Laura Talks

American Idol: Good-Bye Pia.

2011-04-09T17:03:00.008-04:00

Good-bye Pia! Randy's mad. J-Lo is practically in tears. Steven Tyler is outraged at America's voting techniques / or lack there of. The world is devastated. I am not. Let me explain. (Side note: remember learning about onomatopoeia's in school? Perhaps this was my main reason for not liking her. Her name sounds too similar.Pia .... onomatopoeia ... say it !)

Beautiful voice. Celine Dion like. A little Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey like. A very ballad worthy voice, no doubt about that. Maybe even "Diva" like. But I think "Diva" like was the problem. For me anyway and maybe for America. You've got to be careful of the way you portray yourself while being a contestant on a show where people vote for you to stay each week. You can't act like you've won it before you have, it just doesn't sit well with people. (I think James Durbin should be careful for this very reason).

I've noticed that some websites (ie. People) are saying that perhaps Pia lost because she is a woman, and that it's a man's world and a man's show to win. Not very likely. If you look at the past Idol winners, it's been 5 men and 4 women. That's not hugely uneven at all. And if a woman were to win this year, it would be tied. Grasping at straws much?

The way I see it, it's one of two things. Even though Pia had one of the best voices this year (maybe even thee best), she either didn't connect enough with the audience, or like in previous years, people are just assuming their favorites are safe and aren't voting.

Pia's gone. Go Paul McDonald !

Thou Shalt Learn To Sew!

2009-11-11T10:55:00.010-05:00

There are just some things that people aren't meant to do in life and for me, it's sewing. I don't think I've sewn a thing since my grade 7 class and even then I didn't create anything that spectacular. My oldest son Will joined army cadets recently and was issued his uniform last night at 9:30 p.m. so he would have one to wear today to the Remembrance Day ceremonies. Along with the the uniform, they gave him 4 badges that had to be sewn into each sleeve. Well! I was up until midnight trying to get those suckers on there. Along the way, I thought of a few alternatives such as using a staple gun, super glue or a glue gun, or just making it really simple by leaving the stick pins in that I used to hold the badges in place. I wonder if they would have held that against my son. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with that. After all, they did wait until last minute to issue his uniform. The good news is (after hours of pricking my fingers and numerous choice words) I got the little buggers on without too much difficulty about 12:30 am. I did however make one mistake and sewed the top part of the sleeve to the bottom in a small area. No biggie. Nothing that scissors couldn't be fixed with a quick snip with a pair of scissors. Overall, I give myself an "A" for effort and a "C" for the end product. I think I can still file myself under the "good mom"category and that's good enough for me.

Kris Allen: Self Titled Album

2009-11-10T10:53:00.007-05:00

AOL has the full album streaming online. I listened to each track last night and once again, American Idol fans have chosen a winner who hasn't composed a great album. If your grouping it with past American Idol winners and albums, then yes, it's pretty good. I was a Kris Allen fan but I was more on the Adam Lambert band wagon, and of course I thought the wrong person won. Who didn't really. Here is the track listing:

1. Live Like We're Dying (In my opinion, the best song on the album)

2. Before We Come Undone

3. Can't Stay Away

4. The Truth

5. Written All Over My Face

6. Bring It Back

7. Red Guitar

8. Is It Over (Chris Daughtry said it's not, so why do we have to go there again?)

9. Let It Rain (Second favorite)

10. Alright With Me

11. Lifetime

12. I Need To Know ( Depressing, but a lot of you like depressing music so you might like this)

13. Heartless ( I really wish he left this one off the album because the version is different from the way he sang it on the show, tweaked and changed way too much for me).

You can listen for yourself here. Overall I think the young girlies will be impressed.

Sunny day, Sweepin' the clouds away, On my way to where the air is sweet

2009-11-08T20:12:00.019-05:00

Can you tell me how to get,

How to get to Sesame Street.

