Archives for April 2007
It Seems Random Because It Is
All of the Glory Revealed winners should be receiving their CD’s sometime early next week. There is one winner, however, who hasn’t contacted me yet; so Devera, if you’re reading this, please send me an email with your mailing address! :-)
No way Gina Glocksen should have gone home on AI last night. And I am embarrassed by how much Sanjaya’s continued presence on the show frustrates me. Which leads me to believe that perhaps I take AI entirely too seriously. Maybe I should’ve given it up for Lent or something.
Are y’all watching Planet Earth on The Discovery Channel? D. is hooked. And I have to admit: it’s really, really good. And it’s about nature, y’all, and I still watch it, even though wild dogs attack caribous and baby penguins poke out of eggs. And I don’t throw up or anything!
This week in Wii news: Alex got his first strikes and his first spares in bowling, and OH MY WORD AT THE SCREAMING. So fun.
Finally, Bloglines – at least on my end – seems to have adopted the philosophy that it may or may not show updates on blogs, and when it does show updates, it may or may not do so in a timely fashion. As best I can tell, Bloglines updates when it feels like it and not a second sooner, with the decision to update determined by 1) if it can be bothered to, like, deal with the bloggy people (GAH!) and 2) whether or not I’m in possession of its favorite brand of chocolate. Is anyone else having trouble?
Okay. I believe that’s all.
All loose ends are now present and accounted for.
As Always, I Went For The Subtle Look
So you should be seeing a whole new blog design, thanks to my friends Heather and Laura at Swank Web Style.
And if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to go through the design process with me (and I’m sure you’ve devoted many, many hours to thinking of nothing else), just imagine someone sending you fifty emails in one day with compelling input like “let’s make it funky!” and “maybe a little funkier!” and “you know, an abstract-y, flower-y, FUNKY look!” and “CAN I PLEASE HAVE MORE FLOWERS?”
Heather, as always, gave me exactly the look I wanted, and even though at one point I think I said, “Do you think we could get a little PURPLE in there?” she managed to gently steer me away from going completely cuckoo with my over-the-top tendencies.
Also, it just occurred to me that there are two words you will never hear used to describe my blog: quiet elegance.
Or: tasteful understatement.
Or: gentle dignity.
Anyway, you may still see a few little changes throughout the day. I originally requested a smaller font for my posts, but judging from my inbox this morning, that was a very, very bad idea indeed, so we’re going to bump it up a bit so that it’s a little closer in size to what it was on the old design.
And if things look strange on your end, you may want to empty the cache on your computer and then refresh the page. I’ve tested it out on Firefox, Explorer and Safari, and it’s working fine on all of those. But if you’re having problems, just drop me an email and let me know. I probably won’t be able to, you know, help you, but I will forward any techy issues to Heather so that she can check them out on her end.
Which will only serve to make her love me more.
So THANK YOU, Heather and Laura, for such a fun spring bloggy outfit. It makes me smile. As does working with the two of you.
Happy Spring, everyone!
Well, At Least The Lord Thinks It’s A Joyful Noise
A couple of nights ago I was shampooing Alex’s hair, and without even realizing it, I started to sing.
After a few moments of listening to my serenade, Alex said, “Um, Mama? Excuse me? Mama?”
“What, baby?” I replied, soaking in the sweetness of the moment, beaming with pride that my little man was using his manners even during bathtime.
“Mama, when you sing it makes me sad.”
Oh.
Well, then.
That’s interesting.
Because as it turns out, when my own offspring reminds me that I have no vocal talent whatsoever and as a result of that will never, ever BE ABLE TO FULFILL MY DREAM OF SINGING BACK-UP FOR CHRIS TOMLIN, THAT MAKES ME SAD, TOO.
You’ve gotta watch out for those four year olds, y’all.
They’ll take your dreams and stomp them flat.
Yes ma’am they will.
AI – Top 9
Laurel surprised me last week by emailing me several cute blog buttons for what has turned into sort of an American Idol meme for ten or fifteen of us…so thanks, Laurel, for that! And feel free to grab if the button you’re participating.
I’m VERY excited about the fact that they’re singing the classics this week – and being coached by Tony Bennett, to boot. Very promising.
Blake Lewis – “Mac The Knife” – Loved the plaid pants with striped tie. Very fun version of this song, though he sounded a little unsure of himself at the beginning. Great by the end – and I’m sorry, he’s just cool. And right when I was typing that, Paula said the same exact thing, and for some reason that frightens me.
Phil Stacey – “Night and Day” – Total throwback with this performance – classic and reserved. I didn’t love it, but I thought he did a good job.
Melinda Doolittle – “I Got Rhythm” – I don’t think there could be a genre of music better suited for her. And her performance tonight, oh interpeeps, was flawless. Absolutely flawless. Her best performance yet. And the band was phenomenal.
Chris Richardson – “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” – Dear Chris, You did a great job with the song, especially at the end – it was a very fun rendition of one of my all-time favorites. And I thank you for not going all Timberlake on us. But in about ten years you will look back at your wardrobe selection for this particular installment of AI, and you’re going to regret it. Deeply. And not just the hat. The suspenders, too. I daresay the suspenders, in ten years’ time, will make you shudder. I just felt I should tell you these things. But rock on, stranger friend. Love, BooMama
Jordin Sparks – “On A Clear Day” – She’s adorable. I think I say that every week. But I say it because it’s true. And she’s proving to be a very consistent performer – remarkably poised for her age.
Gina Glocksen – “Smile” – Okay, Tony Bennett getting choked up about our soldiers in Iraq nearly did me in. And I thought Gina’s version of this song was lovely. She seems so much more confident in the last couple of weeks – I feel strangely proud.
Sanjaya Malakar – “Cheek to Cheek” – The suit frightened me. As did the hair. But not as much as the fact that he bounced throughout the entire song. And that he pulled Paula out of her chair and attempted to dance with her. Awkwardly. [sighing] OH SWEET MERCY AMERICA, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, IT IS TIME TO STOP THE SANJAYA INSANITY.
Haley Scarnato – “Ain’t Misbehavin'” – Y’all, if this had been the 1996 Miss Mississippi pageant, I would have rewound this performance over and over, utterly convinced that she had the best. talent. evir. But it’s 2007. And typically a pop star doesn’t do a pivot turn on the stage, oh bless her heart.
LaKisha Jones – “Stormy Weather” – The last half of the song was incredible. When she really turns up the volume, she can knock it out of the park. The beginning was rough because she’s not nearly as strong with the low notes. But she was in great form for most of the song – a huge improvement from last week.
Who should go? – I’m going to say Haley in hopes that making a different prediction will bring about different results.
Best of the night? – Miss Doolittle was in her own league.
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