READ IT.

So I've been getting The Huffington Post Daily Brief in my inbox since before I knew it was cool.
Some stuff I just skip over either because I don't have time to read it or already read a bunch of articles about the topic, but sometimes I break down read all of the emails that have collected in my inbox (yes, I do have a special Politics inbox-- I'm a nerd, what can I tell ya?) and really look at them for content if not a similar opinion.

Yesterday? (Or some other day this week!) I found an article which pretty much sums up the way I feel about money, opportunity and people when those three words are found in the same conversation.

Kelli Goff, whose op-ed pieces I find quite fascinating, wrote an article entitled,

"Gwyneth Paltrow is Right. We're All Jealous (of her and George W. Bush)."

which is pretty much fan-frickin'-tastic.

Her claim is this: We understand that some people are born into privilege and some aren't. We accept that. It's a fact of life. But what really get our goad is when a person born into privilege A) doesn't realize it and B) further ignores his privilege by defining his success as an achievement which came solely from his own hard work.

NOTE: It's important to define the two major words at work in this article.
Privilege: a right, immunity or benefit enjoyed by a person beyond the advantages of most.
Success: the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.

The reason for this note is that often people get the two confused in conversations like these, i.e. proponents of the "Don't hate; you're just jealous" mentality.

BACK TO IT.

Goff writes, it better than I do:

Well if your last name is Bush (or McCain or Kennedy for that matter) you don't need affirmative action programs, or Pell grants for college or an extension of unemployment benefits if you find yourself out of work, and your kids won't either. Why? Because you had the privilege of being born into privilege. And this is ultimately the issue. People should not be punished for being privileged. They can't help that anymore than the rest of us can help NOT being born into privilege. But it would be nice if they would extend the rest of us the courtesy of acknowledging their privilege, and not simply pretend that their success is built solely on a combination of hard work and chutzpah. But it seems like increasingly all we get to hear -- from members of Congress and now Ms. Paltrow -- is that if we're just a bit more disciplined and willing to work a little bit harder, we can achieve the same Dream as the privileged classes."


Now, isn't that just AWESOME? I love when people tell it like it is.


:) Love!

It's been a long time, I shouldn'a left you...

... without a dope post to touch you!

Ha!

Still love that song :)

Anyways, it's been OVER A MONTH since I've posted.
(Work is hectic, ya'll; I promise to try harder to post in the future!)

Even more, the last post I left ya'll was about some creeeeepy garbage I found on the interwebs!
How could I do that to all my what? 4 followers! LOL!

This post won't be that long, but hopefully it'll make it up to you with its randomness and hilarity!


First things first: A Funny Joke

CAR PRIVILEGES

A mother and father had just given their teenage daughter family-car privileges. On Saturday night she returned home very late from a party. The next morning her father went out to the driveway to get the newspaper and came back into the house frowning. At 11:30 AM the girl sleepily walked into the kitchen, and her father asked, "Sweetheart, what time did you get in last night?" "Not too late, Dad." she replied nervously. Dead-panned, her father said, "Then, my precious one, I'll have to have a talk with the paperboy about putting the paper under the front tire of the car."

Admit it; you know that was cute.

Second things second: Phil Wickham

So I am totally on this Phil Wickham (www.philwickham.com) kick after my friend Jasmine posted a video on Facebook of this guy Jeremiah Harmon doing a cover of one of his songs, "Divine Romance." The cover was fantastic, the song itself was fantastic, so I checked out the rest of PW's songs and, lo and behold, they were all fantastic too.

So, I thought I'd share. The first video is "Divine Romance" and the second is one of my favorites, "I Will Wait For You There." Both of these are on his debut, self-titled album.

ENJOY!

And finally, third things third: Television

Um, did you really think that I would leave you without a note about my favorite pastime?!

If you have not seen them, GO WATCH the following TV shows: JUSTIFIED, PERFECT COUPLES, THE CHICAGO CODE, HARRY'S LAW. These are all relatively new and AWESOME. They are going to be the subject of the next couple of posts... yep the "For The Love of TV" series that I promised you guys and will soon deliver.

That's all folks! Until next time... which hopefully won't be that long from now!

RANDOM interruption in regularly scheduled blogging

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS???


I mean this is the craziest ish I have seen in a long time.
I don't even know what's going on.

And I was scared. I couldn't even watch the whole thing.

What was with the POWDER?
And did she really just give BIRTH to doll babies?
(Also why are her doll babies not creepy like her too?)
I DID NOT see that one coming!!

