*WARNING – the last paragraph states who was eliminated from the race. If you do not want to know, don’t read the last paragraph.

After watching episode 3 of The Amazing Race today, I am cheering for cowboy brothers Jet and Cord (hereby dubbed Team Cowboy) to win the race. Hopefully I’m not jinxing them publicly stating my support. Aside from their obvious likability factor, I think they are able to read people pretty well – I believe their disdain for Team Lesbian, Carol and Brandy, is shared by many of the viewers as well.

Episode 3 was pretty tame in comparison to the previous week. Nobody was kicked in the head by a farm animal. The challenges didn’t even involve any interaction with animals this week. I wonder if this was what was originally planned or more of a ‘lessons learned’ afterthought. I’m sure the producers and their insurance carrier must have been pretty concerned about the number of animal related injuries from last week.

But this week’s episode was not without health related drama. Team Model, Brent and Caite, began the show with a trip to the ER from what was supposedly dehydration or food poisoning, it was never clearly stated. I think the ER doctors should have checked their knuckles for bruising, as their fatigue may have been more ‘forced vomiting’ induced than dehydration. We all know how the models keep the weight off, right? (I’m just sayin’!)

Despite their constant calls to Jesus, I was sad to see Team Mommy, Monique and Shawn, eliminated from the race. They seemed like a good team that was communicating and encouraging each other well. I thought they would have made it further than episode 3.

Rather than focus on the negatives, I’ve tried to create a video blog entry about the positives. Winter Party is only 5 days away, I’ll be home (for good) soon, and I’ve caught up on my reality TV.

I know it’s been awhile since my last blog entry, and I apologize for that. I know you’ve all missed me. Therefore, I’ve made a video blog entry. Now, I must warn you, the camera angle forced me to look down into the camera the whole time and therefore, I look bug-eyed. I swear I don’t always look that surprised!

I’m bored and need interaction. Leave comments!

You can’t miss it…. everywhere you go… hearts, flowers, candy…. blah blah blah. My one friend would call it “Single Awareness Day”. Usually, I would maybe have myself a small pity party since I am one again single. However, this year… I am 100% happy with being single. While walking around the grocery store today I was reflecting on that notion. Thinking about last year when my sister and I found a hand written Valentine from my Father to my Mother. It was messy and hardly legible, but also the sweetest most heartfelt love letter I have ever read. Of course Kathy and I shed a few tears because we knew my Mother’s life was coming to an end. So today I decided to buy a card, some candy, and a heart-shaped cake. After I left the grocery store I dropped it all off at my Dad’s and in the card I wrote “On Valentine’s Day I wanted you know how truly blessed I feel for having grown within the presence of true love between you and Mom. Thank you”

While my growing up was no walk in the park, recognizing the love between my Mom and Dad was. Words put into action…for richer or poorer, for sickness and health, good times and bad until death do us part.  It’s not everyday one can say that. Happy Valentine’s Day!

I’m sick and I’m miserable right now. I have a cold, and when I’m sick I turn into a big baby. I usually spend the day under my covers in bed watching a lot of junk TV. I usually catch up on all the shows I am currently watching and sometimes discover a new reality show or two. The last time I was sick, I discovered the FOX Reality series, “Solitary.” While browsing through the Apple TV during my most recent sickness, I found out version 4.0 (season 4) of the “Solitary” series has just started airing.

The “Solitary” series pits 9 contestants against… well, themselves. Each contestant is placed in their own octagonal pod. The pod is an empty room that isolates each contestant from the rest of the world. The contestants only interact with one thing – the reality show ‘host’ known as VAL. VAL is a faceless, female sounding electronic voice. VAL provides the contestants instructions for each challenge or ‘treatment’ as she likes to call them.

The treatments are usually some sort of physical endurance challenge or nasty food challenge. Each contestant participates in the treatment in their pod. They are not aware how the other contestants are performing during the treatment. The contestants are allowed to stop participating in the treatment at any time by pressing the red button (that is usually tied to a timing device) that is in their pod. Pressing the red button indicates that the contestant has given up – if they are the first to give up on the treatment, they will be eliminated. The other contestants are not told when the others have given up  and continue with the treatment until the final contestant hits the red button.

Aside from the physical aspect of the treatments, “Solitary” adds an additional layer of competitive complexity by pitting the contestants against themselves. I believe the compartmentalized twist to the show makes “Solitary” much more interesting than some of the other reality series that are on television. I only hope after the dissolution of the Fox Reality channel at the end of March that this reality series is able to find a new home.

Season Four’s first episode already has me anxious to see more. The show began with 9 contestants. VAL had the contestants engage in aerobic activities in their pod and, using the tools she provided, they were asked to collect vials of sweat. The person who collected the least amount of sweat at the end of VAL’s treatment was eliminated. Number 6, a 40 year old mother of three, was the first to be eliminated. However, VAL through in a twist and had Number 6 replaced with a veteran Solitary contestant from another season.

After the episode’s treatment was over, VAL just leaves the contestants to themselves. For hours, they sit in the middle of their octagon with no comforts for sleep, no food, and no water. They are simply left to just sit. It’s interesting to see how quickly each contestant begins to break down. One contestant starts to hallucinate and believes he sees tiny spiders running across the floor. Others complain about the lack of sleep.

After a few hours of isolation, the contestants are given a set of dark goggles that act as a blindfold once they are worn. After putting the goggles on, the contestants are asked to spin around 9 times and then told to find their meal slots. After hours of sitting in the room staring at the 8 walls, you would think this would be  simple challenge, but it is not. As each contestant finds their meal slot, they are rewarded with a small, foul tasting nutrition bar.

It will be interesting to see how this batch of contestants reacts to the different challenges. Although the physical requirements are definitely exhausting, I think that the contestants have a much more difficult time with the mental aspect.

I’ll let you know how the show progresses. If you’re in to reality TV, check out “Solitary 4.0,” you might like it.