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Halo? Gears of War? Are you a fan?

If so check out these sites...

For Halo: www.gruntsrus.com

For Gears of War: www.gowfans.com

Both are amazing sites that I'm proud to be a part of.

Enjoy!

"A feather in a hand..."

“A feather in a hand is better than a bird in the air”

I don’t usually pay attention to fortune cookies – I don’t believe in them. Every once in a while, you get one that’s kinda funny, but that’s rare. They’re never really anything special. However, not too long ago, I got one that read, “A feather in a hand is better than a bird in the air”. I wasn’t sure what it was trying to say. Usually, they just straight up say, “You’re going to die tomorrow” or something like that. But this one, nope! It had some deep, underlying thought and I wanted to know what it was. I had this…feeling, if you will…that it had something to do with the difference between reality and fiction, but I couldn’t quite make the connection…couldn’t make it fit. So I asked around the office. Most people just had no clue and gave up – didn’t even bother trying to figure it out. A few, however, pondered it for a few moments, but only to find themselves in the same boat as I. Days passed and I couldn’t let it go. Everyone else had forgotten about the saying, but it stuck with me and actually began to…bug me. I looked around online, but that was a waste of time – there was nothing. So I finally decide that the best person to ask is probably Chad. He’s like me…he’ll ponder it long enough to get it. It won’t just leave his mind after a few minutes like it did the others. So I ask him…a few minutes pass and I get a response: “Something worth less that you already have in your possession is better than something worth more that you might want.” That’s it! It makes perfect sense! How did he do it, I’ll never know. I’m content now, though – I feel no need to search for any other meaning for this one works fine for me.

Anywho, this whole post was written simply because Chad mentioned he’s the only one that is majoring in English and that statement made me feel the need to write. I didn’t know what to write about and expressed this to him…to which he said, “Write anything. That’s the beauty of writing. It can literally be anything you want. Sometimes I just write words, and that leads me to an idea from deep within my subconscious.” So that’s what I did. I near immediately thought of the little quote from the fortune cookie and decided to run with it. I'm not sure that it raised something up from within my subconscious, but just writing about the first thing that came to mind did fine. I feel better now that I wrote something. It's the curse of most Idealists...that need to just write.

Thoughts...

Why do women put so much of their hope in men? We hope for something that we know won't happen...in fact, we know that we will only be disappointed and hurt in the end, however, we continue to hope. Why? Wouldn't it be easier to not hope and just go with what is at the moment? That way we're never expecting something that they won't provide. It's very rare to find a man that will meet these hopes and expectations...and when a woman does, she marries him. There aren't enough of these men in the world, so most women are stuck with men that will disappoint them...and they marry them...only to be continuously disappointed. But the problem isn't the men...it's the women. We're the ones that are hoping for something we know we won't get. In the deepest, darkest crevices of our mind lingers the truth...the reality...the oh, so bitter imperfection. It's there, but we ignore it...refuse to believe or acknowledge it. Why? Because the "what is" is not as appealing as the "what can be". But even so, we know that the hoping will only lead us to much more pain and agony than the truth ever would. So why not call the truth to the fore...bring it to our conscious mind and prevent so much uneccessary pain and suffering? That's the question. We KNOW everything that will happen. We could lay out the reality of our future in our heads and we could side-step so many things if we paid attention to that. But we don't! Why not? Time after time we fall into the same trap. We hope he won't do it, but we know he eventually will. And when he does, we can't believe it. We're shocked, disappointed, crushed, hurt, devastated. Why? We knew it was coming.

These are the thoughts that have been running through my head like Olympic Sprinters for the past 24 hours. It feels so much better to have written them down. *deep breath* Now I can continue with my day. (:

A website for my cousin, Heather

This is the website for my cousin, Heather. She was somewhat recently diagnosed with brain cancer. Check it out: http://www.leapforacure.org/

SYTYCD - Week 2 Performances

1. Chelsea & Thayne - Terrible, TERRIBLE choreography and outfits. I just can't get over either. Bottom 3.

2. Chelsie & Mark - Loved it, love them. They're my favorite couple and I hope they go super far. Mark is also my pick to win it all. Safe.

