So, last night downloaded the "Don't Stop Believing" track from Glee (which, BTW, was the number three song download on iTunes).
This was a mistake.
You see, I am now listening to it for the third time this morning. My calves are a'bouncing under my desk, and Im working harder on not humming than on focusing on my job.
Sometimes it takes cheesy art to remind me of why I am an artist, why God calls me to music. I don't know how to say this, other than shameful admission: this song almost makes me cry. There is a passion and an adrenaline screaming through my arms that makes it hard to type. This sounds like the most fun, and it makes me wish for a group of my own. (Just restarted the song... again)
I know there will be little groups popping up everywhere because of this show (huzzah for that), and I secretly and desperately hope I am in one of them. So if anyone hears of one popping up in Houston that has potential, let me know. Hell, if I could think of a few other starters, I would form one myself!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
A Moment to Mourn
I'm not sure how I missed hearing about this weeks ago; I was completely blind-sided last night. My father was recapping 'Idol' for me, because I haven't really watched it this season. He mentioned David Cook's performance, and he he thought "it was dedicated to his brother, since he died", and I swear I heard that sound in my head of a record being manually stopped.
"What? Wait, Adam died? When"
"Oh, you hadn't heard? I just assumed you knew. It was a few weeks ago."
And I just started crying. That may seem silly, since I don't personally know the Cook family by any strecth, but I was so emotional in that moment.
I just wanted to take this opportunity to pray for the Cook family; for all of their struggles and heartache. Also, to send up praise, not only for the peace they have through God, but for David's career, which surely helped eliminate massive debt accrued from medical costs. I know that sounds shallow, but I love to see the way God works, and I think that little piece of the puzzle should not be ignored.
"What? Wait, Adam died? When"
"Oh, you hadn't heard? I just assumed you knew. It was a few weeks ago."
And I just started crying. That may seem silly, since I don't personally know the Cook family by any strecth, but I was so emotional in that moment.
I just wanted to take this opportunity to pray for the Cook family; for all of their struggles and heartache. Also, to send up praise, not only for the peace they have through God, but for David's career, which surely helped eliminate massive debt accrued from medical costs. I know that sounds shallow, but I love to see the way God works, and I think that little piece of the puzzle should not be ignored.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Validation for my Other Side
Most of my life, I have been someone who did not mind messes, who left projects unfinished, who only remembered to pay a bill when it was shoved in my face; someone with little to no organizational skills.
While some of these qualities are still a constant battle, I have trained my brain to be freakishly organized about a few things. I keep an extremely detailed budget on file (really, it is a combonation of balancing a checkbook and planning ahead for major and/or consistent costs). Spreadsheets have become a bit of a crutch for me, but I just LOVE them!
Every week I get an email newsletter from AllEarsNet.com - they are a website essentiallly designed to help you plan vacations to Disney World (WDW), with some additional tips for DisneyLand and the cruises. The bulk of the newsletter is an article; sometimes these are completely boring or irrelevant to me, other times they are fun bits of history or trivia. This week, the article is all about a mom whose WDW vacay plans are always meticulously planned out on spreadsheets. Let me tell you, reading her article was so cathartic and validating! I have never been more proud of my own neurosis. As she discussed her specific design and her plan strategy, I got the itch to go look at mine from our last vacation. Mine may not have been quite so set-in-stone as hers, because I knew we would need spontaneity for Brad's first trip, but the idea and the feeling were the same.
Now I cannot wait to start planning our next trip, but I can't get much progress done any time soon. We are hoping to visit again next November; it would essentially be a birthday trip for me, which is why we would hop over to Universal to see The Wizarding World fo Harry Potter theme park, which is slated to open around that time! I have never been to WDW outside of summer, so this will be a whole new perspective ("A whole new world!") for me, and the WWoHP will be immeasurably wonderful.
Anyway, my point is that I cannot plan too extensively yet, as the park prices are not set for Nov 2010, and it would be pretty hard to set times/dates/prices for flights then, as well. But I can dream, and oh-so-slowly accumulate plans and tips.
Spreadsheet, here I come!
While some of these qualities are still a constant battle, I have trained my brain to be freakishly organized about a few things. I keep an extremely detailed budget on file (really, it is a combonation of balancing a checkbook and planning ahead for major and/or consistent costs). Spreadsheets have become a bit of a crutch for me, but I just LOVE them!
Every week I get an email newsletter from AllEarsNet.com - they are a website essentiallly designed to help you plan vacations to Disney World (WDW), with some additional tips for DisneyLand and the cruises. The bulk of the newsletter is an article; sometimes these are completely boring or irrelevant to me, other times they are fun bits of history or trivia. This week, the article is all about a mom whose WDW vacay plans are always meticulously planned out on spreadsheets. Let me tell you, reading her article was so cathartic and validating! I have never been more proud of my own neurosis. As she discussed her specific design and her plan strategy, I got the itch to go look at mine from our last vacation. Mine may not have been quite so set-in-stone as hers, because I knew we would need spontaneity for Brad's first trip, but the idea and the feeling were the same.
Now I cannot wait to start planning our next trip, but I can't get much progress done any time soon. We are hoping to visit again next November; it would essentially be a birthday trip for me, which is why we would hop over to Universal to see The Wizarding World fo Harry Potter theme park, which is slated to open around that time! I have never been to WDW outside of summer, so this will be a whole new perspective ("A whole new world!") for me, and the WWoHP will be immeasurably wonderful.
Anyway, my point is that I cannot plan too extensively yet, as the park prices are not set for Nov 2010, and it would be pretty hard to set times/dates/prices for flights then, as well. But I can dream, and oh-so-slowly accumulate plans and tips.
