Macaroni…let me finish…salad.

There are a few television shows that I make sure that I watch. I’m not really one of those TV people per se, but I do have a few shows that I watch religiously. These include:

Family Guy
American Dad
60 Minutes
Frontline
Nova
Lost
Rescue Me (because of my husband – he’s a firefighter so he loves the firefighter shows)
Survivor (guilty pleasure)
Rome (on HBO. Great show, also a huge hotness factor with actor Ray Stevenson-seriously, check him out.)
Six Feet Under (also an HBO show, now finished, but it was brilliant)

Other than these shows, I really don’t care for television. I heard some people in the office talking about the new season of “Big Brother” the other day. I think this is probably one of the stupidest shows on TV, but obviously people are watching it. The people in the office really seemed to be looking forward to the new season of this show and it made me think about some great TV shows that have been cancelled in the past to make room for idiotic tripe like “Big Brother”. When I was in high school, almost everyone I knew watched “My So Called Life”. As teenagers, we related to it so well (which is pretty rare). And of course, they cancelled it. The next major “good show discovery” for me was “Arrested Development”. This was probably one of the funniest, smartest shows ever to be on TV. And of course, they cancelled it.

This brings me to my point.

Do stupid TV shows make people stupid or make them like stupid things, or do stupid people demand more stupid TV shows and the networks capitulate in an attempt to pander to the great unwashed masses? I think that sadly, it is the latter. I know what you are thinking at this point: “What an arrogant thing to say.” Well maybe. But I am tired of listening to people talk about dumb shit. I think the reason why people are talking about dumb shit is because they are not being challenged or stimulated. I am tired of there being 30 copies of “Terminator 3” on the movie store shelves and only 1 copy of the documentary I wanted to see but it is out because apparently there is one other person in my town who gives a shit about what goes on in the world outside of the Western Hemisphere and is interested in watching something that will encourage them to use their brain.

I’m not saying I only watch things that are intellectually stimulating; I watch Family Guy for chrissake. I’m just saying that there is a reason that people are dumbed down; because life is dumbed down for us. This morning, I heard President Bush on the radio, making a speech yesterday at a 9/11 memorial. I know this is overstated but the man is a moron. The speech was terrible.

On the news the other day, they were reporting on how something like 60% of the population in North America does not know how to read, nor do they understand the labels on food packaging. These are the labels that break down the nutritional value and give you a list of what the product contains. I am not making this up. They actually proposed that the government do something to change the verbiage on the packaging to make it more “user friendly”. One of the examples they used was substituting the word “salt” for “sodium chloride”. Apparently, people do not understand that salt and sodium are the same thing.

Am I missing something? Do I just not “get it”? Was I ripped out of the matrix too early? I am not gifted, nor do I have an exceptionally high IQ. Yes, I have had the advantage of a good solid liberal arts education and came from two relatively smart parents, but I don’t think my brain is really anything overly special.

People are not plugged in. They go about mindlessly consuming things; too much food, the newest car, stupid knickknacks from Hallmark. They don’t read. They did not watch the documentary “The Corporation” even when it was on public television THREE NIGHTS IN A ROW to find out about why it might not be such a good thing to let Walmarts take over the world; about why they are mindlessly consuming things and growing fatter and fatter by the day; about why they value what they value and how messed up it is.

No. They were watching “Singing with the Stars”. Another quality program brought to you by the Fox network. The same network that puts idiots like Bill O’Reilly on the “news”. (I realize that some of the programs I watch also air on Fox – it’s just something I have to live with).

One of the scariest things about our society in my estimation is not that Big Brother is watching; it’s that we are watching “Big Brother”.

Office Girl

Boobs, Bridal Showers and Bullsh*t

It’s been just over two weeks now since I miscarried and I am feeling pretty good. I think my body is getting back to normal and my mood is much better. I’ve been busy at work and with other things so the time has passed quickly. My husband and I started talking about when we were going to start trying again and we’ve both agreed to do it as soon as I get my first period over with and the doctor says to go ahead. So that is that for now.

