i don't play games...i play music

bicycle races are coming your way... [revisited]

2010-01-10T09:02:00.001-06:00

here's an old blog, written in 2006. it's a doozy!

attn: bicyclists who choose not to use the sidewalk and think they should be considered regular traffic.

honestly, who was the first bike maniac who thought that they could keep up with cars and drive on the roadways? this seems to be the most annoying thing to me lately, especially since i'm frequently late and these cyclists hold me back from getting to my final destination. when there's a perfectly good, empty sidewalk for you to ride on, why do you choose to go 12mph in front of me, and get all mad when i go around you? this just in--your bike will never go as fast as my car, unless you add a motor to it. then it would be a motorcycle. and those i'm okay with.

i know many people feel the same frustration as i do about crazy bike man, wearing his tight shorts and black helmet with flame decals. the worst is when they use their hands to signal left or right turns. wtc?!

even better are the 'bike lanes' that you find in st. paul. i love these, because if i decide to cross one to get into a right-turn lane, i may just take out the biker who is in my blind spot, who should be riding on the empty sidewalk!

so, mr. bicycle man, please discontinue your thoughts about being as fast as a car. it just won't happen. suck it up and ride on the sidewalk, unless you want to get obliterated by a twentysomething girl with big sunglasses and a little red car. and yes, it will be me.

"in everything, give thanks..."

2009-11-26T09:40:00.003-06:00

i am realizing that most of my posts begin with some sort of statement about how bad i am at updating this blog. i suppose that's common knowledge by now. :)

today is thanksgiving. a time to give thanks for all things, great and small. every year at thanksgiving, my mom requires that we go around the table to say something we are thankful for. growing up, it was always "i'm thankful that Christmas will be here soon!" or the ever-popular "i'm thankful for family and friends," always coupled with "...and Jesus, too!" however, as i've grown up, my "one thing i'm thankful for" statement has become a little more sophisticated (i hope). so, my friends, here are 3 things i'm thankful for in 2009. i had to give myself a limit, otherwise this post would be far too long for anyone to care to read. so here goes:

1. Jesus. of course, He's my number one. i can't imagine where i would be without Him (and i don't want to). He continues to bless me, even when it's so undeserved. He is so good. so good.

2. family, friends, church. i felt it necessary to put these three together because they are all forms of support in my life (and because i limited myself to 3 things). these people are all so fantastic and i am who i am because they have supported me along the way.

3. my job. in this economy, jobs are few and far between. i get to spend my days teaching valuable information to underprivileged second graders. i laugh all day long, get countless hugs, and correct what seems to be an endless pile of papers. i wouldn't have it any other way...unless music was involved, of course. :)

give thanks.

pre-production day one.

2009-06-23T01:49:00.002-05:00

so. i woke up this morning and immediately started feeling nervous and uncomfortable with what was to take place tonight.

i was going to play my songs for jon.

eeek! i was utterly terrified by the time i got to his place...and i had vocalized this to him many times. i hope that made it a little easier, especially after i gave my disclaimer about bad strumming rhythm when i'm nervous...

but guess what. it wasn't scary at all! after we got started, we just talked through some stuff and picked apart little pieces of the songs that need to be changed/omitted...we didn't get a ton done, but i know this little 'icebreaker' meeting helped me out a lot.

it can be really scary, taking your innermost thoughts and whatnot and laying them out for someone. especially for someone who you consider to be incredibly talented and a tad bit intimidating. all i can say is that i am so glad jon and i are friends and were friends before all of this. i can't imagine what i'd be feeling like if i'd had to go play for someone that i didn't know. eeek! the thought of that makes me sweat a little bit.

overall, it was good. i am so, so, so excited to be finally doing this project and i can't wait to see where it goes!

it's about high time.

2009-06-16T18:12:00.003-05:00

friends, the time has come.

angie fabulous has written songs. calls have been made. arrangements have been set into place. friends have been enlisted. photographers have been summoned. stylists have been scheduled.

i'm recording an ep this summer.

i feel like this has been such a long time coming. i've been talking with my friend jon for the past 5 summers (?) about finally starting this project. the problem was this silly thing called creativity. apparently, i lack it. no. i'm not going to talk like that anymore. when my sister went back -er, to- school, she kept asking, "what if i can't do it?" i got mad at her and refused to listen to that talk. just the other day, i was discussing this project with her and i said "i just don't write very 'smart' songs like the music i listen to." and she promptly got mad at me and refused to listen to that talk. interesting.

anyway, i long to write the kind of songs where people listen and actually hear Jesus. i feel that way when i listen to a lot of music. it's a big thing to ask for, but i'm doing it anyway. i'm praying for Him to make me articulate. to make me profound. to make me 'smart.'

two songs are written and ready to go. two more need to be finalized. 18240 songs are bits and pieces of my heart and soul that have been scribbled down on post-it notes, receipts, entered into my phone, and typed into my mac. will those pieces ever become what i dream of them being? maybe. maybe not. i'm not that concerned...because God's going to do what He'll do with this project.

i am SO excited.

money is an issue. making music is expensive, people! it'll be right around $1000 for this 4 song ep to be completed. and that's not a lot in the music world. especially for the quality production and instrumentation i will be getting. people are putting things into this. the taylor will finally fulfill its destiny. the rhodes and wurlitzer will be providing some beautiful ditties that you'll hear. voices will carry. i've been praying about the funds for this project...and they're coming in! just this week, i got a letter from the irs, saying that they're sending me a check for $300. what? since when do they send us money? thank you Jesus! He's going to provide. i just know it.

this entry has been sporadic, random, rogue...so is life. enjoy.

