What a Relaxing Week

I had a wonderfully relaxing week. It feels good to not be going 90 to nothing the whole week long with papers to grade (and by papers, I mean essays, etc., not worksheets) and a million other things to get done.

A shot of my parents' house. Mom, the Sil and I spent some time sitting in the yard on Saturday, just enjoying the day and watching the kids play.

Here was my week:

Monday (Memorial Day)

• Really didn't do much that I can remember. This may sound boring, but I love to sit around and do nothing. By 'nothing', I mean: watch TV/Movies, surf the interweb, read and take naps.
  
• The power went off for awhile and that sucked, but came back in an hour.
• Took a nap at some point.
  

Tuesday

• Went to work for a teachers' meeting that only lasted until noon.
• Went out to church camp to take pictures, and got to visit with people I haven't seen since camp last year (I love going out to church camp).
• Can't remember if there was a nap or not...
  

Wednesday

• Went to work for another teachers' meeting...this one lasted less than an hour. We were contracted to work that day, so we had to come in, even though we could have gotten that done Tuesday afternoon instead of going home after lunch. Really it was a waste.
  
• Made a few copies in preparation for Summer School.
• Went to town to get camp pictures printed.
• Took a Nap.
• Sorted through yard sale stuff and priced clothes for the yard sale.

Thursday

• Helped Mom tile the kitchen most of the day. It was actually fun. See pictures here and here.
• Took a break around noon to go out to camp to deliver pictures and check kids out.
• No nap.

Friday

• Went to discount grocery store mid morning, and got some good buys. I love that place, although they were out of the jalapeno poppers I like (stuffed with cheese! mmm...).
• Did some weed eating...broke weed eater.
• Did some spraying of weeds...ran out of spray.
• Went to Mom's to hang out with the kids. This included going with Mom to do chores because both boys went to go and someone had to hold NJ during the two-hour adventure that included moving cattle.
• It was a really fun and relaxing day just hanging out on the farm.
  
• No nap.

Saturday

• Played on the internet most of the morning before going to Mom's to hang out with the family again.
• Got the air-conditioner in my car fixed.
  
• Took a nap.
  
• Taught my niece how to suck on honeysuckles.
• Picked a tick out of NJ's ear.
• Played on the internet some more.
• Finished watching season one of 24. Didn't see it coming...

Sunday

• Went to church no.1, where I run the sound booth. Was, unfortunately, unimpressed with today's service...
• Went to church no. 2. This is my brother's church. Enjoyed the sermon, even though I had to spend a lot of time keeping my niece from getting too wound up (her mom had to stay home with NL because he was sick).
• Took nap.
• Spent some time discussing (arguing?) the finer points of stuff like women wearing head coverings and eating "Kosher" with my friend Ben...through texting! Go to his blog for some great religious discussions.
• Now I'm doing this...
  

Overall, I woke up at a decent hour every morning. No sleeping in until late in the morning (except on Saturday, when I woke up after 8am). This meant I had plenty of time to do what I wanted, but at the same time, I was able to wake up on my own without that pesky alarm clock.

I hope I get some more weeks like this before summer is over. For the next 2 1/2 weeks, I'll be teaching summer school (much lower stress levels than regular school days). One of those weeks I will spend every day from the time I leave work until after 10pm at church camp for high school week (my favorite...wish it wasn't during summer school). I should have a few weeks without having to be at camp every day (not that I HAVE to be there, but I like to lend a hand), or having to work every day on one thing or another. I'm looking forward to those. Then my bff comes home sometime in July. I'm really looking forward to getting to spend time with her. She hasn't been home since January.

All-in-all it should be a good summer.

Tick Heads and Tweezers

We live in the country, so ticks are an every day summer occurrence. Tick checks are a must. These are usually more affective if you have a tick-checking partner, but alas...I am single.

My SiL decided she must do a tick check on the kids during their baths because they had spent a lot of time outside today. Oh, and there was the moment when a rather large tick was crawling around on NJ's forehead. As she brought each kid down, my SiL would let us know the status of the tick-check. NJ was the first and she had, oddly enough, found a seed tick (so named because they are the size of a small seed, although they can be much smaller than this one was) in his ear. I volunteered to remove said tick with tweezers.

NJ happily followed me into the bathroom and sat on my lap. Then I got out the tweezers and cocked back his head for a little tick extraction. The crying started almost immediately. I wasn't hurting him, but he is only a year and a half and I'm sure his understanding of a metal instrument coming at his head was beyond his grasp. I think the tick was already dead and still hanging on (they usually do that), because when I pulled on the tick, he came apart, with the head still attached to NJ.

