Monday, March 16, 2009

Journalism is dead

Many of you have heard me make the above proclamation before, so I apologize for beating a dead horse, but ...

I have been so irritated all morning because of the Today Show! Why I continue choosing to watch this rubbish every morning as I eat my cereal is probably the appropriate question, but I refuse to be confined to the stuffy suits and blonde, pancake-face clones on the Fox News channel. No offense, Dad, and I actually do like Fox News, I just don't think it's fair that this is the only network I can watch and expect to see a semblance of the truth. And I emphasize the word semblance, because let's be honest, Fox may very well just be the other side of the same evil coin.

So, anway, I turn on the Today Show this morning, and I guess they're in Ireland all week in anticipation of St. Patrick's Day. OK, a little boring, not exactly the celebrity interview I hoped for, but whatever. So a few minutes into the segment, I've zoned out and am now reading the paper when I hear what must be some kind of mistake. They're devoting a good few minutes (which is an eternity in the world of television news - yes, I did learn something in college) to Barack Obama's Irish lineage. So, once again a mainstream "news" outlet has taken something completely unrelated to Obama and spun it to involve him.

Are they serious? Is there any chance that the Today Show, or any other non-Fox news program would EVER have done such a thing were George W. Bush to have Irish ancestors, for instance? Just think about it for a second - I have watched the Today Show pretty regularly for a long time, and I don't recall ever seeing coverage of George W. Bush that in any way resembled this type of fluffly, inconsequential nonsense, and especially not when we were smack in the middle of the biggest crisis this country has seen in decades. Is it too much to ask that we receive actual NEWS from these news programs? I really don't think I can handle four years (Lord, please don't let be eight.) of watching these anchors and reporters falling all over themselves to talk about Obama any chance they get. What's next, and in-depth report on the man's shaving schedule? Love him or hate him, support him or not, but at least do your job, and don't call it news if it's not. And don't even get me started on Michelle being the latest Vogue cover girl ...

Apologies for the angry post. I'll try to share something cheerier later.

Friday, March 6, 2009

that didn't take long ...

Decided I don't like "kitsch," just calling it caroline for now ...

Welcome to kitsch

As you know since you are here, I've decided to start a blog. Several things have prompted this decision, so I'll just do a quick rundown:

1. Two of my favorite people in the world have blogs that I love to read, and I'm just a little envious. I'm hoping mine will feature half of the laugh-out-loud-in-my-cubicle hilarity of Katie's and the fifteen-exlamation-points-in-a-row enthusiasm of Angela's.
2. I'm pretty lazy about keeping in touch with people. While I talk to my immediate family pretty regularly, it's not as often as I'd like, and there are countless other family members and friends that I don't communicate with nearly often enough. Plus, I am sometimes unsure if my little brother is aware that am, in fact, alive and figured this would be an easy and nag-free way to let him know.
3. I spend pretty much all day, every day reading words and correcting them. One would think being employed in a creative field would lend oneself to actually feeling creative, but the often humdrum repetition of the biggest chunk of my day has the opposite effect on me. I need an outlet!!
4. I must be honest, I have the tiniest glimmer of hope way down deep inside that my blog will become a sensation and I will one day enjoy the spoils of our Web-saturated, constantly connected culture in the form of millions of dollars, a la Perez Hilton. Except that my ascent to stardom will hopefully involve some level of intelligence and actual skill.
5. My boss is out of the office today, and after a while I run out of things to look at on the Internet. :-)

Now to the name ... I thought long and hard for about 10 minutes this morning about what to name my blog. (Patience is not one of my strong points.) This led me to Google a few different things, one of them being fashion terms, during which I came across the definition of kitsch.

Kitsch: A style incorporating elements from popular culture.

I love fashion and am obsessed with popular culture, so that's what I went with. Still not sure if I love it, so it could change. Suggestions are welcome, of course!