July 23, 2008 10:20 pm
Feeling: Annoyed
Craving: Dessert
Hearing: Dresden Dolls
Last Movie: Batman Begins
Last DVD: Batman Begins
Last on TV: Weeds
Reading: War and Genocide by Doris Bergen and Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Talking to: Myself
Plugging: I would plug the guy that wrote what I'm about to talk about, but I don't like him, so I'm not going to.

Hmm... so I just read a post about Obama saying, “This is my second visit to Yad Vashem…I am always taken back to, sort of, the core question of humanity that the Holocaust raises. And that is, on the one hand man’s great capacity for evil but on the other hand the capacity to join together and stop evil if we are willing to speak out in one voice.” The author said that this quote was in poor taste... I just have one question... How? Looking back on it he may want to change his wording or add something, but what he said overall is not bad. Yes he was simplifying the Holocaust, but he wasn't there to give a huge speech on the Holocaust.  And then apparently Obama is the devil for saying this. How many dumb things has Bush said?! Pretty much every word that comes out of his mouth is the wrong one.

Bleh. Politics. Okay, I'm done with that. So, speaking of the Holocaust, I am taking my class on it now. It's really good, except it's tough to read some of the stuff, like the Jedwabne massacre. I don't really want to go into because of how graphic it is. But, yeah. I really like learning the details of this stuff. My roommates boyfriend was asking what exactly I'm learning in this class since everyone knows about the Holocaust, but what you learn about it is so superficial. I really like learning the details of what happened. I had no idea about the Hitler-Stalin Nonaggression Pact until I took this class.

So otherwise I've just been working a lot. Frank finally came back after going home for a week. Then he had to go to Phoenix today and ditched me for the whole day. We were supposed to go see Batman tonight - his idea - especially since we stayed up til 1 last night watching the first one, even though he had to get up before 6 this morning. That annoyed me. I don't even think he's left Phoenix yet, and I don't think he will at this point in the night. I hate when people break plans.

I've been watching a lot of Weeds again - I was watching Gilmore Girls again for a while. I can't wait to catch up, but it's going to suck to have to actually wait a week or more to see the next episode haha.

Alright, I must finish my reading for the night, but I needed to write a little and vent a little.

Oh, and I hate hate hate bills.

καλμνúχτα - aka Goodnite!

8 Simple Rules, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, David The Gnome, Dawson's Creek, Everwood, Father Dowling Mysteries, Flipping Out, Gilmore Girls, Higher Ground, Little People Big World, Project Runway, Roswell, Scarecrow And Mrs. King, Stargate Atlantis, Storm Hawks, The Mysterious Cities Of Gold, The Simpson's, Will And Grace, You Can't Do That On Television

What would your list consist of? Post your thoughts under comments.

I'm not sure why I never listened to these guys before. I'm not crazy about the band's name: it makes sense, but it's awkward to work with. And I think I lumped them in with the whole emo scene, which I was pretty well done with. Anyhow, I read a review of New Wave recently and decided they might be worth checking out.

New Wave is an astonishingly refreshing and heartfelt album. It's fairly short, as the songs are fairly short, and they pack a lot of punch. In fact, I've been singing this great, catchy chorus all morning: "Protest Songs in a response to Military Aggression. Protest songs to try and stop the soldier's gun."

The songs are great: really diverse for what is essentially a punk album. And the topics are protestations that I haven't heard in a while (at least not in such a catchy style): Lack of originality in the mainstream. ("New Wave" & "Up the Cuts"), Drug Addiction ("Thrash Unreal," the latest single that I've heard). "Stop" is a change of pace mid-album, with a catchy chorus and an almost dance feel. "Piss and Vinegar" is a plea for honesty. And possibly the strangest item on the disc: the song "The Ocean." One doesn't expect a punk band's verse to start like this: " If I could have chosen, I would have been born a woman. My mother once told me she would have named me Laura" and it continues on in that vein. What a shockingly honest (presumably) lyric in a song.

The only thing I don't like about the album is...the singer's voice. I just can't get past it, and I'm not sure what it is I don't like about it. He sings on key, his voice is strong and impassioned. There's just something about it I don't like. Of course, I also don't like the singer from Social Distortion either. I guess I'm more of a high, whiny voice than a gruff aggro voice. Despite this, whenever the band does harmonies, they sound great! All of the choruses have nice harmonies somewhere in them, and they really make the songs. Plus, there's a song called "Borne on the FM, Waves of the Heart" which is a duet with Tegan from Tegan and Sara, and it's really fantastic. They are a perfect match for each other. Normally, not liking the singer would make you not like a band. (How many people can't get into Rush because of Geddy Lee's voice?). And yet, I still think the album is great. I'm certainly going to check out some past records as well. I'm especially intrigued by this album title: Reinventing Axl Rose.

[READ: June 25, 2008] Special Topics in Calamity Physics.

I heard about this book when I was scanning the NPR stations and there was a story about authors/publishers making great websites to accompany books. Two of the ones they mentioned sounded pretty interesting, so I jotted them down and checked them out. This was the first one, Special Topics in Calamity Physics. The site was pretty neat, but I didn't spend much time there, as I was at work. I checked that we had the book and took it out that day.

And I'm really glad I did. I didn't read any blurbs or anything, because I was taken immediately with the set-up of the book. The chapter titles are set up like a literature class. Each chapter title is a classic work of fiction (which turns out to be related to the content). The first part of the book is the "Core Curriculum-Required Reading," which includes chapters called: Othello, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Brave New World, Madame Bovary etc. Part 2 includes A Movable Feast, Women in Love and A Room with a View. Part 3, takes a dark turn: Deliverance, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Things Fall Apart. There's even a final exam, but more about that soon.

This book was a great read. And it takes a wicked right turn about 1/2 way into the book, veering in a direction I never anticipated (although had I read the jacket, or indeed, remembered the VERY FIRST LINE, duh!--I might have anticipated it).

So the book is about a 16 year old girl, named Blue Van Meer. Her dad is something of a traveling professor. They stay for about a semester in each location and then he finds another guest lecturer position, and they move to that new place. Blue is an excellent student--the result of travelling around with a snobby professor all the time. If it were not for the fact that Blue was cooped up with her dad, in a car, driving for miles, his educational plan may not be unsound: they read books, and he quizzes her on them. Blue has had this most of her life so she doesn't really question it.

Blue's mom died when she was 5 years old. She doesn't remember much about her, so her mom is something of a nonentity. In every city, Blue's father, Gareth, is courted by "June Bugs," women who are attracted to him (he's rather handsome). he explains that he is not interested in anything serious, but they all seem to fall for him and become very upset when, in fact, nothing serious develops.

The book is written from Blue's point of view. Her father said that when something momentous happens to people, they should write about it (and not before). Since Blue has a momentous experience, she decides to write about it.

Blue's new school is St Gallway in the Smoky Mountains region. It is a fairly prestigious school, and she immediately gets sucked into a group--whom she calls the Bluebloods--of rich, intellectual kids who hang out with the teacher Hannah Schneider. After reading a few pages of the school and the snotty students, I couldn't help but be reminded of the Gilmore Girls. I'm not suggesting there is any common cause, or that there is any connection between the two, but I kept wanting to imagine one of the girls looking like Paris. (You hear that, future filmmakers?)

