An Open Letter To Bravo

Dear Bravo,

We need to talk.

Before I start, let me remind you how much I love me some Real Housewives of New York/Atlanta/New Jersey/Miami/Orange County/Beverly Hills (damn, that’s a lot of Housewives, yo!). And in case you doubt my loyalty, let me remind you that I even sat through that shitty season of D.C. That’s love.

Having said all of that, there are a few things we need to discuss.

First of all, do you really need to overwhelm us with THREE Housewives franchises running simultaneously? What’s wrong with allowing us to enjoy one at a time? Absence makes the heart grow fonder, you know. Saturation just makes the heart (and the head) hurt. And all that angst and drama in bulk form just makes me stabby. Theresa, Ramona and Vicki all in the same week? Too much. It’s just not fun anymore.

What’s worse is, every episode is an infomercial: books, alcoholic beverages, clothing lines, jewelry. It’s endless.

I don’t mind when they promote and existing business like Lisa Vanderpump’s Sur. I didn’t mind Bethenny’s Skinny Girl Margaritas—she was clearly working up to a product like that before the show. It wasn’t something she developed to hide her rapidly increasing alcoholism (I’m looking at you Ramona Singer). Speaking of Ramona, her True Faith jewelry line is perfectly lovely and she should have focused on that. Does anyone actually use her Tru Renweal face care line? (Does anyone actually remember she has a skin care line?)

Now we’re inundated with Gretchen’s horrible handbag line, Nene’s Miss Moscato wine (and coming soon, her fashion line), Teresa’s cookbooks, and a whole lot of shitty, manufactured pop music (Countess LuAnn, Melissa Gorga and Kim Biermann). Even Giggy is going to start a line of dog stuff.

Bravo, when are you going to get back to the basics? Your first season of RHOC was great—Vicki running her business out of her home was more interesting than the bullshit cat fights. Watching Laurie Waring deal with her drug addicted son and the aftermath of her divorce made her more relatable than Melissa Gorga and her circa 1982 fringed bikinis and Cher hair.

I don’t buy it anymore. Worse, I’m starting not to care anymore.

So I tell you this from a place of love. I really do want to stick around, but you aren’t making it easy on me.

Think about it.

Love, Me

Random Tuesdays—Because I’ve Got Nothin’ But Random

I just read the most amazing book—”The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick’sDogs and Their Take of Rescue and Redemption” by Jim Gorant.

Even if you’re not a dog-lover, this is such a great story of love, healing and forgiveness. The pit bulls from Michael Vick’s dog fighting ring had the deck stacked against them when they were rescued—they were hardened fighters who could never be rehabilitated. The dogs had been tortured, abused, and mentally and physically scarred. But with the love an dedication of their caregivers, they learned to trust (and they learned some basic obedience) and now most of them are living better lives either in rescues like Best Friends Animal Sanctuary or homes as family pets, and some of them are even therapy dogs.

From Amazon.com:

Gorant outlines the rise of Bad Newz Kennels, describing in sometimes painful detail the abuse, torture, and execution of the animals–particularly disturbing is an episode in which Vick and a friend swing a failed fighting dog over their heads like a jump rope and kill it by repeatedly slamming it into the ground–and tracing the rescue of dozens of pit bulls seized from Vick’ s property. Gorant outlines the efforts to save these animals from euthanasia, challenging the negative public perceptions of pit bulls and reporting back on the status of dogs like Sox (now a certified therapy dog), Zippy (adopted by a family of five), and Iggy (still shy but growing comfortable with his adopted circle of friends). At a time when Vick has returned to professional football and much of the public outcry about Bad Newz Kennels has been forgotten, this book provides a stark reminder about the horror and prevalence of dog fighting.

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I’m still digging the red hair, but goddamn, it’s high maintenance. I’m already fussy about my hair, but the red is really making me obsess over it because the color fades quickly. I have an appointment on Saturday for a cut and color but last week—two weeks after going from blonde to red—I had to buy a box of Clairol and do a little color boost. My hair dude assured me that the color will fade less the more I do it. I’ll stick with it for a while longer, but I’m not convinced yet that I’ll be redhead long-term.

