so, yes, i'm back again! sort-of-- i'm on winter break, so i have lots of spare time to make icons. i'm going to keep working up through when i go back to school, so hopefully i'll get at least one more post in before work envelops my life again!

this post, btw, is a thank you to anyone and everyone who friended me during my lj absence, and/or left lovely comments, and/or just encouraged me to keep going! you're all wonderful. <3


FANDOMS: torchwood, sdoacg, horton hears a who, eternal sunshine, doctor who, dollhouse
 

( I mean the real New York. Not the New, New, New, New, New one. )
don't forget:
*if you like an icon, or take an icon, tell me! ; )
*friends/commenting = love.
*crediting = required.
*fandom suggestions are always welcome!

I forgot to mention! New episode of Made of Fail is up. "It's like... fudge... made of out PEANUT BUTTER."

Meanwhile! Right after I posted that last entry--seriously, I hit "post" while putting on my shoes--I went out and saw Sherlock Holmes again, this time with my mother. ( More Holmesian nerditry )

(For those of you wondering when I'll ever shut up about Sherlock Holmes: IT'S NOT TWILIGHT, OKAY? So shut it and count your blessings.)

Meanwhile: omg so cold. I love it. It's already one o'clock, but it's still only 26°F, which means it only gets colder from here. In fact, we've got snow predicted for Thursday. The dogs are bored out of their minds because I won't let them stay outside longer than ten minutes at a time; I'm under a fleece blanket (NOT A SNUGGIE) in the den at my laptop, and I had to put on my huge floor-length coat and my gloves just to take them out front. (I do have a pair of full-coverage gloves, but I put on my favorites just because they are pretty: fingerless gloves recycled from toesocks, because a hole got into one of the toes, and they were too awesome to throw away. Bonus photo feature: My stubby little hobbit hand.)

Okay, I've at least confirmed this time that there will be a bloody episode.  *grumbles*

The current wishlist: Micah and Claude.  Also, after seeing this ridiculous American Checkers commercial, I have to admit that sometimes I really just want a disgusting, gigantic bacon cheeseburger, a side of crispy, crunchy fries, and a strawberry milkshake.  And sweet and sour sauce.

( At the rate we're going, we're never going to see Claude again. Ever. )

...Actually, ignoring the acting (or lack thereof), I think she did a great job. I want to see more of Anna!Halál now. But without the laugh.

ender839 makes the world's best cookies.  Omg.

As a follow-up to the Sherlock Holmes movie discussion entry, I feel like I should clarify that I don't actually think Holmes and Watson were doing it although I can absolutely see why you might. (And the movie might agree with you. Commenters pointed out that there were lines from Irene in the trailer ("They've been flirting for hours" and "Will you two just kiss and make up?") that got cut from the movie, as well as a line in the original script where Mary tells Holmes that Watson's "heart is generous. He has room for both of us." Also, Robert Downey Jr. apparently pissed off Doyle's estate by suggesting that Holmes might be "a very butch homosexual.") I am simply saying that they are in love, love, looooooove. It is not for me to specify the nature of that love; I can only point to the GIGANTIC BLATANT IMMENSITY of it.

(I should also note that the words "Satan," "Satanic," and "devil" are never mentioned in the movie, as far as I remember. ( Spoilers? )

I also spent a good bit of yesterday afternoon rereading the first two Holmes novels, A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of the Four. ( Reading recommendations )

( Back to the movie )

Part I was just crap, and hugely disappointing since I was an idiot and hoped that Waters of Mars was a sign that things might look up (Waters of Mars had a thousand and one flaws, but I enjoyed it overall), and um.  That sucked.  Neither 10 nor the Master were good, and I actually think that while the Master had the best moments in the episode, the overall effect was way too much.  A caricature of a character.  Damn shame.

Part II had good parts, and I guess it's only mediocre, though I cried during the farewells even while being annoyed that they were dragging out the ending (btw, M/M = bizarre, and M+facial hair=EVEN MORE BIZARRE).  In any case, the Master was much better here, probably the highlight performance of the episode.

