It was brought to my attention today that
the excitable little imp from Twin Cities Live might no longer be married.
For some reason our local chat fests like
to have wacky reporters out combing the streets, showing us just how
fascinating the Twin Cities is. It’s not a hard-and-fast rule, but whether it
be Gary Lumpkin of days past or Emily Engberg of today’s knock off of Good
Company, you want somebody who people think is amusing, despite the fact you’d
find him or her annoying if he or she was a member of your extended family.
Engberg’s appeal baffles me. She’s not
particularly funny, although she thinks she’s entertaining. She’s easy on the
eyes, which always helps, but her presence won’t command a room. (That’s not
necessarily negative.) She can speak fluently, but she doesn’t dazzle you with
intelligent observations or shrewd commentary. But she does what people want
her to do, evidently, so job well done, Emily. You’re the female Eric Perkins.
As the story goes, an anecdote she shared
on Twin Cities Live left out any mention of her husband. This was notable for
two reasons. One, in the past she has made it clear that she’s married to some
sort of Conway Twitty wannabe. Two, she was talking about a home improvement
issue, evidently, something in which the counsel of her husband might have been
reasonable.
Online research that I was able to verify
without too much trouble showed that a few years ago Engberg was pimping some
sort of concert by her then-husband Dustin Lee via Engberg’s Facebook page. A
click to Lee’s linked Facebook page says today he’s engaged to somebody else.
I don’t watch TCL very often. I like to see
what kind of fluff they’re passing off as a human-interest topic, and how close
they come to simply pimping goods and services of local businesses. (They come
damn close. I keep waiting to see a disclaimer pop up denoting a segment is a
paid advertisement. It’s only a matter of time with that show.)
Although I don’t watch the show very often,
TCL and Engberg weren’t shy about pimping Lee’s music and his marriage to
Engberg in the past. Lee performed on the show, and they didn’t hide the fact
why he was singing his honky tonk tunes on the show.
I can’t speak to whether or not Engberg
ever spoke of her divorce on the show. I’d bet not, but I don’t know that.
Divorce is a part of life. What was once a
social stigma is now a common practice. More than half the marriages in this
country end in divorce, so it’s really no big deal. I guess it is a big deal
when a person’s spouse turns out to be a cheater or the nuptials end within
months of the pledge of everlasting love. But it’s not shocking when a marriage
ends. Some people practically embrace it, as if it’s a sign that both partners
have grown as humans, and subsequently grown apart.
Our local “celebrities” get divorced. It’s
a part of life. If you’re on a talk show, TV or radio, referencing your spouse
is hard to avoid. And if you get married, you have to talk all about it. Just
ask TCL newlywed Elizabeth Ries.
But why is it that our precious
broadcasting talent isn’t so quick to announce the termination of their
marriage? I know, nobody likes to admit they’ve failed. And divorce is a type
of failure.
Good news, heterosexual men of the Twin
Cities, the imp is not married. She’d look good on the arm of a lot of
executives, so perhaps she rebounded as quickly as her cowpoke ex-husband. But
if not, then perhaps you’ll get lucky and stumble upon her when she’s out
hamming it up for the camera. If you can stomach her antics, perhaps you can
marry a real Twin Cities celebrity!