100,000 points for anyone who either a) watches the whole thing and tell me what happened (cuz I can't do it, or b) tell me if you were as frightened as I was.


via ihatesomuch

For the Love of TV: Introduction

So two things you should know about me if you don't already:

1) I LOVE TELEVISION.

Like seriously. Notice I did not write, "I like to watch TV." or "I love watching my favorite television shows." It goes deeper than that. I like the art of television. Dialogue, character placement, setting, plot, the turn of a phrase, comedic timing. There's bad television, good television and GREAT television. (And then there's the stuff that's so bad, it's good. And no, I'm not talking about reality TV. Reality TV is always bad. Or rather, I've never watched a reality TV show that didn't want to make me turn it off at some point because of it's sheer stupidity.)

2) I love, love love love, love when fiction makes me want to believe its real. In other words, the best books, the best films, the best TELEVISION will leave me wanting to live, work, eat and sleep in whatever world the writer has provided.

Now, of course this happens in varying degrees--not all works of art are created equal-- but for the most part, I can see the appeal in almost any television show. And sometimes, I can even tell if that appeal will make the show a hit or a miss.

So, for those of you who read my weekly? ramblings, I'm going to pretend that I have my dream job (at least at the moment) for the next few weeks and talk about one of my passions: GREAT TELEVISION.

Now to talk about great television, one must also talk about bad television, so you'll great a glimpse at both ends of the spectrum, and hopefully, some stuff in between. So, if you love TV like I do, or even, as one friend of mine put it, "tolerate it despite the drivel that it is," hopefully you'll find these posts interesting.

NOTE: I'm totally up for ideas as well! Any television show you want me to review? Any character you want me to analyze? Or wonder if I'd date? (LOL) Let me know IN THE COMMENT SECTION. (Love you Dwayne!)

Ta Ta for now!

Hotness in Celebrity Form - Gay Edition

First things first:

10,000 points to Dwayne for facebooking me to say he liked the last post.
1,000,000 points for Dan for writing commenting and guessing at the place. It doesn't exist right now, but someday it will :) If you want more details than that, message me on Facebook.

________________________________________________

Now for the new stuff :)

RANDOM POST, I KNOW.
And mainly for the ladies and/or gay men (if there are any?) who read this blog.

It's just that lately, I've been noticing that more and more Hollywood/celeb men have been coming out of the closet... and all of them (well, most of them) are HOTT. So what's a girl to do when she finds out the celeb she's been crushing on is G-A-Y? Well, she could get sad all by herself (not gonna lie, I was sad about Matt Bomer) or she could write a little blog about their awesome accomplishments and post their hott pictures so other girls can feel her pain.

So here's a (short) list of some of the attractive gay men in the spotlight. And gay men, feel the pain too. Some have partners (P)and others are only rumored to be gay (R). At least we still get to look!








JOHN BARROWMAN (P) - Actor, 43, Scottish-American. Most known for his role as Captain Jack Harkness on BBC's Dr. Who and Torchwood. Was considered for the role of Will on NBC's Will & Grace, but was deemed "too straight" (go figure). Most recently, he appeared as a love interest on ABC's Desperate Housewives and word is that he might appear on an episode of Fox's Glee! For those of you who like Sci-Fi (i.e. are a nerd like I am)Torchwood's due back on Starz this summer (July)! Awesome show, check it out!








NEIL PATRICK HARRIS (P) - Actor, 37, American. Most known for his title role as child prodigy-doctor in ABC's Doogie Howser, M.D and womanizing Barney Stinson in CBS's How I Met Your Mother. (Side Note: How I Met Your Mother is quite possibly the funniest sitcom on television right now. If you haven't heard about this show, Google it. NOW. Or you could wait on my write-up on it, as it is most definitely GREAT television and will be part of my "For the Love of TV" series. Either way, you will eventually learn of the greatness that is this show and NPH's character.)Won an Emmy for his performance in Fox's Glee.






ANDERSON COOPER (R)- Journalist, Author, 43, American. Majored in Political Science and International Relations at Yale University, interned at the CIA for two summers, and although he has no formal journalistic training, he continues to host a CNN news show, Anderson Cooper 360 while concurrently corresponding for CBS's 60 Minutes. Starting in September 2011, he will also host a nationally syndicated talk-show, Anderson for Warner Brothers. (Interesting to note: His mother is Heiress Gloria Vanderbilt of the New York Vanderbilts' or more commonly known, like the blue jeans.)