3. Jessica & Will - Jess pulled Will down. I think she did terrible. All I could watch were her mishaps. Bottom 3.

4. Kourtni & Matt - I liked it a lot, although I agree that Matt needs to be more masculine. He did amazing with all those lifts, though. Safe.

5. Courtney & Gev - BEAUTIFUL! My favorite dance of the night. I wouldn't be surprised if this routine is done again in the Final 4. I believed it (more from Gev, but hey). Safe.

6. Katee & Joshua - Great! They're my second favorite couple. They're really cute together and Joshua's my runner-up winner. Safe.

7. Susie & Marquis - Couldn't tell ya. I didn't watch their performance because I don't like either of them. Hope they leave. Bottom 3?

8. Kherington & Twitch - So cute and adorable. My third favorite couple. And I have Kherington taking third place overall. Love that girl. Safe.

9. Comfort & Chris - Those judges are trippin. Chris isn't a favorite of mine by any means, but he did really well with hitting those moves. I actually thought Comfort could've hit harder. Possible bottom 3, but should be safe.

Overall, Courtney and Gev's Mandi Moore routine was my favorite of the night. I'm excited to see the Top 18 performance choreographed my Shane Sparks tonight. I hope to see both Susie and Marquis leave us.

Goodbye, GRU...Hello, GFN!

So some of you may know that my beloved online home, Grunts 'R' Us, was hacked yet again. This time Oriol (the creator) decided to shut it down. It made me deeply sad...I'd lost my home. So I wondered over to HBN (HaloBabies.Net) and enjoyed their community, but still felt a deep void. HBN is great, but can't begin to compare to GRU.

Then yesterday, I get an email from Oriol asking if I wanted to be an admin on his new site, GamingFront.Net. Well OF COURSE, Oriol! Lol. So I join and pick up the tasks assigned to me. The site's only been up and (semi) running for a day now and already GRU members are finding their way over. This excites me because that means the GRU community will still live on through GFN...and I've once again found my online home.

SYTYCD - So You Think You Can Dance

It started May 22, but last night the Top 20 were announced. I'm excited as most of my favorites were picked. I was disappointed to not see Kooper (the guy that reminded me - and the judges - of Travis Wall) and Jason (the contemporary dancer that was booted from the group dances). As for the rest, I'm pretty content and happy with the outcome. Here's what I think of the Top 20 this season.

1. Twitch - He's okay. I remember him from last season, but I also remember not being impressed with him at all then.
2. William - I hadn't noticed him until he danced for his life. I fell in love with him right then, right there.
3. Jessica - I thought her choreography for the group round was amazingly good and I liked her starting then.
4. Kourtni L - LOVE her! She reminds me of my friend, Mindi.
5. Joshua - I've loved him since his very first audition. He just seems different to me and yet still completely humble.
6. Jaime - Haven't seen enough of him to really judge.
7. Courtney G - She's so cute and I definitely love her fluidity when she dances.
8. Kherington - I've loved her since her first audition as well. She's like a ray of sunshine.
9. Rayven - I don't remember her well enough to judge.
10. Chelsea T - I have NO clue who she is. I don't remember her AT ALL.
11. Chris - I feel like I'm losing my memory now.
12. Katee - I was rooting for her until her little stint with her friend, Natalie. I agree that Katee still should've been picked, but she's lost a tremendous amount of respect from me.
13. Thayne - I barely remember him.
14. Comfort - I like her a lot and think she's cute with Joshua.
15. Susie - Can't stand her!!! All she does is fling her hair around and act like she's nothing but a sex toy. Ugh.
16. Marquis - Don't remember much of him.
17. Chelsie H - She was the one with the 4 brothers, no? I remember loving her in her first audition, but can't remember why. I'll need to see more of her.
18. Mark - I didn't notice him till he danced for his life in which I fell in love with him.
19. Matt - I feel like Dory now.
20. Gev - I loved his unique style. I mean, who breakdances on ice? He's good.

So those are my thoughts on SYTYCD. Good overall.

On another note, Chad's last day at work was yesterday. He's leaving for Summer Camp today and won't be back till mid-August. What am I to do at work now?

Catch-up

So I haven't written in my blog in a week. Life's just been hectic and so has work so I'm gonna do a quick little backtrack.

