American me

17 years living abroad...so what keeps me "American?" My British friends would immediately point to that nasal accent, well that never leaves, unless I decide to speak with a Finnish tilt, stressing the first syllable of every m-fing word. No thanks. There's channel 722, the Fox Network on satelite, but I'm only up to season 2 of "That '70s Show." Really, the only two things that really bind American together are what TV shows we watch and what products we buy (thank God for that COSTCO outlet in Sonoda!) And whether we vote our states Blue or Red, those of us who do vote. Sure, there's my work for Democrats Abroad, but that is just a front for money laundering (just kidding, people).

No, what keeps me going is getting my hands on a recent copy of the New Yorker every week at one of my university libraries. I devour everything starting first with the cartoons, then the feature articles, followed by the tiniest details of the shows on off-Broadway, down to those full page explanations that are part of the pharmaceutical advertisements: "Sleep medicines may cause a special type of memory loss or 'amnesia.' This is usually not a problem because most people fall asleep after taking the medicine.' Trippy. I can then pretend I have my finger on the pulse of the country.

My favorite cartoon from this week, Aug. 29, has a knight on horseback, pulling a large wagon and speaking to a princess standing at the door of the castle
"I couldn't find fresh dragon, so I got frozen.'