Blustery Day

I return to the blog world on a day when many of my fellow east coasters will lose power and likely be unable to move for a couple of days at least. I’m lucky to be far enough away from the storm that we are getting a good bit of wind and some possible showers but nothing bad is predicted. Not too far to our west, snow is falling and a small earthquake was recorded this morning. I love where I live for more reasons than one, as severe weather doesn’t happen too often.

To anyone reading this in the path of Sandy, please stay as safe as you can and I am hoping you can return to normal as soon as possible.

It is today that I return with new ideas, some that I hope to talk about more in the coming months:

• The Continued Epic Story of Being Vegan (Compromises and Sacrifices Included)
• My Love of Fashion and Design…and How I Feel Useless When Discussing Either
• The Joys of Living in a City After Spending Most of Your Life…Not In a City
• Running & Working Out With No Particular Goals in Mind
• Trying To Break Into a Career Where Background is Limited and Competition is High
• Kindness, Compassion and Making a Difference Somehow

I’m hoping my activity can keep pace with my desires. My problem has never been lack of ideas or wanting, but lack of execution or doing.

I Want the Gallaghers to be my Facebook Friends

My favorite show on TV right now is Showtime’s Shameless.  It’s just awesome – raunchy, well-written, well-acted, seems outrageous yet so real at the same. But I think the network may be missing great opportunities in social media .

In case you’re not familiar with the story line, it’s based around a lower-class Chicago family of seven who consistently struggle to stay afloat through a broken system and with a drunk, self-righteous father.  Really this show could take a more serious social commentary and end up a drama on the level of something like The Wire, but (thankfully) that’s not the case.

The kids in this show are quite clever and, because they have a nearly free run of how to live their lives, they make surviving look fun and something that so-called Lifehackers wish they could figure out.

My question is, Showtime, why are you not giving us more of these characters on social media? On the show’s Facebook page and Twitter feed, I see plenty of quotes and reminders about celebration opportunities that would give me an opportunity to be “Shameless” – but this seems half-assed. As a fan, I need more.

The golden opportunity for the show’s producers and promoters is to do more with character personalities. Family guy characters have their own identities on Twitter – why not copycat that? I would love to see Fiona tweeting a quick tip on how to get free diapers or “real” banter on juggling temp work. Or maybe Kevin can post  some friendly advice from your neighborhood bartender/sexaholic. The new video, “A Guide to Getting By”, is a nice start but how about setting up a nice little package of DIY segments from each member of the family?

Showtime, you should get in on the Foursquare game, too. Why can’t I earn a “Shameless” badge when I check-in to a certain number of real Chicago landmarks and give a “shout” about how much I love the show? Or, more particularly, get a “Frank Envy” badge when I check-in to 3 Chicago bars that Frank is no longer allowed into (which of course, is any bar except The Alibi Room). And of course, let’s not get started on the check-in opportunities for shows like Californication, Weeds, and Nurse Jackie.

The bottom line is Shameless is part of a package of shows that is setting up Showtime to be the new HBO, the premium cable channel you have to have. Why not make sure you’re going above and beyond to engage a younger demographic, who is young enough to spend most of their life on social media but old enough to have room for the extra monthly cable fee in their budget?