Where Would I Be Without My Tv?

By Daniel Dessinger

May 23, 2008

I’m gonna miss my friends this summer. My buddy Liz Lemon on 30 Rock found out she wasn’t pregnant after all. Pal of mine, Jim Halpert, didn’t end up proposing to Pam on The Office. That tramp Parvati won the million dollars over All-American Girl Amanda on Survivor. And by the time everyone reads this, I’ll know what happens to our hearty islanders on Lost (What is the deal with that funky cabin?) and the mombots on Desperate Housewives.

These are the only shows that I must record, that take up precious space on my DVR hard drive. The rest of TV I can take or leave.

I’ll miss my buddies for a little while but then I’ll do what I always do in the summer—I’ll hit the bookstore. I don’t have a final Harry Potter to look forward to this time, but there is a book I’m anxious to read.

The Nick of Time by Ted Bell was just released. It is geared toward 10 to 13 year-old boys. It’s an adventure about a boy and his dog and his little sister and they encounter spies, pirates and Nazi’s. It isn’t high-falutin’ literature, I know, but there are times when I want to just read to have fun, to be entertained. My son is looking forward to the book, also. When it comes to fiction books and tweenage boys, there is nothing. And in the titles that are out there, the boys are always feminized.

What makes this book different is, I’m told there is a scene where the little sister tells the bad guys, “Wait until my brother gets here. He’s gonna to kick your butt.” When was the last time you heard that in a book? There is a tacit rule in publishing now that says all girls have to always be self-sufficient and strong, and the boys…not so much. Well, he can be strong too, and be a hero, but he can’t overshadow the heroine in strength and brains.

I’m not advocating going back to stories with weak women who can’t say anything intelligent and always need to be saved. But, as a mother of a son, I don’t think we should make weenies of males, either.

View Comments for “Where Would I Be Without My Tv?”

Jeff McCord says:
May 24, 2008 at 9:55 am

LOVED this post! I feel the exact same way!!! And you can’t tell me that the last 2 minutes of Desperate Housewives finale was NOT THE BEST FINALE EVER?!?!?! Wow, it’s going to change the entire show forever and 2 people are “buh-bye”.

Ahhh, summer… not a huge fan thanks to all of my shows going “au revoir” for 3 months.

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Travis Erwin says:
May 25, 2008 at 3:12 pm

There hasn’t been a good show on netywork TV since Leave It To Beaver went off the air, so I say grab those books and go fishing.

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Ted Bell says:
May 29, 2008 at 9:37 pm

Dear Lisa,
LOVED your response. You have nailed the problem. No books for
boys. That’s the whole reason behind NICK. Let me know if you’d
like an autographed copy for him….

Ted Bell

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