Picture of a small tick, sometimes referred to as a seed tick

Now here is where I would like to dispell some tick rumors. I am constantly amused at how ridiculous people will react to ticks. I've seen several reality shows where they find a tick on a dog and freak out! There are calls to vets, Google searches and, for some reason, usually a match that they light and then blow out in order to stick the match head on the tick. This is done in order to get the tick to release. There's always this big deal about how you are not supposed to pull the tick out because it might leave part of the head in and that would be bad. There is usually a discussion about what terrifying things would happen if the tick's head remained in the skin. I once even heard someone say that the head could chew its way through the skin and into the body and then eventually make its way up to the brain. SERIOUSLY??? Where do people come up with these things. The worst thing that could happen is you might get an infection, but I doubt it.

I've never resorted to any of the ridiculous schemes I've seen...we just pull the tick out. 99 times out of a 100, they come out whole. And that one time, you just have to get the tweezers out.

Anyway, the tick head was still in NJ's ear and I had to get it out, but the tweezers just weren't working. My brother came in when I told him what was up and we discovered that Mom's tweezers didn't quite come together at the very tip and they were making it impossible to grab onto the tick's head. My brother ends up pulling out his Swiss army knife (I'm not sure it was actually a Swiss army knife, or just like one) and using the tweezers on it to remove the rest of the tick. Crisis diverted. No brain eating. No infections.

So next time you find a tick on you or your beloved pet, just pull it out.

For more small-town moments like these, check out On the Front Porch.

Which Star Trek Character Are You

I just had to take the "Which Star Trek Character Are You" quiz. I am pleased with my results.

Your results:
You are Jean-Luc Picard

Jean-Luc Picard 75% Spock 50% James T. Kirk (Captain) 45% Will Riker 45% Data 44% Uhura 40% Deanna Troi 35% An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 35% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 30% Chekov 30% Geordi LaForge 30% Worf 30% Mr. Scott 25% Beverly Crusher 15% Mr. Sulu 5%

A lover of Shakespeare and other fine literature. You have a decisive mind and a firm hand in dealing with others.

Click here to take the "Which Star Trek character am I?" quiz...

But I Want To Go With You

How can you resist a 3-year-old boy looking at you with puppy-dog eyes and saying, "But I want to go with you"? My Dad sure couldn't.

Nephew L and Nephew J had gone with Mom and I to feed the cows. This is always a big hit with our family. Who doesn't want to drive around in the fresh, country air from field to field in order to feed cattle? We had quite the day because Mom and Dad had to move cattle up the county road to a different field and we had the boys with us. Just try moving cattle (even if it's just 8 head) with a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old. There I was, holding NJ (one and a half), and standing in the middle of the road in order to discourage the cattle from going past the gate they were supposed to go into. Luckily, they went where they were supposed to go, because I'm not sure what I was supposed to do with NJ in my arms if the cattle came charging up the hill towards us.

After successfully moving the cattle, we went back to feeding the rest of the cattle...going from field to field. While moving cattle to an adjoining field (nothing like moving them up the road), my Dad shows up on the 4-wheeler just as we were finishing and getting ready to go to the other side of the farm (right on time). While he's off the 4-wheeler, NL climbs down from the Ranger and proceeds to climb onto the 4-wheeler. My Dad tries to tell NL that he can't go with him, but NL just fastens himself to that 4-wheeler like a tick on a dog. No one was going to pull him off that thing if he had anything to say about it. He firmly says, "But I want to go with you" as if that settled it. And I guess it did. Even my Dad, a rough and tumble man, couldn't help but melt when it comes to the adoration of his three-year-old grandson.

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Stupid Satellite Internet

I'm so tired of having to live with sub-par internet because I choose to live in the country. I already pay over twice what the average person pays for internet, but if I want speeds even close to what my "townie" friends have, I have to pay around $90 a month. That's ridiculous. Then there's the fact that less than two miles down the road, they have DSL (which is the fastest thing an average person can get around here).

Things I cannot do because of my slow, high-speed internet:

1. Watch Hulu
2. Watch Netflix Instant movies. I do use it to watch TV episodes, but have to do it in 5 minute intervals to allow for buffering.
3. Play online games
4. Pretty much anything I couldn't do with dial up.

Now it's a lot faster than dial up, but the only thing outside of surfing that I can do now, that I couldn't do with dial up, is watch short (under 5 min) videos, and I can now download music, etc.