I don't know about all of you but I am absolutely loving how Google is featuring a different character from Sesame Street everyday in honor of the shows 40th anniversary. So far there's been Cookie Monster (my personal favorite), Bert & Ernie, Oscar The Grouch and Big Byrd. Every time I've used Google this past week, I've been taken back to my childhood. I remember sitting on the living room floor watching the colored lines across the television waiting for the program to start in the early 80's. I think it's pretty wonderful for those of us born after 1969 that we've never known a world without Sesame Street. It was through that show that we learned to speak the basics of second languages like Spanish and French, and learned to count in the coolest ways. Remember the pinball animation that taught us to count to 12? There is a magic in Sesame street that speaks to children's hearts and minds and I am pleased to know that 40 years later, the show is still going strong. CNN has written a really great piece which you can check out here.

Just for the fun of reminiscing a little, drum roll please:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ........ 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, ........11, .........12

It's Like 10,000 Spoons When All You Need Is A ... Fork!

2009-11-05T18:54:00.007-05:00

I don't recall having ever done a count, but I think it's safe to assume that I started out with the same amount of forks as I had spoons in my house, right? And yet, somehow, there seems to be a fork deficit in my house.

It happens every time. The sink will be empty, all the dishes in the house will be clean and within an hour, I'll reach into the drawer for a fork and all we have left is that one small fork with the bent tines that was somehow mutilated by who knows what. Thanks so much for leaving me the deformed fork to use.

Where the fork are all the forking forks going?

How do my little spoon cubbies in the silverware holder overflow, but not the fork cubbies?

Wouldn't it stand to reason that there are more use for spoons than forks?

Has someone broken into my house and taken some, but not all of the forks?

Has Ashton Kutcher run out of C-list celebrities to punk and now moved on to the rest of us?

This really bothers me and I don't think it makes me wierd at all.

Once I get this mystery solved, I think I'll move onto .... socks.

Quotes That Make Me Smile: #2

2009-11-05T18:42:00.004-05:00

“There are four questions of value in life: What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same. Only love.”

- Johnny Depp

Cosmetics On The Go

2009-10-30T20:31:00.003-04:00

On my way to work this morning, I witnessed a woman putting on her eye liner while walking down a busy street on which I work. A while back, I watched a woman apply mascara while driving her car. Yes, driving her car people! I have seen women applying lipstick, and even blush, while driving, but never mascara. That was new, and an accident waiting to happen. To me, this is worse than people talking on cell phones while driving. To put on mascara, don't you have to be looking directly at your eyeballs? I do, otherwise, I'd look like I was prepping for sunday night football (or getting ready to rob my neighbor.

I was also reminded of a conversation between two women in which one stated emphatically that "no woman should be seen doing her makeup". Not like I care either way, I've just heard people say that on more than one occasion. Then there are those other women who say that a woman should never be seen without makeup, even by her husband. That means wearing makeup to bed. That's insane to me, but whatever floats your boat. Does anyone watch Cougar Town? Courtney Cox demonstrated this perfectly. She set her alarm a half hour early to put makeup on before her "boy toy" woke up. If you feel like you need to wear makeup to bed so your husband won't leave you the next day, go for it. Whatever makes you sleep better at night. Me? Not freakin likely. Take me as "cousin it" in the morning, or don't take me at all. I'm not saying that I look like "cousin it". Close. But not quite. Nothing that a brush can't fix. And that brings me back to TV, where women are often seem wearing makeup in ridiculous situations, like crawling out of a ditch seconds after a bomb went off in a hurricane, or when they are getting out of bed (really, do you know any women who wear makeup to bed?). I've even seen women getting out of the shower wearing makeup on TV, perfectly in place of course. As far as I know, there isn't any rule that says you fellas need to wake up a half hour early just to clear the boulders out of your eyes or nose before we see you, or shave your stubble so your baby-faced at 6 a.m., etc.

Anyway, in conclusion, I just think that applying mascara while driving is a little over the top. I'm sure that you could spare two minutes out of another part of your day to do this. At the end of the day, it would keep you from looking like a complete idiot when you find yourself saying "excuse me Mr. Officer, I was busy beautifying myself and didn't realize I suddenly changed lanes and drove straight into oncoming traffic"!

