Behind again…

What a surprise…once again, a lot of time has passed since my last post. I’m starting to wonder if I should just give up on this page. Part of me is saying that I should because I never post, but another part really wants to have the forum to write about whatever I want when the inspiration strikes. Another nagging voice is telling me that writing is good for me since I will soon be writing a series of self-reflective essays that will help propel my career forward. Let’s see where this goes.

My last post was about a month and a half ago. Recapping every single relevant life and news event since then would take up a lot of space and require a lot of time, so I’ll try to cover the basics for all my major categories. In my general (uncategorized) category, I’m happy to announce to all 2 of you that read this that my bf landed a really great teaching job. He is very excited and I am proud of him for all the hard work he put in to get there. To celebrate his success, we went on a cruise to the Caribbean and had a wonderful time. Pictures are on facebook. What else? I just started my new externship. So far, it has been a slow start with most of the time being spent learning new neuropsychological tests. On a more somber note, a close family friend of ours passed away last week. He was a stand up guy. He always put others before himself. He was warm, caring, passionate, and friendly and he will truly be missed.

Onto the world of android. I don’t even know where to start. I’ll have to keep this brief. The Droid X came out a little over a month ago and it is a sweet phone. It is just a tad too big for my petite hands. The Droid 2 just came out last week and while many things were improved, there were some disappointing aspects of it too. I think the froyo OS still has a few bugs and flash needs some tweaking. Also, when speaking into the phone, you can hear yourself in the earpiece almost as if you’re speaking into a microphone in front of an audience. Plus, there’s a really strange bug where things are laggy/buggy when the phone is plugged in vs when it’s off the charger. Verizon just put out a patch, but it mainly addressed other issues. In addition to Motorola phones arriving on the scene, Samsung’s Galaxy S series hit the markets on AT&T and T-Mobile. Sprint and Verizon are up next. I’ve tried out both the Vibrant (T-Mobile) and the Captivate (AT&T) and was really impressed with what I saw. Samsung’s UI makes the phone very intuitive to use and the phones are both very responsive. Of course there are a lot of rumors going around too. My baby (the Incredible) was supposedly supposed to get froyo a few days ago and that didn’t happen. Then there are a bunch of rumors about android based tablets coming out later in the year to compete with the ipad. We’ll see how that goes. I may want to consider getting one of these for myself if the price is right and I feel like one of them would suit my needs.

I haven’t talked about Glee in a while on this blog. I’m still hoping to write a couple paragraphs after each episode of the upcoming season though. We’ll see. But for all you Gleeks out there, the season 2 premiere is on Tuesday, September 21st at 8 PM. There has likely been a lot of Glee news and spoilers this summer, but I honestly haven’t followed much of it. I’m sure I’ll get back into my obsession once the new eps air!

Websites. I haven’t done one of those in a while. Hmmm. That I’ll probably have to save when I have enough time to sit down and do the research. I want to make sure it’s worth the read.

Finally the yankees. They’ve been playing ok lately. The pitching rotation is treading on thin ice right now, which isn’t good. Pettitte is injured, and Burnett and Vazquez stink. I’m surprised they’re even winning as much as they are. A-Rod just went on the DL today. Luckily, other people are hitting and bailing out all our stinky pitchers right now. Nick Swisher is having a great season. I’m happy for him. Robinson Cano should be the AL MVP. I know I’m biased but the guy has had a monster season. Jorge Posada is declining in his ability to catch. Even as recently as a few years ago, he had solid numbers throwing out baserunners. Now, any old person can steal on him. Additionally, a lot more gets by him and he has made some really questionable decisions with the ball in play. Brett Gardner has really become a solid member of the team. With the exception of a couple of slumps, he has played well all year. Phil Hughes has emerged as a reliable starter and even when he gets beat up a little, he still manages to keep the team in the game. Joba Chamberlain stunk himself out of the setup man role. That’s disappointing because when he first came up, he was unhittable. The Yanks got some quality people at the trade deadline for basically nobody in return. One quick comment on Kerry Wood. I saw him dominate the yanks in 2003 in a 1-0 matchup (that the Cubs won) between him and Roger Clemens, who lied to Congress (idiot). Ever since that game 7 years ago, I wanted him on the Yankees. I didn’t even care that his ERA was 6 something when they traded for him. He’s Kerry Wood, a fierce guy that has a lot of talent and who can really help the bullpen if he pitches well.

