That's no moon

drive-by update

2013-06-16T03:16:46Z

aw you guys, according to people on Tumblr who have been going to Jon Walker's recent concerts, he and Cassie are having a baby. :D :D :D that kid's gonna be beautiful and probably be named Dylan.

on a completely different note, how fucking insane is Hannibal? I love what a fucked up show it is and how the worst things ever keep happening to Will Graham. Hugh Dancy plays fragile and broken very well. And Mads Mikkelsen is great at being a smug cannibal. (also let's hope by not showing what happened to Abigail in the newest episode, that means she's still around)

hello darkness, my old friend

2013-05-27T07:46:44Z

oh my god the new Arrested Development, y'all. I just finished and I need to talk about it.

I have no idea if anyone else is even done to even talk about it but I had to make a post about it. I don't even know where to start except that THERE has to be a movie or something, there are just way too many unanswered questions and there's still way too much ground to cover with these crazy, awful people.

- First, let's talk about Gob, whose episodes were most definitely my favorite and whose storyline ended in a way I both hoped for but did not really expect. In the first episode, when Gob's sexual partner only half appears and Michael is all "Is that...?" I had 3 guesses: Ann, Sally Sitwell or a dude. AND IT WAS TONY WONDER OH MY GOD GOB. Their whole song and dance of playing gay for each other and then ANN (FUCKING ANN I LOVE MAE WHITMAN SO MUCH) tricking (illusioning?) them into fucking each other is my favorite thing that has ever happened. Gob has always been a sexual disaster and totally in love with Michael, so the fact they actually went there is amazing to me. (ALSO BEES?! and everything with Ann in Gob's first episode was incredible. seriously, Mae Whitman is a queen. yes, her.) ALSO OH MAN STEVE HOLT! I totally thought the actor wasn't going to be back, I was so happily surprised when I recognized him (albeit, only a couple seconds before they revealed it was him). Poor Steve Holt! he had the worst birthday ever.

- Michael is so pathetic and so much like his dad and George Michael is so much a Bluth now (and he has some balls! all of the really passive characters from the original series grew more aggressive, like Oscar and Buster, and the aggressors became passive, like George Sr. and Michael) and oh man, we can't end with George Michael punching his dad and that be it, right? they have to continue the long line of fucked up Bluth child-parental relationships and fight for the same woman.

- speaking of Michael, did they explain why Michael is wearing a Bluth banana stand employee shirt when he goes to see Gob on the night of Cinco de Quatro? he's not wearing one when he hits on Lucille 2. mystery! also: why George Sr. has really high estrogen levels and low testosterone? I may have missed that, he and Oscar kept switching so much I got confused.

- BUSTER GOT ARRESTED FOR KILLING LUCILLE 2 OH MY GOD. we have to find out what happened! also, GOD BUSTER. It was so odd because he's barely in the rest of the episodes but his episode was gold. Tony Hale is so great acting with whatever odd hand prop they give him.

- I really loved Lindsay's second episode, I love her totally embracing her inner-Lucille and becoming a politician (seriously need to see more of that). Also, I love that her two clueless, blue men ended up on a boat together (Well, you certainly have a type.)

- Maeby fucked a 17 year old! oh Maeby. I really thought she would have continued with her movie studio stuff, but her stuck in a loop of trying to get her clueless parents to notice her was completely right on. also, I gotta admit I kept distracted with how pretty Alia Shawkat is.

- I do wish we had gotten a bit more of Lucille interacting with everyone, that's always where she shines and I would have loved another episode centered around her, but we did get that 90 second scene of her inhaling smoke in Buster's mouth, so there's that.

- OH MY GOD I JUST REMEMBERED GOB KISSING GEORGE MICHAEL. GOB YOU ARE SUCH A SEXUAL DISASTER.
oh god it's 4am, I gotta go to bed but if you're finished, please talk to me about it!

Samoan Thor

2013-05-25T18:56:47Z

So, we need to talk about the best movie of the summer, Fast and Furious 6.

I saw it Thursday night but I waited until today to post about it so that hopefully more people will have seen it. My coherent, non-credits scene thoughts basically breakdown like this:
- Fucking amazing
- Vin Diesel and The Rock should always be in movies together
- The Rock should always ONLY wear skintight underarmor
- The Rock should always shoot vending machines so that Tyrese will shut up
- Tyrese should always play characters who own planes that say "It's Roman's, bitch!"
- Ludacris should always play the techie guy and should ALWAYS refer to The Rock as "Samoan Thor"
-- This joke seriously took me about 5 seconds to get when it showed up on his caller ID and then I giggled for like 3 minutes straight afterwards
- everything with that tank scene was fucking ridiculous and nonsensical and I loved it so much. (ditto a lot of the plane scene)
- Gisele and Han's opening scene where they immediately had each other's backs with their guns was so hot
- As were most of their scenes but also sad because as soon as they said they were going to Tokyo after this, I knew it would be nothing but doooooooom for them the rest of the movie. :(
- HOWEVER, while I am crushed that Gisele died, I realize they had no other choice because of the fucking Tokyo Drift and because she went out with 100% agency. She went out on her own terms, killing a dude that was about to kill Han.
- Also, can we talk about how fucking awesome these movies are when it comes to women? All of the women in these movies are badasses on their own and while Mia was a bit of a damsel in distress for this one, she was never helpless and she was the one who told Brian to go after Letty. ALSO, I LOVE that Elena told Dom to go after her too, none of this "no wait, you're with me now, let's set up a love triangle" bullshit that happens in so many movies, she just said "Hey, if that was my husband in that picture, I'd go after him, too." SO MUCH LOVE FOR ELENA (aka the actual Mrs. Thor. get it Hemsworth). And then Letty has been a badass since the first one (since Michelle Rodriguez is an all around badass, it makes sense) and while I immediately suspected that Riley was working with Shaw from the beginning, it was great to see an actual MMA fighter kick ass (and then Letty shot her with a harpoon gun because these movies are the best ever)
- Okay, let's talk about that credits scene, because I don't think I've ever gone from being so sad to so fucking exciting in such a short amount of time. They show Tokyo and I'm all "Oh nooooo, this is from Tokyo Drift, nooooooo." and watching my beautiful Han Seoul-Oh drive to his demise and then he crashes into the Mercedes and then, TO MY UTTER AND SHOCKED DELIGHT, a stocky, almost bald British dude steps out of the car and HE IS FUCKING JASON STATHAM. I almost don't even care that he killed Han, HE IS JASON STATHAM. I have never been so glad to be unspoiled for something in my whole life. (in case you do not know this about me, I have seen an inordinate amount of Jason Statham movies and watch the first 2 Transporter movies and Crank 2 way more often than anyone should. basically, I fucking love Jason Statham and was incredibly disappointed when I thought he was going to be in Fast 6 because he's a car dude AND he's European, so duh, why wouldn't he be in it?)
- here's the director talking about it and "I was very happy with the whole Jason Statham of it all. It feels good to be able to hand off on a positive note, with Statham joining the cast." is quite possibly the best quote of all time. This is the next best one, by The Rock: "The idea of seeing him and myself onscreen going at it is very intriguing and very interesting. Two styles that would collide extraordinarily well. My personal message to that person is: Pack a lunch, because it’ll be an all-f—ing-day affair.”

GOD I AM SO EXCITED FOR FAST 7 I COULD JUST THROW UP. AND IT COMES OUT NEXT YEAR!!!!!!! That's how you fucking do it, Hollywood.

ALSO, Arrested Development comes back this weekend, so, well done this week, Hollywood. WELL DONE. (Also, I hope to make a post about Hannibal soon, I'm just about to start episode 6. this show is amazing and marks the first time that a fandom being so delightfully weird on tumblr is why I started watching in the first place)

this is not the post you're looking for

2013-03-22T03:43:56Z

lol I cannot believe I am updating for the first time in weeks to talk about Star Wars.

as I've posted on twitter/tumblr, I rewatched all 6 Star Wars movies in order (eps 1-6 order) over the past few days and I am FALLING APART in dumb feelings over them. every time I do this, I'm always struck by a few things:
- that Obi-Wan Kenobi is my favorite character of all time
- R2-D2 is the true hero of the series (the amount of times where he is literally the only reason anyone survives is like, a hundred)
- Harrison Ford's face after Leia tells Han that Luke is her brother is my favorite movie moment of all time
- the prequels are always way more enjoyable than I remember and I like the prequels anyway
- the Jedi Council is a gigantic pile of dicks
- Anakin is such a goddamn failure
- Palpatine's plan is fucking bugfuck crazy and it's a testament to what a great villain he is that he pulls it all off

