More election facts: Best GOP year since '66, or '56, or '38, or '28 ...

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Historical notes about Tuesday's red wave:




1. Ron Johnson’s 52% was the best performance by a Republican Senate candidate in Wisconsin since, brace yourself … 1956.



2. Johnson will be only the second Republican to serve in the Senate from Wisconsin since the Kennedy Administration, the third since Joe McCarthy, and the fourth since the 1930s.



3. Republicans gained two U.S. House seats in Wisconsin for the first time since 1966.



4. I couldn’t find any other time in the last 50 years that one party in Wisconsin has gained or lost three seats in Congress. It happened Tuesday when Republicans picked up two U.S. House seats and a Senate seat.



5. According to the Wisconsin GOP, the 14 state Assembly seats the party gained is the most since 1938. (We warned you on election day to remember 1938). The four state Senate seats the party gained is the most since 1980.



These additional factoids come from UW-Madison political science chair John Coleman:



1. Republicans nationally have their most state legislative seats since 1928 (about 3,920, with some still too close to call; that’s 53% of all the legislative seats in the country).



2. Republicans gained 19 state legislative chambers across the country, with four additional chambers still up in the air but potential pickups.



3. Democrats now control only 38% of the state legislative seats in the Midwest; their worst since 1956.



4. The GOP gain of 680 legislative seats nationally (across lower and upper houses) was the most by either party since 1966.



5. Republicans will control at least 55 chambers, their most since 1952.



6. Democrats gained seats in only one state lower chamber (Delaware) and five upper chambers (Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania).



7. In the battle for Congress, 49 Democratic House incumbents and only two Republican incumbents were defeated. An additional 14 open seats held by Democrats were picked up by Republicans; only one open seat flipped from Republican to Democrat.



8. Wisconsin's Russ Feingold was one of only two incumbent Democrats in the Senate to be defeated along with Arkansas' Blanche Lincoln; no GOP senators lost. Four open seats in the Senate switched from Democrat to Republican.

As 2012 comes to a close...

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What a year!  I left my job and started a new one...cut off loose ends, made new friends... and was finally able to go back to college after a year off. I learned so much about friends, family, love and hard work and I can proudly admit that I've grown so much as a person.  2012 has been a year full of closing doors but even more so: opening windows.  Next year is going to be even better: I'll be continuing with school and working. I'll also be starting in my editor position at my college campus newspaper. I'll even be moving out into my own place. 2012 was a year of learning how to balance time and priorities, how to be a little more patient, and most of all: how to put myself first and not let anything get in my way. Here's to 2013: bring it on! As for resolutions? Next year I just want to take life by the wheel and truly take control of my life and my decisions. It's time to be a big girl and put a dent in the world. What are your resolutions?

I'm a Beanie Babies Official Club Member.

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I'm starting this strange procedure where I get my personal belongings sorted out and organized for when I move this summer.  My mother decided to hand down an old trunk to me to keep some stuff in. We spent one night cleaning out the contents of the trunk and found many random and interesting items from the past. While rifling through letters to the Tooth Fairy and Christmas cards, we found one of many gems: an official Beanie Babies Club certificate.

The peak of my childhood (see: 1998) I was having the time of my life; I was listening to good music (boy bands, anyone?) and collecting Beanie Babies with my mother and sister. Yep, we were that family. Turns out I even took the time to get certified. I was the ripe old age of 7 and I'd say it was a pretty big deal. What a unique piece of my past to stumble on later. After looking at the certificate and the unique bag of (unopened!) goodies (see below) I decided to share in my embarassment and pride by sharing it here. I truly hope you enjoy this moment of nostalgia as much as I did.

Did you collect Beanie Babies? I personally collected the entire series of cats...which ones were your favorites? One Halloween I even decorated a pumpkin to look like the Ty tag...

Country Music - Party Playlist!

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It's the weekend! Time to have some fun to a country music playlist!



photo

5-1-5-0 - Dierks Bentley
Chicks Dig It - Chris Cagle
Rain Is a Good Thing - Luke Bryan
Any Man of Mine - Shania Twain
A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action - Toby Keith
I Like Girls That Drink Beer - Toby Keith
I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair - George Jones
I Wanna Talk About Me - Toby Keith
Pretty Good At Drinkin' Beer - Billy Currington
Beer for My Horses - Toby Keith feat. Willie Nelson
I'm Still a Guy - Brad Paisley
Drinkin' My Baby Goodbye - The Charlie Daniels Band
Old Alabama - Brad Paisley feat. Alabama
Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off - Joe Nichols
Gunpowder & Lead - Miranda Lambert
I'm Gonna Get Drunk and Play Hank Williams - Hank Williams Jr. feat. Brad Paisley
Don't Rock the Jukebox - Alan Jackson
How Country Feels - Randy Houser
Play Something Country - Brooks & Dunn
Pontoon - Little Big Town
It's Five O' Clock Somewhere - Alan Jackson feat. Jimmy Buffett
Cruise - Florida Georgia Line
What Was I Thinkin' - Dierks Bentley

Need more country party songs? Check out my other lists here, there, oh and here too.

I think it's time to close up shop at The Musings.

