You may or may not have noticed that I haven't been around much lately. I lost my Internet connection for a few days, which, well, sucked. I was worried that it would be down past Sunday, which would have meant that I would not get to watch the new Doctor Who special. That was honestly the first thing that popped in my head when I found out that I couldn't get online. Because everything in my life inevitably comes back to television.

So what did I do in my Internet-less time? Watch TV and movies, of course.

( State of Play (movie & miniseries) )

( G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra )

Also: Leap Year, the upcoming Amy Adams/Matthew Goode movie, does not look very good, does it? But at least it gives us visuals such as this:

So pretty! By the way, for the three of you who have read Sharp Teeth, these two are my Bonnie and Lark. YES.

As far as TV goes, I've been watching Friday Night Lights, Community, 30 Rock (I've got to admit, I was close to abandoning it after the first two episodes, they were so lacking), Glee, Mad Men (what do you mean, we have to wait nine months to see what happens to Sterling Cooper Draper Price?), and Sons of Anarchy. I'm going to pull a TV Guide and call the latter the best show you're probably not watching. It's intense and filled with very flawed characters, so it's little surprise that it's gripped me in a way that no show since Deadwood has. If there's any justice, Katey Sagal will be collecting an Emmy this time next year for her work.

And because no entry of mine is complete without some mention of food: I've been craving frozen yogurt like mad lately. I blame this on trips to Zuckersuss, the best frozen yogurt bar if just for the fact that they use biodegradable bowls and spoons which they compost themselves, and because their employees are willing to humor my friends and me despite our inane questions about how to pronounce "zuckersuss."

Dear Yuletide Writer,

( long long rambling )

This has been the worst - the WORST - season for pop music I can remember.

It is a cruel irony that the song I find the most deliciously odd and challenging of the fall comes courtesy of Chris Brown & Co ("I Can Transform Ya"). Granted, I credit this more to its producer Swizz Beatz, but STILL.

FUCK RIHANNA'S PRODUCTION/MANAGEMENT TEAM WITH A RUSTY SPEAR. What an embarrassing betrayal of her aesthetic. Never should a female pop artist be forced into creating what is essentially a drippy response album to her very unfortunately public personal life. A gross, SHAMEFUL mishandling of her strengths.

I'M SO MAD. I haven't been so mad at music as I am at this fall maybe EVER. Jay, Cudi, Ri, THEY ALL SHALL FALL. I need the Clipse album rightthissecond to wash the taste of saccharine-ballad mold from my mouth.

The robot community frowns on your shenanigans, Robyn Fenty. You are ex-communicated.

(P.S. I can't post about this right now because I will ACTUALLY CRY, but on top of it being a remarkably disheartening month/season for me with regards to my favorite genre, the fact that Justin wrote the worst song on this album is the third strike for him over the past few weeks with me. The worst feeling in the entire world is questioning the biggest inspiration in your life.)

I started watching Sons Of Anarchy a couple of days ago and it is SO good. Thank you f-list, for pimping this show. I am a little ashamed to admit it but GODDAMN I LOVE ME SOME TIGGY.

Tig: Go on, get out of here before I rape both of you.
Bobby: Ick. Hey!
Tig: Come on, come on. It's just an expression. A term of endearment.

Clay: So you're just gonna stroll outta there with two dead Mexi whores draped over your shoulders?
Tig: I'll gut them dead bitches. I'll flush their bellies with bleach. No DNA.
Clay: What kinda nasty shit did your momma do to you?
Tig: What do you mean?

WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN KNOW MAN.

(I'm only up to 1x8 so don't spoil me!)

I have not-so-little crushes on Cory Monteith and Lea Michele. I loved Rachel and Finn straight from their first scenes in the pilot episode of Glee and since then they've done a ton of press and taken lots of pictures (of themselves, on Twitter) and it's just amazing, non-stop stuff to look at. I THINK CORY SEEMS LIKE HE HAS THE BEST PERSONALITY and I love Lea because baby angels shine out of her smile and voice. Seriously, look at her!

Lots of other people are compiling all the different pictures of the Glee kids but I decided that I wanted to put a lot of the Cory + Lea stuff in one place, they are too adorable for words and always sitting next to each other at events.



01. There are images of Lea and Cory together and by themselves or hanging out with the other Glee kids, and some pictures that they or the cast took of each other: ( Photos )

02. Video video video! They've done talk shows and radio and stuff. ( The View, Conan, more joint and solo interviews, blah blah )

03. This only tangentially relates to Cory and Lea but I am including because LOL



My God, this post is huge. I regret nothing.

a couple updates:
✦ If you're a Harry Potter fan and/or if you need a few seconds to kill, you should totally fill out my Harry Potter poll!

