Does your boss use Jedi mind tricks on you?

Note to Terrence: The following is a SPOILER. Do not CLICK it if you don't want to know.

Comics Continuum - screen capture from 2/13 BtVS episode, "Crush"

This picture hurts me.

Do you ever just get tired of yourself?

You know that exclusive Spike figure that you could only get by ordering $50 worth of merchandise (which I did)? Now it's available by itself for $13.99. Don't that just beat all.

Grumble grumble.

Oh, they also have a set of 12" figures of the Buffster and the ultra-creepy Gentlemen from "Hush." A bit pricey for my budget, and I'm not sure I'd want those freaky Gentlemen things staring at me from my bookshelf, anyway.

AICN actually posted a completely objective and not entirely scathing review of "Left Behind."

Yay on Jennifer. I wish I could get to that place.

Sorry, no Buffy/Angel commentary today, seeing as how both were repeats last night. If you need a fix, the recaps for last week's episodes of Buffy and Angel are up at Mighty Big TV.

It's been almost a year since my dog Mitzi died, and I still miss her. For one thing, she made a really great mascot for my web site. It didn't seem right to keep using her image after she was gone, and it seemed to me that having a chihuahua for a mascot when I no longer own a chihuahua would be quirky at best. Nevertheless, I'm thinking about resurrecting her to work her into the design. I love my new dog Fizgig, but I'm still trying to reconcile myself to the fact that I own a poodle. He's a cool dog, for a poodle, but you just can't beat a chihuahua for comical imagery and cool kitschiness.

Eh, I just looked over the next segment, and now I'm all intimidated again.

I am now up on edges, vertices, valences and Euler (pronounced Oiler) circuits, having officially completed the first segment of my math course. I took the quiz yesterday and turned in my assignment this morning, and I'm pretty confident I did well on both. Yay! And I didn't even need to call on Terrence for help. I'm becoming less intimidated, especially in light of the professor's promise that there will be very little algebra (I haven't taken any algebra since 10th grade and I really sucked at it back then, so that's a good), so I think I have a pretty good chance of doing okay. Still, I'm glad it's the only course I took this semester, so I can devote all of my learnin' time to it. And once I'm done with this I'll never again have to take any math, ever. Again I say: Yay!

Now if I can just figure out how to afford to go back to school full time beginning this fall, I'll have myself a psychology degree by the time I'm thirty, and then no more paeon administrative jobs for Jean. Won't that be nice? Yes, I think it will.

AKIRA re-release in American Theaters!!! DVD!!!

Cool. I'm finally going to get to see this movie. I think I'm the only anime fan in the world who's never seen Akira, and it's embarrassing.

Hey, Liz, should you ever actually find Brandon's purported copy of Akira, tell him thanks, but I don't need to borrow it anymore.

Today I have a math quiz (among other things) to deal with. Tomorrow I'll answer e-mail. I promise. I'm not ignoring you, I swear.

Pass me the pipe, Rich. I think Apple's 1984 ad was (and still is) brilliant, and I'm not even a Mac user. Terrence needs to take a hit and mellow out.

BlogVoices is back up, so snark away (I'm glad I didn't get around to removing it. Sometimes it pays to be lazy).

Not much to say about Shadow of the Vampire. I'd make with the puns and say it bit (HA!), but it had too much that was good (Willem Dafoe's performance as Max Schreck, John Malkovich (he's always good), and Carey Elwes and Eddie Izzard, both of whom did good and neither of whom I expected to see, so they were a nice surprise) to be bad, and it had too much that wasn't so good (excruciatingly slow pacing, for one thing) to be great. Although, I think I might have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been distracted by the audience throughout most of the movie. I'd rant on that in detail, but that really deserves it's own post, and I really don't feel like getting into it.

Not much to say about my long weekend, either. Going to the movie and going to church on Sunday were the only times I left the house. The rest of the time I spent sleeping, reading, studying, or watching TV (and yes, I watched the soaps. Timmy really is a doll!). I did no writing whatsoever. Everything was input. Maybe if I get enough input eventually my brain will explode (figuratively, natch) and start creating some output.

I'm told there was a football game last night, but I didn't watch it, because I don't care, and I figure I can catch the commercials on AdCritic. I did, however, stay up past my bedtime to watch Survivor, because I care way more than I should.

I was hoping Deb would get booted real quick-like, so I liked how that worked out. Starting with Deb, if they're voting people off in order of obnoxiousness, then Kimmi's days are numbered. If, however, it's going in order of attractiveness, then it's going to come down to Texas or Military Guy. Yum. I don't suppose either of them will have a penchant for baring their naked ass every chance they get...

Speaking of which, I don't sense any of the Pure Evil that was Richard Hatch. But neither do I sense any of the True Grit that was Rudy Boesch, so I just don't know yet who to root for.

Hey Eleni! I like Peter's new template.

Is it just me, or does R.E.M.'s "Bang and Blame" sound like exactly the same song as "Losing My Religion," but with different lyrics?

Anyway.

I'm taking tomorrow off. Call it a mental health day. We didn't get MLK day off and I'm in severe need of a long weekend. I'm planning to spend the day working on my manuscript, but then I haven't been sticking to my plans much lately, so we'll see.

I found out last night that Matt Ashford and Melissa Reeves have both returned to Days of Our Lives as Jack & Jennifer, respectively, and I cannot express the thrill I felt at seeing Matt-as-Jack again. Jack & Jennifer were the Spike & Buffy of my high school years. I stopped watching that show when they left and were replaced by different actors. Now that I know they're back, I'm going to have to fight the urge to watch DoOL tomorrow (I also have to fight the urge to watch Passions to find out who this Timmy is that Spike's always so concerned about).

Once I start watching daytime television, it's all over. You can count on my not getting anything done for the rest of the day if I so much as check to see who the guests will be on Regis. So I'll do my best to write and be productive and ignore the siren call of daytime television, but my will is weak.

I probably won't get online any this weekend. If I owe you e-mail, I'm sorry. Answering e-mail feels like an impossible chore right now. I'll do my best to write next week when things are better.

I'll probably go see Shadow of the Vampire at some point this weekend, since I love John Malkovich, and I love Nosferatu, and I dig campy vampire drama, and by the looks of things this has all three. So look for some kind of review on that come Monday.

I always get a little wacky this time of year, and this year appears to be no exception. See, this is the time of year my dad died. In fact, this Monday will mark the 5 year anniversary of his passing. There's this whole physical memory thing that seems to cause me to get all depressed even when I don't remember why, and then once I do figure out what's going on, I start dealing with all kinds of conflicting emotions. For one thing he was no saint, and just when I start to think I've worked through all of my anger I remember something else he did to screw over me, or my mom, or one of my siblings, and I have to start trying to forgive all over again. And there is all kinds of guilt that comes with knowing that you're life has been pretty much all uphill since your father died. On the other hand, I also start to remember the good things about him, the times when we got along, when he was sober, and he wasn't cruel, and he knew how to just be daddy. And I know that I'll never have a chance to have him that way again, or to make things right between us. The monster is gone, but he'll never be completely out of my life, and I'll never be able to make up with the man, to understand why he was the way he was, or to talk out the pain, or to forgive him face to face, or to hear him say he's sorry.

The last time I saw him was Superbowl Sunday in 1996. We'd actually had a civil evening together watching the game, but his good humor was beginning to fade as he walked out the door to go to his third shift job. I can't remember whether I said I loved him. I hope I did, because I did love him, in spite of everything. He was the only dad I had. He walked out the door, a lot of things left unsaid between us, a lot of things left hanging, and I never saw him again, and three days later I was attending his funeral. Five years later I'm still trying to deal with it all. Take from that whatever lesson you will.

So forgive the recent bouts of moodiness, and try to be patient with me for the next few days as I try to work through this. Superbowl weekend equals emotional turmoil for Jean, but it will be over and done with soon, and then we can all get on with our merry little lives.

Word.

From: Cousins, Jean
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2001 1:08 PM
To: 'Tess'
Subject: hey

What did you think of that knight? He wasn't bad looking. I hope he doesn't turn out to be

a new love interest for Buffy.


From: Tess
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2001 1:38 PM
To: 'Cousins, Jean'
Subject: RE: hey

I didn't think of that but I bet he will be her new boyfriend.


