Facebook pic

Joy's descripsion of herself (bjg official)

"describe yourself" it says... oh geeze... okay I'm some kind of strange artist, I love my family and my awesome dog. I probably should have been 20 in the 40s but I'll take being a walking TVLAND program in a modern society instead. I've been acting on tv for the last 10 years or so, but I miss theatre and my NY roots, I have scarred knees from tree-climbing and bike riding when I was a kid, I've never been athletic but I'm still a tomboy, and I love ice cream. I love it... and kraft mac & cheese w/ little cut-up hotdogs. and I'm easily distracted, as my husband and most of my friends will attest. ...what was I saying?

Joy - Blog

Too Politically Correct?

Hey Guys! I'm sure you've heard about this on the news, but for those of you who don't watch much, I've included a video clip that everyone is buzzing about. Juan Williams was fired from his longstanding job at NPR for the comment he made in this clip regarding muslims. The context of the discussion was regarding "political correctness" and the theory that it has, in many ways, taken over our communication as Americans, preventing us from being able to acceptably have any personal beliefs that go against what everyone is "supposed" to believe.

I'm opening this up on my blog for discussion because I'm honestly a little torn about whether or not Juan Williams was injustly terminated from NPR.

I personally don't get nervous when I see a Muslim on an airplane and in many ways I would imagine, for some, it takes great courage to choose to be so readily identifiable as a person of Islam in America. However, if my kid gets bitten by a pitbull, every time I see a pitbull, I'm gonna get nervous. Is this really irrational? My personal red-flags may not go up around Muslims, but if someone else's do, who am I to say that they are wrong? That the conditioning they've experienced growing up or perhaps a traumatic incident is invalid? Mr. Williams did not say he believed ANYTHING negative about Muslims, he was speaking about his reaction. Often what we believe and know to be true about XYZ is different from how we have been conditioned to react to XYZ.

For example: I have no problem with men. I love men, I married one, I hope to raise one someday! I have also met my fair share of... not good guys; sleazy, manipulative, and scary men. So, if I'm walking down a street and I see a group of men-- or even one in-particular that strikes me as "bad news", I'm gonna cross the street and walk on the other side! I am not sexist, I simply have had enough experience to know when I feel safe and when I don't. Someone else may look at that man and say "Are you crazy? He's perfectly harmless!" But that is their experience, and I have mine. Must the two be mutually exclusive?

On the other hand, Juan Williams was supposed to be a non-partisan, neutral party to all things on which he reported. That was his job as a "News Analyst" and a representative of NPR. Did Mr. Williams' sharing personal feelings compromise his audience? Or is it, in fact, impossible to analyze anything without your own personal views and opinions being involved?

I don't have any answers here, but I'm really interested in what you guys have to say.

xo BJG

Joy - Blog

Love 146

Hi everyone... if you've been following Everly on Twitter you may have noticed our frequent tweets about LOVE 146. I wanted to be sure and share with you more details about why this movement is so important and give you the information you'll need if you decide to get involved. The following is the story of how LOVE 146 got it's name...

In 2002, the co-founders of Love 146 travelled to South East Asia on an exploratory trip to determine how they could serve in the fight against child sex trafficking. In one experience, a couple of our co-founders were taken undercover with investigators to a brothel, where they witnessed children being sold for sex. This was their experience. This is the story that changed our lives.


"We found ourselves standing shoulder to shoulder with predators in a small room, looking at little girls through a pane of glass. All of the girls wore red dresses with a number pinned to their dress for identification. They sat, blankly watching cartoons on TV. They were vacant, shells of what a child should be. There was no light in their eyes, no life left. Their light had been taken from them. These children...raped each night... seven, ten, fifteen times every night. They were so young. Thirteen, eleven… it was hard to tell. Sorrow covered their faces with nothingness. Except one girl. One girl who wouldn’t watch the cartoons. Her number was 146. She was looking beyond the glass. She was staring out at us, with a piercing gaze. There was still fight left in her eyes. There was still life left in this girl..."...All of these emotions begin to wreck you. Break you. It is agony. It is aching. It is grief. It is sorrow. The reaction is intuitive, instinctive. It is visceral. It releases a wailing cry inside of you. It elicits gut-level indignation. It is unbearable. I remember wanting to break through the glass. To take her away from that place. To scoop up as many of them as I could into my arms. To take all of them away. I wanted to break through the glass to tell her to keep fighting. To not give up. To tell her that we were coming for her…"

“Because we went in as part of an ongoing, undercover investigation on this particular brothel, we were unable to immediately respond. Evidence had to be collected in order to bring about a raid, and eventually justice on those running the brothel. It is an immensely difficult problem when an immediate response cannot address an emergency. Some time later, there was a raid on this brothel and children were rescued. But the girl who wore #146 was no longer there. We do not know what happened to her, but we will never forget her. She changed the course of all of our lives."

-Rob Morris,President and Co-founder

There are so many things you can do to help, big and small! From a $25 a month donation toward their Safehome care facility for rehabilitating exploited childrenHERE, to buying some merchandise like the 146 necklace and tank I'm wearing here at work today HERE.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and look into LOVE146. I hope to post more on this org and issue in the future as I become more involved and there should be info up on EVERLYGAB.com soon, as well.

Thank you! BJG

Exclusive: ‘One Tree Hill’s Haley Delivers A Kid!

‘One Tree Hill’s pregnant Haley will deliver a Kid sooner rather than later, when rapper Kid Cudi guest-stars and performs on this season’s 10th episode, Fancast has learned.

A lesser man would leave you with that winning headline and intro and call it a day, but I will write more….

In the episode “Lists, Plans,” airing November 30, Cudi (aka Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi) will act in a few scenes as well as perform his hit song “Erase Me” at Club TRIC, as part of a concert gig set up by Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti).