Blue has a chance meeting with Hannah at a grocery store the week before school starts. When Blue starts school she is surprised to find that the Bluebloods have invited her to join them. She is suspicious at first, and is even more so when Hannah explains that she encouraged them to invite her along. Hannah has a standing Sunday dinner with all of these kids, where they dine and gossip and even study. Their initial meetings are a disaster, with Blue barely speaking and eventually receiving the nickname "Retch."

After some time, they begin to form a sort of antisocial bond. (Again, like Rory and Paris, although in this case it is Blue and 5 others). Their bond is formed as they try to piece together the mysterious life of their mentor, Hannah. She is suspiciously silent about her past, and has very few mementos of her present. Rather, she collects strays and second hand items, including, it seems men. She is always welcoming to any questions, she just evades anything personal.

One day, Hannah has a party, to which the kids are not invited. It is a costume party, and they sneak in. At the party, an older gentleman dies. Foul play is eventually ruled out, but after this event, Hannah changes.

After several weeks, Hannah invites the kids on a camping trip. It is at this point that I was utterly shocked. And I debated whether to reveal this secret, until I found out that it isn't one, since the first line of the book is: "Before I tell you about Hannah Schneider's death..." So, yes, Hannah dies on the camping trip.

Seeing the promotional material about the book, I realize that this was not meant to be a surprise to the reader; however, it totally blew my mind. I thought this was an interesting story about kids in school, and suddenly it turned into a murder mystery. But the surprises don't end there.

There is yet another twist coming towards the end of the book. It is toyed around with somewhat, and I figured it out just before it became really obvious, but it was still a good twist. I'm not going to say what it is, but it involves virtually everyone in her life.

Before the twist, however, we see the Bluebloods turn against Blue. Because of some specifics at their hike, Blue and the Bluebloods are separated, and some of them feel that Blue is responsible in some way for Hannah's death. She is ostracized and stops going to school. Her life only gets weirder and worse and we head towards that twist.

The only other thing to mention is that Blue decided to go to a dance with a boy whom the Bluebloods do not approve. He is a very normal person, from a very nice family. This was the first time that I actively did not like Blue. She was so disdainful of this boy and his family, a family that reminded me of my own. And I felt her superiority was astonishingly unpleasant. She feels some remorse for that later on, but the scene is ugly. The rest of her schoolmates are not mentioned in great detail, although the snippets are quite fun.

As I said, I enjoyed the book very much. It was very captivating. I think I might have enjoyed the story more if it didn't turn into the mystery; however, having said that, the mystery part was very good, and where would the story have gone otherwise? I've no idea.

The final chapter is the Final Exam: a series of multiple choice questions which provide possible reasons for and answers to the things that Blue does or did. It's a gimmicky way to end the book, but contextually it works very well. It also allows for an interesting way to end the book without hitting us over the head with a resolution.

Two gripes: One: for a really smart girl, Blue was pretty blind to a lot of things around her. It could be that she was somewhat sheltered in her existence, but she had read enough fiction that she could have seen some of the things that happened, especially with her father. It is this reason that I mark her as an unreliable narrator, even if technically she isn't.

Two: there are visual aids in the book. And they are fun and interesting skectches that Blue has done of various classmates and teachers and such. Unfortunately, there are only about 5 in the book. And most of them come very early on. There are many parts later in the book where a visual would have been interesting, if not very useful. So, why would there be a couple of them but not a follow through with it? There are some extra visual aids on the website, but I would have liked 6 or 7 more in the book.

Speaking of the website, it is pretty cool. The animations on it are excellent, the "Cliff's Notes" to the book are hilarious, and you'll find some more interesting things there. I'm excited to read the other book from that radio show (which was Charles Bock' Beautiful Children.)

The full NPR story is available here as well.

Big Star - Thirteen

Won't you let me walk you home from school
Won't you let me meet you at the pool
Maybe Friday I can
get tickets for the dance
and I'll take you
Won't you tell your dad, "Get off my back"
Tell him what we said 'bout 'Paint It Black'
Rock 'n Roll is here to stay
Come inside where it's okay
And I'll shake you.
Won't you tell me what you're thinking of
Would you be an outlaw for my love
If it's so, well, let me know
If it's "no", well, I can go
I won't make you

Essa música é muito fofa, e o cover do Elliot Smith ficou ainda melhor:

1. What is your favorite thing to do alone? Hmmm that's a tough call - I love to go grocery shopping alone - so much so that I did it twice this weekend - it was so good, all the cashiers thought I was some awesome single woman, and all the kids crying and whining in the aisles were so not my own children. I was loving it like crazy. I don't know if it's my favorite thing to do alone, but it is pretty freaking incredible.

2. What is your favorite thing to do with your best friend? Get drunk Have a root beer or cherry coke and talk in a Russian accent while playing fun games like "Wise or Otherwise" (which I call "Wise or NotsoWise" always except for ten words ago) or Apples to Apples.

3. What is your favorite band? Man I'm just not much of a "band" person - I really do prefer solo artists, I guess I'll have to say the Barenaked Ladies or else the Beatles, because I honestly can't think of many other bands that I listen to very often these days. I can tell you that about 10 years ago I would have said The Backstreet Boys (noticing a B trend... hmmm...) without so much as flinching. Those were the days...

4. What is your favorite song? That's like asking me my favorite color - I'm not big on decision making - lately I've been digging this song Jason Castro sang in Idol that I later learned was in the movie Shrek (and I'm wondering if Jason knows this and / or if that's where he first heard it) anyway it's that song that goes, "Love is not a victory march ; It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah ; Hallelujah; Hallelujah ; Hallelujah; Hallelujah..." and yeah I totally looked up the lyrics online to write this, so I know now that the song is called 'Hallelujah' and it's by Jeff Buckley and I'm pretty sure he probably said so on Idol but you never know. Anyway, it's beautiful - even listening to it on Shrek made me almost cry, and Jason Castro did a way way way way way better job. Hallalujah.

5. What is your favorite part of your job? My job title - Stay at Home Mother - it pretty much rocks - I mean sure, there's no 401K or vacation time, but I set my own hours (sort of) and spend my days playing with mega bloks and making peanut butter and jelly. I can't really complain (much).

6. What is your favorite TV show, on now? Total toss up between Grey's Anatomy and Bones - but if you read this blog at all regularly, you probably knew that.

7. What is your favorite TV show all time? Oh so hard to say - it's more like an on going list, add to the two shows from question 6: Gilmore Girls, Dawsons Creek, Alias and Buffy the Vampire Slayer - and maybe the Dick Van Dyke Show and Veronica Mars

8. Who is your favorite actor? What is it with you surveys and making me choose things... ummm... well, Johnny Depp - seriously, he's amazing. There are other dreamy actors that come and go but I don't think many are half as talented as J. Depp - and he's dreamy to boot - total package.

9. What is your favorite film? Gone With the Wind - finally a question I didn't even flinch answering. I could go on and swoon about how amazing the movie and book are, and how they are like the story of my life but not even close and on and on and yammering and so forth, but I won't. Because I've answered your nine questions and I'm done. I'm going to bed. Thank you and good night.

