If You Reach For The Stars...

So I went over to Chelsey's house last night. Well, it was really afternoon/evening. I got there around 4:45. She has two kids, Rhiannon and James, and they're so freaking fun I can't even stand it. James was a little worried at first because he doesn't really know me very well. Chelsey said she thought me might have been thinking that I was a babysitter and that would mean she was leaving. Once he realized everyone was staying, he came around.

They were both fun to play with. Rhiannon kept calling me into the bedroom to watch Finding Nemo with her. I got to play with them in their room, and it was super fun. We got pizza for dinner, and as soon as her husband, Jay, left, Chelsey and I put Roseanne on. We watched that for a while. Then at 7, they put James to bed and around 7:30 Rhiannon went to sleep.

We watched Survivor at 8. I'm not really getting terribly into this season. Don't get me wrong, I love the show still, but there's nobody I'm really rooting for. Maybe as it progresses I'll find someone.

At 9, it was time for me to leave. When I got home, I was really tired from driving so much. It's not a long drive, but when you're not used to driving so much it tires you out.

I watched the first episode of ANTM last night too. So I'm only one behind on that. I don't really have any favorites on that show yet either, but we haven't seen any photo shoots yet.

I went to lunch with mom today. Bob's Fried Clams opened back up. It was really good. Lots of people, not many seats, but good food.

Not much else to say. Doing laundry and packing up tomorrow. Heading back to JSC on Sunday. Talk to ya tomorrow!

______________________________
UPDATE!!!


Before I forget and it's too late:
Top 10 Guys:
Michael Johns - Go Your Own Way. Kind of shaky beginning. Pitch problems. Flat. Not so great.
Jason Castro - I Just Want to Be Your Everything. Guitar = good idea. Nice voice, a couple pitch problems here and there. Overall quite nice.
Luke Menard - Killer Queen. I always forget him. Too high for his range. Not very good. Got better toward the end.
Robbie Carrico - Hot Blooded. Better last week. Not amazing. Didn't bring it. Should still be here next week. (I was wrong.)
Danny Noriega - Superstar. Song is too low for him. A little breathy in places. Got better in the middle.
David Hernandez - Papa Was A Rolling Stone. Kinda sketchy vocally. Didn't bring it. Could have done a lot more. Good ending.
Jason Yeager - Long Train Running. Something weird at first during the verse. The refrain got better. Not amazing.
Chikeze - I Believe to My Soul. Good this week. Nice voice, not many pitch things.
David Cook - All Right Now. Curious... I don't know if rocker voice is suiting him. Not 100% terrible, but not great either. He's a good guitarist.
David Archuleta - Imagine. Such an amazing voice. He has to win. I love his interpretation. Very strong, but also mellow.

Tired

I'm too tired to recap my day today. Just watch this:

Haircut

I got my haircut today! It looks nice. I am very pleased. Thanks, Chelsey!!

I'm going over her house tomorrow night to watch Survivor. I don't know if I'm going to get to watch all the girls perform tonight on Idol. Matt is going to call me when he gets out of work, and then I'm going over to his house. So if he calls me during the show, then I won't be able to finish it all. I don't really care about the girls anyway. David Archuleta is going to win. If he gets kicked off at any point, then I'm going to stop watching.

That's all for today! Notes and wrap-up tomorrow night!

Long Awaited Talky

Here it is folks! I'm sorry it took so long!!

And also, check out this clip of Ross "the Intern" Mathews at the Oscars!


Till tomorrow!

Video of the Week: Star Wars

And I promise the Talky Blog tomorrow. I have it recorded, but I didn't want to post it with the VotW. Have a good Sunday!

Being Sick Isn't Fun

I hate being sick. It's not fun at all. To all the bloggers, I'm sorry that the entries are suffering. I'm just not motivated to sit here and write about being sick. I just want to be in bed and watch TV. Which is what I think I'm going to go do. After I eat. Wish me well, bloggers!

It's Coming!

