Bursting the Eardrums

So, I have a confession to make. I went to the American Idol Live concert tonight at the 'E' Center. WOW. I have never seen so many blonde itty-bitty-teenie-boppers in my life! And yes, those girls have got some lung power. An hour and a half after we left the arena, my ears are still ringing. It was incredible the amount of deafening noise 10,000 underaged tweeners can make. The best part was that they were so predictably unpredictable. At the mere mention of David Archuleta (affectionately known as Archie to the Idolers), or seeing his face for .024 seconds on a video clip, and they all went into synchronized screaming. I kid not - you couldn't hear the 100,000 amps blasted the drum beat over the amount of ear-splitting noise that the audience created. I imagine it's hard to maintain a healthy perspective on life when you have 10,000 girls ready to marry you...when they...and you....become of age.

All in all, it was an enjoyable evening. I wish I could have heard the music a bit better, but I enjoyed it for the most part. Michael Johns, Brooke White, and Archie were my fav's, just because you could hear what they were singing. David Cook was David Cook. As he was singing and strutting his manly guitar slinging strut up there, all I could think of was that Idol finally picked someone who was just plain "cool" as the winner. Kelly Clarkson, Reuben, Fantasia, Carrie, Taylor, Jordin........and David. Yeah. He stands out in the coolness factor.

Now the question that needs to be answered: "Were I ten years younger, would I have been part of the screaming set wearing my "David would vote for ME" t-shirt? I hope I know the answer to that!

It's Official! I can be Canadian....well. Sort of.

I've been waiting to get my temporary student visa information back from the Canadian Consulate in Seattle. Incredibly nice chaps, let me tell you. They took my $125 non-refundable Canadian funds bank draft, my forty-two official forms, bank statements, my passport, and letter from York saying that I was indeed accepted to study at the university, and what did I get in return? A happy little envelope with my passport, a receipt for said $125 non-refundable Canadian funds bank draft, and a letter that says at the very top in big, bold, capital letters, and I quote: "YOU MUST SHOW THIS LETTER TO A CANADA CUSTOMS OFFICIAL WHEN YOU FIRST ARRIVE IN CANADA." Ha. "Welcome to the country" I suppose is the sub-text in very very small, minute print. :) But this is exciting because.....yes. I can go. They will let me in to their country and call me one of their temporary own. Next step is getting Pepper Jane to come with me! (That would be my 2004 Ford Escape) As it turns out, they didn't do anything to my passport, but I do get the opportunity to become close friends with an Immigration officer at the border. Hopefully they'll crack a joke with me, because in tense situations, I tend to go just a smidge quippy. I think that could be an interesting day before me.

Life Experience

So I've been MIA for a while. And yes, that's an overstatement. But such is life, and such has been my life, so let's all shake hands, do the hokey pokey, turn ourselves around, and get this blog going again. Whoa. Dejavu. This must have happened before in my previous blogging life!

Very quickly to give the general update: I'm moving to Toronto in a little over a month to start my PhD program. Yes, that's Toronto, Canada. I shall be Canadian in a few short weeks. And hopefully my car will become Canadian with me (who knew it would almost be harder to import my car than myself???). So I'm in the middle of the preparation tempest. And by tempest, I mean chaos that generally resembles a cyclone in my room. Every day I'm feeling the heebies because I did the exact same thing when I went on my mission. It's not fun trying to pack your life up into a few small boxes that will fit in the cheapest U-Haul trailer and coming to terms with the fact that your Love-sac and rocking chair probably won't make the cut. *sniff sniff* But, the saving grace? My Kitchen-Aid will! Long-live my cookie dough fettish!

I went for a hike yesterday with my aunt and my mother. I loved getting up in the mountains, very quickly becoming dusty and a little sweaty, and hiking amongst the chirping, peppy birds and gorgeously blooming wild flowers. I might have to go again, and soon - and I recommend all go and become one with nature at least once this week! It quiets the soul in a way that the hustle and bustle of suburban life cannot. While on the hike, my aunt asked us a question: "If you could have any experience in the world, what would it be?" After the automatic responses of family, kids, career (which, don't get me wrong - go team on those!) ran through my mind, I was like...HMM. What would I do? My mom answered a kayaking trip for a week. I would totally go with her, kayak blisters and all. My aunt answered climbing K2. I probably wouldn't do that. Going up a mountain just doesn't appeal to me. It's great to accomplish something and look down on the creations of the world, but....if my life can potentially be in peril, I probably won't attempt it. So, she can do that with her hubby. I'll look at their pictures after.

My answer that came to the surface after weeding through those first ones? I would Love, LOVE, love, LOve, loVE to play the part of Elphaba on the West End in London. My answer cracked me up, because quite honestly, I had never thought about it before, but when I said it outloud, I knew it was true. I would adore being able to be part of a play, with a British accent, an adorable co-star who can serenade me until the cows stop mooing, and having the ability to sing my heart out and have it appreciated by others. And in London? Yeah. Well. Let's just say I've found my true love in life. Add that to the fact that I absolutely am enchanted with "Wicked" and the part of Elphaba in particular, and it's a done deal for my dream experience.

I asked my aunt what our answers revealed about us. My auntie said my mom's showed that she wanted to be away from the world and at peace. 'Tis true, because when you're on the water, it's just you. My aunt's showed that she loves and challenge and pushing herself to her limits and seeing those accomplishments. Mine? That I want fame and recognition. Haha. Maybe it's true, but I'd like to think that my dream experience shows how I love the arts and appreciate the opportunity to immerse one's self in the telling of a story. Plus, I'm a spazz. And I like London. Hello. That's a given. And a British accent? I do it without thinking as it is! So, fame and recognition aside, I would love to be able to excel at something artistic and be able to express it. Maybe the applause wouldn't be so bad either............

So what would your dream experience be? And what does that show about you? Just a fun thought to start the week off! Cheerio!