5 Reasons Why I Can't Watch The Mindy Project

Ya heard me.....

When The Mindy Project first appeared, I had resisted.  A female OB-GYN in the Big City didn’t seem all that poised for humor, but that’s okay because that’s not what the show really turned out to be.  Catching episodes on Hulu, I was drawn to the character of Mindy Lahiri because she is pop-cultured obsessed, loved food, and was self-confident about her body in a culture that pressures overweight women into thinking they are the poor souls trying to kill themselves with food.  Sure, I could overlook the fact that she was consistently portrayed as non-intelligent, immature, and boy crazy but that was softened by story-lines in which Mindy would try to help Danny or her friends, support her brother Raj, or act as a mentor.

Aside from Mindy, my other favorite character was Morgan Tookers.  A crazy white guy with a heart of gold.  Morgan was unlike any other character I've ever seen.  Part delusional like Charlie from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and part blue collar worker like Nick from New Girl, Morgan also was ready to help out anyone in moment’s notice.

And then Season Two started……and all my favorite parts went out the window.  Changes were made and the show became unrecognizable to me.

1. The Show Panders to Other Audiences.   

Hey guess what, The Mindy Project?  I love cupcakes, I’m overweight with a sense of humor, and I have secret crushes all the time. This is a show made for me, right?  Wrong. This show needs fresh blood, apparently and instead of rewarding its fan base with better story-lines, we will just throw in actors from other shows.  White, male actors.  As boyfriends for Mindy.  So, your boyfriend will maybe wanna watch?  Because we are not satisfied with just you, the target audience. 

Featuring that white dude from Workaholics.

Featuring more white dudes from Happy Endings and It's Always Sunny.

Absolutely wasting Justified's Timothy Olyphant

2. Morgan Is Now A Creeper.  

Morgan has always been the wild card of the group.  The unstable, man-child with crazy impulses.  At 6’1”, with beady brown eyes, Morgan toed the line between lovably quirky and down right, dangerously, chemically imbalanced.  It was a fine line, for sure.  Now he has toppled into full creeper territory when he shows up naked in Mindy’s bed.  Spurned, he seeks out a lawyer to sue Mindy for sexual harassment.  This is of course played for laughs but this shit isn't funny.  Unstable men are not generally okay after a simple apology.  This is just squirm inducing, much like in Parks and Recreation when we are invited to laugh at Jerry Gergich having a heart attack.  That shit ain’t funny and desensitizes us to other’s suffering.  This is especially bizarre give how Ike Barinholtz was responsible for co-writing some of the best Mindy episodes in Season One.

From this....

To this......

3. Lack of Diversity.  

Yep, despite Mindy and Tamra, this show is still pretty white washed.  Especially in a doctor’s office setting.  I compare it at times to Scrubs with began 14 years ago.  Not much has changed.  Mindy’s boyfriends or love interests are all white and mostly interchangeable except for Casey (Anders Holm), who was allowed to have a personality outside of his work.  Now I realize that most other shows have a maximum of two minority characters as well; 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn 99.  However, this show has the potential to add more diversity, such as new doctor, a new neighbor or a new love interest for Mindy.

Do you see what I see?

Do you?

4. Mindy is Too Selfish. 

Whatever happened to Mindy’s girlfriends?  And patients? And family members?  Or right, they’re gone.  They’re not integral to the only story-line of every episode that matters, which is Mindy getting and keeping a boyfriend.  At this point I don’t even care.  I was more invested in her when she displayed flashes of intelligence (she is a Doctor after all), kindness and determination.  Now Danny and Peter are the most fleshed out characters.  Mindy is just a caricature.

None of these people matter.

5. Story-lines are Consistently Much Weaker.  

In Season One, Mindy’s co-worker Jeremy had to deal with the crushing expectations of his father which in turn would sabotage his relationship, in subsequent seasons he is an over-eater.  His whole character arc is that he is fat.  The End.  In the music festival episode, imaginatively titled “Music Festival”, Danny wants to go see the band The National at a music festival and the whole staff goes along with him.  Danny, a character that was already established as a man with old-school tastes and disdainful of anything youthful, suddenly likes music festivals.  And The National.  For no explained reason at all.  The National is like the opposite of the vibe of this show.  Introspective, soul-searching, a little bit sad…..nothing like The Mindy Project.

What the hell, homies?

They look pleased as punch to be on this show.

What are your thoughts?  I’m harsh because I used to love this show and found out the show did not love me back, like a cheating ex-boyfriend or a back-stabbing friend.

Super Fun Night was so much better.

Two characters closer to my size.

And musical numbers.  

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Summer Daze

Moira gazed at the pool.  Shades of azure mingling and sparkling in the sunlight.  Protected in the shade, the gentle heat prickled her rough,  tree bark-like skin.  She had been severely sun burned just two weeks ago, in a vain and naive attempt to add some color to her normally pale thighs and decolletage.  Which was stupid.  Almost close to thirty, and she would never learn that her Irish skin would only burn.  At best, a few tawny colored, non cancerous (she hoped) freckles would appear on her shoulders and forearms after twenty minutes in the sun. 