I'm sorry it is taking so long for the Idol Wrap-Up this week. I don't think I'm gonna bother with the girls because we've already been privy to the results. I promise though that as soon as I'm feeling better (I'm kinda sick by the way), I will record the Talky, because I do want to talk about the guys.

For anyone who has ever read Ross Mathews' blog, tonight is the First Annual RossBlog Talky Awards. And I couldn't be more excited.

Have a good night, bloggers!

American Idol - Top 12 Guys!

Hey everyone! I'm actually on my way out right now to class. I said last night that I would have the Idol Wrap-Up tonight, but then I remembered, I'm not going to get to see the Top 12 Girls tonight. So I have to watch them tomorrow. For now, I'll put up my notes about the Top 12 Guys, and I'll record a Talky about it when I get back from class. Then, tomorrow, I'll watch the girls, write notes, film a Talky, watch the results show, finish the Talky, edit it, then post it. So in short, you'll get my notes about the Top 12 Guys today, and everything else Thursday. I'll update this post later with the notes. I gotta get to class. Bye y'all!
______________________________
UPDATE!!

Top 12 Guys

David Hernandez - Midnight Hour. Good voice, not very energetic. Kind of lackluster and forgettable. Sour note at end. Safe choice.
Chikeze - More Today Than Yesterday. Kind of flat. Boring, not a great voice. Won't make Final 12.
David Cook - Happy Together. Kind of weird voice. Brought it though. Entertaining. Got better as it went on.
Jason Yeager - Moon River. Great song. Strong voice. Best to this point. Very well-done.
Robbie Carrico - One. Strong, fantastic, best now.
David Archuleta - Shop Around. Such amazing vocals. He is my favorite. I think he'll win.
Danny Noriega - Jailhouse Rock. Amazing, strong, didn't know he could rock. Bitched out Simon. (I'll talk about this kid a lot in the Talky)
Luke Menard - Everybody's Talkin'. Nice voice. Not a very memorable performance. Not a great last note. Sharp.
Colton Berry - Suspicious Minds. Great voice, nice performance. Good song choice.
Garrett Haley - Breaking Up is Hard to Do. Too slow, boring, flat, not so great. Sanjaya?? End got better.
Jason Castro - Daydream. Good voice. I really like him. Guitar player. Messed up the end.
Michael Johns - Light My Fire. Strong rocker voice, but not the best. Still very good, made it his own.

Look for the Talky on Friday!

Tomorrow Night...

American Idol Wrap-Up will be tomorrow night...

Sorta-Big-But-Not-Really-So-Big Entry

Well, it's a big entry here because we've reached the
I can't believe the blog has gotten this far. I never thought I'd keep it up this long. It's a nice way to have a record of what's gone on in my life, though.

Unfortunately, it's going to be a rather boring post. Nothing very exciting happened today. I wasn't feeling super well still. I think I'm gonna make it through this without actually having a full-on cold, but it's still taking a toll. I went to my music classes, but I called in to voice lessons. Lisa doesn't like having the one-on-one lessons when there's a chance she could catch something. She did want me to come to choir though, so after dinner I went to that. Then I went straight from that to the first Urinetown rehearsal. Nothing very thrilling happened, but it sucks that we're probably going to have Friday rehearsals.

I'm getting a little tired, and I have to get up for class tomorrow, so I'm gonna get to bed. Have a great night, bloggers.

Video of the Week: Jump!

Nothing to Say?

I really didn't do anything today. I was scheduled to have observations today, but, due to unforseen circumstances, I did not. Not a big deal.

I am going home Wednesday night/Thursday morning. Which is nice.

Not much to report. Turned in all my scholarship applications. Went to piano lessons. Hung out with Tara, Rayshelle and Elsie. That was about it.

Now I think I'm gonna go watch some TV and go to bed. Night.

Valentine's Day...

...can kiss my ass. Today was the first time I've ever been depressed about this holiday.

I might be getting home early for break. Mallory's going to her dad's house on Wednesday night and flying out of Manchester on Thursday. If my dad can get Thursday off, he'll come pick me up at Manchester airport on Thursday morning. Otherwise, I have to get a bus home and find a ride to the station.