✦ I've probably babbled on 4859 times about how kitsche was published in the LiveJournal Anniversary Anthology, but I received the copy of the book not too long ago. Whoo! Anyway, I scanned the pages -- check it out!


(click to zoom in)

✦ Speaking of kitsche, I updated it for the first time in nearly 2 years. Begone, proverbial dust -- it's back! I'll be posting more entries later this week, so stay tuned.

✦ Do you guys have a NaNoWriMo account? You should add me -- I'm piratecookie!

✦ I'm seeing Hamlet featuring Jude Law tomorrow. GLEE!

✦ I'm going to Boston for Thanksgiving weekend, thus breaking the chain of spending my past two Thanksgivings in Jersey and the preceding ones in Indianapolis. I miss having a break. Anyway, buying my bus tickets now!

... and WITHOUT FURTHER ADO.

egypt and turkey: day v-vi





(Back in early August, I went on a 9/10-day trip through Egypt and Turkey. Just like London and the road trip, I'll be posting photos divided by day. Photos from the trip will be updated at my Flickr as well!)

(8/12-3): Took the bus to Hurghada, a city along the Red Sea coast. Basically, Hurghada's got loads of seaside resorts and beaches, but getting there was a nightmare.

We got lost in the desert.

Yeah. It's one of those worst-case scenarios where you think, "Hey you know what would suck? Being lost in the desert, that's what!" The bus was going in circles and we were passing by the same billboards once, twice, at least ten times. Hot August weather + a bus going nowhere + hours of driving through sand, sand, and more sand + impatient passengers =/= fun times, kids. We made it to the resort pretty late (around 9PM?), and I proceeded to gorge myself at the buffet.

I woke up the next morning at 4AM. (Funny, that's when I go to sleep in NY, ha!) You're probably wondering, "Why on earth did you voluntarily woke up at 4AM?!" Well, I went on an early-morning safari in the Eastern Desert to check out the sunrise at said desert, among other things.

Guys, if there's ever an occasion to wake up at 4AM, it better be at a desert, because:
a.) the COLORS. Absolutely sublime stuff. It's the prettiest I've ever seen a sky look, and this is coming from somebody who has seen MANY sunrises.*
b.) the slight morning breeze is perf.
c.) the sand-between-your-toes feeling? Yeah, it's like the beach except your feet aren't wet so you don't get the sand clinging past your filmy ankles.
d.) running down the hills of sand with reckless abandon? Enough said.

*= Er, most of those sunrises are compliments of my many all-nighters pulled at college. BUT STILL.

Anyway. A few hours were spent at the Eastern desert, and then we visited a Bedouin village, where we had breakfast (Bedouin barbecue!). A camel ride ensued! And tons of pictures. We got back to the resort around 11am, which is normally when I would wake up on a normal day in New York. We chilled out at the beach for the afternoon, and then it was on the bus back to Cairo.

.... and this time, we didn't get lost! Yay!

Instead, we ran out of gas. In the middle of the desert. Worst Case Scenario #2, check. We had planned to go on a late afternoon cruise back in Cairo, but that was pretty much shot to hell. We switched drivers thrice, stopped roadside many more times, and finally set up camp at a remote gas station before the bus was up and running again.

Four hours past our expected time of arrival, we got to Cairo and luckily, we got put on an evening cruise, honestly was a pretty nice way to spend the last night in Egypt, since there were all those city lights and the night sky.

( sunrise, sunrise, camels, and a cuppa tea )

Guyyyyys, who is watching The Thick of It? I think it is my favourite comedy of the moment, I always spend the half-hour cackling painfully and occasionally feeling smug about my A-Level in Government and Politics. BASICALLY, it is like The West Wing, only British and a sitcom, minus the ideals and plus rather a lot of fantastic swearing. Also it has Peter Capaldi in it. Anyway, nobody is sure exactly how many series there have been thus far, because things got smushed together on the DVD and then there were the specials featuring the Opposition, but now is an excellent time to get into it! Because there is a new minister and yet, unsurprisingly, the same old shit.



( Right, well, I was thinking that one possible strategy might be to not tell anybody. )

Merlin just makes me so happy. So I made a picspam. Because I totally don't have anything better to do (well, I could watch Coraline, or Friday Night Lights, or 500 Days of Summer, or I could study, OR I could work on my fic. But, yeah.).

YAY, PICSPAM.


( there is a light that never goes out )

Oh, it's Father's Day here! I'm not sure if it's Father's Day anywhere else and.. there are no fathers on my flist, but.. yay?!

