Tag: television

Best Shows I’ve Binged Lately (and Why You Should Watch Too!)

netflisAs I’ve mentioned, I’ve been watching a whole-lotta-stuff these days. Thought I’d take a moment to be helpful and share my experience. Below is a list of shows that I’ve watched recently on Netflix (and one on HBO) and reasons why you should watch them too (unless you’re a writer–in that case, STAY AWAY FROM THE TELLY and go write!).

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YOU (Netflix, One Season, Ten Episodes)

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Image from IMDB

Think Dexter meets Millennials. I loved this creepy story so much. My favorite thing about YOU was the main character, Joe, played by Penn Badgley. A perfect anti-villian, he’s the absolute worst. But he’s brilliant, handsome, and even though you want him to get caught, you still think that maybe he could be fun to hang with when he’s not being psycho (kind of like Dexter, right?).  I love how he manipulates social media to serve his sociopathic purposes, and of course, I love that he’s a book store guy. I also had major hair envy with Beck (Elizabeth Lail), Joe’s obsession. In fact, I tried to middle part my hair and make waves like hers when I finished watching YOU but it didn’t work so well. Bonus: JOHN STAMOS plays a therapist. Try YOU if you enjoy charmingly creepy villans and a show that will make you say, “oh no he didn’t!” out loud almost every episode.

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DEAD TO ME (Netflix, One Season, Ten Episodes)

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Image from IMDB

Possibly my favorite recent binge, I’ll start with this: Christina Applegate is Everything. Bold statement, I know, but it’s so true. Her character, Jen, is a widowed mom. She’s losing her shit so she goes to a widow support group and meets Judy (Linda Cardellini) and they become friends. I don’t want to give the show away, but their relationship is interesting, to say the least. My favorite Jen/Christina Applegate moment is in Episode 6 (called “Oh My God”) when Jen’s son is in the school play. Jen’s stressed and her life is messy, but she’s out in the audience with Judy watching her son, her shining star, belting out “Greatest Love of All” with his chorus group. Then, in the middle of the song, her son stops singing and starts freaking out at people, and runs off the stage. Everyone’s in shock and Jen just lowers her head to her hand and mutters, “Oh fuck me.” Three words– perfectly executed. It was such an anti-Facebook Mom Moment and still makes me snort-laugh thinking about it. Trust me, it’s hilarious even if I can’t do it justice here. Christina’s so good in DEAD TO ME, that she has an Emmy nod to prove it (Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series). The show is awesome. Watch this, please.

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TRINKETS (Netflix, One Season, Ten Episodes)

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Image from IMDB

TRINKETS was a thoughtful, fun, young adult watch. Elodie (Brianna Hildebrand) is a high school student–reserved, quiet, shy, a bit awkward–forced to relocate to Portland after her mom dies to live with her dad and his new family. Elodie takes comfort in shoplifting (thus, collecting “trinkets”) and is forced into a support group to stop. Turns out, two other girls from her high school are there, too:  the hot, popular girl, Tabitha (Quintessa Swindell), and the cool, casual chick, Moe (Kiana Madiera). These three seem quite different, but they each have problems that they are dealing with as they form an unlikely bond. I loved so many things about this show. First, that these three became close during meetings, but still acted like they didn’t know each other at school. Just seemed real to me. Also, it’s kind of brave in that none of the characters is perfect, and the writers let them make dumb kid mistakes. As a mom myself, I wanted to yell at these kids more than once. Probably the coolest thing about TRINKETS, though, is that it takes place in, and was filmed in, Portland. The setting seems to take on the life of a character, too. If you’re interested in a YA, high school drama, give TRINKETS a try!

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RUSSIAN DOLL (Netflix, One Season, Eight Episodes)

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Image from IMDB

I’ll admit, this show took a minute to win me over. First off, the marketing is weird and I hate the title. But Amy Poehler was involved and once I started watching, the show is actually awesome. It’s like a younger, single, hipper, city-version of the movie Groundhog Day, but instead of the day repeating every morning, the day starts over whenever Nadia (Natasha Lyonne) is about to die. Nadia’s attitude each day during the restart (the restart being at her birthday party) made me lol. Natasha Lyonne plays Nadia perfectly. Her character is gruff, has that throaty, Broadway voice, and is brutally honest, intelligent, and quick-witted. She’s probably one of my favorite female characters ever. When she finds Alan (Charlie Barnett), who’s pretty much her polar opposite but who is going through the same repeat of time, the depth and heart of this dark comedy triples. Wasn’t thrilled with the ending, but there’s going to be a Season 2, and I’m completely on board for that!

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CHERNOBYL (HBO mini-series, Five Episodes)

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Image from IMDB

Switching gears with a shoutout to HBO and a non-fiction, smarty pants watch. CHERNOBYL is a docu-fictionary, I guess (?) about the nuclear disaster that took place in the 80’s. Don’t worry that you are too dumb to watch this. I thought for sure that I’d never be able to follow, but it’s so well done and perfectly executed that I watched it twice. The writers managed to balance out the science and politics of the situation with the personal side, so that it never became too technical. Mostly, my interest in the show was revisiting the international climate of that era. I couldn’t believe the nonsense that went on in the Soviet Union when all this was happening. Lord almighty, this will aggravate you as much as it educates you. WHY ARE THEY DOING THAT is a question you will yell at your screen. I appreciated CHERNOBYL because it reminded me why I am lucky to be American.

