Two Degrees and Separation

Hey y’all…

So, tonight’s episode of Glee (3×11) was “Michael” – all Michael Jackson songs. BTW – I will link out to songs and videos when I get them.

Before I gush about the episode, I just need to put in my two cents about the King of Pop.

I was born in 1983 – right in the thick of the Thriller album. I grew up on Michael’s music and his songs (both his solo work and the stuff he did with the Jackson 5) have a permanent spot in my heart. I may not have understood what was going on in his personal life over the past few decades, but I do know that his music made an impact on people and will likely continue to do so. His songs (and dance moves) are ICONIC. I’m glad that Glee did a tribute episode to his music… hopefully it’ll shine a light on how amazing his music still is, and perhaps it will reach a whole new generation of people.

(SPOILERS for “MICHAEL” if you haven’t seen the episode)

So… there were 10 music performances jammed into this episode. There should have been more (The Warblers version of “I Want You Back” got axed in editing… BAH!), but let’s just be thankful we got 10 songs crammed into 42 minutes of programming.

Long story short – Sebastian’s back. Blaine’s down for the count for a little while (the character needed to be written out of the show for an episode or two while Darren was on Broadway, hence Blaine’s injury). Finchel is engaged.

Since there was sooooo much going on in this episode, perhaps it’ll be easier to break it down song by song.

Before any singing went down, Blaine, Kurt, Santana, Brittany and Mercedes walked through the hall and the girls complained they missed out on MJ at sectionals. So, Mr. Schue walks by and says that they could do MJ for regionals. So, let the singing begin…

Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ – They released the full music number for this song at the end of last week, so I saw it a bajillion times before the episode actually aired. That being said, it’s still stunning to see on a big screen TV. Darren is a great dancer (if you got a chance to see him on Broadway, you will likely concur with me… boy can MOVE) and this song highlights his ability to be not just a great performer, but a showman. And those costumes! I LOVED THEM ALL! It was great to see so many iconic Michael Jackson outfits in one scene. My favorite part of this sequence was when the number segued from the library to the stage… when Blaine was standing by himself in front of the wall of lights with his back to the auditorium. Oh, so lovely. The director of his episode deserves the most epic of slow claps for his shot choices. Damn.

After the song, some of the Glee kids are in the Lima Bean discussing MJ when Sebastian strolls up mid-conversation and says that the Warblers are doing MJ for regionals. And how did he know the New Directions were planning to do MJ… Blaine spilled the beans during a phone conversations. (Just to let you know, I will have an epic rant a little later about how Sebastian views/treats Blaine. This just makes me fume.)

The next day at school, some members of the New Directions (i.e. Puck) blame Blaine for the Warblers doing MJ too (Puck calls Blaine “a modern day Eggs Benedict”… CLASSIC PUCK). Finn and some of the others say that they won’t back down, so they decide to show the Warblers they are up for a challenge.

Bad (audio only) – Santana and Blaine meet up w/the Warblers in a parking garage (btw – Blaine looks ridiculously hot and yet totally out of place in a leather jacket and jeans…). They propose a MJ-off and the rest of the New Directions show up and they and the Warblers have a sing/dance off to “Bad.” So, there is choreo, choreo, choreo… some faux punches. Lots of stare-downs between the groups. And then, right at the end of the song, the Warblers pass around a paper bag from which Sebastian pulls out a Big Gulp. He cocks his arm back, ready to toss it at Kurt, but Blaine pushes Kurt out of the way and ends up getting a slushie to the face. He goes down, hard, and puts his hands to his eyes as he moans on the ground. Something was up with that slushie…

Turns out Blaine needs eye surgery. His cornea is scratched. Kurt is sad and wants to get even w/Sebastian, but he’s a better man and keeps saying he wants to take the higher road. Artie, on the other hand, is super pissed that he and everyone else in the group keeps getting kicked around and bullied. Mr. Schue tells Artie he needs to go cool off, so Artie gets up out of his wheelchair, and Mike follows him and it segues into…

Scream (audio only) – Artie (sans wheelchair) and Mike recreating this video. And It. Was. Glorious. Kevin McHale and Harry Shum Jr are two of the best dancers on that show, so it’s nice to see them get to dance together. (Plus, holy hell those two boys have never looked better on that show. Guy liner works on Harry Shum Jr. LIKE WHOA.) This video is all sorts of out of place in reality, but I appreciated its purpose in this episode that was paying respect to Michael Jackson as a pioneer in music videos and costumes.

Rachel still hasn’t given Finn an answer to whether she’ll marry him or not, so she goes to Quinn for advice. Quinn tells her that she (Quinn) got into Yale. Quinn also tells Rachel that Rachel should dump Finn and think about her own future. You can tell Rachel is shocked and that she wouldn’t even think of doing that to Finn b/c she wants to be with him forever (I’m obviously paraphrasing here…).

Never Can Say Goodbye (audio only) – Quinn sings this to the Glee club and has her former beaus (Puck, Finn & Sam) as her dance partners as she sings them off. This was a good song for Quinn, but one of the more “meh” songs of the episode.

Human Nature (audio only) – And this is one of my favorite Michael songs of all time. And I really liked this version of it. Even though I am not a Samcedes shipper, I thought their duet was lovely. Their voices complemented each others really nicely. Although, Mercedes needs to dump Shane if she’s going to be singing with/kissing Sam like that. I was never a huge Sam fan (until “Rumors” last season), but I think he’s got a good heart. I can overlook his “sex sells” attitude when it comes to dancing, but he was all for working at the homeless shelter and looking out for Rory at Christmas. So, yay Sam. And make up your mind, Mercedes.

