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Happy Valentine's Day

Still from Bones 6:14: "The Bikini in the Soup" otherwise known as The Valentine's Day Episode, because it takes place on Valentine's Day. And it's partly hilarious, and partly heart-breaking.

Happy Valentine's Day you guys! Whether you're single, dating, engaged, married, or whatever, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY (MASSACRE)!!

I've been thinking about all this love stuff, lately. Why do we celebrate Valentine's Day? Why aren't the banks closed February 14th? Did Hodgins remember to get Angela a gift this year? more importantly, WHAT did he get her? also, what did BOOTH GET BRENNAN? 

 I sincerely hope that by the time I'm done with this post, I will have succeeded in answering the questions that have been nagging me for the last fourteen days. And possibly longer. But before we can start, a good playlist is in order:

The Official Scattered Thoughts Valentine's Day Playlist

by Laura, with inspiration from my own Music Library

"Just a Kiss" - Lady Antebellum
"Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart"- Judy Garland
"Crazy For You"- Adele
"Just Haven't Met You Yet"- Michael Buble 
"Blake's View"- M. Ward
"Someone Like You"- Adele
"Enchanted"- Taylor Swift
"I Was Made for You"- She & Him
"Check Yes Juliet"- We The Kings
"For the First Time"- The Script
"Friday Night"- Lady Antebellum

"Got Me"- She & Him

"Home is a Fire"- Death Cab for Cutie

"I'm only Me when I'm with You"- Taylor Swift

"I'm Yours"- The Script

"I Thought I Saw Your Face Today"- She & Him

"I Will Posses Your Heart"- Death Cab for Cutie

"Lingering Still"- She & Him (yes, you know I LIKE She & Him...)

"Long Live"- Taylor Swift

"Love Song"- Adele

"The Man Who Can't be Moved"- The Script

"Here there Delilah"- Plain White T's

"Rhythim of Love"- Plain White T's

"Mine"- Taylor Swift

"Mushaboom"- Feist

"One and Only"- Adele

"Rave On"- M. Ward ft. Zooey Deschanel

"Science & Faith"- The Script

"She's got You High"- Mumm-Ra

"Sparks Fly"- Taylor Swift

"Stay Young, Go Dancing"- Death Cab for Cutie

"Sweet Disposition"- The Temper Trap

"There Goes the Fear"- The Doves

"There's a Light that Never Goes out"- The Smiths

"This=Love"- The Script

"You Make My Dreams"- Hall & Oates

1. Why Do We Celebrate Valentine's Day?

According to tradition, Valentine's Day is celebrated to honor one (or several) Christian Martyrs named Saint Valentine. It wasn't until about the 15th Century that the holiday was actually associated with Romantic Love. That came about because of courtly love, and the such. On this day, as you very well know, significant others are showered with red roses, and chocolates and red velvet cupcakes, am I right? You go out on a romantic date with The One. You are given sweet Hallmark Greeting cards, in which he/she expresses his/her undying love for you. Magazines are awash with ideas on how to get your guy to take more notice of you, and how to get a 'happy ending'. TV and Movie Theaters are filled with Romantic Comedies, and Chick Flicks. The Hallmark Channel has a Countdown to the Valentine's Day Countdown, then they have a Countdown to Valentine's Day.

The question remains: why on that  particular day? maybe because greeting card companies teamed up with flower companies, who in turn teamed up with clothing/accessory labels, who teamed up with department stores who teamed up with countless other industries (Yeah, I know. This isn't actually how it goes...) in order to brainwash our society into thinking we need to do something for Valentine's Day. I believe that while you don't have to, it certainly is nice to do something just because.

Dear Zooey Deschanel, roses are red, violets are blue, ukuleles are cool and so are you! 

2. Why aren't the Banks closed on Valentine's Day?

Since it is more of a commercial holiday than a religious one, or even a Federal (Government) one, banks don't close. I feel confident in saying, though, that in a dream world where chocolates don't make you gain weight and/or break out Valentine's Day (and National Chocolate Cake Day!) would be a national holiday.

3.Did Hodgins remember to get Angela a gift this year? more importantly, WHAT did he get her? also, what did BOOTH GET BRENNAN?

A. I honestly hope he did. 

B. Hopefully something sweet! and weird and creepy! but still super sweet!

C. OH MY GOD! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN! BONES FANS, WHAT DO YOU THINK? SOUND OFF IN THE COMMENTS ;)

These flawless human beings wish you a Happy Valentine's Massacre Day!!

And so do I!!

Funniest E-cards

Best Guys/Men on TV

Here are some people I think would love to be my best friends.

