Author: Kevin Lawver

Joe isn’t sure what Veronica Mars is about, which needs to be corrected ASAP! Since season 2 isn’t over yet, I will talk mostly about season 1.\
A quick description: Twin Peaks/noir/Buffy (without the monsters)/Alias (the spying, gadgets, and get-ups; not the physical ass-kicking).\
The show has a major season-long mystery: who killed Veronica’s best friend. The weekly cases are interesting enough, but it is the frequent clues to the main mystery and the character interactions which brings viewers back for more.\
Excellent things about the show:\
Jason Dohring and Harry Hamlin‘s performances. They both deserved Emmys! (In my not-so-humble opinion). Also, the actors who play: Lamb, as the assy sheriff; Wallace, the platonic best-friend (that is just so refreshing!); Dick, the dumb-ass lackey; Cliff, the sleazy lawyer; and Weevil, the local thug, are excellent! Great all-around cast chemistry!\
The snarkage! The bittersweet! The genuinely tender moments!\
The soundtrack! The creator, Rob Thomas, just won an Esquire magazine award for the soundtrack: We’re not pointing fingers, but it is entirely possible that Veronica Mars has hacked into our iPod. Calla. Spoon. The Pixies. [snip] The musician-turned-show creator writes with tunes in mind and seamlessly fuses each scene’s emotional tenor with just the right song, making it the only show on television that features Korn, Longwave, and Fountains of Wayne in a single episode.\
Writing that rewards smart viewers. Examples (from this season): in an attempt to coverup an affair, a woman quickly starts to paint her toenails (to mask the, uh, odors from her previous activities). Veronica plays loud music all night long to cover up noises from the apartment next door. Neither of these things are explicitly mentioned. A casual observer could take both things at face-value and enjoy the show just as much.\
The lines that get by Standards and Practices: You got a trophy for a rim-job?\
The mysteries are solved by the end of the season.\
The writers know their characters, even from the pilot. The audience may be learning more about them, but the writers are not making this up as they go along (yes, Lost, I am looking at you! And Twin Peaks, which sucked after the initial greatness.)\
The extras and set-designers do an awesome job! One episode will have auditions for a musical and in a later episode, the hallway will contain posters advertising the musical. Yay for smartness!\
The lightning and camera-work are really cool. Excellent people working behind-the-scenes.\
The continuity: The gym teacher shows up again! Mrs Murphy! Kaz! Loretta Cancun! Sabrina’s mom! Meg is still the news anchor! Miss Dent’s disappearance is explained. It’s like the writers actually know that the less visible characters have their own lives and keep tabs on them.\
Veronica Mars is on most tv critics’ top 5 list.\
Granted, the show isn’t perfect. Like, where was the household staff when the best-friend was killed? Wouldn’t they have seen something? Shelly Pomroy was played by three different actresses. And Paris Hilton guest-starred. Ewww. Simply ewwww. But even she didn’t ruin that episode.\
So, give it a chance. This year’s mystery is just starting to heat up, so it’s not too late to start watching! It airs on Wednesday at 9pm EST on UPN and again on Sat or Sun (check your local listings) and is re-aired on Tuesday ay 8pm, I think.

Kevin left his nuts at home when he went to Vegas this morning. He asked me to get some cashews for the plane ride, which I did, but then he forgot to pack them. More for me!\
Also, I am sick with a deep-chested cough that cries out for Nyquil. Yet, I can’t take any since I have the kids to watch. Dayquil just isn’t the same. 🙁 Oh, and the house is a super-wicked mess. Please don’t drop by unannounced without expecting to see a huge ol’ pig stye and me in my purple jammies.

Happy St Patrick’s Day everyone. Be extra safe when traveling tonight! Kevin wore his green shirts on Wednesday and Thursday, thus he had none for today. Feel free to pinch him if you see him. (He said it was ok this morning, so I assume he meant it was ok for everyone. Just no pinching the butt, that is my area.)\
I went shopping as soon as Kevin walked in the door last night and had a mighty fine time. Since I was out and FREE!, I did a bit of window shopping for the living room I want to redecorate. It was fun. I didn’t find what I was looking for, which is off-putting. What if they won’t have it when I am really ready to buy? But I ran into a friend and made a date for me and a separate date for Kevin and the kids. YAY! I also bought some bed-risers for Max’s bed so I can store some of his outgrown clothes under there. Yay for storage!\
Brian’s second birthday is right around the corner. I feel like we should decorate his room (since we decorated Max’s when he was two and he LOVED it), but I am not sure how to proceed. Should we get bunk beds for the kids and just use them in their separate rooms for right now? Should we keep Brian in his crib a little bit longer?\
I haven’t seen any Girl Scouts selling cookies this year. What’s up with that? Am I just going to the wrong stores?

Max just told me that “the dad on My Dad the Rockstar is a pain in the ass when it comes to camping.”

I remember the first time I cussed in front of my mom. I was in jr high and I said, “how the hell am I supposed to know…” (talking about school stuff). We were in the car and we were both shocked that I said “hell.” Max had no such shock and even repeated the phrase when I said, “what did you say?”

Kevin went to the doctor today to have his ankle looked at (he rolled it while in Austin) and his ankle is fine. YAY!

Kevin’s birthday celebration is tomorrow, since he will be traveling on his actual birthday. And what did Kevin come home with last night? A book that was on his wishlist that I had just bought for him for his birthday. The dude is in soo much trouble. If you see him today, go ahead and shout, “dead man walking.”\
Tonight is the only night we will all be home together before his next trip. Except now I must go out and do birthday shopping again. (I can’t do it during the day because I don’t have a working car right now.) So, I am going to feed him some salad (since he just got back from France and Texas I figured a salad would be a good thing), and then I am hitting the stores all by myself, before the kids’ bedtime. Yeehaw! Shopping alone is fun! And since the kids will be awake while I am out, it’ll feel like I am ditching, which will make it extra awesome!\
ETA- Oh, I just remembered that I was planning on having Kev spend time with the kids while I cleaned up the top floor, which is really hard to do when the kids are awake and when they are asleep. Oh well. Birthday shopping comes first.

Do you think Kevin’s and my parents read our blog and shake their heads at how conservative-y yet liberal we are?