LOST

When Derek and I ventured down to Cancun in August, I brought along the first season of LOST. Neither of us had watched it while it was on TV, but a lot of our friends had enjoyed it, so I thought that while we were resting in the evenings (it's a lot of work drinking daiquiris and lounging by the pool) we could watch it.
Needless to say that we became addicted. I mean to say that we just finished all six years of this series last night. Though it seems like a lot of TV to watch, we actually watched quite a few episodes on our computer, so that doesn't count. Plus, without commercials, a LOST episode is only just over 42 minutes.
Now, as we were watching the very last episode last night, I couldn't help but thinking, "What?" as the last scene ended. That Jack was dead I got. That everyone with him in the church was dead also made sense. However, what confused me was the individual deaths of each person that met on the island. Did they all just die when the plane first crashed? That seems pretty lame. Did they all die when Juliette exploded the bomb? Maybe... Luckily for me, there are several sites out there that offer up explanations for all of this and after reading them, I feel much more enlightened.
I do have to wonder, since a show's producers can never know how long a show will last, if the intended purpose of the show was how it turned out. I loved all of the character flashbacks from their lives--whether their lives before the plane crash or their "lives" after death before they reunited. I just think that originally, the show was probably going to just feature the Others and go from there. I definitely give props to the producers who were brilliant enough to tie so many different things together. I wish all shows made me think like this.

16 and Pregnant

I have to state in the beginning that I only happened upon this show because I couldn't find an episode of Law & Order to watch and Derek was gone. I don't usually watch MTV. I actually was especially interested in watching this show specifically because it was an MTV production. I was curious to see what kind of a spin they'd put on a situation like this.
The episode I saw has a cheerleader from South Dakota (maybe North Dakota? Who can tell them apart anyway?) who announces to us that she's already like 16 weeks pregnant by the time she could contact MTV and they could get their cameras rolling. She's a very pretty, ditzy, size 2 teenager whose closest friend is a very homosexual male cheerleader. Her mom drives around in a Mercedes sports car and her dad apparently works out of town all the time.
What surprises did the show bring me? Well, actually the biggest surprise wasn't the girl who was pregnant, it was her mom. The girl was extremely immature about the situation and bemoans her loss of her size 2 figure. She hopes she'll quickly be able to return to her usual size after the baby makes her appearance. Her mom makes a halfhearted attempt to tell her daughter that this baby would be better cared for by adopted parents (this girl's boyfriend is no longer in the picture and he finds out from local gossip about the pregnancy). The girl, whose name is Farrah, decides she wants to keep the baby and her mom supports her decision to keep the baby; however, she doesn't exactly help out with her great mothering after that point.
When they go to the hospital for a tour and to find out about labor, her mom tells her that it's all disgusting and she doesn't want to hear it. Um great, but your daughter is the pregnant one whose trying to learn about the situation.
Farrah tries to get a car, so that she can get a job and sometime go to school. Obviously, she has no income, so she looks to get something she views as affordable like a Ford Focus. Her mom tells her that she hates Ford Focuses and that's a stupid idea and they will not be going to look for that car. Great advice coming from someone who drives around a Mercedes Benz huh? During the course of this fight, the mom even hits Farrah and tells her she's had enough of Farrah's unChristlike ways. I think there's something about a mote and a beam that goes along with this, but I can't remember right now...
After the baby comes, the mom makes sure that Farrah bears the bulk of the responsibility for this baby which I do think is a good decision on her part--perhaps one of the few good decisions I saw the mom make. Farrah finds it hard to have the energy to do much of anything after being up all night with a newborn and her friends don't really relate to her since they don't have babies. Shocking I know.
I guess I was hoping that the show would emphasize more just how hard it is to be an unwed, teenage mom. Really, in this episode this girl had to deal with her crazy mom, but her mom still allowed her to live at home & she strongly encouraged her to continue with school. It could've been a lot worse. I almost felt as though the show could have the opposite effect it maybe is shooting for. At least I hope that it's aiming to show that teenage pregnancy is a bad idea.
I think a more convincing sell for the show would be to show opposing sides of this situation. I know several people who have/are struggling to get pregnant--people who are good, solid people with careers and education and love--people who could offer great homes to children. To show these great, stable couples searching so hard to find a baby to adopt vs. this teenager who doesn't even want to be pregnant, who isn't ready to be pregnant, who isn't equipped to be a parent. Although maybe my idea is a poor one--maybe it would cause teenagers who watch MTV to want to get pregnant in order to help out these couples? I don't know.
I just think that the hardest, most demanding job that I've ever done is parenting. It can certainly be easy if you want to do a poor job. It's sad that people who don't even want babies can get pregnant while people who want children more than anything can't make it happen. I also felt sad for Farrah because it was apparent to me that she probably will never accomplish any of her educational goals and where will that leave her? What kind of a guy is she going to marry to father her children? What will she tell her daughter about her dad?
The whole situation is sad. Really sad.

