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The Wow Factor

On an evening such as this, it’s hard to tell if I exist.
If I pack the car and leave this town, who’ll notice that I’m not around?
(Pinch Me, Barenaked Ladies)

One of my favorite songs has a vulnerable – and yet somehow catchy – line that seems to come out of nowhere, just moments after describing simple pleasures like running through the sprinkler and taking long naps.

But isn’t that how insecurity and fears are? Coming at us when we least expect it, slamming into our hearts and shadowing our minds before we even know what hit us?

Last week I auditioned for a solo at church. For nine months, I’ve known that I wanted to sing a certain song at the Christmas program, and Thursday was my day to make that happen.

Things did not go as planned.

To read the rest of this story, head over to (in)courage.

Shaky, shaky…

When I was a freshman in college, my roommate loved Elmo toys. She’d worked at Toys ‘R Us, I think, and also had a young nephew to spoil – between the two, she’d really become fond of the annoying red muppet. And so she had a Tickle Me Elmo. And a Tickle Me Cookie Monster, or whatever he was called.

And she kept them in her bed. Where she occasionally would roll over on them in the middle of the night.

That’s a weird thing to wake up to, let me just tell you.

I’m having flashbacks to those days, because Annalyn was given an Elmo & Cookie Monster Giggle Ball (yes, that’s it in the picture), and when I accidentally sat on it, well, I’m sure you can guess what happened.

Yep. “Giggly, jiggly! Shaky, shaky! Ha, ha, ha!”

That link is not an affiliate link, by the way. Because I am not advocating anyone buy this thing.

And how was your weekend?

Saturday Review: Fame, Management & a Shopaholic

Two out of three of us are still sick in my house, so this will be short and sweet. Or, at least, short. (And you know that my version of short is less than 600 words, right?)

Smitty and I went to see Fame after Annalyn’s birthday party. We had pretty high expectations, as lovers of the teen dance genre, and that may have been the problem.

Here’s what I’ll say: If the goal of this movie was to illustrate the difficulties of a young artist’s life that we might not know about or think of, then they succeeded. It was filmed in a gritty way, so it seemed pretty obvious that viewers are supposed to feel like we’re getting a real look at the lives of these students.

But here’s the problem: The movie follows several characters over four years. In less than two hours. It was almost more of a montage than a movie – short clips of characters with no real development. I could hardly remember all the main characters’ names, much less care about what happened to them.

On the other hand, I’m a sap for teen dance movies. So the music, the dancing, the teeny-bopper romance? Totally made me grin (a little bit) and maybe even cry (a teeny tiny bit).

Also, Megan Mullally is awesome in everything she does. And now I’ve added another movie to my need-to-see list: the original.

Mark and I rented Management a couple weeks ago. Redbox didn’t have any new movies out that we wanted to see, and Mark assumed that anything with Jennifer Aniston would be the kind of romantic comedy I like.

(Awwww, so sweet.)

It wasn’t exactly the kind of romantic comedy I normally watch, though. It was about a romance of sorts, and it had funny parts. But it was very dry and not fast-paced.

The gist is this: Jennifer Aniston is a businesswoman who meets Steve Zahn on a business trip at the motel his parents own. He’s kind of nerdy and immature; she’s kind of overworked and lonely. He takes a fancy to Miss Aniston and ends up following her around the country, wearing her down until she . . . well, you don’t want to know the ending, do you?

Somehow it manages to be not really as stalker-ish as it sounds. Really, it’s pretty good. Quiet, but good. Oh, and it also has Woody Harrelson, so if that’s a draw, it has that going for it.


When Chelley visited several weeks ago, we rented Confessions of a Shopaholic. Chelley had already seen it and liked it, although she said the book’s different and better. I feel a little bad, because I didn’t really like it.

I think Isla Fisher is adorable, and there’s nothing better than a floppy-haired British romantic lead. (It turns out Hugh Grant was busy – or old – so they went with another Hugh, Hugh Dancy.) But the main character was real annoying to me. I’d like to think that people aren’t really that dumb, but maybe they are. So all I’ll say is that she isn’t the type of person I want to spend 104 minutes with.

Well, to be honest, it would probably be fun to go shopping with her. But to watch her try to dig herself out of the holes she’s dug herself? Not so much.

So – seen any good movies lately?

On the up side, it’s Friday.

The good news: I don’t have the flu.

The bad news: That’s the only thing my neighborhood drugstore clinic is treating for.

More bad news: I waited an hour and a half to find that out.

The good news: It’s Friday.

Last night, my choir director mentioned an incident that occurred when he was a waiter at Chili’s. It involved veggies, a lap and a very angry lady.

That reminded me of my time as a waitress – three of the longest months of my life! I was not a good waitress, and I didn’t enjoy it one bit. Honestly, I don’t remember a whole lot about that job, but I do remember one night in particular.

The night I dumped a whole tray of drinks, splashing a huge (HUGE!) glass of tea onto a man’s lap. He was kind and gracious and forgiving, but still. Embarrassing!!!

Cheer me up today. Tell me a horror story from one of your early jobs. (Or recent jobs, if that provides better material!)

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