Man,everyone in states that use touch-screen voting machines should bring a video camera of some kind to the polls. (A cellphone would do.) That way, should they run into this sort of thing, they can document it and get it up on the 'net. Enough of these occurrences get posted, someone will have to take notice. Verbal reports just don't seem to be enough.

I just can't believe the Dems allow these machines to be used. Sheer. F*cking. Insanity.

For three seasons now, I have been constantly astonished at the fact that this show is *actually about the ART of dance*. From the producers to the dancers to the choreographers, the focus of everything is an actual, passionate, nigh academic, love and respect for dance as art form, rather than media spectacle popularity contest.

As someone who has hung out with dancers for a good part of my life, I can attest that the judges commentary most closely resembles a high-level dance crit straight out of my alma-mater. Their critiques are (gasp!) grown up and thoughtful and constructive; incredibly knowledgeable in technique and history; with a deep grasp of the more intangibles that make a dancer with perfect technique into a dancer who is transcendental and magical; they are stern where they need to be, unconditionally enthusiastic where it's deserved, and deeply, deeply passionate about the art and the advancing of the art. (Which is why the judges stand between the voters and the dancers: they want to make sure that they have a say in who goes, just in case America misses the point. Amazingly, America usually gets it right!)

Really, it should all be too high concept for most viewers...except that you can watch it without being aware any of the above and still be completely entertained--a significant and important achievement in TV today.

It is by far the best contest/reality show on television, and makes "idol," et al, seem utterly base, sophomoric, shrill and trivial...which, of course, they are.

Oh, and Cat Deely is completely wonderful, charming and warm. You feel that her affection for the contestants is wholly genuine. She's no fluff piece!

...The one that breaks the hearts of gay men, but is in fact straight as hell.

Thruout my life, a bafflingly large number of people have assumed I was gay--especially gay men. And, at least here in podunk Vermont, I seem to set off gaydar like a tornado siren.

I am in fact rabidly, irrevocably, heterosexual. (And at age 46 I'm not showing any inclination otherwise.) But I'm also one of those straight men that just enjoys the company of women, usually moreso than the company of men. (I have noo interest in football or hunting or going to Hooters, say.) Apparently, that's the final nail in the coffin for my notional gayness: that I *actually like women.* (Which in and of itself should require some sort of commentary...)

I'm sure that any number of women I have rejected or broken up with consoled themselves with the thought "well, he's probably queer anyway..." My only point being that it is perhaps *ever so slightly possible* that some of the heartbreaker "gay" men everybody's reminicing about were in fact...straight?

Juust a thought.

;-)

Carry on!

Andrew

What I've noticed about people who are ostensibly "introverts" is that much of the time, once they are comfortable with someone they come "out of their shell" as it were, and are fully capable of spending enjoyable time interacting with those they love and care about.

While I certainly agree that "opposites attract", there are all different stripes and colors of the introvert/extrovert paradigm--some of them utterly diametrical. It may be that in fact the LW's love interest, once comfortable, may loosen up and turn in to a more verbal yin to her yang. Or vice-versa.

Some examples:

I have a dear friend who is at times so non-verbal it's almost impossible to have a phone conversation with him--huge amounts of his communicative style is in his facial expressions--and there are times when we are on the phone where I have to hold my breath and hope he's going to respond because it takes him so long.

I am *very* introverted, but hyper verbal at the same time, and fake being an extrovert really well. Yet I have no actual interest in interacting with or getting to know most new people, and have even less in small talk with strangers my co-workers--but they don't make me uncomfortable or awkward, just irritated. But with people with whom I am comfortable, I'm a stand-up comedian on speed.

Finally, my wife is horridly introverted and socially anxious. Things like parties are too much for her to bear without large quantities of alchohol. But she's perfectly happy spending time with the sorts of people who endlessly spew drivel that would make me put a gun to my head. (That way she doesn't have to carry the conversation, if you see what I'm implying in reference to *our* relationship. )

So my point is that once these two "introverts" finally do get to know one another, the whole relationship dynamic might morph once they feel easy together. There is a whole spectrum of introversion for them to discover.

I hope they find a way to do so!