half of what i say is meaningless

I have too much work to do and I need distractions to keep me sane.  So you are getting a meme, swiped from sci_fi_shipper .

Pick your five favourite tv shows (in no particular order) and answer the following questions about them. don't cheat!

1. Buffy
2. Firefly
3. Battlestar Galactica
4. Community
5. Doctor Who

( meme-age )

I've been feeling like I ought to post for awhile, but I have refrained because I didn't actually have anything to post.  Weird.  So I thought I might do a TV post, but I don't have a lot to say.  Possibly because I have not been watching an overabundance of television (mostly just Community and Parks & Recreation).  All I want to say is that I love Community and I love Troy Barnes and this most recent episode made me very happy.  It also made me want to watch Reading Rainbow again.

Anyway, one of the reasons I have been a bit MIA recently is that I have been working on my thesis, which is a collection of short stories.  I just turned in the first draft this morning.  It's approximately 25,000 words.  Now that it's, well, semi-done I might be around LJ more.  If nothing else, I've got to write my remix fic.

In the meantime, here's a meme:

1 - Leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.
2 - I will respond; I'll ask you five questions (not the same questions that I was asked and not the same questions for everyone)
3 - You'll update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers.
4 - You'll include this explanation.
5 - You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.

nazkey  asked me...

1. You have the chance to have a one-on-one with Edmund Spenser, Christopher Marlowe, James Joyce, Samuel Richardson or Dante. Who would you pick and why?
James Joyce.  Hands down.  I don't really know why.  Of these, I've only read works by Joyce (Portrait of the Artist) and Spenser (Faerie Queen).  I'm not that crazy about either of them, but one of my life goals is to read Ulysses.  A few months ago, I was telling a classmate about this desire of mine, and my fear that I wouldn't be able to understand it without the aid of a professor.  She said something about a knowledge of Homer being all I needed.  I think.  Also that "who do you write like" website has told me I am James Joyce in the past (also Dan Brown, Margaret Atwood, and Gertrude Stein, so you can decide whether or not it's to be trusted).  Anyway, yes, I would like to meet James Joyce.

2. You are reliving the plot of "An Affair to Remember" where you meet the love of your life on a cruise, but are involved with someone and you agree to meet this man on top of the Empire State Building in a year. Do you? Why?
Well, I've never seen that movie, but yeah I would probably do it.  Although the location is not ideal as I am afraid of heights.  But I've never even been inside the Empire State Building and I'm always seeking new experiences.  It would probably make for a good story, no matter what happened.

3. Who are your Oscar picks? Do you even care?
I really, really want True Grit to win Best Picture.  I loved Black Swan and The King's Speech and The Kids Are All Right too (and I liked some of the others) but for some reason, I feel strongly that True Grit is the only one which truly deserves this accolade.  Natalie Portman should win Best Actress and Colin Firth should win Best Actor, but the Coen brothers just outdid themselves with True Grit.

4. You've been nominated for a Noble prize. What category are you in and what did you do to deserve the accolades?
Hahaha, okay, I'm not going to answer this seriously, but instead I will tell you an amusing anecdote.  Background: In addition to being named after a Beatles song, I was also named after a Mario Vargas Llosa character.  My mom was a big fan (key word here being "was," as they have since parted over political differences).  So when he won the Nobel Prize, I got this email from my mother in my inbox:

So by the transitive power of Mario Vargas Llosa, I have already won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

*At this point, I don't actually care if people know my first name or not.  I just enjoy being coy about it, and I'm curious if anyone who doesn't already know can figure it out.

5. If you had to pick ONE song, book, movie & TV show which best describes who you are, what would they be?
I am assuming you mean just one, and not one of each.  That would be way easier, wouldn't it?  I'd probably say something different if you asked me tomorrow, but right now I'm inclined to say Stranger Things Happen, a collection of short stories by Kelly Link.  I want to be her.  When I read this book, it was like a revelation.  That is what I want to write.  So yeah, I want to be her.  I suppose Stranger Things Happen encapsulates a lot of my weird fascination with words and the world.  If you read it with that in mind, it might tell you something about me.

So, here's a meme that I got from coffeesuperhero .  I put my iTunes on shuffle and wrote down the first lines of the first twenty songs that came up.  Your job is to guess the song & artist!  I expect some of these to go un-guessed, but I'd be curious to see if anyone can get them. 

ETA: I put the answers in white text so if you want to see, you can highlight them.

( twenty songs )
Also I went to the midnight screening of HP7, yes I did.  It was good.  Really good, actually.  And I never say that about this franchise.  Also there was a fistfight right in front of me in the line.  Fun times!

