Thursday, March 31, 2011

And the two leaving us tonight are…

Here we go, two people are leaving tonight! I just got off work a little bit ago so I’m watching this late. I’m just avoiding the internet so I don’t find out who left before I see it for myself.

That was really weird that Lauren and Scotty sang a duet. Why were they singled out of the group? Well, they went right to the results for those two after they sang, so maybe they’ll be doing this for the rest of the contestants. That was no surprise that both of them are safe.

Alright, I guess they will all be singing duets. I guess I missed Ryan saying that before Lauren and Scotty sang together. Or maybe he just didn’t say anything about it. And I wasn’t surprised that Naima is in the bottom 3.

I’m glad I taped Idol because I just fast-forwarded through Fantasia’s performance. Her voice just bugs me a little bit.

Alright, out of Pia, Thia, and Haley, I think Thia is going to be in the bottom 3 and the other two will be safe. And again, I was correct!

That was crazy about Casey last Thursday. He was shaking so bad!! We didn’t see him after the show though, so that was pretty crazy how he said he felt  kind of guilty for being there (I think guilty was the word, I don’t know).

Yay!!! For the first time this season, I actually got it right for who was leaving!!! And I’m kinda glad that two people left this week because I would have had no idea which one to choose from, Thia or Naima. But they both left!

Well, that’s all I’ve got for the results show. What did you think about the results?

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The Elton John Songbook

Scotty was first with “Country Comfort”. He is gonna sail right through this competition if he keeps doing what he is doing: making any song he sings into a country song. I agree with Randy when he said that the song sounded like it could be on his record. He is great and there is no doubt about it that he is safe this week.

I do have to agree with Randy about Naima’s performance of “I’m Still Standing”. It did kinda seem corny. I thought it was gonna be alright at the beginning, but then I just didn’t like it. I just didn’t like it at all. I think she could be in danger. It’s only the second performance though, so I may be speaking too soon.

Next was Paul with “Rocket Man”. Now if you read my blog, you know how I feel about Paul, I’m not really a fan. But he has been growing on me. And I think tonight he was pretty good. I agree with Jennifer though when she said she thinks he’s holding back. He could have done better, but he will be safe.

Pia sang “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me” and she did a wonderful job! She is definitely safe!!!

Up next was Stefano singing “Tiny Dancer”. I really liked his performance, too. His stage presence was great!! That was awesome at the end when he went down to Jennifer and held her hand.

Lauren sang “Candle In the Wind”. We will definitely be seeing her in the finale! She is a breath of fresh air. She was born to be singing!!

James sounded great singing “Saturday Night’s Alright”. I loved how he started up in the audience! He has great stage presence and you can tell he loves being up there!! That was awesome when he jumped up and did a split in the air! Another no brainer here…he’s gonna be safe!

Thia was next singing “Daniel”. I didn’t see much wrong with it, other than a few pitch issues like Randy pointed it out. I think based on that, and how well the other ones have been so far, that she may be in danger.

Casey sang “Your Song”. I liked it better than last week and can kind of understand why they saved him.

Next was Jacob singing “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word”. You know, he is kind of growing on me as well. I haven’t liked him in the past but I thought he did a good job tonight and I kind of liked it.

Wait, the song is “Bennie and the Jets”??? I always thought it was “Betty”!! Wow, I can’t believe when I hear it on the radio at work that I’ve been singing it wrong, haha. And you know what? I actually enjoyed Haley’s performance of it. And this may be the first week that I think she’s safe.

I almost forgot that 2 people leave tonight. Alright, then I think it will be Thia and Naima. I don’t know if they are going to do two bottom 3’s or just one, so I won’t bother choosing a bottom 3. What do you think? Which two contestants do you think are leaving?

Get rid of or keep?

That is the question when it comes to which devices and gadgets you should keep and which ones you should get rid of. I found an article through yahoo and they mentioned 10 gadgets so I’m going to list them and then give my opinions on them.

Desktop computer- Lose it! I don’t currently have one, but my fiancĂ© does. He needs it though because he’s a gamer and web designer. I also use it for my music because if I had all 2,522 songs and 250 apps that are on my iPod touch on my laptop, it would be really slow!!

High-speed internet at home- Keep it! I definitely agree with keeping this one. Sure I can get internet on my phone, but I still need it on my laptop when I’m home from college because I can’t do everything on my phone. High-speed internet will always be a necessity.

Cable TV- Depends. I don’t know why this one gets a “depends”. Cable isn’t a necessity, but I think it is definitely worth the cost.

Point-and-shoot camera- Lose it! I disagree with this one! The article says that you should just rely on your phone’s camera. I could never take all the pictures I take with just my camera phone. I almost always have my camera with me, it takes less than 5 seconds to turn on, and it takes way better pictures than a phone camera. So no matter what, I will always have a digital camera.

Camcorder- Lose it! I agree with this one, the old-school camcorders are history. Someday (like when I have kids) I would like to get one of those Flip Cameras because they look really cool!

USB thumb drive- Lose it! The article says that you can just email files to yourself so that you will be able to access them anywhere you can access your email. I do that sometimes, but I still use my USB. I mostly use it when I’m at college and have a bunch of things to print. I have a folder on my USB where I put things in that I have to print. So then I can just stick the USB in a computer in a computer lab on campus and easily print what needs printed.

Digital music player- Lose it! (probably) I totally disagree with this one!! The article says if you have a smartphone, then you have a music player. Well, I have a blackberry but I am always going to need my iPod touch. The reason? Blackberry app world doesn’t have any good apps. All the apps I have on my iPod touch from iTunes, you can’t get any of them on the Blackberry. I could see if I had an iPhone, then I wouldn’t need my iPod touch, but as long as I have any other phone than an iPhone, I’ll always need my iPod touch.

Alarm clock- Keep it! This is another one I disagree with. My iPod touch is my alarm clock, so why do I need a regular one?

GPS unit- Lose it! I have one, but don’t use it that much. So I’m fine with saying to get rid of it. I can just use google maps.

Books- Keep em! I totally agree. I’m never going to buy an e-reader. I just like having a book physically in my hands. I mean, I guess if I tried reading books with e-readers I would probably get used to it. But I’m gonna keep reading books the old-fashion way. I love what the article said about books:

“consider this about a book: It has a terrific, high-resolution display. It is pretty durable; you could get it a little wet and all would not be lost. It has tremendous battery life. It is often inexpensive enough that, if you misplaced it, you would not be too upset. You can even borrow them free at sites called libraries.”

So let me know what you think about the 10 gadgets. Do you agree or disagree with what me or the article said?

Would you rather?

Wednesday

I’m going to start a new weekly post. I’m going to call it “Would You Rather Wednesday”

Alright, I was having a debate with my roommate about this. And it was actually her boyfriend who started it. He had a job interview today for something that is totally unrelated to his degree. He texted me earlier today saying “Here’s my dose of mean: I will probably get a job that pays more than you will ever make teaching. Hahaha”. So then I responded with “At least I’ll be using my degree”, to which he said “Whatever. Tell that to your bank account.” I then told him “It doesn’t matter about the money, if it did, I would have picked a different career.”

So then when I got back to my room I asked my roommate, “Would you rather do something you love and get paid a little or do something you hate and get paid a lot?” You know which one she said? The second one. Then she went off about how if you love your job and get paid a little, you’ll be miserable because you won’t have a lot of money. Well I then said that if you hate your job but get paid a lot, you will still be miserable because you won’t like your job. So either way, both scenarios would kind of suck. But you know what, I’m willing to get paid a little to do something I love, which will be teaching. If I wanted to get paid more, then I would have gone to school to be a doctor or a lawyer, but I wouldn’t like either one of those jobs. Who cares if I’m not getting paid a lot? Then I will just have to get my priorities straight and not splurge on things I need. If I want to go on vacation I can just save money and go every other year or every few years.

So now I wanna know, what are your thoughts on this topic? I put up a poll on the right side of my blog so vote and leave me your comments letting me know what you think.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Another season has come to an end…

Season finale…here we go!!! The preview looked really good!! My oh my, what a season it has been.

I’m excited to see Leah and Corey’s wedding!! Whenever I see or hear anything about weddings, it makes me super excited for mine!!!

I’m glad Chelsea’s dad wants to get Adam’s car towed. It shouldn’t be there because he doesn’t live there anymore. He needs to get all of his stuff out of there.

Kailyn is lucky to have her mom on her side. I’m surprised that we haven’t heard anything about Kailyn’s dad since the episode where she met him. I guess she never wants to see him again and doesn’t want him in her life.

Wow, I can’t believe that Janelle is keeping it a secret that she’s with Kiefer still. I had thought they broke up. And they both went to jail?? Wow, I can’t believe her!! It doesn’t surprise me though. Her mom has given her too many second chances. She should let her sit in jail for a while so that Janelle can think about her life a little bit. Although I don’t think her doing any thinking will make a difference. I really hope that she had a wake up call and will never talk to Kiefer again. I don’t see why she doesn’t get that he isn’t good for her. It’s about time that she realizes her mom was right.