I'm gonna go and attempt to do something now, but I'll probably be sucked into another OT post.

I'm currently reading Unlocking the Meaning of Lost (I picked it up second-hand for €5 a while ago) and it includes an analysis of the spiritual concept of 'dharma'. I have like, zero knowledge about Hinduism and Buddhism so it's nice to learn a bit more about this element of it. Anyway, it says that dharma is basically a life plan in harmony with the greater good. Only when people are in harmony with this universal power (living in balance with nature, spirit, and other people) can true happiness be realized. Those who do not spiritually follow dharma must live life on earth again, being reincarnated into a new life to learn more about following the true path. So, what I'm understanding is is that dharma is some sort of spiritual force, the manner in which the universe operates, and to attain perfection (redemption?) one must live aligned with it.

Which makes me think of Stephen King's ka. Obviously the idea of dharma has been around a lot longer than ka, but it's possible Darlton have incorporated a bit of both concepts in Lost (we know The Dark Tower has been a source of inspiration for Darlton). In The Dark Tower, ka turns out to be literally a wheel, which is consistent with dharma's reincarnation/reliving your life over and over until you do it right. I just hope that for our Losties' sake, dharma doesn't turn out to be a wheel for them. But seeing as how the symbol that represents dharma is a wheel, I'm afraid those who theorize that there's going to be a reset, have a pretty good point :|

In other, completely unrelated news, someone made Dexter blood slide cookies. The internet continues to baffle and amaze me every single day.

Hey guys, I'm terribly bored, so I did what any bored LJer would do and made a poll! Come commiserate in my state of boredom by filling this out!

Poll #1482198 harry potter harry potter!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 15

do you write Harry Potter fanfic?

if yes, link me please! Cindy wants to read! :D

check your favorite HP gens! (check as many as you want!)

name your favorite HP characters! (name as many as you want!)

name all your LEAST favorite HP characters!

canon vs. fanon! check ALL that apply below!

name all your favorite HP ships!

name all your LEAST favorite HP ships!

which house do you think the Sorting Hat would pick for you?

( Merlin 2.07: The Witchfinder )

If you haven't already, you should go and see Rupert Young being a hippie and also a card shark, and look! Here is Sam Troughton reading to small children.

ogiraffe so i went to brush my teeth before, after my nap, and i noticed in the mirror that one of my roommates had a flower taped to her door and i was like k, then i turn to go back into my room and there was one on my door too and im like what is this a serial killer thing
ogiraffe THE CARNATION KILLER
thefreshchuff omggg
ogiraffe the rose reaper
ogiraffe cherry blossom chopper
thefreshchuff there are other things to be doing
ogiraffe IM ON 1800FLOWERS.COM RN
thefreshchuff KSJDB

There were other things to be doing but instead I made silly hand turkey decorations for my door. (Mysterious serial killer flower in question shown) I wonder how my roommates feel about the FIVE YEAR OLD who lives down the hall.

I'm happy it's fall. I've been crunching lots of leaves while I walk around campus, something I can't do back home in Florida. And scarves! I have a thing for scarves you guys. Scarves, cowls, shawls, any opportunity to wear one and I'm all over it. So the weather and seasonalness has been good, everything else not so much, but. W/e. I've just been a little Eeyore with a storm cloud following me lately!

I've been having such intense and frequent headaches lately so I went on WebMd (perfect place for a hypochondriac) and under symptoms they had "Headache" and "Headache (WORSE EVER)" it was like a TEST trying to decide which one to pick. Anyway, I either have a brain aneurysm or a sunburn so that was helpful.

I wish I had something more interesting to say! I feel like such a bad LJ friend when I update with nothing of any importance and DEBBIE DOWNER alerts. School, work, sleep, that is my life! :| How are you tonight? Any small events/things making you happy as of late? Indulge me! :3

...This is the best thing the internet has ever produced. Absolutely amazing.

Walt Walt Walt Walt Walt Walt!

My cousin is doing a book report on Paris Hilton. A sign that the end is extremely fucking nigh?

I HAVE BEEN POSTING A LOT LATELY WOW. It's called My Thesis Freaks Me Out (a remix of the Motion City Soundtrack song, get at me).

This is not Your Current OTP or The One You Like A Lot So Maybe It Is Your Favorite. ALL TIME. Like, you are going to a desert island (the Lost island!) and you can only have one forever and ever. I totally thought my Prison Break one would be my favorite forever but whoops, all my life I was only waiting for the tardis.

Poll #1481185
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 54

What is your all-time OTP?