Or is it the other way around?

Never mind, here's the list.

Alan Rickman

He first came to us (me) in the form of Professor Severus Snape, the man who hated Harry Potter possibly more than Voldemort himself. Oh man, was he fantastic. I screamed when he didn't get a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Seriously, Oscar people? 

Anyways, the man's a genius. And I'm sure he's feeling extremely lonely right now. And he needs a really crazy 15 year-old fangirl to tell him how fantastic he is. 

Mr. Rickman, if you weren't about three times my age, we would be best of friends in another life. 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

I think Joe is just the coolest. I first fell in love with him while watching (500) Days of Summer. He and Zooey did such a wonderful job. Oh, and the music video they did for She & Him's "Why do you Let me Stay Here" was awesome. 

He just exudes a kind of unique energy, all retro/vintage-y and Smiths-ish. And he's also the guy who always gets his heart broken by the super nice-looking girl. Again, look at (500) Days... and 50/50 and you'll see what I mean. Also, he's really charming. *sigh*

Check out this awesome video of him singing The Beatles' "Hey Jude" at this year's Sundance Festival!

Matt Bomer

If you're a female specimen of the human race, I don't think I need to say why he's on the list. If you're a human, I shouldn't have to tel you why. The man is a frigging sex-god. And he's extremely charming.

I remember when my mom and I first started watching White Collar way back in Season One. There weren't enough episodes. Also, he wasn't on-screen long enough. 

As long as there's ways for him to dress up in his hipster/geeky get-up when he's 'under cover' I'm all for it. 

White Collar wouldn't be the same without him.

TJ Thyne

Bones fans (omg Celine!) rejoice. Here is one of the best actors ("Black-Out in the Blizzard", "Aliens in a Spaceship", "Hero in the Hold", "The Boy with the Answer") ever. Why he hasn't been nominated for any awards is a mystery to me. Want him to play a jittery OB-GYN? sure, there's a Friends episode for that. That one, when Phoebe gives birth to her brother's kids.  Need some kind of weird lawyer? he played one, in some movie. How about a hot conspiracy theorist/ forensic entomologist,  mineralogist and botanist? Check him out on Bones. I think we can say he's one of the best characters out there. 

Oh, and did I mention he made a movie recently? Let's just say, as soon as it comes out on DVD my mom and I are hogging the couch and watching it. 

John Francis Daley

This is for the Daley-ians out there. A lot of us (or again, is it just me?) met him through Bones. There, he plays a twenty-something psychologist/ child prodigy who often aids in profiling murderers for the FBI. He also has a weird taste in women. You know I'm right; April and Daisy are insane, to say the least. 

In real life, he started out in Freaks & Geeks, a show I have only seen a few times, because my dad can't stand it. I really like it, though, because it shows just how much worse high school could be. John is also part of the South Cali-based band DayPlayer, who has really cool songs and music videos. Incidentally, the also appeared on Bones' season 4 finale. Although, they played under the name 'Gormogon'.

SEEEE!!?!?!?

David Boreanaz

Um, Bones?, Buffy the Vampire Slayer? and Angel? how about The Mighty Macs? 

There's nothing David can't do. Even star-crossed vampire lover. Even back then he was all charm. And now, as our favorite FBI agent, and Daddy-to-be, we know the charm and awesomeness is only going to get higher.

David, although half the things you tweet don't make sense to me and Angel was such a weird character without Buffy, the Bones Fandom knows we're lucky to have you.

Please keep on being awesome. And hot. And Boothy.

I Love Emily Deschanel

Yesterday, when we (the Bones fandom) got word that  the lovely Emily Deschanel was joining the Twitterverse, we waited for the epical (epic+magical) moment when she would tweet. I, the most insanely obsessed person you will ever meet, neglected to do my homework, because I was so busy refreshing my Timeline. When she finally did, I squealed, very much in the way one would expect Bones' Angela Montenegro (Michaela Conlin) to express her happiness at the news of Brennan's pregnancy. After she tweeted, I hollered up the stairs to my sister, who quite frankly thought I was having a mental breakdown. "Why so much excitement?" she asked me in a very Brennan-ish tone.

Why so much Excitement?

I shall tell you why.

For the last seven years, Emily Deschanel has been playing the absolutely fantastic Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan, on Fox's hit TV Show, Bones. She's a brilliant forensic anthropologist, who can solve thousand-year old murders. Since partnering up with Special FBI Agent Seeley Booth (THE David Boreanaz!) they have solved over 100 modern-day murders. And one Ancient Egyptian one. Also, she has been my idol for the last four and a half years, which is when I started watching the show.

