aftertherockets

THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR IS NEARLY UPON US.



TROY BARNES FOR THE WIN, Y'ALL.

PEOPLE OF EARTH MY FLIST,

You might think I'm being dramatic when I say: THE PROMISE OF FANDOM STEEL CAGE MATCH MARCH MADNESS 2010 IS THE ONLY THING THAT GOT ME THROUGH THE SUCK THAT IS FEBRUARY, but I'm not really lying.

It is the Year of the Ladies, my friends, and this is where you come in. FANDOM NEEDS YOUR HELP. Have an LJ? YOU CAN VOTE!

SCI-FI/FANTASY: Vote for Donna Noble. A vote for Donna Noble is a vote for THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN THE WHOLE OF CREATION. Ten would want it that way.



Right? Right.

DRAMA: Bones is a show that I resisted catching up with for years, and thanks to constant reruns and a current season that has so far been pretty amazing, it has the past six months or so been my favorite thing ever. Now, look. I'm not made of stone. I am not immune to the charms of DBor and one Seeley Booth. BUT TEMPERANCE BRENNAN HAS STOLEN MY HEART. PLEASE FIND IT IN YOURS TO VOTE FOR HER.

TEEN: There are a lot of close races here, but the one I care most about is Tami Taylor. Friday Night Lights is amazing, there isn't a character on that show I don't adore to pieces. But as much as it might seem like Coach Taylor is the center that show revolves around, I'm pretty sure it would collapse in on itself without Tami. PLUS I COMPLETELY COVET HER HAIR, AND THAT IS TOTALLY AS LEGIT AS ANY REASON TO VOTE FOR HER. Also, in this bracket, you will find the incomparable Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester, and I swear to the teen bracket TV gods, if she doesn't make it past prelims, I'm not speaking to any of you.

COMEDY: I'm actually not terribly invested here, these are going mostly either the way I want or expect, except - can we all just right now agree that NPH is super super awesome, and not vote for Barney Stinson, who is not currently super super awesome? I know, I know, it feels like sacrilege, but you know who still manages to make me laugh every week, even when the rest of the show/characters don't seem to be trying too hard? MARSHALL ERICKSEN. Who is not an awesome lady, I KNOW, but but but but! DO IT ANYWAY.

LET'S GET IT DONE, PEOPLE. Need more help deciding who is awesome and needs your votes? Try here, here, and here.

STEEL CAGE!!

Hi, hello! Some things!

1. Book recs! I need them. There is this chain of used bookstores about 45 minutes from my house called Friends of the Library, they get their books from the county's public libraries and various donations, and everything in there is super super cheap. My roommate and I have started going once every couple of months or so, and every time I walk out with 8-10 decent quality used books for under $20. HOWEVER! Whenever I go in, I'm pretty overwhelmed because I don't actually know what I'm looking for. So, book recs! I need them! What are you guys reading? What have you read recently? I'm especially looking for some sci-fi/fantasy recs in the Gaiman and Pratchett vein, but anything will do really. Walking down those aisles it's hard to tell what will be fun and what will be straight up not something I want to read, since I don't have anything to go on but a book jacket blurb. It would be helpful to have a list of things to look for! :)

2. A friend of mine from high school sent me a link to this, and it is basically the greatest music video EVER MADE. Surprise marching band attack! Everyone ever needs to watch it. RIGHT NOW.

( OK Go - This Too Shall Pass )

Seriously, are you not grinning from ear to ear right now?

3. Psych returns tonight! I am very excited! I don't know if you know this, but there is very little I love more in this world than a good Hall & Oates dance party. And the best song for a good Hall & Oates dance party? Priiiiiivate eyes! Are watching you! They see your eeeeevery move! So pretty much? This is the best promo ever ever ever:

( You can't escape my! Private eyes! )

I'm not which part I like most - Gus' eye-pop, or Lassiter quietly drumming in the background. Or Shawn's mullet. It's all gold.

4. I got nothin' else. Book recs! Give me yours! :D

THERE IS SNOW EVERYWHERE. I have spent the entire day in my pjs, dancing around my house like an idiot, wrapping presents, watching Psych, and generally enjoying not having to feel guilty for not leaving the house. :D

( SNOWPOCAPLYSE! )

It's just that we almost NEVER get this much snow, and certainly not this early in winter. IT'S EXCITING. I'm supposed to pick my roommate up from the airport tomorrow afternoon, but somehow I don't see that happening so much.

