A Brief *ahem* Introduction.

Yeah. Not likely to be brief, but let's see how it goes.

My name's Kate. I enjoy long walks on the beach - you know what, that joke is so tired, even I can't use it. And I love tired jokes.

Most blogs have some sort of…unifying point, a gimmick or a hook. Tech information, how to live green, the finer points of underwater basket weaving, whatever. My idea of a blog is somewhat more amorphous, certainly more pretentious and hopefully more interesting. Well, almost certainly more interesting than the basket weaving thing. Unless that's your thing, whatever. 

I like media. I live for music, I love television, comic books and graphic novels are slowly growing on me, movies are getting a little lower in my esteem than they used to be, and fiction is my first and greatest love. But as a member of whatever the hell my generation is going to call itself, that's not exactly novel. The thing is, I had really, really good English and Philosophy teachers my whole life. And as much as I love all that crunchy media consumerism, I love thinking and writing about it even more. 

I can't seem to help having opinions on whatever it is I'm consuming these days. I think about stuff like 'What Leverage Means for Cable Television', 'Enlightenment versus Imagination: Prince Caspian', and 'New Media Complications for Average Viewers' on a daily basis. Oh and by the way, if you're not watching Leverage, you should be. (TNT, Tuesdays at 10pm EST. Go. Tivo it or something.)

So that's the plan! Whatever has caught my eye or ear this week, today, this minute, you'll see here. It may be John Green's newest book, an old Whiskeytown album, the new Clooney flick (although that's unlikely), but my thoughts on whatever it is will be posted here. I hope they'll be interesting or even coherent. The motto I will always, always try to live by in my musings is "A deeper reading of the text". Let me elaborate on that a second.

 People complain (well, people I know, anyway) that the quality and artistic or aesthetic significance of media being produced in America is declining. The thing is, the problem inherent in most media produced today is certainly not a problem with the people who make it. Hollywood execs, networks, music labels, newspapers, print publishers and yes, even that Great Bastion of Free Information, Google, they're all just trying to make money. No. Seriously, I promise. They're not pushing an agenda or actively oppressing the small creative artist (in most cases). They just happen to do those things by accident, while they're looking after the bottom line.

The problem is, people pay for shallow media. The consumer is paying for their cable, their subscription, their music, that gives them what they want: quick, easy, shoot-em-up with a great hook that you can dance to. But there is media out there that deals well with issues, that reaches people, and many people do care about those shows, movies and albums. If only people would pay for, appreciate and talk up the television, music and print that touches them deeply, the large conglomerates that unfortunately control media production would…well, maybe they'd at least notice.

So. This is me, doing that. Leverage. See that. It's fun television. But it's also well-crafted television, and that deserves a nod. Expect to see a more detailed entry on that subject sometime soon.

I'm likely to write about etymology, the Authority, the nature of celebrity, con games and Coca Cola all in one week. Probably at great length, as you can see. Let's see how that works out for me!

DFTBA,
Kate