‘Tree Hill’s most recent musical foray took place just weeks ago, when Haley and Mia (Kate Voegele) crossed over to sister show ‘Life Unexpected.’ There, they – as well as Grammy winner Sarah McLachlan – performed.

Now in its eighth season – and having weathered cast and time-slot changes – ‘Tree Hill’ continues to be one of TV’s pluckiest underdog tales. In its most recent outing, the series matched its season high among women 18-34 (aka The CW’s sweet spot) and delivered its best women 18-49 numbers since the season

premiere.

The CW’s ‘One Tree Hill’ airs Tuesdays at 8/7c.

Joy photo

A personal photo of Joy, and she is looking good ;-)

What do you think?

Joy and Shantel VanSanten

Joy and Shantel. I don't know where this picture is from, but I think it's a personal photo that is theirs. I think it's a pretty awsome picture :)

Joy - Blog

Long day...

Sitting on set waiting for them to call my name. Hanging out in a greenroom with Laura Izibor and her talented band, listening to them chat-- it's obvious they're all good friends and it makes me miss my own. For anyone who is away from their loved ones, who feels like they're missing out on moments I'm sending up a little prayer for you! I understand what it's like!

In the meanwhile, here's a classic song to remind you of home! It doesn't get better than Simon & Garfunkle...

cheers! xo BJG

Facebook pic

I don't know when Joy posted out this picture, but I just found it. Here is a photo from Joy's facebook:

Joy - Blog (3 latest posts)

Speaking of Girls With Glasses

My mom just found these and put them together--- haha! Thought you guys would like to see :) xoxo BJG

Let Me Entertain You...

Let me make you smile...

In leu of my recent post, The American Gossip Epidemic (and thank you all for your overwhelming support in this-- for your comments, for passing it along and for joining me in moving forward, one-day-at-a-time, gossip free.), I thought it might be helpful to bring over a few fun websites to take the place of the celebrity gossip pages that you probably have bookmarked in your Safari or Firefox! These are WAY #morefunthangossip!

The Girls With Glasses Show!

Anyone remember Brooke White from American Idol a few years ago? Well she's got a great to thing going with a girlfriend of hers. They aren't updating as much as I hope they would but it's still a lot of fun to go check out their webspaces and see what they're up to. Here's a video they did to promote their show/blog/world.

Check out Brooke and Summer at www.TheGirlsWithGlasses.com

Style Girl Jess James

Fashion & Style for the South!

Jess is a friend of mine and her fashion partner, Shannon Dunne,is a co-stylist for One Tree Hill when our fab designer CarolCutshall is unable to travel so she can tend to us acty-gals. I've been following Jess' blog and James & Dunne styling blog for a few years now and it's always fun to read-- particularly for ladies in the Charleston/Wilmington area. Not only are there great tips for seasonal fashion and local shopping, but she's always traveling and blogging about her time in NY, Paris and London while visiting and hosting a plethora of girlie and lavish events like Fashion Shows, Style Swaps, Beauty Bars and more...

Visit Jess here at www.stylegirljessjames.com/

Besottment

Hope Karney is a freelance designer and self-taught artist near Baltimore. I love her blog because it's so inspiring for the creative-types. Here's a page from one of her journals and it just makes me want to curl up in my sewing room and cut and paste for hours. If you like to craft-- check her out!

www.besottment.typepad.com/

I'll put up more as I come across them. In the meantime, my Mom, Stepdad, Sis and Hub in law are in town for the weekend. On the agenda? Well, we spent the better part of the afternoon soaking up our vitamin D in the backyard while the dog rummaged happily about in the grass, next was naptime (which is still happening for everyone but me & Michael since they all came in on the red-eye), and tonight we'll be enjoying a delicious dinner at our friend Beth's. Beth is a redheaded firecracker with a big heart and better taste in clothes and art than most of us have in our mouth. You would die to see her closet-- die.

I'll try to sneak a few photos tonight if I can :) xo BJG

OTH 8x07 stills

OTH 8x06 "Not Afraid" Sneak Peak

More “LUX” On set pics

Watch with Kristin: Bethany Joy Galeotti

Joy - Blog

Three Cool Things

I just found a great new website as I was on my search for interesting and entertaining news that wasn't contributing to The American Gossip Epidemic... HAPPY NEWS! Lots of human interest stories from around the world, including positive celebrity news, lifestyle topics, health and science discoveries and more. Check out good news at www.HappyNews.com (and while you're at it, download the NPR app for your ipad or iphone, which is always full of fascinating stories, news, entertainment, education and photos). See NPR's website at www.NPR.org

Next up...

For all you fashionistas out there I've discovered a great new website where you can literally rent designer clothes (like Gucci, Chanel, Prada, etc). at RentTheRunway.com you pay a fraction of the cost of the item ($150- $300), you get to keep the garment for 3-4 days and return unwashed (even if you get a stain on it!). This is particularly timely in the Holiday season and so much fun to browse through clothes that you just never thought you'd get your hands on! So, go Rent the Runway and dazzle this winter!

Last on the list today is

I've been using this website for years but I thought it was time to share with you all... LocalHarvest.org is a website that brings communities and farms together. If you are looking for homegrown produce, locally raised milk, hand-milled soap, and other farm fresh products like cheese, honey, flowers, seafood and other unique craft items, THIS is your one-stop shop. Just type in your zip code and Local Harvest will give you a list of every selling farm in your area. This list will include every item they sell and the seasonal listings also. For United States only.

Also, I wanted to say that I just saw "You Again" and Kristen Bell has the best skin EVER. Ten points if someone can find me an interview where she shares her secret-- I'm dying to know!

That's all for now, and remember to keep up the good word (#morefunthangossip)!

xoxo BJG