A Little Joy and a Little Sadness.

     As I mentioned on Tuesday, I was off work today, and I did pretty much nothing productive. I didn't even take my 2 and a half mile walk today. I did go to my ukulele class and work on a little Nina Simone. Which by the way, just may be next weeks Favorite Song of the Week.

     I did promise you some videos tonight though, and I'm currently looking them up, in hopes that they will finally be there. Good news, I found the first video, which is Grace Vanderwaal, singing her original song "Beautiful Thing". She mentioned in the little video piece before her performance that this song is about her sister, and is't just as good as her first song. Here is the video.




     Now that you've heard that, I have to find the next video, which is going to be Brian Justin Crum singing "In the Air Tonight", by Phil Collins. Before I get to that video though, I wanted to remind you that this was my favorite performance of the night.  Both of these acts were the tops for me, and AGT pulled a fast one on the results show. Their normal procedure when they eliminate an act, is to bring two acts forward, one moves on, and the other goes home. Last night, they brought both Grace and Brian forward. My first thought was, "oh no", then it hit me, they were both going through. It's rare, but they will do that little gimmick from time to time. Nick Cannon kind of blew the surprise, when he made the announcement. He said, "The acts moving forward are", with a very long dramatic pause to get reactions from both contestants and maybe a few from the judges. What he was supposed to say was, "the act moving forward", as soon as he said "acts", I knew for sure that they were both in. Well anyway, here is Brian with his performance.




    Let me know if you agree with me on this one. I thought Grace was fantastic, but Brian was out of this world good.

     I have some sad news tonight, but this will probably only relate to me and one other person. Before I get to the news, I wanted to share a picture with you. This giant fuzzy teddy bear of a dog is Aslan, the Goofy Newfie. She left this world yesterday morning. She was the most delightful dog that you would ever meet. always full of energy, and good humor. This picture was taken after we had just done a very long drive from Austin, Texas, to Gallup, New Mexico. I was helping her owner relocate, and I drove her and her brother from state to state. It was an odd car. Me with two enormous dogs. There is a picture somewhere, of me in the car with them. I a but a spec surrounded by black and white fluff balls. The picture is very funny, and I wish I had it to share with you. Aslan hadn't been in the best of health recently. She had hip problems that made walking difficult for her, but she still always seemed to smile when you pet her on her head. She is missed greatly by her owner, and owner really isn't the right word. Aslam and  her brothers were very much family, so mother might be a more proper term. I was fortunate enough to see Aslan one last time this past Sunday. I made sure I went in to see her and give her a few pets. She lifted her head, in only that way that dogs can do, when they truly enjoy the pets that they are receiving. It won't be the same with out her in the house, but she is frolicking through green meadows, and ponds now.

     Sorry to bring everyone down, but this was a dog that needed to be recognized. I'll try to have something more jovial for you on Sunday. I now have to go to sleep and figure out what I'm going to do tomorrow. I'm leaning towards waking up and walking about 5 miles to make up for not walking today. I got poke-eggs to hatch, and they aren't going to hatch if I don't get to walking.  I will definitely get in some good quality time with Saki, which reminds me. My ukulele teacher gave me a stand for Saki, so that I can do maintenance on it easier. That is super cool, because those things usually run about $60. There is nothing better than free stuff. With all that in mind, peace in and goodnight.