Things I've Learned

I made this list about five years ago, in the middle of rebuilding the house after the fire, so I was about fifteen. It was just some random things I was thinking about/noticing at the time.

• Little things aren't the most important things in life, but you should treat them like they are.

Sort of my life motto, a paraphrasing of that verse in Luke that says "He who has been faithful in little will be faithful with much, and he who is faithless with little will also be faithless with much."

• It's easy to survive. The hard part is figuring out how to thrive.

Over and over, I'm reminded of this...not very good at the second half. I have lots of experience in the first part.

• If you go looking for a girl, you'll never get one.

Just based on watching they way a lot of peers' lives have unfolded so far.

• Everyone needs a dog and a girl. If you have one, you're lucky. If it's ever possible to have both, then you're blessed.

Dogs are a lot less complicated, it's easier.

• You can survive without friends. It's not fun, but it is possible. You canNOT survive without animals or music. 

Yep...and thank goodness for Facebook, so you can stay in touch with geographically-distant pals.

• If you mess up in something, replay that moment, and study it so the next time you'll get it right.

I've actually had arguments over this view...but doesn't it make sense? Haven't football teams improved for decades by following this practice?

• When you find something great, (storyteller, movie, singer, etc.) find out what makes it the way it is, and try to develop those elements in your own work.

 Yes. Because that's the other side of the coin; you learn by observing your own mistakes, others' mistakes, or what others do better than you.

• Horses teach you respect, guinea pigs teach you how to listen, cats teach you servanthood, dogs teach you how to love, and they all teach you how to let go.

Part of why we love them so much...but why is still such a hard lesson to learn?

• Sportswriting is an odd mixture of truth and fiction.

Or, as Mark Twain would say, it's one of the areas where we routinely advance society by lying, and it's looked upon as a good thing. If you haven't read his essay "On the Decay of the Art of Lying", you should really read it someday.

• Mistakes are lessons in disguise.

And generally we only recognize them as if they were the Lone Ranger...as they're riding away into the sunset.

American Idol Season 12 Top Eight - Music of the Motor City Night

..."Huge sigh of 'Why did I just waste my time watching that?'"

Nicki and Mariah were like, matching...it was weird.

There was this plastic pink fairy wand everybody was playing with...that was strange.

Candice Glover - "Heard It Through the Grapevine", Marvin Gaye - UGH!!!!! !!!!! !!!!! The saxophone was strange, it was extremely theatrical, she is ALWAYS SHOUTING AND EXTREMELY ANGRY AT SOMEONE WHILE SHE'S SINGING! It was horrible. And nobody can do this song as good as Skylar last season.

Kree/Janelle - "Like A Prayer", Madonna - Spooky. With a twang. Very strange. Kree looked uncomfortable the whole time, Janelle looked like a dork. And the choir doing background vocals? I didn't like it, but Keith did. "That performance was so good - I'm not sure whether that says more about where late-80s pop music was, or where 2013 country is now...trying to figure that one out."

Lazaro Arbos - "For Once in My Life", Stevie Wonder - It started out so gentle it was almost laughable...and then when the tempo picked up, it was incredibly so. That was a shiny suit...that was ridiculous.

Janelle Arthur - "You Keep Me Hangin' On", The Supremes - First thing I noticed: "Wow...that capo is really high." It was a weird, unsettling, haunting performance, kind of creepy. TMM. I'd be super nervous playing in front of Keith Urban, too.

Devin Velez - "Tracks of my Tears", The Miracles - RED jacket....too upbeat. Totally disconnected. Seemed like a nice song, though. Nicki: "You reminded me of a ripe banana." Keith: "That's not what I was gonna say...."

Angie, Amber and Candice - "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me", The Supremes - Um....can there be a less attractive love song title in existence? That just makes you want to run away...which, actually, the performance did, too... It was OLD. Far too strong and in-your-face. Candice looked extremely out of place, she still sounded angry. Angie was overly flirty, Amber was just there somewhere.

Burnell Taylor - "My Cherie Amour", Stevie Wonder - Smokey Robinson had a couple of good quotes: "You could sing 'Lah..." soulfully." And the strangest mentor-advice quote I've ever heard on the show: "Could you sing the "Lahs" more softly?" There was a flute featured prominently. There was a blindingly white suit. It really seemed straight out of the Little Rascals. And was it playing in the restaurant on the cruise ship in the Parent Trap? If not, it should have been. Nicki was very annoying tonight.