HI OHMYGOSH I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN NEARLY TWO MONTHS WHAAAT??

Life is alternately hectic and boring. Things of import:

1. I AM GOING TO LONDON IN A LITTLE MORE THAN TWO WEEKS. It came together sort of quickly, although by now I've know about it for awhile. Basically, my job sucks and my life sucks and it is all very awful, except for when it isn't, like now. I think my boss feels extra guilty about the fact that I've worked here for four years and never called in sick and never taken more than three days off at a time and never actually gone on vacation and all that. He's been trying to send me on vacation for about a year and a half, and I successfully fended him off because, whatever, I don't like it when people do things for me. But when he offered to send me to London, I pretty much couldn't pass that up.

So! I'll be staying with _titania_ from September 14-20. I have spent much of the last week trying to decide how best to fill up those six days. Thoughts? Suggestions? (EEEEEEEEEEEEE SO EXCITED!)

2. I've been intermittently training for the 3 Day walk. I really need to step it up a bit, because pretty much everyone I'll be with will be ridiculously disappointed in me if I don't do the entire 60 miles. I'm starting to get really geared up for it, though. Check out my website here!

3. Please to be checking out this post by nightchik as soon as you humanly can. I think I could TRY to love that Serenity vid more, but I don't think it would be possible.

4. SUMMER IS NEARLY OVER YOU GUYS. My roommate has already started back to school with her little kiddies. We finished our runs of both Doctor Who and Farscape (I've never re-watched the entire series start-to-finish since the first time I saw it, was fun! Esp with someone who'd never seen it before!), and I am SO READY for fall TV.

I have to go to Baltimore and file some tax stuff now, otherwise there would be more, I'M SURE. Hi! How are youuuuuuu??

I don't know why I'm so overtired today, but I really feel like if I don't get some work to do or something to occupy myself with here soon I'm going to pass out right at my desk. I'm undercaffeinated, but the thought of a cup of coffee right now is making my stomach turn.

Anyway, the real reason for this post. I love 12 of 12, and I've never done it before. So I actually remembered my camera yesterday and gave it a try, and it was a lot harder than I thought it would be.

( 12 of 12 )

Just saw this link via Whedonesque: "I, Malcom."

So, what was it like to be Mal? I don't know. ... I guess, imagine wanting, all your life, to be able to fly. Daydreaming about it, fantasizing about it. Imagine that flying was all you ever wanted. Then, for a few months, somebody gave you wings.
... Ooo. That's good. I'm going to write that down.

How do I arrange it so that I get to sit down and have dinner with that man some day? Can we make that happen?

I gave great advice, too. I said, "My uncle Alex Vonnegut, a Harvard educated life insurance salesman who lived at 5033 Pennsylvania Street, taught me something very important. He said when things were really going well we should be sure to notice it.

"He was talking about simple occasions, not great victories: maybe drinking lemonade on a hot afternoon in the shade, or smelling the aroma of a nearby bakery, or fishing and not caring if we catch anything or not, or hearing somebody all alone playing a piano really well in the house next door.

"Uncle Alex urged me to say this out loud during such epiphanies: 'If this isn't nice, what is?'"

-- Timequake



If you really want to hurt your parents, and you don't have the nerve to be gay, the least you can do is go into the arts. I'm not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.

-- A Man Without a Country


It's strange to live in a world where Kurt Vonnegut doesn't. So it goes.

Real life is seriously kicking my ass these days. In case you were wondering what happened to me.

Good things, though? The cookie swap was yesterday and I made out with a ton of cookies made by people who are better at baking than I am, which--awesome, and most of the cookies aren't even chocolatey, so double win. AND Tricia came over last night and we watched Love Actually, which always manages to give me warm fuzzies, so yay. ANNNND I hung out with Stew over the weekend. We were supposed to be Christmas shopping, but I only managed to buy one thing, and I still have no idea what to do for my family and I'm fast approaching brokesville, so I don't know about all that. But, happy things! We hung out and watched the Grinch and all was well.

Other than that: ( Memes for the bored. )