therealljidol | Green Room - Week 31

Go ahead and link your Home Game entries to this spot. :)

Baby with the bathwater (http://comedychick.livejournal.com/520618.html) (fiction)
Up in smoke (http://comedychick.livejournal.com/520871.html) (non-fiction ponderings)

(I'm hoping to write for the other topics, too. If I do, I'll just edit this comment).

Edited 2011-07-09 14:00 (UTC)

in which I confuse babes with babes and babes

I realized last week or so about the guy thing. It looked pretty good for a guy to possibly won it this year...or at least make the finals. And one way or another, the pattern will be broken since it'll either be a male, a foreigner or a veteran that wins it. Some of these people have more than one trait that separates them from the norm too. Interesting stuff to watch in the coming weeks...

There has been a vibe all season long that the trend was going to be broken this time. As it turns out - no matter the outcome, it will.

Granted, technically speaking, a Damn Foreigner (someone who does not live in my apartment/The Real 'Merica!)has won every single season.

Oh I figured it would be broken this year. And in some cases, it'll be break several trends at once! We could have a male veteran winner...or a foreign veteran....or a veteran with kids...or just a simple one, a male newbie. I'm interested to see what one it'll be :)

Well the only way that trend won't be broken is if you play...or if one of your cats does...and wins :P

Well, a cat has won all seven seasons...

Says the guy from the Angriest Place on Earth...

Third angriest, but we will be number one soon, or someone will pay!!

Where is everyone today? Slow GR this morning...

I'm here! Just procrastinating getting ready for bed.

Yay! I'm procrastinating going to work...trade ya?

Ah, I missed you! But I'm up now and you'll be just finishing work, and I'd be quite happy to go back to bed now if you want to swap!

Not so fast! I did just get off work (well from bowling with my office), BUT it's not bed rime yet. I'd swap still if you wouldn't mind walking my giant dog in this heat wave we have going on here? It's HOT! I could then be free to umm take a nap in the air conditioning?

Heh heh :) Or you could just come on over, and your dog could play with our dog* and since it's winter here, no air-conditioning needed! :P

*probably not a good idea - Cooper bites :/

Ahhh winter. I could trade you for some winter, that's for sure... Then again, I can only say that now in Cali since winter here is like spring everywhere else. I'd be fine with AC that wasn't just in the living room :P

Annabelle loves to play with other dogs! She's usually pretty good with most :)

I for one am busy writing ;) One down! I'm being good and not checking my email or f-list in case I get super distracted, but I figured seeing if there was a GR during my break between topics wouldn't hurt too much... and at least *that* sort of distraction is in the spirit of the game!

Well yeah, you and three others have excuses...but the rest of the people? *shakes fist*

Good thinking...don't get distracted! Write! Write! Write!

You're such a drill sergeant :P ♥ I have to sit and, like, meditate for a moment first to figure out which idea is strongest in my head and wants to be written next! I find multiple topic weeks more difficult when we're given all the topics at once, because then no matter how hard I try to focus on just one thing, the others all start barging in as well. So I'll be writing one and halfway through a word I'll have to pause and grab a different sheet of paper to scribble down something else. LOL.

I have the starts of three out of four entries and I think the third one I started will be the first I finish. XD

I do the same thing! Then again, even with one topic, I find that I often have multiple ideas at once that I switch between until I decide which one I'm going to use. Multiple topics? Yeah, I totally switch between stuff :P

I'm okay with single topics because once I get an idea - that's it, my brain will stick with that... sometimes the idea will evolve while writing, but it's really rare that I'll actually come up with two entire different ideas! It's like once the first idea has been thought of, that part of my brain politely switches off XD

I posted to my LJ to explain why I wouldn't be around. :P

Ok, you're excused...this time.

LOL. I should be in bed now though. It's after 1am here. See this Idol addiction I have? It's a serious problem and exactly why I can't compete again next season. I'm losing sleep and I'm not even in the game any more!

And I'm not doing work and I'm not even in the game anymore. Sad, huh?

