curses on YouTube

stinkin YouTube. i made this memories video from the winter retreat with my kids (shown below), and they muted the audio because of "copyright infringement." the dumbest thing ever. i understand them wanting to keep people from posting TV shows and such, but this is just some pictures with music behind! the fools. well, here it is for your enjoyment. take that, YouTube. you can't find me everywhere!

DVR - the epitome of creation

tv bores me. there are still some good shows on, but i think the reality show era has run its course. have you ever seen Biggest Loser? i love the show (go filipe and sione!), but the way they dddddrrrrrrrraaaaaaaagggggggg it out... are you kidding me? they begin the show with "last week on Biggest Loser," and then right before every commercial, they tell you what's coming after the commercial. right after the commercial, they show you what just happened before the commercial. seriously?

i enjoyed the auditions for season 8 of American Idol, but i don't think i'm going to watch much of the show. it took them two hours to have 12 people sing one song each and hear the judges' comments. THEN they had another full one-hour show just to tell us which 3 of the 12 got the most votes. God bless DVR.

do you ever wish you had a DVR for your life? a rewind, a pause, a fast forward? what are you doing with your moments? would you spend three of your valuable hours on American Idol... each week?

i'm not always the best at using my time wisely. but seeing that really put some stuff in perspective. i hope it does the same for you. spend the moments where they matter. oh, and root for Danny.

wicked(ness)

i went and saw Wicked yesterday with my family. it was AMAZING! the music - addicting! the sets - astounding! the story - captivating! it did make me think, though...

when i opened up the promo book my mom bought, i saw this quote: "are people born wicked or is wickedness thrust upon them?" (don't worry... i won't spoil anything for those of you that haven't seen it) it's pretty clear from the quote that the play aims to show that the wicked witch was forced into her wickedness - that she had no intention to be wicked but eventually had no choice but to be wicked. although this concept works for the play and we do create some understanding for the witch, this idea is a bunch of hooie.

you always have a choice. elphaba (the witch) had a choice. sure, people made her out to be wicked, but she did not have to adopt what was "thrust" upon her. too often, we use that same excuse for ourselves. "i didn't want to be bad... i was forced to be!" garbage. pure garbage.

i can't get enough of the new cd by RED (redmusiconline.com) called Innocence & Instinct. the first song is called "Fight Inside," which is one of my favorites on the album. here's some of the lyrics:

enemy / familiar friend / my beginning and my end / knowing truth / whispering lies / and it hurts again / what i fear and what i try / the words i say and what i hide / all the pain / i want it to end / but i want it again / and it finds me / the fight inside is coursing through my veins / and it's raging / the fight inside is breaking me again

wickedness is not thrust upon you. it's a battle. it's something you fight for and against. you know what the right thing is to do, but often, you don't do it. it happened me today at work. i wanted to get work done, but i wanted to play dumb games on my comupter. it's a fight.

maybe you agree. maybe you don't. either way, let me know what you think with your comments below...