Seriously though, let's look at Palpatine's nutso plan. Some of this is confirmed in the expanded universe, but it's still canon:
He becomes a Sith lord and decides that he wants to rule the entire galaxy. So, he becomes a Senator to get in with politics. also, he and his master, Darth Plagueis, accidentally created Anakin Skywalker while trying to cheat death and create life from midichlorians. He lucks out that this happens on Tatooine and to a slave woman so this child she'll carry will not be discovered by the Jedi council and trained from the appropriate age, but only trained once he is "too old" and cannot turn off his personal attachments to his mother or a pretty girl he likes. After gaining steam in the Senate and recruiting Darth Maul as his current apprentice, he tells the Trade Federation to take the planet of Naboo hostage. He uses this to manipulate Queen Amidala to force the current chancellor of the Senate out of office and since he's going to help Naboo, he gets elected himself. After everything that happens at the end of Ep 1, he gains Count Dooku as his new apprentice. Dooku's bff Sifo Dyas knows that Dooku has gone dark and commissions a Clone army from the Kaminoans for the Republic in case shit goes down. Dooku kills Sifo Dyas and then he erases Kamino from the Jedi archives so that no one knows about them and they can eventually use them for themselves. (also fun fact! Dooku saves the body of his dead friend and uses his blood to create General Grievous. Creepy!)
Anyway, ten years past and Palpatine is still leading the Senate and also the Separatist movement, instigating a civil war. He's become a confidante to young Anakin Skywalker, who he knows to be the "Chosen One" and the kid he brought into life with his wacky dark side force powers. Anakin's petulant and a total brat and Palpatine plays on those feelings like a goddamn harp but it's not going to be enough to jumpstart his descent into the Dark Side, so he tells Dooku to go to Tatooine and force a bunch of Tusken Raiders to kidnap Anakin's mom and keep her near death. Anakin feels his mother's pain and takes Padme with him to go help her. Conveniently, she dies right after he finds her and then he completely loses his shit and kills every Tusken raider, women and children included. it's his first big total failure at controlling his anger, his second being when he thinks he can take on Dooku and loses his arm because he's a dumbass. Oh yeah and Palpatine manipulates JAR JAR BINKS into voting him emergency powers to use the clones.
Since his mom his dead and the civil war is officially on, Anakin and Padme get married because they are dumb and in love. Over the next 3 years, Palpatine manipulates his way to stay in power way longer than he should and keeps manipulating people into giving him more emergency powers that just make him a straight up dictator. He keeps Anakin close and plants seeds of doubt about the Jedis and the Senate whenever he can. After he has Dooku "kidnap" him so Anakin can rescue him, he orders Anakin to kill Dooku (Christopher Lee's "what the fuck bro" face at this is priceless), which he does because he is Anakin. Now Palpatine is ready for his new apprentice and sets in motion a bunch of different plans to make it happen. He knows that Anakin is having dreams of Padme dying in childbirth and he plays on that fear to tell a story about a Sith lord who cheated death and tells Anakin he can do the same. He also forces Anakin to be his representative on the Jedi Council and the Jedi Council are so pissed at him interfering in their matters that they only allow Anakin to be on the council so he can spy on Palpatine and to add insult to injury, don't grant him the rank of master. (seriously guys, the Jedi Council completely fucks all of this up and they should have known better) Obi-Wan tries to tell the council that this is a fucking awful idea but they don't listen and pretty much write their own death warrants right there.
As Anakin grows more worried about Padme's fate (also stupidly thinking that she's having an affair with Obi-Wan because Anakin is a FAILURE) and more disillusioned with the Jedi Council, Palpatine finally reveals that he is the Sith lord to Anakin. at first, Anakin does the right thing and tells Mace Windu but after Mace tells him to stay put, as he can feel how conflicted he is, he follows Mace and the other Jedi over to Palpatine's office where they plan to arrest him. Palpatine easily kills the 3 random Jedi while he and Mace have a pretty great showdown, culminating in Mace disfiguring Palpatine with his own Force energy lightning. Palpatine uses all his great manipulation powers to act like he is about to die and pleads Anakin to save him, while Mace is like "fuck no, I'm gonna kill this motherfucker" and Anakin can't have him die because then his secret wife will die and BAM, Anakin kills Mace and becomes Darth Vader and Palpatine's plan is pretty much complete. He orders the clones to kill all the Jedis and makes himself the Emperor and then starts building the Death Star. THIS IS ALL SO FUCKING CRAZY. Also, ingenious and really, even though Darth is much cooler looking, Palpatine is the only real, true villain of this series. it totally blows my mind.

Also, how sad is it that Anakin never takes control of his life until he kills Palpatine in Return of the Jedi? as a kid, he was a slave, then he became an arrogant Padawan who complained every time Obi-Wan told him what to do, then he became a Jedi Knight, but still couldn't do what he wanted because of the council, then he became Darth Vader and had to do everything Palpatine told him to. He even tries multiple times to get Obi-Wan (before they're big battle at the end of RotS) and Luke to join him to overthrow the Emperor because he just wants SO BADLY to be in control of his life but LOL NOPE until the last 10 minutes of his life. OH ANAKIN, BB, YOU ARE SUCH A FAILURE. bless your heart.

Continuing on in other little things I love about this series:
-in the original trilogy, there are a lot of moments where C3P0 gets talked over but if you pay attention to him and what he's saying, it's fucking hilarious. (Uncle Owen: "Shut up." C3P0: "Shutting up, sir.") Additionally, everyone being completely annoyed with him all of the time is great. Also, in Jedi, when the ewoks think he's a god, Luke has THE funniest half-smirk on his face and it cracks me up.
-I think the most fucked up scene in the entire series is when Anakin goes to kill all the kids in the Jedi Council and this little boy is all "Master Skywalker, what are we going to do?" in a tiny British accent and the screen pans out to see Anakin extend his lightsaber and the little kid jumps ever so slightly and IT DEVASTATES ME. I mean, obviously the whole thing is devastating, but that little kid's physical reaction just gets to me.

ANYWAY. livejournal, what's up? my life is (obviously) completely uneventful and not interesting, but I hope yours are! Also, holy hot damn, Pretty. Odd. came out FIVE DAMN YEARS AGO WHAT THE HELL.

long live the car crash hearts

2013-02-04T19:56:05Z

I really cannot believe that Fall Out Boy is back. Happily in disbelief but totally shocked. I'm listening to them now and man, I forgot how much I liked their music. I wasn't as fannish about FOB as I was about TAI or Empires but I always did really love their music. I really hope I can rustle up some friends to go see them in Charlotte in June.

Between this, The Hush Sound making new music (which also !!!!!!!!!!!!) and that insane Mikey Way drama that happened a couple weeks ago, bandom never really dies does it?

I still hate this update page

2013-01-01T02:15:37Z

well, the last day of the year is a good time as any to do that annual year-end meme, huh?

1. What did you do in 2012 that you’d never done before? driven 800+ miles by myself, checked into a hotel by myself, attended funerals :/

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? never make them

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? my best friend from elementary school and a close friend from high school that I've lost contact with, but it still weirded me out a whole lot

4. Did anyone close to you die? my great-grandmother, my grandfather and one of my most beloved cats. seriously f u c k this year

5. What countries did you visit? nowhere, all the traveling I did was to see family in Iowa

6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012? a relationship, a job, life to not be so terrible

7. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? the night of my family reunion where all my cousins and our parents stayed up super late playing beer pong and listening to "Wagon Wheel" on repeat, the night of my birthday with my friends, Heroes Con, seeing The Who

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? driving from Iowa to NC alone

9. What was your biggest failure? not finding a new job

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? just a couple of sinus infections/bad colds

11. What was the best thing you bought? all of the art I got at Heroes Con, my PS3

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? my friends, who are wonderful

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? a bunch of dumbass politicians

14. Where did most of your money go? Old Navy/the Gap, food probably

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Zoey, Lego Batman 2, The Who playing Quadrophenia, trivia nights with full teams

16. What song will always remind you of 2012? The Shins "Simple Song", fun. "Some Nights", Mumford and Sons "I Will Wait", Ellie Goulding "Lights"

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
happier or sadder? I honestly have no idea
thinner or fatter? sameish
richer or poorer? sameish

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Graphic fucking design. I have completely lost it. Almost all of it. This is more mentally draining than I can even articulate. <---- this is my answer from last year and it is still the exact same.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? saying goodbye

20. How will you be spending Christmas? spent it with my mom and my grandma and my kitties

21. Did you fall in love in 2012? lol

22. How many one-night stands? lol

23. What was your favorite TV program? Parks and Rec, Community, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Legend of Korra, The Walking Dead, since it finally decided to be consistently good

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? not that I can think of, my hate is pretty consistent

25. What was the best book you read? for comics, I really love what I've read of Swamp Thing & Animal Man and The Unwritten and Chew continue to be awesome. as for other books, Live From New York, the story of SNL.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery? The Civil Wars, Talking Heads, Ellie Goulding, bunch of 60s girl groups

27. What did you want and get? finally seeing The Who in concert, great times with friends, a PS3

28. What did you want and not get? a job that isn't working part-time for my mom

29. What was your favorite film of this year? Hunger Games, Moonrise Kingdom, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Dark Knight Rises, 21 Jump Street. I still haven't seen a ton that I want to though.

30. What did you do on your birthday? my friends and I went to see Mission Impossible 4, ate Thai food and then stayed up late laughing and playing board games and having a great time. on my actual birthday, I got new glasses and went to dinner with my mom and had like 4 insanely awesome desserts.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? having a satisfying job

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012? colored khakis from the Gap with bright, solid color tops with either Converse or knock-off Doc Martens

33. What kept you sane? friends, trivia nights, good TV, my cats

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Amy Poehler again, probably

35. What political issue stirred you the most? women's reproductive rights

36. Who did you miss? everyone I lost

37. Who was the best new person you met? I've met some more cool people through trivia but otherwise I feel like I didn't really meet anyone new this year.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012: you don't know what you got 'til it's gone

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
I know that things can really get rough,
When you go in alone.
Don't go thinking you gotta be tough,
And bleed like a stone. The Shins "Simple Song"

srsly wtf is this update page

2012-12-15T08:21:41Z

LIVEJOURNAL! what the fuck is up with this update page? I mean jesus christ, what the fuck were they thinking? between this, the new iTunes (which I've luckily avoided, thanks to everyone warning me of how awful it is) and whatever the goddamn hell tumblr did today, I feel like web content designers are believing in the 12/21 hype and fucking with us now.

anyways, lj, I am pretty inebriated and felt like posting for once. I wanted to let everyone know that I sent out all of the holiday cards late last week or early this week, so hopefully everyone should receive them soon! Aussie/NZ friends might get them later than most, but a tumblr friend in Germany got hers in 6 days, so maybe not too long!