The way I look at it, it just shows how much we love this game and being social regardless of how we're doing in the game ;)

Look at it this way - less than two weeks from now, you will back to your normal sleep schedule.

less than two weeks from now

*bursts into tears* so soon :(

I'm not so sure. I think I'll have withdrawal symptoms and still not be able to sleep ;)

Pffffffftttttttt... slacker.

:P

Hey, look at the shiny!!! *waves shiny in front of your face*

Ooops... am I distracing you? :-)

THIS is why I shut gmail when I am writing ;)

Great stats Gary! It's been looking like one of those norms might change for awhile now, but that confirms it.

I'm already missing the GR and it's still here!

OK, back to the grindstone. Getting back from vacation means there's a ton of things to catch up on this week. Plus I'm taking tomorrow off for college sister's 21st birthday. We're going to the beach :)

That's a lovely thing to do for a 21st birthday! Have a wonderful day - break out the champagne :)

I'm already missing the GR too :(

Yay for her 21st birthday! Have fun!

Happy birthday to her! Beach party yaaay! :D

Welcome back, nice to see you and have a great time with College Sister! :-)

This is probably not a big deal (and may not be even measurable really) but I have wondered, did the winners have SO/spouses living with them during the season they won?

I know that sounds nit picky but I (personally) think living with a SO can really cut into "Idol time" and the time needed to respond to comments, etc.

So I've been curious and I may be TOTALLY wrong (maybe all past winners were married or whatever?)

Anyone know? I know about last year's winner (BeautyOfGrey) only.

I just think it would be an interesting statistic (maybe only to me.)

Anyone else have a SO who...was/is "jealous" of Idol?:)

I've actually had the same thought about that, plus the 'job' factor as well (or kids, or anything else). Meaning, there's only so much time available -- does not having to divvy it up between as many different factors provide any seeming advantage, or is it negligible?

Speaking for myself, I know I definitely had progress hindered by my pesky jobs (god, they pay you and they suddenly think they own your time or something! geez, the nerve!), and a few times where family obligations took a huge cut out of my week -- I thought more than once that doing Idol when I was back in college (not that it existed, lo those many years ago) would have been much easier time-wise. ;)

I had a much easier time last season when I was working much shorter hours! But I've managed to survive this season on 40-hour weeks without going too batty... though only working three days instead of five during six-topic-week was a massive saver of my sanity!

I live with my girlfriend but she's super supportive and knows that I have to sit and read and comment. Plus, she has her own hobbies to occupy her so I'm not cutting into "us" time. I read a lot - during those entry reading times, if I wasn't doing that I'd be reading a book. Though usually I read when she's asleep or at work anyway! She's also a huge help with reading through my entries to check that I haven't forgotten all my English or changed tack halfway through or something. I never post anything without bullying her into giving it a once-over first!

OH I'm not saying being in Idol "neglects" a relationship, just wondering how many SO are understanding about Idol:)

I do believe you can do Idol well AND have a good relationship. It just depends on the relationship.

If I'd tried to do Idol while with my ex, I'd have been bullied into bye-ing out by like week 6 ;) That would NOT have worked!

My husband has been understanding of my Idol time this season on the understanding that I wouldn't play next season because of how time consuming it is for me. I don't know how to effectively manage my time and often find myself wanting to do Idol stuff when he's around, despite the fact I could probably just focus on it only when he's at work.

If Idol -- or heck, even LJ -- existed back then, I would've been here anytime I wasn't in class ;)

lol, yes -- LJ itself was several years away from being created back when I was in college. Hell, Al Gore hadn't even invented the internet yet. ;)

Hell, Al Gore wasn't even on the horizon back then!

_{god I'm OLD!}

That's an interesting question....my ex didn't mind too much until he would want to go do something and I'd tell him I had a deadline. Then he'd get pissed. I remember the week I was Java's champion and my ex was my ex, he wanted me to do a hundred different things and when I told him I had to write, he'd get annoyed. But hey, that's why he's an ex. He was an ass :P

I was lucky to have a boyfriend in Idol. We would write together if the deadline hindered on our time together. Neither one of us was bitching at the other over a deadline getting in the way of things. It meant just as much to both of us.

Now my job...that's another story. It did get in the way of things, mostly reading and commenting...that's a stat I'd like to see too. Who can hold down a full time job, maybe keep a relationship and kids going, and also win? They are super duper awesome to do that! (I know Grey probably fits that description).

