Feeling the need for a beach day soon…

Raw

This week was insane, y’all. Insane.  Between ALL the developments in Boston, the deadly explosion in Texas and, you know, our politicians not agreeing that there should be stricter background checks for people who want to buy guns… well, let’s just say I’ve been a girl in need of a good laugh.  And tonight, I got one. 

My friend and I watched Eddie Murphy: Raw.  Now, I have seen this stand-up act before. MANY times. And the same thing happens every. single. time. Laugh, quote, laugh some more.

Perfect way to end a wild week.

Here’s one of my favorite parts — Eddie telling the story of getting chastised by Bill Cosby for his act being too dirty, then calling Richard Pryor to tell HIM about it.

“Look For The Helpers”

Two bombs.

140+ injured.

Three dead (one child, 8 years old).

To say that the events at the Boston Marathon today are terrifying and horrific is an understatement. Is it an act of terrorism? Who is responsible? Why there? Why then? Those questions will be answered as best as possible in the coming days.

The information and video from the scene has come fast and furiously, thanks to social media. Here’s something else that’s gone viral, if you will. It’s a quote by Fred Rogers (of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood fame): ”When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”

And those helpers came out in FULL force in the wake of the explosions.

The police, military and first responders who ran toward the explosion and chaos seconds after the blast. 

The runners, exhausted after crossing the finish line after 26 miles, and the marathon volunteers, who ran to the scene to help.

The Boston-area residents who flooded a forum that was supposed to help out-of-town runners find housing for the race. Hundreds of messages there now offer food, clothes and shelter to those in need.

The doctors, nurses and staff at every one of the big hospitals in Boston.  As a trauma surgeon at Mass. General said in his press conference, “This is work. When things like this happen, we go to work.”

There is much work to be done. Much healing to be done. But make no mistake… Boston, and the country, WILL heal.

 

Dear New York,

I’m breaking up with you.

I know it sounds harsh. But you and I both know it hasn’t been working for awhile. In fact, our 6 1/2 year relationship never, ever really hit a good stride.

Sure, we’ve had some great times. There was love, laughter, fun, frolicking and, of course, great meals.  But in the end, it just wasn’t enough to sustain.

I tried to make a go of it… tried to make the relationship work. But New York, we were not meant to be together forever.  We were meant to be friends. I know that I’ll come back to visit and it’ll be wonderful. It’ll be like it’s supposed to be.

You’ll always have a special place in my heart, New York.  But right now, my heart is telling me it needs to be elsewhere. I know you’ll understand. That’s one of the many great things about you.

Until we meet again…

xo – Gina

Parting is such sweet sorrow…

Tomorrow is my last day at my job here in New York. And in the next week I’ll be packing the rest of my stuff and heading across the country.

Back to Los Angeles.

Back home.

I’m going without the safety net of a job. What I do have is the support of my family and friends and my intuition… the feeling that I’m on the right path, and that the move is the best thing for me to do.

I’ve been very lucky, especially in the last year and a half, for having not one, but two jobs – one on the network side and one at my network’s local affiliate. I had the best of both worlds (for me, anyway). I’ve been able to keep my hard news skills sharp while also producing celebrity and lifestyle content.   I’ve covered huge stories (hurricanes, elections, Newtown..) and had some really fun guests (Rita Wilson! Adam Ant! Mob Wives!).

I’m fortunate to have been able to work with the best journalists in the business on both sides.  They probably don’t realize the impact they’ve had on me. Because of them, I worked harder to live up to the standards they set.  I feel like I’ve become a better journalist – and a better person — because of them. And for that I’m extremely thankful.

So why leave?

Because something has been nagging at me for years. The feeling that this isn’t where I belong.  I’ve never quite felt like I was truly a New Yorker, despite my black-dominated wardrobe, fast-paced walk through the streets and annoyed look when I got onto the crowded subways.  Despite that I was born across the river… on the Jersey side.

I’ve never felt comfortable here, never felt fully like myself.

So now, I’m headed back, armed with experience, knowledge and the feeling that everything will work out as it’s supposed to.

 

Here we go…

Oscar Rants, Raves and Random Thoughts

I came in 7th in my company Oscars pool. I thought you should know that right off the bat.  It doesn’t make me any less of an entertainment lover, by the way (In case you were wondering).

So many people have been talking about Seth MacFarlane as a host. He was a huge topic this morning among my co-workers as we got ready for our Oscars wrap-up show. Half LOVED what he did and half despised him. Me? I’m somewhere in the middle. There were some brilliant moments (I mean, he made Tommy Lee Jones laugh – who does that?!), some that just fell flat (don’t pick on Oscar darling “Little Q,” man!) and others had me shaking my head. That opening monologue bit about the bad reviews he’d get was kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy (he made up for it with the Flight sock-puppets, though. Yep, I said it).

There’s no denying that Seth MacFarlane is brilliant, driven, funny, talented and a good looking chap to boot.  His sense of humor is wicked – and that’s what I, for one, like about him.  That humor has made him wildly successful (and ridiculously rich) thanks to his hit TV show “Family Guy” and his surprise hit film “Ted.”  It’s also, quite likely, what drew the Academy to ask Seth to host its esteemed awards show to begin with.  So, were they expecting a Billy Crystal-esque performance from Seth? The guy whose created a talking teddy-bear that (spoiler alert) snorted coke, smoked pot and humped cash registers? Wrong move.  You wanted t0 target the younger audience? Mission accomplished. The younger viewers are the ones who loved everything Seth did last night. Just saying.

For the record, Seth’s polarizing stint as host did nothing but good for the show’s ratings. More than 40 million people tuned in, making it the most watched entertainment telecast in three years.

A lot was also made about First Lady Michelle Obama announcing the winner for Best Picture (it was Argo, in case you hadn’t heard).  Was it weird? Um, yeah. Did it seem to fit? Maybe not so much. Mrs. Obama looked fab, though, while she brought Hollywood’s elite to its collective feet for a standing O and brought Ben Affleck to the stage to accept his big honor.

Speaking of Ben… uhh, yo, Affleck. You might not want to talk to billions of people watching about how hard your wife works at your marriage. Yes, we all know that marriages take work. But maybe this isn’t the right time to go all couples therapy on us. Congrats, though… to JEN. You know, for all that hard work.

The show as a whole was a bit of a snoozer (and of course it had to go waaayyy over since I had to be up early). Most of the winners were not surprises (ahem, Anne Hathaway, Daniel Day-Lewis). One of the exceptions, though was Quentin Tarantino winning Best Original Screenplay for “Django Unchained.”  I’m in awe of Quentin and all his raw talent and craziness. He would be the guy I’d want to go to if I had any questions about the art of filmmaking. I imagine the conversation, then I just giggle at the fact that I would very likely be completely tongue tied if I ever had the actual opportunity. Yep, I get star struck.

And apparently, Best Actress winner Jennifer Lawrence does too (I knew I liked her for a reason!). In what became my favorite moment from Oscar night, J-Law chatted with George Stephanopoulos backstage. In the midst of their interview, JACK NICHOLSON comes up and interrupts. Pure, sweet hilarity and goodness ensues– and to me it’s just all that one could want on a night like the Oscars.

You can watch it here: http://http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/jennifer-lawrences-oscars-interview-interrupted-jack-nicholson-151400824–awards.html