Day 06 – Favorite episode of your favorite show

[Warning: this might be a bit of a downer]

Yesterday, I talked about watching sad videos in preparation for this entry.  Why would I watch sad videos to prepare to talk about my favorite episode of my favorite show?  Whedonites know why.

Because my favorite episode of Buffy is the best episode of Buffy which is also the saddest episode of Buffy.  It's called "The Body," but if it were an episode of Friends, its title would be "The One Where Joyce Summers Dies."

I've already talked about this episode here, so I won't repeat that.  What I wanted to do is post a video of Anya giving her monologue, which is amazing.  I wanted to say it's the best part of the episode, but I really don't think there's one "part" that's any better than the other.  The whole thing is exquisite to watch; it's television at its finest.  Sadly, I can't find any videos of it.  Below is a transcript.  I think of Anya's speech often.  It's exactly how I've felt on too many occasions.


"But I don't understand. I don't understand how this all happens. How we go through this. I mean, I knew her, and then she's- There's just a body, and I don't understand why she just can't get back in it and not be dead anymore. It's stupid. It's mortal and stupid. And-and Xander's crying and not talking, and-and I was having fruit punch, and I thought, well, Joyce will never have any more fruit punch ever, and she'll never have eggs, or yawn or brush her hair, not ever, and no one will explain to me why."

Day 04- Your Favorite Show Ever

(I swear I had this all written yesterday like it should have been, but my evening was weird so I forgot to post but HERE IT IS OMG LOOK)

This... well, this is a tough one.  I have tons of favorite shows ever, and it all depends on what mood I'm in.  I've answered this question before with Gilmore Girls, Friends, Scrubs, and Six Feet Under, and those answers have all been right at one time or another.  However, if I'm considering my TV watching "career" as a whole, if I really look back at the show that's affected me most, that grabbed onto my heart and brain and eyeballs and didn't let go, that was there when I needed it... there's only one show that fits that description.

I didn't watch Buffy when it first aired, and while I regret that decision, I don't think this show would've meant as much to me as it does now.  I watched the first season on a whim, and I totally loved it.  I'd been wanting to ask for other seasons of the show for my birthday... and the day before said birthday, my grandfather passed away.  Hubs had already gotten me the first 2 seasons as presents, so whenever I needed to separate myself from the family and distract myself from the grief, we hid away and watched Buffy kick some ass.  In the weeks that followed, I basically devoured the show, hiding away in my bedroom and watching episode after episode after episode.

So, this sounds totally unhealthy, and I agree it probably wasn't the best way to spend my time.  However, at that time in my life, it was exactly what I needed.  Joss Whedon, you are a genius and I am so grateful for you.  Thank you for this show, and for all the shows that have followed.  Also the movies.  And the comics.  Dang, I am such a Whedonite.

[Fantastic Five Friday] Favorite Movies to Watch When Sick

As soon as I saw this week's Fantastic Five Friday topic, I knew I had to post.  Growing up, my mom & I referred to these as "sick movies," which of course doesn't quite sound right, but whatevs.  (In case you're curious, my mom's sick movie is Witness where Harrison Ford hides out with the Amish.  It's 4:30, time for milking!) I've had many of the same sick movies since I was a kid, because I was home kind of a lot because of some crap with my elementary school.  Yay?

The Three Musketeers
This is an amazingly awfsome movie (that's awful plus awesome, JSYK).  Everything about it-- all the terrible  hair extensions, Chris O'Donnell's complete lack of a French accent, the historical inaccuracies and extreme liberties taken with the original source material, Tim mother-effing Curry-- is just the best/worst ever.  This movie was a gift to all of us from the Czarina of Tokyo.


The Princess Bride
An absolute classic, no doubt about it.  Now that I think about it, this is the most meta choice of sick movie ever.  My most favorite line/scene in the whole dang movie is below.  Best burn EVER.  Oh, my sweet Westley.


Adventures in Baby-Sitting
Nowadays, there are all kinds of movies and TV shows geared towards children specifically.  Back in the day, we definitely didn't have as many.  In our house, we tended to watch movies that might have been a little over our heads or that contained some "salty language," but my parents trusted that my brother and I knew not to use that language (at least in front of them).  My two favorite examples of this in my own life are Spaceballs and this movie.  Don't eff with the baby-sitter. Also, Anthony Rapp is the BEST EVER in this flick.  Comedic timing like whoa.  Also also, the first time I went to Chicago, I pointed at that slant-top building and said, "That's where Thor lives!" to my seatmate on the bus.  I was 17.


