Update On Lee DeWyze

He was good.

Does anyone know more about him?!

Expressions I Hate, AGAIN

Phone Tag.

Not sure why. I just hate it. I hate, hate, HATE it.

Mt. Prospect Pride!

So someone from Mount Prospect has made American Idol Season 9! His name is Lee Dewyze.

I don't know him. I am not sure where he went to high school, but it wasn't Hersey (at least while I was there). I notice quite a few of my Mt. Prospect facebook friends are becoming fans of him - I don't know if it's because they know him, if it's the good old Mount Prospect pride playing a role, or if they like him based on his actual singing.

I honestly can't remember anything about him in the past couple week's idol footage clips, if they've even shown him; which usually doesn't bode well for a contestant. However, I have a lot of Mount Prospect Pride; therefore, I will jump on the bandwagon and cheer for Lee!

Goooooo Lee!!

(P.S. Can anyone tell me something, anything, about him? Other than he's from MP? Thanks much.)

Do People Still Wear Watches?

I hear this is a big debate out there.

There are some people who feel watches are very old-school (archaic, if you will) - that our generation doesn't (or shouldn't) wear them; only those who do things such as use phonebooks and read newspapers wear watches. The general presumption is every has a cellphone, therefore, he or she could check the time on that instead.

I don't know. I, of course, have a phone, but I wear a watch anyway. I like it. I'm used to it. I don't plan on changing it any time soon. It's quicker to look at one's wrist than it is to pull out one's phone. There's probably the argument that looking at one's phone is more discreet way of doing things; one doesn't know if one is checking to see if she has a text, etc. (although, some could say - no less rude).

Anyhow. I like my watch. It's a beauty like the one above. I don't plan on giving it up any time soon. I don't plan on giving up newspapers either. Am I just old fashioned? Any other watch enthusiasts out there? Are watches getting phased out? Your thoughts?

Of Course I Have to Comment on this

Yev vs. Ev

Or, battle of the Evs (this is a throw to any figure skating enthusiasts who know the reference).

So, someone's a sore loser. His name is Plushenko. Seriously.

So, in short, he's making a big deal that Evan Lysacek didn't do a quad and he did, therefore he should be the winner. He half bashes Evan, half bashes the figure skating scoring system. In regards to the second half of his argument, he might have a point.

However. It's the system that's in place. And he knew that. He knew how it worked. This scoring system has been in place for several seasons now. Whether or not he agreed with it, he knew that this was how it was going to be and he could have worked harder on his transitions, footwork, style, etc., the past nine months to be prepared to get a higher score; instead he decided to be stubborn and assume he could win on jumps alone.

Well, now he's winning the gold medal for bad sportsmanship. Evan was better and worked the system better. And seriously, Evgeni - that haircut? And that costume?!?! A sequined version of the tuxedo shirt?!?! That alone probably hurt your marks (although I can't say I love Ev's snakes either).

And the Award for Best Dressed Olympic Figure Skater Goes to....

Jeremy Abbott of the USA.

Classic, understated, non-effeminate, can't-go-wrong all around good choices.

Ash Wednesday

So, Lent is upon us.

I happened to notice, on facebook, that every female friend who is outwardly making a Lenten sacrifice is sacrificing something with calories.

Hmm. I think this is cue for my annual comment about Joey Tribiani's "there's no such thing as a selfless good deed'.

I haven't given anything up for Lent. But mayhaps, if I were to give something up, I should probably give up being judgmental.

My Favorite Non-American Male Figure Skater

Stephane Lambiel. The Swiss man.

He is an outstanding spinner/footworker (word?) - he has all the details of skating down pat. He's the male Sasha Cohen. Absolutely beautiful to watch.

That, and he is GORGEOUS. It's too bad he is younger than me. And lives on the other side of the world. And we've never met. And who even knows if he's single. Sigh. If this were a beauty pageant, though, he'd be at the top of the medal podium.

When I Grow Up....