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OUTLANDER (Netflix, Two Seasons available, 29 Episodes)

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Image from Netflix

Confession: I’m on round two with OUTLANDER. But I have to admit that the second time watching is a charm, mostly because I know the characters and have a grip on the historical background and what’s going on. Above, I declared that Christina Applegate is Everything. I’m going to add that Best Male Version of Everything goes to Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan). A Scottish Highlander in a kilt… a love story… a beautiful setting… war stuff… a touch of time-traveling magic… a pretty lady with dresses… Come on, why wouldn’t you watch this? Get on it, people.

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GILMORE GIRLS (Netflix, Seven Seasons, Gazillion Episodes)

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Image from IMDB

I know I’m late to the game here, like NINETEEN YEARS late (the first episode aired in 2000), but I haven’t wanted to be a character as much as I wanted to be Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) since I fell in love with Nancy Botwin in Weeds. I’ve only watched the first season so far, but to me, Lorelai is like the clean, sane, small-town and law-abiding version of Nancy. She’s raising her daughter, Rory (Alexis Bledel), in Stars Hollow, a perfect little Connecticut town full of quirky characters. Lorelai has issues with her wealthy parents, who still can’t get over the fact that Lorelai had a baby at sixteen, and was able to support herself by working her way up from a cleaning lady to the manager of the Inn. Rory, who herself is sixteen in Season One, has issues at her new fancy private high school (that Lorelai’s parents are paying for). In addition to her parent issues, Lorelai has a flirty thing happening with her coffee dealer, a handsome diner owner named Luke, and a fun friendship with the Inn’s chef, Sookie (Melissa McCarthy). She also has great work outfits and is gorgeous. What’s not to love about a small-town, network drama, with quick dialogue and lots of heart? I’d comp this to Friday Night Lights, I think.

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And there you have it! Now go pick something to watch and let me know what you think! Also, I’d be happy to take your suggestions of what to watch next. As always, thanks for reading and for hanging out with me here on WOAW!

 

 

Drafts

Me again!

Having been absent from my WordPress site for some time, now that I’m back, the entire interface seems different (Where are the Daily Prompts? Are we not doing that anymore?). Up in the corner, next to my blog name, there’s a little number “41.”

Click on it and come to figure out that 41 means the number of draft posts I have in the can. FORTY-ONE!? Thought I’d delve into that bank of possibilities to see if anything could be revived, and here’s a sample of what I found:

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Call me crazy, but those titles made me think there may be some decent stuff in there. Well, not so much. But a couple were diamonds in the rough so I thought I’d share parts of them.

Here’s a sample of “Looking for Good Female Characters? Stick With Cable!” drafted on February 19, 2014…

Yesterday, I sighed in joy as I sat in the movie theater and watched American Hustle. It took me a second to figure out why.

In my quest to watch the films nominated for Best Picture prior to the Academy Awards, I’d been missing women. So far, I’d seen Dallas Buyers Club, Nebraska, and Captain Phillips. All boys (mostly). American Hustle featured boys, but also Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence in major roles. Finally. Let’s hear it for the girls!

Today, I talked with a screenwriter friend struggling with a female protagonist in her latest project. We tossed around ideas to give her character depth and purpose. She really wanted to focus on the character before tackling the plot. We decided to think about our favorite female characters in movies and why we liked them.

Interestingly, we couldn’t come up with much in the movie category. We wanted to stay away from the far ends of the spectrum– the sappy love/family-obsessed girl on one side, and the female cop/superhero on the other. There had to be characters that fell somewhere in the middle. Right?

Hmm….

On the television side, though, we had some success. Here’s a sampling of characters we came up with: Gemma Morrow (Katey Sagal, Sons of Anarchy), Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds), Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington, Scandal), and Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell in a television series-turned-movie of the same name). These roles portray smart, determined women, who still exhibit human qualities. Gemma is ruthless, but nobody can question her devotion to her family; Olivia is brilliant, but has a soft spot for the President; Nancy is fearless, but makes questionable choices when it comes to her family and personal life; and what I learned about Veronica (I didn’t watch the television series) is that she’s witty and clever, but still enjoys the company of cute boys.

These four roles signify a diverse range of characters- an aging biker chick, an uber-successful overachieving DC lawyer/PR specialist, a California neighborhood housewife weed dealer, and a high school student moonlighting as a private investigator. But what they all have in common is that they fall in the middle of that spectrum– they are neither all-consumed by love and men and family, nor invincible superheroes. The beauty of their characters is that they linger somewhere in between.

So, hmm, why didn’t I post that? I think it’s a fair assessment for the time it was drafted. I don’t know. I’m guessing I thought it was boring, although reading it now makes me want to hit up Netflix and rewatch some of those shows.

Moving on… One of my favorite drafts in the folder is titled “2016: The Year of the Draft Posts,” which is sort of the post I’m writing right now. It had some nice insights, and I’m guessing it didn’t get posted because I stopped writing mid-list. I also think it’s funny that I had 22 draft posts at that time, and now I’ve jumped into the 40’s. Here’s a snippet:

I have twenty-two draft posts.

Twenty-two? WTF?

I looked through my Drafts and found some decent posts. I couldn’t figure out why I wouldn’t have posted them. I think the answer is that I’ve changed. Maybe in a good way, maybe not.

Back when I wrote those drafts, I was still scared to share words, especially words that shared little pieces of me. I thought my posts were boring (they may be), self-centered (they definitely are), and/or not well-written (some aren’t). But in the past year or so of publishing and authoring, I’ve learned a couple of things.

