America’s Best

It’s been a while since I’ve done a reality recap — hell, it’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to watch TV — but having been catching up on the DVR, I’ve also been itching to write a bit. So here I go.

I love America’s Best Dance Crew. I LOVE it. The ep I just watched wasn’t the best — all the crews had props, and most of them didn’t really do much with it. The ones who really got my attention were, of course, the two bottom crews: Supreme Soul and Super CR3W. As the judges mentioned, I think they were two of the best groups; they were certainly the most enjoyable tonight. What I really love about this show, though, is how the judges get into it. Although I didn’t like that they singled out the Boogie Bots as a group that should be at the bottom, I do like how adamantly the three of them spoke out in favor of the two groups that they had to choose between; I also like how they repeatedly assured the groups how good they actually are. I’d bet just about anything that at least one of those three will be working with at least some of those dancers at some point in the future.

One other thing that constantly surprises me is, despite the obvious competition between the groups, how much they seem to connect with each other. As they stood on the stage awaiting the decision, they seemed to be genuinely concerned about the other crew. And when Supreme Soul was declared as the losing group, the Super CR3W dancers seemed to be truly upset even though they were also obviously relieved.

I dunno; there’s just something about it all that seems refreshingly innocent and unrehearsed in a way that some of the other reality shows don’t.

 

‘Eh’ is where I’m at

I had one of those days yesterday where everything just seemed to be going wrong. I was miserable — miserable, I tell ya — and working my way into such a state that the lack of a decent help section in our new webmail application nearly sent me into a breakdown-level tizzy. Today, on the other hand, was a definite improvement.

For one thing, it was Lucy’s last day of school, so we had planned an afternoon of hanging together. Based on promises made throughout last week, I took her to lunch, then to ice cream, and then to Target. At the last of those spots, I very deliberately let her literally walk through every aisle as she tried to decide what to spend her first $14 worth of allowance on. (A slip and slide, in case you were wondering, plus a Hello Kitty puzzle.) Then we went to the library, and then came home, made popcorn, and watched a movie. It was pretty awesome to see that the things she wanted to do on her day off were almost exactly the things I wanted to do. The bonus of it all was that, rather than being angry that we are sending her to Y camp for the rest of the week, she actually seemed quite excited. So, yay — no guilt! That’s quite nice, let me tell you.

The second part of the turnaround was that she got her report card and her reading level, which I had no doubt would be at above her actual grade level, indicates she’s where they want people to be at the end of fifth grade. Is that not awesome? I am so incredibly proud of her.

The day, though, did make me think about what I want to be doing with my life. (That and the whole, we’re-doomed-since-global-warming-is-bringing-the-world-to-the-end-so-decide-what-you-want-your-last-days-to-be-like thing, of course.) Which was where I was mentally when, lo and behold, an email came across my desk that had a job that can be done entirely remotely for a company that I think is pretty cool. For the last hour, I’ve been trying to figure out whether to actually send the cover letter that I wrote. It’s not just a lifestyle thing. I feel like the last several months have burned me out in a way that this job hasn’t before. I’d like to think that these few days off will help; the last few didn’t, though, so I’m not overly hopeful.

But is getting a new job the answer? I’m not really sure it is. I’m not sure I want to learn new ropes and meet new people. Oh, I’m sure they’re all pretty great — in fact, I spent the better part of this evening reading through blogs and twitter postings and various websites that gave me a pretty good sense of what the supervisor for this position is like. She seems pretty awesome and yet the coolness factor — that I do not in any way share — is almost tiring. It makes me feel, well, old. Who are all these 2.0 people, and can I possibly keep up with them? Or actually, do I want to invest the energy in keeping up with them. I don’t know. I just don’t know.

Not that I’m assuming that I’d even get anything beyond a cursory ‘thanks for your email,’ if even that. But if I did…

Anyway, I did write the cover letter. I sent it to myself, just to do something; I guess I’ll have to see what the morning brings.

Of course, I didn’t invest any time in doing what I had intended to be doing tonight, which was finish the frickin’ chapter I’m working on. I’ve got a whole line done — yep, sentence #1. I even have a sense of what sentences #2 and 3 will be. I just can’t actually bring myself to write them. I have a feeling that this is some major psychological block going on… And that’s about as much as I want to think about it for now.

Sigh. Now it’s past midnight and I’m tired. I was even planning on trying to get more than 6 hours of sleep tonight. It truly annoys me to go to bed, though. It’s like I’m giving up on the day. Like some big failure. Yes, I realize this makes very little sense, and yet that’s how it is.

And on that note…