Back then, I didn't get what it was about. For maybe the first couple of months, I watched it solely because Emily and David are so incredibly funny and cute when they're on-screen together. Also, I became slightly obsessed with her trench coats. Yes, mom, I admit it. I LOVE HER TRENCH COATS.

Then we saw "The Baby in the Bough". Yes, that is the episode where Brennan gets to take care of Baby Andy, because she let him eat the key. Also, that's when we witness one of the most fantastically adorable moments in Television history:

I think I speak for like, all of the Bones, fans here: Emily, this is too adorable! :)
(Hart Harson, if we don't see this with either Michael or Baby Bones, I will cry. Just saying.) 

I swear, this episode changed my life. It was the episode that got me entirely hooked. Also, because of the whole Dancing Phalanges thing, I am much better at relating to toddlers. Although, the last time I tried it on my three year old cousin, she looked at me like I was insane. Oh, well. 

After so many years, I honestly feel like Brennan, Booth, the Squints and I are best friends. I could be like the Third Musketeer: Brennan, the beautiful and incredibly smart one; Angela, the funny, witty one; and then me, the quiet, admiring one. I would be like a much less-annoying version of Daisy Wick. I would be extremely eager to just be part of their world. I would hate Sully, and Wexler, and Stires. And Booth too, because let's be honest here: it's pretty hard to like him after seeing Emily cry. And I mean in the 100th Episode, as well as the Season 5 finale, as well as "The Doctor in the Photo".

It was thanks to Emily that I got hooked on Bones. It was because I was hooked on the show that I realized the girl on Tin Man was Zooey Deschanel, who funnily enough (or so I thought at the time...) was (is) her sister. It was from there that my subsequent obsessions with She & Him, (500) Days of Summer, and Hello Giggles stemmed. [I guess what I mean to say is thank you, Emily. Because you made me fall in love with your show, after which I realized Zooey was your sister, and not some stranger who just happened to look like you, and have your same last name. Later, I also learned that she was a great singer, and became She & Him's #1 fan. Also, because I started obsessively watching your show, it occurred to me to read Kathy Reichs' novels. Meet the future Best Forensic Anthropologist in The World!!]

I really am so glad we the crazy fans can let Emily know how much we love her. 

http://georgieradford.blogspot.com/2010/06/hearts-sign-of-love.html

I was tagged by Ginger to take place in those blog answer question thingies! (VERY articulate, I know...)
So naturally, I'm doing it, partly because I can't fall asleep, and also because I like the questions!!


so, here are the Rules:

1) post these rules.
2) post 11 random things about yourself.
3) answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post.
4) create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5) go to their blog and tell them they've been tagged.
6) no cop-outs in the tagging section like “if you are reading this/follow me,” blah blah blah. you have to legitimately tag people.

11Random things about myself:

1. I am in love with Harry Potter. Dan Radcliffe is my future husby.
2. I use the word 'husby'.
3. When Zooey Deschanel (New Girl, (500) Days of Summer) and Ben Gibbard split up, I couldn't listen to Death Cab for Cutie for about a month.
4. Because Emily Deschanel recently started tweeting, I have been squealing. A lot.
5. Eleanor Roosevelt is one of my biggest idols. 
6. My favorite color is purple.
7. I occasionally sleep with my stuffed toys.
8. I love answering questions on Jeopardy
9. I pretend Buffy, Hermione, Bones, Luna, Annabeth, Katniss and I are BFFs.
10. I am secretly in love with Alan Rickman.
11. I HATE school.

Ginger's Questions

1) Chocolate or vanilla?

 Chocolate. I honestly don't think there's such a thing as too much chocolate. Chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream, chocolate bars... ooh, except maybe chocolate on fish, like that crazy Chef Robert Bourdain did once... heck to the no.

2) Where were you on 9/11?

9/11... Well... I was pretty young, say four years old? And at the time I was still living in Colombia. I was at nursery school in Colombia. Or in the car with my mom. Either way I had no idea of what was happening, and I was FAR away from all that.

3) How long have you been living in your current town for?

I have been here for... two years. Yes, two years in a couple of days... whoa, time flies!!

4) Have you ever fallen out with a friend and literally neverspoken to them again?

Yes, I have, actually!! That was in the fourth grade, before moving to the US. My best friends and I had a horrible falling-out, and I never saw them again because I moved. They chatted me up on Facebook, years later, though, does that still count?

5) Do you bring a re-fillable flask with you everywhere you go or do you buy new bottles?