1.  Not everyone is going to like everything I write, and that’s okay. This blog is my corner of the internet world and it’s for me. So yes, it may get a little self-centered sometimes. It’s not professionally edited. I don’t have much advice about the craft of writing or other fancy things that people talk about. But I started this blog without a purpose–the Blogger Without a Cause. I like having the freedom to post whatever I feel like.

You may not like my posts. Those draft posts may be crap, but I shouldn’t be afraid to post them. They are all little nuggets of me.

Since I’ve written my last post, I’ve had some publishing success. My first book came out in January, my second in May, my third releases in November, and my fourth in May 2017. Guess what? They aren’t perfect and they’re out there, in the world, for people to read! Gasp! People seem to like them, but those one-star reviews are tough, especially when they actually make sense. It’s a lot easier to believe the few one-star reviews than the lovely five-star reviews, for me at least. It was rough going, but I’ve learned to celebrate the good reviews and ignore the bad (as much as I can–I’m only human).

2.  I write romance. It’s not meant to be world-changing or literary genius, and that’s okay, too. Romance isn’t for everyone, but to me, it’s an awesome genre. Love makes the world go around and trust me, it’s more entertaining than Moby Dick. If you don’t like it, I get it. I really do. But I yam who I yam and I write what I like to write. Please respect romance!

3.  Nobody cares about my words as much as I do, and that’s okay. I’m sure I’ve scrutinized the posts in my Drafts folder way more harshly than would any potential reader. I have to remember that I am my own worst critic. People will not hate me if I can’t control my comma usage or if I miss a typo. Nor will people love me because I wrote a post, or even a book for that matter. Writing a book is a great accomplishment, whether you become published or not. But you can’t take yourself too seriously. As wonderful as your words are, your book’s success or failure isn’t going to matter to most people in the world.  Same thing with my draft posts.

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Re-reading this partial list, it’s still relevant today, and was a good reminder to not take myself too seriously. So thank you, Past Jess, for your insights!

If you haven’t given up on this post about nothing yet, you’ll be glad to know I saved the best for last. From my draft entitled, “Possible Celebrity Sex Dream #2,” drafted March 5, 2017. Now I have your attention again, don’t I (wink wink)?

Readers of WOAW may recall my dream scene involving The Rock and a baguette in my minivan. If not, click HERE for a recap. Sex dream? Maybe. Anyway, I had another one that I thought I’d embarrass myself and tell you about. Does this count as a celebrity sex dream? I don’t know. But welcome to this new series on WOAW… Possible Celebrity Sex Dreams.

Before I get to the dream, here’s what happened in real life leading up to the dream.

  • Well, as you may or may not know, I write romance novels.
  • A cute, young, writer woman I follow on Facebook had been posting about this guy in her work elevator and we (the social media masses) were pressuring her to ask him out. The whole scene was adorable.
  • I’d spent some time stalking my friend Larissa, and saw pics of her kids on horses. Mine took horseback riding also. I thought about that briefly.
  • I’d also been complaining to my friend Nicole about the Obamas gallivanting around on vacation when I felt like the country needed them back in the works.
  • My son had a big science test on weather patterns.

Also, I had a total Seinfeld moment where I woke up in the middle of the night after the dream and made a note on my phone about it. Here’s what I wrote, word for word, typos in original:

Secdeam barack elevator open marriage saga likes horses Nicole and aunt gam rain plane explosion.

Doesn’t seem very sexy does it? But here’s what happened in the dream.

I was in an elevator and I was kissing Barack Obama, who, I’ll add, was a very good kisser. I immediately thought Michelle would kick my ass so I pulled away and said something like “you’re married” and he told me that he and Michelle had an open marriage. Next thing you know we’re outside and there are horses and he tells me that Sasha likes horses. We get into a car and I’m wedged between my friend Nicole, Barack’s aunt, and Barack’s grandmother (Please note: I don’t know if he has any of these relatives). We start driving through a forest and it’s rainy and storming and a plane explodes in front of us.

That’s it.

I’m pretty sure that note that I made, translated into awake-speak, says: Sex dream Barack on elevator, open marriage, Sasha likes horses, Nicole and aunt and grandma for rain plane explosion.

That’s where I left off on that one. Now that I read it, maybe it was more like a “crush dream” than a “possible sex dream.”

Anyway, the moral of the story is: write whatever you want. You don’t have to publish everything, but the act of typing out the words that float around your brain has value in and of itself. There’s a Drafts folder for a reason, friends. May as well use the thing.

Again, thanks for reading, and have a nice night!

 

 

Cave Dwelling with Gobo and Eugene

Greetings, from “the editing cave” where I’m busy revising The Love Square. Here’s a list of some things I’ve learned:

  1. I have a lot of “staring” happening. He stared at her, she stared at him, etc. etc. I’m working on it, people.
  2. There’s no good word for a female half-laugh– “giggle” sounds too silly and “chuckled” sounds like something an old man would do. “Stifled a laugh” works sometimes. “Scoffed” seems weird. Hopefully you can help me out with this. Anyone?
  3. Before submitting my manuscript for publishing, I went through and took out all of my seemingly unnecessary commas. However, my editor has been adding many of the deleted commas back in. I’m never going to understand commas. Still, love, them, though, and, don’t, care.
  4. I could spend the rest of my life editing this manuscript. In the beginning, I found myself re-starting at page one every night and finding something to change or add or subtract each time. I had to cut myself off and keep the wheels moving forward.
  5. I like editing. It’s nice to get lost in your story and your characters in such an in-depth way. During NaNo and while writing that first draft, I tend to spit out the words just to get them on the page. With editing, the real writing tools come out and you can apply things you’ve learned. Every sentence receives your undivided attention.