From: Cousins, Jean
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2001 1:38 PM
To: 'Tess'
Subject: RE: hey

But I want Spike to be her boyfriend!


From: Tess
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2001 1:41 PM
To: 'Cousins, Jean'
Subject: RE: hey

I thought you wanted him as your boyfriend.


From: Cousins, Jean
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2001 1:41 PM
To: 'Tess'
Subject: RE: hey

Well, that goes without saying. But seeing as how he's fictional and all, I'll settle for

living vicariously through Buffy.


From: Tess
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2001 1:44 PM
To: 'Cousins, Jean'
Subject: RE: hey

They will never have her hook up with him. NEVER!


From: Cousins, Jean
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2001 1:47 PM
To: 'Tess'
Subject: RE: hey

You don't know, it could happen. I need to believe that it will happen.

I also need to believe that I'll sell my novel, and it will be a best seller, and I'll be in

L.A. doing a book signing, and James Marsters will show up to get my autograph because he

loves my book, and I won't spaz out and act like a big dork, and I'll be able to hold myself

together and have a witty conversation, and I'll write something really clever in his copy

of my book, and he'll love me instantly and we'll get married and I'll have his babies, and

then Buffy can just bite my hinder. And then we'll hook you up with Vin, and we'll all live

happily ever after.


From: Tess
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2001 1:51 PM
To: 'Cousins, Jean'
Subject: RE: hey

ok.

Oh, wow. I like it. Why is it temporary?

One of my bosses is expecting a lunch appointment. She just told me she's going to the rest room, and when he arrives I should shag him. I'm pretty sure she meant to say snag him. Either that or she has a different definition of "shag" than I do. At any rate, it was hard to keep a straight face when he came in just now.

Buffy & Angel random thoughts and spoilers ahoy...

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On Angel...

Angel gives away Cordy's ugly-ass thrift-store psychedelic halter-top to charity, proving once and for all that he has truly become one heartless bastard. I mean, inflicting that shirt on homeless kids, Angel? What were you thinking? At least we'll never have to see it on Cordy again.

Cordy finally gets a good hair cut, and adds in more blonde streaks, and Jean is finally at peace with the loss of her pretty long hair. Gunn & Wesley bond over a game of Risk in Cordelia's apartment, where the Fearless Threesome have temporarily set up shop for their own agency, where drinking extra-tall beers during business hours is hunky-dory (does anybody remember that Cordelia's still supposed to be underage?), and where there is no sign whatsoever of Phantom Dennis, leaving me to wonder if he's quietly gone on to his final resting place, or if the writers have just forgotten about him.

Umm, there was a story in there somewhere, something about Angel pulling a fakeout on W&H and through some sort of insane troll logic (or is that insane soully vampire logic?) deciding that publicly airing embarrassing home movies of Cordelia and Wesley would be a good way to humiliate Lindsey and Lilah. Okay, sure. Anyway, it was funny. "Mmm, milk!" Oh, and W&H's scheme is to make sure Angel's on their side for the Apocolypse, L&L are both expendable, and if Angel snaps and kills one or both of their smarmy lawyer asses, so much the better, yaddayaddayadda. Oh, and Merl shows up and gets abused by just about everybody, so that was fun.

On to Buffy...

Giles is reinstated!

Buffy's large and in charge! Well, in charge, anyway. I'm always amazed at what a tiny little person she is.

Spike is... Spike!

"Willow's a demon?!!" HAW!

(Why am I the only one who finds Anya hysterical?)

Anyway. The gang gathered at Buffy's, and I expected a birthday party, since by all accounts I'd read this was supposed to be her 20^th birthday, but instead all she got was news that the Council of Watchers was coming to town to put her through some more testing. Never having seen "Helpless," the ominousness of this announcement was lost on me.

The next day, she's actually shown in a classroom setting, proving once and for all that she is, in fact, still a college student. She fights with my English Lit professor, who's now teaching history, and who does a pretty good job of humiliating her in front of the entire class. Cut to the graveyard at night, and she's taking it out on a vampire. It looks like the vamp is about to get the upper hand when who should come flying over a crypt to take out the vamp and save his honey but Riley. PSYCH! Just kidding, it was Spike. Look! They're wearing twinkie coats! How cute. Spike wears it better, though. Anyway, Buffy doesn't take too kindly to being rescued, and Spike says she wouldn't have minded if it had been Riley, and then proceeds to berate her about being unable to keep a man, and goes on hypothesize that it's because her beauty is fading, she's aging prematurely because of the Slayer-related stress, and so forth. Umm, Spike? Way to sweet talk your way into her heart there, buddy. Buffy tells him he's disgusting. Yeah, yeah. "Sing me a new one sometime, eh?"

Back at the magic shop, the Council arrives, shuts down the shop, threatens to deport Giles back to England if Buffy doesn't cooperate, and commences interrogations. Anya is terrified of what they might do if they find out she used to be a demon, and her attempts to come across as a perfectly normal human are pretty funny. Xander, nursing his broken arm, tries to convince them that he's useful to Buffy even though he doesn't have any special powers. Willow and Tara actually don't annoy me as they both stutter their way through their interview, and I actually have to laugh at Willow's proclomation that they're "lovers. Gay lesbian lovers." Then when the Council guy specifies he's asking about their relationship to Buffy, Tara's sheepish, "Oh. Just good friends."

Then it's Spike's turn. "I pitch in when she pays me... Money, a little nip of blood out of some stray victim, whatever. Well, they're gonna die anyway. Come to think of it, though, that's a bit scandalous, innit? Personally, I'm shocked. The girl's slippin'." HEE! I was starting to forget how much fun Spike is when he's stirring trouble. But then, after flirting shamelessly with the Council gal (who, as it turns out, wrote her thesis on him) and causing her and me both to go all squishy inside and squeal like a thirteen-year-old girl at an N*Sync concert, he sobers up and expresses genuine concern for Buffy's progress. Aww. Him in love.

There's some stuff in there with Glory and Ben, too, but it boils down to that Ben is icky and Glory is annoying. Oh, and Ben refuses to help Glory find the key, but we aren't told why, and Glory shows up in Buffy's house and threatens to kill Dawn and everybody else Buffy loves if Buffy doesn't hand over the key. Which is important mainly because it gives us another excuse to visit Spike when Buffy takes Joyce and Dawn to his crypt and asks him to protect them while she finishes up with the Council.

A rudely awakened Spike first thinks this a "You pay, I help" request, but after some initial teasing, as he realizes the magnitude of what she's asking, he agrees, and the look on his face is just... *SIGH* Buffy leaves, Joyce acts nervous, Dawn acts bratty, and Spike acts annoyed as he tells them to keep it down because Passions is coming on. Joyce pipes up: "Passions? Oh, do you think Timmy's really dead?" Spike perks up: "Oh, no. She can just sew him back together. He's a doll, for God's sake." Again I say: HEE! Spike and Joyce bond over soaps, and Dawn's eyes roll almost completely back into her head.

On her way to the magic shop, Buffy is accosted by three Knights of Byzantium, and after she takes them all out one of them tells her that they were foolish to try and take her on with only three, that next time they'll send a hundred knights, and if she defeats them they'll send a thousand, whatever it takes to take down the Slayer and destroy the key. Buffy lets him go, but keeps his sword. He's really very good looking, so I'm sure we'll be seeing him again. I just really hope he's not going to be a new love interest for her. Anyway, this exchange has left Buffy all pumped up with self-importance, and she goes in to meet with the Council, and begins to lay down the law.

"There isn't gonna be a review," she says. "No review, no interrogation, no questions you knooow I can't answer," (the way she said "know" there just bugged me), "no hoops, no jumps, and no interruptions." She then proceeds to surmise that the reason everybody has been telling her unimportant she is lately is because they're trying to keep her down out of fear, because she is important. She has power, and they dont. She is the reason for the Council's being, and she figures that puts her in charge, which leads us to the coolest scene in the entire episode, when one of the Council guys pipes up and accuses her of insolence. She grabs the sword and throws it at him, and it sticks into the wall about an inch from his head. "I'm fairly certain I said no interruptions," she says. "That was excellent," an awe-struck and wide-eyed Xander says, and I have to agree. Buffy gets Giles back his job, with retroactive salary payments, establishes that the shop will stay open, Giles will remain her Watcher, and the Scoobies will remain Scoobies. The Council sheepishly agrees to her terms, and then finally shares what they know about Glory, which is that "Glory isn't a demon. She's a god."

