Two Weeks, Gleeks!

I've been avoiding getting excited about the new season of Glee. I knew, even back when it went on hiatus in December, that April 13th (the date of the Season 2 start) fell dangerously close to graduation. Ick. In spite of my desire for more episodes of one of my favorite new shows, I was not ready to sacrifice the perks of college for the harsh realities of the real world (aforementioned perks include: sleeping in on weekdays, pizza places that are open past 2am and easy access to Wednesday-night karaoke).

Yet, despite my attempts to deny its approach, graduation is coming - and fast. I just finished up several final interviews, I ordered my cap and gown and I even had that unfortunate conversation with my mom, at about just what point I will be expected to take on the bills for my own health insurance, gym membership, etc. So, since apparently I will be growing up shortly (whether I like it or not), there is no point in putting off my excitement about Glee any longer. Here goes:

Two weeks! If you haven't seen the promo for the new season yet, check it out here. If this 47-second clip does not make you create a countdown in your little blue Kate Spade planner, you have no soul. Rachel singing Madonna gave me chills, and I don't even really like that song. They also released a special, promotional segment of Sue's Corner. This clip encompasses a lot of what I like about the show's edgy humor: it manages to be funny, while also showcasing what is flawed about how society stereotypes marginalized peoples. Well done, Glee! Some other things to expect this season (based upon my obsessive reading of any article related to this season's filming over the last months):

1). Idina Menzel: She starred in Rent and also played Elphaba in the original Wicked (interestingly, she starred opposite Kristin Chenowith, as Glinda, who already appeared as a Glee guest star in Season 1). She will play the coach for Vocal Adrenaline (New Directions' big competitors at regionals). Not only does she have an AWESOME voice, she also apparently has a make-out scene with Mr. Schuster.
2). Jonathan Groff: He was Lea Michele's costar in Broadway's Spring Awakening and he will play both a member of Vocal Adrenaline and a love interest for Rachel. Again, I love that he is guaranteed to have a fantastic voice, and Finn needs a little competition.
3). Madonna episode: Madonna gifted all of her music to Glee (so they can use it without having to pay the steep fees for copyrighted works). In response, Glee is having a whole Madonna episode. Expect everything from Like a Virgin to 4 Minutes to Like a Prayer.
4). Lady GaGa episode: I actually kind of worry I might get hit by a bus after this episode. To combine so many of my favorite things (Poker Face + Bad Romance + the cast of Glee) into one action-packed hour seems too reminiscent of the decadent last meal a prisoner used to get before heading out to the gallows. Regardless of my fate after the episode (I'll prepare for the worse), Poker Face will be a Rachel-solo, and Bad Romance will be an ensemble piece. Supposedly, everyone will also be decked out in full-on Lady GaGa garb during Bad Romance, including Rachel in the Kermit-the-Frog outfit.
5). Neil Patrick Harris: Rumor has it he will play a high school glee-nemesis of Mr. Schuster that resurfaces as a McKinley High board member. That promises to be legen - wait for it...

Are you excited for Season 2? What episode or guest star has you the most ready to put aside your trepidation about graduation and embrace your excitement for Glee?

The Last Song

Something about Miley Cyrus irks me.

An intensive psychological analysis would probably reveal my resentment for this teen star stems from the fact that she achieved more by age 14 than I ever will: she dated a Jonas Brother, had her own show on the Disney Channel, and, oh yeah, even managed to make herself into a household name. However, every time she incites new controversy - by dancing on a stripper pole at some awards ceremony, wearing a push-up bra at age 15, or even dating that older guy from the Taylor Swift Love Story video - I secretly hope for her downfall. I don't mean downfall in a-fatal-car-accident kind of way. Just that she'll go the Jamie Lynn Spears route and receive the full force of Perez Hilton's mockery for 9 months ("Yeah, nice "promise ring" Miles").

I also have an issue with Nicholas Sparks. I enjoyed the movies A Walk to Remember and The Notebook (but I'm only admitting that on the web because I've already implied on here that romance novels are one of my top vices). And even though I really liked the movies, even I couldn't handle the saccharine cliches of the books. I did not bother to see Nights in Rodanthe, and I missed Dear John as well (too many complaints about an unsatisfying twist at the movie's end). I had thought I was well on my way to ending my streak as a Nicholas Sparks movie fan: that it would be a lapse in judgment that would soon lie far in the past. Unfortunately, however, I stumbled upon The Last Song. In spite of the problems I have with both Miley Cyrus and Nicholas Sparks, I really want to see The Last Song. I can't explain it. I dislike both the author of the book and the starring actress, yet I've been internally counting down the days until its April 1st release date for at least three weeks.

