Early Voting Ends Tomorrow
Thursday, February 28, 2008
I voted! Did you?
Beat the long lines and vote early by Friday the 29th.
American Idol
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Hmm. The girls weren't too great today. Carly did awesome though, so she's back in my top 3.
Here are my faves for this week:
David Archuleta
Jason Castro (needs to sing without the guitar next week)
David Cook
Luke Menard did MUCH better this week.
Carly Smithson
Kristy Lee Cook
Brooke White
Those were the only girls who impressed me this week. I hope Ramiele and Syesha make a comeback next time.
Ten on Tuesday
10 Movies That You’ve Intended to Watch, but Haven’t
1. No Country for Old Men
2. Atonement
3. The Savages
4. Across the Universe
5. August Rush
6. In Bruges
7. Gone Baby Gone
8. The Other Boleyn Girl
9. Dan in Real Life
10. Lars and the Real Girl
Obama
Two of my favorite things in the recent Obama commercials:
1) He says something about not pitting red states against blue states. He wants to be President of the United States of America.
2) A whole commercial spot denouncing (and rejecting!) PACs and lobbyists.
He really hit on the head two of my highest priority concerns with government. McCain has the same position on these particular issues, although he hasn't been running ads here. Party politics and lobbyists have made our government a complete mess that has a difficult time being representative of "the people." Only without these plagues, can we move forward on issues like foreign policy or economics.
Ska-weeeeeee!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
O.M.G.
Is it possible that Rick Springfield is even hotter than he was way back when?
October 25. House of Blues. Dallas. Be there.
Jimmy's f***ing Ben Affleck
Monday, February 25, 2008
Remember Sarah Silverman's "I'm f***ing Matt Damon" video?
Here's Jimmy Kimmel's response.
ROFL
Oscars
I was the only one in the house watching the Oscars last night. Well, that meant I could freely drool over George, Viggo, Javier and Colin. The dresses were awesome, too. The girls' dresses, I mean.
Yesterday I was talking about Karen in Michael Clayton, and how the character was played so well that I just hated her. Tilda Swinton won best supporting actress for that. Yay! I had to laugh when they interviewed her and she said she found the character to be this poor woman trying so hard to be perfect. I had a totally different take on her. I thought she was letting ambition get the best of her, doing evil, unthinkable things just to be the hot shot lawyer. Interesting!
Katherine Heigl and Jennifer Garner were my best-dressed picks.
Marion Cotillard gave the best speech.
Tom Wilkinson was robbed.
Debbie Matenopoulos was killing me with her E! red carpet commentary about Sarah Larson being the luckiest girl in Hollywood. She just kept going on and on. It was pretty funny. She even apologized to her own significant other at one point. (And Debbie. Eat a cheeseburger. Really.)
Javier Bardem is worth a second mention here just because he is so cute, and with that accent, wow... He's like the Spanish version of Jeffrey Dean Morgan from P.S. I Love You and Grey's Anatomy.
Definitely, Maybe and Michael Clayton
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Saw both movies this weekend. Definitely, Maybe has had terrible reviews, but I thought it was a sweet movie. Very much a chick flick. Typically predictable, as these types of movies can be, but the concept was original and the story was never boring.
I had to see Michael Clayton before the Oscars tonight. Made it just in time! It was really good. Tom Wilkinson was amazing. And George finally plays someone other than George Clooney in a movie. Y'all know I love the man, so I don't mind at all when he plays himself (the handsome, sarcastic, immensely likeable guy) all the time. I'm just saying.
Okay, he played someone else in Syriana as well. I'll give him that.
For the first time in a long time, I absolutely hated a character. Karen, the lawyer for uNorth, was so despicable, I was infuriated when she was on screen. LOL. Grr!
Viggo Mortensen and George Clooney are both up for Best Actor tonight. Yeesh. What am I supposed to do with that? Go for Daniel Day-Lewis?
Catchphrase
Friday, February 22, 2008
Last night at about 9pm, Julie calls me and says, "Hey! We want to borrow your catchphrase."
I start giggling. "Okay! What is my catchphrase?"
She starts laughing. "Noooo. Your Catchphrase game!"
Bwahaha! I thought I must have had one heck of a catchphrase that they were calling for permission to use it.
Maybe you had to be there. Hee.