So that’s where I am. Muddling through, hoping to make it better with each pass. Is it Hemingway? No. Is it the best book I’m ever going to write? Probably not. I hope to learn more and more as I progress down this path. Still, I’m confident it’s a good contemporary love story that’s worth the reader’s time.

Onto something irrelevantly relevant. Who remembers Fraggle Rock?

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Ah, the Fraggles! Weren’t they the greatest? My kids have the first season on DVD. The coolest thing about the DVD set is that it comes with a replica of Jim Henson’s notebook, dated April 3, 1981, with his thoughts while developing Fraggle Rock.

This discovery (we’ve had the DVD set for years and I had no idea the replica notebook was included) made me so freaking happy. Look at some sample pics:

It’s his actual notes!

Now, look at all those scribbles. Back in ’81 before the days of Word, this was how editing was done, I guess. I love that he used a notebook like this to scribble his “concept for an international children’s television show” called: “The Woozle Show or Woozle World or The World of Woozles or Woozle-Woozle!”

In the notebook he describes his idea for Doc (“the old codger is warm and lovable but you probably wouldn’t call him bright”), Sprocket the dog (“The Dog, whose name is George, is of course a Muppet . . . the Woozles drive him crazy”), and obviously, the “Woozles” (“Woozles are pretty wacky, have a lot of energy, and when all else fails, somebody shouts “Let’s sing about it!” and they do”).

But I think the best part of the notebook is when JH describes the meaning of the show:

Our first job is to make this world a lot of fun to visit. It is a high energy raucous musical romp. It’s a lot of silliness. It’s wonderful.

However, the second thing that we’re doing with this show is saying something. The show has a direction and a point of view. This will be beneath the surface, and if anybody becomes very aware of it, we will have missed.

What the show is really about is people getting along with people, and understanding the delicate balances of the natural world . . . . We will make the point that everything affects everything else, and that there is a beauty and harmony of life to be appreciated.

I just love that– “A beauty and harmony of life to be appreciated.”

I also appreciated reading the notes in Jim Henson’s handwriting, with scribbled out words and added carets and other editing marks. For example, in the quote above when he writes “we will have missed,” originally his notes said, “we will have failed.” He crossed out the “failed” and opted for “missed.” I think that says a lot, don’t you?

As for Fraggle Rock , in my opinion, it succeeded in its mission. I enjoy watching it now as much as I did as a kid. It transcends generations for exactly the reasons that JH contemplated–on the surface it’s funny and high energy, but underneath are subtle undertones that resonate without overwhelming the viewer.

While Fraggles are lovable and silly and fun, unfortunately there’s an opposite end of that spectrum. His name is Eugene Peppermint and HE’S BACK:

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He’s creepy and weird and not one bit of fun. He is the anti-Fraggle (I do think he’s happy to be free of my underwear drawer though).

Of course I forgot he was supposed to come out yesterday. I thought maybe the kids wouldn’t care. After all, last year we had a conversation about how parents move the elf with Christmas magic.

No such luck. Either the kids forgot about that conversation, didn’t understand what we were saying, or chose to ignore it in light of the miracle of the holidays. Meh. Here’s to hoping this year is Eugene’s last hurrah. In the meantime, I’ll suffer through another season of the dumbest thing ever invented. 🙂

And that’s the news from my camp here in NJ. Next up on WOAW: Answers to Friends trivia! As always, thank you for reading and enjoy the rest of your November.

Fun “Friends” Trivia

After discussing Chandler’s job with a friend and procrastinating with a video of Ross screaming “piv-OT” while the crew moved a couch up the stairs, I thought I’d share some fun Friends memories with you in the form of a trivia post.

As Friends needs no introduction, I’ll jump right in. These vary in difficulty so there should be at least one you know. If not, Friends is on Netflix, so get watching!

    1. What are Rachel’s sisters’ names? Bonus: Who played them?
    2. What song does Monica sing when she performs karaoke at Mike’s bar?
    3. At which University is Ross a professor?
    4. What actor plays Monica’s boyfriend Richard?
    5. What is the name of the T.V. show that Joey stars in with a robot?
    6. Which actress plays Phoebe’s birth mom (Hint: think Montauk)?
    7. Chandler was trapped in an ATM vestibule. Who was with him?
    8. What was Monica’s nickname when she played field hockey?
    9. What do Monica’s parents call her?
    10. Who did Joey play on Days of our Lives and what was his fate?
    11. What does WENUS stand for?
    12. What’s Joey’s favorite food?
    13. Which zoo does Marcel get into?
    14. What was the name of the man who lived under the girls’ apartment?
    15. Why was Chandler put in the box?
    16. Who did Ross meet when he went to China, and what did he plan on buying with that person?
    17. Who played Phoebe’s brother?
    18. What song does Ross sing to baby Emma to make her laugh?
    19. Which character has a third nipple?
    20. What song does Ross dedicate to Rachel on the radio?

I hope you enjoyed taking this trip down television memory lane. Answers will be posted soon!

Special thanks to Nicole over at Mommy&Everything blog and Lauren, a certified television expert, for contributing questions.