Angie Miller - "Shop Around", The Miracles - She was in command of the stage. The high notes were very bad. And she was shouting pretty much the whole way through. Ryan had to ask, "What was...going on, there, exactly?" "I wanted to have fun."

Amber Holcomb - "Lately", Stevie Wonder - Very weird dress...TML...looked exactly like Michelle Obama....Shouting....it was a credits song....yawn....

Mariah to Ryan, "You can have my wand if you're very, very good."

Burnell, Devin and Lazaro - "I Can't Help Myself/Sugar Pie Honeybunch", The Four Tops - I liked this, the judges tore it to pieces. It was retro, in a cool sort of way. Lazaro's bow tie fit the song perfectly for once. The robotic dancing was awkward.

Kree Harrison - "Don't Play That Song", Aretha Franklin - How did she not fall down wearing heels that high? She was wailing the entire time, it was very dull. She's just not a solo artist, I don't think. If she had a band, something like Little Big Town, I can see that sort of working for her.

I didn't really like anybody. But tomorrow's results show ought to be worth watching, Colton Dixon and Keith will both be singing!

Changes

     I changed the layout and design of the blog a few weeks ago. It just looked a little plain and boring. (And sort of like the Mom Blog...) Just...not quite right. Light blue background on white-white space made for a little trouble reading it sometimes.

     So I went with sort of a darker color scheme, fitting the title. (After all, the quote came from the man in black.) The header's font is the closest I could find to my actual handwriting, and I liked the marker-like look of the background info. 

    If I could figure out how to link photos into posts, I probably would start doing that, or that nifty trick of turning text into a link.

    Things haven't really changed this semester, really. Thankful there's only seven weeks left. I was walking in a chilly drenching rain on my way to math class one day in late January, passed a place where my dad used to live. That's when I was suddenly hit by this thought: You don't have to relive other people's experiences. You can live your own life. You have a way of doing just about everything in different ways than what's normal, and it's all right if that includes college, too.

     So, this semester I've just kind of been trying to figure out exactly how to thrive, it hasn't gone so well so far. Course, just surviving has been tough at times. Found a group of Christians seeking to grow at the BCM, people seem friendly and real, and, most amazing, I can't slip out unnoticed. There's usually a "See ya, Wes!" as I head out the door. It isn't exactly GBC, and it's not quite SGYC, but it's near both of them. If there's anybody of the Race of Joseph around this campus, I'm guessing they might be involved in some way. Last night I was being friendly-pestered to try out for the worship band. We'll see, haha.

     Not really loving any of my classes this semester, so it's a little hard to stay motivated to study. I hit this wall; past it, I just can't go any farther, I don't care. I'm not scared to death any longer, which isn't exactly a good thing, because that fear acted as rocket fuel to succeed. And the sunshine...even if it is cold(er), I still want to be out in it, away from these confining prison-like walls and everything else indoors. 
     Most of my energy this semseter has gone into looking for ways to survive in a world you dislike but are stuck in for the near future. Not really an easy task. The weather's been sort of bad pretty often, so I haven't really been running. I've gotten sick more times than I can remember, so that adds to the not running and general blah-ness. There hasn't really been any sports to go see, or anything like that. Don't really have time to read for pleasure, which is disappointing and depressing. And I've had a massive case of writer's block, so I haven't been able to work on spinning any new fiction tales.

     But there is American Idol, the occasional discussions about it with the Wichita Gang, Morgan's, Stranger, country music, visitng with family, and visits back to GBC, those are all good things. Almost a year since we went to Louisville...lot's happened since then.
And a ton has happened since that night on Dad's birthday eight years ago, where we were sitting in the family room eating pizza and watching the Arizona-Illinois NCAA Tournament game, when Mom called, and said...

...

Gosh I miss Mimi.... Maybe I should call Nano. Or do math homework. Or get started on writing that essay. Or go grocery shopping. SOMETHING to stay busy and keep from thinking so much.

