Tough, Resilient: Mob Wives

Mob Wives - Season 1 - Renee, Karen, Drita and Carla

Bart Stadnicki/VH1

I have a confession to make...I am addicted...to watching Mob Wives.  I love the hell out of this show.  Don't ask why.  It is total escapism to me.


They're  lewd - they're crude-  but oh are they FUN to watch.


I think the women are tough and resilient - I find the show intriguing.  These women find themselves in every hairy situation possible.  It is the definition of high drama.


The cast:  Drita, (an Albanian raised in New York, and the beauty of the group); Renee (Father in the mob, exotic, the loudest and most outspoken, Karen (daughter of Sammy the Bull Gravano); Carla, husband just released from jail.   There is another friend and new star) of the group, Big Ang...you just have to see her to believe her.  I swear big Ang is a transvestite... She is about 5 10 feet tall, long, black hair, May West bust line, bubble lips, she gives new meaning to lip enhancement.  Funny bit about Ang, she carries the cutest, most petite Pomeranian pup with her.  It just adds to the visual- if you know what I mean.  Big Ang is the niece of Salvatore (Sally Dogs) Lombardi, a deceased captain of the Genovese crime family:

Big Ang 

Each week there is a new drama.  Most recently, (Junior aka Hector), Renee's ex-husband/roommate  turned himself in for armed robbery.  But wait, that's not all, according to Drita, the word on the street is he is a snitch.   That's right, apparently he ratted on Renee's Dad, sending him back to the slammer.


Interspersed with the drama, are the social escapades the women engage for fun.  The group went to Lips, a female impersonator bar.   The group took Renee there because she was so down in the mouth about her husband, Junior, being sent back to jail.  The week before that, the group went visiting a remote ranch.  When they went out to a local club in the evening; a bar patron hit on Renee, and the Mob Wives rearranged the club!  Hair was flying,  Renee screaming insults, bedlam is a word that comes to mind.


Mob Wives  is entertaining. It could easily repulse you as well.   It is a reality show that probably is too "realistic" for most tastes.


 Having a (sick) sense of humor is a must before you watch.

Getting Fired: The Road to Success?

This is one of the best pieces I have read:-17 People Who Were Fired Before They Became Rich and Famous

I can't think of anyone who is proud of being fired.  It happens to the best of us.  According to this article, some of the brightest have been handed their walking papers.

Our society teaches us that to conform and manage is the way to become successful in a job.  But one rarely hears about the Mr.and Ms.'s that have held the same corporate job for 25 years.   The challengers' are are the employees that get bounced.  These people are constantly questioning the how's and why's when analyzing an campaign or company issue.  And if these people find themselves in a corporate environment- it may be sure death.

The reason:  Corporate America rarely rewards you for questioning why you are doing what you are paid to do.  In fact, you probably threaten your supervisors and alienate yourself from the corporate ladder.  Think now:  How many bosses have you had that really appreciated your Entrepreneur spirit?  How many agreed with you when you came to the table with a better way of doing things?

In every corporate job in which I have been employed, employees follow the quarterly plans for the respective departments.  I found that creativity is not a huge priority- even in the  Marketing Director positions. The answer is simple.  I didn't want to follow the " regional corporate plans" when tackling a marketing issue. I analyzed everything.  If I could come up with a more productive plan to make a bottom-line contribution to the company, I would make an effort to implement the strategy.

Corporations have cut out the fluff.  It is all dollars and cents in this market.  Years ago, companies could sit back and let their employees "play" with ideas, and promote "image" based plans.   You don't find much of those image based campaigns, especially in retail.

I found I was a cog in the wheel in a corporate environment.  The best work I did was working in a non-profit venue.  Creativity was rewarded.  Particularly because the organization depends on creativity for for campaigns and fundraising activity.  I found there was always an ear to listen to an idea.

In short, if your company won't listen to your ideas, and you don't want to "settle" for following the corporate plan, you will likely be invited to leave.

The plus side is this:  getting fired may catapult you to the next career rung.  You might be involuntarily forced into doing what you were meant to do!

Reading this piece was a genuine pick-me-up.  For those that still believe getting fired is the end of the world, take heart.

You just may be onto something real big.

Bank of America Rolls out Innovative Program to Save Homes

Hooray to Bank of America for being the first to step up to the plate with an innovative program designed to keep homeowners in their home versus foreclosure.


Too bad it didn't happen earlier, when so many Americans had to walk away from their homes because of the the money crunch in this country.  Take a look at the program: BofA Tests An Option to Foreclosure.


If one has a $250,000 mortgage, for example, the bank is willing to lease it back to the owner at the going rent rate (e.g. $900.00) a month, versus a $1600.00 a month mortgage payment.   Great deal.    


Finally, banks thinking outside the box.


This coming on the heels of the health care reform, could give us little folks a lot more breathing room.  Whew.


Bank of America would then get the title to the home, and give the homeowner annual options to renew the lease.  What would be even better;  If homeowners had the option to purchase back the home if, and when, they get back on their feet.   Which is probably a given anyway.


Bank of America purchased Countrywide Financial in 2008.  This pilot program applies to the existing loans that Bank of America still owns.   It is encouraging that many investors' have already approached the Program Director Ron Sturzenegger, to buy pools of the leased properties.   


According to Sturzenegger, the success of the Program depends on the expansion of the program. These are all encouraging signs for the economy.    I hope that more banks and lenders get on the bandwagon.


We are ready for some good news for a change.

Hemingway Letters Disclose Distress Over Cat

I inherited a picture of Ernest Hemingway (a pencil rendering) of him on his porch with his beloved cat "Uncle Willie."  I have the picture hanging over my sink in my kitchen.  I always look at it, my eyes drawn to the cat in the rendering.  He was depicted as a big, fluffy, tortoise shell.  I imagined how close the pair pair were, especially for the artist to include "Mr. Willie" with him on his porch in this then home in Denver.

I had no idea of that cat's name, or what became of him, until I read this:Ernest Hemingway Letters Reveal Upset Over Cat.  So you can imagine my surprise when I read this article about "Mr. Willie."  Apparently, it caused him great distress when "Mr. Willie" was hit by a car- breaking two legs- ultimately leading to Hemingway having to put him down.

"Have had to shoot people but never anyone I knew and loved for eleven years," Hemingway wrote to a friend in the 1950s.

Hemingway was living with Mr. Willie in Cuba at the time, and excused himself from his visiting tourists to explain they had come at a bad time.

I am certain they shared a close bond, especially understanding Hemingway's isolated lifestyle.  "Mr. Willie" had filled a void as his constant and faithful companion.  I can see him at his feet, or up on his desk, as he penned "The Old Man and the Sea, and "For Whom the Bell Tolls."

The picture hanging over my kitchen sink will look differently to me.  Although always melancholy, it will be even more somber knowing what really became of "Mr. Willie."