If you want to join in on the Saturday 9 fun and haven't figured out already to just click one of the links or buttons that say "Saturday 9" on them - then you are in luck! Because I am now going to tell you to click on a link or button that says "Saturday 9" on it. Ready? Click on a link or button that says "Saturday 9" and you can join in on the Saturday 9 fun today! Be sure to add your Saturday 9 blog address link to the Mr. Linkies at the Saturday 9 blog, and you know, have fun. And all that. Bye!

ps: Saturday 9 - muahahahahahahahah - I crack myself up - okay, I'm really going now. Bye.

I have a second interview tomorrow for a large retail store. I guess I'm excited about it. Really, I just want a job. Not only for the money, but I hate just lounging around here all day. I have been reading a lot of books. In fact, I went to the library Monday and I have finished two of my books and I can't wait to get started on my other one.

As for right now, I have nothing else to say really. I hope to start updating more often. I really am a slacker. I am going to take a nice nap. Goodnight.

PS- Did you realize that relatable isn't a word? You learn something new every day. It should be!

In writing this editorial, I want to make one thing perfectly clear: I am greatly appreciative of the great work that Tom O'Neil does at The Envelope's Gold Derby Blog in getting inside scoops on the Emmy Top 10s and creating important discussion about these awards. He is clearly highly committed to this process, and I have great respect for him and his coverage.

But, one of my nagging issues about Gold Derby is its reliance on searching out any potential flaws in the Emmy system and exploiting them in ways that just don't make any sense. Earlier this week, I was outright flabbergasted at the theory that the reason some favourites didn't get nominated was because they hadn't submitted a picture to sit beside their entry on the official list. It's one thing to mention this off hand (And one voter did mention it to Tom, hence the article), it's another to turn it into a potential widespread conspiracy. Heck, even his own article listed off all sorts of other competitors who didn't have pictures but were still shortlisted.

But this is the trend, and a dangerous one. We're always highly critical of the Emmy Awards process due to the various reformations of the past few years, and while I'm not suggesting that we ignore the negatives in favour of the positives I do think that we need to stop extrapolating grand theories from the exclusions. O'Neil's latest editorial, continuing to paint his oft-favoured picture of the recent Emmy changes as a conspiracy to get Lost back into the main category, devolves into the usual complaint that the Emmys screwed over The Wire and other low-rated programs.

Has Emmy Wandered Off Base - GoldDerby

And I'm not defending the Emmys' decision to exclude that great HBO series, but rather defending the system from being to "blame" for the exclusion. While the method that they've developed is certainly not perfect, there is no way it can be: like the traditional zero sum game, everything you add to one side will simply be taken away from the other. This journey of Emmy overhaul is likely not over, but every single snub or every single surprise cannot be taken as a pattern to be jumped on, or ironed out. And, this year in particular, the positives seem to have won the day, something that should not lead to such extensive deconstruction of the Emmy process.

The journey of this process is simple: after a number of years of extensive critical disapproval of the Emmy winners, the organization made a change. Now, that original structure was not horrible by any means: it's not like someone like Jennifer Garner was snubbed of a nomination for the Alias pilot or anything of that nature. Rather, at that point, it was an issue of the awards being stale: with the emergence of new shows like Gilmore Girls on The WB and genre programming like Lost, there was a concern that the popular was no longer reflective of the high quality.

Now, this is not to say that the Emmys have ever been the People's Choice awards - their choices were always of a genuinely high calibre to be quite honest, and their recognition of shows like Arrested Development or Lost's first season in this era is reflective of their good taste. But they were just very finicky, and after years of pent up frustration they made a change. The change was to take the top nominees and put them into blue ribbon panels of Emmy voters who would pick the nominees. And then, of course, the nominees were even worse.

That year, we saw not the emergence of an actress like Lauren Graham (Who most credited as the purpose of the legislation, and who never did get her Emmy nomination) but rather Stockard Channing and Christopher Meloni. These were two performers no one saw coming, and ones that most critics were not happy with (Especially Channing, whose show had been summarily canceled). So the panels were now an issue, an example of concentrated power proving even less representative than the broad and exclusive voting process. But there was one exclusion that had everybody angry, and the one that O'Neil highlights as the lynchpin to corruption:

"Lost" submitted the head-scratching "Man of Science, Man of Faith," which makes no sense to nonviewers of the series, so the show got skunked. TV critics of America rose up in revolt, hurling their usual weapons of mass destruction at the TV academy while denouncing its chiefs as morons. But it wasn't really the chiefs' fault. Had "Lost" producers submitted the Tailies episode, which TV Guide called its best of that season, the show probably would've been nominated again and may even have won.

I'm not entirely sure how many times Tom has copy and pasted this exact same paragraph into his articles, but the number continues to grow. He loves to point out that it was Lost's producers who made the big mistake, submitting a confusing episode compared to their other option, and that the critical uproar from critics was all a result of this one decision. I won't argue that they should have submitted a different episode (They did it this year with "The Constant" and got nominated), but I will argue with this characterization of the switch that followed the 2006 Emmys as nothing but a desperate attempt at appeasing critics.

The 2007 model was complicated but also more representative: the popular vote, which includes all Academy members getting to have their voice heard, counts for half of the vote while the panels now decide the other 50%. This was designed, of course, to allow both for the continued closer inspection of the submitted episodes while leaving room to make up for panel snubs through the popular totals. It was their best chance, they thought, of pleasing everyone, but Tom O'Neil and many other Emmy fans are obviously not pleased.

And I don't blame them, really - I wasn't happy with Lost getting snubbed last year (With a less confusing episode) the same way I'm not happy with Pushing Daisies' snub this year. And, Tom may be right that the 100% panel option might have allowed for those nominations to happen, or that some hypothetical ideal option is just waiting to be discovered that would totally fit with that is "right." Unfortunately, television is far more subjective than that - while Emmy gurus like O'Neil and his Gold Derby moderators Chris Beechum and Rob Lucirio are strong at predicting what people will think, they don't really have any grounds by which to desire to police said opinions.

The point of Tom's most recent editorial is to remind the Emmys that just because they "succeeded" at getting Lost back into the Best Drama race doesn't mean that it's perfect, and that as long as they continue to snub shows like The Wire that he will not back down from his efforts. I found this attitude justified with the Emmys' unwillingness to release Top 10 lists when he was leaking them: there is an effort that opens up this process to transparency and has an eventual end goal that seems achievable.

But there is nothing achievable about voting perfection. His example of The Wire is itself, just like Lost, a multi-layered proposition. The show just doesn't play well with a single episode, a five season novel more than a single season storyline, so the panel system is against it. We don't know if that would change had the panels been the only tally, but that the show didn't even rank 6th in the voting tells me that it might not have even done well with the panels. As a fan of good television, and as someone slowly but surely making my way through the series, I sincerely wish that David Simon and Ed Burns had gotten more than a writing nomination.

And yet I don't think it's fair to blame the system for this, just as it wasn't fair (as Tom points out) for us to blame the system for Lost's nomination when an episode submission was at play, or the subjective opinions of voters were involved. While I understand the argument that the panels actually see the episodes, and can therefore make the more informed decision, I challenge two parts of that: both the presumption that people won't just ignore what's on the tape and vote how they want to vote, and the fact that the system as it is now is so totally broken.

