Community is one of the best shows on television.

You can obviously tell what I’m watching right now…

Community is one of the best shows on television. Right now it’s the rerun of “Paradigms of Human Memory” – the faux clips show. Such a brilliant use of montage of stuff that never actually happened on any other episodes of the show. This was a ridiculously smart and well written episode, among all of Community‘s entire canon of ridiculously smart and well written episodes. How this show has not been formally acknowledged by the entertainment industry is beyond me. Where are its Emmy nominations for this amazing ensemble? Or the writers? Huh???? I can’t wait to listen to the commentaries on the DVDs for Season Two.

God, I love this show.

Today was a semi productive day. I ran a bunch of errands this morning. I returned some pants at Kohls. Got a few books from Borders. Got half of my parents Anniversary present. Got some black pants and skinny jeans at Old Navy. I was unable to find shoes, though, which was a bit disappointing. But, you can’t win them all 🙂

I got home from errands and watched a bit of Starship with lunch. (Really I just watched the scenes on the first disc of the DVDs that had the songs “I Wanna Be,” “Hideous Creatures,” “Kick it Up a Notch,” and “Status Quo.”)

“Status Quo” is one of my favorite songs from Starship, but as much as I love Joey’s version, my favorite will still be Darren Criss’s version from when he did that Livestream:

The song is just great, though, regardless who sings it 🙂

I played some ping pong with my mom. I did some job hunting (which will, of course, continue tomorrow… I need to find some of the articles I wrote for a pop culture magazine I wrote for when I lived in Indiana and scan them so I can show that I am capable of writing entertainment stuff). I helped make dinner. And now I’m watching some TV with my parents.

I have to work for a few hours tomorrow afternoon, but that means I have the morning to job hunt and the evening to maybe watch a movie or something (I got Deer Hunter out from the library… I know I should have seen it by now, but I haven’t).

I’m looking forward to a nice weekend w/my family. I hope you have a nice weekend ahead of you as well

Have a good one 🙂

 

I think I wanna be a Starship Ranger…

… just because I have absolutely no clue about what kind of job I want to be applying for 😦

I’m almost 100% done with graduate school. “Graduation” is next weekend (I shan’t be attending, but it will offer some finality to the whole process) and now I need to be focusing on applying for jobs, moving out of my parents house and getting on with my life/future.

But, to be perfectly honest, I have no idea about what I want to be when I grow up. And at 27, I know I am a “grown up,” but that doesn’t change the fact that I am completely lost when it comes to what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. I do know that I need to be working with/on/around entertainment media such as film, television or theater. But that’s as far as I got in my life-plan thus far.

If you have any suggestions, I would totally be open to them 🙂

I slept in really late today – until 10. That usually only happens when I’m sick. But, I think my exhaustion finally caught up with me… plus, I spent the whole day outside yesterday and was a bit dehydrated, and that usually wipes me out. Which it totally did.

Almost right after I woke up, my mom took my brother to the doctor and I was by myself. So, I did what any normal person would do – I showered while singing really loudly to Lady Gaga music since no one was home, and then I started rewatching Starship (since now I have it on DVD). I got through most of Act One before my mom and brother returned, but then I had to turn it off.

I love Starship. I love StarKid. And, since I saw most of them live on the DigiTour past month, I extra appreciate their productions.

I just realized I never really posted any pictures from the DigiTour… well, here’s a few:

So, yeah… it was totally awesome getting to see Joey Richter, Dylan Saunders, Brian Holden, Lauren Lopez, Joe Walker, Jamie Lynn Beatty, A.J. Holmes, and Meredith Stepien live and in person. I had super awkward encounters with two of the aforementioned people, but who they are is neither here nor there. I just know that it was epically awkward and makes for a great story. However, I will not be sharing that here on the Interwebs… sorry 😉

Besides watching Starship today, I kinda watched the original Italian Job, but I fell asleep during most of it. I also kinda helped my dad fix the lawn mower (he did all the work, but I had a really good suggestion, and it totally worked, so the mower got fixed long enough for my mom to mow the lawn… and then the mower died. But that wasn’t my fault.). I also went w/my dad to pick up some Chinese food… we were going to go get some Philly food to celebrate me being done with my thesis and whatnot, but we’re going to wait for tomorrow. So, Chinese food was the best alternative. It was a pre-celebration celebration, if you will.