2009-04-15T22:53:00.001-05:00

all of my life, in every season
you are still God
i have a reason to sing
i have a reason to worship

ocd behaviors

2009-04-14T15:59:00.002-05:00

i've read in multiple places that people all have hints of ocd...that we all have some ocd behaviors that we can't control. i've been trying to come up with mine...and i think i have.

here they are (in no particular order):

1. i count steps. going up, going down, i count stairs. weird? maybe.
2. i can't stand a messy e-mail box. i delete junk mail/spam like it's going out of style, and i archive till i'm blue in the face. thank goodness gmail has such a large capacity for my plethora of e-mails.
3. i can't stand a messy desktop (on my mac, that is). every file on my desktop is placed into an appropriate folder, and those folders are condensed within each other even further. i do not like lots of random files all over the place. so annoying!
4. i eat things in even numbers...things like m&m's, tic-tacs, etc...i can't eat just one, or three, or five...only two or four. if there is only one left, then i'll eat zero.
5. i re-write things. a lot. if my penmanship is not the best, i'll start over. i once re-wrote a thank you card 3 times...and the envelope 4 times. i also obsess over what pen i use. i can't stand bad pens!

k, i'll stop there. does anyone else do crazy things like this?

xoxo

updating mac os

2009-04-02T10:02:00.003-05:00

i'm clearly not very good at being a blogger. when it comes to blogland, my theme song should be katy perry's "hot & cold." yeah, that's right.

so i had a job interview at st. croix preparatory academy in stillwater yesterday. this is basically my dream school...so....!!! i have a hard time with interviews because i feel as though i am pretty strong in them, but i never know what i'm up against. i would be taking over a 6th grade class when the teacher goes on maternity leave. this could be huge, because the school is hiring one teacher per grade next year...so i would kind of have the in's, as long as i do a kickin' job.

so pray! pray! pray!

also...i'm leading worship with matt in "big church" on sunday....scary!

love, peace, and afro grease!

jobless...

2009-03-19T21:20:00.002-05:00

it's been about 3298 days since i last blogged! life has been busy. luckily (or not-so-luckily), i was just given the glorious gift of tons of free time.

i got laid off. in the middle of the school year. it's awful and i'm still totally bummed out about it. for the past three weeks, i've been figuring out how i can sub again, trying to get unemployment (which is much more difficult and confusing than you'd think), and going crazy with all this 'free' time. ugh.

so here's what happened. the way that charter schools work is that the state projects your budget based on your student enrollment from the previous year. then they withhold 20% of that money until february, at which point they look at your current enrollment. if you've lost a bunch of kiddos, you also lose that 20%. that's what happened to us. so, 3 teachers and a handful of paras got laid off. i was one of the last ones to get hired, so one of the first to go. i understand why they had to do it that way, but it's still such a bummer, because i feel sad for my kids. they were distraught when they found out. truly distraught.

what's weird is that i'm actually semi-relieved to be out of there. because of certain ways that my boss ran things (examples of which i won't go into here), i really think that God wanted me out of there, so He made it happen. they had just jumped through a bunch of hoops to get me to have a variance on my license that said i was able to teach special ed (so they could pay me with state money...confusing, i know), but then we had a drop in special ed kids. it was a good experience for me to have my own classroom for awhile, and i really love my kids, but the administration at this school was severely dysfunctional.

unfortunately, now i have to look for another job. this means that i need to polish up my resume (and figure out a way to explain why i only worked from september-february) and apply, apply, apply. teaching jobs, among all other jobs, are hard to come by.

why can't i just play music and make enough money to get by?

it's been far too long.

2009-01-11T21:01:00.003-06:00

i've been on a blog hiatus, obviously. wow. i'm just too burned out and tired to worry about keeping up with the joneses (or the blogses?).

anyway, i've been taking time to try and write music. it's not easy for me. not at all. i dream up all these profound songs, but i just can't get them to be. oh well.

dysfunction.

2008-10-04T23:00:00.003-05:00

i'm bad at blogging. tis true, my friends. i am lame when it comes to updating you with life's fabulousness (or lack thereof...you choose).

basically...school's been making me crazy. and by school i mean work. by work i mean teaching. by teaching i mean...you get it.

i've been busy. kids are crazy.

i have 2 kids that bark at me. one of them has quit, but the other one has gotten progressively worse.
i have a smelly kid. what do you do, my friends? what do you do?
i have a kid who calls me "teacher!" instead of my name. i do one of two things in response: i ignore him, or i call him "student!" for the rest of the day. you'd think that this would change his behavior, but clearly he hasn't gotten the concept just yet. somehow i think it takes him a bit to "get" things. coincidentally, he is the smelly kid.
i have a kid who can speak english very clearly but who cannot write or read it to save his soul.
i have one student who rewrites words he reads/likes on answer lines instead of answering the question he's been asked. when instructed to find "feelings" in a story, he wrote "finally" and "japan."
i have 2 kids that are gifted beyond all the 4th grade work i have to offer. i spend a lot of time creating special activities for them so that they aren't bored.
i spend about 9 hours a day working. glorious.
i spent 2 afternoons last week playing wii with my kids. i will forever be the 'cool' teacher. who can blame them for thinking this? i also gave out a spongebob digital camera as a prize (it was on clearance at target!).

