Tuesday, March 28, 2006  

Please take a moment to re-visit www.despair.com --- i spend time there just laughing my butt off (oops, it's still there?) and downloading their video corporate "training" podcasts (free.) Definitely worth checking out.

Other than work and Greek class homework, i've been listening to a ton of podcasts and playing Zuma lately. My poor boy Matt has been super sick with a cough and laryngitis (which i can't spell) so i 've not seen him for over a week. He sounds like Darth Vader when we talk on the phone. Say a prayer for him, and then maybe encourage him to get his tonsils out !!

So my thoughts on Idol...
Lisa: ouch. I love Kelly Clarkson, one of my favorite singers... So it was hard for me to see Lisa trying to do this song. You just can't top Kelly Clarkson. She absolutely rocks. Lisa you will definitely be going home tomorrow. Oouuch.

Ace - Mr. Shakey? The stare, the hand outstretched, ouch. This guy drives me insane. Don't like him!!!

Mandisa - I'm probably the only one i know who knew the song she was doing, i have that album by Mary Mary - and love that song... but she over sang it... However. I give her MAD PROPS for doing a praise song, and for showing her faith... Amazing move... might cost her the contest, tho. I like her because she's confident in herself and is a grown up.

Kellie - I kind of liked it... she looked more like herself too. I never heard that song before, but she was being who she was. Not a great song to show off her vocals tho.

Paris - I absolutely hate that song... have never liked it, and she did not dress like a 17 yr old -- what was with her outfit??! Ugg. She sang it well, but i was laughing the whole time thinking of my mom, and how my mom hates how Paris dances. LOL

Taylor - kind of a boring song, but really great singing... so many people just love this guy, i do like him too. He's who he is. I liked the song and i liked that he did not dance.

Chris - I totally agree w/ Simon YOU CANNOT KEEP DOING THIS WEEK AFTER WEEK. Creed would never be caught dead on that stage... So why are you doing their music? This is supposed to be a pop show. He lost a few points with me with the screamer song this week. I'm tired of it.

Katherine - You won't find many singers more talented (vocals wise, i am saying) than Christina A., so this was a risky song in my opinion. She did the song proud, but Katherine is forgettable to me. I wish she was not forgettable, but she just is... I feel bad about that.

Elliot - awesome awesome awesome. Love this guy; hope he wins. I am just terrified that his mom is going to get so excited one week that she'll keel over. :(

Bucky - Loved the outfit, loved the cowboy hat. I think he did a great job. I found myself liking him a lot more this week.

   [ posted  @ 9:11 PM | ]

It was freaky close camera night on AMERICAN IDOL! What was with the camera right in Simon's face all the time. Strange. And we got to welcome back all the fanilows... Poor Barry.

My picks for TOP 3: Elliot -- absolutely my favorite. He looked GREAT! Kellie & Chris are up there too.

Honorable mentions: Mandisa, tho i fast forwarded thru her performance, she did good - I think the ending was good. Katherine - so dang forgettable, but she is flawless. Taylor - very fun & the best entertainer on the show. Taylor will not win this, but my prediction is no matter when he gets elimated, he will put out one record that only sells a few million copies and you'll never hear him again. Paris did fantastic. What kind of album would she put out? Chris - truly great version of the song - except for the heavy metal end. And guess what ! He was hugging other contestants at the end of the show! Maybe he read this and realized his anti-social behavior was not good.

My picks for the BOTTOM 3: Kevin. He's done... he's not good like everyone else. Ace: nasty. When i heard him doing STILL OF THE NIGHT i was like WHHHYYYYYYYY???!!! All the male contestants do that in the first round... there were 10000's of songs in the 50's! Why are you picking this one?! Even Barry Manilow said it! The stupid stare in the camera, the hand outstretched, the falsetto zzzzzzzzzzz. Lisa - too nice, too wholesome... I'm sad for her but she can't win.

Dis-honorable mentions: Bucky -- missed a lot of notes. Hands were so shakey. He tried his hardest.

I think it will be Lisa to go tonight, or possibly Kevin. Ace will continue to get votes from little kids.

   [ posted  @ 7:06 AM | ]

Here it is, C.S.I. Chanhassen, MN. Great TRUE story to follow.

Okay so i go to work yesterday morning (don't worry it gets better) before the store opens and notice there is a package of swing-ring sheet protectors in a shopping cart. I left them in there, thinking i'll get to them later. We had a rush of customers just as i opened the door for business to start the day. One lady grabs the cart with the sheet protectors in it.

Honest as she is, she bought a bunch of stuff, put her bags in her cart, took them to the parking lot, left the cart and the sheet protectors in the cart!!! Okay, so then i'm the cashier and i'm up there watching the parking lot bc we have these huge windows. A beautiful dark blue Chrysler Crossfire pulls into the parking lot. These are very expensive cars.

