How a raunchy comedy struck a blow for Sisterhood: Sex and the City, 10 Years Later
This is an important date in history – for some of us. Ten years ago on this date, Sex and the City, HBO’s “raunch-com,” ended and Carrie finally got her happy ending with “Mr. Big.” And we finally found out his real first name.
I began watching the show around Season 3. Once I got into it, I was hooked. As a writer, I was intrigued by writer Carrie – especially the $4.50 per word she eventually got from Vogue magazine. Hokey as some of her observations were, many were dead on. The – many – relationships were weird and messy, something we could relate to.
The show was about many things: Manhattan living, shoes, finding the “one,” trends in clothes & drinks, more shoes, making a living, parenthood or not, and of course, lots of sex. And shoes.
But it was the recurring theme of loyalty among the main four characters that kept me coming back. In this age of “Mean Girl” motifs and the often prevailing sentiment of “women don’t like other women,” the idea of having such close female friendships that spanned years and numerous men is very compelling. Having people who stood by you and accepted your faults is something most of us would want in our lives. And it was portrayed in very funny and often touching ways.
I still stop to watch the gals when re-runs come on and go “oh, yeah, I remember this phase of their lives” and still get a warm feeling for these brave, kooky, materialistic-but-sometimes-kind women.
Some of my favorite scenes:
1) Batman and the Green Lantern (Aidan and Big) fighting in the mud at Aidan’s country place.
2) Aidan forgiving Carrie after her affair and their estrangement – he throws rocks at her window, he runs to her door, she runs to open it. She jumps up into his arms and he carries her away… (I know, I know – the 16-year-old girl still in me can be a sucker for this stuff.)
3) At Miranda’s mother’s funeral, Carrie leaves her pew to walk with her friend out of the church so she doesn’t have to walk alone (not “walking alone” – big theme for these gals).
4) Charlotte loses her patience after waiting for Harry to propose and says, “I gave up Christ for you.”
4) Harry proposes to Charlotte at Singles Night at the synagogue (even after the “Christ” remark).
5) Smith shaves his head in solidarity with Samantha after she loses her hair due to chemotherapy.
6) And of course, the final episode where Big finally tells Carrie, “You’re the one.”
And the final Carrie-ism:
“The most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you YOU love, well, that’s just fabulous.”
For more Sex and the City views:
Pinterest.com/brianneschultz/life-lessons-from-sex-and-the-city
Girls on Film: the Forgotten Legacy of Sex and the City
m.theweek.com/article.php?id=256689
And: Sex and the City 3 Movie, anyone?
http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/02/19/sex-and-the-city-3-movie-michael-patrick-king/?cnn=yes
Not Nominated, Arby’s Wins on Grammy Night
Amidst the 33 marriages and Madonna scrutiny at this year’s Grammy’s, Arby’s managed to arguably win the best Tweet award.
In response to Pharrell Williams donning a hat not unlike the one in Arby’s logo, the company scored with this tweet:
Hey @Pharrell, can we have our hat back?
To add to the triumph, Pharrell himself came back with a great retort:
Pharrell Williams @Pharrell
Y’all tryna start a roast beef?
And a “Congeniality Award” must surely go to both Hyundai for its comment “well played, well played,” and Pepsi’s for its re-tweet with a one-word-comment: “Win.”
Adweek reports Arby’s tweet had 15,000 retweets and 40,000 favorites by the day after the Grammys.
TRUMPING DONALD’S GRAMMAR
Last night on “Celebrity Apprentice,” Donald Trump corrected Cyndi Lauper’s grammar. She said “I feel bad.”
He said it’s “I feel badly.”
He’s wrong.
If you are expressing an emotion, it’s correct to say “bad.”
Saying “I feel badly” means you can’t physically feel things very well – your sense of touch is off. Your fingers don’t work well.
Remember: you wouldn’t say you “feel madly” or “feel sadly,” right?
This applies to other verbs that describe senses, e.g. taste and smell. “Smell bad” means you stink; “smell badly” means your sense of smell is off.
Donald, you’re fired as a grammar coach.
Irish Soda Bread
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I’m sharing the Irish Soda Bread recipe passed down by my grandmother. Nanny brought this recipe with her when she emigrated from Ireland. It’s been enjoyed at many family events.
Some like to put butter on it, but I prefer it plain. Many swear a cup of tea with milk is the right accompaniment.
Traditional Irish Soda Bread is a type of quick bread. Instead of yeast for leavening, baking soda is used.
NANNY NORA’S IRISH SODA BREAD
5 ½ cups of Flour
1 teaspoon of Cream of Tartar
1 ½ teaspoons of baking soda
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ to ¾ cup sugar
1 pound of raisins
1 quart of buttermilk
MIX WELL.
Bake at 325 degrees in 2 greased loaf pans for 1 hour, 10 minutes or until a toothpick put into the bread comes out clean.
Let cool. Wrap in foil for several hours, or overnight, for best flavor.
Two Twitter Skeptics Walk Into a Bar @SXSW
Yesterday in Austin, I was having lunch at the bar at Champions. Mike, a guy sitting next to me, said he was working in the AV department for SXSW. I mentioned it was nice to be talking to someone in person for a change here in Austin. He mentioned that he and his wife recently were discussing “face-to-face” contact and how Twitter/Facebook impedes that. We both mentioned we originally didn’t “get” Facebook or Twitter, but have now been assimilated, he more to Facebook, and I to both Twitter and Facebook.
