Saying Farewell To An "Unexpected" Gem

Ok, I'll be the first to admit when I'm wrong. (Well, maybe not the first, but if I am wrong, eventually, I will tell you that.) And, I was wrong.

When I first saw the teasers/previews for Life Unexpected, I sort of got the impression that we've "been there, done that" before. I mean, a woman who had a child at the age of 16 and is now trying to raise her 16 year old daughter, sound familiar??? But this new mother/daughter combo was about as far from Lorelai/Rory as possible. That was evident from the moment that Lux Cassidy stepped onto the screen, and kept going right until the final frame of last night's season series finale.

I didn't start watching the show when it began...I was a little behind the times, almost a full season actually. I read a lot of different blogs, websites, etc. and so many of them gave accolades to Life Unexpected that I thought I would check it out. The first episode caught my attention with an emotionally charged episode and characters that were - real. The relationship between Baze, Cate, and Lux was not a unique one, so many of us come from a "broken" home in one way or another...but this trio was able to pull at just the right heartstrings time and again, giving the audience just what they needed. (Note, what the audience needed and what we wanted can often times be two different things...just saying.)

The first season gave great insight into each of the characters, and we, as an audience, learned about each of their quirks, and quickly fell in love with them. Whether you were "Team Baze" or "Team Ryan" for Cate, and "Team Bug" or "Team Jones" for Lux, (hmmmm....."Team whatever" should probably be on the list of banned phrases for 2011, but that is a post for a different time), you had a team. It isn't often in a world where "Reality TV" is king, and awful, scripted shows can span several seasons, (well after they should have been put to rest...again, a post for another time) that a creative, funny, sad, poignant, and dramatic program can capture so many emotions in a single hour. Was it cheesy at times? Sure. Contrived? Of course. But throughout all of that, the characters were people, just like us, with our faults and flaws and problems. (Oh, my!)

The second season brought about a couple of wonderful cast additions, including Buffy alum Emma Caufield, and Melrose Place's (2009, not 1992) Shaun Sipos. These two cast members added even more drama to the lives of, well, pretty much everyone...not that they needed it. Emma added some of her comedic relief into Baze's life (and made a great Roswell reference too..."So your ideal woman - let me guess; pint size, big eyes, sort of looks like that chick from Roswell?" Love it!)

There was one problem with this show, however...ok, I'm sure there were a lot of problems with the show, but go with me on this one. It wasn't given nearly enough time to really find it's footing or it's audience. (Well, I guess that it was given enough time...more than a full 22 episode season, which is more than a lot of show get, but when split up into two separate seasons, you lose a lot of momentum.) The sophomore season of the show had a LOT going on, and had the show been given a longer run, I think some things might have taken a different turn.

Last night's finale episode, however, had everything that I wanted it to. Laughter, tears, and a couple of the trademark, "Oh, no, they are NOT going there! Are they? No. Not poss- oh, yep...they sure did go there." moments. And the final scene? Perfect. (See above re: "Was it cheesy at times? Sure. Contrived? Of course.", but perfect nonetheless). I'm a sucker for the "... Years Later" bit, cause I like closure, and nothing says closure like "we know you don't get to see how they got "there", we just wanted you to know that they did, indeed, get "there"." (Although, I must admit, I don't really buy the whole "Lux as valedictorian" thing...I mean, really, that was a stretch...seriously.) I also loved how Lux finally called Cate and Baze "Mom" and "Dad"; that was well deserved. Also, while there was CLEARLY a lot of relationship switching going on, everyone ended up happy, which fed the hopeless romantic in me quite nicely. (Albeit, maybe a little too happy...I mean, great for Ryan and whats-her-name...but that was probably one of the least realistic pairings of the whole show)  And, it just goes to show how quickly you can change from season to series finale with a single well placed scene (or from series to season, as Supernatural managed to do quite well last year).

So, it is with sadness that we bid farewell to Life Unexpected...too soon if you ask me.

An Open Letter To The Obnoxious Guy In My Office...

Ok, so I know what you are thinking..."There's only ONE obnoxious guy in your office? Lucky you." Yeah, well, you have to understand my office first...a lot of the time, I am likely one of the only people here...for a large corporate office, most of the people who "work" here are out in the field all day. So, on any given day there are probably less than 10 people in the whole office, and maybe only three or four on my side (aka, people I can hear). So, keeping that in mind, for the most part I am lucky. Except for the one jackhole.

