A Female Friendship Dissected in Doll & Em

Doll and Em

We haven't had a shortage of female bonding orientated programming as of late. There's Girls on HBO and Broad City on Comedy Central, two very gritty, realistic shows about 20-somethings. Both are very telling about the real life jealousies and issues that develop between friends as they navigate the waters of young adulthood. But like I said, they're about very young girls, and as much as I try to relate to them, I realize that I'm a good 20 years older than their characters and that the similarity factor can only go so far. That's why I'm kind of … [Read more...]

My Favorite Posts of 2013 and Hello, 2014

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  It's my annual tradition to look back at the year in review.  When I started to think about 2013, I thought I had nothing to write about.  It hasn't been my best year, but somehow along the way, I managed to get more accomplished than I realized. Rather than bore you to tears with a long post, I'm going to give it to you in small chunks. My most popular posts: A visit to the set of Orange is the New Black seems to have hit a nerve with my readers and also happens to be have been my favorite blogging experience of the year.  I interviewed … [Read more...]

Preview: CBS News/48 Hours “Bullying – Words Can Kill”

Bullying in the Digital Age

Every now and then, as a blogger, I have an extraordinary experience that makes me so grateful for being a member of this community. Today was one of those days. I was invited to a powerful discussion about an upcoming CBS News/48 Hours presentation to be broadcast on Friday night at 8pm EST called "Bullying: Words Can Kill". I have two very young children, ages 6 and 8, and I have yet to find them suffer from bullying, but I'm fully aware that it goes on in every school across the country.  Bullying is everywhere.  I grew up with glimmers of it in my … [Read more...]

Curing my Summer TV Drought with The Trivial Pursuits of Arthur Banks

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  Just when I was about to give up completely on summer television comes along a fab new Internet only show on AMCTV.com called The Trivial Pursuits of Arthur Banks.  It's very Woody Allen, very Freudian.  It's a homage to Allen, who I adore, not only because it uses narration and black and white video, but also because it's about an actor/writer (played skillfully by Adam Goldberg) who is having an affair with a young protege.  He feverishly tries to sort out his life, while writing bits of it into his scripts.  His therapist, played by … [Read more...]

Neil Patrick Harris Tony Award’s “Rap Up”

Neil Patrick Harris

Apparently, Lin-Manuel Miranda from "In the Heights" wrote Neil Patrick Harris' rap that closed down the Tony Awards tonight.  It was bloody brilliant.  It summed up the show so clearly and succinctly.  Please note that this transcription was originally transcribed and posted at The New York Times Arts Beat Blog by Dave Itzkoff.  Here it is: Tomorrow, if anyone asks you what happened at the Tonys, you can say this: We straightened things out in the opening number, Ellen Barkin and John Benjamin Hickey took home awards for their hilarious … [Read more...]

Was Oprah Talking to Me?

oprahfarewell

If you haven't noticed, I've been a little quiet lately.  My husband has been traveling with work for two weeks, which has put the onus of responsibility 100% on me.  At night, I can hardly stay awake past 10pm, a rarity for me, and a time where I get much of my writing done. In the midst of it all, there was the "Oprah" finale.  I have been a huge fan of the show my entire life. Twenty-five years ago, I was a teenager (am I revealing my age? Yes, I am over 40).  My mom, who was a big fan of Phil Donahue, turned me onto Oprah.  I was a soon-to-be … [Read more...]

Advocacy: Raising Money for Military Families

Lifetime Moms

Today marks the launch of my affiliate relationship with Lifetime Moms! Check out the badge on my home page.  I am really happy about this relationship as I see Lifetime as a partner that supports causes that I care about.  It can't get any better than that, so I am launching right into one of their current causes. To mark this Sunday’s season five premiere of its hit drama Army Wives, Lifetime has partnered with the social media aid organization BroadCause.com to raise funds for military families in the U.S.  As part of the partnership, Lifetime will … [Read more...]

Guest Post: My Nine-Year-Old Daughter’s Obsession with The Food Network

Chopped

For the past few years, I’ve had a minor ongoing argument with my now nine-year-old daughter over what constitutes appropriate television fare. For a short time, she watched Hannah Montana and The Suite Life, until I realized she’d finish watching an episode and stroll back into the living room speaking like those pre-pubescent brats. Forget that: I have years of teenage rebellion looming ahead, and I don’t need to put up with verbal obnoxiousness early. One of the things she had noticed about us, her parents, was that we love food. We cook at least … [Read more...]

Guest Post: To the Source of “Outsourced”/ The Importance of Being a Cultural Mom

Outsourced NBC

Admittedly, I’m a few years late on this one: the independent film Outsourced came out in 2006, long before NBC turned it into a TV series in October of last year. Still, of all the films I watched on Netflix last week while drifting in and out of the flu and consciousness, this one is most worthy of note. The day I watched Outsourced, I’d already had a bad experience with another West versus East movie. No offense to funny man Albert Brooks, but Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World was cheap, superficial, and without revelation or redemption in … [Read more...]

Guest post: The Sassiness Of Kid’s TV

GoodLuckCharlie

I was raised without a television. We were a hippie, vegan family, living in Topanga, California. My parents had numerous complaints about TV, so it wasn’t part of our lives. Of course, as a child, I always vowed that when I had kids, they’d be allowed to watch TV. Now I’m a parent and, because of my upbringing without any TV, I do allow my kids to watch TV. They watch their favorite shows, but they tend to get bored after an hour or so and move on to doing something else. My kids have been watching Disney Channel shows for several years. I’m lucky … [Read more...]