I apologized for looking at Twitter while talking to him. I was trying to find out where some of the people I follow on Twitter were in Austin, at the same time decrying the trouble I was having meeting people at the conference because people were always on their phone. I had spent a day and a half at conferences where I would rarely get the chance to talk to anyone next to me because they were on their phone. (Disclaimer: okay, I was on my phone, too.)
As we discussed whether Twitter served a great purpose or not, I saw a tweet from a SXSWpresenter, Kristina Halvorson (@halvorson). She said she was in Ballroom A for her presentation, which began in about 45 minutes and she needed a wireless microphone. Um, I thought. I’m sitting right next to an AV guy for the conference. I turned to him and explained what had happened. He didn’t seem to believe me at first. He put his head in his hands and said, “She’s “TWEETING” about that?” It sounded silly to him at first. Then he realized he could actually do something about it.
He got on the phone, called one of his co-workers, and had them go to Ballroom A to assist Kristina. Still in shock, he shook his head and said, “What are the odds that you would get that tweet and would be sitting next to someone who could do something about it?”
As we contemplated that, we conceded there was more to this Twitter thing than we realized. My guess is Kristina used all her options – trying to find someone in the center and sending out an SOS on Twitter. Maybe the Twitter SOS was more of an update for her and she didn’t expect someone to really help her. I don’t know if Kristina got the help Mike sent her way, or if she had already found someone in the convention center to help her. But her tweet could have been the answer to her problem, due to Mike’s dispatching.
What’s the lesson here? That some seemingly innocuous Twitter updates may mean more to others than to you? Sure.
But also: That face-to-face stuff is still important, or else I wouldn’t have met Mike and gotten an actual solution for Kristina.
SXSW rocks! (Twitter’s not so bad, either….)
I.E. versus E.G.
In honor of the third annual National Grammar Day celebrated on March 4, let’s take a look at “i.e.” versus “e.g.” I’ve seen even professional writers get this one wrong.
Let’s start with “i.e.” As I remember from my high school Latin classes, it stands for “id est,” which literally means “that is.” If you think of it as “that is” or “in other words,” you’ll be fine.
Now, “e.g.” is Latin for “exempli gratia,” or in plain English, “by way of example.” So, think of it as meaning “for example.”
So, they should be used in this way:
We should all strive for good grammar on this greatest of all holidays, i.e., National Grammar Day.
Content Strategy yields a number of deliverables, e.g., content audits, editorial styles guides and gap analyses.Note:
- “i.e.” and “e.g.” are abbreviations, so don’t forget the period after each letter.
- Use a comma after both “i.e.” and “e.g.”
- Use a comma before both “i.e.” and “e.g.” (unless it is at the beginning of a sentence – and yes, it’s okay to begin a sentence with either “i.e.” or “e.g.”)
For Me, The Twitter/Kutcher Net Race was all about the Other Nets
It’s hard to escape the buzz about Ashton Kutcher beating CNN in the “Twitter Race.” Opinions abound on the subject:
- I DON’T CARE!!!
- Power to the People!
- Twitter has turned into a popularity contest
- Twitter is now officially – heaven forbid – MAINSTREAM
- This is Changing the Face of Media
- Twitter is dead (meaning either it has caused its own demise or for the more dramatic among us: “you are dead to me, Twitter, sob, sob, dead to me”)
And Oprah will talk about web phenom Twitter with Ashton on TV today. Ah, the synergy.
I admit I was one of the people egging Kutcher on. On Facebook, I even posted updates of the “race” in an effort to get people to “follow” Kutcher on Twitter. Was I motivated by “beating the man,” namely the corporation CNN? Nah, for me it was all about the malaria nets.
The cynical among us will call Kutcher’s promise to buy 10,000 anti-mosquito nets for Africa a marketing ploy, a cheap trick, etc., to get his Twitter followers to a million. Is Kutcher just looking for more publicity? Or is he really trying to show the power of the people on social media sites?
In the end, does all that matter? Not to me. For me, it was always all about the anti-mosquito nets. If even one life could be saved, it was all worth it. And 10,000 malaria nets will surely save many lives. That thought makes me feel all warm and happy. Sure, Kutcher could have donated that money anyway without the contest. But I give him credit for turning what could have been just a publicity stunt or ego race into a humanitarian act.
Recently Kutcher was lagging behind CNN in the race, even with the promise of the nets, before Electronic Arts stepped in and offered to put the one millionth “follower” in their new video Game SIMS 3. At first, the percentage of new followers being added actually dropped off, as people were apparently waiting for others to join so they could be closer to the one millionth mark and possibly hit it. So Electronic Arts added more prizes to random follower numbers to encourage participation. And it worked. So self-interest induced many to “follow” Kutcher on Twitter. But whatever the motivation, things worked out great for the people who will never get malaria because of the promised nets.
So kudos to Kutcher for reaching out to people on Twitter. He has been taking questions and comments and responding to tweets, so he is being a good social media user.
But kudos most of all to Kutcher and to us for saving lives. Now that’s the real power of the people.