A hard one to swallow

(Blog entry title taken from this episode of Ace & Gary.)

She’s gone. I can’t believe it. Sure, I was nervous, but then I’m nervous every week. Jessica was voted off last night on American Idol. I spent the rest of the evening in mourning. There’s no way she should’ve gone before Scott, Anthony, Nadia, or Nikko. A couple of people messaged me last night with condolences. If you’d like to make me feel better, please complete the following statement:

“__________ should have been eliminated way before Jessica.”

Thank you :-)

Here are some stories…
Idol Puts Two Strong Singers in Bottom Three (Curlio.com)
American Idol Isn’t Kind To Teens (MSNBC)
Sierra’s Exit Leaves Nine Contestants (Toledo Blade)

In other news, keeping with the theme of this entry’s title, I force-fed myself some Theraflu last night. Blech! I can’t imagine many things more difficult to ingest than six ounces of this vile, revolting solution. They should make it a competition on Fear Factor. However, it does seem to work quite well, and I am feeling a good bit better today.

“Here’s to the corners yet to turn. Here’s to the bridges yet to burn. Here’s to the whole thing blown apart. It’s open season on my heart…”

A hard one to swallow

(Blog entry title taken from this episode of Ace & Gary.)

She’s gone. I can’t believe it. Sure, I was nervous, but then I’m nervous every week. Jessica was voted off last night on American Idol. I spent the rest of the evening in mourning. There’s no way she should’ve gone before Scott, Anthony, Nadia, or Nikko. A couple of people messaged me last night with condolences. If you’d like to make me feel better, please complete the following statement:

“__________ should have been eliminated way before Jessica.”

Thank you :-)

Here are some stories…
Idol Puts Two Strong Singers in Bottom Three (Curlio.com)
American Idol Isn’t Kind To Teens (MSNBC)
Sierra’s Exit Leaves Nine Contestants (Toledo Blade)

In other news, keeping with the theme of this entry’s title, I force-fed myself some Theraflu last night. Blech! I can’t imagine many things more difficult to ingest than six ounces of this vile, revolting solution. They should make it a competition on Fear Factor. However, it does seem to work quite well, and I am feeling a good bit better today.

“Here’s to the corners yet to turn. Here’s to the bridges yet to burn. Here’s to the whole thing blown apart. It’s open season on my heart…”

And then there were nine

I still remember when someone would say “A.I.” and the first thing I’d think of was Allen Iverson. No more. It’s all American Idol now, babee! Who would have ever thought this would happen to me?

Not a great showing last night, in my opinion. I know the 90’s didn’t have a lot of great music, but I thought overall that the choice of songs was poor.

My bottom three: Scott, Anthony, Anwar

Scott probably had the worst performance. He picked a really hard song to sing. I think Anthony may be gone though, because it seems like he’s had more bad weeks than the others, and he was in the bottom three last week. There are times when he is starting to sound a little like Clay Aiken to me. I still think Anwar could recover and stay awhile longer. But the first half of his song last night was horrendous.

I think it’s only a matter of time for Nikko and Nadia (aka “big hair girl”), although I thought she picked a good song to fit her voice last night. Jessica sang well, but I didn’t care for her song choice either. I still voted for her 20 or 25 times. I think she’s safe, but I’m still nervous.

I thought Bo and Carrie were the best of the night, followed by Constantine and Vonzell, although why anyone would try to sing a Whitney Houston song I’m not sure.

“Look into your heart, pretty baby. Is it aching with some nameless need? Is there something wrong, and you can’t put your finger on it?”

And then there were nine

I still remember when someone would say “A.I.” and the first thing I’d think of was Allen Iverson. No more. It’s all American Idol now, babee! Who would have ever thought this would happen to me?

Not a great showing last night, in my opinion. I know the 90’s didn’t have a lot of great music, but I thought overall that the choice of songs was poor.

My bottom three: Scott, Anthony, Anwar

Scott probably had the worst performance. He picked a really hard song to sing. I think Anthony may be gone though, because it seems like he’s had more bad weeks than the others, and he was in the bottom three last week. There are times when he is starting to sound a little like Clay Aiken to me. I still think Anwar could recover and stay awhile longer. But the first half of his song last night was horrendous.