Alright, I tried to address all of my major categories. Ideally, I won’t have to play catch up all the time but with my track record, who knows. I really do like writing and I thought doing a blog would be a fun way to put my thoughts out there, but it has just taken a back seat to other things. Maybe I can integrate it into my routine once the school year starts up again. My schedule will be varied by day, so any constant would be welcomed.

Have a good night!

Madonna all around

Hello everyone! Sorry I am a little late on my Glee post. I got swamped last week. But here I am, posting my thoughts before the 3rd episode of the back 9 airs. You know me, I don’t like falling behind. So let’s get into it.

Let’s start with the theme: Madonna. How could this episode be anything short of great? Madonna is definitely an icon (as Kurt says), and possibly a world class MILF (as Puck says…although to me, that’s debatable). While I’ve always enjoyed her songs, I wouldn’t say that I was ever obsessed with her or anything. The peak of her career was before I really came to appreciate pop music. That being said, everyone has heard of her and at least knows that she has made a big impact on the music industry.

There’s a lot more Sue in this episode. She just keeps on stampeding to take over the school. Blackmail is the name of the game with Principal Figgins as Sue gets Madonna’s songs to blast over the PA all day, well, with the exception of Emma’s office because Sue doesn’t like Emma. The “Vogue” video re-airs in the episode and this time we see how it all came about. Sue has a chink in her armor. She’s self-conscious about her Florence Henderson hairdo, as Will puts it. She even gets her cheerleaders to pursue younger guys to date. This gets  a little out of hand as Brittany dips into the elementary school pool by getting with a 7 year old.

Speaking of Brittany, I continue to love her lines in these episodes. They are so funny! This time, Will tells the glee club that the guys have been misogynistic  to the girls. Finn has no clue what that means. Surprise surprise. Brittany gets one of her spacey looks and proclaims: “When I pulled my hamstring, I went to a misogynist.” Seriously? Who is the genius that comes up with this stuff? Love it!

Moving on. A big storyline for this episode was the whole 3 couple lose your virginity plot. Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” was masterfully edited to show Rachel, Finn, and Emma (and their respective others) planning to hook up for the first time. The only thing I can say about this is that it was perfectly executed. I believe that the producers got exactly what they had hoped for out of these scenes. As the outcome though, only Finn went through with doing the deed. Afterwards, he felt the same and told Santana that it didn’t mean anything. Instead of being offended, she said that he needed to take her out for a burger. Go figure.

We also see Jesse St. James of Vocal Adrenaline play Benedict Arnold and jump ship to our beloved glee club. There was a brief explanation of how that happened, but I’m having trouble buying it. Nobody seemed all that thrilled to have Jesse join, despite him being a huge asset. Even Rachel looked a little nervous. Finn stepped up near the end and welcomed him into the group. Good boy, Finn! Like I said, I’m a little hesitant about Jesse’s intentions. Or more probably, it likely has something to do with Vocal Adrenaline’s director using Jesse as a pawn. I could be totally wrong, but seeing as though Jonathan Groff isn’t a permanent cast member, the writers have got to have an out for him somehow. Maybe he’ll just graduate. Or maybe he’ll ruin the glee club by running back to Vocal Adrenaline at some point. We’ll see. Rachel should proceed with caution.

Still no huge action from some of the other cast members: Puck, Quinn, Artie, and Tina. But we do see some more of Kurt and Mercedes. According to Kurt, “Mercedes is black, I’m gay. We make culture.” Great line. And they do, as they dress up Sue for the Vogue video and then proceed to go join her cheerleading squad because Will doesn’t give them enough solo time in the glee club. That should be interesting to see as 4 people now have allegiance to both Will and Sue, who are mortal enemies.

All in all, another amazing episode. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow hold’s for us. One interesting storyline that has been big in the last week was how the end of Glee got cut off on people’s DVR’s because American Idol ran overtime. You’d never guess this would be a big news story, but it was. Just type “glee madonna episode” into google and a bunch of results will come up telling people that the ep will re-air because the end got cut off when people recorded the show. Come on people, you should know better. American Idol almost always runs late. This is a historical truth. Add minutes on to the end of Glee.

I’ll leave you guys with a few more funny quotes:

Artie: If you’re planning on getting all up on this, you’re gonna have to make some changes. (To Tina as a bunch of cut scenes show guys mistreating the girls)

Will: You took ownership of your body when you said you didn’t wanna sleep with me… and then ran out of my apartment with no shoes on. (To Emma after she unsurprisingly decided that she couldn’t hook up with Will)

Santana: She’s like a cat in heat. She talked about him yesterday and practically sprayed the choir room. (To Finn as she breaks his heart talking about how Rachel is still secretly dating Jesse)

Sue: You think this hard. I’m passing a gallstone as we speak. That is hard! (To her cheerleaders when they mess up another routine)

Glee returns!

