Elvis is alive!

Well, maybe not, but his style sure is.

If you watched "Project Runway" last night, you know what I'm talking about.

How Kayne survived another round in that Elvis-meets-Versace getup - and Angela got axed in something a lot of women would look cute in - is nothing short of nuts.

Kayne's bell-bottom pants were horrid. The butterfly-collar style shirt - embelished with what looked like fabric from a scarf my mother once used to cover her hair rollers at night while she slept - was straight out of Elvis' performance wardrobe. And the belt buckle absolutely screamed, "In case you forget my name, look toward my crotch and it'll be there ... in rhinestones." Wow, that thing was tacky, tacky, tacky.

Kayne seems like a very nice person, but his "style" is so over the top that it hurts to look. He should have been the one flying home from Paris.

------

And yet again, Vincent sneaks by. This time after putting together the most b-o-r-i-n-g outfit ever. Black pants and a grey top. ZZzzz ... No interesting cuts, no interesting use of color, no style whatsoever. And to make matters worse, the very simple shirt didn't even fit him well. How do you mess that up? He makes me crazy.

Now on to Jeffery, our gracious winner. How illuminating he is with his charming personality that complements his humble nature. I mean, come on, we all know he's THE BEST EVER, and yet it's as if he's only there to spread peace and harmony.

Aggggghhhhh!!!! What a jerk. I would love to see a challenge where the designers had to somehow reverse their own style. Say, Jeffery designs like Laura. Then we'd see him really squirm. His "fashion" is rock n roll, I get it. Show me you can do something different, for crying out loud.

But that can be said for Laura, too. And Uli. And Kayne. On the other hand, Michael can mix it up every time - and every time it's damn good. He's got my vote.

Promising news!

I think my crazy neighbor is moving out.

At this point, it's pretty much speculation based on a couple pieces of evidence.

A. I heard the sound of a vacuum cleaner coming from her apartment for the first time ever.
B. The vacuuming began soon after I saw a fatherly looking gentleman loading a sofa and loveseat into his truck.
C. The truck had a Georgia license plate from the same county her car is registered to.
D. I know her lease is up at the end of the month.

I'm crossing my fingers that it is, in fact her, and not another downstairs neighbor.

Hello, my name is flabberghasted

He won the design challenge. Vincent WON.

OK, OK ... I will say that the dress he designed for Uli's mother wasn't terrible. In fact, it was good (You have no idea how hard that was for me to admit), BUT it wasn't good for her. I have to disagree with the judges and say that it was not flattering on her body. I thought the waist made her look pudgy and stuffed in. And don't even get me started on that butterfly collar.

But, all in all, the dress was good. Really, it was. But you know what this means ... Vincent's skewed perception of his design talent is going to get even more out of control. This will make for good reality TV, but my sanity likely will suffer.

Now, onto another peeve. How is it that Robert was out this week based on his past "boring" styles, and Jeffrey remained in even though his design in this particular challenge was God awful. I seem to recall last week that Allison was out based soley on her outfit that week. Never mind the fact that she'd impressed the judges on more than one other challenge.

I realize Angela's mother was a complete wackjob, but come on ... Jeffery had to know that getup he had her parading down the catwalk in was horrible. Nobody - thin or overweight - could put that on and look good. I have to agree with Megan on this one - Allison was unfairly singled out for elimination last week. I won't speculate why, though I have my ideas. But I'm not happy.

Who will make it to the final three? Right now, my guess is: Uli, Michael and Laura.

Mojitos, John Prine and a belly ache

Mojitos
Since I first heard of this drink a couple years ago, I've wanted to try it - but never enough to order one (just in case it didn't live up to my expectations ... call me cheap). But last night I "splurged" and dropped $7 on a tall glass of minty goodness, and let me say the mojito is now on my top 5 list of cold beverages. So good!

John Prine
After dining and Mojito-ing at Blue Plate last night, Jim and I headed to the Tivoli downtown for the John Prine show. I've always respected John Prine's music - and especially his brilliant songwriting. But now I am a full-blown John Prine F-A-N. This man put on the best show I've seen in years. Words can't describe how much energy and emotion he conveyed - and those who accompanied him were just as amazing. He performed for close to 3 hours, which was incredible. Going from laughing to near tears to laughing again, I thoroughly enjoyed his performance. If you ever get the chance to see him live, you simply must. :)

and a belly ache
But, all good things must come to an end - and mine came to an abrupt end last night. I don't know if I ate something that just didn't agree with me or if I'm dying, but wow ... my stomach is not happy. There's nothing better than being on the verge of yakking all day and all night. Nice thought, eh?!?

Another quickie

Blogging, obviously, hasn't been No. 1 on my list of priorities lately. I guess I'm following in the footsteps of a certain Princess Hiker (minus the blatant outcry from readers), but I'm alive and have a short update. (Please. Try to contain yourselves.)