(Picture from: http://cdn.buzznet.com/assets/imgx/2/1/0/6/4/3/8/0/large-21064380.jpg)

If I Were Olivia Pope . . .

You all know how much I love a Daily Prompt. Today’s is: You have to spend one day as or with your favorite fictional character. Which one would it be and what would you do?

Gosh, the possibilities are endless.

On one hand, I’d love to say Katniss or Tris, but I wouldn’t want to be hanging out in situations where I’d need weapons and protective gear. Also, I’m not confident in my ability to train hop, jump off buildings, or save the world.

So I’d choose to be Olivia Pope, from Scandal (which returns this Thursday! Set your DVRs!)

Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington)  (Picture from: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c1/Olivia_Pope_-_ABC.jpg )

I know what you’re thinking. Olivia could benefit from weapons and protective gear with her crazy life. But if I were her for a day, I’d change everything.

First, I’d wake up in her comfy-looking, fluffy bed and power down the damn cell phones. Everyone’s always bothering her with their problems. I’d spend a minute reflecting on my choices- good choices like the wine I had for dinner last night, and bad choices like when I trusted my parents with stuff.

Then, I’d saunter out of bed and hang out in my closet, admiring my lovely wardrobe. The cardigans! The coats! The handbags! The shoes! I’m not much of a fashion plate in real life but with Olivia Pope’s closet I could easily change that. Tailored, classy, and covered up with touches of femininity, nothing beats Olivia’s style.

Since I would only be Olivia for one day, I’d choose my outfit wisely and get ready for the office. I’d head over to OPA (Olivia Pope Associates) and deal with the crazy people at work. Talk Huck off a ledge, keep Quinn from going totally nutso, call Abby and ask for a selfie so I could see how lovely her hair looks that day. Maybe I’d sit in my awesomely dark and mysterious office and actually do something like . . . paperwork. Olivia never gets her paperwork done. Her business is probably a shambles.

Or maybe I’d borrow one of Huck’s hacking laptops (making sure not to “X” out of his illegal, yet useful, activities) and play solitaire or email my friends for lunch.

Wait. Olivia doesn’t have friends. Okay, so maybe I’d call Mellie (the First Lady and my President Lover’s wife) for lunch. We’d eat salads and partake in cocktails, compare notes on Fitz, plan her run for Presidency. You know, girl talk.

Maybe I’d invite Susan Ross, the Vice President and probably the only person on the show who really cares about the American people, to hang with us.

Afterwards, I’d leisurely stroll through the Mall and check out the monuments on my way back to the office. (By the way, I was recently in DC and took this great pic . . .)

Reflecting Pool and Lincoln Memorial. Duck Family. Sunset.
Reflecting Pool and Lincoln Memorial. Duck Family. Sunset.

When I returned, I’d take off my heels and settle in for the afternoon. Or maybe I’d just go home, slip into something more comfortable like a flowy, white sweater, and pop open a bottle of wine.

I’ll tell you what I wouldn’t do if I were Olivia. I wouldn’t take any calls from my father, that’s for sure. I’d probably avoid watching the news. Whenever Olivia watches the news she ends up fixing some jerk’s mess.

I certainly wouldn’t respond to Cyrus, Charlie and the B613 crew, or Sally Langston. Nor would I partake in the Jake-Fitz-Me love triangle. Anyone who pops up on Olivia’s phone as a known contact is nothing but trouble, and my day as Olivia would be trouble free.

If I were Olivia, I’d have her join a book club in the suburbs, or go to a movie or a yoga class. Doesn’t Olivia need a day like that, folks? Her life is exhausting with all those men and terrorists and politicians. She spends her days dealing with drama and then what does she do for “fun?” She runs around D.C. with her earbuds blasting seventies music.

Well, running is great and Olivia has a good shuffle of tunes on her iPod, but I’ll tell you, that’s not going to happen with me possessing her spirit for the day. With me, Olivia would have one day of peace and rest while she lets the world crumble around her.

I have a feeling that on Thursday’s premiere, Olivia will not be joining yoga class or lunching with Susan Ross. Of course there’s no way to be sure what ABC has planned, but it’s just a feeling . . .

Thanks for reading- now go set your DVR! (Shout out to cousin Denise- Happy Birthday 🙂 )

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “A Storybook Day.”

WOAW’s What to Watch- Empire (SPOILER ALERT!)

I’ve been waiting for Fox’s Empire to start for months. Football fans are familiar with the commercials, I’m sure. It has been shoved at us through half of the football season. Every time the commercial came on, I told my husband I wanted to watch and he would say something like, “Have fun,” or “That’s all you.” He doesn’t know what he’s missing!

Below is a summary of what happened in the pilot, which was only an hour. AN HOUR and ALL this STUFF happened. I’m going to try to recap from memory here (with help from Wikipedia), so apologies if I mess something up.

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Empire’s family. From the left, that’s Andre, Cookie, Lucious (sitting), Jamal, and Hakeem.

Empire centers around the Empire record company, run by Lucious Lyon (played by Terrence Howard). Within minutes, prior to the opening credits, we learn that Lucious has some sort of illness, is a talented record producer, is having some sort of relationship with the lady he works with, and has a crappy assistant named Bunkie (played by Antoine McKay), who Lucious grew up with and considers a brother.

