Last week, I karaoked.

It was interesting, to say the very least. A friend and I sang Aerosmith's "Dude Looks Like a Lady" which is clearly what we get for letting the birthday girl choose a song. Neither of us knew most of the lyrics so we just jammed along with the prompter and hit those falsetto notes for the chorus.

It wasn't terrible... I may even be in the process of making a practice karaoke CD. But then again, maybe not...

Movies, Movies, Movies

I've said it many times before, but I love movies. Here are a few that I'm looking forward to seeing at some point.

It's Kind of a Funny Story


Scott Pilgrim vs. the World


Devil


The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader


Easy A


Paper Man

Upcoming Goodness

So, I just spent a good bit of time adding a ton of TV shows to my Amazon.com wishlist. Part of what makes it okay is Amazon's awesome offer to provide anyone with a .edu email address with a free year's membership to their Prime service. Prime essentially waives shipping and handling fees in lieu of an annual membership fee. If you're like me and order a good bit of things online, this is a pretty great option.

Here are the series that I added to my list as well as the release date:

• Dexter, Season Four (August 17)
• Cougar Town, Season One (August 17)
• Modern Family, Season One (August 17)
  
• House, Season Six (August 31)
• Parenthood, Season One (August 31)
  
• The Office, Season Six (September 7)
• 30 Rock, Season Four (September 7)
• Glee, Season One, Vol. Two (September 14)
• Grey's Anatomy, Season Six (September 14)
  
• Private Practice, Season Three (September 14)
• Community, Season One (September 21)
  
• Parks & Recreation, Season Two (September 21)
  
• Scrubs, Season Nine (September 28)

I think it's safe to say that I have a slight obsession...

Scareoke!

I've never done karaoke, but I really want to one day. The reason why I haven't is some combination of stage fright and a lack of singing abilitiy. However, that doesn't mean that I haven't thought about it. Here's a list of my top choices for karaoke songs if I can ever build the nerve.

- "Tell Me Something Good" by Rufus featuring Chaka Khan

- "What's Love Got to Do With It" by Tina Turner

- "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot

- "Barely Breathing" by Duncan Sheik

- "Smooth" by Carlos Santana featuring Rob Thomas

- "Hey, Jealousy" by The Gin Blossoms

- "867-5309/Jenny" by Tommy Tutone

- "Mr. Jones & Me" by Counting Crows

- "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel

I'm hoping to start driving this week and I cannot be more excited! My doctor says that he thinks my ankle is pretty much healed and what I can do is only up to my comfort level. It may a few weeks before I can really drive and be mobile, but I am committed to at least driving up and down the driveway to get ready. Seriously.

I miss my Quantaysia Diamonique Jackson...

Wednesday's Writings

All of my English classes as an undergrad were specialize in some way. My first was a service-learning course where I volunteered at an elementary school to help kids with cerebral palsy work on their reading. English lit was focused on Southern authors so we read the incredibly confusing "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner and one of my favorites, "I am One of You Forever" by Fred Chappell.

Two other classes were poetry-based and provided a lot of opportunities to write and share some things with others. One of my favorite assignment was to pick a poem and "Mad-Lib" it by replacing some of the words. I chose Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "Break, Break, Break" and changed it up a bit. His is first and mine follows.


Break, break, break,
On thy cold gray stones, O sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me.

O, well for the fisherman's boy,
That he shouts with his sister at play!
O, well for the sailor lad,
That he sings in his boat on the bay!

And the stately ships go on
To their haven under the hill;
But O for the touch of a vanished hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still!

Break, break, break,
At the foot of thy crags, O sea!
But the tender grace of a day that is dead
Will never come back to me.



Cry, cry, cry
On thy pale, white face, O Dear!
And I would that my hand could sculpt
The pains that grow in me.

O, well for the lover’s heart
That it bleeds with its bonds at odds.
O, well for the writer lad
That he pens out his mind on the page.

And the lonely thoughts drone on
To their den upon the page.
But O for the thought of an unfinished poem,
And the joy of a phrase that is born!

Cry, cry, cry
At the thought of my words, O Dear!
But the bittersweet revenge of rhymes that are biting
Will never come back to me.

"Love is...