I think it’s only a matter of time for Nikko and Nadia (aka “big hair girl”), although I thought she picked a good song to fit her voice last night. Jessica sang well, but I didn’t care for her song choice either. I still voted for her 20 or 25 times. I think she’s safe, but I’m still nervous.

I thought Bo and Carrie were the best of the night, followed by Constantine and Vonzell, although why anyone would try to sing a Whitney Houston song I’m not sure.

“Look into your heart, pretty baby. Is it aching with some nameless need? Is there something wrong, and you can’t put your finger on it?”

Nocturnal Phantasm #305A

Last night, I dreamed I was coming over the Hudson Bridge and there were a couple of cars stopped near the end of the bridge, just before the turn off to the boat harbor. Turns out some guy had shot someone in one of the cars. I was one of the first people to come up on it, and stopped just to the right and behind the car of the man who’d been shot. Apparently, the shot had caused the bottom of his car to fall out onto the road, for whatever reason. Somehow I know that the man in the car is already dead. So the killer comes around to the passenger side of his car, right in front of me, and he has a gun. By now, traffic has stacked up behind us as far as you can see to the top of the bridge. The killer points his gun at me and says that he will kill whoever, he doesn’t care. Then he turns his attention back to the guy in the car, so I think to myself, “Well, I can sit here and do nothing and get shot, or I can go for the gun. I might get shot, but I might not.” So, while his attention is diverted, I lunge at him, grabbing the gun. Using every ounce of my strenght, I wrest it away from him and onto the ground. Then, I have his left arm twisted behind him in one of those wrestling-like holds. So, I am trying to motion to the people in the other cars to get out and grab the gun while I have him restrained, but everyone is too frightened. Finally, someone does get out and grab the gun. The police come and all is well. And in my dream, of course, I think this is all really happening, so I’m thinking to myself, “This is gonna make the best blog entry ever!” I was a little disappointed when I woke up. Of course, I’m always a little disappointed when I wake up.

“All men think of themselves as kind of low-level superheroes. When men are growing up reading about Batman, Superman, Spiderman, these aren’t fantasies, these are options. This is the way men really look at their own lives. I’ll give you a perfect example of this. You ever see a guy moving a mattress tied to the roof of this car? He’s out on the highway with this thing, he’s always got the arm out the window holding this mattress. Whatever he’s rigged up there, he’s helping along with the arm. This is classic male superhero idiot thinking. This moron actually believes that if the wind catches this huge rectangle at 60 miles an hour, I got it, I got it. Don’t worry about it, I’m using my arm.” – Jerry Seinfeld

In other news, I really haven’t felt well since Sunday evening. I shouldn’t have gone out Sunday night after church. Yesterday, I came home from work, took some Nyquil, and slept for about three hours. Stayed in bed all evening, watching every single program that TVLand has to offer.

“So tell me one more time, how you’re sorry about the way this all went down. You needed to find your space. You needed to still be friends…”

Nocturnal Phantasm #305A

Last night, I dreamed I was coming over the Hudson Bridge and there were a couple of cars stopped near the end of the bridge, just before the turn off to the boat harbor. Turns out some guy had shot someone in one of the cars. I was one of the first people to come up on it, and stopped just to the right and behind the car of the man who’d been shot. Apparently, the shot had caused the bottom of his car to fall out onto the road, for whatever reason. Somehow I know that the man in the car is already dead. So the killer comes around to the passenger side of his car, right in front of me, and he has a gun. By now, traffic has stacked up behind us as far as you can see to the top of the bridge. The killer points his gun at me and says that he will kill whoever, he doesn’t care. Then he turns his attention back to the guy in the car, so I think to myself, “Well, I can sit here and do nothing and get shot, or I can go for the gun. I might get shot, but I might not.” So, while his attention is diverted, I lunge at him, grabbing the gun. Using every ounce of my strenght, I wrest it away from him and onto the ground. Then, I have his left arm twisted behind him in one of those wrestling-like holds. So, I am trying to motion to the people in the other cars to get out and grab the gun while I have him restrained, but everyone is too frightened. Finally, someone does get out and grab the gun. The police come and all is well. And in my dream, of course, I think this is all really happening, so I’m thinking to myself, “This is gonna make the best blog entry ever!” I was a little disappointed when I woke up. Of course, I’m always a little disappointed when I wake up.

