no one ever suspects the butterfly

(note: this photo was from last July. that flower isn't blooming yet.)

I think I saw the first swallowtail of the season! Either it was a butterfly or a leaf or I am having The Hallucinations. For obvious reasons, I'm going with butterfly.

Thanks to Maggie at Bootstrap Productions for saying such sweet things! I know no one will ever believe me now, but I have been working on a 'Daily Blogs I Love' post, and BP is high on the list! (btw, I know of secret easy Powell's parking --if you're ever in a position where you need this information, let me know and I'll give you the coordinates.)

and now, because I love a list and haven't done a television one in a while, 5 shows I've been watching:

Gilmore Girls: I will miss this show! It was time for it to go, I know... but there aren't many shows with such well-rounded female characters. It was smart with a heart -- I know a lot of people found it sort of twee and precious, but I was not one of those people. (I am, however, one of those people who can't watch 24 because until I gave it up I had 1800 stress heart attacks a week.) GG was about family and relationships and community, which makes it sound like it could be a preachy bore, but it wasn't. The writing was (mostly) really sharp and zingy but underneath it all was a lot of love, generosity, great music and one of the best tv-fictional depictions of modern women who are smart and capable yet still have doubt and disappointments. That they lived in a Village of Quirky Characters didn't distract from those central facts for me. I'll miss it. Matthew Perpetua wrote a great farewell piece that goes into more specific detail about what made this show so good.

LOST: ha ha ha! there were unexpected bond girls in an underwater communications station/villain's lair! Does this happen on hospital shows or cop shows or lawyer shows? Not the ones I've seen. Too bad there won't be a Sydney Bristow cameo.

Grey's Anatomy spinoff: Addison is just about my favorite thing about GA, and now they're taking her away. I'm not convinced this is a great idea, but I'm willing to give it a chance. notes: does Tim Daly have a portrait aging in a closet somewhere? how can he look exactly the same for 20 years? It's disturbing, is what it is. I am amused that Piz told Veronica he'd be taking a Pitchfork internship, when the truth is he took a position as a fertility clinic shirtless surfing eyecandy himbo who answers the phone. I would also be embarrassed to tell her.

Grey's Anatomy: Meredith, you might as well start writing your blues song now. You drowned, your mothers are all recently dead, your father is grief-wracked, lashing-out, and emotionally unavailable like he's been your whole life and your man is about to do you wrong. Next thing you know, they'll kill your dog. Oh, wait, they already did! Poor Meredith. I wish I cared. The only thing I ever feel for her is pity or annoyance. In an effort to be more generous, I have decided that she has a lovely chin -- it's distinct, well-shaped and sweetly old-fashioned. Izzy/ George is where I'm really irritated with this show right now, though. I think it would have been interesting to explore some fidelity, jealousy and friendship grey areas, but as it stands Callie automatically gets the moral high ground since she's not having the adulterous affair. I think they could have gotten a lot of tension and traction from drawing that out a little bit.

Ugly Betty: This might be my favorite show right now. (apart from GG, which is GONE.) There's a lot of madcap and insanely over the top elements dressing it up, but ultimately it's about people with people problems. Now that I think of it, it sort of reminds me of old-fashioned screwball comedy -- outrageous chaotic events set in a rarified world that Our Heroine handles with quick-thinking aplomb and physical comedy. But she's not always aplombinable, which makes her more relatable and beloved. I think Marc is my favorite non-Betty character, although I really like Christina too (and not just because she was in that Extras bit with Ricky Gervais and David Bowie, although that helps). Even the villains have their reasons on this show. I'm excited to see what happens tonight!