Grammar Issues

I'm really picky about grammar. Like really picky. I get upset when people don't know the difference between

whose/who's
there/their/they're
to/two/too
your/you're
its/it's

It also makes me cringe to hear things like, "I could care less." (If you could care less, then please do. It wouldn't bother me that you cared more or less about whatever it is you care about, because by now I've moved on.)

So when I watch sports, this gets on my nerves. It's the word "winningest."

The winningest coach.
The winningest Michael Phelps.
The winningest team.
The winningest Chinese athlete.
The winningest basketball player.

Are we Americans that lazy that we can't say, "The coach with the most wins," or "Michael Phelps is superhuman and a freak of nature?"

Well, I did some research. To my surprise, it's in the dictionary. But let me tell you, it's in there as an "informal" word. So if it's informal, why are we reading it in headlines?

For crying out loud.

-10-key princess

New Olympics event

Urban Gymnastics.



-JT

Oranges, Part 2

Earlier I mentioned that my husband and I get into silly disagreements over trivial things. Well, today is no exception. I went to the city today and ended up locking myself out of the car. Yes, I'm that dumb.

Regardless, I handled the situation in spite of a not-so-helpful Chicago cop and a guy who tried to slim jim my car using a wire hanger. Neither of them got me into the car, so I ended up calling for roadside assistance, who came to my rescue using an assortment of break-and-enter tools I'd never seen before.

You would think the story ends there, but allow me to vent for a minute.

I called my husband to tell him what was going on. Our conversation went something like this:
Me: "I locked myself out of the car. Don't worry, roadside assistance is coming to help. I just wanted to let you know what's going on."
Him: "Okay. I gotta run. The kiddo is acting up." Click.

A couple of minutes later, he called back.
Him: "Did you get into the car yet?"
Me: "No, not yet, but they just called and someone's coming soon."
Him: "So I don't have to go out to the city and rescue you?"
Me: "No."
Him: "Thank goodness. Okay. Bye."

At this point, I'm really feeling the love.

When I got home later in the afternoon, we wrapped up the conversation:
Him: "So did roadside assistance slim jim the car?"
Me: "No. Actually, someone did try to break in using a bent wire hanger, but that didn't work so that's when roadside assistance showed up."
Him: "What? NEVER, EVER, EVER let anyone ever do that. That can really mess up the mechanism of the power locks."
Me: "Um, it didn't mess it up."
Him: "It's just common sense. Don't let anyone do it again."

The best part? He just poked me on Facebook. As if that will make me want to speak to him right now.

-SM

A musician to keep your eye on

Joshua Radin. Remember his name. He's an acoustic alternative singer/songwriter. He plays and sings with an understated style that I can't really describe unless you see him live. And with him, less is more. It's this quiet style that has enough power to bring an entire concert hall, like the House of Blues last night, to complete silence. Wow.

Last night I went to go see him perform live for my second time, and it was amazing. It was kind of my birthday present, although not really since I bought the tickets myself. Now I'm normally not a fan of the House of Blues because they just pack people in and there aren't many places to sit, but it wasn't sold out last night. I was able to score a stool and then eventually a table, and I was set.

Anyway - the show was so good. Vanessa Carlton and Alexa Wilkinson opened. I was pleasantly surprised by Carlton, since I only knew her popular song. But her performance was nothing compared to Joshua Radin's set. He played songs from his older records, like "Lovely Tonight," "You've Got Growing Up to Do" and all my favorites. And he also played some songs that will be on his new record. The crowd was hushed, and he even acknowledged how cool it was to play in front of so many silent people.

The best part of the show? No, not that he disclosed how he ate at Potbelly's twice on Friday. It was when he came out for the obligatory encore. Instead of playing one of his songs on stage, he climbed down the stage, got right in the middle of the pit at HOB where everyone stands and played the Bob Dylan ballad "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" in the middle of the crowd. He was belting it out since he had no mic, and I'd never seen anything like it.

As I said before - wow.

-JT

Yet Another Dem Scandal

Here's a story that is blazing across headlines today, but will probably be lining the streets tomorrow morning.

My two cents? I think all politicians should just admit to their extramarital affairs up front before taking office, like New York's new governor post-Spitzer, David Paterson. It's not like we don't know already.

-10-key princess

I'm Bored

I don't know whether to be elated or depressed that I'm home alone on a Friday night. Well, to avoid being either, I've decided to make a list of 10 things that I can do tonight and stop whining about being bored.

1. Paint my toenails
2. Read "The Devil Wears Prada" since it's been on my bookshelf for 2 years now
3. Watch all the backlogged SYTYCD episodes on Tivo
4. Give myself a day off from the diet and bake brownies
5. Finally look at that knitting book my sister gave me and give it a go
6. Research pets that are low maintenance yet give lots of love
7. Rearrange the furniture
8. Pay bills
9. Color my hair
10. Sort and organize my pictures, give them titles, create slideshows, add music, and after all that, backup my computer

See? Who says you need plans every weekend? But now, I'm just overwhelmed with all the stuff I have to get done before tonight is over.

-10-key princess

Step out the front door like a ghost into the fog

Where no one notices the contrast of white on white.

Those are the first two lines of my favorite song, Round Here by the Counting Crows. I'm a sucker for live music, especially involving an acoustic guitar, and now I can listen to about as much live music from Adam Duritz and his band through the site livecountingcrows.com as I want.


The site was launched last week, and you can purchase and download live Counting Crows shows. Every single show, beginning with the July 28th show, will be added to the site within 72 hours, and they're planning to release archived shows periodically. They offered a free show to the first 10,000 fans who signed up, so I was able to see what it's all about.

It's freaking amazing.

-JT