The Perfect Dinner Table

     Another Edgar Guest poem. I found this one in The Book of Virtues, pages 241-42.

"A tablecloth that's slightly soiled
Where greasy little hands have toiled;
The napkins kept in silver strings,
And only ordinary things
From which to eat, a simple fare;
And just the wife and kiddies there,
And while I serve, the clatter glad
Of little girl and little lad
Who have so very much to say
About the happenings of the day.

"Four big round eyes that dance with glee,
Forever flashing joys at me,
Two little tongues that race and run
To tell of troubles and of fun;
The mother with a patient smile
Who knows that she must wait awhile
Before she'll get a chance to say
What she's discovered throughout the day,
She steps aside for girl and lad
Who have so much to tell their dad.

"Our manners may not be the best;
Perhaps our elbows often rest
Upon the table, and at times
That very worst of dinner crimes,
The very shameful act and rude,
Of speaking ere you've downed your food,
Too frequently, I fear, is done,
So fast the little voices run,
Yet why should their table manners stay
Their tongues that have so much to say?

"At many a dinner table I have been
Where wealth and luxury were seen,
And I have dined in halls of pride
Where all the guests were dignified;
But when it comes to pleasure rare
The perfect dinner table's where
No stranger's face is ever known:
The dinner hour we spend alone,
Where little girl and little lad
Run riot telling things to dad."

American Idol Season 12 Top Ten - Idol Winners Night

Finally, a good theme! That was really cool to see. And it's great to have Jimmy back on TV again. Now if only there were more good performances...


Curtis Finch, Jr. - I Believe, Fantasia Barrino - That jacket was unbelievable....so incredibly loud. His song was forgettable, but pleasant. He needs to open his eyes when singing. I don't really like him, he's too self-important and showy.

Janelle Arthur - Gone, Montgomery Gentry, covered by Scotty McCreery - I don't know what to think about her....she's such a hick... Sounds kind of good, but it's from a long time ago, not really current on radio nowadays. A poor imitation of Skylar Laine. This is not a girl's song at all, but she was okay. She is now a Marshmallow Cottonmouth...

Randy: "It just stayed there, didn't go anyplace." Please, no Janelle ballads, Mariah. That'd age her even more than she already has...

Devin Velez - Temporary Home, Carrie Underwood - Love this song, but you can't chop it up. His suit jacket looked weird, scratchy and uncomfortable. It seemed like it was going to be an okayish performance, but SO BORING....and his voice wasn't very good at all. Very painful to witness.

Keith: "It wasn't one of your better performances, you seemed to have no confidence tonight, and it showed."

Angie Miller - I Surrender, Celine Dion, covered by Kelly Clarkson - Very nice opening. Was that dress made of leather? It was strange. Her hair and teeth and stuff are distracting. Kind of reminded me of something from a parody of AI instead of something actually on the real show. She did well, that might could be played on the radio from time to time.

Paul Jolley - Amazed, Lonestar, covered by Scotty McCreery - He is ANNOYING. Jimmy was right on about oversinging all the time. It's a great song, but... It was good mechanically, but...that's all there was to it. Authenicity, the heart behind the story, was utterly absent. No heart at all. He's a male version of Lauren Alaina. (Gah!)

Nicki: "You have this uncanny ability to pick songs that I like just as a regular human being." All four get Fs on this grading test.

Candice Glover - I Have Nothing, Benny King, covered by Jordin Sparks - I had to think really hard for a while on this commercial break before I remembered who she was. She's just there, no appealing qualities whatever. Her sleeves looked like somebody'd started tearing them and then decided to stop halfway through. Hate this song. The performance was extremely angry and frightening, and she reminded me of Ursula from The Little Mermaid.
Nicki: "It would be in everyone's best interest to ban that song forever. You just...kind of destroyed it, and I don't want to ever hear it again." I agree completely with what she said. I disagree totally with what she meant.

Lazaro Arbos - Breakaway, Kelly Clarkson - GOOD song. Jimmy gave him good advice, "Practice, practice, practice! And pick good songs." He didn't seem to be entirely sure of the lyrics, but it was great. My TV's speakers are kinda starting to wear out, so there was a lot of static, but what I heard was fantastic, best of the night. He looked like Ricky Ricardo, and then Nicki says exactly the same thing. Agreed with Keith, disagreed with Nicki and Randy, and if Mariah had actually said anything, I probably would've disagreed with her, too.

