I got to watch two of my favorite shows tonight: "HGTV Design Star" and "The Next Food Network Star". I love to see people be creative, with food or decorating (or singing, in the case of my very favorite reality show). I also love to see ordinary people get the chance to do something extraordinary. Design Star is down to the final two contestants, which were my favorite two all along, and we'll find out the winner next week. Their final challenge was do design three rooms for families still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Totally touching and heartwarming... no matter which contestant wins, those families definitely did. Food Network did it's reveal tonight. All three did extremely well. Lisa was my least favorite, because she already had a restaurant and a line of aprons, not to mention being a little too perfect. That left Aaron and Adam, guys from Camden (NJ) and Philly, respectively. I wanted Adam to win so much, because I liked (and laughed with) him from the beginning. His final challenge, a promo called "Hungry in Philadelphia", was awesome and funny. But in the end, it was Aaron's "Big Daddy's Kitchen" that won. I'm proud of and happy for Aaron, but my heart broke a little for Adam. Yeah, I know I get too involved in these things. :-)
Speaking of other things I get too involved in, here's more on the Quantum Leap front. I stumbled across a song called "Scott Bakula" by an indie band called Sunspot. It cracked me up. It's funniest if you're familiar with Bakula's body of work, but the sheer randomness of the song can be enjoyed in its own right, I think. There's a few videos of the song on YouTube, with various companion video content, so I've added one here:
I love when Scott Bakula lays down the smackula on the bad guys :-)
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Why-Ku?
I was watching Jeopardy! tonight and there was a question involving haiku; it reminded me how much I enjoyed haikus in school. I think I'm drawn to their simultaneous complete structure and complete freedom. You must say what you need to say in exactly 5, then 7, then 5 syllables. That's it. But you can say anything within those syllables. I've just always liked the concept. Having read this, you must know what's coming. I think I need to occasionally convey some of my blog thoughts in haiku form. No promises of quality, but it should be fun :-) For example:
shiny summer day
dirty, cluttered car now clean
mission accomplished
LOL Much more fun than "I finally cleaned up my car today", don't you think? Also, it seemed to beg to be written in all lower case. It will be fun to see how much I can pack into seventeen syllables. Hmm... perhaps another:
i beat joe perry
aerosmith guitar hero
sweet! emotional
I think these haikus could be habit-forming.
shiny summer day
dirty, cluttered car now clean
mission accomplished
LOL Much more fun than "I finally cleaned up my car today", don't you think? Also, it seemed to beg to be written in all lower case. It will be fun to see how much I can pack into seventeen syllables. Hmm... perhaps another:
i beat joe perry
aerosmith guitar hero
sweet! emotional
I think these haikus could be habit-forming.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Fore! For Four
This is so adorable, and an example of Sesame Street at its best: classic counting, pulse of pop culture, and, of course, a variety of furry muppets.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
My Oh My What A Wonderful Day
Continuing the Seattle Saga...
I arose early Saturday morning (6:45!) to take my WEST-B exam. It's basically an entrance exam for Washington State teaching certificate programs, and my time to take it was 9:00 Saturday morning... but Paul and I had to drive all the way to Puyallup! After only a few wrong turns I arrived right on time and Paul continued south to visit our friend Brian. The test took four whole hours, but I felt really good about my answers... even in math! (I won't find out how I did, even unofficially, until August). I joined Paul in the parking lot to find he'd purchased the band Weezer's debut CD (circe 1994). I was familiar with "My Name Is Jonas" and "Say It Ain't So" from Guitar Hero and Rock Band, respectively, but the real delight for me was in Track #4- "Buddy Holly". The song is great, and we sang at the top of our lungs driving down the 167, but it's nothing (to a classic TV fan, at least) compared to the video:
It was already shaping up to be a great day, between doing well on the test and "Buddy Holly" (not to mention driving down a highway with negligible traffic)... and then we went to IKEA.
