AMERICAN IDOL NOTES...
Last night, it was the Best of the Rest... basically, American Idol trying to grab another night of good ratings...
Paul Kim, a California pool boy, said he was inspired by William Hung, which sounds like a trainwreck waiting to happen. Instead, it was all good. The inspiration came from wanting to show that an Asian could succeed on the show as something other than a good-natured joke, and he accomplished that with a strong performance that wowed the judges and got him a unanimous pass into the next round.
Gina Glocksen sang well enough at the auditions last year to reach the second round before ultimately flaming out in Hollywood. She gets a chance to do better this time around, showing that the judges saw her slip-ups in Hollywood as something other than talent-related.
Those were my two highlights... although there were more Hollywood-bound contestants in last night's 60 minutes than I thought there would be. 172 contestants made it to the second round and approximately 99,828 fail miserably in their attempts. Next up: Hollywood, starting Tuesday on FOX!
MAKE YOUR CUBICLE MORE COMFY...
If you work all day in a cubicle, try the following six ideas to make your work space more comfortable...
1) Select a good location... If you're already locked in place, ask the boss to move when someone moves on or transfers.
2) Get a good chair... A comfortable chair always helps.
3) Install convenience items... Get a wireless phone headset, a little fan, and computer headphones.
4) Personalize your space... Use pictures, funny cartoons, and framed art to feel more at home.
5) Build upward... Use stacking trays to clear room on your desk.
6) Use Mirrrors... If your boss will let you, put a mirror up in your cubicle... It will look as if your space has expanded. Really.
THE BEST COLLEGES EVER...
At Davidson, the Princeton of the South, they do your laundry for you. Apparently, this is not as rare as I thought. Notre Dame does your laundry, reports Jennifer Winston of Evanston, Ill., so long as you sew name tags onto everything. Geoff Summers of Blacksburg, Va. reports, "Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology not only does your laundry but has an in-house maid service to pick up your dorm room once a week. That was one of the main things that got me interested in going to Rose." Alex Correll, a VMI grad, reports Virginia Military Institute not only does your laundry, but also dry cleaning and pressing. Finally, Steve Starbuck of Baltimore reports that Princeton, the Davidson of the North, also will do laundry. Princeton even has a Student Laundry Agency.
