Friday, April 25, 2008

The Big Move!

Well, today is the day that we officially start moving our things to the new apartment in Collingswood. That said, tomorrow is the Big Move in which we will be renting a truck and packing it full to the brim with all of our furniture and boxes and lugging it to good old Collingswood. I know it will be a relief when it's all over.....I just can't wait! It's gonna be a rough weekend!!! Thank God for our friends who are helping us and the light at the end of the tunnel consisting of beer and pizza!!! WOO HOO!

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Oh, American Idol! How Dare You!!??


I've been very much into American Idol this year. I guess a lot of it has to do with the fact that I auditioned for it in Philly, and to no avail, did not make it through the first round. However, I was relieved when I saw the caliber of talent, especially from a Ms. Carly Smithsen. GIRL CAN SING!!! I thought to myself that she's bound to be in the top 3!! Well, my world was rocked last evening as Carly was sent home. WHAT??!!!???!!!! I voted for her 45 times!!! (Thank you unlimited texting and re-send button!)

The Top 6 were David Cook, David Archuletta, Brooke White, Syesha Mercado, Jason Castro and of course, my dear Irish Lass - Carly Smithsen. This past week's challenge, and it was a challenge, was the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Trust me, as a musical theatre GEEK, that can be very difficult music to sing!

I'm sorry, I'm really not a seasoned professional, but I have my opinion on who is good and who isn't. Call it intuition and years of vocal studies and experience on stage. Whatever it is - CARLY SHOULD NOT HAVE GONE HOME! I am simply outraged.

Jason Castro is a pot-head who is too high to answer any of Ryan Seacrest's questions with a tangible response and sang Memory from Cats. What I believe to be one of the most difficult songs to sing even for me; and it was written for a woman to sing, not a guy! His performance was awful! That dread lock, high as a kite, needs to go home and get out of this competition kid is still in? What planetary alignment is going on that has this country so upside down on this? HELLO?

As for the rest - Syesha was OK. Brooke, although she stopped her song and started again really connected with the words, and I thought, did well. David Archuletta did a fantastic job, but looks so bored on stage and afraid of his own self that I'm sure stardom at this age has ruined him for life. Last, but not least, David Cook - my new favorite. He's got raw talent and a killer personality and deserves to be crowned now that Carly is gone.

Former winners like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood deserved their titles. Past runners up like Clay Aiken, Elliot Yamin and Chris Daughtry all were fabulous singers as well. America screwed up their voting on them too! At least they were all very successful and have made their way to the top, deservedly so.

I'll get off of my soapbox because I am done with American Idol. I don't even care anymore. Thanks, America, for crushing me and this entirely fixed competition. At least I know I'll be able to purchase a Carly Smithsen album soon. Simon knew how good she is, and I do too. Wake up, America!!! Stop voting for the kid with dreads who can't sing his way out of a hole and get to know what REAL talent is!! As Simon says, "This is not a karaoke competition!" Just Say No To Castro!!!!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

So Much Going On!

I know it's been forever since I blogged, so this is going to be an update on what's been going on in my crazy, hectic, overwhelming life!

VACATION - We went to Florida in March for Phillies Spring Training and to visit my friends and family. It was an absolute blast! The weather was warm and sunny and we caught the Phillies game on St. Patrick's Day in Clearwater. Nothing better than seeing Shane Victorino's butt close up!! I was lucky enough to visit with some great friends from my days at Class 1. Russ, Aimee, Sakina, Paula, Bruce, Dave and my parents and Craig met up at a sports bar for some "after work" drinks. We even went down to Gator Joe's to catch Dave's band and I was lucky enough to sing "It's All Been Done" by BNL with them. I have to say that I basically drank every night that we were in Florida and enjoyed myself thoroughly. The theatre crew - Jason, Jess, Melody, Becca and Patrick even carved out some time to catch up as well. It was a great trip and it was so good to see everyone again. I miss them all terribly so whatever time I did get to spend with them was a blessing!!

