11:07 p.m. | 2004-05-18 One Person�s Paradise Is Another�s Hell. Yeah. I�ve been watching Colonial House. In case you don�t know about it, it�s on PBS. To me, it�s a combination of a reality show, documentary and living history experiment. It catapults 21st Century folks back to 1628, where they have to establish a colony. Or perish. Except they won�t really do either. One fellow summed it up nicely in two words: hypothermia and hell. Hee. And, that was said aboard ship, before they even touched land. Then there was the profound realization that not everyone came to America for the same reason. That it was a very diverse group. Heh. Not as colorful as now, but hello? I mean, I�m learning a lot of stuff about American History just watching this show, but how clueless are the participants? Do people really think that all the European settlers of this nation were Puritans? Uh, no they weren�t. Nor were they all from Europe. And, lets not forget the people who were already here. What hasn�t changed is human nature. That was confirmed today through informal research methods used at lunch with Colleague (C) and OMC. Here�s that. (CI:) Hey, have either of you seen Colonial House? It�s a new reality show. Kind of. (OMC:) No. I�m really burned out on reality shows. (C:) No, never heard of it. (CI:) It�s cool. The participants have to create a new colony, circa 1628. It�s really interesting. (C:) What�s the prize? (CI:) Uh, well� there�s no prize and no one gets voted off or anything. (C:) If there�s no competition, what�s the point? I�d never watch it. Who�d even sign up for it? (CI:) People interested in history � which I know you�re not � but lots of people are, you know. And, to learn. Not everyone�s motivated by a �prize�. And, there�s the whole other thing� people from the 21st century have to go back in time� women are subjugated, once again, and there�s indentured servitude� all the religious and political ideals� people are thrown back into history� (C:) But there�s no competition. Is Average Joe done now or are they doing another season? It�s funny in a way because �America� � I�ll just pretend it wasn�t a nation before �white people� came here � to make this discussion easier. However, it was a Nation before my ancestors ever put their pretty little foot � or disgusting appendage � on the ground. That said, the folks that actually came to America weren�t those you�d write home about. A lot of them were criminals. Many were nonconformists. Some were religious and many weren�t. And, I swear to you that the people that signed up for Colonial House are the spawn of their ancestors. Truly. I mean, people didn�t come to America to �win� a million dollars. Or to compete in a marathon. They weren�t the prodigies of an American TV reality show. Sure, they came to make money. But, it wasn�t just sitting there as a prize. Well, excepting all the gold, silver, oil and whatnot. Still though, you had to work it. Landing in Maine and living in a log cabin does not a fortune make. Just so you know. As an aside, there's actually only one person, so far, from Europe on the show... the rest are from, um, America. The Governor's from Texas. Conservative, Baptist preacher actually, from Wacko. Wacco? Wacca? Wicca? (Stepping right outside the lines now.) I don't know. It's pronounced "Wayco". Well, in Texas. I did take great pleasure in seeing one of my �own� in the crowd. You know, the person who needs some �personal space�, �alone time�, and well gets kind of claustrophobic when the village reaches a population of 24? Yeah, me too. And, he used the same justification I would�ve used� that he wanted to really �experience� the year of 1628, and exploration was probably a main job back then. So he went exploring. All the way out of bounds and into town. To a pub. I can relate. At least he could go out and about exploring. You know, as a man. Yeah, it�s not so cool for women in the Colonial House. Unless you like being under the thumb. If that�s the case, it�d be heaven. Lets not even talk about the mandatory corset rule. Considering the colonial punishments, I�d already be branded for not covering my head, not wearing my corset, swearing and blasphemy. That�s presuming, of course, that I was on my best behavior. Honestly though, considering colonial times measured against my current life style, I�d probably be burned at the stake. I�m suspect because I�m female, older, not married, and childless. Oh, and I like cats. Obviously, I�m a witch. your thoughts? seed flower