Happy Birthday Johnny Depp!

Johnny Depp is 46 today. That's kind of ridiculous. He's like the Dick Clark of my generation. He never ages.

Locked in a Closet

Nope. I'm not talking about Clay Aiken.

Came home after the gym today to a very intense meowing noise coming out of my bedroom. The cleaning lady had locked Bella in the closet. Since they usually come between 11 and 12, I am going to venture she was in there about 6 hours. Needless to say she's been kind of clingy tonight while I have been watching NCIS re-runs.

Mark Harmon is hotter now than he was when he was younger.

I like Pineapple

I didn't know until about a month ago that I actually like pineapple. I'm not sure if there was some traumatic childhood pineapple experience that made me discriminate, but I was decidedly anti-pineapple. I am now pro-pineapple.

This is my revelation for the day.

Peaking in High School

Think back to high school. Remember those kids who were popular but treated everyone else like crap? I didn't watch 90210, but I remember the character of Brenda being that way. And I know for a fact Shannon Doherty is. She got fired off of two shows for just being too much of a pain.

Last night one of my voice students came in upset. After talking about her issues, she mentioned that someone had told her these were the best years of her life. I assured her that they were not, that much better times were coming. That when she is a litle bit older and more independent, her level head would help her succeed.

But what about those people that high school WAS the best years of their life? The ones who discovered popularity wasn't going to get them by in college, or that drinking habit that make them popular in high school is considered a liability in the real world? The ones who ended up miserable who always look back on high school cheer leading or prom as the epitome of their existence.

I can't help but look back at them in my pettiness and feel a little bit of satisfaction. They were the kids who called me "four eyes", knocked my books out of my arms in the hall ways and tried to cheat off of me in class. They are the guys who would talk to me in class when they needed help, but wouldn't even make eye contact with me in the hall lest their friends know we had spoken.

And now they aren't happy. Some of them are, don't get me wrong. But the ones who truly peaked in high school spend alot of their time looking in the rear view mirror. I am happy to be one of the ones staring out the windshield. God has alot of great things in store for me. I don't want to waste any time looking at the past.

Singing at the Fight

5 years ago I had never sung the National Anthem at a public event- besides "White Men, White Meat"- which was an Atlantic Shores sanctioned event. My first ever big public performance was for the Globe Trotters in the Constant Center in Norfolk. That place is amazing to sing in and, ironically, I got that gig from singing on the radio during the morning show on 94.9 The Point. That was really cool.

There are a million people in Hampton Roads who want to sing and after the acoustics in Harbor Park singing for the Tides, I decided to cool off with the sporting event singing.

Yet today my phone rings and Elaine Varner, who organizes the local "King of the Ring" fights is asking me to come sing for the third time. Everything in me wanted to tell her no, since I am not actually going to the fight this time, but I couldn't do it. So Saturday night I will be back in the big metal cage, singing the National Anthem again.

I wonder if you can make a living just singing the National Anthem? Especially if you know the first TWO verses?

Famous Aunts

In case you live under a rock and haven't heard, I am going to be an aunt sometime around December/January. Since I am a student, I thought I would look back at some of the great aunts on television and see what lessons I can learn from them!

Auntie Em (The Wizard of Oz)- Auntie Em taught Dorothy some valuable life lessons: always go under ground during a tornado, don't go wandering off by yourself or some gypsy might tell you your future... I bet she even taught her how to sing. Plus, when Dorothy woke up, Auntie Em was right there to hold her hand on her trip back from Oz.

Next is Aunt Becky from "Full House" She helped the girls with their hair and talked to them about boys since their mom wasn't around. But even better, she demonstrated the lesson all girls at the time wanted to know: how to get John Stamos to marry you. If you get a lucky, you get to move into the attic with Uncle Jesse, and all his hair gel.

Last but certainly not least is Monica Gellar. When her nephew Ben was born she said "Hi. I'm your Aunt Monica. I will always have gum." I almost never have gum but I will try to get a video game in my living room so my nephew or niece can come over and play. And I will find some secret recipe from Nest-le Toul-House so I can make great chocolate chip cookies (only when their mom says I can though).

Saturday

Saturdays during the summer are always fun. The teaching load at the studio lightens, when I go to the grocery store it doesn't cost $12 a pound for cherries ($3.99 a pound at Fresh Market this week) and church softball starts. This week was the first week of softball.

The 757 team lost their first game and tied their second at the bottom of the last inning! It was really exciting!

After the game, Erin and I headed down to the ocean front to watch "The Michael Clark Band" (who I could not get a single decent picture of due to crappy lighting).

They are one of two local bands that Erin keeps up with and I LOVE watching them. They have a singer named Tracy Clark whose voice I am crazy about. She's incredibly talented. I got to talk to her after their set and she said they have a full schedule for the summer, so hopefully we can stalk them some other places. They were playing Saturday on the stage at 31st street, so we hung out around Catch 31 and listened to them. The weather was perfect and it was a great night!