mini_me

perhaps it IS something in the phone lines relative to the part of the country that you are calling. I do not know. I still find it hard to believe that SOOO many predictions were made for Chris to take the final title, and now he is not even in the top 3!!! i do find myself trying to rationalize how this could have happened. I just find it quite difficult to swallow that in the past, i have been able to place all 100 psychotic votes for him with no busy signals. Yet this time, i can't get a line for him, and have no problems getting a clear line for the others. It seemed that Chris was doing so well. And he is most definitely very appealing and marketable to the alt / rock culture. I mean, i can turn on any of the major stations in Houston, and i hear songs that remind me of him. i hear the subtle, yet very distinctive differences in his style that i believe will make him stand out. i know that while he has the same appealing sound, he will not blend in as "just another" rocker. I think Kathryn will have a successful carreer singing for the whole celine dion crowd. i think that is where she wants to be too. despite those who call her boring, etc. i have found several of her performances entertaining, and even adorable at times. she can be very cutesy, and then charming, then elegant. She is very young, but i am confident that she will grow into a hell of a performer. Taylor may be spastic...he may be wild, but i LOVE to watch and listen to him. He is really talented(as they all are). his cheesy antics are NOT enough to make me write him off. i believe that he has a sound that will withstand time, and in the genre that he prefers, he will thrive. Elliott has a sound that does not match his appearance. Boy, they could make his voice a pop(by pop, i mean popular, not bubble gum) sensation, but I could also see him being a HUGE R&B superstar. I cannot quite put my finger on it, but there is just a sound to his voice that I can hear in a duet with some of the great R&B stars of today. From what I understand, he is from New York. If New Yorkers are anything like Texans, they will all vote for Elliott regardless of who their favorite is, so I think he has a real advantage in that he is hugely talented AND has numbers on his side. Who is my favorite to win? Elliott, AI will not be tempted to make him sell out and do songs that do not fit him. He can sing the songs that AI wants. I can hear him be soulful and seductive. Who do I think will win? Taylor, who i love, but i don't think that AI will allow him to sing the songs he needs to sing. Then again, who knows. Kat may run away with it. Stranger things have happened. Closing on Chris--although i am saddened, as i could sense his own disappointment in being eliminated, bigger tragedies have occurred, and will occur. Heck, this was probably best for Chris, AI, AND Chris Fans.

hate to break this to you, but i would not expect full restriction with the first fill. i could never "consciously" feel my restriction, but i did lose weight daily the first week. after that, i maintained. i got my second fill yesterday, which was one month after the first fill. over half of the first fill had disappeared from the band. this is normal according to my doc. i can feel the restriction now. it is not utterly dramatic, but i can definitely call this restriction. i have to be really careful about finishing my meals in 20 minutes. otherwise, i could sit and eat slowly, and the food would pass at a rate that would allow me to eat large portions. If i try to eat the large portions too fast, BOY, do i feel it. so, i eat slowly, and stop at 20 minutes, following the bandster rules of Protein first, etc. I am going to weigh again on monday, and we will see if this starts the scales to moving. good luck to you!

amen sister!! don't wanna hear me sing, although i do attract quite a crowd at karaoke. i make all of them...uh....smile.

gosh, i have to interject here... we are all upset about Chris leaving, but I do not think that justifies everyone slamming all of the other contestants. If Chris was getting married the day of idol auditions and did not make it onto the show, we would all still have a favorite. I think it is OK to be disappointed about Chris leaving, but we are doing a disservice to Chris(and ourselves) by trashing the other contestants. I say, let's all respect ourselves. Let's remember that these are real people. So many of the criticisms seem personal. Who is to say that these contestants will not, some day, stumble upon some of these insults? I know that I would not want to hurt someones feelings just because MY favorite did not win. They are all good in their own right. They each have their own fan base. AND NOONE CAN DENY THAT THEY ALL HAVE TALENT. Everyone has to acknowledge that they could have never gotten this far without it. Just my .02 btw, i am still boycotting AI. I think that there must have been a malfunction of the calling systems. I called each of the contestants lines last night, well after 9pm. Chris's line was the only busy line. I called it several times and heard the busy signal. Does that make me a hypocrit? ((sigh)):Banane13:

I just went to absent element's website and bought the CD for $7 (plus $4 shipping). I would have paid $20

GHB, Call them and have them schedule your next fill. Tell them that you have no restriction. They did not ask me any questions. The just scheduled the fill, and I got it yesterday, and I can already notice a difference. I could not even eat 1/2 of a mcdonalds hashbrown this morning...I know, bad food choice, I was in a hurry. good luck!

