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Monday, May 28, 2007

Unless you're the amazing 5'5" Earl Boykins, it's not very likely that you'll make it in the NBA as a player who is under 6'0". It's very interesting to discover a basketball league where the opposite is true!

Speaking of the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs are currently playing in the Western Conference Finals. They're up in the series right now, having won two games to the Utah Jazz's single win. I'm not one for predicting the outcome of sporting events, so I'll just say, "Go Spurs Go!"

Labels: San Antonio Spurs

Sunday, May 27, 2007

"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" is a blast! I went to see it yesterday and was highly entertained: Captain Jack Sparrow is as incorrigible as ever and absolutely fabulous. (Johnny Depp is brilliant!)

The movie was a great way to end the PotC trilogy; but it looks like there's a chance there could be another movie. I'm thinking it would feature Captain Jack as the main character, which would be fine with me! Will and Elizabeth are annoying, I say. I'm just speculating, of course; but I do think a Sparrow-centric movie would be wildly popular.

It's been a very long time since I posted a survey, so when I came across this one, I thought it would be fun to fill it out and share my answers. A lot of the questions are utterly silly and so are some of my answers!

1. yOUR Name?
Joanna Blackwell

2. Were you named after anyone?
In a generic way, I was: My parents wanted me to have a Biblical name. They'd settled on Anna, but my mom changed it to Joanna at the last minute. When I was younger, I didn't really care for my name, but I like it now. I'm very grateful that I wasn't named Jennifer, Britney or Amber!

3. Do you wish on stars?
Not really.

4. Which finger is your favorite?
I am fond of all of my fingers. Heh.

5. When is the last time you cried?
I had a really good bawl about two months ago.

6. If you were making a movie about yourself, who would play you?
Hmm, Drew Barrymoore...Kate Winslet...Rachel Weiss? I'm not sure!

7. Would you rather attend a concert or a play?
I say combine them both and attend a musical!

8. Who do you admire?
My family, those who help others and those who aren't afraid to follow their dreams.

9. What is the #1 priority in your life?
To keep evolving as a person and to learn and expand my knowledge about the world around me. Also to stay true to myself and be as authentic as possible.

10. What is your favorite lunch meat?
Uhm, this is an odd question! Anyway, the answer is turkey.

11. Any bad habits?
Biting my fingernails (I curb the habit, but it's a struggle!) and imbibing too many caffeinated beverages.

12. What store would you never be caught dead in?
I can think of a couple types of stores I'd never patronize; but as for naming a particular store, I never shop at Hot Topic.

13. If you were another person would you be friends with you?
Yeah, I think so. Of course, I've never had the opportunity to meet myself, though, so I really don't know.

14. Are you a daredevil?
Not at all!

15. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Definitely a morning person, as long as I go to bed on time!

16. Have you ever told a secret you swore you wouldn't tell?
no.

17. Have you ever stolen anything?
I don't think so. If I have, it was an accidental theft!

18. Do looks matter?
Some say that looks don't matter (I want to believe they don't), but I think everyone knows that your looks do effect how others view you.

19. Do you pray?
Yes.

20. Have you ever met anyone famous?
Yes, I've met these Olympic athletes: Apolo Anton Ohno, Rusty Smith, Fabio Carta and Vonetta Flowers. They are all awesome and very gracious and friendly! I've also met Joshua Radin. We had a nice chat about Corpus Christi after I attended the Hotel Cafe Tour show in November 2006.

21. Do you prefer watching movies at home or in the theater?
Summer releases are best in theaters, I think; the rest can be watched at home.

22. Are you trendy?
No.

23. What do you do to vent anger?
I used to write in my journal, but now I just talk to anyone who will listen to me rant about why I'm mad.

24. Are you passive or aggressive?
I tend to be passive.

25. Who is your idol?
I don't have one.

26. Do you prefer cats or dogs?
Cats!

27. Do you trust others easily?
I do and maybe too much sometimes.

28. What was your favorite toy as a child?
A little mole doll, which I called "Moley." Plus, I had an affinity for Legoes and Lincoln Logs.

29. What class in school did you think was totally useless?
None of them.

30. Do you like sappy love songs?
If I'm in the right mood, I do. Life would be no fun at all without some cheesy songs, I think!

31. Have you ever been on radio or television?
No, but I'm a podcaster. No need for radio!

32. Do you have a journal?
I kept an almost-daily journal from the age of 13 to 24. I haven't been able to keep that up, unfortunately.

33. Have you ever intentionally hurt someone?
No.

34. Do you like sarcasm
In certain situations, yes.

35. Have you ever been in a mosh pit?
I've been very close to mosh pits, but never in one.

36. Do you feel understood?
For the most part, yes, I do.

37. Would you rather have a sore throat or an upset stomach?
A sore throat, since I absolutely hate feeling queasy.

38. Do you prefer fiction or non-fiction?
I usually read fiction for pleasure. If my interest is piqued by a subject, however, I devour any material about it, whether it's fiction or non-fiction. (By the way, audio books are my very good friends now!)

