Real life stole me away.  But the Bachelor is bringing me back.  It’s Sean, you guys!!  Yaaaay.  And I thought he’d be boring but turns out he may actually be amazing.  Except for that I can’t shake the fact that he’s probably a crazy religious republican.

….but other than that he’s great!  He’s been so wonderful with Sarah, the woman who was born with only one arm.  He acknowledges her disability without treating her like she’s different.  He is also the first Bachelor to keep the women of color on for more than one fucking episode.  (Disclaimer- I don’t know this for a fact, I am very new to the Bachelor/Bachelorette world, but it certainly seems like everyone is always white.)  He also seems funny.  And he’s ripped.  And it looks like he may have gotten slightly better at kissing than he was during Emily’s season; though his tongue does still sometimes look like a crazy aggressive eel having a seizure.  My main complaint is that he keeps referring to the women as “the girls.”  Honestly, for me, this is like nails on a chalkboard.  I find it condescending even though he obviously doesn’t mean to be.  At one point during the last episode he used the word ‘women’ and I was so happy.

Speaking of the women.  We’ve got an interesting group here.  

Obviously so far this season Tiara is the crazy bitch we are supposed to hate.  And the lovely magical Bachelor editing is working because I hate her.  She cray.

Then there’s Dez, whom I liked at first and am slowly growing to distrust.  She seems a little fake and a little pretentious.  We’ll see what happens.

I love Lesley.  I LOVE Lesley.  She seems smart and down to earth and funny and naturally beautiful and all of this seems bizarre because she did, after all, apply to be on the Bachelor.  I hope she sticks around because I feel like she and Sean are both pretty cool people.

On that note, also love Ashlee the adopted organizer woman. (I think that’s her name… the one that made him cry.)

Catherine and Robin also seem super cool and I want to see more of them.  Also, I’m completely obsessed with Daniella.  But not in a way that I think she’d be good for Sean; in a way that I find her amusing and hilarious and dry and I want her to stay on for my personal enjoyment.

So far, these are the ladies that have stood out to me.  Can’t wait until the next episode where we supposedly get to see yet another ‘injury’ overhyped and overdramatized.  Woohoo!!

A quick The Voice update:  LOVE that chick who sang ‘Toxic.’  Also love the kid who dropped out of NYU Stern.  All these awesome people are picking Adam.  I feel that they are blinded by/feel a magnetic pull to his hotness.  They should be picking Cee Lo.  The former boy band member made me sad.  I wanted him to do well. 

Big Brother Spoiler Alert

AAGGGHH my baby Ian won!!!  I’m so proud.  I’m so happy.  I have never met this human and yet I am elated.

Firstly, I’m super glad Shane didn’t make it to the final three.  He is a sweet, kind, boring, blob man with no thoughts.  I was happy to see Dan, Ian, and Danielle at the end because I felt that all three had played a strong game and made some big decisions. 

I respect everything Dan did this season and, unlike Frank, I’m not super offended that he had the gall to swear on his wife and go back on it.  Still, though, I never rooted for him.  Maybe I was still holding the Britney grudge after all this time, I don’t know.  Maybe it’s that he has won BB before and someone new should get a chance. 

I was happy that Danielle made it to the final three because I feel that she was underestimated as a player throughout the entire show.  People claim she ‘relied’ on Dan, but it’s just that she had an allegiance to him and she played a loyal game; I also feel that everyone would see it my way were she a man, but that’s a whole other discussion.  Anywayz, she also won a million more competitions than Dan and got far while playing a “clean” game so I respect her.  I would have loved to see Danielle and Ian as the final two but, alas, that didn’t happen.  Honestly, the only thing I hold against Danielle is that, towards the end when it became unbearably clear that Dan was playing her, she didn’t see it.

In the end, while Dan and Ian were both strong players, I feel that Ian was far more deserving.  As Boogie said in the finale - (btw, he seemed super intelligent and calm and like and actual cool human which was nice/weird) - Ian overcame a TON, including social issues, to pull this off.  He obviously has a kind heart.  He’s not a dick.  He actually needs the money. 

I think he’s great, and I’m super happy, and I’m glad people were gracious, and I’m a newly minted big brother freak.  Yay!  Quack!

I’m obsessed with The Voice.  I don’t know what it is about this particular singing competition - maybe it’s the weird sex/hate chemistry between Adam and Xtina, or Cee-Lo’s pink bird and furry cat, or Blake’s handsome inarticulate charm - but there’s just something that I can’t get enough of.