... a battlefield." - Pat Benetar

... a choice you make from moment to moment." - Barbara DeAngelis

... a burning thing and it makes a fiery ring bound by wild desire." - Johnny Cash

... taking that dive then getting really comfortable and peeing in the pool." - Bo Burnham

... all you need." - The Beatles

... Ke$ha's drug apparently.

... like singing. Everybody can do enough to satisfy themselves, though it may not impress the neighbors as being very much." - Zora Neale Hurston

... making wrong choices with the right person.

... a losing game." - Amy Winehouse

... like war--easy to begin but hard to end."

... patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud." - 1 Corinthians 13: 4-6

... the extremely difficult realization that someone other than oneself is real." - Iris Murdoch

Things I Want to Do When I'm No Longer Broken

• Learn to ride a bike- So, I knew how to ride a bike when I was 4, but I also wore braces on my legs (no, not like Forrest Gump) for 4 years to cure a condition that I had called Legg–Calvé–Perthes Syndrome. As such, I did in fact forget how to ride a bike and never found an opportunity to learn again.
  
  
• Go hiking, rafting & camping- Although it may be hard to believe, I really am more of an outdoor person than I often let on. However, I haven't taken many chances to capitalize on the natural resources around me--it's actually one of the things that I miss most about being a camp counselor.
  
  
• Be more active in general- I've always known it, but it's become much more of a serious issue with this injury-I desperately need to lose a significant amount of weight. It's a necessity and I will be more proactive about my diet, exercise and well-being. This isn't something that I can do alone so I may be calling on friends and the blog-world for guidance, support, and advice.
  
  
• Drive- I have missed the freedom and ability to drive and get around to wherever I need to go! Also, I love road trips and not being able to drive kind of puts a damper on that. Hopefully, I'll be up and driving soon and will be able to make some trips to see folks at Auburn and my friends in other states! Shoot--I'll be thrilled just to be able to go to the grocery store... which reminds me:
  

• Go to Wal-Mart- For whatever reason my brother and sister-in-law (to whom I am very, unquestioningly grateful for their support and sacrifices during this time) have a severe abhorrence of the wonder that is Wal-Mart. Needless to say, I've been going through serious withdrawals. I just want poor service, excessive lines, and practically every item I could need to purchase in one store- is that too much to ask for?

• Shower whenever I want- This may be a bit of TMI for some- I yearn for the ability to hop in the shower at any time. I've been very lucky that I have access to an accessible shower; however, said shower is not in this household which means we have to drive to get there which I can't do on my own. I'm not dirty, I promise- it just may be an extra day or so between showers than I would like. But not for long!

Kitchen Craftiness

Tonight I made something else for my apartment whenever I'm able to move back out on my own again. I'm kind of a fan of the red, black and white color scheme that I had going at my last place for the kitchen and living room.

I found this easy project on while looking around from site to site. It took about an hour from start to finish and I'm fairly happy with the results. I'm going to touch up some of the edges since the stencils bled a bit. It's my hope that I'll be able to find simple black frames to put around the pieces to hang them on my walls!


Again, this was really easy to make and the site even provided the stencil. Basically, I painted the red first then cut out the stencil while that dried. Added the white and allowed that to dry before finishing with the black and red utensils. There are little imperfections in the stencil and paint that I think work well though I do want the lines to be a bit more crisp!

A Cinematic Solution Gets Saved!

A list of my top ten favorite movies absolutely must include Saved! with Mandy Moore, Jena Malone, Macaulay Culkin and a handful of others. Malone stars as Mary, a religious teenager who has sex with her gay boyfriend to cure his homosexuality and somehow ends up pregnant! It's all good though because Jesus told her to do it in the first place-- or was it the pool boy? Mandy Moore is phenomenal as the lead singer of a Christian rock band at their high school who happens to be a bit more zealous about her religion than her cynical, paraplegic brother.



Check out Hilary-Faye's interesting take on sex and born-again virginity:



Though there are definite religious themes, this movie does a great job of looking beyond beliefs to tackle real issues faced by every teenager and even their parents. Saved! reminds me that, though there are some that take their beliefs very seriously, people can often be open to new ideas and experiences without losing a part of themselves to that compromise.