Monday, May 31, 2010

Book Review - Secret Life of Prince Charming

First~

#1-Happy Memorial Day! Thanks to all the men and women who fight for me every day. I know several cool folks in the military, and I thank you all for your dedication to your jobs, for your heart, and for having the courage to risk your lives to keep our country and way of life secure.

#2-Happy Anniversary to my sweet husband! Eight years ago tomorrow a judge in Indianapolis allowed these two nerds to get married:

and life just hasn't been the same since.

Here's to eight-plus more~

Now for the blog! A few weeks back, a mom-friend complained to me that Glee was very racy and the language and situations were inappropriate for children.

She was right, but I hadn't really thought about it because my little ladies are too young to watch the show and they aren't really interested in it anyway. So it hasn't been an issue at my house.

But I felt bad because other friends and I (used to) discuss it on FB every Thurs., and us mommies have to stick together. Mommy solidarity!

At the start of this season, the music and the choreography were still engaging, but I kept with it (despite the flagging storyline) primarily because Jane Lynch (and all the cast members of those Christopher Guest mockumentaries) is/are the funniest human(s) on the planet.

I commented it had peaked with the Madonna bit, but I gotta confess. They sure showed me. The writers got together and pulled out some really strong and moving final episodes.

I actually got a little misty at the wheelchair rider dreaming of being a dancer and the mother-daughter setup they unfolded between Idina and little Rachel. And a fun dose of Lady Gaga theatricality always wins. That was a brilliant finale.

(Here, I always chalked up my high tolerance for theatricality as the result of growing up in such close proximity to New Orleans. I completely forgot artists such as Queen, Alice Cooper, Bowie, Kiss, Elton John, etc., who were cuttin up during my formative years.)

So there you go. My DVR's still set for Glee.

As for book reviews, finished The Secret Life of Prince Charming by Deb Caletti, and man, I wished I was still teaching high school for a few minutes so I could round up a group of YA girls and get their take on it.

Here's the cover, which bears no relation to the plot (never at any time does this scene occur in the book):



I gotta be honest with you guys. I found SLPC to be predominantly... Boring.

And I hate to say that because I really enjoyed the humor and heart of Honey, Baby, Sweetheart. So I wondered if it's because I'm a grown-up (no giggling). To me the story behind SL of PC isn't new, and frankly, it's tiresome.

I mean, Caletti had a lot of good messages and great instructive stories, but I found it hard to slog through 200 pages of dumb girls and even dumber women making dumb love decisions. And then hot musician boy who's really sweet doesn't show up until the last 100 pages of her 325-page book.

Where's the fun in that?

If I were re-structuring it, I'd have introduced hot musician boy who's really sweet much earlier and had the struggle with MC's "I'm waiting for you to turn into a monster" ongoing as they learn the mistakes of her mom and her dad's exes.

That would've added a little sugar to the medicine. As it is, there just wasn't enough reason to care, and I had to will myself to keep reading.

But I'm ready to be challenged! Someone who loved it, please chime in and straighten me out. Tell me I missed the point just as surely as Lisa Schwartzbaum did reviewing SATC2.

On that note, even JRM got it when I said if I buy him a vintage Rolex that I've had engraved with a little phrase that's meaningful to the two of us for an anniversary present, and he in return buys me a flatscreen TV for our bedroom... He's in trouble.

Have a great holiday, guys. Til Wednesday~

2 comments:

JRichard said...

He ate my heart. He ate my heart.

I'm sorry, Glee is still among the more cynical shows on TV. If they would rely more on performance and less on unnecessary sexualiztion of minors, I might change my mind.

He ate my heart and then he ate my brain.

Happy Eighth. Eight is NOT enough.

LTM said...

you just don't get Glee.
True--eight is not enough. I'm still trying to figure out where 2002-04 went...