I usually use a re-usable bottle. However, my favorite one broke a couple of days ago, so I have been using the throw-away ones. See, I was on the climbing machine at the gym, and the bottle fell, and the top snapped right off. The water was guzzling out. It was rather sad...

6) If you had kids, what names would you definitely not name them no matter what you were bribed with?

My dad wanted to name me after Ancient Greek philosophers, whose names sound simply horrific in spanish, so those names would be out of the question... the question should really be what would I not name them... right now Joy, Frances, Maude, Sophia, and Hermione are at the top of my Faves' List. I suppose, that something like Candi or Candy or Traci or something really obnoxious-sounding would be last on the list. 

7) In primary/elementary school, were you the kind of who told tales, was told about or stayed out of it altogether?

I was (am) extremely shy/antisocial, so I stayed out of it. Also, I wasn't included in all that, so that kind of answers it, I think.

8) Have you ever swum in the ocean, not a lake or stream, but the actual ocean?

Yes, I have. I don't really like it, because you end up with sand in places that sand should not be. Also, I always end up thinking that some kind of animal is going to come up out of the sand and eat me or something. Clearly, I have got issues with that.

9) On an Easter rabbit, do you eat the feet or head first?

The ears!! Always the ears, for some strange reason!! I guess it must be my fascination with them.... especially on animals that fall under the categories of 'cute' and 'cuddly'.

10) If you were to choose to either study Art or Science, which would you choose? Why?

That is something I have been asking myself a lot lately. In school we have to do three years of Science, and Two of Art, and there are SO many options, it drives me mad!! I love science, because it is very prescise, and incredibly interesting, especially the social side of it, like anthropology, archaeology, psychology, linguistics, etc. However, Art has been a fascination of mine since I was a 'wee little thing;! Art history, especially. Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso, Frida Kahlo. All of those are favorites of mine! If I had to choose a college major right now (thank goodness, I still have two-three years!!) I would go with Archaeology (aka Physical Anthropology) and maybe Psych. 

11) What colour ink do you prefer to write with?

It depends on my mood, really. If I'm feeling serious, I write with black. If I'm feeling fancy, I write with purple. If I'm feeling girly, I write with pink. 

Now, my darlings, I shall write down eleven questions, and you [whoever I tag] will have to answer them.

1. Have you ever been obsessed with anything? Like, a TV show, or a movie?
2. Assuming you have, indeed, been obsessed with anything, what do you think it was you found attractive? What drew you in?
3. If you could meet anyone, who would it be? Why?
4. If you could time-travel, when (or where) would you go? Why? Because of the clothes? Because Elvis is cool? Oh, I know. Is it because The Doctor dragged you along in the Tardis?
5. If you have ever had a crush, have you let him (or her) know you like them? How did they react?
6. What are your favorite websites? are they incredibly awesome?
7. Who is your favorite singer/performer person? Why do you like them? 
8. If you could only eat one kind of food (i.e: French food, or Chinese food) for the rest of your life, what would it be? How about one specific dish (ie: Poison au Vin)?
9. What's your favorite subject in school? If it is math, I HATE YOU. (not really, I just suck at it.)
10. What's one place you're dying to visit?
11. What's one good piece of advice/quote that has stuck in your mind for like, forever? Whose is it?

So I have tagged 

Ginger, Natalia, Celine, Ellen and Iliza

I should get a shirt like this. It's true, I LOVE FOOD. I love buying it, I love making it, and I love eating it. Especially the part that involves dishes and soap. Yeah, washing dishes really isn't my thing. I am yet to meet anyone who actually enjoys doing that. But I still haven't met anyone who doesn't love food, in one way or another. 

Here's my love story:

I. The Beginning

We've all heard of pregnancy cravings, right? If you haven't they're pretty self-explanatory. Pregnant women start craving certain foods and combinations. Some go crazy with nut butters and crackers, some go crazy with Ben & Jerry's, or Cups Of Noodles, or overly sweet food, or salty or spicy or really anything. Sometimes really weird stuff. On 60 Minutes, for example, Beyonce said that the tabloids were spreading rumors she liked eating bananas with spicy stuff or something. 

Anyways, back to the story,  when my mom was pregnant with me she started craving chocolate-covered marshmallows. I like to think that's why I have such a sweet tooth. There is not enough chocolate in the world to repulse me. Better yet, there's little chance that I will not eat any candy you offer me. Unless you are a perv that offers doped candy. 

