American Idol- what happens at a taping?

Yesterday was an experience. I was able to get tickets to see a live taping of American Idol (AI). I brought all of the varsity cheerleaders that could come, my friend Rebecca, and last minute we had a girl not be able to make it so we brought another kid from school- male. The only male in our bunch- he survived:-) The girls were so excited. We left Vista around 10:30 am and headed up to LA. We had lunch at a pizza place on Rodeo Drive. It was really good, organic, whole wheat pizza but very yummy. Then we headed to the CBS studios for our “live taping”. It was super exciting. The girls were so excited- which really made it fun. We made it into the “pit” area. We were in the front. Actually some intersting things about the taping…1) There is a guy that comes out during the commercial breaks and at the beginning to help get us pumped up. He was great. Very funny and he definitely made it exciting2) They like to keep the “young people” closest to being on camera. Luckily Rebecca and I still look young. When we were coming in they moved 1/2 of us including Rebecca and I to right in front of the stairs next to the stage. The other group of girls were actually 2nd row center of the stage. But here is what is so funny- one of the many people with headsets kept coming to our area and behind us was a group of older people. She kept asking them to take 2 steps back and 2 steps to the right (away from the stage). Then she proceeded to continue to put other “youngens” in front of them. This is what I think of typical LA3) We were told how to clap, good things we were cheerleaders b/c clapping we have down. But arms had to be above our heads, as well as swaying with slow songs. If you didn’t do it correctly you were moved as well. They wanted what looked good for the audience.4) The performances are even better live. The group did amazing. I really enjoyed hearing them live as well as the production, there was tons of energy during the performances.5) Paula Abdul is so very nice. She made an effort to head down to the pit area at almost all commercial breaks- hugging all of my girls (who could not have been happier) and then spraying us with perfume. How nice and personable she was. She literally hugged a ton of people- real hugs not just pats on the back hugs.6)We saw Simon Cowell coming into the taping in his Rolls Royce. He stopped right in front of our group (we had to line up on the sidewalk, for a while). He was also nice and asked us if we were heading to the show. Leaving we saw Ryan Seacrest (who is pretty short) leaving in his aston martin. He had changed quickly out of the suit into a ball cap and t-shirt and jeans- a look I love:-)We ended the night we dinner outside of Graumans Chinese Theater. The girls and Kenny had an amazing time so that made it worth it!  

The “race” for the Presidency

It saddens me at times to think of the state that our country is in. Truly saddens me. I think about the many people who struggle and need help, and the society so like Babylon that we indulge in on a daily basis and it makes it challenging. This year the race for the President is an interesting one. I teach government to 12th graders and we are actively watching the democrats and their race for who will be their candidate. In reality it is an exciting time in history. Normally, we already know who will be running for each party without the votes of millions of people. As unfortunate as it is that is the way the system works. However, i as a citizen am tired of this broken down system of government that we currently have. Although I always see positives and negatives to both parties there are always areas that I also completely disagree with. But that is what makes us Americans we have the freedom to disagree and are able to express it. I think our country needs a major overhaul and I am not positive any of the candidates can do it. But at least Barack Obama admits that it can’t be done with one candidate and one 4 year term.  I did watch  Barack Obama’s speech on racism. I have to say that the man can speak. He inspires me. Does that mean I think he can achieve all he claims? No Does it mean I agree with him on every issue? No But do I think we need to see change in our country? Yes?   I think our country needs change and I do believe that if either other candidate gets elected there will be no change and it will continue as business as usual. I know that’s not what I want. After listening to his speech, it made me think of the effect race has had and still has on our country. I can even see it in my students.I have taught for only 4 years. However, their opinions on immigrants in our country has gone from bad to worse and if I am honest many times mine has too. But what I liked about Barack’s speech was not just that he addressed slavery and how it has influenced african americans through this current generation but he also addressed the other side of the coin. Not leaving anyone out. He realized that there could also be resentment built up in the rest of America as well. That is what makes me like him. I dont’ see him so far to the left or the right either way on this issue. I think of my own upbringing. I was raised in KY (I consider it the south) and there were defintely times I saw racisim in those around me. I was “bussed” in junior high. There was a great neighborhood middle school in walking distance but instead I was sent almost 40 minutes away. It was hard and at times scary but I still think I got a good education, learned a lot, remember a ton from jr. hgih and many things that happened there were what has added to me being me. Even though in our generation and the ones younger don’t have a good perspective of what those older than us truly had to go through. It has to give us a different perspective.I loved it that Obama knows we need to help ourselves, we can’t only depend on the government to do things for us. We can help each other; but must we rely on an institution that can be corrupt and not always looking out for the best of it’s citizens? Something to consider.I am not sure who I plan to vote for in November I just know there are many things to look at. I will be looking for truth and someone who I believe can add to this country that we live in. There is much more in my mind on this topic and as Nov approaches there will be much more to say. 

“Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired”- Robert Frost

Okay, I know this isn’t always the best thing but I am an avid movie watcher. It goes back to my dad and I. When I was younger we would always go to a movie and have dinner. It was like a dad date. As I got older and moved away from my family whenever I would come home my dad and I would still do our “dad date”. We loved watching movies together and discussing them. Then my dad would send me the movies we enjoyed (or the ones I did) on DVD. So I have a big collection. My dad passed away a little over a year ago and I can’t help but still do my dad dates even if I go with friends or alone. It makes me think of my dad and miss him…

Anyway today I got out of school early and decided to see a movie I know my dad would have watched. 10,000 BC. I have to say I really enjoyed it. It was nothing like I thought it would be. Spoiler alert…

It was really a love story. It was about a man who is in love with a girl in his tribe. They love each other for a long time (as in most love stories, there has to be a problem) but he has to “win” the hunt to be able to have her. Always the girl is out of reach. So he pursues the hunt and doesn’t win her fairly so he “gives her up”. She of course is devastated. She loves him and wants to be with no other. He had to chose between letting her go and doing the honorable thing for his tribe. She feels hurt that he has “given her up”. This is all in the first part of the movie. Well they are attacked and she is taken with many of the tribes’ men. So what does the man who loves her do? Pursue her of course. Just like all women, she longs to be pursued by the man she loves. She believes in him and knows he will come for her. So he does, and he goes through many courageous things to pursue his love. He is willing to die for her. He also comes to realize the man he truly is and knows that they are worthy of each other. Not just one worthy of the other but both are worthy. I love that. I think often in our world we think we are not worthy or that we are too worthy of the other. But they were worthy of each other. I love the warrior in this movie, he pursues his love until the ends of the earth and joins with others to fight for a cause to help everyone. He is brave and courageous. He is a true warrior.

I think about Jesus in this scenario. How He pursues us, over the ends of the earth. He calls us worthy of Him for He has chosen us. Isn’t that what we all desire, to be chosen, picked, wanted, for who we are and how God has made us? I love that. Jesus pursues us, goes where we go, helps us to see who we really are. He even gives Simon the name Peter to tell him he knows that he is the Rock. God knows us already- He knows who we are to be. It is up to us to step out and move forward. The warrior in the movie had to find his own courage to follow his heart and pursue the girl. I wonder what God is calling us to pursue?

Drugs in our water

I read an article today from the AP regarding traces of drugs in our drinking supply. For a girl like me, that is not good news. I personally rarely take medicine at all -ever. I will rarely take anything for a headache or some minor pain. I am bad about going to the doctor and I am worse about taking prescribed medication. It is not to say that I don’t think people should take medicine. I believe that there are many out there who should be medicated and I think it is a personal choice. However, I don’t take it. I just don’t like to put so many things into my body. Don’t get me wrong, I am not perfect when it comes to what goes in my body. However, I have been anti-medication for a long time. What I mean by that is I chose not to drug or medicate myself, this is a personal choice. However, if I felt I really needed medication I would take it. I just think we take it too easily to ease the pain. I think sometimes a little pain is good.

I think we over-medicate here in America. We put kids as young as 2 or 3 on Riddline for being active (usually boys) and wonder what is going on with the boys in our country. We are constantly taking away who they are and asking them to be someone or something else- however, I digress this is a different topic.

They have recently found traces of pharmaceutical drugs in our water supplies, all over America. This frustrates me 1) because I don’t want any type of medication in my body unless I put it there 2) I feel pulled from both ends. Those wanting to protect the environment don’t like us to use so many plastic water-bottles and now if our purifying system is not working on tap water what are we to drink??? It is a sad day. I just wonder what is going on in America. We claim to have so much freedom but I am feeling constrained by the ins and outs of others all too often. Where is the freedom in that. Where is the change we need in our country over so many things. The drug companies are just one area.
To be fair, the article says it is in small amounts, what types of drugs you ask… antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows. (click here for the article). However, there is no proof of what the long term effects of these drugs in our water may do to us.

So it will be back to bottled water for me, I will try to do my part with the environment and continue to recycle and buy bigger bottles to use in my home. It makes me wonder what will others do who can’t afford that? Or what about countries who can’t afford to 1)medicate themselves for anything 2) drink clean water. What I take for granted.

Spring Forward

We loose an hour this weekend. Usually, it’s an hour most of us need. We loose it to gain another hour of daylight. This is so that at night we have more time when it is still actually light out.