Glen "Big Baby" Davis Out For 6-8 Weeks

2009-10-28T16:58:00.005-04:00

First off, let me start by saying that I'm a huge Boston Celtics fan. I was even overly impressed with Glen Davis last season but right now, words that come to mind are bonehead. Davis is out for 6-8 weeks because while apparently his drunk friend was driving, Davis felt he needed to punch his friend in the face, in order to protect himself, subsequently breaking his thumb in the process. Self defense?! Punching the drunk driver of the vehicle of which you are a passenger is self defense? Maybe I'm weird or something but that seems like an invitation for an accident to happen. I'm not sure if him being out 6-8 weeks is a loss to mourn. After all, it's just like someone said to me last night, Kevin Garnett is back! Word has it that Davis plans to apologize to his teammates. You can read the story here.

The Year Of The Vampire

2009-10-26T16:46:00.008-04:00

Two words: VAMPIRE PHENOMENON!

It seems that falling in love with a Vampire is all the rave these days. For the time being anyway. I for one have been a fan of the whole vampire thing since the classic1979 Dracula movie they used to show on ASN every halloween when I was a kid. Later followed Fright Night, another famous vampire movie from the 80's. Now, it's everywhere thanks to the huge success of Twilight. I will admit that I rather enjoyed reading the Twilight Saga and partaking in watching the movie with my 3 children. I will even admit that I plan on taking them to see New Moon, and the movies to follow as well. I am also an avid fan of the new HBO series True Blood which targets adults based on the Sookie Stackhouse series.

My beef with the whole vampire phenomenon is that it's everywhere now and it's one tv show and movie playing off another one. An example is the new show Vampire Diaries. Very similar to Twilight. I suppose young girls love that but enough already. Another example is the new movie coming out called The Vampire's Assistant. In my opinion, the movie will ruin the image of a seductive, bloodsucking, immortal creature that we all grew up on. You'll even find shelves in bookstores covered with vampire books. I just think that the media, writers, directors and so on are over doing it. My two cents.

With that said, what is your vampire flavor? Would it be "Edward" of Twilight ? "Bill or Eric" of True Blood? "Stephan or Damian" of The Vampire Diaries? Or are you just plain sick of it all?

Me? I'm a Bill Compton girl myself. Maybe it's the way he says "Sookie", like "Soo-kay" in that accent of his, lol. Can't you just hear him?

I forgot the breadcrumbs

2009-10-25T14:17:00.002-04:00

Hansel said to Gretel, "drop these breadcrumbs so that together we can find our way home because losing our way would be the most cruel of things". I lost my way.

Do you ever have the feeling there is something that you are supposed to be doing? Not in an “oh crap, I forgot to do that kind of way", but instead in a "there’s something out there that is uniquely for me to do" kind of way. Sort of like a calling, or a destiny, or something.

Does it ever drive you nuts because you don’t know what it is? Or, maybe it's just that you do know what it is but there are circumstances surrounding it that are keeping your from it. Are circumstances considered excuses? Or, are they just that ... circumstances? I'm still trying to figure that out, thinking about it alot lately. It led me to ask myself, when making important life changing decisions, should I use my head or go with what my heart says ... or both? I've made bad choices before using both, so whose to know. You never learn the outcome until later.

Why is it that our heads and our hearts have to have such crappy contrasting opinions? Why can they not just learn to get along and come to a mutual decision?! It’s so hard to decide what you want to choose…and it just gets even worse when things are complicated by different parts of you, pulling you in different directions.

Life is all about achieving your dreams…or at least trying to get somewhere close to them. I believe that everybody has dreams, even those that are looked down upon by the majority of society…maybe due to their ethnic origin, background or even financial status. With me, it's circumstances that I don't have the power to change. It's like I have to wait them out. But again, it goes back to me possibly using these circumstances as excuses. Everyone has dreams, and everyone deserves the right to try and achieve them. Whilst our heads are good at solving problems, I think I truly believe that the way to achieving your dreams is by following your heart. Maybe it's by using a combination of both.

So, I guess once you "lose yourself or lose your way", you have two choices. Find the person you used to be and get back to your dreams, or, lose that person completely. Because sometimes you have to step outside of the person you’ve been and remember the person you were meant to be. The person you wanted to be. The person you are.

George Bernard Shaw once wrote "There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your hearts desire; the other is to gain it."

I like the second =)

Quotes That Make Me Smile: #1

2009-10-24T13:21:00.003-04:00

Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old only by deserting their ideals. Years wrinkle the face, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt,self-interest, fear, despair- these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust.

- Watterson Lowe

Adam Lambert: Time For Miracles!