Okay, so earlier in this episode, Burt came to school and pulled Kurt out of Spanish class and into the hallway (side note – I thought Kurt took French…). Kurt got his NYADA letter. He and his dad end up in the choir room and Kurt is hesitant to open the letter b/c it’s something that will change his/their life one way or another. Kurt opens it and he is a finalist!! Burt is so proud of his son and asks if he (Burt) can tell Blaine. (AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW) Burt then tells Kurt that no one can take this moment away from him and that he loves him. And Burt Hummel is just the greatest character on television, hands down.

Kurt runs through the halls to find Rachel to let her know that he is a finalist. She hasn’t gotten her letter, but just assumes that she didn’t make it. She breaks down and confesses to Kurt that she has nothing – no plans for her future if she didn’t get in, no other colleges, nothing but her boyfriend. Kurt doesn’t say anything, but you can kind of tell in his eyes that in that moment, he has everything (his finalist letter *and* the boyfriend) while she is grasping at the straws that were her performing career. Yikes…

Ben (audio only) – Kurt is with Blaine in Blaine’s bedroom, reading aloud to his eye patch wearing boyfriend about Angelina Jolie. Poor Blaine – he looks like a little pirate. Rachel and Finn knock/barge in, bearing Chicken Noodle soup and some DVDs featuring people who wear eye patches. Blaine decides that it’s the proper moment to toast Kurt’s NYADA finalist standing with some Coke Zero. Kurt goes to stop him, seeing that it’s making Rachel uncomfortable, but he lets Blaine go. Blaine then confesses he’s scared about his surgery next week (i.e. Blaine won’t be on next week’s episode b/c he’s having surgery … and in real life Darren was on Broadway in H2$. Side note, during this scene, my dad asked if Darren got hurt in real life. He missed the first half of the show, so he didn’t know Blaine got slushied in the face. I tried to explain how Blaine had to get written out b/c of Darren being in NYC during the shoot for the next episode, but there’s only so much you can explain in a few seconds before the next song.). To ease Blaine’s fears, Rachel, Finn and Kurt sing “Ben.” I was bummed about this scene for a couple reasons. While it was adorable that Kurt and Blaine held hands and Blaine gave Kurt an epic heart eye during the whole song, I was sad that Finn and Rachel were cutting in on my Klaine time, and I was bummed that they left out the verse that talked about how it used to be “i and me” but now it’s “we.” Sad face.

Santana is dead set on getting Sebastian to admit what he put in the slushie so she can turn him in to the police, so she goes to Dalton to confront him. Apparently, the other Warblers didn’t know Blaine was hurt to the extent that he had to get surgery. Sebastian and Santana exchange words and they end up having a singing duel…

Smooth Criminal – I may not like Sebastian at all, but I LOVED Grant Gustin (and Naya, of course) in this number. Good god, if you didn’t know both of their characters were gay, you’d have thought they were going to ravage each other right there in that circle of chairs around the cellists. (Btw – those cellos guys are 2Cellos… look them up on youtube. They are AMAZING. They already did a cover of Smooth Criminal well before they were on Glee… which is why they were on Glee tonight. This arrangement is UH-MAY-ZING.) This number was so good. Right when the song was done, Santana said she was better. She asks him again what was in the slushie that hurt Blaine. He admits that the slushie was intended for Kurt and then says that he put Rock Salt in it. And then he slushies Santana…

… but it turned out she audio taped the whole thing (btw – who uses tape players w/mini cassettes anymore? Digital, yo). The recorder was taped to her under-boob (I think this phrase was used 2 or 3 times within a minute), but Kurt told her that he didn’t want to turn him in to the cops and that he had a better idea. He asked everyone to follow him to the auditorium. Finn asked Rachel to stay behind…

I Just Can’t Stop Loving You (audio only) – He told her she didn’t need to answer him about the engagement. He asked her to listen to him sing b/c sometimes she hears him better when he’s not talking. Now, this is also one of my favorite MJ songs of all time, but it was hella uncomfortable watching Cory Monteith singing this in medium shots and close ups. I don’t blame the director or the editor… maybe grimaces were all they had to work with. I like Cory Monteith. Finn *used* to be one of my favorite characters. I just can’t really go back to loving him/this character now that Darren is on the show. Sorry, Cory, but Blaine/Darren have completely taken over as my favorite male on that show. *kanyeshrug* The duet was nice, albeit still a little off for me just because while I can stomach that Finchel is endgame, I think it’s waaaaaaaaay to unrealistic for those two characters to get married anytime in the near future. Anyway, she says yes, he puts on the ring. BOOM – engaged.

Black or White (audio only) – In the auditorium, the Warblers come in and take a seat while the New Directions sing this song and take the high road (which Puck points out, has nothing to do with marijuana, much to his chagrin). By the end of the song, all the Warblers except for Sebastian have joined the New Directions on stage. The New Directions say that they won’t do Michael for regionals and that they won’t turn in the tape of Sebastian to the cops. Sebastian is left looking like a jerk and all alone while his Warbler-mates look at him in disgust.

Ah, Sebastian. What a choad.

BUT, this episode cemented for me, at least, that he will likely NEVER come between Kurt and Blaine. Sebastian doesn’t like the Blaine the way that Kurt likes Blaine. Sebastian hits on Blaine, but also insults Blaine and is condescending toward him and his boyfriend. Sebastian also doesn’t show any sort of remorse for hurting Blaine. True, the slushie was meant for Kurt, but when Santana reveals that Blaine needs eye surgery, Sebastian just comments that he is cute, but brushes the whole thing off. He’s not concerned that Blaine is injured. He’s not concerned he’s the one who caused the injury. And he’s only taken aback when he loses power among the rest of the Warblers. He doesn’t seem to mind being the only one left in the audience at the end, but when the rest of the Warblers find out that Sebastian put Rock Salt in that slushie, he’s a bit nervous that he’s no longer going to be the head Warbler. I’m very interested to see what kind of story line he’ll get in upcoming episodes. He has a lot of redemption ahead of him if he’s going to make any friends among any of the other kids.

