Sunday, September 11, 2011

Television Addiction and Three Great Books Up For Grabs

Last winter my television addiction was Primetime: What Would You Do? Now that fall is in the air I find myself checking the Friday night lineup looking for its return. If you've never seen it, it's a hidden camera show. Reporter John Quinones and his crew set up volatile situations of racism, bullying, parenting dilemmas, etc. using actors and actresses to see how ordinary passersby will react when they witness an injustice or a fellow human being in trouble.

I think I get so emotional when I watch because I doubt myself. I don't know what I'd do in most situations. I'm afraid I wouldn't do the respectable thing, the admirable thing, the right thing. I'm afraid I'd revert to my "I am an island"  thinking and slink away.




But I keep watching the show because the people who speak up without a second thought or a selfish thought inspire me. And I always hope that I'll surprise myself one day and be a better person than I think I am.

What television shows, movies, or books have led to soul searching for you?



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YA & MG Book Giveaway

There's still a week left to get in on the action.
Check out the details here.
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In other news, I'm just giddy with all of the blog love and support I've received this week. I'd like to thank Kelly Hashway for giving me the Liebster award. I received this award just a few weeks ago, but am happy to choose five more worthy blogs to pass it along to. The goal of this award is to spotlight upcoming bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers.

My choices are:
Terrie Hope's Write What Your Heart Desires. Terrie is a wonderful encouragement and support to so many of her writer friends. And she's currently posting a photo tour of Jane Austen's house - need I say more?
Gary Gauthier's Literary Snippets, I found Gary's blog through the campaign and it is the most enchanting mix of literature and art. You will be glad you checked it out.
Fellow campaigner, Coleen Patrick.
Children's writer, Allyn Stotz.
Horror, fantasy writer, Courtney Rene.


The rules of this award are:
1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
5. And most of all - have bloggity-blog fun!


Alynza Smith was sweet enough to award me the Irresistibly Sweet blog award, and Ms Saba nominated me for the Versatile blogger award. Because I'm nursing a case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, I'm going to put off posting my nominations for those awards until I get my Dragon (speech to text program) trained. Hopefully, next week!

20 comments:

  1. That sounds like a really great TV show! I think the Oprah Winfrey show was the one that led to the most soul-searching for me. Her show had a lot of very thought-provoking episodes, that's for sure!

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  2. Congrats on all the awards! And great picks for passing on the Liebster Award.

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  3. Thanks, Ruth, for the nomination! I'll get busy doing my part and nominate my five picks.

    I've watched that show you're talking about and it is a bit "frightening" wondering what you would do in those situations. I just pray they never find me and put ME on the spot!! Yikes.

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  4. Oh goodness... I gave you an award on my blog today too! Come and enjoy the love! Hopefully the carpal tunnel will be feeling better soon. THat is no fun to have.

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  5. I'm the same way! I don't know what I would do, or if it would be the right thing...but I am pretty conscious of the crowd factor because of all my psychology classes (basically the bigger the crowd, the more people assume someone else would do it and then no one steps up) so I might step up for that reason. But I'm not sure!

    Congratulations on your blog awards! Well deserved. :)

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  6. Hi Ruth! Thanks for the nomination--I am working on doing my part :)
    I have seen that show-what would you do before-and I agree it's one of those intimidating/inspiring things.
    http://coleenpatrick.com/

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  7. You are an award magnet! Congratulations. As to the TV question, I have to excuse myself. I turned off TV years ago. There just wasn't much for me and I definitely didn't have the time to sit and let the Beta waves have their way with my brain. Of course, I'm not up on a lot of things, but I'm a good listener, so I pick up what others say about what's hot, what's not. :-)

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  8. Congratulations on your awards and I hop you recover from the carpal tunnel syndrome soon :-(

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  9. Crystal, You're right, Oprah's show sparked a lot of thought. I'm not a daytime TV person, so I hardly ever saw her show, though.

    Thanks again, Kelly!

    Allyn, Can't wait to see who you pick =)

    Abby, thank you! I'm overwhelmed with blog love.

    Annalise, I hadn't heard of the crowd factor, but I can see how being award of it can make a difference as to its influence.

    Coleen, I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds the show intimidating!

    C. Lee, I'm jealous. Good for you for saying no to TV. I usually prefer to be active, so mostly choose to work on writing vs. sitting watching television. But I do have a few shows. . .

    Sarah, thank you for the well wishes. My husband installed Dragon for me tonight. Now I just have to learn how to use it ;)

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  10. Hi Ruth! Thanks for the award. It is an honor that you thought of me.

    ctny
    www.ctnyrene.blogspot.com

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  11. Congrats on your awards, Ruth! I'm addicted to the dancing shows (any dancing show will do), so of course I'm looking forward to Dancing with the Stars. But it's hard to write while watching a dancing show, so I have to meet my word goals first.

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  12. that sounds like fascinating TV! I will confess here that I only get one channel, pretty limited viewing choices. But books for soul searching?
    Merle's Door - non fiction dog story
    Cold Nights, Fast Trails - non fiction sled dog story
    Between Shades of Gray - 2011 YA fiction about Poland and the war. Astounding debut

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  13. I read a book years ago called DISPLACED PERSONS by Ella E. Schneider Hilton and Angela K. Hilton (Sep 2006). It's still having an impact on me. Amazing survival story of a German Russian girl's experience in Russia, Germany and America during WWII.

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  14. I've seen a few episodes of What Would You do. I found it very interesting and enjoyed it when people surprised me by doing the right thing. I often expect the worst of everyone, which is something I'd like to stop doing.

    Right now, I'm watching re-runs of the show Judging Amy on GMC. I find that it uplifts and encourages me.

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  15. I recently read A Time of Miracles by Anne-Laure Bondoux; it's a wonderful YA/Historical Fiction book set in the Republic of Georgia, and raises many questions.

    Congratulations on the awards!

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  16. Hi Ruth - I rarely watch TV. We don't have cable or a dish, so anything I might want to watch I have to wait for it to come online. That said, when i do watch, it's nothing as high-minded as inspiring. I have a secret love of Grey's Anatomy :)

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  17. Congrats on the awards.

    I barely watch TV, so I don't have anything.

    Have a great weekend.

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  18. Courtney, of course I thought of you! The WR is like home and everyone there is part of my writerly family ;)

    Brooke, I love, love, love So You Think You Can Dance!! For some reason I can't get into Dancing with the Stars. Good way to stay motivated: must meet word goal before watching. Whatever works, right?!

    Terry Lynn, Thanks for stopping by. Those sound like great books.

    Angelina, Thanks for the recommendation.

    Brianna, I'm totally hooked on Judging Amy as well! Every afternoon when I visit my mom we watch together. It's a great show.

    Golden Eagle, thanks for visiting. I'll add A Time of Miracles to my already out of control TBR list.

    Hi Susanna, well there are all different reasons for television watching, aren't there. Sometimes it's so you don't have to think. Would you believe I've never seen Grey's Anatomy?

    Hi Medeia, Hope your weekend is great as well.

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  19. Congrats on the awards. We've got a similar TV programme in the UK called 'You've been framed'. I can't bear to watch as it makes me uncomfortable for the people being duped. My favourite TV prog right now is Strictly Come Dancing (Dancing with the Stars in the US) which starts again in 2 weeks time. Can't wait.

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  20. I hear ya on the dance programs, Rosalind. My personal favorite is So You Think You Can Dance.

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