I definitely have a type...

I do have a type.

1. Skinny, even lanky

2. British. I've never actually met a skinny Brit, but based purely on the BBC, I'd love them.

3. Nerdy. Not Star Wars Kid nerdy (although a love of Star Wars is kind of a must), but more like the whole geek chic thing. People like Joss Whedon, Felicia Day, Nathan Fillion, and Xander from Buffy. Wow, I am really intrenched in the Whedonverse.

Skinny, British, and nerdy are my trifecta. Not all of those attributes have to be filled (generally I'm good as long as you've got the nerd thing down), but I'm kind of helpless when they are combined. Add those to the scifi/fantasy genres and I don't stand a chance.

Here are my trifecta of fictional men right now that encompass my trifecta of attributes:

1. The Doctor (Doctor Who)

The tenth to be precise. I know a lot of people like Matt Smith, but David Tennant will always be my Doctor. Best part about this, not only does The Doctor encompass the trifecta, David Tennant himself does as well. I know Scotland isn't really Britain, but it's all the same general area and any accent from across the pond is awesome.

2. Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Oh, Spike. My first real fictional obsession. He may not seem like a nerd, what with his fake platinum hair, leather coat, and fangs, but it's there. For sure when it comes to watching Passions, and before he was sired (just go with it), William was a total nerd. Also, I like to think that Andrew got him into Doctor Who during season 7. James Marsters, who plays Spike, is in no way British, and I have no idea if he's really a nerd. I might know if I celebrity stalked him a little more, but I'm just not interested in James if he's not being Spike.

3. Merlin (Merlin)

Merlin is the newest show (and fictional character) I've fallen in love with. The BBC produces some quality television. Anyway, Merlin epitomizes the medieval nerd. He's also super thin and the fact that he's British goes without saying. Colin Morgan is Irish which I'm still more than fine with. Since I'm very new to this world of magic and dragons and Arthur (at least the BBC's interpretation of it), I know very little about Colin Morgan. But come on. He plays Merlin for a living. He's got to have at least a bit of nerd in him. Best part about this, he's only a year older than me in real life whereas David Tennant is 42 this month and James Marsters turns 50 later this year.

When I get a real job...

The last day of class is April 20th. Graduation is May 3rd. My graduation trip to Europe from myself is from May 7th to the 27th. After that, it's time to (kind of) grow up and get a real job.

I'm actually looking forward to it. I have been for years. To have a salary, health insurance, to not have my parents claim me as a dependent... It's going to be great. Hard and probably really crappy financially, but I'm still excited nonetheless. So excited in fact, that I'm giving you a list of things I'm going to do once I get a real job.

1) I will live on my own. I don't know if this has always appealed to me, but it certainly does now. The older I get, the more I hate roommates. I could easily live with one or two friends, but I am SO over moving in with random people. I'm going to have my own place, with my own mess, my own food, and no one will ever annoy me with their country music or Biggest Loser marathons.

2) I will read like crazy. I technically have time to read while I'm in school, but I'm never motivated to do so. My life is so crazy that when I get home at 8 at night, I don't want to stimulate my brain any more than is absolutely necessary. That will be fixed once I have one job and work (hopefully) normal hours. I'll read the crazy number of books I've bought but never read and then I'll go out and buy more and actually read them when I buy them. That's a fantastic thought.

3) I will catch up on all the TV shows I've been meaning to watch. Treme, Breaking Bad, Torchwood, Being Human, Terriers, Boardwalk Empire, the original Doctor Who, The Sara Connor Chronicles, Louis, Twin Peaks, Nurse Jackie, and The United States of Tara, to name a few. I love television. I don't care if you judge me for loving TV so much because it's thoroughly entertaining.

4) I will buy a queen sized bed. I've been wanting to graduate from my twin for some time now, but I never wanted to until I was settled somewhere (in the past 7 years I've never lived anywhere for longer than a year) because moving a queen bed sucks a lot.

5) I will live in one place longer than a year. That's another fantastic thought.

6) I will buy real furniture. Right now most of my stuff is just a hodgepodge of things I've collected over the years. I think of all the furniture I have, I've actually bought just two pieces: a chaise and a desk chair. Unless you count a small lamp. That's not to say I don't have nice things. I have the coolest lamp in existence and an end table that just needs a coat of paint to bring it out of the 70s (thanks to my grandma for these items) in addition to a long, black dresser that I traded my sister for. Oh, and there's my TV too. Let's not forget that. If we're counting electronics, I've bought 3 pieces of furniture... and a PS3. But that shouldn't count. Neither should the TV - I don't know if that would be considered "furniture." Anyway, I'll buy nice things that match each other and decorate and make my living space look like a real person lives there.

