Life Thoughts: Find the joy and beauty in life . . .

"Nobody can walk the path of life for us. It is entirely our own journey." ~ Chris Roach

Yesterday while hiking with friends, I stopped at this spot to wait for others in our group.  I had stopped here before when it was sunny clear blue skies.  I looked out towards Catalina Island in the distance through the leafless branches of this tree. The darkened rain clouds looming and heading towards us.  It was beautiful.

PhotoHunt: Standing

A great way to go from one side of the famous Grand Canal in Venice, Italy to the other is by a transport called a Traghetto (which means Ferry in Italian). 

Here is a Traghetto transporting a few standing customers to the Pescaria Traghetto stop.

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American Idol: Nashville has a star in Lauren Alaina . . .

Nashville produces a star quality contestant in 15 year old Lauren Alaina at last night's auditions.  Inspired and motivated to start singing by her cousin Holly who 3 years ago was diagnosed with brain tumor and had to undergo chemo and radiation.  Thank you so much Holly for inspiring Lauren to sing and for encouraging her to tryout, giving AI one of their top contestants so far this season.  I think Lauren has the total package to go very far in this competition and I am a huge fan already. 

I especially loved her impromptu duet with Steven Tyler singing I Don't Want to Miss a Thing, that left him almost speechless. Check out her audition while it lasts:  HERE



And that's my Recap. Keep on Rocking AI . . .

American Idol: Milwaukee gives us more than Idol hopefuls, we discover true love . . .

The love story between very talented Chris Medina and his fiance, Juliana Roberts, was for me the highlight of last night's Milwaukee premier on American Idol. He sings Breakeven by Script and it was a beautiful performance.  It was cool that the judges asked to see Juliana and even sweeter to hear what Steven Tyler softly told her.  Chris commented that it would make her very happy to see him move on to Hollywood and it did. Sometimes American Idol is simply more than just a talent show. . .

My other Milwaukee standouts are:  Naima Adedapo, who hopes to one day perform on stage at Milwaukee's big Summerfest music festival (she was excellent); 16 year old country singer (another North Carolina resident), Scotty McCreery, impressed the judges with his low voice and performance; White House intern and Harvard graduate, Molly Swenson.  I thought the clip of Randy Jackson high fiving the contestants and accidentally smacking her in the face was pretty funny. I immediately liked her for having a good sense of humor about the incident.  She has a pretty good voice and is a strong President Obama supporter.  Scott Dangerfield surprised the judges with his bluesy performance and fast action backstage.  I liked him a lot too.

I'm not one to find pleasure in someone else's pain but thanks to the AI editing crew, I was in hysterics when they showed the clip of a female supporter for one of the contestants getting a charlie horse after he came out with his Golden ticket to Hollywood.   While everyone was jumping up and down celebrating, she was bent down in pain (poor thing).  And no one noticed her except for Ryan Seacrest who was trying to help her in the midst of all the jumping and whoo hooing . . . too funny.

And that's my Recap. Keep on Rocking AI . . .

PhotoHunt: Hands

Our hands have many uses and creating beautiful music is one of my favorites . . . A harp player performing in a nice Piazza in San Gimignano, Italy.

She made beautiful music with her hands and I enjoyed taking a sightseeing break to stop and listen to her. One of the many joys of travel for me.

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American Idol: Jacee Badeuax is a New Orleans standout . . .

I didn't intend to blog about last night's New Orleans auditions, but when 15 year old Jacee Badeuax sang Otis Redding's (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay, I knew that I wouldn't be able to hold my words in.  This young hopeful has talent and I hope he goes far in this competition because I would love to see what he does in his performances.

And here are my other standouts from last night's show:

Jordan Dorsey, the 21 year old musician and instructor sings "Over the Rainbow" even changing it up to a more jazzy version midway in his performance without as Jennifer said skipping a beat.

Brett Loewenstern, the 16 year old red head who was picked on at school is another standout performance for me.

And as it did in New Jersey, the show ended with a tear jerking performance (and storyline) with Paris Tassin, the young mother of a special needs child. Her performance brought tears to J-Lo's eyes and I have to admit mines welled up. Like Adam Lambert did in most of his performances on Idol, Paris didn't just perform a  song she gave us an experience through her performance to not just hear but feel the words that she was singing. Her dreams are taking her to Hollywood and I'm really hoping her talent and dreams will take her far in this competition.

