Grame & Pops visit for Spring Break!

A Good, True Friend???

I've never had one!

As a child I thought I had 3 Best Friends but looking back, they were not what I'd call true friends after all.

One friend was only there when it was convenient for her and even then our conversations were focused around her and what was going on in her life. When she lost weight and found a boyfriend, that's when I really lost what I thought was my friend. There was no more time for the other 3 amigos, it was all about her new love.

The 2nd friend was one that I spent a lot of time with. We went through many happy and sad times together and I was there through them all. I even stuck around after I found out that she really liked the same guy I did. In my opinion, as a teenager, friends were more important to me than what boy I had a crush on at the time. That all changed when I called her a BITCH the 2nd time it happened, only this time it was my steady boyfriend that she chose to see for months behind my back. I ended up apologizing to HER and broke it off with my boyfriend trying to mend the broken fence. But... because I called her a bitch for dating MY boyfriend behind MY back, SHE stopped talking to ME... not just for a few weeks, for years.! It wasn't until our other friend passed away that we even reconciled, if you can even call it that. Our friendship now is that of yearly calls and Christmas Cards.

The 3rd friend in the group, was really more of an acquaintance now that I look at. We hung out because our families knew each other, nothing more nothing less.

Now I'm an adult and it's sad for me to say that I've never had a best friend. I think I gave up on that idea long ago, very long ago. When the 3 people you think are your best friends as a child don't listen to your thoughts and your ideas, cheat with your boyfriend and then turn around and walk away from the friendship, and when the 3rd friend you finally realize played no important roll in your life... it's pretty easy to figure out why you don't form close relationships with people as an adult. I don't trust many people in my life, in fact very few.

I've tried to form relationships as an adult, but I always find the same 3 I had as a child. I either find one that is so self absorbed that I can't stand to be around them for any length of time, I find one that could care less what I have to say (looking through me as I speak, not at me), or I find the occasional acquaintance. They don't care about me and then I end up caring even less about them!

Maybe one day I'll find that friend, but for now I'm OK with just me.

Michael Lynche's performance on AI last night

Michael's performance from last night was "post" worthy. Loved it and he knew he nailed it when that song was over. Congrats Big Mike!

American Idol - Only Room For Six Boys

I hope the guys do more than the girls did last night. Here we go, let's see what they've got...

Lee - such a current song choice, love that raspy voice of his, pitchy in places but very good performance overall.
Alex - Love this song, very controlled voice, seemed a little more confident this week and I just love that sweet boyish face.
Tim - very good song choice for his voice, I thought he did a really good job this week, very nice tone, controlled. The only thing I would have liked to have seen is him sitting on a stool strumming the guitar. Cute dimples!! OK, that was a first... Ellen just got up to give a hug.
Andrew - Christina Aguilera is such a hard singer to follow, hmmmmm.... it was just ok, no WOW factor, a little flat. Is it weird he only sings songs that are sung by women?
Casey - ohhhhh, such a great song for him, it was AWESOME!! So deep, you could see his vulnerability! LOVED IT, LOVED IT, LOVED IT, LOVED IT!!!
Aaron - bad start, I think he got off on the wrong foot. However, I liked it once he got to the chorus. Seemed a little more nervous tonight than weeks past... he needs to sit back on the stool and not dance. LOL! I don't like it when Kara uses Honey & Sweetie when talking to the contestants, it's condescending.
Todrick - the beginning didn't work for me at all, but once he got 1/2 way through it wasn't all that bad. Loved Simon's take on his performance - "American Idol, The Musical".
Mike - that boy can sang!!!! when he got into the melody, LOVED IT!! Mike knew he did it, did you see that smile on his face when he moved the mic? OK Kara, that was a little over the top with the tears. Loved that he sang that song on the week his wife was in the audience. You could tell he was singing that song to her - "A Woman's Work". Beautiful!

Not sure why Randy has said in the past that it's the girls year to win, because the guys are doing so much better. The guys were hot tonight!

I know I gave Kara a hard time, but I still really like her as a judge. She gives precise, clear, constructive criticism that the contestants can really use to grow.

American Idol - Only Room For Six Girls

Let's get right to it?