Last night I had my first talk...ever! I've never been a householder or anything. This was my very first talk and it was in the front school. My householder didn't show up so Lindsey filled in which was cool. After meeting Lindsey, Troy, Alli, Leroy, Jared (PACAS, I know you're reading this), and I went back to Leslie's house and had pizza and just hung out.

Tuesday wasn't much of anything that I can remember. I had Excel Training all day and was in a class of people that didn't know how to save a document.

Monday, I was in service from 10-3 with Troy, Jared (PACAS), Ian, Leroy, Nate, Kyle, and Leslie. It was a good day. After that, I was supposed to change and head to Leslie's, but when I got home, I was so tired I just fell asleep. I woke up when my mom got home and worked on my talked...finished it up. Then I went to my study, came home, and watched Jon & Kate Plus 8 which is the best show ever.

Sunday reflected Saturday's acitivities so I'll start with Saturday. Saturday night, my mom called to let me know that Duchess, our 3 year old female German Shepherd, had a seizure. It was her first one. About a half-hour later she had another and an hour later, another. They took her to the Emergency Vet who would put IVs in her and keep an eye on her as well as administer meds if needed. Sunday, we babied Duke, our 4 year old male German Shepherd and Duchess' half-brother, all day because he'd never been apart from his sister and was missing her. At 6, we picked her up and they said she hadn't had any more and her "grogginess" was now gonel; she was alert. Tuesday she had a blood test done and we received the results yesterday. Good news! She's hypoglycemic, not epileptic and doesn't have a brain tumor or anything; her blood sugar level was just too low. Easy fix...feed her 3 small meals a day instead of one large meal every morning. Yay Duchess!!!

So the moral of this story is, don't change your dog's dog food to Ole Roy because it doesn't have enough "sugars" in it to sustain blood sugar levels...just keep them on Pedigree. :)

DAVID COOK is our new American Idol

We did it, Cookies, we did it. We not only beat out Archie's Angels, we crushed them. Cook won by a margin of 12 million votes. That means that of the 97.5 million votes cast, about 55 million were from us; 56%. Below are some pictures of the night.

The shaving cream The Love Guru put on Cook's face after telling Cook he needed to shave about a quarter inch off...




















The Love Guru trying to shave Cook's face right after Archuleta caught the falling cream...

















Cook jamming with ZZ Top...

















Cook singing his coronation song, "Time of My Life", while hugging Archuleta...





















Cook hugging his mother after his name was announced...

















Cook and crew after he finished his song...











Cook in his Guitar Hero commercial...

American Idol 7 Finale Performance Night

Here’s what I thought.

ROUND 1 – Clive Davis picked the song
David Cook – “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”
Gave me chills and it sounded like a soundtrack for a movie. I really liked it.
David Archuleta – “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me”
Good performance, but the same old sappyness and it sounded like a church song.

ROUND 2 – The contestant picks which they sing out of 10 submitted songs from non-famous song writers (Idol Viewers) and the contestant puts the arrangement together
David Cook – “Dream Big”
I LOVED it. It totally sounded like such a victory song and I loved how he put the arrangement together.
David Archuleta – “In This Moment”
He did AMAZING with it. He really did. But once again, it’s such a slow song that I could only stand to hear it a few times.

ROUND 3 – The contestant can pick whatever song they want…either one they’ve previously performed or a new one
David Cook – “The World I Know” (he picked a new song)
I really liked it. I loved the high notes he did toward the end and such. And he took a risk by doing a new song.
David Archuleta – ’”Imagine” (he’s already performed this song)
He played it safe by picking a song he knew he had success on…and then he sucked at it.

Technically, Archie won 2 of the 3 rounds, but Cook will take the title home.

Also, never underestimate the power of worried fans on Finale night. That's all I have to say.

Life

So I haven't really written in my blog that past couple of days. That's mostly due to work...things have been pretty hectic around here.

I've recently been surrounded by Phantom of the Opera cases though, which is strange because I've never really heard or cared about it before. It started when Alli wanted to see the play that's coming (is actually here now) in Sacramento. Then David Cook sang "Music of the Night" on AI, Janet was watching it one night when I was at Leslie's, Alex mentioned that I had to see it, and then Trust said I had to go to the play with him. Perhaps I'll watch it with him soon.

