Hey, y'all! I hope you had a good Thanksgiving if you celebrate and a great weekend if you don't. I had amaaaaaazing food and lots of it, so I'm generally feeling pretty good. I also finished the very last episode of Friday Night Lights and cried like a baby, watched every aired episode of Happy Endings (which is fun! I like it!), and started The Walking Dead, which I have decided how I feel about yet, as much as I love post-apocalyptic stuff. Also I am slightly ahead on NaNo! So I will definitely be writing 50,000 words this year! Yay me!

And I'm thinking about what I'm thankful for, and I serendipitously ended up reading this article which is old but awesome and all about how Young People Today (Gens X and Y, apparently) are obsessed with Not Looking Stupid and so never want to Be Seen Caring Too Much, and you know what? I recognize that in a lot of people I know, especially my smarter real life friends. But reading it made me sad, thinking about what kind of a tiny life that must be, except then it made me think about the internet and all of y'all and I was reminded that there are a lot of people out there who Don't Care about Being Seen Caring Too Much and who just embrace being in love with things and being passionate and loving what they love and how I think that that's one of the more important things in life.

Which makes me think of one of my favorite quotes from John Green:

…because nerds like us are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuff… Nerds are allowed to love stuff, like jump-up-and-down-in-the-chair-can’t-control-yourself love it. Hank, when people call people nerds, mostly what they’re saying is ‘you like stuff.’ Which is just not a good insult at all. Like, ‘you are too enthusiastic about the miracle of human consciousness.’

I'm thankful for fandom as a community. It can turn ugly, as we all know, but most of that ugliness comes from a place of Caring Too Much. And yes, we should all learn not to take things so seriously that shipping wars become the end of the world or we attack other people for liking a character we hate or vice-versa or whatever, yes learning those lessons is a good and necessary thing. But I think I'd rather flounder into a big mess because of Caring Too Much rather than just live my life so tepidly in a constant attempt not to be Mockable in any way. (BTW, there's a Happy Endings episode about that, and I loooooved it). I care, y'all. Those silly characters I reblog gifs of on my tumblr and write fic about? I love them so much that sometimes I feel like I'm going to just explode with the force of it. I really, really do. And I care about other things, too, like justice and kindness and basically just being a good person and trying to make life easier for other people if I can. And I don't care if that makes me Not Cool. I don't. I am a geek through-and-through, and you know what? I love that about myself, and I love that about y'all, and I love all of you for providing me with a place where I can just revel in that love whenever I want to. Fandom, to me, is a place where people love things and get excited about things and get upset about things and basically just scream at the universe that they are human and so they care. And how amazing is that?

Anyway, my apologies for being sappy, but y'all are awesome. ♥

I'm going to Blast! tonight! OMG SO EXCITED! I got to see them the last time they came through (which was...a lot of years ago) and I always watch them when they're on PBS and also I have the album of course, but I am JUST AS EXCITED this time around.

For those of you who don't know what it is, it's basically Drum Corps on steroids on stage. (For those of you who don't know what Drum Corps is, I feel sorry for you, and you can read about it here. It's kind of like competitive marching band on steroids on tour). I grew up on Drum Corps and until a year or two ago, I went with my daddy (and sometimes my mama and sister) every summer when they came through. My daddy grew up going to it, and both of my parents were band geeks, so it's kind of a family tradition ("Drum Corps does it better" is often heard in our house after listening to basically any kind of music. We say it even when it's not true). Which I realize makes us a very geeky family, but I do not even care. LIVE MUSIC. LOVE. So when we heard Blast! was back in the country (they were in Japan for a while, I think?) and coming to town, we of course immediately bought tickets. And for once we have REALLY GREAT SEATS.

I am going to cry during "Malaguena," y'all. I already know. It's my favorite.



Anyway, I just needed to briefly geek out about that. And now I am going back to work on my seasonal_spuffy entry because my posting day is TOMORROW.

ENVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MY FUTURE HUSBAND JUST GOT CAST IN A PILOT I MIGHT DIE OF HAPPINESS EVEN IF THE SUMMARY SOUNDS A LITTLE SILLY I DON'T CARE ENVER IS PLAY A SEXY CON AND THERE WILL BE FAMILY TIMES I MIGHT DIE.

NO BUT SERIOUSLY.