I'm getting my hair cut and stuff when I'm home. My cousin, Chelsey, is going to do it for me. This is what she had to say: "I have some ideas to keep your hair long but to razor it and make it more piecey. I also had some ideas for color if your up for it. I know you like the red, so we can keep in those tones but put some chunky hilites to accent the cut." We'll see how it comes out.

She and I have plans to hang out and watch Survivor together too. Which I missed tonight. I went and saw Brighton Beach Memoirs instead. It was good. Not the best play I've ever seen, but it was still good. The actors were really good as well. Not much of a critique but oh well.

I have to get up early for observations tomorrow. I don't remember the last time I had to get up before 9:30. Eww. So I'm gonna head to bed early tonight. Bye, bloggers!

American Idol Top 24!

The Top 24 was finally revealed tonight! My favorites made it, did yours?

Top 12 Girls:
Alaina Whitaker
Alex Lushington
Amanda Overmyer
Carly Smithson
Amy Davis
Brooke White
Kristy Lee Cook
Kady Malloy
Ramielle Malubay
Syesha Mercado
Joanne Borgella
Asia'h Epperson

Top 12 Guys:
Chikeze Eze
Colton Berry
Danny Noriega
David Archuletta
David Cook
David Hernandez
Garret Haley
Jason Castro
Jason Yeager
Luke Menard
Michael Lee Johns
Robbie Carrico

The only person I was disappointed about was Josiah Leming. I really thought he'd get another chance. Oh, well, can't win them all. Not much to say about tonight, it was basically the contestants walking in a room and being told yes or no. I was glad that Kyle Ensley didn't make it. He seemed like a nice guy, but he would have been another Sanjaya. My pick right now is David Archuletta. He's amazing.

American Idol - Hollywood: Night One!

First night in Hollywood on Idol tonight! This is one of my favorite parts of the process. It's the first time we really get to see the contestants' abilities to perform.

They changed the way Hollywood week works this year. There are four rounds. Tonight we saw the first three. Round 1: The contestants sing a song by themselves. They can use an instrument if they choose. If they get a majority of "Yes-es" from the judges, they bypass Round 2, and they are automatically in Round 3. Round 2: The contestants who got a majority of "No's" from the judges had to line up in groups of 10 and sing a song a capella. They were then either cut or they moved on. Right then. Round 3: The contestants sang a song with the band and three backup singers. They were then told right then whether or not they'd move on to Round 4 (The Top 50). Round 4: The judges narrow the Top 50 down to the Top 24, 12 boys and 12 girls. Round 4 is tomorrow night.

Here's a Talky followed by my notes.

Hollywood: Night One -
*Bold = got pass to Round Three*
Round One:
Brooke White - Original thoughts: "Very good. She's going to do well. I liked her a lot." Tonight: Played piano, I like her a lot.
Lorena Pinot - I don't know if we saw her originally, I missed the first 10 minutes of the Miami auditions. Not very good though.
Amy Flynn - Original thoughts: "Abstinence girl. Kinda sketchy vocally." Tonight: Cracked.
Leo Marlowe - Original thoughts: "Great voice." Tonight: Nope, forgettable.
Alisha Dixon - Angry. Not great.
Michael Sanfillipo - Original thoughts: "Very nice. Watch out." Tonight: A little sharp.
Alyssa Coco - No.
Shaun Barrowes - Yuck.
Jake Mellema - Not bad. I like the song.
David Hernandez - I like his initial audition (we didn't see it before). Very nice. Love it. He'll go far.
Amanda Overmyer - Original thoughts: "Janis Joplin. Good. Watch for her." Tonight: Rocker. Not so good. I don't like. Kinda funky.
Buck Smith - Forgot words. High?
Natashia Blach - Forgot words. Weird voice.
Ghaleb Emachah - Original thoughts: "Not good. Very bad. Yuck. I don't know why they put him through. Oh, yeah, Paula's high again." Tonight: So bad. Why is he here? Flat.
Josiah Leming - Original thoughts: "Lives in car. Something about him is intriguing. Sounds nasally and warbly." Tonight: MIKA! So impressed! Favorite so far.
Carly Smithson - Original thoughts: "Not fabulous, but pretty good." Tonight: Good. Little sharp.
Michael Johns - Original thoughts: "Australian. Kinda rockish. I like him. 'White soul singer' - Simon." Tonight: Like him. Good.
David Cook - Original thoughts: "Reminiscent of Chris Daughtry." Tonight: A little strained. Good voice though. I like him.
Robbie Carrico - Original thoughts: "Former boy-bander. Turned to rock. Nice voice. I like him." Tonight: Nice voice.
Jessica Brown - Original thoughts: "Recovering drug addict; two kids. Very good singer." Tonight: Good voice.
Perrie Cataldo - Original thoughts: "Single father from Arizona. Very nice voice." Tonight: Not the best.
Syesha Mercado - Not great.
Colton Barry - Good.
Kyle Ensley - Original thoughts: "Interesting... Bad song choice. Politics guy. I don't know about this." Tonight: Not so great. Corny.

