Moving sucks. Well, usually. We've been knee deep in packing. Moving day is less than 2 weeks away and I've been a busy little purg-er! I finally figured out that if we moved it from Dallas to El Paso then here to So Cal and never used it, wore it, or ever played with it, then it was time to let someone else have a go at it. Not to mention the THIRTY pair of pants I gave to Goodwill. Because they were "Too Big." Too Big. I repeat Too Big. (allow me the indulgence of saying that a few extra times, as those words I'm thinking have never escaped my lips...) Too Big. One more to make my day.
Anyway... it has been so delightful to get to go through all of our junk and throw "some shit" out. I just feel so liberated and freeeee..! Don't get me wrong, I'm not a hoarder or anything like that, but it just seems that for so long I had the mentality that I needed to save junk because who knows if I could ever afford to buy it's replacement or something new. But I'm here to say, that there just isn't any sanity in saving a brown purse that I've never used just because one day I might want to use it. Because if it's tucked away in a suitcase or storage bin, the one day that I might want to use it, I'm not even going to remember I have it seeing as it's all tucked away. Hence, the moving of said brown purse from Dallas to El Paso, and then to here. (and trust me the brown purse is just a small sample of all that I worked this logic out on the past few weeks of packing...) Bye Bye brown purse and red one and green one. Oh, and beaded belt, fabric for all those quilts I one day was going to make and also you bent and rusty muffin tin. Bye bye.
See? Freeeee..!
The only problem with all this purging, is that now I have all this empty space that the little decorater in me wants to fill. Each and every night these little doses of inspiration below have been dancing in my dreams... And it is looks like these that make me over the moon for this upcoming move!
I already have my top 6 singers, and they're only on the top 18. It's going to be a long season. This week, for me it became quite clear who can sing and who can sing well enough that I'm already hunting their songs down on iTunes. I have my clear cut favorites and am hoping they make it through.
On Tuesday night, the girls sang and for the most part it seemed pretty obvious to me who will be going home tonight. It will be any combination of these 3...
This is Paige, Katelyn and Katie and they can all sing, but just aren't clicking with me or the judges for one reason or another. Paige is cute and sweet (blah, blah, blah), but just doesn't know what to do with herself. Katelyn never impressed me from the beginning and I was actually annoyed when she made the top 24. She's darling enough and when she sang my all time favorite song; I Feel the Earth Move Under my Feet by Carol King on Tuesday night, I so wanted to like her. But all I was left saying was, "Huh, that's all you got? I can sing better than that." And, I can't sing. And then there is Katie. Sorry, not a fan. She's boug'ie and reminds me wayyy too much of Katherine McPhee, the boug'iest of them all.
Bye ladies... If it isn't tonight it will be next week. In addition to these 3 the next I'd like to see go is this girl...
Okay, so here's the thing. She can sing, she's sort of unique, and has a cute little folksy voice and lots of range, but can I just ask, "What is with the hair?" ick. No, make that ICK! It's grey. She dies her hair grey. I have just two words, "Walking Dead." As in dead people walking the earth who play the mandolin and sing like Patsy Cline. Who's dead by the way. Just like Lilly's hair. Bye. I was especially annoyed when she sang that Patsy Cline song, this week and did NOT hit it out of the park, but because she was last in the rotation it seemed to me that the judges were rushed to give their critiques, and instead of calling her out on her "Pitchiness" and her all around sort of killing the song, they let her slide through with rave reviews. Now, like I said, she can sing and is unusual enough that she's welcomed to the show just for being different in my book, but between the hair and the deadness of it, she has got to go. Next week better be the last week I am subjected to the grey. (even though it appears that each week she is lightening it to be more of a white as not to appear so dead looking).
As far as who I do like... It's a close race between; Crystal Bowersox (who TL who told me the other night right after she sang, "Yep, I like her because her name is like Crystal Boston Red Sox..." which for some reason just made me laugh out loud, because that IS just something he would say) Lacey, and Siobhan. I'd have to say right now my favorite is Didi. I loved her rendition of Rhiannon, by Fleetwood Mac, I loved. Loved. Go Didi, and besides saying her name is fun. Didi Benami. Try it.
As for the boys... let's just say it's looking pretty bleak. Like I said, this is going to be a long season. I relly only have two favorites. I gave Andrew 3 weeks to blow me away again like he did in the auditions, but he failed. I mean come on, Jeannie in a Bottle? No. Make it go away. Straight up maybe, but not JIAB. He'll make it through, as he built himself a little following and there just aren't enought "other" boys to edge him out, but he will NOT win the whole thing.