Free recipe/grocery list planner online
Lifehacker had a link to this cool site I haven't seen before, called Tasty Planner. This online service is free! It's also a good place to find new recipes.
http://tastyplanner.com/
I have software called Accuchef that lets me select recipes on my computer and organize a shopping list. Not only can you enter your own recipes, import from the web, print recipe cards or a whole cookbook, but it's also full-service with the grocery list, including mapping items to any number of local grocery stores' aisles for an organized shopping list, adding your own extra items like bread and milk, saving various shopping lists like "basics" or a certain combination of menus, etc. Also includes nutritional information. It's only $20! Not as pretty or drag-n-drop as Tasty Planner, but a lot more customizable, if you need that.
AI Girls
Thursday, February 21, 2008
I've already changed one of my faves.
Syesha
Asia'h
Ramiele
I really didn't like Carly's performance for some reason. :(
I'll weigh in on the debate over "professional singers" being included this year. They've always included "professional singers" in that there have been several contestants who are paid singers, usually part-time, in their regular lives. Most finalists have had experience singing in public.
I do think that they should exclude people who have had a record contract at any point. That's a whole different level of "pro." The real excitement of American Idol is seeing someone who sings mostly for fun make it all the way to "pop star." Seeing all these pros makes it seem more like a record company audition rather than a contest. Which professional singers will get contracts is not as interesting as which regular Joe with a great voice will make it from singing in the shower to performing at the Super Bowl.
I'll watch either way, so this is just babble, really. LOL.
Ten on...
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Tuesday, Wednesday, whatever...
Ten Things You Love
1. The beach
2. Music
3. Google
4. Austin Land and Cattle
5. A cool breeze on a hot day
6. Flowing creativity
7. Laughter
8. Photos
9. Word games
10. Target
Eastern Promises
Finally saw Eastern Promises. Was I the only person who thought they were in Russia the whole movie? Ahahaa! Silly people, they are in LONDON. Duh! I didn't figure it out until watching the extras on the DVD, where Viggo is saying something about filming in London. I was like, "Ohhhh!!! London, of course. That's why most people outside 'the family' had English accents."
Shoot me now.
Btw, Viggo is totally naked in the movie for a significant length of time in a fight scene. No, I didn't review the scene in slow motion.
I did think about it.
American Idol Boys
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Okay. Here are my current guy faves:
Jason Castro
Michael Johns
David Cook
and... David Archuleta- is he cute or what?
Vacay
Sunday, February 17, 2008
And the decision is...
Canada/New England!
*wild applause*
We'll hit New York City while we're in the neighborhood.
Myrtle Beach will most likely be our next trip, perhaps next Spring Break. (Oh my. Maybe not...)
Roadrunner Search Results in Lieu of 404 Error
Time Warner has suddenly hijacked my web access, giving me their own search results page (powered by Yahoo) when I type an unknown web address. Of course, I don't know if that is any more obnoxious than the fake web pages put up by the web hosts. You know, the ones that have a thousand links to things similar to the page you were looking for, that sometimes look like a real web page, but suckier.
Luckily, Roadrunner allows you to turn off its "helpful service" in your preferences.
Vacation Planning
Friday, February 15, 2008
I'm seriously looking into Myrtle Beach for this summer. The place looks like an entertainment extravaganza... with a beach! Only thing is, I keep reading about traffic jams and other things that indicate a throbbing throng of sweaty tourists. I need some insider facts. Maybe TripAdvisor.com has something.
The other option is a Canada/New England cruise. Explorer of the Seas goes out of NYC in July.
What to do... what to do...
Quiz Time!
