AND THE WINNER IS... DAVID!

we're all so proud

No Spoiler Alert - Promise

I'm sitting here watching Idol - it's sad.  The 6 girls are singing "hard for the money" together. Their show-smiles are really shallow.  

They all look like they're thinking "Really?  I signed something saying I had to do this?"

Amanda looks especially thrilled to participate in the poorly choreographed dancing.

(30 minutes later)

Th Jonas Brothers were amazing.  It looked like they were pounding out 8th note power chords on their guitars, but it sounded like they were playing full down-strums on the 4ths.  And sometimes one of the guys would quit playing altogether, but the music wouldn't sound any different.  Weird.

(20 minutes later)

I'm watching Archuletta.  Amazing voice.  Great tone.  Masterful control.  Perfect pitch.  But who is actually going to buy an album from the guy?  "Great" isn't a genre.

(9 minutes later)

The Pips just stole the show.

(2 minutes later)

I don't care if you're dressed in stage-black and backing up Carrie Underwood.  It's impossible to look cool while holding a banjo.

(5 minutes later)

George?  Are you kidding me?

Love Thoughts

Okay - Just in case you don't know about "Love Thoughts" it's this thing on KOST FM where somebody writes a sappy letter to their signif, and the sultry-voiced female deejay reads it on the air.  It's sickening and hokey, and until recently I didn't even know that they still did this.  

So I hop on the Main Street Shuttle at John Wayne Airport to get back to my car and get home. It's one of those shuttles configured so everyone sits around the sides facing the middle.  We pile in - all the seats are full, but nobody is standing in the middle.  We take off and the driver cranks the radio - almost uncomfortably loud - just in time - for a "KOST 103 Love Thought". I'm in a shuttle with a bunch of tired strangers; a few business men, a retired couple, a young married couple, you get the picture.  

It starts...

"Tonight's love thought is from Chuey in Yucaipa, and it's a special message for you Michelle...

Chuey says, 'I know that I can be difficult sometimes, but I want you to know that I have always loved you and there is a special place in my heart for you.  Your eyes - they remind me of the stars that shine in the night.  The smell of your hair is like...'"

It just gets worse and worse.  And it's the longest "Love Thought" ever.

Needless to say, things are really awkward on the shuttle.  Nobody is making eye-contact. Everybody is fidgeting.  Then I catch sight of the guy across from me.  His head is buried in his hand.  He's trying to contain himself.  Then it happens... I get the giggles.  I'm trying so hard to hold it in, but I can't help but look around at everyone else on the bus.

So awkward, so uncomfortable, so funny.  

I make eye contact with one of the businessmen just as the sultry voice continues, "...my heart aches to hold you..."

I loose it.  In a shuttle full of complete strangers I bust out laughing - followed by three others who did the same.  Then I had to explain what a "Love Thought" is to the people on the shuttle who had never heard one before.

It was fun.

Now Discover Your Strengths

I think everybody should read this book.  I shared it with our children's ministry team today and it gave us a lot of insight into each other's gifts, talents, and desires.  The basic idea is how the most effective people don't focus on their weaknesses, but on their strengths.  I have found the implementation of this book's ideas to be encouraging, liberating, fascinating, and revolutionary.  It preaches that we need to stop getting hung up on all the stuff we stink at.  Blow off you weaknesses and focus on the things you can do well.  No exaggeration - it's probably in the top 5 books I've ever read.