The Video of the Year

Today, I'm going to change your life... or at least give you a really fun 7-minute video to watch! All you need to know about this before you watch it, is one name.

Susan Boyle.

Go click on Susan's name, and see what she's all about from her YouTube video! Come back, and read my thoughts on the subject!


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Susan Boyle's audition on Britain's Got Talent found me a day or two after her performance. There is something magnetic about her story. At first I noticed her resemblance to my 11th grade Biology teacher and I was pretty sure this was going to be one of the "duds" that these shows throw into the audition process for giggles. Susan Boyle, however, is NOT a dud of any kind.

The frumpy-looking 47 year-old confidently told the judges that she wanted to be like Elaine Paige. Paige is known for her amazing theatre career, and she is no amateur. But yes, Susan Boyle told Simon Cowell she wanted to be like her.

From the start, the crowd was against her, but those first few notes of her song, "I Dreamed a Dream," brought the crowd to their feet!! What a Cinderella story! Susan Boyle triumphed over the people who doubted her! (You could see the dollar signs in Simon Cowell's eyes as he smiled.)

I have a feeling Susan Boyle will win the competition. Not because she's that much better than the others, but because she should be the underdog. On American Idol, she would be the underdog (if only for her looks). But Boyle has gotten millions of views on YouTube from the whole world, and I don't think anyone else will be able to compete with that.

My roommate and I looked up Elaine Paige singing the same song that Susan Boyle sang from Les Miserables. We both looked at each other and decided Susan's was even better because of what the song means to her.

I've always been the kind of person to root for the underdog. This particular story is an amazing one, and I can't wait for the rest of America to hear about it!

PASS THE LINK ALONG!

Did You Watch? - House

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!!!

So last night, I was on the Internet and caught sight of what was "trending" on Twitter (in other words, what everyone was talking about at that moment). I saw one word. It was the name of a character on House. I was SO MAD at myself for clicking on the trend and seeing WHY so many people were talking about this character.

Honestly, I had heard that someone was going to die, and I had a sneaking suspicion that it was this particular character, but I wanted to watch to find out.

This morning, with the surprise completely ruined, I watched the episode and felt a little let down. The cast did a fantastic job, but I still felt confused about why the writers decided to kill off this particular character! The death had no meaning to me. It seemed very unnecessary, except that House continued to question himself. Fine, whatever. This character wasn't hurting the show, and in fact, their sense of humor helped keep things from being too morbid. If anything, I think there is a different character that is weighing down the show (hint: he quit in the episode before last but came back).

I hope this death stays present in the episodes to come, because I don't think the writers gave it enough weight. Even when Amber died I was sad to see her leave (if only for Wilson's sake). This character didn't really have any of those emotional ties, so I didn't truly feel for the characters that were left mourning.

For me, the jury is still out on this. Hopefully, we'll see more movement on this in the future.

Five MORE of My Newest Obsessions

In January, I told you five of my newest obsessions. Now, I'm back with five more.

5. Flight Control
Flight Control is the newest addition to my iPod. It is an application that costs $0.99, and is really worth the money! It's so addictive. You draw out flight plans for three kinds of plans to land in their designated areas, and pray that they don't collide! You get a point for every plane/ copter that you land. If you own an iPod Touch or iPhone, look this one up!

4. Twitter
I wanted to mention Twitter one more time. After a few more weeks of using the hottest new website, I still love how it works! Just this morning, Demi Moore apparently saved a suicidal Twitterer! P. Diddy loves to tweet with positive energy and Ashton Kutcher once posted a video of his encounter with a Cheetah ("Say hello to your mother, Cheetah"). Follow me, @Slizabeth.

3. Don't Spill the Beans
Don't Laugh! I was hanging out with some friends when we decided to make a late night trip to Wal-Mart to buy Yahtzee... we found this game, too, and it is SO much fun. The easiest game I've ever played, its like the opposite of Jenga... you add one bean at a time to the pot, until it becomes unbalanced and spills all of the beans! Whoever gets rid of all of their beans first wins!

2. Dollhouse
FOX's new show, Dollhouse, has me hooked. I'm not sure what made me love it so much in such a short time, but it really is a good show. It comes from Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. I don't want to give too much away because I won't do it justice. You just have to watch.

1. The Beatles - 1
I found a copy of the compilation CD 1 in Target for $14.99. It has 27 greatest hits from The Beatles, and it is a perfect summer CD. I highly recommend it!