“All men think of themselves as kind of low-level superheroes. When men are growing up reading about Batman, Superman, Spiderman, these aren’t fantasies, these are options. This is the way men really look at their own lives. I’ll give you a perfect example of this. You ever see a guy moving a mattress tied to the roof of this car? He’s out on the highway with this thing, he’s always got the arm out the window holding this mattress. Whatever he’s rigged up there, he’s helping along with the arm. This is classic male superhero idiot thinking. This moron actually believes that if the wind catches this huge rectangle at 60 miles an hour, I got it, I got it. Don’t worry about it, I’m using my arm.” – Jerry Seinfeld

In other news, I really haven’t felt well since Sunday evening. I shouldn’t have gone out Sunday night after church. Yesterday, I came home from work, took some Nyquil, and slept for about three hours. Stayed in bed all evening, watching every single program that TVLand has to offer.

“So tell me one more time, how you’re sorry about the way this all went down. You needed to find your space. You needed to still be friends…”

You’ve been Pittsnogled!

That was my favorite phrase of the weekend as my newly beloved Mounties lost a heartbreaker. It reminds me of the time I attended an NCAA regional in Bham and Austin Peay was playing. Their fans chanted “Let’s go Peay” the entire game.

Well, I correctly picked 3 of the final 4 somehow, as evidenced in this post. I had Louisville, North Carolina, Illinois, and Oklahoma (instead of Michigan State). So even though I got pummeled in the opening rounds, I made a nice, if improbable, comeback. What a weekend, though. Three overtime games out of four in the Elite 8. Surely someone amongst the powers that be in college football could watch the games this weekend and think, “Hey! We could do that!”

OK, I was going to post something interesting and funny today, but I figured, I’ve gone nearly two years. Why start now?

EDIT: By the way, I really appreciate channel 19 displaying their “19” emblem over the clock during the end of the Kentucky/Michigan State game. Good job. It wasn’t like the game was close or anything. Then again, perhaps that’s why it took Kentucky about 20 seconds to foul in the last minute there. Maybe they couldn’t see the clock because of that giant “19”. AND I really appreciate you running the severe weather bulletins in Spanish. As soon as I turned the TV on, it was like, “Tormenta hacienda viva la bamba Moulton yo quiero Taco Bell” running across the screen. So I had no clue what was going on. As if years of fake Satterfield tornado warnings weren’t enough, now this. It’s safe to say I won’t be watching your station for weather coverage ever again.

“If there’s a plane or a bus leavin’ Dallas, I hope you’re on it…”

You’ve been Pittsnogled!

That was my favorite phrase of the weekend as my newly beloved Mounties lost a heartbreaker. It reminds me of the time I attended an NCAA regional in Bham and Austin Peay was playing. Their fans chanted “Let’s go Peay” the entire game.

Well, I correctly picked 3 of the final 4 somehow, as evidenced in this post. I had Louisville, North Carolina, Illinois, and Oklahoma (instead of Michigan State). So even though I got pummeled in the opening rounds, I made a nice, if improbable, comeback. What a weekend, though. Three overtime games out of four in the Elite 8. Surely someone amongst the powers that be in college football could watch the games this weekend and think, “Hey! We could do that!”

OK, I was going to post something interesting and funny today, but I figured, I’ve gone nearly two years. Why start now?

EDIT: By the way, I really appreciate channel 19 displaying their “19” emblem over the clock during the end of the Kentucky/Michigan State game. Good job. It wasn’t like the game was close or anything. Then again, perhaps that’s why it took Kentucky about 20 seconds to foul in the last minute there. Maybe they couldn’t see the clock because of that giant “19”. AND I really appreciate you running the severe weather bulletins in Spanish. As soon as I turned the TV on, it was like, “Tormenta hacienda viva la bamba Moulton yo quiero Taco Bell” running across the screen. So I had no clue what was going on. As if years of fake Satterfield tornado warnings weren’t enough, now this. It’s safe to say I won’t be watching your station for weather coverage ever again.