Kree Harrison - Cryin', Laura Oberfeld, covered by Carrie Underwood - She's so very plain. And singing Carrie doesn't help at all. It was homemade-production good, not Idol-worthy at all. Nicki stole the night by launching into a detailed recipe for waffles, and Keith jumped in by checking her cup for catnip.

Burnell Taylor - Flying Without Wings, Ruben Studdard - Nice guy, but doesn't really stand out in any way except looking dorky. He's eccentric, kind of quirky. It was a dull pleasant ballad for most of the way, but it was PITCHY!!!

Amber Holcomb - A Moment Like This, Kelly Clarkson - TML! And her dress looked like an aincient Greek goddess, if the Puritans had approved of drawing, and if those Puritan artists could have drawn Greek deities. As for the performance - No. Fell flat somewhere, in some very obvious-but-impossible-to-define place. Lacking heart, and she was smiling way too much.

Keith looked odd trying to roll those suit-jacket sleeves up, so did some other guy. His T-shirt was cool, though.

Ryan's suit shrunk somewhere.

Randy looked kind of normal, very plain for him.

Nicki's shades...WOW!!... Once you got over the shock value, though, it sort of worked.

I'm glad Jimmy's back.

The judges' expressions as Ryan was introducing Candice....they were hysterical. Keith and Nicki were whispering conspiratorially nearest the camera, Randy and Mariah scowling at them in disapproval, and then Mariah gives this disgusted huff and glares at the roof, and all the while Ryan's just calmly ignoring everyone and doing his thing...

We only heard Kelly, Ruben, Fantasia, Carrie, Jordin and Scotty songs, not David Cook or Kris or Phillip...that was a little disappointing. Nobody really cares that  no one did anything by Taylor Hicks or Lee DeWyze, cause it's hard to remember they even won.

My Rankings of last night -

1 - Lazaro

2 - Angie

3 - Kree

4 - Burnell

5 - Janelle

6 - Devin

7 - Curtis

8 - Amber

9 - Paul

10 - Candice.

Home

     This poem is one of my favorites, written by a man named Edgar A. Guest, I found it in a wonderful old 1958 paperback titled "One Hundred and One Famous Poems".

"It takes a heap o' livin' in a house t' make it home;
A heap of sun and shadder, an' ye sometimes have to roam
Afore ye really 'preciate the things ye lef' behind,
And hunger for 'em somehow, with 'em allus on yer mind.
It don't make any differunce how rich ye get to be,
How much yer chairs an' tables cost, how great  yer luxury;
It ain't home t' ye, though it be the palace of a king,
Until somehow yer soul is sort o' wrapped 'round everything.

Home ain't a place that gold can buy or get up in a minute;
Afore it's home there's got t' be a heap o' livin' in it;
Within the walls there's got t' be some babies born, and then
Right there ye've got t' bring 'em up t' women good, and men;
And gradjerly, as time goes on, ye find ye wouldn't part
With anything they ever used - they're grown into yer heart:
The old high chairs, the playthings, too, the little shoes they wore
Ye hoard; an' if ye could ye'd keep the thumb-marks on the door.

Ye've got t' weep t' make it home, ye've got t' sit an' sigh
An' watch beside a loved one's bed, an' know that Death is nigh;
An' in the stillness o' the night t' see Death's angel come,
An' close the eyes o' her that smiled, an' leave her sweet voice dumb.
Fer these are scenes that grip the heart, an' when yer  tears are dried,
Ye find the home is dearer than it was, an' sanctified;
An' tuggin' at ye always are the pleasant memories
O' her that was an' is no more - ye can't escape from these.

Ye've got t' sing an' dance  fer years, ye've got t' romp an' play,
An' learn t' love the things ye have by usin' 'em each day;
Even the roses 'round the porch must blossom year by year
Afore they 'come a part o' ye, suggestin' someone dear
Who used t' love 'em long ago, an' trained 'em jest to run
The way they do, so's they would get  the early mornin' sun;
Ye've got t' love each brick an' stone from cellar up t' dome;
It takes a heap o' livin' in a house t' make it home."