During dinner, we watched The Backup Plan – that J-Lo movie w/the hot guy from Hawaii Five-O. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. It was a bit frustrating at times (both J-Lo and Hawaii Five-O dude’s characters were a bit stubborn and irrational), but we laughed and all in all it was an all right watch. I appreciated that it wasn’t something I really had to think during. As much as I like to be intellectually stimulated by what I’m watching, I was not in the mood for that tonight. Ergo, this was perfect to watch.

Well, I need to sleep… I have work tomorrow morning (boooooooo) and I’m still feeling a bit off coming down off of the thesis-stress and whatnot. It’s really weird not having the entire weight of academia hanging on my shoulders these past few days. While driving to pick up dinner, my dad and I were marveling at how I actually got my thesis defended and I am done now. A month ago, I would have bet money that everything was just going to fall apart and I was going to be stuck waiting until Fall Quarter to get everything done.

But, somehow it worked. Somehow everything went in my favor, even though there were a bajillion obstacles in my way. My mom always says “everything happens for a reason”. I think about that a lot. I try and use this cliche of a phrase to rationalize out all of the good and bad stuff that has happened in my life. Like, even though some stuff totally hasn’t gone my way in the past (to the point where I’m still thinking, “well, what if?” about a bunch of stuff…), I guess it was meant to be. Still doesn’t make it any less frustrating though 🙂 But oh well!

Off to read, and then some sleep…

Have a good one!

 

Middle of the week… middle of my ongoing thesis anxiety attack

Oh, Wednesday.

I had to get up a little earlier than normal today to feed and let the dogs out since my parents left the house bonkers early this morning for a canoeing event.

Instead of watching the news and learning the more graphic details of Osama bin Laden’s death, I opted to continue rewatching Starship. I just had to rewatch the parts with my favorite songs (“Status Quo” and “The Way I Do“) and my favorite monologue (Bug’s speech about being a Starship Ranger, but how he realized he’s a bug and it’s a bug’s job to be more concerned with the greater good of the hive and not the few/individual… no matter how many times I watch that scene, I will be moved by Joey Richter’s performance. He’s just that good.).

While I was getting ready for work, the house phone rang and it was my brother! He accidentally calls the house phone instead of our cells phones sometimes… boy was tired since he pulled a bunch of all nighters this week while working on his final presentation for school. After I spoke with him this morning, all he had left to do was write a paper and then he was going to be done-done with school for this school year – yay for him!!!

I’m super excited that I get to see him this weekend. And I’m super excited that I get to see my sister this weekend too 🙂 Last night, she and I ended up watching The Voice together… over the phone. That’s a show we totally would have watched together when we lived together, but now since we’re states apart, we don’t have that luxury anymore. So, it was fun to watch it together and comment on all of the contestants and judges… even if we were hundreds of miles away from each other.

I worked all day today… from 9:45-5. And I was by myself the whole day, which sucked as there was so much to do and not enough to get much of anything done since I was so busy with people.

At 5, I clocked out and was ready to bolt, but my (new) manger stopped me and said she wanted to do my 2010 performance review. I was only with the company for 3 1/2 months in 2010, but I still had to do a review. Turns out I pretty much kicked ass at everything, but missed my sales goal by $600. I sold over $86,000 worth of stuff and since I missed my goal by $600, I only get a 10 cent raise instead of a bigger raise. WTF?!?!?! Oh well, I shouldn’t be there too much longer. Boo corporate politics.

When I finally got out of the workplace, I drove and got gas in my car for my upcoming trip. It is a friggin’ CRIME to pay $4 a gallon. A CRIME. It’s not like the gas companies are losing money… jesus. My 10 raise is not going to help this bonkers expensive gas. Boo again.

I finally got home and was met by my mom and dogs in the kitchen where I dropped off my water bottle before I changed into my pajamas. I asked my mom if I got any mail today – NOPE. Still no thesis notes… THANKS GRADUATE SCHOOL FOR CONTINUING TO FAIL ME.

