Fangirl Friday

Long time, no FF! I know, I know, but today I'm feeling especially fangirly so let's get right to it.

A little while ago I mentioned that I would start watching Doctor Who. Guess what happened...

Yep... So, I think I'm finally emerging from my Doctor depression (or Tennant-itis, as I like to call it) and I can talk about how awesome this series is. One of the things I think is so great about Doctor Who is the way the writers have taken every day things and worked them into the essence of what Doctor Who is. They've created a fandom like no other. Take this picture above. The 3-D glasses, the bowtie, the TARDIS coffee mug, the thing-a-ma-bob he's holding (that's a sonic screwdriver, btw), and the banana are all references to the show and 3 of those things you could come into contact with often. Now that I'm a fan, I can't go a day without being reminded of The Doctor just by living life. Talk about smart writing.

I could seriously go on and on about the sheer brilliance of Doctor Who, but it would probably involve lots of spoilers and girly squeeing and ugly crying so I'll save that for another day.

Next on the FF agenda is the Nerdist! Go listen! Tons of podcasts featuring only the coolest celebrities and film and TV writers. I must say that my favorites are the ones where Chris Hardwick, Jonah Ray, and Matt Mira just have a conversation. The David Tennant interview is, of course, awesome.

Also, listening to these guys is strangely inspiring. I feel the need to find someone to geek out with, to start on that costume I've been wanting to make, and write about all the nerdy things.

Which is what I shall do now!

What are ya'll nerding out about?

Fangirl Friday!

Happy birthday to Zach Braff (a.k.a JD on Scrubs, a.k.a. Stefanie's alter-ego), Paul Rudd, and John Ratzenberger!

So, lots of news on the superhero movies front.

The Captain America sequel will be released on April 4, 2014! YAY and BOO! I have to wait two freaking years to see more of this:

The X-Men: First Class sequel will start shooting in January which means we'll have to wait even longer for more McAvoy and Fassbender. It's kinda easier for me to deal with this since I'm loving the X-Men titles from Marvel. AND I'm only up to 2010 in those. I was on a comic binge the other day and realized I was missing a couple of issues because the next one in line was this:

*RECORD SCRATCH!* Right! To put it simply, I was astonished (nudge, nudge, get it?!).

Anyway, that's enough of that. Let's continue with what I started last week. Today, I'm discussing:

The Best Time-Suck: TV 101, Part 1

Fangirl Friday!

Happy Birthday to Robbie Coltrane, Warren Beatty, and John Astin!!!

So, I'm still coming down from the awesomeness of The Hunger Games. Despite the fact that I had to sit in the third row, all the way to the right, and in front of two chatterboxes (at least the girl was asking her guy questions about the story which led me to believe he had read the book), I still loved the movie! I only have two small criticisms, but they're not really worth mentioning.

I'd like to try something a little different today. I usually talk about up and coming fangirl events like new movies or books, but today I'd like to talk about some things that I feel every nerdgirl should know about. I wouldn't judge you if you didn't know about these things, of course. This article, On the Fake Geek Girl, from The Mary Sue got me to thinking about how wrong it is to look down on someone who calls themselves a geek, but doesn't seem to know the things they should. Geekdom is an all inclusive club! Anyone can join!

So, let's start with:

The Classics: Movies 101

Rambles About Characters and Settings: A Downton Abbey Edition

So, I'm a character girl. I love intriguing characters. A book, movie, TV show, or what have you could be set in a white void, and as long as the characters are great, I'll love it. Don't get me wrong, location is fun, too. Anne Rice is really good at location description, but once I got it, I got it, ya know? After reading Interview with the Vampire, I pretty much just skimmed the description in her other books. Some people say, "Location is a character, too," which can be true. Like in Harry Potter or The Hunger Games or The Shining or Firefly. Those examples might be more literal than what those people are meaning, though. But it seems easy to me (and I use the word "easy" very loosely here because writing, especially good writing, is never easy) to make a setting a character in say a fantasy or horror novel. I think I might be getting off track here...

