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!!

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 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.

 
 

 

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