A Post Where I Defensively Discuss The Trashy TV I Watch.

Ok, when I say trashy tv, I mean a show that I do not readily admit to watching, or that I put a qualifier on when telling people about watching it.

Yeah, I'm a GLEEk, so what? Also, Finn is 30
this year and still playing a high school-er. It gives me
 hope that people might occasionally mistake me
 for being younger than 26.

No, I do not watch reality tv. That’s not the kind of trashy tv I am talking about. No, I do not watch sitcoms. That’s also not what I am talking about. My guilt pleasures are more along the lines of anything free on Hulu, ie. network shows that are less cheesy than sitcoms, but totally overplay the drama.

To what shows might I be referring to? You haven’t figured it out yet? You are really going to make me spell it out for you?

Fine. Private Practice.

Yes, it’s a spin off of Grey’s Anatomy, which I also watch.

In all honesty, those are probably the worst shows that I watch, simply for the made up drama of ridiculous medical and personal situations.

I can’t lie though, I watch a lot of current shows. I have a lot of free time and rather than better myself, because that’s what I do the REST of the time, I watch tv.

Revenge. Glee. Once Upon a Time. The Finder. Suburgatory.

I also watch other shows that are not currently on right now, like Burn Notice. There are also other shows I would love to watch, if they were available for free on the Internet, like The Walking Dead and Archer.

This is the cast of Jersey Shore, right?
I mean, for all I know this could be a
Kardashian family photo.

Really, I just like to be entertained. I would probably watch worse tv, if I let myself. That is the reason I will never, ever watch Jersey Shore. I like being able to say that I’ve never seen it. It makes me feel better about myself. “Well, at least I don’t watch Jersey Shore!” Like that’s some sort of permission to do other horrible things, like rob banks or kill kittens or something.




My own prejudices against reality tv aside, I’ll admit that the shows I refuse to watch don’t actually make me any better than you. Really, I should watch less tv that I do, but when you have as much free time as me....you have to find something to do. Clearly I should be focusing on the Great Read-a-thon, as the competitive part of me wants to kick some ass.

But the allure of tv is too great. Damn you, hulu. Damn you.

He's just so....diabolical.

Oh look, a new episode of Switched at Birth! Joy!

A few thoughts on Rick Santorum.

I have been wanting to throw my two cents in on the whole Rick Santorum thing. I have been thinking about what form this should take. In 10th grade English, we had to write a satire, after having read In The Pond by Ha Jin. I chose to write my satire about John Ashcroft. I wrote it as a debate, which completely devolved into me just taking cheap shots at him by the end of my 5 page masterpiece. I honestly have no idea if it was really any good, but I thought it was hilarious.

The fact that I chose something political to write about, is rather odd, considering that I am not very political. It’s just that I don’t live under a rock, so I do hear about major things in politics, especially really out there political characters. Think Sarah Palin. When I hear about people like that, I can’t help but be filled with hate for their idiocy. Oddly enough, all of these political characters happen to be conservative.

I don’t define myself as a Democrat but I am extremely liberal when it comes to social issues. I am so un-political that I don’t even know what to call myself. I was registered as an Independent, until the state of Maryland did away with that and now I am just unassociated. I guess that’s what I am. Unassociated.

I also happen to be a feminist. I know people have this stereotype they associate with that word and it’s almost always negative. Like everyone who is a feminist is a radical, hairy-legged psychopath. I believe in this crazy idea that women should have the right to vote and get paid the same as men. Ridiculous, right? Believing in these things doesn’t mean I can’t shave my armpits or that I have to have dreads. I wear bras instead of burning them.

Who ever made this really gets me. Taken from this site.

 My radical political leanings towards feminism and social equality means that people like Rick Santorum make my Hate-O-Meter go off the charts.


I’d like to share an excerpt from Rick Santorum’s book, It Takes a Family. I added a few comments.

So what is the liberal definition of freedom? It is the freedom to be and to do whatever we want- freedom to choose, irrespective of the choice, freedom without limits (with the obligatory caveat that you can’t hurt anyone else directly). What then, is the conservative definition of freedom? Freedom to choose only from a few, pre-selected choices?
But someone always gets hurt when masses of individuals do what is only in their own self-interest. That is the great lie of liberal freedom, or as I like to say, “No-Fault Freedom” (all the choice, none of the responsibility). When I listen to the rock group U2’s latest hit “Vertigo” which criticizes the dizzying culture surrounding us, a chill goes through me when Bono sings (Are you and Bono really on a first name basis?), in a satanic voice, “All of this, all of this can be yours-just give me what I want and no one gets hurt.” Thank you for clarifying that he said that line in a ‘satanic’ voice. Way to throw a pop culture reference in there, it shows you can really connect with the younger generation that...listens to U2. Right.