I'm not really sold on Matt Smith, but his intro was one of the best things on the show for for the last couple of seasons, ignoring Blink.  Maybe it's just because it's the big sign that RTD is gone for good, but I was all YAYZ when he came on screen, and of course his commentary made me laugh.  Also, his head his really big.

i miss her i miss her. i wish we were still friends

So, as my longtime people know, I am a huuuuuuuuge Sherlock Holmes fan. I have all of the short stories and the novels, annotated, and I was obsessed with the Granada series as a young teen, and I worship at the Holy Church of Jeremy Brett, so on and so forth. In fact, Brett is so thoroughly the perfect Holmes to me--and the one-hour format was so nicely suited to the cozy little short stories where not a whole lot happens--that I just said, what the hell. The movie looks like so much fun, I don't even care. It's got great people--believe it or not, Jude Law is actually really good casting for the younger Watson of the early stories. And he was IN an episode of the Granada series!--and Guy Ritchie'll bring something interesting to it, if nothing else, so: I have already had the "perfect" Sherlock Holmes experience; let's have a fun new one.  

( Spoilers, my dear Watson )

Party peoples of the internet! What are you doing tonight?

Why hello there, Twilight Zone marathon.

So that's pretty much all I'll be doing today and tonight, and I am perfectly content with this. One New Year's Eve, I had to work the late shift at the video store; a couple of years later, I ended up being driven "home" to school by a bartender at 5:30 am, through (of all things, here in Alabama) a heavy snowfall, back to a dorm that was technically closed for the holidays so that my friends and I could sneak back in. This, after one friend spent the latter part of the evening throwing up into a party hat. I'm just saying--New Year's Eve at home: not such a bad thing.

(I will also be on the hunt for a new purse, as the handle on my old one, the frustratingly complicated and bepocketed Fendi spy bag knockoff, broke a while back. I want something a bit smaller, black, simple but cute--"stylish," if I can manage it. Oh, and inexpensive. I went to Etsy, got 20,000 search results, and ran away. Suggestions?)

I have absolutely no resolutions, by the way. I like the initial pep-talk excitement of making them, but they never, ever go anywhere. I mean, you've seen me do this before with self-imposed deadlines--I talk a good, rousing talk, and then nothing ever goes anywhere. I know this about myself: setting hard goals works for a lot of people, but it just does not personally work for me, probably because I psych myself out so easily. The only way I ever accomplish anything is by not trying and not expecting. "Follow your bliss," as the man said. So I know there are things I would like to do or improve within myself, but... the only way to do that is pretend they're not there, like a child playing peekaboo. Hey, whatever works.


P.S. There will be Woodchuck.

Peoples of the internet! So I have read over your de-stressing suggestions--a lot of them were what I expected, but I was curious as to what people would recommend most often, and also the more unusual suggestions. (This is related, but I'll go ahead and ask up front where people will see it: does anyone have BPAL/TAL imps of Milk & Honey and/or Blinding Glory of Love they'd be willing to sell me? I kind of want to put off buying entire bottles at $25 each until I've tried them, and also, until I have the second e-book out.) So, I present to you some--not all, but some--of y'all's suggestions, with additions of my own where applicable:

( Read more... )

Peoples of the internet! I have another question. Stress relief methods: do you have them? Because my blood pressure is currently Not Happy, and I can tell it's an emotional thing--my doctor has told me that I have surprisingly good blood pressure usually, and the onset of this is sudden enough that--well. I won't get into the whole mess, but it's emotional, and I need to figure out a way to counteract that.

I was digging through my photobucket account and found this.  I think it needs to be shared again just for the epic awesome.



For the record, I don't care what the in-game recipe says.  It's a banana nut cake.  It looks like a banana nut cake.  To me, anyway.  The chocolate frosting is mixed with shredded coconut and diced almonds.  That's eight maraschino cheries on a bed of (admittedly far too big a bed) of cream-cheese frosting.  I'm always confused when people put six strawberries on whipped cream instead, because that's just weird.

Peoples of the internet! Bring unto me the After Christmas Sales. I hear Lush has a huge one?

Christmas was nice and quiet this year. Hung out with Papa all day, got some good books, DVDs, and clothes. Brookie and Kevin made HAM for dinner. Sounds wonderfully traditional for Christmas, but I can't eat ham (or most meat for that matter) so cold pizza for me! =D

So lately I've been considering costumes for Comic-Con, and I have no idea what to do this year. I don't know if I'll continue my traditional Alice cosplay with Sam, or do any other repeats this year. The more I thought about it the more I wanted to try a Tim Burton Alice and Mad Hatter. I mean, it would be fun to do since the movie comes out this spring, and Comic-Con will be a great time to do the cosplay. I even know a great seamstress could could make Alice for me. However a few downsides are giving me second thoughts.

