Thank you so much, everyone who commented on my last post. It means a lot to me. And you'll be relieved to hear that later that day I had a whole breakdown/cryfest that resolved a lot of the lingering issues, and I have been up and about for well over a week. Just in time for a CRAZY MIDTERM WEEK OF DOOM.

As proof of my gratitude, I will not complain about the midterm madness and will instead move on to lighter topics.

Things I have been doing with my time that you might actually be interested to hear about:

Merlin fandom (through Delicious) - I think I need to have Delicious taken away from me. It is a terrible and addictive timesuck and my network is far too enabling of the crazy fangirl indulgence. My Bradley James love continues to reach new heights of creepitude every day.

( Anime-related bold points: Code Geass, Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou, Earl and Fairy )

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Okay, so I am watching the show for the first time? I'm kind of in the middle of season 2 right now? I'm enjoying myself, but in true Elizabeth form failing to really love it because it has been over-hyped? However, I've heard the show doesn't really get truly awesome until like, season 5 or so? And Bradley James is a huge fanboy, so I figure this is just another way I am succumbing to the insanity of my love for him.

Antique - As in the Korean movie adaptation of Antique Bakery with the general hotness factor, and in particular the gay text/subtext quotient, turned up to 11. Basically, already awesome Antique Bakery now with SMOKING HOT GAY LOVIN' with a French Jonathan Rhys Meyers look-alike. And THREE-DIMENSIONAL(!) insanely delicious-looking pastry. And insanely GORGEOUS set designs and cinematography. And INSANELY INSANE RANDOM MUSICAL INTERLUDES. I basically watched this movie with my mouth hanging open the entire time.

Also, I had another Merlin dream where I was traveling with the gang in a kind of modern world, where we all had monster companions. Like, I'm talking digimon/pokemon, Japanese fighting familiar, amalgam-ish monsters. There were stock poses and cg sparkle effects and shit. My subconscious is an amazing place.

Okay, so I basically slept for two straight days. That was weird. It is Tuesday right? OH GOD, WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S WEDNESDAY ALREADY? *despairs of self*

Hello, new thremedon friends (*waves*)! I love you all, but I want you to know that I've gone more insane than usual the last 10 days or so making Spotlight Fest and Christmas happen at the same time. My parents and extended family sort of hate my blackberry now. (What is that infernal buzzing sound? And why is it coming from your pocket?)

My Christmas, as a result, was a total blur. I think I got some good stuff. I got a new printer, new laptop speakers, and Iron Man, which were the three things I needed desperately. I gave my mother not one but FOUR pairs of handmade earrings, which she loved. And my relatives were as generous as could be expected when we are a lower middle class family struggling with the crappy economy. I think I should consider myself satisfied, and lucky.

Also, somewhere in that mess I went to go see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which was AMAZING. It was funny, visually interesting, and let us just say I BAWLED at the end. And I don't mean the closing scene left some tears in my eyes. I mean for the last 20 minutes or so I was crying quietly, but freely in my seat. And as soon as the credits started rolling, I actually started sobbing, which was embarrassing, but very cathartic. Basically, I am a SAP, but I think this movie earned all those tears, which is more than I can say for other movies I've cried during.

Tomorrow/today, I have a New Year's party to attend, and then on the 2nd, I'm heading up to Boston to stay with the illustrious PayPay to belatedly celebrate the date of her birth.

The downside to all of this is that... I have fallen woefully behind in the Merlin fandom and will continue to fall even more behind over the next week or so. It is actually pathetic how quickly I got used to seeing Bradley James' face on my Flist every day. D:

Am watching Bram Stoker's Dracula for class tomorrow. So far we have:

• Gratuitous vandalism of religious statuary.
• Keanu Reeves with a horrible British accent.
• Old!Dracula with a hairdo that looks like a butt from the back.
• Gratuitous uses of circles in transitions.
• Random acts of orgy.
• Random acts of lesbianism.
• Random acts of bestiality.
• Gratuitous moaning of a sexual nature (even when not involved in a sexual situation, though really what in this movie is not at least a metaphor for a sexual situation).
• And Cary Elwes in a pornstache.

