Photo LinkLove

, originally uploaded by Davidlind.

This may be a long term relationship. We went back to the beach after a week that included a few showers and here is what we saw.

Still in love.

Sigh.

When you’re in love you never really know whether your elation comes from the qualities of the one you love, or if it attributes them to her; whether the light which surrounds her like a halo comes from you, from her, or from the meeting of your sparks. ~Natalie
Clifford Barney

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He felt now that he was not simply close to her, but that he did not know where he ended and she began. ~Leo Tolstoy

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How did it happen that their lips came together? How does it happen that birds sing, that snow melts, that the rose unfolds, that the dawn whitens behind the stark shapes of trees on the quivering summit of the hill? A kiss, and all was said. ~Victor Hugo

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Today I had a medical physical and then spent the day trying to be more organized. And in the middle of all that I had an attack of Restless Legs (RLS). So when I look back on the day I feel like it was productive. But it wasn’t a fun day.

Do you ever have to wear those little gowns that tie around your neck and don’t really have a back to them? I hate those things. And then they have the AC going like a blast furnace in reverse. So you are freezing your little rear end off. Just sitting there on THAT table waiting for someone to drop by and EXAMINE you.

And then when this person walks in it is not the person you were expecting who has done it before. It’s a woman!

Actually that was a nice surprise. She was nice and I had to ask myself whether I would rather be examined by someone I didn’t really know who was a guy or a girl. And the answer came back. . . .

A GIRL! Woman actually. Health care professional with the XX chromosome. But she took my blood pressure and it was a little high. And it’s never been high. What’s that about?

It’s about geese!! They just walk out into the road in front of your car and they never look first to see if the coast is clear! They just go! And if you are coming down the road at fifty miles an hour when they do it well it’s up to you Jack to STOP THE CAR before there are goose feathers exploding all over your hood ornament.

So that happened right before I got to the medical center. Then it was fifty degrees inside. And then the other stuff happened. Who wouldn’t have slightly high blood pressure after that?

The rest of the day was basically cleaning my office organizing photos and jumping around with restless legs. Jordin Sparks was on So You Want To Be A Dancer tonight. So that was nice. Dinner was lovely. I talked to my son about getting the headlight in his car fixed and he didn’t react negatively.

Basically things went uphill after the geese tried to commit suicide on my car bumper and I got rid of the gown. I’m not really a gown person.

Even a really nice one would not be my cup of tea.

Here are a couple of photos from last weekend that turned out alright. Fireworks!! Don’t you love em. It’s fun trying to time the photo so you take it when the firework explosion is in full bloom.

Official Jordin Sparks YouTube Channel. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/user/JordinSparks?ob=1

Everyone who has read this blog for awhile knows that I am a huge Jordin Sparks fan. I started blogging because of Jordin and have found some other interesting things to blog about but she was the first one. Some of you just shake your heads and wander off when I start writing about her. I’m sorry. But I have to do it !

I feel compelled to do it. We all have our dreams. One of mine is to have Jordin and her family over for dinner sometime when she is in the Virginia Beach area. Beth just shakes her head at that one.

Some people dream about being millionaires. Some dream about being major league baseball players. And some just dream. Well this is my dream and I have seen enough of them come true to realize that anything is possible.

And seen enough to also have an unconventional dream or two. My wife dreams about swimming with dolphins. It always pays to know what your wife dreams about and share her dreams. Then when you see the opportunity make them happen.

But right now we are focused on seeing that Jordin wins an award at the upcoming BET Awards Ceremony later this month.

You can vote for her as many times as you like and you can  vote here

I hope you like. . . . . .

I had a post in April about Jordin and her concert tour. Her grandmother wrote me a nice comment at the bottom of that one.

Earlier this week I had a nice comment from Jordin’s mother on my MySpace page.

I think that one of these days I am going to hear from Jordin herself! Don’t you think? Maybe if enough of you go to the MySpace page and vote/comment she will respond to ALL of US. Her mother keeps track of what I am doing on MySpace (and I can’t say I blame her).

So vote and vote often and let’s see this charming young lady receive an award.

I listen to her CD in my car and it really is very good.

Thank you for reading this far and I hope that sometime you will share you dreams with someone.  What do you dream about doing?  It really is nothing to be embarrassed about or repressed about in any way.  Sharing a dream is a good step towards making it happen.