Grey fits it all except she and her SO I believe lived in different towns at the time.

But yes, she is amazing, keeping the full time job, and 3 kids going plus the great relationship even if they were not in the same household at the time.

tru2myart did it with 4 kids and a relationship :)

welfy - married

chite - married with kid (at the time, now kids)

The other two were single at the time they played one, although

tinhuviel does have responsibility for taking care of her Aunt and

boxsofrain was in a relationship for at least part of the season.

Personally, I think having a support network might have it's distractions but it also makes it possible to keep your head from getting too frazzled.

So you think being in a relationship helps you win?:)

Now I feel like analyzing who is left and whether or not THEY are in relationships..LOL

Thanks, Gary for spelling it out on past winners:)

Two are married, one has a gf, and I think the other one is not presently in a relationship.

Also - Two of the four have kids.

Indeed they do! I think you could make an argument for a third person having kids given his profession XD Although he's not looking after them any more...

I think having good time management skills is crucial to winning. Because it's crucial to being successful at *anything*.

Having kids and managing a relationship (or the two together) mean that if you want to do something, you have to really want to do it, and you are more likely to make the time.

If you have the support of a SO to help make that happen, and to cheer you on - it means when things get tough (in Idol and in the outside world) that's one more person to help ground you and keep you focused.

I agree. I mean, that is part of Idol too. I do think all the top ones ARE great writers but great talent ISN'T enough to win Idol. You also have to meet deadlines. There are LOTS of really great writers who have gone out.

I agree that time management and making something a priority is a big part of doing well in Idol.

So you think that the person who wins is almost MORE likely to be someone in a relationship and/or someone who does also have kid(s)? Hm...

Idol is kind of like college. You can be smart as anything and flunk out. You still need to make it to tests on time, complete papers on time, do papers in the right format and turn them in on time, etc.

But yes, good time management skills are one of the most important qualities to have in life.

I think a lot about ...what is most important? What is most important to look for in a partner (ie, what will I tell my kids when they grow up)? And I think good time management skills are one of the most important things in the world, really. That's the only way to ever achieve most dreams.

If you have the support of a SO to help make that happen, and to cheer you on - it means when things get tough (in Idol and in the outside world) that's one more person to help ground you and keep you focused.

Excellent point. I remember one of the last weeks of last season, I thought I was going to cry and just not make the deadline, but my SO managed to give me a reality check and remind me I could do it.

Yeah, the number of times I've been so worried that my entry was crap and my SO had to keep telling me it was fine until I finally decided to calm down and believe her and post it!

Yep. I've so been there myself. Totally. I wanted to not post my sucky entry so many times and give up...only to have Java there helping me with feedback and encouraging words. I'm not sure I'd have stayed in as long without him...many weeks, he convinced me to not give up.

He is a wonder :)

Having kids and managing a relationship (or the two together) mean that if you want to do something, you have to really want to do it, and you are more likely to make the time.

Yes, this. I'll admit I get a bit tense and freaked out about how much I need to do, but I'm a lot better at organising time than I was before children. And despite his apparent dismissiveness about Idol and its importance, whenever it came to the crunch and I was freaking out, M was understanding, supportive and patient.

Mind you, if I had to work AS WELL... I'd probably still be able to do it, but I'm not sure I'd be happy with the quality of my writing. I would likely be eliminated even earlier in the season.

And just to clarify, a good bit of this is me trying to predict to myself who will win.

It's not JUST nosiness.

Ah, whoops, just saw this one. :) Thank you, dear, for the the kudos. ♥

And even with you two...(I could be wrong) I don't think you and Java live together? So I think that can MAYBE "help" with Idol. Living together can (in some relationships) create all these "what do you mean, you won't come to bed until you reply to that comment?" "I wish you would talk to me over breakfast instead of read Idol entries" etc.

I don't know. I do think even if you and Java did, it would probably work since you BOTH were in Idol.

I also think just any time two people live with another there is more ways to rub each other wrong.

Or maybe it's just me. Maybe I rub people wrong.