Whew. I didn't set out to write an entire recap, but I just really enjoyed this episode, and once I started I couldn't shut up about it. Surprises were revealed, structure was reestablished, the balance of power has shifted, Buffy's back to kicking ass, and subtle yet important advances were made on the Spike & Buffy front, all of which make me say "Yay!" I'm not too sure about this order of knights that was introduced, though. I'm hoping that they were just a one time annoyance, but I'm probably wrong. Regardless, I'm beyond psyched for the rest of the season. If I had a rating system I'd give this one a really high rating. Not the highest, but up there. Hercules gave it 3 & 1/2 out of 4 stars, and Loey gave it an 8 out of 10, and I have to agree. On the other hand, Peter thought it sucked "big donkey ass," so ratings are all subjective, anyway.

Another Coke, some wonderfully bad '80's pop (a.k.a. "skate music" 'cause, see, I spent a lot of my junior high years at the roller rink, and this was the kind of music they played. Hey, when you couldn't drive, you took whatever amusement you could get), and the recap of last week's Angel have all improved my mood considerably. Just in time for me to go home.

"Rose tint my world, keep me safe from the trouble and pain."

I had a Coke, and now I'm much better all around. I am a simple, simple girl.

I almost hope tonight's Buffy is a sad one. A good tear-jerker ep. I feel like I could use a good cry.

Correction: The Tomato Nation article I referenced down there was courtesy of Sars, not Sep. My bad.

It's one of those days. A combo of hay fever (courtesy of a premature Oklahoma spring), not enough sleep, and not enough drugs has left me feeling like doo-doo. I should have stayed home today. A nap would do me wonders right now. So would some Sudafed.

When I feel bad like this I start to get melancholy. I don't have enough energy to do the things I should be doing, or to focus on the distractions that usually make my days bearable, and so I just sit here and think about how messed up things are. Or more to the point, how messed up I am.

Like, how I'll never be as cool or as smart or as talented as I try to fool people into thinking I am. Or how no matter what I do, no matter how I try to rearrange my schedule, I just can't get it all done. I have one job, and one class, and it's a struggle to find enough time and energy in a single day to handle both. And where does that leave my writing? Nowhere, it would seem.

I can't even remember the last book I read. I used to read all the time. I'd always have a book going. I'd carry one with me everywhere I went, and read it at every opportunity.

And I'm just a single, childless person. Can you imagine if I had a family to keep up with? I can't. I'd like to have one some day, but I've got to learn to get my shit together a lot better than this before that ever happens.

I really need a nap. And some sudafed. And some Ritalin. And quite probably some exercise and fresh air (but not until I get some sudafed).

I've updated Internal Monologue.

Blah.

Well, BLOGVOICES was fun for the week or so that I had it. Such is life.

I might have to get a guest book or something now. I really liked the instant feedback I was getting. A guest book wouldn't be the same, though.

Today I'm going to write Brian back, and I'm going to try to find out what the hell is up with Chad (Eleni, have you heard from him lately?). And I'm going to write to Chris, even though I have no idea whatsoever as to how to begin.

If I say these things here that makes them somewhat more likely to happen, you see.

"What's up. You don't know us, but hopefully, you soon will. We are NEGATE, an independant band from Proctorville, Ohio. Since we are musicians and very poor, we needed an easy way to promote our music on the internet. We have collected various addresses from guestbooks to contact and inform the public of our presence. We would like for you to take the time to visit our website and check out our sound clip and photos, etc. Please contact us through our website and share your opinions with us or let us know if you would like to recieve free promo materials to distribute in your area. Keep independent bands alive and negate the corporate control of todays music! Thanx for the support."

Ladies and gentlemen, Negate. They don't suck.

Tomato Nation - War Is Not the Answer

Word on everything this article says, and not just the parts about banks and Buffy.

The other day somebody sent me that self-defense e-mail that's going around. Reading through it, I became so angry. Not because it's not good advice, but because such advice is even necessary. Because a woman can't even wear her hair in a pony tail or talk on the cell phone on the way to her car without turning herself into a potential victim.

No, scratch that. Women don't need to do anything to become potential victims. We are already potential victims simply because we are women. So many of us--too many--have already met that potential and are now survivors. And what can we do about it? Not much, short of turning ourselves into minor paranoiacs and learning to be generally mistrustful of anyone who might be able to overpower us. And that is just a sucky way to live.

I'm not a man hater. There are a lot of good men out there, decent men who treat women with respect; but there are also a lot of creeps out there who don't think very highly of women, who, like Sep said, push us down and use and abuse us simply because they can. And a lot of these wolves come in sheep's clothing. You don't know that you're in trouble until it's too late. You don't know that you've married a wife beater until the first time he hits you. You don't know that you've gone out with a date-rapist until he's trying to get on top of you and force you down. You don't know that the guy who stopped to help you change your tire is a psycho until he's trying to load you into his trunk. There is just no way to know. Sometimes there are warning signs, but often there aren't. It's easier to just stop trusting, safer to be suspicious of everyone; but again, that's no way to live.

So what is? War is not the answer, but neither is cowardice. What's the middle ground? Is a safe and sane compromise even possible? I don't know any more than Sep does. Do you?

...'cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance well, they're no friends of mine...

My friend Tess and I saw "Fiddler on the Roof" this weekend. I was apprehensive about it after having sat through that three hour suck-fest known as "Show Boat" last month, and since I've never been able to watch the movie all the way through, but to my surprise it was really very good. Tevye the milk man was played by Theodore Bikel, who was pretty funny, and impressively spry for a 76 year old man. His bio said that he's played the role more times than any other actor, and it felt like a privelege to witness his performance. The only drawback was that it was a bit of a downer, but then I suppose one shouldn't expect a story about a Jewish community in turn-of-the-last-century Russia to have an upbeat ending.

After the show (and after a pit-stop at Sonic to break from our diets and scarf down some tasty grease-soaked foodstuffs), we went to The Mall. Now, we often go to the mall, but this was The Mall. Woodland Hills Mall, to be exact; the biggest in Oklahoma (which, I suppose, really ain't saying much), to which I seem to find some reason to have to go every few years, but which I mostly just try to avoid. I really hate this mall. It's too damn big, too damn crowded, and it's always filled with too damn many snotty little preppy teens, the kind that made my life a living hell when I was in high school, and I really don't need to be reminded, thankyewverymuch.

This year I had to go because my bosses all pitched in and gave me a mall gift certificate for Christmas. I spent it at Suncoast, on the BtVS Season One vid set. Then, after stopping briefly to get some diet-cheat-worthy cookies, we high-taled it out of there. We were planning to go see "The Gift," because what better way to top off a Saturday night than to watch Katey Holmes die a horrible death? But after killing as much time as we could in Target (mostly in the toy department where, among other things, I test-drove one of those scooters through the aisles--no easy feat in high heels, let me tell you) and realizing we still had two more hours until the next show time, we decided instead to go back to my house to watch the Buffy tapes.

And what fun that was. Just let me say that David Boreanaz has most definitely grown as an actor since that first season, just as Angel has increased in coolness (but then, there was really nowhere to go but up, in either case). Bless his heart. I was so embarrassed for him. Especially with that velvet smoking jacket thing they made him wear back then. Gave me a whole new appreciation for the Fasion Nazi forum.

Anyway, watching with Tess was fun because she made all of the same snarky comments that I was going to make. And she really loves Angel, though we did establish that my boyfriend (Spike) is a lot cuter.

Standout episodes: "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date"

Tess (as Giles continues into the funeral home after fighting off a bunch of vampires): Wow, I can't believe he's still going in there. I would've run back to the car.

Me: That's why you could never be a Scooby.

Tess: {GLARE}

(Then, as Giles barracades himself inside an office or embalming room or somesuch...)

Tess: See? He's not so brave either.

"Angel"

Me: Die, Darla, die! Ah-hahahahaha!

(later...)
Tess: Aww, look at that, he let himself be burned by her cross just so he could kiss her. He's so sweet!

Me: Yeah, but he's no Spike.