Sooooo, I cut Chad's hair today. It was pretty crazy. Who would've known his hair was that thick. Like...the clippers just wouldn't go through...anywhere. Trudy had to step in and cut it down with the scissors and then I could buzz the rest of it off. Poor guy. Lol. I already miss his blonde (ish) curls. *sad face*

Aaaaaaand...that's about it as for now. I'm sure I'll have more to say tomorrow and whatnot. Peace.

P.S. I Love You

Can I just say that this movie was not only the best of it's kind, but also has the best title?

*WARNING: SPOILERS TO FOLLOW*

The movie is basically about Jerry (Gerard Butler) and Holly (Hilary Swank) who married when Holly was only 19. They've been together for ten years when Jerry finds out he has a brain tumor and dies soon after. Holly is devastated and refuses to answer the phone, let alone leave her apartment. Until one day, her birthday, her friends and family stop on by her apartment to try to make her happy on her birthday. Suddenly, a cake is delivered with the words, "Happy birthday, Holly, my love. Love, Jerry" and they're all shocked. There's also a recorded message from Jerry and he tells her that he wrote out letters in advance - before he died - and they will be coming to her at certain points. Each letter has it's own significance and way to help/teach her something about getting on without him and each letter ends with "P.S. I love you". He takes her and her friends to Ireland at one point (f0r he was Irish and that's where they had met) where she meets his parents and relives the moment they first met. Finally, she can't take it anymore because her two best friends are so amazingly happy (one's getting married, the other is having a baby) and she is not. She runs to her mother (who nearly despised Jerry all along) and just cries to her. They go on a walk to talk and her mom gives her a letter and states that it's the last one (this is the point where I sobbed harder than any other part of the movie). Holly reads it and Jerry says it's her last lesson. He tells her that everything that had made him a man, he had learned from her and that she had to get on without him now, for it has been a year since his death. She also states that she no longer feels him and it's as if he's really gone now. But the movie ends on a happy note, where Holly and her mother take another trip to Ireland and Holly reunites with Jerry's ex-bandmate and best friend, William, and you immediately know that they'll hook up.

*END OF SPOILER*

All in all, awesome, amazing, great movie. BUT, it is really a chick flick. It left me emotionally drained and I wouldn't dare recommend any guys to see it. All women will love it, however...except maybe those few who truly despise chick flicks. An A+ movie in my book...sad that it bombed at the box office.

My Random Weekend

Do you ever have those weekends where you didn't have ANYTHING planned, but it turns out to be a MUCH more busy weekend than if you had something planned? That was this weekend.

It all started Friday when my mom told me to stay away from the house. So I got home from work Friday, cleaned the kitchen, packed my stuff, and dropped my sister off at my grandma's. Then I went to Leslie's house, picked her up, and met up with Leroy and Jared at In N Out. Les and I ate while Jared and Leroy just watched (they had just eaten) and then we sat outside In N Out on those tables while we listened to Stephen Lynch on my iPhone. Then Troy and Alli called so we met up with them at the TGIF on Howe and had a good ole time there. Jared got lost and claims he drove through hell, but once he got there, we started making "creations" out of our food stuffs. We made a picture of Jared, a delicious looking piece of cake, and then an "iced tea". The "iced tea" consisted of the last bit of Jared's Coke mixed with ketchup, pepper, salt, sugar, lime, orange, and my spit. After seeing this abomination, I dared Jared to drink it for the $7 I had in my wallet. When he did it, I almost puked...and he took off into the bathroom. It was so gross. Next, we went back to Troy and Alli's and just played Smash Brothers and all till 3 in which Les and I finally drove back to her house and crashed on the hard floor.

Saturday, I slept in much longer than Les did. When I finally did get up, I pretty much just ran errands with her and added my forms of entertainment along the way (such as "walking it out" while half asleep). Saturday night, I drove out to Arden to pick up Alli from work and then we went back to Les' where Leroy joined us and we watched both Cloverfield and Martian Child. Please, do not watch Cloverfield. It's one of the worst movies I've seen in my life. There was absolutely NO point to that entire movie...and I searched for something. Martian Child, on the other hand, had some really good points in it. It taught you things about life or at least made you think about things most people have never bothered to think about before. It had a meaning and a purpose to it. I would recommend it to my friends. After Martian Child, I tried to wake up Alli so we could go home, but all she did was say "I already did it. What else do you want?" and when she did wake up, she said she was dreaming she was ringing me up at Nordstrom Rack. Lol. When we got back to her place, I played H3 with Troy and Caveman while Alli went to bed.

