Saving daylight
Well, it happened. We went & changed over (or, rather, sprang forward) to Daylight Saving Time. And I don’t think anyone’s world ended. An Outlook calendar or two might’ve gone supernova, but then that’s not really a bad thing, now is it? 
Not only that, but amongst all the sturm und drang generated by this government-mandated shift, even the usually level-headed Aardvark has weighed in on the side of DST being “Accursed“! 
I’m a little more sanguine about it, although that wasn’t always the case. Growing up, I was always a firm proponent of Standard Time. I couldn’t tell you why, other than possibly attributing it to the fact that I preferred late Autumn through early Spring more than the seasons traditionally encompassed by DST.
Within the past 5-10 years, however, my thinking has shifted slightly. I would now prefer to be on DST year round. My distaste is more for the actual shifting than it is for either of the times to which we shift. This idea that we can manipulate & master time is, let’s be honest, a prime example of the level of hubris of which we humans are capable. Time zones make infinite good sense, and are a sign of civilization. Time shifts/changes are folly, and show only our arrogance.
From a socio-historical standpoint, however, this whole topic is actually quite interesting. I think it’s indicative of the fact that we’re interconnected on a much larger scale than ever before. Time is much simpler when it’s purely a local convention. On a national/global scale, time is a much more complex & vexing variable/issue.
For now, though, I’m quite content with living in CDT…
-ghp
AI:6 — Results - The Top 12
America got stupid, but not quite in the way that I thought they would.
I’ve got no problems with Jared being eliminated, and y’all know that I cheered when our Girl Gone Wild Antonella was eliminated.
I was only mildly surprised that Sundance got sent home instead of Sanjaya.
But I was shocked when Haley stayed and Sabrina was sent packing. I’m not as offended as I would’ve been had Antonella stayed instead of Sabrina, but I’m puzzled nonetheless. I was way off in my analysis in one way: I thought that Gina and/or Jordin were much more at risk of being the one unfairly sent home. Sabrina was a strong #3 or #4 in what I had pegged as the obvious group of top 6 girls. It’s quite possible that she was our first victim of fanbase-splitting this season, as I’m quite sure that there was strong overlap between her fans and Stephanie’s fans. Honestly, then, when taking into account the vagaries of fanbase loyalties, I can only imagine that Stephanie, LaKisha, and Melinda will all benefit from this surprise elimination, and will now more easily get more easily further along in the competition.
I felt strongly only about 4 of the guys, in terms of who really deserved to get into the finals based on talent alone. Sundance was not in that group. Thus, while I’m certainly disappointed in Sanjaya’s continuing presence in the competition, I’m nowhere near as annoyed/outraged as I would’ve been had Antonella made it through. That said, I still want Sanjaya to be the first one eliminated — much like Chicken Little last season, I’m going to predict Sanjaya’s downfall each week until it finally comes to pass.
So now we finally have our Top 12. Here’s my initial stab at ranking them:
- Melinda
- LaKisha
- Stephanie
- Chris Sligh
- Blake
- Jordin
- Brandon
- Gina
- Chris Richardson
- Phil
- Haley
- Sanjaya
I found it interesting that 3 of the 4 kids eliminated got to speak with & hear from the judges. Only Antonella was shuttled off the stage in quick order after singing her swan song. Gee, I wonder why? 
Jared was, I think, a bit misguided in his obvious anger & shock, Sundance took it admirably well, and Sabrina just looked shocked & devastated. And with good reason.
Carrie Underwood looked & sounded great, although I was surprised we didn’t get to see her schmooze with Seacrest.
The humanitarian project was just ‘eh’ for me. I’m glad that some amount of good will come from it, but I’m not looking forward to the avalanche of hype under which we’ll be buried.
We’ve survived the second phase of the competition! 
Now we just need to make it through the next 3 months. My only prediction right now is this: The inevitable “shocking elimination” will involve either LaKisha or Melinda, and it will come somewhere around the Top 4 or 5.
Next up: Diana Ross Week.
-ghp
Getting started GTD
The biggest problem I’m running into while trying to get in the swing of things with my implementation of GTD (aside from my remarkable penchant for procrastination 
) is one simple fact. In order to get things done, you actually have to do things.
Imagine that…
Right now, I’m caught in between the rock of needing to get all my tasks & “stuff” into my trusted system (i.e., Hipster PDA & Vitalist), while at the same time still remembering to actually, you know, do things. Unfortunately, life & work just won’t cooperate by going on hold until I’ve got the system back-filled, tweaked, & ready to move forward. 
It’d be so much easier if I could just worry about getting things in from here on out. Unfortunately, life won’t let me get away with that. So, I’m having to fight through a fair bit of internal resistance. I’m also working through fully understanding the best way to implement contexts correctly. I think I’m getting a decent handle on it though, even as it is requiring a significant change in how I’ve previously viewed the slicing & dicing of tasks & projects. Having the hard edges based on locational, rather than project or temporal, factors is a change for me, but one that I can see has significant merit.
And I’ve still got to deal with the whole review (weekly/daily/etc…) thing. Baby steps…
I know that some would say that I should’ve started with a full paper implementation, so that I could focus on the system rather than the tools. The thing is, I know myself well enough that such an approach wouldn’t have worked for me. I would’ve had the eventual electronic piece sitting in the back of my mind as a big old open loop. Besides, if I was faced with the prospects of only having a paper-based system, I have to be honest & say that I probably wouldn’t have ever started trying to implement GTD.
Self-awareness can be such a pain…
-ghp
AI:6 - 8 Solid Senoritas
Solid? 
Yeah, that’s a pretty good word to describe last night’s performances by the girls. They pretty much stayed right according to form. It actually makes it pretty easy for me to keep this writeup short, sweet, and to the point. Nobody blew me away, as there were no superlative performances last night, as much as the producers wanted Melinda’s show-ending slot to be one.
That said, I’m going minimalist this week. Here’s the breakdown that I believe is clearly the way things should be after tonight’s results show.
The Finalists (my rankings):
- Melinda Doolittle - “I’m A Woman†— The one to beat.
- LaKisha Jones - “I Have Nothing†— Most likely the one to beat the one to beat.
- Stephanie Edwards - “Sweet Thing†— Classy, like LaToya London.
- Sabrina Sloan - “Don’t Let Go†— Big voice & cute, like a mocha Jennifer Grey (pre nose job)
- Gina Glocksen - “Call Me When You’re Sober†— Spunky & punky, she’s a cool chick.
- Jordin Sparks - “Heartbreaker†— Big voice, big heart, and the sweetheart of the group. What a cutie!
The (deservedly-so) Not Finalists:
- Haley Scarnato - “If My Heart Had Wings†— There’s a classiness to her, but her voice just doesn’t measure up.
- Antonella Barba - “Put Your Records On†— What more can (should?) be said. She just ain’t good enough.
It’ll be interesting to see how the results play out. I really hope that the right thing happens, and the obvious top 6 make it through to the finals. I’m afraid, however, that bozos like VoteForTheWorst.com & just plain old stupid and/or horny voters will put Antonella through to the finals. The shameful result will be that either Gina or Jordin will be eliminated & denied their rightful spot in the Top 12.
I just really want to see a Top 12 that includes neither Antonella, nor Sanjaya.
But I’m not holding my breath…
-ghp
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