Tom himself points out that Bryan Cranston is a surprise nominee in the Lead Actor Drama category over a big name like Patrick Dempsey. I could point to Lee Pace breaking into Lead Actor Comedy, a relative no-name who emerges in a tough race to snare a nom away from a big name like David Duchovony. Yes, you could then counter with Mary McDonnell getting snubbed from Battlestar Galactica, or Jenna Fischer missing out from The Office, but it's a zero sum game: there is never going to be total failure or total loss, just an inevitable back and forth where sometimes we have to agree to disagree.

My problem with Tom's perspective is not that he's wrong, but that he's overlooking some facts in favour of others. His basic thesis boils things down to the point of outright exclusion:

"The Wire" didn't get nominated today because it never had a prayer. This new voting system punishes low-rated fare and that's criminal because it was created to do the exact opposite.

And yet, AMC's Mad Men was as low-rated as you could imagine but it racked up 16 nominations. Breaking Bad got a handful of nominations and its ratings were even worse, while HBO's In Treatment saw a handful of deserved acting nominations for a show that never caught on with viewers. And it was the biggest breakout year for basic cable in history, as two shows break into the Top 10 despite generally lower viewership. Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty are bumped from the Drama and Comedy races for smaller shows in the process, and we have one of the most eclectic Emmy races of recent years.

I think that the Emmy system still needs work, but romanticizing the panels is no way of going about it. Those are still human beings sitting in those rooms, and they're still mostly older voters out of touch with what is really going on in television. You could easily argue that Mad Men and Damages only succeeded in this process because of their nostalgic stylings and their star power, respectively - only Dexter is the real anomaly, a bloody and intense show not usually on the Emmy radar.

Tom's posted multiple polls over the past few weeks asking questions like whether or not increasing the number of nominees would fix the Emmys, but they wouldn't: the people who would break into contention would mostly be more of the same popular examples, and it's not as if Emmy voters can be counted on to pick the right winers even when they have the right nominees (See: James Spader, Jeremy Piven). There were more snubs of people who didn't even make the Top 10 lists this year than there was for the awards themselves, so the even mere existence of the Popular Vote would still result in angry people and "non-representative" nominees.

And any changes that are made will have consequences: eliminating the popular vote altogether for the nomination process seemed a really attractive option, but it led to some strange exclusions both deserving and undeserving. Now, it is true that exchanging the current imperfection for that imperfection might seem tempting, but won't that vicious cycle just continue? Won't shows continue to submit the wrong episodes, or simply not even crack the Top 10, even when all critics think they should? And then won't more outcry follow, and more frustration, and more shows that most of us discerning TV lovers will get snubbed?

Which is why this search for perfection needs to stop - while the current system isn't living up to the presumed altruistic purpose of the panels, they are working to find that medium. If I was a member of the Academy, I'd hate to have a process where my vote stopped mattering at a point in the process - no voting process will be fully informed, but it's still a democratic membership that wants their voices to be heard. And I don't agree with many of their opinions, but at the same time they would probably disagree with most of mine.

What I'm asking for here is not to ignore subjectivity, or to ban Tom or anyone else from expressing their frustration with the process. Rather, it's about not stretching that frustration into exclusionary analysis - just as Lost, Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars were not just being snubbed due to the voting practices then, The Wire didn't only lose their chance at Emmy glory based on the current one. When you even out everything at the end of the day, there was a lot of good points with this new process and the bad ones (Entourage's success, as an example) are more leftovers of an earlier process than signs of a terrible trend for the future.

I'm just worried that every positive thing about these awards is, as Tom puts it, "a sliver of hope;" at what point will it be more than that on this current trend? Are we so used to complaining about the Emmys that we're blaming the system before just chalking it up to human error? I'm not sure, but I really hope that people keep that question in mind in the coming years.

At the peak of my television obsession (high school when I would record and keep episodes of various shows on VHS), I remember when I would wake up at 5 in the morning to watch the live feed on E! of the announcement of the Emmy nominations. Sadly, time passed and since premium cable never existed in my life and the popularity of TV shows on DVD was still something of the future, watching nominee after nominee from The Sopranos or Six Feet Under didn't mean anything to me.

However, in most recent years, proven with today's nomination list for the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, major network and basic cable television shows are making their marks as places to find good television. HBO-style gratuitous sex, bloody murder, and f-bombs are out, cute piemakers are in. Well, perhaps the sex and murder aren't completely out (re: Cagney of Cagney and Lacey's guest starring role as the obsessed agent/teddy bear maker on Nip/Tuck).

Highlights of This Year's Nominations

Complete List of This Year's Nominations

Since all the nominations for Mad Men and 30 Rock are a given, I'd like to congratulate and highlight some of the surprises:

Lee Pace, Kristen Chenoweth, and Costume Designers Mary Vogt and Stephanie Fox-Kramer for Pushing Daisies - Ms. Vogt and Fox-Kramer, you two deserve that Emmy. I have never wanted a television character's wardrobe more than Anna Friel's.

Amy Poehler for Saturday Night Live - I don't even remember when someone was ever nominated for an emmy for their cast role on the sketch show

Sharon Gless on Nip/Tuck - You scared the beejeezus out of me.

Christina Applegate for Samantha Who? - Yay for first season nominees. You made me actually not hate the guy from 7th Heaven and Jennifer Esposito.

The nominees for lead actress in a miniseries or movie - the lineup looks better than the best actress nominees for the Oscars

And the nominees for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics - Flight of the Conchords' "The Most Beautiful Girl (in the Room)" and "Inner City Pressure" plus Jimmy Kimmel Live's "I'm Fucking Matt Damon"

Flight of the Conchords - Inner City Pressure

[audio http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/6/20/1967807/02-flight_of_the_conchords-inner_city_pressure.mp3]

Flight of the Conchords - The Most Beautiful Girl (in the room)

[audio http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/6/20/1967807/12-flight_of_the_conchords-the_most_beautiful_girl_%28in_the_room%29.mp3]

Sarah Silverman - I'm Fucking Matt Damon

]]> http://singingmush.wordpress.com/?p=41 Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:47:03 +0000 singingmush http://singingmush.wordpress.com/?p=41 Currently

July 15, 2008 11:43 pm
Feeling: Worn out
Craving: Cheez-Its and Frank
Hearing: Backstreet Boys - I'm jamming out old school tonite
Last Movie: The River Wild
Last DVD: Gilmore Girls
Last on TV: Weeds
Reading: War and Genocide by Doris Bergen and Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Talking to: Myself
Plugging: No one

Geez, I had no idea I hadn't written in so long!!

Well, my first summer class is over. No more Homer for me. I started my class about the Holocaust yesterday. I like it and it's interesting, but there is a ton of reading! I like going to class though because it's interesting the whole time. I don't find myself daydreaming too much.

Because my class is at 11, I work at 9 now. I like it except that I work with another girl at the same time and there's barely enough for one person to do, let alone two.

So last night something fell down into the tubing of our little fireplace, and I guess it made a huge thud, so Bethany thought it was a squirrel and Steveo thought it was a mouse. We spent, like, a half hour trying to get it out and couldn't. We finally tried once more this morning since our landlord was going to have to come over to take it apart. We got it out. And by "we" I mean Steveo. It was just a really big beetle. For a while I was thinking it might have been the mouse we always hear running around in the ceiling, but I guess not haha. Oh well, his running doesn't really bug me anyways.

So Frank went home for the week to help his mom run his grandma's store. I'm so bored without him haha. It's funny cause I'm still busy, but I feel lonely because usually even when I'm doing my homework and stuff he's here too, and we stop in the middle of things to talk, but now he's not here. Oh well, I guess. I'll get over it. It's been weird only making dinner for one person though.