anyways (x2), I have been trying to think up my top 10 albums/tv episodes of the year, as it's something I do every year because I like lists and man, it's hard this year. I have over 30 new albums I've listened to this year and really, all of them were good, and it's very hard to pick. and tv! how to pick a Parks & Rec episode, my goodness. I should probably also do movies but there's still a bunch of movies I haven't seen yet that I'd like to (mostly Oscar bait, like Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty, Django Unchained isn't out yet, etc) so idk if it'd be accurate. so many year end lists, so little time.

what else? oh the new star trek trailer pissed me off because, for me, star trek is fucking ridiculous and hilarious and full of beautiful heart and all that trailer was was GRIMDARK CURDLESNOOT HIPSTER SCARVES NO CHEKOV. I sincerely hope it ends up better than that. Pacific Rim looks fun, though, but I am most excited about GLaDOS.

oh! hey, if you watch it, wasn't the newest Elementary absolutely AWESOME? I love heist movies (the Ocean's trilogy, the Italian Job, Fast Five, etc) so whenever a procedural does them, they're usually super fun (and a nice change of pace from murder of the week) and man, it was SO much fun! Sherlock being so giddy about it and Joan being irritated and then meeting Joan's family and the foreshadowing of Joan staying on with Sherlock and it was SO GREAT. I really love this show, guys. it's not like a show like Mad Men or Breaking Bad or Homeland where I'm dying for the next episode every week but it's such a fun way to spend an hour with two super attractive people and man, if I could pull it off, I would raid Lucy Liu's wardrobe, it is A+

anyways (x3) I hope everyone's doing ok (especially after a shit day like today) and I SWEAR I'm gonna try to be a better livejournal friend. PROMISE.

fandom journeys

2012-11-28T06:47:15Z

First off, here's me bugging you to comment on my holiday postcard post! I'm gonna start working on them this week to get them sent out by next weekend so please comment soon! and seriously, no obligation to send anything back, I'm more excited to send them out than anything.

Secondly, I've been thinking a lot about fandom lately and my lack of one and it's probably not really all that interesting but I think I finally figured out why I can't get into anything lately.

I've really only ever been in 4 fandoms in my life. I was hardcore into HP when I was in high school and spent a lot of time on a message board talking with people and writing absolutely terrible Ron/Hermione fic on the Warner Bros. official message boards. I was never on LJ for HP, so I never read any of the well-known fics, but I read a lot of crap on Mugglenet, so there was that.

after that fizzled out, I wasn't into anything until my freshman year of college when I got into Jackass and that was my first real, full-blown, LJ fandom. and I loved it, it was a smaller fandom, so we all became friends and there was tons of videos and radio/tv shows and movies to pull from and it really solidified my interest in RPF, with Bam/Ryan. they were absolutely my first slash OTP. after awhile though, the canon calmed down and then I got in SPN and by extension, Jared/Jensen, since even though I enjoyed the show, the RPF aspect appealed to me even more (and because I wasn't into incest at the time. oh what a wee lass I was). SPN fandom proved to be a bit much for me, though, and I started to drift away at the end of the second season, which worked out, as my bff was getting into bandom the summer of 2007. I had liked the music of the bandom bands for awhile but had never thought to seek out an actual fandom, so it was exciting to see people learn about all the wonderfully slashy or just plain ridiculous things the bandom bands had to offer. thanks to BF, I fell into it hard and had no intention of leaving for a long time. And I didn't, even though my OTPs were not the most popular and writers insisted on killing off Tom Conrad in half of the fics he was even in. the constant updates and tours and new music were more than enough to keep me in.

but after awhile, the fandom just got smaller. Panic's split was really the beginning of the end, along with FOB's hiatus, and many people left due to new fandoms or boredom or they were just too invested to see their favorites not in the same band anymore (all understandable). I stayed in, but slowly, there just became less to talk about. I was still excited about Empires, whatever TAI was doing and Jon, but not enough other people were for me to consider myself in it, anymore. So, I flocked to tumblr, where I could just reblog pictures of shows I liked while looking for something new. some fandoms came and went (mostly Olympics RPF that wears off a few weeks after the games are over) but nothing would stick because nothing was like bandom, nothing had that scope or community.

then, in June of 2011, Ryan Dunn got in a car accident and died. I cared so much about him and even though I had not kept with the Jackass guys for a couple years, he was still so important to me and I still can't watch old Jackass or Viva La Bam because I get too sad. even if I had never been in fandom for him, I would have still been incredibly upset, but being in fandom adds this extra, thick layer of investment that makes your heart hurt or swell in a way that's hard to explain to non fandomers.

Ryan's death was really hard for me to process and I think that it is a big reason why I can't do RPF again. I still care about Empires, ex-TAI dudes and JWalk to a really extensive degree and I still keep up with most of the other bands or whatever they're doing (like Ryan Ross and his new kitten, which is the cutest kitten I have ever seen) and I just cannot add to my roster of dumb boys that I don't know but care about like they're my friends. this is purely out of self-preservation, I'm sure those prepubescent One Direction boys could interest me if I tried, but I can't, I really just can't.

Which leads me to my current problem. I'm so used to RPF and it's constant stream of updating, that regular TV or movie fandoms don't have that same draw. I'll still seek out fic when I really like something (see: Folger's commercial or regular stuff, like Gwen/Peter from the new Spider-Man movie, which has been slightly disappointing, as most of the fic is about Steve/Tony for some reason) but it's hard to really latch onto something, yk? I'm watching a verifiable shitload of tv shows and I love to read and talk about them, but adding that hardcore shipping/fandom element into it hasn't really stuck, yet. :/ maybe it will, someday, but in the meantime, I'll still be looking for something.

well, that was long. anyway, has anyone on my flist ever watched Alphas? I just finished the first season and I really enjoyed it! mostly because I am distressingly attracted to David Strathairn (and still in disbelief that he is on a Syfy show) and because I like superpowers but I like that it (sort of) explains a lot of the powers as different mental abilities and that the characters have mental illnesses that connect to their powers. I also like that the autistic kid is not just some savant, he is a full-fledged character who can be irritating and an asshole and he gets called out on it.

I'm also thinking of watching the X-Files as it's on Netflix and I never watched it while it was on (my mom deemed it too scary). Is this a terrible idea?

"what is wrong with you?" "almost everything."

2012-11-20T06:05:47Z

so, we've all seen the super incesty Folger's ad right? IT IS TAKING OVER MY LIFE. IDK. Blame this fic from Yuletide last year (of course there is fic) which is really well written and has some hot phone sex BUT THEN SOMETHING HORRIBLE HAPPENS AND NOW I'M IN A DOWNWARD SPIRAL OF WISHING A HAPPY ENDING VERSION OF THIS TO EXIST. I haven't wanted fic to exist so badly since bandom was around and just prayed for Jon/Tom and Butcher/Siska all the time. I don't know why a dumb coffee commercial with obviously boning siblings is what makes me want to be in a fandom again but I guess I'll take it?

speaking of Jon Walker, he has a new 4 song EP out that is generally adorable and Jon Walker-ish but even more important, he has this video out is a) the most precious thing in the entire world b) was directed by Jack the Camera Guy and Ryan Luciani (Chicago, seriously, still only 12 people) and c) features Cassie, Marley, Dylan and Clover and seriously, THE MOST PRECIOUS THING IN THE WORLD. I'm just so glad Jon Walker is just keep on keeping on with his awesome wife and animal family and his fun music.

Anyway, if you missed it, I am sending out cards! I don't really have a deadline but I'll probably send them out like first or second week of December? maybe sooner, depending. either way, if you want one please let me know soonish! and seriously, no obligation to send anything back or do anything, I've been a crappy internet friend and this is my way to try to make it up.

I'm the worst. to make up for it, holiday postcards!

2012-11-17T04:20:14Z

Since I've become the worst livejournaler ever, I want to make up for it by sending out holiday cards. But not just any holiday cards, vintage DC comics postcards!

So! If you would like one, please leave your name/address in the comments! all will be screened. Also, if you have a preference of a DC comic character from the 1930s-1980s, let me know so I can send you an appropriate card! they're mostly of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern, so if you don't say, that's probably who you'll get.

Also! I still have a crapload of friendship bracelets and thread, so if anyone would like one (or two or four) I can send you some as well! I'd send the card and the bracelets in an envelope together. just let me know what colors/themes if you do want any.

I'll send them wherever, so don't be shy if you're not from the US. Oh, and I'll just write "happy holidays" and a note on each card unless specified (like if you just want a card but aren't into holidays, totes cool, just let me know).

ps: don't assume I have your address because I'm dumb and probably lost it if I did. /o\

nobody really cares anymore but I WILL HAVE THIS MOMENT

2012-09-13T07:58:49Z

I'VE MISSED THEM SO MUCH I COULD CRY.

I forgot to turn of auto payments so I feel obligated to post

2012-09-11T07:47:42Z

life has been terrible but I don't wanna talk about it. Instead I wanna talk about The LA Complex because it is a perfect show and it'll probably get canceled (at least on The CW, hopefully not on whatever Canadian channel it started on and I hope pays for it) but I DON'T CARE because it is a perfect group of human disasters in Los Angeles, including Manny Santos, and it's produced by the Degrassi people and most of the episodes are directed by Archie "Snake" Simpson, so, yeah, perfect.

So I have to give props to just_katarin for reccing this show on twitter because even though I knew my beloved Cassie Steele was on it, I hadn't gotten around to watching it because I knew it got record terrible ratings and figured it would get canceled and I would watch it later or something. But it's SO great, y'all, seriously.

