American Idol

I am a huge American Idol fan and have watched every season since the very first. Unfortunately for this season, last night was the first episode I've been able to watch because I have been working. I think the very beginning and the very end of the seasons are my favorite, because in the beginning it is hilarious with all the of bad singers and in the end it showcases all of the people who have real talent. I am extremely excited for this season because Ellen Degeneres is a new judge. I love Ellen, her show is probably my favorite show on TV. She always makes me laugh and just brightens my day. I think it is a little weird without Paula as a judge. Even though she was completely out there, she still added to the show. It will be interesting to see how this season will turn out. Many people are saying that this season may be the last because after this year Simon will be leaving as well. And even though Simon is harsh, he usually has a good opinion and I just don't know how the show will go on without him. So far I am pleased with the season and expect it to be another good one. Even though I missed the first three episodes, it was hard to miss this guys performance since he's been all over TV:

Fundamentals of the Internet

Since I am running out of things to blog about, I figured why not blog about the class I'm writing for!? When the class first started, I'll be honest, I didn't think it would be that challenging. Creating e-mails, personalizing my iGoogle, using search engines...all things I am familiar with. Although I will point out, I learned a ton of useful tips and tricks during the first week of class that I will defintely use in the future. Once we started learning about HTML, I thought "okay, I can do this." Then things started getting a little complicated. But finally I realized once I got the basics down and understood the fundamentals of it I could actually make a pretty cool website. Practice makes perfect, and once I got the hang of things I felt really accomplished. I still have lots of details to work out, but in the end I am excited to see the final product. I really learned a lot from this class and think it will help me in future projects.

My New Obsession...

As if I'm not obsessed with reality TV enough, I've become obsessed with a new television series. This series is a little better and more mind stimulating than Jersey Shore. The two hour season premiere of 24 aired Sunday, then continued last night with another two hours. The show is about a man, Jack Bauer, who used to work for the government, and some how always gets brought in to help major disasters, usually involving terrorists. I have never seen any other season before, but I believe this is the 8th season. What I think is so interesting about this show is that each episode takes place during one hour, the entire season is 24 hours (one day) long. There are many twists, turns and high impact scenes that cause so much suspense I can hardly stand it. I was on the edge of my seat and even screamed a few times during the first four hours of the season. During this season Jack is asked by his daughter to move to LA with her and her family, but is shortly interrupted by a friend who is involved in a scandal. There is a plot to assassinate a fictional Islamic President who is in the United States for a peace conference to stop nuclear bombs from being made. Jack is thrown into the mix and tries to save the Presidents life, all while dealing with other unexpected events. This show is so exciting and I just can't stop watching. I don't know if I'll be able to wait until next Monday to tune in.

Playoffs

This weekend was a big one for football. It was the second round of playoffs and the season is coming to a close. Unfortunately my team, the Cowboys, didn't make it to the next round. They took a tough loss to the Vikings. Tony Romo just couldn't put up the points like Brett Favre. With a final score of 34-3 the Cowboys really didn't do much at all. It was hard to watch, because the previous weekend was such an exciting game against Eagles. It was the first playoff game the Cowboys have won since 1996, so they were overdue for sure. Romo took hard hits and was sacked six times against the Vikings. Favre has so much more experience than Romo and has been in the league a lot longer. Favre was the first 40-year-old quarterback to win a playoff game. Even though it was upsetting, the Vikings deserved to win with the way the played. With the Cowboys, Ravens, Cardinals, and Chargers out, only four teams remain. I look forward to watching the remaining teams fight their way to the Superbowl.

Where do you get your Information from?

It's all around us, it may some day take over the world. One way or another, the media is always influencing the way we think. There are many different theories about how the media impacts us. How we dress, how we talk, and what we do in our daily lives is all impacted by the media. The media is constantly putting out new information and new scandals to draw us in. But the question is how reliable is all of the information that is being put out into the world? Well to the people that bend the truth and put out information for the world to take in, it is just a job. It is their way of life and their way to make a living. But with this power it allows them to put out information from their point of view.

Media impacts every person differently. To some people the only media that affects them is the morning news once a day. To other people their life depends on it. Checking e-mails, phone calls and texts, constantly reading magazines to find out the latest gossip, without the media some people would be lost.

Although the media can put out any type of information they desire, we are ultimately the deciding factor in what we do with the information that they give us. We can take it or leave it, but the media will always be everywhere trying to capture every moment to put out for the world to see.

Reality TV

Last night I spend two hours being entertained by reality TV, specifically Jersey Shore. Reality TV is my guilty pleasure. I know it's not real and there is no educational factor behind it whatsoever, but I just can't get enough. You name it: Real World, American Idol, The Hills, Tough Love, and of course the most recent Jersey Shore. Jersey Shore is similar to Real World because they take a group of strangers and put them in a house, but the difference is they are on the Jersey Shore. Oh and of course they have to be "guidos and guidettes." If you are not familiar with this terminology check out this video:

As you can see this is completely ridiculous, yet so entertaining. The show is full of drama, clubbing, dancing, drinking, fighting, and "fist pumping." I find this show so entertaining because I don't know anyone is their right mind who would act like some of the people on the show. But it is something to laugh at, and make me feel a little better about myself. It makes me realize I have a pretty normal life.

LOVE makes the world go round

I stand corrected. I was reading the book How to be Lovely by Melissa Hellstern about "the Audrey Hepburn way of life," and came across the beginning of a chapter about love. It began, "Yes, love (no, no, not money) makes the world go round." This book inspired me. Not only is it about love, it touches every aspect of life from Audrey Hepburn's point of view. It includes quotes, pictures and information about her life. I have always been an Audrey fan, but this book opened my eyes. It is a short read, but one that I could re-read over and over again. It covers anything and everything: happiness, success, health, love, family, friendship, fulfillment, style, fame and humanity. Not only was Audrey Hepburn stunning and talented, she was one of the most modest celebrities I've ever read about. She didn't think she was beautiful and she didn't think she was talented. She dreamed of being a ballerina and studied it for a large portion of her life. I read about how on sets of movies she was extremely self-conscious and lacked confidence. What I admire most about her is that she always put her loved ones before her career. Once she had children she gave up acting for ten years so she could be a proper mother. She was criticized by her mother, a baroness, who raised her very strictly and was probably the main cause of Audrey's lack of confidence. Audrey Hepburn was an amazing woman, who lived a life many don't even dream of; yet she still just thought she had a normal life just like anyone else.

"I fell into this career. I was unknown, insecure, inexperienced, and skinny. I worked very hard--that I'll take credit for--but I don't understand any of it."

-Audrey Hepburn