Now, realistically, there are quite a few people who are probably worse, both in my office and, well, in general. But this guy REALLY grates on my nerves...so, here's my letter:

Dear Obnoxious, Loud, Jackhole (I love this new insult...not entirely sure where I got it from (it might be the Harbinger...he knows who he is), but I'm keeping it):

Please stop. You sit three ROWS of cubes away from me, yet I can hear your entire conversation as if you were actually in my cube. I don't really care what you had for dinner last night, where or what you are hunting this weekend, or why you think Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a better show that Firefly. (Although, bonus point for the last one, I mean, that is definitely a valid discussion...however, the fact that I was not a part of that discussion means I should not have heard you having it.) I know exactly what projects you are working on at any given time, every single conference call that you have (and every opinion that you give on those calls) and I have heard just about every "office-inappropriate" word out there.

I know exactly how you feel about your current and former places of employment, and let me just say, if you are that miserable, perhaps you should seek alternate employment. I am also "lucky" enough to hear all of the yelling that you and your assistant do between cubes. You are two cubes away, perhaps one of you should get up and mosey to the other cube so the whole office doesn't know what projects you are working on, cause believe me, no one cares...we've got our own projects. Or, if that is too complicated, call each other on the phone...although, that probably wouldn't solve the issue...see the rest of this post. (And, if I may shiny-object here for a moment, your assistant is next on my list. I have never known someone to argue with his or her significant other that publicly before...seriously, if the constant clicking of the keyboard weren't a dead giveaway that the area of the office that you obviously assume is vacant when you are (unsuccessfully) trying to have a discreet conversation is in fact, OCCUPIED, then perhaps you need to have your hearing checked. I do not need your conversations intruding on my day any more than I do your boss'.) I can't even drown you out with Pandora streaming in my cube (mmmm...Pandora...a topic for my next blog - I ♥ Pandora!)

So, loud, obnoxious guy in my office, I implore you. Please, please, please be mindful of other people, and learn to lower your voice. I mean, seriously, I have friends with toddler aged children, and they all understand the difference between inside voices and outside voices. Take a lesson from them.

Have a nice day.

-- Kelly ( :

Thanks To Everyone Who Cares

It has been brought to my attention that I haven't been paying attention to everyone that loves me...i.e. not updating my blog regularly...so, sorry.

I have a fairly good reason though...well, a cliched one really - I have been super busy; work, um, some more work and the occasional sleep...yeah...or I am just a bad bad person and I deserve mime (only if you were ever a fan of Buffy will you understand that, so nevermind)

Anyways, for as busy as I have been not a whole lot is going on...I will be travelling a lot in the near future (twice to LA in the next few months), my mom and grandmother will be in town for a few weeks, if I'm lucky there is a tubing/rafting trip in the near future (the beginning of July or so) and I may be back in Michigan for a few days, if Michael moves out here...

Other than that people I know have more exciting news, but that is for them to tell you...

So, for now, that's it, and I promise to be a better friend in the future!

-- Kelly ( :

Old Friends

As much as I love the new television season, with all the great new shows...it really is the old favorites that make it worthwhile...in the past it was Buffy or Angel that would keep me away from everything...now, Lost, Alias and Desperate Housewives can make me completely ignore everything else in my life...I don't answer the phone, the door or any non-emergent anything. When I do chat with people I usually tell them "I haven't seen the latest episode of "Show X" so don't tell me what happened..."

Wednesday was the season premiere of Lost and it was everything I knew it could be...the same cliffhanging greatness that I have come to expect from JJ Abrams...he is truly a master of the suspense drama and keeping his audience interested in what they are watching.and I look forward to it with Alias this coming Thursday as well (last season's finale episode from Alias was quite possibly the very best cliffhanger I have ever seen!)

Tonight, however, the return of Desperate Housewives (DH) should be fantastic! So many secrets...so little time...and DH starts in about ten minutes, so...I'll be unavailable for the next hour or so...television calls.

(BTW, this is a great picture...you should enlarge it to see the details)

Of course, now that I finally have the pictures the way I want them, the show is over...I did have to work on it only during commercials...and it was amazing, also, I'll answer the phone again.

-- Kelly ( :