Delusional

Ok! 2 words -- American Idol! It is now season 7 but there are still so many delusional people that audition to be the next American Idol. There are so many deaf Americans or maybe star struck or something -- OMG, have you heard yourself singing? That's not singing -- it's screaming! Some can't even hold a tune!!! And the number 1 excuse this year seems to be "But people stop when they hear me sing!" -- yeah, from shock, you moron! Reality check, people! Just becuase your family is being supportive does not mean that the rest of the world will be. Admittedly, a couple of people that auditioned did sing well but are not right for the show. For those people, I say keep singing and hopefully things will work out for you one day!

COLD!

I guess I really can't complain -- I did choose to live in Chicago -- but, can you really blame me? It is probably one of the coldest weekend in Chicago for a really, really long time. Woke up in the morning on 1/19/2008 to 2 degrees Fahrenheit temperature and it just got colder from there. I think the lowest temperature during the day was at about -6 degrees or something like that. I started the car in the morning and heard and un-godly sound coming from the engine. It was like the car was tell me, "Are you frigging out of your mind? It is so g*d da*n cold, you should just go back to bed and don't even bother to try and start me up! You crazy moron!"

Don't sprain anything . . .

I had to give myself a pat on the back -- while trying not to sprain anything in the process. My laptop bombed -- don't really know what it was but got the blue screen of death from Windows. So, I wiped the hard drive clean and attempted to reload Windows. Attempt failed. I thought maybe my disc was scratched or something so a friend provided me with an extra copy of Windows that he had (it is all legal! I am not a software pirate!). Anyway, I wiped the hard drive again and loaded the OS. Everything loaded fine and I was happy. Getting the latest Windows update, etc. and then . . . . . . it boomed again! So, I am thinking -- this cannot be a software problem. Did some research, asked around and determined that I maybe need a new hard drive. Was going to take the laptop to Best Buy or Microcenter and have them fix it for me but before I did that, I thought I would take a peek "under the hood" so to speak. Lots of unscrewing and careful manipulation later -- I figured, I could probably do it myself. I went to Circuit City to try to get a hard drive from them but they only had the REALLY big ones -- 160GB! Bear in mind, the current hard disk on my laptop only had 60GB and it is no where hear full. So I went to Microcenter to try to find a smaller one. Found a 80GB from Seagate that said Ultra ATA on it -- who knew that Ultra ATA is the same as IDE? Well, I know now. LOL! Got the hard drive home and read the packaging -- Recommend installation by the professional -- oh oh! Will I be able to do this myself? Maybe I should take it back to Microcenter. Oh well, let me give it a try -- doesn't really look that difficult! Besides, I've installed hard drives and even second hard drives on desktops before! Ok, deep breaths!!!!! Opened the case again, remove the WiFi card, remove the old hard drive, slip in the new one -- making sure to stay grounded and not pick up any static electricity. Put back the WiFi card, close the cover -- put only one screw back and power on the laptop. Deep Breaths!!!!! Viola! It worked. Recognized the hard drive, installed the OS, updated the patches, installed all the drives and I am back in business. I have to say that I am kinda impress with myself but I think that fear was the biggest obstacle in this whole process. One thing that I do have to say though -- no STATIC ELECTRICITY! You don't want to fry your components before you install them! Now, I am thinking of maybe replacing my DVD/CD RW drive with a DVD R/W drive. We'll see. LOL!

Christmas

Christmas has come and gone. What did I learn this year? That maybe Christmas has become too commercialized? I used to love Christmas -- maybe because I was younger. It was never about the gifts that we exchange but about the gathering of friends and loved ones. What's different now? I really can't tell. Last night's gathering was fun but no different than any other gatherings scattered throughout the year. Maybe the magical Christmas in Puerto Vallarta has ruined it all for me? Maybe it is my personal frame of mind? I really don't know. However, it is not really bugging me enough that I would spend hours contemplating the significance. We'll see what next year brings.

I love this clip . . .

This is a compilation of scenes from the television series Torchwood that has aired on BBC America. I don't know the full extend of the story but this scene is particularly tender and touching. Watching it always makes me a little weepy and makes me yearn for the one thing that is blatantly absent in my own life. This clip affirms that love can exist between two people of the same sex and it is not always about a sordid love affair! The name of the song is Ostacoli Del Cuore (Obstacles of the Heart) and is in Italian. Enjoy!

Winter Blues

It is usually too early for winter blues but this is perhaps one of the worse winter in recent history. It has snowed about six or more inches since December 1st. We typically don't see snow until around Christmas and sometimes not even until the new year here in Chicago. It has been COLD, COLD, COLD!!! The last few days, it has not been cold enough to snow but it's been doing that wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain. Today, we're suppose to get what hit Oklahoma and Missouri. I firmly believe that this change in climate has something to do with global warming. Some people are very literal about the term "Global Warming" -- they think that the globe is going to be warmer. I am from the school where they predict that the climate is going to be more erratic and that we are going to get more extremes in the weather -- i.e. look at all the tornado, typhoon, earthquake, etc. that is going on around the work. How long can this keep going on? I believe in balance. Will planet earth seek to balance itself out? What is the aftermath of that? Will less of the earth be habitable? Think "The Day After Tomorrow". By the way, a great movie with a younger Jake Gyllenhaal.

The Blah . . .

Nothing is really happening these days. I guess it is the winter blues. The sun rises so late but sets so early -- if you can even said that; for about two weeks, I've only maybe seen the sun once. It's dreary, gray and wet. Sigh. One of the perils of living in Chicago, I guess. Can't say much for about the rest of the midwest as I've only lived in Indiana for a few years. I was in school then and we don't generally get to see the sun when we're in class and as the saying goes, "You don't miss what you don't have!"

Snowed for the first time the day before Thanksgiving this year. Snow persisted into Thanksgiving Day but nothing stuck -- I guess the ground is still too warm. I've got volleyball to sustain me for now, hopefully it will be enough to last me through the cold winter months.