free hit counters
You are here: Home / Archives for Amber Dorsey

Talk, chew, and a revolution – filling the oprah void

02/09/2012 By Amber Dorsey 2 Comments

As soon as Oprah announced her show was coming to an end speculation began as to who was going to take her place. Whom would they find to fill the void for the many women who tuned in diligently day after day?

When she first started out there was no shortage of daytime talk shows (thank you Maury , Sally Jesse, Ricki Lake and Jerry Springer for the variety in programming) but in recent years daytime TV has fallen off a bit.

It’s now mostly court shows, the news and soap operas. And we know now that our most beloved and longest running soap operas are coming to an end as well.

What is the world coming to???? No more All My Children or One Life to Live??

So with Oprah leaving the stage along with several soaps, how were stay at home moms, retired women and the like supposed to cope? What would women the world over do without her positive affirmations, upbeat attitude and plentiful giveaways? Sure there are other shows like Ellen and Dr. Phil but those tend to pale in comparison to the almighty O.

The View is always entertaining and lively but it’s more of a news and views format and lacks that feel good, warm fuzzy feeling that Oprah gave to so many. It was like have a soul searching chat full of belly laughs with your best friend. Every. single. day.

Suddenly, there are a new crop of shows that have crept onto the radar this past year that are slowly trying to claim the hearts of the big O’s former audience. Shows like The Talk, The Chew and most recently…. The Revolution.

All three of these shows aim to create an atmosphere of camaraderie amongst their audiences. They are trying desperately to re-create the formula that worked so well for Ms. Winfrey.

Be personable,be relatable, show positive results, give things away, be funny and most of all be a place of solace. A place where a woman wants to curl up on her couch with a cup of coffee and watch. Or fold laundry and laugh. Or feed a nursing baby and become inspired.

And I think the three of them combined are doing a swell job. But the competing time slots lets me know that one of these is not going to be around for too long.

The Talk is too similar to The View.

The Chew is funny but it lacks that magical ‘aha!’ moment Ms. Winfrey was so famous for.

The Revolution may be the closest thing to Oprah as there are a variety of  individual specialists that each bring something to the table.

But none of them are her. Not a single one can hold its own against her.  None of them give me that same zest for life that she provided.

She truly was/ is an inspiration and something of a phenomenon.

The encouragement to “live your best life” is unparalleled and somewhat forced in the shows that have since cropped up.

And I wonder will day time TV ever be the same?

You can read more of Amber’s musings here

Filed Under: Entertainment, Opinion Tagged With: , , , ,

Politics as usual?

02/08/2012 By Amber Dorsey 2 Comments

I’m not very politically inclined I’ll be the first to admit. My upbringing was such that you “don’t talk politics and religion with people as it only leads to hurt feelings and emotional outbursts.” I only really got “into” politics during the last election. The fact that it was full of so many historical events (first woman to run & be taken seriously and a black man as candidates?) really rocked my world and encouraged me to get more involved and pay attention to what was going on in our government. So I did. To an extent. I will never be able to argue minut points on policy and practices but I have learned quite a bit. I still don’t understand a lot of it but I’ve been paying attention to what’s been happening.

And like so many other Americans I’m intrigued by the state of the union which I find myself compelled to watch each time. It’s very interesting to see how my generation is affected by politics in this day and age.

However, I’ve noticed a few things: there are certain people whom every time the President speaks, choose to remain stoic. No matter what he’s said. Valid point or not, they refuse to even acknowledge him as our leader. They yell out and boo ideas they don’t agree with and to me that seems a bit childish. Aren’t these representatives supposed to (at the very least) put on a unified front for the American public?

There is also a great divide within the two parties that makes it difficult to obtain the kind of reform that is so necessary for our country to survive. These types of occasions only make the dissent that much more apparent. But I still tune in every time to see what the responses and reactions will be.

Its always interesting to see on which side your friends tend to side with. The post political Facebook rants leave me particularly intrigued as you can see a direct correlation between the issues in Washington and how they have skewed the public’s view of the American president. And, as much as I hate to say it, racial divisions.

It seems our current POTUS is quite the polarizing figure. And I must say it humors me to no end. The anti-Obama slurs, speeches and rants. The “facts” about his presidency and how he single handedly has destroyed the country. It’s sad but an interesting study in today’s culture.

