Ok Grammys what in the world was that? A tribute? I think not.
One song, which is not even a “great” one of his, and a random hodge-podge of musicians, all of which are very talented in their own right, but together were totally unrelated to the man they were “trying” to honor(except of course you Smokey) IS NOT A TRIBUTE. And just because you make something in 3D that required quirky paper glasses and a really expensive camera does not justify a performance being called a tribute! No! No! NO!
You know what would have been better? Not doing that song at all and remembering to put him in the “In Memoriam” sideshow instead, cause ya know what?…he died too. I’m just sayin.
It’s award show season, we’re reminded of that as we sit down every Sunday evening to watch the “fashion police” critiquing the red carpet and the hoards of chiffon and silk that waltz down it. Don’t get me wrong, I adore the award show season, it helps me to fill up my Netflix queue in a snap.
There is one show, though, that stands out among the others, The Grammys. The fashion hype is not as bad, and instead the focus is on what made 2009 what it was, the music.
Since I was little I’ve had this strange ability to hear a song and be able to tell you what grade I was in when I first heard it, or what time in my life the song had the most effect on me. So in a way, music bookmarks my life like a catalog. I can play a song to represent every year since I was three, crazy huh?
There are so many artists that I really loved this year, many of which will not even get an invite to the Grammys because the largest venue they can fill is a coffee shop down in midtown, but of course that does not lessen their talent.
I am looking forward to the performances this year, as I always do, but I am not looking forward to every artist mentioning Haiti in their acceptance speech. I think it should be brought up in its own little section of the show and then Jay-Z can get back to thanking God for being such a badass. I know that sounds a bit heartless, but if any of you know me I am very much the philanthropist at heart and I don’t mean to sounds cold. The music community has done a great job raising money for Haiti with their 2 hour telethon that took over every station but TBS. You were either forced to watch it or a rerun of Family Guy. I am off my soapbox now. Send money to Haiti, but don’t mention it in your acceptance speech.
You know what the most exciting part of the Grammys is this year? The 3D Michael Jackson tribute! I have butterflies in my stomach I am so excited. I got my glasses last week and I have been sporting them in my car as I drive home from work (OK not really). I will not get into how much the loss of Michael Jackson has has an effect on me, but I will just say I have no doubt there will be tears in my living room. I know, I’m a sap.
It’s been a really exciting week around my house as I set out to try and accomplish some of the things on my Life List. The first one I decided to tackle was to “Buy cowboy boots and wear them to the rodeo”. Simple enough, right? Well not so fast. This past weekend I went with my best friend Kelly to buy my first pair of cowboy boots at the one and only Cavenders Boot City.
We walked in and it was PACKED! I know it’s rodeo season and all, but good gravy I have never seen so many people sitting on the floor wrestling to get a pair of boots on in my life. Kelly quickly found a pair that she loved and now it was my turn. I browsed the shelves for a bit and then, I saw them. The most beautiful pair of boots I have ever seen. It was like you see in the movies when the light shines down from heavens and the angels sing an angelic “Ahhhhhh”! I had found my boots.
Time to try them on and just as I was hitting this ultimate high my bubble was quickly burst as the salesman told me they did not have my size. Bummer! We called all the stores in Houston and they did not have my size. Double bummer! So instead I exercised my paypal account and bought them online.
Well “The Boots” arrived today and I had wanted to make a video for you guys to see them, but my computer crashed. Brilliant, right? Stupid thing. Ok so “The Boots” are purchased and as luck would have it, thanks to my good friend Kristen and Chevron, I will be attending Lady Antebellum at this years Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. I am so PUMPED!! I promise by that time I will have some kind of recording device so that I can show you how fabulous my boots are, cause frankly this picture does not do them justice.
Now I know many of you are wondering why cowboy boots are such a big deal, after all we do live in Texas where cowboy boots are about as common as the nose on your face but it’s a little different in my family. My family and I are very proud of our British heritage and I remember as a kid, when we first moved to Texas, my dad saying ” there will be no boots or ice tea in this house”, he of course said it jokingly…but kinda not. When I went off to Waco for school I was hit with the sweet tea bug, but I resisted the cowboy boots, until now.
