Ticket to Ride the Crazy Train

The online results are in, and it was a close race. Coming in third, with 5 votes, was "Questioning the Traditions." In second, with 6 votes, was "Times, They Are a Changin'."

So, without further ado, with a winning 7 votes.......

WARNING!! Opinionated Content Ahead!

Ok, so I understand the danger in making generalized statements, so let's just set some facts straight before my tirade. I realize that not ALL of the following subject matter follow suit in the few examples I will be describing. Know that I do not lump an entire industry into the stereotypes of a few bad apples. My husband, in his occupation, certainly understands the pitfalls of people doing that to him. I simply felt the need to express an opinion regarding some prominent people currently in the media. With that being said, I would love to hear your opinions, too. After all, we're all entitled to them, are we not?

To what am I referring? Mostly:

My apologies for this most graphic post, but I did my best to keep the images PG-13, at least. Trust me, a quick Google Image search of Britney will quickly become X-rated.

While perusing the channels the other night, I was captured by the E! THS of Britney Spears entitled: Fall from Grace. It was like a tragic accident on the side of the road: you know you shouldn't be entertained by such a sight, yet you simply can't pull your eyes away.

The show chronicled her downward spiral that has so saturated the media. None of the information was new to me, yet, to see it all edited together in tightly woven succession was rather unbelievable. It really didn't seem real or even humanly possible. I had to literally remind myself that this spectacle was an actual human life, loved by God.

As the images went by, and I saw her in her various walks of life and with her plethora of acquaintances, I found my brow furrowed and my mouth agape in a wordless expression of "Huh?" In my head, all I could comprehend was my internal questioning of "How much money and fame buys you a ticket on the crazy train?"

In what world are her and her other celebrity friends living in? It's some strange, alien land that has a whole different set of standards than mine. Apparently in this land, one must not worry about how little clothing one is wearing, or if it even stays in its proper place covering its intended jewels. It seems as if skin is the main dress, highlighted with a few strips of fabric as an accessory. I'm quite certain that if I were to attempt to wear any one of these "outfits" in the land in which I live, I would be either ticketed, escorted out of whatever function I was attending, or at the very least, scorned by those around me.

Another accepted habit of celebrityland is that it is perfectly normal to attend grandiose, wild parties more nights a week than not. Now, don't get me wrong. I love a good time. Don't get me started on my wild nights playing Catch Phrase and pounding the Diet Cherry Cokes, after a girls dinner out at Applebee's. Good times. But those that can afford the crazy train ticket take the word "party" to a whole new level. You've all seen the images on tv of the photographer-swarmed celebrity making their way into a neon-adorned, beat-pulsing club, only to come out in the wee hours of the morning, stumbling to pose for their mug shot.

But the icing on my "Huh?" cake was during a rerun of "The Surreal Life" on the TVGuide Channel (and, yes, I realize I'm exposing my lovely weak moments in tv viewing.....I DO watch The Discovery Channel, the news, Jeopardy and occasionally OPB, too, among other upstanding programming). Actress/Model Traci Bingham was taking her first tour of the house she would be sharing with the other B-list celebrities. Upon seeing the Jacuzzi tub that any one of us in our world would be thrilled and delighted to own, she proclaimed that she could not--and will not--take a bath in a raspberry colored bathtub. She explained that she'd worked her way into particular quality of life, and a raspberry bathtub was just not acceptable.

A particular quality of life? So my question is: where is that line? When do you decide that the standard way of life for the majority of the population no longer applies to you? How much fame does it take before you actually believe you are above the law? When do you reach the point that you refuse to bathe, for even just two weeks, in a perfectly acceptable bath tub of rose hue?

As I write this, I am aware that Brad and Angelina are probably saving a small country while Cameron Diaz is closing the hole in the ozone layer, but unfortunately, those images didn't come up on my Google search of candid celebrity photographs. I'm glad that there are, what seem to be, responsible people in Celebrityland, but unfortunately those are not the prominent headlines on magazines at the check-out stand.

I'm not sure if Britney bought a one-way ticket on the crazy train, as did Anna Nicole, or if she had the foresight to buy a round-trip pass. I can only hope.

Hope. What a wonderful word. A God-given word. Despite the depravity of this world we currently call home, there will never be a void of hope because of the gift of Jesus Christ. Nothing--or no one--is beyond hope, including me and my sometimes questionable tv viewing habits.

Thank you, God. You are good. All the time. You love all your children and desire no one to be lost.

Let's keep treading, girls, and hopefully, someday soon, the crazy train will be exposed for what it is: an empty, vain, pursuit leading to, well, God knows where.