Of spark-producing tap shoes, my long-time crush on Shaun White, and sappy Hallmark movies

I have decided that I did indeed complete Task 19 and will therefore consider it completed, per urging of my friend Creaves. So, what is that? 5 down, 47 to go? Or something like that.

The Olympics opened yesterday. I have been loving it! A skater from Korea won gold and Apollo Ohno and J.R. Celski won silver and bronze. Congrats to all of them! Ohno now has won 6 Olympic medals in his Olympic career. Amazing.

I cannot contain my excitement to see Shaun White (a longtime secret crush of mine... I'm talking years and years) present his double cork trick (or whatever it's technically called) and maybe some other tricks he's got hidden up his sleeve during his events!!!! Did you know that Red Bull sponsored a secret half-pipe with a foam pit hidden in Colorado for him to develop his tricks? Is that cool or what????

Did y'all see the opening ceremonies last night? Beautiful! The tap dancing and the flying scenes were probably my favorites. But the First Nations' dancers who danced for at least 45 minutes straight were awesome as well. That takes some athleticism and STAMINA. I really, really want some fiery tap shoes. Those are definitely going on my Christmas wishlist.

Valentine's Day is officially in 23 minutes. I've gotten around to my prediction early, as I am already watching a Hallmark movie (and have watched snippets of others earlier), and have been working on catching up on work.

So... what's your favorite Valentine's day-related song? Anti-Valentine's day song?

My Top 10 List of the Best Songs for Valentine's Day, Vol. 1-3

*Disclaimer: These are the top 10 songs that have come to mind. These lists are definitely not exhaustive and not necessarily in much of an order.*

Volume 1: Songs for the Romantically Involved
10. "All I Ask of You" from The Phantom of the Opera
9. "Your Song" by Sir Elton John
8. "Passenger Seat" by Death Cab for Cutie
7. "Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat
6. "Syrup and Honey" by Duffy
5. "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds
4. "Everblue" by Mandy Moore
3. "I'm Yours" by The Script
2. "Mi Morena" by Josh Groban/"When You Say You Love Me" by Josh Groban (It's a tie)
1. "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain

Volume 2: Songs for the Hopeless Romantic
10. "In His Eyes" from Jekyll and Hyde
9. "Somewhere" from West Side Story
8. "The Guy Who Says Goodbye to You is Out of His Mind" by Griffin House
7. "Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop" by Landon Pigg
6. "Keep on Loving You" by REO Speedwagon
5. "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles
4. "Soulmate" by Natasha Beddingfield
3. "I Want You to Want Me" by Cheap Trick
2. "I Just Haven't Met You Yet" by Michael Buble
1. "So She Dances" by Josh Groban

Just for Fun: Taylor the Latte Boy

Volume 3: Songs for the "No, I Do Not Want to Be Your Valentine"/"I Don't Need Your Pity-Because-I'm-Single"/"I Will Kick You If You Say You Know Someone Perfect For Me" types
10. "I Hate Myself for Loving You" by Joan Jett
9. "Kerosene" by Miranda Lambert
8. "Said and Done" by Meiko
7. "Bust Your Windows" by Jazmine Sullivan/redone by the cast of Glee
6. "Love is a Battlefield" by Pat Benatar
5. "Broken Vow" by Josh Groban
4. "I'm Gonna Find Another You" by John Mayer
3. "Beautiful Disaster" by Jon McLaughlin
2. "My Confession" by Josh Groban
1. "On My Own" from Les Miserables

Statistics is not My Friend

Well, yet again, I slacked off on Task #8 (or was it #10?) The 99 Luftballons one. Before you judge me, let me plead my case. All three of my professors have decided to ignore the fact that we all have LIVES outside of graduate school, let alone classes other than theirs, and have instead decided to focus on piling on insane amounts of work due in short time periods. I cannot complain, really. I guess it could be much worse. But, needless to say, this week has kept me on my toes. For example, for the past 3 hours, I've been working on an annotated analysis of a 2-way ANOVA between-subjects design. I know. Fascinating. I've about come to the point where I have to manually hold my eyelids open in order to focus on it anymore. Thankfully, it's almost finished and not due til tomorrow afternoon, so there's still time.