i love my students. even if they drive me batty. at the end of the day, i have their best interest at heart and i want them to live up to the potential that God's blessed them with. :)

xoxo

dust off your running shoes

2008-08-03T23:32:00.005-05:00

at church, my pastor's been doing a series on ephesians. today he talked about children and parenting, and in this he encouraged the congregation to read hebrews 12. he wanted us to read about discipline, but i took something very different from this passage.

lately, i've been feeling unsettled and plagued with the fear of uncertainty...all in regard to the fact that i don't [yet] have a job for this fall. this is huge in my life right now! i'm 24 years old, and i'm back to square one in terms of starting my career. one thing's for certain- God's teaching me to trust.

anyway, i got stuck on this verse:

"therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses...let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."
hebrews 12:1

the passage goes on to say that we need to continue to fix our eyes on Jesus. okay, so i've totally been humbled here. Jesus started and finished this race. i don't have a job. Jesus gave his life on the cross. what!? these things just don't match up. comparing them to each other is like comparing the Bible to a trashy celebrity tabloid...basically impossible.

i'm falling behind in my race because of a couple of simple setbacks? i have health. i have a place to live. i have an incredible support system. i have friends. i have life! Jesus endured the cross- far more than i'll ever have to bear. he struggled through shame and nonacceptance. and how'd he do it? by the grace of God. he never lost sight of the glorious finish that was ahead of him.

now, if i could just spend a little less time dwelling on my simple and petty 'problems' and and a little [lot] more time with my eyes stayed on Him...

i've got my eyes on the prize, my friends. :) find your running shoes and join this race (cheesy, i know...but very legit!).

mmmm...food...

2008-07-14T21:13:00.002-05:00

as i've talked about in a previous post, i recently got a new puppy. she's adorable and i love her so. it's been a new experience for me...getting up in the middle of the night to take her out, and rising at 5 am when the birds wake her from her slumber. i reckon it's somewhat similar to having a new baby, which i'm sure i'm not ready for... :)

anyway, it's interesting to me how soon pup learned that if i pick up her bowl, it's time to eat, and that makes her feel good...so she sprints and jumps with joy as i scoop up her food.

i can't help but wonder how different my life would be if i jumped with joy and became overwhelmed with excitement when i picked up the Word, which is my daily bread...nourishing, fulfilling, and it provides for all-around goodness (hehehe).

totally sounds delicious, right? :)

awareness.

2008-07-11T11:04:00.003-05:00

have you ever felt like you just aren't totally aware of the things around you? not like you're some vegetable zombie or anything, but you just miss out on the beautiful things that happen in everyday situations?

i've been feeling like that a lot lately. like i miss out on the beauty of my days because i'm filling them with mindless stuff. maybe God could speak to me in a more real way if i spent a little less time watching friends and a little more time reading His word.

i think of that song we used to sing as kids in sunday school...it went something like this:
read your bible,
pray every day,
and you will grow, grow, grow.

gasp! is a children's song actually holding some importance in my life right now? could it be? who'd have thought? :)

all that being said, i'm going to delete perez hilton and postsecret from my bookmarks bar. hopefully i can find something a little more meaningful to replace it with. somehow, i think that task won't be too difficult.

xoxo

i just don't understand...

2008-06-22T19:30:00.003-05:00

...personalized license plates.

seriously! what is the deal?! i have issues with all forms of personalization to your license plate situation.

i don't want to know your name. as if i'm going to follow you to your destination, and be all "hey jimmy, you don't know me, but i know your name because of your sweet license plate..."

please don't leave some information for me to try and decode into some 'clever' phrase. CUL8R, etc- if i'm behind you and trying to figure that out, you better not come to a stop; i'll hit you because i'll be so distracted trying to figure out what M9XCITE is supposed to mean.

what on earth are you doing putting your family's inside joke/word/phrase on your license plate? um...you're all inside your car, so it's not like you're gonna see the plates and crack up about it. nobody understands what they mean and you can't even see them while you're in your car. get a family inside joke air freshener or something.

anyone who has something along the lines of "2fast4u" or "nd4spd" or anything like that should be driving so "craZfast" that i don't even have the chance to read their plates, right? so again, the plates aren't for anyone but yourself. and then there's definitely no point.

words that don't make any sense are ridiculous. i saw 'eternity' today. um....okay?

above all, personalized license plates are SUPER expensive in this state! what the crap are you doing paying all that extra cash for something that only you can enjoy, but you can't even see it because YOU'RE the one driving the car!? honestly.

okay that's all
xoxo

on meeting a hero...