Spreadsheet, here I come!
gLee
I watched this last night with my folks, and I gotta say that I enjoyed myself. But here is the thing: a) it was kind of wicked awesome, but b) it was also kind of tragically bad. Sometimes in the same moments. I enjoyed the music, and goodness knows I loved the snark and the comedic timing. But the cheese was flowing all over it, and when the teacher started to tear up over the vid of himself in showchoir, I rolled my eyes right out of my skull. And the lip-syncing was TRAGIC, where it could have been magic! Ugh, I will continue to watch it, because it makes me laugh and sing along, but so far I would not call it "a good show". We shall see.
Don't stop believing, hold on to that feeling!
UPDATE: I can hardly breathe - I can't believe I didnt recognize her! I was just reading Dan Carlson's review of Glee, and he was naming cast members. Apparently, Rachel (the lead diva in the showchoir) is played by Lea Michelle, who played the original Wendla in Spring Awakening!!! Hello, Allison, how did you not recognize those cheekbones?!?
Don't stop believing, hold on to that feeling!
UPDATE: I can hardly breathe - I can't believe I didnt recognize her! I was just reading Dan Carlson's review of Glee, and he was naming cast members. Apparently, Rachel (the lead diva in the showchoir) is played by Lea Michelle, who played the original Wendla in Spring Awakening!!! Hello, Allison, how did you not recognize those cheekbones?!?
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Nine: The Musical
There are a handful of truly talented singers who are hiding behind mediocore pop music, people with impressive voices who choose to speak hip-hop lyrics and shake their other talents rather than blow you away with vocals. We need to remember that this does not mean that they cannot.
Beyonce's music, while I enjoy it, is fluff and far below her talent, as was seen in Dreamgirls. Watch this trailer, and then ask yourself what you think of Fergie:
Not exactly "G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S yeah", is it?
Beyonce's music, while I enjoy it, is fluff and far below her talent, as was seen in Dreamgirls. Watch this trailer, and then ask yourself what you think of Fergie:
Not exactly "G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S yeah", is it?
Friday, May 8, 2009
Sign the Petition to bring Cherrybomb to the US!
Cherrybomb is having trouble getting major distribution. This could be for any number of logical reasons, but since I want to see Rupert Grint on the big screen in something other than Harry Potter, I am signing up!There is an online petition going (I have linked to the US petition) for us to express our desire for American distribution! Sure, sure, we could wait for the DVD, but that is less fun. So please, sign away, and be sure to put an eloquent comment, if you make one; please nothing like "OMG RUPERT IS HOTT THNX BYE!"... not that any of my friends would do that...
http://www.petitiononline.com/cherry09/petition.html
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Waiting for Guffman
That's right, kids, the Awesome Bus is making a stop to deliver this message:
"Corky St. Clair may make it to The Great White Way after all."
Why, you ask? Because Christopher Guest is hoping to adapt Waiting for Guffman for the Broadway stage as a musical!!!!! Full on SQUEE for this news. Now I will be humming "Stools, stools" all day...
Friday, May 1, 2009
Cannonball Read - The 100 Book Challenge
If any of you follow Pajiba as I do, you will have been reading about this for months. I just never really got the bug to do it myself. And then when AlabamaPink passed away, it felt a bit callous to pick up the challenge. But time has moved forward, and I have decided this would be a fun challenge to set for myself (and possibly Grags) for this year.
Prisco set forth the race to read 100 books. They must all be be over 200 pages; no graphic novels; and short story collections must contain at least six stories.
The fun, and more time-consuming part I imagine, is that they wrote a short review of each book. I have read a few new books this year, so I may cheat and go back to review those as my first five or so. Who knows. In the event that I'm alone in this race, the rules are bendable.
I would love to hear (legitimate) recommendations, but I make no promise to embark on them. After reading the HP series, plus all of my Neil Gaiman and Chuck Palahniuk books over and OVER again, I feel like my brain could use a new read. But speaking of that, next Tuesday (May 5th) Chuck's newest book comes out, Pygmy. I never read Snuff, though it doesn't sound like I missed much. I didn't ever get around to Rant either, which seems like a grave mistake by most Palahniukians. So those two are at the top of my list. Though not back to back; too much Chuck P can make your bile attack your brain.
While on the topic, let me recommend some of my favorite reads to you:
*Lullaby, by Chuck Palahniuk
*Survivor, by Chuck P
*Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
*Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
*The Giver, by Lois Lowry. I know the reading level is set young, but the concept and view of humanity is beautiful and should be oft revisited.
*Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley.
*Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by JK Rowling. Obviously I love them all, but this one is of highest recommendation.
Prisco set forth the race to read 100 books. They must all be be over 200 pages; no graphic novels; and short story collections must contain at least six stories.
The fun, and more time-consuming part I imagine, is that they wrote a short review of each book. I have read a few new books this year, so I may cheat and go back to review those as my first five or so. Who knows. In the event that I'm alone in this race, the rules are bendable.
I would love to hear (legitimate) recommendations, but I make no promise to embark on them. After reading the HP series, plus all of my Neil Gaiman and Chuck Palahniuk books over and OVER again, I feel like my brain could use a new read. But speaking of that, next Tuesday (May 5th) Chuck's newest book comes out, Pygmy. I never read Snuff, though it doesn't sound like I missed much. I didn't ever get around to Rant either, which seems like a grave mistake by most Palahniukians. So those two are at the top of my list. Though not back to back; too much Chuck P can make your bile attack your brain.
While on the topic, let me recommend some of my favorite reads to you:
*Lullaby, by Chuck Palahniuk
*Survivor, by Chuck P
*Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
*Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
*The Giver, by Lois Lowry. I know the reading level is set young, but the concept and view of humanity is beautiful and should be oft revisited.
*Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley.
*Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by JK Rowling. Obviously I love them all, but this one is of highest recommendation.
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