I have good news. I weighed myself at the gym today and I'm down 10 lbs from where I was when I was home. I was hoping for more than 10 because last Monday I weighed myself and I was down 8 lbs. It's understandable though because Saturday was my Grandparents 50th Anniversary party, so there were a lot of extra calories eaten that day with cake and such. It was a lot of fun though, and I got to see people I like (and people I don't haha). Even though 10 lbs isn't that much because of how much I want to lose, I already feel so much happier. I've noticed I'm a lot less moody, which is nice, because I know I've been pretty moody the last few months.

Now that I've finished my tons of reading for tonight, I'm going to go ahead and go to bed.

καλμνúχτα - aka Goodnite!

Its really exciting to see we have all these new writers! I'm excited for the future of thefourohfive!

Recently I can not get enough of listening to 5 Stories-Manchester Orchestra. Brilliant!

Im currently reading Nausea- Satre which Im really enjoying.

Im currently watching The Gilmore Girls all the time.

Ive also started a little summer film thing, Im definately not a day/sun person so its a perfect time for me to catch up and watch some awesome films, Ive already watched

We Don't Live Here Anymore- which is a really good Mark Ruffalo film!

Happy Endings- Maggie Gyllenhaal rocks!

Usual Supects, Elephant Man, Plains Trains and Automobiles, Stranger than Fiction, See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Murder by Numbers (yak!) The Other Boleyn Girl, Match Point, Empire Records, Directors cut Almost Famous, The Hoax, Art School Confidential, Fargo, Dazed and Confused, Romance and Cigarettes, Arthur.

So not that many but I have about 40 left to watch in my collection I havent seen so far! Thank You Blockbusters summer sale!

Let me know if theres anything I should look out for! Seriously give me some recommendations!

Lo

I just realized, in watching the episode from the first season "Double Date" where Lorelai and Rory both go out on bad double dates, that the waiter in this episode is the same actor who plays Joe in an episode from season three where Sookie and Lorelai run into an old co-worker of Sookie's who thought he was getting a second chance to ask her out.  His name was Joe in that episode.

Yes, I know, this means I'm watching way too much Gilmore Girls.  But really, my options are pretty limited.  Next weekend, I fully intend to go to the farmer's market here in town, work on getting my new apartment set up, and of course hang out with my husband since he'll be here.  But even if he wasn't going to be here, I'd still be doing more than this.  Maybe I can enter a Gilmore Girls trivia contest someday.

.... wallspawn

about a week ago, andrew&i went to the beach. it was our first vacation together, & it was the best vacation of my life! we didn't go to the usual beaches, in FL. no, we went to the beach in SC. (near myrtle beach...) the condo was very nice, with lots of things to make our stay comfortable. the beaches were amazing, with dunes, & warm water. i also managed to read a whole book on the trip there, while we were there, & back. (sarah dessen's newest book, which i absolutely loved!) i was impressed.

the first full day, we went to the beach for a little bit. we also went to this outdoor maze, called "maze mania." it would have been fun, but it was peak sunny hours, & sooooo hot. on the fourth, we went to get fireworks, in hopes that we could make our own awesome show. then we went out on the beach for a few hours. andrew took me out on a small blow-up raft, & we went sooooo far out. it was a nice, breezy day, so we didn't feel too hot, per the usual beach feel. however, we got severely sunburned. me on my chest, stomach, & the tops of my knees (no fun!). andrew just got burnt on his shoulders & on the tops of his knees.

on the 4th, we also watched the history channel's special on the revolutionary war. it was quite appropriate, & actually kind of interesting. the guy that narrated was a character on "gilmore girls," which i found awesome. (andrew, not so much...) i made dinner for us, which consisted of chicken, mashed potatoes, & biscuits. it was rather tasty if you ask me. then we watched some fireworks from the back porch, & then the front little balcony. they were so pretty. our fireworks on the other hand, were a little flawed. it was really windy, so there was some trouble actually getting them to light...

the next day, we played some dogopoly. dogopoly, for those that don't know, is a monopoly-like game, only about dogs. we played at least 4 games. andrew won all of them. (he's much better at buying good properties that are together, & the whole hotel thing...) we also went out to a cute, romantic dinner at a restaurant across the street. i got some yummy chicken, but andrew got some seafood. (not my thing...)

later that night, we got henna tattoos. (me, a star on my foot, & andrew, the uga "G" on his shoulder.) then we went & played mini-golf, which lasted about 12 holes. there were lots of people there, & it was hot & kind of rainy.

the next day, we departed around noon, & it took us til after 9PM to get back. 4th of july traffic is miserable. & to make matters worse, it took us 2hrs to go about 35miles. yeah, that much fun. & it was super hot. & it rained when we were about halfway through SC. ugh ugh ugh.

since then, i have acquired a case of swimmer's ear in my right ear. it hurt like a mother. & i have to put drops into it 4times a day, 4 drops each time, for about 5 days. i'm almost done, thank god. i have also been going to summer school, which isn't getting any more fun. i've successfully take two midterms, one math test, & have an american lit paper due this next week. FUN FUN FUN. but my family is going to the beach in only hours, for a whole week. once again, i am the keeper of the dog. it should be fun, quiet, & very nice.

i've completed almost my whole people magazine jumbo crossword puzzle book. it's bad. & i'm rewatching "gilmore girls," from season 7 backwards to season 1. yes, i am that cool. i need to get a new tv show on dvd to watch...& i'm lending andrew "the office," so i can't watch that. (even though i've seen every episode about 12 times.) any suggestions?

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with string, these are a few of my favorite things...

My friend Tanya blogged a couple of days ago about some of her favorite things. Here's some of mine:

• Gilmore Girls
• coffee
• knitting
• Diet Coke
• my husband
• my daughter
• our church family
• my laptop Sookie
• my cell phone Rory
• our SUV Luke
• my blogging friends
• swimming
• running (although I can't do it now with my knee issues)
• yoga
• a good movie

Well, I could go on for hours. What are some of your favorite things?

Thaaat's right. Laugh it up. Assholes.

Hell-A magazine blog number one. Hank hates you all. A few things I've learned in my travels through this crazy little thing called Life-- one, a morning of awkwardness is far better than a night of loneliness. Two, I probably won't go down in history, but I will go down on your sister. And three, while I'm down there, it might be nice to see a hint of pubis. I'm not talking about a huge 70's playboy bush or anything, just something that reminds me that I'm performing cunnilingus on an adult. But I guess the larger question is, why is the City of Angels so hell-bent on destroying it's female population?

- Hank (Californication)

Californication (Showtime). My new favorite show. This one took me by surprise. I thought it would be about something else besides the obvious, but no. It's by Showtime, what do you expect? They're notorious in this genre for Tv shows. Must be a really tough job for David Duchovny, his role here, what with all the f*ckiing and sh*t. But on a less perverse note, the show boasts of superb acting from the cast. Reminds me of indie films, actually. The script is also very well-written, as it should be since Duchovny's character's a writer (okay, a novelist). And come on, who doesn't enjoy stories about scornful apathetic writers, huh? Wicked cool, this show. The substantial amount of sex and nudity doesn't hurt either.