::sigh::
I love IKEA. More than I should, probably. First, I marvel at the sheer volume of the place; it should have its own zip code! I love the style of the furniture too (not all of it, but a lot). It's not retro, but Danish Modern was popular in the 1950s, and IKEA has helped make it popular again. Thus, the clean lines of IKEA items blend very well with midcentury modern furnishings. Then there's the great prices and the fact that their in-house restaurant is actually pretty tasty AND serves Coca-Cola. WOW! Seeing my joy, Paul suggested the term: Happiest Furniture Store On Earth. So true. I didn't select too much stuff to actually purchase (cash flow wouldn't permit purchasing the collections of Billy, Lack, Et. Al.). But I did buy a couple "Blomsters"- one for myself and one as a thank you gift for Sean and KB.
But there was still more zip-a-dee-doo-dah left to come in my day... Our next stop was attending the American Idol Tour, as it stopped at the Tacoma Dome. We parked at an antique store a little ways away (which proved extra-smart as we were fleeing the crowd later), and hiked up to our seats. It wasn't the greatest view, but that wasn't important. What was important was that we got to see Chickezie, Michael Johns, Carly Smithson, Brooke White, Jason Castro, Syesha Mercado, and Davids Archuleta & Cook. (Ramiele Malubay and Kristy Lee Cook were there, too, but, like our seats, that wasn't what was important.)
The show was opened by a giant Pop Tart (the sponsor of the tour) and an annoying comedian. Then Chickezie, as he placed 10th, took the stage. He sang "I Believe To My Soul", "Caught Up", and something by John Legend. I was really hoping he'd sing "She's A Woman" by the Beatles, but I was nonetheless grinning through the entire set.
Ramiele was good but boring, and Michael made me swoon. Neither was a surprise. :-)
Kristy Lee was more enjoyable in person, and my resentment at her outlasting Michael had faded somewhat.
Carly was an excellent performer and rocked the house with "Bring Me To Life", "Crazy" and "Drove All Night".
Brooke's was one of my favorite sets of the night. The show began with her and her piano rising out of the floor, playing "Let It Be". Absolutely fantastic. She rounded out the set with "1,2,3,4" by Feist and "Yellow" by Coldplay. They were all well-suited to her style, and she got to play both piano and guitar.
During intermission Paul and I went to buy souvenirs. I got a picture of Chickezie (don't laugh!) and some American Idol pins. They were supposed to come with one David Cook, one David Archuleta, and one group picture on each pin. In one of those someone-up-there-likes-me moments, I ended up with TWO David Cooks and no Archuleta. Fine by me.
Jason played "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley... A totally inventive and wonderful performance. He'd done it during Hollywood Week on the show, but copyright issues were such that they couldn't air it. I'm so glad that I finally got to see it.
Syesha did her usual taking on of divas (Alicia Keys. Beyonce. Rihanna). But if you forget that for a moment, she does sing amazingly, especially evident on "Listen" from Dreamgirls.
The arena echoed with screaming when Archuleta took the stage, and he was wonderful. He got to perform 4 songs instead of the usual 3, which included "Angels" and "Apologize". Boy, was there a lot of screaming! I didn't mind though. Their energy- however shrill- actually added to my own excitement and enjoyment of the show.
As the winner, my David of choice got to perform 5 songs. He began with "Hello", which I get heart palpitations just thinking about. He ad-libbed "Want to tell you so much/ I love you TACOMA". It's a very nice idea to personalize the tune for each city, and it certainly made me feel special :-)
The grand finale was a group performance of Rihanna's "Don't Stop The Music", and it was awesome. I was on my feet dancing. Total bliss. Immediately after, Paul and I bolted from the dome and veritably ran to my car. We doubtless avoided a huge Idol-fan traffic jam and were on the freeway within minutes. It was then, as I drove along the virtually-clear road in perfect summer night weather, that I said something like: "Wow, this was the best day ever!"
