Category Archives: Blog

Resolutions are funny things, ya know? Meant as self promises, they are a set up for failure. If you’re a good person, you’d sooner break a promise to yourself than to people you love. And if you’re a bad person promises are like pennies– annoying and valueless.

So why do them? Why reflect on the year and list the promises you want to make for yourself? Simple answer. After a couple of years of lying to yourself, resolutions become more honest. Losing weight resolutions becomes getting healthy then it goes deeper — learning how to be a healthier person.

Like in other aspects of life, resolutions are a process. Not saying I’m good at it, just saying I’m better at it this year than last year.

So here are my resolutions, in no particular order.

Learn how to be a healthier person physically and emotionally.

Be blissful in whatever I decide to do

Know the difference between true friends and acquaintances and act accordingly

Be helpful to those that needed it

Have more fun because I work hard to deserve it

Write like no one is reading, write for me, and write for the pleasure. Everything else will fall in line.

Tweet more. 😉

Blog more 😉

Make art that moves me

Well, I’ve really done it now.

Apparently there have been so many emails FLOODING the blogger offices that they are threatening to kick me off the server if I don’t do something.*

So I found the handy little widget. Here you can ask me anything and I will respond. Anything at all. Except maybe a date unless your from a certain 90’s group and sing a certain song with Aubrey O’Day. Oh how my heart flutters. 😉

Here’s the widget. Ask away.

*Blogger didn’t say that. I was just joking. I HEART BLOGGER!

Admittedly, when I had an opportunity to review The Jack5sons: A Family Legacy I didn’t jump at the chance.

Michael was gone and I, like countless others, thought that anything Jackson 5 related without Michael was not only wrong but sacrilegious.

As you watch The Jack5ons: A Family Dynasty, airing on A&E tonight at 9PM ET/PT
these thoughts will be going through your mind: Can’t believe Michael is gone, how much you truly miss him and how could his brothers do this without him?

In the first five seconds of the first episode, the brothers address this and explain how this project was approved by Michael himself and how they want people to know the real them.

And in the first episode, filmed a little over a month before Michael’s death, there is a sense of who they are. Pass the fame and flash of the lights, there is a family there. There are children, and grandchildren, backyard barbeques, brotherly squabbles, and a matriarch as loved as she is beloved.

In the first hour you’ll learn the brother’s different personalities even though at times, the situations feel purposeful and set up. Sometimes the reactions aren’t as real as you would think they would be or strike oddly. Other times, moments feel genuine as if the camera was there at just the right second.

But viewing the first hour felt a bit like watching the Titanic–everything is fine until the iceberg hits. In this case, the iceberg is Michael’s death.

The brothers talk about Michael’s death in bite sized interviews and don’t reveal much more than the fact they loved him. Their favorite memories or how they’ll best remember him aren’t shared by the brothers. Paired with footage from the memorial, there isn’t much more there than what was seen on CNN.

However, the aftermath of his death is apparent and that’s what kicks off the second hour. While the first one was more nostalgic, the second is where the show really starts. Things get real. The brothers still have a CD of new music to put out, a concert to perform, and internal conflicts stemming from childhood still hovering over their heads.

The show is an opportunity to see the inside of the Jackson family, to go down memory lane and to develop new memories of them. Will this show squash some of the animosity some fans have for the brothers’ decisions to do a reunion without Michael? Not in the first two hours but the possibility is there to at least understand the decision, even if you don’t agree with it.

And although there wasn’t any earth scattering details there is some promise there of some really entertaining television and some water-cooler moments.

Perks! That’s one of the best things about being a writer. The perks.

So my perk today is getting to review the first couple of episodes of A&E’s The Jack5ons: A Family Dynasty.

Here’s some info:

A&E presents The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty, a new real-life series that
will chronicle the personal and professional lives of Jackie, Jermaine, Tito and
Marlon as they prepare for a Jackson Five reunion, while also coming to terms
with the tragic lossof Michael’s . The series premieres Sunday, December 13 with
back-to-back one-hour episodes beginning at 9:00pm ET/PT. The series will then
move to its regularly scheduled time, Sundays at 10:00pm ET/PT beginning
December 20 on A&E.

The show will follow the brothers as they record
vocals for a song on Michael’s This Is It soundtrack; attend the bittersweet
premiere of the film; travel to London to support Tito, who is a special guest
star for musical legend Gladys Knight at a Wembley Arena concert performance;
and try to balance their obligations as The Jackson Five while also pursuing
their individual interests and projects.

Like I said, I’ve got the first couple of episodes and I will watch and review. Check back on Saturday for my thoughts.

And to bribe you to return, I may give stuff away. Maybe. It’s Christmas afterall and you gotta be on the nice list. And you have been good all year, right?

If I were y’all, I’d check back in tomorrow.

But I will leave you with this:

Since we’ll never see another Monk promo thought I would share some of my favorites. These make me laugh and bring up some fond memories. Enjoy!

Happy Monk

As part of my all day tribute to Monk and it’s FINAL show airing tonight at 8 p.m. central, some of the funniest moments. Enjoy!

For eight seasons, I’ve enjoyed one show beyond words.

When I first saw Monk, it opened up a new world for me. Here was this OCD detective, tormented by the death of his wife, trying to function in the world.

Delightful.

I found him interesting and couldn’t stop watching the train wreak. Monk, has contributed to my life as a writer. But more on THAT later.

Today we say good-bye to one of the most amazing shows on television but it’s not a time to be sad. Sure, the ending of a storyline and of characters that have been like friends is something to be upset about but what if Monk never existed?

*Gasp* I know but think about it. Monk was the show that launched other USA Network favorites like Psych. It made the network and kept us coming for more.

And would we know Tony Shalhoub? Probably not as well as we know him now. A marvelous actor doing what he does best, we would have been robbed of the opportunity of knowing him professionally.

And what about the writing?That’s what makes me happy. It’s smart, funny and a warm blanket. Familiar but a breath of fresh air everytime. To say that the show’s writers have influenced me as a writer, is an understatement. I didn’t know how much until I made the jump into mystery writing and started writing my first novel. The character, ironically, is Monk-ish. Not obsessive compulsive but a former detective tormented by a case she can’t solve–a case that has handicapped her in someway.

Sound familiar.

As a tribute to one of my favorite shows of ALL TIME (and that’s a short list, friends) I’ll post some interesting stuff. Through my BFFs at USA Network, I have access to some clips and photos. I’ll post them here throughout the day. I’ll even find some other stuff from other sources to wish my favorite defective detective a fond farewell.

Here’s to you Detective Adrian Monk. It was all gift with none of the curse.

Summary:

Erika Luna is a thirty-something scientist living and working
in Miami. When her husband of seven years; the very successful, very smart, very
good-looking, founding partner of one of Miami’s most successful Public
Relations firms falls in lust with another woman, their marriage spirals to hell
and Erika’s practical nature leads her down the strangest of paths.

What’s a scientist to do when slapped with pain so deep it interferes
with breathing? Try to cure it, of course! This is the premise of Emmy
award-winning writer and producer Anjanette Delgado’s delightfully funny and
touchingly poignant debut novel, THE HEARTBREAK PILL (Atria Books; $14.00; April
2008).