The Secret Life of Damian Spinelli by Carolyn Hennesy

As an important introductory note, I'd like to point out that the author of The Secret Life of Damian Spinelli, Carolyn Hennesy, is actually the actress who plays Diane Miller on General Hospital. Another key note is this: unless you are a pretty serious fan of the show, read no further. This book is not for you, you won't get it,  and you will hate it.

Now that I've gotten my initial remarks out of the way, here we go.  .   .

If you are a true fan of General Hospital, past or present, you will find some enjoyment in this book. Ms. Hennesy writes well, and it is entertaining to read the story from the perspective of the character she plays on the show. Each chapter is the retelling of one of Spinelli's entirely fantasy-based exploits. The entire book is basically fan-fiction at its best, written by a true show insider. Some highlights include: Alan's ghost haunting Monica, Brenda using her modelling career merely as a cover for her true job as an Interpol agent, and Spinelli as a closet master surgeon.

The book is at its best during the bits when Diane and Spinelli are interacting in the present. Diane has a great perspective as a storyteller, and I would love to see Ms. Hennesy write more GH-based fiction (perhaps Diane's personal memoirs) from a more "realistic" perspective. 

My main recommendation with this book, even if you ARE a hardcore GH fan, is to take it in small doses. Read a story/chapter or two as a break between other books. It can get a little trying to read the whole thing through like a typical novel.  All-in-all, I liked the book, but bear in mind that I have barely missed an episode of General Hospital since I was about 15. (And for those of you who don't know me, that was a LONG time ago.)

A Belated Update of Exciting Events on SYTYCD, plus The Glee Project

Okay, so it's been awhile since I've posted about SYTYCD. There are a couple of very good reasons for this, so, in no particular order, we have:
1. General laziness and lack of motivation
2. Bitterness and unhappiness over the way the first eliminations were handled
3. A Tivo glitch which resulted in yours truly having to wait 4 days after the air date to catch the performance show on the network website

Now that those formalities are out of the way, here's what I have to say:
I was quite impressed with the first Top 20 performance show. Lots of talent, lots of good choreography, and the statues-come-to-life number was brilliant, as well as underscoring my very early selection of Melanie as a force to be reckoned with. In the end, I was even pleased with Nigel's decision to keep everyone, giving the entire Top 20 another chance to impress America, and giving us more time to pick our real favorites.

The problem came after the second Top 20 performance show, when the bottom three couples were announced, and four dancers were eliminated. What we had was this: two performance shows, with 2 different sets of three couples who were the least favorite in one of the two given weeks. While I am all for eliminating four people in one week instead of two per week, I think the prior week's results should have been considered. Either take the bottom three from each week, and eliminate a total of four dancers from among them, or combine the voting results from the two weeks and eliminate four dancers from the OVERALL bottom three. The way the elimination was actually handled gave a complete pass to the three least favorite from Week 1, and unfairly cost the three least favorite from Week 2.

And while I'm complaining, I should also mention that the producers need to stop calling the final 15-second performance "Dance for Your Life" if your fate on the show is not really determined by said dance. Even Nigel admitted that Ryan (who, for the record, I like) had the weakest DFYL performance of the bottom three girls, but guess what? Yes, she was the one who wasn't sent packing.  Doesn't seem fair. I think the show will greatly suffer from the loss of both the lovely Iveta (the classiest girl on the show) and Nick, the only tapper. And the show just won't be the same without Wadi's superpower of being able to defy gravity. Nigel, my friend, you may have brought dance to America and all, but you guys really let us down on this one. Maybe you could get down to the Top 8, then have a "wild card comeback" show to let the ousted dancers perform (solo, and with an alumni partner) so that viewers could vote our favorite (like IVETA) back into the Top 10.

Now, for a few notes on the Glee Project, which I have neglected to mention before now. If you love Glee, it is a shame if you aren't following this one. Basically, a group of hopefuls are taking part in a competition/reality show to see who gets to be the lucky recipient of a 7-episode guest stint on the show. My main concern is that, several weeks in, we haven't had any challenges that address whether or not any of these kids can actually ACT. They can all sing/dance well enough to be on the show, but isn't the ability to learn and convey dialog a pretty critical requirement for being on a tv show?  

Anyway, each wannabe has apparently created a "character profile" for the stock character they would like to portray on the show. Unfortunately, several are (in my mind) out of the running already because that character is already represented (ie Hannah = Lauren, Emily = Santana, Alex = Mercedes/Kurt combo, Lindsay = Rachel).  The only one of these that I think even has a chance is Alex, who (thanks to my husband's input) I would write in as Mercedes' cousin, who has been a diva rival since childhood. Other lead contenders seem to be (and please note, the character description is the one I made up, regardless of whether it relates to the one the contender actually selected):
1. Samuel--dreadlocked rasta kid who comes across as a slacker druggie type, but really uses the "tough" image to disguise his generous, poetic soul
2. Marissa--Molly Ringwald's character from Breakfast Club, the rich girl who comes across like a self-centered spoiled brat, but is really just looking for acceptance and real friends
3. Cameron--the awkward dorky guy who is brilliant and talented, but woefully inept socially
4. Damien--the exchange student who can't decide if he wants to stand out as somebody foreign and different, or blend in with his (temporary) new life

Ah, producers, why didn't you make a little side component to the show for would-be writers?  I could have such fun creating mini-scripts for the hopefuls to perform as part of their own auditions. That's all I have for now, but I promise I'll try to be a (little) more prompt with future commentary.