First of all, Cassie Steele is basically playing Manny Santos again, she's pursuing her acting dream in LA, having left ~~Degrassi~~ Toronto goodbye. She makes terrible decisions regarding men (and finds a new man to be in love with literally every few episodes) and she embarrasses herself in front of important people (which, to be fair, most people on this show do every 10 minutes) and she's incredibly hot and she's protective of her friends and UGH, I LOVE YOU ABBY VARGAS/MANNY SANTOS. (I also wish that this show just had all the Degrassi graduates that wanted to be in Hollywood, like Craig (HE COULD RELAPSE ON COKE!) and Paige the PA and ugh, now I want to rewatch Degrassi Goes Hollywood because I'm terrible. There could also be Drake jokes!)

Secondly, oh man, these disasters, y'all, I love them. I love Kaldrick, who is so tortured and self-hating and I want to hug him (but only if he's cool with that) and watching him lie to his friends/dad about being straight is SO heart-breaking but he's also such a dick but in really honest ways. Like, of course a really hard-edged dude from a rough background and becomes a hip hop star is going to have a tough time coming to terms with his sexuality and that could often come out in violent episodes! it's awful to watch him lose it, and your heart just BREAKS for Tariq when Kal starts hitting him and I REALLY hope that Kal and Abby team up to go find him and Kal apologizes. They don't have to get back together but I just really want him to make it right. (SIDENOTE! Back to Abby, I really loved that in tonight's episode, when Kal went into the recording booth to tell her what happened with him and Tariq, her body language was very much guarded and a little scared. We know Kal wouldn't hurt her, but after he threatened her in the bathroom, she doesn't. And then her complete flipping out on him was great and I LOVED that it was totally silent. And damn, how amazing is it that Kal could even tell her? CHARACTER PROGRESSION, I LOVE IT)

I also love Raquel, who is as opposite of Kaylee from Firefly as it gets, so go Jewel Staite. I love that she won't accept that she is a total asshole and I love that she got fired from Cactibear 2. Raquel really is compelling, in the first season when she's at the AA meeting telling her story, you really can't tell if it's all for show to get Gary to take her and the movie back or if any of it's true. Jewel Staite and Andra Fuller (Kaldrick) are the heavyweights of the this show, acting wise, I love that they give them the most complex stuff, too. Like going on "Celebrity Halfway House" and manipulating everything to make her look more sympathetic and accidentally causing a kid to OD. Oh Raquel, I adore you. (sidenote: she miscarried, right? it was sorta vague but they stopped mentioning her pregnancy so I assume when her stomach hurt that one time, that that's what happened). Also, I'm glad her and Cute Screenplay Guys are going to make their movie together again, they play great off each other. And I want her to smack Connor and tell him that every decision he makes is terrible.

Speaking of, CONNOR. He is so dumb and so tortured and SO DUMB, OH BABY. I still don't really believe that this girl is his sister (there was that scene from the episode before the newest one where someone was giving her his info and it seemed shady) and she probably took them to a place this fake Scientology religion set up to get their DNA matched (IT TAKES MORE THAN A FEW HOURS, EVEN CSI IS BETTER THAN THAT GUYS). Then she fed him that story about their mom killing herself over him to feed into all of his issues to make him more vulnerable and hell, her cutting scars may not even be real (they could be! but I feel like this is all such a set-up and it's not hard to tell that Connor is the most self-destructive person on the planet and he would relate to someone else who is as well). I also can't wait for the insurance people to realize that he burned down his house because he's such a fuck up and can't tell a lie convincingly or anything. Also, let's remember that this dude got his fake girlfriend and her husband back together AND THOUGHT HE COULD CONTINUE TO LIVE THERE BECAUSE THEY WOULD BE A FAMILY AND THAT'S ALL HE'S EVER WANTED IN HIS WHOLE SAD LITTLE LIFE. CONNOR YOU ADORABLE DUMMY, BLESS YOU AND YOUR PRETTY FACE.

Who else! Well, there's Nick, who sucks, but Sabrina is great and I loved all of Paul F. Tompkins' cameos in his storyline, so there are plenty of redeeming parts to his stories. And there's Simon and Beth (which, why is no one asking her why Simon is not in school? or is it summer in this show?) and I'm kind of bored by them, except now that Beth is finally getting it on with Cute White Screenplay Guy. (I also love Cute Black Screenplay Guy and he should get some too. I also should learn their names).

Other things I love about this show:
- Abby's agent, Ron.
- Alan Thicke who was TOTALLY making fun of Kirk Cameron as the producer on that super religious show and that is great.
- the really great parodies of Hollywood staples, like the overly dramatic hospital show (Critical Unit), the celeb rehab shows (Celebrity Halfway House), Syfy movies (Cactibear 2), crime dramas (Innocent Victim), etc.
- Alicia's story is done but I did like her and I thought it was kinda cool that the show didn't portray porn as this super seedy industry like it always is (and it totally can be, but it can also be fine). Of all her bad decisions, doing regular ol' lesbian porn was the least of her problems.
- Abby's threesomes with the religious show actors was awesome and I hope Lauren flipping out about it at the Luxe gets out.
- EDDIE! Did you know he did The Tempest with Alan Arkin once?

I JUST REALLY LOVE THE OLYMPICS YOU GUYS.

2012-08-05T09:07:00Z

So, the Olympics are going on right now, my favorite part of any even-numbered year, and the London games have not disappointed. I have, so far, cried probably 495 times and screamed and yelled and laughed heartily at everything Ryan Lochte does.

Seriously though, how great was swimming? Swimming's always my favorite part of the Olympics, going back to 2004 when I first discovered Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe and Peter Van Den Hoogenband and every 4 years, it just stays as enjoyable as ever. I loved Phelps this year. Sure, he didn't win all his races, but that's not what he was here to do (like in Beijing), he was here to say goodbye to his sport and he was generally very mature and sportsmanlike and he made his relay team hold hands. On the other end of things, Ryan Lochte was a giant douche but I somehow still love him for it. Maybe it's because he's really fucking dumb but his douchiness is mostly just hilarious to me. I mean, HE HAS SHOES WITH HIS NAME ON THE SOLES. AND HE THINKS WEARING GRILLS IS A THING THAT PEOPLE DO TO BE COOL. He's such a gigantic dumb dolphin and I'm glad he plans to be around for another 4 years to continue to be such a gigantic dumb dolphin.

The US ladies had an unbelievable Olympics, too. I remember in Beijing that our ladies did well, but the Aussie ladies generally out-swam them, but it was the total reverse here. (sidenote: damn, Aussies, what happened? you have one gold medal so far!) Missy Franklin is the next Phelps-like superstar, she's incredible and totally adorable. I also really like Allison Schmitt, because she is the queen ladybro and I love ladybros. And oh man, when they won the 4x100 Medley relay tonight, all four of them COULD NOT STOP HUGGING and it was the greatest ever.

Speaking of greatest ever, Chad Le Clos! I'm so in love with him, he's so cute and he shocked everyone by beating Phelps in the 200m Fly and his dad is ADORABLE. Naturally, Chad being super cute and so in love with Michael Phelps that he's had photos of him on his walls since he was 12 makes me want all the fic in the world. So, make that happen, fandom. They're going shark diving together!

South Africa's athletes really have endeared themselves to me this year. In addition to Le Clos, there was Cameron Van Den Burgh, super hot and adorable. There's also Oscar Pistorious, the double amputee whose 400m heat today made me cry and if he makes it the final, I will cry even more. I also can't wait for Caster Semenya to make her debut.

What else...oh yes, gymnastics! Gabby Douglas is obviously the queen of everything and I hope she takes home even more medals in the individual events that start tomorrow. I saw a great photo of her and her coach, Chow, on tumblr the other day and it was captioned with "AMERICA" and even THAT made me teary.

But since it's been the worst in gymnastics, let's talk about how fucking awful NBC's coverage has been this year. Not news, of course, but it's TERRIBLE. I honestly don't mind the tape delay thing, because most people aren't as tuned into the internet so the results will be surprising to them when they watch in primetime, so that's not an actual issue I have. the issues I have are with how fucking terribly everything is edited. I watched almost all of the swimming and gymnastics live on the NBC's streaming (which has issues, like the incessant ads and when it lags during the races/events but is overall fine) and they have different commentators and THEY ARE SO MUCH BETTER. Especially in gymnastics. Shannon Miller and a British guy did the gymnastics and they were fair and enjoyable and did not have any of a bias against the non-American girls. It helped that the live coverage showed gymnasts from almost all the countries that were competing (both in the team final and the all-around), instead of the just the Americans and the Russians (or in the men's case, the Japanese, Chinese and the Americans). The primetime commentators are so fucking rude to the other countries and like, yeah, of course it's got an American bias, but it's just obnoxious this year. Wanna know what else was obnoxious? Them spending so much of the women's team final talking about Jordan Wiever coming back from her disappointing qualifying to do it for Team USA INSTEAD of Gabby Douglas competing in all 4 events and being a gigantic part of how the USA won. Also, they showed ONE routine that bronze medalist team Romania did and it was, according to the commentators, "their worst event, Uneven Bars." This shit is not happening live, they could have shown them kill it on balance beam or something, ffs. They did this again in the men's all-around, they only showed silver medalist Marcel Nguyen on one event, not even his best. (sidenote: Marcel Nguyen is insanely pretty). I missed the primetime coverage of Gabby's All Around win, so I can only hope it was marginally better than everything else so far. Oh, another thing, I could do with less INSANE close-ups of the Russian girls crying and that goes for both coverages.