Good!! I’m glad Janelle (might have) finally learned her lesson. I hope she doesn’t think about letting Kiefer out of jail. He isn’t her problem anymore, let someone else deal with him.

I’m gonna do like Leah and Corey, my fiancĂ© and I won’t see each other the night before our wedding. And the first time we’ll see each other will be when I’m walking down the aisle. I can’t wait for that moment!!

I’m glad that Chelsea is smart and is forgetting about Adam. She needs to talk to Janelle and talk some sense into her!

It’s good that Janelle is actually starting to improve and work on her life. Paying back her mom’s credit card is a great start. That was a touching moment when Janelle and her mom were hugging. It’s something I never thought we would see happen.

Leah looks so pretty!! I can’t wait to see her in her dress! And I can’t wait to see the actual wedding!!

I haven’t said much about Kailyn and Jo yet. I think it is wise for them to actually get a custody agreement in place so that they don’t have any problems in the future. They just need to learn how to be civil towards each other. They have a child together which means they are going to have to talk to each other now and then.

Janelle shouldn’t tell Kiefer she doesn’t know if she is still with him. She needs to flat out tell him they are through!! She should not be missing him at all because he is no good for her!

Leah’s girls look so cute in their dresses!! I especially love the bows on their heads! It brought tears to my eyes as Leah was putting her dress on! That’s going to be me in about 2 years!!! It is still hard to believe!!!

Wait, did Jo just call Kailyn mentally ill? How is she mentally ill? He is being a jerk!! I feel really bad for Isaac.  He doesn’t deserve to be around the bad language that both his parents are using.

I can’t believe that Janelle bailed out Kiefer!!!! I sorta figured she would do that. And she’s considering going back with him after all she’s been through? He isn’t going to change and Janelle just needs to wake up and see that. Wow, his bail was $2,000 but the lady got it down to $200 if someone over 21 would sign for her. That is ridiculous! And now Janelle’s friend is basically in charge of Kiefer going to court and if he doesn’t, he has to pay the full $2,000. Actually he’s probably going to make Janelle pay it, which I totally agree with.

Yay, it’s time to see the wedding!!! Awww, she was crying before she even walked down the aisle!! I have tears in my eyes watching her cry!! The girls looked so cute going down the aisle in the wagon!! And again, I’m crying while watching them say their vows!! I still cant’ believe that that will be me in 2 years!!  This has definitely been my favorite part of Teen Mom ever!!!! I’m glad they had a happy ending!!

Well, that’s it for the season finale of Teen Mom 2! But it won’t be the last time I blog about this group of girls. I’m not sure when it is, but there will be a special where they all sit down with Dr. Drew. So I will definitely watch that and write about it.

What were your thoughts about the finale? Favorite parts? Least favorite parts? Leave me comments!!!

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Ah…I feel good!

I just got back from the gym with my roommate. We did 30 minutes on the bikes (I biked almost 5 miles!) and then 25 minutes on the treadmill (I only did about 1 mile). I’m not trying to lose weight or anything (for those who don’t know me, I’m 5'’1’ and 110 lbs, so I don’t need to lose any weight at all), I just wanna stay in shape. Plus, the money I pay each semester for college allows me full access to the gym, so I figure I may as well use it. Oh, and there is a third reason, the MS Walk is in 12 days!!! And I can say that if I can handle 5 miles on a bike, I can definitely handle a 4.2 mile walk. Now I am off to dinner and I think I’ll keep being healthy and eat a small dinner, maybe a salad and some fruit

Click here to help out my team for the MS Walk!!

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Have you seen this yet??

Heinz has revealed a new ketchup packet!! I went to get breakfast today and after I got my card swiped, I went to get some ketchup for my sandwich and hash brown, and I found this….

IMG00053-20110328-0912

And I immediately thought “Wow, I remember hearing about this 2 years ago!” I remember reading that it was gonna be a new packet where you can either easily tear the top off to squeeze it or you could lift a flap to dunk. I just read that article a while ago and then never thought about it again until today.

Today when I used the packet, I ripped off the top and squeezed it onto my sandwich and hash brown. I learned a lesson about it though: it is like a regular bottle of ketchup, you need to shake it before you use it or you’ll get the runny stuff when you first squeeze it.

So that is all, I just wanted to share with you my excitement that I had when I saw this!! Now I can’t wait to eat fries for lunch tomorrow so I can try out the dipping part!!

 

Click here to support me and my team for the MS Walk!! 

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Monday, March 28, 2011

How many of these 15 places have you visited?

I found an article called “15 Places kids should see by age 15”. I thought it would be interesting to look through the list and see how many of them I have visited.

The first place is the Grand Canyon in Arizona. I have not been there but I would like to get there someday. I’ve seen pictures and videos of it and it looks gorgeous! What I would love to see there is the Skywalk which is a U-shaped, glass-bottom observation deck that juts 70 feet over the Canyon’s West Rim and sits 4,000 feet about the Colorado River. I remember hearing about it when it got built just 4 years ago. I think it would probably take me a while to get the courage to walk on it though, because 4,000 feet down is huge!!!

The next place is Redwood National Park in California. I never even heard of this place, so I’m sure I’ll never get there. 

Next is Monticello in Virginia. This is the home of Thomas Jefferson. I remember being there when I was around 12 or 13 with my grandparents. This is definitely a place that any kid that lives on the east coast should get to.

The Freedom Trail in Massachusetts is next. Again,l I never heard of this one, but by the description of this place, it seems like it is very educational.

Niagara Falls in New York is another place I’ve been. But I don’t remember being there because I was really young. One thing I do remember though is that my mom woke up in the middle of the night (she was on the top bunk of bunk beds in a trailer) and she broke her ankle.

The next place is the National Mall in Washington, DC. I have been there and I would love to go back sometime. What I really want to do is goo to the Smithsonian Museum where the ruby red slippers from the Wizard of Oz are located. My mom and I saw them there before, but they were traveling. I read somewhere that they are now in DC so I’d like to go back and see them again.  I would also just love to walk around and take tons of pictures.

Williamsburg, Virginia is the next place, and it is also a place I haven’t visited. I remember always seeing commercials for Williamsburg and wanting to go there but I never got the chance.

The next place is a place I have been and is a place I can’t wait to visit again!! Unfortunately, I’m going to have to wait until I have kids. The place I’m talking about is Walt Disney World in Florida!!! I was there twice actually. The first time I was 8 and the second time was just last year, when I was 19 (almost 20). And to tell you the truth, I had more fun the second time!! I think it was because there was more I could do since I was older. I think taking kids is a great experience for them, but you just don’t want them to be too young because then they won’t remember it. I think kids should get to go twice, once when they are young and can enjoy the kiddie stuff and then once again when they are older so they can do more stuff.

Independence Hall in Pennsylvania is another place I’ve been. And it makes sense that I’ve been there since I’m from PA. I’m pretty sure that almost every kid that lives in the Eastern part of PA has been there. The article mentioned a 90 minute ghost tour that I never did, but I think that would be kind of cool.

Another place on the list that I never heard of is Alcatraz Island in California. And again, this is probably a place that I won’t ever make it to.

I have been to Ellis Island in New York and saw the Statue of Liberty. I didn’t get to go in it though, so I’d like to go back some day to visit.

Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho is a place I’ve heard of and don’t actually know that much about. I know that there are geysers and hot springs there though.

A place I will probably never visit is Fenway Park in Massachusetts. The article does say though that “even die-hard Yankees fans have to admit that visiting Major League Baseball’s oldest stadium is an exercise in Americanism.” I am a Yankees fan but I don’t think I would go to Massachusetts just to visit Fenway Park.

The Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve in Idaho would  be interesting to see someday.

The last place on the list, the San Diego Zoo in California, is another place that would be neat to go to. I love zoos and aquariums (I love aquariums more though).

So I have been to 6 of the 15 places and would be interested in visiting 5 more of them if I got the chance. Let me know which places you have been to and which ones you would like to visit.

And while you’re on my blog, click here to check out my post about the MS walk and help out my team!

 

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Sunday, March 27, 2011

Support my team!

Here is the link for my team for the MS Walk. Go check it out and help us reach our team goal of $150!! Pass this on to all of your friends and help us out! It is very much appreciated!!

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Saturday, March 26, 2011

World, meet Lindsay!

So apparently Lindsay Lohan wants to drop her name so that she can get a fresh start. She wants to be like celebrities like Oprah, Madonna, Cher, or Beyonce, and just be known as one name. Her mother said “Lindsay is dropping the Lohan and just going by Lindsay. Plus, me and (younger daughter) Ali will be officially changing our last names back to my maiden name, Sullivan.” The family doesn’t want anything to do with Lindsay’s father (Michael Lohan) and that includes sharing his last name. I don’t think though, that by Lindsay dropping the Lohan, that people will ever forget about her past. It’s just something that’s always going to be there, so nice try Lindsay.