Buffy the Vampire Slayer
And I don't mean the TV show.  Now that I know the whole story behind this and that I've become such a huge fan of the series (and Joss Whedon), I haven't watched this one nearly as much as I used to.  However, I went to see this in the theater because my cousin loved some Luke Perry.  It's so cheesy, but I love it something fierce.  All I want to do is graduate from high school, go to Europe, marry Christian Slater, and die.


AND FINALLY
The Godfather
What, not what you were expecting?  I tend to watch this on sick days in my adult life because those are the days I can devote the attention entirely to the Corleones.  Plus, watching this usually leads to watching Part II.  Not Part III, though.  Don't be crazy.  It's hard to find a good non-spoilery scene to post here, but I decided to post my favorite part- the horse head in the bed.  The way that guy yells is always hilarious to me. (Warning: this scene includes fake blood, a fake dead horse, and very real but terrible acting.)


What about you?   Got any sick movies to share?

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.

I'm a Slayer; Ask Me How.

I know I've been really Buffy-tastic lately, but I really wanted to post this since the atrocious LOGO list this past weekend.  It started a ground swell of anger for TV bloggers and TV twitter-ers (what a ridiculous word!) after the list made its rounds on the interwebs.  As previously stated, I'm somewhat of  TWoP stalker, and I follow the tweets & blog of one Joe R. who was kind enough to retweet my original call of blasphemy!  He asked that his blog readers send him their own personal top 10.  As I tried to figure that out, I found that I wanted to explain why said 10 were my favorites.  SO, for those of you still reading past "Buffy-tastic," here are my own personal top 10 (plus 3 honorable mentions for personal reasons).

10. Welcome to the Hellmouth/The Harvest

This should be kind of self-explanatory, but this is the beginning, the one where it all started.  It's a pretty great series beginning, and it sucks you in (sadly, no pun intended!).  It effectively introduces the core of characters that we will grow to love over the course of the series, and they are so cute in their youngness!  ESPECIALLY baby Angel, who appears all stalker-y out of the darkness right into Buffy's heart.  Anyone who watches this knows that Angel is the original Edward Cullen.  It also establishes the Big Bad of S1 as The Master, who is one ugly motherShutYourMouth of a vamp, and begins the whole "High School As Hell" analogy that Joss was going for.  Ain't that the truth!

9. The Wish
Cordy tells new friend Anya that she wishes Buffy had  never come to Sunnydale, and unbeknownst to her, Anya sets the plan into motion as she's a demon.  It's a really dark look into what life would have been like had Buffy never come to that Hellmouth.  The entire town's been overtaken by vamps, The Master completed the Harvest [the one Buffy stopped in the very beginning], and now almost all of her friends are on the wrong side of the line.  This is one of my favorites because, right before the curse is reversed, all of the main characters are killed off during an epic battle.  You know that the characters don't feel the impact of the loss during the fight, since they are alternative versions of the characters the audience knows, but the AUDIENCE feels the loss.  Seeing Angel, Willow, and Xander turn to dust is pretty jarring, regardless of the fact that it didn't happen.  Plus, Buffy's face scar is pretty awesome.

8. The Zeppo
This is for fans of the Xander, which I am.  He's awkward, he has hot girl friends that see him permanently in the Friend Zone, he's got no powers to speak of, and he feels useless.  So, he abounds on what should be a B-plot that becomes the A-plot.  Meanwhile, his friends are dealing with the apocalypse that you never even see.  Fave part: Buffy and Angel having ANOTHER deep discussion about their epic love and why he shouldn't risk himself to save them and blah blah blah, and Xander interrupts all awkward and hilarious.  I feel like this is a love letter to people like me, who love TV as an art form and a hobby.

7. Band Candy
2 reasons: seeing Ripper come to life (bonus: hearing Anthony Head's real accent), and the actual title of the episode.  My inner Band Geek heart swells.  That says it all.

6. The Prom (Season 3)
I've already talked about this, so I won't go into it.  However, can't watch the end without tearing up!  Freakin' Jonathan and his Class Protector speech...

5. Graduation Day 1 & 2

Just epic.  The climax of Season 3 ends with a giant amazing fight that involves the entire senior class.  Of course, after the Class Protector thing, they aren't going to argue with Buffy when she tells them to hide stakes, knives, axes, and arrows under their robes.  Mostly, it goes back to that same nostalgia I feel as myself a member of the Class of 1999.  My graduation was soooo boring, especially compared to this.  I wish we could have had awesome weapons under our robes rather than white dresses and Silly String.