Round Two:
Suzanne Toon - Summertime. Good. (Cut)
Perrie Cataldo - Better now. (Cut)
Amy Flynn - Good voice. Weird notes. Pretty. (Cut)
Angela Martin - So sad. I like her. (Cut)
Jeffrey and Michelle Lampkins - He's through, she's cut.
Kristy Lee Cook - Watch her.

Round Three:
*Bold = moved on to Round 4*
David Archuleta - Original thoughts: "Possible conflict with Star Search. Really good. Loved him... Watch for him."
Kyle Ensley - Better now. He could go on.
Jeffrey Lampkin - Very bad.
Joey Catalano - Original thoughts: "Good. Will get to sing live, won't make it far after that." Tonight: I was wrong. Not so great.
Syesha Mercado - Wow. Good. Strong.
Michael Johns - Song is too high. Not awful though.
Carly Smithson - Good. Bland. Bring some personality.
Asia'h Epperson - Original thoughts: "Amazing song. Not the right choice, good voice. She'll go far." Tonight: Good.
Brooke Helvie - Original thoughts: "Powerful voice. Better than I expected." Tonight: Too much. Good voice. Way too high note.
Josiah Leming - Making stuff up. Still love him.

Some of the folks I expect to see in the Top 24 are: Asia'h Epperson, David Archuleta and Kristy Lee Cook. Josiah Leming might make it in, but I'm not sure. I can't wait until tomorrow night to find out!!!

Just Listen

Monday, Monday

Well, classes weren't canceled. That's OK though. It wasn't too tough a day.

So, fun story, somebody photocopied his or her hand and taped it to Diane's door. Well, it's been up for a few days, and I decided that it was lonely. So I gathered everybody who was in the lobby area and in my Music Theory class, and we all photocopied our hands, some people together, and we taped them all to her door with different messages. So now her door is quite covered with hands. We figure she'll notice as soon as she walks out.

She comes out of her office, stands at the door for a second, looks back into her office for something, closes the door and walks over to us. Then she turns back and is now facing her door as she's talking to someone. We're all thinking that she's going to notice any moment. Nope. She walks down the hall. We're dumbfounded. She comes back up the stairs, goes over to her office, puts her hand on the doorknob, turns back to us, talks to someone, and goes in. We now can't believe she didn't notice.

We debate telling her. She comes out one last time and still doesn't notice. Javan flips a coin, and, even though I lost the toss, I told her anyway. She knew something was up and asked what was going on. My answer was: "LOOK AT YOUR DOOR!" She walks over to her door and laughed harder than I've ever heard her laugh. She absolutely 100% loved it. Now her door is all decorated, and it should make her feel good. My goal is to get as many of her students to put their hands up as possible.

I will definitely be doing a Talky Blog for American Idol tomorrow. I found out it was missed by some this past week. I would love anyone who watches or reads to leave comments in the comment section below and on the upper main page. I love reading them and meeting new people.