Oh yeah, and at the end of the episode, Rachel gets her NYADA letter. She’s a finalist too. Kurt asks if she’s told Finn, and her face just blanks/panics. And SCENE. (Really, Glee. No one cares about anything but Klaine… trust me.)

Well… that was the show. The plot was kinda all over the place and it was more of a showcase for MJ music than anything else. Sure, some plot lines progressed (NYADA, get Blaine off the show for a bit w/the surgery, Finchel engagement, Samcedes kiss, etc…), but on a whole this was more about the music. And rightly so.

Here is the promo for next week… Ricky Martin will be the night school Spanish Teacher. Nene is back as the synchronized swim coach and Sue Sylvester wants to have a baby. Also, Mr. Schue is wearing a matador outfit. Some of my Hispanic friends have been saying how they are offended by this… I’m interested to see how this is addressed. I have a feeling next week’s episode is going to be lacking. It’ll already be lacking Blaine… but I think plot and songs will suffer too.

(END SPOILERS)

Have a good one

Hola,

Sorry I haven’t posted in awhile. I have been busy/overwhelmed with life the past week or so and am just trying to wrap my mind around a lot of stuff.

The job hunt is still progressing super slowly. I did have one bit of exciting-ness over the past few days and will be going to an interview next week. It’s not for a job, per se, but it’s for something that could potentially earn me a job later this year. The interview is out of state, but luckily it’s in a city that I love and I’ll be staying with a friend who I rarely get to spend time with, so that will be super fun on both accounts. It’s a 4 1/2 hour interview that consists of several parts, so I’ll need to spend the next week printing stuff out and getting everything together. I can’t screw this up, as this could be my ticket out of here. 2012 is my year. I know it 🙂

In other news, I have been putting up good numbers at my current job, so that has been keeping things good between me and my manager. My brother is going to visit soon, so it will be super great to see him. The MJ episode of Glee is on in a couple days and the two numbers that have been released already are STUNNING. So, I’m looking forward to that…

So yeah. Life is not perfect right now, but there are some good things going on. I’ve been freaking out about money a lot lately, but I have to believe that everything is going to turn out as it should (we used the phrase “if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be” in our house a lot when I was growing up… so I need to just keep believing). Plus, I have a guarantee from my parents that I will never live in a cardboard box. I also believe in this, as if it weren’t for them, I would be in a cardboard box right now. Seriously. My parents are awesome. (Unless, Dad, you are reading this right now. In that case *you* are slightly less awesome because I told you to stop reading my blog.)

SHIT SON. I just heard an animal outside my window… creepy.

Well, I am going to read and then get some sleep. I don’t work until tomorrow night, so I can sleep in. WOOOOOOT

Have a good one

Oscar time is my time. Awards shows are my crack. So, when Oscar nominations came out this morning, I was super excited. And then I saw the list of nominees and here were my initial reactions:

– Buh-what – only 2 songs were nominated for Best Song?! I’m super thankful that “Man or Muppet” was nominated, as that song is FLAWLESS and I sincerely hope that Jason Segel gets to perform it at the Oscar ceremony.

– Where was Ryan Gosling in the Best Actor and/or Best Supporting Actor categories? He gave not one, but THREE solid performances in three solid films this year. His performance in Drive was beyond brilliant. He was able to convey the entire gamut of feelings and emotions with facial expressions and little movements of his eyes. Sure, he had dialogue, but it wasn’t a very wordy part. HE ACTED. And he acted well (as per usual). What about Ides of March? His performance in that was also amazing. You wanted to like him and hate him at the same time. He held his own and managed to shine in a cast of equally talented actors. Hell, he could have gotten nominated for Crazy/Stupid/Love. His performance in that was a tasty combination of charm and smarm. Ugh. How did he get overlooked this season?

– So, there were only 9 Best Picture nominations… How the epic F–K did Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 OR Bridesmaids not fill that 10th slot? Either of those two films was completely deserving of a nod for Best Picture. HP7 Pt 2 was a great film. Forget that it was the final film in the highest grossing film franchise of all time – it was a GREAT film. Well acted. Well produced. Beautifully shot and scored. Good triumphed over evil. ALL WAS WELL. Bridesmaids may not be a perfect film, but it’s smart, it’s got a hell of a lot of heart, and it’s well acted. Yes, it’s a comedy. Yes, it was written by women. Yes, it’s about women. But guess what – it speaks to everyone.

– Yay for the two nominations Bridesmaids *did* get. Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo share a Best Original Screenplay nomination and it is WELL DESERVED. I could gush for days about how much this script meant to me not only as a woman, but as a person who genuinely appreciates quality writing. It was by far one of the funniest and smartest scripts of the past year. And yay for Melissa McCarthy! She’s such a brilliant comedic actress and totally deserved her nomination for Best Supporting actress. I think Octavia Spencer is going to win, but it’s still a huge win for comediennes for one of their kind to be recognized by the Academy. (for the record, Octavia Spencer’s performance had epic comedic moments in it too. So, yay for funny ladies!!)

– Two of my favorite films of the year – Drive and J. Edgar – were snubbed in some major categories. Besides Ryan Gosling getting overlooked for Drive, Albert Brooks was denied recognition for his phenomenal supporting work. I don’t even like Albert Brooks very much, but I am the first to admit when an actor I don’t like gives an outstanding performance. And he was outstanding. Like whoa. And poor, poor Leonardo DiCaprio. He was amazing in J. Edgar. I think he didn’t get nominated because of the horrible makeup he was forced to act through in that film. His old man Hoover makeup was beyond distracting. However, when I saw the film, I somehow managed to get past it (and Leo’s contacts) and just attach my attention to that character. His scenes with Armie Hammer were just so heartbreaking. Leonardo DiCaprio is going to be one of those people who will either (1) get nominated a bajillion times and never win, only to accept an Honorary Oscar when he’s 70 OR (2) will win one like Denzel did for Training Day – in a role that’s good, but not as “great” as his Howard Hughes or another amazing role he’ll be sure to have in the future.