But the pregnancy cravings still don't come anywhere near the reason I love food (in general) so much. All of the women in my family are fantastic cooks. I was born and raised (up until the age of 11) in the wonderful country of Colombia. I swear this will make sense, just stick with me. Colombian food is some of the best food in the entire planet (not that I have tried every single cuisine in the planet...), hence the fantastic cooking skills that run in my family/heritage. Both of my grandmothers make the most fabulous food. It is very homey, and flavorful and simply heavenly.

Then my mother who can literally whip up dishes in a matter of minutes with the weirdest ingredients. One time, for example, she didn't realize we didn't have pasta sauce until after she had made the spaghetti, so she sauteed some shrimp in olive oil with scallops. Then she served them on the spaghetti with chopped almonds. It was heavenly. Even with the almonds, which I found surprising because I'm not terribly fond of nuts unless they're a) salted peanuts or b) Nut butters.  Also, she makes a killer lasagna. Her ricotta recipe (Sorrento Ricotta, eggs, oregano and her secret ingredient!) is the best.  If she made her own ricotta, like the awesome Mary Jo Deschanel (I happen to know that... not creepy at all...), I can guarantee it would be the most heavenly ricotta ever. 

This leads me to...

II. First Sight

I remember being young, maybe like six or seven years old, when I first asked my grandmother to help me bake a cake. It might have been because I had been watching the home-cooking channel earlier, but I wanted to try. And try we did. Since I was young, I obviously had help, so it should come as no surprise that it was good. We baked a lot after that... and suddenly, by eight or nine I was making them almost by myself. And they were good (or so I was told. There really is no way to know... for reasons that will be later addressed...). 

III. First Love

We watch a lot of Food Network. There have been times when all we watch is Iron Chef America or the FN Challenges, which are awesome. Also, we watched Good Eats a lot. I mean, Alton Brown is just the coolest cat (I did just say that...) out there. And Bobby Flay. AND DUFF GOLDMAN. These guys are amazing. In case you don't know who Duff is... a) where have you been? and b) GOOGLE. Or look underneath:

Alton Brown is the smartest, most amusing and insightful person. He also complicates his recipes a lot, but they're good. Super good. And his cookbooks are very clever. And witty.

 I don't even know where to begin with this. I mean, it's Duff Goldman we're talking about here. He has won SO many Food Network Challenges. He owns the most awesome cake shop ever. (Remind me to write a post about the time I made my mom drive me to Baltimore to see it...). They make the most unreal cakes ever. Doctor Who's TARDIS? The Hogwarts Castle? A little plane thing for St. Jude's Hospital? a Wiener Dog? a Pinto? YODA? R2D2? I could just keep going on. Forever and Ever and Ever. Of course, his team is a big part of it too, but I can't crush on all of them, can I? 

Also, for Christmas I tweeted him a picture of my not-so-pretty red velvet cake, and he said it looked like a nice carrot pizza cake. 

Bobby Flay is The Iron Chef. I've never seen him get beat. That and the fact that he's so totally bad-ass on Throwdown with Bobby Flay... it actually is kinda funny. 

But he's epic.

 (BAck to the story...) This Food Network love affair was only intensified when we watched one of the most fantastic movies ever: Julie & Julia.  Meryl Streep turned  a somewhat terrifying person (I kid you not, the Real Julia scares me.) into the grandmotherly type of woman you just NEED to cook with. Check her [the Real Julia!] out making ommelettes. YUMM!!

I was deeply saddened when she didn't like Julie Powell's endeavors. At least Julie's Julia did!! (Let's all be happy because our Imaginary friends love us!!).

IV. The End (of this post)

Sadly, I have to end this post. But the story doesn't quite end there... You see, lately I have been cooking a lot by myself. Except for pasta... my mom still insists on straining it. People tell me I'm pretty good (Thanks, Cuz <3 and mummy!!) and I still am improving. 

Secretly, I want to be an Anthropologist who moonlights as a chef that specializes in patries and works for Duff Goldman at Charm City Cakes. Also, I periodically go to Egypt, and cool places like that and immerse myself in the cuisine. 

Doctor Who

This is part of one of those things I can't help but get obsessed with. It cannot be helped. Because it is The Doctor. If you don't know what the hell it is I'm blathering on about while I should be working on a History Project, I will tell you.

Time and Relative Dimension in Space

• Doctor Who is a British Cult TV Show that has been running since 1963.
• It is the longest-running sci-fi series.
• It is about The Doctor, an alien-dude who travels through (and accross, and in any direction imaginable) time in order to save the Earth from other weird aliens and races. 
• The Doctor travels in the Tardis, which looks like a 1960's London Police Box.
• There have been eleven incarnations of the Doctor, however it is still the same character.
• There have been a lot of companions, however the only ones I have seen are Dianna (in one episode) and Amy and Rory (in seven)
• It might be a good idea to tell you that I have only seen about eight episodes, but really there are about a million.
• There have been six series. I don't know what that means, so until I can find a Doctor Who wiki page thing, I'm screwed.