2008-06-15T20:14:00.002-05:00

what can i say? i got to meet one of the biggest inspirations/influences in my music this past tuesday night. brooke fraser was playing at the varsity (which is easily my favorite venue in the cities) and it was glorious!

sara and i got out there around 6pm, which is when doors opened. we waited patiently in line to find ourselves a place to sit once we got in. the place was packed! lots of people love them some brooke (rightfully so). we got the last table, which was probably 10 feet from the stage. people were piling in, trying (unsuccessfully) to find places to sit. i was all jittery, which is so weird- because i totally go to tons of shows and meet tons of musicians whom i find to be amazing...but they just aren't brooke fraser. she's seriously my hero!

okay. so to my surprise, elizabeth hunnicutt (a local chica who is also amazing) was one of the openers, so i sat through some of her tantalizing tunes...but i was still waiting for my favy!

finally...she came on. and it was just as amazing as i'd hoped! you see, i saw her come play with hillsong united about a year ago, and it was absolutely incredible. i've loved all her worship tunes with hillsong, so i decided to see if she had some solo stuff. woo! she totally did, but i had to go through some crazy new zealand website to order her 'albertine' record (which is now on itunes, and i suggest you get it asap!). my favorite, favorite, favorite song of hers is entitled "cs. lewis song" and she totally opened the show with that one! i recorded it on my camera, so enjoy this lovely vid!

after she played for about an hour (and did a fabulous encore), sara and i decided to wait around to see if we could meet brooke...and we (woo hoo!) got to. i was probably all awkward and weird, but what can i say? hero hero hero! i also did the cheesy 'can i have a picture with you?' thing...so here it is! i am so pumped!

ps. the guy traveling with her was named william fitzsimmons, and his music was suuuuuuuuuper decent as well. so you should check him out. :)

that is all
xoxo

twitter?

2008-06-05T16:36:00.006-05:00

i just started a twitter site because i realize that i like to just randomly post thoughts/blurbs/rants/raves on my blog...so this site is perfect for me. i'll still post on here periodically, but if you're in the mood for some regular angiefabulosity, just look to the right of this page, and you'll see my latest twitter updates.

uncanny!

:)

ps. i love summer!

please welcome...

2008-05-27T20:40:00.003-05:00

my new puppy! her name is cheyenne; but we're calling her annie. she's my dog, but my dad's going to use her for bird hunting (she's a german shorthaired pointer). my parents have this thing about naming our dogs after cities in wyoming (ie. jackson, cody, etc etc), so that's where her name is from.

i love her!

cook wins!

2008-05-22T16:59:00.000-05:00

yesssss.

note to self.

2008-05-20T14:20:00.001-05:00

woodbury policemen will pull you over if you enter an intersection after the light has just turned red.

thank you.

bummed out.

2008-05-18T13:22:00.001-05:00

show me your ways, o Lord, teach me your paths;
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are my God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.

psalm 25:4-5

the good fight.

2008-05-15T22:35:00.003-05:00

just a little something i've been working on. it's widely inspired by a young girl, whom i've never met (but feel just the same), who's battling bone cancer (see verse 2). so...here it is. thoughts? leave 'em please! :)

we are broken down, battered and bruised
our armies are failing us now
because of the weapons and words we choose
we're fighting fire with flame

and as i back away from the crowd
my eyes fall to the wayside
onto the weak and helpless ones
what can i do?

i, i want to fight the good fight
just to hear you say well done
good and faithful one
well done

the sick girl is weary
and with a heavy heart she draws closer
she cries out to those who are near
desperate to find out why

so i reach out to comfort
though my words are but a script
i can't change the way she feels
what can i do?

i, i want to fight the good fight
just to hear you say well done
good and faithful one
well done

we are made from love
we are made to love

© 2008

fly on, proud bird; you're free at last.

2008-05-01T15:06:00.002-05:00

last week, a friend whom i'd met during my time at concordia committed suicide. when i got the call on saturday, i was truly shocked. jen was not only (on the outside, apparently) a confident, happy, joyful person; she was loving and kind in the deepest of ways. her way of thinking and her approach to life was unlike any other. everyone agreed that she was in a league of her own and she stood a head above the rest in her way of living.

this girl was strong, independent, and savvy in a million ways. she loved art, music, and most of all- relationships. i'm very sad to hear the news about what happened to her. my thoughts had been all about the idea of what point one must get to when they decide that they need to end their life; that suicide would be the only way for things to get better. i understand that suicide comes from a sickness of the mind- but i still wish that she would have known just how deeply everyone around her truly did love her. the magnitude of what had happened didn't hit me until i attended the funeral on monday evening. as i watched jen's brothers carry her casket out, i began to weep. although i may not have been very close to jen in recent months, i remembered wonderful times with her and became guilt-ridden about the fact that i'd let us lose contact over the past year. i felt for her family and closest of friends, and i tried not to imagine what they must have been feeling (and probably still are).

all i know now is that jen is no longer hurting. she's able to spread her wings and fly on.

so, hug those you know just a little bit longer. make sure people that mean something to you know it.

that's halfway to 48

2008-04-16T14:43:00.012-05:00

i'm newly 24.

for some reason, 24 seems a lot older than 23...it's kind of bizarre. i was talking to a friend of mine the other day and we were discussing how we wish we could go back and be a kid all over again, knowing what we know now.
i wish i could go back and be myself, no matter what.
i wish i could go back and have the confidence that i do now.
i wish i could go back and do a ton of things differently.
maybe everyone feels that way at some point in time?

5 years ago. 19.
i had just started college. didn't know what i was going to school for, and i didn't want to make that decision. i was in an unhealthy relationship and hanging out with people i probably shouldn't have been. i had just started to play guitar and decide who i was as an artist. i wrote a lot of sad love songs toward the end of this year. i was in the beginning stages of becoming comfortable with myself, when my heart was broken and i was taken back to square one. interesting how things change.

ahh, 19. hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable.