39. What is your favorite season?
I love autumn. 40.

What is your nickname?
I have more than one: Jo, Josie, Jo-izy, Josita.

41. Could you be a vegetarian?
I could be a lacto-ovo vegetarian, I think.

42. Would you ever bungee jump?
No!

43. Do you untie your shoes every time you take them off?
No.

44. What are you worried about right now?
Things I'd rather not post about on my blog.

45. Do you ever wear overalls?
I haven't worn them since I was a little girl.

46. Do you think you are strong?
Sometimes I do.

47. What's your favorite popsicle flavor?
Cherry.

48. Who have you had a crush on that you can't imagine liking now?
Heh, my first celebrity crush was Charlie Sheen. *gags* What was I thinking?!

49. Do you have a crush on anyone right now?
Was this survey written by a 13-year-old girl? Ok, I admit it: I do. I'm a single girl, after all. I can't help it. ;)

50. If you could predict your future what would it be?
I'm not a prognosticator, but hopefully, it will contain a fulfilling job (something involving writing), a man I love and travel. That's my dream future, anyway.

Labels: joanna, pirates of the caribbean

Monday, May 21, 2007

Much has happened in the past six months, but I'll just mention some of the highlights. If you're curious about what else I've been up to, check out my podcast, Random Fandom, in which you can listen to me talk about some of my favorite people and things, plus other randomness. The Random Fandom show notes are in linkblog format, so if you're looking for some entertaining links, check them out!

Just realized that the two events I want to mention are music-related. Well, I listen to music all the time, so it's only appropriate, especially since I listen to these two individuals quite a bit and enjoy their music immensely!

December 20, 2006: I my mom and my brother, Ben, headed to Austin, Texas to attend an Amos Lee show. Amos and his band performed songs from his eponymous first album and his sophomore release, Supply and Demand. Amos put on an excellent show and was in top form! It was super fun singing along to my favorite songs with Amos and the rest of the crowd. A great time was had by all!

You can listen to me and my mom talk about the Amos Lee concert on Random Fandom Show 16 - Amos Lee Wraps Up the Year. For more information about Amos and his music, visit The Amos Lee Fansite and Blog.

March 22, 2007" The concert I'd been waiting over two years to attend... Josh Groban live in San Antonio, Texas! Ben and I were lucky enough to have sixth row seats (right in front of Josh's piano), so Ben had a great view and I had the best auditory experience. Josh was in perfect form and sounded utterly breathtaking! He performed almost all of the songs from his extraordinary new album, Awake, as well as two songs each from his previous two albums, Josh Groban and Closer. He also sang Not While I'm Around from the Sweeney Todd musical, which was fantastic!

Having previously attended two Josh Groban concerts (one in Houston, one in San Antonio), I knew how amazing it is to hear Josh sing live, but I was still blown away by his superb performance! I'm truly enjoying the different musical styles that Josh explored on Awake and Hearing the new songs live just added to that enjoyment! I'm very excited to see in what direction Josh will take his music next and look forward to his next album with great anticipation. Of course, if he wants to make another tour stop in San Antonio before releasing that album, that's totally fine with me. ;)

Listen to Random Fandom Show 29 - Groban & Ginobili: The AT&T Connection to hear Ben and me talk about our awesome concert experience. Check out Random Fandom Show 11 - Waking Up to Josh Groban to hear us talk about Awake, Josh's musical career, how we became fans and our 2004 and 2005 concert experiences.

As you can probably tell, I've been giving most of my online attention to Random Fandom in the past six months. When I begin a new project, I like to devote my energy to it while it's in its first stages, just to make sure it doesn't wither from lack of attention. As I stated above, though, I'm not abandoning eclectica. Amazingly (to me, at least), this blog has been online for 7.5 years; and it holds a lot of nostalgic value for me...not to mention, lots of information! I want to continue updating it, as a defunct blog is very sad and not of much use to anyone.

By the way, if you've emailed me at joannaATeclecticat.net, I haven't received the message. I'm so sorry, but I haven't been able to check that email address in a very long time -- and it's now choked with spam. If you would like to email me, please do so at randomfandompodcast ATgmail.com (Replace AT with @). I will definitely receive and respond to your email at that address.

I'm not sure how many people still check this site, so if you're reading this, thanks! I should be posting more frequently from now on. If you'd like to know when I do update, subscribe to my RSS feed:
http://www.eclecticat.net/rss.xml

Labels: Amos Lee, Josh Groban, Random Fandom

eclectica archives: 1999 - 2007