For one, it's Comic-Con and I'm certain every other man will be dressed as Burton's Hatter. It'll be exactly like 2008 where EVERYONE was dressed like the Joker after The Dark Knight came out. So it wouldn't exactly be the most original costume. The other problem is that if I dressed as Alice, I don't really know who I could get to cosplay as Hatter with me. There aren't many guys I would trust to look good in the costume (maybe Sam, but I haven't asked him if he's interested), and also I would want to make sure the costume was done RIGHT. Which would mean getting it made and paying for it myself. And that's another problem - it's going to be expensive.

So I'm not sure. I mean, I already know I'm going to love the movie, and I really want to do this cosplay, but is it worth it?

Already I've been looking up sites and tutorials. I found a pretty good tutorial here, but I'm not the greatest crafts person so I would have to get someone to make it for me. I glanced through Ebay and found some sellers offering their own costumes like the coat and the hat. But HOLY CRAP $500??? Yah it looks nice, but not for that much money. GAH. I mean the best offer I could make would be $160, maybe $200 if I have a lot to spend.

This guy has a pretty good costume going but it looks like he actually got the $500 coat. O_x And like a protective cosplayer he isn't saying where he got the other materials.

Siiiigh. Well, I know a couple seamstresses and prop makers. I guess I'll ask around. Merry Christmas y'all!

Lots of sad and serious things in the news today, but I don't really know how to talk about all of that this point. All I can say about the Detroit incident is that I'm going to focus on the positive and be glad that the bomb didn't go off, it's a Christmas miracle, etc.

I was really tense all day, but Christmas went reasonably well. ( Sam says hi )

So: what was your favorite present, and/or what did you do today?


Oh, P.S. I put up A Very Shelfy Christmas, Part 1 yesterday.

Previously on The Secret Life of Dolls: A lot of stuff happened.

So: Christmas in Shelfia, with a bit of catch-up from the Compocalypse. ( We Two Kings of Númenor Are )


(To be continued. Part two: Serafina. Part three: Anna.)

Pleasantly busy day, it looks like. Howling winds outside, actually, but sunnyish, so that's fine.

Have to wrap presents later. I hate wrapping presents. I mean, I do an okay job of it in the end, and I like presents to be wrapped, but it usually involves me wrestling with a large, fragile sheet of shiny paper for about fifteen minutes.

Still have to take certain pictures. TLB went missing earlier this morning, but was eventually located. I would rather not discuss how the tableshelf ended up covered in maple syrup.

Lizzie's McAfee trial ran out, so I was like, the hell with this, I'm putting AVG on. So now I'm having to do all the scans and setups and whatever, but I hear it's better anyway.

(I am really glad it has a rootkit scan, because isn't that what Sony put on its CDs for a while there?)

For those of you keeping track on the Aromaleigh front, Wish is really pretty with Damask. It's a similar look to Chloe/Amelie, but more pink and less peach.

My feet are killing me, which suggests to me that I need new/better shoes, or some kind of comfort-inducing insert (although those "I'm Gellin'!" commercials make me want to slap someone). I actually want to go buy me some Chucks with my next round of book money, although I doubt those will have any kind of support. Hm. I just want some of those because I rarely get more formal than sneakers, but Chucks are an ever-so-slightly more sophisticated aesthetic than scuffed tennis shoes, you know? And you can customize them! I kind of want to make a purple plaid. I do not see any way to order a foot massage, however.

A few things of interest (or not):

The Christmas village on the back of our piano

@alliancesjr: @cleolinda This makes me think of pre-1960 attitudes towards women and body parts. One of these days you're going to show us an *gasp* ANKLE

@cleolinda: @alliancesjr http://twitpic.com/uvgzt  

@queenanthai: @cleolinda You HOOR.

Its strange. Falling for someone. Some one who was there the entire time. When you realize that your lives have been parallel. Two planets, around the same sun, never seeming to intersect. Its unfortunate that we need to be knocked of course, i guess, requiring that metaphorical asteroid to meet, but oh, how it's worth it. We met before, before we had actually "met". I thought he was cute, i remember that. I didn't think much of it. He was engaged after all, and i was dating his upstairs neighbor's brother. He doesn't even remember the day, he's bad with names and faces and things and remembering and how i love his face and how the corners of his eyes crinkle when he smiles.

but i digress.

he said to me recently one morning/afternoon/night/whenever "isn't strange how you can be with a person and think you're happy, then meet someone perfect for you and it never even occurs to you because you're comfortable?"

howstrangehowstrangehowstrange
there are universes where this never happened.