Jacob Makes Me Want To Be A Better Man...

And by better man, I mean woman.

You see, I frequent this site called Television Without Pity which does snarky recaps of television shows (you can find the link in my link list which thanks to Katiedid is now in existence), and has forums so you are able to snark on television shows.

Anyhow, I always have a favorite, and the site is filled with wonderful writers, but every now and again there comes a recapper that blows my mind.

Now there's a difference between someone who's an absolute literate genius, and someone that you love in a way that's only makes sense to you. These are both hard qualities to find, and sometimes you can find one and not the other, but very rarely, you find someone who encapsulates both.

This was done by the one and only Jacob C. I've fallen in love, and he has a thread devoted to the loving of him, but it is more topic specific so I decided to write it here.

In today's culture many people are caught up with trying to sensationalize the extraordinary. There are freaks everywhere, acts of dysfunction everywhere, it's like people forgot what it is to be normal. The problem with this is that while it's great to step outside yourself, it's even better to take a look at who you are, and to even, sometimes, appreciate that.

Reading a Jacob recap is like watching a woman trying to decide which pair of shoes to buy. Now that may sound odd, but if you are a woman, and you've shopped for shoes, you may understand what I'm getting at. You see, when trying to decide between say, a red pair, and a green pair, the question is not simply, "Do I like red, or green?". For a true shopper, you have to consider the implications of your purchase. Do I need another pair of red shoes? Can you ever have too many pairs of red shoes? Do I have anything to match the green shoes? But does that matter? Can I mismatch the green shoes and end up matching? What does red say? What does wearing green make my legs look like? Do I need a pedicure? I should get a pedicure to go with my new green shoes. Or do I like the red? A lot of people would call that unneccessary torture, but I call it fun.

In Jacob's recaps, he writes the way he thinks, so you don't get the cut and dry 'here is the answer to the question' that so many authors trick you into thinking is original. He constantly flip flops, and changes his mind and has new revelations just like people. He can go from being passionate about something to being meh about something and the whole time you sit there nodding your head because you just get it. You may not always agree with it, but it's there and you appreciate that.

When you read his recaps you feel like you're sitting there, right beside him, reading along as he types. And you may comment on something, and he goes back and changes it because he agrees for the moment. The amazing part of that journey is that he is able to do this on a pretty universal level. Everyone can take something from his writing and have it be completely original to them. The only downfall is that to an extent he'll never know how much of an impact something so seemingly simple, or nonsensical can have on any given person.

Luckily through the power of email I have the ability to communicate with him, but the one thing that remains constant (and frustrating at times) is that this is his job. And I'm but a poster. It's like trying to become friends with your teacher, it's just not possible until you graduate.

So why all the love? Well, I think it's important to give credit while it can be given. I read a lot and want so much to be able to tell James Baldwin, or Larry Duplechan, Ethan Mordden, or even Terry McMillian how they've influenced me and entertained me, but I can't. I don't know them, some of them are dead, but I can email Jacob. Does he care? Sure, why not? I don't know, I like to think he thinks it's nice though, and that's what matters. Just getting the feeling through.