I did kind of complete a task tonight...
19. Do something completely spontaneous that no one would ever expect me to do.
But, truth be told, it was not completely spontaneous (I had to get some encouragement), so I'm not going to count it. I allow myself no slack. It's a personality fault, I've been told. But it was very out-of-character. I hit on Josh Groban. Twice. Which, although unlikely, not the most unlikely thing about it. The joke involved (light) bodily-function humor (not trashy, mind you). Always prim and proper Jess is breaking out of her shell, ladies and gentleman. My mama would be so ashamed. But she doesn't need to know...
So, altough the task doesn't count as being completed, I feel a sense of accomplishment, even though I'm so tempted to delete the pick-up line out of embarrassment. In psychology, though, we call this a shame-attacking exercise. It's for my own good.

I've been in an uncharacteristic pro-Valentine's day spirit this week, so tell me this: a) If you could have anybody in the world ask you to be your Valentine, who would it be and why? b) Where would he/she take you for Valentine's Day? c) Would he/she bring you a gift? If so, what would it be?
Come on people. I know you are all a creative bunch.

Wanted: Tall, dark, and handsome, complete with a double cheeseburger and an Irish accent

So, I originally planned on being my usual cynical, hermit-esque self on Valentine's Day, but then I figured, "Hey, your goal this year is to change things up, get out of the ol' comfort zone. Get off your lazy butt and be proactive." So, I've decided to take applications for my Valentine for 2010. Questions cover everything from basic demographics to movies to pick up lines. So far, there have been two Valentine hopefuls: one has told me my eyes are pond-colored (I've yet to decide if that's a good thing or not) and one has decided my pet name should be Muffaletta. So... TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO APPLY!

Anyway, moving on to something a bit more serious... I am craving a double cheeseburger from McDonald's. I can almost taste those little onion bits and the slice of fake cheese half-melted over what may or may not be hamburger meat. Twenty more days. Actually, in about 5 minutes, it'll be 19 more days. Task 10 might be more difficult than originally anticipated.

Okay, so I'm not a romantic person by nature at all. Ask anybody who knows me really well. I hate food dates, I hate awkward situations, and I am not the kind of girl who is easily swayed by a Fabio look-alike with a box of chocolates in one hand and a dozen roses in another. However, I been searching iTunes today for some new music to get me through the next semester and stumbled across one of the most beautiful and yes, romantic songs I've ever heard. It's called "I'm Yours" by The Script. So, in the spirit of this week o' love or at least materialistic overindulgence of chocolate and red and pink confetti, go to iTunes, youtube, whatever and listen to it. Let me know your thoughts. Have I become hopelessly romantic and sappy in my old age?
"I'm Yours" by The Script (P.S. I'm pretty sure they're Irish. Yay.)

Heartbreaking News

Disclaimer: This post is a bit of a downer. If you're looking for a peppy, upbeat post, look elsewhere.

There was a shooting at a middle school near where I'm from today. A fourteen year old boy was shot in the head. He died this evening. It was a single incident and no others (from what I've heard) were injured. I saw some pictures of Todd Brown on a Facebook page dedicated to him and his family and began to weep. I had never met this boy or even heard of him, but my heart broke for him and his family. I do cry a lot, but not usually about incidents like this. My heart breaks and I feel sad, but never have I wept like this. I feel sick to my stomach about this whole situation.

I have recently been questioning whether my goal of researching adolescent antisocial behavior was worth pursuing, and this incident reinforced the goal. We can ask why things like this happen, but we must admit that we will never know while still on this Earth. But what we can ask and try to answer is how can we prevent such incidents, how we can aid others when such incidents happen, and how we can live our lives in a way that people feel they can talk to us when dealing with scary emotions that might lead to incidents like this.

I've really been musing over life in general lately. What is going to become of our society? My generation? I watched most of a musical my friend Creaves introduced me to entitled Tanz der Vampire, which takes place probably in the 1800's (I'm guessing). One of the main characters, Count Krolock (a vampire), sings a song talking about how people just feed their seemingly unending appetite. He says something along the lines of (I'm paraphrasing), "I have a prediction that in the next millenium, the god most worshipped will be the god of appetite." That really stood out to me. How true is that statement? Our society is one of entitlement and instant gratification. We want more, more, more. More for me. Less for you. God created us for the sole purpose of glorifying and worshipping Him. But instead so many just chase after a false god that leaves us empty and searching.

