The City Of Angels

"You drink too much, write too little, and the only exercise you get is in bed," says one of Hank Moody's many love interests (or the sea of pointless pussy he's drowning in according to his ex) on Californication.  Some religious groups don't like this show -- no surprise there; it's a dark/light LA writer fantasy, complete with cool cars, hot women, and a really great agent played with wonderful aplomb by Evan Handler.  I never (don't hate me here) watched The X-Files because I really didn't give a shit what was out there, but David Duchoveny is pretty cool as Hank.  He's got writer's block, huge amounts of money from selling his novel as a screenplay (like I said, writer's fantasy), and beautiful women falling into his lap all the time.  And he gets into fights and hits people.  I would love to do that stuff.  The fighting part that is.  And the screenplay part.  The writer's block, well, that's a bit too close to reality.

The City of Angels is a scary place to me -- women disfigure themselves there at an alarming rate in the name of beauty, the strange loveliness of the building seems to point to something rotting and dead beneath the most exacting of surfaces.  The show utilizes this dynamic well.  We all have a bit of Hank Moody in us -- he's the guy who says what he wants without thought to social nicety, the walking id as his ex says.  But he also has to function in the world, sell his soul a little.  We all do, I suppose.  But at the end of the day, he claims that a morning of awkwardness is better than a night of loneliness and it's this glimmer of courage and hope, a bit of grace, that makes the watcher believe that he will write again and that whatever it is, we would want to read it.

Michelle's Spell of the Day
"Never think you're not good enough.  People will take you very much at your own reckoning." Anthony Trollope

Cocktail Hour
Drinking novel suggestion: Requiem, Mass. John Dufresne

Benedictions and Maledictions
Happy Tuesday!