Moira sighed.  The water would feel good, help to soothe her dry, crackled, lobster-red skin but she didn't feel like putting a layer of sunscreen on.  Over the layer of intensive relief moisturizer.  Over the two consecutive layers of medicated aloe.  Her skin already a grubby, sticky mess.

And yet she felt different this summer.

It wasn't too hard, hiding her blossoming relationship from her parents.  After her roommates paired up and got engaged in short order (like it was a race), Moira was forced to pack up and move back in with her parents.  They shook their heads, albeit good naturally, at her lack of planning.  Secretly, Moira was hoping Rob would take April's vacant room and move in.  He and Christina seemed to enjoy hanging out with her. Including her in their movie nights and coffee dates.  Sure, she was aware she was a third wheel but Rob seemed to accept her as his as new friend rather than just Christina's roommate.

But women have a way of forsaking everything and everyone, in order to fully devote themselves to their men.  And in return, expecting that man to fulfill their every need.  Protector, provider, confidant, counselor, coach, best friend, lover, personal cheerleader.  A man to listen to their hard days, rub their feet, yet still uncontrollably lust for them like they were still as sexy and mysterious as when they first met.  Yeah, right.

She was eating pickle flavored, kettle cooked potato chips when Christina told her the news.  How she and Rob found an adorable place on the East Side, just for the two of them.  They would move in by the end of the week.  Wedding invite, it was implied, would soon be arriving in the mail any day now.  The chips were Moira's only act of defiance about the whole situation.  Christina's chips, purchased at some specialty store down town, unopened in its hip craft paper packaging.  Moira must have intuited the arrival of bad news.  She would be homeless in less than a week.  " Dang Chris.... Eff You!  Imma eat yo pickle chips too."

Still, without Christina's decision to move out, she would have never met Raj.  Did it still count as a summer romance if all they did was drink coffee and laugh at each other's jokes?  Moira decided it did.  He was only here temporarily, moving back to New York early August, but still he approached her in the library close to her parent's house.  Moira was a failure on most dating sites.  Her name was better suited to a fair skinned, slender woman with dark hair and a penchant for hard-cover books.  Moira was only at the library during her lunch breaks to read magazines for free.  Moira was the name of doctors and scientists, even in the comic books.  Moira, with her honey colored hair and eyes, easily fifty pounds overweight, would watch My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic episodes on her laptop at night in bed.

However, she could hold an engaging conversation, had passionate opinions about working hard and fighting for what was right.  Values passed down from her Irish immigrants grandparents.  She and Raj jokingly discussed the various strategies of surviving the eventual global zombie apocalypse and shared a mutual love of Kurosawa films.  They only went out to dinner once, due to Raj's heavy summer course work load but it was short, sweet and memorable.  Even if it was mostly because the waiter had spilled an entire glass of craft beer down her left shoulder.  Raj insisted on helping.  Taking the white dishrag from the waiter.  Helping to peel off her light sweater, gently toweling off her bare shoulder.  His deep, dark eyes close to her jawline, close to her lips.

He did kiss her, on their last coffee date.  They would text and keep in touch but he warned her that grad school would keep him super busy.  She told him not to worry.  "If it happens, it happens," she said.  The kiss wasn't anything earth shattering.

She refocused her attention on her little niece Nicki (short for Nicholson) splashing around in her parents' pool.  Her frantic dog paddling, despite wearing neon pink floaties and purple flowered swim goggles clamped firmly on her face.  She called out to Moira, with her little sun browned outstretched arms.    Moira smiled and slipped on her dad old Jackson Hole, Wyoming t-shirt, maroon with a miniature skier flying over a snow capped mountain. She waded in slowly, mindful of her ruined skin.  Then feeling weightless, spun Nicki in fanciful circles, both gently floating toward each other in the crystal blue.

She was right, the water felt just fine.

Text and images by Marg B.

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4 Ways To Get into the Summer Camp Trend

So, I know summer is winding down but I've been noticing that the Summer Camp Trend is still going quite strong.  

There’s just something about all those uniforms, badges, and camp insignia that makes adult super nostalgic.  

Now, I’ve never been to summer sleep away camp as a kid but one of my very first jobs in college was as the videographer for a boys’ summer camp off the coast of North Carolina, Camp Seagull.  The different cabin names, mascots and cheers still bring a smile to my face.  The kids were super surprised to find out I was from Texas and never shot a gun before. J

Quick, before the summer ends check out my picks to keep the camp spirit alive and well in your home or apartment.

Read

Lumberjanes

Oh my god, you guys, the best thing to come out of the Summer Camp Trend revival this year is this charming comic books series, Lumberjanes.  Billed as Gravity Falls meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer at a summer camp, this comic is written and drawn by awesome females and featuring 5 female leads that come in every shape and size.  I’m loving the sisterhood and supernatural vibes.  Comic shops around my area can’t keep the issues on their shelves long enough.