Lucious has a sketchy past. Before hitting it big, he dealt drugs in Philadelphia. He rapped his way to fame, starting with nothing. He tells his Empire company people that he’s upset about artists who started out like him, poor kids in the neighborhood, who now can’t make any money and pull themselves out of poverty in the music business because of illegal downloading. For some reason, he thinks that the Empire company going public and trading on the stock exchange will help stop illegal downloading. (I don’t get it. Explain, someone, please?)

Anyhoo, Lucious has three sons, and announces to them that he’s going to “someday” need one of them to step up and run the business. Later, we find out that Lucious is diagnosed with ALS and has about three years to live.

So here are the sons, vying to run the company:

First, Andre (played by Trai Byers), who’s Lucious 2.0. He’s a handsome, suit-wearing, conformist business person. He has been his dad’s right hand man since grad school and blah blah. He’s really shark-like into the business, but, unlike his father, he’s not “talent.” He basically begs his dad to give him the company, but his dad thinks a celebrity needs to run it. Andre and his wife come up with a plan to have the other two brothers fight it out and destroy each other, so that Lucious will have no choice but to let Andre have the company. I think that’s the plan, anyway.

Then, there’s the middle kid, Jamal (played by Jussie Smollet), who I loved and I bet is a fan-favorite already. He’s super talented in a smooth R&B type of way, like John Legend-ish. He’s really cute, has a great voice, a nice stage presence, but GUESS WHAT?

He’s gay.

Lucious does not like Jamal. In a flashback, Jamal was maybe six, and he came down the stairs into the family room dressed in his mom’s shoes and a scarf, and Lucious lost his shit and picked up the kid and threw him outside into a garbage can! It was horrifying.

Now Jamal has daddy-issues (understandably). He thinks that gay black men can’t be taken seriously as artists and yadda yadda. He lives with a super-cute supportive man named Michael. Michael asks him what he wants, and Jamal doesn’t seem into running the company or being a star. He just wants to do his music without all the hoopla. He certainly does not want to end up like his father (who told him he can “choose” to sleep with women- oy!).

Then there’s Hakeem, the baby (played by Bryshere Gray). Hakeem is a very talented rapper. While Jamal is more conservative in dress and mannerisms, Hakeem is all hip-hopped out. He’s into the women and the scene. He comes to the studio hung over. As you can imagine, Lucious LOVES this one. Thinks he’s star material (although he acknowledges that Hakeem is spoiled).

One sweet part of the show is that Hakeem and Jamal love each other and seem really close. When Hakeem has trouble with some music thing, Jamal fixes it. When Hakeem performs it for Lucious, Lucious loves it. Hakeem tells Lucious that the musical fix was Jamal’s doing, and Lucious blows off Jamal, telling Hakeem that it’s Hakeem’s talent that makes it work. This little exchange motivates Jamal to get into the mix for the company.

The best part of the show though, by far, is Cookie (played by Taraji P. Henson). Picture the hip-hop version of Gemma Teller (of Sons of Anarchy). Part way through the show, she gets released from prison. It seems that she did seventeen years (the boys were little when she went in) for dealing drugs. Her $400,000 in drug money actually started Empire, and now she’s back and wants her piece.

She’s tough, she’s beautiful, she’s sharp, and she’s a mama bear on a mission. She accepts and loves Jamal (albeit, with some snarky comments), who is the only kid who came to visit her in prison. Hakeem has a grudge against her the size of his gold necklace and gives her attitude when she comes to see him. She ends up beating the crap out of him. I know that sounds terrible, but when you watch, you’ll get it. Hakeem’s a bit of punk.

Cookie goes to Lucious and tells her she wants her share of the biz. It’s her drug money that started the company, and she’s not afraid to tell the stock market people that fact, which would hinder his efforts to go public. She wants a $5 million per year salary. He thinks he can get her three. She warns him not to sweep her under the rug. He looks scared, and I don’t blame him. We learn from flashbacks that Cookie has been counseling Lucious on his career since Day One. They seemed to have gotten along really well in the past. He divorced her while she was inside, and didn’t come to visit her. Now Lucious is hooked up with the “Halle Berry” looking co-worker (Cookie’s words, not mine).

Meanwhile, Cookie and Andre team up and come up with a plan for something or other, which I think would end up getting Andre the company (was it that they were supporting Jamal or Hakeem? I lost track somewhere). I know Cookie wants to manage one of the boys, and makes a deal with Lucious that she won’t tell anyone about the start-up drug money, in exchange for rights to manage.

Then, to top things off, for reasons of money and the past and blah blah, Lucious ends up shooting Bunkie in the street!

ALL IN AN HOUR!

Empire is worth a watch if you like drama and soap opera type primetime shows. There’s a lot of music in it too, which of course, you can buy (it’s very Glee-like). Cookie will be a fun character to follow as she railroads Lucious’s plans, and the boys’ competition for the company will cause all kinds of problems, I’m sure. Throughout the season, we’ll see Courtney Love, Naomi Campbell, Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Macy Gray.

Empire is definitely DVR-worthy! It’s on Wednesdays at 9pm on Fox. Try to catch an episode and let me know what you think.

(Picture from: http://www.hitfix.com/news/empire-trailer-4-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-fox-show)

Funny Kid Story . . .

Today I happened upon an old email in my Lotus Archives and remembered this funny kid story and thought I’d share.

About five years ago, my then-five-year-old, JC, loved to watch a television show called “How It’s Made.” I think it was on the Discovery Channel (it may still be). He loved the episodes showing how coffee is made, how pencils are made, and his favorite, how tape measures are made. He watched these shows, which we had recorded for him, over and over and over becoming an expert on the topics. That tape measure episode? We must have watched it hundreds of times, no joke.

