23 days

That is how long it's been. 23 days since my last post. Why? I have no idea for what reason I've lost my inspiration to share, but I just don't feel inspired to elaborate on any one subject. So, for tonight I'll make a few short comments on a number of subjects (10 to be exact):

(1) My boys
I can't believe Jackson is nearly done with first grade... and Alex is nearly finished with daycare. Wow, how time flies. They're getting so big and they're a strangely independent duo for a 5 and 6 year old.

(2) Family
I'll finally have family in town and I'm very excited about that. My brother Matthew and sister-in-law Laura are moving to Columbia and I couldn't be more pumped about it. They won't be living next door or even down the street or anything like that, but having bought a house near Sandhill they will not be too far away. Not to mention, there is always a reason to head out to Sandhill. Now we'll have one more.

(3) American Idol
I think that this season, America has been choosing well. My two favorites are still in, and nearly everyone has been voted off in an order I approve of. There is a good five left. I'm still not a fan of Kris, and I hope he goes this week but even he has done well. Danny Gokey deserves to be runner up, and if Adam Lambert doesn't win it will be a total farce and as big of a shock as it was to see Daughtry voted off early a few seasons back.

(4) Stock Market
I've recently opened an eTrade account. I am enjoying learning the market and doing a little investing. It is really amazing how volatile the market is and it's crazy that something like the swine flu even has an impact on financial stocks... go figure. Anyway, I'm learning and I like it.

(5) First hundred days
There has been much press for Obama's first hundred days. I guess we'll here more tomorrow during the address, but my take so far is that I'm impressed with what he is getting done for the most part. I'm also impressed the he is getting congress to pass the spending he wants. I am, however, not impressed that congress has yet to buy in to his revenue building or cost cutting ideas. There are two sides to that coin. If you're gonna spend more, you'd better bring in more too....

(6) filibuster-proof?
Arlen Specter pulled the old switcheroo today. After serving 5 terms as a Republican Senator, he decides to head to the other side of the isle due to his "moderate philosophies" being more in line with the Democratic party.... or more importantly, he didn't think he could win a sixth term as a Republican. Either way, with his becoming the 59th Democrat, when/if Al Franken takes that crazy Minnesota seat... well, do the math. With a united front, those numbers are Filibuster-proof.

(7) Golf
I had an awesome golf weekend a few weeks ago. Three fun rounds, 16 guys, 3 beautiful days in Myrtle Beach. It was awesome. Although I didn't play fantastically, I definitely have the bug. This weekend I'm playing in a Captain's Choice tournament with some friends. 2 of the 3 of my teammates were also in Myrtle so we should be well-practiced, and the fourth can hit the ball a mile so I think we really have an opportunity to score well. We will see.

(8) Travel
Stacy is traveling again. I lose track sometimes. She goes through long periods without leaving Columbia, but when the travel starts it seems to happen quite a bit. Last Monday through Wednesday it was Pensacola. This Monday through Thursday it's El Paso (which happens to be where I was born). Next Monday through Wednesday she is on the road again... I forget where. When she is on the road I think I play the single dad role well. It's tiring but also fun. I tell you what though, it's always great to see Stacy return home. Anyway, at times it is a lot of travel and I think she enjoys it. I wish I could work in a little travel too (in addition to my golf outings!)

(9) Work
It's amazing how much work I get done without actually accomplishing any goals. On Friday afternoons when I look back at the week I typically feel like I spend so much time working on the small things that pop up, that I rarely actually accomplish what it was that had intended to knock out on Monday morning.

(10) Running
Stacy has signed up for her first Marathon. It's the Marine Corp Marathon in Washington, DC. I have to say that I'm impressed and a little jealous. We have both jumped into running road races over the last year, which we are both really enjoying. So far, we only have 5Ks and 10Ks under our belts. I fully intend to run a Marathon...one day. I have a short term goal of a half marathon before the year's end and I feel like that goal is plenty for me. Stacy on the other hand is taking it to the next level. She has already worked her mileage up quite a bit. Before long her Saturday runs will be over 10 miles! All I can say is... wow.

So after 23 days, those are my 10 subjects. I hope you enjoyed.

Idol - Top 10

Tonight little changed in my eyes. My two favorites had good nights, although Adam definitely edged ahead of Danny. Lil is still third, but Matt and Allison are closing in fast.