The boxing analogy was working pretty well as American Idol had it’s biggest night of the year. This is what it’s all about and why we have been patiently listening to “pitchy” notes and half baked versions of songs we have always loved. And things were going well until the introductions when David Cook announced that it wasn’t a competition for him. He was going to have “fun”.

If losing is fun I guess he must have had a great time last night. In any case he started with I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Lookin For. And it was a solid if predictable performance. His second song was something written for the program called Dream Big. And I am sure the writers and their families were excited about his performance of it.

And his final performance was The World I Know. This was his choice and his voice was in great shape but he should have sung Billy jean again. Perhaps he would not have had enough “fun” performing the same song twice.

If he was competing he would have done it. He would have stirred the soul of the audience by singing it even better than he sang it the first time. Perhaps that would have solved the problem of singing the same song twice.

Because there is always room for improvement on this show. But he didn’t and so he lost his best chance to win the competition. And I’m not sure he even had much fun because he cried after finishing his last performance. Why did he cry? Possibly because he threw the fight. It must hurt terribly to not show everybody what you can really do.

Archy on the other hand came out to win. He wants to win. You can tell. He sang Don’t Let The sun Go Down On Me for his first number. And the nerves were evident but then he picked it up a notch and really got into it. He goes somewhere when he sings. We just hope he will keep his eyes open so that he doesn’t fall off the stage.

For his second song he did something called In This Moment. Once again we had a song created for the event and he pretty much did the same thing that he did for the first number. Except the nerves were gone. Same genre, same emotions. And the same little girls screaming at him from the front of the stage.

And for his third song David once again sang Imagine. And while he was singing I was imagining him challenging himself in the way David Cook did earlier. David C noted that he had never performed his third song before.

But Archie did a nice job. He is totally committed to that song and he can claim the prize for being the very best vocalist of the evening. It was absolutely beautiful.

But I was vaguely disappointed by the whole thing. I would have liked either of them to sing something like Billy Jean. I would have liked to see a star born right there on the stage. And I don’t think it’s ever going to happen on this show. Because a real genius is not going to give it up. He or she might tease us a little bit during the season with flashes of brilliance but then will clam up during the finale and avoid the trap.

Archy wins tonight. He will be happy. David Cook will be happy to go off and explore on his own. But he still has to deal with the tour and singing the same songs every night. Bummer. He better have his pirate joke working really well.

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David Cook

Brilliant

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Billy Jean

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Update: So David Cook is the new American Idol! And the show tonight was inspirational in a way that last night’s show was not. I am happy that America got it right in spite of the fact that Mr. Cook played a little hide and seek last night. He certainly had Simon fooled. Apologies all around!

David did show flashes of genius during the season. And maybe he DID want to win. He certainly seemed very happy after he found out about it. Maybe he simply didn’t want to see Archie disappointed. This is one very intelligent, talented and caring person.

And maybe American Idol has learned a little bit about letting these young people go out and explore their talents in ways that make sense to them. The well documented dust up between the first winner, Kelly Clarkson, and Clive Davis may have led to some discussions in that regard. And allowing Fantasia to do her thing last week certainly gives credence to this notion.

All I know for sure is that I am very happy David C won. Archie is a nice kid and he has a bright future but he is not ready for New York, New York. He needs to finish high school in a way that Jordin Sparks did not. And speaking of Ms. Sparks it certainly was wonderful to see her back after the doctor imposed hiatus. She looks and sounds great. And so does Carrie Underwood.

The show has been over for about ninety minutes and here is what it says in Wikipedia about all of this.

The program seeks to discover the best singer in the country through a series of nationwide auditions. The outcomes of the later stages of this competition are determined by public voting by phone. The format features three judges who give critiques of the contestants’ performances in order to facilitate the voting: record producer Randy Jackson; pop singer and choreographer Paula Abdul; and music executive Simon Cowell. The show is hosted by former children’s game show emcee and television personality Ryan Seacrest; comedian Brian Dunkleman cohosted with Seacrest in season one. The American Idol band is led by Rickey Minor. The show usually airs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in the US and Thursday and Friday nights in the UK (two days after the US airing). In its seven seasons, its winners have been Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks and David Cook. Hicks was the oldest winner at 29, Sparks the youngest at just 17.

Congratulations David Cook. It didn’t take someone long to add your name. And congratulations American Idol on a great show. You are showcasing our young people and their talent in a very positive way.

And the final shot of the show could not have been any better if it was scripted. David Cook’s brother looking into the camera a proud and happy guy forgetting for a moment his fight with cancer.

“That’s my brother!”

Perfect.

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