7) I will start taking pictures again. I'll even save up for a digital SLR. I see some of my favorite photographs on my wall every day and it makes me sad I don't do that anymore. I wasn't great by any means, but I was always pretty proud of my close-up nature shots. There's also one of Arlington in the fog that I absolutely adore. It'll be fun to do that again.

8) I will start playing the clarinet (and maybe piano, saxophone, and flue) again. I miss playing more than any hobby I've all but given up since starting college (which is no small list). I never enjoyed playing solo as much as in an ensemble, but solo is absolutely better than nothing.

9) I'm going to (attempt to) build a DVD cabinet that looks like the TARDIS. Yes, I know how nerdy that sounds, but in reality it will be one of the coolest undertakings I will ever undertake.

Let's not think about how I'm going to pay for all of this. Or about the fact that I will have to start repaying my massive amounts of student loans. Please, let's not think about that.

I've always been in a hurry. My road instructor said I drove like I was in a hurry. I was in a hurry to get out of high school. I was in a hurry to finish college. I was in a hurry to get into grad school. Now I'm in a hurry to leave grad school. And I've always been in a hurry to grow up and move on. I think I'm perpetually trying to catch up with my siblings which will never happen since they're all so much older than me. At least I don't feel the need to catch up with them in terms of marriage and babies!

Ha. I just had a fun thought. On May 3rd I will have not only caught up with my siblings, but surpassed them all in terms of education :)

Embarking on Publication

Getting published is on my bucket list. I have an actual list and some of them are pretty silly since it's been an ongoing list-making process. Things like "make out in a cave" or "buy a house with a yard" haven't had appeal to me for years (probably about a decade with the former) so I've scribbled them out. Others, like visit Puerto Rico or go to The Daily Show will stay there until I actually do them. But at the bottom of the list (indicating the newest addition) is getting published.

I added this one towards the end of college. I was looking back at the four years previous and I regretted not working with any professor on any research. I have since rectified that in grad school and I'm actually working on two research projects, both of which will hopefully end in publication. One might not, but the other probably will. And guess what? My name will be listed as an author. I will submit a manuscript to a peer reviewed journal. I will present my findings at a conference in Boston. Assuming all goes well, that is.

Before all that happens though, I have to write an annotated bibliography. This is my second and like a moron, I put it off until the last minute. To keep up with the timeline for this conference in July, this needs to be done by Monday, meaning I have tonight and tomorrow to write it. I have eleven articles at this point and that should be good. Although inevitably as I read through the articles themselves and not just the abstracts, I will be forced to drop a couple due to their lack of any number of long research terms that I don't want to try and remember at this point, which means I'll have to find a few more.

Blah. This better be worth it.

Paper chain

Two of my friends in my program who I also work with did a great thing two weeks ago.

They created a paper chain counting down the end of school.

One for each week (way less daunting than one for each day).

At the end of the week, they write what they hated about that week and burn it.

I'm going to watch an episode of The Catherine Tate Show and make my own.

13 weeks...

12 if you don't count Spring Break (which I will since I'll be working my way through the "break").

My New Obsession

Doctor Who

Oh, the doctor. I haven't even watched all of it yet, but I still feel it worthy of blogging about. It's been playing on and off for the last forty-something years and the current series started in 2005. I'm really late jumping on the band wagon, but at least I'm on. Not only that, but I'm catching up. I need to before school starts cause I won't have any time after that.

(A few disclaimers before you get into this post. 1- I really like TV. So much so that I blog about it more than once. 2- I'm a nerd and a fangirl and I'm more than a few steps on the obsessive side of the scale. 3- My life while I'm going to school is constant school and work. During the breaks I give my mind a breather and watch a lot of television. If there's anything in these sentences that make you roll your eyes or sigh in a not endearing way, maybe you shouldn't continue reading.)

So let me tell you about how I jumped on the Doctor Who wagon. I vaguely remember seeing a couple episodes of the older series when I was young. However, there are a few things that lead me to believe that these vague memories are false. First, they had to have been reruns because the original series ended two years after I was born. Second, I can't remember where I watched them. Third, my family didn't get satellite TV until I was in high school. Fourth, my mind sometimes makes up things and passes them off on me as memory. Thus, I'm 99% sure I have never seen any of the older episodes. I did, however, know what Doctor Who was. Don't ask me why, but it's probably just in my genes. A love of scifi is pretty engrained into my family (well, at least two-thirds of us). Anyway, I knew that the new series existed, but I never watched it until I saw it on Netflix (and even then it took several months to watch the first episode).