I went down to my room and changed into my jammies and then called Robin since she texted me earlier while I was at work. Turns out we’re both having horrendously off days/weeks. God, it’s good to vent to a person and listen to a friend vent about her stuff too. Sometimes you just need to let it out. It was good to vent. It was good to listen. It was good to laugh. I am so freakin’ stressed about school stuff, and it’s nice to have someone to talk to who knows what’s going on and the professor I am having issues with.

After our awesome phone conversation, I had to go and have dinner with my parents, which was nice. I like being able to sit down with my parents and just be a family. It’s something I will never take for granted.

We had dinner and watched American Idol. Haley’s got such a bad attitude, but I did feel bad that she got harsh judging with the Gaga song. She deserved it, but I just felt bad that seemed to get forced into singing it from Jimmy Iovine (sp?). I think Jacob’s getting kicked off this week, which sucks because I like him a lot. I really want James to win… that boy is consistent like whoa. He’s amazing. I dig his sound. I love his stage presence.

And now I’m just killing time until Happy Endings 🙂 It’s one of my new favorite shows… I just love it.

And that’s about it… tomorrow I’m going to send my thesis draft to the other two members of my committee even though I haven’t gotten my notes from my thesis chair yet. I’m also going to resend my thesis draft to the Thesis and Dissertation people so they can double check the formatting… I already sent it to them once and they sent back what I needed to fix. I did (most of) that, and will tweak it further tomorrow. So, even though my thesis chair is not being very timely, I am still going to advance this process along the best I can. I am still determined to graduate on time.

Well, Happy Endings is on… twice. So I will watch that 🙂

Have a good one

 

Well… I have seen Starship in its entirety by now… and it was AMAZING :)

Sunday, Sunday…

Man, I had a hell of a time sleeping last night. I didn’t get to bed until after midnight and it took what I thought was forever to fall asleep. I woke up around 3 and was up for a bit, trying to figure out what I was going to do about my thesis stuff and figuring out the wording of the email I would send my thesis chair later in the day. I somehow fell back asleep and was up for good after 7. I stayed in bed for awhile and then dragged myself upstairs to let the dogs out. (btw – that small animal that was trying to get into my room last night was a sparrow. It was stuck under the netting over top of the window well outside my window. I told my dad and he got the bird out.) I had on a hoodie and sweatpants and thought I’d be okay when I let the dogs out, but it was friggin’ freezing outside. It actually flurried several times today… so much for May Day.

After taking care of the dogs, I grabbed some cold pizza and an orange (breakfast of champions, yo) and settled down onto the couch to watch the rest of Starship. I was very, very pleased with how this show turned out. I will expand on my opinion of this show in a bit… but first about the rest of my day (which was super uneventful…).

I made a couple more mix CDs today… a Starship/StarKid one and then a Glee/current music one. Now I’m done with new mix CDs for my trip… I made 7 CDs in the past week, so that will definitely keep my ears busy on the road.

I also did more laundry and started packing for my trip today. Really, I just threw a couple pairs of jeans and some shirts into a suitcase. I’ll need a bigger suitcase, but at least I kinda got started. I hate packing for trips… I’m always afraid I’ll forget something, so I usually over pack. Oh well. I also cleaned my bathroom and did the dishes today.

During lunch I started to watch another episode of My So Called Life. I’m still up in the air about this show.

I did email my professor today to inquire about if he sent the notes he said he was going to mail last Monday. I wrote the email this morning and then sat on it for awhile before I sent it so I could reread it a few times and make sure I hadn’t written anything I would later regret. I thought it was a well written email, so I sent it. We’ll see what happens. I have a bad feeling about this whole thesis thing. And that really upsets me.

My mom came home today! She got in around 3:45… we were all happy to see her, especially the dogs (Moose jumped up on her and almost knocked her down with Moose kisses). We had pizza for Pizza Sunday and watched some Matthew Broderick movie. I fell asleep during most of it because I am beyond tired. Right now we’re watching The Amazing Race. Poor Zev and Justin are still trying to dig out their dummy. I want the Goths to go home because I’m sick of Kent’s complaining.