Sunday was the most laid back day. Woke up, took Alli to work, went back to Alli's (Troy had already gone to work) and played CoD4 with DJ till it was time to head home. Got home, showered, went to meeting (which was funny because Sister Wimer, some chick I don't know, Japheth, Brother Hawks, Lyndsi, Lindsey, Katie, Leslie, Nate, and I took up nearly the whole row), went home, got food, ate food, and went to bed.

Aaaaaaaaand now I'm dead beat tired at work. Today's going to be so blah. My mom is going out of town today and won't be back till Wednesday evening. That means no fighting her for American Idol. Haha.

And here are the pictures of the food stuffs...

Things you thought were true when you were little...

This comes from my co-worker's friend, Anna. I figured I'd post it here to see if anyone has any stories to tell. If you do, email me at jmlover87@gmail.com and I'll forward the message to her.

Recently I was inspired by attending a live showing of my favorite Public Radio show (yes, I'm aware I just outed my geek self, and I'm proud o it!), This American Life, and as such, am doing a series of interviews with folks regarding "Things I Thought Were True When You Were Little".

I'll give you some quick examples.

#1- As a small child, I thought we had no bones. You know those diagrams of people facing the side, arms out, mouth open? They usually had a tube where the throat was, and perhaps a stomach or other single organ, and the rest was colored in red. I logically assumed that yes, we had a throat, and perhaps a stomach or otehr single organ, and the rest of the body was just meat. No bones, none of that, just solid meat. I dont remember when I found out about the skeleton and the circulatory system and the organs and all that, but I was surprised.

#2- My brother, as a very small child (five, MAYBE) would tell stories that began with "When I was little, when I used to be a girl...." Not only was a five year old telling stories about the good old days when he was little, but he (erroneously, by the way) thought he used to be a girl.

#3- Many children believe "Mom" and "Dad" are their mom and dad's real names. I've seen a child in the moment when they realized, quite against their will, that their Grandma's name was not, in fact, Grandma, but something else, like Elaine. It blows their mind. They are intolerant of the idea that Grandma is not Grandma's name.

#4- I remember the moment I realized that the music I was hearing on the radio was not in fact performed live in studio each and every time I heard it, which relieved the anxiety in my tiny mind about how on earth those musicians managed to keep up the stamina and schedule neccessary to make it to the radio studio at any given moment, one the whim of the Dj or possibly a caller making a request. I pictured them rushing from station to station, performing their hit, and running off again to another station to do the same.

#5-Lastly, (and this contradicts my parameters a bit, below, but I love it nonetheless) at around ten or eleven, my brother Gabe had me convinced that "Son of a Maraca" was a swear word. I was duped. Hey, it SOUNDS dirty.

Now, after chatting to a few people about their own stories, I have seen that I need to clarify a few parameters: I am searching for the kinds of stories that didn't come from a parent or gaurdian telling you some farcical cautionary tale about otherwise innocent activity. Example: Grandma tells you your face will stay like that if you keep it up. Mom warns you a watermelon will grow in your stomach if you swallow the seeds. Uncle Rico tells you Cheerios are doughnut seeds. Step Dad tells you the medical staples in his forehead from a recent accident are really holding his head onto his body (is anyone else noticing a pattern of blatent exploitation of childlike trust and moldable minds, here?)

What I am fascinated by is the Occam's Razor effect that children's minds invariably access by default in complex situations where a rational answer is needed, but none is offered--the very essence of Occam's Law of Succinctness: "All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best." In other words, when multiple competing theories are equal in other respects, the principle recommends selecting the theory that introduces the fewest assumptions and postulates the fewest entities--so, knowing the basics of radio, instead of my six year old mind assuming that the music I'm hearing is made up of non-material sound waves travelling through time and space from a satellite in space to the complex electronic components in my radio from a recording made through the elaborate technological feat that is modern recording, I unconsciously instituted Occam's Razor and came up with the simplest solution: the people are in the studio playing live. Same goes for all those poor children who assumed (rightly so, given the information available) that the television set was full of tiny people. As adults we find it absurd, asking questions like, "Ok, then, how do you think they got IN there?", but really we should be applauding their rationality in the face of what is otherwise a complete mystery to them.