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After three years of college and three years of blogging, I've been hit by inspiration. Then again, maybe it was the lack of inspiration that caused the change.

I haven't truly written on this blog in a long time. Sure, I can throw together a playlist without even thinking about it, but it's not truly writing. As sad as it makes me, I think I've outgrown this blog. I think it's time to start fresh and move on.

This doesn't mean that I'm not proud of the work I've done. I love everything that has been posted here. I love the connections I've created and the friendships I've made. But right now my focus is the future, and I'm ready to really get knee-deep in my passion: Journalism. I'm now an editor at my college newspaper and want to start branding myself as a journalist. Website, resume, Linked In...here I come.

Someday I may return to this style of writing. I will miss my carefree and opinionated writing, but right now it just isn't the right fit for me. I'm truly ready to start making myself into the journalist that I want to be.

I'm taking a break from The Musings of a Wannabe Star. I don't know how long it will be or if I'll return, but I will miss it. I appreciate every follower, every comment, every retweet and every like. But I think I'm ready for the next chapter of my life. For me, that means a fresh start.

Keep a look out for me; let me know what you think. I really would like to hear from you. You may not like my decision and I may regret it down the line. But right now it just seems right.

Jessi, always a wannabe star

Elliot Minor - I Believe

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Elliot Minor is a band I have followed since their very first single "Parallel Worlds", since then they had a spike of popularity when the amazing song "Still Figuring Out" got released. Recently they are on a hiatus after their most recent album only managed to chart at number 73 and their accompanying singles failed to chart. The band consisted of Alex Davies, Ed Minton, Ed Hetherton, Dan Hetherton and Ali Paul. Ali has left the band indefinitely, and it is unknown if or when the band will reform. The band members are all doing different projects at the minute, Dan, at this time, is in a band called The Dead Famous, who have released two singles thus far. Alex has also formed a band called Spirits, they are currently using PledgeMusic to release their album. The other three band members are all studying. I sincerely hope that this band will reform, but by the looks of things, it seems unlikely.

"I Believe" was this band's last ever single, and it did not chart. Personally I think it's before it's time, and would've fit nicely to have been released next month as it is the perfect song to be included on the soundtrack to the film The Host. Unfortunately it looks like that won't be the case either. The song was written by Alex Davies.

This music video is up there, it's both narrative and performance based, however it's not something I was expecting. But then again I am currently reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer, so it's quite hard not to imagine a video quite similar to the book. This song NEEDS to become part of the soundtrack to this film!

The narrative side is quite the opposite to the performance side. Here we have a rock band playing instruments and singing a catchy song, on the other side we have someone performing ballet, however she has dark problems enveloping her and so ballet can be seen as a way to escape just like music can help people escape too.

Overall a song that needs to be on a certain film's soundtrack. It's accompanying music video has everything it needs to give me top marks, but I don't think there is a big enough link with the narrative and the song, so that is why I'm dropping one star. I still have my fingers crossed a reformation will happen sometime in the near future.

Britney Spears - Born To Make You Happy

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Britney Spears seems to be a constant on my blog, so the fact that she hasn't appeared since October ("Scream & Shout" doesn't count), just shows how focused I have been. But this song has been haunting me for the last month. It keeps coming up on my iTunes Up Next; then I heard it in Tesco's; next it was played on Signal 1, the radio station my alarm goes off to in the morning; not only that but my friend always plays the song when she comes over, which is quite often. People describe this song as Jonni's song, as people believe that it's about me, only I was born to make everyone happy, not just one person. I guess it's true, it's definitely a me song.

"Born To Make You Happy" was written by Andreas Carlsson and Kristian Lundin. This song is so powerful, and I can see why people think it's about me, sadly it isn't, although it could well have been. The song is about a woman who wants to fix her relationship. The video is not quite the portrayal it could have been.

Now this YouTube video is out of sync, the lyrics of the song doesn't match with Britney's lips. They're a few seconds out, which really annoyed me. I am not entirely sure if that is in the original video shown on the music channels or if it is this version on YouTube. Since I don't know, it does not affect my rating (however if I were certain it was like that in the original, it would create a low rating, since this is the worse matching up I have seen).

I have never seen this video, believe it or not. I was quite surprised that I hadn't so this is something new.

There's narrative and performance, once again. I love the use of it all being a dream. I struggled finding the name of Britney's love interest, but after much researching, I found him, his name is Christopher Snyder. There's not much to the bedroom scene apart from slow walking, pillow fights and sleeping, but she clearly makes him happy (or is it the other way round? Who knows?)

The performance side is filled with choreography. I especially like the blue and silver room that has different level tables, it's quite futuristic and engaging, I think there should've been more scenes cut from that part. The choreography shown through-out seems too quick for the song and it's not easy to follow, which shows how good of a dancer Britney is, but also makes me think she's dancing to a remixed version which is sped up.

Overall this song means a lot to me, and I agree with my friends, it is a Jonni Song, and if people were to write a song about me, it would be similar to this as I am always trying to make everyone happy. The music video is missing a lot, the choreography is too quick and the scenes flit by, you have to try and make sure you catch it all, as if you blink you might just miss something.