Two young men in BUSINESS suits get out of the Crossfire, and see this abandoned yellow shopping cart in the parking lot. Hmmmm. What do they do??? I notice they are standing there now with the sheet protectors in their hands. They are laughing and discussing what to do with it. You have to realize, these sheet protectors do not go in a 3-ring binder. They go in a special kind of binder that is punched multiple times on the left side. They'd do you no good at all w/out that binder. The guys, laughing, open the door to the car, TOSS THE SHEET PROTECTORS IN THEIR CAR and bring the shopping cart back to the store. That was nice of them, right?

So i am SO TICKED OFF that i get on the walkie talkies and am telling everyone what i saw and i'm ranting on and on about it. Our copy-max supervisor wanted to bust them right away and my manager is saying, no, no, we can't do that. So we came up with this hilarious plan instead.

First, i started praying that the HOLY SPIRIT would convict these guys in their hearts. They obviously are made of money. Is this how they made millions? STEALING? Then, the store started becoming busy... and i got a line of people and there were no other people working so there was no one else there to cashier. Now, these guys are checking out. They were buying legal pads and pens. So the plan was that my manager calls another line in the store and the copy-supervisor was standing near me, and she answers the phone (she is from the Boston area and is VERY LOUD.)

She says, "HEY DID SOMEONE BUY SOME SHEET PROTECTORS THIS MORNING? SHE IS ON THE PHONE AND SAID SHE THINKS SHE LEFT THEM IN HER CART..."

Right away i caught on to what was happening (the manager and supervisor had not told me of their plan) and i looked right at the guys, and then to everyone else in line, and i said, "Yes someone did buy some sheet protectors, but she said she didn't want a bag."

SO WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED?




Guess ! Okay so the robber guys are standing there hearing this bc me and the copy-supervisor were talking really loud, and as i'm standing there praying, the guys looked at each other and the one says, "Oh, we took it."

OMG!!!! The copy-supervisor (who is a very large woman) told the "caller on the phone" that we have them and then the guys start stammering... "Oh well we found them in our cart in the parking lot and put them in our car..."

And copy-suprv. gets close to his face and says, "So? Go get it!" And the next customer in line, a slightly older guy is baffled by this, and he says, "Gee that's odd that they were standing right there when the call came about it... Good timing." HAHAHAHAHA

So copy-suprv. goes out to the car with these guys and took it from them!!! WAY TO GO CRIME FIGHTING TEAM! That was true drama and we talked about it the whole rest of the day.

   [ posted  @ 5:52 AM | ]

did
i
call
it
or
did i call it???

I predicted Melissa would be next... and she picked an EXIT SONG! Ugg!

   [ posted  @ 10:10 AM | ]

Stevie Wonder night on Idol.

Gotta agree w/ Ames... dude... where were all the cool Stevie songs? Terrible song choices over all. Guys had a tad too much make-up on. I like that the stylists are finally free to have their day tho... the kids are looking sharper. The bigger stage made a big difference and showed what everyone was or was not made of. Now is when the show really turns and BEGINS.

Ace - omg this guy sang not one note in tune. Horrible. To give him an ounce of credit tho, it might have been that the band was too loud and he could not hear himself singing. I can't imagine what acoustics are like there, but if they are using in-ear monitors, i can't tell. Can't stand him. Him massaging Stevie's back was also creepy.

Kellie - Ummmmmmmmm can you say boring? I thought "Dolly Parton" right away, too. Horrible song choice, so boring. I'm sure she'll go thru to the next round, and i am sort of a fan, but not as much of a fan as i am of...

ELLIOT -- Hands down i want this guy to win. I would buy his album for SURE. He's the best singer (for me) and probably the only one i would buy an album of, with the exception of maybe Katherine, if she keeps going well. He has nice eyes.

Mandisa - Holy cow she can sing. Not sure about the song but she did great. I can't see her winning the whole competition tho, but she's completely flawless.

Bucky - Great song choice. I can't help but smile with Bucky - he does good and he picks the right songs for who he is. I thought, okay gee, this guy is copying my hair style... but he's the genuine article. Looks straight out of the 70's with the hair. Fun song - was probably one of the only ones that i was entertained by, except for Taylor (suprised even me)

Melissa - Brings me to a point i keep forgetting to make. NEVER CHOOSE A SONG THAT MAKES A PERFECT EXIT SONG. Never choose a song that says goodbye. It's eerie how many singers go out of the competition with a song that says "goodbye." I am very sure she will be one of the ones to go, this time around. (Remember Ayla's song "unwritten" was a perfect exit song.) I didn't hear that she forgot the words, tho, but that's bc i didn't know this song well. She can't stand up to the rest of the good singers in this.

Lisa - Good but not great. She sings great for as young as she is. She'll continue to go far.

