Never stop learning

I’m a big fan of The West Wing. After catching a few sporadic episodes here and there on TV over the years, I saw the entire seven series boxset on sale in HMV last January, and bought it on a whim.

I still haven’t watched the whole thing (I ground to a halt mid-series five, when the writing floundered and – ahem – Rob Lowe left).

But I’ve picked up where I left off (it gets better again during and after the Sesame Street episode, and the sixth series is currently rocking). For the most part, it is excellently written, acted, directed and cast. I love the sharp dialogue, the interplays between characters, the subplots and the bigger picture.

I also love the fact when I watch it, I feel like I’m learning something – about American politics and how it all works. I still only have a vague grasp of half of it; the Primaries? Super Tuesday? What’s that all about then? What’s the difference between Congress and the Senate? Why does the Vice President seem to work in a vacuum to the President? Why do they only have two political parties? But it makes me want to find out more – about their system and ours – which can only be a good thing.

Now I’m not daft enough to suppose that this is actually real life (I am aware it’s a TV show) – but I think it’s probably a more accurate portrayal of life in the US political strata than say, ‘Yes Minister’ ever was for ours.

But how and when will I ever use this knowledge? Probably never.

Then again, I always used to sneer at Maths as pretty pointless at school, thinking (with an sulky teenage flounce); ‘When the hell am I ever going to need that? I’m going to be a writer.’

Well, the first job I was offered after graduating with a BA Hons in Journalism was… working in a bookmakers. It was pretty grim and it's fair to say I hated it, but it paid the bills until I lurched sideways into copywriting.

Never stop learning. You never know when you’ll need it.