"Puppet Show"

(As a freaked-out Buffy stands back and lets her mom check under the bed for Chucky...)

Tess: Now, isn't she supposed to be The Slayer?

Me: Slayer or not, I'd leave checking the bed for demon-possessed dummies up to my mommy, too. Vampires are one thing, but that's just freaky.

(As Xander plays w/ the dummy and makes it say "Red Rum! Red Rum!"...)

Tess and Jean (in unison): I love Xander!

Other conclusions: Joyce looks better with longer hair, Willow looks way better with short hair, Angel just looks better, and We Like Spike. But we already knew that last one.

Yesterday was pretty uneventful, not even worth this paragraph, really, other than to say that it warmed up enough that I was able to drive home from town with the windows down, which is one of life's greatest simple pleasures. I'm definitely ready for spring.

{{{HUG}}}

Let the James Marsters crushage continue: scifi.ign.com:Vampire Chronicles

My job would be so much easier if I were allowed to just stand up and yell, "Dude, pick up your phone!" But then, I suppose I wouldn't get all that healthy exercise.

Allow me to take a tiny break from my James Marsters crushage to say that I'm really looking forward to this movie. <SINGSONG>Vin takes his shirt off! Vin takes his shirt off! And it's about damn time!</SINGSONG>

Glah. Finally!

Here are the things I tried and failed to post earlier this morning:

• SMG interview on Access Hollywood - includes Buffy's birthday footage and some mildly spoilery fight footage. Oh, and Little Miss Gellar says she's fairly certain that there will be no changing of networks.
  
  
• "...these are a few of my favorite things" -- In the Angel talkback on AICN, there's a fun discussion on the similarities between Angel and the original Dark Knight Detective.
  
  
• Last Buffy related entry of the day, I promise: Last night I dreamt that I was at Caritas and Spike was onstage in country/western gear and a big ol' ten-gallon hat karaoke-ing to Hank Williams, Sr. Damn, but that was funny. Also, I dreamt that Mercedes McNab (a.k.a. Harmony) was in a class with me at college. There was also something about having to go back to working retail, but that's a recurring nightmare that had nothing to do with the other dreams.

Testing

(Greymatter is looking more and more appealing, y'know? (amendment: just checked it out, it requires installing and FTPing, which would mean I could only blog from home. So that's a no go.))

I think I want a job like Terrence's.

Look at it this way, Terrence. Since it's a slasher movie, there's always the chance you'll get to see Denise Richards die a horrible death.

One of my bosses just told me I look really hip today. Then she told me I better watch my back, because she's pretty sure that's not allowed around here.

I'm pretty sure she was just joking.

Scream 2 was on Fox last night, so I watched it. First, a question: did Portia DeRossi get a nose job or something between that and Ally McBeal? Because she was barely recognizeable. When I first heard that she was in that movie, I couldn't remember seeing her in it, and last night I almost missed her even though I knew to look for her. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something was just different.

Anyway.

I really can't handle watching Sarah Michelle Gellar playing the helpless little victim. At least in "I Know..." she was allowed to show some smarts and to actually put up a bit of a struggle. Even though I'd seen it before and knew she was going to die, when she made the stupid slasher victim move of going back into the house, I just closed my eyes and remade the whole scene in my head. In my version she landed a power kick to the killer's face and he ran away like a scared little bitch, and then she left and spent the rest of the movie patrolling for vampires. I like my version better.

Also, Liev Schreiber: Mmm'mmm, good.

Lately I've had a hankering to make some music. Since there's no way I'll be able to realistically afford to either fix my old saxophone or replace it with a new one in the foreseeable future, I think I'm going to pick up some new strings for my guitar this weekend and start trying to learn how to play it again.

I just came across a site that pilfered cusomized images from Joker's Realm. That's never happened to me before, and I'm not sure how to feel about it. On the one hand, airbrushing those images to make them work on my site was a lot of work, and the lazy little punk could at least give me a linkback. Then again, doesn't it raise your web status to have your images copped? That's almost as cool as getting your site hacked.

I was just reminded that the funniest thing ever on Angel was actually this scene.

It's a crazy, crazy morning. People are quitting, people are "coming to mutual agreement with the company to part ways" (you wouldn't think a mutual agreement would necessitate a security escort out of the building, but whatever), and I'm getting to clean up after them, all the while wondering how much longer before I'm next. I'm probably safe as long as there's loads of administrative stuff that needs doing that nobody else knows how to do.

I think today is probably a good day to get my resume in order.

Controversy abounds. There's an interesting (albeit frustrating) discussion going on over at Tryptich Cryptic about the existence of mental illness (one of the things I do have definite opinions about but that I'm usually too tired to get into).

And why is Polly my hero, you ask? Because she is the personification of my inner smart-ass jerk self, the self that only people whom I'm pretty sure love me unconditionally, or at least semi-unconditionally, ever get to see. For example, in the first panel of today's column she summed up everything that flitted through my mind when I read the press release for Plastic, but was too timid to say aloud (or even to write down here). Polly rocks.

I think I've found a new daily read: Bad Hair Days. She's funny, she's a good writer, and she's a Buffy fan. That's 3 for 3.

Polly is no less my hero than ever, but for the last three weeks or so I haven't remembered to go read Filler until the end of the day. And not so long ago it was my only good motivation for getting out of bed on Wednesdays.

Damn, I'm hot! And by that I don't mean, "Gosh, I'm attractive!" What I do mean is, "For the love of Mike, somebody, please, turn down the freaking thermostat before my brain boils and explodes!"

Hey, lookit that, I can upload now.

So anyway, yesterday I was watching ABC Evening News, and they were going on about John Ashcroft, and then they did a piece on his religion, "Pentecostalism." I honestly had never heard this word before last night. I had to go look it up to make sure it was a real word. The media were using it as a blanket term to cover the entire charismatic segment of Christianity, which is what we call it in these parts: Charismatics. Spirit filled. Evangelicals. Full Gospel. Even Holy Rollers. These names I'm familiar with. Imagine my surprise to find out that I'm a "Pentecostalist."

Surprised because while Pentecostals fall under that group, they're a denomination in and of themselves (and then there's that whole denomination-within-a-denomination, the Holiness Pentecostals, with that whole thing about women never wearing makeup or pants and never cutting their hair--that definitely leaves me out).

Except for the time when I was a little kid that our dad made us go to a Methodist church (and not counting all of my summers spent at a Baptist vacation bible school), I've always attended non-denominational, charismatic churches. Some have had more Pentecostal flavor than others, but we certainly didn't consider ourselves Pentecostals.

Anyway, the segment then proceeded to show footage of us wacky "Pentecostalists" in various stages of praise and worship (actually, every charismatic church I've ever been to, for every person dancing in the aisles and shouting in tongues and worshipping with complete abandon, there are usually at least twice as many people standing quietly in front of their chairs, tentatively clapping and singing along with the band, trying not to be freaked out by the aisle-dancers; I'm usually in this latter category) and to talk about how nutty we are to take the Bible for what it says and not try to intellectualize it and twist it around to fit our own world views and comfort zones until all the life is squeezed out of it. At least they didn't throw in any shots of those creepy snake handlers, and they did mention that we place a great deal of emphasis on forgiveness and on being non-judgemental, so the piece wasn't entirely insulting.

This is a test. This is a test of addr.com's stupid uncooperative ftp server. This is only a test.

Take the Cartoon Quiz!

You chose Daffy Duck. Here's what that selection says about you:

You are annoying in this cute way. People love being around you because of your utter goofiness. Making people laugh is your specialty. Daffy lovers think there is a soul mate out there for everyone. Love is something you haven't found deeply yet but your soul mate will be there, closer than you think.

Link swiped from aesthesia

Well, I didn't get snowed in. Bummer. That makes the whole closet issue moot. On the bright side, since I expected to be stuck at home today I labored yesterday to get ahead, so I don't have much to do today. Too bad I haven't gotten my text book yet, today would be perfect for doing the reading assignment.

Again, Angel made me say, "Whoa!"

Spoilers ahoy...

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Lindsey didn't get vamped. My disappointment is almost as great as his was at Lilah's survival. I told you those trailers are misleading. Oh well. At least he's still in the game. He gets a promotion and he gets to live on as Darla's boy toy. Way to go, Lindsey!