How exciting! Glee is officially back and the show kicked off again with a bang. In fact, if you watched, you’ll agree that it was pretty much non-stop action. By the end of the episode, I wasn’t sure whether I should be confused, happy, sad, excited, or some combination. When I say this episode was fast, I mean it was lightning speed. I’ve read a couple review articles on last night’s episode, but I’d like to provide my own little review. I’m just going to go through the characters that play a major role last night.

Let’s start with Santana and Brittany. They were hardly existent last fall and now all of a sudden they are center stage, plotting with Sue about how to ruin the Glee club…the same club Santana confessed occupied the best part of her day. My favorite part with them was when they went out to dinner with Finn. They were bashing him in front of his face, then they proceeded to order him to get the car and leave his credit card. Those girls have some balls. Best quote ever goes to Brittany who out of the blue says, “Did you know that dolphins are gay sharks?” The girl is a complete airhead! That is the kind of stuff that makes the show entertaining.

Onto Rachel/Finn and Rachel/Jesse. This was a whirlwind of a situation. First Rachel is going all crazy girl on Finn and giving him a copy of their social calendar, which of course would freak out any male on this earth. Next, they are broken up and she conveniently meets Jesse, a rival singer from Vocal Adrenaline. Meanwhile, this whole time, Jesse has ulterior motives. Then out of nowhere, they are broken up and Finn wants Rachel back. Convenient, right? Wrong! She won’t take him back. So now everyone is single. How does that solve anything? Usually, it takes half a season to get this much plot movement when it comes to romantic relationships. Not so much. Less than an hour on Glee. This is what I love about the show. Things happen immediately. The only angst between episodes is waiting for the next one instead of wondering who might finally ask who on a date.

Will and Emma. This is the one part of the plot we actually did have to wait for. They finally kissed at the end of the last fall episode. I, for one, was very excited. I thought Terry was an evil you know what for playing Will all season and she deserved what was coming. Emma’s crush on Will was just so funny because she acted like a little schoolgirl around him. That’s actually sort of ironic because in this episode, we find out that Emma is a virgin. Not completely shocking. Will is shocked though…so shocked that the first thing he does is go make out with the director of Vocal Adrenaline. Talk about Benedict Arnold. I figured that Emma and Will would have to be put to the test before the creators let them be together, but I was very surprised that they couldn’t even make it through one episode. I still think they’ll end up together, but who knows when. With the speed of this show, it could be next week. P.S. Terry is still a you know what…

Finally, the one of a kind Sue Sylvester. She came back with a bang, didn’t she? Drugging the principal and convincing him that they hooked up to get her job back? All I can say is “touche.” Well played Sue. Just as sneaky as ever. Sue had a number of great lines, but my favorite was “I’m going to bring some Asian cookery to rub your hair with, because right now you have enough product in your hair to season a wok.” Classic! Loved it. How many amazing scenes was she in? A lot. Plotting with Santana and Brittany, introducing Rachel to the old wives club, trading barbs with Will. The list goes on. Early on in the fall season, I was not a Sue fan at all. I thought she was evil and destructive. I still think she’s evil and destructive, but now, I find her a whole lot more entertaining. She is a fantastic character and she enhances the show exponentially. I hope that she loses in the end and that the glee club wins, but the war between her and Will is one worth watching. How many shows can boast that their top villain is also one of most liked characters on TV? I’d bet not many. And did you see her in that Madonna bra? Hilarious!

That’s the end of my Glee review. Hope you guys enjoyed reading. I’m already anxiously awaiting next week’s episode. I want more! I’ll leave you with one more quote, courtesy of Sue of course.  ”You may be two of the stupidest teens I’ve ever encountered. And that’s saying something – I once taught a cheerleading seminar to a young Sarah Palin.”

