Andre...Lyon...can saaang. Bye Jamal. 

I'm a self-avowed groupie, so when my friend suggested going to Nashville, I didn't think twice because: 1) I love(d) the tv show; 2) I loooove music; and 3) I soooo wanted to see Deacon & Rayna or end up on the show somehow.

I have to tell you that #3 almost really did happen. I got the email of a casting guy and found out that I was a week too late because they had already stopped filming when I got there.

A girl can only dream!  See what my experience was like here (I had to dedicate a whole site to itself about my visit to Nashville): 

*Performed by Jussie Smollet & the beautiful, socially conscious, Alicia Keys*

1. She's the ride-or-die type of mother everyone should have. One from whom the love flows unconditionally (or at least tells you that), regardless of the flaws you might have in her eyes. 

2. When she found out her son Andre was bipolar, she didn't live in denial but instead read up about it. 

3. She owned the reason why her children were mad at her - even if she felt that she had paid the ultimate sacrifice by being in prison for 17 years. Actually, now that I think of it, that's why you never ever do things for *another* cuz it can come back to haunt you & fuck up your kids, just saying.  

4. She fights ferociously to protect what's hers (like her family), but I can't tell you what's gonna happen in Season 2 now!

5. She doesn't care about exposing her vulnerabilities - like looking a fool by exposing her lingerie to her ex-husband to illustrate the disappointment she felt when that misogynist invited her to dinner to announce that he proposed to his fiancee. Like my college friend says, #Wheretheydothatat??? (And no, please don't go showing your broohaha to your entire family, that's crass). 

6. Her outfits are ghetto with character, trashy but classy all at the same time. 

7. She wears stilettos in all seasons! #Wheretheydothatat????

8. Her relationship with Jamal (in season 1 at least) was like mama bear & baby bear, and besties all at the same time. (Jamal to Cookie, concerned that she might be developing feelings for his dad: "Are ya'll hittin?" Cookie, slyly, while checking her makeup: "Well it wouldn't be the first time.") 

Where do they say that at?

9. Her on-the-money comebacks & quips kill me every time! 
"Get rid of fake-ass Lena Horne!" 
"Did you get rid of fake-ass Halle Berry?" 
"Now tell me Yoko do you play the tambourine?" LOOOOL
"Shut up Dora!" NO she didn't!

10. It's obvious she ain't got no filters (for better or for worse). 

11. Even if she is about the bottom line (such as making herself known or getting that paper), she'll do whatever it takes to get people to come to her side in an organic way. And in the end, all everyone wants is to be understood and valued by the people around them.  Cookie gets that. 

12. Despite playing *the* stereotypical Black woman on tv, which is why part of me swore I would never give the show the time of day, she convincingly portrays a person who is complicated, flawed, compassionate and FULLY human. So that even if one can't relate to her drug- and assassin-filled world, one might be able to relate to her struggle with authenticity and self-assertion in an industry that gives 2 sh*** if you're broken on the inside (you know, from what people be telling me and all...)

13. Despite playing *the* stereotypical Black woman on tv, she's the reason why after I watched one episode - in the middle of the series mind you - I went back and finished watching the whole season in a weekend. Ok and on a Monday. (scratching head, yes, I do have a job & other responsibilities). #Wheretheydothatat??? 

And finally - 

14. After becoming hip to Empire about a month ago, the inspiration for my white birthday party theme came from..."You're so beautiful! Give the world a show! Go up down, up down, up down; up down, up down, up down, Shake it fast! It's yours...how much you pay for?" :-) 

I firmly believe that we could all use a little bit of Cookie in our lives. 
  

Get 'em girls! (and men!)


Empire Season 2 premieres on Wed. 9/23/15 @ 9pm est on Fox! Where are YOU gonna be???

This reviewer just laid it down with his description of Rowan. I was so intrigued by his writing that I just wanted to have it forever. So now you can too through my blog. Enjoy this review (that I wish I wrote myself). 

Daddy Pope in the Last Supper, Scandal 4x8 

Choices: He loves me; she loves me not.  

And cue the Adagio.  Jake Ballard at Olivia’s door.  “Let me in Dammit!”  Said with rage.  Then, whispered in quiet defeat: “I asked you to save me…and you said no.”  Walks away in even quieter defeat.  What happens to someone who walks away wounded under these circumstances?  

