Ugly Betty: You-Go-Girl!

On the heels of Spain banning underweight models from the runway, it thrilled my heart to watch tonight's episode of Ugly Betty. The pilot episode aired tonight on abc and I loved it! It promises to be a show that'll root for the underdog... in this case that would be a talented, engaging, professional young woman who doesn't fit the glamour image being sold by Hollywood these days "the" way to be.

If you missed tonight's pilot showing of Ugly Betty don't worry. abc is posting it, and it looks like upcoming episodes as well, to its website. The day after the show airs on TV you can watch it online.

I'm rooting for Betty!!!

Here's the premise the show's based on: "In the superficial world of high fashion, image is everything. Styles come and go, and the only constants are the superthin beauties who wear them. How can an ordinary girl - a slightly plump plain-Jane from Queens - possibly fit in?"

I'm sooooooooooo rooting for Betty!!!

Don't let the s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d out stereotypes get in the way of you watching, enjoying, and getting the great message woven throughout this show. I'm from Cuba and the hispanic stereotypes were a bit too blatant for me. But perhaps they need to be in order to get their point across. Even as I laughed at Betty's answer of "I'm flan," rather than "I'm fine" when she had her mouth full of the flan she was eating I also thought about how absolutely delicious that dessert is and how it's hard to eat just a little bite of it. Think Crème brûlée at its most exquisite and you'll get the idea of what flan tastes like.

I found several links at the abc site where video clips of the show were available. You can watch the first 8 minutes of the pilot, and read a longer write up on what the show is about in the "About" link. There's also a video clip with Vanessa Williams in it.

America Ferrera plays the role of Betty in the show. During her interview in The View, she tells us that, "the show is not about being ugly at all. More than anyuthing it's just about looking past what you see. Achieving that image is not all that we're on this planet to do."

One thing I would change is the log-line abc is using for the show, "Ugly is the new beautiful." It grated on me everytime I heard it, either between segments of the show on TV or on the various web pages for the show.

Here's to America Ferrera! Here's to Betty! And here's to all who watch the
show and embrace the life-giving message it's bringing to us: there's more to life than trying to fit an image that is only real when PhotoShopped.

On Life: I cannot do everything, but I can do something

"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do." ~Edward Everett Hale

"We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once." ~Calvin Coolidge

Do you ever feel paralyzed by work and personal deadlines facing you? What helps you out of those funky moods? Inspirational quotes seem to do the trick for me.

I just came back from a summer of travelling on work and family business and woke up this morning feeling overwhelmed because I do not seem to be making as much progress as I'd like on the work projects and personal life goals that need my attention. My husband came over and asked me how I was feeling and I replied, "Everywhere I look, every aspect of both my work and personal life is demanding so much of my time that, for once, I don't know where to begin."

He asked, "Do you have any control over these things?" And I said, "Very little. They're all important. They each deserve my undivided attention. And there's so much to be done in each of them that I don't know if my efforts will make any difference." He smiled and as he did the lights went on in my head and I replied, "I get it! I can do the little I have the power to do in each of these work projects and life goals...and as I complete the little that I can do, the windows will open just a bit wider and I'll see that I have a little more control over what to do next in those areas. But this will only happen after I've done what I can to begin with."

So ...I googled the part of the quote I remembered so well from days gone by, "I cannot do everything but I can do something," and Edward Everett Hale's quote came up. I realize he was probably talking about doing things that would change the world for the better. But that's what I consider a job well done to accomplish. So I'm applying that quote as well as a similar one by Calvin Coolidge to my life. I've decided they'll be my mantra, my key to successfully getting done what needs to get done by me this week as I work to complete:

a book contract with a publisher,

maintaining the various websites I manage

assisting on a graduate level curriculum project,

rendering streaming audio/video talks to the university web site I manage,

work on my middle grade novel, and

continue to exercise and eat healthier

Here's to Hale and Coolidge's inspirational quotes motivating me to do my best this week with the time I have been given to get my work done.

What's your key to getting unstuck and getting moving on what needs to be done in your own life and work? Write and tell me about it!