Archives for March 2007

AI – Top 8 Women

7 March 2007 by

COME ON, NOW!

Here we go.

Jordin Sparks – “Heartbreaker” – First, I love that she loves football. And I think this was a good song for her, but the arrangement wasn’t my favorite. Sometimes I heard the background singers more than I heard her; it seemed like she was fighting to sing louder than the band. But the a cappella part was incredible. That’s what I wanted to hear – because she has a great voice.

Sabrina Sloan – “What’s It Gonna Be” – Big ups for an En Vogue song. And I really liked the way the song started. It’s a little weird, because I recognize that she has a really good voice; but like D. said when we were watching, there’s some kind of “disconnect” there. Maybe she’s too rehearsed? I don’t know what it is. She just doesn’t have that something special that sets her apart from the other girls. In my humble opinion, of course.

Antonella Barba – “Put Your Records On” – You know what I really like? When Corinne Bailey Rae sings this song. I surely do.

Haley Scarnato – “If My Heart Had Wings” – She’s adorable. And if tonight I had been watching the Miss Arkansas pageant instead of AI, I would absolutely want her to win. Actually, her voice would be great for musical theatre; I’m just not sure that she’s a pop star.

Stephanie Edwards – “Crazy” – Okay. The low parts were rough. But she does the R&B genre well – and she’s been consistent every single week. And – did y’all notice? Another cute dress this week. The girl has style and a great voice, to boot.

LaKisha Jones – “I Have Nothing” – When I heard those opening notes, I immediately said, “OH, COME ON, NOW, and sing some Whitney for us.” And SING SHE DID. Good grief. What a gift she has. Also: really great hair this week. She’s the total package, so transparent and real. And I totally want to meet those two women who were cheering for her in the audience. Specifically, I want to go to church with those two women who were cheering for her in the audience. I have a distinct feeling that they’d holler “COME ON, NOW” right with me.

Gina Glocksen – “Call Me When You’re Sober” – Trying not to be bothered by the troll. Trying not to be bothered by the troll. As for her performance, it was a little loud for me, honestly, because I’m old. But I liked seeing her personality, and she seemed more comfortable on stage than she has at any other point so far. Plus, she’s really likeable.

Melinda Doolittle – “I’m A Woman” – Did anybody else want to get out a handkerchief and wave it in the air? Because I was about ready to shout “HALLELUJAH” by the end of her song. She is SO STINKIN’ GOOD. And I really, REALLY want to hear her sing “Oh, Happy Day” up in the church house. Soon. She gets bonus points, of course, for being OCD. Love her.

Who should go? – Antonella and Haley

Best of the night? – Melinda. No doubt about it.

Feel free to leave a link below if you posted about AI on your blog – just make sure to link to the specific post.

Filed Under: TV Is My Friend

This Post Makes Me Itch

7 March 2007 by

I mentioned one day last week that I’ve been praying about some Major Life Decisions, and as a result of that, there has been Much Talk Of Blogging around our house lately.

Really, I’d love nothing more than to tell y’all that someone has offered me many bags of cash money to write my little blog, but unfortunately that is only true in the world that I inhabit when I’m dreaming. However, I am trying to decide if I’m going to be More Serious About Writing, and if I am, there are going to be some mighty big changes around our house. Domestic re-structuring, if you will.

Thus: lots of praying.

Walking through this particular decision-making process has caused me to think a good bit more than I usually do about writing in general, blogging in particular. And while I know that y’all might be surprised to learn that I actually think about topics other than what exciting new meat products I can drop in vats of hot peanut oil while I’m watching college basketball and simultaneously trying to record American Idol on the (faulty, evil) DVR, the truth of the matter is that I love to think about and analyze things from as many angles as my admittedly limited intelligence will allow. Unless it concerns metal fabrication, in which case I can’t even pretend to be interested.

I don’t talk about my blog much in real life because it makes me terribly uncomfortable, but occasionally, I need a bloggy sounding board. As I’ve been praying through the possibility of taking the writing part of my life more seriously, I’ve had some really frank discussions with my friends Mrs. Rocks and Mrs. Big Mama about my writing limitations. They are kind enough to listen and give me great feedback and encourage me despite the fact that I have an incurable case of the crazies.

