- Now I certainly can’t claim that Monday night’s episode of The Bachelorette scarred me for life, but I can say that Tuesday morning one of my very first thoughts centered on Kasey and his impromptu a cappella serenades and how I would like to respond to him.

Ooooooh, Kasey / You might want to re-thiiiiiink / Serenading your daaaaaaates / Because it makes us hide our heads behind our pillooooooooooows / And scream “OH NO PLEASE STOP IT” at the TVEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.”

And yes, I know that little ditty didn’t rhyme. BUT NEITHER DID KASEY’S.

Good times.

- You know how y’all made all those great suggestions for movies that Melanie and I could watch at the beach? I ended up renting It’s Complicated, The September Issue and The Chronicles of Narnia – and do you know what? When we got to the condo, there was no DVD player. Now how’s that for irony?

- Sunday night I decided I wanted to print some pictures from last weekend’s wedding, and since I’d gotten an email from Walgreens about a Father’s Day photo special, I clicked over. As it turned out I didn’t need the Father’s Day special at all, because apparently if you’re a new online customer at the Walgreens photo center, you get 25 prints free. No catch. Just free. And sure enough, I picked up the prints Monday morning, and they cost a whopping zero dollars and zero cents. Thought some of you bargain hunters might like to know that.

Nobody asked me or paid me to share that info, by the way. I’m just a tremendous fan of free.

- Yesterday afternoon I watched the season premier of The Next Design Star, and I have some thoughts. First, it seems like they’re trying to make the show more about the talent and less about the drama. Second, the season premier had sort of an Apprentice-type feel. I thought the adjustments to the format were a welcome change of pace after last season when the contestants seemed to have a tough time standing out and showing their unique point of view.

I’m also watching The Next Food Network Star, and as always, I adore it. I think Aria is the early favorite – but I like Aarti a lot, too. I’m so fascinated by people who can cook that a mediocre episode of TNFNS or Top Chef (haven’t watched the season premier yet) is better (to me) than just about anything else on television.

Are y’all watching any of these shows? Have any favorites yet?

I am feeling none-too-chipper right now (apparently what I ate for supper has decided that it HATES ME WITH THE FURY OF A THOUSAND SUNS), so any sort of detailed AI recap probably isn’t going to happen.

However, I will say that after Lee’s first song, I was tickled to see that Casey is rockin’ the ponytail.

I realize that this has absolutely nothing to do with the performances.

Anyway, who do y’all think is going to win?

I’m thinking Crystal.

Also: if you’ve written an AI recap, feel free to post the link below.

And by all means, please do rock on.

I’m running a little late tonight with the Idol watching, and I came thisclose to skipping the festivities altogether. But it’s Top 3. And I usually love the Top 3 show (Elliot Yamin singing “A Song For You,” anyone? Kris Allen singing “Heartless”? YES, PLEASE AND THANK YOU).

So here we go.

Casey James – “Okay, It’s All Right With Me” – This is the type of song that Casey sang in the auditions, and I think the style of it (funky, bluesy) really suits him. That being said, this performance didn’t wow me. The song had about three notes, so it didn’t really show off his voice, and it just felt like Casey was standing there and singing – but not performing. I think this would have been a great time to put an original spin on a well-known song, but Casey went with a cover of a lesser-known song. And I think that was a mistake.

Crystal Bowersox – “Come To My Window” – This one started off a little weird with the whole harmonica thing and then a first verse that seemed hesitant. I couldn’t really decide if Crystal needed to slow down or speed up, but something seemed off. However, she added bits of originality in the chorus, and even though this song wasn’t her best, it was still pretty good.

Lee DeWyze – “Simple Man” – Well, I can’t say that I was expecting for Lee to sing Lynyrd Skynyrd, so I was definitely curious when I heard the song selection. It definitely showed off the rock edge in his voice, but FOR ME the song was a little boring. Between the sort of plodding pace and the slow clapping from the crowd, it just wasn’t my thing. However, I thought he sounded great – definitely the best so far tonight.

Casey James – “Daughters” – I don’t think that Casey seemed comfortable – sometimes the phrasing was a little weird – but I loved hearing him sing this type of song. I’ve never really thought of Casey as having much in common with John Mayer, but as soon as he started to sing, I could totally hear it. That being said, I don’t know if he did enough to make it to the final two. It was better, but I don’t think it was enough.

Crystal Bowersox – “Maybe I’m Amazed” – Well. She sang the fire out of that, didn’t she? My goodness. Well done.

Lee DeWyze – “Hallelujah” – That was absolutely beautiful. Good grief – the emotion and power in his voice, the quiet confidence, the gutsy arrangement – LOVED IT.

Best of the night – Lee
Worst of the night – Casey
Should go – Casey
Will go – Casey

It really struck me tonight that a big gap has opened between Lee and Casey this season. Whereas Casey seemed anxious and a little tense tonight, Lee seemed relaxed and confident. Crystal has been strong throughout – but Lee might have a little bit more momentum at this point.

What did y’all think?

If you’d like to add your AI post to the Mr. Linky, please leave a link to your specific post and not just your general blog URL.

Tonight we watched the season finale of “Survivor.” We were a little apprehensive about who would win, because for however many weeks this Heroes vs. Villains season lasted, we sat and waited and crossed our fingers and yelled at the television for somebody, ANYBODY, to wise up and vote out Russell.

But it never happened. Even though he called people names and strutted around like a rooster and threatened the other players and came across like he wouldn’t know humility if it stood two inches in front of him and SPELLED OUT ITS NAME, nobody ever made a move to get him out of the game.

I can usually take my TV with a grain of salt, but I vowed and declared that if Russell was this season’s winner, I was done with “Survivor” forevermore. He wasn’t just manipulative in the game – which, truth be told, is pretty standard “Survivor” fare – he was a bully. And I don’t like bullies. I don’t like them in real life, and I don’t like them on TV, either.

(You may have picked up on the fact that Russell got under my skin a little bit.)

(For all I know he’s the nicest guy in the world in real life and the Russell we saw on “Survivor” was just a persona he created.)

(Regardless: I don’t enjoy the arrogance. All the horn-tooting gets pretty shrieky and ear-piercing after awhile.)

****SPOILER AHEAD****

ANYWAY, given all of our misgivings about Russell, we were tickled by the final results. Russell didn’t get a single vote, and while you could certainly argue that Pavarti played a stronger game than Sandra, I think Pavarti’s partnership with Russell failed to win the respect of the original Heroes. Sandra played a quiet game – but I think she played a smart one. And she proved that the game isn’t just about strategy and physical strength; there has to be a social game at work, too. People have to like you and respect you. Russell is a brilliant strategist, but in the context of the game, at least, he’s a jerk.

And it was just sort of refreshing that, for once (or for twice, in Russell’s case), the jerk didn’t win.

What did you “Survivor”-watchers think? Did the right person win?

So I was going to do my normal “Office” post, but tonight’s episode made me sad. The Michael / Donna stuff, the Dwight / Angela stuff, the Andy feeling hurt stuff – sad, sad, sad.

Seriously. Even though MIchael did the right thing in the end, that was the single most depressing episode of “The Office” I can remember.

But it did make me laugh when Darryl said, “We have a place. A restful location.”

And the good news is that Jon Hamm is on tonight’s “30 Rock.”

I’m hoping there will be a little bit of happy there.