Actually, it’s kind of nice to have my body back to myself for a little while. I had to put away the DD bras and bring out my old D ones, and then I had to put those away and bring out the C ones. It is no fun having boobs sometimes. I lost some weight and my clothes are looser around my tummy. Not that my tummy got that big, but I was starting to get a little bump and my pants were tighter.

So I am just going to put my energy into enjoying my husband (yay regular sex!), my puppy, and my job. Sometimes it’s important to only think about good things. I’m going to try to do that for a little while.

In other news, I hear my old company finally bit the dust. If you’ve been following Teh Mommeh’s blog, you will have been witnessing the slow death of the company and hearing about what a bunch of bastards they are. It was bad when I worked there in the Toronto branch, but I was able to get out before anything happened. It really pisses me off when these assholes run a company into the ground when they have all those employees depending on them for a regular paycheque and a stable job. I wonder what happened to my old boss. They shipped him out to Toronto from Vancouver to work his arse off for a crap salary. He was a die-hard for the company though. I never understood why he bothered to stay. If I were him, I would have said “fuck this” and quit. Hopefully he’ll be alright.

Let’s see…what else?

Oh yeah. My brother in law is getting married. The girl (actually I should say woman because she is about 10 years older than him) is someone he has been dating off and on for over a year now. My husband and I have met her a total of four times. So it was a surprise when we heard they were getting married but hey, whatever, as long as they’re happy. So anyway, the other day I casually ask my mother in law if she is going to do anything for the bride to be, like a shower or something. She says no (she barely knows her either) and that they didn’t want a shower or a Jack and Jill or anything. I say okay fine, because I really don’t caring being that I hardly even know her. I asked out of curiosity. I never had anything like that because we ran off the Mexico to get married and didn’t invite anyone (trust me, if you are not married yet, I recommend not doing the big wedding thing).

A couple of days ago, I get a message on my answering machine from one of the bride-to-be’s friends. It says something along these lines:

“Hi, you don’t know me but I got your number from (my brother in law). I hear you are organizing a shower for (bride to be) and I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help. If you need me to call people to invite of whatever, I can do that. Let me know. Oh, by the way, I work two full time jobs and will be out of town for one of them for awhile so just leave me a message letting me know what you want me to do.”

I was like “What the fuck?” All I freaking did was ask my mother in law if anything was going on and now all of a sudden, I have complete strangers calling me. First of all, the shower should be organized by HER FRIENDS. I am not even in the wedding party. So I call my brother in law and he says “Oh, don’t worry. I told them that you would help them out if they were doing anything. They are a bunch of idiots so I thought it would be good if you helped them.”

Lies.

This bunch of lazy ass, disorganized people are trying to push some shit off onto me. Well, I’ll tell you what dear reader: I am no yes-man. I do not have the disease to please and I have other things to do. Why in the hell would I throw a fucking shower for a girl I barely know? Rage. Here is what really happened in my estimation:

1. I call mother in law and casually ask about a shower/Jack and Jill. Mother in law tells me that they are not interested in doing anything. I drop it.
2. Mother in law calls brother in law and says I have been asking about a shower. She either tells him that I want to do one or he makes it up himself.
3. Brother in law calls one of bride-to-be’s friends and tells them that I am organizing a shower. She goes “Oh, great. We hadn’t even thought of doing something for her but now that someone else is doing it, we’ll offer some half-assed help and then take the credit.”


So I called her to tell her that I am not doing anything but of course, she is out of town. You know what? Fuck it. I don’t care. I am not freaking doing anything for this wacked out bunch of people. This is so typical of my husband’s family. They are disorganized to the last minute and then half ass their way through everything and it always turns out to be a mess. Idiots. I think my brother in law is trying desperately to get me to bond with this girl. First of all, she is like 10 years older than me, secondly, I have ONLY MET HER 4 TIMES!!!

Anyways, this is turning out to be a long rant so I’ll cut it short. I’ll continue posting the details of this saga as it unfolds.

Office Girl.