America's Got Stories and Producers Looking for Them

Recently I've been giving up my valuable homework time to watching America's Got Talent. What a joke. (Note: I'm much meaner in writing than person--keep this in mind while reading.)

I hate to be so critical, but the show has absolutely nothing to do with talent in my mind. It's an opportunity for producers to find people who actually have heart-wrenching stories and life journeys to be splashed on national television, tissue in hand of course, to be shared in front of Hasselhoff and the gang of crazy audience members to laugh and cheer or boo off stage.

And while the 5 second response of the audience is enough for television viewers to keep the Kleenix box a little closer, producers are gleeming at the viewership piling over because people's stories are just another marketing campaign to keep people watching every week.

This isn't new information, but I wish people would think before wasting their time voting for the next big star when in reality, most stories are winning--not talent. Stories replace talent as a reason to hand over a million dollars (wouldn't want to be that person since millionaires are Obama's newest targets, according to his last televised conference) to a person, who yes, is decent in whatever talent their displaying, but is too clueless and oblivious to realize it's their experience that's won over producers, therefore placing them on the show--than their actual talent.

Now some people might not care about that, but from someone who wants to be known for winning a talent competition because of talent, not name, must not have much pride. Or maybe that half a million dollars (after taxes) is too tempting.

Who's to say I would feel differently if I were in that position?

But then again, I'm not abnormal enough and I don't have a killer story or look to land me on the show. So until that big, bright day comes for me to unleash my killer abnormality on some producer-hand-picked-gimmic known as America's Got Talent (and yes, I will continue watching it, because I am no enemy of media's latest marketing schemes or darn good entertainment), I'll strive to eventually make it into that field, and hypocritically find marketing jewels all over the planet, milking them for every penny they're in debt for.

We'll see.

"Everything Must Go," Including Legality

Politicians are like liars in front of bars. They probably commit worse crimes than some of those 2-5 year sentencers.

But it's not like the government isn't corrupt.

So unlike all good and decent bloggers, I'm not going to ramble about Letterman's screw-up over Palin's daughter or the Housewives of Orange County making their appearance on Oprah.

People literally worship the ground the first black--although he's genetically more white than black!--president. They applaud his promise to make things change, but here's my question: Yes, we can what? Change, right? Change what--change our taxes from going down? Spill all middle class homeowners' money into the 8% of people who can't pay the bills? Borrow all the taxpayers' money for pork projects? Or more recently, and as of now, my personal favorite--literally screw over Chrysler.

Now normally, I'm not the smartest person, and I wouldn't be wisest on the subject. However . . . being the daugher of a man who's been in the car business practically his whole life . . . hmm, think that gives me a little leeway.

The most important cases go to the Supreme Court, correct? Well, this one did. And it stayed there for the grand total of one day! They dropped the case. The government owns the majority percentile of the company now, while Fiat is literally handed 20% of it! Now why would an Italian company now be in charge of American land-based car company? It's amazing how many people met up with or even passed bankruptcy to get our now newly-elected official in office. And now that he's there, taxes have gone up, and Chrysler is just the beginning of government/foreign-owned companies. Eight hundred people are out of jobs. The co-president's "probably going to retire," according to an article in automotor.org.

I'm not your usual soap-box speaker, but honestly, the way this was handled was illegal, and the man in the White House was largely responsible. I guess Chrysler's motto wasn't so far from the truth after all.

Sex Selection and My Sister's Keeper

So I've been pumped recently to go see My Sister's Keeper, coming out in theaters within a week or two. The previews look awesome, and I can't wait to go see it.

I was talking to one of my friends and telling her how excited I was to see this, but she didn't have the typical reaction I expected. She had no desire to see the movie--she had read the book and wasn't a fan.

Well, that's weird, speaking of New York Times bestselling author of the book, Jodi Picoult. So I decided to do my own digging to make my own opinion of it. According to Wikipedia (great source, I know), the second daughter, Anna, is genetically engineered through invitro fertilization. Normally, I would read over that and go, "oh, okay . . . ," but after doing a few reports on sex selection and invitro fertilization in high school and college, I was amazed at the originality of the subject. Obviously Picoult was writing a story for modern times, seeing how popular invitro fertilization has grown among parents within the past five years.

