louise on the left (coast)

Okay, so I watch TV.   I know I should do more chores, or bake, or read to my kids more, or weed the garden or build works of great art or cure cancer, but instead, I find that I often watch TV. A lot of TV.   I probably shouldn't, but I do.   However, in my defense, I do remember a time when TV wasn't just "good," it was great .   Why?   Because the pioneers of television were all seasoned theater actors who knew how to act. This meant they knew how to be funny.  They had something called experience in front of live audiences.  What happened to this?  I don't get it. An example of the kind of timeless television I'm talking about, the kind based on good old fashioned acting talent, is found in this random clip from The Honeymooners .   Perhaps the theme is dated, but these actors were former Broadway hams who simply had the chops to pull off how to keep a scene moving, the audience engaged and knew precisely what ch...

Okay, I admit it.   I do struggle with  propriety .  [The quality or state of being proper or suitable.]   All the time, even though most of the time, it does come easily to me. However, not when it comes to art.  Or rather "art."  Then, I have to think  twice .  Because quite often the But, the things that disturbed me the most when I was a kid, often also stayed with me the longest and also informed who I am today.  Which I happen to, frankly, feel pretty good about.   So, the subject of what to post or c ast a spotlight on in  my blog, given my desire to be a decent and nurturing mother and guide to the children in my life, does quite often, stump me. What to share with others does sometimes cause me some real consternation. For instance right now, I'm a mom , and it's coming up on a family holiday there's really no good reason on God's green earth why in the hell I should enjoy or want to post this particular uber...

God, I love shoes, but not just any shoes, THESE shoes. Seriously, I am 100 percent, crazy in love with them, and I'm not quite sure why, but I am. This was my week to casually glance through a Garnet Hill catalogue and fall head over heels in love with these Born brand dress shoes with slouchy ankle socks. Must. Have. Them. Now.

"Girls Just Need to Relax  --  or --  World Leaders and Strap-ons" This episode of I Can't Believe I'm Still Single, Episode 3, Season 3, opens with clip from film My Life's in Turnaround . ( Click here to read last week's episode recap of Episode 2, Season 3 ) Super ugly, bloated, dopey close up of Eric drooling over a "yuppie" blond lawyer.   Teeth crooked and dingy grey.  (I have a flashback to my high school days when I was in school with him after seeing this clip.   My God, he's invested in a lot of plastic surgery since then.) I marvel that this man stays employed. Shall I continue? We sit through those annoying opening credits with that obnoxious music. Next, close up.  Eric just as he is today.   Liposuctioned, plastic surgery,      [Note:  My sources tell me there has been zero plastic surgery or lipo.  So, to quote Vampire Weekend "I Stand Corrected."]    ... O ld...

I Can't I'm Believe Still Single , Season 3, Episode 2. Or:  How To Produce a Movie So Crappy Everyone Falls Into a Coma First. (For the record:  It's " My Life's In Turnaround 2 ") Seriously, what the fuck was that limp mess?  A comedy?  A documentary on film-making?  Or a cable access show shot in some creepy dude's apartment? Really?   That was the show?  Did I accidentally take an ambien before watching it? The beginning wasn't so bad.  The serious dialogue with Mark Ebner as an investigative reporter and Donal Ward appeared to be leading somewhere important.  I thought we might actually be setting the stage for something interesting, thematically.  Eventually.  It had to, right? But, then Eric gets in the car with his bag of God-only-knows what junk food and starts riffing on picking up chicks at his bank, and then the episode just falls to crap. The show also includes some humiliating, and really boring, audi...

I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M STILL SINGLE , SEASON THREE -- SHOW NUMBER ONE: Meet Eric Schaeffer: He has a "Semi auto-biographical" show about him not finding true love or anything resembling it for many a season on Showtime.  God only knows why. Here's an older promo for his former seasons.  I can't find one new to put here.  Guess there's no money for promotion at the network this year. Meet some of his loyal entourage (Who happen to really be the main reasons I now watch this.) Meet Mark Ebner  Meet Mark Ebner, a feisty die-hard investigative journalist, and self-described " New York Times Best Selling Author , " who also was Schaeffer's college pal way back when.  Schaeffer wisely added Mark to the show last season, presumably, to have a "straight man" to play off.   What Schaeffer may not have expected was that the onscreen presence of Ebner, who is so intuitively comfortable tooting his own horn, onl...