ode to deadwood and my sister

"'Deadwood'...with its Shakespeare-in-the-mud swear-word-marathon mix of bloody drama and dark deeds of men (and hookers)...It's the kind of series that gets people talking." (June 02, 2006By Tim Goodman)

AND so it's got me thinking and typing, a.k.a. talking to those of you who read my humble blog:)

'Just trying to keep putting one foot in front of the other' is one of the overall messages I took from this historical, mining frontier period piece, Deadwood, an American-Western fictional drama set in a real time (1870's) about a notorious law-less town called Deadwood in South Dakota.

I enjoyed the way the final episode wrapped all the different stories up. I realize this may not make much sense for anyone not having seen this HBO series that lasted only three seasons. However, there is just that pure, raw truth in it that speaks so powerfully to me-which I hope will transcend not knowing the background. we shall see.

"right or wrong you side with your feelings" -character Dan

"can you come to yourself in time to be of some fucking use?" -Dan (again) to friend and co-hort

--a question we ask of ourselves every morning, the executive producer David Milch, comments after this line of dialogue in the final episode's commentary

another great piece of dialogue

Mr. utter: you done fucking good.
Sheriff Bullock: I done fucking nothing.
Mr. Utter: that's often a tough one, in aid of the larger purpose
Sheriff Bullock: which is laying head to pillow not confusing yourself with a sucker?
Mr. Utter: far as i ever get
Sheriff Bullock: cause that's gonna be a project tonight."

David Milch again in the commentary states-"that's every night's project"

I've read some criticisms of how Deadwood was concluded and I respect Milch's defense at the end of the commentary when he says that the last line of the film spoken by Al Swearengen "camp's boss" is, "he wants me to tell him something pretty" parallels quite well how he intended to complete the show.
He says,
"tell something pretty, to please the audience you know...don't feel that the failure to wrap things up, is a failure. It's not, it's just a refusal to tell something pretty...

nothing has concluded that we should conclude about it. We gotta just keep trying to put one foot in front of the other"

Speaking truth to power is a great motif as well throughout Deadwood, as the growth from camp to town, going through many changes and outside forces entering in trying to disturb the way things are- you get to watch amazing character actors perform.

I hope this turns some of you on to watching this show on dvd--the language takes some getting used to, both the profanity and Shakespearean-like prose, I will say that much, BUT please believe me it is so worth it!

I heard somewhere that this television drama series is already being discussed in college class rooms.

Thanks Holly for introducing me to Deadwood.

grace

quote from a bubble bath bottle believe it or not!! here's to being inspired in the shower:):)

"how you climb up the mountain is just as important as how you get down the mountain. and, so it is with life, which for many of us becomes one big gigantic test followed by one big gigantic lesson. in the end, i all comes down to one word. grace. it's how you accept winning and losing, good luck and bad luck, the darkness and the light."

this is quickly becoming my life philosophy. And it has not always been. I remember when everything was so black and white and what and who was right and wrong were clear to me; made even clearer through my Christian upbringing. But now as I am older and more "worldly" shall I say, i.e. I've been outside the country, even outside my hometown would do it, taken challenging college courses, etc...AND now for me life is all about balance between the black and white/right and wrong and with that comes grace. Every person has different equations, I suppose, my goal is

humility + openness(love) = Grace

Here's a sweet lyric from the band Switchfoot, I've been listening to in the car- on my 'lovely half hour commute to work!'

"Life is a day that doesn't last for long...We've got information in the information age ,what do we know what life is, outside of our convenient Lexus cages. she said he said live like no tomorrow every moment that we borrow brings us closer to the God whose not short of cash, hey bono i'm glad you asked life still worth living, life is still worth living"

even when it's not perfect.