Found this TED Talk from an NPR story that was really interesting. The premise is every few years, taking a sabbatical to restock your passion levels. I think we’d all benefit from taking time out of the daily grind to leave it all behind.
If you could (and would) do something like this, where would you go? What would you do? Who would you see? And how would you explain it to skeptics?
Have a wonderful day.
Watching the season 2 finale of Scandal was a welcome treat after an excruciating day at work. I purchased some wings (fried hard) with mumbo sauce from the carryout, drove to my homegirl’s house, and readied myself for the typical Thursday Shonda-Rhimes-and-Twitter fest. I was prepared to be shocked, awed, and *scandalized*, but I wasn’t prepared for the revelation at the end.
At first I was expecting….
Harrison to admit he was Olivia’s her brother or,
Huck to reveal his true feelings for Olivia or,
Olivia to be pregnant and not know who the daddy was (very Maury-ish, but I wanted to see Jake and Fitz duke it out). Instead, Shonda gave us a big daddy of a surprise ending. The Brother from Another Planet is Olivia’s father.
*Record scratch*
Say what?
I was not expecting the strange black man that’s been showing up for the past few episodes to be her daddy. But after that plot twist Olivia Pope’s entire story started to make ‘sense’.
Olivia Pope is Jesus.
Bless you, my child
Think about it. She wears white. Her hair is laid like the man in church stained glass windows. She has disciples, or “Gladiators”, who cast down their nets and become fishers of men scandals. Her crew is made up of the broken, the bruised, sinners, killers. Olivia Pope – even her last name is holy – fixes things and makes them right and doesn’t hold it over your head. And her father wanted to sacrifice her for the ‘greater good’.
So, in this bizarro Redeemer story, Olivia is the sacrificial lamb that takes on the sins of the country (Defiance) and will probably die unceremoniously so that Fitz has the opportunity to live an unblemished life. David Rosen is a pseudo-Judas, the one who ‘betrays’ Olivia (only he doesn’t really go all the way with it). Abby is doubting Thomas, always second guessing Olivia’s intentions, and Harrison is Simon Peter, her right hand man who’s next in line for Pope and Associates.
Stacia Brown wrote a piece at Atlantic about how many Christian pastors are using Scandal as material for their sermons, but from the article it seems that some clergy are more interested in scolding the activities of Olivia’s magical thighs that really using the show as a tool. Brown posits that Scandal can be approached from a less fire-and-brimstone angle:
The very best way for a church to engage Scandal—especially among feminist congregants—would be to consider that Olivia seems to believe she needs a savior.
In reality, Olivia is the savior.When you overlay the whole Christianity thing over the show, it makes *sense* that Olivia is never truly attached to anyone, or that the only thing she consumes is wine and popcorn, her own Eucharist. She’s not long for this world. She’s just here to change it completely.
Anyway. I figured all this out, after she said “Dad.” Olivia Pope is the Chosen One. Shonda Rhimes, you ain’t slick.
…from Scandal. Give me some seconds.
White funeral clothes and Elysium fields and going ham and Schoolboy Q and Christian imagery and the death of Molly.
Because Kendrick.
h/t to Gorilla vs. Bear
Quick, name all the traits you get from your mother. For me, it would be:
Perhaps the best thing my mom has given me is a love of reading and writing. I’m thankful to her for passing that down to me. Happy Mother’s Day!
Earlier this month MadameNoire ran an article I wrote about how my mom publicly (and unknowingly) clowned for going in on Olivia Pope. I say that to show you how much of a rabid Scandal fan she is.
Anyway, I’m hosting her for the weekend and of course the conversation turns to Scandal. She gets this mischievous little twinkle in her eye and then hips me to this really dope podcast hosted by the writers of Scandal (“you should consider writing for the show,” she says), as well as shows me all the Scandal fansites and Tumblrs she frequents. She explains the concept of a ‘mvid’ to me, which is a music video made from clips of Scandal. Crazy, I know. But interesting.
So I come across this one mvid, entitled ‘Bad Habits’, and click on it. O.M.G.
Can I tell you that this mvid was so STEAMY! Network TV, man.
So I tell my mom, “you know Kerry Washington was in the *actual* ‘Bad Habits’ video with Maxwell, right?”
She’s all, “showmeSHOWMESHOWME!”
So I show her the video.
And so now we have spent the morning debating who did it better, Maxwell and Kerry or Fitz and Olivia? What do y’all think? Why is Kerry Washington always such a seductress? Must be the lip quiver.
Hey friends,
Just a couple of things to make you aware of:
1. You can sign up for the DopeReads newsletter here to learn about the events and things that will be coming up for the summer time. The Baratunde Thurston book reading and DopeReads Happy Hour were lots of fun, so don’t miss out on the next event we have!
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That’s it, hope you enjoy your Sunday 
T.