Day 25: Favourite Buffyverse Saying

What does this mean?  What constitutes a saying?  Anything they say?  Or something they say repeatedly?  Or something they say which I have turned into a saying?  I'm gonna go with the last one.  And for that, I have to say "Well you're certainly a font of nothing."  For some reason, I find this line hilarious.  Every time, without fail.  It's the best line in the pilot.  And my sister and I say it to each other all the time.  Others...hmm..."What's her childhood trauma?" is an old favorite.  "This is all making the kind of sense that is not."  "That's insane troll logic."  "All monkeys are French."  "The Earth is definitely doomed."  Okay, now I'm just quoting things.  And if we are talking about Ats too, I'd have to include "If nothing we do matters, all that matters is what we do" because that succinctly sums up my life philosophy.

Day 26: Favourite Scooby Moment

For this, I really have to go with the "plan" scene from Graduation Day Part 2--you know, where Buffy unveils her plan to this response.

Willow: Crazy is such a strong word.
Giles: Let's not rule it out though.
Buffy: You don't think it can be done?
Giles: I didn't say that.  I might, but...I haven't yet.
Cordelia: Well I personally don't think it would be possible to come up with a crazier plan.
Oz: We attack the mayor with hummus.

Do I really have to go on?  It's brilliant.  Back in the day, I had the whole scene memorized.

Day 27: Cutest Moment

These superlatives are really hard for me.  But I will semi-arbitrarily go with the "extra flamey" scene from the end of New Moon Rising.  



The Willow/Oz farewell makes me teary (and I totally have an abandoned WIP on my hard drive called "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" about a reunion) but then Tara and Willow are so cute.  I just love them. 

and came back to a million things to read.  Yay!  I love it when that happens.

Also, I just watched Community. ( let's be ironic )

Meme-age.

Day 19: Character You Like That Everyone Else Hates

Sadly, there are FAR TOO MANY possible answers.  I HAVE TO USE CAPSLOCK. 

First, we have Dawn Summers.

Now, I'll admit that was pretty annoying in seasons 5 and 6.  But she matured and turned out to be awesome in season 7.  She doesn't deserve all the fandom hate.  And I'm such a contrarian that I feel the need to tell everyone I LIKE DAWN SUMMERS.

Next up: Riley Finn

So yeah, he's no Angel and he and Buffy were never going to get their happily ever after, but you know what?  Riley Finn is a good guy.  And he made Buffy smile.  Everyone complains about him being boring (Captain Cardboard and all that) and okay, so I may have thought the same at one point in time, but every time I watch him in seasons 4 and 5 I remember that I actually don't find him boring at all.  And I like him.  So there.

But the winner for this category is Buffy Summers:

Yes Buffy, I'm confused too.  Not confused that I like you--I love you!  I said you were my favorite character from the show!  No, I'm confused that you are eligible for the category of "character you like that everyone else hates."  Now that is confusing.  Also did I mention that I am dressing as Buffy for Halloween this year?  I am super excited because I whittled my own stake.

( 20&21: Spike and Willow )

How's that for a title?

I. I had almost given up on Farscape.  I was a couple discs into season two, but I hadn't been watching it recently.  Too distracted by life, current tv, 3rd Rock from the Sun, and also 30 Rock (I'm only two seasons behind).  I liked Aeryn, and John, and Chiana and Zhaan but the show was boring me.  And then, just randomly, I returned to Farscape yesterday...and dammit, they've sucked me in again!  The episode was "Out of Their Minds" and it was just so fun and cute.  Dammit.  I just...I get so tired of these problem-of-the-week episodes, and their bad guys are seriously boring.  And I can forgive that stuff in the first season but so far there's no sign of a genuine arc and it's just...well, now I'm watching Farscape again, but for how long?  Will I make it to the end of this season?  Or will I lose interest again?  I do not know.

II. ( spoilers for Chuck )

III. A meme from emmiere:
1. Reply to this post and I'll assign you a letter. (If you ask)
2. List (and upload) 5 songs you love that begin with that letter.
3. Post them to your journal with these instructions.

Love is a Hard Waltz by Nanci Griffith
Like a River by Kasey Chambers
Latika's Theme by AR Rahmann
Let It Blow by Richard Thompson
Little Rock & Roller by Steve Earle

IV. In case you haven't been listening to me ramble about it in the last couple of weeks, I've been re-reading His Dark Materials with BSG in mind.  ( the Grumman problem )

I am ridiculously enamored with my imaginary BSG/HDM crossover thing.  I mean, sometimes it's just too good.  Take this moment from the end of The Golden Compass for example, when the children are running from Bolvangar:

Thick clouds obscured the sky, so there was neither moon nor Northern Lights; but by peering closely, the children could make out the deep trail Iorek Byrnison had plowed in the snow.  Lyra encouraged, bullied, hit, half-carried, swore at, pushed, dragged, lifted tenderly, wherever it was needed, and Pantalaimon (by the state of each child's daemon) told her what was needed in each case.