I arose early Saturday morning (6:45!) to take my WEST-B exam. It's basically an entrance exam for Washington State teaching certificate programs, and my time to take it was 9:00 Saturday morning... but Paul and I had to drive all the way to Puyallup! After only a few wrong turns I arrived right on time and Paul continued south to visit our friend Brian. The test took four whole hours, but I felt really good about my answers... even in math! (I won't find out how I did, even unofficially, until August). I joined Paul in the parking lot to find he'd purchased the band Weezer's debut CD (circe 1994). I was familiar with "My Name Is Jonas" and "Say It Ain't So" from Guitar Hero and Rock Band, respectively, but the real delight for me was in Track #4- "Buddy Holly". The song is great, and we sang at the top of our lungs driving down the 167, but it's nothing (to a classic TV fan, at least) compared to the video:
It was already shaping up to be a great day, between doing well on the test and "Buddy Holly" (not to mention driving down a highway with negligible traffic)... and then we went to IKEA.
::sigh::
I love IKEA. More than I should, probably. First, I marvel at the sheer volume of the place; it should have its own zip code! I love the style of the furniture too (not all of it, but a lot). It's not retro, but Danish Modern was popular in the 1950s, and IKEA has helped make it popular again. Thus, the clean lines of IKEA items blend very well with midcentury modern furnishings. Then there's the great prices and the fact that their in-house restaurant is actually pretty tasty AND serves Coca-Cola. WOW! Seeing my joy, Paul suggested the term: Happiest Furniture Store On Earth. So true. I didn't select too much stuff to actually purchase (cash flow wouldn't permit purchasing the collections of Billy, Lack, Et. Al.). But I did buy a couple "Blomsters"- one for myself and one as a thank you gift for Sean and KB.
But there was still more zip-a-dee-doo-dah left to come in my day... Our next stop was attending the American Idol Tour, as it stopped at the Tacoma Dome. We parked at an antique store a little ways away (which proved extra-smart as we were fleeing the crowd later), and hiked up to our seats. It wasn't the greatest view, but that wasn't important. What was important was that we got to see Chickezie, Michael Johns, Carly Smithson, Brooke White, Jason Castro, Syesha Mercado, and Davids Archuleta & Cook. (Ramiele Malubay and Kristy Lee Cook were there, too, but, like our seats, that wasn't what was important.)
The show was opened by a giant Pop Tart (the sponsor of the tour) and an annoying comedian. Then Chickezie, as he placed 10th, took the stage. He sang "I Believe To My Soul", "Caught Up", and something by John Legend. I was really hoping he'd sing "She's A Woman" by the Beatles, but I was nonetheless grinning through the entire set.
Ramiele was good but boring, and Michael made me swoon. Neither was a surprise. :-)
Kristy Lee was more enjoyable in person, and my resentment at her outlasting Michael had faded somewhat.
Carly was an excellent performer and rocked the house with "Bring Me To Life", "Crazy" and "Drove All Night".
Brooke's was one of my favorite sets of the night. The show began with her and her piano rising out of the floor, playing "Let It Be". Absolutely fantastic. She rounded out the set with "1,2,3,4" by Feist and "Yellow" by Coldplay. They were all well-suited to her style, and she got to play both piano and guitar.
During intermission Paul and I went to buy souvenirs. I got a picture of Chickezie (don't laugh!) and some American Idol pins. They were supposed to come with one David Cook, one David Archuleta, and one group picture on each pin. In one of those someone-up-there-likes-me moments, I ended up with TWO David Cooks and no Archuleta. Fine by me.
Jason played "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley... A totally inventive and wonderful performance. He'd done it during Hollywood Week on the show, but copyright issues were such that they couldn't air it. I'm so glad that I finally got to see it.
Syesha did her usual taking on of divas (Alicia Keys. Beyonce. Rihanna). But if you forget that for a moment, she does sing amazingly, especially evident on "Listen" from Dreamgirls.
