"Idol" Girls

I guess the girls deserve equal blog treatment...

The girls were definitely a lot better than the boys, with several really good performances. My favorite is probably Melinda, the background singer who has a strong voice but what appears to be the most humble attitude.

And really that's all I have to say about Idol. I probably won't talk about it anymore here unless something really awesome, outrageous, or stupefying happens.

"Idol" Boys and Peanut Butter

I had pretty much vowed that I wasn't going to watch American Idol this year (let's just say I was not a Taylor Hicks fan), but yet again, I'm sucked in.

I thought the boys pretty much stunk it up last night with the exception of Blake the Beat-boxer. I agree with Simon that he was the only one who seemed to come from 2007 (and I love Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know"). I mean, what was up with all the bad, dreary pop songs? And I also agree with Simon that the JT look-alike (the one who sang the Gavin DeGraw song) didn't have a great vocal. I was grading papers while the show was on, so I was mostly listening...and I grimaced a few times during his performance. At least he looked alive, though.

I'm hoping the girls can "bring it" tonight. I plan to TiVo it, though, so I don't have to listen to the inane bickering among the judges and Ryan "I don't get why he's so famous" Seacrest.

And on a completely unrelated note: I am having this insane craving for peanut butter. It's like I can't get enough of it. Maybe it's all the talk about it because of the salmonella thing. Good thing I'm a Jif girl.

A little bit of this and that

I haven't posted this past week because I've been pretty busy and tired. For what it's worth, here is what has been going on in my life, in no particular order:

--Darryl the World Traveler returned from a three-week stint in France. (I know...don't we all hate him?) Actually, he ended up working most of the time and didn't have many opportunities for sightseeing. He was in Montpellier, along the Mediterranean coast. Anyway, I really missed him while he was gone and am very glad to have him back.

--Darryl took me to South City Kitchen for Valentine's Day. The food was delicious. I had the best fried green tomatoes I've ever had; they were layered with goat cheese and deep fried. Seriously, I could have made a meal off those alone. For the entree, I had the fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Delicious. (Darryl had the meatloaf.) We split a dessert of homemade vanilla ice cream in a cookie-type basket with fresh fruit. Yum. I'd love to go back there.

--I have an insane amount of grading to do. I won't bore you with the details, but trust me...it's massive.

--I was really impressed this week by how many students got into the movie Emma. I really don't have the patience to READ Jane Austen with my "regular" (meaning non-Honors/non-AP) seniors, but I feel they should be at least exposed to her. I always lead into it by saying that it was the inspiration for the movie Clueless, and that seems to grab their attention. The movie did get off to a rocky start--the beginning is a little slowly paced for them--but they seemed to come around during Day 2. I have one class of 19 boys and 5 girls, and I had to smile when I looked at all these rowdy boys with their chins resting on their hands, eyes glued to the screen, saying, "Kiss her! Kiss her!" when Knightley declares his love at the end. When it was over, they admitted that the movie "wasn't bad for a chick flick."

--I really love my 10th grade honors class. Not only are they "with it" intellectually, but they are cooperative, obedient, good spirited, lively, funny, polite...all those qualities that teachers love. And on top of all that, and you'll appreciate this, Jen C, they sent me a love note from Sydney Carton of A Tale of Two Cities after I revealed to them that he was my new literary crush. :)

--To end the crazy week, Tim, Kim (who sometimes comments here as "Theatre Director"), and I went to DQ for a chocolate covered strawberry Blizzard. I highly recommend it.

King Cake!!!

Darryl won lots of good husband points by having our friends Damian and Rebecca ship my two favorite King Cakes to me from my favorite bakery in Baton Rouge. The one pictured below has a blueberry and cream cheese filling, and the other one is a Zulu cake, which is filled with cream and covered in chocolate and coconut. Yum!

I really do miss Baton Rouge this time of year. Darryl and I did the Mardi Gras thing in New Orleans only once (and we behaved ourselves and maintained our dignity--can't say the same for the majority of people there, though), but this time of year is extremely festive in Louisiana, with everything decorated in purple, green, and gold. Through the latter part of January and most of February, most of our cookouts and dinners with friends ended with King Cake as the dessert, and on Saturday mornings, I'd get in the car, go to Ambrosia Bakery, and buy a piping hot King Cake to have for breakfast.

Now, if the only King Cake you've had is from a grocery store deli outside the state of Louisiana, then you really haven't had King Cake. These grocery store King Cakes are usually taste like stale, dry bread. The REAL King Cakes are soft, doughy, sweet, gooey delicious goodness.

R.I.P. Everwood

I'm an Everwood addict. There. I said it. Once I discovered the show was in syndication on ABC Family (the same way I began watching Gilmore Girls), I latched on and became a huge fan.

Now, that being said, I have to say that tears welled up in my eyes, oh, like six times as I watched the series finale. The tears were there not just because of touching scenes (the ones between Treat Williams and his Gregory Smith, his TV son, were always the best through the entire series), but also because I was sad that the Everwood experience is over.

As much as I hate that it is the end of Everwood, I must admit that it was probably time for it to end. Everwood pretty much got the shaft when WB became CW, but it left with audiences wanting more; it ended while it was still GOOD, and isn't that the way all shows should end? Unfortunately, Gilmore Girls is becoming a train wreck, with too many jumped sharks (Luke's daughter, hello?). It is begging to be put out of its misery. I think when it ends, I will breathe a sigh of relief and watch my DVDs of Seasons 1-5...when the show was smart and funny.

But Everwood remained true to itself, and I'm glad I devoted those five hours a week to watch it. According to my fake TiVo, ABC Family isn't planning to air it again right away (replacing it with 7th Heaven, a show that will never die), but I'm hoping that it will air Everwood again in the future. When it does, you must watch it. You'll love it.

Movie Marathon

I would love to do this. Anyone interested? All five Oscar-nominated movies, a large popcorn and coke with free refills, plus bathroom breaks...for $30. Not a bad deal.

I finally finished TALE OF TWO CITIES!!!

Well, Jen C and all other interested parties, I finally finished A Tale of Two Cities!! I loved it. Sydney Carton may be my new literary crush.

I have to confess that up to this point, I had not been a Dickens fan. I'm going to blame this on the abysmal experience I had with Oliver Twist, which was taught to me in a graduate course by a man who held his piece of chalk like a cigarette in one hand and his egg salad sandwich in the other while he lectured from his yellowed-with-age notes.

Dickens redeemed himself with me with Tale of Two Cities. (I'm sure he wasn't "resting easy" in his grave because of my previous dislike of him.) Sure, sometimes I said, "Get on with it, Charles" whenever he launched into his lengthy descriptions, but the story--oh, the story--is wonderful. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

"Wintry Mix" Day!!!

Woo hoo! Our school was one of the many that closed today because of the "wintry mix" weather.

So here I am, still in my flannel PJs, fuzzy cozy socks on my feet, fire in the fireplace, coffee in the cup, with plans to watch TV and movies (and finish Tale of Two Cities) all day long.

It's okay to be jealous.