“If there’s a plane or a bus leavin’ Dallas, I hope you’re on it…”

I’m all in

It just feels good to say that, even when you’re only playing for chips, or maybe especially when you’re only playing for chips. Well, I participated in, and won, my first live game of No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em last night. We played while watching the NCAAs. After the last remaining female player, an experienced Annie Duke type, was eliminated, it came down to me and Earlyfold McBidlow, an ultra-conservative player who requires lots of patience to defeat. I was able to push him around with a big stack, but he came back from the dead twice, winning two rather small all-ins, before finally bowing out on the third. It was a lot of fun. It is neat just trying to get a read on other players and recognizing almost immediately sometimes when you make a mistake, bidding too low or staying in too long or whatever. I guess watching all that World Series of Poker and Tilt on ESPN finally paid off. There’s something very invigorating, almost liberating, about going all in. It’s a little mini-rush.

Shot a little pool for the first time in about a week. Ended up getting home a little before 1:00. Had a bad dream last night. I don’t know if I was in Iraq or if it was over here. Wherever it was, Saddam Hussein was trying to kill me, and everyone else. Well, we were calling him Uday, but it looked exactly like Saddam. It was like you couldn’t get away no matter where you went. I was glad I woke up.

Oh yeah, I was gonna tell you about my bad dream. Well, I dreamed that I woke up one day and went to get gas, and it had gone up to like $2.20 a gallon. Whew! Man, I hate dreams like that.

Oh, I’m at work today, by the way, until 1:00. Hope everyone has a Happy Bunny Day!

Dialogue
“So, if you called a girl and she was at work, would you expect her to call you back when she got off?”
“I’ve never called a girl.”
“Me either.”

“What would you think if a girl called you at work? Would you think she was needy?”
“I’d be excited!”
“Yeah, but come on, these aren’t exactly the world’s most renowned relationship experts you’re talking to here.”

“As we are dancing, Mary’s wrappin’ her arms around me. I can feel the sting of summer on my skin. In the midst of the music, I tell her I love her. We both laugh, cos we know it isn’t true…”

I’m all in

It just feels good to say that, even when you’re only playing for chips, or maybe especially when you’re only playing for chips. Well, I participated in, and won, my first live game of No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em last night. We played while watching the NCAAs. After the last remaining female player, an experienced Annie Duke type, was eliminated, it came down to me and Earlyfold McBidlow, an ultra-conservative player who requires lots of patience to defeat. I was able to push him around with a big stack, but he came back from the dead twice, winning two rather small all-ins, before finally bowing out on the third. It was a lot of fun. It is neat just trying to get a read on other players and recognizing almost immediately sometimes when you make a mistake, bidding too low or staying in too long or whatever. I guess watching all that World Series of Poker and Tilt on ESPN finally paid off. There’s something very invigorating, almost liberating, about going all in. It’s a little mini-rush.

Shot a little pool for the first time in about a week. Ended up getting home a little before 1:00. Had a bad dream last night. I don’t know if I was in Iraq or if it was over here. Wherever it was, Saddam Hussein was trying to kill me, and everyone else. Well, we were calling him Uday, but it looked exactly like Saddam. It was like you couldn’t get away no matter where you went. I was glad I woke up.

Oh yeah, I was gonna tell you about my bad dream. Well, I dreamed that I woke up one day and went to get gas, and it had gone up to like $2.20 a gallon. Whew! Man, I hate dreams like that.

Oh, I’m at work today, by the way, until 1:00. Hope everyone has a Happy Bunny Day!

Dialogue
“So, if you called a girl and she was at work, would you expect her to call you back when she got off?”
“I’ve never called a girl.”
“Me either.”

“What would you think if a girl called you at work? Would you think she was needy?”
“I’d be excited!”
“Yeah, but come on, these aren’t exactly the world’s most renowned relationship experts you’re talking to here.”

“As we are dancing, Mary’s wrappin’ her arms around me. I can feel the sting of summer on my skin. In the midst of the music, I tell her I love her. We both laugh, cos we know it isn’t true…”