Coffee Talk {Living Outside the Stacks}

Hi, and welcome to Coffee Talk. In case you’re new here, this is where I share some of the great and not~so~great stuff that I find on the web. Topics range from news stories that leave me scratchin’ my head to DIYs that I think are absolutely clever. And, who knows, there may even be a recipe thrown in here or there just for fun.

So grab a cup of coffee {or tea or whatever floats your boat} and let’s talk…

1. Kate Gosselin had her twins on the Today Show so they could tell everyone how normal their lives are… First lesson in leadership: if you have to tell people you’re the boss, you’re not. That works for parenting and letting the world know that you’re “normal”. Parading the kids on TV every few years is not indicative of a “normal” household, it’s the sign of a parent who can’t understand why her family imploded in the first place and refuses to see that maybe she is part of the problem. The girls looked awkward and uncomfortable during the interview and rarely spoke up… I will acknowledge that most 13~year~old teens are awkward and uncomfortable and answer questions with grunts and sighs… But that should’ve been a sign to Kate that they {to include herself} should’ve been elsewhere, like at home.

2. And speaking of parents, who was your favorite TV dad? Mine was Bill Cosby from the Cosby Show. Hands down. I loved the way he interacted with his kids. And, omg, his love for Clair set the standard for how I wanted to be treated in my marriage. It also didn’t hurt that people kept telling me how much I favored Lisa Bonet… I tried desperately to imitate her on and off screen funky style but no one could nail it quite like she did. Anyway, Dr. Cosby is supposed to be debuting a new sitcom on NBC. I really hope this is true. I’m so looking for something fun and educational that doesn’t have the parents looking like idiots or the kids acting like they need a good butt whupping. Right now, my favorite comedy has to be The Middle. If you’re not watching it, you really need to rethink your television priorities.

3. Well, since it seems today’s theme is televison, let’s continue with that streak… I don’t watch the Real House Wives of anything but when I heard that one of those women thought the Underground Railroad was a real train I about lost my mind. And then I realized, it’s not her fault:

  • schools are set up now so that teachers are teaching for tests instead of teaching for information literacy {this is a generalization and not at all inclusive}
  • teachers are having to teach sex ed, manners, etc., things that should be taught at home
  • we live in a sound bite generation, people don’t want to read to learn, they just want to be entertained
  • most of today’s generation is so far removed from that part of history that they’ve lost the emotional connection to that part of our past

What had you scratchin’ your head this week?

Daenel T