10 years ago. 14
i was in 8th grade and was obsessed with all things titanic, leonardo dicaprio, and jonathan taylor thomas. i got in trouble this summer for staying on the phone past 10pm (wow...such a crime!). i was completely uncomfortable with myself and often acted differently around different groups of people. i listened to a lot of nirvana and the smashing pumpkins.
my best friend michaela and me on our way to some school dance. life was about boys, cute clothes, and your friends.

20 years ago. 4.
it feels really weird to be able to say "20 years ago..."
i wasn't quite in kindergarten, but i could read and write my name. i remember reading better than the kids at my daycare and only writing my name completely backwards. i remember a few things...but i'm not sure i really remember the actual details or if i just remember seeing pictures of my life at this point. i was carefree and happy. i was a kid! sometime during this year my sister taught me to ride my bike. glorious.
little me somewhere, loving life. my sister so appropriately placed the caption bubble in this photo.

today. 24.
i've been out of college for almost one whole year, i'm just finishing my first year of teaching, and i'm happy. i have my first new car and my first real job. i don't know what the future holds. all i know is the future is Jesus! and i'm okay with the mystery of what my life has in store, as long as He's the center of it all.
michaela and me on my 24th birthday. someone once told me that true friends are hard to find; and you know you've found one if they stick around. i think i've found one! :)

i'm growing up (maybe a bit late?). it's scary, but it's happening and i'm diving deep...as long as He's leading me.

i finally did it.

2008-04-11T14:42:00.007-05:00

...so i've been wanting some converse chuck taylors for a couple years now, but i always talked myself out of them because i was convinced i'd never actually wear them...until now. last weekend i bought myself an a-freaking-dorable pair of chuckies, and i am so happy! they are fabulous and i almost bought a second pair today, but i decided not to over-do it. ha. pointless blog, i know...but whatev! i'm pumped! they're lovely, right?

angie's dumb moment of the day

2008-03-30T21:59:00.004-05:00

so my family and i got to wisconsin dells today (me, geenz, jeff, noah, hannah, liv, sophie, and my mom). we arrived around 6pm and promptly got ready to head to one of the many waterparks attached to our hotel. as we're heading down, we pass a laser tag place. here's the logo:
so i see this, and without actually looking in the place, i loudly ask: "what's the lah-zer?" and my sister falls on the floor laughing.

the end.

yes, i teach your children. excited? me too.

my [belated] easter blog.

2008-03-27T12:37:00.002-05:00

on the third day
behold the king
on the third day
death has no sting
on the third day
we're forgiven and reconciled.
on the third day
the saints rejoice
on the third day
we lift our voice
on the third day
we're united and glorified.

-michael olson "on the third day" (surprise, surprise at that title)

easter is such a fun time of year. i love hiding eggs for my nieces and nephews to find, decorating eggs, picking the perfect song to sing at church, etc etc etc...unfortunately, through all of this hoopla, i sometimes lose sight of the cross.

i love to sing. this isn't a surprise to anyone (if it is, you must not know me that well). i've recently realized that when i sing at church, i spend so much time focusing on the logistics of it all...i lose the meaning of the song. i lose the 'moving' feeling that you get when a song speaks to your soul. there are about a bajillion songs that i could name which move me (think "hosanna" and "found" by hillsong united), but when it comes to me being his instrument to witness to people, i spend too much time worrying about timing and hitting the correct notes.

we sang the above song at church on sunday, and the final line truly moved me in a deeper way than i've ever felt.

we're united and glorified.

we're united in him on this day. we're glorified? these words reiterate just how selfless Jesus was. his love is true, real, and unconditional.

i hope you all had as moving of an easter as i did. i've been singing that song all week and i continue to be moved to tears when i hear that last line. i leave you with the final verse of the song:

and so we wait, in joyful hope
for you to come
and take us home.
and so we join beneath the cross,
as suffering from whence we go.
the greatest act of sovereign grace
in the universe display,
for everything must die to rise again

american idol.

2008-03-20T08:46:00.020-05:00

it's true, i'm basically obsessed with this show. even if it's somewhat rigged or a conspiracy- i still freakin love it! i've ranked the top 12 in order of who i like most and/or hate most...so here it is for you (along with explanations...yippee!).

12. kristy lee cook. this girl is cute and nice, i understand that. but this competition isn't just about looking good. she's a horrible performer. and it's not just because i don't like country music. she's boring to watch, and i forget her performances 5 minutes after seeing them. i can't believe she's still on the show. i guess all the hicks out there are rooting for her. and there are a lot of them. or something like that. i mean, come on! her absolutely dreadful 'faithfully' performance? thanks for ruining my favorite journey song, kristy! lame.

11. amanda overmyer. okay, so her janis joplin style of yelling/singing is annoying. we get it. however, at least this girl knows who she is as an artist. i don't enjoy watching her. she looks comfortable on stage...until you look at her face. she has some sort of posessed eye thing going on that i simply can't get over. it was time for her to get the boot.

10. david hernandez. this guy looks scary when he sings. he's got pipes and can sing better than most male singers out there, but he's totally scary in the eyes! i think he got kicked off a little prematurely (he was about 2908123 times better than kristy lee cook!) but he was not winning material in the slightest.