Have a great night, bloggers. See you tomorrow!

Surprise Montage

This was originally going to be a montage of Talky Blog clips, but then I decided to use pictures. So keep an eye out for one with video, but, for now, enjoy this:

UPDATE!!! FIXED THE VIDEO!

I Didn't Forget!

Happy Sunday!

Observing

Today was the first day of observations for me this semester. I think I'm going to like observing at this school. I'm going with Catie who's in my Seminar class, and it's her old high school. So she knows most of the people and the teacher. It's kinda cool to make friends and talk with the kids and not just look at them.

We got stuck behind a very slow-moving truck on the way back, so I was a little late for my piano lesson. Diane wasn't mad though.

I came back to my room and hung out for a while before dinner at 5:30. I wasn't very hungry, because I had eaten a lot at McDonald's earlier.

Quentin came over and chilled for a while. Then he joined Tara, Rayshelle and me when we went over to Base Lodge to see the comedic stylings of Roger Miller. It was fun.

That was my day. Work tomorrow. I'll blog then.

Ciao.

So Much Snow

It will never stop snowing. I swear. It's awful. Enough is enough.

I didn't go to class this morning. I woke up early to check because I figured all classes would be canceled. Sadly, they weren't. I wasn't about to walk my butt down that hill. It was snowing like a mother hubbard. So I just went back to bed and emailed my homework to my professor.

I did go to class this evening, and choir as well. I also went to work this afternoon. It's boring working on those tutorials, but it pays. I don't think I've ever missed one Seminar class. It's most definitely my favorite class. I have my first observation of the semester tomorrow. Which reminds me that I have to call Mrs. Bowler and confirm my observing her for three hours over February break.

Survivor started tonight. That made me happy. I love that show. So I'm just hanging around now. I'm gonna work on my scholarship essays and just chat with people. I'm gonna try to get to bed early tonight, but we'll see how that goes...

American Idol - Atlanta Auditions and Best/Worst

OK folks, it's time once again for:



Atlanta -
Joshua Jones - Don't Stop Me Now. Weird demonic eye thing, had to sing backwards. Not too great. Won't go too far.
JP Tjemeland - Rascal Flatts song. Not good. Weird.
Asia'h Epperson - How Do I Live? Amazing song. Not the right choice, good voice. She'll go far.
Brooke Helvie - When I'm Loving You. Powerful voice. Better than I expected.
Eva Miller - A Thousand Miles. Terrible. Fell over. I thought it was an act, but she insisted it wasn't. Whatever.
Alexandrea Lushinton - My Funny Valentine. 16 years old. Very good. Love her.
Michael Gregory - Strange.
Chris Lars - Huh?
Jared Wiley - What?
Nathan Hite - Not good. Does sound like the song though.
Amanda Overmyer - Mean Woman. Janis Joplin. Good. Watch for her.
Josiah Leming - Lives in car. Something about him is intriguing. Sounds nasally and warbly.

Best of/Worst of -
Amy Davis - Blue Bayou. Wonderful voice. Strong. Like her. I don't think she'll go far.
Tiffany McCampbell - "Voice from God". Strong, but very pushed. Very flat. Not good. "Does He have a returns policy? If I was given that, I'd give it back." -- Simon.
Cory and Chris Lane - Twins. Rapped. I don't know if they can sing though.
Ashley Lawing - Has a puppy. Simon wants her. Can't really sing.
Cardin Lee McKinney - Something from Dreamgirls. Strong voice. Not my favorite. I wouldn't listen to her record.
JoAnne Borgella - I Love You. Nice voice. I like her. She'll do well.
Alesha Stelzl - Kind of nasal. Can sing. Needs training. Too young. Don't like her. Got a second chance to sing a Dolly Parton song. Did better on her second chance.
Brandi Gregorie - Weird striptease.
Joshua Moreland - Very nice. R&B feel. Kinda weird high thing. Not bad. I don't know.
Chikeze Eze - Not bad at all. I like him.
Danny Noriega - Sang the song too slow, but good voice. I like him, he's cute. Watch out!