And way to go, Wesley! I think Wes has proven that he is no ass-pansy. Having watched his introduction to the Buffy-verse just the other day, I must say I'm really proud of how far Wesley has come since his Watcher days. He's so take charge now when he needs to be.

I like Cordy's hair better with the blonde streak.

When Wesley, Gunn & Cordy sang "We Are the Champions," I fell out of my chair. Funniest. Thing. On. That. Show. Ever. Even counting Angel's dancing.

Speaking of Angel...

Silent, determined Angel was even creepier than Evil Angel. When I saw him smoking, I actually thought that maybe he had become Evil Angel. Because, you know, only evil people smoke in the Buffy-verse. But he wasn't wearing his evil black leather pants, so I figured he was still good. Either way, I didn't see the vamp-fry coming. HA! Burn, Drusilla, you crazy bitch! Burn! I call that payback for carrying on with Evil Angel when Spike was all burned and crippled. Slut.

I wonder if Juliet Landau ever gets tired of saying "it reeks of death." I also sometimes wonder if her dad Martin ever gets embarrassed for her. Just kidding. I like Drusilla, mostly. When she ripped that demon's ears off? That was pretty cool right there.

So, Angel seems to be in a definite downward spiral, and I can't wait to see if he's going to pull out in time or if he's going to crash and burn. I'm really loving this show this season, and it just keeps getting better. And, we're just a week away from new Buffy and some Council of Watchers wackiness. And, and, AND we're just weeks away from February sweeps and the inevitable Buffy/Angel crossover. Is there time for Dru's scars to heal before she meets up with Spike? Because I'm really aching to see a confrontation between those two. At any rate, I'm excited.

Thinking about what I'll do tomorrow if I get snowed in, and for a fleeting moment I thought I should organize my closets. Once or twice a year I get to thinking that it would be a good idea to go through and create a place for everything and put everything in its place, and I actually start to get stressed out over finding time to do this.

This time I said to myself, "Self, you don't have time to clean your closets. Even if you did, you wouldn't have time to stand there every time you put away laundry or change shoes and sort everything into its proper place. And even if you did, you've got about a hundred more important things on which to spend the time, about a dozen of which immediately spring to mind. Besides that, we just don't want to. Closet cleaning sucks, and we're tired. We'd rather watch reruns of 'Buffy' and play fetch with our impossibly cute little dog."

So there will be no organizing of closets at my place this year.

"...and it's beginning to snow!"

Herc's Spoilerific "Angel" Review -- must... resist... 8 more hours...

Hey, who plans on going to see David Boreanaz's new movie?

At long last, some Tick news... but unless this teaser airs during Freakylinks or X-Files, I'm not likely to see it. Maybe they'll put it online at NEC.

Ewww! Stop it!

So, have you seen Plastic yet? It is, apparantly, the new model for news. And I find I'm paralyzed by not caring very much...

My math class starts today, and I'm a-scared. Jean is not so good with the maths.

Last night's dream consisted of random weirdness, but none weirder than the segment in which the Muppets performed scenes from Titanic, with Kermit as Leo and Miss Piggy filling in for Kate, natch. I blame Erich.

Glah! Today is nephew #1's eighteenth birthday! Let me restate that: Today is his EIGHTEENTH birthday! I can feel my cells aging as I write this. My little roly-poly piglet is now, officially, a man. I'm all kinds of happy for him, but all kinds of sad that I have to face up to the fact that my little guy is no longer a little guy. He's a big tall guy with a job and a car payment and a rockin' band.

Happy birthday, bubba. Your a dolt now (okay, sorry. Your mom made that joke when I turned 18, and I didn't think it was funny then, either). Money's in the mail.

Dude, I've come a long way with regards to keeping an open mind towards your lifestyle choices, but that's pretty messed up right there.

Speaking of James Marsters....

SIGH

The First Annual JamesMarsters.com BLEEDATHON!: "Feeling sorry for Spike that he can't feed anymore? What he really needs is willing donors to provide a little blood, so get out and donate! Well, okay, we can't really feed Spike, being as he's fictional and it's a little weird."

Um, yeah. I can't tell you how relieved I was to see that last sentence.

Anyway, nice sentiment, but I got this whole fear of needles thing happening that not even my love for James Marsters can overcome. I'm kind of a big wuss that way.

So that's where Bindi went.

It really took a lot of willpower for me not to jump up and phone in my order when I saw that commercial. Well, that, and my credit card was maxed, so it wouldn't have done me any good.

I saw AntiTrust this weekend. The good: It actually had a twist that did not get spoiled in the trailer, which was great, because up until that point I thought the trailer had already shown everything worth seeing. Plus, Tim Robbins. Isn't he keen? The bad: Not as much fun as Hackers, and not quite as suspenseful as The Net, but still, it was a fun enough ride. I think there were quite a few computer geeks in the audience (I could tell because they kept commenting on the code seen onscreen, and they kept laughing at things that I didn't realize were supposed to be jokes), and this movie must have been more accurate than either of the above, because they all applauded at the end. Also, Rachel Leigh Cook. Normally she's great, but something about her performance in this movie struck me as being under par. The ugly: Ryan Phillippe's little Clark Kent glasses that were supposed to transform him into Übergeek Extraordinaire. Shyeah. Whatever. Also, Tim Robbins' hair. It wasn't very keen at all.

Also this weekend, I bought and watched The Slayer Chronicles. Faith is cool. 'Nuff said. Except, she told Buffy that "Little Miss Muffet is coming down on the 7-3-0." So, I get that Little Miss Muffet is Dawn (interesting that she was foreshadowed all the way back in Season 3), but I'm starting to get tired of these 7-3-0 references. I hope they explain that soon. I've read some interesting speculation about it, but I have no idea what it could be.

I remember when I used to spend Monday mornings going on about X-Files in much the same way I go on about BtVS on Wednesdays... but my heart's just not in it anymore. Not that it's not still a good show, I like Doggett and it's kind of fun, if somewhat strange and off-putting, to see Scully doing Mulder's schtick, but it's just not what it was. My excitement has been dwindling ever since they killed off the entire Syndicate, and now with CSM and Mulder both gone, and no sign of Krychek anywhere, it's just, bleah. I'm holding out for the return of Mulder in February, and maybe Ratboy will put in an appearance, and it will achieve greatness again, but I'm not going to let my hopes get up too high.

ha HA!

Feeling bereft of any creativity and/or originality today (not that I make any claims to an abundance of either on any other given day). So, here's a list. Tess e-mailed it to me, and heck if I know where it originated. Accompanying snarky comments are those of the originator (one would assume):

Subject: Fwd: Human Race Stupidity

In case you needed further proof that the human race is doomed through
stupidity, here are some actual label instructions on consumer goods:

1. On Sears hairdryer:
"Do not use while sleeping".
(Gee, that's the only time I have to work on my hair)

2. On a bag of Fritos:
"You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside".
(Evidently, the shoplifter special)

3. On a bar of Dial soap:
"Directions: Use like regular soap."
(And that would be how. . . ?)

4. On some Swanson frozen dinners:
"Serving suggestions: Defrost."
(But it's *just* a suggestion)

5. On Tesco's Tiramisu dessert (printed on bottom of box):
"Do not turn upside down".
(Oops, too late!)

6. On Marks & Spencer Bread Pudding:
"Product will be hot after heating".
(As night follows the day . . . .)

7. On packaging for a Rowenta iron:
"Do not iron clothes on body".
(But wouldn't this save even more time?)

8. On Boot's Children's Cough Medicine:
"Do not drive a car or operate machinery after taking this
medication".
(We could do a lot to reduce the rate of construction
accidents if we could just get those 5-year-olds with
head-colds off those forklifts.)

9. On Nytol Sleep Aid:
"Warning: May cause drowsiness".
(One would hope)

10. On most brands of Christmas lights:
"For indoor or outdoor use only".
(As opposed to what?)

11. On a Japanese food processor:
"Not to be used for the other use".
(I gotta admit, I'm curious).

12. On Sainsbury's peanuts:
"Warning: Contains nuts".
(NEWS FLASH)

13. On an American Airlines packet of nuts:
"Instructions: Open packet, eat nuts."
(Step 3: Fly Delta).

14. On a child's Superman costume:
"Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly".
(I don't blame the company, I blame parents for this one).