That first episode was not impressive. It was campy (not in a bad way), fun, and I did like the character of The Doctor, but the character of Rose Tyler kind of bugged me and the villains that first episode were really just painful (mannequins came to life in that one). I watched the first episode and put it away for a couple of months. I was still in school and I didn't have a whole lot of time to get into a new show. After that though, it was like Doctor Who was everywhere. I remembered people I knew in the past who loved it, I met new people who loved it, and all of the "geek" boards I followed on Pinterest were constantly pinning things about Doctor Who.

Then Christmas Break came. Oh, glorious month (yes, I get a month off in grad school at the U). I was still working, but work is completely different. I suddenly had copious amounts of free time. I had decided to use that time to watch Breaking Bad. And it did start out that way. I watched the first season (all 7 episodes) and the first half of the first episode of the second season. My dad had been in and out during the first season and he had a question while we were watching 201 that made me pause it and explain pretty much everything that happened in the first season. If you've seen Breaking Bad, you know that explaining the first season (or watching it for that matter) is not clean or pretty. It's full of murder and meth and guts and all that jazz. While I was explaining a particularly gruesome scene (when the acid burns through Jesse's bathtub in case you've seen it), my mom came out of the bathroom where she was getting ready for the day and asked, "is it THIS show you're talking about?" She then proceeded to say how no one should subject themselves to something like that and she really didn't want me to watch it. At the time I figured I'd just watch it when she wasn't around or in my bedroom. I turned Breaking Bad off and played the second episode of Doctor Who. I still haven't finished the second half of that first episode of Breaking Bad. And I probably won't until I'm graduated.

Why wait, do you ask? Why wait to watch things like Doctor Who, Breaking Bad, and Mad Men? It's because of my obsessive nature. When I get into something I GET INTO IT. Hard core. When I discover a new actor I totally love, I watch anything and everything I can that they have been in. Same goes for directors, restaurants, bands, random topics of information... but perhaps the most intense I am with something is with a TV show. A good TV show has the great actors, the great writers, fantastic characters, and it lasts a long time. Even the short-lived 'Wonderfalls' of television last longer than a movie. What's wrong with a book, you may ask? Nothing, but I rarely read fiction these days. I get my fiction from TV and my non-fiction from books. Anyway, I become a little obsessive and I tend to shirk responsibility when I'm in that mode so I tend to wait until I'm not going to school to get into something new.

Anyway, thus began my obsession with Doctor Who. So far in this series, there have been three different doctors. The Doctor, just so you know, is the last of a race of alien called Time Lords and his body regenerates when human beings would die. Making The Doctor over 900 years old and allowing the show to be about the same man over decades and (so far) eleven different actors portraying him. The Doctor in the first season of the new series (Doctor number 9) was played by Christopher Eccleston. He was fine, but nothing really special. Plus I knew that he regenerated after only one season and that the 10th Doctor was considered to be one of the best Doctors in existence so I was excited to move on.

The tenth Doctor is David Tennant (pictured above) and he's The Doctor for seasons 2-4. Not only is David Tennant my newest actor obsession (David Tennant as Benedick or Hamlet, anyone?), David Tennant's Doctor is my new fictional crush. Since I was 16ish it's been Spike from Buffy. He's my favorite character in Buffy, my favorite character in Angel, and his picture was the background on my phone for a long time. My background has recently changed. I'll be the first to admit that "obsessed" would be a fitting word, but as my brother once said, "obsessive is what lazy people call the dedicated." Actually, Spike had a very special place in my fangirl heart for so long and I wondered what it was about David Tennat's Doctor (I have to specify because it isn't any old Doctor - it's David Tennant's Doctor) pushed him out. While trying to figure out what they had in common, I could only come up with a couple of things. First, they're both skinny and British. I've always had a thing for skinny guys in general, but give them an accent, and apparently you're set in my book. Second, they both wear trench coats. Spike stole his off the body of the second Slayer he killed in the late 70s, and The Doctor got his from Janis Joplin. Third, they both have really awesome (albeit slightly weird) hair. Other than that, they are complete opposites. I must be pretty shallow because nothing they have in common has to do with their personality. But I do understand why The Doctor won out in the end. Rebel vampire vs. an eccentric alien (who happens to look fantastic) who takes you traveling through time and space in a little blue box (it's bigger on the inside). Is there really any competition?

I've only seen a few episodes with Matt Smith's version of The Doctor. He's fun so far ("bow ties are cool"), but I still miss David Tennant a lot ("people assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly... timey-wimey ...stuff," and "it's my timey-wimey detector. It goes 'ding' when there's stuff"). Wow, those quotes are so much cooler when you say them with a British accent.

To sum up, I LOVE DOCTOR WHO and I'm so sad no one forced me to watch this back it 2005. Oh that's sad. What people have been watching for 6 years I will have caught up in about 3 weeks... Told you - obsessive.

