...I have yet another idol...

Can we take a few moments to discuss the genius that is Chelsea Handler?

I just finished both her memoirs -- "My Horizontal Life" and "Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea" over the past week...and they're both brilliant.

I always just saw her as some sassy talk show host who I'd watch when there was nothing else on...but I'll most definitely be checking it out more often.

While she's animated and amusing in person...through written word, she's incredible. Her personal stories made me laugh so hard that at times, I was completely crying my eyes out.

What the world needs are more Chelsea Handler novels. Maybe then we'd learn not to take ourselves too seriously.

America Got Something Else Right for Once...

Wow. Two things in seven months. America voted Obama into the White House...and voted Kris Allen in as their new American Idol.

All I can say is...thank God.

I haven't been super blog posting lately...but I can recall in two of my blog posts a certain disdain for Adam Lambert -- starting from the moment the Top 13 hit the stage.

Let me clear this first...I didn't dislike Lambert because he was so obviously gay. That's a moot point, as far as I'm concerned. If anything bothered me about his sexual orientation...it was that he wasn't open about it throughout the competition. If that's a part of who he is and he can own up to how wonderful he is at other things...just admit it. And be proud of who you are. Gay, straight, I honestly don't care. But for someone who claimed to be such an "individual" and so "comfortable in their own skin." Meh.

No. My problem with Mr. Lambert was in the fact that whenever you watched him onstage...you just didn't feel it. Oh sure, his theatrics made him fun to watch. I can't say I was a fan of the screeching/screaming that was constantly coming out of his mouth...or the way he was considered a "genius" for slowing down Tears for Fears' "Mad World" (um...Gary Jules' cover from "Donnie Darko" anyone???). That...and the fact that he was obviously born to perform on a theatre stage. He's so musical theatre that I doubted his whole "rock" persona. Going to school with those musical theatre kids...you see them transform themselves all the time. That's not necessarily who they are (some of them are...I can see the controversy starting at about this point in what I'm saying). What I am saying is that a lot of actors hone their craft to one part so that they excel in it greatly.

And that's the feeling that I always got from Adam Lambert.

He'd be better suited on Broadway than he would being this glam rock star for the rest of his life. Something tells me that his vocal cords would agree with me there.

But alas, this post is not about Adam Lambert...though I have finished my rant there.

It's about the genius that is Kris Allen that I've slowly been falling in love with all season.

Where Adam did strange versions of songs...Kris did them as well...and to me, they were more suited to blast through my car stereo.

I have to admit. From the start...I couldn't remember Kris. I was all about Danny and 16/17 year old Allison. But he slowly started to win me over. Choosing "Falling Slowly" during Movies week when everyone else was picking Billboard Topping anthems you wish they would stop playing..."Ain't No Sunshine" anyone? But it was during disco week when he took Donna Summer's "She Works Hard for the Money" and turnedit into an acoustic jam fest? It was then that I knew this guy had something. When it came down to the final four...I would have been perfectly fine with Allison, Danny or Kris winning. Then Allison left. Then Kris performed Kanye West's "Heartless" (absolutely incredible) and Danny left.

And then it was down to the final two.

I've read countless posts this morning from fan girls saying this thing was rigged. That Adam will have a better career than Kris. And honestly, good luck to him. I probably won't be buying the CD.

I'd rather get it from the guy who you can feel LOVES what he's doing on stage. A guy who's comfortable behind a piano and a guitar. A guy who's been shy all season and didn't think he was going to win (because people kept thrusting Adam into their faces). A guy who deserves the Idol title.

So congratulations Kris Allen. You honestly deserved to win. Don't let the haters tell you any different.

Currents as of May 2009

Current ListeningTaking Back Sunday - "New Again"

Love the energy that TBS rediscovered in this album. LOVE IT.

Kris Allen
I swear. If he doesn't win 'Idol' (which he probably won't...it'll probably be squealer annoyingly unfabulous Adam Lambert), then I'm gonna be pissed. Sure, Kris Allen will probably go somewhere with his music...I mean, the guy's a genius with an acoustic guitar. "She Works Hard for the Money" and that cover of Kanye's "Heartless"? Brilliant.

CKY - "Carver City"
I'm not usually a huge metal fan...but I love CKY because their lyrics are different, there isn't any screaming and the instruments on it are fully original. This album also listens better for me than "An Answer Can Be Found" (which I do love nonetheless).

Current Reading
Nothing interesting at the moment...but soon to be Chelsey Handler's memoirs.

Current Watching
Used to be that I'd watch "How I Met Your Mother" before falling asleep. That's recently (until HIMYM Season 4 gets released on DVD) been replaced by "Viva La Bam." I took a break from the Viva boys for awhile...but god, it's good to be back.
Especially since Ryan Dunn and Bam Margera are finally, finally hanging back out together.

...Oh man.

Something about this SNL skit is absolutely positively absolutely hilarious to me.

God...

I swear I'm going to start posting on a more regular basis. I am. I need to write about the obnoxious nail color of the week that I've started...and about celebrity gossip...and TV finales...though, the latter may be dated.

Or I could just say that work has been insanely busy and blogging has taken a backseat. My portfolio is really growing...and a project that was my baby way back at the end of January...ended up winning 2nd place in an ad contest for the PA Newspaper Association.

:)

Anyway...more is coming. Life just needs to slow down...and summer just needs to arrive. Ciao!

-J

PS: I got a new 16gig black iPod nano last Friday nite. Miss old blue...but totally loving the newer model of a classic. :)

R.I.P. Nameless iPod

December 25, 2006- May 7, 2009
You and I had so many adventures together. You kept me sane in London and fueled my love of music with my friends there. You kept me sane at my summer job when the kids were way, way too loud. You kept me sane in airports, waiting for flights with layovers that seemed to drag on and on. You kept me sane on said planes...so that I did not have to hear the rumble of the engines and think about the fact that I was actually very, very, very high in the air. You kept me sane my entire senior year of college. Long gone were awkward shuttle rides with the academic student sitting quiet and nervously amongst the theatre kids...long gone were the quiet waits for classes to start with people I did not know in them. You kept me entertained in cars with friends and on road trips with my best friend. You helped me fuel my passion for music without forcing me to carry large bulky CD players and cases around.

You will be greatly missed because you were the first non-surprise-surprise Christmas gift that I ever received that has brought me countless amounts of joy in the amount of time that I had you. You were durable, you were full of hours of entertainment, you were blue.

I will miss you, 2nd Generation iPod encased in blue steel.

I will miss you.