Really Quick

Another quickie entry. I've been listening to John Mayer's "Battle Studies" pretty much nonstop since buying it last month and am solidifying my connection to it. I still want to do a proper writeup about the album so stay tuned.

Thanks to my favorite Jersey Girl, I've become quite the Bryan Greenberg fan this year, so had to check it out when he posted on Twitter that he'd been named the Hanukkah and Hump Day Hottie by Hollywood Crush on MTV.com. The site has a nice story about the multitalented (and completely sweet and adorable) Mr. Greenberg and a gallery featuring past Hump Day Hotties.

I clicked through the gallery to get a look at the 25 guys the site has singled out for weekly honors and recognized only eight of them. Of all 25 on the list, I'd maybe consider five of them actually hot. Can I still be considered a member of the MTV Generation if I can't relate to much the network produces anymore?

Changing direction, I'm not a sports fan but am a fan of sportswriters, many of whom are the best nonfiction writers I've read. Matthew J. Darnell reinforced that belief for me today when I read his piece on Bengals' receiver Chris Henry.

Until his accident yesterday, I'd never heard of Chris Henry so don't know much at all about the ups and downs in his career and personal life, but I clicked on the link to Darnell's article and was moved by what he had to say. A passage that particularly stuck out to me was:

Too many times, a gifted person comes along, and we automatically make them a role model. Inevitably, they end up doing something to let us down. The truth is, though, that those were never the role models we needed. The role models we need are the people who let us down first, and then show the strength and character to fight back from that.

Sooner or later, we're all going to let somebody down. We're all going to screw up. But life is about how you come back from it, how you learn from it and how you use it to make yourself a better, stronger person.

Good writing, even fantastic writing, can be found in so many places, like a basic cable television show or the beat column of a local daily newspaper. Darnell's article reminded me of that and makes me want to put in the effort to seek out more. Reading great writing can only help me as I work to be the best writer I can be.