4. Hush
Joss is widely know for his witty and pop culture laden dialogue, and this episode was written to specifically show that his talent is quite beyond his wordiness.  The Gentlemen are coming, and they are about as creepy as possible, and they will steal your voices.  Much of the episode is music only, while the Scoobies figure out WTF to do.  Favorite scene, without question, is Giles and his silent slideshow.

3. Once More With Feeling
IT'S A FRIGGIN' MUSICAL.  To boot, it's catchy as hell.  So catchy that I used to listen to a playlist of it on YouTube until I bought the album off Amazon.  The plot is, the Monster of the Week (a demon named Sweet) is summoned, and he causes everyone in Sunnydale to sing their feelings.  It's a good turning point in the series, and it's a particularly bright spot in a bleak, weaker Season 6.  Most everyone has pretty average voices, except Giles who sounds so delicious and pleasant.  If you ever see me singing to myself, it's probably this.

2. Surprise/Innocence

I know I've said it before, but I'm totally Team Angel, and this is why.  It's Buffy's birthday, and she wants to celebrate by hanging with her Vampire with a Soul boyfriend and keeping things low key.  Unfortunately, Spike & Dru disagree, and they set a plot into motion that eventually leads to Angel leaving to keep All Evil from breaking loose.  THAT plan fails, and Buffy and Angel end up back at his place, which leads to some sweet bow-chicka-wow-wow.  HOWever, Angel's soul curse is such that, if he has one moment of pure happiness (i.e. making love to the one woman he's loved in over two hundred years), he loses said soul and becomes an evil and awesome douche.  For the rest of Season 2, Angelus is the Big Bad, and he wears eyeliner and leather pants and talks a LOT about hilarious crap.  It's awesome, awesome stuff with the action AND the sad love story, and it ultimately leads to the really great (at #11, I swear) finale of Season 2 and also Willow's Witchy Ways.  This incident defines their relationship for the entirety of the series, and it's also a personal joke between my husband and I (because our sense of humor peaked at age 13).  I've read this somewhere before, but guys always turn into such jerks afterwards...

1. The Body

There is not enough I can say about this episode.  This is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, not just of Buffy but of any TV ever, and it's heart-breaking.  Writing, acting, everything is perfect.  Buffy's mother had been suffering from a brain tumor for the first part of the 5th season, and she had just had a operation and was given a clean bill of health.  Our Slayer had spent the last few years protecting her mother from various demons and monster and creepy crawlies, only to lose her to an aneurysm that she never saw coming.  Every single time I watch it, I cry so so many times, the trigger being when Buffy rushes to her mother's body and screams in her face to get her to react (see the pic from EW.com on the left).  Our girl is always so calm and collected, always the fighter, but this is far too much for her.  Again, I simply can't say enough about this, because no matter what I say, it doesn't do it justice.



HMs: School Hard, Pangs, Storyteller (SH because it's when Spike was AWESOME, Pangs for the "you made a bear!", Storyteller for "we are as Gods!")

Blasphemy!

The LOGO network has been running a Buffy fan favorite countdown this weekend, as voted by fans all last month.  I saw commercials for this, but I didn't vote because... well, I didn't.  However, I gotta say, this has got to be the craziest, most nonsensical fan countdown ever and I'm having a really hard time believing it.

First off, the main thing that bugs me is that "The Body," one of the best episodes not only of Buffy but of TELEVISION ever, was at number 13.  This is widely known to be the tip top of writing and acting of the show, and yet it doesn't even break the top TEN?  That's so ridiculous, I can't even begin to explain it.

Secondly, there are two types of Buffy fans- Team Angel and Team Spike.  I get the feeling that the voters of this countdown are all on Team Spike, and (obviously, if you've ever read any of my previous posts) I am definitely Team Angel.  Some of my favorite episodes, most of which involve Angel, are either very low or not even on the list.  Things like the epic second part of "Graduation Day" and the beautiful "Innocence" and the previously-mentioned-in-this-blog "The Prom" are all below #15.  And now, I'm watching "Gone" which is #12, and it's one where The Trio [of Nerds] turn her invisible, and it's pretty much 42 minutes of amateur sight gags.  Uh... WHA?  How is Spike doing it with invisible Buffy BETTER than... well, all of the other episodes I mentioned?

Answer: it's not.

In other words, Logo, Boo you whore.

Eeeeee!