Where is the justice? I am such a techno junkie, but I feel so behind when it comes to internet technology because of my slow internet speed. It's a major handicap when it comes to keeping up with what is going on out on the web.

Post Memorial Day Cemetery

In my continuing quest for pictures for my photoblog, Views From A Small Town, I stopped by a small, country cemetery today to get some shots of the cemetery post Memorial Day. I really wasn't thinking about taking photos to put on this blog or I would have taken a few photos of what had to be the most garish floral sprays imaginable.

Actually, to call them floral sprays would be a either a compliment to the sprays, or a put down to flowers...since the "floral" sprays were made of plastic (not even silk) flowers. At what point does someone decide to honor their loved one with flowers that are in colors nature never intended. One headstone had flowers that were neon shades of orange and yellow (I really wish I had a picture because there's no way I could even describe how ugly these were). If someone put one of those on my headstone, I would do everything in my power to come back as a ghost and haunt them for the rest of their lives...or until they removed those ugly sprays.

I also find it very creepy to find headstones where only one of the people listed on it are actually deceased (I think it sounds better to say deceased than dead...). If I was Robert, I wouldn't want to go to visit Lila's grave to put flowers on it and see my name there. By the way, it appears that Robert chose the always popular blue flower. Mother Nature is known for her blue flowers...



I did happen to take a photo of an interesting headstone. I'm not sure what possessed someone to choose a headstone in the shape of a log (or is it a tree stump?), but this is actually not the first one I've seen (The other one was a pile of wood). The question is, did the deceased ask for this headstone, or did his family members think that this headstone would represent who the deceased was? Was he a logger? I don't know. Actually, if you look closely, there is an emblem on the log (tree stump?) that says "Woodmen of the World Memorial". Does that mean that there are more of these headstones scattered around the country? See? Finding a headstone like this is intriguing.

Maybe one day I will tell you how I feel about roadside memorials...

Chipmunks, Rabbits and Groundhogs! Oh, my!

As you know, I live in the country. All manner of animals make the woods and fields around my house their home. Some even make my yard (and on occasion, my house) their home.

Animals I've encountered:

In my field

• deer
• turkey
• field mice
  
• cattle (but my dad put them there, so I don't think they count)

In the woods

• deer
• turkey
• coyote
• squirrels
• chipmunks
• birds

In my yard

• cattle (sometimes they escape, and when the ground is soft after a rain, their hooves make a terrible mess)
• opossum
• moles
• shrews
• armadillos
  
• birds

And today: A groundhog!

I've never seen a groundhog around here before. I've actually only seen a very few groundhogs in our part of the Ozarks. I just couldn't believe there was one in my yard! To be quite precise, it is living under my house! I opened my curtains this morning only to see him walking on my sidewalk. I quickly grabbed my camera and got this picture (through the window, so it's not of a very high quality).

What next!?!?!

Indoor Chipmunks

I like telling you all about my wonderful adventures as an owner of indoor/outdoor cats while living in the country. There have been many a morning when I have walked into the bathroom half asleep only to come wide awake when I stepped on the remains of some animal one of the cats had as a midnight snack. Then there are the nights I've been woken up by the death throws of a small mammal or a bird flying around my house. Yes, it's all very exciting.

This morning, as I was grabbing my shoes in preparation for leaving for church, I noticed my cats all focusing on my bedroom window. Then I heard it...the sound of a small animal on my windowsill. I pulled back the curtain to see a chipmunk racing back and forth on the sill. I grabbed my leather animal catching gloves (I was bit by a shrew before) and went to catch the intruder.

With the "help" of Cullen, the shrew ran around the bedroom, through the laundry room and into the kitchen. Then it ran back into the laundry room and through the cat door.

Just another exciting and adventurous morning.

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Good Morning from the Ozarks!

This doe actually stopped and let me take a quick picture this morning. This is just one reason I love living in the country.
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American Idol Finale – Part II

After a much too long trip for groceries plus a stop at Mom’s and one at my Uncle’s…I’m finally home to watch AI. I’m not too upset that it’s been on for 45 minutes because I’m sure I will fast forward through a lot of stuff and end up catching up to real time. This show is over 2 hours of foreplay before the 10-second payoff.

Ryan said there were just under 100 million votes last night, which is pretty impressive.

As Ryan goes through thanking the judges and showing ridiculous clips of them, I’m wondering if they will bring Kara back. I’m not sure that they can get rid of her because that would be admitting a mistake. Ryan makes fun of Randy saying “For me, for you” and Kara’s ridiculous sweeties and honeys. Then there’s Paula. I swear someone should take away her dictionary and thesaurus…I’m pretty sure she has no clue what she is saying most of the time. Then Ryan introduces clips of Simon asking what and pardon because he didn’t hear something.