Christmas Time

This isn't a post about the meaning of Christmas. Watch the Christmas episode of Community to get that answer. This post is just about things that I love about Christmas and this time of year.

1. White Christmas



The best Christmas movie ever. Hands down, no contest. Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera Ellen (if you think she looks like an anorexic dancer it's because she was - people shouldn't really look like that). This movie is watched multiple times during the month of December in our house and it never gets old. It's got music, dancing, comedy, romance... it's just so good. Here's a list of specific things I love about this movie (this is in no way a comprehensive list):

A. Bing's smooth, silky voice
B. Rosemary Clooney's smooth, silky voice
C. Danny Kaye's matching jacket, pants, socks, and shoes in "The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing" number
D. "Well how do you like that? Not so much as a 'kiss my foot' or 'have an apple'."
E. "We'll follow the old man wherever he wants to go,
      As long as he wants to go opposite to the foe
      We'll stay with the old man wherever he wants to stay
      As long as he stays away from the battle's fray
F. Vera Ellen's phenomenal dancing skills. Seriously, phenomenal (watch "Choreography" for specifics)
G. The fact that Rosemary Clooney was 26 and Bing was 51 when this came out (ok, I don't love that part of it, it just makes me laugh).
H. The fact that the first half of the Minstrel Number has absolutely nothing to do with the second half.
I. The best version of White Christmas ever.

To sum up, I love everything about this movie. Except for the fact that Vera Ellen was anorexic. Random fun little fact, Danny Kaye died three days before I was born. I always figured we were friends in heaven for those three days.


2. Christmas in Connecticut



Second best Christmas movie ever. Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan. I say that like they're both great actors I love when in fact, I haven't seen either of them in anything else. But I do love them both in this. It's corny and predictable, but I still love it. It's hilarious and Dennis Morgan is pretty dreamy... Not dreamy enough to marry after knowing for two days (spoiler!), but it's still a fun movie. And one of my favorite quotes is from this movie. When Barbara Stanwyck shows her Uncle Felix her new mink coat, Felix says, "nobody needs a mink coat but the mink." I love this not because I'm anti-fur (I have no strong feelings either way on that, surprisingly enough), but because it's hilarious and I love Felix. Do me a favor and borrow this movie from me. Or just get it for $7 on Amazon.


3. Chocolate Crinkles

I don't know why these are our Christmas cookies of choice, but they are. I don't think we make them any other time of year besides Christmas. But when we make them, boy do we make them. Dozens and dozens and dozens. The dough is actually chilling in the fridge now and I'm going to bake them as soon as I'm done writing this post.


4. Snow

Although a White Christmas is rare these days. Blasted climate change... :)


5. My mug

This is the coolest mug ever. Hand made, weirdly shaped, and beautiful. I bought it at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia on one of the many occasions we went out to Charlottesville, WV for the horse races. Anyway, Harpers Ferry is the site of a Civil War battle and has fewer than 300 residents today. It's super cute and quaint and has a lot of history and fun shops for tourists. One had some amazing pottery made by people all over the country and this mug caught my eye. I can't remember how much I paid for it, but it was way more than a mug would generally cost. I've definitely gotten my money's worth out of it though with all the hot cocoa I drink in the winter. This mug seriously is great. Also, it's dishwasher safe.


6. Ableskivers

Heavenly. Fun little bits of deliciousness from Denmark and pretty much the only way we celebrate that aspect of our heritage. They're similar to pancakes but way better. Usually we dip them in powdered sugar but we tried something different this year and it requires a back story. A couple weeks ago I went to a friend's house for dinner and turns out they had made ableskivers with a real ableskiver pan. This was the first time I had ever seen ableskivers anywhere but my house so I was pretty excited. Anyway, they made them with a cinnamon/sugar mix in the middle and I recommended trying this with my family because it was so awesome. Now that we know how to put stuff in the middle, I have a feeling we'll be trying a lot of new fillings. Ableskiver, after all, means apple dumpling so we should probably try them with some kind of apple filling sometime.


7. Paella

One of the many reasons I love being Quarter-Rican and our traditional Christmas dinner. Turkey schmurkey, ham schmam, goose schmoose. Paella is the only way to go on Christmas. My mom has a special paella pan (caldero) that she pulls out once a year. Puerto Rican rice, pork, chicken, and veggies, usually garnished with shrimp or shellfish. Puerto Rican food is 100% delicious (especially since sea food is more the exception than the rule) and this is the quintessential Puerto Rican dish. Mmm... I'm excited for next Sunday if only for this.


8. John Denver and The Muppets and Nat King Cole

   

My two favorite Christmas albums (although James Taylor, Christmas Belles, Bing Crosby, A Brasillian Christmas, and Parranda Navideña deserve recognition as well). These epitomize Christmas for me. To me, Christmas is synonymous with Nat King Cole and John Denver with The Muppets. They're both fantastic. 