Went to see Paramore last night, and it RULED.  I love love loved it.  Hayley can really wail.  She was pretty flawless, though I think her vocals on "Let The Flames Begin" blew me away the most.  She wore like crazy leopard-print leggings that cracked me up.  Yay!

Sometimes, I like to go to YouTube to see if I can find any old videos that I used to watch or hear songs I haven't heard in a long time or find the person who put the entire Buffy musical "Once More, With Feeling" onto their site and listen to that (if for nothing else than to sing, "They Got the Mustard Oooooooout!").  Today, I looked up a song I used to play on my radio show just about every chance I got (which meant, about once every two weeks, or whenever Rachel forgot how long it had been since I'd last played it).  I found the video for it today, a beautifully stripped-down acoustic cover of "Bizarre Love Triangle" by a band called Frente!  Always remember the exclamation!

"The whole [bleeping] world's against us, dude, I swear to God!"

On my lunch break today, I went to the Local Blue Store With The Giant Yellow Tag to buy the new Glee/Madonna ep, as well as FINALLY get the new She & Him album.  While there, I saw Party Down for the low, low price of $15 (woot woot!), so I picked that up.  Then... THEN... OH MERCIFUL ZEUS, THEN...

I saw that the LBSWTGYT had the entire Buffy and Angel catalog on sale for $20 each season.  TWENTY.  DOLLARS.  EACH. 

Wasn't it just a few months ago that I had to order the entire series of Angel from Amazon because it was available in NO STORES?  Anywhere?  EVAH.  And, don't even start with Buffy...

Now, suddenly vampires are all popular again, so there it was, plain as day, MOCKING ME with its LOW LOW PRICES.

I got the 3rd and 6th seasons (3rd since it's the last one with my most fave DB, 6th so I can watch Once More With Feeling on reeeeepeeeeeat). 

In other news, I heard this song on the radio today.  Can't imagine why... my favorite part is "everybody solo!"

Nostalgia is mine!

I've been re-watching Buffy on Netflix, because the entire Whedonverse has been added to Instant Watch!  I freakin' love it!  As does The Hubs, who appreciates the fact that I don't have to buy the DVDs immediately... Either way, I feel connected to the Scooby Gang at times, because they are the "same age" as me, and the 3rd Season in particular makes me nostalgic.  Why?  Because it takes place in 1999, both mine and their senior year of high school.

I'm up to the next to last ep of the season (if you count Graduation Day as one 2 hour ep, which I do).  It's called "The Prom."  Buffy and Angel break up (so Angel can go help the helpless for the next 5 years in a version of LA that looks suspiciously like Vancouver), but he shows up at the prom so Buffy can have that one Normal High School Girl moment that she's craved since she became The Chosen One.  I love love love this scene, because it's so true to life AND because the song choice is so spot-on it hurts a little bit.

Unfortunately, no one on Youtube wants to make my life easier by having a video of JUST the prom scene, therefore, please enjoy this hilariously awesome verison of the Buffy/Angel saga set to one of my most favorite songs of all time.


(sigh...) I need a life.

Running up that hill.

Did not "train" all weekend due to headaches/feeling not so great.  So, yesterday, when I go to do my set mileage, I feel terrible, like my legs are like lead.  I managed to keep running for a mile but I stopped soon after that.  It didn't make me feel great (because I should have done more), but I can't be disappointed because at least I did SOMEthing.

More than anything, I got Vegas on the brain.  We fly out Sunday, and I'm really looking forward to it.  It's going to be a fun awesome vacation with fun awesome friends, and it's just what I need.

Now that Angel & Buffy are all done (at least DVD wise...), I need a new show.  Of course, I went delving into the world of cult shows, and I came up with Veronica Mars.  I was pretty certain I would love this show for a long time, but again, I held off.  Mostly, when I don't watch a show that has a lot of buzz around it, it is because a) everyone else is watching it and so I am trying to be too cool for school, b) Jack tells me I need to quit watching so much TV/he tells me I already watch a show almost identical to it/he tells me I watch enough shows that aren't good solely for entertainment purposes (that boy doesn't understand my addiction, huh?), or c) it came on the same time as one of my favorites and this is pre-DVR times and therefore I could not watch.  With VM, I have no idea which one of these typical reasons it was but I'm guessing it fell into the realm of b.  Either way, I think I needed to be a fan of 2 things before I started VM- Buffy (duh) and Party Down.