If you read the summary further (don't read it if you don't want the movie spoiled for you), you'll realize the parents had good intentions. It wasn't like they were trying to just "get" what they wanted because they were discontent. But it does press the thought of what people consider ethical today. Many agree the most dangerous aspect of sex selection is its ability to harm people on an individual level as well as a national level. The individuals who are most deeply affected by sex selection are the embryos being produced, not the parents spending thousands of dollars on a non-guarantee process. President-elect of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, Dr. James Grifo, disapproves of sex selection and claims it to be unethical. He believes through large exposure to the general public, society will pick embryos only with desirable traits and then later discard the remaining.

And it's not like anyone doesn't know the meaning of discard.

OK, I could go on and on and on. But I won't. And I won't NOT see My Sister's Keeper. It still looks great, even if a child on the movie is conceived via genetic engineering.

All I'm waiting for now are the new purple storks dropping the pre-made children with the "It's a Robot!" signs attached.

The Final Word

I’ll let you have the last word—I promise.

I’ve always been a firm believer in last words. I always wanted to have the last word—as if I’d finally feel fulfilled for leaving one more dreaded thought with someone. Some phrase, some word that would latch onto his soul and keep him thinking until he came to the conclusion that I was right and he was, well . . . wrong.

Like the movies. You know, that those conversations that make you feel like you’re sitting right there, listening in. Among the handfuls of popcorn, you’re holding your breath in anticipation of hearing that one word or phrase that makes the entire plot fit together—that movie has made its point.

"You had me from hello."

"I think I would have missed you even if I had never met you at all."

"You can’t handle the truth."

Maybe after having a few last words with people, I realized that having the last word didn’t really get me the same effects that John Connor received after his famous three ("I'll be back")when his pregnant wife gave him that look of I’m-never-going-to-see-you-again-but-please-don’t-leave-even-though-you’re-the-only-hope-of-the-human-race look. Yeah - that look.

So maybe last words are magical only in Hollywood. Or maybe I’m learning that in my experience, saying “you can’t handle the truth” isn’t going to change the mind of a man in love with the wrong girl.

Regardless of whether my last words hold any parch of accuracy or not, trying to change people’s emotions, people’s feelings with words isn’t easy.

After all the word rubbish, maybe you can decipher my point: last words. Yeah, they’re meaningful, especially in the movies. But they go far deeper than a TV screen etched in Hollywood ink. They’re memorable—far more memorable than anything Tom Cruise left with the video cameras on set of A Few Good Men, which happen to be a pretty good movie. Words-- they drive us into action--they influence us, they make us hurt, they help us heal, they teach us about life. They belong to all of us.

And all of us will at one time or another, be given the opportunity of having the last word. Don’t say something you’ll regret, and don’t stoop to say something hardcore when forgiveness is always three words away. Make your words reflect who you are, so that when they’re final, they’ll be remembered not for what they meant, but for whom they were spoken by:

You.

Sometimes Bold Is Too Bold

Here are a few types of people I consider too bold at times. Whether it's what people say or what people do, I am continually stunned by the boldness of people.

Everyone fails at certain points, and I'm no exception. I strive not to find myself as any one of these stereotypes. Fortunately for "the rest of us," bold people tend to be funny to watch. What do you think?

The Big Mouth - She tells you everything. It doesn't matter whether you or anyone else wants to hear anything on her mind, but she's going to tell you EVERYTHING. She's going to blurt that one thing you reminded her 15 times not to repeat. She, fortunately, has no problem taking big bites.

The Dirty Laundry Unloader - He's a little dramatic. Instead of telling a person face to face he has a problem, he uses Facebook or Myspace or his blog to let his entire friend list in on his personal thoughts. Maybe he's hating life one day, and the next he's trying to get back at his girlfriend via his status. He needs to wash his clothes at home, if you ask me.

The Young 'Un - She, for being younger than you, isn't ashamed to be a jerk to someone older than she. She obviously knows much more than you, even if you are 1, 2, or 5 years older. Maybe the junior higher is the stereotype for the young 'un, but I think of "the young 'un" as a person who acts like she's older - and she's failing terribly. She doesn't have to be in junior high to act this way. She can be in high school, in college, or even an adult - a person younger than someone, yet has the boldness to act like she's so much better than you. Looks like life's experiences haven't gotten around to her yet . . .

The Follower - He can be pretty hysterical to observe from a third party point of view. He's bold enough to not even think for himself. He tends to be younger than the person he's following, but this kind of person is usually dependent on his insecurities. He doesn't know what to get in the lunch line, so he gets the same as you. He notices people smile when a person does a certain action, so he repeats it - and to his ignorance - he repeats the action immediately, appearing foolish rather than witty. He needs to find his own sparks.