My desire to see this movie might rise from the fact that I somehow got hooked to the movie's theme song, When I Look at You. I played it on repeat 25+ times while I wrote a paper one night, and in between researching facts on the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, I caved and looked up the trailer. Now I'm hooked. Just what did Greg Kinnear do to make Miley resent spending the summer with him? Why do Liam and Miley have a climactic fight 2/3 of the way through the movie (is someone from the wrong side of the tracks? Suspected of cheating? Dying?) And most importantly, all those close-ups made me wonder: for a kid that had a whole lot of $$, why didn't Miley throw a couple of bucks towards orthodontics?

If you beat me to the theaters, let me know what you think of The Last Song. I'd rather not waste $10 to stare at Miley's crooked teeth if she doesn't pull out a predictably satisfying love story. However, if she does live up to her predecessors (namely, Mandy Moore and Rachel McAdams), expect me in the audience sooner than later.

St. George

Greetings from Florida! The weather is great, the house we are staying in = amazing, but unfortunately, when you are on a tame family vacation (as opposed to participating in the extreme revelry of college-aged friends and acquaintances currently scattered south of the Mason-Dixon line), there is little to do when the sun goes down. Yes, we just watched Zombieland (and, in spite of my extreme resistance to this pick by my younger sister, I will admit: it was pretty funny, check it out) and now I am searching for other pre-bedtime distractions.

This leaves me researching the life and times of St. George. Odd? Probably. However, in less than a month, I will be ushering yet another young soul into the Catholic faith as a confirmation sponsor (the first was my sister) and he has chosen St. George as his "confirmation saint." Catholics choose a saint, a saint whose example they respect and to whose "type of holiness" they would like to aspire. The name of this saint becomes the candidate's confirmation name. Now, I chose Teresa. All the women in my family choose Teresa, and I do like having this connection to my deceased grandma, my mom, my aunts, my cousins and my sister.

However, for lack of another word, Teresa is lame. She lived in a nunnery, had religious visions, helped the poor...blah, blah, blah. I don't think this makes her any less worthy of sainthood than the "cool" saints. However, in a religion with great, feminist martyrs like Joan of Arc, and Perpetua (wrote about her incarceration and was torn apart by wild animals in the arena), St. Teresa holds no interest for your typical 8th grader (or 21-year old). Luckily, Jeremy, my 14-year sponsee has more sense than Grandma Lola (who started this whole St. Teresa tradition), and he picked a great saint: St. George. I like his story, and quite frankly, until the sun rises and I resume my attempts to ever-so-slightly bronze my stubbornly pale Irish/English/German/Swedish skin, I have little better to do than relate it to you. So here it is: the legend of St. George.

During the era of the Roman Empire, a dragon plagued the city of Selene in Libya. The creature required a sacrifice of two sheep per day in order to leave the city alone (different versions of the story tell different reasons for the sacrifice: in order for the dragon to stop emitting a daily, deadly poison, to grant the people access to their water supply, etc.). When the citizens ran out of sheep, the dragon demanded a daily sacrifice of one child. With heavy hearts, the townspeople drew lots daily, and those unlucky enough to have their lot drawn had to sacrifice their child. One day, the King drew the lot, forcing him to send out the beautiful young princess to be sacrificed. As the princess waited for the dragon to come forth and devour her, a knight rode up (St. George!). He fought the dragon, defeated it, saved the princess, and converted the city of Selene to Christianity before continuing on his way. Pretty cool saint, right? He is the patron saint for everywhere from England to Barcelona to Greece. Even the non-legend version of his story features a Roman soldier martyr that stood up to the Emperor Diocletian for his Christian faith.

So even though my saint holds little interest for my avid readers (or me), Jeremy is making up for the cool-factor that was missing during my own confirmation, and during my first run as a sponsor. Well done, J: Saint George is awesome.

Kings

I am officially on Spring Break and outside my window I see...snow? Yes, yesterday morning I woke up in Wheaton and looked out my window to see a solid inch or two of snow covering everything. This would be a disappointment in any other context regardless (today is the first day of Spring), but this late-March snowfall is made all the worse by the fact that I packed in Champaign on Friday. The weather was 65 degrees and sunny and so, I brought home nothing but flip-flops and t-shirts. When I woke up yesterday morning to a scene that would better fit White Christmas than my Spring Break, and with no end in sight to the sheets of freezing rain, I gave my toes a serious pep-talk and went to brave the elements. (So, yes, if you were at Oakbrook yesterday, I was that girl: in sandals with no coat and surrounded by people in scarves, Uggs and hats). One day was enough, however. I will not gamble with frostbite twice. Today, rather than running the last-minute pre-Florida errands I need to make (Target, Border's, etc.), I have chosen to hibernate indoors, instead of facing the frigid early-Spring weather in my inadequate footwear.