Weekend Chaos - Flying Fur and a Medical Crisis

      Okay, first of all, I have not dropped off the face of the earth. It's just there's this never-ending thing called "school", and while it typically involves learning, you can't wait for it to end. Now, learning, that's an continious process that's interesting and enjoyable...but, anyway...  So, I haven't really had time to write. Not on here, anyway. And there hasn't really been that much of interest happening.
      So it was definitely time for something to happen.

     With working on studying for midterms next week, I needed a break, and it'd been a while since I'd visited Grandpa and Robbie. So I went over there for the night, we went and got some dinner and then set down to watch Robbie's favorite TV show, "Shark Tank". (It's kind of like "American Idol" for businesspeople, trying to sell their ideas for products and their companies, hoping to attract an important investor to help them grow.) There was this rodeo guy-turned fitness trainer trying to ply a workout system, we spent most of the show arguing about whether his claim that there's a certain heart-rate zone that's optimal for burning fat was true or not. (After checking with an expert, apparently it is.) 
     After that was over with, none of us were really paying attention to a "20/20" episode on the dangers of real estate, about 9:20 Tigger the elderly cat walks across the living room, and the dogs, who'd been extremely jumpy all night, tense up to get her.
      Being closest to them, I pounce on Gretchen and haul her away to give Tigger a clear path to walk through. Fancy goes back to chewing her squeaky toy, and we all kind of relax. Well, Gretchen breaks loose of my grip and just nails Tig. Completely unprovoked, just out of maliciousness.

     An quick sketch of the dogs' personalities: Fancy is a small gray-and-white Lhasa Opsa, pretty
self-sufficient, occasionally likes attention. Kind of a feline personality, in some ways. She LOVES playing with toys and going on car trips, and is Very Serious about her job as house security guard.
     Gretchen is an all-black Shnauzer, extremely spoiled. Very much a Daddy's Girl, can't stand to be alone, has to have attention. Has an aggressive personality, a kill streak, though. And she's never liked Tigger at all, often thought about attacking her before.

     Well, there's a blur of flying fur and scrapping noises, Fancy's trying to decide if she ought to join in. Robbie is freaking out, I'm trying to figure out what to do. Grandpa just leaps in and wrestles Gretchen away, keeping her still long enough for Robbie to get the cat. I scoop up Fancy to keep her from doing any more damage, it lasted maybe fifteen seconds.

     An anxious Robbie inspects the damage, she's moaning in horrible pain, we all decide it's bad enough to call the vet. So we wait for an eleven-minute eternity until he calls back, says bring her in, don't wait til morning. So off we jump into the SUV and drive the half-hour to Stilwell. Tigger is in a crate the the back(One more traumatic stressful experience on top of another), I'm trying to calm her down, Grandpa's just trying to get us there as fast as possible, Robbie's worrying the whole way.

     "It's just a cat." you might be saying right now. Well, you're right. And wrong. Very wrong.
     Because, yes, she is just a cat. But also she's so much more than that for Robbie...

     It was a cold, gusty, very dreary day in January 1995. And raining as only a miserable January rain can. A horrible day to do anything. Robbie pulls into the drive-in at the Beacon restaurant after a long day of teaching school, when she spots this tiny kitten huddled miserably up in a little ball, trying to protect itself from the chill. There's no way this cat will survive if somebody doesn't do something. So she somehow coaxes it close enough to grab and bring inside the car, intending to take care of it for a few weeks and then find a new home.
     There was enough going on right then to add another animal to the house...her dad had just died about six weeks ago, trying to understand that. Which would be right about when this kitten was probably born...it just seemed kind of like a sign, she said.
     She bottle-fed the kitten for about a week, took her to the vet in Tahlequah for a checkup, and, well...she got a name, Tigger, and just kind of became a part of the family.
    
     A typical cat personality-wise, self-sufficient, occasionally chose to seek attention, but mostly just did her own thing. Eighteen years later, her arthritis was pretty bad, sometimes things were a little fuzzy, and most all her teeth couldn't chew very well, but when you're eighty-eight years old, things just aren't supposed to work as well as they once did, you're starting to wear out.