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Last night was the return of The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Season 3 started with my favorite drag queen, Kim, talking about being a part-time lesbian, NeNe talking about marital problems and getting all ghetto on Dwight, Sheree proclaiming she’s going to win an Academy Award one day, we met Phaedra, who thinks she’s a Southern Bell but she’s married to an ex-con, and we find out that Dwight is what’s considered an old “Stunt Queen.”

I’m totally looking forward to this season—especially after The Real Duds of D.C.

And as icing on the cake, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills premiers next week.

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Work has been so insane lately. I can’t change my WordPress template, but I’m in charge of project managing websites. We’ve been trying to launch a huge site for a client and every time we think we’re going live, they change something. It’s been brutal. There have been long hours and lots of drama, and by the time I get home the last thing I feel like doing is logging in to this blog and typing a few words. I appreciate the two of you who actually surf over here to see if I’ve written anything.

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The other day a Facebook acquaintance was debating whether or not she should trade in her 750i BMW for a 300 Series. I’m not sure why, but it totally pissed me off. If that’s your biggest concern, great for you, but don’t put is all over Facebook. It just seems tacky to me.

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Penny and Gracie are finally getting along. Juggling their mealtimes, keeping them in separate rooms when they have bones and making sure they have one-on-one time seems to have settled them down.

However, Penny is going to be gone for about two weeks at the end of the month—she’s going to Tennessee for a national Samoyed dog show—and I’m pretty sure that when she comes home we’re going to need to start over.

Penny (left) is going to be road-trippin' with her brother Teddy at the end of the month

Random Tuesday Thoughts: The, Well, Random Edition

randomtuesday

Do you know the scene in Broadcast News where Jane Craig (Holly Hunter’s character) unplugs the phone and holes herself up in her office to have a good cry on a regular basis? I do that sometimes. Mostly because I’m wound tightly, but lately because I’m sort of coming unglued.

My job has been rough and I don’t know what to do. There have been issues with my salary, and it’s been brutal, but on top of that I have a boss who doesn’t think twice about being rude to me simply because I’m the person standing in front of him (and sometimes just because). Yes, I can be sensitive, but I can also hold my own. I give as good as I get, but after a while it gets old.

I know I’m at a crossroads with this situation. I’m tired of feeling scared (for my job), I’m tired of feeling angry (for putting up with certain situations) and I’m sick of going home and crying in the bath tub, trying to hide it from my husband so he doesn’t know just how shitty this is. I’m not a victim and I’m tired of behaving like one.

And really? All this crying isn’t good for my face. Puffy eyes are not a good look on me.

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I guess I'll cool my heels

I guess I'll cool my heels

Then again, this was my horoscope this weekend.

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I keep trying to write a series of posts about the new fall TV season, but I can’t seem to find the time because I’m glued to the tube. It’s so insane, that both Tivos are maxed out with shows.

On Sunday it’s Mad Men and Brothers & Sisters (I’m a few weeks behind on Mad Men and need to catch up). Mondays and Tuesdays are all about Dancing With the Stars. Tuesdays also have my new favorite show Modern Family. And if you aren’t watching it, you should. And that’s all I’m going to say about that. Except you should watch Modern Family. I’ve also been recording Cougar Town with Courtney Cox but I haven’t had time to watch those episodes yet. I can’t think of what’s on Wednesday night, but Thursdays are jam-packed with The Real Housewives of Atlanta and Grey’s Anatomy. But because Gracie’s agility class is from 8-9 Thursday nights, I don’t usually get to watch Thursday’s stuff until Saturday. This fall, Ugly Betty will be on Friday nights, and I also record a show on Animal Planet called Jockeys.

I’m a huge fan of Lost and a few people told me that Fastforward is just as good, if not better, than Lost. Somehow I doubt it, but I’ll check it out. I missed the first episode so I’m going to have to track that down on iTunes, but I’ve been recording the series, hoping to catch up.

This list doesn’t even include shows like Toddlers & Tiaras (yes, I admit it. I watch. Sue me.), L.A. Ink and I still record West Wing, which is still the best-written show on TV.

And yet I wonder why I haven’t had time to write more often…

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I’ve just discovered Nutella. I don’t know where this has been all my life, but now that I’ve found it, my life is complete.

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The chocolatey, hazlenutty goodness is heaven in a jar.

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For more random, go see Keely. She’ll serve some up, hopefully with a side of Nutella.

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