I am so excited to get to wear my new boots to the rodeo and check off one of the things on my “Life List“. Now I just have to remember to watch where I’m walking in the petting zoo.
I am going to be adding to this list as I go, cause I was definitely not able to come up with 100 things, but I think it’s a good start. ALSO several plans are in the works to scratch some of these things off, but I will fill you in on those later!
Have a great night!
Jessica
P.S. Here are some pics from last night’s Social Media Shin-dig hosted by the lovely Black Sheep at Yelapaga Mexicana.
Some of you are going to read this next post and roll your eyes, which I am fine with, but it’s something that I need to get off my chest and you guys are the best sounding board a girl could ask for.
Yesterday, during my lunch break at work I was surfing around the interwebs and came across a fabulous blog called Mightygirl.com. Now many of you might be wondering if I have had my head under a rock all this time not to know about Mightygirl.com, but I’m sorry I must have missed that tweet. Anyway, I was on Mightygirl.com and reading her ever so famous Mighty Life List she made for herself. I thought it was pretty cool that she had taken the time to do this and that Intel was now sponsoring her. To be honest I had never thought of doing such a thing and it seemed like a pretty neat idea. That was SIGN 1.
After work that day I came home and watched a movie with my roommate. I got Netflix for Christmas so the movie nights in my apartment have increased 10 fold. After the movie finished I took a look at My Queue to see what movie would be gracing my mailing next and it was none other than “The Bucket List“. (I have been told since by numerous people that I am not allowed to watch this movie because I would cry for a week) That was SIGN 2.
After taking my dog out that night I decided I was going to watch an episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond“. (side note: I have a serious addiction to TV on DVD and will watch ANYTHING that can wrap itself up in a neat little 30min sitcom) I usually watch episodes in the order they are put on the DVD, but last night I was feeling adventurous decided to pick one at random to fall asleep to. OMG you guys…Raymond, the show’s main character, was having a mid-life crisis in this episode and his friends told him that he needed to make a list of 100 things he needed to do before he died. The whole 30 mins I just stared at the screen watching Raymond struggle to make this list of 100. That was SIGN 3.
I was definitely freaking out at this point. All day the universe was pointing me to this idea of making a “life list”, or whatever you wanted to call it, and it really creeped me out! But as I lay there trying to fall asleep I thought, if this is what I am suppose to do it really couldn’t get any clearer. I mean people walk around everyday asking for signs and here I was with 3 shoved right in my face.
So I tried to write a Mighty Life List….and I failed.
I could only come up with 5 things, which really depressed me. I am only 25 years old, I surely can come up with 100 things I want to do….
I am going to try again tomorrow and hopefully there will be some signs to guide me.
Yesterday was such an awesome day! I got to go out to the Extreme Makeover Home Edition job site in Galveston, Texas AND wear my new awesome purple hardhat that I got for Christmas. What could be better, right?
When I got on site it was just incredible to see all these people pitching in their time, money, and skills to give the Beach family a new home. Even the neighbors had all donated their homes and front lawns for catering tents, medical areas and staff meetings. It was just unbelievable!
Despite the cold weather, everyone was smiling and working hard to meet their deadline for the reveal which is TODAY!!! I get all warm and fuzzy just thinking about how much better off that family is going to be.
I put together a video of all the pictures that have been taken over the past couple days by our team. When you watch, keep in mind that this house was built and decorated in 106 hours. The show makes it look like it takes a week, but that is definitely not true.
Something to ponder….if we can build a house in 106 hours, think about all the other homes we could fix that are still unlivable due to Ike damage.
Congrats to the CMC team in Texas City for getting involved with such a great cause! The show is set to air in the spring and will be a 2 hour special! Just goes to show, yet again, that everything is bigger in Texas!
This Saturday I had the great experience of volunteering some of my time and craft skills to work with a group called Charity Chicks Houston. The event was called Operation Valentine, a mission for people to make homemade valentines for our troops overseas.
I started hearing about the event earlier in the week on Twitter and from there I watch as the chicks found people who wanted to participate and then reach out to a local hometown business, Coffee Groundz for a place to set up shop. It was amazing watching this whole event get set up and promoted through a series of tweets.