Break + Food

Well folks, it’s been a break in more ways than one. I’ve been off from classes the last couple weeks and I haven’t attended to this blog in over a month. I have a small list of topics that I’ve been meaning to put out there for you, so that’s what I’ll get to tonight. I envision that as the semester wraps up and I get more free time on my hands, I’ll be able to post a little more often. I feel like all I do is make excuses about why I can’t post, which is why I’ll just say that I’d ideally like to get more consistent for you. So if you have any interesting topics that “matter” as my title would suggest, then feel free to let me know. Anyways, onto my post…

I’ve been watching a tv show called “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.” It’s on ABC on Friday nights. The bottom line is that it’s an excellent show. I won’t get too in depth with what it’s about, but the gist is that Jamie (a famous Food Network chef) goes to this town in West Virginia to try to get them to eat healthier and lose weight. He chooses that town because the CDC has determined that it’s the most unhealthy place in America, so that’s where Jamie wants to start his revolution. The reason I feel that the show is so important is because it conveys important messages. It’s still early in the series, but Jamie has already pointed out to everyone that there are consequences of eating greasy and fatty foods. We’re talking about obesity, hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, heart disease, and ultimately death…much earlier than any person would want. In America, we’re privileged to have access to whatever food we want. We can have a bacon, egg, and cheese for breakfast from Dunkin Donuts. We can have a burger and fries for lunch from McDonald’s. We can order pizza at 3 AM if we want. Food is abundant in this country, and since food is abundant, you can compare it to a street drug and make the argument that food is abused. I don’t need to look up official statistics to say that America is one of the most obese countries in the world. That’s common knowledge. It’s a problem. What are we going to do about it? Jamie is trying to bring people on board to help foster more awareness about cooking healthy foods and promoting overall better health. Yet if you watch the show, you’ll be disheartened to find that he is encountering a lot of resistance from the townspeople. Honestly, I understand how those people feel. Here comes some hot shot chef who is stepping in and claiming that they are fat and need to change their lifestyles. I’d be shocked if they weren’t defensive. However, at some point, you have to swallow your pride and realize that his intentions are good. In the face of a lot of adversity, this guy is standing his ground and insisting that he can help produce change. Not many people are willing to take that stand because the chance of failure is high. I admit, I’d be very nervous to do what he’s doing and if people gave me a hard time, I’d find it very difficult not to walk away. But I truly believe that the things in life that are worthwhile are the ones that require hard work and time spent outside your comfort zone. I wish that Jamie had come to CT to do the show. I would have been on board in a heartbeat. I’m fortunate that I don’t struggle with my weight. However, I’m always thinking about how I can eat healthier and feel better overall. That’s something I can work on. That and exercising more. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is show a little restraint. If even 1 person made an attempt to hold back on 1 excessive thing everyday (whether it be eating, committing a crime, etc), then we’d start to see a whole new America. As important as it is to take action in some situations, in others, it may be equally beneficial to hold back. I for one can’t wait to see what’s in store for the rest of the Food Revolution.

GLEE UPDATE: Glee returns this coming Tuesday at 9:28 pm sharp on FOX. Don’t miss it! I’m dying to see a new episode. It’s been almost 4 months since we saw our favorite glee club win sectionals. In the meantime, if you go to youtube, you can find videos of the cast’s recent appearance on Oprah. Very good stuff. Performances, interviews, behind the scenes and more. Yay!

News bits

Hi everyone. I just thought I’d check in before the semester starts again. Wow, a lot has been going on recently. Where do I even start? Let’s go for a brief update on my last post.

I’m sure everyone has been following at least some of the news coming out of Haiti regarding the recovery efforts after the earthquake. There is good news and bad news. The bad news is that many people have perished as a result of this disaster. It was a terrible tragedy for a nation that was already in dire straits. The last estimate regarding the number of deaths I heard was approximately 200,000. Too many. However, the good news is that many people and organizations from around the world are contributing to recovery efforts. CNN is estimating that donations from the U.S. alone are in excess of 200 million dollars. This money is coming right out of people’s pockets and they’re doing it by choice. That is something to be proud of. It will take many years to build Haiti back up after this disaster, but with generosity like we’ve seen so far, people can feel hopeful again.

Let’s move onto Glee. I’ll make this post a little bit of everything. Why not? First of all, I am so happy for the entire cast for winning at the Golden Globes last night. They won best TV series without even completing their first season! That’s just incredible, especially considering how tough it is to make a successful TV show these days. Congrats to the cast! Ok, now let’s spill the beans a little bit. I have a couple different sources for Glee news and I have gathered the following: Kurt will be getting a boyfriend and they are going to be out there, together, and proud of it. Yeah baby! Also, Jennifer Lopez has agreed to guest start on the show as a lunch lady. I wish I went to McKinley High. A new character will be cast on the show to give Rachel a run for her money. That’ll be good for her. However, I don’t want Rachel to sing any less. Lea Michele has an amazing voice and it would be a shame to cut her singing down. Apparently, Puck and Rachel will get back together. I don’t know how they’ll do this, especially given that Rachel is on Finn’s side regarding the whole Quinn and Puck baby situation. Stay tuned. Finally, it looks like Olivia Newton John and Bruce Springsteen will appear at some point. And Kristin Chenowith will be back too.