Katie - I didn't think it was a good song choice at all, yes, it's a younger song choice, but it was slow. It didn't show her young spunky personality, which she needed to show tonight. Pitchy in places, the song seemed to swallow her whole.
Siobhan - very controlled, a little slower than I would have thought she would have picked, seemed safe to me.
Lacey - she has the most beautiful eyes! Her voice still seems nervous to me. Definitely more controlled than prior weeks, but I didn't like the song choice for her. I so agree with Simon, I don't think she's found the right song to figure out what kind of artist she would be.
Katelyn - wish she wouldn't have used the piano tonight, this is a song she needs to be out there dancing to - actually performing instead of standing behind the piano. Seemed robotic. Liked the song choice for her and her voice was controlled. Last week they said she seemed corny, but she seemed even more so tonight for me.
Didi - love her, but she is putting me to sleep with this song tonight. This could be a big mistake for her. Very surprised with the judges response.
Paige - too nervous, cabaret-ish, something seems off with her voice tonight... not what we're used to. She's shown she can sing, but this may send her home! She could have left the love for Michael Jackson out of her response as to why she was so emotional singing the song. Unnecessary!
Crystal - the crowd needs to quit clapping. Bluesy, finally livening up the crowd. She seems so connected to every song she sings. Loved the ending for her, she really showcased her amazing voice. THE BEST!
Lilly - like her but I thought the song was a little too big for her (Patsy Cline is a hard singer to replicate). Not a fan of the song choice. You could tell she was not happy with the song either once she finished singing and moved the mic. I could see it in her eyes.

What was up with the girls tonight? They seemed to be all over the place! I don't even know if I can pick six that I actually liked.

Thoughts?

Crystal Bowersox performance on AI last night

I loved Crystal's performance so much last night I had to listen to it again this morning. I thought I'd share it with those of you who didn't get to watch last night. Enjoy!

American Idol - Girls Night Recap

My favorites... Crystal (LOVED IT), Katie (liked it a lot), Lilly (Great Performance), Katelyn (liked it), Paige (liked it, liked it).

Crystal - glad she made it tonight and hope she's feeling better. Natural, not forced, bluesy and great tone to her voice, the song was believable. I would hate to be the girls that have to follow her.
Haeley - a little pitchy, the song seems too big for her voice, not sure that will get her through to next week. Go Ryan, call Simon out!
Lacey - no, no, no... I feel like I'm sitting at a bar on karaoke night. LOL, Randy just said the same thing - so funny! To me, this song was worse than last. It didn't work!
Katie - she's got a great sense of humor. WOW, very nice voice, great stage presence, love the song choice... I think Corinne Bailey Rae would be very proud!
Didi - love her, but didn't care for the song choice, it felt like I was watching a cell phone commercial and the pace was so slowwww. I hated to see her cry, she's got to get thicker skin if she wants to make it in that business.
Michelle - don't like the arrangement, voice was less than mediocre, wanted it to END. Was Kara drinking Paula's juice tonight? She could not be serious about that being Michelle's best so far!
Lilly - great song choice for her voice, like her quirky style, very original.
Katelyn - she said it best by describing it as intimate, is really was. A little pitchy in places, loved the slowness of the song, emotional version and my favorite performance of hers so far.
Paige - nice-strong voice, fun song for her, great stage presence. Totally disagree with Simon's take on her performance.
Siobhan - she has a great voice, she can sing, but not Aretha's song. WHOA, that last yell was ear piercing. LOL, Ellen with the snuggie joke - crackin' me up! Siobhan needs some help with her interviewing skills.

Ladies, ladies, ladies... I have to say I enjoyed it much more than the guys from last night. I had to go back and watch Crystal again. I thought she was FABULOUS!

You know, Ryan asked a great question at the beginning, "Why is Kara all up on Simon?" It does seem like she's sitting on his lap this season.

LOST??????????????

This being the final season of Lost, I thought I would have some of my questions answered. Well, that's not the case. I'm still lost and don't know how the questions we all have are going to be answered in the next 11 episodes. It doesn't help that they keep breaking in to give Voting Info. Unless it's the presidential election, just run the stats at the bottom of the screen. That will do just fine!

So, is anyone as lost as I am? What happened tonight? Where were Jack and Hurley tonight? Are they still sitting on the side of the cliff looking for answers to their own questions? Was Sayid really infected by some mysterious disease. What is up with Locke, or is it Locke at all? Where is Sawyer, where does he fit in in all of this. Who's side is he on? Is it going to turn out to be a story of the good and the evil with Locke being the evil one and Jack being the good one?

I'm so confused!

Favorite Teacher?

