And lo she is dressed before 11 a.m. (by two minutes)

It is 11:02 and I'm watching my second episode of Curious George, drinking my first cup of fantastic coffee and contently reading (and laughing hysterically) dooce.com.  Ah the complete joys of vacation.

I have a confession that I'm not quite sure is so secret.  I LOVE PBS.  And all the children's shows that go with it.  Well, not all ... I'm not a huge fan of Barney or Super Why.  And I can only watch Sesame Street through flipping or if I'm in the right mood.  I think my love of PBS is because it opened my eyes to the world of imagination and learning. My favorite parts of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood was when he watched how something was made and the Land of Make Believe (it devastated me when I realized Mr. Rodgers was the voice of King Friday and others).

I've never grown out of PBS.  I enjoy their adult programming: cooking shows, home improvement, the occassional Broadway presenation and the like.  But I just can't shake those children shows.  Is it the cartoon aspect (oh yeah, I still watch Saturday morning cartoons--love me some Care Bears and Jane and the Dragon) or is it that these shows focus on the best value of entertainment--making the impossible or improbable happen every time--because they can and it's more fun that way. 

To that end, I've discovered Curious George.  I never was much interested in that little monkey as a kid (the books).  But he's so entertaining now.  On the show George and The Man in the Yellow Hat have two homes.  Their primary residence is in the city and they have a country home for weekends and summer. 

At the country home, one neighbor kid calls George a City Kid.  I am absolutely convinced that he DOES NOT KNOW GEORGE IS A MONKEY.  (Sorry for the caps ... it's from reading dooce).  For the record, as far as I can tell, all the other residents recognize George is a monkey. 

And what a cute little monkey he is.  So darn cute ... which is mostly why I watch it.  The narration is clever and so is George.  Monkeys often find ways to take completely normal situations, get into trouble and then must be clever to get themselves out of trouble--even after The Man in the Yellow Hat tells George to be a good little monkey.  I try that with my monkey-who-thinks-he's-a-kitty George.  I can't tell if it works.  But then again, I suppose it doesn't work too well with Curious George.