Swimming was a little better comparatively, but one thing I noticed is that the British and Australian announcers on the streaming pronounced a lot of the non-Western names very differently from NBC's and now I have no idea who is right. (Kosuke Kitajima and Ruta Meilutyte's pronunciations were so different I didn't realize who the NBC people were talking about when they mentioned them). Also, it was nice that the online commentators talked a lot about all the different swimmers and had fun facts about them, whereas NBC barely had enough time to cover the races because they were too busy sucking Michael Phelps' cock. I love Michael Phelps but Jesus Christ, you would think no one else was even on the US men's swimming team.

Other things I love/things that made me cry:
- I love Serena Williams completely destroyed Maria Sharapova to get that Olympics gold. She wanted that damn thing more than anyone else by a mile.
- I love Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings SO MUCH that it's hard for me to watch their matches live because if they lost, I would be devastated. /o\ They are the hetero soulmates of my dreams.
-- Why is ladies volleyball (both beach and indoors) so much better to watch than the men's? I watched some men's indoor volleyball the other day and it was so strange to me.
- I watched about 10 minutes of the equestrian stuff today and they're doing the event where they have to jump over the bars and all of the different bars are British or Olympics themed and they look like mini-golf decorations.
- the 10,000m men's race today left me in a giant puddle of tears. Mo Farah won for Great Britain, helped by his training partner from the US and I CRIED SO MUCH. I'm loving Great Britain doing so well, especially since they did so shitty the first few days of competition.

I know there's more but I'm totally forgetting. in my defense, it is 5am. But I'm sure I'll be updating more with all my Olympics feelings or at least reblogging pictures on my tumblr.

that's rough, buddy

2012-06-12T09:08:42Z

Roxy is sleeping right in front of all my pillows so I decided to stop being a failbot and actually update this thing for the first time in a month. (A MONTH! what is wrong with me?)

big things that happened in my life: I went to a quasi-family reunion in Illinois/Iowa and saw/met my three cousins who I hadn't seen in 15-17 years. I was super worried that weekend would be super awkward but it actually ended up being really fun. We mostly bonded over how much we all hate their dad's wife but that's okay, because she's manipulative and generally awful to be around.

I'm still just working part-time for my mom right now, which has its benefits, mostly being that it gives me enough time to watch a lot of TV on Netflix. Also, it's kind of nice knowing that she owes me a decent sum of money right now so she can't make snide remarks about anything I buy. (she doesn't do this super often but every once in awhile she will blow up at me about money, even though history shows that I'm way better about saving than she is). Also, I take care of the house since she's only here half the time anyway, so it feels slightly less pathetic when I think about being TWENTY FIVE and living at home.
Anyway, I'm still applying for jobs but I never hear back and it's mentally exhausting to even muster up enthusiasm about it. Like, Asheville is one of the worst cities in AMERICA to find a job, and my field is not like, an essential thing, like medical or food service or something. So then I get to thinking I'm in the completely wrong career (since I'm not very good) but I have no idea what else I'd even do, since the only thing I'm good at is trivia. But I don't dwell on this very long because it makes me clammy and shameful and instead I play fetch with Roxy.

Trivia's about the same, except my Thursday trivia has been displaced for the time being. The host quit because the guy who owns the bar it was at is a total dipshit (he was paying all the employees with bad checks, for example) and he's taking a break before finding a new spot, which isn't necessarily a sure thing. I will miss it if it never comes back, but lately, it had gotten really bullshit. there was one team (we called them the Shitty Rape Team since they almost always had shitty rape jokes as their team name) that won a lot (and had won, like, a month straight the last few times I went) and they were just SO petty. They actually argued with the host to make us lose points! It really soured the whole trivia thing for me. But Mondays (my main one) is still good, except a couple of my team members just make no effort to come anymore. TBF, they've had stuff going on, but there's a point where it's just excuses and it makes me sad since I used to see them at least once a week and now I haven't seen my one friend in like, 3 months. But one of my best friends hosts a general trivia night which is 5 minutes from my house on Tuesdays that's been fun. My BFF and I have won a few times, just the two of us, over teams of like, 7-9 adults and it's pretty validating.

Fandom wise, I'm not reading or doing anything anymore. It makes me sad, since I miss fangirling with everyone, but absolutely nothing has caught my eye in that way in months. I mean, there are plenty of things I love and love talking about, but nothing's caught me the way that bandom or Jackass ever did. I did just recently rewatch Avatar: The Last Airbender and I got caught up on Legend of Korra, though, and damn, what magnificent pieces of entertainment, right? I could talk about them for hours, especially Korra, because holy shit, how is a show on NICKELODEON have plot complexities that would not be out of place on AMC or HBO? And while I love this show (and ATLA) and could blabber about them for hours, I don't really have a strong shipping preference? I mean, Sokka/Suki and Zuko/Mai were my favorites from the original and in LOK I don't really have any preferences, yet. And shipping is such a huge part of the fandom I'm used to that I don't feel like I'm doing it right.

I do still love Empires, though. I bought their deluxe preorder package for Garage Hymns since I will do anything to ensure Tom Conrad can eat. I got it today and it's pretty great. There's a pictures and lyrics book and Sean's handwriting is adorably illegible and there'g as a picture with a baggie of weed in it and Tom's wearing a friendship bracelet that I've chosen to believe is mine, even though it probably isn't. Also, the album is fantastic, as expected. I do really miss Ryan, though and I'm sad they never said anything about it, since he was such an important member of the band (he was in it for longer than Max, ffs). I also miss his guns because, goddamn, the boy had arms. But to keep me from being sad, I've decided that Butcher is going to play drums for them for shows since he's in Milwaukee and The Animal Upstairs dissolved and goddammit, let me have this.

ugh, it's almost 5am. Roxy is still in front of my pillows but I should try to go to sleep. I hope you're all doing well, I'm still reading my flist as often as I can. I also have an absolute shitload of embroidery thread to make friendship bracelets, so let me know if anyone wants one! They're not super fancy, but I like making them.

too many feelings to even write anything remotely coherent

2012-05-11T07:36:41Z

Things you should talk to me about:

- the Parks and Rec season finale
- The Vampire Diaries season finale
- The My Little Pony season finale with the wedding and creepy ponies with holes in them

some people write 2000 word essays about Girls. I write about ponies.

2012-05-03T06:38:24Z

so my life has been very eventful the last week but not in any good ways at all. I don't really want to dwell on these two things because I have cried so much that I keep giving myself headaches and this entry is decidedly not about sad things because I need to think of happy things right now. But anyway, both my great-grandmother and my cat, Sam, passed away within two days of each other. My great-grandmother was 93 and lived a fulfilling life, but passed away only 3 weeks before all the grandkids were going to be back in Iowa to see her and it breaks my heart. she only got sick in February and rebounded a few times, but in the end, I'm glad she didn't suffer for months in a nursing home like some people do. that would not have been her choice. I came to Iowa for the funeral and to stay with my grandparents a few extra days and I headed back home today. I'm going back in a couple weeks for my cousin's college graduation and to see aforementioned cousins (I haven't seen 3 of them in about 15 years) so it'll be nice to not have to wait so long in between visits this time.

Sam was one of my favorite cats we've ever had. He was the sweetest, most loving cat anyone could ask for. All my friends always said that he was their favorite of my cats because he was so friendly and always loved visitors. I can't write much more about him without crying, so I won't, but I will miss him dearly.

Okay, like I said, I can't be sad anymore right now, I just can't. So, this entry is going to be writing about the joyful absurdity of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic because it (and RuPaul's Drag Race) are the only things making me happy right now.

This show is so fucking insane and I love it, you guys. So little of it makes sense (like most kids animated shows) but there's something about MLP that makes me want to examine it a lot closer than say, Spongebob Squarepants. I guess it's because the show makes an effort to explain a lot of things about their world and each explanation is crazier than the last. Like, the weather. There is no reason they had to incorporate the pegasi controlling the weather and the seasons into the canon but they did and that is so fucking crazy. I just recently watched the episode were Princess Celestia has the ponies act out a play on the founding of Equestria and it is so hilarious and weird that I can't get over it. Apparently, the unicorns, pegasus and earth ponies (regular ponies) used to be divided and these magical WINDIGO sky ponies kept causing blizzards until they learned the meaning of friendship and stopped fighting. THIS ENTIRE WORLD WAS FOUNDED ON FRIENDSHIP YOU GUYS. I CAN'T. Also, this episode sort of implies that there are other parts of this world out there and Equestria is only a country in a larger world and I just can't imagine what insanity awaits outside the border lines. Oh and Fluttershy calls Rainbow Dash "sir" during the play, even though Rainbow Dash's character is a girl because Rainbow Dash is the Peppermint Patty of this show (if not this entire generation of cartoons) if there ever was one.

Other insanity that I love: there's an episode where Spike, the baby dragon that is like Twilight Sparkle's indentured servant (I mean, what else is he? an unpaid intern?) learns to be greedy and grows to be a giant, nefarious dragon until his love for Rarity for reigns in his greed and he becomes tiny again. In this show, dragons only become giant and mean through greed. so if you're not greedy, you stay tiny and adorable. I can't.

The episode I watched last night had Pinkie Pie babysitting her landlords' (?), the Cakes, baby twins and was all about responsibility and whatnot, but the most hilarious part of this episode is at the beginning when the ponies gather at the hospital to see the babies, one of which is a pegasus, the other a unicorn. Neither Mr. or Mrs. Cake is a pegasus or a unicorn. Mr. Cake says that he has a great X 5 grandfather that was a pegasus and his wife has a second cousin that was a unicorn and the adds "I think." and gives a pained smile. So, it's totally possible that Mrs. Cake cheated on her husband with a pegasus.