Most of the children’s networks that the kids watched didn’t have commercials, so while JC watched this show, on regular cable, we tried to remember to fast forward through commercials. However, sometimes we were busy or just forgot.

One of the sponsors of “How It’s Made” was Viagra.

Back in the day, Viagra commercials portrayed a smiling, mature couple dancing and swimming, mountain climbing, vacationing, whatever, to a catchy tune. Doop-doo-do, do-do-do doop! The tune was as happy as the couple! Joe and I realized that JC watched the commercials but since they were rather innocuous, we didn’t think too hard about it. JC could benefit from watching gleaming old people dance around to fun music, right?

Then we got this email from JC’s preschool teacher:

Hi Jessica!

Haven’t written you with a FUNNY in a while so here it is….JC just
asked Kolette to play Viagra with him! Of course Deb [the assistant teacher] almost spit her soda
down the front of her shirt! I asked him if Viagra was a car and he said it was
something to make you feel better. Kolette had brought in Star Wars figures
and JC got one and said, “Hi, my name is Viagra”. We are trying not to
acknowledge it and hope he picks another character like Darth Vader or
something. Hope you’re having good day!

Yep. That’s my boy. Poor Kolette! I wonder if she went home and told her mom that she played Viagra with JC at school that day! Upon further conversation with the teacher, we learned that JC hummed the Viagra tune and tried to dance with Kolette, copying the couple in the commercial.

Ah, kids!

Hope you enjoyed! Have a nice night.

Breaking Bad Withdrawal- “Jesse Pinkman Lives” Fan Fiction

I’m not sure about all of you out there in Blogtropolis, but I’m missing Breaking Bad.

Yeah, The Walking Dead premiered Sunday night and it was good (not great, in my opinion), but despite TWD, Scandal and my other favorite shows premiering, as well as Knicks preseason, the NFL (including the Jets being better than the Giants so far), I can’t stop thinking about Jesse Pinkman.

If you recall, I begged AMC and the Breaking Bad writers to let Jesse live via a blog post here.  I threatened to revolt against AMC, future BB writers’ projects, and I even made a call for action from you (don’t think I didn’t notice your lackluster response, tsk tsk). My employer, the federal government, shuts down and you get nothing, not one post about it from me, but Breaking Bad threatens a favorite character and I’m all over it, people! I’m not proud. Sometimes it just hurts my head to think too hard. Television is easier. I’m sorry. It’s the American way. But I digress . . .

Last we saw Jesse, Walt had just saved his life, Jesse strangled Crazy Sociopathic Todd  (played by Jesse Plemons, a.k.a. Landry for you Friday Night LIghts fans), and after a love/hate/good luck nod to Walt, Jesse screamed as he drove a crappy car through a metal fence into the dark desert night, away from the meth lab where he’d been held as a slave, forced to live in a hole in the ground and to cook the pure, blue meth for the really bad guys.

Jesse’s last scene as he drove through the fence, away to . . . where??

I realize he’s a fictional character, and Aaron Paul is still around doing his thing. JESSE IS NOT REAL. Still, I asked my BB-watching friends. What do you think happened to Jesse?

I imagined this:  Jesse busts through the gate, screaming. He gets pulled over for a motor vehicle stop because his car is crappy and he’s driving erratically. The police officers ask him for identification, and of course, he has none. They ask him to step out of the car and Jesse, still a physical mess and emotionally distraught (we all know how emotional he can be), loses it and assaults a police officer. Maybe he runs. Jesse ends up in jail, or worse– dead! Dead anyway! Despite surviving Mr. White, a drug addiction, and the meth cooking business! NO!

My friend Angela talked me down and tried to convince me that Jesse is in Alaska. He summoned the mystery minivan that Saul and Walt had used and made it up to the wilderness of our forty-ninth state, where he is a successful salmon fisherman. His meth days are far behind him.

I thought there were flaws in her theory. First of all, how would Jesse even get the minivan to come pick him up?

Angela said if he couldn’t get the minivan, he’d drive up there on his own.

Does he know how to fish? Where would he get a security deposit to rent someplace to live? Would he be homeless? I don’t think he’d fare well in the cold. What about Skinny Pete and Badger? Angela thinks he’d power through and that when things settled, Pete and Badger would come visit.

To prove her point when our other BB-watching friend, Anita, entered the office (of course this conversation took place at work where Procrastination is a Way of Life), Angela asked her, “What do you think happens to Jesse?”

She answered immediately: “Oh, he’s in Alaska.” Matter-of-factly. As if she’d just received a text message from him telling her he was there.

I guess if both of them think Jesse’s living large in Alaska . . ., I thought. I tried to picture Jesse, wearing flannel and one of those fur hats with ear flaps, sitting next to an ice hole with a fishing pole.

“But what about Brock?” I asked.

Little Wee Brock

Anita and Angela tried to convince me that Brock would be fine. Maybe Jesse sends for him immediately, or when he becomes a legit salmon fisherman he sends money.

“But Jesse makes bad decisions. And he’s going to be upset about killing Crazy Todd/Landry!”

“He had to kill Todd. Jesse’s stronger now and motivated to be good. He’s going to start a new life and get away from drugs and crime.”

I’m not sure I’m on board with the Jesse’s-in-Alaska theory (how would he get through Canada without a passport?), but if AMC ever produced a sequel, I’m all in. I need to know.