Kevin - totally loved his performance (sorry Amy) but his singing is not as great as it could be. He's fun to watch. He did his best.

Katharine - Before Simon said it, i was thinking Kelly Clarkson the whole time... Tho her voice is different, she does a lot of the same movements and facial expressions. She's very good, but i feel like we don't KNOW her yet. She came the closest to having a wardrobe malfunction!

Taylor - great outfit, great performance. For the first time i really liked him. You can tell he's a crowd favorite and the judges LOVE HIM. My only real beef w/ him is that he looks way too old to be in this... but he's flawless. And he wasn't too "wooo" annoying.

Paris - She can sing so great... but i don't know if America will keep voting for her. I like her attitude tho.

Chris - Yet another rock /serious performance. I want him to do a fun one. I liked the shaved look for a change. He really did great all over the stage... Next to Elliot he's my fave.

Finally, i don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but at the awkward ending where the music is going on and you see all the contestants on the stage, when-ever Chris is up there, he never has anyone to talk to. He just walks around looking serious like clapping or just looking for someone to even look at. I feel so awkward watching him. It's like he just doesn't fit in or has no friends there. Or he's taking this all way too seriously and can't have fun with it. I don't know. Has anyone else noticed that? He did it again tonight. It's weird!

   [ posted  @ 9:43 PM | ]

I'm home today, not by choice, and not bc of the Minnesota March Snowstorm (every year i've lived here there is always a major blizzard mid-March). I'm home bc my lovely employer forced me to take a day of vacation due to pay-roll cuts... I'm so ticked off I've asked for a store transfer... I'm convinced there is something messed up in the bookkeeping or sales reporting - when it comes to cutting me a full day of work, I give up. I wish i was related to a lawyer sometimes.

Anyways I really just wanted to post that cute /sad picture... No one should feel sorry for me, of course. But i just got my 5-year gift catalogue from OfficeMax. You get to pick a stupid gift. Let's see, i get to choose from neclaces, braclets or watches that have OFFICEMAX stamped on them. Or, i could pick a crystal bowl, a fishing pole, clocks (also with officemax on them), binoculars, or a 35mm camera (do they still make those???). I just don't know what to pick. I think i'll spend my day looking at the gifts and just drooling over them. This is my life. I am such a loser.

   [ posted  @ 7:08 AM | ]

Well, i was truly shocked that Ayla went tonight. I thought for sure it would be Melissa. I guarantee Melissa only has a week or two left. Not sure who is voting for her. No suprise for me that Will and Gedeon are gone... neither one was that good. No suprise either that Kinnik got voted off. Sooooooooooo much talent left... this is the best season ever.

   [ posted  @ 8:08 PM | ]

First, before i post my thoughts on IDOL i have to tell you about being accused of terrorist-ties this week at work. So it's no secret i don't get along w/ my sales manager... He is younger than i and really doesn't know what he's doing; plus he takes his job WAAAAY too seriously. Ugg. Anyways we had a few spats this week and he went running to daddy (our boss) whom i've not seen in WEEKS. Within minutes of me signing in on Wed., my boss asks me to meet him in the office and asks me what is wrong... that i seem different... and that he can tell things are not right with me. He is not trying to pry into my personal life, he says, but he said i seem edgier and crabbier etc. Well first of all, i told him i don't feel that way - and nothing in my life is going wrong or right in particular, everything is NORMAL and nothing out of the ordinary. I did take that opportunity to "come up with" some things that i was disgruntled about just to change the subject, about how i didn't think the store was being run correctly. That chased a rabbit for him and he skipped the topic of my mood swings, which was so obviously not coming from him but from little tattle tale sales manager.

To wrap up the conversation, he enquired about some paperwork i left in the nightly accounting that my sales mgr brought to his attention. I had been practicing my Greek while waiting for a customer and was writing out a bible verse on an envelope that we use to put the cash bag slips in. It was from John 1:1, something i memorized in the Greek. Anyways, my sales manager asked my boss if this was ARABIC and if this wasn't a hostile sign that i was thinking of something ... i don't know... terrorist-like? OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My boss laughed at my sales mgr (he told me) and since my boss is also a Christian and has been to seminary, said "No, she's taking a class in Greek... this is from the Bible."

So for the rest of the day i walked around saying ALLAH AKBAR to mock the situation... what people won't think of when they have a vendetta against you. Thankfully my boss turned the accusation on it's head and also started saying "Allah Akbar" as a joke. :)

Okay, so for IDOL. I'll just run you my predictions. First, the only time i disagreed with Simon was his take on Elliot last night. Elliot rocks, even tho he does look like a mushroom guy or something from the Shire.

GIRLS:

Paris & Kinnik may be going soon. Lisa, Kellie, and Katherine are my favorites for the girls. Mandisa did a great job too.