(and now it's sounding all suggestive, oops)

Haha in my case, living together equals being seen doing something, anything, and being reminded "shouldn't you be writing your entries??" XD

See now THAT would be so neat. I'd love to have my SO not only tolerate my writing but WANT me to do it:)

But I can see how it might annoy you too...

"I AM writing my entries!! This youtube video is essential to my creative process!" XD

Usually I just give the death glare and continue cleaning the house... when I was at uni, my room was always spotless during exam period.

She is a great champion though :) And I know she's been slightly tempted into competing next season!

Does your SO like to write? Has she done Idol?

She hasn't done Idol, apart from one entry last season when we had to have non-competitor partners :) She loves to write as much (or even more than!) I do, we actually first met through writing fanfiction for the same book:D

I've never had my husband say anything like that to me. He's very supportive of my having my own life though and he loves that I write and have been published all over the place. It gives him bragging rights :o)

We make time for ourselves as well as each other. It means that there's no real issue of jealousy because of Idol because we both know that the other person is very important but has their own thing to be getting on with as well. I'm always trying to persuade my husband to sign up though - I was really happy when he agreed to be my champion and wish that he'd have followed that through by signing up this season.

Well since this season is almost over, that means next season is coming soon..

Will your daughter write for Idol again next season? Any of your other kids too?

I think my oldest daughter definitely will again because she really enjoyed it. I'm not so sure about my son - he may or may not be inspired by the prompts. And my middle daughter will probably want to as well but I'm not sure if she'll last as long since she'll be five when the season starts and her stories have a tendency to sound suspiciously like her sister's.

I had to laugh at "sound like her sisters"

I also have 2 girls and yes, it is VERY funny how much the youngest copies the oldest, LOL

I've got three girls, but much as my youngest is precocious, a two year old participating would probably be a bit much...

I just remember the elephant in the room story my oldest wrote where the trunk was mistaken for a straw. I posted to my LJ my middle daughter's story and she'd overheard my oldest dictating hers and it had all the same elements just mixed up. It was very interesting but I don't think the Idol voting public would be massively impressed!

Haha no, we don't live together. Though to be honest, I don't think it matters in our case stil since we both love Idol equally. Even as he lasted longer than me, I never felt neglected by Idol. Never once. It never even occurred to me. We only have weekends together and yes, deadlines have taken our weekends away. If it had been other stuff like work? I'd have been sad...but we just sat side by side and wrote a few weekends away...we have spent hours a day together just writing. If we lived together? That wouldn't change I'm sure. So we are lucky that we both get it. I know couples that don't live together and they can't stick it out still since they would miss deadlines for plans with their SO's. I'd never miss a deadline, neither would Java, since I'd either be all over him to get something or in or he'd be all over me. We encourage each other, not distract each other.

You just got me on a train of thought: If Idol existed at the time, I wonder how my exes would have reacted...hmmm...

Off the top of my head I know two would have definitely been more than annoyed. The others I'm not so sure about.

Well I don't know about my only other serious ex...He probably would have played too. He was a writer before I was ever serious about ot. And he wrote creepy fiction too, so him and Java would have hit it off nicely I think :P

But James didn't care as long as I left him alone. He really had little desire to even talk to me, much less do stuff. So that's why I joined Idol...so he could do his thing, I could do something instead of sit at home...so he was happy that I was too busy to bug him to do things like you know, watch a movie with me or leave the house for once. But when he wanted to do something like go out of town, he would throw a tantrum and beg me to just give up on Idol already so we could live life. Or even worse, when he wanted me to clean the pool we managed, he wanted me to do it right then and there even as the deadline was an hour or so away and I could do it afterward.

But none of that surprises me. He always wanted precisely what he wanted when he wanted it.

One of the more-than-annoyed exes disliked the fact that I was bookish and loved to write. He didn't like doing either, so perhaps he thought that my doing both/either would've taken away "us" time even though we already had plenty of "us" time? I've never quite understood that. The other ex expected me to be at his beck and call. Needless to say, that relationship didn't last very long.