9. ramiele malubay. at least i think that's what her last name is. she's adorable, she sounds good, and she seems super sweet. whoever the idol stylists are must hate her, because they continually dress her like a weirdo. i think she'll be gone pretty soon, because she's a little boring to watch and she has yet to really impress me.

8. carly smithson. k...one thing to say: this is american idol. i don't care how good you are, i think you should be from here to win the show. i'm just sayin'. carly's good, but she does look like a bird when she hits those high notes... anyway, i think she's got the voice, that's for sure. i think her tattoos are doing nothing but hindering her from going very far in the industry. plus, it bugs me that she had a record in 2000 and one of the idol songwriters worked on it. something seems fishy there.

7. syesha mercado. can we say underrated? this girl is incredible! i think she's got one of the strongest voices by far. she needs to step up her game by way of memorable performances, but she's got the voice.

6. chikezie. i just like him. he sounds great on every song he sings, even if the arrangement is bad. even his cute harmonica playing the other night was good. go jacuzzi! ha.

5. michael johns. again, american idol. although, i do love my aussies! i think they should get joel houston to try out...but that's a little off subject. i like this guy! again, though, he is another who was dropped by a major record label (maverick (which has since folded, but whatev)). but i think he's got a great image, and he's not the cookie-cutter american idol contestant. plus, he is australian! wait, did i already say that?

4. jason castro. this guy gets better and better each week! at first i didn't really care for him, but then he sang 'hallelujah' and he had me. i like him and i would love to see if he's able to sing something a bit more upbeat. some people just aren't cut out for that...

3. brooke white. i have to admit, i couldn't stand her at first! i couldn't quite put my finger on what it was about her that bugged me, but i just wanted her to leave. then she sang 'love is a battlefield' and my mind changed completely. i think she's amazing. i love her unique sound and she just seems so nice, too. i don't think america is going to race out to buy her records; i think she'd do better in the more indie-scene of things, as long as she stays out of pop music (think a fine frenzy, sia, ingrid michaelson, etc). i mean, seriously- her rendition on 'let it be' the other night? incredible! i like her best out of all the girls this season.

2. david cook. holy wow. i am falling more in love with this guy every time i see him play! first it was rockin' out to a lionel richie song (wow!) and then taking 'eleanor rigby' to a whole new level. i love david cook! i think he really knows who he is as an artist, and he puts himself in every song that he plays. i would be totally happy if he won (which is why i'll keep voting for him every week!). besides, america obviously thought that chris daughtry was incredible...but it was after he left idol. dude's sold so many records! how did he get beat out by the silver fox (taylor hicks), whose record label just dropped him? that all seems fishy to me, too. oh well. david cook! yay!

1. david archuleta. i almost find it hard to put into words my feelings about david archuleta. he is the most humble, sweetest kid on earth! not only is his personality so freaking loveable, but he's got the voice to back things up! his version of 'imagine' is enough to take him straight to the top, in my opinion. while the first beatles week was somewhat of a mess for him, i don't think it reflected who he is as an artist. i mentioned before that some people just aren't cut out for fast songs...and i think david archuleta is one of these people. it's not a bad thing, it just is what it is. there are indeed some fast songs out there that he could master, but they are few and far between. that being said, even his 'bad' fast songs are still awesome. i love love love him. the guys this year are just so amazing. they are volumes ahead of the women in talent.

so, there you have it. if you read all of this, go get yourself a cookie and pat yourself on the back.

disclaimer: i'm not saying these are predictions in the slightest. american idol doesn't usually prove to be what i want it to...(think sanjaya, kellie pickler, and the like) there are some crazy people out there who have bad taste who vote over and over and over and over again each week for horrific people. okay, that's all.

do you use gmail? i do.

2008-03-17T14:22:00.002-05:00

have you ever noticed those crazy links that gmail offers at the top of your inbox? i think they are attempting to relate them to the e-mail messages that you get, but mine always seem to come out of nowhere.

i'm confused.

here's some that i've recently gotten:

"uh oh, i'm emo! are you? take the quiz at www.areyouemo.com"
"need a drummer? www.formingbands.com"
"click here for a great black bean brownie recipe"
"is the secret bogus? www.imarichjerk.com"

someone please tell me that you've gotten weird ads like this, that are supposed to pertain to your e-mails, but really don't? at all?

facebook does it too...they put these ads on the side that are supposed to appeal to the specific user...i get one about an engagement ring almost every single day. cool. i love the fact that facebook is also mocking me about not being married.

myspace isn't as terrible, but they definitely look to see whether it's a male or female's account- they'll post pictures of hot guys when i log off, but they post pictures of half-naked girls when guys log off. interesting. danny actually listed himself as 'female' so that he doesn't get the pics of chicks.

k, that's all. nothing too important or reader-worthy.

kids.

2008-03-12T18:18:00.003-05:00

i love when kids love me.

when greeted by this upon entering my classroom this morning, i smiled. :)

what i do all day long.

2008-02-27T11:38:00.005-06:00

for those of you who think that teaching english would be easy...
here's what i have to teach to my students:

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce.

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail

18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

nice, right? i got this from a teacher friend of mine through e-mail, and i'm inclined to post it here, so everyone will understand how challenging my job actually is (and maybe understand the importance of school...).

cheers-

geenz.