I'll get them there, she kept saying to herself.  I come here to get 'em and I'll bloody get 'em.

Sound familiar?

Anyway, Buffy meme:
Day 10: Least Favorite Season

By process of elimination, essentially, it's season 1.  Everything just doesn't quite 'click' in the beginning.  I elaborated on it more here on Critically Obsessed.

Day 11: Least Favorite Romance

I can't say I ever cared very much about Xander/Cordy.  It's fun and all that, but I always laugh when I see fanfic and stuff wherein they realize that it's True Love and Happily Ever After and all that.  Just no.

Day 12: Least Favorite Episode

Where the Wild Things Are.  No question.  It's soooo bad.  Although I do enjoy these moments, which just goes to show that even the worst episode of this show has some good stuff:

( quotes and a clip )

Dexter: ( Hello Bandit )

Chuck: ( Chuck Versus the Cubic Z )

Glee: ( Grilled Cheesus )

The Big Bang Theory: ( I don't know what this episode was called )

Community: ( The Psychology of Letting Go )

Day 6: Favorite Male Character

Giles!  He's just so Giles-y.  I want one.  Also my Grandma thinks he's hot.  Okay, I don't really have anything to say about him other than I love him and he's awesome, so...here, have a video (not embedding because I'm lazy and it makes my browser slow).

Oh, and an update on my BSG/HDM whatever-this-is.  I've done some more casting/recasting.

Lyra = Kara
Will = Lee
Roger = Zak
Lord Asriel = Adama
Mrs. Coulter = Number Six
Lee Scoresby = Helo
Serafina = Athena
Mary Malone = Laura Roslin
The golden monkey = Leoben
The magisterium also = Leoben (just go with it)
Metatron = Cavil

Iorek is still Iorek.  Will's mom will be Carolanne, obvs.  I'm missing a Stanislaus Grumman though.

Holy crap that's a lot of tags.

Day 3: Favorite Song Used in an Episode

Now, first I thought I was going to say "Goodbye To You."  Then, I thought about "Transylvanian Concubine."  But both of those songs are kind of intrinsically tied to pre-teen me.  And college me is a little tired of them.  Then I thought of this "Wild Horses" cover, which I do love kind of a lot.  BUT in the end this one won out.  The internet is failing me and not giving me a video of the song in the actual episode, which is too bad since she's performing at the Bronze.  And she even has a line at the end.  Anyhoo, here's "Pavlov's Bell" by Aimee Mann, used in "Sleeper."



( rest of the meme )

I am perpetually behind on TV, so maybe I'll just do a weekly round-up or something.  Too lazy to post about every episode.  Also I just watched that "Wild Horses" clip and now I want to watch the Prom.  This whole meme is one big trip down memory lane that adds up to me wanting to watch ALL SEVEN SEASONS for the umpteenth time.

1. After a few months of nothing, I have returned to the blogosphere.  You may read my reviews of Chuck Versus the Anniversary and Glee's Auditions at Critically Obsessed.  Or not, since they're mostly just prettified versions of my episode reaction posts on here.  Also at some point I will get off my ass and review Dexter, not to mention the next episodes of Chuck and Glee (short version: loved the latest Chuck, was profoundly bored by the latest Glee).  But as you may have noticed, I am a very lazy blogger.

But I do like to update this ol' thing with a bit more frequency, so...

2. I've decided to be Buffy for Halloween (with my friend who is going as Faith).  In honor of that, I've also decided to give this meme a shot!  I might not make it through all thirty days.  Or I might expedite the process like last time.  We'll see.

Day 1: Favorite Season

Season 3.  It's just classic Buffy.  It has everything--the heart of the team (Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles) and some Plus Ones (Angel, Oz, Cordelia...).  Angst and drama and character growth.  An amazing villain (Mayor Wilkins <3).  Great storylines.  And so intrinsically tied to the confusion of finishing high school.  It's pretty much just awesome.  There's only one episode that I would consider a 'bad' episode, and that's Dead Man's Party--and it's still pretty good (Giles mocks Americans!  Oz defines a hootenanny!  Zombies crash the party!).  So if that's the lowest point, the rest of the season has to be pretty damn great.  There's a reason visualthinker11  and I chose Season 3 for the hellmouth_vsds (which is that we love it, and also that Buffy and Angel really pile on the angst in this season).

Still need convincing?

( clicky for awesome vid )

( the rest of the meme. i haven't even read the whole list )

Oh yeah, and 3. "God Is A DJ" came up on iTunes shuffle today and it made me ridiculously happy.  I'm so excited to have the Kara vidlet-a-thon and the All the Galactica Ladies Ficathon to look forward to!  Yay more gen Kara stuff!  I am hereby giving this post my every week is kara week tag.  It is my favorite tag.

Also 4. I got my intoabar  assignment and I have noooooo idea what I am going to write.  But it's cool.  I'll figure something out.