But for the rest of them... eh. I am only loving my two originals: Lee and Alex.
No time to post about American Idol this week... But just know that I still like all the key players from last week and even have a few new ones to add to the list. We'll see who "makes it through" tonight and go from there starting next week. But in honor of Ellen being the "newest (prettiest) judge," here's my story about her.
Okay, so this is old news. Like if this was a newspaper article the paper itself would be all yellow and wrinkley like. But, I'm trying to get caught up and this event was worth still talking about...
Raise your hand if you love Ellen... How can you just not love this woman? She is funny as all get out, she's as kind as they come and everyone knows that she can dance. I've been a fan of her show from day one. I tape her show every single day and honestly can't say that I've missed but just a few days since the beginning. I just love her that much. She's a lifter of spirits, and not a mean word ever escapes her mouth. She does so much for others, and especially those in need.
Last month In January, we got to go and see her show taped live... I've been trying to get tickets for 2 years and finally, finally we got ourselves some. TL, the nephew and I loaded up in the car early in the morning to head up to Burbank. Once we scoped out the area, and found out where we needed to park and go to be at our confirmed check in time, we then headed out for some lunch. There was only one place we could go while up in Burbank and that is the famous Bob's Big Boy. This is the "original" and has been there since the early 40's. We even opted to save time and sit at the old fashioned counter. We ordered up our Big Boy's (okay, so the diet was NOT in force that day...) admired all the Big Boy decor and had a great lunch.
Once we got to the studio in time for our check in, we then began the wait. Ohh, the wait. It's just like you hear all the celebrity's say about the tv and movie business, everything was like a big "hurry up and wait." So wait is what we did. For about 3 hours. It could have been a "boring" wait, but instead they had a little talent show of sorts, asking for volunteers from the audience to come up and perform their hidden talents. Oh, and you know MY hand went up immediately. Wait, you didn't know that I have a hidden talent? Yeah, I didn't eiether. But then when I was the first to be called on, I shot Christian a look of horror... "Oh shit, I didn't really think he'd call on me, now what am I going to do..?" Then it came to me... Of course I can perform that thing I do when I rattle off all the United States in Alphabetical Order. Yep, we'll just make that my "hidden talent" and to make it all "talenty" I'll claim that I can do it really really super duper fast. And, that's just what I did. Um, how embarrassing... But the 300 3000 people I performed it for, did clap for me afterwards. Also, Christian informed me afterwards, "At least you were better than the girl who Barked like a Dog." Thanks Christian. I guess.
Once we got into the actual studio the Party began. The music was loud and the dancing commenced. We had great seats, just off the right side in about the 4th row. I got placed right on the isle and that is when it hit me that Ellen herself was going to breeze right by me as she danced up the stairway directly after her opening monologue. I started to get that nervious excited feeling... We were just giddy from all the excitement in the room. And boom, the show began. Ellen came out and the roar of the crowd was defining... these people seriously love her and I was one of them, screaming my head off, so happy to see her in person. As the show progressed, it just seemed to FLY by... I remeber her dancing right by me, I remember Matthew Broderick coming out and saying the Mystery Word, which won us each a $100 gift certificate for some Clark shoes. (Thank you Matthew B) I remember seeing Tony, and Jillian Michaels who came out to teach Ellen some exercise moves that even looked hard for Ellen to do. (Man are those bitches ever T I N Y) And I remember Mary J. Blige coming out for a short interview and then a fantastic performance. Her singing voice IN PERSON blew me away, unbelievable. Then we got to sing her Happy Birthday... And then it was over. So sad. As we exited the studio, I took one last look behind me to take it all in. What a great time we had. We were handed our free MJB cd, our Clark's gift certificates and even a piece of MJB's Birthday cake (chocolate cherry with white icing) and were on our way.
(click to watch video...)
(click to watch video...)
The next day I couldn't wait to watch "our" episode on TV... It was fun to watch it knowing that we were "actually" there!! I couldn't wait to see if "we" got on tv. And to my horror we did. Now, most people would think I would be horrified to see myself on tv because it obviously adds lots of Lb's, but THAT was not my problem this time. This time what I noticed is that the camera caught a glimpse of us just as Ellen was sprinting up those stairs during the "dance" portion of her show. There we were, TL, the nephew and myself all swaying our hips, rocking back and forth, and clapping to the beat... well, TL and the nephew were clapping to the beat, I don't know what I was clapping to... See for yourelf.
Here is a breakdown of the act better known as "I've got NO rhythm, baby..."