And that's my New Orleans auditions Recap. Keep on Rocking AI . . .

American Idol: Season 10 begins not with a whimper but with a Whoo hoo . . .

Although Fox blanketed us with a lot of hype and star power as we enter the show's 10th season I had every reason to believe that it would be boring with so many changes and post Adam Lambert contestants.  I was sure that I would not enjoy last night's show, but to my surprise, I actually found myself laughing out loud and really enjoying the show. 

I like the songs of Aerosmith and Steven Tyler  but I had no idea he was so funny! :0 It was great watching him review the contestants and I found his quips and comments spot on and refreshing.  And I couldn't help but feel so bad for Jennifer Lopez when she had to tell her first contestant "no."  She almost looked like she was going to cry at one point and it looked very sincere and honest and I loved that. Of course, as the show went on, she became more comfortable at saying no especially to the less talented contestants.  It was great to have Randy Jackson back with his experience and to anchor the two newbie judges.  I enjoyed Season's 10 panel of judges so much that I actually found myself "not" missing Simon one bit.  I like that the new and reinvented Season 10 American Idol is attempting to focus more on the talent because that to me is what American Idol is all about. It's giving someone their shot at stardom.  Someone like Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson . . . could be out there.  And with that, I think the American Idol producers were successful in last night's American Idol Season 10 long awaited premier. 

And now to the contestants. I always enjoy watching the auditions shows because it's fun for me to pick out the "diamonds" in the rough and to see if they will actually make it to the final cuts. 

- Travis Orlando was my favorite. He and his family fell on hard times and had to stay in shelters in Bronx New York for years.  He has a wonderful voice and is naturally gifted and talented and I am really hoping he'll not only move on but make the final cut. 

- Caleb Hawley was up and sang Hallelujah, I Love Her So and got Steven Tyler drumming on the table.  I liked him a lot.

- Robbie Rosen, the 16 year old who was in a wheelchair when he was a child is also someone with not just a great feel good story but he has the talent to go far in this competition and I hope that he does.

- Melinda Ademi, the 16-year-old a war refugee from Kosovo and Victoria Huggins, the perky and sweet 16 year old from North Carolina are both very talented and I really hope they go far in this competition.

And now for the ones that got through which I think probably shouldn't have.  They are Ashley Sullivan (I would be shocked if she makes it past Hollywood) and Tiffany Rios (who so reminded me of Tatiana Del Toro).  :)

New Jersey did a great job in producing some very talented pool of contestants. Tonight is New Orleans and I may have to skip my spinning class tonight to stay home and watch it, because so far I'm liking Season 10! :)

And that's my first Recap for Season 10.  Keep on rocking AI . . .

Hiking: Bluff Top Corridor Trail

It's been a while since I've been serious about training for more road races and hiking trips but I have decided to get back into training.   :)

Yesterday, we went on a fun hike to the Bluff Top Corridor Trail which stretches from  San Pedro (CA) into the Palos Verdes Penninsula and beyond.  It's a beautiful coastal trail and offers great views of the ocean and Catalina island.  The difficulty level ranges from easy to moderate.        

Yesterday I got poked by a cactus and this morning I woke up to aching calves.  Still, today, a group of us will be tackling yet another South Bay trail that goes from top to bottom with no flat sections. Yikes! I have to keep reminding myself . . . "No Pain, No Gain!" I know, total cliché, but it's kind of true. He, he!

Hope you all have a wonderful Holiday today in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Wikipedia), who once spoke of having a dream . . .

PhotoHunt: Shadow

In the shadow of Torre del Mangia (Wikipedia) lies the very beautiful Piazza del Campo in Siena, Italy . . .

Siena (Wikipedia) is a wonderful town in Tuscany with very beautiful surroundings.  We also enjoyed a ground level view of this lovely piazza while having lunch at the restaurant on the left with the dark brown canopy.  

And how can I post a photo of where we ate without posting a couple of photos of what we ate. Here's my Pizza Margarita and my delicious cup of strawberry gelato. Yum!  :) 

  Oh, how I miss Italy!


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PhotoHunt: Breathtaking (Free Choice Week)

Among the many beautiful places in the world to see, there are some that I would describe as breathtaking and the Grand Canyon is one of them. 

 

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