Thrifty Finds!

What a wonderful weekend of garage-sailing! I walked away with two really fabulous finds. The first is a bracelet...at $4, it's more than I would usually pay at a yard sale, but it's one-of-a-kind, and has the potential to become a signature piece:

My second great deal of the week is this bird feeder:

Handmade, only $2, and has space for 2 kinds of seeds and 4 suet squares. Unfortunately, the birds don't seem to be as impressed with it as I am!

And here's the grocery deal of the week: Goldfish crackers at Giant. With their store card, it's buy one at $2.39, get one free. But if you look carefully, some of the packages have a .55 cents off coupon attached...with double coupons, that comes to roughly 10 cents per package. Yes, friends....I walked out with 10 assorted varieties of Goldfish crackers for a grand total of $4.54 (not all of them had coupons).  So good, it shouldn't even be legal....

So You Think You Can Dance First Performance Show

My first thought after watching the Top 20 performance show...."Wow, there are so MANY of them." And they were all great. So, did anybody make an impression on ever-cynical me? Not overwhelmingly; again, everyone was good, and with the sheer number of performers, it is hard to single any of them out. That being said, I DO (of course) have a few random comments:

1.  I must say, the hair and makeup people at SYTYCD did wonders with these contestants! Almost all of them actually looked good, with the exception of those who needed to look bad on purpose for their routines. Kudos!

 2. Ashley was adorable! Her hip hop number was cute and fun, but not overly technical or exciting. I hope she doesn't go home as a result; I think the resident ballerina has a lot more to show the audience as she moves into other genres.

3. Iveta was stunning in the gold lame costume she wore to open the show. She really stood out in a group of ladies mostly wearing some combination of underwear and short skirts.  I'm still not sure how she'll fare in non-ballroom genres, but I hope she sticks around long enough for the people from Dancing With the Stars to notice and invite her to join them a la Lacey and Dmitri. (If Iveta is cagey enough that this possibility is her main motivation for being on SYTYCD, I like her even more!)

4. Best non-scripted moment of the night: Jordan kicking the camera during rehearsal in the middle of a lift. At least she said, "Sorry!"

5. So, in my humble opinion, the winner of the night was:   Travis Wall!   Quite possibly the best thing EVER to come out of SYTYCD, Travis' choreography is always good, and last night he was exceptional. I agree with the judges that the statue number may well be nominated for an award.

So, in summary, I have no true favorites yet, and no clue who is going home. I'm looking forward to finding out (and to playing the ever-popular game of "How many dancers can you identify by name in the group routine").   

Our Big Pokemon Adventure

Today, Michael participated in the Washington Regional Pokemon Tournament. He did quite well too...breezed through the first two rounds, and almost won the third. We're already looking forward to next year.

The whole event was very well organized and efficient. There were also costumed versions of the three main Black and White characters, plus some very nice inflatables. Here are the boys posing with Reshiram (white) and Zekrom (black), two legendary Black/White Pokemon:

Congratulations (and a limited-edition souvenir totebag) to all the participants, especially Michael!  Excellent work! Way to go, Stealth 'R Us! (Which shall now be our new slogan.)

In less exciting news, Princess Roxanna got a new collar. Although she now looks like a lovely little diva, she was not much in the mood to pose for a picture, so this is the best I could do:

Now she's Pretty in Pink!

Goodbye, Old Friend

Sadly, Chance moved on the the Rainbow Bridge on Friday, March 20. He was a wonderful dog for lots of years, but his medical/psychological issues finally got the best of him. Poor Roxie is confused and sad, and further befuddled by the daily Really Scary Thunderstorms. We've been giving her lots of extra treats and attention. Good-bye, old friend!

Chance enjoying the blizzard of 2010!

Blue Ear, My Deer

#1: My Child Has a Blue Ear: This morning, I noticed David's whole ear was bruised blue. I asked him what happened, and he "didn't remember".  Since the boys had a "sleepover" in Michael's room the previous night, I asked Michael, who "had no idea".

Here's what I heard during what I believe to be "the incident". . .
Crash. . . Thump.
Michael: "I told you not to do that."
David: "You shouldn't have left your desk there."

Near as I can figure it, one/both were jumping on the bed, or from the bed to other furniture, and David fell into the desk and bashed his head. I can't believe it didn't hurt enough at the time for him to cry or come find me and blame it on his brother. Oh well...like we learned from the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" movie, sometimes sibling solidarity is worth letting something slide. . .

2. Look what we found in our front yard this morning:

Isn't she cute? I also saw a member of the chipmunk family that lives under our porch the other day. Glad to see they got through the winter okay!