{"id":279,"date":"2012-12-09T00:59:21","date_gmt":"2012-12-09T05:59:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/wordpress\/?page_id=279"},"modified":"2017-07-03T12:08:12","modified_gmt":"2017-07-03T16:08:12","slug":"14-july-2004-the-bane-of-ones-existence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?p=279","title":{"rendered":"2004.7.14 &#8211; the bane of one&#8217;s existence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>So, I&#8217;m back yet again and this time I&#8217;m on the Bravo television bandwagon. Yes, I have been thoroughly sucked in. Why, oh why, must Bravo have such fantabulous reality tv shows? I generally hate reality tv, but for some reason I cannot turn the channel when &#8220;Showbiz Mom&#8217;s and Dad&#8217;s&#8221;, &#8220;BlowOut&#8221; or &#8220;The Restaurant&#8221; are airing. Even if I have seen the episode 7 or 8 times, I still cannot bring myself to switch off the television.<\/p>\n<p>I have been brainwashed. I admit it.<\/p>\n<p>This evening I watched the finale of &#8220;The Restaurant&#8221; (which I must say was horrible, yet I still didn&#8217;t click to another channel) and found it massively difficult to tear myself away afterward. I mean, c&#8217;mon, the finale of &#8220;BlowOut&#8221; was airing directly afterward. I did see the &#8220;BlowOut&#8221; finale twice last night which is the only reason I was truly able to hit off on the remote and come here to write this snappy little rant.<\/p>\n<p>Why are these shows so damn addicting? Does it have anything to do with the fact that watching people on television ruin their lives\/careers\/family relationships\/etc. is seductively fun? Is my life so bad that I must watch others folly to make myself feel better about my daily existence? Are we all so wrapped up in the media that we are physically unable to live without some sort of background television noise to calm the questioning in our heads? Or is it all just another addiction that is impossible to give up?<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t really think it has to do with my own life and I&#8217;m banking on the fact that I&#8217;m NOT brainwashed, but who the hell knows anymore. The one thing I do know is that the moment I walk into my home after work the second thing I do after locking myself in is turn on the television set (or boob tube, if you prefer). This is a product of my upbringing. I didn&#8217;t watch a massive amount of television growing up, but there was always some form of media blasting into my home. A television or radio was on pretty much 24 hours a day and all though I didn&#8217;t always pay attention, I was still aware of it. This could also be why I can be three rooms away from the living room and still sense that a television is on, even when it is muted. There is a high-pitched buzzing, that even animals are unaware of, that humans are in tune with.<\/p>\n<p>This makes you think, doesn&#8217;t it? Makes you wonder if the fact that we are inundated on a daily basis with millions of media images, whether we pay attention or not, is the reason why we continue to watch and listen. It is a subtle way to keep us buying products that we don&#8217;t necessarily need. Life is one big commercial and we are all the consumers, willing or not.<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t think that Bravo is that harmful. But, then again, who knows. Maybe they are sending out signals beneath the surface of &#8220;Showbiz Mom&#8217;s and Dad&#8217;s&#8221; that makes us want to buy more cheesy pop music. Perhaps &#8220;The Restaurant&#8221; is just a way to cover up the sublimal messages that make us want to intake as many calories as possible in a 60 minute span of time. Maybe I am just paranoid. It wouldn&#8217;t be the first time I&#8217;ve been accused of that, I assure you. Whatever the messages are, I&#8217;m listening and you are coming in loud and clear!<\/p>\n<p>Peace,<br \/>\nHippiegrrl<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So, I&#8217;m back yet again and this time I&#8217;m on the Bravo television bandwagon. Yes, I have been thoroughly sucked in. Why, oh why, must Bravo have such fantabulous reality tv shows? I generally hate reality tv, but for some reason I cannot turn the channel when &#8220;Showbiz Mom&#8217;s and Dad&#8217;s&#8221;, &#8220;BlowOut&#8221; or &#8220;The Restaurant&#8221; &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?p=279\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;2004.7.14 &#8211; the bane of one&#8217;s existence&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[176],"tags":[178,208,207],"class_list":["post-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-heia","tag-backwash","tag-media","tag-reality-television"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2XCO6-4v","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":97,"url":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?p=97","url_meta":{"origin":279,"position":0},"title":"2002.10.30 &#8211; nature vs. perfection","author":"chantale","date":"7 December 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Insecurity. Low self esteem. Depression. These are all symptoms of what I like to call, modern American society. In a perfect world there would be no lack of pride attributed to a person who is \"different\" in some way. In different, this means that the individual doesn't share the majority\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;heia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"heia","link":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?cat=176"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":101,"url":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?p=101","url_meta":{"origin":279,"position":1},"title":"2002.11.21 &#8211; a movie changed my life","author":"chantale","date":"7 December 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Can a movie change your life? It may sound trite, but it can happen. Once the lights go down in the theatre, anything is possible. That is why they call it the \"silver screen\", isn't it? My first year of college wasn't the finest time of my life. I commuted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;heia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"heia","link":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?cat=176"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1909,"url":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?p=1909","url_meta":{"origin":279,"position":2},"title":"Be Better","author":"chantale","date":"12 April 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"We are all human beings. We live our lives the way we see fit and we move through life with different goals in mind. Some of us judge others and some of us do not. Recently, I have had several interactions with a certain dude on Facebook that is not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;equality&quot;","block_context":{"text":"equality","link":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?cat=29"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/positive.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/positive.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/positive.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":138,"url":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?p=138","url_meta":{"origin":279,"position":3},"title":"2003.8.18 &#8211; get out there and do something!","author":"chantale","date":"9 December 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This column is not about the inconvenience of losing power in your home. It is not about politicians who suddenly become experts on power generation and consumption the moment the lights go out. It is not about major news networks giving the exact coordinates of the New York State power\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;heia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"heia","link":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?cat=176"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":128,"url":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?p=128","url_meta":{"origin":279,"position":4},"title":"2003.5.16 &#8211; interiour design","author":"chantale","date":"9 December 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I am thinking about going back to school. Yes, the hippie has decided it is time to get back to the creative and try to get out of this cycle of customer service hell. Ofcourse, there will be a short time where I will have to continue working in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;heia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"heia","link":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?cat=176"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":111,"url":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?p=111","url_meta":{"origin":279,"position":5},"title":"2003.2.5 &#8211; children first!","author":"chantale","date":"7 December 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In recent weeks a new advertising campaign has been unveiled across the country. On my way home from visiting my family in Niagara Falls, I passed a billboard that struck me immediately. This isn\u2019t like any other advocacy campaign over the years. It is heart wrenching and, in all likelihood,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;heia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"heia","link":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?cat=176"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=279"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1761,"href":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions\/1761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}