When I showed up on Saturday the room was FULL of a people spread out all over the place with glitter, glue, markers, stencils and paper surrounding them. I recognized some of the “regular” Coffee Groundz goers so I quickly said “hello!” and set myself down at a table of strangers to start creating my masterpieces.
As I started to introduce myself to the people around me I was thrilled to learn that I “knew” almost all of them from Twitter and I had actually sat myself next to one of the people I had set out to meet in 2010, the lovely Danni Jaw. How cool is that?!? If you don’t know her, meet her, cause she is awesome. And if that wasn’t enough I also got to meet the beautiful Candace Kizer or as many of you know her @candacitabonita.
The beautiful @candacitabonita
The lovely @dannijaw
I got an e-mail today from the Charity Chicks founder, Jamie, letting us know that there was over 25 people that attended Operation Valentine and over 200 valentines were made!
Look at all the cards!!
It was great spending time with some pretty fabulous people, playing crafts and giving my time to a good cause. I can see those 2010 resolutions getting marked off my list already, and it’s only the 10th!
1/11/2009 Follow Up:This morning I got a tweet from the founder of Operation Valentine, Delaney Gates. She had seen my blog post and wanted to introduce herself (I love the digital world we live in). I have put a link to her site and all the information you might need should you want to make Valentines on your own. Remember, though, your cards have to be post marked by January 15th, so get crafty!!
The other day I was shopping with my sister and I noticed this really cool shirt ( see below). As sisters usually do I pointed the shirt out and proclaimed, “OOOO, I really like that!”
My sister then proceeded to tell me that the shirt I had pointed out was not only Super Cool, but it represents a great cause called To Write Love On Her Arms. Sarah, my sister, briefly explained that this cause is to create awareness for those suffering from depression and suicide prevention. Immediately I knew I wanted to get involved.
I’ve often felt depression has been an overlooked illness that many know nothing about. In fact, some people I have spoken with don’t see depression as an illness at all, but as a symptom of illness or events going on in ones life. There have been many people in my life that have been affected by this terrible sickness and that is why I feel so passionately about getting involved with this organization.
The project, I learned from the site, was based on a true story of a young girl. This story soon blossomed into a life saving awareness campaign. As the campaign grew and more research was done, they discovered that “two out of three people who struggle with depression never seek help, and that untreated depression is the leading cause of suicide.In America alone, it’s estimated that 19 million people live with depression, and suicide is the third-leading cause of death among those 18-24 years old”(TWLOHA.com). Something had to be done.
One of my resolution this year is to volunteer and this is the perfect opportunity to get involved with something near to my heart. Today I joined the street team, added a badge to my blog, added myself to the Facebook fan page and wrote this blog to create some awareness. I am not stopping there, though. Throughout the year my street team leaders will be sending me on various missions to create awareness and I couldn’t be more honored to be part such a great cause.
As I turned on my computer this afternoon at work I have to admit that I was not excited to see what my e-mail box contained. I had been away for two weeks on Christmas vacation and had done a pretty good job of not checking my e-mail while I was on vacation. As I started to go through the 100 plus e-mails in my inbox I came across an e-mail from my boss asking us to come up with our 2010 goals by Friday. Friday!?! EEEEK!!
I am awful about resolutions/goals. Not just the keeping of them, but the creation of them as well. This may be the year though that I make a “real” list, and thanks to you I will be held accountable for it. I feel I would have more luck declaring this list publicly than if I just scratch some ideas on a note card and shove it in the back of my desk.
So here is goes:
My 2010 goals
1. Travel- I have plans to go to Chicago for the first time this summer to see my amazing friend Annie Donely perform with her improv comedy troops. Remember her name guys, she will be on SNL one day, mark my words. I also have plans to go to NYC for New Years 2010-11 with my bestie Kelly. It’s going to be ”Rockin”!
2. Record a song in a recording studio- So I sing and have done so for quite some time. My dad always complains that after the years of voice lessons and performances I have been through, he does not have one ”high quality” recording of me or my sister. I think this year we can change that. If you guys know anyone that can help me make this happen, please let me know. Thanks!
3. Read and Reflect- I love books and I am already pretty good about reading books on a pretty regular basis, but too often I find myself without someone to discuss the book I am reading. I also need to read some non-fiction to give my brain an escape every once and a while, even then I would like to find someone out there who would like to talk about what we are reading. I have found that sometimes you learn more through reflection that you do from the actual reading. If you would like to read a book and reflect with me let me know! I would love to get to know you through a book.