* Most important event of the week: I paid my car off today. Eveyone say a hearty "Amen."
* Second-most imporatant event this week: I got my car doorlock fixed. I can now unlock my driver's side door. Woo hoo! Life is good.
* Depressing news of the week: Allison is out. Vincent is still in. If you watch the best show on TV, you know what I mean. I swear, those judges are not considering overall design work, passion or mental health. Vincent is a loon. I do not like that man.
* Something I'm looking forward to: Fall. I really think it's time to focus on fall ... or have I just fallen victim to the marketing geniuses who have been displaying fall fashion for a month now? Hmmm ... something to consider. But, I think the searing heat has more to do with my growing disdain toward summer.

Super fast movie review

"Talladega Nights" was funny, yes. But I'd wait until it comes out on DVD.

* Plot: Not believable, but humorous
* Characters: Ridiculous, yet somewhat endearing
* Catch phrase: "Shake and bake!!" = huh?!?
* Did the previews show all of the funny scenes? For the most part, yes - but there were a few more laughable moments.
* Overall: Not a movie to take children to, not that I have any kids. A good movie to sit around and watch with friends and some Miller High Life ... or Natural Lite. You choose.

Maintenance man = My hero

My apartment once again has air, and I couldn't be happier! Within an hour of reporting my non-air status, my new hero, Rusty, had determined that the fan in the outside unit had quit and began work on replacing it. Later in the day, I had a nice, cool apartment to come home to.

It's been a whirlwind two days. Not that I've done anything super fun, but much has been accomplished. I'm looking forward to Saturday evening. I have no plans, but that sounds wonderful.

Tomorrow afternoon, Jim and I are going to see the much-anticipated Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. I'm no NASCAR fan, but I think Will Ferrell is one of the funniest people around, and the previews make me laugh every single time they come on, so I'm hoping it's as hysterical as I've built it up in my head.

That's all I've got. My life is pretty boring lately.

Whew!

I didn't sleep very well last night, and I blamed it all on my pants. But, sadly, it wasn't their fault at all.

When I got home from work last night, I was still pretty cold from having arctic air blasting on me for eight hours straight. So, I immediatly changed into long sleep pants and a T-shirt. About an hour later, I hit the sack. Sleep came easily after another great weekend in Atlanta. I was tired and crashed out as soon as I hit the pillow.

But about three hours into my blissfull sleep, I rolled over and realized I was H-O-T. However, my sleepiness overcame any desire to cool off, so I somehow managed to close my eyes and drift off again.

An hour later, I woke up hot again - and made a mental (yet sleepy) note not to wear long pants to bed again until winter. It was simply too warm for sleep pants, a sheet and a quilt.

Thirty minutes later, I had had enough. The pants came off and were promptly replaced by sleep shorts. But as a crawled back into bed I realized something. ... I wasn't the only thing in my house that was warm - the entire apartment felt stale.

And then reality finally hit: My air-conditioning isn't working!

First my car, now my apartment. Let's hope that my landlords will realize it's 99 in the shade, and will jump on this first thing Monday morning.

Cross your fingers for me ...

The bill I couldn't wait to receive

Yesterday afternoon I reached into my mailbox and pulled out some advertisements, a credit card offer and, of course, a bill.

Normally, I’d grimace and maybe wait a while before opening the request for my hard-earned dollars. But this time I was actually filled with excitement as I ran my finger under the sealed flap of the envelope. Inside, I found an invoice for a hefty chunk of change, but I was all too happy to learn that my bank wanted nearly $500 of my money.

The bill simply read “Final Payment. Please remit by Aug. 14, 2006.” The key words here are FINAL PAYMENT.

My car is about to be paid for. It will be mine. All mine. And I must say it feels wonderful!!

I’ve had multiple issues with my little VW over the years, but I think the problems really got to me because I was still paying for the car that seemed to be sticking its tongue out and singing, “nanny, nanny, noo, noo” every chance it got.

It’s been a learning experience, and I now know that buying a car when you’re in dire need of motorized transportation calls for extreme caution - and never ever letting the sales rep know just how bad your situation is. You see, when I bought my Jetta, I was living in South Georgia and was about to move to North Georgia. My Honda Civic had an unfortunate head gasket eruption on the way to Orlando the week before I was to relocate, and I was lucky to get $400 for her parts in the tiny town where she died.

I needed a car, and I needed one quick. I’m pretty sure I had “sucker” plastered across my forehead because, shamefully, I paid far too much for my car and in the process allowed the sales manager to convice me that a few concerns I had were nothing to worry about.

In the end, I have a car that I like but wouldn’t buy again if I had it to do over. However, I now know what not to do in the car-buying process. Research is key, patience is a must and walking away from an offer is essential if it’s no good.

I’m hoping to keep this car for another year or so, and then start all over again. Next time, though, I’ll be smarter.

Sometimes, you've just gotta vent

And so, here it goes ...

Things that have really been getting on my last nerve:

* People who say they'll call you back and then don't
* Cable companies
* Holier-than-thou people who never seem to give it a rest
* Cell phones that buzz, beep and make other noises in my ear while I'm trying to carry on a conversation with my mother
* New shoes that haven't been broken in yet (i.e. blisters on my toes!)
* Not losing any weight despite trying (minus the chicken fingers I ate the other night at work ... Oh, and The Cheesecake Factory, but that's all!)
* Clutter, clutter, clutter
* Not having washer/dryer hookups in my apartment

I think that pretty much covers my gripes for today.