Who was your favorite teacher in school? It can be any teacher, from any grade level. Why was he/she your favorite? How did they shape who you are today?

American Idol - Boys Night Recap

OK guys, this week was a little better than last...

My favorites... Mike (Liked), Alex (LOVED), Lee (Liked)

Now, lets get to my critiques of each contestant.

Mike - really good, controlled performance. Liked it!
John - little pitchy but great song choice for him.
Casey - somewhat safe, needed to slow it down... too fast, voice seemed to tremble a little much as if he weren't comfortable up there. Kara was a little hard on him this week.
Alex - great voice, great song choice... just right for his voice, much more confident and comfortable on stage. LOVED IT!
Todrick - definitely better than last week, still a little pitchy, too many runs, when you're singing a Tina Turner song you have to be on point and he just wasn't there.
Jermaine - good once he got into the melody... seemed a little more comfortable once he got to the melody, still a little pitchy and cruise shipish for me.
Andrew - great tone to his voice, liked to see him know he could do it without his guitar. He had my daughter swaying back and forth, LOL!
Aaron - wrong song choice, has a great voice, but didn't seem to hit the notes quite right, didn't feel it like I did last week. So surprised by the judges comments until they got to Simon, he hit the critique right on.
Tim - ADORABLE face, great song choice for him but he didn't pull off the song like I wanted him too... much improved from last week!
Lee - loved the entrance, loved the tone of that voice. Original, genuine, current!

American Idol - Boys Night Recap

I think the word of the night is NERVOUSNESS! All the guys seem so nervous tonight for some reason even more so than the girls did last night. The sound tonight was off, and I'm not so sure it was the contestants fault. Their voices didn't jive well with the band. It seems every year they say this year has better talent than the years prior, but I don't think that's the case this year. Not sure if it's really nerves or if they missed the ball with who they picked.

Lot's of TEXANS representing the boys this year.

My favorites... Aaron Kelly (great voice), Joe Dewyze (raspy, love the voice), Casey James (STEAMY-DREAMY!)

Todrick Hall... big fan of Todrick, not a fan of the arrangement, thought Simon was a little over the top by saying he murdered the original song.
Aaron Kelly... great voice, very good performance. I think he'll just get better as the weeks go by.
Jermaine Sellers... one of my all time favorite songs - "Get Here", didn't like the arrangement, very pitchy and did not like the high notes, very nervous.
Tim Urban... love his look!, again - didn't like the falsetto and very nervous.
Joe Muñoz... no WOW factor but pretty good, nervous.
Tyler Grady... last night I made the comment that Alicia Keys should not be replicated, the same goes for Lenny Kravitz.
Lee Dewyze... love the raspy voice, great song choice for him but a little pitchy in places, wish he would have stuck more to the original arrangement because I didn't recognize the song.
John Park... song sounds so old for him, pitchy in parts, too many runs - just sing!
Michael Lynche... love the back story of his baby girl being born during Hollywood Week, didn't like the arrangement, nervous, love his teddy bear persona.
Alex Lambert... very pitchy, somewhat lacking confidence, had a Robin Thicke vibe, cute little dimples.
Casey James... Kara cracks me up with her fascination with Casey, Cutie Patootie, Kara and Randy messed him up at the beginning doing their swaying back and forth, DREAMY with his interpretation of Heaven.
Andrew Garcia... so comfortable behind the mic, thought he could have brought a real rock vibe to the song, but he seamed to play it safe by pulling it down several notches, wish he would have knocked it out like he did with Paula's song. He absolutely deserves to be there next week.

Tonight was disappointing, seemed almost karaoke-ish!

American Idol - Girls Night Recap

So, I've heard the 1st three contestants on AI tonight and I have a question....they let Angela Martin go, why? Really?? I haven't liked any of their song choices or voices for that matter. I know tonight is the 1st night on stage with the lights, camera and action but so far this is bad... really bad!

My favorites tonight.. Lilly Scott (original), Didi Benami (LOVE HER!), Crystal Bowersox (engaging), Katie Stevens (it's hard to believe she's only 17)!

Paige Miles... I felt like I was on a cruise ship.
Ashley Rodriguez... forgettable, above and beyond that though was her attitude. Her chip on her shoulder alone would keep me from voting for her!
Janell Wheeler... wrong song choice, seemed very nervous.
Katelyn Epperly...good voice, bad song choice, weird stage presence.
Haeley Vaughn... so cute and such a baby, not a big fan of her song choice and a little pitchy/twangy.
Lacey Brown... love her style, wrong arrangement, different.
Michelle Delamor... there are some singers you just don't try and replicate, Alicia Keys is one of them!
Siobhan Magnus... voice too low, nasally, looks like she's in severe pain.

