I love Madison

I never thought I'd be one to fall in love with Wisconsin, but that very thing happened while I was there with a friend/coworker this past weekend.

From Madison, WI

We flew in Sunday to get a head start on things and stayed at the Doubletree Hotel, where we were greeted with a warm cookie and pleased to find out the beds were COMFY!

Because we didn't look at the NCMPR conference brochure carefully enough, we missed a cruise on Lake Monona, but did get to explore on our own, wandering onto University of Wisconsin's campus where we had the perfect view of Lake Mendota and down State Street where we spent lots of unnecessary but fun money. My favorite stores were one called "Sunshine Daydream" and another that had really cool retro and vintage items.

The weather was very cold and wintry, so I bought a Wisconsin hoodie (although I'm told by an Illini fan I shouldn't have), a hat and gloves with the fingers cut out.

Our shopping trip was cut short when it started pouring on us, but we hurried back to the hotel in time to dry off a bit and watch some TV before hitting the Nitty Gritty for dinner. We seriously regretted not lying about it being one of our birthdays. Apparently the place is known for that. They have great burgers too.

Monday we woke up early and caught a shuttle to the Monona Terrace Convention Center for a day of work-related learning. We learned A LOT, but only one speaker really stood out, Dr. Pam Cox-Otto from Interact, who had a really fun personality and taught us all about Gen Y (which really hit home for Korin and I, being that we are Gen Y'ers). The food wasn't fabulous but the view from the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building was.

From Madison, WI

We skipped out on the awards dinner because Lewis and Clark hadn't put in any entries. Instead, we hit State Street again for some more shopping. It started raining again, but we got back to our hotel safely and rested before taking a ride back to some Italian place, Tutto Italian Bar e Grill, or something like that. It was recommended to us by one of our shuttle drivers, who was young and seemed fun and friendly. On the way back, we gave a bum our leftovers, bc we didn't have a fridge or microwave anyway, and called it a night.

Tuesday wasn't as eventful, but we hit State Street for yet another go, only this time we wanted to see the free local exhibit at the art museum. One of the exhibits was all about the Earth and recycling and the other about lists. I'm not sure I got the lists one right, but it spoke to me about how people are so busy these days that it can become overwhelming pretty easily.

From Madison, WI

We ate at the hotel's Badgerland Bar and Grill, and they gave us another warm cookie although Korin's nervousness about the flight home got the better of her stomach.

So good news all around - I had a lot of fun, found a place a really enjoy, got to know a coworker a lot better, got two great nights of sleep, learned a ton and the week was half over by the time I got back. And Brian's coming in this weekend so there will be fun to be had by all!

Just a few quick updates

*I'm on Week 3 of the Couch to 5K running program and I just ate 6 cookies and a piece of birthday cake at the office, so I'm not looking forward to tonight's run.

*I am flying out to a PR conference trip with a coworker this weekend. It's in Madison, Wisconsin and I'm really excited.

*Brian is visiting in two weeks, which officially starts Halloween season a little late for me this year. I still need to decide on a costume.

*The Cardinals are close to clenching their playoff spot, and the Cubs have officially sucked for their 102nd year straight.

*I need a haircut somethin' fierce.

*Beatles Rock Band is awesome and I am not a bad singer when mimicking the vocal stylings of John, George and Paul (Ringo's voice is a little low for me).

*Music Togetherness, our little tunes club/discussion and review blog, is in it's third week - Herbie Hancock. Check it out to see what we thought of NSYNC and Jamie Cullum.

Bonnarooers are right, Kanye really does suck

And last night's display of jerkitude at the MTV VMAs, which I didn't watch, proves it.

Congratulations, now a whole new group of music lovers hate you.

As reported by various online news sources, the first Moon Man last night for Best Female Music Video went to Taylor Swift for "You Belong With Me." (Which I watched just now and find absolutely adorable. Embedded below.) Apparently Kanye West thought Beyonce should have won for "Single Ladies" because he rushed on stage, took the mic and crashed Taylor's party by preaching in favor of a different outcome. Talk about unclassy.

I've watched the reruns, with Kanye on his soap box and poor Taylor standing there looking stunned... She's just a kid for Christ's sake, and she deserves to revel in her win.

And that's exactly what Beyonce said, remembering when she won for the first time with Destiny's Child. That was right before she waived her own acceptance speech for Music Video of the Year in favor of letting Taylor finish her moment.

I'm not a huge country fan but I love Taylor Swift. On the other hand, I'm always talking about how much I loathe Beyonce... but after this, I have to respect Beyonce for being the classy woman that she is.

By the same token, I could do without supporting a giant d-bag like Kanye. Boo Kanye.

Music togetherness project

So David and I saw a post on the "I Love Music" message board where a guy and his girlfriend are using music as a togetherness project.

We decided to do the same thing.

The idea is that each week, we will take turns choosing an artist and a sampling of either all their albums or up to five of their albums to listen to and discuss at the end of said week. It's like a book club, with music.