I didn't do a Talky Blog about it. Sorry folks. I'm just too tired, and I pretty much say the same things that I do in my notes. Next week is Hollywood. I don't exactly know how I'll take notes, but I'll have a list of all the people we've seen that moved on right next to me.

Have a good one, bloggers!

Ambushed!

I decided to do a Talky Blog with my friend Stephanie, but not to tell her about it. It's kind of amazing.

Also, check out The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard. The link is over on the left.

Good night, bloggers!

Late Late Late

Everything is late. This post is going up at about 1:30 AM. I had a long day, folks. Granted, I could have posted when I got back to my room around 8:30...

Anyway, long day, but uneventful.

Something else that's late? The Video of the Week. I swear, I'm gonna get reminders. So here it is. Enjoy!

Weekend's Over

Blogging on the weekends isn't easy. Sure, I could do it at work, but sometimes I don't.

I wasn't as productive at work this Saturday as I was last week. I pretty much was either on Facebook, AIM or reading a book. Oh, well.

Today was fun. I woke up early and grabbed the bus to Burlington. I met up with Aaron at Rite-Aid, and we went over to Starbucks. It was delicious. Then we went over to Border's and looked around for a bit. After, we headed back to the mall and eventually to his car after stopping in Aeropostale and the Unicel store.

We went over to his house and ended up watching a movie called Dr. Strange. It was... interesting. It's animated, and it's a Marvel superhero movie. I didn't love it, but it was good nonetheless. Then I ate some cereal, and then we were both a little tired, so we took a two-hour nap.

We left his house around 5 and went to McDonald's. It was delicious as well. Then we made our way back to Johnson.

We stopped at Mal and Kate's apartment so I could pick up Outburst. They weren't there, so I just ran upstairs and got it. We went back to my room, and I decided that I needed to shower since I hadn't all day. It was the coldest shower ever. I was not impressed. I was in and out in under 5 minutes I think.

We hung out in my room for a while as I took my sheets off my bed for washing. I piled together all my laundry, and we headed over to Arthur. I put my laundry in, then we went upstairs. We hung out in Tara and Rayshelle's room for a while and watched the Super Bowl. We stayed until halftime.

Then we went back to my room and just hung out for a while more. He left at about 9:30. I went back to Arthur to take my stuff out of the dryer, and only about half of it was dry. I was super pissed. So I took what was dry and brought it back to my room. Then I went back to Arthur with more quarters. I spent $3.50 on laundry today. Suck.

I went upstairs to see how the Super Bowl was going. Well, we ended up losing. Lorena was very pissed. Lene was happy. Then we took a bunch of goofy pictures. I'll try to get the public link to the album so I don't have to post pictures.

Then I came back to my room with my laundry. I chatted with people for a while before I did some homework. Then I folded my laundry. Now I'm listening to some of Idina Menzel's new album. Which is amazing.

Good night.

Snow Day Fun

It wasn't technically a snow day, but whatever. All classes after 12:00 were canceled, so I didn' t have piano lessons today.

I did go sledding today, however. It was super fun, and I really want to go again soon. We had a fun time. It was Rayshelle, Tara, Lorena, Anna, Justin and I. Tara was not very good at it. She didn't like going too fast, so she'd put her hands out, but that just made her swerve and spin around, so she'd veer all over the place and end up going down backwards. We had some great crashes, and Justin made it all the way down to the McClelland parking lot.

Then we had dinner and then played Scattergories. Followed by a "dance party" of sorts.

And I didn't forget!!

AND

Two albums by Landon Pigg. He technically has five things out right now: his album, LP; two EPs, This is a Pigg and Live in the Alice Lounge; his single, Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop; and an older album, Demonstration, which can't be found anywhere. The two EPs I've only found on iTunes, and I linked the album artwork above to the iTunes store. He's a fantastic singer/songwriter, and I strongly recommend you check him out.

Peace out, peeps.