Tuesday, May 22, 2012

[Top Ten Tuesday] Top Ten Blogs That Aren't About Books

It's Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week, the topic is non-book related, which is a little bit different than what they usually post, but it keeps with what I usually post here on my blog o' nonsense.  The topic: ten blogs or sites you read that aren't about books.  I'm going to stick with blogs rather than sites (because I think you guys are aware I like Twitter by now, and I'd like to get more specific than just stating Tumblr, as you're about to see).  I'll give you this warning: the links I'm about to share with you will cause you to chuckle, guffaw, and possibly even cachinnate.  With that, let's begin!

Adulting
One of my favorites, ever.  I thank my sister-in-law for sharing this one with me.  Kelly Williams Brown lists her steps on "how to become a grown-up in 387 easy(ish) steps."  It's perfectly hysterical in its accuracy on so many accounts.  My favorites are the Flowcharts and Doodles, especially the "How many drinks can you have at a work function?" and the graph depicting Toilet Paper Need Over Time.  Being a grown-up doesn't have to be lame.

Awesome People Hanging Out Together
Brilliant and simple.  Ever wanted to see a picture of Leonard Nimoy and Jimi Hendrix together?  How about David Lee Roth, Sean Penn, and the Beastie Boys?  Or Hunter S. Thompson, John Cusack, Johnny Depp, and a blow-up doll?  Yeah, I thought you might.  They're all available, plus many more combinations that will blow your mind.

Awkward Family Photos
I love this one so much because I TOTALLY understand.  I grew up in a family of photo- and videographers, thus many awkward moments were captured of me over the years.  On the other hand, there are so many pictures here that I do not understand.  Like every topless pregnancy photo.  And there are tons of them.

EPBOT
Created by Jen of Cake Wrecks, this is her girly, geeky, crafty blog.  While I have been known to be girly and geeky, I'm not crafty like Jen, but I do adore her pictures.  The best is when she posts step-by-steps of how to recreate some of her awesome projects.  Geek love!

I Love Charts
Again, brilliant and simple.  It's charts of all kinds, explaining just about anything you could think of plus millions more.  For example, on its first two pages right now, we've got a timeline of the timing of lyrics in Every Song, a graphic to depict which Dickens novel is the most Dickensian, and a line graph about Avenging.

I'm Remembering!
It's pictures of nostalgic things, like Ecto Cooler and Dream Phone and Hostess Pudding Pies.  And you look at them and think to yourself, YES I DO REMEMBER THAT.  And then you feel old.  And crave vanilla pudding pies.

Oh No They Didn't!
My friend often wonder where I find out all my random information or how I tend to know everything about entertainment news before them.  It's because of ONTD.  Sometimes, they tell me TOO MUCH, but I love them far too much to ever dump them due to bugabooing.  AND ALSO, the gifs!  MAN, I love gifs.

R Pattz Talks
Have you ever watched an interview with Rob Pattinson?  Boy's cray.  But hilarious and awkward and cray, which is oddly enough my favorite type of cray.  This blog is gifs of Rob's choiciest phrases.  Most of them are about how much he dislikes Twilight... while doing Twilight press.  One of my favorites is this gif set of his quotes from the commentary of Twilight.  This is a great one for a quick laugh.

Unsuck DC Metro
I'm a Metro commuter, and there are SO MANY THINGS that anger me about the process.  It doesn't anger me enough to drive to work (not yet, anyway) but my irritation level has risen GREATLY since returning from Japan & Korea, where their metro systems had ZERO broken escalators and FAR LESS delays.  It helps to read this after a particularly awful ride in, so I feel like I have at least one person who understands.

The Weekly Enthusiast
I've talked about this one before, since I've participated in her Fantastic Five Fridays.  This is a more recent find for me, and I'm glad I found her, because I was in the mood for something besides book blogs (which... is sort of the point of this list, isn't it?) and I do love my TV.  Special thanks for linking to a sneak peek of the new show Bunheads, because that sort of made my day.

Thanks!  Click away!!

Friday, May 11, 2012

[Fantastic Five Friday] Five Favorite TV Kisses

Blanket spoiler warning, although every kiss I'm about to mention aired in 2007 or earlier.


I love TV.  I love kissing.  I love blogging lists.  I love The Weekly Enthusiast for starting this blog meme.  This one's a no-brainer, people.

Pushing Daisies, S1E3 Aired 10.17.2007, "The Fun in Funeral"
also known as The Cellophane Kiss
Ned and Chuck's relationship is one of my favorites, because it's so damn sweet and so damn heart-breaking.  He cannot touch her because if he does, SHE WILL DIE.  They must find creative ways to show their affection that do not involve actual skin-to-skin contact or else Chuck becomes The Lonely Tourist Dead Charlotte Charles once more.  And, since this is a Bryan Fuller show, it's gotta be quirky as can be.