My mom thinks he looks like a perv. puh-leeze.

• The current Doctor, Matt Smith is really hot. Also he's the youngest person to have been cast for the role.
• Richard Nixon (not the real one!) has appeared on the show.
• So has Winston Churchill (again, not the real one!!)
• And Vincent Van Gogh has also dropped by (again, not the real one!!)
• Men in suits are hot. Men in suits with bow-ties are hot. Men that dress like Dan Radcliffe in How To Succeed Without Really Trying Matt Bommer in White Collar and Matt Smith in Doctor Who are hot. 
• The Doctor has a Sonic Screwdriver, which if you will, is the equivalent of Harry Potter's wand. There, that will probably be the only time I will ever feel compelled to compare HP and DW. I solemnly swear. Damn, I'm on a role. 

 I don't think this is a show I would have watched if it wasn't because my friend Elizabeth kept talking about the Doctor's awesomeness. Although she loves David Tennant (the Tenth Incarnation) and I frankly cannot, I must admit I am extremely excited about this whole new fandom. 

The only thing left to do here (besides my History Project, of course!!) is to somehow get my hands on EVERY DOCTOR WHO EVER MADE. Netflix might be a good idea, don't you think?  

And just a note of general interest: out of all the people I actually interact with on a (quasi)daily basis, FIVE are fans of the Doctor. My dad used to be. But the Star Wars and Star Trek came along.

The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) played Bartemius Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

 
 

 

Imaginary Friends

I'm fifteen, and I admit I have imaginary friends. Not in sense that I play with them, or anything. I'm not entirely crazy, you know. It's like there are 'energies' or my idea of what a certain person would be like in real life there with me. This actually only became clear to me as we were watching Julie & Julia for the third time. Julie (Amy Adams) was going on about how she could feel Julia Child in her Queens kitchen while she was cooking for her blog. And later, when a reporter informs her that Mrs. Child doesn't think very highly of what she's doing her husband (A Man who looks a lot like Mark Ruffalo) reminds her that the Julia in her head does. That's when I had a sort of mini epiphany. Yes! that is exactly what I do! 


I realize I might not be making an ounce of sense to you, but believe me, it will. 


Take my Harry Potter obsession, for example. There have been times when I have asked myself "What would Hermione do?" or "What would Luna do?" and "What would Harry do?". I do this because they are people* I admire . Hermione is the loyal, too smart-for-her-own-good type, Luna is the I-don't-care-about-what-you-think-of-me type and Harry... well he's Harry (I do think that should be considered as some sort of descriptive word right now....). It's not as if I can go and ask my mother for advice in a situation where our points of view are polar opposites. Instead, I try to look at it through the eyes of someone who would, ideally, agree wholeheartedly with me. 

Winter

These are pictures I have taken on my way home from school...

It usually is terribly cold. 

Not that you can see that.

Going outside in the early morning is never fun.

Dancing Shadows!

Shadow Sisters... that kind of sounds like a Riot Grrl band, wouldn't you say?

My ever-growing fangirl wall. Bones, Dan Rad, Tom and Summer, She and Him. My cousin, my sister and I a few years ago...
I printed out some Emma Watson pics... and a couple of other things I didn't get around to posting yet.

Growing Up

I feel the last five years of my life have been, perhaps the ones where I have changed the most. Besides the obvious, such as not being a little kid anymore, there are other ways I have grown up that really took me a while to figure out. There's times, for example, where it will suddenly click that the way I think/feel about something now is definetly not how I would have felt/thought about it maybe even a year ago. Here are the ways I think I have grown up the most.