The arena echoed with screaming when Archuleta took the stage, and he was wonderful. He got to perform 4 songs instead of the usual 3, which included "Angels" and "Apologize". Boy, was there a lot of screaming! I didn't mind though. Their energy- however shrill- actually added to my own excitement and enjoyment of the show.
As the winner, my David of choice got to perform 5 songs. He began with "Hello", which I get heart palpitations just thinking about. He ad-libbed "Want to tell you so much/ I love you TACOMA". It's a very nice idea to personalize the tune for each city, and it certainly made me feel special :-)
The grand finale was a group performance of Rihanna's "Don't Stop The Music", and it was awesome. I was on my feet dancing. Total bliss. Immediately after, Paul and I bolted from the dome and veritably ran to my car. We doubtless avoided a huge Idol-fan traffic jam and were on the freeway within minutes. It was then, as I drove along the virtually-clear road in perfect summer night weather, that I said something like: "Wow, this was the best day ever!"
Friday, July 18, 2008
Are You Experienced?
Thursday's main activity was supervising the students on a trip to the Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum. Paul and I took the opportunity to visit the rock band experience. We named our band The Carlin Blankout, in homage to George, whose book we'd been sampling throughout the trip. We got souvenir posters, and I got to keep my guitar pick! Although, I think I actually found the Rock Band game to be a more authentic experience. I enjoyed the Jimi Hendrix exhibit of the moment, which included several tables with embedded iPods for listening to the entire Hendrix catalog. I got to listen to one of my favorite songs, "Up From the Skies". It's not one of his best-known tunes, and it's a much lighter sound, but that's why I like it. See the YouTube video below:
And I discovered something super neat that I'll buy when I have money again: a bowl made out of an actual record. How cool is that?! The company also makes coasters, clocks, and picture frames from album material. Clearly, this is a line of products made for me :-)
On Friday, after waving goodbye to the bus, Paul and I met up with our friend/host Sean in Seattle's financial district. He and his wife KB had housed me once before and again gamely offered their place as lodging. Sean was going to be out of town that weekend, and KB had been in Colorado all summer, so there was plenty of room. Sean had a few hours to spare before leaving, though, and informed us that it was 7/11/08... aka Free Slurpee Day. Paul and I were unaware of, and thus even more delighted by, this fact.
While enjoying that serendipity, Sean, Paul, and I meandered around the Seattle Center (surprisingly close to 7-11...who knew?) and spontaneously decided to buy a few tickets and go on the rides: Music Express (I'm not sure how to describe it... It stayed low to the ground and raced briskly around an oval track. Is there a name for this?), Bumper Cars, a giant slide and... are you ready for this? A ROLLER COASTER! I went on a roller coaster! I was a bit freaked out but enjoyed myself immensely. It was a bummer that our time with Sean was short (and that we didn't get to see KB this trip), but we packed in a lot of fun :-)
Before settling down at The Sullivan Castle for the night, we met our friend Chris for dinner at The Ram in University Village. She joined us at Sean & KB's briefly and helped me assess directions to my WEST-B exam in the morning. To everyone's surprise, we discovered that the exam was in Puyallup. Yikes! It looks like we were going to have to get up early...
And I discovered something super neat that I'll buy when I have money again: a bowl made out of an actual record. How cool is that?! The company also makes coasters, clocks, and picture frames from album material. Clearly, this is a line of products made for me :-)
On Friday, after waving goodbye to the bus, Paul and I met up with our friend/host Sean in Seattle's financial district. He and his wife KB had housed me once before and again gamely offered their place as lodging. Sean was going to be out of town that weekend, and KB had been in Colorado all summer, so there was plenty of room. Sean had a few hours to spare before leaving, though, and informed us that it was 7/11/08... aka Free Slurpee Day. Paul and I were unaware of, and thus even more delighted by, this fact.
