Fanfare: Gwyneth Paltrow

In case you missed her episode of Glee last night, here she is performing Cee Lo's "Forget You" to the New Directions.

I'll definitely be looking forward to seeing her new movie, Country Strong, which comes out in January and in which she sings. Here's to taking risks, and new directions! (pun intended)

Why Conan Matters

{Image via Entertainment Weekly}

Conan O'Brien returned to late night television this week. It's easy to think of him as a successful celebrity millionaire, who will never need to worry about how to pay the bills, but Conan has more in common with a lot of Americans than you might think.

I like to imagine what it might have been like for Conan back in the 80's and 90's working as a writer on Saturday Night Live. He was so close to comedic success, yet in the company of people who never achieve the kind of success he eventually would. Conan eventually achieved his dream job of hosting the Tonight Show, only to fail at the highest and most public level and lose it to the guy that had it before.

Last week, when he returned to the airwaves on his new show on TBS, Conan came back humbled and it would appear, more determined than ever to be a success. It seems that his exile might have made him funnier, ignited a fire that can die with success, and gave him a new direction. The self deprecating theme provided a lot of material.

What Conan is exemplifying is that it is not our success or failure that must define us, it is how we rise again when we fall that matters. That no matter how big we get, we can always be made to feel small. That success is relative, and so is loss.

Now he moves forward, on a much smaller network. But he has started a new legacy, instead of continuing an old one, and instead of having to be pushed back into a new time slot, someone else moved back for him. You'd better believe George Lopez didn't mind being asked to follow Conan. In Conan's life, as in my own, it looks like things are going to work out after all. Not the way anyone expected, and not the way that they'd hoped, but perhaps, in the end, even better.

After all, the only thing America loves more than a success story, is a comeback.

Veteran's Day

{image via Wikipedia}

The Conan post is on hold for a more timely and serious matter. Today we honor those who have served in our American armed forces. Last night I attended an event at which two embedded journalists who recently returned from Afghanistan showed photos and told of what they had seen in Marjah. The journalists were embedded with Marines during August and early fall of this year. I think about all the people in my generation who are spending their 20s in the war zones of the middle east. Their sacrifice is beyond my comprehension. Let's salute all military veterans, for doing the most difficult jobs and answering the call of their country.

Back from a blogging hiatus!

This fall has brought some unexpected events, but it's time to get back to it. Here is a picture of the pumpkin I carved for Halloween. Tomorrow I'll be writing about someone else who came back from a hiatus this week, Conan O'Brien!