It Started with a Journal

...or at least made myself post regardless.

1) Work is still insane. I don't even want to get into it except to say that I am a stressball almost all of the time. I haven't been on Tumblr in WEEKS -- that should tell you something right there.

2) I'm also stressing about my Secret Santa fic. It's LESS THAN A MONTH BEFORE IT'S DUE OMG. I just have zero inspiration to write. I mostly know what I want to DO with the story, which is better than where I was two weeks ago, but still. Why can't computers just read the pictures in our brains, then spit out words to describe those pictures? It would make writing so much easier. >.>

3) For those of you who have Xboxes -- first, I hope you are taking full advantage of its free abilities, both gaming and non-gaming. I loooooove using my Xbox as a multimedia beast. Second, if you've ever considered Xbox LIVE Gold subscription (which costs, for a year, less than what you'd pay for about 4 months of World of Warcraft), but aren't sure if you actually want to get it, it's being unlocked this weekend. Actually, it started this morning and will run through Sunday. What that means is that you can just sign in per usual with your free Xbox LIVE account, and all the Gold features will be available to you to check out.

4) I recently watched Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, which is basically an 80-minute movie broken up into five parts. It was really, really good -- surprisingly so. I'm not a Halo player and barely knew any of the story when I watched, but I still totally got into it. It reminded me of BSG, in a good way -- it's just excellent sci fi. The main male star is pretty cute, and the main female star is Anna Popplewell, whom most people know as Susan Pevensie from The Chronicles of Narnia. There's a cute friendship between them.

It was originally posted as a Web series on YouTube, but only the first two parts are available there now, probably because it's going to be released on Blu-ray in less than a week (and I'll probably get it). The other parts are still available on DailyMotion at the moment. Here's the first part (I recommend watching the series in 1080p):



Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

They created it as a promotion for the Halo 4 game, but again, you don't need to know anything about Halo to enjoy the series, and it's complete with the 5 parts. (Just think of it as a movie broken up into 5 segments.) It's gotten great acclaim from the fanbase as well as critics, and I'm here to tell you -- IT'S FAB. Waaaaaaaaatch iiiiiiiiiiit.

Apparently Alexis Stewart, Martha Stewart's only child, is releasing some kind of memoir/autobiography. According to this article: While talking about their neighbors, one of whom was a woman who was married to an wealthy unattractive man, Alexis says Martha gave her this little piece of advice: "[My] mother actually told me when I was a small child, 'Now Alexis, if this ever happens, you make sure you have sex with somebody else to have their baby. Don't have his baby.' She was very practical about it. It was a survival skill -- you have someone rich and ugly who takes care of you, and you have someone who's hot and makes attractive babies."

Is that supposed to be bad advice? >.> I'm terrible, I know.

Slowly making my way through the fresh figs. What I did with them last night: split them in two, smeared each half with a dab of chèvre, wrapped bacon around them, then broiled for about 7 minutes. Fattening? Yes. Delicious? YES!

I don't know what to watch next. There isn't anything that's really calling to me, and I don't really feel like catching up on new episodes of the various series I watch, because I'll probably wait for most/many of them to finish airing before I do, or at least air more episodes first. Now that I haven't seen them in months I don't feel any urgency about it. I also don't feel like reading. akscully thinks that I should finish playing Mass Effect. I probably should, except I can't really remember where I left off or what I was supposed to be doing.

I really need to go clothes shopping.

Despite the fact that Valentine's Day falls on the same day every year -- the day after my cousin's birthday -- I always remember his birthday, but rarely Vday, and this year was no exception. <g> I suppose it's better that it's this way rather than the reverse, huh? I'd completely forgotten it was Vday, until I saw my flist just now. You know what would be the best anti-Vday sentiment ever? Not mentioning it at all. Even obliquely. Acknowledging it gives it power. Bwahahahaha. I like that it was going to pass by like any other day. Anyway, around here we're just a bunch of unromantic, workaholic drones, because there is not a single sign that today is any other day than a typical work day. Hee.

However, this does give me the perfect excuse as to why I totally violated my self-imposed budget by purchasing this adorable Coach Madison. :D Now I can say it was to alleviate my (nonexistent) Valentine woes. Hahahahaha. Remember when I said that instead of caring for and nuturing kids, I was going to care for and nuture handbags? Welcome the newest addition to my family!! :)) But seriously ... it's so bad that I bought it. So bad. I will just have to give up, like, food. And heat. (Good news on the dieting front, though. I have lost about 13lbs since I first started to be all, "I must eat healthier," and the other day just bought a pair of low-rise stretch 2 jeans from Old Navy. I don't know if I've ever worn a 2, stretch or not. So squeee. I can't wait to go to my annual check up this year and see if my cholesterol is lower. After all, that was the reason I started dieting in the first place!)

Also, ( I finally saw 'Ray.' )

I love most of the deleted scenes from The Notebook, although I'm pretty bitter they didn't see fit to include the bathtub scene. :-l Also, watched Friday Night Lights again and wept like a little girl.

I'm slightly obsessed with Fable. You'll be happy to hear that I am no longer a hot warrior virgin; in fact, I now have three wives. :)) I've reached 'legendary' status, and am such a valiant fighter on the side of 'good' that I have a halo and butterflies that flutter around me. Teehee.

In the past three days, I have primarily done five things:

1) Finished writing my annual performance review. There are no words for how much I loathe the practice of having to review my own performance. It's the time of year I dread the most. How to highlight all your accomplishments without seeming pompous? How to talk about things that could have gone better without sounding incompetent? How to talk about my career development, when I haven't got a clue? It's like having to apply for college every year, without the convenience of solid test scores to speak partially for me. Fingers now crossed for a nice raise + bonus this year.

2) Finished writing IYOK6. All right, so this wasn't accomplished just by my onesy, but since the damn thing is 46 pages long, I figure Jade and I each wrote a normal-sized chapter. We still have to tighten it up a bit and go through one more round of beta, and then it shall be posted to Magical Mayhem as an exclusive for a week.

3) Purchased a couple of Betsey Johnson dresses. (They don't cost quite as much on eBay.) They're so girly. I love. Wanna see pictures? Here's one. Here's the other. Also got this pretty Nicole Miller dress -- original retail price was $365. Jesus God.

4) Played Beyond Good and Evil on my Xbox. Seriously, you can't get a better video game for $20 (or less if you buy online). ( Cut as I go on and on about the game. )

5) Listened to the awesomely fun mixed CD I made. It has some really good music on there (like Rebekah Del Rio's "Llorando" from Mulholland Drive and Maroon 5's "She Will Be Loved"), but there are three -- count them, THREE -- Britney Spears songs. :"> I believe they're all from her new album. I can't help it, they're so good!


And just randomly...

6) Oh, and I didn't do this in the last three days, but rather, last week -- watched The Station Agent and really enjoyed it. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a quietly feel-good film. (Has moments of clunkiness, but I loved all the characters -- especially JOe.)

7) ( Automatically generated D/G drabble. You know you want to look. It has a catchy title. )