1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:00am
2. Diamonds or Pearls? diamonds
3. What was the last film you saw at the movies? Juno
4. What is your favorite TV show? The Office
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? cereal
6. What is your middle name? Marguerite
7. What food(s) do you dislike? beets
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Daughtry
9. What kind of car do you drive? Hyundai Santa Fe
10. Favorite sandwich? Reuben
11. What characteristics do you despise? arrogance
12. Favorite item of clothing? the jeans I have on today
13. If you could go anywhere on vacation where would you go? Australia
14. What color is your bathroom? 80s sage green and mauve. Must get the remodel going soon...
15. Favorite brand of clothing? whatever's on sale this week
16. Where would you retire? Austin, Scottsdale AZ or any beach town
17. Most memorable birthday? Sweet 16
18. Favorite Sport to watch? football
19. Furthest place you are sending this? n/a
20. Who do you expect to send this back to you? n/a
21. Who do you expect to send it back first? n/a
22. Favorite saying? "It is what it is."
23 When is your birthday? April 2
24. Are you a morning person or a night person? morning
26. Pets? 1 black and white cat
27. What did you want to be when you were little? a singer
28. What do you do today? stay-at-home mom
29. What is your favorite candy? Snickers
30. What is your favorite flower? tulips
31. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? March 10- going Lake LBJ for a few days
32. What church/temple do you attend? none
33. What are you listening to right now? "Across the Universe" Jim Sturgess
34. What was the last thing you ate? NutriGrain blueberry bar
35. Do you believe in Angels? yes
36. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? bright purple
37. What is your pet peeve? telephone solicitors
38. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Jeff
39. Favorite soft drink? Fresca
40. Favorite restaurant? Musashino
41. Hair Color? brown
42. Siblings? 1 half-brother
43. Favorite day of the year? Christmas
46. Hugs or kisses? both
47. Chocolate or vanilla? chocolate
48. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? n/a
49. When was the last time you cried? last week during a song on the radio- can't remember the song
50. What is under your bed? Christmas wrap
51. Who is the friend you've had longest? Lori
52. What did you do last night? watched Celebrity Apprentice and researched summer vacation spots
53. Favorite smell? bacon
54. What are you afraid of? heights
55. How many keys on your key ring? 2
56. How many years at your current job? mom- 14 years, volunteer- 9 years, webmistress- 8 years
57. Favorite day of the week? Friday
58. How many towns have you lived in? Heidelberg, Germany; Pasadena, TX; Kansas City, KS; Deer Park, TX; Houston, TX; League City, TX; College Station, TX; Austin, TX-- 8
59. Do you make friends easily? not really
60. How many folks will you send this to? n/a
One Semester of Spanish Spanish Love Song
Thursday, February 14, 2008
This is hilarious:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ngRq82c8Baw
Happy V-Day!
Guess what greeted me just inside my favorite chocolates today? A nutritional guide! What are they thinking? LOL
So. A&M student Jason Castro made it to the American Idol final 24. I haven't even seen him sing yet. Did I miss it? I just keep spotting the dreads. There are a lot of great singers this year! My initial faves are Syesha, Carly and Ramiele. That usually means that they won't be in my top 5 in a few weeks, or they'll be gone week 1-2. I like Amanda a lot, but I'm not a fan of her singing style.
Know any "Big Democrats"?
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
If anyone out there knows any big fish in the Democratic Party, call me. Someone I know reeeeeeeally wants 2 tickets to the Austin debate.
Read more...Hard American Idol
I beat the American Idol game on the "hard judging" setting. Simon told me that I was sailing through the competition "on personality" and in the end I beat Kelly at her own song. So, HA.
Some of the band kids are missing school all day today, traveling around to feeder elementary schools to recruit 5th graders for next year. I went to their presentation at DD's old elementary. The 5th graders were primarily concerned with trips. "Do any parents go?" one student asked. "Are there ever food fights and stuff like that at the hotel?" asked another. Watch out for the wild class of 2015!
Two Kimberly Stories
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Since she was here, I was just thinking of these:
First there was the high school boyfriend from another school, with whom she had gone out for like a month, when she asked him how many D's were in his name (Todd). He said, "None. It's T-Y." Ha! Again an issue with the Texas drawl. Ty = Tah which somewhat sounds like Todd. But for a month? Ahaha. She about died.
The other is how when we were 16 and 17, we worked together as hostesses at Gallaghers. The waiters (playfully... I think) called the hostesses "Door Whores" or "Do' Ho's." Our senior year of high school, Kimberly and I played in the annual Powder Puff football game, where we plastered "DOHO 1" and "DOHO 2" on the back of our jerseys. The faculty didn't raise an eyebrow. Nor did our parents. Hilarious. I'm pretty sure we told our moms it stood for "Door Hostess." Surely they didn't fall for that!
Sunday Seven
On Tuesday!
Name seven things on your mind today.
1. DD's high school course selections
2. Grocery list and shopping in the rain
3. Two Foundation events this week
4. Cold front coming through- remember jacket
5. Superdelegates!
6. Summer vacation planning
7. Beating Guitar Hero III Medium "Knights of Cydonia." MEDIUM. Grr.
Newspaper Interview
Monday, February 11, 2008
I was interviewed about one of my websites by a newspaper last week. How cool is that? They just called me with a follow-up question. We shall see how the article turns out. I contributed to it with a few other people, so no big thing, but it's fun anyway!
