GREY'S ANATOMY -- ELLEN POMPEO

You've heard about it.

Read about it.

Maybe even seen it.

It's the show everyone's talking about.

But last night was the one episode of the season you had to see to believe.

How do you choose how to decide who gets to live?

It's Sunday's best TV. It's GREY'S ANATOMY.

Okay, so on top of all that, the show is well written, well edited, the music is cool, and we absolutely love ELLEN POMPEO who plays Meredith Grey.
[As well as KATHERINE HEIGL who plays Izzie Stevens.]

I know I've been lax in making blog entries about GREY's this season so far. However, I've been watching! And listening to the great GREY'S ANATOMY ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK CD.

As Meredith woud say -- "So pick me. Choose me. Love me.
I'll be at Joe's tonight so if you decide, meet me there."

You can bet I'll be there for you Meredith.
[Did you see my Halloween costume?]

Okay, well here's one posting to catch you up on the weekly inspirations of Meredith Grey so far from SEASON TWO. There's some great writing and thoughts which ironically interestingly parallel my life these days.

SEASON 2, EPISODE 1 -- OPENING DIALOGUE
To be a good surgeon, you have to think like a surgeon.
Emotions are messy. Tuck them neatly away and step into a clean, sterile room, where the procedure is simple -- cut, suture and close. But sometimes you’re faced with a cut that won't heal -- a cut that rips its stitches wide open.

SEASON 2, EPISODE 1 -- CLOSING DIALOGUE
They say "practice makes perfect." Theory is, the more you think like a surgeon, the more you become one. The better you get at remaining neutral, clinical -- cut, suture, close -- the harder it becomes to turn it off -- to stop thinking like a surgeon and remember what it means to think like a human being.

SEASON 2, EPISODE 2 -- OPENING DIALOGUE
I have an aunt who, whenever she poured anything for you, would say, "Say when." My aunt would say, "say when," and of course, we never did. We don't say "when" because there's something about the possibility of more. More tequila. More love. More anything. More IS better.

SEASON 2, EPISODE 2 -- CLOSING DIALOGUE
There's something to be said about a glass half full about knowing when to say when. I think it's a floating line, a barometer of need and desire. It's entirely up to the individual and depends on what's being poured. Sometimes all we want is a taste.
Other times, there's no such thing as enough. The glass is bottomless. And all we want is more.

SEASON 2, EPISODE 3 -- OPENING DIALOGUE
Endorphins are good. Endorphins are mood elevators. This is supposed to make us feel better. I'm stupid. Surgeons are control freaks. With a scalpel in your hand, you feel unstoppable.
There's no fear, there’s no pain. Your 10 feet tall and bulletproof.
And then you leave the O.R. and all that perfection, all the beautiful control just falls to crap.

SEASON 2, EPISODE 3 -- CLOSING DIALOGUE
No one likes to lose control but as a surgeon, there's nothing worse. It's a sign of weakness -- of not being up to the task.
And still, there are times when it just gets away from you -- when the world stops spinning and you realize that your shiny little scalpel isn't gonna to save you. No matter how hard you fight it, you fall. And it's scary as hell. Except, if there's an upside to free-falling, it's the chance you give your friends to catch you.

SEASON 2, EPISODE 4 -- OPENING DIALOGUE
The key to surviving a surgical internship is denial. We deny that we're tired. We deny that we're scared. We deny how badly we want to succeed. And most importantly, we deny that we're in denial. We only see what we want to see and believe what we want to believe. And it works. We lie to ourselves so much that, after awhile, the lies start to seem like the truth. We deny so much that we can't recognize the truth right in front of our faces.

SEASON 2, EPISODE 4 -- CLOSING DIALOGUE
Sometimes, reality has a way of sneaking up and biting us in the ass. And when the damn bursts, all you can do is swim.
The world of pretend is a cage, not a cocoon. We can only lie to ourselves for so long. We are tired. We are scared. Denying it doesn't change the truth. Sooner or later, we have to put aside our denial and the face the world head-on, guns blazing. Denial -- it's not just a river in Egypt. It's a freaking ocean. So how do you keep from drowning in it?

SEASON 2, EPISODE 5 -- OPENING DIALOGUE
Pain comes in all forms. The small twinge, a bit of soreness, the random pain -- the normal pains we live with every day.
Then there's the kind of pain you can't ignore. A level of pain so great that it blocks out everything else -- makes the rest of the world fade away. Until all we can think about is how much we hurt. How we manage our pain is up to us. Pain -- we anesthetize, ride it out, embrace it, ignore it. And for some of us, the best way to manage pain is to just push through it.

SEASON 2, EPISODE 5 -- CLOSING DIALOGUE
Pain -- you just have to ride it out, hope it goes away on it's own, hope the wound that caused it heals. There are no solutions, no easy answers. You just breathe deep and wait for it to subside. Most of the time, pain can be managed. But sometimes, the pain gets you when you least expect it -- hits way below the belt and doesn't let up. Pain -- you just have to fight through because the truth is, you can’t outrun it and life always makes more.

SEASON 2, EPISODE 6 -- OPENING DIALOGUE
In general, people can be categorized in one of two ways -- those who love surprises and those who don't. I don't. I've never met a surgeon that enjoys a surprise. Because, as surgeons, we like to be in the know. We have to be in the know. Because when we aren't, people die and lawsuits happen. Am I rambling? I think
I'm rambling. Okay, so my point actually, and I do have one, has nothing to do with surprises or death or lawsuits or even surgeons. My point is this -- whoever said "What you don't know can’t hurt you," was a complete and total moron. Because for most people I know, not knowing is the worst feeling in the world. Okay, fine. Maybe it's the second worst.

SEASON 2, EPISODE 6 -- CLOSING DIALOGUE
As surgeons, there are so many things we have to know.
We have to know we have what it takes. We have to know how to take care of our patients. And how to take care of each other. Eventually, we even have to figure out how to take care of ourselves. As surgeons, we have to be in the know. But as human beings, sometimes it’s better to stay in the dark. Because in the dark there may be fear -- but there's also hope.

[Can you tell we love this show?]