So my questions for you tonight are: (1) Do you think I’m nuts? and (2) What do you think happens to Jesse?

Thanks for reading and have a good night.

Chuck Wendig’s Flash Fiction Challenge Fail

Tonight I thought I’d try a new writing challenge.  Chuck Wendig, author, screenwriter, game designer, and blogger extraordinaire, hosts a weekly writing challenge.  You can find his post and his blog, “terribleminds:  chuck wendig” here.  This week, he provides two columns of words. The challenge is to pick a word from column one, then pick a word from column two, and that’s your title for a 1000 word post due this Friday.

That sounds like fun, I think, as I peruse the words.  The words are a little out there, but hey, I can come up with something!

Mr. Wendig suggests rolling dice to pick your title.  I ask my husband, Joe  (busy cursing at the Jets) to pick two numbers between 1 and 10 (finding dice in this house would be a challenge in and of itself).  He picks 3 and 4, making my title:  REMOTE CONTROL HIVE-MIND.

Oy.

I google “hive-mind.”  Wikipedia says hive-mind refers to “collective consciousness,” or a “swarm mentality.” The Urban Dictionary has way cooler definitions. The first definition, written as one word (“hivemind”) is when fancy young’uns on the internets mention the same thing by chance. The example given is that someone posts a picture.  One commenter responds, “Hey that pic looks like my mom,” and another random commenter says the same thing:  “Hey, that looks like my mom.” Then a third person may pop on and say something like, “I’d like to meet your mom and by the way, hivemind.”

Hmm, I think.  I should be able to come up with SOMETHING.

Then I get distracted by another definition on Urban Dictionary, “An enormous, single, intelligent entity made up of many smaller minds.”  What does this definition bring to mind, people?  If you are anything like me, you think of Congress.  Stupid Congress shutting down the government! Maybe “intelligent” wouldn’t be part of the hive-mind definition for our government.  Congress is like two little political party hive-minds running the country.

After my minor Congressional detour (and a Jets touchdown!), I try to empty my mind and create my scintillating “Remote Control Hive-Mind” story.  Where to go with this? Maybe a group like Congress (the hive-mind) controlled (remotely) by an evil dictator?  Maybe I can switch the words around and have a hive-mind remote control? Would that even make a difference for storytelling purposes?

The couch vibrates. Yay! Saved by the bell. I check my texts. It’s a Scandal related text from my friend, Nicole, who’s Netflix binge-watching Seasons One and Two to catch up. Woo-Hoo! Scandal talk!

We chat about Liv and Fitz. Huck. Duck hunting. How Nicole’s mom hates Fitz and the reasons we love him.  The annoyingness of Abby, the yuckiness of Edison.  Just then, Joe cheers disrupting my texting.

Wait? ANOTHER Jets touchdown? They’re actually playing well? It’s a Monday Night Miracle!

I check the phone. No more Scandal texts. Either Nicole’s dealing with the kids, or she’s hiding in the closet with her iPad and earbuds engrossed in our favorite ABC drama.

I fidget. Why are my legs hot? Oh yeah, my laptop is sitting on them! I’m posting. What am I posting again?

Back to the Remote Control Hive-Mind– the BEST story never written! Mr. Wendig’s going to be SO impressed with my story,  I think, as I wiggle my fingers.

I stare at the screen.  I’m really overdue for a hard drive backup.  I decide to bite my nails.  Is it weird to be in my forties and still bite my nails? I look at the clock. How is it almost 10 p.m. already? I try to focus.  Hive-mind.  Remote controls…  

Did I mention that my brother and sister-in-law had a baby today?  A beautiful baby girl.  He sent me pictures and I decide that I can’t go on without studying her little face again. I pull up the pictures on the phone. Gosh she’s cute.  She may resemble me . . .

Husband Joe makes a noise.  I check the television.  It’s the Jets.  Doing good things!

You know, it’s not really fair that these Monday Night Football games are on so late. Why do we have to cater to the West Coast all the time when it comes to sports? We have to go to work too.  Eight-thirty is way too late for a football game to start on a school night.  The West Coast probably doesn’t even care about the Jets and the Falcons.  Couldn’t we start an hour earlier?

Buzz!

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Halftime! Husband Joe is talking a lot in regular tones, normal volume. I wonder if I’m supposed to be listening . . .

Remote Control Hive-Minds.  

I sigh and wave the white flag.  I got nothing.  The distractions are overpowering and way too entertaining.

Sorry, Mr. Wendig.  Sorry, Blogtropolis.  I just can’t tonight. I think I’ll dig up a pair of dice and roll for a new title. Maybe try before Friday’s deadline. Please, if anyone has any ideas for Remote Control Hive-Minds, or if you try the challenge yourself, let me know!  Tonight is not a writing night for me.  (Hmm, I did just complete a post though).

Have a nice night!

Dear Writers of Breaking Bad and Big Wigs at AMC:

If anything bad happens to Jesse Pinkman at the end of the series I am BANNING your future writing projects and AMC for LIFE.

I MEAN IT!

Do what you want with the others, but JESSE LIVES. I want to see his hoodie-wearing body riding off into the New Mexican sunset, dammit, or I am DONE with you. Screw The Walking Dead and Mad Men. DONE.

Let’s send a message Blogtropolis! Who’s with me? We can make a difference! (They still have time to reshoot.)

Say it with me: JESSE PINKMAN LIVES!!!!

That’s all I have for now (I am on lunch hour so ranting time is limited).

Have a nice day.