Who is the Loser?

I am watching Dancing With The Stars.

Why?

I blame Imelda.

But now I am hooked. It is crazy.

So who do I like in out lineup?

That is a short list: Penn Gillette and Marlee Matlin

Penn, because I saw him in person once in Chicago at the Museum of Contempory Art with his friend, Noted Unemployeed Film Critic, Tony Fitzpatrick (sorry, you might need to be from Chicago and have listened to Steve Dahl or Buzz Kilman to understand (Steve Dahl=Disco Demolition. Buzz= "Something Wild", "Silence of the Lambs", "Married to the Mob", etc., just check IMDb)).

Penn Gillette, I thought was the male dancer that most stood out from what I had seen of him previously... He burned up the stage. Was he stiff? Yeah. But he is HUMONGOUS. Like 6'7"... ooops no, as I check Wikipedia... only 6'6". I mean, a fucking WALL of a man. Is he EVER going to be able to glide across the floor like one of those 5'8" waxed eunuchs? I don't think so. Was he a manly man? Damn straight! Is he a performer? Also damn straight! AND he was first dance up! Cripes!

As for Marlee Matlin? She is FUCKING DEAF, people!

Showing us what the deaf community can achieve? Genius. My God. She is brilliant. I watched her tonight. I watched as she and her professional dancer worked their way across the floor. I watched as he worked interesting hand signals and body touches into the dance. These dances to me showed how easy it is to help the deaf and hearing community work together.

And yes, we pretend that there are chasms between us that are unassailable.

Why do I mention this?

One of my best friends, (I have three) has a sister who is a deaf interpreter. Bethany has committed herself to this endeavor from a young age. Ironically, there were questions in her family about her intelligence. But she has proved that ability is different from capacity. I as one of her sister's best friends has always felt proud of Bethany and I know that most of her family feels that way too. And even more so at this point as she is a newly singly mother of three boys (including a teenager... so you know I have true sympathy... and her son is older than MonAnge).

So I have to take an evening and question who is and who is not the frontrunners of this competition. Either way, I see a bunch of people stepping outside of their comfort zone and trying to overcome those seeming limitations...

Who is going to win.

No idea.

But I am fascinated and will continue to watch!