So recently, I was speaking with an intelligent, successful friend about her current job (something in the financial sector). I asked her if she liked what she's currently doing better than her previously held position. Her response was something to the extent of: I like it enough; it's good/decent, but I don't know if this is what I'm really passionate about/what I really want to do with my career; I'm still not sure what I really want to do.

This reminded me of when I first started at my current company. I remember once during a meeting with the department VP, he asked me what I wanted to do 'when I grow up' (for lack of a better way of putting it). He went on to say 'it's all right if you don't know - I honestly don't really know what I want to do either'. I remember thinking 'well, you're 40, married with three kids, the primary breadwinner presumably, and you've been with this company 6 plus years in a VP position; I think this is it'.

So this leaves my question: does anyone know what he/she wants to do when he/she grows up? More importantly, is anyone doing it? (Sidenote: I realize there are a lot of people who do, indeed, know what they want to do an are doing it. A good amount of peole I know in the field of healthcare or education seem to be pretty satisfied with their career - or at least feel that it's what they want to be doing. I suppose this question is mostly geared toward the business sector.)

I seem to remember when I graduated college - I pretty much was looking for any tolerable entry-level job in any line of work. Whenever I was asked what I wanted to do in terms of my career, my answer was always some variation of 'oh, definitely this!', not because it was accurate but because I wanted (well, needed) a job. I know, for a lot of my friends, it was the same. I think a lot of people in my age bracket got an entry-level starting-salary job in some field, took the job and worked hard to get promoted in order to make a livable salary, then when it came time to look for a new position at another company, he or she looked for work in the same field because 1) it was what he/she was qualified to do and 2) to maintain the same salary or better (seeing that starting over in an entry-level position in a new field might require one to take a paycut (not to mention the difficulties of getting into a new field when one doesn't have many qualifications, on paper, for the position).

Anyhow - is this how a lot of people ended up in their jobs? Is it that they ended up in some field because it's the one that hired them/gave them a chance, then they ended up with that as their career. Is this parallel to Sex and the City's taxi theory? Someone decides she needs a job, and her career ends up being the one that hires her at said time; a man decides he's ready to get married and the woman who is there at the time ends up being his wife?

I guess this could be similar to the question asked earlier about Mr. Right - is it better to go with the 'wrong career' than no career? Are there a lot of people in their 'careers' who feel as though they don't know what they are actually supposed to be doing? Is it possible to change careers in adulthood, with, say, all the responsibilities of adulthood? Is it possible to do so somewhat easily? Your thoughts?

My Valentine

From Mom.

Of course, being the responsible person I am, I tested it immediately. It works great!

Blogs

So I couldn't help but notice, via facebook status/website updates, it appears as though everyone out there is starting a blog. Blogspot. Wordpress. Random urls probably purchased via 'go daddy'. Anyone/everyone and his/her mother has a blog. Is my mother soon going to have a blog?

Some blogs have themes. I'm following a couple cooking blogs. One of my friend's blogs is about his personal wedding photography business. Other friends' blogs are simply (like this blog) their random thoughts.

That, and I feel there's a whole community that goes hand-in-hand with this blogging thing. I feel like I've 'met' new people/made new friends through comment sections on friends' blogs/other friends' 'blogs I'm following' sections.

I suppose there is a use for all these blogs - so many people spend so much time at a computer daily, they are all looking for something new to read/distract them from what they are supposed to be doing. However, I can't help but feel a little frustrated. I don't need all these new blogs taking away from time on mine.

Anyhow. I remember reading a statistic a couple years ago that 50% of blogs out there would not be in existence six months from now. I wonder if this still applies. I know, firsthand, that a blog is a responsibility, and not always an easy one. My blog is coming up on its second birthday (sidenote: what should I get it?!?!). How long does the average blog last? Is this just a crazy trend that will be gone shortly, or are the blogs out there continuously multiplying? Those of you with blogs - how long have you had them? How often to you update them? How long do you plan on keep them for? Indefinitely? How many blogs do you readers follow? How many is too many? Will people soon burnout on blogs, or will this bring more people to them? Your thoughts?

They're HERE!!

Expect a lot of figure skating commentary to come (that I know most of my most loyal blog readers skip over, but whatever).