15. On a Swedish chain saw:
"Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands or genitals".
(Was there a chance of this happening somewhere?...Good grief)

16. On a bottle of Palmolive Dishwashing liquid:
"Do not use on food."
(Hey mom we're out of syrup! It's ok honey, just grab the Palmolive)

Link lifted from FBK

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Phillipians 4:19

Note to self: It'll all work out.

Um, yeah.

So yesterday I was told that there is a pretty good chance I'm going to be laid off by the end of the quarter.

Have a nice day.

Internal e-mail hijinks!

Apparantly somebody exploded a bowl of chilli on the 40th floor yesterday. I know this because the person who had to clean it up saw fit to send a snotty e-mail about it to the entire company. And then several more people saw fit to use "reply to all" to send their snotty replies (do these people not realize that these are all passing before the CEO? Idjits). When I'd had quite enough of that, I jumped into the fray by asking everyone to please stop using "reply to all." After that, a big cat fight ensued between the originator of the first snotty message and some of the snotty repliers, all of whom continued to reply to all. So people in my department keep telling me, "Run away, Jean, run away!" Heh. Also, I forgot to turn off my return receipt when I sent forth my plea for sanity, so my In-box is filling up with those about three times as fast as I can delete them. So that's how my morning has been spent so far. How's yours?

I debated on whether or not to show you all my new driver's license, but the picture really, reeeeally sucks, so I'm not going to. Also, they changed my license number (it was the same as my social security number), so now I'm going to have to learn that. Oh well.

I took the scenic route to the tag agency (because I missed all of my exits. My brain decided to visit someplace else besides my car (perhaps the land of perpetual Wednesday?) and my auto-pilot apparantly decided it was going home for the day), and boy was it scenic. Sometimes I'm struck by how pretty the countryside around here can be. Also, I'm pretty sure I passed Garth Brooks. I was driving along the edge of his property just outside of Claremore at the time. He's been seen around town so much lately that spotting him has become a non-event, but it was the first time I saw him, so that was kind of cool. It would have been really cool if I was, you know, a fan, but there's that whole "I hate country music" thing that made me not really care too much.

Something else cool happened on the drive, too. I was pondering what to add to my mp3.com radio station (which isn't ready to share yet) besides the Mimsies, and thinking about the Mimsies got me to thinking about my friend Clay in college (he's their manager) and this one time that I was driving him somewhere and "Low" by Cracker came on the radio and he got all excited and went on about how he loved the video because it had Sandra Bernhard boxing. Just as I started thinking that it's been a really long time since I've heard that song, it came on the radio. I love it when freaky stuff like that happens.

Jean's Big Adventures In College (1st in a series)

I am now officially a college student. Aren't you jealous? No? Well, I wouldn't be either.

The registration process wasn't too bad. My advisor was around my age, maybe a tetch closer to 30, and he seemed like a genuinely nice guy, which in my experience with student advisors is a rarity. He was also a fellow sci-fi geek, and had a Star Trek poster, as well as an autographed picture of Mulder & Scully in his office, all of which increased my comfort level exponentially. The coolest thing I learned (besides the fact that he allowed me to count all of the English & Journalism courses I took at OU as my minor requirements) was that his brother is the guy who played the agent that the alien bounty hunter morphed into after he morphed into Scully and attacked another agent in this season's premiere (hence the autographed picture of Mulder & Scully). I was duly impressed. He seemed like a cool guy. Hopefully he'll be my regular advisor (he wasn't sure yet if he'd be permanently assigned to me, but he said there's a 50/50 chance), and if not I'll most likely end up taking some of his classes once I get into the major requirements. Yay for small start-up universities and their unpretentious faculties!

I'm only working half a day today (which means I'm out of here in about half an hour). Gotta go renew my driver's license, and I'm finally going to go enroll in classes (or rather, a class, and an Internet course at that--I just couldn't figure out how to work going to actual classes into my schedule this time around) at Rogers, which is good, considering that classes start next week.

It's been a while since I've had any part of the whole college scene, so I'm hoping they won't require any money just yet, because I don't have any until payday. The first time I went there (when it was still a community college) they let you pay a little bit at a time, and the first payment wasn't due until the end of the first week of classes. I hope that's still the way it is, or the bursar and I will both be SOL. Same with books. Hopefully since it's an on-line course I won't need to buy any. At any rate, it should all be interesting. I just hope the class I want to take is still open for enrollment at this late date.

Wish me luck.

That is why I never, ever exercise in front of people.

So, Giles is Murray Head's brother, and he's played Dr. Frank N. Furter. Excuse me while I try to wrap my brain around that image.

Link borrowed from Peter, and he can have it back just as soon as he reinstates his perma-links.

I should have known from Buffy's pigtails in the preview that this week would be a wacky-fun episode. Buffy spoilers ahoy. In consideration for my friends who won't get to see it until Saturday because of stupid college basketball (thank you God for satellite dishes and WPIX), you'll have to highlight between the brackets to read:

<SPOILERS>

[Spike discovers the awesome blossom and thinks it's brilliant. I couldn't agree more. Of course, he thinks Xander would make a tastier snack, and while I don't necessarily disagree, I'm pretty sure he meant it in an entirely different context than what I would find appealing. Anyway.

Had a lot of odd couple bonding this episode. Xander & Spike bonding was funny. Anya & Willow bonding was pretty entertaining. Buffy & Tara bonding was just weird. That poor girl doesn't have any chemistry with anybody. And could they make her look any frumpier? What's that about? She had been looking mostly pretty this season. At least her reddish dye-job is fading back to blonde. Twinky couples annoy me, and one redhead in the couple is quite enough, thank you. By the way, I really dug Willow's hair this week. I wish I could make my hair do that without spending an hour with a curling iron.

It was really good to see Kubiack again.

While I still like Anya (sorry, but she cracks me up... that gleeful look on her face when she slammed on the breaks just killed me), and I think she and Xander make a great couple, I have to say I think perhaps the combination of post-Riley-breakup angst (which proved not nearly as angsty as post-Angel-breakup angst, which is neither here nor there, I'm just saying) and the possibility that her pigtails were too tight made Buffy insane. Miraculous love? That was just a tad over the top.

And Spike (it all comes back to him, doesn't it?). Poor, frustrated, mildly psychotic Spike. He clearly has some issues to work through. Am I alone in suspecting that the clothes on that mannequin were stolen from Buffy's closet? I don't even want to think about what he does with that pair of skivvies that he snatched out of her dresser drawer during the sweater-sniffing incident.

At any rate, as funny as the whole Spike & Buffy love/hate fest has been, it's beginning to grow tiresome, and something needs to happen soon. I'm getting really tired of watching Spike take her abuse every week. Either he needs to decide to hell with her and her hero schtick and get back to being a bad-ass, or she needs to start treating him better. Either way, I think a confrontation is called for, and I hope it happens soon. At least she's ceased punching him in the face every time she sees him, so I suppose that's progress...

Angel was a re-run, so nothing much to say about that, except that I miss Cordelia's long hair, and she was pretty funny in that ep. But next week on Angel, "Angel is not prepared to face an enemy he left for dead." This is said over a shot of Lindsey lying in a pile of Wolfram & Hart lawyer corpses and opening his eyes. HEE! Lindsey's a vampire! Again I say, HEE! Then again, I shouldn't get my hopes up, as the previews can be pretty misleading sometimes. But either way Lindsey didn't get killed off, so HEE!]

</SPOILERS>

Alison redesigns, and once again I'm reminded that my wicked design skillz are neither wicked nor particularly skillful.

I did it, I added BlogVoices. To comment on an entry, click "snark!"

I tend to think I'd be a lot more interesting if I were opinionated. I should amend that to say, opinionated about things that really matter. I have no trouble at all not only generating, but putting forth and staunchly defending strong opinions on matters of the Buffyverse, or the Bativerse, or the X-verse or the Federation or any other fictional realm of existence that has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the actual universe.

As for the real world, it's not that I'm apathetic about issues of non-pop-cultural significance, but rather, if an issue is truly important, I have this annoying habit of being able to see both sides of an issue, and to think they both make a lot of sense. Usually I'll have leanings, but I rarely lean far enough on either side to feel that I have any business defending that side, nor arguing against the opposition.