I missed season 1 but was hooked on season 2 and now, finally Season 3 is here!!!  Yaaay!!  And the blind auditions are kind of the most fun part to watch.  Even though the sob story thing gets monotonous.  Seriously.  Every contestant.  ”Up next, we’ll see if this {insert adjective, noun} can turn a judge’s chair!  {So and so} natieve of {place- probably the south or Brooklyn} has always loved to sing!  But life has not always been full of music for this {description of human.}  When he/she was {age}, {name} {long, sad, horrible thing the person overcame.}”  Cut to video of contestant, teary:  “This competition could change my entire life.”  Cut to Carson Daly looking solemn.  Predictable?  Yes.  But I love this shit.

So far there have been a lot of talented people, but I can’t say I’ve found anyone that I’m crazy excited about (as I was about Chris Mann last season) yet.  Though, that being said, most of the contestants who I loved at the end of last season I barely remembered from the blind auditions.  They still have plenty of time to prove themselves.

So far I actually kind of like that yodelling country girl, and I obviously love the guy who wasn’t chosen last year and then came back and is on Cee-Lo’s team.  Yaay underdog!  I also REALLY like the little 19-year-old Harry Potter dragonfly man who’s on Cee-Lo’s team.  

Even though Blake and Adam have each won a season, I truly think that Xtina and Cee-Lo generally cultivate the most overall talented teams.  Last season, Cee-Lo’s final four were the strongest by FAR.  Strategy wise it’s probably best for contestants to pick the more overlooked judges so that they may stand out and stay around longer.  But really, who’s gunna pass up the chance to work with dirrrty Xtina herself??

So far I’m not being pulled super strongly in any direction.  I’ll keep watching and keep updating because OBVIOUSLY I’m me and therefore I’m sure that will change.  (… I didn’t even like Ari that much at the beginning of the Bachelorette!)  

So, heres a thing.  I’ve become dangerously obsessed with Big Brother.  Not dangerous in a way like ‘I’m going to leave my life behind and sneak into their house at night because I LOVE them,’ but more dangerous in a way like, ‘no, I can’t make it to this social obligation tonight because Big Brother’s on and I can’t stop watching it.’

Like the Bachelorette, Big Brother is one of the original reality competitions and yet this is the first season I’m ever watching.  It was recommended to me by a friend who said it was exciting because it’s all about strategy.  Since The Bachelorette ended I’ve been looking for a new fixation and took my friend’s advice.  Little did I know, this show is like crack.  And it airs 3 TIMES A WEEK!!!  Time eater, certainly.  But it’s summer so whatever.

This season was (apparently) different from past seasons because there weren’t only players in the house.  The players had coaches who are past BB contestants.  The coaches stood to win some money if one of their players wins.  But then they re-set the game and the coaches became players too so that’s all a bit irrelevant now. 

We’re already almost at the end so I won’t go in to all of the emotional roller coaster that made up the past few weeks.  Let’s start with this week, where we are down to the final five:  Shane, Danielle, Ian, Jen, and Dan. 

In my personal opinion, Shane is like a blob.  He is not smart, he kind of looks like he’d be athletic but he’s not particularly, he never makes any decisions on his own, whatever.  The only reason he got this far is because of Britney and she’s gone (rip) so he needs to go. 

Danielle is okay.  I think she’s way smarter than Shane and I have no idea what she see’s in him.  She’s proven to be a strong competitor in some of the physical competitions as well.  I honestly feel like this game ends up being a bit sexist - the guys seem to look out for each other and almost all of the women were eliminated early despite their strengths- so I’m glad to have Dani representing.  I wish it were Britney, but oh well that ship has sailed.

I love Ian.  I want him to win.  I think he can win.  He’s played an intriguing, smart game and he’s adorable and geeky and lovable.  And he was Britney’s best friend.  Avenge herrrr!!!!  (…can you guys tell I liked Britney?)

Jen is interesting.  She’s been under the radar for the whole game, and somehow the last week or so she’s emerged as a helpful ally and wormed her way into the top five.  I think she must be playing an amazing social game- all the contestants seem to really like her- though we don’t get to see that a lot on the aired episodes.  (And I don’t pay for the 24-hr surveillance footage but believe me if it was free I’d be watching it.  That’s embarrassing.) 

Dan.  What an odd guy.  I feel like I would get super annoyed by him in real life (too faux-sincere,) but I’ve been enjoying watching him play.  I will remain bitter that he got Britney out, but I have to respect his ballsiness.  He’s pulled some big, weird moves and right now it seems like he’s the one to beat.

If I had my way we’d get rid of freakin useless Shane next week, but I fear for Jen.  We’ll see what happens.  Go Ian.