Mic problems…wonderful. Kris and Adam come out in all white, but neither one’s mic will work. I’m sure someone is getting fired for that.

The Top 13 are back to sing “So What”…or I should say butcher “So What”. Poor Scott is having to be lead around for the choreography again. I’m always impressed with how well he does and how much he trusts everyone to get him where he’s supposed to be.

DAVID!!! I heart David Cook. Proceeds to the song will go to cancer research as a memorial to his brother.

I can’t believe they are wasting time with this ridiculous “award show” that makes fun of people during their auditions. I will admit that, like watching a train wreck, I couldn’t turn away. I did enjoy the Norman Gentle clips…and of course Nick won and we got to see an encore of Norman Gentle. I really hope he gets a gig in Vegas.

FF through most of Lil Rounds and Queen Latifa. Why is Queen Latifa wearing a spandex catsuit? I know she lost weight, but seriously?

Anoop came out to sing and I smile again. I really wish Anoop would have gone farther. Then Jason Mraz came out…barefoot. He’s so awesome.

Kris video that I watch, but don’t really pay much attention to.

Kris sings with Keith Urban…and I don’t really care. I’m not a country fan. I listen to some of it, but FF through the rest.

There’s a big song montage, but I FF through parts of it. I’m just here to get to the end, not to listen to the Black Eyed Peas, especially when they have to edit part of the song.

More Idol Awards. This one is fixed so that bikini chick can come out in barely anything…again. Then Kara comes out and sings the song for real. Katrina tries to sing, but they’ve turned her mic down so you can barely hear her. Then Kara shows off her bikini (for like 5 seconds) for charity.

Allison sings with Cindi Lauper. I love them both, so I watch them sing “Time After Time”.

Danny sings “Hello”. I always loved this song. Then Lionel Richie comes out and joins Danny for another song, but I FF through most of it.

I started out 45 minutes behind real-time, but now I’m only 20 minutes behind!

Then we get to see Adam’s video. I’m still not buying that this is the real Adam; I still think it is all a stage performance where he’s chosen a character and that’s who he has become. If I believed that if it was the real Adam, I would be behind him 100%. Because I think it is an act, I just can’t get behind all the hype. Adam sings with Kiss, which I think is just ridiculous. I bet if Adam’s old theatre buddies are watching this they are laughing so hard they are rolling on the floor. I bet Adam spent more time in HS singing Bette and Judy than he did Kiss.

Santana graces us with his guitar playing…sounding much like I do when playing Guitar Hero (I wish).

Adam and Kris each get a new Ford Fusion. Good for them.

Steve Martin! On a banjo! I sure hope that Nick (Norman) gets to meet him. I FF through most of it because Steve Martin isn’t even singing.

I wish Ryan would quit saying that they are going to tell us who wins “when we come back”. It’s a lie and I find it annoying.

NOOOOO…Not Rod Stewart. FF! FF! FF!

Another Idol Award. This time it is for the women…which means Tatiana is back. I had to go get a vanilla vodka and cranberry cocktail. There was this whole fake thing about Tatiana alluding the security while she sang on the stage. Pan to Ruben who looks like he thinks it is all real and not the obviously staged act that it is.

Kris and Adam sing “We Are The Champions”.

OMG!! KRIS WINS!!! I am sooooo… excited! I can’t believe he came up from no where to win this thing. He was so surprised. I think everyone thought Adam would win, including Kris. I really think that Kris gained all of Danny’s old votes which then put Kris over the top.

Kris sings that ridiculous “No Boundaries” song again.

American Idol Season Finale – Part I

First they show clips of Kris and Adam during their audition interviews. Which was kind of cool, especially when you think about how far they’ve come from that day.

Ryan says it’s The Guy-Next-Door vs. The Guyliner, and I think that pretty much sums it up.

Each contestant will sing 3 songs: Favorite from this season, one chosen by Simon Fuller and the winner song (co-written by Kara).

Ryan warns that tomorrow night’s show will go a little long and if you are going to record it you should set your DVRs accordingly. I heeded his advice and immediately stopped to do that before I forgot.