What do you think about Lindsay? Are you tired of hearing about her on the news all the time?

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Friday, March 25, 2011

Why do we eat popcorn at the movies?

So, I don’t like popcorn (I know, your mouth probably dropped right now and you’re thinking “How do you not like popcorn?!?”), but I found this interesting article that explains why people eat popcorn when they go to the movies. Popcorn was introduced to the general public as a snack food around 1840. This is when people started seeing it at fairs, carnivals, and rallies. It was in 1885 that the first portable popcorn was invented which increased its popularity dramatically. The popcorn boom happened around the same time that nickelodeon (dime) theatres started up. Popcorn venders sold their treats outside of the movies and the movie-goers loved it. Then as the Great Depression set in and profits dropped, owners were looking for new ways to bring in money. They noticed how lucrative the popcorn business was so they decided to install machines of their own inside. A movie and a bucket of popcorn became one of the main forms of entertainment for struggling Americans well into the 1930s.

When TV came along and threatened the movie business again, the concession stands became a huge part to the movie theatre’s success. Then sugar rations took hold during World War II, which made candy no longer available at the movies. Because of that, popcorn sales skyrocketed. By the time sugar was reintroduced to the public, everyone was so used to popcorn at the movies and it became ingrained in the minds of theatre patrons everywhere.

Today, concession stand sales make up 40% of movie theatres’ net revenue. New snacks are still being introduced but popcorn still endures. I’m not actually surprised that only 40% of the movie theatres’ net revenue comes from concession stands. The snacks and drinks are so expensive that it’s better to take the risk and bring in candy you got at the dollar store. But I don’t know, if you wanna bring in your own popcorn, I’d be careful with that. I think it would be a little suspicious if you have a freshly popped bag of popcorn in your bag. Leave me comments and let me know what your favorite snack is when you go to the movies.

 

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Why should we keep reading?


So I was just randomly thinking about the fact that I love to read, but I can’t remember the last time I picked up a book and read it for pleasure. For the past few months I’ve just been reading textbooks and articles for classes. So it just got me thinking “Why is reading important even for adults?” I found an article about why reading is important and found a few interesting facts: research has shown that avid readers stand out from the rest because of improved cognitive abilities. They can think creatively and it improves their grasping power. They are better analyzers and problem solvers.
The article goes on to explain that it is an activity that keeps us occupied and helps divert our mind from boredom. I definitely agree with the author of the article when they say “It is one of the best ways of relaxation”. When I really get into a good book, I can forget about everything else going on around me. It is definitely a great escape from everyday life.
So I’m going to make it my goal, that between now and the end of the year, I read 20 books for pleasure. Since there are 9 months left in the year after March, I would mean I would have to read about 2 books per month. I think that is a pretty doable goal. And in fact, I’m going to start right now with House Rules by Jodi Picoult. Leave me comments letting me know if you like reading and give me some suggestions on what I should read.

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Thursday, March 24, 2011

And the top 10 is...

Oh wait, we don't have the top 10 yet. Casey received the least amount of votes but the judges saved him. And that is about all I know about tonight's results show because I had my VCR set up to record, but because the VCR wasn't turned off, it didn't record. Oh, I also know that because they used the save, the top 11 is going on tour. That is really cool. The first thing I thought when I saw online that Casey was saved was "what are they going to do about the tour?" I thought that maybe next week the person with the lowest votes would not be on the tour and then the second person would be leaving but still on tour. But then I just thought about it right now, and that wouldn't really make sense. It makes more sense to have the top 11 go on tour. Now I can't wait to see the tour dates and figure out which concert I'll be going to this year!! Well, that's all for now. Leave me comments!!

Do you wanna be on TV?

If you answered yes to that question, then today is your lucky day! Well, maybe…if you can audition for any of these shows, then your dream of being a reality TV star may only be an audition away. Here’s an article I found on yahoo’s main page.

Audition to Become a Reality TV Star: A List of Shows Seeking Contestants

By Amy and Nancy Harrington, Pop Culture Passionistas, Yahoo! Contributor Network
"The Bachelor" on ABC
Brad Womack recently proposed to Emily Maynard in the "most dramatic rose ceremony ever." But before the last petal falls off the stem, ABC is casting the next set of potential young lovers. If you want to find the man or woman of your dreams while America watches, check out "The Bachelor" casting website. Applicants must be single, over 18, and not running for any political office (that's what it says, folks). There will be open casting calls in nine major cities during the months of May and June. To date the only location announced is a New York City audition on June 23. And if you're not interested yourself but have an idea for the perfect candidate, you can also nominate someone — and they don't even have to know. Check the casting site for more details and to find an audition in a city near you.
"The X Factor" on Fox
Simon Cowell is at it again. This time he's filling in Fox's programming gap between seasons of his old show, "American Idol." On his new star-locating vehicle, "The X Factor," Cowell is looking for performers ages 12 and up with that "it" quality. Do you have it? There are open calls in six cities nationwide beginning on Sunday, March 27, in Los Angeles. The Miami, Newark, Seattle, Chicago, and Dallas auditions take place in the following weeks through May 26. To attend an audition you must go to the venue the day before to get a wristband and seating assignment. The day of, be prepared to sing a verse and a chorus of three songs. All paperwork that needs to be filled out prior to the audition is available at "The X Factor" casting site.
"The Biggest Loser" on NBC
Do you have more than 100 pounds to shed and want to do it on national TV with Bob Harper kicking your butt? The in-person casting calls are over, but it's not too late for a video submission. The deadline is April 8. Visit "The Biggest Loser" casting site for an application and instructions for shooting the tape. They want to see your personality, get to know you and your routine, learn why you need to lose weight, and find out some of your favorite foods and places to eat. If you're ready to change your life, it's not too late.
"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" on ABC
If your home is in need of major renovations and you have a compelling, tug-at-your-heartstrings kind of story, you may qualify to be featured on "Extreme Makeover." The producers are looking for "inspirational and deserving" candidates who can't afford to update their homes to livable standards. Or if you know of a worthy applicant, friends or even total strangers can nominate a potential family. The application process is ongoing, so there is no deadline to enter, but it can take several months to hear back after a tape has been submitted. The paperwork involves details about your family and your home, what kinds of repairs you need, why you are in your current situation, and what you do to give back to your community. And if you can't afford a video camera, you can submit photos. For more information and to download an application, visit the "Extreme Makeover" casting site.
"Face Off" on Syfy
Syfy's new competition series "Face Off" just crowned its freshmen year winner, Conor McCullagh. Now the show has been green lit for a second season and is looking for up-and-coming special effects makeup artists. Contestants can be trained or self-taught, but the competition is stiff and the challenges are difficult. If you think you have the imagination and the chops to create creatures and full character transformations, visit the "Face Off" casting site for an application. It asks questions about your makeup skills as well as interpersonal questions, like how you get along with others and whether you have a good relationship with your family. Competitors live in a loft with other designers, after all, so producers need to see how the characters will mesh (or not). Then bring the application to one of two open casting calls being held on Saturday, April 9, in New York or Sunday, April 10, in Los Angeles, where you will be asked to create special effects makeup on yourself. Callbacks are the following day in each city. If you can't make it to L.A. or New York, you can submit an audition tape showing your makeup transformation. Online submissions are due by Tuesday, April 12.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Mo-town Week

Alright, so I’m not watching Idol, but I’m going to watch the performances online and then write my review from that. Mo-town night should be pretty interesting. I’m really looking forward to see how Scotty will do with his deep country voice.

First up was Casey singing “Heard it Through the Grapevine.” I really like how he changed it and made it his own. It was a very interesting version of it and one that I’ve never heard before. It is always really good when the contestants make a song their own. And he has great stage presence. I think he has definitely improved from last week.

Thia’s version of “Heatwave” was pretty good. It looks like she had a lot of fun with it. Parts of it were weak though.

Jacob was next with “You’re All I Need to Get By.” He has a great voice for mo-town songs and I thought he sounded wonderful with this song. He will definitely be safe this week.

Wow…Lauren was amazing!! I loved the opening of “You Keep Me Hanging On.” I just loved how she slowed it down and totally changed the feel of the beginning of the song. She is definitely safe. And like I’ve said before, she will probably make it to the finale.

Stefano sang “Hello”, which is a good song. He was another contestant that changed it up a little bit, which is really good.

I think Haley improved a little bit since last week. I enjoyed her a little better this week. But I do think she could be in danger of leaving again.

Scotty really surprised me!! I loved his version of “For Once In My Life.” He put a nice country twist on it and sounded really good!!!

Pia sounded really good singing “All in Love is Fair.” It’s nice when contestants sing songs that haven’t been sung on the show that much because you get kind of tired hearing the same songs over and over again. And especially after 10 years (well, 9 for me since I didn’t know about it till season 2), you don’t want to be hearing the same songs all the time.