Do you know why we do it at 2am? I had a friend tell me that the reason why is because when daylight savings started, they (the government) were concerned about the trains and their schedules. They were concerned someone might forget about the time change (we have all done this yes? ) and if they did then they could collide with each other. So they asked when the trains were the least busy and the reply was 2am on Sunday mornings. Plus it is a time during the day when people are least affected. Most of us are already asleep at this time. So that is why the clock is changed at that time.

I personally enjoy the extra daylight but I do tend to have a little bit of trouble adjusting to the time change with my sleep patterns. I can feel the effects for a week or so.

Here are some fun facts about Daylight Savings Time (DST)

Widespread confusion was created during the 1950s and 1960s when each U.S. locality could start and end Daylight Saving Time as it desired. One year, 23 different pairs of DST start and end dates were used in Iowa alone. For exactly five weeks each year, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia were not on the same time as Washington D.C., Cleveland, or Baltimore–but Chicago was. And, on one Ohio to West Virginia bus route, passengers had to change their watches seven times in 35 miles! The situation led to millions of dollars in costs to several industries, especially those involving transportation and communications. Extra railroad timetables alone cost the today’s equivalent of over $12 million per year.

Stealing Time

As with the U.S., Great Britain has had a checkered past with Daylight Saving Time (or Summer Time, as it is known there). In the early part of the 20th century, citizens protested at the change, using the slogan, “Give us back our stolen hour.”

If you are interested in more information regarding our “spring forward” click here

Do something fun this week in your extra hour of daylight!

Crazy Beautiful

I have to say today was such a beautiful day in California. We have been getting a lot of rain and it has been cloudy and overcast as of late. Today was crazy beautiful. It was only about 65 degrees but it was so sunny and nice. I had to go to the beach. Which I highly recommend for anyone living near one. I actually drove up and down the coast for a while trying to find the perfect spot for me and my CRV. I had the sun roof open and windows down. It defintely made me think again how blessed I am to live here where it is sunny most of the year. I desperately needed the Vitamin B People were everywhere, I assume they needed the vitamin B as well. They were walking, running, biking. Alone, with dogs, holding hands, with friends. You can really do a lot of people watching at the beach. I love the water but unfortunately don’t get in much. It is so freezing here in the Pacific. That is one thing Florida has over on us for sure! The warm water that you can be in all the time. I love that!!! Keeping warm and sunny-

“…you have bewitched me, body and soul,and I love..I love..I love you, and I never wish to be parted from you from this day on” Mr. Darcy-Pride and Prejudice

Yesterday we took the seniors to the Getty Museum in LA. They are expected to appreciate art, however, at their age I don’t know that I would have. While there some of them did, those that were art students. I didn’t really gain appreciation of art until I was in college. However, I don’t really think I visited a museum on my own until after I graduated. Now, I love art. But I don’t pretend to know much about each painting or the artist themselves. I like art that evokes feeling from me. That is how I feel about art, not whether or not I like the piece. I also like to try to think about what the artist wants us to think and feel and see with the piece. At the end of the day some of us had headphones, which was great because you could pick a piece and it would tell you more about it. Since I really like to learn things this added to my enjoyment.I thought I would share a piece of art that evoked the most feeling from me yesterday. It is called The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis.

I love this picture, enough that I bought a copy of the print. I think the girl just looks like she loves the man so much. And he is torn, because he loves her but also must do his duty to his family. I love the fact that her eyes are closed and her embrace of him. Her body is pleading with him not to leave her. Her face is sad, and it should be, he is leaving her. I love that he is grabbing her thigh, it’s like that squeeze you get when someone wants to say something but all they can do is squeeze your hand, your arm, your leg. Evoking emotion and speaking with eyes and body only. It’s like he is saying, he doesn’t want to leave her but he must. I think he is saying he will return to her in that squeeze as well, or that he hopes he will. I love the colors they are wearing and how they look on their skin tones. I love that it is a romantic picture and it evokes romance from it. I love how their cheeks are flushed- I think with love.

So the real story behind the painting? It is based on a story that is loosely based on the Odyssey. Telemachus must leave his lover Eucharis to go in search of his father. In the story you don’t see them together but Jacques-Louis David painted them together anyway. I think often it is depicted in art (cinema, paint, song) the tear of choosing between love and duty. Telemachus loves her but he is painted with a sword to tell us he must go, even the dog in the picture is longing for him to stay but duty calls. It makes me think of the soldiers in our current war and the lovers they leave behind, whom I am sure don’t want them to go but must resign and say yes to them. I feel that Eucharis has resigned to let him go but only because she must. She is still embracing him with her whole-self to ask him not to. These are my opinions of course.

We didn’t get to see the whole museum – too large for our day so I will have to venture back to see what else evokes emotion from me