I’ll admit I voted for him. Not because he’s black and so am I. I voted for him because I truly believed (and still do) that he has the country’s best interest in his heart. I do not believe he is pushing his own agenda as much as past presidents and I do believe that he has done his absolute best to work within the constraints of his office and the party divisions in Washington.

I could sit here and spew facts and figures about what he’s done versus what they say he has/hasn’t but that’s not my style.

No mine is to sit back, observe and watch as it all plays out on a national level.  And to pray. Pray for our country and where we are going. For the people in charge and their daily struggles.

Pray that we, as a people, are able to see how divided we have become simply because of the color of a man’s skin, his funny sounding name, and his desire to ‘meet in the middle’.

No one person is going to encompass all of our ideals. No one man can accomplish that.

But perhaps – we,the people, can reach a middle ground and in that meeting will discover the solution to many of the issues plaguing this great nation.

But if not……then I will just pray for my children. That they will inherit a better life/country/planet and know what to do with the legacy we have left them.

You can read more of Amber’s musings here.

Filed Under: Humor, Opinion, Politics Tagged With: , , ,

Breaking up is hard to do

12/13/2011 By Amber Dorsey 6 Comments

“If you don’t do this for me, I’ll never forgive you”. That was the first message I read in a series of texts from an estranged friend. Pretty heavy for 8am if you ask me, and since I hadn’t seen the previous 8 messages I had no idea what she was talking about that could be so drastic, so damaging that it could warrant un-forgiveness. FOREVER. Turns out she had asked me a favor the day before but being pregnant and scattered I did not commit to said favor. Apparently this was not cool.

Over the next several hours I received a range of texts alternating from begging for my assistance to out and out irritation that I would deign to not commit to her. This friend I have. My childhood best friend at that. When we  hooked up in the first grade we were as thick as thieves until junior high when suddenly I was no longer in her circle of favorites. That stung a bit, but it was okay as I had other friends as well. Moving on to high school she went to a completely different school and then there was the “incident” after which we were banned from hanging out together. Over the years we remained in touch, in and out of each others lives, but still friends in the loosest sense of the word. But still I kept in her my life. Not necessarily because she was ‘such a good friend to me’ but because it’s what I knew.

At some point in my adult life, I began to shed old friendships as a snake does its skin. Simply because I needed to be surrounded by people who understood me, wanted to be friends with me, and wouldn’t hold a grudge over a slight that happened years before. Call it growing up, if you will, but it needed to happen. Somehow though she slipped through the cracks since we really didn’t talk that much and there were never any hard feelings, and that ‘friendship’ remained. Then I got married, while planning the wedding there was annother ‘incident’ and she became livid when I didn’t react to her quickly enough. A full year before it was supposed to even take place. So we I cut her out of my life. Slowly she wedged back in and ended up getting an invite to the wedding (my husband just shook his head). She showed up, after the ceremony, stayed for cocktail hour and then left stating she had to get back to her kids. I was PISSED and continued to keep her at arms length but did what any “good friend” would do- I called her on it. She acted surprised that I even cared. We eventually reconciled and I would still invite her to family functions and sometimes she would come, sometimes not.

I was okay with that. I’ve learned that friendships are like a marriage, they have both good and bad moments. They go through ups and downs and require lots of love, forgiveness and time to get things to work properly. But it’s a process. I get that. I’m not sure however, that she does. I’m also not entirely sure she really knows how to be a friend. A real and true friend. Not just when it’s convenient. And that’s okay too.

Back to the texts – I chose my fate of being unforgiven as what she wanted was in direct conflict with my own schedule. And at this stage in my life I can’t spend it pleasing others because of my fear of their reactions. Needless to say I haven’t  heard from her since. I’m not particularly losing sleep over it  as she’s not the first friend breakup I’ve had to deal with in recent years. It’s not fun but I understand the necessity to purge from time to time. I hope she does as well.  I’m not sure that the ‘friendship’ we’ve had is healthy. We’ve been hanging on to a relationship that was unhealthy and had run its course, for longer than necessary. Simply because it was easier to stay than it was to face the truth: we’ve out grown each other.

I still love her dearly but realize that at this point in my life and hers, we were just not meant to be. Breaking/growing up is sometimes hard to do…….

You can find more of Amber’s musings on life here

Filed Under: MISC, Nostalgia, Opinion Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Fashion Plate

12/08/2011 By Amber Dorsey 4 Comments

As a kid I used to be obsessed with those Fashion Plate toys. You remember the ones that allowed you to sketch an outfit by mixing and matching the different plates on a piece of paper and then you colored them in to your hearts content?