 

Chuck (NBC). In one word, awesomeness. The wit, the humor, the dork factor, the mild spy violence, the sexy blonde agent-pretending-to-be-the-girlfriend bit, everything! The premise is somewhat reminiscent of Reaper, another show I love, except in place of the supernatural stuff, you get spy action, and instead of Work Bench (a parody for "Home Depot") you get Buy More (a parody for "Best Buy"). But whatev. Love it!

 

Sucky Synopsis: Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) couldn't be any more pedestrian. He got kicked out of Stanford because of a cheating scam he was set-up in by his former bestfriend and roommate in college, Bryce (Matthew Bomer), and is now working for the local electronics retailer with his pesky bestfriend Morgan (Joshua Gomez). He is also living under the same roof as his sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and her husband "Captain Awesome" (Ryan McPartlin). But all this changes when he receives a mysterious e-mail from Bryce, whom he loathes, and suddenly he acquires all the top-secret information of the US government inside his head. Now every enemy of the CIA and NSA is after him, and he's forced to go undercover with the undeniably hott secret agent Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski), who poses as his girlfriend, much to his "Nerd Herd" colleagues' bewilderment, and the brusque major Casey (Adam Baldwin), who poses as a "Buy More" employee.

Pushing Daisies (ABC). Totally ghay, but hey, what can I say? ...Alrght, alright, I'm laying off the rhyming. Seriously though, the sheer cleverness of the script here as well as the unique quirky characters is what got me to like this show. This "forensic fairy tale" dramedy is fresh and light-hearted, and the witty back-and-forth banters remind me a bit of Gilmore Girls, a show which I also immensely enjoyed, as embarrassing as that is to admit. It's almost enough to compensate for the amount of cheese that comes with this show. It's cute, is what this show is. Seriously, give it a shot.

 

Sucky Synopsis: Pie-maker Ned (Lee Pace) is different from most people. He could mysteriously bring the dead back to life with a single touch, another touch and they die permanently. If he doesn't touch that which he had brought to life within the span of a single minute, someone or something else will have to randomly die in its place. When private investigator Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) found him and his mysterious capabilities out, he seeks him out as a business partner. Together, they solve murder crimes by bringing the victims back to life and asking them who their murderer was, and then claim the reward after. Their situation suddenly becomes more interesting, to say the least, when Ned's childhood sweetheart, Charlotte "Chuck" Charles (Anna Friel), becomes a murder victim, and the pie-maker suddenly finds himself unable to bring her back to death, thus resulting in someone else's ultimate demise. Ned brings her to his home and life in secret, much to the dismay of Emerson and one Olive Snook (Kristin Chenoweth), who works at Ned's pie restaurant (The Pie Hole), and is hopelessly in love with him.

Greek (ABC Family). I was alerted to the existence of this show by THE Baddie, in one of his awesome posts on his awesome blog. And really, who wouldn't enjoy this show? It's mildly entertaining enough to sedate my troubled, lonely mind, and it's just plain fun to watch! I wish college was that fun for me. *cries*

Sucky Synopsis: Rusty Cartwright (Jacob Zachar) has been a geek his entire life, and he's sick of it. He is convinced that his way out of that is to join Cyprus-Rhodes University's Greek System. His highly popular sister Casey (Spencer Grammer) is against it, naturally, as she refuses to be associated with a dweeb for family. He gets pledged for Kappa Tau Gamma fraternity eventually, and as he struggles to maintain balance between the two very different worlds of brotherhood and geekdom (he refuses to major in anything easier than his first choice of Polymer Science), exposés and scandals ensue. Suddenly, college isn't just about fun, booze, and debauchery anymore.

The Big Bang Theory (CBS). Funny, but most of the dialogue is lost on me. This show is chock-full of nerd jargon. Now I'm a self-confessed dork, but half the time I'm like, "Huh?" And when it's not that, I go, "The what now?" Yeah, better prepare yourself. Regardless, the superior level of intelligence involved with this sitcom won't hinder you from liking it. You'll find yourself rooting for the geek to get the hot chick in no time.

Sucky Synopsis: Genius physicist Leonard (Johnny Galecki) lives with his equally genius roommate, bestfriend, and colleague, Sheldon (Jim Parsons). Their routinary lives suddenly get thrown off-course when beautiful waitress and "cheesecake-scented goddess" Penny (Kaley Cuoco) moves in across the hall from their apartment. Leonard falls hard for her, and over failed attempts to win her affections, and Penny's string of bad boyfriends, she eventually begins to see the potential that was in him all along.

Fallen (ABC Family). This three-part mini-series about angels holds a certain cult appeal to it. It boasts of some spectacular special effects, and it has quite an interesting premise. The last battle between the lead and Lucifer was a little anti-climactic though. Lucifer wasn't as bad-ass as he could've been, in my opinion. But still, this show is recommendable to say the least.

Sucky Synopsis: Aaron Corbett (Paul Wesley) is a good orphaned boy in high-school who's struggling to find himself. On his eighteenth birthday, he exhibits strange abilities such as the ability to hear thoughts and to understand animals. He soon discovers that he is in fact a Nephilim, a creature of abomination born from the consummation of a human and a fallen angel. The Powers, angels on Earth who hunt the Nephilim, soon come after him. As he fights for his life, his purpose as the Redeemer of the sins of the fallen, that they may once again return to paradise, becomes apparent. As he realizes his potentials and capabilities, he meets friends who help him in his encounters with the Powers, Camael (Rick Worthy) and Vilma (Fernanda Andrade). In spite of himself, Aaron doubts the nature of his abilities, fearing that they might be wrong. Under the suggestions of Azazel (Hal Ozsan), they journey to the "Light Bringer" in search of answers. But as Aaron reach their destination, he is quick to learn that the "Light Bringer" isn't someone they can trust after all.

Dirty Sexy Money (ABC). A show possibly inspired by everyone's favorite toy dog-loving heiress and sex tape celebutant. Lives like that really make for some nice television, don't you think? Although in Dirty Sexy Money's case, it could be better, if I'm being honest. But throw in a little murder mystery, and you've got yourself a hit; which is exactly what this show did.

 

Sucky Synopsis: Do-gooder lawyer Nick George (Peter Krause) swore he would never come near the extremely wealthy Darlings ever again. But with his father's sudden and suspiciously mysterious death, the Darlings have asked him to take his place as their personal lawyer. He convinces himself that he'll be able to help so many people in need with the money the Darlings will be paying him, and reluctantly agrees. Within his first day on the job, he is quick to realize the difficult position he was thrust upon. He suddenly finds himself torn between the Darling family and their many petty squabbles, and his own thriving family, much like his late father had been, much to his utter disappointment. But while Nick contemplates quitting, information that may just prove his theory that his father's death was not an accident at all, but had in fact been carefully crafted, suddenly surfaces. Nick decides it's best to stay with the Darlings, and use them and their resources to find the truth behind his father's untimely death.

Good morning, Hel-L.A. In a land of lotus-eaters, time plays tricks on you. One day you're dreaming, the next your dream has become your reality. It was the best of times, if only someone had told me. Mistakes were made, hearts were broken, harsh lessons learned. My family goes on without me, while I drown in a sea of pointless pussy. I don't know how I got here. But here I am, rotting away in the warm California sun. There are things I need to figure out, for her sake at least. The clock is ticking. The gap is widening. She won't always 'love me no matter what'.