4. Take more pictures- I want to be a better photographer. I have a nice camera, but I am so nervous to change the settings to experiment with different exposures that I think I might be missing out on some pretty great shots.
5. Volunteer- I want to be able to give my time to helping those in need. A lofty goal would be to go on a mission trip to a third world country, but I would also have no objection to jumping in to help those in need right here in Houston. If you guys have any charities or organization that are near and dear to your heart I would love to hear about them!
6. Loose 15lbs- As many of you know I have a thyroid disorder which cause me to have some pretty funky things happen to me, but now that I am feeling better, I am ready to loose that extra weight. I want to workout 3 times a week, even if it’s just a walk on the treadmill, and get back to going to yoga. I really miss my yoga time, and I am hoping to find the perfect studio in 2010.
7. Continue to develop relationships my Twitter peeps – I seriously wish you all lived in Houston so that I could meet everyone of you. Your comments are so encouraging and kind. Please, please, please, if you come to Houston, let me know so that we can meet! Even if it’s just for a hug and a “thank you”. I owe you that!
Wow- reading the list over is really overwhelming, but as my dad always says “how do you eat an elephant?”…”one bite at a time” . Dads are so wise. What are your new years resolutions? I would love to be part of the process of accomplishing your goals for 2010.
in their own right, but together were totally unrelated to the man they were “trying” to honor(except of course you Smokey) IS NOT A TRIBUTE. And just because you make something in 3D that required quirky paper glasses and a really expensive camera does not justify a performance being called a tribute! No! No! NO!
We walked in and it was PACKED! I know it’s rodeo season and all, but good gravy I have never seen so many people sitting on the floor wrestling to get a pair of boots on in my life. Kelly quickly found a pair that she loved and now it was my turn. I browsed the shelves for a bit and then, I saw them. The most beautiful pair of boots I have ever seen. It was like you see in the movies when the light shines down from heavens and the angels sing an angelic “Ahhhhhh”! I had found my boots.
Yesterday, during my lunch break at work I was surfing around the interwebs and came across a fabulous blog called 
got Netflix for Christmas so the movie nights in my apartment have increased 10 fold. After the movie finished I took a look at My Queue to see what movie would be gracing my mailing next and it was none other than “The Bucket List“. (I have been told since by numerous people that I am not allowed to watch this movie because I would cry for a week) That was SIGN 2.
After taking my dog out that night I decided I was going to watch an episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond“. (side note: I have a serious addiction to TV on DVD and will watch ANYTHING that can wrap itself up in a neat little 30min sitcom) I usually watch episodes in the order they are put on the DVD, but last night I was feeling adventurous decided to pick one at random to fall asleep to. OMG you guys…Raymond, the show’s main character, was having a mid-life crisis in this episode and his friends told him that he needed to make a list of 100 things he needed to do before he died. The whole 30 mins I just stared at the screen watching Raymond struggle to make this list of 100. That was SIGN 3.
This Saturday I had the great experience of volunteering some of my time and craft skills to work with a group called 
My sister then proceeded to tell me that the shirt I had pointed out was not only Super Cool, but it represents a great cause called 
1. Travel- I have plans to go to Chicago for the first time this summer to see my amazing friend Annie Donely perform with her improv comedy troops. Remember her name guys, she will be on SNL one day, mark my words. I also have plans to go to NYC for New Years 2010-11 with my bestie Kelly. It’s going to be ”Rockin”!
books on a pretty regular basis, but too often I find myself without someone to discuss the book I am reading. I also need to read some non-fiction to give my brain an escape every once and a while, even then I would like to find someone out there who would like to talk about what we are reading. I have found that sometimes you learn more through reflection that you do from the actual reading. If you would like to read a book and reflect with me let me know! I would love to get to know you through a book.
5. Volunteer- I want to be able to give my time to helping those in need. A lofty goal would be to go on a mission trip to a third world country, but I would also have no objection to jumping in to help those in need right here in Houston. If you guys have any charities or organization that are near and dear to your heart I would love to hear about them!