     The vet was a friendly, quiet kind of guy in his mid-twenties, he checked Tigger over and pronouced that yes, her right front paw was broken. Or actually more like her wrist, 40% of the joints had snapped. After a kind explanation for the scared people about the different options of a cast or a splint, he suggested(I agreed with him) to go with a splint. It might delay the healing, and the bones would fuse either way, but that was a better risk to take than the possibility of an infection eating the entire leg underneath a cast.
     He takes a few X-rays of the break, just to get a better look at what we're dealing with, he held the cat still while I snapped the pictures. Then he showed Grandpa where to give the painkiller shots for the next few days, along with instructions on how to try approaching the recovery, given her fragile state. After that he tried as best he could to answer Robbie's questions about Tigger's general welfare, on not eating dry food or not using the litter box.
     (Her teeth's enamel has worn out completely, the mouth is so sensitive that without that protection, there's no way she would even try to chew. He suggested maybe dementia as for not using the box, which could be true, I guess. My reasoning on that one is simple: The litter box is in the garage, and you have to cross the kitchen to reach the trapdoor. Hardwood floors are tough to walk on, not much traction, and then concrete is awful on joints. And then once you reach the box you have to dig around...it's an act of self-preservation, not putting any more wear and tear on your body than you have to.)

     We go back to the house, me and Grandpa trying to explain what he said, and attempting to calm both cat and owner down some. Also how to take care of the invalid, I whipped up a nice little spot in her favorite closet among the forest of cowboy boots, and then the food and water bowls were moved within easy reach. Dogs needed to be blocked out from upstairs, so finding something to put in the hallway. Puppy pads set in useful places, that kind of thing. It was a late night.

      She seems to be doing well so far. The painkiller is working well, she's a little loopy, but lying still, so that's good. Robbie's been taking care of her today while Grandpa took a bunch of people on the bus to Tulsa for the WinterJam concert.

     And I've just been sitting here in my dorm all afternoon/night trying to study and ignore the wet dreary March weather. Well, and typing this story.

American Idol Season 12 - Top Ten Guys

Has no one this season ever heard of singing uptempo tunes? I'd make that a requirement for one night...set a list of fast songs they could choose from, like on Hollywood Group Night. Let's see..."Deer in the Headlights", "Since I Met You", "My Life Would Suck Without You", "Hit The Ground Runnin'", "Footloose", "Days Go By", "Supernatural", "Long Sermon", "Life is a Highway" (those are the first ones that instantly come to mind)...
After all those ballads last night, we get eight more and two slow mid-tempo performances..."Keith-slam onto laptop keyboard"

Elijah Liu - Some Unknown Rihanna Song - Dull. Some kind of hard-to-define arrogance. Girl-obsessed. WannaBieber. Those high-tops were freaking white!!!! Rnady said it "stayed in first gear all the way through", Nicki apparently wants to turn him into the Looney Tunes or Hannah Montana, with his "picture on blankets, and cups, and backpacks, and..."

Cortez Shaw - Some Unknown Bruno Mars Song - Cool jacket/vest thing. But it was weird-sounding. Sorta like an ambulance or a fire truck. "Wah-Wahh-WAHHHH-wahh-Wah-Wahhh-WAHHH!!!"

Charlie Askew - Song Unknown - This guy is strange. And not like Eli McCann-strange or Norman Gentle-strange or Sanjaya Malakar-strange, either. It sounded sort of vaguely old rock, it was a creepy performance. Very theatrical, he looked like a girl, I think he's gay. Keith thinks he needs to Start a Band, Nicki was confused. "What happened to you?" If Randy could do the McKayla Maroney smirk, he would have. "The first part was terrible, didn't connect at all, I just didn't get it."

Nick Boddington - Some Really Familiar Song I Can't Remember the Title Of - It was a nice song. I liked the piano, he has a very neat tone. It was very good. But he looks weird. Can't decide if it might be cancer or something, or if he's gay.

Burnell Taylor - Unknown Song - His glasses made him look like Urkel, and he looked like a nerd. Niceish song, but very dull. Forgettable restaurant music. Keith: "When you say 'I'm thankful', I believe you. You have this wonderful vulnerability about you."