The Judges
Simon was Simon, which I love. Kara, as always gave constructive criticism to help the contestants. Randy seemed tame tonight but maybe it's because it was girls night. Ellen did a great job for her first night! She knows what she likes and gives good advice when necessary.

No WOW factor with anyone, but it was a good night overall.

American Idol Shocker

I am stunned that Angela Martin did not make it through to the top 24 on American Idol. She deserved to be put through. Angela has worked so hard over the last 3 seasons and she has such GREAT TALENT! Her back story was so touching but more than that, her talent alone should have gotten her through. I'm so sad for her but I hope this means this puts her even closer to her dream of being a singer. Someone needs to pick her up, STAT!



I'm so happy for all of my top picks from earlier in the season that made it through, but so sad for Angela. Congrats to the Top 24!

I pray that this story about John Edwards and Rielle Hunter are not true. The National Enquirer is reporting that John Edwards has proposed to Rielle and the two plan to wed after his divorce with Elizabeth Edwards is finalized. Normally I wouldn't put any merit to a story from the National Enquirer, but they are the ones that broke the story that he was having an affair and that the child Rielle had was John's. This will be such a sad event if this story is true. My heart goes out to Elizabeth, whether the story is true or not, what an awful place for her to be in her life.

American Idol - Hollywood Week 1

My favorite performances on AI last night were:
Andrew Garcia

Didi Benami

Lilly Scott

Crystal Bowersox


Who were your favorite contestants?

Super Bowl XLIV

Who will you be pulling for this weekend?

Oprah's NO PHONE ZONE Pledge

I didn't want to write about this when the show originally aired, but now that my car has been a NO PHONE ZONE for 2 weeks, I thought I'd share my thoughts. The reason I did not want to write about it at first was because I needed to make sure I could do it before I tried convincing others to.

Before I get started on my soapbox, I'm so glad to announce that as of 6:30 pm on 2/4/2010, Oprah's pledge has been taken by 101,750 drivers. Hopefully that number will continue to grow. You can take the pledge by going to http://www.oprah.com/questionaire/ipledge.html?id=4. Also, if you want to watch the full episode of Oprah's No Phone Zone show, here is the link

http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Watch-the-Full-Hour-Americas-New-Deadly-Obsession-Video.

What I've learned about talking and/or texting while driving:
1.) Your brain can not keep up with driving while talking/texting at the same time. As much as we'd like to think it can, it's just not possible.
2.) Talking on your cell phone while driving is no different than having a blood alcohol level of .08 and driving. Your risk of causing an accident while driving drunk is 4x more likely, the same of that as talking while driving.
3.) Texting while driving increases your chances of causing an accident by 8x. Double that of a drunk driver or a talking driver.
4.) You suffer from inattention blindness and your peripheral vision is blurred just as that of someone who sees tunnel vision when talking/texting while driving. So, those cars or bikes or pedestrians or that stop sign that you normally see while driving, well they don't appear when you're on the phone.
5.) Causing accidents related to talking/texting are 100% preventable. Yes, 100% preventable!

A few of my favorite quotes from the show:
"It's not where your hands are, it's where your head is."
"Don't tempt f8, that txt or call can w8."
"Honk if you love Jesus, text if you would like to meet him"

I'm so glad I took the pledge and I hope you will join me. Save a life, who knows it could be your own.

To find more information on this cause, visit: www.oprah.com/nophonezone or http://www.distraction.gov/.

Question

Do you have a Kindle? What are your likes/dislikes?

Groundhog's Day 2010

Punxsutawney Phil makes his Groundhog Day prediction - Feb. 2, 2010. Unfortunately, it looks like we will have 6 more weeks of winter. YUCK! However, I'm not quite sure we should fall in to believing the cute little groundhog. It seems he's only correct in his predictions 39% of the time. Maybe he'll be wrong this year! Let's hope!

2010 Grammy's

Did you watch the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards last night? Unfortunately, I did not but I was able to catch a few of the performances today on YouTube. Out of what I've been able to see, Lady GaGa, Pink and the Michael Jackson Tribute have been my favorites. What's yours?

Lady GaGa


Pink


Michael Jackson Tribute