Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Top 5 Tuesday!
I'd love it hear what your top 5 answers are......and while you're at it, invite your other blog friends to drop by and participate!
Top 5 songs you could put on "repeat" and never get tired of:
1. The Way I Am by Ingrid Michaelson
2. Beautiful Day by U2
3. Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap
4. Northern Star by Alice Peacock (well, any song by Alice would work here!)
5. A Case of You by Joni Mitchell
I could list more, but today, at this moment, these are my Top 5 picks!
Tell me yours!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Talent Quest- Mid-Week Update
I'm sorry my posts have been sporadic and short the past two weeks, but sometimes life just starts rolling and builds up too much steam and by the end of the day there's no time left for blogging.
Here's a performance by one of my favorites who participates every year. He's got a great voice and a really big heart.
Enjoy Raydog's performance of Don't Stop Believing
Monday, September 22, 2008
Let the Music Play!
The contest grows every year and, if I do say myself, continues to improve. So far we're just over halfway through the first round of competition in the female categories. By the time my head hits the pillow tonight, I will have heard 120 singers!
Although I have no desire to be a performer, music plays such a big role in my life. I can tie a song to all the great moments in my life and many a song can take me back to the glory days of high school and college in an instant! I'm a sucker for good lyrics and if you add a killer bridge to a song, I'm in heaven! Even the worst of the singers in any competition have my adimiration for getting on the stage and doing what they feel in their heart.
You can pour your soul out singing
a song you believe in
that tomorrow they’ll forget you ever sang
Sing it anyway,
sing it anyway
I sing,
I dream,
I love,
anyway
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
The Starlight Manifesto
Destiny has not led me down a path that included children of my own (although my life has been richly blessed with 9 nephews, 3 nieces and 2 godchildren) but that hasn't kept me from using the lessons my mother taught me and passing them along to others.
Not everything I pass along to friends is directly from my mother, but all things in my own life philosphy were directly shaped by her love and wisdom. One of the things I share most often is what I call the Starlight Manifesto. On the surface, it seems a very nebulous kind of advice, but over the years I've learned it applies to every aspect of my life and by using as a type of "mantra" has helped me to keep an even keel and avoid some bad life choices.
I feel the manifsto is self-explanitory, so this post won't be very long. I leave you with the words I've repeated to myself and friends more time than I can count. It's short and easy to commit to memory......take some time to think about it after you finish reading this post, but I'd love to hear your thoughts. If you have your own type of maifesto, I'd love to hear about it!
The Starlight Mainfesto:
It is what it is-
We are what we are-
I can only be myself.
Monday, September 15, 2008
What the Heck is Talent Quest?!?
So....Talent Quest. Just what is it?!? Talent Quest is a national karaoke and singing competition.
As I've mentioned before, my friends and I love karaoke. Actually, we love to sing and karaoke is just a natural fit if one loves to sing and doesn't have a spare band lying around. But for my friends and me, karaoke has been the catalyst for so many things in our lives over the past 7 to 8 years. There have been births, marriages, national successes and even deaths among our dear karaoke family and life would not be the same without it in my life.
Six years ago (or maybe it was seven......how many was it Jess?) My friend Jessica entered a local karaoke contest for a chance to win a trip to the national contest and a shot at the national title. That single act started a progression of events that brought many new experiences and friends into our lives.
Jessica ended up going to nationals the next 3 years and showed everyone else what a susperstar we always knew she was! She won the National Female Country award in 2004! During her 3 years of national competition she started working for Kim who owned a local karaoke store and who also organized and ran the local and regional qualifing contests for Talent Quest. When Kim was looking for judges, Jessica suggested me.
I started judging at the local contests in 2003 and one thing has led to another and I'm now the Regional Director for Talent Quest. It's a volunteer gig, but it's so excitind to be around people who love to sing and enjoy a good competition. Nationals take place every fall (usually in September) in Laughlin, NV at the Tropicana Express. It'll be eight days packed with lots of work, millions of questions (I'll be wokring the information table for most of the competition) and TONS of music! But don't be fooled......I love every minute of it!
Jessica had to retire from competing because her in-laws are now part owners of the competition, but I keep holding on to the hope that she'll decided to come on-board and help in the future (although I totally understand why she hasn't done it yet).
If you love to sing and want to know more about Talent Quest or would like to find a TQ contest in your area, visit the Talent Quest website and check it out. I'll be at nationals all next week, but I should be able to blog everyday while I'm there....I can't wait!!!!!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
My Top 5-ers!
- Top 5 Songs you'd put on the soundtrack of your life.
- Top 5 Things to do/place to do when the ice storm leaves you with out power.
- Top 5 songs you hate but always find yourself singing when they play on the radio.
- Top 5 favorite lines from songs
- Top 5 favorite childhood memories
So, you get the idea. We used to have a Top 5 everyday, but we've gotten a little out of the habit so I was surprised to see a Top 5 e-mail pop up in my inbox yesterday. It was sent by my best friend, Jessica, and here's what it said:
"So today marks the beginning of Heather's 2008 Birthday Blitz. I thought it would be appropro to dedicate today's top five to her.
Here (in no particular order) are five songs that will always be irrevocably tied to Heather in my brain. These are the songs I can not hear without thinking of her"
It was so touching......and I'm not really sure why other than the fact that it's nice to have a group of friends like my Top 5 group. As always, the responses were fun and insightful and particularly appropriate since we would be going out for karaoke that evening.
I've been doing a pretty good job blogging everyday, but last night, there just wasn't time to fit a blog into my day, but we had a great time last night and I can't think of any other way I'd rather kick off my Birthday Extravaganza!
Here are some pictures.....there maybe some video I can post later!
Renea and me!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Looking Forward!
