The Girls of AI: First Impressions

Kinda liked half; kinda didn't like the other half.

Kinda liked:
Alaina: Pleasantly surprised; I figured she and Kady would be interchangeable. But did Paula say Diana Ross' rendition of the song was "dreadful"? Wow, guess she won't be guest judging again.
Kady: See above. Also love the impressions.
Amanda: Love how mom looked like a Stepford wife. Also, couldn't help but think her insurance company probably is not loving her for admitting on national TV that she pulled out in front of the semi....
Brooke: Love her. Bonus for getting Simon to talk about "washing up liquid"
Ramiele: Cute.
Asia'h: Like her, but she seems a little too happy when she talks about dead dad.

Kinda didn't like:
Kristy: Meh.
Joanne: Meh again.
Amy: Tritto meh.
Alexandrea: Agree with Simon on this one. Did. Not. Get. It.
Syesha: Don't love the song; she seemed cocky.
Carly: Overrated. And she makes weird faces when she sings. Also cocky--"being sick is no excuse." And what's with the flu? It somehow escaped all the boys?

So here's something non-reality TV related. I know, pick your jaws up off the floor. I am excited about this election year and love how the whole country seems energized. It seems that both parties have candidates that people are really excited about, not just "the lesser of two evils" as seems to have been the case the last couple elections. Illinois has an open primary, and I didn't even know which primary I was going to vote in until I literally checked the box on election day. I get the Obamania, though the longer the campaign wears on, the more his luster is wearing off. Like this whole deal with whether he'll abide by his campaign finance pledge if he wins the nomination--flip-flopping is very unflattering, especially on a politician who seemed so refreshingly unpolitical. And I think Michelle Obama has handled her comments about being proud of her country (or more accurately, lack of pride) really poorly. You know what? People don't want to hear backpedaling and political spinning. "What she really meant is...." Bullshit. She meant what she said and I would have respected her a lot more if she owned up to it: "Yes, it's been a rough last several years, with the U.S. in a war it has no business being in, having the majority of the rest of the world hate us because of it, having an economy going in the toilet because of funding this ill-advised war, but guess what? I sense change, and that makes me proud." Damn--maybe I should be her publicist....

The Boys of AI: First Impressions

Liked for various reasons: David Cook, David Archuleta (talented yet humble), Robbie Carrico, Jason Castro, Michael Johns (for admittedly shallow reasons), Colton Berry (loved the Ellen DeGeneres comment!)
Didn't dislike, but know they won't be long for AI: Jason Yeager (even though he's got the sympathy factor with the son), Luke Menard (even though he looks like Orlando Bloom (as pointed out by H))
Meh: Danny Noriega, Chikezie, David Hernandez, Garrett Healy (even though he seemed like a nice enough, sorta humble kid)

And yes, I remembered all their names from the show and didn't even need to refer back to the AI website.

I'm dropping ANTM from my Ti-Faux; reality TV is getting too time consuming and I'm instituting standards. Except when it comes to Rock of Love 2, which I got sucked into watching last night. And Millionaire Matchmaker. At least I haven't resorted to Ti-Fauxing them. Yet. Rock of Love 2 could come in handy if I somehow end up at the Bret Michaels concert next month....

Hockey is a scary sport, even if you have all your teeth

I am haunted by the Richard Zednik/throat slashing accident over the weekend. Really, truly haunted and obsessed. T plays hockey, and my friend is trying to get me to get H into it (girls' hockey is a no-cut sport at the local high school and yes, we are crazy for thinking about this even though it's 8 years away) and after watching that, I'm thinking to myself, "this is the sport I'm pushing my kids into?" And I relay my concerns to A, who tries to reassure me that it was just a freak accident and it's never happened before, and of course he's wrong because all the articles about Zednik reference what happened to Clint Malarchuk 19 years ago so of course I've been on YouTube watching footage of both incidents. Did I mention I was obsessed?

Speaking of obsessed, I'm still mildly obsessed with running (or more specifically races--why bother if you're not going to be timed?), though my IT band has sidelined me for now. Hopefully after physical therapy, I'll be good to go this spring/summer. The Phoenix half marathon was good--I did better than Chicago, but did not break 2 hours, which was my goal after the 10K Turkey Trot. Then again, I was injured and untrained, so I should be happy for just finishing in one piece! My crazy running friends were thinking of doing another half in Reno, but I think the altitude, injuries and lack of training scared us all away.

Skiing in Snowmass last month was awesome, though mildly depressing since it looks like this is the year H surpasses me in skiing ability. I figured it would happen at some point, but I guess I was hoping it would be more like when she was 17 and not 7. But I'm so proud--I can't help but beam when people watch her rip past and ask me how long she's been skiing. I don't even want to calculate how much we invested in ski school, but it looks like it paid off!

I guess I'm thankful that the writers' strike is over so that Grey's Anatomy will be back on soon, but I was enjoying the free time I had by not having to watch so much TV! There was a nice little lull between the end of the Amazing Race (pretty good season, but pretty indifferent abut the winners) and the start of American Idol where I was watching very little TV. I think I'm going to drop ANTM from my repertoire--once Grey's Anatomy is back and Top Chef starts again, my Ti-faux will be very, very full.