conscious uncouple

Random thoughts this Sunday:  I know I am not supposed to cheer on a divorce, but I cannot help but think I might get my old Coldplay back now that Chris Martin has consciously uncoupled from that pretentious, haughtier-than-thou Gwyneth Paltrow.  I want back that old English chap who writes lovelorn, starry-eyed songs about shivering, troubles, spies, and the color yellow.  While he's at it, I hope he would now stop hanging with Beyonce and Jay-Z and let Gwyneth inherit them as her friends.  I seriously hate it whenever scrappy, upstart British artists get contaminated by fancy American celebrities.  Yes, I am also talking about Ed Sheeran becoming besties with Taylor Swift and now working with Pharrell...Amazing Race All Star season is really awesome, probably the best in a long time.  I am rooting hard for Cowboys and Dave/Connor father-son team.  And I surprisingly enjoy Brendon and Rachel this season - her dramatics is actually more endearing and amusing than annoying.  I still find the Afghanimals extremely unbearable, and the blonde country singers vacant and boring...I have an aunt who has been in a nursing home since she had a fall in her home in December.  That place is hell of depressing.  She does nothing all day long except sit or lie in bed.  I tell you, getting old sucks.  Add this to my growing list of things I fear - rotting away in a nursing home when I get old...I did well in the month of March controlling my spending.  I only spent about $11 on clothes (on a couple of Old Navy's sweatshirts) and didn't buy any blu rays or cds at all.  I hardly ate out, except for workday lunches...Yesterday I sprayed weed killers in the backyard, pruned a couple of trees, trashed a pile of old magazines, made scones, and pickled some vegetables that would otherwise go bad.  I am so domesticated...The Desolation of Smaug blu ray came out on Tuesday.  I didn't even buy An Unexpected Journey because I was waiting for all three Hobbit movies to come out together in an extended edition set.  But Target has a limited edition of Smaug where they are including a collector's Legolas Lego toy.  I want that so bad.  What to do?...Madonna is in the studio with Natalie Kills.  And she was working with Avicii a few weeks back.  From what I've heard from Natalie Kills and Avicii, I haven't been impressed.  So here's hoping working with Madonna brings out the best they've got.  I seriously don't want another Hard Candy.  I do like the sound of "Rebel Heart," a hashtag she's been hyping on instagram and is likely the name of the upcoming album...I submitted something to Buzzfeed for Madonna's #artforfreedom initiative.  She is supposedly doing a live curating in a few days.  Do you think she will see my work?...I've had a headache all week long.  The tension is behind my right eye and at the back right side of my neck.  I need to get healthy.  I am always feeling tired.  My number one goal for this next week - stop falling asleep right after dinner and then waking up at 2am with all the lights and tv on...I've changed my mind about Harry Connick Jr on American Idol - I now cannot stand him.  He was so funny during the auditions, but now with the live shows, he is actually annoying and way too self-indulgent.  It's the exact same thing that happened with Nicki Minaj.  I liked her initially too but that went downhill really fast...I am happy that Captain America The Winter Soldier is getting rave reviews.  He is worth rooting for...David Letterman is retiring next year.  I saw him when I was in NYC.  They made the audience practice laughing.  So lame...I heard that Kim Jong Un is going to make every N Korean male get the same haircut as his.  Actually I kind of get it.  Korean actors have the ugliest girly haircuts.  If I were a dictator, I would make them stop too.  But then I wouldn't make them have my haircut.  I would maybe pick like Ryan Gosling or someone like that...Can someone please stop (repressed homosexual) Putin from invading western Ukraine?  Is he trying to get back the entire Soviet Union?  Wasn't winning Olympic figure skating gold enough?  Maybe if they had won hockey gold, we wouldn't be here...The news was full of other craziness this past week - there was a car that crashed into a daycare center in Florida, there was a teenager who went on a stabbing rampage in a Pennsylvania, and then there was a FedEx truck that lost control on Highway Five up in Orland, CA, and crashed into a tour bus full of high school students.  If anything, the nightly news is a daily reminder of the unpredictability of life.  Every victim of these incidents did not wake up that day thinking something would happen to them.  Therefore, we should all go to bed every night being grateful that we and our family made it safely through another day...In fact, with that in mind, I shall try to let go of all the work craziness and drama going on right now.  People get too drunk on power, even if it's power over very little.  It's not like we are fighting for Middle Earth or something.  Regardless, a change is gonna come, but I shall ride it out with the zen of a surfer on a gnarly wave.  It's all good, even when it's not...Chi Young got a fellowship award for his first semester at NUIG.  Good on him.  He is gnarly and awesome...The drawing above is an illustration I did for Yvonne and Ricky's church.  They have a summer bible camp, and the theme is the Prodigal Son.  Ricky asked me as a favor to do a thing for the pamphlet.  Trust me - good or bad, that drawing did not come easy.  Let's just say churches are very particular when it comes to drawings on zeroxed pamphlets that will be handed out to tens of people, even when they are getting it free from an amateur artist who was doing this after a long tired day at work..Alrighty, I gotta go make some mini cheesecakes for a work function Tuesday.  So I shall consciously uncouple from writing this post and say my goodbye.  Have a good week, my fair reader(s).