It Started with a Journal

OMG, awesomeness.

This artist is celebrating the return of Community by artwork depicting each of the characters as a Game of Thrones character! Two of my favorite fandoms colliding!

( Greendale is coming! )

And the fun doesn't stop there. There's also the return of Arrested Development. And this blog brings you... Arrested Westeros!

( I've made a huuuuge mistake. )

March Madness update: OMFG MISSOURI WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU. That's my first Elite 8 team to be out. DAMN IT. At least others had them going to the Final Four, but STILL. &$@#&$#@* I am BOTTOM DEAD LAST in my office pool. FML.

This is funny... but also how I feel about spoilers. :))

You know when you type a super long thing and then click on something and it goes away, but then you weren't logged in and so the auto recover doesn't work? You know that feeling of rage like you want to toss your computer across the room from the frustration of it? And the thought of retyping everything you just wrote makes you want to /wrists? Yeah. Technology can SUCK IT.

===

I finished Dr. Who S1! (Or S27, depending on your preference.) ( Spoilers! )

===

On the book front, I'm still slowly working my way through Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Still don't know what the plot is and I'm like 400 pages in.

Finished Ursula K. LeGuin's The Beginning Place. I was not a fan. I don't know if it was this particular book or her writing, but if the former is a good example of the latter, then it may just be that I don't enjoy her style. I found it to be annoyingly vague, a bit overwrought, the characters unlikeable, and the ultimate 'message' fell flat.

I recently read a romance novel Jade found on Amazon called Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, by Sarah MacLean. I normally would have stayed away from the title alone, which implies a gimmicky plot and too modern a mindset for my preferences in historical romance, but it had hundreds of reviews and an average rating of 4 1/2 stars, so I gave it a shot. ( Spoilery review. )

===

TV Show Meme, Day 27 - Best pilot episode

This one was a no brainer. Pilot episode of Arrested Development, hands down. I was raving about it to Jade back when I first saw it, calling it pretty much a perfect pilot episode. Usually, pilot episodes of TV shows are just... there. They establish the characters, are a bit awkward and clunky, and looking back on them brings enjoyment from nostalgia, but little else.

AD was not like that. From this very first episode the show was already completely in its element, knew what it wanted to be, and executed on that with serious skill. It not only did all the things that pilot episodes should do in establishing backstory, characters, etc., but managed to be hysterically funny almost the whole time, and did it in under 30 minutes. Most shows' characters take time to fully establish themselves and come into their own and develop character-specific personalities; not so with AD. From the outset the characters were completely fleshed out and wonderful.

It won a couple of Emmys for writing and directing, which is frankly amazing for a pilot episode. And so well deserved. I can't gush enough about how great a pilot it is. (And of course, a great show.)

( Academy Awards Poll Winners :D )

+++

Confession: In the last three weeks, I have consumed three pies. By myself. I'm even considering getting another one. The blame rests solely on Marie Callender's, which has pies for $5.99 in the month of February. Luckily, the ordeal is almost over. (If I were a cat, and cat food were pie, this would be me.)

+++

Speaking of ordeals, my new computer may be working at last. *weeps* Let me tell you, if this had been my experience last time, I don't think I would have been so enthused about it this time. As for the next time, well, I can't even think about it right now. I mean, partially because of what I went through, and partially because I can't fathom that I'll ever need more than 160GB of space or need to go faster than 2.19GHz.

I'm not caught up on LJ, but I wanted to say thank you so, so much to everyone who left a reply about either the story or the icons in my last two posts. I honestly meant to reply to everyone, but my weekend (and life force) was sucked away by computer issues.

( Herein lies my long tale of woe. )

Now that everything is working, I am really excited to finally implement multiple-screen technology. :D Windows has had this capability since Windows 98 or something -- it automatically detects if you have two video cards, and going into Control Panel --> Display --> Settings allows you to set it up so that you can use both monitors. It is really cool and convenient, because now I can have two things open at the same time (say, a browser and Photoshop), on two different monitors. I also like to move download windows to the other monitor, so I can kept track of progress without needing to click on it from my taskbar all the time. It's also cool because it allows me to use that extra monitor lying around, as well as my video card from two computers ago. You can learn more about doing this here.

+++

If you haven't yet seen Arrested Development, YOU MUST. It is absolutely brilliant. I rented the S1 discs from Blockbuster, and the pilot was just amazing. Jade tells me that it's the episode they submitted for the Emmys (and shows never submit pilots), and THEY WON. Very deserved, too. It's completely wrong, and so damn funny.

I used to love Jason Bateman as a teen, but that faded along with my crushes on Kirk Cameron, Ricky Schroeder, Brice Beckham, and the like. The Jason love is back. He's just fantastic. I had no idea! (The last time I saw him was in The Sweetest Thing, and he was great, but his role was really small, so I thought it was a fluke.)

So, yeah. Highly recommend AD.

+++

As if this entry weren't long enough, here's my ( Alias: Echoes commentary )

+++

Oh, and I keep meaning to say this but always forget: If there is anyone left on this planet who does not have a Gmail account but wants one, let me know.