Anyway, back to characters... Like I said on Friday, I've started watching Downton Abbey. What a wonderful example of great characters. I goofed up though. I started watching season 2 first and didn't realize it until I was almost done with the ones that are out so far. So, last night I started at the beginning with season 1 and something was revealed about a character that I didn't know even after watching 7 or 8 episodes of the second season (I won't give any spoilers, but for those who do watch DA, I will say this: THOMAS!).

Anyway, that one thing changed my view of that character, not in a decidedly good or bad way, but I now look at him just... differently. And that's why I consider this show a shining example of character building. The thing is, you never know what a character will do just like you never know what people will do. None of the characters so far are straight up good or bad. They're real people. They make mistakes, sometimes intentionally, and because of that, they are more human than almost any of the characters I've ever read or watched. I can only wish that someday I'll be able to write characters as good as these.

So, what about you guys? Are you a setting or a character person? Do you watch Downton Abbey and, if so, what do you think about it? What other stories can you think of where the setting was a character? Post in the comments!

A Bookish Fangirl Friday!

Happy Birthday to Juliette Binoche! Happy one day early Birthday to Jon Hamm and Rick Rubin!

I've been doing a lot of reading lately, and man, have I struck gold. The first book that blew me away was:

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith (Click image for Goodreads page)

Such a lovely story. I will definitely be adding other books by this author to my TBR pile. This is exactly what it's supposed to be. A love story. The characters are deep and well-developed even though the story only happens in maybe 2 days. Worth the read if you're into love stories and cute British boys.

And just because it's fun to look at covers and especially those from other countries, here's a few for this book.

Everyone Should Watch Modern Family

There, I said it. Believe me, your faith in television programming will be restored.

Fangirl Friday!

Happy birthday to Isla Fisher, Nathan Lane, and Warwick Davis!

So, earlier in the week I made it into the beta of this:

And then I was like this:

I was also able to catch up on American Idol. Here are some of my favorites:

Fangirl Friday!

YAY! Haven't done one of these in a while. So let's do this thing!

Happy Birthday to Rainn Wilson, Lorenzo Lamas, and George Burns!

The Avengers - May 2012!

Can't wait for this! Now when are we going to get a Justice League movie?

The Hunger Games, obviously.

Day 96: Fangirl Friday!

Hehehehe, I love Fangirl Friday! It doesn't take me all day to figure out what I'm going to blog about.

Okay, so, let's start with *dun, dun, duuuunnn* American Idol!

I declare that Thursday night's epi was the best and worst one ever. The worst because... well... I lost a little faith in humanity when Casey Abrams was voted off by Americans.

Um, heelllooo, America?! What are you thinking? How could you not vote for this guy? He's talented, original, and cute as a button to boot!

I guess I can't bitch too much because I didn't vote. BUT you can be certain that I will be voting from here on out! Which brings me to why it was the best epi ever. The judges used their ONE save on him! His reaction was so genuine I just wanted to ball. I now officially like J-Lo.

Ok, topic #2: Will Ferrell will be replacing Steve Carell on The Office! Not permanently but for a few episodes at least.

I say "Huzzah!". Mr. Ferrell has made a few movies that I was not that impressed with, but his stuff on SNL was genius so I think a show like The Office will be a great vehicle for him. Although, Mr. Michael Scott will be sorely missed.

Let's see what else... Oh, Kevin Costner will play Pa Kent in the new Superman movie. I can see it. Maybe he'll get his film career going again and will leave the country music scene alone.

Oh, and then there's this!

Play games, look at extras, among other Harry Potter awesomeness. I haven't delved too far into it, but I've started my account. Its also on Twitter: @HPQuest. Click on the picture to go to the site :)

Day 82: Fangirl Friday

I enjoyed being a silly fangirl last Friday so much that I think I'll make it a regular post. Yipee!

First, I must talk about this amazing super awesomeness!

Come on, ya'll! Just tell a friend about it and you could win all 5 of these books... AUTOGRAPHED! *swoon, salivate, swoon some more*

kjfknknfvkjfdkjfdkjdnv *picks jaws up off of keyboard* Okay, I'll get it together now.

