Cards

As an ammendment to my previous post about winning in cards, I do have to admit that when Jon met me for lunch recently, he won every single hand of Speed that we played. But I'm just a sore loser and didn't want to mention that earlier. :)

Sing it, Jamie!

While watching the American Music Awards recently, there were two parts that really struck me. The first is what Kirk Franklin said during his acceptance speech (my husband mentions it here), and the second is Jamie Foxx’s performance of his song “Wish U Were Here”.

Perhaps it was because I had no expectations for Jamie Foxx’s music (since he’s primarily known as an actor)… But when he started singing, I realized the song was specifically about his deceased grandmother. I remembered hearing about how she raised him and made him learn how to play the piano. I could really see the emotion behind his lyrics. When he took off his sunglasses near the end of the song and faced the audience, I got a little choked up…

Crazy, huh? It was just a really well done performance by Jamie Foxx – he deserved his win of Favorite Male Soul/R&B Artist.


For a little more about his relationship with his grandmother, here is an excerpt from his 2005 Academy Awards acceptance speech for Best Actor in a Leading Role (for his performance in the movie Ray):

… This is probably going to be the toughest part of this speech. My daughter shares my grandmother's name, "Marie." My grandmother's name is Estelle Marie Talley. She's not here tonight. And this is going to be the toughest part. But she was my first acting teacher. She told me to stand up straight. Put your shoulders back. Act like you got some sense. We would go places. And I would wild out. And she would say, "Act like you've been somewhere." And then when I would act the fool, she would beat me. She would whup me. And she could get an Oscar for the way she whupped me because she was great at it. And after she whupped me, she would talk to me and tell me why she whupped me. She said I want you to be a southern gentleman. She still talks to me now. Only now, she talks to me, in my dreams. And I can't wait to go to sleep tonight because we got a lot to talk about. I love you."

Cards and Cocoa

Jonathan had the great idea for us to walk to Starbucks tonight (thank you gift card givers!) to get some fresh air. [Let me just say that it's nice to finally feel a new "season" in California. It's been chillier here lately!]

I highly recommend the Starbucks' Peppermint Hot Chocolate and, while sipping it there, a game of Casino or Speed. I enjoyed them all - especially WINNING! :)

Ring, Ring... Hello?

"We are not contributing to the mass materialism day otherwise known as 'Black Friday'," my husband said on Tuesday of Thanksgiving weekend [though he might have worded it differently].

When Friday arrived, we had plans to avoid the stores. I volunteered from 8-5 with the L.A. Zoo orangutans while Jon did homework. That evening, however, I reread an earlier email from Verizon Wireless for "2 free RAZRs" with a 2-year renewal... Additionally, if you renewed no later than that Friday evening, you could receive free bluetooth headsets with both cell phones. Hmm... Jon's phone broke in half back in June, and mine had been chugging along for almost 2 1/2 years...

We gave in to the Black Friday deal, and we're now proud owners of brand new Motorola RAZR cell phones. They've been a source of entertainment for the past 24 hours, as we play ringtones and take pictures and videos of each other and Earl. Merry *Early* Christmas to us!

Ummm...

Jazzy No More

Well, after less than a week in our new aquarium, Jazzy bit the dust. Good thing PetsMart has a 14 day guarantee!
We actually took the dead goldfish in a bag to the store, where they gave us a new fish. (They also asked for a sample of our water, but we insisted it was fine because our second fish was great.) SO, our newcomer is named Dart because he was spasticly swimming around the bag as we carried him home (we wanted a LIVELY one!). (We also picked him because he was easy to distinguish from Earl, whereas Jazzy was too similar looking.) He and Earl are getting along well. They chase each other back and forth when they get excited about food, and they tend to stick together wherever the other one goes in the tank.

Upgrade

While Jon's artistic rendition was originally accurate of our Walmart fish bowl, we had "issues" with cleanliness and filtering of it... So they got an upgrade! Pictured is Earl (such a camera hog) and Jazzy (timid in the corner).

Jazzy & Earl...

...our two new goldfish! (They really exist - This is Jon's artistic rendition!)