I've also been really intrigued by this show's view of wealth. First of all, you never see these ponies pay for anything or refer to pony money when acquiring items, but it must exist because there is a vast amount of supporting characters that are rich and/or snobby. There are the Cutie Mark Crusaders' classmates, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon (SILVER SPOON. I will never get over this), who are the mean girls of the Ponyville elementary school. Diamond Tiara's dad is Filthy Rich, whose father was Stinkin' Rich, a man who started a bargain business with Granny Smith's zap apple jam. (Granny Smith is fucking crazy and I love her). Also, the affluent, sometimes snobby ponies that occupy Canterlot have box seats at the derby and throw lavish parties and only wear the finest fashions. So, obviously, these ponies are rich. BUT WITH WHAT? (Okay, I finally saw them use coins, I AM NO LONGER CONFUSED. But now there's a pony called Derpy Hooves for me to be confused and delighted by, so it evens out. DERPY HOOVES.)

other random things I love about this damn show:
- what a giant tomboy lesbian Rainbow Dash is
- that Princess Celestia dislikes all her snobby and ass-kissing subjects
- EVERYTHING ABOUT PRINCESS LUNA. that not!Halloween episode is maybe my favorite. SHE REFERS TO HERSELF AS TWO PEOPLE. "We do not understand this fun!"
- that Pinkie Pie is like, probably, legitimately fucking insane.
- Sweetie Belle and her tiny, adorable voice.
- that the Apple siblings (Big Mac, Applejack and Applebloom) all have coordinating mane and coat colors. it's a really nice bit of design.
- I just finished this episode where these two unicorns come in and try to take over Applejack's family cider business and the ending with her letter to Princess Celestia saying "I didn't learn anything! I was right all along!" is just another reason why Applejack is my favorite.
- however, I laugh hardest whenever Fluttershy tries to yell or shout. she and Rainbow are tied for my second favs. Rainbow can be pretty arrogant but that damn episode where she picks the tortoise to be her pet was cemented her in my top 3 forever.
- I really like how this show takes a well-worn children's cartoon plot and turns it on its head just a tiny bit. Like, in the episode where Rarity goes to Canterlot and gets caught up in the elite crowd and not spending time on Twilight's dress, I knew she would inevitably fuck up Twilight's dress and become embarrassed in front of the snobby ponies and her friends would be disappointed that she was embarrassed of them. But that's not exactly what happened! She didn't finish Twilight's dress but it was actually perfect for her, since it was so simple, and during the inevitable running back and forth to two parties scene, Twilight and the other ponies assume Rarity is being a smart businesspony and never chide her. And then one of the rich ponies loves Rarity's simple dress for Twilight and her non-fake friends, so then everyone is cool with everyone. Rarity learns the same lesson I assumed she would learn, but in a slightly different, more adorable way and I love that.

basically, I just really love this show and its weirdness and its even weirder fanart and it is undoubtedly the one thing making me happy right now.

while on the subject of cartoons, I don't know if anyone watches Adventure Time, but it is also an excellent cartoon (that is barely for children, let's be honest). I haven't seen a TON of episodes, but I do love it, especially Marceline. She has got to be one of the most complex female characters on a kids show right now and all her stories with her dad are so fucking good it blows my mind. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about: she's a vampire whose dad is a weird demon guy who runs Adventure Time's version of hell (The Night-O-Sphere) and she plays a bunch of instruments and writes songs about her messy relationship with him. I love her. I love her a lot.

give me a fire ferret or give me death

2012-04-23T08:55:37Z

I keep going to update this thing and then I'm reminded of how little I've got going on and get depressed and go eat more Nutella. But I'm forcing myself to actually write it here tonight! Take that, self!

But yeah, I'm not really up to anything besides looking for a job. I'm working for my mom in the meantime, she needs the help and, weirdly, she's nicer to me when I'm doing stuff for her, even when I have to ask her a million questions. (real estate is confusing, y'all) I've applied a few places but never heard back and anymore, most places that take online applications explicitly state not to call, so I just get to assume I didn't get the job, so that's fun.

Mostly, I've been watching TV and not much else. Nick at Nite shows 2 hours of Friends every night and I'm so depressed to say that I've rewatched almost the entire series in the past couple months (they go through a season a week). Looking back, a lot of that show wasn't inventive or groundbreaking, but damn, do I still love it. it's look comfort food, sort of. Also, I would have watched a spinoff with Phoebe and Mike in a heartbeat.

I've also been rewatching lots of ANTM because both Oxygen and Style rerun a season every week during various times. Things I've concluded from these copious reruns:
- during the season, the bitchy girls that take good pictures (Melrose, Jade, Bianca, etc.) are the most irritating, but on reruns? They become my favorite. This is probably because they almost never win (Eva being the exception) and because, well, they really do take damn good pictures most of the time. Melrose, in particular, is one of my favorites. The hate she got from the other girls is still hilarious to me. Caridee was the more appropriate winner for Seventeen and CoverGirl but Melrose seriously kicked her ass in almost photoshoot that season. And that final runway! Ghost brides! Brilliant.
- On a similar note, a recurring theme in ANTM is that bad reputations are killer in fashion and if a model has one, it doesn't matter how good she is, she'll never make it. this is hilarious to me because of a) Naomi Campbell and b) Kate Moss. Both have had terrible reputations for very different reasons and both are still two of the biggest supermodels in the world. Like, I get it, if you're just starting out, you should probably be humble and not an asshole, but it's so ludicrous to say that. If you are good enough (and Naomi and Kate are), fashion people will want to work you. Simple.
-I don't know what the hell Tyra is thinking firing the Jays. I can see Nigel leaving, he seems pretty over it on the current season, but the Jays! Especially Jay Manuel. He is so integral to that show, doing the challenges and being there on every single photoshoot. I guess the ratings this season are terrible, so Tyra thinks a revamp will help, but I am very wary to say the least.
- watching old seasons before the words "smize" and "tooch" entered Tyra's every day lexicon are so relaxing in comparison.

Also, I have recently watched the first season of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and it is my new favorite everything. I'm so charmed by it, even when that show baffles me and is kind of fucking crazy. Like, where are their parents? Especially Applejack's? She lives on a farm with her brother, sister and granny but that's it! And there's an episode where she's little and her little sister hasn't been born yet, but only her brother and granny are there! WHERE ARE HER PARENTS? I also don't understand how old they're supposed to be, at all. And if Equestria has some sort of monetary system because I don't think it does. Also, how fucking weird is it that the entire country is run by magic? Like, Princess Celestia literally raises the sun every day. The ponies literally have to make it winter and then make it spring. The pegasi literally control the weather. I've spent way more time pondering how everything works on this show, especially considering it is a show made for 6 year old girls.

I've been loving Community since it came back, but it's been pretty different, right? I feel like it's a lot weirder than it was before (besides maybe the first episode back, when Shirley and Andre got remarried). That's not a criticism, just a thought. It's definitely had a few episodes that weren't as gut bustingly funny as they usually are, but they've been really good and interesting television (like this week's Dreamatorioum episode). Not super hilarious, but a really great episode of TV. Danny Pudi and Alison Brie really brought it.

The new episode of Parks and Rec killed me. Ben and Leslie are Michelle and Barack! And Ben is Michelle! And April having awesome character development! And that talking head of her with Andy in the background stroking the stuffed monkey? Amazing. Even when Andy's not really in an episode, he's still amazing.

Finally, I wanted to write just a tiny bit about the new HBO show Girls. Mostly everything I want to say about it, Film Crit Hulk said but I wanted to add something specifically to fandom.
Disclaimer: I have no problem with anyone not liking the show. Different strokes for different folks. And if you don't think you'll like it and don't want to watch it, again, totally cool. And I don't have the link handy, but I completely agree that the one writer for the show, Lesley Arfin, has said a lot of shitty things and that's enough for someone to not watch the show, that's fine, too.

But I think a lot of the shit this show has gotten from fandom is pretty ridiculous. If there was a show where in the pilot, the two male leads sat in a bathroom together, one in the tub, the other in just a towel, talking about how the one's girlfriend is irritating him and he doesn't know why, there would already be an anon fic meme for it. If, in the same show, the first introduction to these two characters as friends and roommates was them spooning in bed so the one guy wouldn't have to sleep with his girlfriend, there would be entire Tumblrs devoted to them. Even with all the same problematic elements, (lack of POC and LGBT characters, that shitty writer, the hipsterness of it, etc.), I can't help but assume that if this cast was all guys, fandom would embrace it. But it's women, so people have to tear it down. I don't know. I guess I just want femslash and I'm tired of reading genderswap to get it, you know?

Oh! I also finally watched Legend of Korra today. I loved it and I want whatever Pabu is MORE THAN LIFE.

Betty Draper shooting a bird is the closest to a Katniss icon I have

2012-03-24T07:43:16Z

HUNGER GAMES HUNGER GAMES HUNGER GAMES. oh man you guys, that was so good. SO GOOD. Jennifer Lawrence fucking KILLED it, I can't imagine anyone else embodying Katniss so well. She brought so much to her, especially in the scenes with Prim and Rue (RUUUUE) and she made an already great character even better, flaws and all.

but even better, everybody in that movie was so damn good. Elizabeth Banks was a great Effie, all enthusiasm and hilarious snobbery. Lenny Kravitz silenced all the haters (I hope so, at least) with his quiet, cool Cinna and I couldn't have been happier. I adore Cinna and his relationship with Katniss and I thought he did a great job in their scenes together. Oh god, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch was so damn perfect I could cry. I love Haymitch so much and I have so many Haymitch feelings, I could not be happier with him in this movie. His introduction to Katniss and Peeta on the train was just the right amount of drunk and disinterested/disconnected. He's seen off dozens of kids who never came back before, why would he think any different about these two at first? But then he gets to know them, sees Peeta's media savvy and, more importantly, Katniss' determination, ballsiness and skill and he, for the first time since he became a mentor, has hope that one of his kids will survive. And I love love loved that they added that scene where he goes to Seneca to persuade him to change the rules about having two winners along with the other scenes of him persuading sponsors to send Katniss medicine. It's so hard for Haymitch to care about anything and it was really great to see him care about Katniss from an outsider's perspective. (since it was often very hard for her to see that, especially in the first book.)