The "I Just Want To Be Different" People- There is one line you can tell these people, and they'll just blow up in flames: "You're unique, just like everbody else." Frankly, I couldn't care less if this line is overused. It's freaking true, and these people need to start reading between the lines. Yes, it's true, people like to be mysterious and desire people to search and eventually figure them out. But while that is their set of blueprints for life, they're acting JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE. They're so focused on being different from other people, they're unconsciously forming they're own group called the "Unique Individual Club." Funny there's a club for such "individuals." Honestly, if they just focused on being themselves, they probably would be more different than when they had tried to in the first place. Ya know what a terrible line is? "Be Bold - Be Different." How about "Be Bold - Be Yourself." Not like anyone wants to try that one out . . .

The "Careless" - She's the girl who's convinced herself that she doesn't care what other people think about her . . . at all. Of course, it's healthy and perfectly normal to not live always in dread of how others perceive us. But to be completely careless? Now that's bold. She usually plays it safe, because she doesn't want to set herself up in a position where she'll have to think about caring what other people think. But if she does something by accident - something really stupid - she has to come up with some excuse instead of just admitting she messed up. She's also the kind of person you'll catch lying to herself continually. That's not a healthy way to live . . .

How bold is too bold to you?

Categorizing, Scrutinizing, and Utterly Pointless Babble

So I have taken it upon myself, without any great cause, to move people into categories.

Honestly, this is a subconscious act. Without speaking, I automatically place a person into a certain group of people.

My categories come down to about three groups. You got the "cool" people (and I'm still searching for a synonym since "cool" just doesn't do it for me). If there are cool people, therefore, there has to be "not cool" people. That gives you a sample of poct hoc for the day. And then last, and chichely-stated-as-certainly-not-least, there's everyone else inbetween, who have no verified term to describe their position on the cool scale.

The scrutinizing part comes in when you recognize that while you're categorizing people, everyone else is, too. And everyone seems to categorize in a somewhat different fashion, opening up other possibilities, leveling people at different numbers of the coolness rate, creating standards for people who don't even realize they have expectations to live up to, regarless of their currently fulfillment of their assumed roles.

And then when one is done deciphering all of these thoughts, he can then focus on how each person is scrutinizing himself, whether he falls into that horribly uncool location or the one which seems to take up the most space. Obviously, these are his only two options if he is scrutinizing, because if he were cool, he never would have had second thoughts of his coolness level in the first place.

Maybe the most important job each person has is reflecting on himself--his qualities, his weaknesses, his accomplishments, his strong points. And then by self-standards, he can position himself wherever he pleases, pushing out every restraining thought that he might just not be cool enough to be a 9 or 10.

I find this thought process deliberating and exhausting, simultaneously, of course. Tiring because, well, it just is. Deliberating and exhilarating because I'm causing myself to think analytically, between the lines, past all the fake smiles and faulty assumptions, or the critics' opinions.

And yet I suppose I should find some kind of ending that will generate a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction, so that after whoever is finished reading this, he will be able to draw a conclusion about himself and how he ought to rate people on the coolness scale.

Or he could just draw his own scale and be the master.

After all, it's not like his subconscious should have to do all the work.

The Greater Evil

That's what they say. Yes, there are a heck of a lot of they's, but thank God I'm an I. I am a single person with only a sole outlook. No matter how much I wish to imitate or conform to the standard or the next person in line, I will always hold to my own opinion, push forward with my own intentions and stand behind my own personal motives.

The A-B-C version of that is called being yourself.

It's no easy task, spare the thousands of subliminal messages marred on TV screens and magazine covers.

Forget the old cliche of how horribly difficult life is. Remember? You can always be yourself. Spare the fake looks and false advertising and really sit there and think for just a moment of what life would really be like if you were always your true self in every situation.

It's scary, isn't it?

How accepting would your loved ones even be? After all is said and done and the cards are scattered across the table, it's a deafening line to cross when every intention and true motive of self is revealed.

We analyze ourselves and justify our mistakes. We question our motives, hide our true feelings, and display the best possible picture of who we are. That is what the world sees, because that is what we offer the world.

Imagine if the world were filled with people who not only revealed their secrets but acted them out. Would it be a chaotic earth or every Miss America's version of world peace?

I wonder. But all is hypothical when life and the world is looked at through a faded glass. This life offers only one look, and that look is far from accurate. How can we analyze the truth when we don't even know how to be it?

I am responsible for my actions and my words to other people. But I'm also responsible for my thoughts, my feelings, my motives, and my inner passions that dissolve into lust or love or hate or pride.

It's a relief to not be they. It's even a greater burden to be an I.

Who is your worst enemy?