1. I am a feminist. As a child, I was only too happy to believe people when they told me a man's job is to protect his family. I'm sure I would have thought of Eleanor Roosevelt (one of my biggest role-models) as a sort of extremist. I believed it was men who belonged as the heads of the households. I believed women would never really be happy unless they were married. With a man. Now, I refuse to listen to anybody that tells me men are in any way superior to women. I refuse to take part in teaching young girls they will never achieve happiness in the future, unless they consider marriage. I know women are capable of just as much as men, if not more. 
2. I question everything. I think I was a rather gullible little kid. I simply accepted other's opinions and points of view. Now not so much. I like to argue a lot, and I am quite opinionated. Word of the Wise: don't even get me started on Bones, Harry Potter or anything even remotely related.
3. Disney Channel just doesn't cut it anymore. I do admit I was obsessed with Hannah Montana and High School Musical and the Jonas Brothers. Miley Cyrus used to be my idol (much like Zooey D. is right now. Only Zo is a million times better.) and Zac Efron was going to be my future husband. Nick Jonas was going to be my super-sweet BFF. Whenever I hear any of those songs a wave of self-loathing washes over me. WHAT THE HECK WAS WRONG WITH ME? HOW DID I SUDDENLY DEVELOP GOOD TASTE?  I listen to actual music now: Regina Spektor, Adele, M. Ward, She & Him, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Death Cab for Cutie, Coldplay, The Script, occasionally The Beatles, as well as Elvis and Frank Sinatra. A lot of The Smiths and Cyndi Lauper, Feist, Florence + the Machine, JUDY GARLAND, Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald The Killers, The Script, and of course, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift.  I also watch actual TV: Bones, White Collar, Coldcase, 60 Minutes, Nightline, World News, 20/20, Sunday Morning, What would You Do? and Saturday Night Live among others. And either Daniel Radcliffe or Joseph Gordon-Levitt are my future husbys. 

It is really late right now, and since I'm tired I think I'll just leave you with cool vids.

 Like my friend Lily's Original Bones Song. (She's such an awesome fan!! yaay!!)

She's fantastic!

And ColdPlay's "Clocks"

This is an awesome song. Shame my English teacher ruined it by likening it to the Epic of Gilgamesh...

And um... let's see...

How about a video of  Zooey being awesome? 

This song was featured in her movie (also starring Joe Gordon-Levitt) (500) Days of Summer. I love it. And I promise to make a post about it soon... when I don't have Midterms or anything.

Judy Garland being fantabulous!

LOVE HER!!!

and last but certainly not least

DAYPLAYER.

(aka John Francis Daley's Band)

Aah, JFD <3

MOST AMAZING FRENCH PROJECT. EVER.

  I even added Victoire AND Teddy!! And Crookshanks. And Arnold, Ginny's Pigmy Puffskein. 

Oh. My. Goodness.

(Totally random, but that's what my face looked like when I finished. And when I watched #Bones)

Kathy Reichs is literally The Best Writer Ever.

I just recently noticed all my obsessions are inter-connected in one way or another. For example, my Bones obsession started after I realized Emily Deschanel was Zooey Deschanel's sister. And my obsession with (someday) becoming an anthropologist was fueled by the show and my long-time fascination with Egyptian mummies and Ancient Greeks, and of course Kathy Reichs.

I had been watching the show for about two years (actually we watched several episodes a night almost every single night!!) before my parents finally agreed to let me read her novels. I think they worried I would begin to identify with Brennan more than I already did, which was a lot. So, I went to the public library and asked the librarian to help me find Deja Dead, and she looked at me like I was crazy. I'm sure she thought I was crazy. She looked at me asking silently "Why would a middle school kid want to read books about murder?" and "Wouldn't you much rather read something mindless like Twilight?" frankly, (this might make me sound both psycho and weird) I find books and shows about murders quite fascinating. Bones, Cold Case, Forensic Files, 20/20 and Nightline are my favourite shows.  Also,  I'm a bit of a science nerd, and I had read that Kathy's books went a bit further into the scientific stuff than Bones or any of the  other shows  did. So, obviously I just had to read her books.

I finished Deja Dead in a little less than a week, and then Death du Jour  and the rest of the novels in the following weeks.  I honestly loved them. I loved the fact that the characters are realistic. And that Temperance Brennan is a tough cookie. And I also loved the fact that she has a cat.(Everyone knows Awesome people + awesome cats (like Birdie)= Extreme Awesomeness.) And even my parents loved them (despite the fact that my dad has only read a couple of chapters on Flash and Bones) because I learned a lot of things I wouldn't have learned otherwise.  For example, where else would I have found out about kerf marks and false starts on bones? I don't think we're even going all that in-depth into bones in Bio class. And where else would I have learned about NASCAR? probably from my dad, but even after whatever explanation he might have given me I still would have thought of it as the "sport where all they do is make left turns."  And perhaps the best parts of the books are the "Notes from the files of Dr. Kathy Reichs" which I love reading. As I mentioned above, I am a bit of a news junkie, so looking at those is a good deal of fun.

[If you haven't read any of her books you most definetly should. If you like things along the lines of Mary Higgins Clark and I guess Agatha Christie then you will probably love her Temperance Brennan novels. If you're fonder of the whole YA SCI/FAN thing, then Virals and Seizure will be great for you!!]