I think I may be starting to like Paul more than I have in the weeks past. I’m not saying that I’m at the point where I would buy his CD if it came out tomorrow, but I might consider it. I mean, you can’t deny that he has a good voice. After all, he wouldn’t be on the show if he didn’t. Like I keep saying, I think it’s the style of his voice that I don’t like, but I actually liked it tonight.

Naima sounded great with “Dancing in the Street.” I really love how most of the contestants have taken the songs tonight and added a little bit of them to the songs. Also the dancing at the end of her song was great. I know some people will argue that it is a singing competition and not a dancing competition, but who cares if they add some dancing into their performance.

James wrapped up the night with “Living for the City.” He keeps reminding me more and more of Adam Lambert. I gotta get that out of my mind. James is his own person and I’m sure he doesn’t want to be compared to anyone else. I really liked him tonight! He is definitely safe!!

So now is the time when I make my prediction for who I think is leaving. This is really hard because I really liked everyone tonight!!! I think the bottom 3 will be: Haley, Stefano, and Paul. But those are total guesses and I will probably be wrong. And you wanna know how I picked those 3? I just picked Haley cause I think she was the weakest. And then I read the rest of the names to my roommate and she told me to pick Stefano and Paul. I think both of them will safe though and Haley will leave. But yet again, I might be wrong about that, too. Leave me comments and let me know what you thought of the show!

Oh, quick side note, this is my 101st post! Go me!! And keep reading everyone!

Jordin’s New Body

I was watching a video the other day about how Justin Bieber’s movie “Never Say Never” is the biggest grossing concert film of all-time. It beat out Michael Jackson’s movie, can you believe that? Anyway, they also talked about Jordin Sparks and how she recently lost a lot of weight. I was kind of shocked about that at first because I had always thought she was proud of the skin she’s in and didn’t want to change her look. She even said before “I’m really comfortable in my own skin. I learned that I’m not ever going to be a size 2. I would look so weird as a size 2. Somebody would blow and I would fall right over. It just wouldn’t be healthy”. But after seeing the picture of her now, I’d say that she’s pretty close to a size two. Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think. Do you think she lost too much weight? Do you think she looked fine with the curves she had before?
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Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Here we go again…

Yet again, I almost forgot about Teen Mom. I don’t know when I’m going to remember that Teen Mom is on Tuesday nights. I guess I just have so many other things to worry about. But here we go…another episode, more drama.

I’m so glad that Leah and Corey are still going to get married. I guess the rumors about them getting divorced is wrong because Leah posted on her official facebook page that her and Corey are still together and doing fine. I definitely think that they will be able to make things work.

Janelle racked up $700 on her mom’s credit card?? And she blames her mom for raising her voice? Again, Janelle brings this all upon herself. No Janelle, Jace does not know who you are. You aren’t around enough for him to form a bond with you, so I bet he has no clue who you are.  I’m glad that her mom is going to take her to court over the credit card charges.

I can’t believe the season finale is next week already!!! I didn’t really blog much tonight about the show. There’s nothing really to say about it cause I’m just frustrated with this season, as you can tell by my previous posts. Leave me comments and let me know what you think.

I’m gonna go out on a limb…

And do my first MS walk. Well actually, it will also be my very first walk. I’ve just never thought about doing one before. I was talking to my mom recently and she was saying about how she would like to do one sometime this year. And it got me thinking that I should try to do a walk. I picked MS because my step-mom has it and I thought that would be a good cause to donate to. So I went on the site and found out that they are doing one near me. The thing is though, it’s a little less than 3 weeks away!! But that’s not gonna stop me from doing it. I think I should be able to form a team and raise some money before the walk. So leave me comments letting me know if you’ve ever done a walk before and if you have any advice for me and my team.

Tuesday Train

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I've never done this before, so I'm gonna try it out. I'll be linking with Tuesday Train, so follow me and I'll follow you back

Thank you everyone

Thankyou
I just wanted to write a posting thanking everyone for reading my blog. I started blogging in September and didn’t really think I would get that many people to view it. In February alone I had 1,023 views and for March I’m currently at 1,031. If you haven’t already, please become a fan here on facebook. Also, if anyone has a blog and wants me to link to their blog from mine I would be more than happy to do that. That’s all for now! Keep reading and leaving me comments!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Tourette’s, Asperger’s, and Idol

So if you don’t watch Idol you may wonder what those other 2 terms have to do with Idol. There is a contestant on American Idol this season named James Durbin. The 22-year-old has been compared to Adam Lambert because of the way he sometimes screams as he sings which is what Lambert is known for. When you see Durbin sing, the one thing you may not know about him is that he has two disabilities: Asperger’s syndrome and Tourette’s Syndrome. He was 9-years-old when he got diagnosed and that was also when he lost his father to a drug overdose. He used to get picked on and beat up in school because of his disabilities. The amazing thing is, when he sings “it all just goes away, like I don’t have a care in the world”.

Now here is a little bit of info on the two disorders. The best-known symptom of Tourette’s syndrome is involuntary swearing, also called coprolalia. But only a small minority of people with TS have that problem. Tourette’s is a neurological disorder that triggers involuntary movements and vocal outburst called tics. On Idol, we have seen Durbin show characteristic symptoms such as blinking and facial twitches. I hope that people who watch the show regularly understand that he can’t help that and don’t make fun of him for it.

Asperger’s syndrome is a high functioning form of autism that can cause repetitive rituals, obsessions, oddities of speech, eccentric behavior, trouble connecting with peers, and clumsy movements. Durbin said about Asperger’s “that it’s about social awkwardness and not being able to contain yourself and being overwhelmed”.

He also made a great statement that I absolutely love: “I have Tourette’s and Asperger’s, but Tourette’s and Asperger’s don’t have me. I’m doing what I can to suppress it. It’s not who I am”.

I think James Durbin is a great role model for anyone, and especially those who have Tourette’s, Asperger’s, or any other disability. By him being on Idol, he is showing that no matter what disability you have, anything is possible if you believe in yourself.

Kailyn is ready to get married??

Kailyn and Leah are featured on the latest magazine of In Touch. I’ll talk about Kailyn first then I’ll get to Leah. So after dating for 9 months, Kailyn, 19,  and Jordan, 20,  are trying on rings and planning on getting married. I really think they are trying to rush things. I mean, yes, 9 months is a long enough time to figure out if you want to spend the rest of your life with each other, but Kailyn has other things she needs to be worrying about in life, like her son, Isaac, who is 13 months old now. Apparently they want to have a short engagement and are in rush to alter. I don’t understand why they feel the need to rush it. They should just wait so they can save up some money. Then there’s a side quote in the article saying “More trouble? Baby daddy Jo may try to prevent the wedding”. It doesn’t explain anything about that in the article though. And even if he wanted to, Jo couldn’t stop it.

Now onto Leah. We haven’t seen the episode yet, but it has been less than 6 months since Leah and Corey got married. They’ve been fighting a lot lately- mostly about money- and Leah is apparently contemplating divorce. Also, her friends have told In Touch that she’s recently gotten together with her ex, Seth, without Corey knowing. A rep denies the story though, and says her relationship is “as strong as ever”. So what the true story is here, we don’t really know at this point. It wouldn’t surprise me if they got divorced though because on last weeks episode Leah had cold feet about the wedding. I just really thought that those two would be able to work things out and make it.

Well, that’s all the Teen Mom drama I’ve got for now. Leave me comments!!

And click here to visit my facebook page!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Say hello to your top 11

I loved the group song!!!! “Born This Way” is one of my favorite songs right now and it was awesome how they mashed it up with “Born to Be Wild”.

Now “American Idol” is turning into The Oprah Winfrey Show…now where is the car?? Seriously, when Ryan told them to look under their seats for the compilation CD, I felt like I was watching Oprah. I don’t get the point of the CD though because I’m pretty sure if you’re a fan of the show and have been watching for a while that you already have 10 songs on the CD. I know that I do.

Well, I was way off this week. I only got one person right in the bottom 3 this week, Haley. And she was my pick to go home, but that didn’t happen. I was almost going to put Karen in the bottom 3, but then I thought that she was alright this week.

So now we are down to 11: James, Haley, Lauren, Naima, Scotty, Thia, Pia, Stefano, Casey, Jacob, and Paul. Which means that next week we find out who the top 10 are and then we will get info on the tour!!!!

That’s all for now, leave me comments!!! Oh, and check out my new layout, let me know what you think. I also added a button for my blog (that my wonderful fiancĂ© made).

The year they were born…

It’s another week of Idol, we are down to 12. I really like what Idol is doing by giving the proceeds of the song sales on iTunes to the people of Japan. Hopefully I will like a few of the songs so I can buy some. I suggest everyone else does the same. Buy at least one, it's for a good cause.