Watch Me Be Famous!

Click here.

I bet you didn't know I was a star on ABC huh?

You thought I was just a pregnant, stay at home mom.

I'm so much more. I'm famous now.

Guess what, the designer is my sister-in-law.

She may just name her first child after me now.

If you want to order some of these awesome products for yourself, go to her website here.

Make it Work!

Do any of you watch Project Runway? I have to confess that I love that show! I love the creativity that is involved. I love to see the color, the movement of the designs, the skinniness of the models (okay, maybe not so much on the last one).

Not being a super creative person myself, I can admire the imagination and effort that goes into designing an outfit in only a couple of minutes. I never realized how creative someone who designed clothes would have to be. Not only must you know how to sew, you have to be able to sketch your drawing and then pick a fabric, a color, accents, and even the hair and make-up to pull the whole look together. I'm just in awe of how these people do this!

It is incredibly ironic to see how the designers dress themselves though. Honestly, it looks like every single one of them tries so hard to be unique. It's typical to see the men wearing skinny jeans (My husband is thin and one time he accidentally tried on a pair and all I could say was, "Take them off right now!" ugh!) or capris. A man in capris? Uh, good luck with that.

The other thing that is interesting to me is all the tattoos. I realize that's really prevalent in our society right now, but I just cringe when I see their arms coated in these tattoos.

And the hair. Oh the hair. Let's be honest, I am sooo lazy when it comes to hair, I'm all about convenience. I'm certainly not the most fashion forward (I stole that term from the show--don't I sound cool now?) person you'll meet, but some of this hair is crazy! Christian somehow manages to make one portion of his hair go completely flat while the back constantly looks like he just stuck his finger in a light socket or the wind is blowing only on that small portion of his head. One of the female designers, Kit, has this peroxide blonde, brittle hair and I just cringe when I see it. They showed a picture of her from her high school prom and she was gorgeous! Who knew?

It's kind of reminding me of Picasso. I went to an exhibit of his work while I was in Spain and they showed his early work. He could paint beautiful, true to life images, but that's not what it was about for him. He wanted people to look and question, to search for the meaning. I think that's what these designers are doing. They want you to look past them to see their creations. They are merely the tool to make it happen. It's such a paradox to see someone dressed so kooky design something so elegant.

Seriously????

Last night Derek and I were watching Law & Order. I'm a bit of an addict of that show. Me and TNT have a very special relationship thanks to their dedication to keeping this show alive and well in reruns. It kind of intrigues me in the same way a good book does--the characters you love to hate, the passion, the way the law has to work a certain way, etc. Normally, I won't change the channel for any other show, but last night during a commercial surf, I saw something that grabbed my attention.
Did any of you see Primetime on ABC last night? If you didn't, you really need to read this story:

http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2925021&page=1

It's a bit scary to me. There is a man who is saying that he is the resurrected Christ. He claims it was a vision he had several years ago where two angels came to him and told him he was Jesus. Now, I don't doubt that there are several people out there saying the same thing, but I wonder if they are gathering the following this guy is. (Estimates put his following at one million members.)
His followers have the numbers 666 tattooed on their bodies because of their disdain for organized religion. He also preaches that there's no need for prayer because Jesus (this man) is alive and living in Houston, Texas. This man teaches them that there is no such thing as sin. What about murder or stealing you say? He says there is such thing as crime and that is punished while we're here on earth, but there's no need to worry about heaven, we're all guaranteed a spot.
This man openly drinks, smokes and has a criminal record. And the biggest draw for his followers seems to be that idea that you live however you want to live without any need of fear. He says that's one of his main reasons for opposing organized religion is the fear it engenders in people.
While I was watching this with my mind reeling, I was so glad that the leaders of my own church don't resemble this man in any way. Seriously, almost the entire time he was speaking to the news reporter, he seemed to have a crazy grin on his face that said, "Can you believe that other people actually believe me? That they follow me and give me money to live like this?" And his supporters do dish out the money too. One man and his wife have given him $2 million in the last couple of years. His people are supposed to pay a 10% tithe, but it's not required.
I guess I just don't get it in so many ways. He's completely against organized religion, yet isn't that exactly what he's created? The woman that is his public relations organizer walks around scantily clad and when the reporter asks her about it, she said, "This is just my body. I worship with my mind. What does it matter what I wear?"
I remember hearing when I was younger that people would mark themselves with the mark of the beast and I thought, "Who would honestly do that? That must be symbolic in some way." Apparently not completely symbolic. I was always taught that my body is a temple and that what I wear and how I present myself is an open reflection of what I believe and what's going on in my mind and yet this woman is telling me the two are completely separate.
I guess I really feel like if you do believe what he's teaching, why do you need to go to his church? He's telling you to live however you want, so you definitely don't need to have someone teaching you. He's made himself obsolete by the words from his own mouth.