My mini twitter obsession: still going strong. I stay logged in and keep refreshing the home page when I’m at my computer. However, I can still boast that I’ve never tweeted. My amazing bf Ian has though. He responded to Lady Gaga when she posted about having to cancel a concert due to dehydration and fainting. She was so devastated about letting her fans down, so he replied to her to wish her well and tell her that her fans understood. At this point, I’m still a lurker. Also, I’m sure the amount of time I’ll have to keep checking twitter will decrease when I’m back in classes.

What else? I think that’s all I have for now. I want to do a website of the week soon though. That was one of the columns from the previous iteration of this blog that I am still excited about. Let me work on finding one before the end of the week. I’ll make it a goal. Hopefully I keep it.

I haven’t forgotten about my promise to provide twitter updates from celebrities to you guys, so here is what I have for tonight:

Last night, Chris Colfer posted on Dianna Agron’s twitter page. He told her that he had a crazy pirate dream and it reminded him of the time the two of them went to the pirate museum in Chicago. (Really? One of those exists?)

Tonight, Ryan Seacrest was thanking people for their donations to the Haiti fun that he and Ben Stiller launched on the Larry King show. He posted multiple times, and his last post estimated that people have pledged almost 8 million dollars so far! (Great job everyone!)

And I’m out. Talk to ya soon.

Calling all Gleeks

Anyone out there like the show Glee? If so, let me know because I’m a big fan. I knew from the beginning that I’d like the show, but I didn’t know that I would end up being as into it as I am now. On a recent trip to DC, I had the privilege of listening to a long compilation of Glee music courtesy of my wonderful bf, Ian. It was just amazing! The way the show makes progress every episode and how the music fits in is masterful. I know I sound like I’m exaggerating, but I’m really not. Glee is just that good. Trust me. If you’re reading this and you don’t watch Glee, then it’s time to get yourself over to Hulu and get started. Or better yet, buy the DVD that is coming out on Tuesday!

As part of my mild obsession (yes, I said mild!), I’ve been able to check the twitter pages of some of the Glee actors. It’s fun to see what they’re up to, especially when they make posts that portray them as regular people who do regular things. I know they are regular people, but you can’t argue against the fact that fame changes people. But back to the twitter stuff. You can all find the actors’ twitter pages without me, but I thought I’d make your life easier by updating you on what the characters are doing when they’re not filming Glee (which, by the way, begins again next week or the week after!). So I’ll do the hunting and you get to benefit from my scanning of the twitter pages.

Before I start telling you what all your favorite cast members are doing right now, check out this video of Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester) getting interviewed by E! Online. She is hilarious!

Amber Riley (Mercedes) posts on her friends’ pages a lot and doesn’t always write too much about herself or what she is doing, so the last thing she posted was that she was playing hide and seek. That was yesterday. Chris Colfer (Kurt) told us that he downloaded the soundtrack to Alvin and the Chipmunks. Apparently, Alvin and company are the only males who sing in Chris’s singing range (which resembles girl singing). Lol. Cory Monteith (Finn) awarded somebody the supreme gleek award because he/she submitted a pic of a gingerbread cookie wearing Finn’s red football uniform from the show. Diana Agron (Quinn) has been in France recently. She put up some nice pics too. Lucky her! Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina) has been watching some movies and eating sushi recently. Kevin McHale (Artie) has been watching A LOT of movies lately. He must be bored. Lea Michele (Rachel) is seeing the play Hair today. I just saw that a couple weeks ago! Mark Salling (Puck) last posted on Christmas and he was spending time with his family. What a good guy. Those are all the updates I have for you now. It’s too bad that Jane Lynch (Sue) and Jayma Mays (Emma) don’t have twitter because they would both be very fun to follow.

Stay tuned for more Glee news. I don’t plan to make the restructured blog solely about Glee, but talking Glee is definitely fun so I can see myself actually keeping up with this aspect. As always, we’ll see! Goodnight everyone. I’m going to rest up before my spa day tomorrow.