Dancing with the Stars: Season 7

Yay! It’s back! Mom and I are back in our regular routine of Dancing with the Stars viewing. Here’s what we, or at least I, think of this year’s contestants so far:

Jeff Ross:

It was a relief to see him go. Probably for him and his partner as well, although I feel bad for Edyta who has been on the show every season, but despite her immense talent, has not been able to claim the mirror ball trophy. Also, I can’t believe out of all the comedians on the show this is the first time we heard the “ball room” joke.

Ted McGinley:

Who? Revenge of the Nerds, Married with Children? A trip to IMDB.com shows me he’s been working since then, but I doubt most people know who he is. I’m sure he’s a great guy and all, but just didn’t have the fan base to carry him through. His dancing was rough as well.

Toni Braxton:

So great! Beautiful, talented, a natural. She has potential to go far this season. She can really move those hips! How great is her most successful song Unbreak My Heart? It’s a singer’s dream, so dramatic, such a range. It’s a sing in the shower and car kind of song, but NEVER in public. If you sing this song at Karaoke, it’s going to be embarrassing and uncomfortable for all involved, unless you’re Toni Braxton.

Brooke Burke:

So she’s like a swimsuit model with big fake boobs, but she seems like a sweet, doting mother. Is it possible that swimsuit models are people too? It was SO funny when her partner Derek was trying to explain that their chests were not supposed to touch when in a formal ballroom dance hold, yet he kept feeling her “boobies” touching his chest. She said that may be the first time someone asked her to keep her “boobies” off of them. Haha! I guess that rules out Dolly Parton as a future contestant!

Lance Bass:

It’s funny to me when former boy banders, ice skaters etc. try to pooh pooh their OBVIOUS dance experience advantage over the other contestants. He says he was the worst dancer in N’Sync and faked his way through most of the dancing. I think Joey Fatone said the same thing. I’m not buying it, but I gave up on the show caring about fairness over ratings a long time ago, so whatever. He’s cute as can be and did a fantastic job right out of the gate. I also love his dance partner who is new to the show. I’m probably looking forward to seeing them dance more than any other couple.

Cloris Leachman:

It is rare that you will hear a bold, opinionated statement on my blog or even from me in person, because I hate debating, confrontation, people making a grey issue a black and white issue etc. It’s just not worth it to me unless it’s a “safe” person I’m talking to. I pick my battles VERY carefully. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say I CAN’T STAND when it’s this woman’s time to dance. She’s obviously too old, 82, and can’t begin to compete. I would have more sympathy for her if she was charming and graceful, but she’s obnoxious. I’ll steal a page from Simon Cowell’s book and say she’s like a dreadful child who is misbehaving, yet everyone laughs at her and encourages her. If I could vote against a contestant, I would use all of my votes against her. I’m so disappointed that she made it past the first week. Until she’s gone I will be fast forwarding every bit of her video, dancing, interviews etc. I’ve never loved my DVR more!

Cody Linley:

The youngest contestant, paired up with the youngest dancer and just so cute. He’s dancing well. I just don’t have much to say about him. I look forward to seeing him progress.

Misty May – Treanor:

She has really surprised me with how graceful she is and how she can move those hips! You wouldn’t think she could with her athletic build. She could probably beat many men at arm wrestling. Girl is a beast! She is also paired up with one of my favorite professionals – Maksim, the “bad boy of the ballroom”.

Rocco DiSpirito:

I love me some chefs, but I really just watch the food network, and he’s not there, so I don’t know anything about him. Still he wins points for being a chef and he's easy on the eyes. He did terrible the first night and fantastic the second night. He keeps making jokes about how much he’s not a dancer and should be chopping something right about now. I hope he doesn’t defeat himself.

Maurice Greene:

How fun is he? He is just a-smilin and a-groovin! Such a pleasure to watch! He has a fantastic partner – two-time champion Cheryl Burke. I think he’ll be sticking around for several weeks.