While enjoying that serendipity, Sean, Paul, and I meandered around the Seattle Center (surprisingly close to 7-11...who knew?) and spontaneously decided to buy a few tickets and go on the rides: Music Express (I'm not sure how to describe it... It stayed low to the ground and raced briskly around an oval track. Is there a name for this?), Bumper Cars, a giant slide and... are you ready for this? A ROLLER COASTER! I went on a roller coaster! I was a bit freaked out but enjoyed myself immensely. It was a bummer that our time with Sean was short (and that we didn't get to see KB this trip), but we packed in a lot of fun :-)
Before settling down at The Sullivan Castle for the night, we met our friend Chris for dinner at The Ram in University Village. She joined us at Sean & KB's briefly and helped me assess directions to my WEST-B exam in the morning. To everyone's surprise, we discovered that the exam was in Puyallup. Yikes! It looks like we were going to have to get up early...
Thursday, July 17, 2008
That Was The Week That Was
Technically speaking, it's been a week and a half since my last entry, and boy was it eventful! My Mom is a coordinator for a junior high college prep program, and the kids took a trip to the University of Washington last week. They needed some extra chaperones, so Paul and I tagged along. This also gave us the opportunity to 1) See some of our dear friends in the area, 2) For him to do some job searching and me to take the WEST-B (more on that later), and 3) For us to go see the American Idols tour in Tacoma (more on that later as well).
We stayed in the conference dorms with the kids (Perhaps I shouldn't call them kids... It makes me sound old LOL). It felt a little bit like a prison or some other institution with it's concrete walls, tile floors, and minimalist aesthetic, but at the same time it stirred fond recollections of our own collegiate dorm stays, which made it very quaint and fun. We also got to experience The Cafeteria again, but this one was much nicer, if only because it's fountain dispensed Coca Cola products instead of Pepsi, as Gonzaga's had. We were alotted three free meals a day at the cafeteria if we wanted, but I wasn't that nostalgic for college days :-) Happily, the University Village shopping center (not to mention the U-District "Ave") were very close by and afforded us some other options. Mom, Paul, and I spent hours enjoying food and fun at these places, as well as the two-story Target near Northgate Mall.
On Tuesday Paul and I went to an old theater called The Neptune and saw "Hancock". It was a great movie with a clever premise, fun writing, and interesting use of the themesong to "Sanford & Son". Will Smith is pretty much always fantastic, and, well, anyone who's had occasion to read this blog knows how I feel about Jason Bateman. It was awesome to enjoy a movie in such a retro setting. We sat in the balcony- an actual old-fashioned balcony! There was also a nearly-antique box office out front. It makes me happy that places like this still exist.
Meanwhile, back on campus, we got to enjoy more modern fun: An open-to-the-public XBox equipped with Rock Band. We sang, strummed, and drummed to our hearts' content (well, my heart probably would have been content with a little more... :-)) The first night we were there we just asked some guys that were playing if we could "join the band". It was really fun to simply jam with some friendly strangers. This came in handy later in the week, when (long story) the game wouldn't let us proceed without a guitar player. Out of nowhere, one of the guys from our previous jam session volunteered, and we had a blast... We really rocked Boston (the band, not the city...though on Rock Band it could have been both!)
A dose of Quantum Leap is calling my name (to be shortly followed by sleep), so I'll resume this entry later with our trip to the EMP.
We stayed in the conference dorms with the kids (Perhaps I shouldn't call them kids... It makes me sound old LOL). It felt a little bit like a prison or some other institution with it's concrete walls, tile floors, and minimalist aesthetic, but at the same time it stirred fond recollections of our own collegiate dorm stays, which made it very quaint and fun. We also got to experience The Cafeteria again, but this one was much nicer, if only because it's fountain dispensed Coca Cola products instead of Pepsi, as Gonzaga's had. We were alotted three free meals a day at the cafeteria if we wanted, but I wasn't that nostalgic for college days :-) Happily, the University Village shopping center (not to mention the U-District "Ave") were very close by and afforded us some other options. Mom, Paul, and I spent hours enjoying food and fun at these places, as well as the two-story Target near Northgate Mall.
