April 28, 2004 - 10:50 a.m.

Travesty Brigns Out Activism

This entry is brought to you by the delusional stupidity of a certain subset of the American population.

Don't get any ideas from my dramatic title. I am not about to go on a political rant or anything. It's just that last week's American Idol was such a horrible surprise that it actually caused a change in me that I didn't think possible. Let me explain... I've said before that as a general rule of this season of AI the African-Americans are the best singers, and the women are better than the men. This is really hard to dispute. As cute as Jasmine and Diana are and as talented as they are for their age, they simply aren't consistent, nor are they very versatile. Don't even get me started on John Stevens! I mean, this isn't American Frank Sinatra Impersonator, people!

Anyway, last week I was positively stunned to see Fantasia, and my favorite, La Toya, in the bottom three along with Jennifer, who was shockingly eliminated. I actually yelled at the television. It was inconceivable to me that Jennifer, who has gotten better and better with every show, who has taken criticism and weeded out the snarky to implement the constructive, who has personality and charm, who has power and rhythm, got voted off while John, who has one very dated style, who probably doesn't have a groove to get on, who usually looks utterly bored while he's singing, who FORGETS THE WORDS to his songs, remains. It's just wrong!

I was so outraged that after this week's show, I broke new ground and took matters into my own hands. Yes, readers, I voted! For La Toya, of course, who once again showed her class, beauty, versatility, and vast talent in this week's Gloria Estefan show. She kicked ass! And I wasn't about to let her get voted off this week without casting at least a vote or two. I was actually able to vote three times before the busy signal kicked in. I think one of the reasons I have never voted before is that I really dislike that people can vote as many times as they want, or at least as many times as they can get through. That means that the contestants with fans who are willing to devote a couple hours to compulsively redialing are going to get more votes. I'm not willing to devote that kind of time, so I have never voted at all before. It also means that my three calls from last night are more of a token gesture than anything else. People calling for the teens probably kept up their calling for the full two hours. After all, their fans are probably mostly teens themselves and they are used to spenging an entire evening on the phone. We'll see what happens in tonight's results show, but I am not sure my loyalty to the show can survive another excellent contestant getting voted off.

Anyway, enough ranting about reality TV. I need to shower the gym sweat and grime off before going to pick up B from school. Then we dive into H day. We'll probably play hopscotch, read in the hammock, and make some handprint art. I am really liking this letter a day idea. It gives me a jumping off place for coming up with acitivities, and it has motivated me to do a little more planning than I have been likely to invest in my job lately.

In other news, I finally got in touch with the volunteer department at another hospital in the area. I have an appointment with them on May 20th, and if all goes well perhaps I will be volunteering by June. I am pleased to have a lead again, but also afraid that I may get stymied with this one as I have with all the other possibilities I have pursued so far.

today's project: H things. I wish we owned Hungry, Hungry Hippos

Did you know? The kids I work with go through about three loaves of bread and a jar of peanut butter a week!

consecutive workout days: three, though yesterday's was a short and simple weight workout

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