GUYS:

Elliot #1 this guy just can sing anything - he's amazing. Taylor - omg i still have no idea what his deal is. I cringe when i watch him. But he picks good songs and can really sing. Ace - gotta go, yuck with the song choices: George Michael and Michael Jackson???? What is this guy's story??????????????? Kevin - i disagree w/ mom. This kid is cute but he does not have a good voice. He's average. I think he may be leaving this week, along with either Will or Gedeon. Chris did great, too, but he's got to do a fun song now.

Great week, i thought, tho.

   [ posted  @ 11:42 AM | ]

As far as Idol's results this week, i think it's sad that Heather went, over Kinnik but there are mostly great people left. And i want to know what was in the Coke cups that Paula and Simon were drinking from... she was clearly drunk. I can't believe what a nightmare that must have been to the producers. Ugggg!

I'll have to do some digging to find out of Apprentice will not be back for a 5th season. That was one of my favorite shows. Survivor is boring, to me, this year. I've never liked watching the challenges. I've been watching Survivor but mostly ff'ding thru it.

So today i'll be out running errands, shopping, and getting ready for date-day tomorrow. I'm cooking lunch for Matt and then we are going to go to my church and enjoy an awesome praise concert.

   [ posted  @ 6:24 AM | ]

I could not cast a single vote this week for Idol bc i watched them too late, but here are my thoughts for you anyways.

Breaking it down:

Katherine: Suprised by song choice, not what i would expect. She did a good job. I just don't know that she will outshine anyone else. Also we just don't know enough about her. Isn't her mom the music teacher?

Kinnik- Very fun performance but ouch she looks too old to be in this competition. I think she's got a good voice but won't draw votes.

Lisa T. - Awesome job. Man this girl is great. I like her a lot... I think she will go very far but probably not win.

Melissa - Finally i liked her. She looked more like a pop star, and i think she did great. I don't know if i 've ever heard that song before, tho. LOL (i'm very out of it.)

Heather - Hmmmm. I can tell she wants this very bad. I just feel like for some reason she doesn't fit in and knows she doesn't fit in. She reminds me of the kind of girl who has a genuine heart but can never really find a group of friends to sit with consistently in the lunch room (haha.)

Brenna - This has got to be her last week. Ohmy she's so irritating.

Paris - I think she really over-sang the song, in parts but she's got a very natural amazing voice. I'm a fan. I like her attitude.

Ayla - Simon nailed it with the straight-a's comment. I think she did a great job.

Kellie - Kind of started off boring & hit some bad notes. She'll win this competition, tho. It will come down to her and Chris, no problem.

Mandisa - Okay so she looked younger, at least to me. Good job. She'll stick around another week. Not sure who is voting for her but she's fun.

FOR THE GUYS:

Taylor - Did he color his hair darker? I can't take his "wooo!" just like Mom could not take Fantasia's Yeah Yeaaah's last year. I love his song choice and i think he did good with it. I don't know if anyone can make him stop smiling.

Elliot - My favorite of the whole night. MAN he just nailed that song. Amazing voice. I think he also comes off as a very nice guy.

Ace - I am not a fan of this guy, at all. I think he hit a lot of wrong notes: Simon was right: on the play back it will be revealed he was missing stuff. I think this was a boring performance. And then when he finally will do something fun (in weeks to come) he will blow it.

Gideon - He's going home for sure, on Thursday. What is with all the guys growing mustaches, this week? Yuck. Lose it. I wanted to ffd this song. I think it's good at least he can sing in tune, but yes it's like he's from the 60's and no one sings that anymore.

Kevin - Did anyone notice the shot of him in the classroom, it looks like he's inspecting a booger and then eating it!!! LOL! He wins the G.W.Bush young look a like contest. He cannot win, but he adds so much to the show. I think he had a great run @ the end of his song which just proves he can sing. He even had Simon smiling real big. But i agree if you heard him on the radio you would not listen. I think the Chicken Little thing might have hurt his feelings, and i do think he and Paris need to get married.

Sway - also going home on Thursday. That was sad what he said about his parents. Another mustache. Ugg.

Will - I can tell he's got a classically trained voice like by a voice coach. So his voice is not a pure natural talent. I liked the song tho, think he did an amazing job.

Bucky - ugg with the shaved hair in the back of his head. And, yes another mustache. I don't think he has any shot of winning. But he can sing okay. I feel kind of sorry for him. He is sincere, like Simon said. But yes he's just a support act.

David - Yup even i got irritated with this performance. DID ANYONE SEE BUCKY TRYING TO DANCE IN THE BACKGROUND TO THIS SONG! It was so funny i rewound it like 4x.

Chris - simply amazing. He really wants to win. He's one of my favorites and i pick him to win or be #2. I don't know if i've ever heard that song, tho, but wow good job. Yup he was the only real performance.

   [ posted  @ 9:29 PM | ]

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