It’s a new year, traditionally the time for reassessment and resolution, and one of mine was to keep a cleaner house. In the process of scrubbing down the living room — where are all these spiders coming from??? — I tidied up a stray stack of CDs, and found myself holding the sophomore effort from one Ms. Taylor Swift. She’s everywhere, that one, and regular readers of this blog are aware of the fact that I have little to no patience for her as a performer. Yes, Virginia, it is possible to respect her talents as a songwriter and yet never want to hear her sing.
I record Dick Clark every year to watch with my coffee on New Year’s Day; she was there, too, bleating out the hitz for a bunch of freezing people in Times Square who hadn’t peed in four hours. As I watched her unzip her fleece jacket to reveal a sparkly dress — always with the costume changes on TV, Taylor Swift! What on earth could you be trying to distract us from? — I found myself once again totally zoning to the flat, uninteresting warble of her voice. But today, as I was cleaning, Fearless all but bit me, so I decided to crack it open for the first time since loading it onto my iPod. In the liner notes, at the bottom of a long list of thank yous, I read the following line: "And to the boys who inspired this album, you had fair warning." And I smiled. I’ll be damned if that simple sentence didn’t make me want to like her — or at least stop using the phrase "cardboard and dental floss, lit up with flashlights" to describe her.
So PopWatchers, you heard it here first: In the interest of what I am currently calling "2009: A New Hope," I am going to give Taylor Swift a second chance, effective immediately.
What about you? Are there singers, bands, movies, TV shows, or books you feel you may have judged too harshly, or too quickly, that you’re prepared to reexamine during this, the season of charity and forgiveness? If the stock market can shoot back up above 9,000, is there perhaps a pop culture entity whose stock can go up in your personal market, too? Feel free to share it in the comments. I’ll be over here gritting my teeth and trying to get "Love Story" out of my head. But at least I’m trying.
I think I will give Reaper a second chance. I loved the show and then lost interest and my friend is now watching it so I thought I might try to give it another chance before season 2.
You know, I actually try to re-introduce myself to American Idol- every year. And every year, I can never make it past the second week. I blame the endless 2-hour back-to-back days of useless, annoying auditions of people being stupid just wanting to be on TV. Last year’s introduction of playable instruments was a nice touch, but unfortunately, not enough because the tried and true formula of the overall show remains the same. Hopefully, this 4th Judge will spice things up, and slowly phase out the incomprehensible Paula Abdul by next year.
Secret Life of An American Teenager. The characters drive me nuts with their sugary-sweet personalities that I feel like I’m in a diabetic coma when I watch that show. The characters irk me, Molly Ringwald is awesome, but the dad just needs to drop off the face of the earth.
taylor swift is everything you originally thought she was. and looks like an alien.
Secret Life of the American Teenager, I tried when it first came on and I thought it was cheesy and obnoxious but I just happened to turn on the marathon yesterday and spent half my day watching it. Consider me hooked!
I’ve lifted my almost 10-year ban on Dave Matthews Band. I resisted the college-kid-I’m-indie-so-I-must-love-Dave sentiments fiercely. Then suddenly, while impatiently mashing through the presets in my car, I listened to “Ants Marching” on the “We’re Cool Too” adult mix station and thought to myself, “Huh. Maybe I was too harsh.” We’ll see how long it lasts.
It would be best if Taylor Swift retired from singing and wrote songs for other people, but I guess she has a right to her dream.
Taylor Swift is so much more than you are able to see. Do you need a resume for crying out loud. Here is a brief list of highlights that make her every bit worth listing to. She is an exemplary representation of what talent, grit, determination and phenomenal parenting can develop. Millions of girls have dreams and no support system to achieve them. This family is a stark exception. I have witnessed so much dream killing parents bestow in the belief they know better than their children. Not the Swifts, and I congratulate them as much as their daughter. Top that off with the confidence in their daughter’s ability, if not only the acknowledgement that they needed to get Taylor out of the hostile town they were in and away from the cruel kids who wanted to shatter her dream, and this is more than a story of a songwriter. And she is good. Honestly sharing the emotions that millions experience and genuinely grateful that she gets to do that. You are too cold hearted to blog.
I’m going to give Fringe another try. The plot holes and idiocies of the first 2 eps had me running. But recently, a friend said he really liked the show, so maybe I missed something? And in the too little, too late category, I’m going to give Aerosmith another try. I heard a few songs during the holidays, and damn, if they didn’t sound good. I’ll check them out again, just to see if it was the Christmas spirit, or if I’ve truly missed something.
I can’t stand the auditioning on AI either. I “skim” through one or two of them, then wait until the ‘final’ 24 (36 this season) get chosen. Then I can enjoy the show. Strangely enuf, the other half likes the auditions, but can’t stand to sit through the many weeks of final contestants.
Over the weekend, my nieces subjected me to repeat listenings of the Jonas Brothers’ “Lovebug” – and SHOCK! – it wasn’t half bad. And by that I mean I really didn’t like the treacly first half of the song, but loved the rockin’ second half. Perhaps I should give these guys a listen.
I always swear off Idol, and I really meant it after last season…BUT, the hype about the changes might be drawing me back in. I may give them one last chance. I’m also giving Fringe another chance, IF I can watch the last 3 episodes still lingering in my DVR.
I’m giving Fringe another try if only to get my mom off my back. I watched one episode, and I wasn’t too into it. Maybe I’ll think I’m cheating on House of something, which is just silly, right?
If the House writers are reading this…Fringe means NOTHING to me! NOTHING!
also, taylor swift, though iffy as a performer at best, is a killer song writer. her CD has not left my side since it came out. I don’t skip any songs, which is rare…for me at least. love her.
I’m going to give Lost another chance. Season 3 lost me completely – I gave up about half way through. But the trailers for this last season coming up look interesting and I’d really like to know what the heck the island really is. Hopefully it won’t disappoint.
I’m giving radio a second chance. Yeah, it’s not so much a “pop culture entity” as a corporately-controlled bane of my existence, but in the few minutes I’ve spent listening to it the past two weeks (switching music between my old iPod and my new one is taking longer than expected), I’ve been pleasantly surprised by their playlists. I’m still too much into music from abroad (mostly the UK and Australia) to completely give in to the American radio scene, but if radio keeps going on the upward trend I’ve experienced recently, then maybe I can bear to listen to it in my car again (it’s literally been about four years since I’ve seriously listened to radio).
In that vein, I’m willing to give Britney Spears a second chance this year, as Circus totally took me back to 1999. In a really good way. I’m not saying I’m going to buy her album or anything, but I won’t resent her without reservation so much this year. Until she has yet another mental breakdown.