On Tuesday Paul and I went to an old theater called The Neptune and saw "Hancock". It was a great movie with a clever premise, fun writing, and interesting use of the themesong to "Sanford & Son". Will Smith is pretty much always fantastic, and, well, anyone who's had occasion to read this blog knows how I feel about Jason Bateman. It was awesome to enjoy a movie in such a retro setting. We sat in the balcony- an actual old-fashioned balcony! There was also a nearly-antique box office out front. It makes me happy that places like this still exist.
Meanwhile, back on campus, we got to enjoy more modern fun: An open-to-the-public XBox equipped with Rock Band. We sang, strummed, and drummed to our hearts' content (well, my heart probably would have been content with a little more... :-)) The first night we were there we just asked some guys that were playing if we could "join the band". It was really fun to simply jam with some friendly strangers. This came in handy later in the week, when (long story) the game wouldn't let us proceed without a guitar player. Out of nowhere, one of the guys from our previous jam session volunteered, and we had a blast... We really rocked Boston (the band, not the city...though on Rock Band it could have been both!)
A dose of Quantum Leap is calling my name (to be shortly followed by sleep), so I'll resume this entry later with our trip to the EMP.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Happy Independence Day!
Unfortunately, since I'm writing this after midnight, the date stamp on the blog will read "Saturday July 5th". Hence why I titled it as I did. "Happy Fourth!" would just be silly on the fifth! ;-) Anyway, it was a pretty uneventful holiday. I joined my parents at a gathering of some of their close friends and had a really nice time, even though it was just "a'ight" weather-wise. Our host BBQed some of the best hamburgers I've ever eaten, and one gal brought a really yummy dip: 3/4 c. salsa, 1/2 c. sour cream, 1/2 c. mayonnaise, and a 1/4 c. cilantro. I'm not crazy about mayonnaise, but I didn't even notice it. It was especially delicious with some mildly spicy corn chips. Hmm. I must be hungry. All that good food I ate was quite a while ago... Anyway, they also had a pool, so I got some bonus swimming time that I didn't expect this week.
In other news, my "Quantum Leap" addiction has been requiring several "hits" per day... It's a good thing that I wasn't extremely into it as a kid, because I probably would have cried when the series ended. At least now when I watch reruns I know, for example, that there are exactly 96 episodes and no more. (As opposed to when "Studio 60" ended in 2007 and I had to deal with the confusing uncertainty "Wait...you mean there aren't any more? Why wasn't I told? Why wasn't this on IMDB?" LOL) Today, I watched an episode of "Quantum Leap" called "M.I.A."- Definitely some of the most heartwrenching TV I've watched in a while.
Whenever anyone reads this, whether it's July 6th or a few months from now, say a quick prayer of thanks for our Founding Fathers and the work they did to make this country great, and to give us such cause for celebration.
In other news, my "Quantum Leap" addiction has been requiring several "hits" per day... It's a good thing that I wasn't extremely into it as a kid, because I probably would have cried when the series ended. At least now when I watch reruns I know, for example, that there are exactly 96 episodes and no more. (As opposed to when "Studio 60" ended in 2007 and I had to deal with the confusing uncertainty "Wait...you mean there aren't any more? Why wasn't I told? Why wasn't this on IMDB?" LOL) Today, I watched an episode of "Quantum Leap" called "M.I.A."- Definitely some of the most heartwrenching TV I've watched in a while.
