I'm developing a new pet peeve ...

Currently Reading:

Reality TV Bites by Shane Bolks

I've decided to branch out and read some stuff I normally wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole, such as the above listed book. Chick-lit/Romance has never really been my thing, and I avoid reality TV like the plague (most of the time). I'll say this right now: this book isn't badly written. Light, yes. Shallow, yes. But sometimes we need something that's "just entertaining", and for that, it does its job. However, one thing I'm having difficulty wrapping my head around is the abundance of brand names (especially the uber designer ones).
For example: (a spur of the moment composition by me, not a quote)

She picked up the phone and chipped her OPI Passionly-Passion
nail polish. "Oh dammit!" she said into the phone.
"Sorry?"
"I mean, hello?" she covered her eyes, careful not to touch the
Maybeline as she tapped her Prada heels on the linoleum.

Is it just me, or does it seem a LOT like a bunch of product placement? An elaborate commercial? I understand saving time by saying "the Volkswagon Beetle" rather than describing the car in painful detail -- but it's a shortcut, am I right? It seems as though if I'm not familier with the product itself (like So and So's Dashing line at Boss), I almost need to look it up in order to get the picture the author is trying to paint - a hinderance instead of a help. And what about the people 50 years from now who might read the book? A certain super-cool very specific cell phone 1) isn't going to be cool anymore and 2) there's the possibility that NO ONE will know what it is.

Also, isn't it supposed to be up to the reader to imagine the scene? That's why a lot of writers don't over-describe their characters because if I think "Josh" should look like Adrien Brody, but you think "Josh" should look like your friend Tom ... if it doesn't have a real place in the story, describing "Josh"'s stringy black hair and lean features over and over is going to mess with your baby-faced, blonde version you've picked out. Sometimes specific descriptions are important to the situation or the character, but it ought to be obvious. A character's nickname is "Red" because she has red hair. Someone has a lot of scars because he was in a house fire 5 years ago. Another person is of Eskimo decent and looks Asian, so when he orders lunch at the Yummy Panda Buffet restaurant down the street, the waiter speaks to him in Chinese, and that annoys him. Stuff like that.

While we're at it: cuss words (not a problem in Reality TV Bites, but a pet peeve nonetheless). When anyone says (or writes) ANY word way too much, it's irritating. Another example? I'm glad you asked:

"I waited for the bus for over an hour. The bus was supposed to run on the
bus' schedule of 15 minutes. Busses are usually punctual, but this bus
kept me waiting. When I turned my head, the bus came and I missed the bus
and I had to wait for another bus. That bus was also a little late because
the bus didn't stick to the bus schedule."

Ok? It's like that with gratuitous use of the F word. ANY word. So please, all you Hollywood screenplay writers, that guy who shouts on the street corner outside my bedroom window, and Chatty Chatterson on the cell phone across the aisle from me: USE SOME OTHER WORDS!

Rant over.