So it's not "I thought the Easter Bunny/Santa/Tooth Fairy was real" sort of thing--You believed that because someone told you to believe it. I want to know what you rationalized to explain the world around you. Frequently these kinds of stories begin with "I remember the day I found out/realized/was told ______" and is accompanied by abiding shock and a similar self- or other imposed questioning of WHY we had never questioned that belief in the first place.
Why didn't we assume Mom had a real name? Well the better question is why should we? It's what you've been calling her all your life, correct? It's not like Dad sat you down at five months and said, "Now, look, I just want you to know your mom's name is Karen. We'll all be referring to her as "Mom" for the next 75 years, but her name is Karen. K?" If that were the case, then yes, duh.

These aren't the kinds of stories most people can pull up right away (unless the revelation of the truth in that individual situation was particularly scarring), so don't answer right away--give it a week, think on it, and get back to me. Dig deep into that childhood of yours. I'll be compiling the stories and creating images for each one. It's an experiment/exercise/documentary project. Thank you in advance for participating! I can't wait to see/hear what creative, entertaining, brilliantly childlike stories you dig up.

Sincerely, Anna
p.s. Please pass this along to anyone you can think of...the more stories the better! Perfect strangers, prison pen-pals, the dentist. Whoever. Cheers!

Work: 5.8.08

Today was pretty cool. I kept thinking it was Friday...I really wish it were. But tomorrow is so that's exciting.

Today was a pretty chill and laid back day. I started right off with the ish that was left over from yesterday and got that out of the way. Then we had Chester's going away luncheon which we were at from 11 to 2. I walked back from the Spaghetti Factory with Hani, Chad, and Steve. Chad wanted to check out the comic book store so we all stepped in there. When we were ready to leave, I saw Steve walk out, but then got distracted by an action figure toy machine. After I got my Beetle and Hani got his sorry arse Mad Hatter, we walk out to find Steve nowhere. We look down all the streets and can't find him. Maybe he went back to make sure he caught the mail run. So we get to work and I ask Chad if Steve's there (Chad sits by him...I don't) and Chad says, "No, he's nowhere to be seen." He had us all confused. Apparently, he showed up a bit later...he had went into the music store next to the comic one.

Then I was leaving a voicemail for our IT guy, Jim, and start the message off with, "Hi Tanishia, this is Jim from HR..." wait...rewind!!! Jim from HR. No, backwards. "Hi Jim, this is Tanishia from HR..." yeah, that's right.

Totally a Friday kinda day.

iTunes Morning After Results

Alright, so I’ve been accused of making this blog an American Idol blog, but it’s not although I will bring certain AI points out in this blog. Don’t worry, my dear David, AI is over in 2 weeks.

Now to business. The list below is the AI iTunes most downloaded songs. Interestingly, David Cook controls near half of this list and tops all AI contestants with 9 songs. Archuleta currently holds the number one spot (one that has not belonged to anyone except Cookie since his Billie Jean performance), but everyone knows that Archie having that spot is due to the poor studio choice called “Hungry Like The Wolf”. And how strange is it that Syesha Mercado has made it to the final 3, but she doesn’t have a single song in this top 20 list? I say my Cookie has the clear advantage here.

1. David Archuleta — “Love Me Tender”
2. David Cook - “Hungry Like The Wolf”
3. David Cook - “Always Be My Baby”
4. Jason Castro - “Mr Tambourine Man”
5. David Cook - “Billie Jean”
6. David Cook - “Music of the Night”
7. David Cook - “I’m Alive”
8. David Archuleta - “Think of Me”
9. Jason Castro - “Over the Rainbow”
10. David Archuleta - “Sweet Caroline”
11. David Cook - “Hello”
12. David Archuleta - “Imagine”
13. David Archuleta - “When You Believe”
14. David Cook - “Eleanor Rigby”
15. David Cook - “Innocent”
16. David Cook - “Little Sparrow”
17. David Archuleta - “Angels”
18. Jason Castro - “Forever in Blue Jeans”
19. Jason Castro - “Hallelujah”
20. Brooke White - “I Am… I Said”

Check out Rickey.org for constant AI iTunes updates.