Party Down is one of my new favorite shows because it has a great cast and it reminds me of Arrested Development.  ANYTHING that can invoke memories of AD is a blessing in my book, because there are not a lot of shows that can garner that kind of compliment.  Party Down does, because it's got dysfunctional characters doing somewhat ridiculous things that are hilarious and awkward at the same time.  That to me is television gold. 

However, PD is produced by Rob Thomas (NOT of MB20), and he's the creator of Veronica Mars.  Therefore, lots of crossover in casting.  This is also the reason by being a Buffy fan was crucial to pre-VM viewing, because there are many old Buffy cast members that grace the VM line-up.  I'm looking forward to episodes featuring Charisma Carpenter, who I didn't like much at the beginning of Buffy but broke my heart by her last episode of Angel.

Either way, Veronica is filling up the void in my life left by finishing one of my new favorite TV franchises.  Fast-paced and unique dialogue, interesting characters, excellent pacing of plotlines, and dynamic casting.  Do I like TV too much?  Perhaps.  I don't think so.  I think it's my hobby.  I know that sounds weird... but it's true.  I watch it a lot, but it's not a passive activity.  Sincerely, my dream job would be a TV writer-- NOT a writer of TV shows (though I think I'd be really good at that...) but someone who writes about TV, like a reviewer, and get paid for it.  Basically what I do now with more focus and MUCH more money.  One can dream...

This got rambly.

A Picture A Day Helps Keep Boredom At Bay.

First, an update to yesterday's entry- I did NOT watch TBL because Hubs said he would rather watch something else, and the best time to miss TBL is at the beginning when you don't really know anyone yet and everyone drops like a bazillion pounds.  Therefore, we watched (500) Days of Summer instead.  I had never seen it, but I wanted it for Christmas anyway.  Zooey Deschanel + Joseph Gordon-Levitt (or, as we call him in our house, 3rd Rock) + The Smiths = one happy jeskuh.  Also, in other blog update news, Jillian workouts are free on Comcast On Demand.  So... that's kinda awesome.  Perhaps I can get a dose of BEATINGS, BEATINGS, BEATINGS from JM herself.

Now, onto new news.  Or new updates.  New ramblings?  Eh, whatever.  I recently joined a site called Momentile.  It's essentially a daily photo diary.  You upload one photo a day, and that's it.  It's not really a social networking site, though you can "stalk" people and have people "stalk" you, and you can "stash" pics of other users that you see that interest you, but mostly it's just about capturing the moment of the day in one picture.  My sister-in-law Jo uses it, and when we were on a boat (we're on a boat, i am on a boat, sorry distracted today!) I kept thinking about how really fun and interesting it sounded.  I noticed myself looking around for something to stand out, thinking about what I would post as my pic of the day.

Apparently, it's in its early stages, so you need invites OR an iPhone.  It actually works totes awesome with the iPhone, because you take it, upload it, and you're done.  It's like 5 seconds.  And, you don't need an invite to join.  You just download the (free!) app, create an account, and go to Picture Town.  So far, I've invited Jack and my bother.  I figured they'd be the most "into" it.  However, I got 8 invites left, if anyone's interested.  And by anyone, I mean the 2-3 people who may actually read this blog... Tell your friends ;)

Sometimes, I feel like I'm really not updating this for anyone but me.  Sometimes, I like that thought.

Got the Buffy comics in the mail.  Will start shortly.  Finished "Evermore."  Liked it, didn't love it.  It's inspired me to write more, though, because it's showing me the style I DON'T want to emulate.  More like Stephenie, less like Alyson.  Still, I want to read the other 2.  Also want to read the Westerfield series Erin told me about.  Lots of things to interest me in this new year.

Shout Out!

In my previous blog, I made one GIANT error. I did not credit someone who has been very important to my Buffy watching, and that is Elizabeth. Without her generous lending of Seasons 3 through 7, I would not have been able to finish the series last night (which I did! Sad!) because I would have had to wait on Netflix to send me the discs or wait until Christmas when I received them as presents.

So, here's to you, Elizabeth! You're my enabler! Or my dealer! Either way, thank you :)

Also, it's snowing in Charlottesville today. It's been coming down pretty fast, but like all Virginia snow, it's slushy and watery. This puts a damper on my plans for the day, which was Christmas shopping. I may get a second wind later and go out to face the day, but for now, I'm going to hit up the Instant Queue (though Jack doesn't want to watch "The Way We Were" for some reason...) and pretend like we're snowed in a la JMU days. Happy December 5th, everyone!

Who's the Big Bad?

