BIG ASS BOULDER!

Despite the sudden cold weather and rain, today was another really great day.  I had a wonderful lunch event at the Wake County Express Library in downtown Raleigh, NC.  It was a small, intimate group and we had a great conversation about books and writing. 

After a wonderful meal (antipasti, chicken & gnocchi soup, and vegetable lasagna), a really good bottle of red wine (Cavi Roscato Rosso Dolce) and an incredibly sexy dinner companion, I came home to get my reality TV fix with the XFactor results show. 

And now I’m a bit perturbed, so much so that I’ve been a tweeting maniac on Twitter tonight.  Finally think I have the hang of it with all the practice I’ve been getting!

Was I surprised by the bottom two?  Yes and no.  Was I disappointed by the outcome?  Yes and no.  What really galled me though was the attitude of the young contestant Brian Bradley, who calls himself Astro.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I think the kid has mad skills.  He freestyles like someone twice his age with three times the experience.  I believe that with some proper guidance and great business advice he has the potential to have a very successful career.  But he is still incredibly young, with not an ounce of maturity under his belt.  And beyond any doubt, he is whole-heartedly wearing that big chip on his shoulder that 15-year-old boys, seem to think is a badge of honor.  Astro’s chip is the size of a big ass boulder though.

My son-shines had boulders too until I had to wear some behind out to help them get their problems fixed.  It's amazing what a good butt-whipping will cure!  I so wanted to reach right into the television to shake the piss out of Astro, I can’t tell you how much!  And then he swiped away his tears and I had to remember he is still very, very young and he was hurt and disappointed to discover that not everyone is going to show him love when he wants it. 

Just as my mommy sympathy kicked in, he tweeted that it was "POLITICS", and we shouldn’t be fooled by what we don’t know.  The kid irritated me all over again.  Someone forgot to tell him that his public image should never reflect the politics happening behind the stage.  And politics don’t have a damn thing to do with him exemplifying respect and decency to win him $5 Million dollars. Found myself tweeting that he needed to show his talent and not his behind.  He idolizes Jay-Z and I wish Jay-Z could whisper some advice in his ear.  Remember when Jay took on Oprah?  Even Oprah had to show him some love and respect after the fact.

I hope that young Brian will learn a valuable lesson from this experience, because he will find himself on the bottom again and probably sooner than later.  It's just the nature of success and failure when you are fighting to attain a dream.

Not everyone shows us love when we want it.  I only have to read a book review or follow sales to know that.  And then there are those who will go to bat for us when we least expect it, like showing up at a book event on a Thursday afternoon in the cold and rain.  Astro has a host of fans who are going to bat for him.  That’s why he needs to learn that his “Disney” smile and a better attitude will get him a hell of a lot farther than that damn boulder on his back.