TOM FORD (P) - Fashion Designer, Film Director, 49, American. Most known for his turnaround of the Gucci fashion house and the creation of his eponymous label. Attended Bard's College at Simon's Rock, NYU and The New School, and graduated from the latter with a degree in architecture. Has worked for Cathy Hardwick, Perry Ellis, Gucci and when they aquired it, creative director of Yves Saint Laurent. Owns production company FADE TO BLACK, and directed his first film, A Single Man (2009) starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore.



DAVID BROMSTAD - Designer, 37, American. Winner of 2006 (debut season) of HGTV's Design Star. Attended Ringling College of Art and Design before working as a Disney illustrator. Started his own company Bromstad Studio, which designs fantasy bedrooms for children. In keeping with the prize for winning Design Star, his show Color Splash debuted in 2007. In 2010, Color Splash relocated to Miami, FL.





MATTHEW BOMER (R,P) - Actor, 33, American. Best known for his role as Neal Caffrey in USA's White Collar and his recurring role as Bryce Larkin in NEC's Chuck. Went to high school with fellow actor Lee Pace and attended Carnegie Mellon University. Also starred in the first season of Fox's Tru Calling. (Another side note: White Collar is another one of those good TV shows I keep telling you guys about. Just take my word for it and watch it.)

LUKE MACFARLANE (P?)- Actor, Musician, 31, Canadian. Most known for his role as Scotty Wandell in ABC's Brother's & Sisters. Attended Juilliard. Also starred in FX's short-lived series Over There about the conflict in Iraq. Plays classical cello and trumpet. (Interesting side note: It is rumored that he is currently dating WENTWORTH MILLER, the fine man pictured below. Now I'm not sure how true this is (Wentworth has had a few documented girlfriends and no documented boyfriends), but if it is true, I will say this: If two men could have babies, theirs would be so attractive, I'd betroth my daughter-- sans l'hésitation.











(WRITING THIS BLOG TOOK FOREVER. I'M TALKING HOURS.)

A MILLION points to whoever picks my new (straight!) celebrity crush and 100,000 points to those who post their own celeb crushes in the comment section.

And because people do comment every once in a while, I think I might start keeping track of these points and who knows... I might start giving prizes!

P.S. So, men of color are absent. I realize that. Not because they aren't hott, but because I couldn't really find any that were gay and hott. Sorry about that.

"Write 400 words (or less) on your ideal place [to live]."

So, a friend of mine prompted the readers of her blog to write about their ideal place to live after the subject came up in her life--twice in one week. So here goes. It's probably very different than what she intended, but one must go where the words takes them.

_____

There are no sad and quiet people here.

The air is clear and clean, the water calm and warm. The temperature always matches the light of the sun. Trees find themselves green without trying. Flowers bloom without challenge; bees don't sting.

Seasons are so crisp here. The changing of the colors is a vibrant affair. The snow melts on the tongues of children and falls in flakes the size of closed eyelids. Summer comes often. Heat and breeze are in consummate harmony. Spring brings back birds of every color that algor took away.

It's soft. Light is temperate. All noise, dulcet. Movement, unpretentious and rhythmical. No sense is ever harmed, no practice overwhelms. But the people are loud and happy, full of life and purpose.

Night is conclusive to day. Darkness holds no sinister plans; no egregious dealings go on in dusk. Darkness is not the absence of light, but the rest of it. The balance of dark and light for rests’ sake.

No true measure of time exists here, only the sensation of moments both here and then, now and always. This does not bother the loud and happy people. They rejoice. For they knew it once when it was different, when it was worse and they were sad and quiet.

And there are no sad and quiet people here.

_____

1000 points if you let me know what you think.

Hilarity Ensues (Funny Jokes)

Latest Installment of somejokesIfoundratherfunny:

Daniel Tosh: Saw Myself Naked

Saw myself naked in front of a mirror a couple days ago -- that's not the joke, that's what we called the setup. I saw myself naked, and I said, 'Holy cow, I'm 'The White Man.' I've heard a lot of bad things about you, cracka.'

Bob Marley: Nacho Type

The minute they put the nachos on the table, everybody becomes an enemy because there's all different kinds of nachos. Do you ever see those naked ones around the perimeter? Then, there's that one big Powerball nacho that somehow is connected to all the other nachos on the plate -- it's like the Kevin Bacon of nachos.

Jamie Lissow: Unrealistic Goals

I think people need to think more before they speak. The other day I was walking along the street, and this gorgeous girl rides by on a bicycle. And the guy in the group ahead of me says, 'Man, look at her. Wish I could be that bicycle seat.' I'm like, what? Don't you think that's a little bit of an unrealistic goal? Besides, if you're going for it, why don't you just aim to be the guy that's sleeping with her? Maybe something that doesn't require sorcery.