2008-02-23T15:32:00.002-06:00

my oldest sister, gina (or geenz as i call her), is SO HARD to get a hold of. she constantly either has her cell phone off, or she doesn't answer it (and she didn't ever set up her voice mail because she knows she won't check it)...and don't even get me started on trying to reach her at home! so, i appropriately made this video to get my message across.

the following is how i feel when trying to get a hold of geenz.

miss cappuccino.

2008-02-20T14:45:00.003-06:00

i'm a teacher. i love my job so much. i teach math and reading to small groups of 4th-6th graders. "miss cappuccino" is what the majority of my 4th graders call me. i love it when i walk into the room and they say "miss cappuccino! take me with you!" it definitely warms the heart when kids love me and bring me valentines. :)

there are some freaking hilarious moments when i spend the majority of my day with tender adolescents. i've got some good quotes.

"you should really go back to college and find a boyfriend. you need one." -a 4th grader.

"that song just doesn't make any sense at all!" -a 5th grader, after singing parts of "baby got back" by sir mix-a-lot.

"my mom has to have her bladder removed today!!!" -a 4th grader who was (appropriately) worried about her mom.

"how old are you, miss c? like 19?" -the majority of my kids.

i could list about 381,340,239 quotes similar to those above that would have you rolling. i'll add more over the next few days if i think of any. something so wonderful about being a teacher is hearing names that people choose for their kids. the following are names of kids that i don't think i'll ever forget. i love twin names, like dashawn and dasha (pronounced da-shay). names like spark, nissan, and the like are also ones i've become fond of. families usually come up with cool names for groups of kids. like a family with these kids: priest, priestess, and furious. or blue jean and corduroy. and finally, when parents come up with alternate spellings of names, it becomes entertaining. especially when they capitalize whatever they want or include an apostrophe. i actually had a 3rd grader whose last name was fitzpatrick, but his mom chose to spell it "FitzPatRick." good times in the names category.

so...all in all, i love teaching. i love hanging out with kids and laughing all day long. i love reading young adult novels in my spare time. i love organizing and re-arranging my desk and room. there, are, however, some downsides to teaching. i'll leave you with some things to remember about kids.

-if you say "don't," kids hear "do."
-you come to a point when, if you are facing the board, you can call out a kid for messing around behind your back without even looking.
-kids WILL call you out if you make a mistake.
and, finally:

-6th grade boys smell.

i'd rather be deaf.

2008-02-10T16:51:00.001-06:00

...okay, well maybe not. actually, definitely not. joey and his friends over at verizon are currently compiling a list of "the top 10 songs that should be banned from music." i feel like this is an amazing idea.

so i made one of my own. keep in mind that this is my opinion; sorry if you are offended by my choices. :) i also left out some obvious choices because of genre- i.e. country and rap. clearly "achy breaky heart," "9 to 5," and things like "back that thang up" and anything by soulja boy should be on my list, but i was highly selective about my country and rap choices...otherwise i would have to make lists per genre, because i could basically put the first ten rap and country songs that i think of on a list of their own.

here goes:

10. i don't wanna wait- paula cole
9. physical- olivia newton john
8. sorry 2004- ruben studdard
7. music- madonna
6. do you think i'm sexy?- rod stewart
5. butterfly kisses- bob carlisle
4. barbie girl- aqua
3. who let the dogs out?- baha men
2. thong song- sisqo
1. all star- smash mouth

basically, i could make a list of 100. these songs make me wanna pull a van gogh and chop my ears off. make one of your own; i'd love to see what you come up with.

levi [revisited]

2008-02-09T23:17:00.000-06:00

think of levi, a tax collector, and how Jesus had dinner with him and the other tax collectors. in response to the question of why Jesus would eat with 'bad' people, he replied, "people who are well do not need a doctor. those who are sick do."

many times in my life i've tried to 'witness' to my (already) christian friends. what's the deal there? it only strains our relationships and makes it appear as if i'm judging, right? ultimately, i want to share Christ with those who don't know him (i'm fairly certain this is what Christ calls us to do). christians know what is right and what is wrong. they don't need to be repeatedly told what they are doing wrong, especially by someone (such as myself) who is also doing things that are just as wrong. that was a lot of use of the word 'wrong.'

i'm definitely finding out one thing: i need to love.

humans are self-destructive. we do what hurts us, even when we know we shouldn't. my 'Jesus-y' friends may be doing things far worse than my 'worldly' friends, but are those things really worse? or do we just see them as worse because they are supposed to lead 'good Christian' lifestyles? basically, we need to leave each other alone. we need to grow and learn from each other, and build each other up. breaking one another down just hurts more in the long run. we need to help those who are sick, not those who are well (although, who's to say what 'sick' and 'well' really are?).

i need to love.

i guess this blog (which is a revised version of one i wrote on myspace a couple years ago...hence the 'revisited' part) holds something that's evident in my life lately, in many different ways. i'm constantly reminded of levi, and of Jesus' amazing grace.

how good is He?!

i'm challenging myself to make 2008 the year of love. i'm learning how to love, and that takes time. what a better way to show Christ to anyone than to love as He has loved me...

"you sit at the table with the wounded and the poor.
you laugh and share stories with the thief and the whore
when you could just be silent, and leave us here to die
still you sent your son for us; you are on our side."

sophie.