Read more...America's Best Dance Crew
Sunday, February 10, 2008
So we're watching the "Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet III" on MTV this afternoon (is Coral like 35 or something at this point? She was on way back when we used to watch Real World), and afterwards a new show called "Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew" came on. Mario Lopez hosts, as one of his thousand jobs, much like Ryan Seacrest. JC Chasez is the Simon Cowell of the show. Okay, he's not Simon-harsh, but he is the most critical of the judges.
It was interesting, but definitely marketed to a teen and 20's audience.
Shredded fajita meat?!
Just read a recipe that wants me to shred my fajita steak before serving. Yikes! What self-respecting Tex-Mex cook does that? Plus... my fajita meat is barely chewable, much less fork-shredable.
Spent Friday evening with Kimberly. She and her oldest son came down from Wyoming for his audition for music school at UT. We had way more to talk about than our short time allowed. The waitress at Iron Cactus had to kick us out. We were restaurant employees way back, so we didn't care. We've spent our share of nights waiting for people to get the heck out. We even let her run the Bissell around our feet. That's pretty bad.
We've known each other since 8th grade. I actually remembered all of the stories she brought up. Usually people remember different things. Mostly we talked about parenting though.
We also hung out at her sister's house for a while. Her sister is newly married, and I give the new hubby a gold star. It's too bad they live all the way up around the Arboretum. She has a 7-minute commute to Dell, so I don't think they're moving anytime soon. I asked if she knows an old friend of mine who works at Dell. Her reaction told me that question is much like, "Do you know so-and-so? She went to A&M, too!" Ahaha.
Too fun. I wish we'd had more time to chat! We'll have to get back up Kimberly's way sometime. DD hasn't seen Yellowstone yet. That is a perfect June trip.
Web Designers Only: Faux Column PNG
Friday, February 8, 2008
Just found a fix for something I wanted to leave for my own notes, as well as anyone out there who needs it.
When creating faux columns for your CSS layouts, and your background image is a PNG, in Firefox the PNG image displays correctly and matches the color of your column exactly. In Internet Explorer the PNG will display slightly darker than the color it is, defeating the purpose of the image altogether.
Here's the fix (thank you so much Biorust.com!): Remove the gAMA with TweakPNG (thank you so much Jason Summers!). It will now display the correct color. Ta-Da!
Stevie Ray Vaughan, baby
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Nothing is more fun than playing the most awesome song "Pride and Joy" on Guitar Hero. Whee! Of course the first time I ran through it today, I rocked it. The next time, I sucked. lol. Sometimes you just get on a roll with that game, then you lose it.
Read more...The Moment of Truth
This show is the worst. I've watched 3 times, to give it a chance, and it never fails to disappoint. They were talking about it this morning on KISS FM, and they have some of the same complaints I have:
1) The show runs sooooo sloooowwwww. Way too much time chatting and waiting for answers and results.
2) The contestants have already been asked the questions, yet some of them look surprised when the questions are asked on stage.
3) Why would you ever lie? The lie is instantly exposed, and you lose all your money. Yet, two contestants have already done just that.
4) Why would anyone use the "skip the question" button? Once a question is on the table, you probably want to hear the answer. If you don't, like last night, it makes it appear that you know the answer and it's something negative. So we all assume the beauty queen is bulimic. Next question.
5) If I knew all the questions ahead of time, and I was o.k. with revealing any of the answers, then I know I can just keep going until I hit the maximum prize. No one has done that. Very weird.
6) Who is giving them the heads-up on that person's secrets? The family and friends, I assume. That's all-kinds-o'-twisted.
7) Until the underwear-stuffing marine, they were asking a lot of the same questions in different ways. Most of the questions were inconsequential and uninteresting. The gambler answered like six questions about gambling away money. Yes, yes, yes. Whatever. Then the marine came in and admitted he'd done all kinds of awful things. His mom was not happy about the drunk driving. That was the only authentic moment I think I've seen.
And just a note on the beauty queen- That girl is not attractive. I'm just saying. A beauty queen should be pretty, right? And was that really Miss California? Not attractive either. Very strange.
Quotes from Today
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
"Straight's overrated."
-Carson Kressley on "How To Look Good Naked," when his subject was complaining that her teeth weren't straight.
"Call it... American Political Idol. We even had Dennis Kucinich to play Sanjaya."
-Stephen King in this week's Entertainment Weekly, commenting that the presidential race has gone "pop culture."
Super Tuesday
Yay McCain and Obama! And it looks like Texas might actually have a primary that is of some significance, rather than pointless voting for the people who've already won their slot. Well, for the Dems anyway. We'll see. Things change so quickly.