There are, of course, a few issues about which I have definite opinions, such as abortion and capital punishment, but these opinions are based heavily on my religious beliefs, and I tend to avoid discussing them because, well, I just don't like fighting. A good debate is one thing, but in my experience debates about these issues always get ugly, so I usually just keep my mouth shut on these subjects. Same with religion. I'm a Christian, but the majority of my friends are not, and even those who are usually have different ideas about it than I do, so it's just easier to not bring it up. They know if they have questions they can ask me, and vice versa, but usually we just agree to disagree.

So I keep my profound thoughts about things which actually are profound to myself, and talk instead about my not-so-profound opinions regarding things of minimal importance. It's a comfortable medium, and provides for plenty of blog filler. Some may find me boring, shallow and lame, but then chances are I'd find those same folks pompous, pretentious and arrogant, and boring to boot, so I guess it all balances out. At least I'm enjoying myself, and I'm grateful to those who are along for the ride.

What's the blogging stage wherein the blogger feels it necessary to defend his or her blogging style (or lack thereof)? I think I'm at that stage.

I'm considering adding BlogVoices, since I am, after all, a whore for feedback; but I'm afraid that if I do, nobody but Terrence will ever use it, and that would just depress me.

Kill Your Weblog - If weblogs were a game of survival of the fittest, how would yours fare? Ritalin Junkie scored 56%, which apparantly means it doesn't have to die, but neither does it rise above the masses. Which I pretty much knew already, deep down.

link snatched from Fluggart

Yay! The mailroom clerk comes bearing Amazonian gifts. Thank you, Santa Eleni!

I have a new daily read, boys & girls: confessions from interrogation | theospyland

Waiter, I'll have some wry wit with my thoughtful insight, thanks.

Remember when the KidsWB debuted, and its Saturday morning line-up consisted of Animaniacs, Pinky & the Brain, Freakazoid, Earthworm Jim, and Batman? It was the best single-network cartoon lineup since the glory days of FoxKids, when you had The Tick sandwiched in between Batman: The Animated Series and The X-Men.

These days, with the exception of Batman Beyond and X-Men: Evolution (both of which are pale shadows of their predecessors), I pretty much stick with Toonami. Darn the networks for aiming Saturday morning programming at children!

The Zeta Project - I really liked Number 5 -- um, I mean Zeta -- when he was on Batman Beyond, and when I first heard they were doing a spin-off I thought it would be really keen. But then I saw the previews for it and realized that it's not being done by Dini & Timm, but rather by practitioners of the new breed of stock Saturday morning crap animation, and now I'm not so sure. Johnny 5 Zeta was an engaging enough character that maybe the writers & actors will be able to make up for the less than stellar animation. Maybe.

'Buffy' May Switch Networks - God, please, not ABC. Fox, fine, but for the love of all that is good and sacred in TV land, not ABC. The Disneyfication of Buffy is not something I even want to contemplate.

Motivational quotes jotted on Post-Its(tm), hanging above my desk at home:

1. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

   Philippians 4:13

   
   

   
   

2. Listen to the MUSTN'TS, child,
   Listen to the DON'TS
   Listen to the SHOULDN'TSS
   The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON'TS
   Listen to the NEVER HAVES
   Then listen close to me--
   Anything can happen, child,
   ANYTHING can be.
   

   --Shel Silverstein

   
   

   
   

3. "Just tell the damn story."

   --Tom Clancy

   
   

The first two are really appropos for this afternoon and I needed to see them. The last one, I just like to say.

I know this is beside the point of this story, but fish + tacos = just plain wrong, stray cake crumbs or no.

Abandon all hope of getting any work done, ye who enter here.

link pilfered from I'll be blogged

Hello. My name is Jean, and I'm a Buffy-holic.

I can tell my obsessions are for real when I start spending money on them. Saturday night I went into Sam Goody's to buy a new Dragon Ball Z video and came out instead with
the Buffy & Angel Chronicles. Between that and all of the BtVS merchandise I bought just to get myself a Spike figure, I've spent close to $100 on Buffy in the last week. That's probably more than Riley ever spent on her. Heh. I amuse myself. And only myself, I'm sure.

So of course yesterday, after church (yes! I went to church! A resolution kept!), I spent the entire day watching them. Since Tulsa didn't get a WB station until last year, I'd missed out on the first three seasons of BtVS, so everything I knew about the whole Buffy & Angel rigmarole was hearsay. It was nice to witness it all firsthand. But man, what a downer. Every single episode in that set was a tear-jerker. Sure, there was a touch of the usual snarky humor, mostly from Spike, natch (every time he opens his mouth he just makes me love him more), but not enough to balance things out as per usual. I wasn't quite prepaired for just how downright mean Evil Angelus was, and all Sarah Michelle Gellar had to do was bug out her eyes and quiver her lip and I'd be reaching for the Kleenex(tm). The whole thing left me emotionally drained. Not the usual Buffy-viewing experience. They really should put a warning on the box or something. I mean, damn.

Even so, I'm still not on board the "Buffy & Angel 4-ever" train. When you strip it down to the bare essentials, even at it's best it was still a jailbait/pedophile romance, which is just icky, and I'm glad they've both moved on. As for the other 'ships, I was almost swayed into the Xander & Willow camp, but not quite, because just how perfect were Willow & Oz together? Damn, I miss Oz. And damn, I hate Tara. Damn Seth Green and his movie career.

It's the end of the first week of the new year. Time to count my failures!

Resolution #1: Get up every morning to write - broke that one on Wednesday, recovered yesterday, and broke it again today. I'll try again next week.

Resolution #2: Stop watching sitcoms and start taping other shows to watch on weekends and spend the time writing on weeknights (except Tuesdays) - Didn't watch TV Wednesday night, but instead of writing I took a bubble bath and went to bed early. To be fair, I really didn't feel good Wednesday. Last night I watched the entire Must See TV lineup and didn't write a damn thing. Tonight I'm watching Farscape and Freakylinks and catching up on DBZ. I'll try this one again next week.

Resolution #3: Stop drinking soda - yesterday afternoon I broke down and had a Diet Dr. Pepper and haven't looked back since. I'm giving up on this one.

I'm 0 for 3! I think that's a new record.

I'm giving up and going home. Have a good weekend.

Spike needs that game!

HA!

Heh.

The new advertising theme for 2001: Urine!

Eugh. People are SO pissing me off today. I'll tell you why, but first, some backstory.

Two weeks ago I called my doctor's office to renew my Ritalin prescription. For some reason, the office decided to mail it to me. THEIR decision. They knew they were prescribing me a controlled substance, and that such a prescription is only good for five days, which is why every time I asked them to mail it before they refused. But through some kind of insane troll logic they decided that since it was the Friday before Christmas they should mail it. Of course, by the time I received it, and the roads thawed enough for me to take it to the pharmacy, it expired, and I couldn't fill it.

So today I finally remembered to call and request a new scrip (hey, I've been w/o Ritalin for two weeks now, you can't expect me to remember to do things all by myself, which is why I need to take Ritalin in the first place), and the insane troll proceeded to LECTURE me on why they never mail prescriptions. "Right," I said, "except for that one time two weeks ago that you did." Well, they don't USUALLY mail them, and she went on to insist that the scrip had to be picked up in person, and I managed to keep my cool as I politely reminded her that it was their idea to mail it, not mine, and that my time was wasted by making a trip to town to try and fill an expired scrip. She continued to belabor the point that someone must pick it up in person. I told her that my mom will pick it up for me, all she has to do is get a new one ready.

Feh.

Of course, I was already feeling a bit surly because on my lunch hour I tried to cash my paycheck for that article I wrote.

Some more backstory: A week ago I took it to my credit union to try and deposit it in my savings. The teller told me they couldn't do anything with it and that I would have to cash it at the bank upstairs. She assured me that they'd be able to cash it even though I didn't have an account with them. I don't know why I accepted she'd know the workings of the other bank, since as it turns out she didn't even know the workings of the one she actually worked for. So I guess this one is sort of my own fault. The "bank upstairs" had just closed, so I put the check away and decided to try again Monday.