Watch

Gravity Falls 

While it doesn’t take place in an actual summer camp, the Disney animated series Gravity Falls is set in a small northwestern town in which twin siblings visit their eccentric granduncle during the summer.  With their Uncle as the owner of the town’s “Mystery Shack”, twins Dipper and Mabel encounter all sorts of mystical creatures, supernatural occurrences and town conspiracies.  Equal parts cute and hella creepy, this is one of the best new animated series.

Yep, that's the gnome puking a rainbow.  If you can't see why it's funny then this is not your show.

Moonrise Kingdom - 

I shouldn’t have to tell you this.  Wes Anderson.  Scout uniforms.  Animal costumes. Summer romance. Perfect soundtrack.  You have to see this.

Shop

Etsy - Arrow Print from MossAndTwigPrints

Etsy - Stars and Dots Banner from Summer Boyfriend

Etsy - Camp Arrowhead Mini Wreath from SugarSkullIndustries

Listen

Camp by Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover

Outside of appearing on the show Community, actor Donald Glover is actually a pretty good and thought provoking rapper with, like, sick abs.  Picture Drake with a sense of humor, and a cuter face.  His first album Camp, while summer camp inspired, actually has some explicit lyrics so just don’t play around the kids. 

Got any summer camp memories you are fond of?  Visions of making s'mores by a campfire?  Tell me!

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Wreath Update #5 - New Fall Wreaths in the Etsy Shop!

New to the Etsy Shop! Fall Wreaths for Halloween, Day of  the Dead, and any type of fall activity you may have going on.  Let's start the countdown to the return of Pumpkin Spice lattes, which are addictive as crack cocaine, peeps!  (I mean, so I have heard.  Not about Pumpkin Spice but about crack)

I have appropriated name this one, Pumpkin Spice.

I also have a new, bigger and better Wedding Wreath in the shop, a new Happy Birthday Wreath and an end of the Summer - Nautical Themed Wreath with a hand-made octopus made from polymer clay.  Dudes, that octopus took me, like, two weeks to made since my earlier attempts looked more like weird spiders cause I didn't know how to make the tentacles curl just right.

Shiny in all the right places....unlike my face.

I named this one Life Aquatic.  Yes, Wes Anderson reference ftw!

What other themed wreaths would you guys like to see?  Are you excited for Pumpkin Lattes just around the corner?

Mmmmm.............Pumpkin Spice (drool)

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#GIRLBOSS Review

Like most other reviewers, this is a book you can finish in days.  Unless you have trouble finding time to read or hate reading.  Then, maybe, I dunno, you probably don’t read blogs either.

Sophia Amoruso, founder and owner of Nastygal.com, writes with refreshing ease, neither assaulting the reader with self-help mantras nor harshly condemning the choices previous generations have made by going to Ivy League schools and working for a Fortune 500 company.  She does however, explain, how and why hustling can be profitable and rewarding.  Not hustling in the negative sense, like being a drug dealer or other illegitimate activities but hustling as in owning your own side business.

Her advice, life stories, and bon mots come from her position at the top, becoming wildly successful in the span of 7-8 years, busting her ass and never slowing down, all before turning 30.  She appeals to the reader like an extremely successful older sister.  Despite being a few years older, I could really relate to Sophia.  While her advice seems tailored for young women, “girls”, in their twenties, I think older women can also respond to her importance on hard work, no fear, and learning things for yourself.  Young women seem to want to advance due to outside influences to either please their parents or keep up with classmates.  Older women with work experience under their belt have seen opportunities pass them by and are more primed to create more opportunities for themselves.

While I have not read Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In, I had just finished Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover just prior to reading #GIRLBOSS.  Amoruso espouses many of the same money management tips, such as the golden rule “Cash is King” and the blessing that is starting a company without loans.  Both Amoruso and Ramsey explain the ability to build wealth either for yourself or your company once you are debt free. Both stress the importance of having a good team, especially if you are not good at numbers.  You don’t have to struggle to do everything yourself.  Surround yourself with people you trust and that have a way of making sure you perfectly understand the process.

 Here are my five favorite takeaways from #GIRLBOSS;

1. 1.        As a leader if you do not understand something, speak up and ask questions.  Do not be embarrassed, it is essential you understand because you are responsible for all the people working for you.
2. 2.       Listen, observe and form relationships with your customer base.  Be observant, see what people respond to and always find free marketing.
3. 3.       Work hard and don’t ever say “that’s not my job”.  Those that aren’t above doing whatever task falls into their lap will advance and prove they are an asset.
4. 4.       If success happens, there will be many others looking to tear you down.  Do not try to fight back or get involved.  Focus on making your brand a head and shoulders above the rest.
5. 5.       Money looks better in the bank.  Do not spend everything.  Money in the bank will give you more clout and can save your company when bad or tight times may come your way.

Readers, what are your thoughts?  Are you interested in reading this book?  Are you looking to handle your career “LIKE A BAWSE”?

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