Rod Serling; A Man of Meaning

   

     Been watching some of my favorite The Twilight Zone episodes lately, and it got me thinking about Rod Serling and all of his genius. I found this interesting Mike Wallace interview with Serling on censorship, content, and commercial vs. quality. Throughout, you can really tell this is a man with dignity, a man with passion, and a man who believes in the use of entertainment to teach, question, and progress. Quite fascinating how Wallace questions Serling about superficial intentions as a television writer, where Serling keeps having to remind him it's about quality.

"I don't want to fight anymore. I don't want to have to battle sponsors and agencies, I don't want to have to push for something that I want and have to settle for second best. I don't want to have to compromise all the time. Which in essence is what the television writer does if he wants to put on controversial things... I stay in television because I think it's very possible to perform a function of providing adult, meaningful, exciting, challenging drama without dealing in controversy, necessarily."

Missing My Trouble

    A few days before this last Halloween, we had to put my precious kitty cat Trouble to sleep. Not sure why I waited so long to post about it, but I've just been missing her so much today, so I figured why not? I posted about the passing of her sister Smudge a few years ago, and now both have gone to kitty heaven.

   Trouble was an exceptionally sweet and loving cat, but choosy - she was attached to my mother, mostly, and viewed me as a sibling figure. She would warm up to me, but it would always take some caution and time - I'm energetic and have a pretty loud laugh, not what most cats prefer. But even she found it in her heart to love me back, despite her disdain for my giggling.

   In shape, she was the opposite of her sister, tiny and compact, and it probably earned her the name Trouble (given to her by her previous owners) as she very often found her way into small spaces. She also spent all the years that Smudge was alive, taking care of her. They had an odd George and Lenny complex, if you will: Smudge being larger and not all there mentally, and Trouble being sharp, and small. When Smudge had to be put down, Trouble was sad, but soon blossomed into a whole new kitty, relieved for her sister, who had had many health and mental difficulties at the time. The last few years, Trouble was able to bond with us more and leave an imprint on our hearts, as all lovely pets do.