Warren Sapp:

I have this image in my head of Warren Sapp fending off a lineman with one arm, while using his free arm to grab Marshall Faulk, lift him off the ground, and slam him to the ground. It was like King Kong or something. Marshall’s feet were still running in the air. Crazy! I really didn’t like Warren Sapp and saw him as a big, mean bully. It’s amusing to see him on the dance floor. He moves amazing well and is so light on his feet. He says he’s a safety trapped in a 300 pound body. I’m interested to see if he loses weight, as most people do on the show. The jury’s still out on whether he’s still a big, mean bully.

Susan Lucci:

Speaking of contestants losing weight, Carrie Ann told Susan Lucci she needs to GAIN weight. Thank you! She’s got this little teenage body with these little stick legs poking out from under her dress. She looks like she could topple over if a large gust of wind came through. Her first Latin dance was o.k. Needs some work. A little stiff. Her first Ballroom dance was great! Poise and elegance! We’ll see if she can learn to move those hips. Soap opera stars usually stick around for awhile. They have an incredibly loyal fan base.

Kim Kardashian:

I don’t know much about her. She’s a rich, party girl socialite from what I understand. Her butt is famous or something. It was brave of her to come out and dance to Sir Mix-a-Lot’s song Baby Got Back, but she really struggled through it. Does it surprise anyone else how often we hear this song used in pop culture? Am I the only one that finds it offensive and inappropriate ? I personally find it inappropriate for myself, although as a young teen I memorized every word and watched the video a thousand times. I would like to thank the video store clerk who refused to sell me the Sir Mix-a-Lot CD when I was a teen, due to the Parental Advisory Warning sticker. THANK YOU for protecting my ears, heart, brain, wallet from any more trash than I already have with the lyrics to that stupid song in my head. There I go with my strong opinions again.

And that’s everyone. This show just brings Mom and I so much joy! Check it out if you never have. I hope to write more about the show later in the season. We’ll see.

Yes, I'm Alive and Well

So, I haven’t updated since BEFORE my surgery. Technically everything went smooth, but It was a little more traumatic than I expected. I went into it with expectations of it being pretty easy. People kept telling me how lucky I was that it was laparoscopic, and I could go home that day, it’s the most common surgery, and all of that is true. For some reason, I took all those facts to mean it wouldn’t be uncomfortable or difficult. I was surprised by the pain in getting up and down the first few days of recovery. I really wish the Dr. or nurses would’ve painted a detailed picture for me of what recovery might be like.

One of the things that disturbed me the most was how I woke up and was rushed out of the hospital. Maybe it’s totally standard procedure and hopefully Mrs. Spock, my nurse friend, can chime in on this and let me know. I could NOT keep my eyes open, I was in and out, and I don’t remember much. They had to help me in every step of getting dressed, and I kind of wish Jason had been the one to help me. It’s funny how before the surgery they give you all of this privacy and when you’re half conscious it all goes out the window. I know they’ve seen it all before and even while I was getting the surgery, but I was knocked out ya know? I was VERY nauseous and so they taped gauze with peppermint scent onto my cheeks. I kept telling them I was still very nauseous as they guided me into a wheel chair. They gave me an alcohol wipe to smell. They wheeled me out to the car and gave me a plastic container to barf in. (Remember Wayne’s World? “If you’re gonna spew, spew in here.”) The drive home was terrible, but I managed to make it home where I had to immediately run to the bathroom to get sick. I proceeded to get sick three times more later that day. Is that normal? Couldn’t they have waited a little bit for me to be more awake and treat the nausea? The hospital didn’t seem busy or at all crowded. I don’t know how it all works, but for me it was a little traumatic.

Once I was past the painful first few days I LOVED having that time off work and doing some reading and TV watching. It was glorious!

About a week ago, I started noticing one of my incisions was getting infected, so I finally called the Dr. and he prescribed me some antibiotics and scheduled me to come in. I went to see him yesterday, and I hate to keep using the work traumatic, but see how you would feel. He said one of the sutures which should’ve dissolved had become infected instead. He scraped the scab off and started digging around with a pair of tweezers and scissors. He finally found the suture and yanked it out. OUCH!!!

Anyway, it should be all over now. Maybe my experience was typical, maybe not, but I’m just glad to be done with it.