– Kung Fu Panda 2 got a Best Animated Feature nom but Tintin didn’t? BUH-WHAT? I can’t even dignify this with a long post… it just doesn’t make sense.

– They need to come up with some sort of special award for Andy Serkis. All to often he gives AMAZING performances that won’t get recognized simply because they are motion-captured and CGIed instead of his actual self appearing on film.

– So many acting snubs… Michael Fassbender, Alan Rickman, Albert Brooks, Ryan Gosling, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kristen Wiig (Lead Actress… yep, I said it), and then some

– I was pumped for the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy representation!! Yay for Gary Oldman – god, I love that man and his entire canon of films. I was also happy for all the nominations for The Help.

– I really need to see Hugo. Like, a lot. It got 11 nominations and I need to see it.

I’m sure I have a lot more opinions. (Strike that, I know I do.) But, I am tired and I have to get up early to go to work. Once I let my thoughts simmer some more, I’m sure I’ll have some more to share with you over the next couple weeks.

The Oscars are February 26th – mark your calendars.

Also, today is my sister’s 30th birthday 🙂

Have a good one

So,

Today was Darren Criss’s finale performance as J. Pierrepont Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, ending a three week stint on Broadway.

Several of my friends were at this 3:00 matinee. I saw Tweets and blog posts throughout the afternoon (before the show, during intermission, and then after the show was over). I have a bookmarked link to his closing speech that I will watch a little bit later when I’m by myself (i.e. I’m in the living room with my mom watching the Giants/49ers game, and it would be rude to watch a video while she’s reading/the game is on).

I kinda can’t believe it’s over. It seems like forever ago that it was announced he was going to be on Broadway. Then I met my DCST friends (and Darren) in Chicago in August. Then my DCST friends and I spent a few months looking for hotels and planning our NYC adventure. Then all of a sudden it was nearing the end of 2011 and a bunch of us were making our way to the city. And then it was opening night. And we clapped and we cheered. And then I saw the show twice more before I went back to reality in MN. And here we are, a couple weeks later, and he’s back to working on Glee tomorrow.

I can’t even fathom what’s going on in his head right now. My hat is forever off to him – he’s a truly talented individual. I am continually impressed by his abilities and commitment to his performances. Though I would have loved to be in NYC and see his final show, I know I am a lucky girl to have seen him on Broadway at all, let alone opening night and twice more opening week.

While some of my friends were in NYC for the show, another group of my friends seeing the StarKids in WI for MidWinter. I am pumped to learn soon what the new StarKid show is going to be 🙂

I, on the other hand, was here all day. I finished up an application for the NYC Teaching Fellow program. It sounds like an amazing opportunity and I sincerely hope they will consider me for a spot in the program. I’ll keep applying to other jobs as well, but I really, really hope this goes somewhere.

I played some Just Dance 3 and then sang some Glee Karaoke. I just really needed to sing it out after reading the latest chapter of Little Numbers. For those of you who know what this is, your heart probably hurt too. For those of you who don’t know what this is, I’m not telling you what it is because you will judge me 😉

I’m gonna watch some more of the game and read Out of Oz (the 4th book in the Wicked series). I don’t even like the Wicked series (i know, I know…), but I feel obligated to read this book b/c I already read 1-3. Bah.

Well, have a good one

P.S. It was really sad to hear that Joe Paterno died this morning. Both my parents went to Penn State and I grew up rooting for the Nittany Lions even though I lived in Buckeye territory for most of my life. I wonder if all the stress from the sex scandal brought on his illness much faster than it would have under less stressful circumstances. He was a great coach. It’s a shame he passed away amid such turmoil with the team.

Hola,

So, *this* Glee hiatus is over (FINALLY). (i will link out to videos and songs as soon as i find them!)

Tonight’s episode, “Yes/No” brought the tunes, moved forward some plot points, and had some messages (some preachy, some not so much) about relationships and the inside/outside-ness of people.

(SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN “YES/NO”)

J’adore Grease, so I was all for the show opening with Sam and Mercedes (flanked by the boys and girls/Kurt, respectively) singing “Summer Nights.” Though I am not a hardcore Samcedes shipper, I sort of like that these two characters have a romantic past (present and future…) because they totally shouldn’t work, but in a weird way they do. (I also appreciated that the writers acknowledged this in a Samcedes hallway scene where he flat-out asks if they can’t be together b/c he’s white and she completely brushes him off because race is a non-issue between them. Sam and Mercedes shouldn’t work because she’s a diva and he’s a nerd. But they work because he’s a grounded individual who has had to overcome hardships and she’s a caring person who has as big of a heart as she does voice.)

This opening number was both out of place and completely fitting for the theme of the episode. Even better than the opening number was the teacher’s lounge scene. I LOVE COACH BIESTE. I did not see her and Cooter’s elopement coming at all. HOW ADORABLE?! And I liked that Emma and Sue were happy for her (btw – I loved Sue this episode. And that rarely happens.) I also dug that Emma and Sue were a bit jealous. Nice Sue is a rarity on show, so I took full advantage of her words of wisdom this episode. I liked that she told Emma that it’s 2012 and if she wanted to be married to Will, she should ask him. I was over-the-moon with Emma’s song this episode, “Wedding Bell Blues.” (audio only) OMG, I LOVE THIS SONG. (I love The 5th Dimension, y’all. LOVE THEM.) And it was a perfect fit for the episode. While Sue and Bieste’s bridesmaids dresses and hats were heinous, I liked this number so much because I love this song so much.

So, how amazing is it that Helen Mirren is Becky’s V/O voice? LOVE IT. I’m glad we finally got a little peak into Becky’s mind. Massive props to Glee for making Becky a prominent-ish character on the show. She’s not a series regular, but we’ve seen her since season one and are always learning more about her and her relationships to the main Glee characters. This episode, we got to see her interact more with Sue, as well as have a lot of screen time with Artie.

In this episode, Becky decides she wants to date Artie. She watches him and some of the other Glee guys perform a mashup of “Moves Like Jagger” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” (as much as I used to ❤ Matthew Morrison, there was not enough Mike Chang, Blaine Anderson and Noach Puckerman in this song for me…). They go out to eat at Breadstix (where Artie and Becky exchange some adorable small talk/banter).

The other Glee kids stage a Becky-vention for Artie. Finn and some of the others tell him not to lead her on. Artie argues that he likes spending time with Becky and it's nice to be around someone who is like him – someone who is a minority because he/she has a disability. Santana flat-out calls Becky conniving (Becky is the co-captain of the Cheerios w/Santana… Santana doesn't treat Becky differently b/c Becky has Downs. Santana treats her like crap b/c she's competition.)

Becky then texts Artie a picture of herself as a "this is a preview of what you'll get on Friday" and that takes it one step too far for Artie. Artie likes spending time with Becky and being her friend, but her doesn't want to date her. Artie goes to Sue for advice on how to let Becky down and she tells him to just be honest with her. Artie takes the advice and tells Becky that he likes being her friend but he doesn't want to date her. Becky asks if it's because she's too intimidating and Artie scrunches his brow a bit and says yes. Becky walks away and her Helen Mirren V/O admits that she didn't ask if he didn't want to date her b/c of her Downs. I LOVE that the writers addressed this.

This episode dealt a lot with what a relationship looks like on the inside and outside. Sam/Mercedes. Will/Emma. Finn/Rachel. Artie/Becky.

The whole point of the episode was that Will wanted to find the perfect way to propose to Emma. So, he enlists the Glee kids to help him out. Artie and some of the boys offered up the mashup mentioned earlier. Rachel, Mercedes, Tina and Santana offer up something a little less Jagger and a little more Flack. Roberta Flack, that is.

The girls sing a stunning version of “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” (audio only) While Will listens and each girl sings, the girls think back on their own loves. Rachel thinks about Finn. Tina thinks about Mike. Santana thinks about Brittany. And Mercedes thinks about Sam (even though she’s still dating Shane. But does anyone really like Shane? I don’t… we haven’t seen too much of him, and what I have seen of him hasn’t impressed me much.) After the song, Mercedes runs crying into the bathroom and admits to the other girls that she thought about Sam instead of Shane. So, I predict some more Samcedes drama in the coming episodes.

I would like to rant for a bit about how little screen time the Tina/Mike relationship gets. They had some moments during “Asian F” and “Hold on to Sixteen,” but I would like to know more about Mike and Tina’s relationship. I think because they are so stable, they get put on the back-burner a lot. I love those characters, though, and I wish we’d get more of them. Plus, Tine deserves some more solos – I love Jenna Ushkowitz’s voice like whoa.

Meanwhile, Will is picking out engagement rings and has Finn along with him. Will asks Finn to be the Best Man (um, that’s a little weird, right?) and then in a moment of sharing, Finn tells Will that he’s talked to an army recruiter.

Will tells Burt and Carole this and they (along w/Will and Emma) have a bit of a chat with Finn regarding Finn’s future. Burt wants Finn to take over the Tire & Lube shop. Finn wants to be in the army and be a hero like his dad. And that’s when Carole drops a huge truth nugget on Finn and tells him that his dad didn’t die a hero in the war… he died from a drug overdose in Cincinnati. I haven’t been on the Finn-wagon in awhile, but my heart went out to this character so much in this scene. Poor kid – finding out your dad… the man you want to most be like… isn’t who you were told he was. I still love Carole. So much. And Burt.

Finn is a bit out of it for the rest of the episode. He, Rachel and Kurt are out to dinner at Breadstix and are pretty miserable together thinking about the future. Kurt and Rachel are still worried about NYADA and Finn is worried about figuring out what he’s going to do now that he knows the truth.

Rachel looks at him and knows that he’s her everything (well, in addition to her fierce want to get into NYADA and be a diva) and starts singing Usher’s “Without You.” (audio only) As much as I love this song (Usher can do no wrong, musically, in my eyes), I didn’t think it was the best fit for Rachel. However, I still loved it and will be singing it like whoa until all the Glee MJ music comes out.) During this song, it was sweet to see the other Glee couples connect with their significant other. Sam and Mercedes share a glance. Blaine looks at Kurt like he’s his whole world and nothing else/nobody else matters. (Here is a Klaine gif. Gah, I love Blaine.) Mike and Tina are adorable. And Finn stares at Rachel and you see something just click with him. (More on this later…)

You can also tell in this scene that Will is going to propose to Emma. Throughout the episode he wrestles with this. He wants to marry her (hence the Glee assignment), but after talking with her CRAZY ASS parents, he questions whether it’s the best thing for both of them. Emma is still battling her OCD and Will worries she won’t be able to handle a marriage, or a kid, if she can’t handle herself all the time. I loved Emma’s little speech to him about how she is who she is – she’s a broken person but she has so much love for him, so if he doesn’t want that, he needs to be honest with her and with himself.

Well, after Rachel’s song, Will finally pulls his shit together. Near the end of the episode, he asks her to come with him and the walk down the hall with people (including Bieste and Sue[!]) hand her white roses. They end up at the pool where the Glee kids and the other members of the synchronized swim team do a beautiful, fun, rom-com worthy rendition of Rihanna’s “We Found Love“. (audio only 😦 ) I couldn’t help but grin like an idiot throughout the whole song. I’m usually not such a sucker for outright romance on a tv show or in a movie, but I couldn’t help myself. The song is just so freakin’ wonderful. And all the Glee kids were in red, white and blue swim suits. And it was just so cute and charming. Gah.