When Naima said her song choice, “What’s Love Got to Do With It”, I immediately thought that it would be a good choice for her.  And it was! I thought she sounded great!!

I’m still not a fan of Paul. I don’t think I ever will be. But he isn’t horrible, he’s a good singer. It’s just not my style of music. I can say though, that he is like no other contestant we have had on Idol before. We’ve never had a guy that is so much like Rod Stewart. I guess it’s just that no contestant has ever sung in the style of music that he does.

I disagree with Randy, I thought Thia sounded amazing singing “Colors of the Wind”. That was a great song choice for her. I think the contestants are starting to figure out how to pick better songs because I don’t think the judges have said recently that any contestants were choosing the wrong songs.

Haha..wow, that was hilarious when the vocal coach (or whoever that guy was that was talking to the contestants) told James to not be kissing anyone. And then James put his hand up and pointed to his ring. Good boy, haha. I had never heard that Bon Jovi song but I really liked it. I think James is gonna be here for a while.

I don’t like Haley that much. It just seems like she’s trying too hard and she picks big songs. She doesn’t have a bad voice, but I feel that she tries to force it at times. Haha, Ryan was doing make-up. I’m surprised they didn’t just get a make-up artist out there to help her out. I’m sure they would know more about make-up than Ryan.

Stefano sounded really good singing “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”. Not much to say about him, it was good.

I loved Pia! She changed the arrangement of the song up a little bit and it sounded really good.

Scotty does a great Elvis impersonation. Too bad he couldn’t sing an Elvis song. But the Travis Tritt song “Can I Trust You With My Heart” suited him just as well. He’s another contestant that I think will be around for a while.

I thought that Karen looked a lot like Jennifer last night. I agree with Randy. I wasn’t jumping up and down for it, but I thought she did a good job.

Well, for some reason my VHS tape ran out of room right before Casey started singing, so I had to find his performance and the remaining two songs.

Casey was just alright. I was kind of disappointed. I didn’t like the screechy parts of it. I didn’t even understand what he was saying in the last part of the song. I like Casey, but I just didn’t like that performance at all.

I really loved Lauren’s performance of “I’m the Only One”. It reminded me of Kellie Pickler because she sang that song when she was on Idol. I really think we are going to see Lauren in the finale. If not the finale, she’ll at least be in the top 4.

I thought that the beginning of Jacob’s song was good but then it got a little rough towards the end. There’s no doubt though that he will be safe.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for the performances. Now my prediction who will be in the bottom 3 is: Casey, Haley, and Karen. And I think that Haley will go home. It’s still kind of hard for me to decide that each week, because we have a lot of good contestants this year. The ones that I don’t like, I know others like, so it’s just so hard to say who is going home. Leave me comments!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Another frustrating episode of Teen Mom 2…

I keep forgetting on Tuesday night’s that Teen Mom is on. It is all thanks to Ellen Ross because she always tweets about the show being on. (Click here to check out her blog)

Yes, Chelsea is finally going to move on from Adam! I bet though, that she will probably think about getting back together with him.

Wow, I can’t believe that Janelle stole her mom’s credit cards. She said “borrowed”, but there is no way her mom knew about it, so that isn’t borrowing, that’s stealing. And go figure, her mom figured out that she stole her credit cards. I’m glad she kicked her out because Janelle doesn’t deserve her mom helping her out. And I really hope that Janelle tries to go into her mom’s house to get her stuff and that she gets arrested.

So Leah is feeling a little leery about the wedding because she thinks they are getting married for the wrong reason? I don’t think they are. I mean, I’m not in their shoes so I can’t really say that they are or aren’t getting married for the wrong reason (or right). Only they know if it is the right thing to do.

I’m glad that Kailyn and Jo are able to be civil with each other. That’s how it should be between people who are in that situation.

If I were Janelle’s mom, I would have thrown her stuff on the lawn, not on the porch swing. That way if it rained before Janelle got there to get the stuff, it would have gotten ruined.

I’m so jealous of Chelsea! I’d love to see Lady Gaga but the only way that would ever happen is if I won them in a contest because I’m sure her tickets are so expensive!!! She needs to delete that message from facebook and delete him from facebook!! She needs to find a way to delete him from her heart!

I just can’t believe Janelle!! I could go on a really long rant about her! There is no way she can say that she is trying to straighten up her life. Her life will never be normal. I feel really bad for Jace because he will never have a normal life either. He probably has no idea who Janelle is because she is always coming and going. I really hope her mom can make it that she never gets to see him again. I know that may seem horrible, but she doesn’t want to be a mother. She has never acted like she wants to be a mother and I doubt she will ever change.

Jo is being so rude about giving Kailyn her stuff back. All she wants to do is make sure that she has all of her stuff. I don’t know why he has to be a jerk about it. And how can he say that she owes him money still, she just gave him $600!!! And he said she’s being disrespectful, wow!!!

Well, that’s about all I’ve got about tonight’s episode. Leave me comments!

Best episode of Glee…ever!!!

I loved the opening song! But it was very strange, I felt this feeling of deja-vu as I watched and listened to that. It was like I just recently heard that song somewhere or had it in my head. That is one of my favorite songs from the Warblers. And it was funny that Kurt mentioned to Blaine about him having a lot of solos because my friends were talking about that during the song.

Rachel’s song about being an only child was very interesting. And Finn is right, it was definitely better than the headband song. So she’s getting better at songwriting, but she can improve.

“Blackbird” was really good. When it started, I was trying to think of who sang the song. And then I said aloud, “I can tell you who sang it on American Idol.” (Carly Smithson) And then I looked it up and felt stupid for having to look it up, because I’m sure anyone would know that its the Beatles.

Maybe Santana was singing that song about Sam’s mouth to try and break up with him. I have no idea, but I didn’t like it that much. I couldn’t really tell what she was saying.

Puck’s song was a little bit better. But they all need work on how to write a song. All of the original songs they’ve done so far have been horrible.

The scene with Blaine and Kurt when they kissed…wow, that was awesome! That is going to spark a lot of controversy though. I seriously had chills watching that scene. When his hand went up right before he put his hand on Blaine’s face, that was touching. And it’s weird I’m saying that. I’m not for gays, but I’m not against them either. You know, if that is the way they choose to live their lives, than I’m fine with that.

Sue had her glee club sing that religious song just because of the nun that was judging, that was great!

I loved Kurt and Blaine’s solo!! They sound and look really good together!! And “Raise Your Glass” was really good as well!! I am definitely downloading every single song from tonight’s episode. This is my favorite episode of Glee not only on this season, but of both season’s of Glee so far!

Rachel’s song “Get It Right” was amazing!!! I think going with original songs was a really good idea. It’s nice to hear new songs and not them just singing covers of songs. It’s a very nice change on the show.

I also enjoyed “Loser” as well. I loved Sue’s look on her face whenever they showed her in the audience. The foam thumbs was a nice touch to the song. And them throwing confetti out of the slushy cups at the end was awesome.

And the winner is…The New Directions!!!! I hope this isn’t the end for the Warblers though.

We have to wait till April for more Glee? That really sucks!!! After that episode I wanna see more Glee!!! Oh well. I guess I will just have to watch it again once they put it online. Leave me comments and let me know what you thought!

He’s not bi-polar, he’s bi-winning

So, I haven’t really been following that much of what’s going on with Charlie Sheen. I do know that he was fired from Two and a Half Men and he’s been saying some pretty crazy stuff recently. I wanted to share with you a video that someone posted on the event that one of my friends created, Charlie Sheen Status Day (which is today, by the way). Yesterday when I saw it, it had about 2 million views and now it is up to 10 million! So check it out for yourself and leave me comments. I personally have watched it like, 5 times, it is so hilarious!!!

Don’t forget to click here to vote for me and my fiancĂ© if you haven’t already.

Worst song ever!!!

So I think I’ve come across the worst song and video ever! It’s by Rebecca Black and is called “Friday”. Her video somehow managed to get more than 2.2 million views on YouTube over this past weekend. Tosh.o from Comedy Central posted it on his blog with the headline “Songwriting Isn’t For Everyone”, and then the video took off. But the video didn’t get that many views because of it being good, the singer being attractive or gifted, or the fact that it was the weekend. It only got attention because it is so bad! See, the song came a Los Angeles-based company called the Ark Music Factory, which sends out casting calls looking for singers between 13 and 17 to record songs. If all goes well, they will become overnight YouTube stars. “Friday” is Ark’s first major hit and hopefully it is the last. I’m sorry, but the song just really sucks. So here you go, watch it if you want, but I’m not saying you have to. It will be ok if this is one song you never hear. But, just for fun you should check it out just to see how horrible it is.