So, how have I been spending my time? (And how do I recommend that you waste away a solid twelve hours next time you have a free weekend, based upon freak weather conditions or sheer laziness?) One word: Kings.

My roommate introduced this show to me about a week ago and I am already done with Season 1 (sadly, the show got canceled, so Season 1 = the whole series). Here is the basic premise: David lives on a farm in the fictional, modern-day kingdom of Gilboa. His father died in the war with Gath and he and his brother are fighting on the front lines, meaning that David has a lot of patriotism and Gilboa-pride. In the pilot, David commits a heroic act in the war (I won't give it away!) that garners national attention. He comes to the capital at Shiloh to be honored by the King and gets drawn into the politics of the court. Murder, treachery, betrayal, forbidden love: this show has it all. Kind of reminds me of a modern-day Tudors.

There is also a strong, underlying Old-Testament-religious-theme (hint: David's heroic act involves the conquering of a modern-day "Goliath"), but rather than being stuffy, the religious element just makes you feel clever as a viewer for understanding the Biblical allusions. The show has an epic-feel, which I admit might have made it too dense for television (it would have made a better movie plot, perhaps), and thus probably led to its cancellation. It's also a bit of a bummer finishing episode 12, knowing that all the cliff-hangers that the season finale establishes will never be resolved. However, Kings is definitely worth checking out. All the episodes are on Hulu, so if you are stuck inside (because all of your snow-appropriate footwear is safely ensconced on campus three hours away or for another reason entirely), watch the pilot--you'll be hooked.

Too Much Salt

So I don't really cook. I can bake just about anything, but in spite of the fact that I make whipped cream from scratch for my pies, my actual cooking skills are still limited to Kraft mac and cheese and heating up canned soup. In Spain however, the senora I lived with, Leo, taught me how to make two Spanish staples: Spanish tortilla (a potato omelette) and salmorejo (a creamy tomato soup-dip hybrid). The notes I made as she taught me are a furious mix of English-Spanish ("Heat the aceite for five minutos") and since the Spanish don't measure in terms of cups or tablespoons, I was forced to write my measurement estimates in terms of things like "two solid glugs of olive oil." When I returned to the States, I cooked up both recipes immediately, both to impress my family with the wonders of Spanish cuisine and to keep the skills Leo had taught me fresh. Aside from using too much aceite (olive oil) in the salmorejo, I prepared both dished decently , realized that Spanish food was an acquired taste my family didn't care for more than a few bites of and I promptly never cooked them again.

Now, ten months later, I promised my friend I would come over early to a Granada study abroad party she was hosting and help her cook the Spanish tortilla before our friends arrived. My friend has not only graduated early (last December) and used the last two months to learn actual cooking skills (her Facebook status always brags about her recent domination over such difficulties as "eggplant parmesan" or "arroz con pollo"), but she makes Spanish tortilla with enough frequency that her skills weren't anywhere near the rusty-level mine were. She graciously decided to let me actually cook the omelette, so I could re-learn under her instruction, and when she spouted off the thought that "You can never have too much salt" not once, but many, many times, I decided to bow to the wisdom of the cooking guru.

I say this to point out that we both shared equal fault in what ended up happening with our tortilla. I'm a baker. Salt will single-handedly destroy anything that is supposed to be sweet: cookies, cakes, brownies, pies, etc. To say I avoid salt with great caution would be an understatement: I don't think I even know where the salt is stored, in my house or my apartment. If my friend had not been there encouraging me to add more and more salt (without actually monitoring what my salt-inexperienced self considered "more") I would have tossed in a conservative pinch, and we would have been fine. However, her words were a pass to go crazy with a cooking-element I normally avoid and I went overboard. Handfuls upon handfuls of salt went into the heating oil, the cooking potatoes, the onions, the egg-mixture....Well, when we decided to try our finished result, which looked great, it was SO saturated with salt, I think that the water just about left our bodies with that one bite. Everyone physically winced, it was so salty. So, the lesson I learned was simple. (And do I feel a bit like Amy Adams in Julie and Julia delivering this to you? Perhaps). There is such a thing as too much salt. Proceed with caution.

I'm off to buy potatoes and eggs to make attempt # 2 on my own, sans the cup and a half of salt that likely went into my more recent effort. Wish me luck!