Why were the kids in the pool to begin with? Well… near the beginning of the episode, Sam goes to Cach Bieste to see if he could get on the basketball team. he needs to get a varsity jacket/letter (to woo Mercedes, obviously). The only sport that was open was synchronized swimming, so Trouty Mouth joins up and gets lectured by the coach (a hilarious guest spot by NeNe Leakes of RHoA… omg, everything out of her mouth was GOLD).

So yeah… synchronized swimming. Can you dig it?

The episode ended with a huge Finchel scene. Like, HUGE.

Finn and Rachel are on the stage of the auditorium and he asks her to let him finish talking before she says anything. As soon as he said this, I knew where this scene was headed and a big part of me was thinking, “Oh, honey, don’t do this right now.”

Finn makes a nice little speech about how he’s lucky that Rachel lets him love her and blah blah blah (I don’t remember it… watch the clip. It was sweet. Honest.) and then he pulls out a box, opens it up and asks her to marry him. She doesn’t answer right away and the screen goes black. (Cliff hanger… of course.) I really really really don’t want Rachel to say yes. I do think Rachel and Finn are endgame, but it’s too early for them to be getting married. But, I liked how mature Rachel was in this scene. It’s nice she doesn’t have to be a silly girl around Finn like she was in Season 1.

So, that’s my opinion on that.

No new Glee next week, but on the 31st is the Michael Jackson episode. I cannot fucking wait for this. Michael Jackson music is as necessary as air to me and the Warblers will be back and Blaine is going to get slushied and I am going to die from smiling so much after watching Blaine sing “Wanna Be Starting Something”. Here’s the Promo. And here’s a pic of Blaine getting slushied. IT’S SO ON. I lost it when Puck calls Blaine “Eggs Benedict.” LOST IT.

OH – And it was announced that Brian Stokes Mitchell and Jeff Goldblum will be Rachel’s dads. BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL WILL BE SINGING ON GLEE.

THANK YOU, GRILLED CHEESUS.

So yeah…

(END GLEE TALK)

I need to read and then sleep.

Have a good one!

P.S. I saw Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy yesterday. I need to see it again at some point. I also need to watch the latest season of Sherlock ASAP. Benedict Cumberbatch is in TTSS and he looked so f-ing GOOD, I almost made inappropriate noises when he was on screen b/c his tie and pocket square matched his eyes, and his hair was all oierwulqkdsfnlqkj3fr. Holy hell. Benedict Cumberbatch.

Hola,

I didn’t post last night because I was not in a good frame of mind.

On my drive home from work last night (well, on my drive from work to the grocery store where I was to pick up a new notebook for Awards season…), I almost was in a head-on car collision. The roads weren’t awesome and I was driving extra careful (I am a super careful driver… driving freaks me out and I take all precautions, trust me.). I got into the turning lane and slowed down almost to a near stop before I made my turn (there was no one coming in the lane next to mine, so I had plenty of time to make the turn). However, as I turned onto the street I needed to be on to get to the grocery store, my car slide from the very most right lane sideways two lanes over into on coming traffic and I was about 7 feet away from crashing head-on into a Suburban.

Somehow I managed to steer myself back into the proper lane, all the while my heart had legit stopped beating. I made it to the parking lot of the grocery store. I turned off my car, let out the breathe I had been holding in for a good bit of time and just uttered loudly, “FUCK.”

I then told myself (also aloud) not to cry. At least not until I got home. I walked into the grocery store. I picked out a new notebook (my sister and I predict the winners for major awards shows and my notebook we’ve used for the last 10 years was full and we needed a new one since the Golden Globes were on today and we hadn’t done our picks yet…). I also treated myself to the latest issue of TV Guide since Darren Criss (and some other Glee people) was on the front of it.

I drove home as carefully as possible. I turned off my car. I walked into the house. I went to the living room where I knew I would find my parents and promptly asked my mom for a Mom Hug before I burst into tears.

I’m okay. I was just really shaken up. I have never been *that close* to being in a car crash before and I was just really freaked out.

I had today off so I obviously didn’t drive anywhere. No need. No motivation.

My sister and I did our Golden Globe picks. I baked a cookie bar. We had some people over to the house for a bit. I watched the horrible, horrible Packers game (I can’t even talk about it… that’s how horrible it was to watch).

And then the Golden Globes.

I like the Golden Globes because they celebrate/honor Television and Film (two of my most favorite things on earth).

HOWEVER,

I don’t have cable, so I was not familiar with most of the shows that were nominated. What this says to me is that Broadcast TV needs to step up its game. Forget about all these reality and competition shows and bring back the quality scripted programming you used to rock most nights a week.

Sadly, I also have not seen a lot of the films nominated this year. Of the films that won, I only saw The Help and The Descendants. I really really really want to see The Artist, but it’s not playing anywhere near where I live.

I’m still quite displeased that The Descendants is getting heaped with a bunch of awards. It was a good film, but it didn’t shake me to the core like some of the other films/performances I saw this year. It’s a good film – good cast, good script, good acting, good directing. Good everything. But I don’t think it was Clooney’s best performance ever. In fact, I would argue that his performance in Ides of March was more of an eye-opener for me just because we’re so used to him playing the good guy or a likable protagonist (as in The Descendants…). I was hoping that Leonardo DiCaprio or Michael Fassbender would walk away with the GG for Best Actor in a Drama. Alas.

