In the midst of the 2008 Presidential election I had a dream that the company I worked for held a prom and Barack Obama and his lovely wife Michelle were invited. For dream reasons which defy all logic, they accepted the invitation and came to our little company prom, in Massachusetts, which isn't exactly a battleground state. During the prom a coworker of mine aggressively hit on Michelle and Barack punched him in the face at which point I began freaking out. I was worried that it would hurt his chances in the election if word got out and I'm nearly positive that when I woke up I went to check if it had made the news...I realized before I actually did so but, it took a minute.
I realize that I've outed myself as a democrat but, oh well, maybe my Rush Limbaugh loving facebook friends won't read this or maybe they'll just ignore it. I tend to avoid revealing my political leanings because I don't like to argue politics with anyone other than my Dad...he has to love me unconditionally, even if I listen to NPR.
So, why did I take the risk of incurring the wrath of Bill O'Reilly (AKA Papa Bear) fans by telling you about a 5 year old dream? Because it is my favorite example of the kind of weird dreams I tend to have. Believe me I've had a hundred weird dreams since then, like the dream I had that I was dating Daniel Tosh and got into a fight with offended audience members or the time Scott Aukerman, a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Ed Helms wanted to take me bowling but, I had to attend a Seder and no I'm not Jewish. Now that I think of it, that dream deserves its own post but, back to the point, some dreams are more worthy of recapping than others and a dream starring Tina Fey that caused me to second guess my life choices seems more worthy of your attention than my brief affair with a young Arnold Schwarzenegger.
A bit of useful background: My "Inspirational People" list on facebook is pretty short. It consists of one person, Tina Fey. Not only was she the first female head writer on SNL, she ran, wrote and starred in one of my favorite sitcoms of all time, 30 Rock as a character that I relate to more than I should admit, Liz Lemon. Liz and I are different in very few ways, the big ones being; she has a far faster metabolism, she dated Conan O'Brien, and she is doing what she's meant to do. That last one kind of hit home in the dream I'm going to tell you about. If you've watched more than 3 episodes of 30 Rock, you probably know that Liz has poor eating habits, she loves foods that are so bad for you that they can cause a false positive on a pregnancy test, she's a member of KDate which is the personals section of the Kraft Foods website, and she loves donuts, in fact she mentions and can be seen in Dunkin' Donuts numerous times on the show. So, all that makes my dream seem a bit more normal...I think.
I go to Dunkin' Donuts daily (I did mention that I live in Massachusetts, right?) and in this dream, Tina Fey was promoting a 30 Rock comeback by working the drive-thru of various Dunkin' Donuts locations as Liz Lemon. Luckily she was making an appearance at the Dunks that I go to on the weekends which was very exciting. It was on a weekday and I went to work late just so I could get the chance to meet her and I did. I calmly fangirled (oxymoron) and told her that she was my hero to which she replied, "oh, are you a writer?" I deflated quickly as I told her my job title; administrative assistant.
Now, that was kind of a bitchy assumption for Tina to make, right? Not all fans of comedy can also be creators of comedy but, I began thinking deep thoughts (not the Jack Handy kind) like, shouldn't your hero be someone you want to be like? Don't I want to be like Tina Fey? I was always told I should be a writer, maybe I should be a writer. Maybe this is a sign. I love comedy. Should I write for TV? Can I start a career like this at my age? In Boston? Can I even write? Should I go to school for it? I woke up as dream me was planning a major life change.
Since I'm not quite old enough to have a midlife crisis, I did not follow through on my plans to focus on a career in writing which I believe included a move to LA. I did however think a bit about the question, "shouldn't your hero be someone you want to emulate?" It is a good question but, while I adore Tina Fey's sense of humor, her accomplishments are just as impressive. Maybe I love her partially because she's hysterical and partially because she is just a powerhouse of awesome. As I said before, Liz Lemon and I are different in very few ways but, the most important way is this, though Liz and I are both lazy in so many ways, she is not lazy in her career while I, the administrative assistant, clearly am.
I know Liz is just a character Tina plays, don't worry you don't have to call Dr. Spaceman, I don't need any purples. It just struck me how I have considered myself and Liz so alike for so long without realizing, she's a very successful woman who does what she loves and so is Tina. So, maybe I can't and shouldn't drop everything to be a writer. Maybe I should just make an effort to do something I want to do which is not what I'm doing now. So, in honor of my hero, Tina Fey I'm going to do something I enjoy...which for me would be working in IT. I enjoy being a problem solver which is something Tina has to do all the time, I'll just be solving software problems rather than actor problems.
Happy Mrs Rory is not an accredited TV critic nor does she hold an advanced degree in journalism or film studies. She is simply an enthusiastic young woman with an unfinished community college education and an abiding love for television. Share her love tonight on pizzaboozetelly.blogspot.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment