Saturday, September 27, 2008

Tina Fey Is My Hero

I have been a fan of writer/actress Tina Fey for a very long time. I have long admired her rising to the top as a comedy writer in a world that is very much male dominated. She was head writer on "Saturday Night Live" for several years, while there wrote the hit movie, "Mean Girls," and went on to create the Emmy Award winning "30 Rock." Add to this successful commercials and print ads for American Express and you can see her stock (unlike Wall Street's) is very much on the rise.

Jezebel had a great post yesterday about the branding of Tina Fey, and I think all this success couldn't happen to a more deserving person.

The post suggests that Fey has probably earned approximately $17 million so far in her career, and states that number will do nothing but grow exponentially given her talent, and until her 15 minutes are up (we can only hope) her uncanny resemblance to VP candidate, Sarah Palin.

In an era when we know the names of people like Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag, from "The Hills," it is refreshing to see that there is still a place for actual talent.

When she took a cue from the book,Queen Bees and Wannabees
she captured the life of girls in high school so well in her script for Mean Girls (Special Collector's Edition) it was clear then that Tina Fey was a woman a great talent who would be around for a long time.



I am thrilled that for once it's the woman who is not classically beautiful,(though I think she's gorgeous) who has an actual brain in her head who is making a mark on the showbiz world. Enough with the Restalyne and silicone-filled bimbos, lets give a big shout-out to the smart funny girls! They're much more fun to hang out with anyway.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

"Whatever, Martha" is Totally My New Obsession



If you've ever wondered what it was like to be Martha Stewart's daughter, wonder no more. Alexis Stewart and her Sirius radio partner are hosting a new show on the Fine Living Network called, "Whatever, Martha" Tuesdays at 9.

This show is like watching Martha with your friends, but they're extremely clever, witty friends who have years of issues from having been Martha's daughter.

When I was married, oh so many years ago, I kind of wanted to be Martha. I wanted to be the perfect housewife, but somehow somewhere along the way I lost that. That passion for making homemade pasta was replaced by a passion for writing, but there's still this little part of me that wants to be just a little like Martha. Unfortunately I always fall just a little bit short.

Last night I decided to try to impress a guy by making homemade pizza, something I'm usually not too bad at. I was trying hard to make it look perfect, but the dough just didn't want to cooperate. It was far from round, (I don't think there's a name for the shape it morphed into)and was thicker than I usually make it, it was so not Martha-like. It tasted good, but as it flopped over the wooden palate, oozing cheese on to the counter I realized that no matter how hard I try, the things I do will never be perfect.

Perhaps that why I love "Whatever, Martha." It pokes fun at the quest for culinary and domestic perfection that no one can truly achieve. It shows us the flaw in that thinking and makes us realize that like so many things in life, it's more about the thought behind the effort than the actual outcome. Taking the time to do something for someone rather than the perfect outcome should be the goal, it truly is the thought that counts.

At least that's what I told myself as I stood there trying to figure out how to cut a pizza that looked like a geometry class reject. Hopefully my dinner companion agreed.

Friday, September 19, 2008

I think I'm In Love With Neil Patrick Harris. That Could Be A Problem



All right, so here's the problem. It doesn't matter that he's a big TV star and I have no way of meeting him, that would actually be the easy part. The problem (for me, not him) is that he's gay.

It's probably a little creepy liking the guy who played "Doogie Houser" when I was an adult, but he's a completely legal and completely unavailable 35-years-old, so it's not that weird.

When NPH was outted by Perez Hilton a couple of years ago it looked like it could be a very bad thing for his career, interestingly enough, in the time since then it's become completely cool to like him. "How I Met Your Mother" (or HIMYM as it's known to fans) has gone from a barely surviving show to a big hit - largely due to NPH.

NPH has subbed many times for Regis on "Regis and Kelly" and is always a stellar foil and host-chat mate for Kelly Ripa. This summer he pushed the envelope and starred in the Web-based musical, "Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Along Blog," and helped to elevate the genre of Web series.

So why do I love NPH? Well, he's pretty freaking adorable in that very cute-guy way. He's self-deprecating, (one of my favorite qualities in people) he can do magic and he's very quick witted and funny. What else do I need in a guy? Hm, good question. Well, being straight might be a good start, but for NPH I might just be willing to bend that rule.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Driving Mr. Sashi


It always seems that just when I think my life can't get any weirder, well, it does.

I have spent weeks working on my house getting it ready to sell. I love my house, but the time has come for the "Leave it to Beaver" house to be passed on to another big family, or at least some really rich folks who can pay to heat it above the bone-chilling 62 degrees I've kept it at every winter .

A ritual part of putting your house on the market is after you've scrubbed, weeded, patched and painted yourself into a mere nub of who you once were, is the tour of the MLS (multiple listing service). This swarm of human locusts descends upon your home, whipping through it at breakneck speed and judging every nook, cranny and burned out light bulb.

As the lowly owner of the house I needed to vacate, and since there would be many people in and out, my cat Sashi needed to leave too.

Having spent the morning vacuuming myself out of every room, scrubbing my shower within an inch of its life and folding about 100 loads of laundry that had piled up while I painted and met newspaper deadlines, I didn't have time to prep the cat for the ensuing adventure. Meaning, when the Realtor called and gave me the "Thundercats are go!" signal, I threw the litter box in the back of my wagon, grabbed the cat and zoomed out of here.

As I drove down the road, meowing cat clutching the back of my car seat, I thought that perhaps placing him in his carrying case might have been a better idea.