I also really wanted Viola Davis to win Best Actress – Drama. I mean, I love Meryl Streep. I LOVE HER. But she’s amazing in everything she does – hell, the woman could sit in a chair and not talk for 2 hours and it’d be an award-worthy performance. But Viola Davis was AMAZING in The Help and deserves to be recognized for her work. I mean, Viola Davis is amazing in everything she does too, but her performance in The Help was gut-wrenchingly beautiful and powerful. I hope she gets the Oscar. I really really really hope she does.

Well… I am off. I’m tired and would like to read some before I get to sleep.

I’m gonna go see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy tomorrow, even though that won’t get nominated for anything. I still need to see Hugo, War Horse, My Week With Marilyn and a bunch of other stuff that may or may not be playing around here.

Have a good one

So, since I had off today, I figured I would try and straighten up my room a bit – try to get stuff in order. I finished unpacking from last week only to find my pink Darren Criss sunglasses had broken in half. I have another pair, but they are signed, so I won’t be wearing those… I will need to find some pink sunglasses in my near future.

My room is still a bit of a wreck, but at least I can see most of the floor. All the dirty clothes are in a laundry basket. All my magazines are stacked. All my dresser drawers can close without being forced. You know, progress…

I was hoping someone would take my shift at work tomorrow so I could go visit my sister and her new puppy, but that didn’t happen. As sad as I am that I’m not going to be able to see my sister, I guess it’s for the best. I could really use the $30 I’ll be making tomorrow.

I need to find a new job. I have been saying this for a year, but it’s really been too long at this job.

Funny enough, I was very inspired by the movie I watched this evening – Take Me Home Tonight.

Yes, the Topher Grace/Dan Fogler movie.

I found myself very much identifying with Grace’s character. I too have graduated from college (though I made it through graduate school while his character finished undergrad) but have no idea what I want to be doing. I live with my parents (go ahead and laugh… I am super thankful that my parents have allowed me to move back in with them for a bit. I’d seriously be living in a cardboard box right now if it weren’t for them.). I work a crappy job that doesn’t challenge me in the way that a career would. I consider myself a failure, but the truth is, I haven’t tried at anything to fail at anything, so really I’m just underperforming at life.

Well, no more.

I have been and will continue to apply for jobs like crazy. I am determined to move out of my parents house in the next few months and I am going to better my life and be somebody. I’m a smart person. (No really… I am. HS valedictorian. Graduated w/honors from college. Have 2 degrees.) I just lack direction right now. There’s so much I am interested in, but I have this epic fear that I’m not good enough at anything. (This, I’m sure, is a lie. My self-esteem is not awesome, to be honest, and I’m sure that does not help the cause.)

SOOOOOOOO…

I’m going to use tonight’s screening of Take Me Home Tonight as a catalyst for me getting a good job this year and moving forward with my life and career.

I’m not going to have sex with my high school crush on a trampoline. I’m not going to do drugs or steal a car. I’m not going to ride in a giant ball.

BUT, I am going to make strides toward figuring out what I want to do and who I want to be. I’m awesome, dammit. And I deserve to work at a job that challenges me as well as utilizes my skills and talents. I deserve financial security. I deserve f-ing benefits.

So… here I am, ending this post so I can apply to a few more jobs before I go to bed.

Have a good one.

Hi there.

I realize I really haven’t posted much in the past few weeks. I was out of town until the other day, and then just too busy/tired to post on here.

I’m toying with the idea of ending this blog and starting up a different one. Or, keeping this one and posting on it every now and again, but not as much as before. Last week I spoke with a friend/my mentor from undergrad and she gave me some suggestions for new blogs and I might take those ideas and run with them. 2012 is going to be my year, and in order to achieve what I want to achieve, I’m going to need to narrow my focus a bit.

That being said, while I am still on here, I should say that last week was one of the best weeks of my life. Besides having all of my Leave of Absence paperwork and scheduling epically screwed up by my workplace so I was stuck going back to work 3 days before I was technically supposed to, I had the best week ever.

For stress-related purposes, I took some time off of work to recharge my batteries after the crazy year that was 2011. I somehow managed to finish my thesis, defend it and graduate from Grad School. I completely lost contact with some of the people I was closest to. I’m going through a quarter-life crisis where I’m still trying to figure out who I am, what I want to do and where I want to do it. I have been job hunting like whoa, trying to earn myself a position at a place that will challenge me, but also utilize the skills I have honed through my higher education.

But, alongside the obstacles 2011 threw at me, I somehow found a new group of friends who I love and who somehow love me right back. These people were strangers to me when I met them in August, but by last week, we were meeting up and hanging out together in my favorite city in the whole wide world. I cannot put into words how lucky I feel to know that there are people outside of my family and friends from college who have my back and genuinely care about me. This might sound strange, but I haven’t had that kind of security system in awhile.

Anyway… during this lovefest of a week with my friends, I managed to see Darren Criss in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying three times in five days. He was awesome as J. Pierrepont Finch.

H2$ is one of my favorite musicals of all time, and Darren Criss has quickly become one of my favorite performers. Not only is he one of the nicest people I’ve had the privilege of meeting (long story short, I got the chance to meet him backstage at his Market Days Concert in Chicago over the summer… we chatted for maybe 2 minutes. He’s super nice and extremely handsome… two of the biggest understatements of the year, for sure.), but he is a really, really engaging performer.

I saw him perform at Glee Live and his concert in Chicago, but this was my first opportunity to see him act on stage as opposed to on TV.

I was impressed. Sure, he wasn’t projecting very well on his opening night (probably a combination of mic problems and nerves, is my guess), but that boy appeared to leave everything out on the stage.