So today I finally remembered the check, and took it down to the "bank upstairs" and stood in line to cash it. I got to a teller, and she realized it was foreign currency (yeah, okay, I guess Canada counts as foreign), and sent me to the International desk, where I again stood in line. Then the International Teller (who, as it turns out, really was an international teller--I couldn't quite place her broken accent, but it sure wasn't from around here) told me that they couldn't do anything with the check unless I opened an account. Screw that. We're talking about a check that, in actual American dollars, is probably going to amount to just enough to cover a month of Netflix rentals. I'd already spent more time on this thing than it was worth. Then the teller told me that my credit union can cash it on my behalf because they have an account there.

Again I say, feh.

So I took the stupid Canadian funny money back down to the credit union and stood in line some more, and when I got to a teller she said "Well of course they can't cash it for you if you don't have an account there, stupid!" Okay, she didn't say stupid, but I had the distinct feeling that it was implied. I told her that it was they who sent me up there in the first place. She said oh. Then she told me that that person was wrong and that they can take care of it for me there.

So after more man hours than I actually put into writing the article, I managed to deposit my first freelance paycheck.

Technical stuff you should know: Don't use "ritalinjunkie.org" to link to me yet. It's still not working (at least, not on my end). If you haven't noticed, I moved the blog to my index page, so if you've got me bookmarked, you might want to remove "/blogger.html" from my URL. Apparantly the redirect page I set up there is sending some people to Joker's Realm instead of here (thanks to Rich for pointing that out. It's because I used the same script for that as I used when I moved JR's main menu and I forgot to change the address before I uploaded it. I fixed it right away, but you must have cached it before I did so).

Lots to do today, and not enough time to wrassle with Blogger, so updates will be few and far between.

I'm so embarrassed by the spelling an grammar errors that have slipped through the last few days. Usually I catch those things and edit them out before too many people see them, but what with Blogger being all wonky I haven't bothered this week. I'm not illiterate, really. I just type too fast.

I think I just found my next new blog title.

My horoscope according to Suck:

Aries - 2001 will be a year of rapid change for you. One minute you're in love, the next minute you're taking out a restraining order against him. One minute you've quit smoking, the next minute you're searching for butts in your car's ashtray. One minute you're sentimental, the next minute you're scratching the family name off the silver so you can pawn it for a better price. But there's a lesson in all of this craziness: You're crazy. Sadly, there's not much you can do about that, this year or any other.

Yeah. I was kind of beginning to suspect that last part.

Hey, speaking of Aries, is Kevin Smith (the actor, not the director, who, by the by, is writing the new Green Arrow comic for DC, which is neither here nor there, it's just cool) ever going to show up on Xena again before it gets cancelled? He's the reason I started watching that show. He's hot.

He's no Spike, though.

I managed to make the template look passable in Netscape without compromising too much on how it looks in Explorer (though it still looks much better in IE). I don't know if my modifications fixed the IE 4.0 linkage problem, but I'm not sure how much, if at all, I should worry about that, since Terrence is the only one who's complained about that so far.

Oh. my. GOD! but Blogger is slow today.

Yay, Sooners! We're number 1! Woo-hoo!

Actually, I really don't keep up with the sports, but the Orange Bowl is all anybody's talking about this morning. Still, as apathetic as I am about football, I still feel a mild sense of pride that after so many years of suckage my alma mater (can I still call it my alma mater if I didn't actually graduate?) has achieved a national championship.

Even so, if people don't stop going around singing "Boomer Sooner," I might have to smack somebody.

Terrence just informed me that my new template is also buggy in IE 4.0. I'll work on fixing that when I get some time later. In the mean time, let's all be technology snobs and ridicule Terrence for not having upgraded his browser.

Once again, I just got a glimpse of how bad my new design looks in Netscape. It's still functional, it just looks terrible. I'll work on fixing that some time in the near future.

How fast can you break a new year's resolution?

I overslept this morning. Not intentionally, though, so does that count? I slept right through both of my alarms. I was dreaming that I was already at work and trying to explain to somebody the difference betweenthe Elseworlds concept and the pre-Crisis DC continuity with all of the parallel universes, and I kept getting pissed at my cube neighbors for making that constant, screaching, buzzing noise. Then I realized it was my alarm going off and rolled over to see that it was already 7:00.

I managed to get dressed in 20 minutes this morning, ladies in gentlemen. No easy feat, especially considering that my left eye was swollen to grotesque proportions and constantly leaking and I couldn't see (by now it's gone down to merely freakish proportions and is leaking only intermittently and I can see okay, as long as I avoid bright light; you wouldn't think that in sub-freezing temperatures allergies would even be an issue, but there you are).

Needless to say, this is one of those days that you should all be glad I don't have a webcam.

You know, eating my posts is one thing, but Blogger just ate my entire index page. I sure hope they get their new server money.

Y'know, whatever does or doesn't happen between Buffy & Spike, I just hope the rest of the season provides plenty of opportunities for James Marsters to take off his shirt.

"Freddy vs. Jason" is still a go . I knew you'd be thrilled.

RIP, Uncle Martin.

:(

A Novella Approach to Marketing - Not that Steven King needs the extra marketing, but what he tried to do with "The Plant" (and, imo, failed - I downloaded the first chapter with the option to pay later, but since I never got around to reading it I never got around to paying for it. Besides, at $1 per chapter you could just go out and buy a hardcover book, which I'd rather have anyway), Douglass Clegg appears to be doing successfully with his novel Purity, and all for free. Good for him. Way to take advantage of the gigantic free publicity tool that is the Internet.

I can't concentrate on anything for more than five minutes at a time. I need a nap. I need a Diet Coke. What I really need is some Ritalin. Alas, I can't have any of these things. Well, I could have the Diet Coke, but I won't. My resolve is good.

Season's Greetings, Star Wars style

Pardon me a moment whilst I complain about the snow....

Today is our record breaking 22nd consecutive day of having snow & ice and various other accumulated winter precipitation items on the ground. That's 22 days for me to come to the conclusion that I FREAKING HATE SNOW. I understand that, compared to more northerly parts of the world, this is nothing, and my Canadian readers are probably laughing at my inability to cope with such a little bit of the white stuff, but let's get this straight: we're just not set up for this sort of thing down here. Normally we'll have a little storm blow through, we'll have ice and/or snow on the ground for a day or two, then it warms up and it all melts away, and this happens two or three times throughout the winter. And it's always a nice, whimsical sort of snowfall. But every few years we'll get a load of winter crap dumped on us, and it always takes us completely by surprise and effectually cripples our society, at least until the roads are all scraped off.

I just don't know how you people who live in South Park or wherever that have to deal with snow for months at a time manage. I'm so sick and tired of having to wear big ugly boots to walk from my car to the office without falling on my arse, and I'm tired of having to watch the weather every night to predict if I'll even be able to leave the house the next morning, and my dogs are tired of not being able to frisk about outdoors. I want to see grass again. I want to see rain without worrying that it's going to freeze. Better yet, I want to see sunshine.

A winter person I am most definitely not.

I actually did it. I got up this morning at 5:30 and wrote for an hour before work. Well, by the time I quit hitting snooze, got out of bed, fixed coffee and fed my cat, it was more like 5:45, and then I dozed off over my story a couple of times, so I really only had about 30 minutes of actual writing time, but I did manage a few paragraphs. Not counting blog entries and forum posts, that's the most original work I've done in the last few weeks.

Of course, I didn't manage to fall asleep until about 1:00 this morning, and I ran out of Ritalin over the weekend, so I'm running on about 4 hours of sleep and lots of coffee. I'd planned to give up pop for the new year, but I've a feeling that resolution won't be starting today.

I just updated Internal Monologue, and I posted that magazine article I wrote in the Words section. You know, in case you were wondering about those.

Blogger keeps eating my posts. Bah!

Happy New Year! And while we're at it, Happy New Look and Happy New Domain (ritalinjunkie.org... though, it doesn't seem to be working yet. It should function in another day or so)!

I'm watching Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve (I'd like to say that it's because I'm snowed in, which I am (again), but the truth is I watch it every year. It's tradition.), and the thing I'm most excited about is that the Bangles are back together. I'm so glad! Yay Bangles!

Anyway.

I also redesigned the Words section and added some new stories. Go have a look-see!

And now, if there aren't any bugs to fix with the new template, I'm going to bed. I'm too old for this much late night excitement.