Speaking of perspectives, I think it's really interesting to see the differences in the book and the movie purely from the changes in perspective. With the book being entirely from Katniss' POV, we often only see her opinion on characters and situations, so it's really fun to get a different view, even if might not always work. Like her relationship with Peeta is a lot more ambiguous on screen, since we don't know that her feelings and kisses are all just for show and that she's confused and sometimes frustrated by Peeta's true intentions. We got that she was angry by Peeta saying he was in love with her right after the interview, but that was the only big thing. (and one of my friends who I saw it with hadn't read the book and he said he definitely did not get that she wasn't interested in him.) I have to assume that all of this will be more apparent in Catching Fire, especially since a lot of the beginning half of that book is about Katniss sucking at pretending to be in love with Peeta.

what else...oh yes, ALL OF MY TEARS FOR RUE. I knew Rue would destroy me, I loved her and I cried when she died in the book and that scene just devastated me in the movie. and when they flashed to District 11? oh god, I was DONE. I love the scene in the book where Katniss receives the bread from them, but it would have been to hard to explain I think, so showing the first signs of rebellion and unrest was a really wonderful touch and it obviously worked, as I totally cried.

Oh also, Cato! I never had many opinions on the Careers, but that final scene with Cato on top of the cornucopia was really fucking good and Cato broke my heart a little with his speech about how he was trained to be a killer just to die. It really drove home how fucked up the Hunger Games are (as if that wasn't already obvious) and it set the tone for the richer districts following in Katniss' footsteps the other books. (sidenote: one thing I'm glad they did kinda change? they didn't make it apparent that the Muttations were the actual tributes and that was so upsetting that I'm okay with them just being giant dog things)

okay last thing: I have to say, I am SO unbelievably thrilled that a movie with such a strong female LEAD character, written by a female author, is going to be such a huge success. It can only mean good things for female authors and strong lead female characters in general. Also, on a more personal note, with these movies being filmed in NC, hopefully people will look at the pretty District 12 mountains and come visit and it will help our tourism industry, which is basically all we have anyway. so basically: YAY HUNGER GAMES MAKING BOATLOADS OF MONEY. \o/

curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal

2012-03-07T06:45:53Z

Hey y'all, how's tricks? I've been either incredibly bored or incredibly busy, so there hasn't been a ton for me to talk about on here. But I did watch all of Twin Peaks a few weeks ago, which I loved, even when it was terrible (Super Nadine and her eye patch are simultaneously the best and worst things to ever be on television. LOVE). And then this weekend, I finally got around to watching Firefly for the first time (I know, I'm late on everything) and wow, so many internet memes have meaning now!
So, I did really enjoy Firefly, but I think my expectations may have been a tad high going in (which happens with a lot of Whedon shows, I think, especially when you're in fandom. nothing wrong with it, but it happens because so many people love them) because I don't actually really like Mal? At least, it took me until the episode where they all have to abandon Serenity except for him because the engine's broken, to actually like him at all. I mostly didn't like how he treated Inara and he was generally kinda douchey, imo. Like, Jayne is also a giant douche, but he was supposed to be, so it didn't bother me as much. Also his hat.

But anyway, I love Zoe and Wash, like I knew I would. The badass lady/funny guy will always be my OTP of choice, in pretty much everything. So, we're gonna pretend that scene in Serenity never happened, okay? I mean, seriously. Honestly, it really bothers me that Wash dies and not just because he was one of my favorites. I feel like he died just because Joss wanted someone else to die. His death didn't have meaning, and while in war that is totally representative (like with Brian Austin Green in Terminator: SCC), it really just felt tacked on. Like, Shepherd's death was sad and everything, but his death represented the Alliance's total disregard for human life to get what they want and he had a very nice final moment with Mal and it was heartbreaking and touching. Wash just fucking died. And maybe it's conditioning for tons of movies/shows but if he was gonna die, I WANTED MORE CLOSURE DAMMIT. So, I've decided it didn't happen. Everything else in the movie happened, except for that. Totally did not. He and Zoe continued to be adorable and sexy and they had a baby when they were both ready and there would be more dinosaur toys and then they lived happily ever after the end.

Kaylee and Simon are great, too. I didn't ship them as much, but I loved them both. Kaylee had some of my favorite lines from the whole series ("The hell with this, I'm gonna live!" made me laugh more than anything from the movie. that and the vibrator line) and Simon is bad at people, something I always love. I was actually pretty indifferent about River until she became a ninja in the movie, but I did love Simon's devotion to her. And Inara is great, too, I especially loved her in the first episode where Saffron shows up.

sidenote: the use of Papyrus in this almost killed me dead. :( in 500 years, you would've thought the forces of the good in the universe would have eradicated that font from existence.

let's see, what else. I've been doing a lot of stuff for my mom the past few days (she's a real estate agent who has like 70 listings AND KEEPS PICKING UP MORE because she is fucking insane) to make money and keep busy. my former boss keeps trying to get me to come back (I am doing some freelance stuff for him) and I don't know how to say "lol no" in a way he will finally understand. (he's the worst, you guys. it took him over a month to pay me for the last batch of freelance work I did for him)

I also spent a chunk of time this weekend messing with my music. In college, I always made a new playlist every year of my favorite 25 songs (and one time, favorite 30 albums) but I hadn't since late 2008. I did it again last week and boy, has my taste changed. The albums were the most interesting to me. The top 4 stayed the same (London Calling, Morning View, Rio, Tommy) and probably always will, but MCR, Bright Eyes, Taking Back Sunday and Panic all fell off my list without much hesitation. I still enjoy that music, but it's just very rarely what I want to listen to anymore. And this makes me feel incredibly old.
It's just very weird when albums and bands that meant so much to you at a time at your life don't effect you anymore. Like, when I was 19-20 and in college, MCR (along with stuff like HIM and CKY, thanks Viva La Bam) was pretty much all I listened to. They're still in my Last.FM top 3. But I haven't listened to one of their albums in, honestly, probably over a year. I still love "Famous Last Words" and never skip it when it comes up on shuffle, but that's probably the only one of their songs I can say that about. And sure, people change, their taste changes, but what weirds me about this is that I still love Incubus, who were my favorite band when I was 14 and I can't imagine not loving Morning View and Make Yourself, simply because of what they meant to me as a teenager. I guess I figured that all the albums that meant just as much to me as a 20 year old would also have that staying power, but they're not and I just don't know why. Another album I fell in love with at that age is Arcade Fire's Funeral, which is #6 on my all time list, so it's not just an age thing. I'm sure part of it is fandom-related, but Empires, TAI, The Hush Sound and Fall Out Boy (who weren't on my list 4 years ago) are all on this now, so I don't think it's entirely to blame.

I guess the reason this has gotten me thinking so much is that it makes me feel grown up and not in the useful "Hey I can do stuff at the bank, now!" kind of way. So much of that music just isn't for my demographic anymore and it's weird to realize that the "cool, young, hip" music is for people younger than me. And because I am too ingrained in pop culture/advertising, this realization immediately made me feel ancient, even though I know I am not. I mean, it's okay, I don't want dub-step and whatever else you kids are into pushed on me, but it is one of those weird signs that I am getting older and then I have a mini-anxiety attack about nothing going on in my life. But, there is one good thing about this. I can now blame Adam Lazzara for making me feel like a failure and that is a nice feeling.

everything is empires and everything hurts

2012-02-17T05:42:33Z

guys I just got home from trivia and I only saw a little bit from the little I could use my phone but I can't fucking deal with Ryan leaving Empires at fucking all and my tumblr backread is all tears and seriously, what the actual fuck aren't they supposed to have a new album coming out like in the very near future and no one has ever said anything that would make me think Ryan wasn't happy and he's never acted like he was and Empires is small enough that I feel like this would not be so out of the goddamn blue like Al was always stand-offish and never gelled as well so the timing of that was weird but not super shocking but this is like insanely shocking and jesus fucking christ they were recording again three goddamn days ago and they just played a bunch of shows like two weeks ago and jesus FUCK I really can't comprehend this so hey, who wants to make this post a grieving/angry/confused/hoping it's a horrible joke place? please? :(

tumblr's down, so talk to me about Empires, lj

2012-02-01T03:40:36Z

So, Empires fans, can we talk about this new interview/performance video for a sec? (Empires starts at 14:45 btw). It's only two songs (Hello Lover and The Night is Young) and a few questions, but one of the questions is "What was your inspiration for The Night Is Young?" and Sean said it was Ryan and that he writes a lot of songs about the band, Hello Lover is about Max and Hell's Heroes is about Tom and TNIY is definitely him "channeling Ryan." I can't. I don't care if he's just bullshitting or what but this is now my canon and I am so delighted by them that I could cry.

whenever they've been quiet for awhile, I don't really forget that I love them, but I do forget just how much I adore them and how they make me so happy. I really hope that Garage Hymns is coming out sooner than later because I need lots more of them in my life right now.

And if you don't wanna talk about Empires, talk to me about Parks and Rec and how the end of this deleted scene from last week's episode is the best thing ever.