The stuff I write for the blog is so personality-driven that it makes my head hurt to try to figure out how to take what I do here and put it “out there.” Publications would never hire me as a freelancer because if I wrote an article on, say, nutrition, the final draft would probably say “THE APPLES! THEY ARE GOOD! AND GOOD FOR YOU!” somewhere around the beginning of second paragraph.

Or, better yet: “BUTTERBEANS, Y’ALL!”

Oddly enough, it’s not a tone that Serious Media Outlets are looking for.

But even still: that urge to push a little harder on my blogging and writing boundaries won’t go away.

I keep coming back to the idea that God knows my strengths and my weaknesses because He gave them to me. And maybe, at the end of the day, I have to be willing to set aside my fear that I’m just not good enough – and, as Max Lucado says, “use [my] uniqueness to take great risks for God” because “the only mistake is to not risk making one.”

D. and I have laughed a lot lately because we are not, by and large, risk takers. We will choose the path of least resistance every single time. We enjoy things like retirement funds and employer-provided health insurance and low-risk investments. We play it safe. And by and large, we like it that way.

But y’all – I have to tell you: I feel so strongly that God is calling me outside of my comfort zone and away from my safety net. I keep looking for reasons to justify staying with the status quo, and He keeps nudging me to step out, to take a risk, to trust Him a little bit more.

And I am scared out of my ever-livin’ mind.

I have gone back and forth about whether or not I should post about all of this, mainly because I felt like any attempt to shed light on such a personal decision might come across as nothing more than a fishing expedition for people to encourage me! love me! validate me!

But if you know me at all, you know that’s not where my heart is. Right now my heart is, above all, seeking God’s guidance and peace. I want to do the right thing for the right reasons. I want to do the thing that enables me to serve my family in the very best way. And I want, above all else, to glorify Him, to serve Him with complete and total abandon.

So.

Needless to say, I’d appreciate your prayers.

And I’ll keep y’all posted.

Filed Under: Rambling

A Favor, Por Favor?

6 March 2007 by

Would you sweet people who link to me in your sidebar please double-check and make sure that you’re linking to this blog and not my old Blogger one? And if your link is going to the old blog, would you please change it if you’re not too terribly angry about the fact that HERE I GO AGAIN, ASKING FOR SOMETHING?

I’m trying to make sure I have a fairly accurate count of links because I have to put together some information for some people (really, Mrs. McVaguerson?), so I really do appreciate your help with this a whole bunch.

If your only link to me is via the CWO or Family Friendly blogrolls, you can completely ignore this request.

Thanks, y’all.

Filed Under: Bloggity Fun

I Need You, Internets

6 March 2007 by

Our DVR did not record American Idol tonight.

I have no words.

So while I’m fighting the urge to call our local cable company and tell them in the nicest possible way that I despise their faulty TiFaux technology with the fury of a thousand white-hot suns, could y’all please give me a run-down of tonight’s show – THE ONE THAT I DIDN’T GET TO SEE – in my comments?

I’d be ever-so-grateful.

Filed Under: Rambling

A Block-The-Shots Party

5 March 2007 by

If you live anywhere in the southeastern part of the United States, and if you listened carefully yesterday afternoon around three o’clock central time, you probably heard the sound of Sister and me screaming VERY LOUDLY INDEED as our beloved MSU Bulldogs clinched a piece of the SEC Western Division Championship in an awesomely lopsided victory against the Alabama Crimson Tide. 

(I totally just made up the word “awesomely,” by the way. It’s actually one of the nicer aspects of blogging, the making-up-words part.)

And if your reaction to that first paragraph is “What’s all this crazy talk about some short-legged dogs and a blood-red tide and some random letters from the alphabet and does this have anything at all to do with the Old Testament,” then I’m going to have to ask you to bear with me for a few minutes while I get my college basketball on.

