Apropos July 4th

[selenak]

My Feuchtwanger lecture today in Freiburg was well received, which makes me feel vaguely respectable. Also, I finally managed to find a phone access that works in the academic monastic quarters where I'm staying for the weekend, so I get to post this in time:

Things I Love About America,

or,

It's Not Always Criticism


- the spontanous friendliness and generosity I encountered in many Americans, again and again
- jazz and rock’n roll
- hiking to the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, and the view from same
- certain wonderful genre tv shows and the writers and actors of same
- swimming in Lake Erie, with waves that belong to the sea and yet have no taste of salt in them
- hearing stories of ghosts, crazy relations and tough Japanese women married to Cajuns in Louisiana
- mountains, ice, sea and woods of Alaska (but not the moose – ask honorh why)
- walking through Manhattan on a warm night after a good play in the theatre, watching all those lights
- Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim
- The much maligned Hollywood
- Having breakfeast in a New York Café
- The Universal Studios
- The enormous capacity for idealism and enthusiasm
- Skiing and living relatively cheap in a Nevada casino, of all the places (only in the US…)
- The fact Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey as the national symbol (“it is a noble bird”) and Jefferson wanted a dove
- The friends I found through personal encounters and through the internet.

Comments

[angeyja.livejournal.com]

Just a quiet thank you. :)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

And virtual hugs back.

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

Couldn't agree more.

And America loves you too. Or, you know, the much maligned Hollywood does, anyway. *g*

[selenak.livejournal.com]

We can be maligned together.*g*

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

thanks, these are nice. I'm over here in the US of A thinking about all the things that suck right now, and it's nice to read a positive post.

note the Griffith observatory tie-in w/the JD icon.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I did notice the tie-in.*g* Incidentally, an aquaintance of mine, fan of AtS, living in Los Angeles, actually never had been to the Griffith Observatory before we went there during one of my visits to Los Angeles, and then I could demonstrate that they had consciously stylized Angel to look like Dean (well, as much as DB can) in the scene with Judy (!) there, complete with red jacket.

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

yeah, I love that scene -- much of what Angel-love I have comes from that episode; the man do wear those 50s fashions well.

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

yeah, I love that scene -- much of what Angel-love I have comes from that episode; the man do wear those 50s fashions well.

[illmantrim.livejournal.com]

grins and floves from America!

and congrats on yer l;ecture going well!

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Thank you - btw, I was tempted to mention certain superheroes as something I love about America, too...

[illmantrim.livejournal.com]

chuckles
by all means!

Wonderful list!

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

My favorite thing about America at the moment is that we have the ability to vote Bush out of office. :-)

Re: Wonderful list!

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Excellent point, that is a great, great plus. I can't recall any American election I've been so emotionally invested in...