Greg Warren: Cheating at Chess

Everything in my parents house is broken. We play chess, and there are six pieces missing from our chess set. So, we replace them with pieces from my mom's nativity scene. We're playing chess with the Virgin Mary and goats and wise men, and my Uncle Earl cheats. It's like: 'Uncle Earl, that's a pawn. You're not supposed to move him backwards.' 'That's the son of God, boy! You move him wherever the hell he wants to go.'

Tom McCaffrey: In Every Single Cop Movie

You ever notice, in every single cop movie, like halfway through the movie, there's always this scene where the main dude, the cop, will get shot, and then he'll fall, like, 10 stories out of a building, and then he'll be, like, 'Ugh, I'm gettin' too old for this'? And I'm like, was there a time where that was OK? I think that's bad at any point in your life. Has anybody ever been shot and been like, 'Oh my god! I'm exactly the right age for this.'

Daniel Tosh: Only One Tattoo

I think if you're gonna get a tattoo, just get one: the words, 'I'm dumb.' That's it. That way in 10 years, when you go, 'Why did I get this?,' you can be like, 'Oh, I'm dumb!'

Wanda Sykes: Don't You Regret Not Having Kids?

People say, 'Well don't you regret not having kids?' And I go, 'No, not really.' And then if they keep asking, I always say this, 'Well, you know, maybe I'll adopt.' But I don't mean that. It's just something I say to make me sound like a nicer person.

Jacob Sirof: New Year's Baby

We had our first two years ago -- on New Year's Eve. That's a rockin' birthday. Kind of f**ks any New Year's plans I might have had for the rest of my life, but whatever, kids can be selfish.

Pete Holmes: Privacy Is Uncool

I think the government made Facebook in an attempt to make privacy uncool. Think about that. I think that's true 'cause they don't have to tap our phones or survey us when we just yield to them everything, just on our own free will. Home address? It's a little weird, OK. Phone number? Call me. Photos? Photos of everyone I know? Here, let me tag those for you.

Brian Regan: New Baby Greeting Cards

They have a section called, 'New Baby.' I don't think you need the word 'new.' They'd have to clear up confusion. 'Do you have an Old Baby section? 'Cause my friend's had a baby, and I let time get away from me, and he's 12.'

"things that make me squeal in delight and collapse into a fit of giggles"

Lately I've been reading this blog that is so funny, I actually laugh out loud, like for reals. BUT I can't share it with you just yet. I gotta keep it secret a while longer until I can catch up with the 4, 837 entries she's written already. I'm only 1/3 of the way through 2010.

Anyway, she inspired me to come up with my own list of things that makemehappie, like the kind of happy where I laugh, clap my hands and fall over. Hotchkiss people know what that looks like, lol.

brunch, horseback riding, baby animals - especially baby kittens :( I miss Buttons, funny blogs, Jimmy Choo shoes, small children (when they behave), a good book, TELEVISION, hotnessincelebrityform, crisp hotel sheets, comedy central joke of the day's, black stiletto boots, random information, warm apple pie with crumb topping (also known as streusel), reading, my grandmother's baked macaroni and cheese, that main street chocolate shop's raspberry animals, pretending to be sex-and-the-city cool with my girls, dressing up for fancy events, crushing on guys, guys' arm muscles (it's insane how much I love them, really), making fun of books I love (like Twilight), anything related to or can even be remotely labeled as science fiction, talking about religion (except Scientology), finding recipes online, baking, researching/dreaming about the things I could do if I won the lottery, going out to eat, looking up random words on dictionary.com (it used to use oed.com, but I no longer get it for free from NU… sad.), poetry, writing silly things that no one will ever read, making lists, guys who are talldarkhairedandskinny, keeping track of books I'll probably never read, when someone asks me "who was that guy in that one movie?", knowing the answer, wikipedia, corny television shows like Tower Prep (speaking of which, Drew Van Acker… pretty cute. He's my third blonde celebrity crush. Is it no longer the exception?), talking about legal things, laying down in my bed, random dance parties, girls' night-in, Poggio del Moscato wine, whiskey sours, grapes, red dirt (found in AL, GA, etc.), when little girls wear pigtails (so adorable), computer games (from Freecell to Age of Empires), theatre, inside jokes, having money in the bank, castles, rereading stuff I wrote when I was younger (it's hilarious how little I knew then, though I thought I knew a lot), Wal-Mart and Target (I refuse to choose between the two. They're both good for different things), strawberry ice cream, black knee-length socks, sleeping

Speaking of which… I think I might do that now.

Oh, and just for fun:

Okay, now I'm done.