Farewell to Liz Lemon

30 Rock ends tonight.



I'll get through it; at least it means the return of Community.

But 30 Rock has given me, and anyone else who has enjoyed this show, one of the greatest characters of all time.

The amazing Elizabeth Lemon.



I don't know how to explain why Liz Lemon is the perfect character. She is a mess- a ridiculous, Princess Leia costume-wearing, Sabor de Soledad addicted, left wing mess.

SO WHY DO I RELATE TO HER SO MUCH?

Because the humor surrounding Liz's character isn't enough. There are plenty of funny women on television right now. The reason Liz Lemon is the perfect character is because all women feel like her at some point.

For me this is pretty frequent.

Sometimes- this is how I want to spend my friday night:



And when I'm hungry, I become inconsolable.



A lot of the time, people annoy me.



And then there's my awkwardness with men.



I'm constantly trying to balance being feminine with being strong and independent.

One of the greatest scenes in the show is when Liz is pushing down her desire to make a big deal of her wedding. "It's okay to be a human woman," Criss says to her. "No!" she insists. "It's the worst. Because of society." Their wedding invitation is perfection.

I'm still not entirely convinced that Liz didn't handle this situation appropriately. Isn't that how dodgeball works?

Hopefully I figure it out before I start to consider buying a cat and naming her Emily Dickinson. After all, if Liz can land James Marden there's hope for everyone.

So tonight, I'll go by a hoagie from Which-which (the closest thing I can find to a teamster sub in Provo) and watch the hour finale with my fellow 30 Rock lovers (ugh... that word bums me out unless it's between the words "meat" and "pizza").

And though her constant displays of excellence will end with the show, Liz Lemon will forever remain in my heart as a soul sister just trying to figure out how to have it all.

Op-Ed: Open hearts for those who leave

A few weeks ago I was going about my business in the newsroom when I got a text from my mom.

“An LDS guy won the Medal of Honor.”

I immediately began to research the story so we could publish something on The Universe website. As I searched, I found details of the award.

The recipient is Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha. His actions on Oct. 3, 2009, earned him the highest award for valor in battle when 300 Taliban fighters attacked the outpost where Romesha’s unit (about 60 U.S. troops) was stationed. The battle lasted 12 hours. Romesha spent most of the battle moving under intense fire, directing men and helping the small band regroup. He also managed to neutralize a Taliban machine gun team. While attempting to take out another team, he was wounded in the neck, arms and shoulder by shrapnel after a rocket-propelled grenade exploded nearby. Romesha continued to fight and directed air support. Only eight U.S. troops lost their lives during the fight.

This battle was chronicled in “The Outpost” by Jake Trapper. A passage from the book answered the question concerning Romesha’s activity in the Church.

“His parents had hoped he would follow his father into the church leadership, and Romesha had in fact gone to seminary for four years during high school — from five till seven every morning — but ultimately it just wasn’t for him. He didn’t even go on a mission, a regular rite for young Mormon men. Romesha was better suited to this kind of mission, with guns and joes under his command.”

Automatically, for one brief moment, my heart sank with disappointment.

...

You can read the rest of my op-ed here.