This past Saturday I informed D. and Alex that due to the upcoming match-up between MSU and Bama, I was Officially Reserving the TV in our living room from one until three on Sunday afternoon. They were welcome to join me, of course, but they need not harbor any hopes of watching “Blue’s Clues” or “Heroes” or anything else. I had big plans for transforming our living room into a my own personal hillbilly sports bar – free-flowing diet Coke, all-you-can-eat peanuts, so many WOOOO-HOO!s flying around that you might just wonder if Bo and Luke Duke had stopped by for a visit – and I would not be deterred.

Now I have no idea why I can’t act, you know, normal as far as MSU sporting events are concerned. All I know is that if you put me anywhere near the vicinty of an MSU basketball game, it’s almost like some alien force takes over my body and transforms me from a relatively mild-mannered wife and mother into a delirious YOU’D BETTER DUNK THAT BALL RIGHT NOW OH YES SIR YOU’D BETTER lunatic.

And, for the record, I believe the “alien force” I mentioned is what The Doctors and The Scientists and The Mental Health Professionals refer to as THE CRAZIES.

When Emma Kate and I went to the State / LSU game a few weeks ago, she was very tickled (and somewhat alarmed) by my repeated use of the phrase “COME ON, NOW” during the basketball game. However, what EK did not realize is that screaming “COME ON, NOW” is Deeply Spiritual, and I know this because our former pastor used to say it frequently (albeit quietly) when he was particularly moved during a song or a sermon. I guess I took it upon myself to transfer “COME ON, NOW” from the sanctuary to the sporting arena, but please don’t judge me because at least I don’t scream “AMEN” when somebody hits a three-pointer at the buzzer.

Though I absolutely would if it were even remotely appropriate.

Needless to say, yesterday I yelled “COME ON, NOW” two or fifty four times, and about midway through the game, I noticed that I had somehow added another word and was actually shouting, “COME ON, NOW, SON.”

The only possible explanation for such strange diction is that at some point right before halftime I switched bodies with an 80 year old grandfather who was somewhat hard of hearing and apparently felt that if he referred to players by a familial moniker, the players would pay extra attention to him when he screamed instructions at them through the TV screen.

In the end, all the screaming and hillbillying and body-switching paid off. The Bulldogs won 91-67, and by late in the afternoon I was back to normal again. With “normal” being a relative term, of course.

But don’t worry, y’all: the SEC tournament starts in about three days, so you can rest assured that THE CRAZIES will be back on full display this Friday at noon when the Bulldogs take the court once again.

Normal never lasts long around these parts. Of this you can be sure.

Filed Under: Beloved Bulldogs, The South

Amen

5 March 2007 by

“The chief reason for applauding God? He deserves it. If singing did nothing but weary your voice, if giving only emptied your wallet – if worship did nothing for you – it would still be right to do. God warrants our worship. How else do you respond to a Being of blazing, blistering, unadulterated, unending holiness? No mark. Nor freckle. Not a bad thought, bad day, or bad decision. Ever! What do you do with such holiness if not adore it?

And his power. He churns forces that launch meteors, orbit planets, and ignite stars. Commanding whales to spout salty air, petunias to perfume the night, and songbirds to chirp joy into spring. Above the earth, flotillas of clouds endlessly shape and reshape; within the earth, strata of groaning rocks shift and turn. Who are we to sojourn on a trembling, wonderful orb so shot through with wonder?

And tenderness? God has never taken his eyes off you. Not for a millisecond. He’s always near. He lives to hear your heartbeat. He loves to hear your prayers. He’d die for your sin before he’d let you die in your sin, so he did.

What do you do with such a Savior? Don’t you sing to him? Don’t you celebrate him in baptism, elevate him in Communion? Don’t you bow a knee, lower a head, hammer a nail, feed the poor, and lift up your gift in worship? Of course you do.

Worship God. Applaud him loud and often. For your sake, you need it.

And for heaven’s sake, he deserves it.”

–Max Lucado – Cure for the Common Life

Filed Under: Faith
« Previous Page
Next Page »