Hoes, Housewives, and Homewreckers...On My TV

I am still trying to figure out what the heck to write about. This blog should really have a focus, but I haven't found a direction yet. So until I get a "theme," I will just talk about the things that happen and let this progress naturally. :)

What has been running through my mind lately are shows that I hate to love. You have them. Those shows that you hate the characters, the theme, the story line, or maybe the actor who is in it. But every week you are watching it with relish and you are DVRing it for the next week. These may be shows that you are a little ashamed to tell people you watch also because you want to look too intelligent to watch pure ratchetness.

In honor of my hate to love shows, I have labeled this blog:

Hoes, Housewives, and Homewreckers...On My TV

Catchy title, right?

Hoes:

So I have a love/hate relationship with the HBO show, Girls. I decided one day that I would check it out and instantly got hooked. I watched seasons 1-3 in about four days. (Thank God for on demand!) Although I got sucked into the story line and the drama, there is one thing that I cannot hide...I hate the characters! I have never seen more inconsiderate, self-serving, narcissistic, promiscuous characters in my life (and I watched all of Sex and the City!). The main character, Hannah, in particular is the worst. Everything has to be about her. She is always rambling on and on about her writing and how her love life (or shall I say her sex life) is. Yes, I know, I know, she is the main character, but come on!
                                                         
During the second season when she was having her mental breakdown, I kind of grew fond of her character. She showed some human traits that I could relate to with her sickness. As someone who has dealt with depression, I was feeling all of her emotions and what she was going through. As the second season went on and her condition escalated to her cutting her hair off and having non-stop OCD, I actually vowed to watch as long as the show was on. Especially after the season finale where her boyfriend ran through the streets to rescue her. Come on, who doesn't want a man to run to sweep you off your feet.

 

Then I went on to the third season and expected the same humble character...WRONG! Back to the narcissistic people who drove me crazy the first season. Ugh! I truthfully don't know why I keep watching, but here we are on Sunday night, glued to the television, waiting to be tortured by this show. I am a glutton for punishment I guess.

Housewives: 

Hubby and I LOVE The Real Housewives of Atlanta! Not only do I watch the show, but I keep up on every bit of gossip about them. And now with us living in Atlanta, I am waiting anxiously to see Phaedra Parks while I am out. (Yes, I love her fake southern belle self!)

From season one to season whatever we are on now, I have watched it all. The original show, the spin-offs, the episodes of Glee with Nene Leakes in it, and the show that Nene was in (which in itself became a love to hate show because it was sooooo bad.) I have even tried to get my best friend, Joyce, to watch and she was bored by the first 10 minutes. (Shout out to Joyce!)

Whenever I mention that I watch the show to people, I usually get that blank stare that says, "Oh you watch those stupid reality shows?" I love the show, but at the same time I hate it. The portrayal that it gives black women and pretty much women in general is horrible. I honestly hope that there are not real backstabbing, snarky, and mean women who live in this world. They make southerners look bad. They make people from Atlanta look bad. And since they have come onto the scene, the Housewives series in general has stooped lower by having their cast members emulate the Atlanta cast.

But as much as I despise their behavior, you better believe that I will be watching the juicy, hilarious details that come out at the reunion. Especially since Apollo has recently gotten arrested for more fraud. Ooooh, you know Kenya gonna have a lot to say about that!

P.S. I walk around the house saying this to Hubby all the time.
No matter the situation, I find a way to say this...lol.

Homewreckers: 

Sigh...I have to take a deep breath before I talk about this show because I am so disappointed in myself that I watched the entire season. Let me first start off that I don't like characters who are homewreckers, especially when they are portrayed as strong, black women who others are supposed to idiolize. I stopped watching Scandal in the middle of the first season after seeing that Olivia Pope was going to continue being the other woman the entire time. But even after saying that, I got sucked into Being Mary Jane.

Gabrielle Union plays a character who as a kid I wanted to be...a black anchor/personality on a station similar to CNN. That is as far as I got to liking her. Immediately, you find out that she is truly messed up. She is still twisted over an ex-boyfriend, while at the same time sleeping with a married man.  During the season she gets the married man to leave his wife before she ultimately dumps him out of guilt, she pursues her ex-boyfriend who she has stolen semen from in an attempt to have a secret baby, and she has been rude, condescending, and a know-it-all to every person in her family who she thinks she is better than.

Did I mention that she stole that man's sperm?!!! And then bragged about it to her friends! Crazy!

After the last seconds of the season finale finished, I sat with Hubby astonished at how low she sank into desperation this season. I vowed to never watch this show if it is renewed for a second season. I actually felt bad, as someone who is getting married, to watch this show that so badly depicts this black woman and that kind of made cheating seem right at times. Hence the scene where she told the man's wife that if she was doing her job in the bedroom then her man wouldn't have left. (I would have slapped her so hard that she forgot who she was!)