- Hank (Californication)

Credit to Gilmore Girls Italia

Fonte: TelefilmSeris.com

Domanda: Congratulazioni e buona fortuna alla EW! Ora, a proposito di Lauren Graham, non ti h amica detto niente a proposito di un suo possibile ritorno in tv? — Gabriella
Ausiello: No, non mi ha detto niente. Anche se ne avesse intenzione non credo lo farebbe sapere. In ogni caso ho saputo del suo interesse per Jhoni Marchinko, il veterinario del pilot di Will & Grace che ora sta girando una erie intitolata "Driving Around with Joni", e che parla di un quarantenne che gira per Los Angeles col suo bulldog francese in cerca di uno scopo nella vita. No, non penso proprio che lo farà. Come paul Anka può testimoniare, Lauren non ha molta pazienza con le sue costar a quattro zampe.

Fonte: Gilmore Girls Italia

You didn't know?

When we last left Rory, way back in 2007, she was on her way out of Stars Hollow ready to be a reporter covering Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign. (It's interesting that she took a job for Obama when she had written a college essay on Sen. Hillary Clinton several years ago.)

Rory's exit from her sleepy Connecticut hometown out into the big, fascinating world of political journalism reminds me a lot of George Willard's departure from his home in Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio. Similar to George, Rory is leaving her small  community for the big world of journalism. In many ways, I can relate.

While my life has been very different from her fictional life, Rory and I do share some similarities. Rory and I both applied for jobs at The New York Times during the same time. As Rory rambled on with excessive verbiage to her mother, Lorelai, and boyfriend, Logan, about her future days at NYT, I was doing the same thing with my mother and boyfriend. But, alas, neither one of us was accepted. And through this shared rejection, Rory grew into more of a friend.

So as I watched the finally episodes of Gilmore Girls, minus the witty banter and overkill of dialogue,  I couldn't help but shed a few tears. My dear friend Rory shall be missed.

So what does anybody else think to the last episodes?

As I'm on a big '80s kick right now (something to do with nostalgia for the decade combined with sadness over my lost and wasted youth, I suppose), I thought I'd share my Top Four '80s Songs I'm Crushin' On Right Now (and no, I haven't included mp3 links, so you'll have to go and find these gems on your own):

"Hyperactive" by Thomas Dolby

And you thought Thomas Dolby was all about "She Blinded Me With Science," didn't you? Dolby's lesser-known other single is just the bouncy, manic ride that the title suggests, complete with a funked-out bass line, trippy lyrics, and strange voice modulation. And call me crazy (and I'm sure if this gets out, people on Dave Matthews Band message boards will be doing just that) but I think Dave Matthews Band could knock this one out of the park. They're already covering Sly and the Family Stone's "Thank You (Fallettin Me Be Mice Elf Agin)" and Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" on their current tour, so they've obviously caught the funk. Guys, if you're reading, give this one a shot.

"Like to Get to Know You Well" by Howard Jones

I've been grooving on the bulk of the Howard Jones catalogue lately, but this song always gets me. "Like to Get to Know You Well" is a sweet, island-tinged come-on that would probably work well in getting the object of your affection to come home with you. And stay. I dare you not to smile and sway while listening to this song.

And just for the ultimate cheesy '80s reference, "Like to Get to Know You Well" was the song playing over the montage of scenes in Better Off Dead in which the French Girl Whom I'm Assuming Isn't French In Real Life helps John Cusack's Lane Meyer fix up the beater car that's been taking up space in his driveway and thus aides him in taking one more step towards self-confidence. So when I hear this song, I always get an overwhelming urge to ski the K-12.

"Notorious" by Duran Duran

I've waxed enthusiastic before about my love for the boys from Birmingham (England, that is), but I'd forgotten how much I liked this song until it came up in my iPod rotation recently. This song is a true funk jam, with a slamming John Taylor bass line and boisterous horns. And, yes, "I'll leave you lonely/don't monkey with my business" is a line that's probably too cute by half, but as it was written by Simon LeBon, all is forgiven.

I also think that Dave Matthews Band could do something interesting with this song, but I see that happening even less than my Thomas Dolby suggestion as most DMB fans would probably start projectile vomiting at the thought of DMB covering what many consider to be one of the original "boy bands." Too bad. 

"Earn Enough for Us" by XTC

While "Dear God" is usually the song from Skylarking that gets all the props, "Earn Enough for Us" is a catchy, jangly song about a guy just trying to make ends meet that gets my vote (although the whole album is wonderful). The Beatles influence is inescapable on this song as it is on many other XTC tracks.

I'd forgotten about this song (and had, indeed, forgotten about the whole of Skylarking) until the tune popped up on a rerun of an early Gilmore Girls episode (which is always a good place to go looking for songs you'd long forgotten about while you enjoy one of the best written shows ever to grace the TeeVee).

And what great '80s songs will I be crushin' on next? Only the "shuffle songs" setting on my iPod knows for sure. But for now, it's time to get back to work in 2008.

Andei afirmando esses dias que não gosto de coisas fofas. Bom, não é bem assim, eu não gosto de coisas exageradamente fofas, não gosto do piegas, do brega, do cafoninha e dos clichês coloridos, floridos e com olhinhos brilhantes. Isso não me apetece.

No seu blog, o amigo Bruno, o Fantine, falou um pouco sobre a indústria da fofura tão em voga nessa época de emos, pushing daisies, hello kittys, belle & sebastians e malus magalhães. Não, definitivamente, eu não sou suscetível a esse tipo e a esse nível de fofura. Não me entendam mal, eu, inclusive, até gosto de Pushing Daisies, não por sua fofura, mas apesar dela.

O tipo de fofo que eu gosto é do tipo não meloso, não radiante, não gratuito e não forçado, é do tipo Gilmore Girls. As garotas Gilmore e os demais moradores de Stars Hollow são fofos, mas também sarcásticos, um tanto quanto blasés e possuem uma dose certa de amargura e doçura.

Stars Hollow é uma cidadizinha fofa, lindinha e aparentemente serena. Um pequeno paraíso americano, com trovadores nas ruas e um gazebo na praça central. Porém, é pitoresca, povoada por personagens bizzarros e cheia de eventos inusitados. Tudo na medida e no limite certo. Eu queria morar em Stars Hollow, mas não aguentaria muitos minutos no The Pie Hole de Pushing Daiseis, por exemplo. É que eu me entedio e enjôo facilmente.

Em suma, se não forçarem a barra e for bem desenvolvido e colocado, o fofo é bem-vindo.

Famous People: Which famous person in each of the following categories would you like to meet?

Author: I've been thinking about this all day, because I love a lot of authors, but in the end, my answer is the first name that popped into my head - Janet Evanovich - I love her work, I admire her writing style and I am in awe of the name she's made for herself. She is my writing idol.

Movie Actor: Johnny Depp - he is just amazing - I don't know many actors who can so completely lose themselves to their characters and truly become someone else once on screen. He is incredible.

TV Actor: Katie Holmes - I of course loved her in Dawson's Creek but I've also loved all her movies, and since marrying Tom and becoming a mother she has grown to intrigue me even more - I have many things I'd love to talk to her about and would love an opportunity in general to see if the real Katie is the same person I see in my mind, if that makes sense.