I'm really going to try and post everyday this week, but the posts might be very late-night/early-morning posts.
I should have pictures of karaoke fun and antics with my friends, an update on the fine/warrant situation, tales of food and fun from the fair AND........
......pictures form the sold-out American Idol concert in Tulsa!!! That's right, I'm going to see David Cook and the others! I'm not a huge AI fan, but I could just eat that David with a spoon. I've already made plans to pack my spoon just in case I get close enough to make it a reality.
Coming up in the next week or so, I'll be talking about Talent Quest (and explaining it for those who haven't heard of it yet) and talking about the Starlight Manifesto!
I'm so excited about all the b-day fun that's about to begin!
Monday, September 8, 2008
How Did I End Up Here?!?
The first time I had a weekend full of events for my birthday, it was a joke. I had gotten tired of trying to work with everyone's schedule, so I planned where I would be throughout my birthday weekend and printed a "Schedule of Events" on the back of my birthday invitations. People could join me any time throughout the weekend, whenever their schedule permitted.
It was such a hassle-free way to accommodate as many friend's schedules as possible and was so successful I've been doing it ever since. I often wonder what would happen if I went back to just one night out for my birthday.....but I doubt I'll be finding out anytime soon.
So many of my friends are like family to me, I guess it's not such a stretch from how I celebrate my birthday when I'm with family to how I celebrate when I'm with friends.......it just lasts a bit longer!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Waiting for the Fall
...starting here!
Fall in Oklahoma is sometimes a state of mind more than season. I mean, the weather doesn't necessarily start to cool off in a timely fashion around here. It's not uncommon to be wearing short sleeves at Thanksgiving, or a winter coat at a September football game. Even when it seems as if fall (all two weeks of it) has arrived for good, the Oklahoma heat will find a way to creep back in, at least once, before beating it's final retreat. Will Rogers said it best when he said, "If you don't like the weather, stick around". Truer words were never spoken about the Oklahoma climate and it's one of the things I love most about this state. But, even through the hot, humid days, it's starting to feel like fall!
College and high school football has started and the state fair starts on Thursday. We'll likely have several more weeks of some fairly hot days before I'll make a move to turn my air conditioner off, but I can tell it's getting nearer and I have that excited tingle in the pit of my stomach.
Here's a little poem I wrote many, many years ago that makes me think of fall.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back
BUT.....when I got home this evening and checked my mailbox, there was BAD, I mean BAD news.
Sometimes I'm my own worst enemy.......not because of any weird neuroses I have from things in my childhood that scarred me, but just because I don't use my head sometimes. It's maddening!!!
So, here's what happened. A month ago I made and illegal lane change and was pulled over. That's when, to my surprise, it was revealed to me that my license was suspended. Before you think I'm horrible, you can read about it here.
Needless to say, I was supposed to go to court on September 4th for the illegal lane change and the totally unwarranted-not-my-fault suspended license. Guess what?!?
I forgot.
When I opened my mail, there was a letter informing me that a warrant has been placed for my arrest (this is NOT a bench warrant). To clear the warrant, I have to pay $856.00.
What is my problem?!? I don't know if I would have had to pay that much had I remembered to show up on the 4th but it makes me even more angry at myself for not having shown up because I work across the street from the court house!
It's a good thing I don't have children......I can't even take care of myself.
The letter states I'm allowed to go before an arraignment court and ask for more time to pay [I have 15 days before they suspend my license (again, and this time with just cause)]. I'm just worried if they won't make an arrangement I'll have to go to jail from the arraignment court. Again, what is my problem?!?
Guess I'd better start organizing my possessions for a big-ass, money-raising, keep-Heather-out-of-jail, garage sale.
I suck and I want to cry because it's no one's fault but my own. Grown-up, schmown-up!
Friday, September 5, 2008
It's Time to Get Serious and Make a Committment
I've read blogs for years, but when I moved to blogger, I was plunged headlong into the world of blogging. It started with links to other blogs on blogger and then carried over into blogs found on the nebulous world wide web or recommendations from other friends who read blogs, etc......
I found The Pioneer Woman's blog through a suggestion from a friend and it's no exaggeration when I say I've become obsessed with reading through all of her archives and exploring the entire site! I've spent no less than 20 hours this week just reading and soaking it all in....it's such an entertaining, thought-provoking, beautiful blog I can't help myself! I've got a link to the blog at the right, so you should check it out....after you finish reading this.
Ree, the Pioneer woman herself, is raising 4 children on a working ranch and blogs every day. She post photos, recipes, poems, sound clips of some amazing burps and Ethel Merman impersonations. Along with all that, she often gives photography tips and always gives step-by-step instructions, with photos, of the recipes she shares. Oh...and I haven't even mentioned the photo naming contests (with prizes ranging from point and shoot digital cameras to $600 gift cards to Amazon.com and lots of things in between)! There's something for everyone on her site.
As a result of having spent so much time getting acquainted with the Pioneer Woman, I've become inspired. If she can blog everyday while taking care of her family, helping run a ranch , taking pictures and home-schooling her children, I'm clearly wasting my time.
I'm not sure if I'll have enough to say to post something everyday, but I'm certainly going to try.
It's time for me to get serious and make a commitment to this blog. I'm excited to see where it takes me!
Thanks for your outstanding and addictive blog, Ree!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Sisters, sisters; there were never such devoted sisters!
Our personalities are very different and our lives have taken totally different paths, but our closeness remains the same. She is the loving mother to 4 of my precious nieces and nephews and it has been so much fun to watch them grow. Her two oldest are girls and they are also just a year apart. I can't count the times she and I have sat together and watched her girls doing the same things we did as children.....it was like reliving our childhood! We've had many a laugh remembering things we thought were long forgotten.