I haven't stopped laughing in the hour I've been watching this movie.

ETA: Second half of the movie, we also have Young!Dracula (a.k.a. Gary Oldman) looking like a pimp out of the 70's with

• the John Lennon sunglasses
• the long wavy hair
• the too-huge-to-be-real hat
• aaaand the pornstache.

ETA2: That Southern accent is too horrible to be real. What is with this movie?

Hullo Intranets! Lots of things happened in the three weeks since I last checked in (obviously)! In an effort to not bore you with the details, I'll cut every topic so that you can pick and choose from the tl;dr at your leisure!

( 1. I got fired! )

( 2. We had family visiting! )
( 3. I almost had a boyfriend! )

In summary, my real life these past few weeks has been made of failure, and I took it the way I always take it, which is by escaping from it by acquiring a new fandom. Which brings me to points 4 and 5. Please be warned that from here on out, there be SPOILERS.

( 4. I watched Doctor Who! )
( 5. I watched Torchwood! )
( 6. I read Victory of Eagles! )
( 7. I watched the Avatar finale! )
( 8. I watched Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog! )

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT. MY LIFE, THIS JULY. Also, I managed to see Get Smart and Iron Man twice, missed The Dark Knight's opening week and instead saw the UNBELIEVABLY BAD MAMMA MIA. DON'T SEE THIS MOVIE UNLESS YOU ARE SOME SORT OF MASOCHIST. ACTUALLY, I THINK I HAVE TO GIVE THIS ANOTHER CUT JUST TO ADEQUATELY EXPRESS HOW HORRIBLE THIS MOVIE IS.

( 9. I watched (and hated!) Mamma Mia! )

So anyway, if you have learned anything from this epic post, it is that you should avoid the majority of Mamma Mia! at all possible costs. And that I am most certainly not dead. Now I am going to go help get ready for my mother's annual birthday party/family reunion/picnic in the park which is taking place tomorrow. The theme this year is "Sunday In The Park With George" which we have cheerfully corrupted into parasols, polka dots, and picnic food. What can I say, it makes my mother happy.

Actually, I really love this movie meme. I avoided doing it because I think/fear/feel that no one will respond, but ah well. Some of these are inexcusable, but I am unrepentant.

1. Pick 15 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Fill in the film title once it's guessed.
5. NO GOOGLING / using IMDb search functions. Totally cheating, you dirty cheaters.

( 1. Anyone who isn't dead or from another plane of existence would do well to cover their ears right about now. )

ETA: 11/15 guessed.

Sometimes I make this silent promise to myself that I will stop staying up until 6-ish every fucking day of the week, because I know it is bad for my health and my future and social life, but then nights like this happen and I know that while I may eventually cut down, I will never be able to give them up.

There is something so simple and gratifying about being awake in the middle of the night. Nobody expects you to be doing anything other than sleep. Whatever you choose to do with that time instead, it's all yours.

It just so happens that tonight (start time: 12:30) I watched Stranger Than Fiction with my roommate, A. This was only my second time seeing that movie, and while I enjoyed it that first time, seeing it again, with all the subtleness of its cinematography and graphic additions open to my notice, I realized for the first time that that movie is superb. Everything about it is superb. It deserves superlatives.

We had to break so that I could go do the radio show, and since Diana was off having her citizenship validated and suchlike, I brought A down with me and we had a lovely, lazy time cranking out tunes from 2-4.

Then we came back and finished the movie and I squeed some more about it, by which time A was heartily sick of me and went to bed which left me free to do a quick email check, where I learned that Drop Dead Gorgeous had updated with Chapter 10.

And then I read Chapter 10.

And then I lost my head. I went running down the hall the the study lounge--which was empty, thank God--and had a flailing FIT, in capital letters, complete with manic laughter and twitching and arm movements not seen in nature. AND IT WAS 5 IN THE MORNING SO I COULD DO IT AND KNOW THAT NO ONE WOULD WANDER IN AND SPOIL THE REVELRY IN MY MADNESS.

YES. And now I have a huge headache, but IT IS WORTH IT. YAY, 5AM.

It's days like today when it really hits home that I am going to an all girls school.