No one ever bought me one (that I can recall) but I do remember playing with them whole heartedly at friends houses. It may have begun my love affair with all things fashion related. Not too mention my desire to ‘mix it up’ when it came to my wardrobe. I was never a fan of wearing one print head to toe or being matchy-matchy. It was the 80′s after all and multi-colored socks and Madonna were all the rage, so I ran with it. Luckily for me, my mother was okay with this form of self expression, to an extent.

Fast forward a few years and I fell into a fashion rut. I became a slave to trends and began to wear things that were not really flattering on me but they looked good together. Or so I thought. I remember one of my favorite outfits circa 1995 was distressed looking overalls, a plaid body suit and Timberland-esque style boots. I was fresh to death and no one could tell me different. Oh how I cringe when I look at pictures from back then. Even well into college my sartiorial tastes were somewhat questionable as I tended to go with what the masses were wearing and less with my heart. The fact that in Atlanta in 1997-98 there was really only Express to shop in made it even worse. You could pretty much guarantee you would be wearing the same black bootcut pants as the girl next to you in class. Thus began my love affair with  makeup and accessories. Oh what a difference a fun eye-shadow, a necklace or some earrings made to even the simplest of outfits!

Somewhere along the way, after having my daughter and not wanting to fall into the ‘mommy rut’, my style began to evolve into something much more eclectic. I really took notice of my friends styles and what worked for them versus what worked for me. Instead of trying to adapt, I modified. And a fashionista was born. Sort of. I’m not ‘hipster’ or ‘trendy’ with my style of dress but I do pride myself on trying new looks and getting inspiration from all that I see. Working in fashion for the last few years has been a huge boon to my closet, not so much to my bank account.

Now I’m currently in the last stages of pregnancy and struggling with the idea of being fashionable while pregnant or just going straight for comfort on a daily basis. I do my best to give it a go when I have to be out and about. I put on makeup, do my hair and try to look as ‘hot mama’ as possible. However, the poked out belly button is somewhat taking away from the coolness factor. But I want to look good even when I feel like I just want to lay on the couch all day.

Now would be a great time to have those fashion plates make a comeback and I could just sketch my outfits daily and tape them to me saying “this is what I FEEL like wearing” while I really wear sweat pants and flipflops. Wouldn’t that be special?

You can find more of Amber’s musings here

Filed Under: Nostalgia Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Finding my voice

10/13/2011 By Amber Dorsey 9 Comments

A few weeks ago I attended a blogging conference. My first “major” conference. I went last year but it was on a much smaller scale. As in the founder’s backyard type scale.

I was excited but intimidated.

As with most writers I’m much better in writing than I am in person.

Not to say that I don’t have personality for days, cuz anyone who knows me will tell you I’m “outgoing”.

But in a room full of people I don’t know and have never met – I’m slightly out of my element.

Top that off with being 4.5months pregnant and I’m kind of an emotional basket case.

So I did what every smart woman does in an instance like that, I brought a friend! A “wingman” if you will.

The conference as a whole was superb. Incredibly uplifting and encouraging. I left inspired and motivated beyond what I had been in months.

I’ll be honest. I’ve been struggling as a “writer” for the last few months. Really struggling.

Lacking inspiration, wondering if I am on the right path. Questioning if I’m any good at all really.

Validating myself by the number of comments or responses I get on my blog (minimal) or the Smartly (varies).

It was killing me. I tried to emulate others writing styles while grappling with the idea/realization that I would never be able to completely “get it” like they do.

In short – I was trying to be something I was not.

I wasn’t using my own voice to espouse my thoughts,dreams and ideas. I was worried about what “others” would think, afraid I would be judged.

I got just deep enough to seem profound without revealing too much of myself or making myself too vulnerable.

And then Blog Sugar happened.

And something inside me changed. A fire that had been smoldering for months was re-kindled.

I left the building so full of emotion, so full of the spirit of the divine, so ready to show the world who I really am.

It is time. Time to stop being polite and start getting real.

I am ready to share my heart, bare my soul and reach for the stars. I hope you’ll come along and share that journey with me and if not, that’s fine too.

I’ve realized it’s not about the ‘followers’ or commentors but about writing what’s on my heart. Whether that gets noticed or not is not important but who knows, someone somewhere could read my words and be moved by them.

I can’t risk not trying.

You can read more of Amber’s musings on life here.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Filed Under: Motivate, SoCal Tagged With: , , , , , ,