SHOWS - I'm not in any shows right now....Thank God! I was lucky enough to catch "Assassins" in which several friends of ours were in and directed. It's a Sondheim show that goes through the various assassins and attempted assassins of US Presidents throughout history. I learned alot from this show, as I was not alive, or could barely remember, JFK's assassination or Regan's attempted assassination. Craig and I also caught "Jailbirds" at The Walnut Street Theatre in Philly. Our dear friend, Randy Petersen, directed and wrote the lyrics to this up and coming musical. It was a great show!!

I did a Cabaret at Rowan University with my friends Collin and Jennie. It was an experience that helped me realize how much I am so happy that I am not in college anymore. Don't get me wrong, education is very important and parts of me wish that I would have completed my scholastics and obtained a degree. However, some of the college "kids" we worked with were very arrogant and thought they were better than what they actually were. Sit down a spell kids - let an experienced actress/singer take the stage and show you how it's done! HA! Jennie and Collin, as usual were fabulous!! I also did a children's show last weekend - "Alice in Wonderland." Now that the shows are over it's time to focus on MOVING!!

THE MOVE - Wow! Today we are meeting the landlord to sign our lease!! We're moving next weekend!! I am so overwhelmed by this, yet I know at the end will be relieved. We are moving to Collingswood. It's a DRY town in Camden County that is closer to our friends, family, theatre and, soon-to-be Craig's work. Now when I say DRY that means that you cannot purchase or sell alcohol in the town. WHAT??!!!! It's quite alright. Actually it's nice because you don't have bars at every corner and the majority of the restaurants downtown are BYOB. Not to mention, that the next town is only 3 minutes away and there is a liquor store waiting for you with the neon glow of it's lights enticing you to come in and buy large quantities of alcohol!!

The duplex we're moving in to is so adorable!! It's a 1 bedroom, newly finished hardwood floors, huge living room with a fireplace and granite mantle. It has a large dining room that will also double as our office area. The kitchen is a galley type kitchen with a larger sized mud room attached to the back of it in which we'll have our breakfast nook set up along with a pantry. (This is because the cabinet space is slightly limited in the kitchen) Did I mention that it has a basically brand new bathroom, brand new dishwasher and stove and a FULL BASEMENT with newer washer and dryer!! The icing on the cake - the massive back deck we have that will be used for entertaining!!!

Cooper River Park is about 3 blocks from where we are moving to. It's a beautiful park that has a bikers path that wraps around the entire River used for walking, jogging, biking, etc. There is a huge 4th of July festival there too and I'm thinking we're going to have a 4th of July party at our place, then we can all stumble over to the park to catch the fireworks!! Also, PATCO is about 5 blocks from our new abode. That's right, we no longer have to drive to Philly. Jump on the train and in 15 minutes the "City of Brotherly Love" is right there. In fact, we'll be taking the train on Friday to catch the Phillies vs. Mets game!!

PHILLIES - Well, it's been a rough start for the NL East, but the Phils are pushing through! Jimmy Rollins (last year's MVP) and Shane Victorino (our dashing, kick-butt, hottie boom bottie outfielder) are both injured already. Jimmy should be back this weekend for the match up with the Mets. Shane is on the DL for 15 days. The Mets game should be awesome because Cole Hamels (Phils) is up against Yohann Santana(Mets). After last night's match up against the Astro's and the Phils 9th inning comeback and win, it's going to be an interesting weekend!!

WORK - As I alluded to earlier in this blog, Craig's company has been bought out by Deer Park. What does this mean? He will no longer have to drive to Northeast Philly every morning to get his truck!! He'll have a 10 minute drive to Pennsauken!! WOO HOO!!

As you can see it's been a crazy, busy, hectic, overwhelming time for us. The light is at the end of the tunnel and after next weekend, things should be calming down for us. What's on tonight's agenda?? More packing! Next week is going to be a bumpy ride!!