Oh this one I can answer...

pixie117 is the only person I've been with that has reacted/would react favorably to my "Idol Time".. all of the others would have thrown a Chernobyl-sized hissyfit. :-)

And to me? That's just sad...though it does take up a lot of time, I guess...but I'm glad we can play together :)

But hey, that's why he's an ex. He was an ass :P

I'll bet you a billion dollars he *still* is an ass!!! :-p

I loved writing together honey. It was so much fun to play together this season. :-)

Oh I know he's still an ass. That's just who he is and he's rather proud of that. In fact, he tries to be an ass...

*hugs* and I loved writing with you. There's just something special about being able to write this season while sitting next to you :)

Since my husband bankrolled the first Idol book and thus had the faith that it would be good enough that he'd get his money back, I think he falls into the supportive of Idol camp... :oD

Now that makes sense. I confess, I had wondered how you funded it.

He did get his money back, right?

Did he read it? I only ask because my husband read ONLY my entries in the book and only because I "made" him. I thought he'd be interested in the rest of the book but..

It IS a great book, BTW:) I have 3 copies on my shelf now:)

He trusted that I have an eye for what will make for good reading and his trust was well founded, shall we say. He hasn't read it yet though - for all that and all that, he only reads my Idol entries if I force him to. He's not really a great reader though - he tends to prefer non-fiction of very specific subjects and the Idol book would take him months to get through. He has read the odd piece that I made him because they were among my favourites and I wanted him to see what great material I was putting out and he loved everything he did see.

Yeah, I'd say that's pretty supportive. :-p

It's a balancing act, I think. It's much easier, of course, if one's SO is supportive of the Idol experience, but even then there are times when it becomes a little hairy.

I don't know. I think being a single parent really cut into my Idol time more than having a SO other there (although he didn't live with me then). it was hard, especially in the last few weeks, to get good entries in and also still do all the stuff I needed to do for the boys. That, and work. Work was terrible for this. :)

Work. The scourge of my Idol experience :p

:head desk:

Edited 2011-07-07 20:07 (UTC)

Work. The scourge of my very existence!!! :-p

My cat was jealous of my "Idol time" as it cut into his "feeding time" and "scritching time" and "pay the hell attention to me so I can ignore you time". :-)

Heh, The Kidz just gave up on me. However, the minute I'd get up, they'd start herding me to the kitchen...or to the back door...or to the hook where their leashes hang...

Wow. The Kidz seem to have something my feline lacks... patience! lol...

I am very excited to see which of the past Idol truths will be broken. Very excited indeed. Thanks for giving us a HG thread in here, too. I'll come back and link my entries once I've written and posted them.

I've just gotten home from seeing comedy at a venue I haven't been to for a year. It was good to see some of my friends, and have the host ask me if I was ready to get back on stage again. Idol has partially kept me from getting back up there because I haven't given myself time for things like writing and practicing stand up. But being asked about it was encouraging so hopefully I can make time for myself to get back into it. And next week I get to see some local improv comedy.

I think statistics were made to be effed with. And I do love the diversity of this group - and not just the finalists. It's amazing how so many people with so little in common can have so much in common.

We all love to write and read:)

It really is absolutely diverse and I love that Idol brings so many different and unique people together... I love that I've met people I wouldn't have otherwise.

Wow. Seems like forever since I've stepped into a GR!

Howdy Folks! I'm very interested to see if and how those Idol "truisms" will be broken, that's for sure. As far as I can see, there is only one person that fits the past winner's profile! Should be a very interesting finish, that's for sure...

Slogging through another workday here... dreaming of winning the lottery and never having to come here again. *le sigh*

And I'd meant to post my goodbye entry last night but got into a bit of a squabble with LJ... so anyway... if anybody is interested, here's my goodbye... (http://java-fiend.livejournal.com/383605.html) *sniffle sniffle sniffle*

Hope everybody's have a great Friday Eve! I think the lovely

pixie117 and I will be partaking of the new Transformers movie tomorrow night! *squeals like a 5 year old boy*

She breaks the newbie stereotype, though :P

She's a vet. So any which way it goes, a stereotype will be broken.

I'm so happy you're going to get to see Transformers honey. I know how super excited you are and I'm sorry we didn't go last weekend (well we tried...lol). I can't wait for the weekend with you!

Green Room - Week 31 - Day 2

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