Veronica Mars, S1E18 Aired 4.12.2005, "Weapons of Class Destruction"
also known as First LoVe
Logan and Veronica had been doing this strange and crazy dance around one another for a few episodes before this, building up the tension as all the best shows will do.  She had been helping him out on a case, and he dropped many of the bitter feelings he had in the past for her.  It all culminates in this awesome sweeping kiss that you don't see coming just as much as you do.  None of the videos would let me embed the actual kiss, so here's what I've found.  THIS VIDEO is the lead-up to the kiss, which you should watch because it includes a mulleted JTT (YES!) and Logan calls him "Jump Street" and it's just good to have back story.  THIS VIDEO is the kiss itself.  It looks like the picture below, but... you know... moving and stuff.
Like this, but with more kissing.
Friends, S2E7 Aired 11.9.1995, "The One Where Ross Finds Out"
also known as That Scene That Always Plays Whenever Anyone Talks About Ross & Rachel
Before they became a veritable punchline, Ross and Rachel's will-they-or-won't-they carried quite the punch.  I'm a big ole Friends fan, still to this day.  I remember watching the build-up to this for weeks (yes, when it aired back in 1995 when I was just barely 14 years old) and my baby-teenage heart was FIT to BURST.  And then, it happened.  Oh my, did it happen.  Watching the video of the kiss still gave me chills, even this many years later.  Again, unable to embed so entire scene can be viewed RIGHT HERE.
Well, hello there, Dr. Geller.
The Office, S2E22 Aired 5.11.2006, "Casino Night"
also known as The Night I Yelled at My Boyfriend For Making Me Love This Show
Y'all.  In doing my research for this entry, I just fell down a serious Jim and Pam rabbithole, and THE FEELS.  THEY ARE OF THE KILLING KIND.  I'm such a Jim and Pam fangirl.  This is another that I remember so SO well.  I remember watching their relationship unfold, breaking my heart piece and piece as it went, because I never thought Jim would be able to get the girl.  They were too tentative, too shy, too good at their little dance that they couldn't see around it.  So it's Casino Night, and something in Jim sees that this is his moment and... Pam says no.  And I cried like a little girl, hands pressed to my mouth, tears streaming down my cheeks.  But fear not, True Believers!  It wasn't over yet!  Actions speak louder than words!  THIS VIDEO is a poor quality version of the kiss itself, but the below video is so so sweet, and it's rocking the Ingrid, and you can see the kiss again starting at about 2:36.


Gilmore Girls, S4E22 Aired 5.18.2004, "Raincoats and Recipes"
also known as That Time I Squeed So Loud I Terrified My Neighbors
No TV list of mine is complete without one GG reference.  And you know it had to be Lorelai.  What I adore about Luke and Lorelai as a pair is that it wasn't so hit-you-over-the-head obvious as TV couples usually are.  Yes, it was established in the pilot that Luke was a dude that gave Lorelai The Feelings, and yes it gets pretty properly hinted at over the course of these 4 seasons, but it didn't take over the plot as a whole.  Not until the end of Season 4, and suddenly Luke Can See Her Face, and that surly, hat-wearing diner owner is DONE.  Love it.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The Joss Whedon School of Awesome

I saw The Avengers yesterday.  Obviously, I loved it like a love song, baby.  (Don't judge me.)
art by gingerhaze, who is simply a-mah-zing
As I walked back to the car with The Hubs, I couldn't stop proudly babbling over Joss Whedon's latest creation.  As a self-proclaimed Whedonite, I knew my guy would do an amazing job, even on a huge project like this.  In the bluntest terms, Joss is the man.  He can do everything: action, romance, TV, movies, sci-fi, fantasy, westerns, musicals, horror- you name it, he can do it, and he can do it really well. The reason why Whedonites like me are so passionate about his work is because he values his audience and treats them like equals.  Whedon takes an extreme amount of time thinking about each character critically from every angle.  He's got a clear idea in his head about each and every person he writes, and he has an amazing way of displaying those ideas in a manner that relates to everyone.
You little redheaded genius you.
And The Avengers?  No exception there.  This is a huge undertaking, with an even huger (more huge?) cast of characters.  Any one of them could have easily gotten lost in the shuffle or been demoted to an insignificant role.  Instead, it's executed perfectly, and I know I'll be indulging in this movie 100 times over (OR, rather, I'll keep hitting repeat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat).

So, this got me thinking (not the Selena Gomez; the movie).  Now that Joss Whedon is finally getting the buzz he deserves and becoming a household name, he should branch out into other areas.  And by branch out, I mean he should start his own writing school.  I already have a name for it.

The Joss Whedon School of Awesome.

Think about it, man!  Think of the incredible learning experience this school could offer!  Learning the writing process of Joss Whedon FROM Joss Whedon!  Learning how to write characters from all sides, in all manners!  All those kick-ass ladies!  The captains without a moral compass!  The vampires with souls!  The superheros with brains and hearts and guts and egos!  THESE ARE NOT THE HAMMER!!

...I think I'm getting off topic.

RIGHT.  Joss Whedon School of Awesome.

After a brief mention on Twitter, I had some suggestions for degrees: a Bachelor of Awesome, a PhD in Horribleness (with classes taught by Doctor Horrible himself, if he can pull himself away from the Evil League of Evil).  A Master of Heart-breaking Deaths (*Firefly/Serenity spoiler alert* I'm still not over Wash, yo).  Classes would include gems like Cursing in Chinese, Proper Uses of Slayer Strength, Future History Post-Sino-American War, Quips for the Modern Hero, Quips for the Modern Anti-Hero, Writing Your Own Earworm of a Tune, or New Ways to Break Your Fans' Hearts into Teeny Tiny Unmendable Pieces.  There could be locations all over the verse, from Asgard to Sunnydale.

And so.  Joss.  Buddy.  Let's make this happen.  I'll be there, first row, all bells-y.

Oh, and so much congrats to you, sir.  You deserve every bit of it.