No one gets hurt? Believers in No-Fault Freedom turn a blind eye to the damage such a notion of freedom causes not to this or that individual but to society as a whole. We have sexual freedom; and the resulting debasement of women, mental illness, and an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases causing infertility, cancer, even death. Yes, this is what happens when you allow women to have sexual freedom, they turn into sluts and everyone gets AIDS and dies.
Adults have freedom to divorce (No-Fault) when it suits them: and too many children end up being scarred for life. Divorce scars children. It is something they can never recover from. In fact, anytime someone mentions the D word around me, I curl up in a ball and start rocking back and forth muttering ‘Mommy and Daddy still love me’ over and over.
This is but a taste of the collateral damage inflicted on society, families, and individuals by No-Fault Freedom.

Another quote from his book:

For some parents, the purported need to provide things for their children simply provides a convenient rationalization for pursuing a gratifying career outside the home.

Apparently, women who pursue careers outside of the home are buying into the lie that their success can only be measured by their career. He claims that families can get by on a single income. Granted, his wife quit her job in nursing to be a stay at home mom and take care of their seven children, but not all of us earn upwards of $900,000 a year.


So basically, divorce is bad, sex is bad and people can’t handle the freedom to make their own decisions. Sounds like an awesome platform to run on, when attempting to become the leader of the free world.

Ok, so here’s a dude who thinks that we can’t make decisions for ourselves, that we need someone telling us how to live our lives. No wonder he’s Catholic. Gosh, if I didn’t have the bible telling me what I can and can’t do, I would just be a crackhead living on the streets, selling my body for dope.

Clearly, I want someone running this country who thinks that I can’t handle decision making. What that ultimately means is he will take away all decision making power of the average citizen, thinking that he knows best. Clearly, he is such a roll model to us all, I mean, have you seen the news recently? His poor record of charitable giving, calling President Obama a snob for wanting everyone to have the opportunity for higher education, his extremely conservative views on birth control and women’s rights are all issues that have been in the news lately. I suppose if you believe you are the ‘underdog’ of the campaign, no news is bad news and maybe being controversial is helping keep his campaign afloat.

Look, he's such a snob he was
made into art!

Imagine though, if he has the nerve to call President Obama a ‘snob’, what will he say about other world leaders? Right now he’s just some ex-senator and a presidential hopeful. What happens if he becomes the president of the United States and he flippantly calls the Queen of England a ‘bitch’? Would that be enough to spark World War III?

Personally, if Rick Santorum called me a bitch, I’d take it as a compliment.

Some things I hate about Facebook.

Ok, I’ll admit it. I am addicted to Facebook. Yeah, it’s a terrible affliction, but it’s not a habit I intend on kicking anytime soon.

So what if I know everything anyone has posted five minutes after it happened? It makes me feel like I am keeping in touch with them. So what if communication is not a one way street and instead of keeping in touch I am really just being a creepy stalker? At least I am not collecting hair and urine samples.

I’m not going to lie, one of the first things I do when I get up in the morning, is check Facebook. What? I have a lot of friends on the West Coast who post stuff after I go to bed and I have to catch up! Oh god, this sounds so pathetic...next comes the 80 cats and the episode of Hoarders, featuring me crying about people throwing out cat shit that I’ve saved for 20 years.

Regardless of my impending crazy cat lady future, I have a few things about Facebook I want to say. Every morning, I am greeted by the sort of stories from the same people. Here are a few examples of what I am talking about.

1. New mothers posting pictures of their new babies. Look, I’m happy for you, that you have started procreating and are proud of the life that you brought into the world, but posting 1000 pictures a day, of your hairless rug rat making the same face, is ridiculous. I seriously wake up to baby pictures on my news feed every day. And you know, I can adjust my news feed to not include these people, but someone else is just going to pop out a kid and I’ll have to block them. It’s like all these people are procreating like it’s their job...or like, a biological imperative or something. Assholes.

2. Some Generic Role in Society: This is What People Think I do. These are inevitably filled with inside jokes, and you know what, I usually don’t get them because I am not a belly dancer or a mathematician or a zookeeper or whatever the fuck is being posted.

Who wants to use the pumice stone on my bunions?

3. An update about the 5th coffee you drank today. Did it have cream? Did you drink it black? OH MY GOD I AM ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT!

4. Music videos. If I wanted to know what you listened to, I would be your friend on last.fm or spotify.com or some sort of music sharing site. Really, I don’t need to know the 10 anthems you’ve selected for your workday and watch their associated videos. This is not youtube. Also, who sorts the goddamn mail while listening to Chris Brown? 5. Really happy, sun shine-y good morning messages. Like, hello world, I am alive and SO glad to be and I love each and every one of my glorious, amazing, beautiful face book friends, many of whom I have never met in real life.. And now the birds will come and help me get dressed and the squirrels will shave my legs for me, tra la la LA la.

Facebook is for sharing the cool things that are going on in your life, things that other people might want to know about. If nothing cool is going on in your life, then shut the hell up.