Monday, March 14, 2011

5 Reasons You Should Drink Coffee

   I found this article on yahoo last week but I just didn’t get the chance to blog about it. before I dive into school work for the evening, I thought I would share it with you. It gives 5 reasons why coffee can actually be good for you. Now I’m not, and I’m sure the article isn’t, suggesting that you drink 10 cups of coffee everyday, but 1-3 cups per day may not be all that bad for you.

Reason # 1: It protects your heart
People who drink 1-3 cups/day have lower rates of stroke than non-coffee drinkers. This is because of all the antioxidants coffee has which can suppress the damaging effect of inflammation on arteries. In the short term, it raises your blood pressure and heart rate,  but over the long term it can lower blood pressure as the antioxidants in coffee activate nitric oxide, which widens blood vessels.

Reason #2: It diverts diabetes
The antioxidants do something else for your body: they boost your cells’ sensitivity to insulin which helps your body regulate blood sugar. According to some studies, people who drink 4 or more cups of coffee each day may have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. There are other studies that showed that caffeine can blunt the insulin-sensitivity boost, so you may want to try mixing in decaf now and then if you drink several cups a day.

Reason #3: Your liver loves it
The research for this reason is limited, but it looks like the more coffee people drink, the lower their incidence of cirrhosis and other liver diseases.

Reason #4: It boosts your brain power
Drinking 1-5 cups a day may help reduce the risk of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson’s disease. The antioxidants may ward off brain cell damage and help the neurotransmitters involved in cognitive function to work better.

Reason 5: It helps your headaches
Studies show that 200 milligrams of caffeine, about the amount in 16 ounces of brewed coffee. How caffeine relieves headaches isn’t clear, but scientists know that it boosts the activity of brain cells, which causes surrounding blood vessels to constrict. One theory is that the constriction helps relieve the pressure that causes the pain

The article also mentions the pitfalls to coffee: some people are super-sensitive to caffeine and get jittery, it can disturb sleep, and unfiltered coffee can raise LDL cholesterol.

So to all the coffee drinkers, keep drinking coffee and don’t feel guilty about it!

That’s all for now. If you haven’t checked it out yet, click here to vote for me and my fiancĂ© in another contest. This one is better than the one where we could have gotten Train to perform at our engagement party. The winner of this contest gets $20,000!!! 

Sunday, March 13, 2011

We need your votes again…

Alright, so Pinnacle Vodka is having a contest where you upload a picture that shows how whipped your significant other is. The winner wins $20,000!!!! So…I entered a picture of me and my fiancĂ© :) Click here to vote and then look for this picture. Thanks everyone!!!!!

 

Also, I just put the past few days of the 30 day challenge up. I was a bit behind but am all caught up now. So go check that out.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

And then there were 12…

That’s sad about Casey, it’s the second time he’s been in the hospital since he’s been on Idol.

Wow, that mansion they are staying in is huge!!!! It is definitely bigger than the one the season 1 contestants lived in! I am sooo jealous of all of them!! Why do they need huge walk in closets though? Geez!! They are definitely living the good life right now!

I loved the Michael Jackson group song! I caught on like, 3 songs in. I was like, “Hey, these are all Michael Jackson songs.”

That was the first time I heard Adam’s new song “Aftermath". I thought it was pretty good. It’s a little different from the stuff on his first album though, and I prefer his other stuff. But who knows, the song will probably grow on me. There are a lot of songs that I don’t really like too much at first but once I hear them enough times, they are my favorite songs. It isn’t a catchy song right from the get-go though, so I think it’s gonna take a while for me to start liking it. And maybe because that was a different version of it, maybe I’ll like the original version better.

Well, I got 2 out of the bottom 3 right. I said it was going to be Haley, Thia, and Karen. But instead of Thia, it was Ashthon.

I think the song “I’m Coming Home” should be the Idol going home song because the title of the song fits perfectly. But David Cook sings the goodbye song. I haven’t heard it yet though.

And…..I was wrong, Haley is safe and Ashthon is gone. I knew that she wouldn’t get the save. It’s only the first week so I knew they weren’t going to use it yet. I still can’t believe they get a save. I don’t like that part of the show. But oh well.

Well, that’s all for this week of Idol. Leave me comments and let me know what you thought!

Day 10 of the 30 Day Challenge

I just put up day 10 of the 30 day challenge. I also want to remind everyone to check out this post ----> Click here

One of my friends is selling Avon, so check out her site here ----> youravon.com/phendrickson

Oh, and that contest that my fiance and I entered to have Train perform at our (nonexistent) engagement party…yeah, we didn’t win. Oh well. Here was the winning picture. Congrats to Colby and Jennie.

That’s all for now. Oh, and if you are an American Idol fan, check out my Idol pool and join please! Go to funofficepools.com and when you click on join a pool, make sure it says “American Idol Top 12” and then copy and paste this into the pool name -----> Who will be our next idol?? (make sure it has two question marks). Thanks!!!

School tax cuts

Yesterday I got an email from the president of the university I go to. It was explaining Governor Corbett’s proposed budget. Because of the budget cut for education, my universities funding would be cut by 50%. Those cuts will affect the programs and services that they can offer and it will even affect the ability for students to graduate in 4 years.

So I am asking everyone to contact the PA senator and local representatives and let them know that the proposed budget just doesn’t work. As the president of my university said, “The future of Pennsylvania's children is at stake.”

So here is the link to send them an email:  Click here

I have already sent an email and I got an auto reply from the senator, so it is really going to important people, it’s not just some email address. So again, please click on that link and send an email, it will take you less than 2 minutes to do. Then pass this on to all of your friends!!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Top 13 Recap

Alright, tonight the top 13 sang. The one thing I don’t understand is why they even make a top 12 or 13 because only the top 10 go on tour. I mean, I guess once they get to the top 12, for the first two weeks it gives the contestants motivation to really do well because they all want to go on tour. I also don’t understand why they need a host for the host. It isn’t the first time that they’ve done this on the show before, but it just still baffles me.

Lauren- I was expecting a little more from her. It was just alright and it wasn’t her best. She could have picked a better song by Shania. I love her speaking voice. She has such a cute southern accent.

Side note: Ryan twittered as I was watching saying that they made the 13th contestant’s number 1-866-IDOLS-36 to avoid any superstitions and curses. I thought they had a top 13 before. Actually, yes, now that I think about it, they did. Anoop was the 13th contestant on season 8. I don’t remember them changing the number before and not using 13.

Casey- I thought his performance was like no other performance we saw on Idol, ever. I kind of agree with Jennifer, I kind of forgot what I was watching because it was so different. It was really good and I liked the choir.

Ashton- I’ve only ever heard this song on Idol as a group song, so I didn’t really like it just sung by one person. I thought she was just alright.

Paul: I’m surprised he didn’t pick a Rod Stewart song cause I would have thought that Rod Stewart was his idol. It looked like he was doing some Taylor Hicks moves. I’m not really a fan of him because he reminds me too much of Rod Stewart and I don’t like that kind of music.

Pia- That was a big song she sang, but I thought she did an amazing job! The song fit her perfectly and she is definitely safe this week, no question about it.

Another side note: Another new thing this year, there are seats all 360 degrees around the stage. You can tell that because right under the American Idol logo above the stage you can see heads of people. I only noticed this because Josh and Jen from the Idol Review were in the audience! I tweeted Josh to see where they were in the audience, just jokingly to see if I could find them. I didn’t think I’d be able to find them though because come on, there are tons of people in the audience. But, he responded and told me that they were behind the “N” and “I” in American Idol, and to look for them when James and Haley waved to a camera before a commercial break. I looked, and I saw them! I only saw Josh thought, sorry Jen. I’ll watch it again and look for you!! I just thought that was really cool seeing them.

James- I thought he was really good!!  That was one of my favorites from him! And he is definitely safe this week, too!!

Haley- I thought she did a really good job, too. That was one of my favorite performances from her.

Jacob- I didn’t like his version of “I Believe I Can Fly”. I have a feeling that I’ll be one of the few people that didn’t like it though because I bet a lot of people will like it. I guess I’m just not into the kind of music that his voice sounds like.

Thia- I still don’t understand how a girl can remind Randy of Michael Jackson. I liked the beginning of the song but I didn’t really like the second half of it. It just sounded really different than the first part. I don’t think she needed to change it up like that. But overall I thought she did a good job with the song.

That was hilarious when Ryan went over to Steven and he’s like “What’s this?” And Steven goes “That’s my biggest fan”. That was probably the funniest thing said on the show tonight.

Steffano- He sang one phrase, and I said “Ick”. But then it got better. I really liked the arrangement because that was very different.

Karen- Eh, she was alright. I don’t really have much to say about her, sorry.

Scotty- He looks and sounds like he’s been doing this all his life. He sounds really good! And I’m never going to be able to get over the fact that he is only 17 years old!! He’s going to make it far in this competition!!

Naima- I love the song “Umbrella” by Rihanna. And I thought she did a great job with it!!! What a great way to end the show. She really made it her own. She kind of reminds me of how Blake Lewis would change up all of the songs he sang. I thought he changed em up better though, but Naima did a good job with it, too.