I've been DVRing Being Human on the SyFy channel ever since it started. The American version, that is. Yes, I want to watch the original British version but I missed my chance to record the marathon the other day.

Anyway... I LURVE IT! Stayed up until 1 a.m. watching episodes. Now, I've never been Team Werewolf. I've always been a bloodsucker girl. I even played some Vampire: the Masquerade back before I had kids. I was a paying member of the Camarilla (bonus points to anyone who knows what I'm talking about).

Knowing this, I fully expected myself to be swooning over the vamp character Aidan. Don't get me wrong, he's cool, too. BUT... I'm totally digging Josh, the werewolf.

Josh is played by an actor I've always liked who has never gotten much play, Sam Huntington. I liked Detroit Rock City, thank you very much. And 2009's Fanboys was a geek girl's dream movie, you should watch it (it also had another one of my fangirl crushes, Seth Rogen).

So, yes, Aidan the vamp is sexy and brooding and magnetic but I find his character weak and slightly selfish sometimes. I guess that just goes with the whole bloodlust thing, most of the time. Josh, on the other hand, has sacrificed so much and continues to suffer because he truly doesn't want to hurt anybody. He left his family behind, even a fiance (can't wait for her to show up).

I know I'm leaving out the other main character, Sally the ghost, whose character arc has been interesting but sort of expected.

So there you have it. Something else for me to be addicted to.

What new shows have sucked you guys in?

Day 75: Fangirl Friday

I was sitting here staring at the blank post thingy, trying to think of something writerly to post about. Though I'm sure there are a ton of things I could post about, I can't think of a darn thing. So, I'm just going to do something different.

It is Mardi Gras weekend down here on the bayou (I don't really live on a bayou but I have been to many). So, LAISSEZ LES BON TEMPS ROULER! (hands out Mardi Gras beads. Seriously, take them. I have like 3 Wal-Mart bags full from previous years! Please take them!)

My brother is going and more power to him. I've never been to NOLA for Mardi Gras and I never intend to. It scares me...

To celebrate this four day weekend I'm going to indulge my inner Fangirl. Here are all the things I'm excited about that will be happening soon:

*Expect lots of fangirly screams and SPOILERS

Day 70: Reading in Preparation...

As I finish this last part of my first draft, I've decided to do some reading in preparation for editing. I really think it is helping. I started reading Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. Really good so far. She has an interesting voice and I'm loving her descriptions. It is helping me see what is lacking in my writing. I'm already planning on how to make my stuff better. I also plan on rereading some books that I've found especially good recently. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, The Fallen Series by Lauren Kate, among others.

I'm promising myself that I will NOT look at these awesome books and say, "I should just throw in the towel. This is so much better than mine.", like I did at the beginning of this process. I've come to believe I have a great idea and I don't think anything could put me off of it now *knocks on wood*.

I also plan on ordering the biggest, bestest Thesaurus available!

In other news, I have to put out into the intraweb universe that I LOVE An Idiot Abroad!

Happy Oscar Day, ya'll!

Day 51: Huh? Who Knew?

Who knew that Bravo reality TV could help cure writer's block. I was watching Tabatha's Salon Takeover last night and she said something that really struck home. It was something like, "You can't get better if no one tells you what you're doing wrong." Plus, she's always so driven and disciplined. I think I've got the driven part but the disciplined part I'm still working on.

From now on, when I begin to flounder I'll just picture Tabatha standing over my shoulder.

Day 47: Ahhhh, the Weekend is Here!

Thank goodness the weekend is here! Being a stay-at-home Mom, I have some trouble getting words down during the week. I try, I really do, but there's always something else to get done. Did you know kids can be needy? I know, I was shocked, too!

The weekend is when I get most of my writing done. I get to foist the kids onto the DH or which ever Grandparent needs kiddo time. I tend to lock myself in my office and frantically type, type, type.

So in honor of those munchkins we all love so much, here's a little example of one of those things that tend to distract me during the week. As parents, we have to keep an eye on what our kids are watching. I freakin' love this!