The only two other thoughts I have are:

1. I am not thrilled with the other lead. That guy really bugged me on Heroes. Remember when I watched that show? HAHAHA!
2. elisi and I were just talking yesterday about how Enver needed to get cast in something soon and LO AND BEHOLD. QUICK, MRS. DARCY! TALK ABOUT HOW I NEED A MILLION DOLLARS, OKAY?

To reiterate:

ENVER. GJOKAJ. ON. MY. TELEVISION. SCREEN.

So guess what I'm doing right now when I should be NaNoing? Or at the very least replying to your comments? Or cleaning my house or a dozen other things that are far more important?

I'm race-swap casting Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

OMG Y'ALL I'M SO EXCITED. And I found the world's second best cheekbones! Move over, Marsters! I've found the race!swapped!Spike! (And lots of other people, but I'm most excited about finding Spike.)

I'm having an extremely hard time finding people for Riley and Oz and Faith. Extremely hard. But I will prevail! Because this is way, way, way too much fun!

I seriously can't believe I finished this! It's been stewing in the back of my mind for months and months and months, but I almost never thought it would come to fruition. But here it is! Much thanks to everyone who really wanted to see it, to eilowyn and madcap_shiny for helping with the casting (Lexi, you deserve an AWARD for finding me a Weevil!), and to marketchippie for helping me figure out how to do the picspam.

I had originally thought I'd write an explanation for each pic, but now that I've assembled all the pictures, I think they stand reasonably well on their own. But if you don't quite understand the reasoning for any of them, please let me know--I'd be glad to tell you my thought process!

Notes: I've stuck to seasons 1 and 2 only because, well, I've never actually watched all of S3. Also, this is my first ever picspam, so it's not as aesthetically pleasing as I'd wished, but I hope you enjoy and that it doesn't make your eyes bleed!

( we used to be friends a long time ago.... )

It’s angearia‘s birthday! And because I’m the Worst Person Ever, I don’t have fic written for her (I’m working on it. It’ll happen this week!). I do, however, have something she (and eowyn_315) has been waiting for for a while now: my West Wing reaction post! So I hope you enjoy reading it and that it makes your birthday better!

Yay!

This is my reaction to the first two seasons, which is all I’ve seen so far. I’m sure I’m leaving stuff out and forgetting things, so feel free to throw questions at me. Also, I’m probably not going to read through it before I post it, so if there’s lots of grammar!fail (which there probably will be) just ignore it. Or point it out to me and I’ll fix it. But don’t point out the fact that this has no structure to it at all and I just randomly jump from topic to topic as it enters my mind. Don’t, because I already know that.

It’s long and obnoxiously flaily and stupidly full of random capitalization and I’m warning you now, okay? Brace yourself.


( nonstop flailing here )

Before I close, a note: I'm not horny (and if I was, I wouldn't tell you), I just wanted to use this moodtheme option because there isn't an "in love" option, and basically I want to make out with this show the way Donna wants to make out with Eric. So there.

So some of you know about my relationship with Lost: I watched it religiously from the night the pilot aired till about halfway through S3, and then we went our separate ways (I distinctly remember the show being on on Wednesdays because I had to set my VCR to record it when I went to church and it was a laborious task. Also, the pilot aired on my sister's birthday. These are my most vivid memories of the show. Ha!). I've honestly not been all that interested in getting back into it because it just wasn't doing it for me, but the RL BFF and others are always telling me to watch it. I informed them that I would wait until the finale aired in order to know if it was worth investing in.

So here's where y'all come in. As you know, my to-watch list is epically long. I want you to help me cull it down to only the essentials, and the question is whether or not Lost belongs on said list.

I know y'all are in the really-emotional-reaction stage right now, but perhaps after you calm down a bit you can come over here and let me know what you think. In a spoiler-free (past halfway through S3) way, please.

As proof that I miss school a whole freakin' lot, I've assembled a number of questions that might help guide you in your Educate Lauren about Lost commentary. Of course you don't have to answer all of these--I'm not your professor, after all, though that'd be pretty cool--but I thought it'd be a good place to start. Think of these as those discussion questions teachers give you to get you to talk about The Scarlet Letter or whatever. Except hopefully this show doesn't suck the way that buck does. Plus: I miss school.