I <3 Dr. Kathy Reichs. and don't forget to check out her awesome website. 

The Joys of Being a Homebody

Often, my parents refer to me as an old lady. That would be an accurate description if I were 70. But I'm not. I'm 15. 
Often, I will turn down invitations to go out with friends (which really isn't all that often...) because I would much rather stay at home with my warm Smurfette pajama pants.
Sometimes, I will sit on the couch and watch The Food Network until midnight and go to bed dreaming about whatever it is I just saw.
Sometimes, I will act like your crazy great-grandmother and be irritable and stubborn just for the sake of it.

Trust, Gym Class and Harnesses

As the title of this post implies yes, I will be talking about doing trust exercises in Gym class. And yes, they do involve harnesses. And since they involve harnesses, it does mean we are not going to be on the ground the whole time.

My school is a bit weird, because for a quarter of the year in both Freshman and Sophomore years we get to do something called Project Adventure. In this class we get to climb the rock walls in the gym as well as the one on the side of the building, and we get to jump off beams and platforms on the ceiling. Supposedly these are meant to be team-building activities that will help each one of us to 'be comfortable in leadership roles'. 

Last week, for example, we had to stand on a 3 ft. box and fall backwards, while a team of six-8 people caught us. I will admit I was scared of doing it. The teacher said this might be caused by trust issues. No kidding. Why would I trust a bunch of 9th graders to catch me? If it were oh, I don't know, David Boreanaz or some athlete type I would have had no problem. However, the kids in my class are all skinny and have an average height of 5'5. Mr. Quirk said if I didn't do it my grade would go down, so I did. And it wasn't all that bad, really.

After trust-falls, he had the whole class pull a person up on the rope, to show us that our own hand-knotted harnesses would actually hold. And they did. It was actually fun. Except for the part where the douche-bags in my class would run full-speed while pulling the rope and then plant their feet on the floor and shake the rope. Honestly, I would have been terrified if I had been twenty feet in the air while these idiots were keeping me up there.  

And now we're doing actual climbing. Today we learned how to do the balleying (or however you spell it). Apparently there's a certain way you hold the rope while pulling the climber up/down. And you have to have someone hold on to the back of your harness so the bigger climber doesn't pull you up if they fall. That's called being a Creep. No joke. The actual job is called 'being a creep'.

The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

This was actually something I had seen and heard about before but never really bothered to read until my Dad gave them to me as a Christmas Present. I had read the summary before in sites such as GoodReads.com and the online library catalougue, but for some reason they seemed too fantasy-ish for my taste.

I started reading them as soon as my younger sister finished them in a couple of days, which is impressive considering she rarely reads. I have to admit I was instantly hooked. The setting, the characters, the plot; it was all just so engaging and so real. Obviously, since it takes place sometime in the near-ish future, it had to be somewhat realistic, but I could find parallels between the book and what I have learned in History class which really made me incredibly happy. Another thing that really caught me was the fact that the main character is a girl. A GIRL. A FEMALE HUMAN BEING. AND SHE WAS THE MAIN CHARACTER. She wasn't somebody's BFF, or someone's girlfriend or sidekick. THIS BOOK HAD A STRONG, INDEPENDENT FEMALE AS THE LEAD  and it helped set it apart from other YA SCI/FAN books I have read like Harry Potter or Percy Jackson and The Olympians and Artemis Fowl. I mean, I love those books because they are fantastic, but whatever female characters exist are placed in a sidekick kind of role. The only other series in this category (YA SCI/FAN) with a strong female lead, that I have read, is Virals by Kathy Reichs.

The Hunger Games Trilogy has it all: adventure, drama, romance, and even the right amount of that teen angst we so crave. It's also quite graphic in some parts, but if you can handle CSI and Bones and Law & Order  and all of those shows, you can probably handle the intensity.

If you still haven't read these books, please do and tell me what you think in comments below!!

One thing I'd Like to Learn right now...

I'd really like to learn to play guitar. Last year, I got a guitar for Christmas, and it has been sitting there, doing nothing. I'd really love to be able to play, simply because that would enable me to play songs I really like, like Joni Mitchell's "The Circle Game" or "A Case of You". Also anything by She & Him, or M. Ward or Taylor Swift. That would simply be the coolest thing ever.

Joni Mitchell: "The Circle Game"

Joni Mitchell: "A Case of You"

Tavi Gevinson for HelloGiggles.com "A Case of You" by Joni Mitchell 

She's so good it's not even funny. God.

"Why Do You Let Me Stay Here" by She & Him

I do realize it's not the best video.

**All of these videos I got from YouTube**