Happy May!
Happy May! 
Top Ten Things I’m Happy About This May
(1) May sweeps! Everything on TV is new! Yippee! Sure, my DVR might be feeling overworked, but I am excited, because…
(2) Veronica Mars is back! HOORAAAYYY!!!!!! Now with stand-alone mysteries so anyone can jump in (so if you haven”t already, try watching — I mean, it”s only the best show on television). 
(3) The most stressful season ever of The Amazing Race must finally come to an end next week, which is good because I don’t think my blood pressure can take any more of this. If Charla (who seems intrepid and lovely on her own) and her insane, scary cousin Mirna win, I will literally have to destroy the recordings I made of this season, because I’ll never be able to watch it again. So…go Beauty Queens! Dustin and Kandice rule! God, I hope they win, just to prove that being competent, smart, nice, happy, and NOT INSANE will get you farther in life than screaming at people, abducting innocent bystanders, and treating your own partner like an enormous burden instead of the trooper she really is.
(4) We’re getting down to the exciting people on Dancing with the Stars, which means we get to see more of them dancing, and more Apolo dancing is SO OK by me. (On the other hand, Billy Ray, you seem sweet, but you can go home now.) Final two, in my ideal world: Laila and Apolo. But the nice thing about this show is I like everyone — did you SEE Joey turn a handkerchief into a cane in the middle of his foxtrot this week? B-A-N-A-N-A-S! Where the heck was he hiding a CANE while dancing so well? Dancing plus magic! Sold! So I don’t mind which adorable dork wins, which is a much more stress-free way to watch a reality show.
(5) Also thanks to May sweeps, incredibly exciting things are going to happen and all kinds of people are going to die — on Lost, on Heroes, on Jericho — high drama! Eeeep!
(6) And, in non-TV news, surely…SURELY I will get my house back from the burly contractors this month. With a new kitchen and bathroom and everything! Which means…
(7) We can finally decorate! and organize our furniture! and get me a fluffy chair and a fluffy rug for my beloved office, which I haven’t seen in weeks!
(8) And we can have people over! Instead of sitting on the couch and watching TV every night, now we can sit on the couch and watch TV with people!
(9) It’s finally getting warm, which means our garden looks much prettier (there are flowers popping out everywhere! who knew?) and Sunshine gets longer walks.
(10) Only a month and a half until Kari’s wedding! OK, I totally just freaked her out, but seriously, those of us who aren’t her and don”t have to worry about flowers and tuxedos and ceremony musicians are very excited about it. Because it”s going to be awesome, Kari! As Barney on How I Met Your Mother would say, it”ll be awesome times awesome — awesome squared!
One of my favorite TV writers, Jane Espenson (formerly of Buffy fame, which means she has my undying love), writes this awesome, hilarious blog that’s kind of like a course on spec script writing. She often refers to moments in actual recent TV shows to talk about why a specific kind of joke works or how to make a point in a new, different way.
So I’m going to borrow from her example for a second, although not as brilliantly or hilariously as she would, because I want to mention two character moments from this past season in two of my favorite TV shows that made me SO HAPPY because they were SO true.
First, Friday Night Lights:
Sixteen-year-old Julie walks into the living room, where her parents are watching TV. She says: “I love you guys. You guys are the best parents in the world. Good night.” As she turns and leaves, Mom and Dad look at each other. He has this PERFECT “That’s right, yeah we are!” self-satisfied look on his face. Mom says anxiously, “No, something terrible must have happened!” and rushes off after Julie.
It’s so funny, and so true (and of course the mom is right), and such a great moment to sum up all three characters, as well as male-female misinterpretations and parent-teen relationships in general. I love this show!
Next, How I Met Your Mother:
Ted is talking about his friends Marshall and Lily, who are sort of a co-dependent couple.
Ted: Trust me, not only do they tell each other everything, they want to know everything!
(Flashback to Marshall and Lily talking)
Marshall: So after the shower I was brushing my teeth and I was like, oh man, I wanted to have some orange juice; I should”ve done that first! But I already had the toothpaste on the toothbrush so I just went ahead and brushed them anyway.
Lily (with great interest): Oh my God, what happened next?
I love this because it”s also so true — I am constantly telling Adam dumbass stories like that (although he never seems quite as fascinated as Lily, somehow). How I Met Your Mother is great at capturing little, amazingly true things about being my age right now. I think this must be how people felt about Friends when they were that age and watching it.
In other news, did you know there was such a thing as a Wonderpus Octopus? I so want to meet the genius who came up with that name. He or she should be writing children”s books! My goodness. Here’s what they look like:
Pretty! Thank you, Planet Earth, for introducing me to the Wonderpus Octopus. And thank you, actual planet Earth, for coming up with it in the first place. 
Also pygmy seahorses. RIDICULOUSLY CUTE! You can see a picture under "Animal Species" in the "Shallow Seas" habitat at the Planet Earth website, if you missed them on TV.
Quote of the Week: “Here’s how you run a marathon. Step one: You start running. There is no step two!” — Barney on How I Met Your Mother