Paul Jolley - Unkown Song - Nice guy, of course he's a pop/country blend. Good for that genre, but forgettable. He was straining all the way through, and shouting. I'll need to search for the Rascal Flatts, Blake Shelton and Lady A videos he's been in. Did anyone else think Keith's expression was great while Nicki was saying that Paul ought to listen to Keith's advice on being an authentic singer/storyteller? He was thinking, "Okay, first of all....how am I lumped together with Lady Antebellum, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift as 'pop/country'? And second of all...what the heck is she talking about? You can't teach someone how to be authentic!"

Lazaro Arbos - "Feeling Good" - Always such a weird switch from talking to singing... It was an odd choice. It's a very musical-type song, so it almost has to be performed theatrically.

Curtis Finch Jr. - I Believe I Can Fly - Really? I love this song, so that totally throws my opinion of this performance out of whack. Disliked his arangement, it was pitchy, and that scream was unneccessary. I just don't really like him all that much, seems arrogant.

Devin Velez - Unknown Song - He looks like Doug Funnie. It was YET ANOTHER nice, boring, who-cares ballad. And then he switched to Spanish? And then Nicki said he looked like a Ken doll!...

Vincent Powell - "We Belong Together" - Okay, but old. Music for a prom that happened thirty years ago. And then the horrible moaning. And that squeal like he just saw a gigantic half-decapitated mouse carcass unexpectedly in the kitchen sink.

American Idol Season 12 - Top Ten Girls

"Sighs".... I'm disappointed by the judge's choices at the talent pool we get to pick from.

Zoanette Johnson - "What's Love Got To Do With It" - She's unhinged. Can't sing at all. Screeching, bad dancing, making a fool of herself on national television. Keith: "Um...if we had a Unbridled,

Free-Spirited, Energetic Award, you would win it." Nicki: "Ya see, here's the deal: For people to like you, you kinda have to sing on key..." Randy: "It was a mess."

Briana Steer - "That's Why I Love You" - Was that dress camo, or was it just made from whatever fabric scraps were pulled from a dumpster somewhere? It was strange. Did she forget the lyric right at the start, or was that editing of a profanity? She was too showy, an average voice, it was an incredibly bland song. And Too Much Lipstick(TML). The best part was Keith and Nicki's staredown.

Aubrey Cleland - Big Girls Don't Cry - There were goats shown in her clip! An all right

ordinary-person voice, sounded like a good impression of Kelly. Rough lead-in to that last chorus. TML, it looked like dried blood.

Janelle Arthur - Song Unknown - It was old sounding... Like something from the 1950s or so. Good for then, okay for now. But it was boring. Would make good background music at a restaurant, though. NO on the big notes. And how many people get called "Marshmallow"?

Tenna Torres - Some Unknown Faith Hill Song - SO BORING. (Oh, wait. Most Faith songs are boring.) Anyone could have sung that and sounded like she did. Weird orange and navy dress.

Angie Miller - Never Gone - Cool that she did a Colton Dixon song. It was pretty-sounding but forgettable. The piano was a nice touch. Her voice is just too powerful, it's like Carrie's, if she could just keep it down, it would be beautiful. TML, TMM(Too Much Makeup), her hair looked weird. After comparing to Colton, I don't think I like this song.

Amber Holcomb - "I Believe In You and Me" - Big voice, but I wasn't impressed at all. This song is from some movie, and I was spending the whole time trying to figure it out...that's bugging me.

Kree Harrison - Faith Hill's "Stronger" - Good, but nothing amazing. Hated the high notes. She is very plain. (I would use "extremely", but it wouldn't fit. I need Agatha Christie, Lucy Maud Montgomery and Earl Derr Biggers to  help me in order to describe how plain she is.) And I think she'd glow in the dark if somebody flipped the lights out.

Adriana Lantonio - Unknown Song - Jessica Sanchez clone. Which means: A - No personality onstage, 2 - Ultra-Fake personality offstage, 3 - Mechanical disconnected, though technically correct performances. Nicki: "It was pageanty, didn't stand out at all. Goodbye." Randy: "It was a little boring."

Candice Glover - Unkown Song - Yet Another Slow Ballad!!! Okay, but it was so dull!

Everyone sounded alike. Pllyeackk.