Some questions:
1. Was the ending both emotionally and logically satisfying? Did it feel natural and right or like the writers were just flailing about trying to wrap things up? [*coughBSGcough*]
2. In your opinion, does the show as a whole hang together well? Is the arc arc-shaped?
3. Do the characters drive the plot instead of the other way around?
4. Even if all the questions weren't answered, were enough of them answered that the rest of the ambiguity felt intentional and not just like dropping the ball?
5. How do you feel about the overall portrayal of women/people of color/etc.?
6. Talk to me about pacing--good or bad?
7. Characterization: consistent? Interesting? Not undermined for the benefit of the plot? [*coughgleecough*]
8. On a scale of 1 to 10, how imperative is it that I watch this show?
9. Feel free to flail or rant or whatever. Just do it spoiler-free!

Um, I don't know what's going on, but apparently MY FUTURE HUSBAND MR. ENVER "I'M A THOUSAND TIMES MORE TALENTED THAN ANYONE ELSE ON THE PLANET" GJOKAJ IS GOING TO BE STARRING IN/PRODUCING A WEBSERIES. YOU HEARD IT here FIRST.

FIRST FELICIA, THEN NPH, NOW ENVER.

THE INTERNET OWNS MY SOUL.

THE BEST PART? HIS CHARACTER'S NAME IS "BRON THE LANDSCAPIST" (that's not the best part) SO READ THIS BIT OF THE SUMMARY:

And when exactly will Bron the Landscapist ever wear a shirt?

OH. HELLS. YES.

THINGS have been happening in my life lately. I'll probably post a rambly entry later about this. But first!


I shouldn't watch the Oscars. I never watch the Emmys because I care about TV so much and the right people never win, and it's better for me to avoid impotent rage, which is all TV awards shows stir in me.

I don't get quite so worked up about the Oscars, but still: I always end up yelling at the screen. Always. Usually with lots of people around, though I don't know if the party my friends and I had planned tonight will fall through (long story). Regardless of where I am, though, I'll be glued to the television, even though I shouldn't.

And I'm getting this party started already.

Things that have pissed me off already:
1. One nomination for Bright Star. And it's in costume design. And it won't win (though it probably should).
2. Inglourious Basterds has no chance at winning best picture. If it loses to The Hurt Locker, I will be okay with this. If it loses to Avatar (which is my spoiler pick--I think HL is going to win, but if anything else does, it'll be Avatar), I'm going to be PISSED.
3. Sandra Bullock is probably going to win for The Blind Side, and if she doesn't it'll be Meryl Streep for Julie and Julia. The former annoys me because there's no way her performance was really the best performance by a female actress this year. The second annoys me because I am sick and tired of the Academy giving away any acting award to someone who can do a reasonable imitation of another famous person. It's getting ooooooold. Besides, I've never been that taken with Meryl Streep. I find her technically perfect but emotionally uninvolving. I always feel at a distance from her, like I'm watching MERYL STREEP. I realize that I'm the only one who feels this way, but it's still true.
4. I haven't seen any of the foreign films this year. I don't know anything about any of them. *sob*
5. Does anybody think the main actors category nominations this year are weak? I mean, I love Morgan Freeman, but Invictus is not his best work (again: imitation!), and what is it with Hollywood's hard-on for George Clooney? He's so smarmy! He always plays himself! Firth and Renner probably deserve it (haven't seen their films yet), but both Streep and Bullock seem like like they only got onto the ticket based on their names, and possibly even Mirren, too. The supporting actor categories are always more interesting, but seriously? Penelope Cruz for Nine? Riiiight. Matt Damon is wonderful in general (not to mention attractive) but he definitely didn't deserve a nomination. At least Waltz and Mo'Nique will win their categories.


Things that are actually good:
1. Kathryn Bigelow will probably win best director. This is epic news. I haven't seen Hurt Locker yet, but I do not even care. A woman. Winning best director. For an action film. WIN.
2. Christoph Waltz is totally going to win best supporting actor. YAY!
3. Up! will win best animated picture. Which it deserves based on this alone:



Okay, I totally just cried again.

Anyway! Does anyone else have feelings about the whole Oscar thing? Am I the only one who gets way too into this?

Zone is MOODY FREAKIN' SPURGEON.

I love the universe!

Thank you to dollsome for enlightening me.