Hello / Is it me you're looking for?

What else is there to do on a Thursday night but have true confession time? ;~)

For the past...has it really been six years? Well, for the past six seasons of TV, there has been a certain reality TV show I would mock relentlessly, despite not watching a single show. I'm not a big fan of reality TV on principle, but this show held a special place of honor. I managed to maintain my stubborn stance to never watch an episode until last season, when this reality show dared to have people on it from my hometown area of Seattle. My curiosity was, of course, piqued, for how could I resist cheering on native Seattlites? I still only watched the last few episodes, and was quite bummed when the Seattlite lost to another by only one place. Oh well, I thought, it was fun while it lasted. I put it out of my mind and moved on with life, never dreaming that I would watch the show from day one in its seventh season.

Which reality show could I be speaking of? you might ask. Well, my friends...

It's American Idol. And they even have me VOTING every week by phone. Not just my land phone--oh no, that would be bad enough--but my cell phone too.

Here's the thing...this year, on American Idol, they're letting the contestants play instruments if they so choose. And there's a really talented group of people--I would be pleased if Brooke won, for instance, or Carly, or Jason (with his dreamy blue eyes), or David Archuleta--who has quite the amazing voice, and will probably get a record deal no matter which position he places. There is one performer, however, who has it all--the amazing rocker voice that I love, the talent with the guitar, the ability to take songs and arrange them into something completely new and amazing...

This performer, whom I have been cheering for from the top 24 on down to Tuesday night's top 7, is named David Cook. He caught my interest on the top 24 "60's Night" by singing "Happy Together." He dazzled me with a version of Lionel Ritchie's "Hello" that, according to my mother, was ten times better than the original release. He blew my socks off during the two weeks of Beatles's songs with "Eleanor Rigby" and "Daytripper"--rock star style! He took a Dolly Parton country song, "Little Sparrow," and amazed me with his falsetto. Most recently, he took a Mariah Carey song (the required artist of the week, and I wasn't even sure how he would pull this one off, since he's been shining on rock songs) and made "Always Be My Baby" into a bittersweet rock masterpiece.

Check him out on iTunes--each of his songs are $0.99, accessible through the Americal Idol store or just type in "David Cook." If you love rock, you'll love David. And, of course, you can catch him on American Idol every Tuesday night at 8 pm/7 pm central; Wednesday night at 9 pm/8 pm central for the results show. (It is truly sad that I know this. ;~)) David Cook, you rock my socks and you have my vote!

Nowhere near the best years of your life...

So back when Mum and I first started talking about moving halfway across the country to Tennessee, we realized that we'd have to at least learn to tolerate country music. Mum had the brilliant idea of watching the CMA Awards on TV last fall, and then we got hooked on GAC (Great American Country) and the country music videos.

Now we can recognize the popular country songs from the first few bars of the song. Whoops. ;~)

There's one particular country artist that I've known about for years--thanks to my sister-cousin Maya, who insisted that I attend the county fair concert of this artist one summer long ago. The artist was Brad Paisley, and he's definitely one of my favorite country artists now. One of his current songs is called "Letter to Me"--the idea being that it's a letter sent back to the artist at the age of 17. I love the music video--it shows Brad's real life classmates at a class reunion, among other things--and I was tickled to find this meme, which challenges you to write your own 17-year-old self a letter. So here I go...

SEND A LETTER BACK TO YOURSELF AT 17

PROVE IT'S YOU- instead of spending 20 minutes reading during Calculus, you always nap. And you always skip the pep rallies, even though technically you don't have permission to leave campus.

I KNOW IT'S TOUGH- studying and earning good grades, but never getting the scholarships. Keep applying...you'll get a few.

WHEN YOU GET A DATE- don't be afraid to tell him what you want to do. Even if that means you end up going to your prom alone.

EACH AND EVERY TIME- you wake up at 5:30 in the morning, know that it's the last year you have to wake up that early. I promise.

YOU SHOULD REALLY THANK- Ms. Denis, all the rest of your English teachers, Mr. Hudiburg, and oh yes--Mum. Because Mum is always there for you. :~)

TONIGHT'S THE BONFIRE RALLY BUT YOU'RE STAYING HOME INSTEAD BECAUSE- sadly, there's never been a Bonfire Rally in the area, but if there was one, I'm sure you'd be curled up at home with a nice book and a cat.

YOU'VE GOT SO MUCH UP AHEAD- lots of studying, lots of friends, and a lot of unexpected turns, but you become a much stronger woman because of it all.

YOU SHOULD SEE- the original novel sitting on your computer, waiting to be edited. Yes. You wrote a book!

I WISH YOU'D STUDY- Anatomy, because you're certainly studying a lot of it now.

I WISH YOU'D TAKE- a few more drama classes, because you'd be surprised at how outgoing you can be if pushed. And drama would have been fun, too.

END BY SAYING- enjoy your life--you really are only seventeen once--and enjoy everything you're learning. The political class is still serving you well. And you're more popular than you think you are.

And for fun, a pic of my 17-year-old self:

Welcome to the Insanity.

Hi, I'm Rachel, the twenty-something daughter of Victoria from Sweet Victoria Antiques! I usually blog over on LiveJournal, but I figured why not have two blogs? Especially since there are some cool people over here that aren't on my LJ. ;~)

Anyhow, there will probably be a lot of memes and a lot of pictures of my beloved cats, as well as random snarkiness and musings on movies, TV shows, and that sort of thing, so if that interests you, well, welcome to my blog!

God bless,
Rachel