I’ve become consumed with “The West Wing.” The Emmy Award-winning 1999-2006 series about life in the White House showed up in my Netflix queue right after Christmas and I have been obsessed.  

I watched the series sporadically when it aired originally, but not enough to remember plot points, so it’s a little like reuniting with a friend you knew you liked, but you can’t really remember why and get to rediscover again. Many nights I’m staying up watching episodes way into the night. 

The other day, I got behind a car with New Hampshire license plates and my first thought was, “That’s where Jed Bartlet is from.” For those who never watched the show or don't remember or have lives, President Bartlet, played with great zeal by Martin Sheen, was from the Live Free or Die state. I generally have no difficulty recognizing the difference between reality and fiction. This blurring of lines between real life and fantasy was a moment of slight concern for me, so I’m taking a little hiatus for a few days.  (I’m totally lying here. I’m taking a break because my Wii remote seems to have gone sideways last night and I need to replace it since changing the batteries didn’t work. Neither did cussing at it or thumping it against the table. My Netflix runs through my Wii).

Last night, I watch an episode early in Season 4 that introduced us to Will Bailey, a campaign manager/speech writer played by Josh Malina. I have a very vague recollection that he may join the cast full time later, but if you know that to be true, please don’t spoil it for me. 

Then today, one of my friends posted a link on Facebook to a project by Malina. Now, honestly, I have not thought about Malina, well, probably, ever... other than thinking he’s a fine actor. And here he is showing up in my living room twice in less than 12 hours. And, to make it even better, his project is asking fans and friends to donate to Mazon for his 47th birthday, which is, apparently, soon. My friend who posted Malina's link had spent some time with him at an industry event the night before and had found him funny and engaging, which is always nice to hear.

From his post, I learned that Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger is “a national non-profit organization working to prevent and alleviate hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds.”   The organization works toward long-term solutions to hunger through “education, strategic initiatives and partnership grantmaking.” 

I went to Mazon's website and it looks like a good organization doing great work. Even better, Malina says “a minimal kick-in gets you a year’s worth of being followed by me on Twitter.”  I’m not so sure that my $10 will be enough to get him to follow me on Twitter, but let’s see. I’ll report back. 

If you’re interested in following me at Twitter (and don’t require a donation to do so, like Josh), it’s @hitfixmelinda. I’ll set up a dedicated “Causes and Effects” Twitter and FB  accounts soon, but until then...

Jan. 11: Mazon: A Jewish Response To Hunger http://mazon.org/

If you’d like to see Josh’s post, please go to http://www.causes.com/actions/1721049

See you tomorrow!

Read why I began my blog here. 

**UPDATE: Josh Malina is a man of his word. Within two hours of my tweeting this post, he was following me on Twitter.