life and puppies

Just a little bit of trivia: If, today — October 15, 2009 — you type “Kate” into google, the first result is about Jon and Kate Gosselin.  Marinate on that.

Aaron and I decided to take a much-appreciated (if not deserved) vacation day today, which means I am in bed, watching the Real Housewives of Atlanta and — simultaneously — Wikipedia-ing “Real Housewives of Atlanta.”  I love TV so much, but I almost always seem to want to be doing something else while watching — a crossword puzzle, reading a magazine, treadmilling, facebooking, etc.  Anyway, as I recently revealed to Terry and Sarayu — not that it was exactly a secret — I just can’t seem to sate my appetite for Bravo reality shows.  The Real Housewives franchise is positively enthralling.  I thought I wasn’t a fan of Atlanta, but season two has changed my mind entirely.  I Wikipedia-ed it to look up who these women actually are (you rarely get the full scoop on any of the RH ladies).  Fascinating!  Not to take Wikipedia at its word, but if true, these gals have some issues.  Admittedly, what I really wanted to know is if there is any truth to Kim’s repeated assertion that she’s only 29.  According to the Bible, er, Wikipedia, she was born in 1978, so she’s 31 now, making her claims in previously recorded shows that she was 29 very plausible.  I’d still like to see an actual birth certificate.  Or, better yet, some sort of tree-ring investigation, carbon-dating or other scientific-minded testing.  Anyway, several of the ladies seem to have some serious financial problems.  Apparently, NeNe was evicted from her home after season one; Sheree’s house was sold in foreclosure; and Lisa filed for bankruptcy in 2007.  Additionally,  Lisa’s ex-husband has custody of their two kids.  Drama!  But not the kind shown on the show…Which is probably just fine.  That stuff’s just depressing.

I have to admit that I can point to two external, but related, things that helped me come to terms with my affection for RHA.  One was when I was watching the Rachel Zoe Project (another Bravo original) and Rachel was talking to Ashton Kutcher on the phone (speaker phone, of course).  Ashton was in Atlanta with Demi and Rachel’s assistant, Brad, got on the phone to ask if they had run into Kim or NeNe or anyone.  Ashton, without missing a beat, said that they had yet to see any of the women, but he clearly knew that Brad was referring to the Housewives.  He then said that he did not watch the show, but he knew the significance of a spotting.  You can then hear Demi chime in and chide him, “You watched the entire first season!”  Hee hee.  Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher watch RHA.  Ok, and the second thing that reinforced my love was when I was watching Andy Cohen’s show (no idea what it’s called) dissecting the Bravo shows.  Andy Cohen, as you know, is the genius behind the reality shows I love.  Ok, actually, I don’t really know if that’s entirely true, but he is an NBC “television exec” and has his name on my loves.  Andy had Jimmy Fallon on and they were sipping cocktails and talking all about RHA.  NeNe even came on the show via video and Fallon interviewed her.  The real moment for me, though, was when the two of them could not stop talking about Kim and Kandi’s “Don’t Be Tardy to the Party” masterpiece.  If you have not seen this episode, you must.  It is priceless in its ridiculousness.  It is Kim doing backup singing for some new song of Kandi’s in which Kim just repeats, in an attempt at a sultry voice,   “Don’t be tardy to the party — whoa-o-a-who-o-a” over and over and over and over again.  It was one of those moments when you kind of turn your head to the side like a dog and wonder, “Is this real?”  And then you sort of feel like you must be mistaken.  And I kind of did think that until I saw Jimmy Fallon singing it repeatedly (and, in fact, he and Andy recorded it to make it Jimmy’s ring tone).  And then putting his gin and tonic on his ring finger pretending it was his engagement ring from Big Poppa.

Ok, I suddenly feel like I’m totally talking to myself.  Is anyone with me on this?

I hate to think that I only like it because some celebrities like it.  Because, really, there are lots of things celebrities like that I don’t (Uggs, for one).  I prefer to think that these celebs just made me more comfortable with my love for the show.  It’s kind of like when Phish started covering Neil Diamond; I felt vindicated.