TV review - The Good Place

The Good Place is hilarious television. It’s now on Thursday nights on NBC – thirty minutes of clever dialogue, excellent acting, and super premise. Get caught up and watch it NOW!!!

So, Eleanor (Kristen Bell) finds herself in a new neighborhood in heaven that’s run by Michael (Ted Danson). Supposedly she was an awesome person on earth. But alas, same name, different story. She knows she was “bad” and does not deserve to be there. Totally funny!!!!!

And now her actions seem to be affecting this little piece of heaven.  Her “soul mate”, and ethics professor (played perfectly by William Jackson Harper) has a goal to get her up to snuff, keep the secret, and attempt to not be appalled by her actions.

This is an awesome premise with hysterical writing, great acting, and an all-around good vibe.  I love the flashbacks that show Eleanor being rude and crude. Now in heaven, she does reflect on these scenes and we can see her try to re-write her story. The Good Place  is just a fun sitcom with plenty of material to work with. Please watch. Pray for your souls, and laugh!!!

the power of a book

I just finished Colson Whitehead's Sag Harbor and I'm ready to go down the shore. Those were the words my family used as we rattled around the basement digging up beach chairs, rummaged through cupboards for beach towels, and filled a bag full of summer reading material. We drove to Ocean City, New Jersey. Joan's family headed to Stone Harbor, Helen's to Avalon. Everyone had their family traditions and locations. No matter what, everybody spent at least one evening on the Wildwood boardwalk.


Sag Harbor is an extremely well written fictional memoir of a teen, Benji, who's family always spends summers in Sag Harbor, the beach enclave for African Americans. Set in 1985, with the Cosby show as background noise, Benji reflects on being age 15. He and his brother, Reggie, get their first jobs and are in charge of themselves during the week. Weekends bring the parents in from the city and Benji is aware of parental dynamics and mild dysfunction.

I enjoyed the fresh voice, the well written casual flow of action, and Benji's humor. As a private school attendee he reflects on what it's like to reconnect with old friends each summer, learn the latest lingo, hear the newest music, and emerge from a scholastically privileged world. Sag Harbor appreciates the ebb and flow of summer beach life and conjures a worthy cool yet awkward character in Benji (wanting to be called Ben). I highly recommend this book. Dig your toes in the sand and revel in a smooth read.


Like me, you'll yearn for a summer down the shore.

Joanne