So overall, the top 13 did a great job. It’s gonna be hard deciding who is leaving. I’m gonna take a guess and say that the bottom 3 will be Haley, Thia, and Karen. Then I’m going to say that Haley will leave. No wait, Thia, no Karen, haha. It’s so hard to pick just one of them! But my final answer will be Haley. That’s all for now, leave me comments!!!

Day 9 of the 30 Day Challenge

I just put up day 9 of my 30 day challenge so go check it out.

Click here

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Slippery slope

Finally, we’re gonna find out the results from Ali’s MRI. I loved when Leah went wedding dress shopping!! I loved the dress she picked out!! Seeing that scene made me even more excited for when I go dress shopping.

Janelle needs to get her priorities straight. She needs to start acting like she wants to be a mother or else she’ll never get custody of Jace. And I really think that’s never gonna happen. But as Justin Bieber would say “Never say never”, haha.

I’m not surprised to see Chelsea and Adam not getting along again. I bet that by the end of the episode they will be broken up and hopefully he is gone for good. I just heard this morning that Chelsea’s ex-roommate, Megan, is pregnant. I guess she hasn’t learned anything from Chelsea’s mistake.

That’s good that Ali’s MRI was all normal. That is just really weird because it doesn’t explain what is wrong with her.

I’m confused. Now Kailyn’s mom is letting her stay with her. I wonder why she didn’t let her move in with her before.

Janelle is kind of right, her mom needs to stop dwelling on the past and not bring up all the bad things that Janelle has done. But Janelle needs to step it up and start acting responsible.

Chelsea is right, “something has to change.” And that something is that she needs to break up with him for good!!

Wow, Adam is a jerk. I just can’t believe him, blaming Chelsea for him cheating. There is no way that it is her fault that he cheated on her 5 times, which he says isn’t a lot. I’m glad he is moving out. He should have never even moved in in the first place.

Well, that’s all for now, until next week. Every week when I see the preview I go “Ugh..” and I roll my eyes at the TV. Even though the people on the show bug me at times, I just can’t stop watching. Leave me comments!!

“It isn’t cheating because the plumbing’s different”

It’s been two weeks since Glee has been on so it’s about time that it is back!!!

Wow, I can’t believe that Britney is pregnant!! Oh wait, umm…she’s not. She just doesn’t have a clue where babies come from. This is a pretty interesting episode, but I think it’s a season late because we already had a teen pregnancy on the show.

Emma is totally still in love with Will!!! I kinda want her and Carl to break up so that she can get with Will. But I also kinda want Will and Miss Holiday to be together. I’m sure the latter will happen.

Tonight was not a good music night. There isn’t a single song from tonight’s episode that I wanna download. Overall, the episode was alright.

Next week should be pretty good as they do original songs, so stay tuned for that. Leave me comments!!

Monday, March 7, 2011

American Idol Pool- season 10!!

Come and join my American Idol 10 pool on funofficepools.com

Here is the link ------> AI Pool Link

Saturday, March 5, 2011

I am 21 and have Bieber Fever! Got a problem with that?

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So, I just saw the Justin Bieber movie in 3D with my 10 year-old cousin. My aunt had asked me about a month ago if I would take her to see it. And of course I said yes! I was actually planning on asking my aunt if I could take her, but she got to me before I could ask. You may think I’m crazy for being a Justin Bieber fan at 21, but I don’t care. And I gotta say, after seeing the movie, I am more of a fan than I was before!!!

One of the coolest parts of the movie was just the fact that during all the singing parts, you felt like you were right there in the audience!! If given the chance, I would totally go see Justin in concert because I’m sure it would be amazing!!!

I learned a few things about Justin that I didn’t know before.

1. He started playing the drums around the age of 2. (It might have been earlier, I can’t quite remember)

2. His mom was only 18 when she had him.

3. Usher wasn’t actually the person who found him on youtube. It was a guy named Scooter Braun.

That last one was the most shocking. I had always thought that it was Usher that found him and that’s what I think mostly everyone else thinks. But it was actually Scooter who found him on youtube. After contacting his mother, Scooter flew them down to Atlanta for a week and then after that he met Usher and Usher decided he wanted his label to sign him.

Another really cool part that I loved was that they showed how before the beginning of every show, they go around outside with the tickets that didn’t sell and give them to people who don’t have tickets. I think they also give them to people as upgrades to get them closer to the stage. I just think that is so amazing that they do that for people. And they showed Scooter saying something about how it’s like them giving back to the fans because if it weren’t for the fans they wouldn’t be where they are. That is exactly what it is like for Idol because without the fans voting for them, the contestants wouldn’t be where they are. Scooter also said that him and Ty Pennington from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition have the best job because they get paid for making people happy.

I also liked how they showed a ritual that they have for Justin’s song “One Less Lonely Girl”. During every show, someone from his team goes out into the crowd and grabs a girl and says “Do you wanna be the ‘less lonely girl’??” Of course she says yes so then they take her backstage. During the song, probably around the middle, they bring her on stage and she sits on a stool. Then Justin comes out and hands her some roses and sings the rest of the song to her. I just think that is really sweet that he does that. I’m sure every single girl that gets to be on stage for that will never forget that moment. And I’ll admit, I almost had tears of happiness in my eyes while watching that because it’s just so touching watching someone have their dream come true!

So, overall, I thought the movie was amazing! It’s not that I didn’t have respect for him before, but I feel like I have more respect for Justin after watching the movie. It’s kind of like I understand where he came from better. He’s just a kid who happens to be famous. And he’s doing what he loves. It’s just an incredible story and I highly recommend the movie to anyone and everyone!!!

Day's 4 and 5 of my 30 day challenge are now up

I forgot about day 4, but I just put up day 4 and 5 of the 30 day challenge so go check it out.

Click here

Friday, March 4, 2011

Keep voting!!

Don't forget to vote!!! Thanks :)

http://nicolesrandomthings.blogspot.com/2011/02/let-voting-begin.html

Thursday, March 3, 2011

The Top 12 Girls

Alright, so I’m only getting to watch the top 12 girls perform now, but better late than never. Plus, it will be quicker cause I can fast forward through all the commercials.

Ta-Tynisha was up first singing “Only Girl in the World”. I thought she did that song really well. And I think that already the girls are off to a great start, better than the guys started off. I loved Ryan’s comment about Randy being here 10 years now and that it takes a lot to move him.

Next up was Naima singing “Summertime”. The last time we heard this song done really well on the show was by Fantasia in season 3, so I hope Naima can sing it well. Wow, I almost thought when I first heard it that it was a totally different song, just had the same name as the song I was thinking of. But, it’s the same song that I thought of when I first heard her say “Summertime”. She totally changed it up and I thought she sounded amazing!

Kendra sang next and I thought she was really, really good. I don’t remember hearing her before so this might be the first time I’m hearing her. I think she is one of my favorites now and I hope she makes it in the top 10.

Next up was Rachel. I loved her from her audition when Jennifer said she remembered her from when she auditioned before. And like Jennifer, I remember Rachel from the first time she auditioned. I was kind of disappointed a little by her performance this week because I thought I remember her being better than that. I think she will still make it into the top 10 though, and I really hope she does!

Karen is another contestant that I don’t remember seeing before. But I thought she sounded really good. Mariah Carey’s “Hero” is a big song so that was a brave move to sing that song. But I thought she did it very well. I thought she Spanish part was really cool.

I just realized now that there are two Lauren’s in the top 12 girls, so I’ll have to use their last names while both of them are still on the show. Lauren Turner sang first out of the Lauren’s. I really enjoyed her performance. I don’t think we’ve had a contestant like her on the show before so that’s nice. She’s another girl that I can see in the top 10.

Ashton was up next. I thought she was really good as well. All of the girls so far are really good so I think it’s gonna be hard to see any of them leave.

Next was Julie. I definitely remember her from her audition. She’s the one that the judges said could be the winner. I thought her rendition of Kelly Clarkson’s song “Breakaway” was really good!!! Just hearing that song on the show, it’s still hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since Kelly won the first season, I just still can’t believe how fast time flies by!! Julie changed parts of the song up a little bit and I really enjoyed it! It is always good when the contestants make the song their own and don’t just try to copy the original artist. I can’t believe Randy thought she didn’t change it at all. I thought there were a few tiny parts that it was different. I totally disagree with the judges on that song!!!

Haley sang “Fallin’” by Alicia Keys, which is another big song. It’s always a big risk to sing a song like this. But she changed it up at parts and I thought she did a great job and made it her own. But I guess I heard differently than Randy yet again. Steven and Jennifer liked it though. I agree it wasn’t the best she could have been, but it was good enough.

Next was Thia who took a huge risk by starting out her song a capella. I can’t believe she is only 15!! She sounded really good!!