My roommate and I started talking about how sad and shocking and terrible Heath Ledger's death is, and as our conversation went on, my roomate pulled down her copy of 10 Things I Hate About You. She brought in a couple of friends from the hall, and we all started watching it.

This movie defined the beginning of our teens. I wasn't lying when I said he was my first idol crush. All of us love this movie and love Heath in it. The first time he came on screen we gasped a little and groaned and were so aware of his every movement, but then the movie took hold. Before long, we were laughing and groaning at everything, simply and plainly enjoying ourselves. It became less of a thing of mourning and more of a celebration of his life and his work.

As this went on, other girls stopped by, realized what we were doing and stayed to see the movie. At our largest, there were about sixteen of us in the room. About twenty filtered through for different portions. Twelve finished the movie with us. And throughout, we shared trivia and stories and thoughts about the movie and Heath Ledger. We all came to terms together.

I'm sure we weren't the only group of girls who did this, but I'm glad I was a part of it. Heath Ledger was one of our generation's greatest heartthrobs, and he was a wonderful actor besides. He will live on as Patrick and Cassanova, as Ennis del Mar and Gabriel Martin, as Sir William Thatcher, and the speculation surrounding his death can never taint those characters, or his stellar career. He figured prominently in my adolescence. For being that person in my life, I'm grateful to him.

Right, so. Last Friday, I GOT A HAIRCUT. Like, a real, five-inches-off haircut! MY FIRST HAIRCUT. Unfortunately, it was without my consent, so uh, the shock was so great that I got sick immediately after.

( A weirdly long ramble about the event and the resulting cold... )

I started feeling better just in time to do one last movie with my friends yesterday. We saw 27 Dresses which was, overall, about as good as we thought it would be. The plot was as surprisingly mediocre (even for a romcom, it was predictable and lazy) as the performances of the leads were surprisingly strong. I never really appreciated James Marsden. I thought he was a pretty kind of okay. THIS MOVIE CHANGED MY MIND SO HARD AND FAST, I AM TEMPTED TO MAKE TEN DOLLAR WHORE JOKES, HAHAHA. God. "Bennie and the Jets" will never be the same for me again. 27 Dresses had its moments, and those moments are enough to make me want to see it again, but I am the kind of girl to which these romcoms pander. See at your own discretion.

And then today I moved back into the dorms. Hello again, NYC. One of my New Year's Resolutions was to take advantage of the city more, so let's see how that goes!

Uh, and I'm starving. Going to go make a sandwich now. Extra-crunchy peanut butter, how I've missed you!

I went to go see Juno in NYC sometime in the weeks of finals hell. I went with the roommate and a hallmate and actually wasn't all that excited. I was sort of put off by the whole teen pregnancy thing. They don't call it Catholic guilt for nothing you know. But I watched some trailers and decided to give it a shot and went down to Lincoln Square and was simply unprepared to be blown away.

I came out of the theater wanting to go back in and have that experience again. Which is why, once I got home, I insisted on taking some of my home friends to go and see it. This time I was prepared for the movie to be amazing. I was, however, blindsided by the realization that every one of the three friends I saw it with hated it.

Even now, over 24 hours after the fact, I'm startled, and more than a little hurt by the fact that those three girls, some of my oldest and dearest friends, hated a movie that stole my heart. At the time I was too shell-shocked to even defend it, but rather than let it fester, I'm taking the opportunity to give them the rebuttal Juno rightfully deserves.

( This turned out rather rambling and long, but it is what's in my heart nonetheless. )

1) Merry Christmas Adam to you all!

2) I saw P.S. I Love You today and basically bawled my eyes out. Unfortunately, I saw it with my parents and I was crying right in front of them which was actually sort of terrible and embarrassing, but yes. P.S. I Love You is great. Funny and sad, uplifting and heartfelt... In other words, it manipulates the hell out of your emotions; however, I'm inclined to forgive that at this time of year. Also, I know I'm supposed to be madly in love with Gerard Bulter, and he is indeed a hunk of burning hot manflesh, but no, I really must choose Jeffrey Dean Morgan. *fans self* He seriously slayed me in this movie.

3) Off to bed!