Work: 5.7.08

Work today was pretty meh. I'm amazingly tired because I didn't get to bed till 1 (thanks Alli) and had to wake up at 6 to shower and such. So I came into work pretty tired and dead-beat.

The morning went pretty smoothly...my normal routine and such.

The first mail run is when things began to get hectic. Suddenly I had two job opps that needed to be formatted and posted along with countless envelopes of mail (we recently sent out contact letters and today was the final file date) and then I had to make copies of apps from the first three ranks of the HF Spec SF exam. Yeah, none of you understand any of the jibber jabber (perhaps Chad will...), but it doesn't matter. Just typing it makes me feel a little more relaxed.

So now it's 5pm and I'm off work, but have to sit here till 5:30 (waiting for the mums to get off...we carpool) so I'm just sitting, contemplating all that needs to be done tomorrow...before the first mail run. Chad...stall Steve, please. Lol.

Ah, I was just reminded that I have a lovely book sitting next to me that needs to be read. It's Xenocide by Orson Scott Card. It's the third installment in the Enderverse. Ender's Game is the first and Speaker for the Dead is the second...both of which are epic books. So, I'm going to publish this terrible post and then set off to pick up where I left off in my reading (only page 21). Peace (or DPO, if you will)! :)

The Randomness of JM #1

Sooooo...out of pure boredom (partially because somebody's not at work today), I've listed every single music artist I have on my iPod (aka Aleksei). The ones in bold are artists I listen to much more than the others.

Aerosmith
Air Traffic
All Time Low
Amanda Perez
Andy Gibb
Annie Lennox
August Rush
Avril Lavigne

Blink182
Bloc Party
Boyz II Men

Carly Comando
Cassius
Celine Dion
Chris Botti

Daft Punk
David Archuleta
David Cook
Depeche Mode
Destiny's Child
The Devil Wears Prada
Dido
Disturbed
Doug Smith
Dragonforce

E-Manuel
Edwin McCain
Enya
The Escape Frame
Evanescence
Eve 6
Extreme

Faith Evans
The Fall of Troy
Fatty Koo
Flogging Molly
Forever the Sickest Kids
Fort Minor

George Michael
Gorillaz

Handsome Boy Modeling School
Hot Rod Circuit

The IMPACT Repertory Theatre
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

Jack Johnson
James Blunt
Jason Castro
Jennifer Paige
John Legend
John Mayer
John Mayer Trio
John Ondrasik
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Justin Timberlake

Kaki King
Kanye West
The Killers
Kina Grannis
Klaxons

Leftfield
Leon Thomas III
Lifehouse
Lily Allen
Linkin Park
Lorene Drive
The Lovin' Spoonful

The Maine
Mark Mancina
Martha Wainwright
MIKA
Moby
Muse
My American Heart

Nelly Furtado
New Found Glory
Nick Cannon
Nirvana
*NSYNC

Olivia Newton-John
OneRepublic
OutKast

Person L
Pharrell
Plain White T's
The Police

Rage Against the Machine
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Robin Thicke

Say Anything
Scary Kids Scaring Kids
Scott Simmons
Sebastian Tellier
The Secret Handshake
Set Your Goals
Snow Patrol
Sozzi
Stephen Lynch
Steve Erdody
Story of the Year
Straylight Run

This Providence
Three Days Grace
Timbaland

Will Smith
Wynners

30 Seconds to Mars
4 PM
50 Cent
98 Degrees

This is one of those things that no one really cares about, but I'm posting it just for the heck of it. Lol.

Thoughts on Top 4 AI Performances

ROUND 1:

David Cook's "Hungry Like The Wolf" --- I was really disappointed by it. It sounded like he was screaming and forcing most of the song and I, for once, disliked a song sung by my Cookie. *sad face*

Syesha Mercado's "Proud Mary" --- It was too slow, too boring, too forgettable for this late in the competition. She picked up the speed some, but it just didn't do it for me.

Jason Castro's "I Shot The Sheriff" --- Meh. It was okay, but forgettable. It's a bit more on the side of his style, but I still see him being a Jack Johnson type of guy over Bob Marley.

