Lazy Sundays are the best.

Two days until election day!

I love Sundays, especially like today. After church we came home to cheer on the Tennessee Titans, who before today's game were 7-0, the only undefeated team in the NFL. After today's game...well, they tried to scare us, but they came through in overtime to be 8-0! It's really exciting to have a winning team be our local team.

I spent the afternoon sorting out my music collection on the computer so I could finally update my Zune. And catching up on shows on the DVR, including last night's SNL. The musical guest was none other than...my beloved David Cook!! His CD comes out November 18, and I was delighted to hear his music again. He's still the same guy I voted for week after week in American Idol, which makes me very happy. I can't wait to buy his CD!

One of the other surprise guests on SNL was John McCain. He did a fake QVC commercial with Tina Fey as Palin, and it had Mum and I giggling. Particularly the "Pork Knife" set, for cutting out all the pork spending... ;~)

We also went on a nature walk this afternoon and took some pictures of the gorgeous leaves. We're planning on venturing down the Natchez Trail Parkway tomorrow to take in more of the scenery...it's definitely more colorful than Washington!

And now I'm off to bed to get in some reading...and, of course, listening to my newly updated Zune! ;~)

I like soapboxes.

WARNING: Unpopular political opinions ahead. But hey, this is my own personal blog, so welcome to a small part of my brain. ;~)

Tonight marks the end of the Republican National Convention, and I'm a lot more excited about the Republican ticket for President/Vice-President than I thought I was going to be a mere week ago.

(Oh, hi, by the way. I'm now on the other end of the country, still unpacking boxes after three months, but I thought it was time for a blog redecorating day and high time to blow the dust off this poor little blog. ;~))

I'm unashamedly a conservative, which means more often than not I support the Republican party, which seems to be rather unusual in my age group. I supported Mike Huckabee throughout the primary season, and wasn't particularly enthusiastic about John McCain as the final nominee. I was ready to vote for him in November, but more as an anti-Democrat vote than anything else.

Then last Friday he announced his pick for VP--Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, a very spunky conservative woman. And I got way more fired up about the ticket than I ever thought I would be. So I've been enjoying watching the convention unfold this week, shaking my head at how ridiculously left-biased the majority of the media is, and have been cheering on Sarah Palin like nobody's business. (I've also come to appreciate John McCain more--his hour long speech tonight covered a lot of ground, and the last part actually moved me to tears, so go him!)

Also? I'd just like to say how sad it is that a good chunk of Americans are apathetic enough about the political process that they'll tune into maybe a debate or two, watch the political commercials and read articles from one or two papers, and think they know all there is to know about the person who wants to run our country. Every media outlet has a bias, and it's really annoying to hear false information parroted back (about either candidate, honestly) because you're too lazy to go and do a few hours of research on your own. If, after that, you honestly don't like the candidate you thought you didn't like when you started out, well, good. But please, get informed! That's the beauty of the Information Age--there are so many places to go to get your hands on information!

I'm sure I'll blog more about the political race as it draws closer to November, but the last thing I'd like to say tonight is you go Sarah Palin! A politician with an 80% approval rating and a snarky sense of humor? You can be my VP any day of the week.

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!