My Life since the Writer's Strike

See, what had happened was, the writers went on strike (which I totally understand and support, even if it is putting a HUGE dent in my ability to procrastinate by television) and all these reruns started coming on and I began channel surfing, and I found Project Runway. The season was starting, and I was hooked. Ok, ok. Let me back up and tell it from the beginning.

I am a lover of television. There, I’ve admitted it. I love shows with great story lines, with snappy dialogue, and with interesting characters. Some shows I love more than others, like Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, CSI, and Big Love. Some shows I watch because I want to be able to talk intelligently at lunch or in the hallways at work with my peers, like Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty, and the new Bionic Woman. (To be honest, I think I was the only one watching the new Jamie Somers. I kept waiting to hear the old school soundtrack when she took off running-never happened.) Any channel, any time, as long as it’s interesting. As a writer, I’m drawn to good writing, and for me, right now Shonda Rhimes and her teams have it going on. (Even though I am really pissed with the way things are going on Grey’s this season, I’m still hanging in there with the hope that the characters will get back on track. In the meantime, I’m loving every minute of Private Practice. But I digress.)

As a result of not being able to get my regular show fix, I started looking for other things to entertain me (as opposed to reading the 100+ books in my bedroom waiting for my attention, or the fact that I have about three books worth of characters in my head dying to get on paper and become real. Sort of like Pinocchio, I guess.) It started with the Housewives of Orange County. Ya’ll don’t even want me to go there. That is a post in and of itself. And then I saw the commercial for Project Runway, and I thought, what the heck, I love clothes and I’ve watched each season of America’s Next Top Model since Eva won. It was all in innocent fun.

And then a couple of weeks ago, Keyshia Cole, The Way It Is came on. I was folding clothes at the time, and I realized that it was a marathon. Even better, I could get it all out of the way in one day. I was mesmerized. First of all, I don’t really listen to hip hop- I’m more an R&B, Smooth Jazz type of diva, but I’d heard my daughter murdering her hit on numerous occasions. What really hooked me was her family drama. The counselor in me could not look away from the dysfunction without completely analyzing each player. But then I really started to pay attention to Keyshia and how she was handling herself and the situations around her. This young lady has opted to deal with her life’s circumstances straight, with no chaser. She is about the business of doing business, as well as taking care of her family. She wants to “break the cycle” and pull them up with her. Truth is often much better than fiction. Before I knew it, the day was over, and I had come to respect the young diva. No one is getting in her way- not even her family. I wish her much luck though. She’s got a big job ahead of her.

As the strike continues on, my hopes of good programming are waning. Each day, I check the web to see if they are any closer to an agreement, and each day, I’m saddened by the news that there is no new news. The downside is, I don’t know how long it will be before my TV friends return to their time slots with new episodes. The good news: I’m running out of stuff I like to watch (are you kidding me, have you seen some of the news shows they are advertising? Like Fox’s “lie detector” game show- The Moment of Truth. They are getting more and more ridiculous. Even I have my limits.) So it looks like I may actually get more reading and writing done. And that wouldn’t be a bad thing.