Just to point out, the worst things about Christmas are the traffic and the Forgotten Carols.

10 (except really 12) TV Shows I'm Thankful For

Keeping in the spirit of my last post, I'm going to write about 10 (except really 12) TV shows I'm thankful for. I couldn't narrow the last two down. Again, these are listed in no particular order.

1. Spaced

I didn't actually see this until the last couple of years which is weird since I've had a major crush on Simon Pegg a lot longer than that. All I can say is I'm sad I didn't see this years and years and years ago. All that time I could have had with the hilarity that is Spaced. The collective genius of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost (not to mention the crazy awesome rest of the cast) is given to us for the very first time in 14 fantastic episodes. Seriously some of the funniest characters I've ever seen came from this show. Don't watch the pilot of the American remake. Awful...

2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Oh, Buffy. My love affair with this show is eternal. It may be tied for first place in my list of favorite TV shows, but if you took out the comedy category, Buffy would totally win (even though it's really funny still). I was first introduced to Buffy when I was 15 by my sister, Sara. I watched it begrudgingly at first, but I quickly fell in love with the show's wit, charm, and kick-a$$ female characters (I would later call that "feminism"). Also I kind of fell in love with Spike (Angel's lame. His hair sticks straight up and he's bloody stupid). 

Anyway, I was a closeted fan for several years until college. However, one day I stepped out of the Buffy closet and it was no longer my guilty pleasure. I wear my love (some would even say "obsession") on my sleeve. I tell my feminist friends who pooh-pooh this show as stereotyping and sexualizing that no, no, Joss Whedon is a self-identified feminist and he writes some of the most amazing female characters I've ever seen. He writes awesome male characters too, but those aren't as hard to come by. 

Sure, the first couple of seasons are campy and Angel TOTALLY sucks in this show (thank goodness he's only in 3 of the 7 seasons), but it really is worth watching. Even if you think you won't like it - give it a chance. I did, and almost 10 years later I'm planning a birthday party for my favorite heroine. 

Awesome things to come from Buffy: Angel (I like him in his show, just not Buffy's), Felicia Day, Nathan Fillion, Alexis Denisof, Alyson Hannigan, Tom Lenk, Spike, Andrew, "that'll put marzipan in your pie plate bingo", the whole vampires-are-awesome thing, the first lesbian kiss on network TV, and the coolest female characters on television. 

3. Arrested Development

If I was listing these in order, this would be first. Comedy is my favorite genre of TV show and Arrested Development is the funniest and smartest show that has ever been or ever will be on television. I honestly can't imagine a world where there is a show that is better than Arrested Development. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it is highly improbable. I will forever hate Fox for killing this after only 2 1/2 seasons. I will forever love Netflix for picking up the 10ish episodes to watch in 2013 and Twitter for allowing Will Arnett to tell me the good news while he peed next to Jason Bateman. I have never known anyone that has seen this and didn't like it and I don't think I ever will know anyone like that. If I do, we weren't meant to be friends anyway. 

4. Dexter

Everyone's favorite serial killer. I generally don't watch dramas often, and when I do, I rarely stay committed. That makes Dexter extra special. Sure, he's a sociopath who has zero reservations about killing people, but he only kills other bad guys, he's a really good father, a committed brother, and (generally speaking) wants to be a good person. It's that continual effort he makes that keeps me coming back, not to mention the awesome plot lines and crazy twists. I'll be honest, I'm not very interested in the bad guys this season (Colin Hanks really can't act), but I hated Lilah in the second season too and I got through it. And let's face it, a few mediocre (slash CRAZY annoying in Lilah's case) characters don't diminish the awesomeness that is Dexter. 

5. The Daily Show

If I could only watch one show for the rest of my life, it would probably be The Daily Show. If I had money to take one trip, it would be to see The Daily Show. If I could be a one-time home wrecker with no repercussions, it would be with Jon Stewart. If I could be famous for one thing, it would be something that got me onto The Daily Show. If I could meet one famous person, it would be Jon Stewart. If I got hit by a car but I somehow got to decide who the driver would be, it would be Jon Stewart. Are you starting to understand my devotion? Not only is this man my biggest celebrity crush, he's also kind of my hero. 

6. Parks and Recreation 

This got off to a rocky start. The six episodes that are the first season suuuuuuuuck. Leslie Knope was a Michael Scott clone and nothing about the show kept me interested which is why it took me two more seasons to start watching it. I'm oh so glad I did. It's currently the most consistently funny show on TV. Ron Swanson is one of the best characters ever written, and I pretty much always love Adam Scott. Rob Lowe's character is becoming really annoying, which just goes to show you that all good things must end, but it's still a fantastic show. 