Do they become too hard to protect themselves or too soft because they are still vulnerable?  I believe both.  They become hardened to protect that tiny spot of vulnerability buried deep inside.  Is it Olivia’s fault that Jake fell deeper into B613?  I can’t say yes.  For Jake is a grown man.  He is able to make his own choices.  As an army guy, he knows how to lick his wounds and keep pushing forward to do the deed that needs to be done.  But in this case, I don’t mean by continuing to massacre people for B613 because one woman failed to declare her love for him.  I mean by licking them and still making the choice that feels right for him - that makes him feel whole inside.  In the real world, it would probably take someone who loved so deeply a few decades (or less) to emerge from such heartache with a wound fully healed.  However, for the sake of this tv series, Jake could have easily, (or perhaps more truthfully [or actually more wishfully for me]), done what he needed to do to properly care for his wound in the way that would allow himself to heal rather than harden. 

This is different for different people.  Some people read, write, or cry.  Some people disappear completely from the lives of their non-reciprocating love interest.  He has choices.  And I wish that this part of the episode were real life so that he would exercise those choices rather than fall deeper into an organization that slowly siphons off every ounce of human compassion he still has left in him.

Be strong soldier, you can do it.  And if saying no to B613 would mean him losing his life, well that’s a situation I’m just not prepared to write about because I wouldn’t have an easy answer.  But if all he has to face is a note saying “dishonorable discharge,” well then I’d say dishonorable discharge me all you want if it means I could lead my life in a way that honors my integrity.      
Choices.  We all have them.  Even if the circumstances aren’t what we want them to be.  Which brings me to talk about the choice of Olivia waiting for Fitz.  Because while Jake still has a choice in how he responds to the reality that Olivia can’t choose him, Olivia still has a choice in how she responds to the fact that the President can’t choose her, really.  She should do the healthy thing and move on.  Or stay single.  But just not wait for a man and be angry that he can’t be with her when she is actually helping the reason why he can’t be with her by working on his campaign.  Unbeknownst to me, maybe she is executing her plan, which is to wait for him for the entire 8 years he stays in office (if he wins again).  But I’d have to say that’s a long time to be alone and to let Fitz have the power that he has over her.  If I were her, I’d refuse his every beck and call.  Find a new line of work that doesn’t involve fixing his presidential mishaps.  Walk away and make myself stronger.  But if I were her, or if she did what I proposed, I wouldn’t look nearly as gorgeous in all her clothes and we wouldn’t have this self-indulging storyline that we love to watch every week.

But let me move on from talking about Liv and Jake for a minute.  Fitz has choices too.  He, too, can refuse to suffer - if that’s what it really feels like for him not to be with the woman he loves.  He can wreck things for all the historians and be that president who divorced his wife for his mistress.  But if tainting America’s image would be too much of a burden for him to bear, he could also make the equally hard choice of not running again for a second term so that he could be with his mistress/lover (I have mixed feelings about her) sooner.  But then, we wouldn’t have any material for what is only the major plot of this show.  And if Fitz did make that choice now, he would never know what it would mean for him to win on his own merit, and Olivia would never be able to atone for meddling with the first election results, and they probably wouldn’t enjoy their happily ever after if they are ever to have one.  So in the end, the major characters are still left in a conundrum.  It’s their failure to make what would be the healthiest choice in real life that gives us such great drama to watch week after week. 

Even if everything on the show is just over-the-top scandal fueled by unsound decisions, the love triangles that Fitz, Jake, and Olivia find themselves in still give us the ability to think about what we would do if we were in their shoes in this world.  We can’t be afraid of making the choice(s) that will make us truly happy.  All the excuses we make are just fear.  I can’t leave my job because I’ll be broke.  I can’t break up with him or her because they’re so great.  I won’t find anyone else as good, yadda yadda yadda.  What I do know is that getting to know the feeling of happiness and freedom after you have made that difficult choice is only the beginning of your journey.  But, because we’re watching Scandal – a world where politicians and the people behind them choose to fight, cheat, and kill for the sake of staying in power, and others choose to endure an inordinate amount of suffering for a love that can’t be realized – continue the Adagio.