Idiom Savant

I Admit This Grudgingly, #2.5

And so, exactly three months after my previous post from the "I Admit This Grudgingly" series, I have to admit that I still think that Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" is a pretty neat-o little ditty.

I have not grown to despise it like I did that Color Me Badd song, the name of which I shall not utter here.

I still find myself singing it to myself every now and again.  Although sometimes I sing the lyrics as follows: "If you like it, then you should have put a wig on it." I don't know what this says about me. I'm not sure I care to know.

BUT: However much I may kind of like this song, please be advised that I will always like this song about a zillion times more:

Again, I don't know what this says about me. I'm not sure I care to know. If you like me, then you should have put a wig on me, y'know? 'Cause when you're standing oh so near, I kinda lose my mind (yeah).

Photo of Kim's Wig Center in downtown Asheville, N.C. (the town of my birth!), taken from www.exploreasheville.com (© Asheville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau). Take Beyoncé's advice: If you like it, then you should put a wig on it!

I Admit This Grudgingly, #2

I don't know. Maybe I'll end up regretting this post as quickly as I ended up regretting the Color Me Badd incident of 2007*. In fact, this post, like that post, was brought about by my listening to local Rhythmic Adult Contemporary powerhouse radio station 93.9 KISS FM. So maybe there's inherent danger there.

But the plain fact is that I'm seriously digging Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)."

I'll probably get over this really quickly, and by this time tomorrow who's to say but that I'll become physically ill upon hearing this song. But part of the benefit of being as isolated from the popular zeitgeist as I am is that I get to be pleasantly surprised once in a while by something that everybody else caught on to months ago. And the Internet exists to capture these quicksilver moments -- to bottle the lightning of instant inspiration and ephemeral fascinations.

And so it is that this night, 18 March 2009, at approximately 10:50 Eastern Daylight Time, I proclaim to you all: I like this here song.

Single Ladies - Beyonce

And, in keeping with the record thus far of my "I Admit This Grudgingly" posts, there is a Justin Timberlake connection.

What can I tell you, America? I like what I like, sort of, temporarily.

* The incident in which I proclaimed my affection for a song which I ended up absolutely despising within 12 hours of the original posting. I can't stand "All for Love" now. Fickle? Perhaps.

ISIFOTBOYSTTD 2009: This Time, It's Once Again Annual

Idiom Savant stirs from the dead very rarely these days. But, like the return of daylight saving time and debilitating hay fever, you can always count on seeing a new post here sometime around early March.

That's right -- that which you have dreamed has once again become reality. It's time for the third annual Idiom Savant Invitational Fill Out Those Brackets On Yahoo Sports Thingit Type Deal.

Questions you may be asking yourself at this point may include the following:

Q: Am I eligible to participate?
A: If you are reading this, then yes.

Q: What must I do to participate?
A: The steps are these:

• Go here: http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/group/132864
• Click the "Join Group" button.
• If you already have a Yahoo! account, sign in. If not, you will need to sign up for an account.
• (If the above steps don't work, go to http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1, click "Join a Group," then on the button under "Accept an Invitation to Join a Group." Sign in or create a new account, then enter the Group ID number, which is 132864. No password.)
• Once you're signed in, you'll go to the "Assign a Bracket" page. Click "Create a New Bracket." Name it whatever you want, click the buttons for your preferences, and click "Submit."
• From there, follow the instructions on the page to make and submit your picks. Deadline is Thursday, March 19, at the start of the first game (noon, I think).

Q: What is at stake?
A: Nothing. There is no reward for winning, nor any penalty for losing. The whole experience may in fact leave you feeling enervated and hollow. The Earth revolves, another year begins and ends, we all crawl a bit closer to the grave. Go Heels.

Q: Who has won in the past?
A: Last year, I did, but just barely. In 2007, it was Minty.

Q: Are you OK? You haven't been writing much.
A: Yeah, I'm fine. Been busy, mostly. Thanks for asking.

And, as I do every year, America, I ask: We doin' this?

Oh, hells yeah. We doin' this.

ISIFOTBOYSTTD 2009 is brought to you by the Monongahela Metal Foundry -- casting steel ingots with the housewife in mind.

If It Wasn't for Disappointment, I Wouldn't Have Any Appointments

I never got around to that ISIFOTBOYSTTD wrap-up post, did I?  I think I won.  Hooray!

Anyway.  I haven't run the stats yet, but I think this may be the longest between-posts gap on the ol' Idiom Savant.  To be honest, blogging hasn't been foremost on my mind lately -- but it appears that as long as people are throwing up so hard they burst ocular blood vessels, this blog will be alive through Google searches.

So, I've been distracted in the last few months, by the kind of stuff that distracts people in real life all the time: relationships ending, the deaths of loved ones, the crushing ennui of daily employment, trying (and failing) to lose weight, et cetera.  To be honest, I really don't feel like I've had that much to say lately, nor have I had that much motivation to say it.  But beyond all that stuff, which I don't want to get into right now (if you know me, you probably know most of it already anyway, and if you don't know me, I have no doubt that your imagination can conjure up much richer scenarios than I can ever hope to equal), everything's pretty much the same with me.  Still living on the ass-end of a Southern college town, still grouchy, still strapping a leaf-blower to my face most every night (to little avail, apparently), still broke all the time.  And still not 40... but that's going to change shortly.  And that's another thing I don't really want to talk about right now.  But maybe later.

And that's how I've been.  How about y'all?

headline courtesy of They Might Be Giants

image courtesy of the fact that I love pictures of dogs playing poker

ISIFOTBOYSTTD 2008: This Time, It's Annual

Can you smell the excitement? Can you hear the cheering? Can you taste the sportsmanship? Can you feel the human emotions of joy or despair? Can you see the italics?

Can you tell that it's time for the Second Annual Idiom Savant Invitational Fill Out Those Brackets On Yahoo Sports Thingit Type Deal? Because it totally is that time.

To whom is this merry diversion open? The entire Idiom Savant community. Which means you, if you're reading this... which you are.

What actions must one perform to enter? Just go here. The password is "idiomsavant," if anybody asks. If that doesn't work, go here (group ID: 73439, password: idiomsavant).  You may need to set up a Yahoo! account, if you don't already have one. Once there, the site will ask you to name and create a bracket. It's pretty straightforward; it should work just like it did last year. You've got until tipoff on Thursday afternoon to get your picks in.

Isn't this all pointless, really, since Minty is bound to win again this year? Although Ms. Von Minterson's victory in the inaugural ISIFOTBOYSTTD* was decisive, it is by no means a foregone conclusion that she will enjoy a two-peat. No, the true reason that this is pointless is that there's no material wealth at stake -- plus, in a few thousand years, entropy will inevitably lead to the heat death of the universe.

So, once again, America, I ask... we doin' this?

Oh, yeah.  We doin' this.

*(I still haven't sold the naming rights to the ISIFOTBOYSTTD. The sponsorship deal with Neese's Liver Pudding fell through, but I've put some calls in to the folks at Junior Johnson's Salt and Vinegar Pork Cracklin's.)