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Open Letter to HGTV

September 11, 2009 By

Dear HGTV,

I have been a huge fan ever since I realized that you had a whole channel dedicated to home decorating and design. Even as a teenager, I preferred house and home magazines to fashion and gossip, so this new channel was right up my alley.

Over the years, shows came and went, got more sophisticated, and more variety was introduced to viewers. I really enjoyed that period in the mid-90s when you had a few British decorating shows in your lineup. My favorite shows are those that feature organizing (get more out of your space) and budget decorating (get more out of your money). I like seeing the actual makeover process on any program, because I think viewers can get the most out of it and gather ideas along with processes to spif up their own homes.

Then came the real estate shows. House Hunters was boring until you started going to other cities besides LA. Even then, I didn’t watch it much until you went overseas. House Hunters International allows me (and others, I’m sure) to live vicariously through others and shop for homes in locales that we only dream of visiting, never mind living in.

My First Place was a show I liked when it first aired. Again, it was the makeover and budget part of it that I liked. When it turned into another version of House Hunters, I got bored. Property Virgins is yet another incarnation, but with a less likeable host (bring back Suzanne Whang). And don’t even get me started on The Property Shop. I can barely stand to watch the commercials for that show, never mind the show itself, because I just don’t like Tatiana. Now, if you were to show the inner workings of a design firm, let me know. That one I’d be interested in watching.

My point is this: the real estate stronghold on your prime time programming is getting boring. No, not getting – it got old a long time ago. I do understand that in these hard economic times, you are looking at your production costs as much as possible. I’m sure it is much less expensive to point a camera in the face of someone who is already going through the process of buying a home than it is to pay for all the labor and materials involved in making over someone’s space. I get that. But for those of us who are staying put, who want to enjoy the space they live in, what do we get to watch?

Before you go and tell me that there are decorating shows on at other times, let me tell you this: I am writing this post from my desk at work, during my lunch break. Many other people reading it are also at work, just like you at HGTV are. Prime time is pretty much the only time I watch tv, though I have been making an exception for Design Star.

Back to my main point. I think you need to bring back more shows that are based on decorating – actually doing something to the inside of your home, and showing the process. Budget decor and organizing shows, both of which show how to get more out of what you already have as I mentioned above, would be very timely with the economy being what it is. From perusing the HGTV message boards, I know that I am not the only one who is tired of all the real estate shows. That being said, there are some real estate shows that are helpful. I like Real Estate Intervention, and Design to Sell and Get It Sold are both useful even to those of us not trying to sell a home. What these 3 shows have in common is useful information. Showing people wandering around trying to figure out what home to buy is not useful. We need the most bang for our cable TV buck, so give us some eye candy along with useful information.

Please consider what your viewers want. Many probably still watch all the real estate because they watch HGTV out of habit, not because they actually want this. Read your message boards – don’t make us start an email campaign to get what we want. I long for the day when I can once again watch decorating and design shows on HGTV.

Sincerely,
A longtime viewer

Filed Under: TV

Autumnal

September 6, 2009 By

Yesterday I went shopping at Tarjay, and some of the new fall decor is out. This is the time of year that always gets me down the most. Being from New England, I am used to fall – it signals new and fresh and cozy more than spring does. It’s the end of summer, the end of don’t-touch-me-it’s-too-hot weather, back to school, new clothes, new haircuts, new everything. The leaves turn from green to all sorts of reds, oranges, and yellows, and there’s a crisp smell in the air. Shorts and bathing suits get packed up in favor of sweaters. I love sweaters. Apple picking, pumpkin carving, baking all sorts of goodies (now that it’s cool enough to actually turn the oven on), even having a fire in the fireplace.

Living in Vegas, I cannot partake in any of these fall rituals. The fall season in Vegas exists only because the calendar says it’s so. September still sees temperatures into the hundreds. Air conditioning is still a necessity well into October. Sweaters are only worn in homes, stores, and offices where the a/c is set too cold. A quart of ice cream has no hope of getting home alive, unless you bring a cooler and buy ice at the store. Baking is still a dream, as is grilling, because it’s too hot outside to stand over hot coals. At night, we’re lucky if temps fall into the upper 70s. *sigh*

I miss New England weather more and more every year. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, they say. I have to keep reminding myself that I moved here after one of the coldest, snowiest winters on record. I have to keep reminding myself that I couldn’t get the temp in my condo above 60 if the temps outside dropped below 20. I have to keep reminding myself that I was cleaning an inch or two of snow off my car every single day. That kind of weather really wears on you. But so does the heat. I can always put on another sweater or some gloves and sip some hot cocoa. There’s only so much clothing I can take off, especially in public. I just don’t have the body for that kind of exposure.

My craving for a real New England fall will be satisfied for a week next month. When I return, I will be filled with visions of decorating for the fall. Setting out decorative items in all sorts of reds, oranges, and rust colors. Pumpkins and leafy knicknacks. A clear, pumpkin shaped jar filled with candy corn. But it doesn’t seem right. It doesn’t fit here in Vegas. The desert can appear to be the same colors as a New England fall, but it’s not the same. It lacks something when one attempts to recreate the feeling here. It’s just not . . . cozy. It’s not the same walking into a house all dressed up for fall when outside still smells like stale summer, not crisp leaves and that cool nip in the air. It needs to be cozy.

Mister and I both agree that we need to move out of Vegas, and we will, when the time is right. Bigger forces keep us here – for now.

Filed Under: Las Vegas

The Write Stuff

September 2, 2009 By

Ok, it’s been awhile since I last posted. But don’t blame me – I took a long weekend away and I don’t check email or anything else online when I’m away. Well, blame me if you want, but that’s the way it is.

Anyway, when I got back from my long weekend I checked the comments on my blog and found that I had new comments on my post Cuts Like a Knife. My mom left a comment to bolster my ego, and my mom’s Cousin Betty left me an amazing comment (that’s becoming a habit with her). Betty suggested I try writing a book.

I’ll be honest, the idea is not new to me. Besides a few bloggers I know of who have written or are trying to write books, I too have thought of this. It’s something that’s been at the back of my mind since I was a kid. English literature and writing classes have been among my favorites in school, and they are the classes I always got the best grades in. I still have a lot of the stuff I wrote back then, and even posted one of my papers here on my blog. I have it in my blog post idea list to post more of my writing from school.

Writing a book is a great idea, and while I’d love to do that, I’m not ready – not yet. I think I still have some adventures to come that will help put me in a better position to have a complete book. I’d be looking towards a memoir or collection of anecdotes from my life, or using stories from my life and propelling them into a fictional chick lit book, which is a genre I tend to like. In the meantime, I’ll continue writing here. This blog is a beginning, a place to practice writing and hone my skills and test out what sort of stories would appeal more than others. Based on what I like to read, I am drawn towards stories in which I can identify with a character or situation in some way. I like complex, well-developed characters because I like to be able to figure out what makes them tick. Even if what I write isn’t popular, I like to know that it resonates with readers. As a writer, these are all skills that take time and lots of practice to perfect.

While I continue living my life and writing my story in my head, do you have any suggestions? Any blogs or books to read that will help me along my way?

Filed Under: Reading and Writing