If you're reading this blog, then you should already know that I'm definitely a TV addict. I don't like to use the "a" word like that, but it's the truth. I love it. I love watching it, analyzing it, talking about it, seeing the same silly plot tangles over and over, being (rarely) surprised by a bit of awesomely acted/shot/produced show, and I'm a sucker for a marathon. Because of this... addiction, there are certain shows that I have steered away from over the years. I know who I am, and I know what will happen if I watch something that the general population calls "addictive." Certain shows, well, I just couldn't stop myself (Lost comes to mind...). Usually, after a shows goes off the air, I don't bother. The advent of DVD has changed that for me.

Hence, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I didn't watch this when it first came on in 1997. I was probably watching something ridiculous like Dawson's Creek or the original 90210 or Daria (WHICH IS COMING OUT ON DVD IN 2010!!!) or I was like practicing the clarinet or some other nerd-bomber-y activity. However, I do remember hearing about it, and as a fan of the campy movie, I thought it sounded kind of stupid (yes, I'm aware of how stupid the movie is, so shut it). Thus, it went by completely off my radar.

Then, in 2008, I decided to rekindle a love affair with vampires that had remained dormant since my teen years and repeated viewings of "Interview with a Vampire." Me + Twilight series = BFF! Then True Blood! And the Sookie Stackhouse novels! It started to feel strange that people in my life WEREN'T vampires... After I had read the books (*COUGH*four times*COUGH*), and season 2 of True Blood ended, and New Moon the movie was far on the horizon, I suffered withdrawl of the vamp. What now? There's nothing new.

Also in 2008, I decided to develop a wee little crush on David Boreanaz, started by TNT airing reruns of Bones. (I friggin' love Bones.) I had never been one of those fan girls that found Angel attractive (or Spike either, for that matter), and I didn't understand it. Then, Special Agent Seeley Booth happened, and I said, "OH, I get it now!" Jack and I had been watching the entire series of Bones via Netflix, and that was quickly coming to an end. What now, indeed??

And so, I watched the entire first season of Buffy on Hulu in virtually one evening.

Now, I'm on season seven (the last season!!), and I definitely get what all the hubbub was about. It's really great television. Interesting story lines that actually take me by surprise, unexpected deaths, awesome Big Bad villains, cheesy effects, even cheesier demons, ridiculously brilliant dialogue, and generally all the things that I love about TV. Plus, musical episode? Hello? Love it. I'm hooked, for reals.

After this is over, though... what now?? It never ends...

My Grandpa

Looking over my last entry makes me smile, because I was so hopeful. My quite beloved grandpa died 3 days after I wrote that. I was able to see him on the 30th (though he slept the entire day), and I kissed his fuzzy little head and giggled at his stubble (Grandpa not clean shaven was something I had never seen) and I told him I loved him and that I wouldn't be angry if he left. So, the next morning, he did. It was peaceful and painless, and it's pretty much all we can all hope for in this world: to go quietly in your sleep surrounded by loved ones holding your hands and stroking your face.

Then, I had the most surreal birthday imaginable, where I was awakened by my parents and brother singing Happy Birthday at 8:04 am (my exact birthday), doughnuts and Dunkies, watching Sunday Morning in the sun room (G-ma and G-pa's Sunday tradition), staving off all birthday wishes if possible, and looking through album after album after ALBUM of pictures for ones to use at the viewing and funeral. I looked through all the pictures Grandpa deemed worthy of albums from 1982 until 2002, when he started keeping them online. Tony went through the computer, looking through slides from the 50's until... well, 1982, I guess, and then the others kept online.

Those who know the Borashes are well aware that we are some picture and video taking people. My mom documented every Prom, every band trip, every play with her Pentax 35mm camera, making us pose and taking beautiful pictures that some people liked more than their official Prom photo. My dad, however, is much worse. My life is literally on video. Every play, every concert from school and church, every milestone, every everything is on tape. Some friends have stated that they didn't know what my dad's full face looked like until after high school, when the camera was small enough to be handheld. In case you were wondering, we got that from Grandpa. Holy crap, did we ever.

We spent the next few days in a family bubble. When we went out into the real world, it was jarring and strange. I preferred to stay at Grandma's or our hotel. Being outside didn't feel right. I wanted the comfort of Jack and my family, and we all needed to be together. It was actually kind of nice. Usually, when we're all packed in one place like that, it gets really tense. There were moments, but we managed. Now, we have to look toward the future. None of us knows what is to come, but we know now that we can face it together.

Also, I've been watching so much Buffy lately, it's kind of insane. However, it kept my mind from reeling, and that was just what I needed.