Unofficial St. Patrick's Day

U of I's Unofficial St. Patrick Day happened last Friday. I've been avoiding writing about it, because ultimately, the purpose of this blog is still professional (potential employers: are you reading this and being oh-so-impressed by my writing skills, and my digital, social media savviness?). Even making veiled references to a campus full of green-clad undergraduates partaking of green eggs, Guinness and Jameson seems a poor job-hunting strategy.

However, now that I realize my friends have been featured in the The Daily Illini, and that my pictures were better, I have to at least share my favorite picture from Unofficial 2010. So here it is: Dan and Andrew, dressed up (without shame in form-fitting green-nylon) as greenman, climbing all over U of I's Alma Mater. Not only did they make at least $3.00, taking pictures with freshman, exchange, students and visitors (which, likely, was reinvested in green beer a mere 10 minutes after this photo was taken), they also made my school newspaper (and thus, have been taped to our fridge).

Senior year might be winding down, but if this picture is any indication, the next two months will be a fun--albeit random--time. Happy Unofficial!

oscarsoscarsoscars

Well, I wanted Avatar to win pretty much everything. However, I have yet to actually see The Hurt Locker and Ben Stiller presented for best make-up dressed as a Na'vi, so I will try and mask my disappointment.

Here are the BIG WINS:

Best Picture:

The Hurt Locker

Best Actress:

Sandra Bullock

Best Actor:

Jeff Bridges

Best Director:

Katheryn Bigelow

Best Supporting Actress:

Mo'nique

Best Supporting Actor:

Christoph Waltz

Unfortunately, since I have not seen The Hurt Locker (and thus, cannot properly quip about it), this will be a short post, but here it is: Favorite Oscar Moments.

1). Jeff Bridge's acceptance speech. I did not realize it was possible to say "man" that many times while wearing a tux.

2). Sandra Bullock's acceptance speech. She managed to combine hilarity, grace and liberal political correctness, all in a few short minutes. Not only did she reference her ongoing battle/love affair with Meryl Streep (started earlier in the year as each woman was nominated again and again for Best Actress this awards season), but she also individually acknowledged her fellow nominees, thanked her mom/all the moms out there and made a subtle plug for equality for everyone (in spite of race, sexual orientation, etc.). What a classy lady.

3). Kathryn Bigelow's win. Even though she stole attention from Avatar, I obviously have to support my feminist beliefs, and just be excited that after 82 years a woman finally won an Oscar for Best Director. Congrats/Go woman power!

Let the Games End

Well. The Olympics have ended, and we have another 4 years until Sochi, Russia, when we can wonder, again, just why curling is considered an Olympic sport. Unfortunately, it appears that most of you didn't really bother to get invested in the Vancouver games (unless, of course, you were my roommates, and thus, had no other option thanks to my 17-day hijacking of the TV) and so, here is a brief summary of all that you missed.

Top Tearjerkers:
1). The death of 21-year old luger Nodar Kumaritashvili the day of the Opening Ceremonies.
2). The short-program skate of Canadian bronze-medalist, Joannie Rochette, two days after the unexpected death of her mother.
3). The Dan Jansen , Go World VISA commercial. (Behold the effects of advertising: exactly 30 seconds is all it takes Morgan Freeman to get me emotionally invested in the story of a stranger, and worse, totally choked up over it).

Biggest Disappointments:
1). HOCKEY (so close!)
2). Apolo getting disqualified in the 500 meter. Fair? Probably not.
3). Catherine O'Hara trying, and failing miserably, to be funny, during the Closing Ceremonies.

Best Moments:
1). The Canadian woman's hockey team celebrating on the ice (with cigars, drinks and a Zamboni) after winning their gold.
2). Wins by Team USA, Kim Yu-Na, Alexandre Bilodeau, Joannie Rochette, and Maria Riesch.
3). The Canadian ice dancing gold medalists' performance during the winner's gala.
4). That mime finally fixing the broken arm of the Olympic cauldron during the Closing Ceremonies.

Top Olympic Crushes:
1). Apolo Anton Ohno
2). Shaun White
3). The Canadian Hockey Team
4). Stephen Colbert
Note: You might question my ability to overlook the soul patch or the shoulder-length red hair. To you, I say this: OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALISTS. I assume there are no questions about numbers 3 and 4. Fairly self-evident, right?

And, now, with the Olympics over, the big question is no longer: USA or Canada? It's: Vienna or Tenley? Thanks to my freshman and senior-year roommate, Jenny, I know way too much about the concepts "final rose" and "fantasy suite" and am way too invested in just who Jake will choose to be his wife. Bachelor finale tonight!

What were your favorite Olympics moments? And which girl do you hope ABC's hunky pilot (with a slight over-tendency with get weepy) will choose?