Next was another one of my favorites, Lauren Alaina. I loved her from her audition as well! It’s hard to believe that she’s only 16!! I loved her version of Reba’s “On the Radio”. Lauren sounds really good singing country. I agree with Randy, she is kind of like a mix between Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood.

Pia wrapped up the night singing “I’ll Stand By You'”, and I thought it was really good!!!!

Alright, so now it is time for me to decide which 5 guys and 5 girls I think are going to be safe tonight. For the guys I’m going to say: Clint, Casey, James, Scotty, and Brett. For the girls I will say: Lauren Alaina, Rachel, Julie, Naima, and Haley.

And actually, now that I’m looking at those 2 lists, I think those are just the 10 people I would like to see in the top 10. And it was really hard to pick just 5 of each, especially for the girls!! I can’t believe they are going right from the top 24 to the top 12 in one week. It is definitely easier to just vote of 2 guys and 2 girls each week till we have the top 12. But also, I just remembered that the judges are picking a wildcard or two. I don’t know how many they are picking though, it might be just one.

Well, that is all for now. It’s gonna be a hard decision tonight because the contestants were all so good!!! Leave me comments!!

Keep voting!!!

Again, don’t forget to vote for me and my fiancĂ© the voting ends Sunday night at 11:59 pm, so I’m gonna keep reminding everyone everyday till then!! Thanks for voting everyone! Also, I have put up day 3 of the 30 day challenge so check that out!

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Billy 737

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Daily reminder to vote….

Don’t forget to vote for me and my fiancĂ©, vote everyday!! Thanks everyone!!!

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Also, I have put up day 2 on the 30 day challenge, so make sure you check that out.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Pushing the limit

Wow, Janelle is really going to ask her mom if her and Kiefer can stay at her house. That is not going to turn out that well. If Janelle is lucky, her mom will let her stay there but say no to Kiefer.

I really hope that nothing major is wrong with Ali. That has to be so hard on Leah and Corey. But they can make it through it, at least I hope they can.

“Do dishes woman”, oh yeah, that’s what I want my fiancĂ© to say to me, just kidding! I can’t believe he said that. She didn’t seem to notice though. I can see things turning bad with them again.

Here comes a fight, I can just sense it. Wow, I am totally shocked that her mom said yes! At least Janelle will get to see Jace a lot more than she has. But I don’t think that her and Kiefer living there is going to last too long before it causes problems.

I agree with Janelle’s mom’s rules. They need to do some house work in return for them staying there. And what did I say, they probably have only been there a few days and Janelle and her mom are fighting already. And this argument could have been avoided if Janelle would have just wiped up the milk stain before her mom saw it. I don’t know what goes through Janelle’s mind sometimes. She really bugs me!

Chelsea and Adam aren’t going to work out. And if he cheats on her again, she definitely needs to show him the door and never let him back in.

Really?? Janelle and Kiefer are smoking weed at Janelle’s mom’s house? Janelle is never going to get custody of Jace if she doesn’t change her ways. How does she think that by smoking weed she is proving that she can take care of her child?? I just really want to know what is going through her mind!! Why does she try to act responsible and then go and do stuff that proves that she isn’t responsible and never will be?? Ugh…she really bugs me!! Can you tell that I’m annoyed with her?

So I haven’t talked about Kailyn that much yet. She just needs to get out of Jo’s parent’s house and then she won’t have to keep it a secret that she’s dating Jordan.

Janelle said she hates when things go good and then they turn bad, well that’s her fault!!! If she changed her ways things could be different. But I don’t think she’s ever going to change.

Alright, I’ve figured out MTV’s plan…they keep getting us thinking that they are going to show the MRI results, but then they keep saying they’ll show it next week and then next week, just so we keep tuning in each week. Oh well, we’ll find out eventually.

Well, I guess that is all for tonight. I’m looking forward to next week’s episode! More drama, as always!

Top 12 Guys Perform

Time for Idol…and it’s the guys up first. I love the Idol set this season! They have been changing it up recently and I like that. It’s good to keep things fresh.

First up is Clint, the karaoke host that I thought wouldn’t be good at all. His performance wasn’t anything special for me though. I don’t know, maybe that’s because it’s the 10th season, so it’s gonna take a lot of talent for a contestant to blow me away.

Next is Jovany with “I’ll Be”. I’m kinda getting bored with this song. I’m gonna have to agree with Randy on this one. I don’t think he brought that much to the table with this song. It was just okay for me.

I will always remember Jordan as “the guy who kicked Jaceee out of the group”. His version of “OMG” definitely had the girls in the audience going crazy. It wasn’t the best though and wasn’t the best song choice for him. I definitely agree with Randy, whenever you hear someone sing a song on Idol, in the back of your mind you are comparing it to the original. And his version did not cut it. I also don’t understand why he even sang that song if he said himself that that song didn’t represent him.

Tim is up next singing “Come On Over”. I think the guys so far are struggling with song choice tonight. The contestants should know by now that song choice is the most important thing on Idol. I mean, the guys aren’t sucking, but I think they could be better if they would just pick better songs.

Alright, up next is one of my favorites, Brett! I really hope he chose the right song!! He sang “Light My Fire”. Now I think this is a good song choice. It’s not a song that is sung that often on Idol. Actually, I think this may be the first time that anyone has sang this song. I can’t remember anyone ever singing this song. But I thought he did a great job with it. I think he is definitely going to be in the top 12 because he’s gonna get the votes from the little girls.

James is another one of my favorites. It might be because I like Adam Lambert and he reminds me of Adam a lot. I’m surprised that none of the judges pointed that out. I never heard that song before, but I think it was a really good song choice for him. Wow, he is so much taller than Ryan, haha…I know that is random but I just wanted to point that out.

Robbie is up next singing “In the Arms of the Angel”. I think he took a risk by singing a female song. I thought it sounded really good.

There’s a podcast I listen to called The Gleeful Podcast, and one of the guys that does the show is Ed. I just started following him on Twitter and I just wanted to share with you one of his tweets that he just tweeted a little bit ago.

@EdwardGiordano First tip: do a song traditionally done by the opposite gender, it will be easier to stand out and won't be karaoke.

And I totally agree with that. Think about it, if a guy sings a song that is sung by a girl or vise-versa, you won’t be able to compare their version to the original. So I definitely think that the easiest way for you to stick out from the rest is to sing a song by the opposite gender.

I’m really looking forward to see what Scotty is going to sing. Wow…every time I hear him I still can’t believe that he is only 17. How does he have that big of a voice?? It’s crazy!!! He will definitely be in the top 12. Or top 13, I don’t know. I’m seeing things online about there possibly being a top 13, so I’m not quite sure.

Stefano sang “Just the Way You Are” and was just alright. I love “Just the Way You Are” and I wish he would have sang it a little better. Of course Ryan has to ask him if that song was dedicated to anyone special, that’s typical Ryan for ya.

I don’t remember Paul that much. He kind of reminds me of Rod Stewart. He’s just got that older type voice. I can imagine him being played on the adult contemporary radio stations. I don’t know, it’s not really doing it for me, I’m not a fan, I’m sorry.

Jacob’s version of “A House is Not a Home” sounded really good. He nailed it!! He’s definitely in the top 12.

Casey wraps up the night with “I Put a Spell On You”. I thought it was a great way to end the night!! I really liked it!

Alright, so I don’t really follow the site that much, but I was just curious as to see what Vote for the Worst thinks of the guys. In case you don’t know anything about Vote for the Worst, they are the reason that Sanjaya Malakar stayed on Idol for as long as he did. They pretty much get everyone they can to vote for the worst contestant on the show just so they will stay and mess up the results. Their pick for the guys is Brett, which I totally disagree with, because that just means that they think he is the worst of the bunch.

Now it is time to vote. Normally I would just pick up the phone and vote for my favorite, but I’m going to try out the online voting. I can’t believe it took them this long to have voting online when everything else nowadays is online.

So the online voting thing, the only thing I’m not liking is that it has one of those things where you have to type in the letters or numbers that you see. I am definitely not going to be one of the crazy people who votes the maximum of 50 times that you can vote, because that would take way too long. I’m sure there will be people that will be crazy enough to do that.

Well, that is all for my thoughts on tonight’s Idol. I think that overall the guys were just alright. I give them a B. I think the girls can definitely be better than the guys. Thanks for reading! Leave me comments!!

You’ve never seen camping like this before…

So I found this article on yahoo. It’s pretty interesting. It’s about BubbleTrees which are these tent like things that look like a big bubble that you set up outside and sleep in. The article says that it is the closest you can get to sleeping outside without actually sleeping outside. They are only available in Europe right now and I can’t see them coming to the US anytime soon. And even if they did come to the US, they wouldn’t be affordable. They cost from $9,000-$17,000, depending on which model and extras you choose (You can get them with portable sofas, beds, and more. Some even have hardwood floors).

Here is a picture of a BubbleTree. Click here to see more