We are starting with NSYNC. That David is a lucky man.

We'll tell you how it goes...

HERE ARE THE RULES

1. Albums must be listened to in chronological order.

2. There are no excuses for not listening, and there are no albums that are off limits for this project (as long as artist has put out two or more CDs).

3. At the end of the week, each participant (David and I) must have more to say than "that was doody" and offer some insight to the other participant to be posted on this blog.

4. A new artist is picked every Friday, and discussions of the previous artist will take place over the weekend. Discussions will be posted online by Monday.

5. No repeats are allowed, with the exception of solo artists from a band that's already been covered.

Happy listening to us.
And one more thing...

Dirty Pop.

Daily mile

As some of you may know and some of you may not know, it has been my recent desire to become a runner. 

I have goaded David into eating better with me and I've been trying to cover some miles every day after work. Stephen showed me to a wonderful Web site, dailymile.com, which tracks all my progress (see the widget on the left side of this page). I could use a few friends and motivators, if you're interested, or you can leave me comments right here.

I haven't given the Couch to 5K program another shot lately, but I've been employing the same idea at my own pace to get used to running (and to convince myself I like it). I decided, the first day I ran for two minutes without dying, that I do. Eventually, I will re-employ the actual program. 

My next goal is to do a 2.5K at EIU Homecoming on Oct. 17 to see if this is something I could really get into. Stephen and his wife Mal, I believe, are going to do it as well, and my friend Amy might be coming with :)

Once I get through that, there's a whole world of possibility out there for me - fun runs, charities, etc. 

And there's the health benefits too. I feel so much better physically (except for my legs) now that I've been running, and I'm hoping I can lose some weight in the process. We were out shooting the soccer girls' team photos today and I realized how much I miss being somewhat athletic. Couldn't hurt my volleyball game either...

American Idols Live Tour 2009 hits St. Louis

I took my mom to go see American Idols Live 2009 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis and was not disappointed.

We got there a little late - traffic was bad and parking a nightmare. We missed Michael Sarver, which I didn't think was a big deal, but ended up feeling bad about when I found out my mom actually likes him.

When we found our seats in the upper deck, I was surprised to see that almost no one had bad seats. On top of that, they were super comfortable. Quite a departure from Bonnaroo 2009 ;) (Which I loved, don't get me wrong.)

Megan Joy was first. I'd always liked her voice and been disappointed week after week on the show by her performances, but was presently surprised to see I liked her live.

After Megan Joy was Scott MacIntyre, who turned out to be a veteran performer and quite funny as an added bonus. He made jokes about his blindness and "the high five heard 'round the world," and put everyone in good spirits. I liked his rendition of Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles."

Lil Rounds was next. I didn't really like her set. Then again, I'm no fan of "Queen B" either, so I wasn't happy when she sang "Single Ladies." I did like this one OK tho.

Anoop gave a beautiful rendition of "Always On My Mind" but I enjoyed Ne-Yo's "Mad" better. I could have seen Ne-Yo live with a press pass earlier this year but didn't make it to the show.

Matt Giraud came out with the song I enjoyed most by him, "Hard to Handle." He showed off his vocal range with "Georgia on My Mind," which was nice, but then he sang "You Found Me," which I still agree with the judges from this season doesn't fit his voice very well.

Allison Iraheta's "So What" was disappointing, although I agree it helped her seem young when her voice sounds so much more mature. "Barracuda" was cool, but I can't find decent YouTube video of that so here's the duet with her and Adam Lambert on "Slow Ride."

Danny Gokey was mostly mushy and disappointing, to my dismay. I loved Danny from the beginning and I think he's hot and feel bad that his wife died, but American Idol is not about preaching. Additionally, if he's going to sound this gushy on a CD he's just not for me. However, "PYT" was entertaining and "Maria Maria" was hot.

I knew Adam Lambert was going to be big, but what I didn't know was how sexual he would be on stage. I liked most of his set, aside from Muse's "Starlight." I was most excited to see "Mad World" live, which was great, but this Bowie Medley almost made me wish I were a gay man.

After Lambert, I was nervous for this year's Idol winner Kris Allen, but I shouldn't have been. Because I'm such a fan, here is his entire set (I thought this version of "Heartless" was amazing live in a big venue):

Lunch with Dad today

Dad came in today and ate lunch with me in the Reid Cafe. He said he really enjoyed the pork tenderloin, while I had a garden burger, which was really good by the way. I'll have to eat that more often.

We spent the rest of my break walking around campus, admiring the gardening and the sculptures. We even wandered into the library, which has always held interest for me because of the rumors that it is haunted.

We were both impressed by the library, which I had been in before, and it was really nice to have a visit from him :) We'll have to do that more often. 

Once I got back into the office, Korin (the graphic designer I share an office with) and I talked about hauntings and now I'm really in the mood for Halloween... maybe it will make for some cool campus discussions on our social sites or something... Just a thought.