I didn't know where to go, so my howling companion and I rolled aimlessly down the streets of my town. Certainly going for coffee was out of the question, I feared he'd bolt out the door and I'd never see him again, and really, who could have blamed him? Plus I only had enough cash in my pocket for one coffee, how rude would that have been to not offer him a latte?

We do live on Cape Cod, so finally I decided to take Sashi to the beach. Not to frolic in the sand or go for a swim, but to look out at the water and appreciate this lovely place where he lives.

He wasn't impressed.

Sashi is an indoor cat, a decision my kids and I made after our last cat became dinner for a coyote. His entire world is the square footage within the confines of our house. He is the king of the castle in the world he knows, but out there, thrust into a space he didn't know, he was a quaking pile of fur. I felt terrible, but my Realtor had promised me that this would be about a half an hour at best.

A half hour went by, then an hour. No call on my cell. I amused myself by texting with my son who must have been very bored at work to spend time communicating with mom. I sent all three of my kids pictures of Sashi in the car, (I'm sorry my tech ability doesn't extend on how to put pictures from my phone here) and I think they truly thought I had finally lost it and was now so desolate I was taking the cat on errands and appointments with me.

I tried singing the theme song from "Toonces the Driving Cat" to him, but that was way before his time and he didn't like it. Time dripped by, I read People magazine and Sashi sat quietly it the backseat having declined any reading material.

Finally, after an hour and a half I got the all-clear call to come home.

I don't know who was happier me or the cat. Probably him. I'm used to the car.

Monday, September 8, 2008

I Am Convinced That Nicholas Sparks Has It In For Me



The first time I saw the commercial for the new film "Nights In Rodanthe" I actually yelled at my television. I thought, here we go again; a movie muddying the already very murky waters of love. Isn't finding and sustaining a relationship hard enough without the expectations that Sparks heaps on us?

I want every woman who has ever had a man ask her, "Who keeps you safe?" in a sensitive, super-caring way to raise her hand (and your father doesn't count!). Yeah, I thought so. I'm betting no one, except maybe Nicholas Sparks wife (and boy, would I love to talk to her about what he's REALLY like)has ever had a Sparks-esque relationship. She may have had a moment, especially early on, and chances are there was the possibility of sex laying in the balance that was the real reason behind the moment.

Sparks is the man who brought us tearjerkers like "Message in a Bottle," and "The Notebook." I think, like so many writers (I have to say, usually women) he is ruining love for we singltons, rendering us dreamy eyed and wistful thinking that maybe, just maybe there's a guy who will sweep in and care about your feelings more than the score of the football game and the report due on Monday at work.

Now granted, I haven't seen the movie, but what I have seen in trailers and commercials shows Richard Gere as a doctor who doesn't appear to have been a great husband having put career first. Then, a crisis (I'm assuming) brings him to Diane Lane, equally sad and well, there were end up with the "who keeps you safe?" line.

I don't like to think I'm bitter about love. Realistic perhaps. All right, there may be a smidge of bitterness crammed in there somewhere. Not a lot, just a little. Maybe I have such a visceral reaction to line like that, or "You complete me" as a bit of a defense against hoping that maybe there actually is a guy out there who want to take on me and my complicated life.

I'm not holding my breath, but you never know. But if he ever asks me, "Who keeps you safe?" I might just have to say, "me."

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

That Old Feeling Of Hating "The View" Is Returning



I had looked forward to the return of "The View," the ABC daytime talk-fest that Barbara Walters helms. I thought about Whoopi Goldberg and how much I admire her, so when I tuned in yesterday as I caught up on e-mails and organized my desk, it all came flooding back: Elisabeth Hasselbeck makes my head want to explode. Okay, so I admit it:My name is Candy and I am a liberal. Satisfied? Like anyone would be surprised by that. I try so hard to be open minded, but when I hear her talk I want to scream.

For two days I've heard her tow the GOP line extolling about the virtues of Gov. Sarah Palin, making statements about sexism and just completely contradicting everything she said about Lynne Spears when HER teenage daughter was pregnant.

I have been reading lots of columns by people (Maureen Dowd and Ellen Goodman) much better versed than me in this arena, but as a mother of three I have something to say.

On "The View" yesterday Sherri Shepard was all behind Elisabeth's support of Palin saying that "Hey, if she can be in charge of a family if five she can do the job of vice -president." Really? Is this how low the bar has been set?

I am a single mother of three. From the time my youngest was eleven I was the primary parent of her and her thirteen and eighteen-year-old brothers. I did this while building a career as a journalist, going to school and dealing with a myriad of teen issues, some of them very serious issues. This however does not in any way qualify me for the vice presidency.

I've thought a lot about my own sexism in my surprise over McCain's pick and I decided that I would feel the way I do whether the pick was a male or female.

As a parent I would never want to put a child of mine in a situation like Bristol Palin's through the scrutiny of a national political battle. There are times - whether you're a mother or a father - that you put your kid's needs before your own. Given that she gave birth to a son with special needs just four months ago, it just seems like she's throwing her family under the campaign bus to get what her ambition desires.

I sat on these feelings for a couple of days because I was kind of embarrassed. My objections to her should be solely based on her beliefs -which believe me, they largely are, but as a parent my first thoughts went to,"Wow, five kids, one with Down Syndrome, one pregnant at seventeen, I think these people need to hunker in and take care of what's in right front of them at home." Yeah, family first my ass. Oh wait, I forgot, it's now "Country First."

Being a heartbeat away from the presidency isn't like being a co-host on "The View" Elisabeth and Sherri, if you screw up at work you might embarrass yourselves, but no one dies.