7. Community

You better be watching this show. NBC recently benched it and it really does make me just so sad. Parks & Rec may be the most consistently funny, but when Community is on its game, it is hands down the funniest. It may be hit and miss, but generally it's closer to the bulls eye than not. It's very meta and introspective which makes it a super unique show. And that, by the way, is when it's usually dead on as far as perfect hilarity. I just love it so much. All I ask is just a season and a half more. Just get them through college like Dan Harmon planned on in the beginning. That's all they need. NBC, don't fail me. 

8. Pushing Daisies

Charming. Charming, charming, charming. Of the three shows Bryan Fuller created (Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, and Pushing Daisies), this one is the best (even though Wonderfalls is awesome and Dead like me is also good generally). I really can't describe how wonderful this show is. This was the saddest casualty of the writer's strike of 2007-2008. It never got the ratings back and ABC cancelled it after only 2 seasons. This deserved to go on much, much longer. It's always the very best that die early. 

9. Downton Abbey

One of Masterpiece Theater's finest. If you didn't watch the Emmy's this year, go see what show won a billion awards. It was Downton Abbey. It goes into depth with so many characters without being daunting or overwhelming. It's got wit, drama (the good kind), scandals, and Dame Maggie Smith. It bothers me when people are automatically turned off by period pieces. Let me tell you something: period pieces do not equal boring. Lame story equals boring and this is not even close to being a lame story. Season 2 has already come and gone in the UK, but it doesn't start here until January 8th. Can't wait!

10. Avatar: The Last Airbender 

My thanks needs to go to several people here: Scott Payne for planting the seed of interest, Mike Robertson for nourishing that seed, and Jacob Ashley for actually exposing me to it. This show is crazy awesome. It's light, it's intense, it's funny, it's exciting, and just plain fun. 

11. The IT Crowd

No, this isn't a show about a magic, floating couch. It is, however, the funniest show I've seen come out of the UK (it's been a really long time since I've watch The Office so I may not be objective here). I've heard people complain about the laugh track, but please don't hold that against this show because hilarity ensues in every episode. Mr. Bean had a laugh track, so stop being haters! Whatever you do though, don't watch the American pilot. Joel McHale replaces Chis O'Dowd's character and it just doesn't work (nor does any aspect of this version). O'Dowd plays an IT professional and he has that whole cute geek thing going on (although I totally find that attractive so I may be off on this assessment. Maybe he's just supposed to be a lame nerd). Anyway, Joel McHale cannot pull that off. He acts like he's trying to, but Joel is just too damn sexy. Seriously, he smolders me with his sexiness every time I see him and I just couldn't get past that. Nor could I get past the painful lack of good translation from British to American. Anyway, watch this show. And also anything Joel McHale is in (except maybe Spy Kids 4). 

12. Up All Night

Ok, this really doesn't belong on the list. It's fun and I watch it regularly, but compared to everything else, it's not that great. I'm just adding it on here because I would totally marry Will Arnett's character if I could. The stay-at-home-dad is pretty much my ideal situation someday and his character is the perfect amount of awesome, geek, hipster, and intellectual. So if you're ever curious to see my dream guy, watch a few episodes of this. That's not the only reason I watch it though - it really is funny :)

10 Movies I'm Thankful For

Thanksgiving was a few days ago and blogs are full of gratitude. I'm going to partake in that as well, but just without the sap cause I'm not in the mood. Instead, I'm going to talk about 10 movies I'm thankful for. 10 movies that make my life better (in no particular order).

1. The Muppets

This movie has been occupying a lot of my thoughts lately. It's been out for 3 days and I've seen it twice. Yes, it's just as funny the second time. This movie just makes me so happy. I basically laugh the entire way though it. Jason Segal and Nicholas Stoller did a phenomenal job writing something that could have been done by Jim Henson. The Muppets are long overdue for another movie as well as a resurgence in popularity. Jason Segal gave me a bit of a shock when he said that there is an entire generation of kids growing up who don't know The Muppets. Hopefully with this movie and their new show that will change. 

2. Amelie

Amelie might be my favorite movie of all time. It's quircky, it's charming, it's colorful, it's lovable, it's adorable, and just plain awesome. I'm never in the mood to NOT watch Amelie. I had never seen anything like it when I first watched it and I've never seen anything like it since (although Midnight in Paris is right up there). I fell in platonic love with Audrey Tautou when I saw this movie and few actors have captured my fancy like she did. It's also one of my favorite soundtracks (if not my very favorite). Everything about this movie is unique and just... charming. 

