By Way of Introduction

          The first post is the hardest to write.  At least, it seems that way to me.  Of course, since this is the first post, it may be supposed that I could hardly know how hard or easy subsequent posts would be.  However, I have at times found myself thinking of things I wanted to post about, films or TV shows I wanted to review, and what I wanted to say about them, but I didn’t want those to be my first post.  The first post, presumably, is expected to introduce oneself and explain the purpose of the blog.  So this I shall endeavor to do.

          My name is Carissa.  I’m over 20 and under 40, and that is about as close as I care to get to revealing my age.  I’m single, have no children, but do have a dog, a cat, and a bird, who are my babies.  I’m a Christian.  I enjoy writing, playing and composing music, singing, and acting.  I have eclectic tastes.  If I seem at times to write in a manner more evocative of the 19^th or 20^th centuries than the 21^st, it is because living with one foot firmly planted in the past is a deeply rooted habit with me.

          I have a great fascination with films and television shows from the “golden era”.  Movies and shows are more to me than mindless pastimes or background noise.  They are a passion of mine.  They have taken a part in shaping, changing, and teaching me.

          Maynard G. Krebs taught me not to be afraid to march to my own drum beat.

          Columbo taught me that you can be a highly intelligent person who is clumsy and awkward and whom people assume is dumb, but that doesn’t matter - because you’ll get the last laugh.

          Frank Spencer taught me that even if you fail  at nearly everything you do, it’s no reason to stop trying.

          The Prisoner taught me that cynicism and optimism can work synergistically, and no matter how trapped you are, never give up hope and never let “them” break your spirit.

          Golden era greats have been a therapy and a treat for me.

          I’ve fought depression with generous doses of Gilligan’s Island and Green Acres.

          I have laughed away a persistent pain that had been troubling me for days watching the antics of Leslie Howard (yes, I wrote Leslie Howard - if you only know him as Ashley Wilkes in “Gone with the Wind” you have missed a great deal).

          I have laughed at Abbot and Costello and Laurel and Hardy, and cried with Frankenstein’s monster (yes, Frankenstein’s monster - Boris Karloff’s moving portrayal is, in my opinion, more likely to elicit tears than terror).

          Films and TV shows have been a portal to other times, and other places.  Thanks to them I’ve “been to” tropic isles and foggy cobblestone streets, opulent nightclubs and squalid city tenements.  I’ve seen and heard sights and sounds of decades gone by.

          If you haven’t guessed by now, this blog is primarily for my thoughts and reviews on films and TV shows (mostly those of the 30s - 60s).  If some or most of the characters, people, and shows I have mentioned are unfamiliar to you, I hope in this and future posts to whet your appetite for some of these and other great performances of the golden era.

          I don’t like the idea of juggling multiple blogs for different topics, so I may, at times, post here on other topics that I have a notion to write about.  Yo can read or ignore them as you wish.

          I hope this post was sufficiently informative.  Happy reading and happy watching!