Favorite Song from the Season

Adam chooses “Mad World”. This is actually one of the few songs that Adam sang that I actually liked. I think his falsetto works on this song, and I like the slow pace of the song. Randy tells Adam that he loves that Adam’s singing something from the season, but I’m pretty sure that’s what he had to do, so I’m guessing Randy got into Paula’s stash. Kara, “blah, blah, blah”. Paula stumbles over saying nothing. Simon said that he always thought this was Adam’s best song, but thought the fog and long coat was a little too theatrical and reminded him of The Phantom of the Opera (but I did like the look).

Kris chooses “Aint No Sunshine”. Kris pulls out pure sounding notes. It’s a very beautiful song the way Kris sings it. Randy said that was one of Kris’ best performances. Kara says that Kris has a way of making a personal connection with everyone in the audience. Paula (who’s looking pretty orange tonight. I guess she’s representing the Oompa Loompa side of her family) pretty much repeats what Kara just said because we all know Paula’s never had an original thought. Simon said that he originally thought that America had made the wrong choice by choosing Kris over Danny, but that after that performance he takes it all back.

Ryan asks Simon who won that round and Simon says Kris.


Simon Fuller’s choice

Adam sings “Change is Gonna Come” while wearing a fairly normal grey suit (it was shinny, but pretty tame for Adam). Adam really Glams it up for this performance. And I mean performance. He might not have come down stairs with fog and flashing lights, but his facial expressions were very dramatic and over the top. The singing was typical Adam with lots of falsetto and drawn-out notes. Randy says that Adam can sing his face off. Kara said that might be his best performance and interpretation of a song yet. Paula Loompa said it was the best she’d ever heard Adam sing. Simon says that Adam is 100% back in the game.

Kris sings “What’s Going On”. This seems like a song that would have been good for Jason Castro to sing last year. I think Kris did a really good job; I liked the arrangement. Randy says they have a real live duel competition, but that the song was a little light for him (If Randy is blaming the song, then that’s not Kris’ fault, if he’s blaming the interpretation, then he should have said so). Kara doesn’t say much. Paula said that Kris “tore that song up”. Simon said it was like three friends strumming along in their bedroom and was too laid back for tonight’s competition.

Simon calls this round for Adam


Winner’s Song: “No Boundaries”

Adam leaves everything on the stage. You can tell he really is putting everything he has into this performance, but I’m not sure that it helped his vocals any. It didn’t seem that this was his best performance vocally. Randy says that Adam can sing the phonebook, but that wasn’t his favorite Adam performance and it was a little pitchy in places. Kara talks about writing the song, but not much about Adam. Oompa Abdul doesn’t address the song, but talks about Adam as a whole. Simon says that he won’t judge that song (which means that he thought the song and Adam’s performance sucked, but doesn’t want his chosen boy to lose), but that he will judge Adam’s stint on the show, then goes on the kiss Adam’s but.

Kris puts a completely different spin on the song. Kris is more comfortable with this song and it is more suited to his vocal style. Randy said that the key was probably a little bit high for Kris, but that the song suited Kris more than it did Adam. Kara says she doesn’t want Kris to be judged on that song because it was a little too high, and she hopes people vote on the season (which tells me she is hoping people vote for Adam). Paula… (Oh, I don’t care anymore to decipher what she is saying). Simon says that watching him tonight has been incredible because of Kris coming into the competition without confidence in himself and that Kris deserves to be on that stage.

Let’s be honest, that song sucked as a whole and I feel sorry for both guys that they had to sing it at all. Kris had an advantage over Adam because that song was in no way anything like something Glambert would sing…I don’t even think he could pull out many of his trademark falsetto glory notes, however, the song was too high for Kris, so that killed any major advantage that he might have had. The song was terrible and no one should judge either guy on that song.

I’m really hoping that all the people who voted for Danny last week will switch their votes to Kris this week.

Boys Will Be Boys

I had an interesting conversation with my 3-year-old nephew this evening. I was squatted down trying to get gum out of my purse for him when he became fascinated with my necklace, or so I thought...

The conversation went something like this:

Nephew L: Why do you have that?

Me: What

NL: That (points to my necklace)

Me: Because it makes me look pretty.

NL: What is that long thing?

Me: My necklace (I pick it up off my shirt and show it to him).

NL: No, THAT! (Points to my cleavage...yep, that's right.)

Me: Oh...that's my cleavage. (I mean, what was I supposed to say?)

I look down and realize that my squatting stance has squished my boobs together and now I have massive cleavage (and since I always have a lot of cleavage, that's saying something). I look at my sister-in-law and she just shrugs and says "That's my son." in a resigned way.

I think back to my response of "To make me look pretty" and start to laugh. My brother wanted to know what was so funny and we had to tell him. He just looked at NL and said something to the fact that NL had learned something today. It was quite the family moment.