3. Midnight in Paris

This movie takes a close second to Amelie in terms of charm. First time I saw this film I smiled the entire time (and that's not an exaggeration at all). Really, charming is the best word to describe this movie. Owen Wilson is lovable in a way I haven't seen before and the plot line is light and refreshing even though it had the potential to be convoluted. It was just fun to see a time-travel movie that wasn't about time traveling. Rather, it was about people and experiences. If Amelie is my favorite soundtrack, this is again a close second. As of now they haven't released an official soundtrack and I'm having major trouble finding some of the songs to purchase. Hopefully Sony realizes its folly soon. I dare you to watch this movie and not love it. 

4.  Oscar

I just looked this up on Rotten Tomatoes because I realized I had never done that before. My jaw dropped when I saw that it is at 13%. To me, this is the perfect cult comedy. I realize not everyone is going to love it as much as I do, but I don't understand why. It's the only Sylvester Stallone movie I'll ever own because I typically can't handle his lack of acting, but I LOVE him in this. He, Marisa Tomei, and Tim Curry are just plain fantastic in this film. It makes me so sad that this movie isn't loved by everyone.

5. Breakfast at Tiffany's

Hands down, my favorite Audrey Hepburn film. Truman Capote wrote a great story and this movie is a perfect blend of his original idea and a great love story (aka mass appeal). I can't think Audrey Hepburn without Holly Golightly or vice versa. The poster for this movie hangs in my parent's basement (a Christmas present from me a while ago) and a woman in their ward commented on it once saying, "you do realize she was a prostitute, do you?" in a scandalized voice. But she really wasn't. She was a socialite, a society girl, and a carefree woman who just happened to take money from men. She's confused yet happy, and in my opinion, only really became confused after she met Paul Varjak (at least in the movie - the story in the book is quite a bit different). It's a simple boy meets girl story, but it's timeless.

6. Shaun of the Dead/Hot Fuzz/Paul

I can't pick one out of the three of these. Hot Fuzz wouldn't be without Shaun of the Dead, Paul wouldn't be without Hot Fuzz or Shaun of the Dead, and none of them would be without Spaced (TV show so sadly not included in this list. Maybe I should do another blog for TV). Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright are the perfect comedic trio (even though Edgar wasn't involved in Paul - even though it's awesome, it probably would have been better with him) and each one is awesome independently. If I'm in the mood for a comedy, I'm going to be in the mood for one of these three.

7. Thoroughly Modern Millie

Julie Andrews, Mary Tyler Moore, and Charol Channing. 'Nuff said. This is movie is hilarious and is one of the most quotable movies ever. Really. I use "pook" on an almost daily basis cause it's one of my favorite exclamations. One of the first things my good friend Mike said to me when I met him was something about how my ring looked like the ring Mrs. Meirs wears in this movie. I liked him immediately because of that. Anyone who likes this movie is going to be awesome and it's as simple as that. 

8. Pride & Prejudice

I don't watch this nearly as often as I used to (I've discovered other BBC Miniseries like Wives & Daughters, North & South, Cranford, Jane Eyre...) but this is still the movie that I compare any period piece to. I constantly find similarities to this story in just about any chick flick. "He's such a Wickham" is a common phrase, any flawed yet changeable male character is compared to Mr. Darcy, and few female characters measure up to the witty and independent Elizabeth Bennett. On the surface it's the chick flick of all chick flicks, but if you really sit down and pay attention, it really is witty and shows some great character development. 

9. Bridesmaids 

This is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. Kristen Wiig is a comedic genius and she wrote this so well. One of my favorite things about this movie is that it goes to show you that a comedy featuring a predominately female cast (or even a single female character that isn't objectified for the benefit of male viewers) can have mass appeal to both men and women of pretty much any age. It debunked the idea that women as good story tellers as men, particularly when it comes to comedy. If you don't think this is a big deal, you're wrong. It totally is. 

10. Birdemic: Shock and Terror

This movie is going down in history as one of the best worst movies of all time. The creator/director cited "The Birds" and "An Inconvenient Truth" as his inspiration. That should give you a small idea of just how horrifically awesome this movie is. In fact, here - go ahead and watch the trailer and judge for yourself. But please, watch this movie with the riff trax. You won't regret it (at least I didn't). Honestly, this has got to be one of the worst movies I've ever seen in my entire life, but I'm so glad it exists (and that they're working on a sequel). 

Time

Time has been moving more quickly lately. Apparently that happens when you're enjoying something, or when you're busy. My life happens to be pretty heavily emphasizing the latter right now.

Monday: Job A 8-3, job B 3-7.
Tuesday: Job A 8-3, job B 3-7.
Wednesday: Job B 9-7.
Thursday: Job C 8-1, class 1:30-4:30, homework 4:30-7:30, fun Thursday night 7:30-10.
Friday: Class 8:30-2:00, working from home on jobs A and C for a while, then whatever the h@$% I want the rest of the weekend.

