random thoughts on the 2017 grammy awards

It's time for my annual tradition of watching cool musical performances with some awards sprinkled in between. This year, for the first time in eons, LL Cool J is NOT hosting. This year, that "honor" goes to The Late, Late Show's James Cordon of "Carpool Karaoke" fame... let's see how well he can control this wild bunch..

• Yay Adele is singing first! Can she just sing the whole time?
• Okay the weird picture-in-picture thing going on on the screen behind her is super-annoying. Maybe they shouldn't have put the screen *right* behind her...
• James Cordon's opening intro/dance disaster was less than funny.
• His rapped monologue was good though.
• J-Lo is getting political.. now you know we're in deep sh*t.
• So John Travolta has finally admitted to not being able to read the teleprompter. (Two years too late.) Next, can he finally admit that's not his real hair?
• The psychedelic scrolling background stolen from Real Player (or was it the Windows Music player?) behind Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood is hurting my eyes.
• Twenty One Pilots missed the pantless LA Metro ride day by a month or so...
• Jetsetter and one-man band Ed Sheeran.... from SNL to the Grammy stage in 16 hours (+ a 3-hour time change). I keep meaning to actually buy his music. He's awesome.
• And David Bowie wins Best Rock Song for "Blackstar." #sniff
• Since when do singer's moms get to do Grammy intros? I guess when they are Beyonce's mom...
• So is this pregnancy going to be Bey's next concept album?
• Um... how can these professional musicians (roped into a live Carpool Karaoke) NOT know the words to "Sweet Caroline"? Shame on you John Legend... for that, the two songs you're performing at the Oscars this year should lose. (Props to J-Lo for at least getting into the performance aspect.)
• Bruno Mars looks like he's going to the Olympics.
• And OMG.. I swear that triangle thing behind/above him is leftover from the NHL All-Star Game! #staplescenterhand-me-downs
• If anyone can follow Beyonce, it's Katy Perry! Love the #resist armband! And The U.S. Constitution graphic. The fence makes more sense now. (Yes, it takes me a while...)
• I'm really loving Gary Clark Jr. lately.... makes me wish I'd shown up earlier to the Foos concert he opened for on the Sonic Highways tour.
• Adele performing the George Michael tribute. #love
• Adele's luck with earpieces on Grammy live shows. #hate
• Seen just now on the EW Twitter: "Only Adele could make the Grammy's start over." Yep. #queen
• "I'm sorry. I can't mess this up for him." #sniff #love
• She slayed. Beautiful.
• Lady Gaga with Metallica. Not as odd as you'd think...
• What is odd is James Hetfield's microphone not working. Someone's not getting hired as a sound tech again next year. 
• Note: Demi Lovato was not alive when Stayin' Alive came out. Neither was Tori Kelly. Lady Antebellum was... well most of them.
• How sad is it that they keep cutting to Barry Gibb.. the sole remaining Gibb. #sniff
• Andra Day apparently thinks kimonos were big in the '70s. She wasn't alive then either.
• Yay! Adele's "Hello" wins Song of the Year. #love
• Cutting off her co-writer Greg Kurstin to intro a Tribe Called Quest #hate
• The Prince tribute from The Time isn't nearly as sad as the George Michael tribute was... 
• And now "Let's Go Crazy" -- my fave Prince song. Bruno has the look down. But he still reminds me more of Michael Jackson.
• Bruno also has the guitar playing down. Wow!
• Yay Adele's "Hello" wins Record of the Year! And yay Adele for calling the producers out for cutting Greg off last time!
• Yay Adele's "25" wins Album of the Year! I love that album... shows her true beauty, heart and sass. #love

goodbye 2016

So 2016 ends in a few hours.... while most people are under the impression it was a totally suck-ass year overall based on all the amazing people who died this year and the election insanity, in retrospect, my own life was actually okay.

One part of it was, in fact, AWESOME -- I became a real auntie for the first time (I will be one for the second time in January when my new niece is born!) and it's been amazing, because this little guy is the absolute light of our family and my life right now. Seeing Kaden grow, and now starting to babble and roll over and recognize and understand things is so fun. I can't imagine my life without him!

I also had a bunch of great adventures and accomplished an altered version of about a third of my 2016 Vision Blog (hey, better than nothing!) ... 

I finished these books, which included four from my original "to read" list + two new ones....

+ I also read Where Am I Now? True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame, by Mara Wilson, who I had the pleasure of interviewing back in the day when she was a child actor starring in Mrs. Doubtfire and Matilda. She even fondly mentions one of our Disney Adventures photo shoots in the book, which was an awesome surprise! (The book is now being borrowed by my Disney Adventures wrangler La Lizzz, thus it's MIA in this photo ;)

I didn't go to Hawaii or another "tropical" locale like I wanted to, but I did go to Santa Barbara for my birthday weekend and finished 2.5 of the books above (finished The Interestings, started and finished Best Year of Your Life, and started John Taylor's auto-biography).. and I got my gorgeous view!

I also got a ton of gorgeous views on my Sunday Funday adventure to Santa Rosa Island with Linda and James. The Channel Islands are right in our backyard here in Southern California, and they are beautiful! Can't wait to visit more of them in 2017!

And while, I didn't make it to Europe, I did travel Internationally... to Vancouver. It was a relaxing, fun trip with my fave positive person Cwennen. The city was BEAUTIFUL and its food delicious!

On the "did not accomplish" side of the "vision blog" to do list, I only wrote (soon-to-be) 30 blog posts this year, and did not order my new front door yet. January 2017 - I swear! 

And on the sad suck-ass side, a lot of bad stuff did happen this year. One of my best friends has been dealing with an inner ear issue since June that affects her vision and makes her dizzy and exhausted. Four of my friends lost a parent this year. My childhood friend lost her son. And there seemed to be more and more senseless acts of violence taking innocent people too soon...

The one that hurt the most was the murder of Christina Grimmie, who was shot by a deranged "fan" while signing autographs after a show in Orlando on June 10th, the night before the massacre at Pulse nightclub, also in Orlando. Most of you probably knew her from being on Season 6 of The Voice. I knew her from the YouTube video game show she hosted for my team at Disney.com in 2014. I met her twice, and she was so sweet and full of life. She loved video games and she loved making music. The fact that some guy could walk into her show with a gun and shoot her four times still makes me SO MAD. This world is just insane...

Then there was the fact that entertainers who have been part of my life forever have started dying... cancer, drugs, heart problems. It was just so sad... the music world was hit hard first - David Bowie, Glenn Fry, then Prince, Leonard Cohen and shockingly George Michael on Christmas Day at the age of just 53. And in the last half of the year, actors I grew up watching on TV and in movies - Gene Wilder, Florence Henderson, Alan Thicke and Carrie Fisher - passed away as well, all shockingly without any advance warning or time to prepare. So, so sad...

A few days ago, I decided to make what I'm calling my "FU2016" playlist, filled with my favorite songs from the musicians I loved that we lost this year. (Note: I love Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah"... I just don't love his voice, thus the Justin Timberlake/Charlie Sexton version below. They are both still alive and well. #knockonwood)

Some of my playlist is sad but a lot of it makes me want to dance, which brings me to this video that my sister posted a link to today. It will also make you want to dance, and is a loving, positive tribute to all these great people and the joy their talents brought to the world... enjoy!

And now it's on to 2017... I'll talk about that tomorrow. Right now, I'm going to go get a cocktail, because I just saw this and really need one. God help us all in the New Year... we're gonna need it! (And @alexandergold, you're my new hero!)