Whenever anyone reads this, whether it's July 6th or a few months from now, say a quick prayer of thanks for our Founding Fathers and the work they did to make this country great, and to give us such cause for celebration.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Leaping For Joy
My friend Sara recently had me join her in watching an episode of "Quantum Leap" (courtesy of the miracle of "Watch Instantly" on Netflix). My parents used to watch it all the time when I was little, and I have some hazy memories of the show- most vividly of Al, Sam Beckett's cigar-smoking buddy. Since returning to my own computer, I've logged onto Netflix and watched episode after episode. It's suspenseful, and funny...sometimes romantic, often poignant... not to mention time travelling the "We Didn't Start the Fire" segment of history (50's-80's)... which my retro soul adores.
I recently watched the Season 3 finale, in which shock therapy causes Dr. Beckett to cycle through various identities he'd had in previous classic episodes... A beautiful secretary, a man with down syndrome, a black chauffeur in segregated Alabama, and a soldier in Vietnam. Scott Bakula does an amazing job taking on new mannerisms for each of these characters- better than I even expected. In general, however, each new story is dramatic and uplifting (thanks to the positive changes he always manages to make to history). I love the fact that it employs a futurisitic premise without feeling too "sci-fi".
Okay. I suppose I'm done singing the praises of "Quantum Leap", but I can't promise it won't come up again. :-) Onto details of the real world...
Today the air was heavy and humid. I commented about this to the lady staffing the snack bar at Target and she gave a little laugh. She'd lived in both Alabama and Florida and what I considered "humidity" still felt dry to her. Ugh- if today wasn't humid, I've even more relieved to live in this part of the world. We're truly blessed with pretty decent weather, and not too many natural disasters (sure, the occasional volcano, but other than that we're clear...). It's a beautiful part of the country.
For example, yesterday I drove up to a nearby lake and just laid out on the water... It was partly cloudy and not extremely hot, but the lake was crystal clear, and I got to daydream to the ambient din of water splashing and children playing. Definitely true bliss. I like it best when I've got friends with me (being an extravert and all that), but I was proud of myself for being able to enjoy it alone as well.
I love summer :-) And Scott Bakula. Sorry, last reference in this post, I promise. Goodness gracious, I collect television crushes like Angelina Jolie collects children.
Mood: Nostalgic, Romantic, Pseudo-Sci-Fi, Summery, etc.
Music: "If I Were a Carpenter", "Waiting For You", "Ball of Confusion", etc.
I recently watched the Season 3 finale, in which shock therapy causes Dr. Beckett to cycle through various identities he'd had in previous classic episodes... A beautiful secretary, a man with down syndrome, a black chauffeur in segregated Alabama, and a soldier in Vietnam. Scott Bakula does an amazing job taking on new mannerisms for each of these characters- better than I even expected. In general, however, each new story is dramatic and uplifting (thanks to the positive changes he always manages to make to history). I love the fact that it employs a futurisitic premise without feeling too "sci-fi".
Okay. I suppose I'm done singing the praises of "Quantum Leap", but I can't promise it won't come up again. :-) Onto details of the real world...
Today the air was heavy and humid. I commented about this to the lady staffing the snack bar at Target and she gave a little laugh. She'd lived in both Alabama and Florida and what I considered "humidity" still felt dry to her. Ugh- if today wasn't humid, I've even more relieved to live in this part of the world. We're truly blessed with pretty decent weather, and not too many natural disasters (sure, the occasional volcano, but other than that we're clear...). It's a beautiful part of the country.
For example, yesterday I drove up to a nearby lake and just laid out on the water... It was partly cloudy and not extremely hot, but the lake was crystal clear, and I got to daydream to the ambient din of water splashing and children playing. Definitely true bliss. I like it best when I've got friends with me (being an extravert and all that), but I was proud of myself for being able to enjoy it alone as well.
I love summer :-) And Scott Bakula. Sorry, last reference in this post, I promise. Goodness gracious, I collect television crushes like Angelina Jolie collects children.
Mood: Nostalgic, Romantic, Pseudo-Sci-Fi, Summery, etc.
Music: "If I Were a Carpenter", "Waiting For You", "Ball of Confusion", etc.
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