Junk email Tip o' the Day: I was getting a lot of junk mail from places where I've purchased stuff online. I've been unsubscribing from all of those things over the last few months, just as I get the emails, and now my email box is not so full of ads. Just make sure you don't unsubscribe from unsolicited spam. Only places that got your email from a legitimate signup or purchase.
Cheer Nationals Video
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Woo! An undercover video has surfaced. lol.
Here are your Senior Limited Open Coed Level 4 National Champions!
Super Bowl and stuff
Monday, February 4, 2008
Or is it Superbowl? Hmm. I should know trivial grammar things like that.
Great game!! I was mostly ambivalent about the outcome, but decided on NY just before the game. Lucky guess!
I'm finally switching all my websites over to CSS layouts instead of table layouts. Good grief, it's a royal pain. I should hire myself out after this to do these transitions for people. I'm on website 2 out of 3.
We tried the famous new Taco Bueno today. It's about the same as Taco Bell, if you ask me. I got something called "party tacos," and they were pretty good. Very basic though. They don't have Taco Bell's awesome taco sauce either. Their sauce is more like salsa. I give it a thumbs-up, unless Taco Bell is closer. :)
Speaking of Taco Bell, I hear Britney Spears is finally in the hospital. Thank goodness for that!
The Democratic race is getting tight. I can't take Clinton's insincerity. I just can't. Anyone but her. Smart lady- she just uses her intelligence to sidestep issues and attempt to please everyone with non-answers that will get her where she wants to be.
YAY!!!!!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
OH. MY. GOSH. They won! They won! They won!
We call this ACP competition "Big Nationals," and there were 7,000 cheerleaders participating this weekend. We're talking BIG.
The past couple of years, DD's cheer teams have gotten used to winning first and high point in most of their competitions, but this one enormous Nationals gets them every.... single... year. It's always something different. Early on, it was regional champion teams that showed up for only the second day and wiped them off the scoreboard. Then it was aaallllmooooost getting first, but not quite. It's been so tough for them at this particular event.
Juniors were fantastic both days. Seniors were awesome the first day, but had a dropped stunt on the second day. Since Day 2 counts for 75% of their final score, we were pretty sure they had been knocked out of first place, where both teams were after Day 1. During awards, we were so nervous and were expecting to get, at most, second place. The kids were huddled together, expecting the same thing. When they got to the second place announcement, and another team was called, everyone freaked out. It was total pandemonium. Despite having a major error on Day 2, they still won. They were that good. The tears were flowing all around, including the coaches'.
Juniors were pretty much the obvious first-place winners of their division this time, so while it wasn't as much of a nail-biter, it was just as exciting when they won.
In the end, both the junior and senior teams finally get that ever-elusive gold medal (WOO!). They also got the gorgeous leather National Champion letter jacket, so DD now has two of them. She'd probably wear them both together if she could. It would be nice to get some cold weather in Austin!
Off to San Antonio
Friday, February 1, 2008
We'll be in San Antonio this weekend for ACP Cheer Nationals. Packing for this huge event is a huge event in itself. You have to pack the regular clothes and stuff, plus the competition bag. Since we'll be at the Alamodome for two days, most of the day and into the night, the competition bag is really another suitcase full of stuff. No video allowed this time, so at least I don't have the additional videographer stress. This is the one that is televised on some cable sports network in the spring.
Juniors don't do their first round of competition until 11:30 tonight. Oy. Seniors are at 10:30, which is way backwards, just to confuse us.
Luckily, there's a restaurant next to the Dome that has great margs. Yeah, baby!
Writers and Singers
Writers. I've been wondering how the soaps stay on every day during the writers' strike. Well, today's cheesy dialog on All My Children made me cringe. I think they've hired some less-than-qualified people to write scripts. lol. And the direction things are going? Seems Ryan has just coincidentally lost the last four years of his memory, which, if I remember correctly, means he'll be in love with Greenlee again. Bwahahaha! Perfect. Oh, and Zack is all attached to her now, too. And her boyfriend still likes her.
Maybe they can bring back Leo (Josh Duhamel), so every guy in Pine Valley can be in love with Greenlee.
I'm certain an alien storyline is soon to rear its ugly head.
And Singers. I've always had a weakness for a guy who can sing. Looks like DD has inherited this affliction. During AI this week, we swooned over a few singers together. They only sing a few words before we look at each other and go "Oooh! NICE."
The flavor of the month for me is Chris Daughtry. If his band would come a little closer than a Monday night in Dallas, I'd totally be there.
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