Something Odd

Tonight, my son is with his dad. I can go hear Gary Wills talk about his new book, "Bomb Power." Attend a panel discussion and film screening about "Complicit Destruction: Money Mines and Militarization in the Democratic Republic of Congo." Join a State of the Union Watch party. Or do what I really want to do which is to stay home, light some candles, and catch a couple of episodes of "Lost."

That watching TV is my first choice is indeed odd given that haven't I watched TV in decades, and our set doesn't even work. A few weeks ago, however, a friend suggested that if I was serious about writing a blog, I need to become more savvy about popular culture. The quickest way to do it, she said, was by watching TV. So I clipped a list from the local newspaper of the top ten TV shows of 2009 and started viewing the initial episode of each - Chuck, Sons of Anarchy, Modern Family, 24, and then Lost.

I didn't get any further. Now, evenings after my son (who until a few weeks ago wasn't allowed to watch TV except for Saturday morning cartoons) finishes his homework, we sit on the floor in my bedroom with the laptop on a foot stool, working our way through Lost. After last night's viewing, we're at Season 1, Episode 13.

I'm not sure what it is about the show that's hooked me, but it might be something as simple as its title. After all, if I'm truly searching seriously, doesn't that imply something is lost. Carry that to its logical conclusion and the most obvious something is me. Of course, my daily dramas are a bit more tame than those the characters face. But lost is lost whether you're on an island or in your own home.

I recently read that "It's natural to feel lost. Especially if you're not looking in the right places." What a hopeful thought. It means that being found is simply a matter of perspective. And isn't that what happens in "Lost?" A character finds strength when he's at his weakest; love when surrounded by evil. It's perfect and simple and just what I need after a messy day.