My Mom is on Facebook

Yes. My mother is on Facebook. She has been for a while, actually. I was sort of the person who talked her into it, but I still think it is weird. Sure, there are things that I might have once said in a status that I won't say just in case my mother reads it, but those moments of hesitation don't come very often.

I think it's nice having my mom on FB, though, because I can keep up with her and she can keep up with me... without too many phone calls a day. So far, the only downsides to having her on FB is her strange love of sending Flair, her many requests to add quiz applications, and her inability to turn down people she doesn't like for friendship on FB.

I'm really proud of my mom. Currently, she has 56 Facebook friends. Most of these people are from our town, her high school and college in Pennsylvania, or from work. She's even started recruiting more of her best friends to try it out. She's always finding someone she hasn't seen in 20 years and catching up on old times.

Really, it isn't that bad having a parent on Facebook. Granted, I don't have anything to hide from my mother and she wouldn't really care anyway, but it still isn't a bad thing.

I have a pretty cool mom.

Did You Watch? - Grey's Anatomy

I'll admit that I've had a love/hate relationship with Grey's Anatomy this season. I've watched each episode faithfully, but I had given up on my hopes for the series... until now.

Earlier this season, Christina Yang (Sandra Oh) was injured when she slipped and fell on some ice... and then an icicle plunged into her abdomen. When I watched this, I thought it was a dream sequence. It was ridiculous in every sense of the word. What are the chances? There wasn't even anything to cause the icicle to fall! The icicle never melted in the ER!

Anyway, I watched the next few episodes somewhat reluctantly and eventually got past the icicle that never melted (Ugh!). When comparing that idiotic episode to the one that aired tonight, it seems as though the scripts were from two different shows.

Tonight, Grey's Anatomy reminded me why I started watching the show years ago. The acting by Sandra Oh, Kevin McKidd, and even Katherine Heigl was spectacular! All of the writing was fantastic and heartfelt, but the scenes with Oh and McKidd won me over. The dynamics between the cast have changed so much from the childish he said/she said of seasons past, and the writers seem to be getting to the emotional heart of the characters. I feel like the newcomer, Kevin McKidd, has brought a new direction to the show, and I hope he receives the praise he deserves for his performance.

I just can't say enough about the show. Grey's is back in my eyes, and I can't wait for more.

(But please, please, please. No more icicle-like accidents, writers! That's lame!)

Looking Ahead

It has been quite a long week, but one of the highlights for me was being advised. I stupidly waited until the last minute to be advised, but I left the meeting feeling refreshed, confident, and optimistic about the Fall semester.

I made the tough decisions about which classes to take, and I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Looks like I'll be done with my core classes after the Fall semester (Yay!) and all that will be left will be Political Science, Computer Science, and Blount courses.

Fall 2009 holds a lot of promise. I'm moving off-campus after two very good years in the Blount dorm, I'll be returning to the band for my 3rd season, and I'm going to have another semester of FREE FRIDAYS! (Somehow it worked out that the classes I wanted all had Tuesday / Thursday schedules!)

I think I should find time to go see my advisor more often. I always seem to feel so much more optimistic about my education and my choices after seeing the bigger picture! It is so easy for me to worry about big projects and difficult exams and forget my goals!

Hopefully you had a good meeting with your advisor and are as optimistic as I am. If not, don't worry! There is light at the end of the tunnel!

Spring Broken

It's official. I had one of the worst Spring Breaks ever. On Thursday, thirty minutes before I got into my car to go home to Ozark, I was in pain and knew it was going to be a bad day. Sure enough, Friday morning I was in the ER for 8 hours. Sunday night I was taken back to the hospital and scheduled for surgery. On Monday I had my gallbladder removed, and Tuesday afternoon I was finally released.

Trust me, it isn't ideal to spend the only 10 days of freedom from college in a hospital room and recovering from surgery. I didn't go to the beach. I didn't shop, sleep until noon, camp out, or take a road trip. Plans to visit my sister on the gulf coast were quickly tossed out, and I was only able to hang out with friends once.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful that I don't have to make up any tests or find notes for the classes I might have missed if it hadn't been Spring Break. The irony of the timing of my illness isn't lost on me though. Ten minutes after my last class of the week, I was hurting. I was checked into the ER on Friday the 13th, and admitted to the hospital on the Ides of March (Beware!).

I hope you enjoyed your Spring Break far more than I did. I've decided to plan a few big weekends to make up for my pathetic break... I'll let you know how that goes.