2008-02-09T10:38:00.000-06:00

allow me to introduce my youngest niece, miss sophia grace. she's 3 years old, and truly one of a kind. i feel this picture fully embodies her personality...she's...well, i've been sitting here for the past 6 minutes trying to think of a describing word for her...and i really can't. she's sophie.

change of pace.

2008-02-09T02:21:00.000-06:00

i realize that my blogging career, albeit very short, has been one filled with random, petty posts. what my weekend was like, a television show, etc etc etc... it's time to get serious.

lately, i've been thinking a lot about living a mediocre lifestyle. why on earth are people okay with being mediocre? i don't think God has put me on this earth to have a mediocre existence. i know too many people who are okay with subpar jobs, friendships, relationships, etc. why, why, why wouldn't you strive to be something great? why wouldn't you work on 5 friendships to make them the best they possibly can be, rather than having 3209842 petty ones? why settle for an 'okay' relationship? that'll just lead to an 'okay' marriage, right?

i'm simply not wired this way. i have no plans to do anything other than what i'm passionate about. there are many things in my life that i'm truly passionate about, and i plan to surround myself with these things for the rest of my days here on earth. friends, family, music, teaching-- i get fired up when i think about these things! there's gotta be something in you that you truly care about! why don't you get up and do something about it/with it?

monday, monday

2008-02-04T14:22:00.000-06:00

i must start out with a rant today.
i'm a musician, this is true. i love music and i want it to be instilled in children's lives. i am, however, also a classroom teacher.
i admit, it is so frustrating when i have to excuse kids for band 3+ times a week. it's becoming ridiculous. they have to miss out on reading and writing because they've got individual lessons, all-band, section lessons, etc etc etc! it's enough to make a person go batty! i think that band should be offered after school, just like choir is. or else it should be offered as another prep. that is all.

this weekend was pretty relaxing and good. friday we had ben and jen over for dinner- i love these two! they are so flippin' fun...they make my heart happy. saturday i went to chuck e. cheese with the nieces...we had a blast and they got mucho tickets. then i went over to matty's and we recorded a scratch track of a song i'm working on called "everlasting light." i'm pumped about it! i'm also really excited because i have got some fun musical endeavors coming up; i may be involved in a jimi hendrix tribute band as bgvs...i'm thinkin this'll be amazing. i may do some acoustic-y stuff around the cities and i'm hopefully going to have some more bgvs with hyland and also zac ojeda. finally, saturday night i hung out with danny, joey, janelle, colby, dustin, and elisheba. and then we had the superbowl party at joey's on sunday night- it was ridic! so many people showed up! the basement was overwhelming with the stench of 'sweaty boy' and you couldn't even walk down there! needless to say, i don't care about football so i stayed upstairs and socialized, it's what i'm best at.

so, well...that's all. stay tuned for more.
-a. fabulous

happy flippin' friday.

2008-02-01T14:24:00.000-06:00

something about friday just makes my heart so happy, regardless of how much i love my job. fact: i don't get to work until 11:30 everyday. while my schedule is simply amazing, i do feel like it's been a long week by the time friday rolls around. the kids definitely take the best out of you throughout the week. so here's to friday. yessss.

this weekend is going to be about 823947 times less eventful than last (grace got married last weekend, so my friday and saturday were shot), and i am very happy about that. i'm exhausted today; i drove nate to the airport at 3am last night-er-this morning to get to mexico. not only am i tired, i'm jealous, too. yay. :)

i'm definitely going to get caught up on my lost experience this weekend. i made a mistake, albeit a worthy one, in watching the season premiere of season 4 last night. why a mistake, you ask? because i'm definitely only 5 episodes into season 3. i love lost! i'm not a tv fanatic by any means, although i do love me some american idol, but lost is in a category of its own. that show is seriously amazing. i'm clearly lacking adjectives right now, but you get the gist. now come my predictions, based on last night's epi.

in a flash-forward, hurley said he was part of the 'oceanic 6.' this either means that a whole mess of people died before they got rescued, or, as my prediction goes, some people actually chose to stay on the island and live there. i definitely wouldn't put it past john locke.
i'm still really confused about naomi. i feel like she could be bad, but i also feel like there are parts of her that really are sincere. my only prediction here is based on logistics- they wouldn't be rescued at the beginning of season 4, with 2 more seasons to go. what would the writers have happen if they were saved with 2 seasons left?

now, i've got a few questions as well (but, when watching lost, who doesn't?), but i'm waiting for those to be answered as this season moves forward. boo to the writer's strike for only having 8 episodes for season 4 so far!

i've recently stumbled upon this gem that is lost. about 3 weeks ago, danny convinced me to watch the series premiere, and i've been hooked ever since, thriving on little sleep and lots of coffee because of late night lost-athons. i feel now as though i've been cheated, because i have to wait one whole week to get to the next epi! it's madness! i'm going to have to find something to fill my time. maybe i'll write some songs. about being lost, maybe? ;)

fact: lost is amazing.
fact: i'm pretty much a huge dork who likes to write blogs about a tv show.

love, peace, and afro grease!
-g

blogizzle?

2008-01-31T14:34:00.001-06:00

every year i act as if i'm going to start really writing a blog. around march-ish, my blog suddenly goes hermit style, never to come alive again. this year, i'm gonna stick to it!

cheers and jeers.