But although I hated it, what kept me watching it every damn week? I loved the acting. Every actor and actress played their part well and at times made me feel like I was actually watching their real life unfold before my eyes. The filming was on point, the script was amazing (go Mara Brock Akil!), and for once, I was amazed that BET produced such a great show.

Will I watch it next season? I say no, but I have a feeling that all the hype on social media, the previews for the new season, and the general excitement of good shows after a long, boring summer will make me at least give it a try, which will suck me in again.

So there you have it. Feel free to judge me. I am weak to these shows! I did not even mention the other shows I watch like, Love and Hip Hop, Blood, Sweat and Heels, Rich Kids of Beverly Hills, etc that I watch that has led to the deterioration of brain cells and to me walking around the house screaming random catch phrases. It definitely leads to some interesting conversations and arguments between Hubby and I.

Talk soon...XOXO!
Crystal

Let's give this a try...my venture into blogging

Let's give this a try...

So my loving hubby, Ryan, has continuously said to me that I need to write a blog. My excuse was always that I never knew what to write about. I have tried blogging in the past and always dropped off because I did not have the time. I am going to try to give it more of an effort this time.

I guess I should start with introductions. My name is Crystal. I live in Atlanta, GA. I work in marketing for a nonprofit animal rescue group called Best Friends Animal Society. Other than work, I am usually found sleeping, searching the web, watching reality or junk tv, or eating...to name a few things.

This is me, Crystal!

I live with the love of my life, Ryan, who I will refer to from here on out as hubby. We met on my 21st birthday, were friends for 7 years, then decided in 2012 to start a relationship. We have been together every since and will soon be married.

Here is a pic of hubby:

Ain't he handsome. He is a huge sports fan...and I mean every sport!

Here is a pic of me and hubby in Kanab, UT in 2013:

Why were we in Kanab, UT of all places? Well that is the home of Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. 

Hubby suggested that I write about our zoo. We have a full house of pets that we call our zoo consisting of five dogs and two cats. I even have a virtual cat named Tom, but he doesn't count...lol. I love them very much and constantly talk about them on Facebook and Twitter, but truthfully, I don't want to have an entire blog about their antics. I will be writing some posts about them because they are a huge part of my life, though. Here are some photos of them with some fun facts:

Let's start with the dogs -

This is Mumu. She is about 3 years old. She is a Chihuahua mix. Very spunky and loves the outdoors. She spends most of her days laying with her sister in my papasan chair. She got her name Mumu because when she was born she was really fat and looked like she would wear one of those mumus that fat old ladies wear.

                                   

This is Shylow also laying on the papasan chair, which is where she stays 90% of the day. She is about 6 years old and is a Chihuahua mix. I like to call her the supermodel of the family because she is small, thin, and fragile. Like her name suggests, she is very shy to new people.

On the right of hubby is Biscuit. He is my first born and is the alpha male in the house. He is from the same litter as Shylow, but is the total opposite. He is tall and weighs about 20 lbs...as a chihuahua mix! He got his name because when he was born he looked like the can of biscuits when they open. So cute and fat.

You might have seen the white fluff ball above. Well that is my Maltese, Rasbee. I got Rasbee from a family friend who could not take care of him anymore. He is 3 years old and is a very sweet boy who loves getting cuddles.

To round out the dogs is our new addition, Bella. We found her on Christmas Day, greatly emaciated, filled with fleas, and scared. She was living with a neighbor who was not taking care of her. When I saw her though, I could not leave without her. She is our first "big" dog. She is currently 4.5 months old and weighs about 27 lbs. She is going to be big! We love her so much already.

Now on to the cats -

This is Artie! We met him at a local thrift store at an adoption event held by Lifeline Animal Project and knew we had to have him. He is about a year old now. He is the mischievous, funny, and incredibly active one in the house. If you come over and see a streak of grey rush by, it is him.

This is Ray. The day I went to get Artie, I mentioned that I was looking for a black cat. So they took me in a room with about 20 black cats all vying for my attention. I looked around and noticed this one cat who was laying on his own looking sad. The worker said that his owner turned him in and donated a fridge so they called him Rator. They said he came in fat, but had lost lots of weight and was not taking the shelter atmosphere well. I went over, looked in his sad eyes, and said that I would take him. It took him months to get used to us and the dogs, but as I am writing this, he is laying beside me, purring happily.

Now that I bored you with the zoo, I will let you take all of that in and digest it. I will sign off now, but will be back to you soon with lots of fun insights, stories about my life, rantings about reality tv, and maybe some of my Pinterest fails. Lol.

Talk soon...XOXO
Crystal