I am still upset. I only voted three times, I knew I should have voted at least a hundred times. You know, I thought he did VERY well. I was overly confident that he was safe. I wonder if all of his fans were that confident, and failed to vote. I do not think that at this point in the show that america votes based on who did the best job, they vote based on who has become their favorite(s). Chris definitely has the fan base, and I find it odd that he is the most downloaded on the net, most popular, etc, yet was unable to pull in the votes to keep him in. My devastation is born in Chris reaction to the news. His spirit was void. My stomach turned with his when ryan dashed the result in his face! I am FULLY confident that I will be hearing this fella on my radio daily, probably by the end of this year. However, I am hurt, because HE is hurt. I do not think he was doing this for money or fame. I think he wanted to do this for the accomplishment. He wanted to win, wanted to be a winner. Well, he may not get the trophy, but I'll bet ANYONE that he will be the last man standing when the public speaks by record sales!!

oh gosh, lianna, pay attention to how they slap him up side the head with his eviction. look at the poor fella's eyes, his spirit is broken. I know he will recover, but I am SOOO hurt for him. HE IS THE GENUINE ARTICLE.

he's gone, gone he's gone noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo HE IS GONEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

damn them to hell. i am finished with AI. Let Chris make a CD and I will buy two of them, one for each foot. GOSH I AM SOOOO AGGRAVATED!!

poor fella, i do NOT think that ANYONE in that theatre saw that one coming...he is singing his exit song, and his spirit looks broken. sniff i am so sad for him, but he is still going to be a superstar!!!

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYY GOD....................... can i get some consoling here...???

omigod, is anyone watching this....???? CHRIS JUST GOT BOOTED!! I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!

i yelled at a stuffed animal because i was drunk

i am not on the list, but the post did not read offensively to me... DeLarla...i think you are great, and you do not owe anyone an apology!!

ok, second fill today... first fill was 4/12/06, 1.3cc's today, they emptied the band, and found that only 0.6cc's was left, explaining my full lack of restriction. So they reloaded and now i have 1.8cc's, and i can feel a difference when i drink Water.

my doc,(who is also kat1215's doc) told me that my first fill would be absorbed by the band within 2 weeks, and that i probably should not expect any significant results from the first fill. the doc told me to schedule my second fill two weeks from the first. i go for the second fill tomorrow, which is a month past the first fill as my doc was on vacation, etc.

well, i had my first fill of 1.3cc's on april 12, and i was told to schedule my next fill in two weeks as the first fill typically is absorbed by the band within 2 weeks. well, i certainly believe this to be true because i lost a little weight EVERY day that first week of having the fill. on that seventh day, all of my so called restriction was gone( i say restriction, but i really mean that i could eat a little bit, not get full, but be able to push away the plate, and be satisfied for several hours) i go for my second fill in the morning. i will let everyone know what they pull out and what they throw back in there.

I am an elephant...LMAO!!!!!!!!! How appropriate! Sooooo, 25% will be reincarnated as a higher life form...

OMIGOSH P'Nut...that was quite funny. Lee makes some 16W slacks that have a bit of stretch and fit great. I have not found 14W's...but I have found that when I went to the other side of the store, that the 18's from the other side where the next size down. Unfortunately, I am still in the much bigger sizes in all the other brands, but the stretchy in the Lee's allow for me to shop in the other department.

Good Luck Sister! Congrats on your band, and don't fret over missing your last suppers...in a few weeks you will be posting in frustration that you have no restriction and are able to eat the same as you could pre-op!!

Hello! Schedule yourself another fill. I had my first fill on April 12, and within 2 weeks, I was eating any and everything again. I havent gained any weight back, but I havent lost any more weight since then. The doc who did my first fill told me, as she was adjusting the band and watching the flouro, that the first fill is typically absorbed by the band within 2 weeks or so. She told me to simply call and schedule another fill if I stopped losing weight, or if my appetite increased. So, IMO, your first fill has done that "disappearing act" that so many bandsters experience. Do not be discouraged! Just keep in mind that this is a slow journey, and as eager as we all are to be thin, we MUST keep our goals realistic. Hang in there girl!

None, I am still the same PhatAzz that I was before banding. I can't wait for my next fill...which is wednesday next week. P'nut, you are a real inspiration to me!! I love you, Sister!

you should not try to fake depression...you seem to have enough other symptoms that look like they constitute co-morbidities...

Omigoshomigosh!! Cabbage Patch>>> :whoo: and here is your honorary #1 Trophy...:first: And I pledge allegiance to your weight loss...:usa2: Sister, I am so happy for you!! And WOW I did not realize just how close you are to your goal until Heather pointed it out!! Way to GO!!:clap2: