Friday faves - It's Britney, Bitch.

That's right.
I'm devoting a blog post (or part of one) to Britney Jean.
And no one is more surprised than me.

I've spent the better part of the last 11 years unequivocally anti-Britney (even though my ipod playlist says otherwise); from trying (unsuccessfully) to shield a 6 year old Thing 1 from the influence of Britney's teenaged sex-pot dance moves and unbelievably horrid singing voice (who are you calling a hypocrite, IPOD?), to the disbelief that she - that anyone - would break JT's heart, to the disgust of the Federline years and the subsequent trashy reality show that it spawned (as well as the 2 therapy-bound children), to the year or two where I fully expected to open up UsWeekly.com and see a headline that her craziness had finally killed her.

Plus, the girl can't string a coherent sentence together to save her life and has the vocabulary of my cat.

So imagine my surprise when I found myself actually excited about watching her judge and mentor new, hopeful singers on The X Factor this season.  Since her qualifications are somewhat limited (can't sing, can't speak, seems terrified to be in public, bad hair extensions) I'm guessing Simon and his crew are just taking a leap of faith and banking it all on the hope that millions will tune in just to see what kinds of sentences she's able to construct (if any) and maybe even to watch her crumble (been there, seen that).

But I'm actually rooting for her and excited to see what kind of craziness opinions she brings to the table (hold on while I check to see if that's a pig flying by outside my window).

And because of that, and because this is Friday, I'm giving Brit and Team X Factor the #1 spot on my list of faves.

1.  The X Factor -

The whole family gathered around the big TV both Wednesday and Thursday nights, eager to have another American Idol type show to watch together (we were big family fans for like 6 years...until Simon left and the show started sucking).  He's still brutally honest and really has no filter, but he seems to have gotten injected with personality and life since the Idol days, and (as Demi so brilliantly said), he does seem to have a heart.

And speaking of Demi Lovato - ADORE her on this show, but our family has always been a fan.  In fact, she actually lives with us. We keep her in the basement, but still. 

Interesting pair, no question.  I bet these 2 are up to all kinds of no good when we're all asleep.

I know what you are thinking. Why do they have a life-sized Demi in their basement....and, more importantly, where can I get one? Thing 2 became a huge Demi Lovato fan after 'Camp Rock'. So, since in our family we're big if-you-love-a-celebrity-you-definitely-should-own-a-cardboard-cutout-of-them kind of people (but who isn't?  Edward Cullen and Peeta Mellark actually live upstairs and protect the Things while they sleep) "Demi" showed up on Thing 2's 8th birthday 3 and a half years ago with balloons and tickets to her summer concert.  Yeah, that's right...I've been to a Demi Lovato concert (pre meltdown)...and she was awesome.  

And then there's Britney.

She was sweet, charming, blunt, surprisingly coherent, and despite seeming not interested in either the other judges or many of the contestants (at first), I think she's got promise.  This might be just the brilliant move that makes us forget the bald pill-poppin' lunatic that is probably I sincerely hope isn't still lurking somewhere under those extensions and that sweet smile.  And I didn't hate her.  So that's saying somethin'.

L.A. Reid.  

Don't know who you are.  Don't really care.  Seems super cool and nice and like he probably knows what he's talking about.  Name dropped a bit so I guess he's legit. I'll google him later.

Loved the contestants.  Loved how they get sound bites of what they're saying about each other backstage.  

The X-Factor - Definitely a favorite in this house this fall.

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2.  Google image searches - 

No, I did not just fall off the turnip truck, enter the year 2004 and realize the brilliance of the google image search.  But since starting this blog 6 months ago, google image has become my best friend.  But here's what's earned it a spot on this week's favorites.  

Last week when I was getting my blog redesigned and needed to update my blog button (the always fancy - and favorite - Appletini), I did a google search to see if there was another, more graphic, image I could use.  I typed "Appletini graphic" in the search box, and this is what came up - 

Look closely. 4th row down, underneath the curious inclusion of the My Little Pony.

I MADE THE GOOGLE IMAGE SEARCH LIST!!!!

I'm practically famous.  Well, at least as famous as the images that also show up of scantily clad women that I can only assume are named "Appletini".  

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I actually have 2 more items on the running favorites list I keep handy, but since this post is in serious jeopardy of getting as boring and long as Ben Flanjik and his hair, and because I actually have 30 more minutes of The X Factor to watch and half a bottle of Pinot to drink share with Husband, I'm gonna shelve them until next week.  

And if you're a fellow Minnesota blogger ~ I hope to see you at The Paint Pot on Tuesday for our second MN Blogger get-together! Painting + wine + a bunch of chatty bloggers = certain chaos.

Maybe we should warn our instructor.  

Register on the MNblogger page if you haven't already!

Enjoy your weekend!!