I was pleasantly surprised to come across today's New York Times article citing the influence of The Cosby Show on the current outcome of the presidential election. But soon after, bewilderment and mild panic started to set in. The article cites novelist Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez with coining the term "Huxtable Effect". In my defense, I must say that I was not aware of the writings of Ms. Valdez-Rodriguez. I was simply writing about a theory which had popped into my head the evening of election. I didn't expect to have to defend my inetgrity so soon after launching a blog which I intended soley as a place to ruminate on things that mattered to me, but I will, for the sake of argument acknowledge that she is the originator of the term and that my idea for the piece was totally coincidental.
I have to believe that ideas are not exclusive, and I'm very pleased that my thoughts were in line with such a fine writer and noted publication as well as any other writer who has written about this subject beforehand. And I'm sure that neither she nor I are alone in making this distinction, by the way. Oh well, these things happen.
I suppose the first lesson of blogging is to research any potential subject I plan to write about before I post, even if it appears to just pop into my head. Chances are, "it's been done". I will stand by my piece, though, and I hope my spin on this is just as valid.
Btw, you can read the NYT article here.
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