Since I saw the musical three times in five days, I was able to see progress in his performance and various obstacles he had to overcome within mere fractions of seconds. On opening night, one of his props (an electric shaver) malfunctioned during a song, he quickly fixed it and went on like nothing happened. During the second performance I saw, another prop (a rocket) malfunctioned during one of his fast-paced monologues and he ended up throwing it onto the higher part of the set instead of launching it like he was supposed to, had it worked properly. The third time I saw the show, I had box seats and could see his parents and all of his college friends from where I was sitting. It was neat to watch their reactions as he danced his ass off. I am ashamed to admit when I found out he was going to be in the show, I was worried he wouldn’t be able to handle the choreography. I stand corrected like whoa… Darren Criss can DANCE. I’m still trying to wipe the smile off my face from “Grand Old Ivy” and “Brotherhood of Man.” Holy shit, it was amazing.

Besides dancing and singing well, he has a fantastic sense of comedic timing. By the third show I saw, you could tell he knew exactly when to play it up. There were some solid laugh-out-loud moments that got funnier and funnier by the third time I saw it. Even though I knew every line/song/move that was coming, he managed to mix it up or bow just *that much* deeper.

Darren’s performance was both flawless and flawed, but that’s to be expected. The poor kid’s only in the show for 3 weeks, so it’s not like he can possibly have that character as finely tuned as previous Finch’s. There are just so many ways to play this guy – Finch can be perceived as aggressive or back-stabbing, but at the same time he’s naive and clueless. He wants to get ahead (“succeed in business,” if you will) and he’ll do just about anything to do it… but at the same time, he’s not very in tune with his emotional feelings or the feelings Rosemary has toward him. The love story plot is not the main plot of the show (which is kinda weird for a musical romantic comedy, if you think about it…), so maybe that’s why that part of the show suffers more. I mean, Rosemary is singing about marrying Finch and keeping his dinner warm, like, a minute after she meets him. Finch figures out he’s in love with Rosemary after kissing Heddy, even though he hasn’t been out with Rosemary very much, let alone kissed her or even made a pass at her. A lot of the plot loop holes are the way they are because of the time period and setting. But, I will gladly overlook these things because I love the book and songs for this show, and I have since I was a little girl.

When I was younger, the high school I would eventually go to put on this show. I didn’t see it when they performed it, but I did end up seeing the movie version because my sister saw the musical and then wanted to watch the movie. Ever since I have been listening to the OBC recording of the show. When I was in 5th or 6th grade, my parents got me the 1994 revival recording on CD for me for Easter. (It’s in my car and has been since I could drive…). When I found out that DanRad was going to be in the 2011 revival, I acquired that soundtrack too. Unfortunately I was never able to see him in the show. HOWEVER, when I found out that Darren was going to take over for DanRad, I knew I had to see it. It was a sign – H2$ is one of my favorite musicals of all time, and Darren is one of my favorite performers… I had to see him in it.

And so I did. Thrice. And it was magical.

Here’s a few pictures that I took whilst in the area…

For the record, I did do a bunch of other things in NYC besides see H2$ three times…

I also saw:
Follies (w/Bernadette Peters!!!!!!)
Anything Goes (w/Sutton Foster and Joel Grey!!!!!!!!!!)
Mandy Patinkin and Patti LuPone (I cried when Patinkin sang “Oh What a Circus”!!!!!!!)
Seminar (I f-ing met Alan Rickman and had a super awkward photo encounter with Jerry O’Connell!!!!!!)
Memphis (uh-may-zing show)
I saw JMOMS twice (JMOMS = Joe Moses One-Man Showses … Joe Moses played Snape in AVPM/AVPS)
I saw the Theo Katzman/Charlene Kaye/Shoot the Freak concert
I went to the Museum of Natural History and laid down on the floor under the giant whale
I hailed a cab for the first time in my life (on the first attempt, no less)
I rode the subway for the first time in my life
I had Breakfast at Tiffanys
I threw up in Central Park at 12:02 am on New Years (btw – I was NOT drinking. I had no alcohol in my system. I was dehydrated and exhausted. So ha.)
I met a bunch of awesome people and had an awesome time.
I read The Hunger Games and loved it.

So yeah… it was amazing.

But, now I’m back to reality. I worked three days thus far this week. I’m still applying for jobs. I went to the movies with my mom today. We saw The Descendants. It was good, but it didn’t knock my socks off.

Here was my FB status after I got home from the movie…:
“George Clooney does not deserve this year’s Best Actor Oscar for his work in The Descendants. Go ahead and nominate him, but give the award to someone else. Clooney turned in a solid performance, but the Academy shouldn’t just hand the statue to a man who showcases internal struggle well all while having nice hair. I’m pulling for DiCaprio, Dujardin or Fassbender on this one…”

I just saw that Clooney won the Critics Choice Award tonight for his performance in The Descendants. Like, he’s an AMAZING actor, but I don’t think his performance was the best male performance this season. What about Ryan Gosling in Drive or Ides of March? What about DiCaprio in J. Edgar? What about Michael Fassbender in everything he does?

So… Golden Globes are on this weekend. Awards season is my crack.

Anyway… I should get to bed. I am way tired and have a shit ton of chores to do tomorrow.

Have a good one

I’m sitting in our hotel room, my friends just walked in the door, while another one is sleeping on the next bed over. We’re about to head into Manhattan for the last time this trip to go see How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

This will be my third time in five days. I will have an epic post about this when I get back to reality in a few days, but for right now, know that it’s an amazing show. And Darren Criss was/is AMAZING as J. Pierrepont Finch. AMAZING

Well… off to catch the subway

Have a good one

Hi, this is going to be a super short post, but I am having a fairly Happy New Year thus far and I hope you are too.

I did throw up right after midnight. There was NO alcohol involved… I hadn’t slept for over 24 hours and I was dehydrated and there was a lot of smoke. So, that sucked.

But today got infinitely better because I got to see some of my favorite Broadway actors on Broadway. WOOT

Anyway, I gotta get a couple hours of sleep before some more craziness ensues.

Also, I know how to navigate the subway. And today, I hailed a cab for a friend on my first try ever trying to hail a cab. GO ME.

Have a good one