Smalltown Crossroads

This used to be the town's only light (and it was just a flashing caution light). I noticed today that we don't even have a light anymore...

Check out more Small Town Stuff on Wendy's blog, On The Front Porch
and my other blogs: Views From a Small Town & Small Town Snapshots

Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel

American Idol Top 3 Results Show

So…the long awaited Top 3 results show is kicked off with a skit that is basically an add for the new Night at the Museum movie. Seriously?

Out of over 88 million votes, there were only 1 million votes separating the top two. One million votes may sound like a lot, but it’s only 1 vote out of 88.

Tonight, my friends and I were talking about how much we hope that Glambert goes home tonight. One of my friends said he had a feeling that Glambert was going home. We could only hope… I said that it wouldn’t matter if Glambert burped the National Anthem, the judges would applaud and say that he put his own spin on the song.

The Ford commercial ruins yet another good song…as well as my favorite music video of all time: Aha’s “Take on Me”. The real life to comic book just reminded me of it too much.

At this point, the African kid’s song was interrupted by a severe weather report for the local station. We’ll see how many times this happens. Our local channel tends to only pre-empt the scheduled shows if the storms are right over their location…forget the rest of us down in the boondocks. We can blow away for all they care.

Ryan brings Danny out. There’s some talk about his reunion with Jamar (remember him? The other half of the best friend duo?) and a video clip of his return home to Milwaukee. You know they are not going to tell us anything this early…so Danny goes to sit down.

Kris is then brought out and given the same treatment. Kris is from Conway, Arkansas…where I’ve actually been. I have a friend from there and another friend whose husband is from there. Conway isn’t too far away from my neck of the woods. I think it would be great if Kris won the whole thing.

Jordan Sparks sings and then the weatherman breaks in again. As long as he doesn’t have the nerve to break in when it really counts… I shouldn’t be too upset though because it is for a tornado warning.

AI comes back on in the middle of Adam’s video…so I didn’t miss much. I did get to see the place that made Adam who he is…The Theater for the Performing Arts…obviously. Then there was the hot chick who rushed the stage; doesn’t she know he is gay? Maybe she was looking for a gay bff.

Some crazy chick comes out and sings (Katy Perry, “I Kissed a Girl”). Danny says he just wants to get on with it and Adam yells out that he wants to see Katy Perry. She comes out with a cape on that says Adam Lambert on the back of it (I can’t believe AI let her do that). No wonder Glambert was willing to stay in suspense a little longer. That and he probably feels like he’s safe and has nothing to worry about.

Finally… Ryan says that Kris is safe. Yea! I’m really hoping that Glambert goes home, but is it wishing too much? Yes it is… Adam is in the final and Danny goes home. Then there’s a shot of what appears to be Adam’s boyfriend celebrating in the audience.

So the final is going to be between Adam and Kris. It would be so huge if Kris would win over Adam. Danny goes home, but I bet that he has a career in music ahead of him if he wants it. Remember: it’s not always the Idol winners who make it after the show.

American Idol Final 3

Tonight there will be two songs from each artist: one chosen by the contestant and one chosen by the judges. No matter how much the judges’ songs suck, the judges will never say that it was a bad song choice…

Danny sings “Dance Little Sister” chosen for him by Paula. I did not like this song. There was a long string of “do-do-dos” in the middle that proved nothing. Danny did okay with the song, but it would not have been my choice. Randy said it was dope. Kara didn’t like Danny’s dancing (it’s not a dancing competition Kara!). Paula said that she thought Danny did really good (of course…she chose it). Simon reminds the girls it’s not a dancing competition, but then says that he agreed the dancing wasn’t good. Simon said he didn’t like the song, but that Paula was on the right track with Terrence Trent-Darby.

Kris sings a song chosen by Kara and Randy, “Apologize” by One Republic. Kris plays the piano. I like this songs and I think Kris does a good job with it, and his voice is good for a song like this. He does have a little trouble with the high note, but it’s not bad (or even very noticeable). He changes it up just a little bit, but not enough to really “make it his own”. Randy (in his ridiculous, blue-framed glasses) liked the song choice (hmmmm…) and said it showed who Kris could be in the future. Kara didn’t think he hit it out of the park, and that he should have changed it up more. Paula didn’t like it, but wouldn’t say that…instead she fumbled around a lot. Simon called Paula and Kara out for their remarks (especially Kara not liking the song she chose) and said Kris did a competent job of singing the song.