2009-10-23T20:08:00.004-04:00

The high point of my day yesterday was watching Adam's video premiere for his new song "Time For Miracles". Don't judge me. It made me smile after a very long day at work. I've been hooked since his first performance on American Idol. Just because I'm a mom(and 32) doesn't mean I'm not allowed to have boy crushes once in awhile. In my defense, 27 is hardly a boy, correct? Besides, you don't see Adam Lambert's everyday. Not only do I love the song, but he looks delicious. And strangly, alot like Elvis who was also delicious during his better years. I think Adam's going to hold up to all they hype and really touch people with his music. Too bad it wasn't literally!

Serenity Now! Notes to self ...

2009-10-22T19:42:00.000-04:00

The other night I put "analyzing my life" as my facebook status. Do you ever do that? Just sit there and get into that deep thinking where absolutely everything under the sun runs through your mind? I do, mostly when boredom sets in, or during those nights sleep just doesn't find you - your mind starts working overtime. This is what this brain of mine has come up with. Oh, and this is totally for me, so don't think I'm trying to offer advice!

(one) Relax. Things aren't as big of a deal as they usually seem. Emergencies can be handled, and crises eventually pass. In most cases, if we'll just settle down and keeps our heads, we'll come out the other side sooner and better for it. A lot of the drama I tend to experience is the drama I create for myself, sometimes not knowingly but it still happens.

(two) Don't trust your emotions. I'm not saying emotions are bad. I love the emotional life. Emotions are not, however, accurate reflectors of reality. As stated above, things are rarely as bad as they seem, or as good as they seem. No matter how great someone is, I can live without them. No matter how comfortable I am with someone, there is a chance they aren't trustworthy. I'm neither as great nor as horrible as I usually feel I am. Take your gut into account, but only as a witness, not as the judge. Why can't I remember this when I'm SUPPOSED to!

(three) If it doesn't seem quite right, it probably isn't. Yes, this pretty much contradicts my last paragraph. But this lesson has been fleshed out inside of me through several poor decisions. If my gut is telling me to shut up, I should probably shut up. If my gut says I'm going in the wrong direction, I should probably turn around, or at least stop for a second. If something seems just a little amiss, it usually is.

(four) Try new things. Some of my favorite music now is stuff that I'd have never given a chance just a couple years ago. This is something so little, yet, big too.

(five) Let your guard down, but not too quickly. This is actually a habit I picked up in childhood, but I didn't embrace it until recently. I'm not saying everyone should be like me. This may not work for a lot of others. But I'm most comfortable with at least a little bit of a shell around me. I like to stay a little distant from those who I don't consider close to me. To get a real piece of me, you have to earn my trust. It works against me at times, but I've found that I'm happy this way overall. I dunno, call it playing it safe if you will, it's just what I know right now.

(six) Laugh. A lot. No matter what is going on in life, there is usually something that you'll find funny. Laughter embraces the good times, it puts its stamp of approval on joy. Laughter lifts in difficult times, and makes it okay to see the silver lining when everything in you says you must get lost in the cloud.

(seven) Learn how to enjoy memories. This is a skill that I've begun to develop in myself. I've always done it to a degree, but the longing for better days usually overwhelmed the happiness. When I came to grips with the fact that I can never go back, it became easier just to relive the moment. My friends have helped make it seem not so hard and I love them for it.

(eight) A place for everything, everything in its place. I work to pay my bills, not to make buddies. If doing my job well makes me unpopular, then so be it. I won't find myself in the unemployment line over someone's affection. Conversely, my family and friends are not a job I have to do. I love my family because they are my family, and I love my friends because I trust myself to them. I work to get ahead, but I love because I'm already ahead. Not sure if what I just wrote here makes sense, lol. A result from recent happenings at work I guess. Oh well, I'll figure this one out later.

(nine) Don't waste time. I'm not saying to be in a hurry. I'm saying to make wise choices with the time you have. If what you are doing doesn't further you in what you want for yourself, then skip it. If someone's giving you lip service, let them talk to themselves. Haha, lip service ... what the hell? Whatever, I'm leaving it.

(ten) All of the above are subject to change. It wouldn't shock me if a year from now I was looking at this post and decided that I had "unlearned" a couple of these lessons. Because, that's just what I do.