason, better known as Mighty Girl, has been writing lists of things to do before she goes. I love her list. I love it so much, I decided to write my own, in several pieces. Today, I bring you 1-15 of my list of Things To Do Before I Go. I'm not planning on going or anything, I just love this list and the thought behind it. I've done several of these lists throughout my life; some of the things on it were so important to me at one point but not so much now, some I've accomplished, and some I don't even have a plan for yet. Also, these are in no particular order. Please leave me a comment with some of your own, or consider doing a list of your own.

100 Things To Do Before I Go, 1-15

1. Teach Max to cook.
2. Learn to surf.
3. Do something I don't think I can do (run a marathon, sing in public, etc.)
4. Watch the sun set in the desert.
5. Watch the sun rise in the mountains.
6. Write a play.
7. Make really great marinara sauce.
8. Write for a living.
9. Hang glide.
10. Make a quilt from Max's baby clothes.
11. Take a vacation with my best friend.
12. Stop being mad at my parents.
13. Go to India.
14. Own my dream house.
15. Knit a sweater that I would actually wear.