I know it helps

Readers of my blog, I need your help!

More specifically, my friends need your help. More specifically than that, they need your prayers and a little of your money.

My friend Chris was run over by a car in New York on Tuesday 8/14. Without going into too much detail, suffice to say that his injuries are extensive, he's still in the hospital, and his recovery will be long and hard. Those of you who know Mac & I from Seattle, or came to our wedding may remember Chris as an old friend of Mac's and one of his groomsmen (or "henchmen"). And even if you don't know him, I believe in the power of good thoughts and positive vibes and prayers and karma. So if you could throw some out for him and his wife Julie, I know they will help.

I'd also like your prayers for an old friend of mine from college, Krista. Krista and I were suite mates my sophomore year, which meant that the cell blocks that passed for our dorm rooms were adjoined by a pair of sinks and a mirror. I found out a couple weeks ago that Krista has Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. She's currently in the first stages of remission, but her best shot at survival is a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. This costs approximately $250,000, and she has no health insurance. Her people have created an awesome web site for her, however, to help get the word out and try and raise some money for her. If you'd like to check it out and maybe kick in a couple bucks, go here:

Krista Berry Bryan Fundraiser

Thank you, my friends and family, for looking this over and contributing whatever you can, even if it's a brief plea to the universe to help these people out. I know it helps.

So satisfying

Okay, so I've been busy the last few weeks (wait, strike that: BUSY. Like mutha-effin BUSY FOR REAL). So I've lagged in my So You Think You Can Dance coverage. But tonight is the finale. I've just come home from a sing-a-long screening of Hairspray (So much fun!!) and I'm ready to recap the end of another awesome season of my favorite reality competition show.

Before I fire up TiVO, a few notes on our final four.

You know, I would have like to see Pasha here in the final four, if only because I just liked him as a guy. He seemed like a sweet, good-hearted gentleman and performed as one helluva partner, and it would have been cool for him to be here. And y'all know I haven't loved Neil. But... well? Neil outdanced him. I have to agree with the voters here, Neil stepped up, as they say, and really earned this spot. I don't love him as much as Pasha, but I think the final four turned out right. Danny is sensational to watch, and I'm impressed with how his attitude has shifted for the better. Lacey, while still annoying in how she's constantly mugging for the camera, delivers like a professional. Neil's come a long way. And Sabra, well. She's just a gem, and a joy to watch, and going into this finale, I really, really hope she wins. Let's see what happens, shall we?

(Also, last night's show: I liked the girls' fox routine, it made me all misty. And Mia Michaels' contemporary routine for the two guys was bad ass. Amazing. Loved it.)

Holy crap, what the hell is Cat Deeley WEARING? She looks like she looks like her skirt fell off just before the show started, and she fastened it up with some glue, safety pins, and a whole crapload of ...BROWN TULLE? Lord. Cat, memo, take this down: NO. That is all.

Also: Why is Mary Murphy so crazy?? Can we get OFF the bloody hot tamale train, already?

YAY! They brought the clogger back! That dude is awesome. I liked seeing that pop&locker again, too. He's rad. You know the one I mean, right? Brad Gainor, or something? Look him up on YouTube, he's amazing.

Aaaaand.... Lacey's out of the competition. Of the top four, that is as it should be. The top two should be Sabra and Danny. Let's see if I'm right.

And I am! Yay! The two best dancers were voted the two best dancers! See: This is why I love this show so much. I mean, besides the obvious joy I get from watching all the dancing. They really get the best dancers into the top 20, and the combination of voting and judging really refines a proper top 10. So by the time it gets to America's votes, they're really choosing between a bunch of hard-core, hyper-talented people and it's hard to go wrong. And even so, the results are usually (only a few exceptions) highly satisfying. Really, there's no bad here. I love this show.

*sniff* I can't believe it's almost over.

Okay: The Cat & Nigel thing was a total RIPOFF. BOO! LAME! BOO!

Finally, Sabra or Danny? It's.....SABRA!!!!!! HELL YES! YAY! SO HAPPY!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS GIRL GO YOU I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!

*sigh* See? So satisfying. And with that, we now return to our regular, non-SYTYCD programming.

I'm enrolling in dance classes in the morning.

six babies

I've decided that 2007 is officially The Year All My Friends Spawned. It's not entirely accurate--I have a handful of early bloomin' friends that created some amazing, gorgeous kids before this year. I'm sure more of them will have babies after this year. But seriously? Check it out:

1. Feb - Gretchen & Anton welcome Ria
2. May - Bridget & Jeff welcome Aiden
3. Also May - Wendy & Jer welcome Mason
4. July - Sarah & Jeff welcome Russell (they're family, but still)
5. August, I think - Sherri & Dom welcome...??? I don't know, I just today got an email with a baby photo attached and a note that said, "Sorry I've been out of touch, we've been busy."
6. And in November, Brandy & Ryan are due to welcome a girl.

That's six babies, y'all. SIX. And these parents, these friends of mine? Are all, like, really awesome, smart, good-looking people which in my completely biased and superficial opinion is also good news for the whole planet. I'm serious. I love seeing such amazing people repopulate the earth in a world where choosing to have children is more controversial and challenging and unfair than ever. I mean, you have potentially awesome parents thwarted from their hearts desire by their own biology. You have all these unwanted kids put up for adoption, but the cost of the process is extremely prohibitive, and that's AFTER you've invested in a house, a car, & whatever else is needed to create an agency-dictated, kid-friendly environment. And, at the same time, people struggling to parent have to read about idiots like Britney, or teenagers getting knocked up because they don't know no better (sex ed is bad, mmkay?).

And at the SAME TIME, our government wants to take away the whole choice element of this equation all together. Unplanned pregnancy? Too bad, you're having a baby, no choice for you! And not to be all "un-eloquant understatement" about it, but that choice is so freaking important, for so many reasons, the least of which is simply that we women live in a world where every goddamn person has an opinion about our bodies and what we should do with them. We need to lose weight, we need to be sexy (but not TOO sexy, what are you ASKING FOR IT?), we need to be fit, we need to have babies. Furthermore, if you're in your 20's or 30's and in a relationship or married, you REALLY need to have babies, like, NOW. GET ON IT, IT'S WHAT YOU'RE FOR.

GOD. I didn't mean to get into a rant. What was my point? Oh, yes.

This is the world, this is the climate we live in. So choosing to have children and become parents, and everything that goes along with that, is a hugely big deal. To see so many beautiful, awesome, intelligent, talented people making that choice just makes me happy and gives me hope. In conclusion: YAY.