So I just read Caitlin Moran’s “How to Be a Woman,” and I’m super excited.  Two years ago I took a class in college about Feminism and the Media.  We were assigned a bunch of books, the most recent of which was written in the late 90s.  Obviously, with pop culture and porn culture and all culture changing so quickly, these books seemed outdated already.  I feel that it’s been a long time since Feminism, as in, the movement, was seriously discussed in a way that reaches the masses.  Sure, every day feminist scholars are studying and writing at universities, but it’s been a while since the Feminist Movement has been talked about on a large scale.

I believe that Moran has perfectly mixed her comedic memoires with her feminist manifesto to create a book that is intelligent and relatable to the every day modern woman.  Moran does not fit the stereotype that has been unfairly created of what a ‘feminist’ is.  She wears make-up.  She is straight.  She has kids.  Yet, she encourages her readers to stand on their chairs proclaiming, “I am a strident feminist!”  I love this.  I lover her.  I enjoyed hearing her insightful opinions about how the porn industry has affected women, why Lady Gaga is a feminist icon, and why flirting at work should be not only allowed but encouraged.

Moran has some interesting viewpoints and I truly think this is a worthwhile read.  I hope that there is more where this came from and that the Feminist movement will once again be recognized for what it is: as Moran puts it, a movement aimed towards creating fair, universal, polite-ness.

For some reason, The Olympics always really gets me.  I’m a mildly cynical person, I’m not super patriotic, and I don’t usually get obsissive about things other than cats and Christmas.  That being said, every time the Olympics comes around I lose my shit. 

I was literally teary-eyed during the entire Opening Ceremony broadcast last week.  (Okay, everything except for that weird ‘coming into the digital age’ dance party that looked like some sort of confused acid trip.)  Why was I teary?  I’m not sure.  It’s something about the tradition of it all.  Considering what the world is today, it seems completely implausible that an old, not particularly useful tradition like this should have lasted.  But it has.  Despite war and economical problems and expenses and everything else that could prevent it from happening countries still put aside their differences every few years to come together for friendly athletic competitions.  They take time away from hating each other to participate in a unifying event.  I know I sound like a trippy, idealistic grandma.  I also know how odd it is that the entire world takes a few weeks to go crazy about people who happen to be incredibly talented at very bizarre athletic endeavors. 

Yes, I see that as an entity The Olympics is kind of odd.  But I don’t care.  It’s about people putting aside their differences, and the fact that this still persists gives me hope.  I think it’s really nice, even if it makes me sound like an after school special.

So spend some time watching the Olympics, guys!! 

Three weeks of The Glee Project have gone by and in those three weeks I have lost my only motivations to watch the show:  Nellie, Abraham, and Shanna.  Okay, I still have Ally and Blake and Michael to keep me mildly interested, but I was really hoping Shanna was going to the end.  And, like Charlie, I think she was screwed.

I have a lot of love for Nellie and I think she’s super talented, but I understood why it was time for her to go.  For the bazillionth time she just couldn’t fake confidence.  How do you not go balls out and have fun when you get to dress up like Britney Spears and get hot and heavy with a fruit stand?!  (Not a euphamism.  Literal fruit stand.)  Anyway, I understood why it was her time, despite her talent.  Also she’s 19 and if I had been in that situation at 19 I would have been twice the mess she was.

Next was Abraham and, to be honest, I wasn’t actually sad about his departure at all.  I didn’t find him particularly talented or particularly interesting and his rushing back in to the audition room to proclaim “I WILL NOT GO HOME UNTIL I WIN THIS!” was just kind of the nail in the coffin for me.

Okay.  Down the brass tacks.  Shanna should still be in this competition!  She is crazy talented, crazy professional, has been a frontrunner since the beginning, and literally did nothing wrong this week.  Obviously it was a tough bottom three, but I truly think Shanna outperformed both Blake and Aylin.  Also, let’s be real, Blake attempting to sing harmony sounded like a lobotomized dying elephant.  Also, I hate to be the one who always calls ‘sexism’ but Shanna is more talented than Blake and much more interesting and I think he snuck through solely based on his looks and charm and the fact that he’s a guy.  Shanna did come off a bit bitchier than usual in her interviews this week but, as much as I love Michael, I agree that he should have been in the bottom three over her.

Aylin usually pisses me off.  I was hoping she’d go home this week because of that but honestly, this week I found her the least annoying than she’s ever been.

I love Blake and Michael.  I’m a straight woman and appreciate their charm and talent and barely-legal hotness.  Still, I think it’s bullshit that they’re being kept around because there’s a lack of men.  If the women are talented, keep them longer!  I love you Ryan Murphy, but you’ve gotta suck it up and get rid of your eye candy.

Here’s an interesting/funny article by Jennifer Weiner about The Bachelorette.  The title put my off, but once you start reading the actual article it gets great.  http://m.ew.com/news-detail.rbml?guid=0„20614873,00