Rate Me!

Do we have to rate everything we do, every service we are subjected to, every person we meet? Are any of these ratings really true? So much of the popularity of website like YELP and Amazon depend on our ratings. Are you going to go to a 1-star restaurant or read a 1-star book?

In the past few weeks I had to rate myself in my performance review, rate a series of speakers at a seminar I attended, rate an AT&T worker and review my brother's book.

I struggled with my self-evaluation. Last year I gave myself a slightly higher rating fancying myself as "a unique and beautiful snowflake." I received a positive, yet grounding evaluation. I marvel at those who give themselves and truly believe they deserve a 5. I know what kind of snowflake I am.

I attended a seminar in June on "Women, Wealth and Wisdom," in which the keynote speaker was a widely recognized spiritual leader and best-selling author. I was excited to hear her speak. While I marveled that she spoke without notes, I did not jot down any nuggets of wisdom. I felt that she eloquently spoke about "nothing." In the Q&A that followed, a woman who obviously admired the speaker, asked a question making broad generalizations about men in business. The renowned speaker artfully chewed her up and spit her into pieces for five minutes. Other much more inspiring speakers spoke throughout the day. When I filled out my questionnaire rating the speakers, I lied and gave her a 5. I didn't want to insult my host whom I admire. And I did learn a valuable lesson: don't believe the hype surrounding a public figure. The real 5 belonged to a female heart surgeon who literally had us all in the palm of her hand. I gave her a 5 +++.

After a mis-scheduled appointment with AT&T I was patiently waiting in my 9-12 window making sure I rushed to get everything done before 9 (meaning: get dressed). At 10:30 I checked online only too see the server was down. My guy showed up at 11. He got to work and told me he had to dispatch another tech to fix the phone line and he would go to lunch for an hour. Was that OK? Did I mention, this was a Friday and I was waiting to go to work? He finished up around 1pm. I gave him a 4 on his review. His supervisor called me to ask why I didn't give him a 5. Really? He was not "a unique and beautiful snowflake" either.

My brother was upset that someone gave him a 1 star review on GoodReads for his book, "Trading Manny." I had honestly just finished reading it and felt it had some great moments. While I agreed with some points in other reviews I didn't feel it deserved such a "hater" review. I wrote a review and gave him a 4. Unfortunately, my first and last name showed up. The haters are going to love that one!

So read between the lines when you see stars. Feel free to rate me but only if you are going to give me a 5.

Confessions of an Emmy Voter

It is my favorite time of year: Emmy Season! Since April I have been getting surprise packages in the mail. Every year I fear this will end and networks will go digital. I especially love to see the creative packaging since this what I do for a living too.

I am a member of the Television Executives branch of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences  http://www.emmys.tv/ --go figure! I worked at NBC for 13 years and I continue to pay my annual dues so I am eligible to vote for Programs.

I love TV and watching TV shows on a TV. I'm trying to embrace other platforms like my Kindle or laptop, but I am by large the traditional sit-in-my-lazyboy with dog on my lap kind of TV watcher. I still love Fall Launch (memories of my NBC boss saying every year, "This is the most important fall launch ever!" and she was right). The older I get, the more fickle I have become though. If I am not hooked after a couple episodes I move on.

There are a couple of shows I never started and wish I had like The Good Wife and Breaking Bad. I count on my friends and co-workers to keep me informed and will take buzz-worthy shows into consideration. Every year I have the same good intentions to watch everything I get in my coveted packages but I fall far short of my goal.

Here are some of the cool packages I got: a lunchbox from Food Network, ALL of Mad Men, a bunch of HBO stuff which is great because I don't subscribe, a cool dossier for Damages, a fun map of Portland for Portlandia and a douchebag jar from New Girl.

Despite my good intentions, I couldn't watch even a fraction of what they sent me. I couldn't even keep all the packaging and resorted to stacking them on a spindle.

My ballot has been cast and I'll find out on July 19 how my shows did. In August I'll get to do at-home judging for two program categories. I usually pick non-fiction specials because they are interesting and usually something I hadn't but should have watched. Had a tough time even picking 10 shows for best non-fiction series or reality series. Sorry Kardashians, just because you make a gazillion dollars over nothing does not make you Emmy-worthy in my book!