I'm still sick but whatever this picture exists

2011-12-31T22:02:41Z

Things I love about this picture:
- Tom Conrad and William Beckett IN A PHOTOGRAPH TOGETHER
- Tom looks more like a lumberjack werewolf than ever
- Bill looks 14 years old
- They have their arms around each other
- Tom Conrad and William Beckett IN A PHOTOGRAPH TOGETHER

Happy New Year to me, indeed.

hooray for being conscious long enough to make an lj post

2011-12-30T00:22:20Z

Hello all! I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend or regular weekend or whatnot. I had a decent Christmas, except I immediately came down with a shitty sinus infection that I'm still fighting. Today's been the first day I left the house since Christmas Eve and been able to sit up at my computer for an extended period of time. I've mostly been watching a bunch of DVDs I got for Christmas and playing the new video games I got, which is how I like to spend the days following Christmas anyway, I just felt terrible while doing it.

Anyway, this post is for some drive-by links/recs because, hey, why not?

- My Top Ten Albums of the Year. I also uploaded a song from each album in that post, if you're into that sort of thing.

And Yuletide recs! I'm still making my way through the fandoms I'm interested in, but of what I've read so far, here's what I've really liked:

22 Short Fics About Abed Nadir Community, Abed gen. Such a great character piece about Abed and done in a style that is suited perfectly for him. The section, "Pillars", is especially wonderful.

Write Your Name On The Earth In Gasoline Party Down, Henry/Casey. Casey gets hired to be on SNL and she has to figure out how her relationship with Henry figures into it. Casey's voice is spot-on and it's a really nice story for them.

Everything SNL, Seth Meyers and Stefon, they go on a summer vacation together and it's funny and cute.
To Answer Both Your Questions SNL, Seth/Stefon, Stefon takes Seth to a ridiculous club and they end up together. Basically, there should be more Seth Meyers/Stefon fic.

What to Expect When Expecting Parks and Rec, Andy/April, they're having a baby! One of many Parks baby fics and this one is really funny and written in the mockumentary style of the show, I really loved it.

The Queen of Carrot Flowers Parks and Rec, Andy/April, another baby fic, this one a bit more serious but in a good way, and includes a great Ron and April scene.

Present Parks and Rec, Ben/Leslie, Ben and Leslie are having a baby! And Leslie is mayor and it's super sweet, just how I like my having a baby fic.

Pretty Sure Things Parks and Rec, Tom/Jean-Ralphio, five things Jean-Ralphio did for Tom's birthday. My life needs more fic like this immediately.

fandom navel gazing

2011-12-22T05:58:06Z

oh livejournal, what the fuck? The lack of subject lines for comments seems pretty much like a direct fuck you guys to fandom and its numerous anon/kink/whatever memes. And everything else is just ugly or stupid. Like, choosing an icon in comments! What the hell, bros? It takes 10 times as long for each icon to upload AND they're not in alphabetical order! Bros, come on. COME ON.

I know a lot of people are moving to dreamwidth but I doubt I am, at least for the time being. my paid account won't run out over here until September and I really just hate DW's Valentine's Day color scheme. I'm kind of fandomless right now, anyway, so I don't think I'm missing a ton by staying over here, especially since I get a lot of my fandom fix from over saturated Tumblr gif sets.

It is weird, for the first time since I got an LJ, I'm really without a fandom. I mean, I still care about Empires and JWalk and other various bandom people, but there's not really enough of bandom left that also cares about those people to really count for anything. I love Community and Parks & Rec, but those fandoms just don't seem to mesh with a lot of what I like. And I'm reading comics again, but most of comics fandom is for the movies (which is totes cool, I'm not knocking it) and they're not what I'm particularly into. I guess I'm just really spoiled from bandom, because we had such a great (albeit crazy) little community there for awhile and there was so much constant new canon, that it was hard to get bored with it and now, everything else just bores me. That always has been the advantage of RPF, but after Ryan Dunn died and TAI broke up (on two very different ends of the tragedy scale, I realize), it's kind of put a downer on it for me. Like, for instance, I would totally be into Community RPF but that show won't last forever and then I'll just be bummed again. and idk, everything else I like isn't fandomy (lol paranormal reality shows) or it just doesn't grab me in a fandom way. tl;dr basically I'm a lady without a fandom home because I'm picky and then I get sad about it.

but hey, I'm sort of unemployed now (I'm going to do freelance stuff for my former boss but not until after the holidays. my mother also wants me to do a bunch of stuff for her. I also need to redo my website) so I do have more time to get into things. Besides Dr. Who (because it's on my list but I've been spoiled by tumblr for the big storylines so I'm not dying to get into it right now), what fandoms are you guys currently into that you recommend? or alternatively, come complain about these fuck awful comment pages in my comments! or tell me if there is a fandom for Ryan Gosling's general existence in which he takes ballet class for no reason (TRUFAX), because I would be on that train in a heartbeat.

I like year-end memes/lists more than is normal

2011-12-20T06:35:33Z

I usually wait until after Christmas to do this meme, but eh, no harm in doing it now. I still need to write up my top albums/songs list too but that will have to wait for another day.

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before? won a night of bar trivia all by myself

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't make 'em because I fail at enough stuff already

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? besides a good LJ friend, no one I'm close to, but lots of Facebook friends and, weirdly enough, a lot of my mom's friends.

4. Did anyone close to you die? 3 cats disappeared without a trace and our dog and 3 cats died. so...it was not the best year.

5. What countries did you visit? nowhere, the only places I traveled were to Cherokee and to Iowa

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? I would seriously like to get laid on a semi-regular basis. Also, a job that doesn't ruin my life.

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? The day Tigerlilly died, the weekend my friend Adam and I went to Cherokee, the night I stayed up until 7am with good friends having great conversation on a porch and Empires/DH2 in one night

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? telling my boss I was moving on, winning trivia by myself, finding Roxy and taking care of her without any help

9. What was your biggest failure? I feel like a failure for not being able to find our missing cats. I don't know what else I could have done (two of them lived outside, never left the porches) but I feel like I failed them. On a lighter note, I also failed at not eating all of the cheese.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I retwisted my knee in hilarious fashion this summer. it didn't hurt for as long as it did last summer, at least.

11. What was the best thing you bought? I bought a lot of shirts at Gap and Old Navy recently on ridiculous sales. I also got a new phone that I love. Oh and I bought the omnibus of X-Statix, that's definitely up there.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? my trivia teams. they have all come to mean so much to me and as someone who sucks at making new friends, it's really wonderful to have them in my life.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? my (sort of former?) boss's. he is such an idiotic asshole, it is amazing.

14. Where did most of your money go? gas, shirts, booze

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Finally getting to see Empires as a full band, Deathly Hallows 2, getting back into comics, all of my close friends finally being home at the same time (and permanently), Roxy, who is sitting on my lap and just sneezed adorably.

16. What song will always remind you of 2011? Empires "The Night is Young", pretty much all Adele, The Kooks "Junk of the Heart", Paul Simon "Graceland" and The Replacements "Bastards of Young"

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
happier or sadder? Happier
thinner or fatter? totally fatter. I went up a pants size this year, which I would like to work on the coming months. I just want to get back to where I was and start exercising at all. I am the lol laziest
richer or poorer? Very lucky to be richer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Graphic fucking design. I have completely lost it. Almost all of it. This is more mentally draining than I can even articulate.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? burying animals. such a depressing answer, I know, but it's all I can think of. 2011 was unbearable for me and my mom and our pets.

20. How will you be spending Christmas? as usual, at home with my mom and her boyfriend.

21. Did you fall in love in 2011? no. the "infamous" craigslist dude continues to give me the most mixed signals ever and I am too stupid/irritated by it to really give a shit anymore. I mean, he is super hot, so like, I wouldn't say no? but it probably wouldn't last long anyway. blah.

22. How many one-night stands? ha

23. What was your favorite TV program? Breaking Bad, Community, Parks and Rec and ANTM All Stars. (still want to know what the fuck that finale was all about)

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Taking Back Sunday. I still can't get over what assholes they were in that AltPress article. YOU RUINED CUTE KANGAROO PICTURES, YOU DICKS.

25. What was the best book you read? Chew and The Unwritten for comics, Bossypants by Tiny Fey and while they're not the best, I did enjoy The Hunger Games (well, mostly. Mockingjay >:()

26. What was your greatest musical discovery? The Replacements and Paul Simon (somehow, I'd never really listened to him before). most of my favorite music this year was new music by artists I already liked.

27. What did you want and get? Seeing Empires as a full band, got a non-awkward hug from Tom Conrad, great times with my friends, a wonderful and tiny kitten

28. What did you want and not get? I never did move out, but things are less tense here. I would love to move out, don't get me wrong, but my mom is gone most of the time, so it's kinda like living on my own. besides, I need these cats more than I can admit without sounding crazy.

29. What was your favorite film of this year? I have a top 5! Deathly Hallows 2, Bridesmaids, X-Men First Class, Fast Five and The Muppets. That seriously pretty much encapsulates all of my interests.

30. What did you do on your birthday? I was completely snowed in on my birthday, so I played lots of Epic Mickey and Pokemon SoulSilver. I'm so glad the weather is less shit this winter, I will hopefully be able to actually do shit.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? having a better, more creatively fulfilling job

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011? black or grey pants, threadless shirts, plaid, cardigans, my red, white and blue ProKeds, wolf shirts, friendship bracelets.

33. What kept you sane? friends, trivia nights, good TV, my cats

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Amy Poehler, the douchebags from Ghost Hunters, the entire cast of Community and Dan Harmon, CreepyChan, Empires and their hatred for stylists

35. What political issue stirred you the most? all the anti-choice bullshit going down in the NC government.

36. Who did you miss? my pets, Ryan Dunn, fandom friends I've drifted away from.

37. Who was the best new person you met? I technically met them last year, but my trivia team, because now I've known them for a whole year and I like them even more.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011: Loss in an inevitable part of life, but that doesn't make it suck any less.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: You've got a little of the hard times, baby Hard times, b-b-b-b-b-b-b-baby Empires, "Hard Times"