Adam sings “One” by U2, chosen by Simon, who said he had to call the band to get permission for Adam to sing it and was cleared by Bono (who I can’t stand by the way). Adam starts off by singing the song really slow…and in falsetto (of course), then he goes into his super annoying, screeching falsetto. (I don’t mind the melodious falsetto, but I can’t stand his screeching falsetto. I realize that Adam is probably going to win this competition because he’s got the majority of people fooled, but I don’t have to like it. Saying that, I’m not sure either of the other two deserves the title either. This competition has gone down hill throughout the season…but I totally digress) I think Adam’s done much better on other songs. Randy didn’t like how Adam went “off the melody”, but that it’s a great song (which has nothing to do with Adam’s singing) and that Adam is still a great singer. Kara thought it was unbelievable. Paula said she was looking at an American Idol. Simon said it was a brilliant song choice, and it was a brilliant performance.

Danny chooses to sing “You Are So Beautiful” by Joe Cocker. He does a good job with the song, and manages to get out several glory notes, but that’s the problem, it’s just okay or good with Gokey at this point, nothing great… and he needs to be great to win. He does change up the song and make it his own, and does a good, clean job singing the song. I do think this was a much better song than the one Paula chose for him. Randy said he had mad vocals. Kara said it was stunning. Paula said that he left them all breathless. Simon said it was a vocal master-class (I’m pretty sure that’s good, but not sure what it means).

Kris sings “Heartless” by Kanye West, while playing the guitar. I think Kris does a good job, but this is not normally my kind of song and I’m not a Kanye West fan. Randy said it was better than the original. Kara asked him why he didn’t do that with “Apologize” and said it was perfect. Paula liked it. Simon said he had written Kris out after the first “lame song choice”, but it had all changed after that performance.

Adam chooses to sing “Crying” by Aerosmith. This should be right in Glambert’s range because Steven Tyler tends to sing in falsetto part of the time. Adam starts the song out in his real range (no falsetto) and now I know why he sings in falsetto all the time…he can’t sing any other way but screaming falsetto. I’m sure that a lot of people loved that performance, but it was just painful for me. I really like Aerosmith, and I did not like hearing that done to one of their hits. Randy said that Adam is one of the best that they’ve ever had on that stage. Kara said it was amazing and that they’ll see him at the finals. Paula mumbled a bunch of ridiculous stuff. Simon said he wasn’t going to suck up as much as the other three, and that America shouldn’t assume that Adam will be in the final three, but that they need to vote. Then Adam “humbles” himself by saying some clap-trap about how the other two did a great job and competition was tough…which I in no way believe that Adam really believes; his head is so big now that it’s a wonder it can fit on that stage.

At this point I’m only watching to see what happens. I do not have a horse in this race, and don’t much care what the outcome is.

No Power = Bored

Here's a reason to not live alone: power outages. We had a major storm blow through today. A neighbor lost everything...house and barns. It took out multiple power lines and we're going to be out for a while. I have no power and nothing to do. If I didn't live by myself, I would get out a board game, but alas. There's all kinds of things I could do...
- read
- pick up around the house (there's a lot of that needing done. It kind of looks like a tornado did hit the house)
- do yard work (lots of that needing done)
- go hang out at my Mom's (no power there either, but at least thers people)

I really should pick up around the house, but I REALLY don't want to. Usually I do that while watching TV. I'm just bumbed that I can't play Guitar Hero (I know that's terrible considering a neighbor doesn't even have a house...). I think I'll just take a nap and hope that the power gets fixed sooner than expected.

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American Idol Top 4 Results Show

I’m going to make this short and sweet because I just bought Guitar Hero and American Idol for my Wii and I must get back to it!

• Terrible Ford commercial…I used to really like that song.
• Listened to part of the song, but FF through the second half because I couldn’t stand to listen to Danny and Kris sing Alice Cooper.
• Who cares about Paula…not this gal.
• I tried to listen to No Doubt, but Gwen doesn’t sound as good live…and she was majorly out of breath.
• Ryan draws out the results for as long as he can, but eventually sends Kris to safety. WHAT!?!? I really thought he was going home after last night’s performance. Is Danny going home?
• FF through Daughtry. I didn’t watch that season either (not that I don’t like their music, but remember? Guitar Hero awaits!).
• Ryan sends Adam to safety.
• Danny is safe and Allison goes home. I am not overly surprised, but I loved Allison’s voice. I think she’ll do really well out there in the music biz as long as someone doesn’t try to change her or force her to be pop.

American Idol – Top Four

We’re gonna rock!! It’s Rock Week. Apparently the contestants didn’t get a “proper” run through because towers were falling down right before dress rehearsal. This week the contestants are going to pair up for some songs. That should be interesting.

So…Slash is the mentor this week. I didn’t realize Slash was a singer, but I do know he’s a rocker.

Adam sings Zeppelin. I just about couldn’t stand to listen to this. It’s not that Glambert was bad, but I don’t like Zeppelin to begin with and then add Adam’s voice… Randy loved it. Kara said that Adam was a rock god. Paula loved it. Simon said it could have been a disaster, but one of his favorite performances of Adam’s and that nobody could top that.

Allison sings Joplin and does a good job. It wasn’t as showy as Adam, but I thought she did a great job of it. Randy said he didn’t love the song choice because it didn’t have the best melody. Kara said Joplin was a good choice, but maybe a different song. Paula said that Allison could play Janice Joplin in a bio-pic (but doesn’t mention the singing…of course). Simon thought she did a good job, but sounded too much like the original.

Danny and Kris sing Stix as a duet. Danny did a pretty good job, but Kris seemed to be struggling to cover a rock band.

Kris sings the Beatles “Come Together”. Kris is just not rock. He hits the notes, but he’s not really believable as a rock singer, even singing something as mild as the Beatles. Randy said he enjoyed it even if Kris isn’t a rock guy. Kara said it wasn’t a great performance and it seemed like he was trying too hard. Paula says a bunch of stuff that doesn’t make sense. Simon says it was like eating ice for lunch.

Danny sings Aerosmith. Danny does an okay job…better than Kris. He adds some weird doo-wap stuff in the middle of the song, and his falsetto was disappointing. Randy thought it was just alright, but it was a good effort. Kara thought he was trying to hard, but liked that he took chances. Paula wasn’t sure it was the best song choice. Simon said he agreed with what everyone said, but the last note was a like a scream from a horror story.

Allison and Adam sing Foghat’s “Slow Ride”. They did a good job, but then…this is their genre.

I think Kris is in trouble this week.

The HD Dilemma

I'm really wanting to upgrade to HD. I'm finding this to be a bigger deal than I had originally thought it would be. Here's the break down...

• If I upgrade to HD, I have to get a new DirecTV satellite box (and satellite dish).
  
• I refuse to give up my Tivo.
  
• DirecTV only has a DVR that works with HD. DVRs are NOT THE SAME as Tivo. If you've never had Tivo, you won't understand (it's kind of like how PC people don't understand how great Macs are if they haven't ever owned one).
  
• Tivo's HD box does not work with satellite service, just cable (I was just going to do that, but found out it wouldn't work).
• DirecTV and Tivo are partnering on an HD DirecTV Tivo box (Yippy!), but rumors of it coming out in the second half of 2009 have been pushed back to early 2010 (boo!). Will it be pushed back again? How long must I wait?
  
• If I go to HD, I want to also get surround sound (again...have already gone through 2 systems and haven't had it for around 3 years now *sigh*). Most surround sound systems now come with a DVD player in the receiver. That sounds good, but...
  
• I need a DVD recorder. I'm actually in the market for one right now because my current one has stopped playing DVDs. If I get a surround sound with a DVD player, how am I going to record shows onto a DVD? I don't want to have a DVD recorder hooked up to a DVD player, that's just stupid (and redundant).

So, I'm thinking of doing a little bit more research, save up some money, and wait out the DirecTV HD Tivo box. I was hoping to get the system this summer with my summer school paycheck, but I should probably be responsible and put that toward a bill. I don't need any of the upgrades (just a new DVD recorder), so nothing has to be done right now. Plus, prices will most likely continue to fall and quality will get better and better on the HD TVs (yeah, I don't even have one yet, it is part of the big expense).

The thing is, I'm single and live alone. I'm a HUGE entertainment freak. I have the TV on all the time (even if I'm not really paying attention and it's just for company). Spending money on a good entertainment system is not something I think is stupid or wasteful because I will definitely get my money's worth. I just want to wait and get the best set up for me.

Let me know if you have any grand ideas!

New Blog: Small Town Snapshots

I have created a new blog called Small Town Snapshots. Small Town Snapshots is a blog of snapshots taken daily with my Blackberry. They are just everyday photos of the everyday occurrences in my life. Every day something happens that makes me think, "I should tell somebody about that." Maybe you'll care, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll find something amusing, and maybe you will see something in my life, that reminds you of yours. Please drop by and check it out.

Prom Deco

Decorating for prom! How do you turn a gym into a wonderland? $4000 worth of gossamer.
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