Musician/Singer: John Mayer - I know, I know, he's so trendy and popular it almost feels like a cop out to type his name here, but I'd love to talk to him about politics, environmentalism and hell even his relationship with Jen Aniston (if he'd even talk about it - hehe). I love his blog, he is such a crazy, creative genius. He was the musician who first got me into my little trend of listening to music with a message, instead of just the typical love song. I also would like to meet Jack Johnson and David Archuleta.

Historical Figure: Queen Catherine of Aragon and Queen Elizabeth I

Fictional Book Character: It's a tie between Scarlett O'Hara which might prove disappointing but I'd still love it ... and Stephanie Plum which would likely prove awesome

Fictional Movie or TV Character: Loralie or Rory Gilmore - they are kind of a package pair - I don't think I could meet one without the other anyway. And I think hanging with the Gilmore Girls would be a lot of fun! Second choice would be Sydney Bristow from Alias.

July 7th Questions:

1. What is your blog about? How long have you been blogging? Why did you begin blogging? Is it the same reason that you continue to blog today? How has your blog changed over the time you’ve had it? In six words, sum up your blog.

This blog is about a lot of things - I write about things that matter to me - which is usually my family, frequently books, and sometimes the rest of this big, big world. I've been seriously blogging since March of 2008 but have kept an online journal since 1997.

I started this blog because I felt like aside from my online diary, I never wrote anything. I have a degree in English: Writing and Communications and several years experience in journalism and I felt disappointed in myself for not utilizing it at all. I am happy with my role of SAHM and wasn't looking for a career, just a "something" - At first I was going to write solely about "important topics" like politics, war, the environment etc. but felt a bit stifled by that - I care about those things, but they aren't my life. And I think it's important to write what you know - then I started hearing about blogs like Dooce and A Girl. and thought, "I could do that." So I decided to give it a try, and if it was well received, maybe eventually try putting up ads or something as a way of possibly bringing in a small income (why not, right?).

Since March, I think I've changed the layout of my blog at least a dozen times, I've implemented a set of basic daily themes for posts due to chronic writer's block, and discovered the wide world of group blogging memes which has truly taken my blog by storm, although so far I'm still in the early stages of the blogging world, with I'm assuming not nearly as much traffic as the rest of the Mommy Blogs out there. I'm still fiddling with the idea of making my own style sheet for the blog which is currently using a pretty basic wordpress.com theme which is nice, but not really truly how I see the blog looking in the long run.

In short: "I blog about what I love."

2. When you go for a haircut, do you do something drastic? Or are you more of a ‘just a trim’ sort of person? Do you color your hair? If so, how often? Tell us about your best, and worst, hairstyle. What sort of hairsyle do you think looks good on you now?

Typically when I get a haircut, I try to make it a big one - not necessarily color, but I like drastic changes - I'll wait months for a cut just to get the satisfaction of lopping it all off in one big cutting spree. The best hair cut I've had is probably my current cut - very mom bob but with a Katie Holmes / Posh Spice flair which is oh so trendy right now. My worst cut was in the 4th grade I think - I was feeling down on my looks and wanted something that felt feminine and sophisticated - the stylist said, "How about a pixie cut?" which sounded very pretty - pixies are pretty and all - but the idiot gave me, I sh*t you not, a rat tail, and I was mortified. I remember even being called "sir" by a lunch lady that year...

Somehow in spite of this I have no fear of a bad hair cut anymore - now that I'm blessed with a feminine physique I figure there is little chance of being mistaken for a man and more importantly I've learned something key: hair grows - all the time. Nothing is permanent - if I don't like this cut, it will be different in a week or two and then I can have it cut all over again if I really want, or embrace it and go with my new look for all it's worth.

These days I prefer shorter hair on myself - about chin length, no longer than shoulder length - the longer my hair gets, the harder it is to maintain - I have very "knotty" hair that can become a bear to brush if it gets too long. On that some note, if it gets cut too short I can get some pretty unforgiving bed head.

3. Tell us about your 4th of July celebration. Show us some pictures (if you have them). What did your family do? Did you go and see a big fireworks display? Or did you stay home and have a (semi) quiet family fireworks celebration? On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best), how patriotic would you say you are? Do you routinely talk about our country’s issues within your family unit? Do you and your significant other see eye-to-eye on political issues? International friends: tell us how you celebrate your country’s birthday/new year/significant annual event.

Sorry no pictures of this year's 4th yet - we saw no fireworks as our kid goes to sleep long before that would start and neither hubby or I are big fireworks fans. On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being really patriotic) I guess I'd say I'm a 5 - I don't always agree with our government, and I think that as a country we are in some ways still young, still figuring it out. I think the ideas we were founded on are wonderful but I question sometimes whether or not we are living up to the original expectations laid down. I am willing to guess there are other countries out there I would be happy to live in, but as my family is here in this country, this is where I'm content to stay at least for now. The truth is, I am not well enough informed to speak truly ill or truly well of our country, and I don't think most people are. I think for the most part, my husband and I see awfully eye to eye on most political issues, the difference being he is probably more well informed than I am and also better educated in general.

Back to the 4th of July celebrations this year: We did the typical family thing for my family anyway - my hometown's 60th annual parade at 2pm and then the annual family cookout at my aunt's and uncle's. The morning was a bit dismally gray and rainy but it cleared up by a little after noon and stayed dry throughout the parade which was for the 3rd year in a row somewhat of a disappointment to be honest.

When I was a kid and even a teenager I loved this parade - all the floats were really superb and I loved being with the whole family and getting candy - when I had a kid I was very excited to share this with him but times change and lately the parade feels more like a very long, drawn out advertising scheme for local businesses with too many lags between floats, way too many people and cars to contend with in such a small town, and terrible music, pretty awful announcing and poor sound quality. It was actually boring and for my husband, infuriating as I have dragged him for the 3rd year in a row with the promise of the previous year being a "fluke" or bad circumstances. Next year I might not even go.

The cookout was good - family was wonderful to see, the kids had a blast. Now if only we didn't live 45 minutes away and have a 2 year old with a 7pm bed  time (a 2 year old who hadn't napped all day and was becoming a clumsy bear). We actually left before dinner was even served, never mind the desserts, which are always stellar. So, we had a good time, but a bit disappointing all in all, and looking back it bothers me how little the actual point of Independence Day is acknowledged or thought of.

This has always been my favorite holiday and lately I'm changing my mind. I guess in time, our kids will get older and we'll define our holidays for ourselves and thus create new favorites. For now, I'm just waiting, riding it out, and not really enjoying some holidays anymore...

4. If you only had enough time each day to read one section of the newspaper, which section would you read? Why this particular section?

I'll be honest - I don't read newspapers. This is a horrible thing to say coming from a former managing editor of my school paper,  but in general I prefer to read my news online and I think most people of my generation probably feel the same. My biggest problem is there aren't a lot of papers that deliver the kind of news which interests me and I don't have any desire to pay for a subscription at this time, but that may eventually change.

If a paper were being delivered to me, the one section I'd read if I had to choose would be the local section for local news which isn't always easy to aquire online and also for local events coming up. I really like being involved in a community and plan to be even more involved as my kids get older. I want to settle down in a small close knit neighborhood where everything is in moderate walking distance and a community that really gets together to get things done and have a good time. A Stars Hollow if you will. I'd read their paper.

Fonte: Gilmore Girls Italia

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