David Archuleta's "Stand By Me" --- OH. MY. GOD. I don't like Archie, but this song just blew me away. He sung it with absolute perfection!!! It was so amazing, I'm near speechless.

ROUND 2:

David Cook's "Baba O'Reilly" --- Aaaaaaaaand the Cookie I've grown to love is back and has redeemed himself. Woot. I definitely hope AI allows this song to be his studio version over that last one. *happy, excited face*

Syesha Mercado's "A Change is Gonna Come" --- Much, much better than her first song. The end was a bit too much, but she had an overall very good performance. Redeemed herself as well.

Jason Castro's "Mr. Tambourine Man" --- Forgetting the lyrics, eh? Jason...are you trying to go home? I believe so. The song was overall not too bad, minus the lyric skipping part. I love it when Jason plays his guitar. And this song was much more his thing.

David Archuleta's "Love Me Tender" --- And this is why he got the pimp spot. Both songs were amazing...with this one being less amazing than the first, but still amazing enough.

CLOSING THOUGHTS:

The David's are safe yet another week. They will be the Final 2. Syesha and Jason will be the ones endangered, but Jason is most likely to go home. He's colored red on Dial Idol whereas the other three are green. I've also heard through the grapevine that when Ryan was giving out Jason's number, Jason mouthed, "Don't vote" so I believe he's completely ready to go home. This just isn't his thing...he'd rather be a more laid-back performer like Jack Johnson, me thinks. Anywho, all that really matters is that my Cookie will go on to next week's performance and rock it once again, I'm sure.

To listen/watch the performances, visit www.rickey.org

David Cook Fan Bracelets Fundraiser

David Cook Fan Bracelets (like the Livestrong ones) are being sold now. Half the proceeds will go to a fund for David's older brother, Adam, to see Cookie at the AI Finale (cause we all know he's gonna make it). The other half will go to the American Brain Tumor Association.

I bought one because I'm a fan of DC and would be proud to wear his bracelet and because my family has recently found out that my cousin, Heather, has a brain tumor at age 28.

You can purchase and learn more about the bracelets here.

Top 4 - American Idol 7

Let's see what the top 4 are singing tonight...

David Archuleta
- "Stand by Me" by Ben E. King
- "Love Me Tender" by Elvis Presley (cover by Norah Jones)

David Cook
- "Baba O'Reilly" by The Who
- "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran

Jason Castro
- "Mr. Tambourine Man" by Bob Dylan
- "I Shot the Sheriff" by Bob Marley (cover by Eric Clapton)

Syesha Mercado
- "Proud Mary" by Tina Turner
- "A Change is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke

So for the first time, I'm excited to hear a song by David Archuleta. Archie's bored me to death all season, but this Elvis song is gonna be something. Unfortunately, I haven't heard of either song that my Cookie (David Cook) will be singing tonight. Both of Jason's songs fit him PERFECTLY! As for Syesha, I couldn't care less and I hope she goes home tomorrow.

Source of song choices: JU

My First Blog

Alright, so this is my first blog. Ever. Sure, I've written a few blogs on MySpace and whatnot, but that doesn't count. It's MySpace. Nothing really counts over there. And those blogs didn't ever really mean much to me. They're mostly little games and stuff that just doesn't really matter in my life.

But this blog...this blog is bound for greatness...or so I like to think. You see, I always have things going through my head; always contemplating human interactions, music, something new that I've found, etc. And I'm always relaying everything back to my friends, but always separately. So I figured, why not get a blog and just put it down once? As simple as that, right? Yes and no. Sure they can all simply come here to read what's going on with me, but I've also realized that it's slightly harder to write your thoughts when it's not geared toward one specific person. Which makes me wonder...do we change the way we tell a story specifically for a certain listener? Do I tell Dave an event one way, but then turn around and tell Chad the exact same event in a different way?

It's things like that that I need to put down in writing for my own sake...for sorting out my thoughts in a way. But most of this stuff is really only interesting and pertains to me. My friends are great friends and I know they'd listen to anything I say, but I don't want to tell them all kinds of irrelevant crap all the time. So what this blog will do is allow me to write down all my thoughts, experiences, and such so that I can get them out there, but my friends can pick and choose what they do and don't want to read.

And I'm not one to make good endings to things so I'll just say, "The End!"