More importantly, the bottom three. No doubt, the bottom spots belong to Michael (oiler) and Scott. Joining them in the bottom three will probably be Megan, although I do like her funky style. If I had to choose I'd put Kris in the bottom three, but for some reason the judges seem to love that guy. I just don't get it.

Anyway, my current rankings:
(1) Adam "Jim Breuer doing AC/DC" Lambert
(2) Danny "hey I look a little like Robert Downey Jr if you squint and tilt your head to the left" Gokey
(3) Lil "not Little" Rounds
(4) Matt "I'm really not Elliott Yamin" Giraud
(5) Allison "16 with pipes of 25 year old" Iraheta
(6) Anoop "I wear 4 layers of clothing in the summer because I'm cool" Desai
(7) Megan "Funky Tats" Joy
(8) Kris "I just don't get it" Allen
(9) Scott "vote for the pink pants" MacIntyre
(10) Michael "I'm only here because I got tv time in the early rounds" Starver

Idol - Final 13

I was very impressed with the top 13. Most of the performances were excellent, however not all of them lived up to the hype. The way the show began, I was beginning to think that they would all rock it. Alas, that did not happen.

I could go into a boring talk about each of the contestants, but I wont. I'll hit the highs and lows.

I have really liked Anoop up until tonight. To me he crashed and burned with Beat It. I hope he gets through to next week to show what he has, but he didn't get it done tonight. He could easily be bottom three, but based on previous performances I hope that he survives.

So who will go? Who knows how the voting will go, but I'll tell you who I think SHOULD go. The bottom three should be Jorge Nunez, Chris Allen, and yep - Anoop, with Jorge going home.

And who are the best? There are a few that were good tonight, but without a doubt there are only 3 that deserve to be in my top 3. My favorites.... I hate to agree with Paula, but I must... Danny Gokey and Adam Lambert are my favorites at this point. Lil Rounds rounds out my top 3. No others compared. Matt Giraud and Alexis Grace could be mentioned in the same breath, but really didn't hold a candle to those top three.

Idol, Group 3

I'm starting to lose interest in this season. It happens every year. Once we get to the final twelve it gets much better. That being said, there were some good performances tonight and the performances seemed to once again get better as the night went on. My opinions are not as strong this week. I thought this group had less differentiation between the good and bad, but for the record my favorites were:

Guys:
Scott MacIntyre (known as the legally blind guy that Ryan missed the high five with. Hilarious. And even better tonight when Scott made Ryan give him a high five successfully this time around. If you saw it, you know what I mean. lol. Oh, and his singing was pretty dang good too!)
Ju'Not Joyner (Smooth R&B guy that changed up Hey There Delilah).
Jorge Nuñez (sang Dont Let the Sun Go Down On Me).

Girls:
Felicia Barton (didn't make the top 36, but due to a conflict of interest one contestant was booted and she filled the spot and she filled it well.)
Lil Rounds (sang a Mary J song and sang it well. No, sang it incredibly!)

Idol

Since I've been lacking inspiration to blog, I'll give my take on Idol last night.

I like the new format of only 3 advancing from the 12 that sang last night (top male, top female and the next person with the most votes). That being said, the contestants made it easy to have that perspective. In my opinion 7 of them eliminated themselves before voting ever started, leaving only 5 to compete for the 3 spots. Of course, as in the past, there could be a fan base out there to push someone through despite a terrible performance. We will see.

Highs and Lows of the night:

Lows:
- If any of these three make it through, I'm going to assume that friends and family put them through by repeated voting. They were absolutely dreadful.
Stevie Wright
Brent Keith
Casey Carlson


Highs:

To me, these two were on the bubble.
Ann Marie Boskovich
Michael Sarver

Both are likable and can really sing as we've seen in the past, but just didn't do it justice last night.


The hands down best three (to me):
(1) Danny Gokey - last performance of the night. He was the best male, so he should advance. I usually agree with Simon, but this time I thought Randy, Paula, and Cara nailed it. Danny blew everyone off the stage.

(2) Tatiana Nicole Del Toro - As much as it pains me to say it, she was by far the best female, which should advance her to the next round. Her downfall could be her personality in Hollywood. People may not vote for her for that reason alone, but she was the best female performer last night.

(3) Anoop Desai - Anoop has been great every time they've shown him. Although last night was not the best that we've seen from him, it was still better than the rest of the bunch (besides Danny and Tiatiana).


Take my opinions with a grain of salt, but that is how I see it. Michael or Ann Marie could sneak in and I'd not be upset about it, but Danny, Tatiana, and Anoop should advance.