And let's not forget the commute from Orem to Salt Lake 4 of those days, none of which I'm driving all the way. It's either the express bus or driving to Sandy to take Trax.

I'm glad I'm getting done a few hours before bedtime now (that wasn't the case a bit ago).

I'm glad I usually have weekends to settle (although for some reason I can't find time to really clean up my space and it's starting to gross me out).

I'm glad I have a regular night of relaxation (even though I'm constantly worrying about driving the half hour home and getting up the next morning).

I'm glad I decided to not do any of my readings and to put as little effort into my assignments as possible (I have way more free time and I'm still getting As).

I'm glad I have 3 jobs that I like. It balances the 8 hours of class that I hate.

I'm not glad I wake up at 5:30 (I'm used to it now though - never though I had it in me).

I'm not glad that I spend 8 hours a week in classes that are either A) not in the least bit interesting to me; B) something I've learned either last year or in high school; or C) a combination of the two. Actually, two of my three classes are going over the exact same material we did last year and the third is a policy class that teaches me things I learned 8ish years ago or things that are just plain false like Congress is controlled by Republicans right now. Call me old fashioned, but I find it pretty unacceptable to be correcting your professor fairly regularly or watching School House Rock in a master's level course.

I'm not glad that I'm spending so much money on gas. Money I don't exactly have.

I'm not glad that my prospects of earning enough to pay off my student loans, car, apartment, and all the grand necessities of life are abysmal. Why I decided to rack up student loan debt in social work is beyond me.

Most of all though, I'm SO glad that I have 4 weeks left in the semester and 15 after that. That's the time I'm focusing on and no matter how busy I keep, it can't come fast enough.

50/50

I saw the film, 50/50 this weekend. It was an emotionally draining experience to say the least. I'll get the easy stuff over with first and move on from there. There are a few minor spoilers here.

I loved this film. It felt incredibly authentic. Will Reiser did an incredible job of translating his experiences to the big screen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt did such an amazing job portraying the character. He was genuine and I had no problem figuring out what he was thinking and feeling. Seth Rogan was hilarious as always, but really, his performance paled in comparison. A truly fantastic movie and I highly recommend it. I would totally go see this again and I absolutely am going to own it.

There was one pretty big thing I didn't like. I hated that he got together with his therapist. I don't know if I saw any movies that depicted a client hooking up with his/her therapist at the end of the movie, but if I did I never noticed until I started my social work program. Since then I've only seen two (this and Mr. Jones) but both times it has irked me a ton. It's INCREDIBLY unethical and can have some serious implications. I realize this was based on a true story, but I'm going to assume that this part of it didn't happen to Will Reiser cause it's just that outrageous. Yes, there's a whole transference/counter-transference thing that goes on in the client/therapist relationship, but it isn't always sexual and if it is, a good therapist would either check him/herself before it went too far or they would have referred the client to another therapist. I realize this doesn't make for a good movie, but there's got to be another love interest besides the therapist.

On a side note, although I have no plans to utilize any of the therapy skills I'm supposedly learning, I still know that she was a horrible therapist. That's another reason I think this part of the movie was fictional: only someone who didn't know much about therapists would write a therapist like this.

Now to the grit. Turns out Adam (the main character) has a type of sarcoma. It's one of the crappiest cancers you can get. I don't know how cancers work, if there are groupings or families or something, but there are different types of sarcomas and they are all really crazy nasty. My mom had a sarcoma. I was already wary about this movie because of that experience (surgery, chemo, radiation, and all the emotional baggage that comes with it), but when I found out his cancer was a sarcoma, my stomach lurched. I told my friend that was the type of cancer my mom had, and I braced for a worse ride that I had anticipated.

It was awful. Generally speaking, if I wasn't laughing, I was crying. Seriously, it felt like every 5 or 10 minutes. One moment was particularly intense. At one point Adam is alone in a car and has a bit of a breakdown. The whole movie we've seen very little blatant emotional reaction, and all of a sudden he's screaming and pounding on the steering wheel. I was sobbing at that point. I have felt that for my mom. I've been so overwhelmed that I had to pull the car over on the freeway to do what I could to get it out. The pure anger and despair is incomparable. I've never been close to dying and so I've never felt that on the level of someone who has been (obviously Joseph Gordon-Levitt wasn't really in that situation either, but he did an amazing job of convincing you he was), but I've felt it on a smaller scale and to be reminded that anyone goes through that isn't fun.

I could go on, but some things are better left for a journal or a social worker. I'm a terrible therapist so I wouldn't attempt to psychoanalyze myself :)

Anyway, I highly recommend this movie. Yes, it did resonate especially with me, but it'll do that with just about anyone. Go see it.