Hungry I come to You
For I know you satistfy.
I am empty
But I know Your love does not run dry.
So I wait for You.
Yes, I wait for you.
(From "Hungry" by Kathryn Scott)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYlpIdEyzX4

Please pray for the Brown family and the students, faculty, and staff of Discovery Middle School, as well as the city/government officials who are working on this case.

I feel like I've been repeatedly run over by a steamroller.

Why must I be such an overachiever? I walked Saturday and Sunday for about 30 or 45 minutes, swam Monday, and took two, yes two, aerobics/"group fitness" classes last night (Hip Hop and Zumba). That was the breaking point, I believe. I am sore. I haven't been sore in at least a year. The fact that I'm sore around my hip (where I had surgery last year) but not in pain is amazing! However, I'm walking like an 80 year old, which is nothing new. It took me about 5 minutes to climb the stairs. "oh my, I hope I make it upstairs. What if my legs just give out? Will anybody find me?"

Hello, my name is Jessica and I'm pathetic and out of shape.

So, the plans to complete Task #8 (Memorizing 99 Luftballons) will have to be extended for another week. However, I have been living life sans fast food (Task #10- No fast food for a month) since Monday. I did eat a leftover buffalo finger from Zaxby (I splurged Sunday night in preparation for the next month), but I won't count that against myself, because I'm broke and thus need to be as thrifty as possible. I've been living off sandwiches and goat cheese nachos with salsa verde. *Insert comments about my weird eating habits.*

And in regards to the video documenting my completion of Task #14, I have continuously failed. I might have to resort to uploading it on youtube and then supplying a link. Do you people really want to see it? It's boring. I'm just spouting greetings in 10 languages. It's no sky-dancing-and-singing performance, or an eleven year old girl who gives Mariah Carey a run for her money.

Sidetrack: The Grammys

To all the critics, SHE KNEW EXACTLY WHAT SHE WAS DOING. She didn't pick this outfit out to blend in. Even if she tried to blend in, she'd skewer the person next to her. My question is how did she get TO the Grammys without making herself a shishkabob. There is no way she could have sat down in that thing. And might I point out the shoes. That takes some talent to walk in those things. I would fall flat on my face and skewer myself in the process. I am not generally a Lady Gaga fan, it is true, and I do not like this outfit as an outfit, but I do like that she has the guts to wear it. However, flash and smoke and mirrors gets old after awhile, Gaga. Keep that in mind.


Moving on. Did you see Pink's performance? Breathtaking. I've always loved her voice. It's lovely, yet rough, which, in my opinion, is a magical combination. The costume was a bit on the sketchy side, but I understood why they put her in it. The hours of rehearsals she must have gone through, and the CONDITIONING to strengthen herself enough to do that and sing at the same time. And it was so emotional and raw. I loved it. I was going to post the link to the video here, but due to copyrights etc, all I can do is encourage you to do some research for yourself. :D

Beyonce. Her performance blew me out of the water too, vocally. However, visually, it was a little lacking. I kind of hoped that the soldier-dudes would start dancing more or actually turn out to be females (since she was singing "If I Were a Boy."- which, by the way, is A LOT like a song by Ciara from a couple of years ago...). But Beyonce's voice is so strong, she doesn't need a lot of smoke and mirrors and knows it, I think. But if you're going to do a Grammys performance, either go all out or just stick with the bare minimum, no in-betweens.

Taylor Swift: sounds a lot older when her voice has been edited. And although I love the song "You Belong With Me" and generally like her as an artist (so talented and driven at such a young age), but the version she and Stevie Nicks sang made me think of gingham-clad bobble-heads. But kudos to her for winning her awards.

And can I just bask in happiness here for a minute?
...

Bon Jovi. How I love them. Livin' on a Prayer made me oh-so-happy. My classic rock side is now content.

Congratulations to all the winners!

I now quote a former teacher: "Thoughts? Feelings? Angry words?"