So… Amazing Race is over – and Kent and Vyxsin (sp?) went home because of a penalty!!! I like the four remaining teams, so I will be happy for whoever wins next week 🙂

Okay, so Starship time!!

(SPOILERS for those who have not see Starship but plan to in the near future… which you should b/c it’s awesome)

I don’t know where to begin… there’s just so much good stuff to talk about.

Here is a quick summary of the plot – A bug named Bug wants to be a Starship Ranger, but he’s a bug and bugs are assigned jobs at the hive. (The whole is more important than the individual in this society.) While at work, Bug saves a ditzy scientist from having an egg implanted in her chest and she mistakes him for a Starship Ranger. Her colleagues get sent down to the bug planet to rescue her and they have a run in with a bunch more bugs. Meanwhile, a scorpion named Pincer convinces Bug to mind meld with a cryogenically frozen Starship Ranger so he’s now a human and goes with the scientist back onto their ship. The head bad guy, Dr. Space Claw, has a son named Junior who is mad b/c the ditzy scientist did not get implanted with the egg, so he tries to get the robot, Mega-Girl to destroy the other Starship Rangers while he goes back to the bug plant to take the Over Queen in order to bring her eggss back to Earth so they can make a bug army. Mega-Girl ends up falling in love with one of the Starship Rangers, Tootsie Noodles (from Farm Planet). Commander Up (the leader of the Starship Rangers) and his Starship Rangers fight off the bad bugs while Bug fights off Pincer. He goes to sacrifice himself so that the bug planet is safe and so the Starship Rangers can survive. His human body is destroyed, but he is still alive, though back in bug form. The Overqueen thanks him for what he did and lets him be an ambassador between the bugs and humans. He still ends up with the ditzy scientist, even though she formerly hated bugs.

There are obviously more plot points and character development than this, in addition to a bunch of songs, but this is the basic jist of the show.

The bugs, cast and music were really the highlights of this show.

BUGS – There were large 2D bugs that actors held and moved around the stage, but then there were also puppet (think Avenue Q) and much larger bugs that the actors themselves were attached to (kinda like Timon in the stage-version of The Lion King). The puppets were amazing. The puppet for Roach, Bug’s best friend, was super cute! And I thought that Pincer was amazing… props to Dylan Saunders for holding up the head and various cast members for really making those pincers expressive.

CAST – There were a lot of familiar faces from StarKid shows past, but also some new faces who I really was impressed with.

Joey Richter (Bug) – Though I am most familiar with Richter from playing Ron in AVPM and AVPS (as well as himself in Me and My Dick), he was extra amazing as Bug. Richter is a very, very capable leading man (and bug). He’s funny, he’s handsome, he has great stage presence and spot-on comedic timing. Also, his voice is well suited for musical theater because it’s easy to understand him when he sings, and it’s just really pleasant to listen to. He had me laughing a million times over, but his monologue toward the end when he was fending off Pincer was really heartfelt and extremely moving. I can’t wait to rewatch this so I can further appreciate his performance.

Lauren Lopez (Taz, Bugette, other bugs/pincer claw) – Did somebody say Draco Malfoy? Lopez could have been pigeon-holed into the cute girl role she played to a T in Little White Lie, but she excels at taking on some pretty crazy roles, such as Draco Malfoy and now Taz. Taz was part Rambo, part Scarface and a whole lotta tough gal. She had some of the best lines in the show and she friggin’ commits to her characters. I have a lot of respect for her and her talent.

Joe Walker (Commander Up, other bugs) – Joe Walker is definitely one of my favorites. He was amazing as Voldemort, great as Umbridge, awesome as Dick and just plain killed it as Up. Here’s another super talented actor who 100% commits to his always flawed character. He reminded me a lot of Jake Gyllenhaal in this show, for some reason. But Walker is a force – he’s super funny and has impeccable timing as well. His monologue about being half robot and the Shoe song had me doubled over with laughter.

Joe Moses (Krayonder, other bugs) – I’m so used to him as Snape, it was kinda weird seeing him out of that black wig and cape. He provided some great one-liners and was a solid addition to the Starship Rangers.

Julia Albain (Specs, other bugs) – She was hilarious, and I almost didn’t recognize her as Specs! Another example of someone who just completely commits to the role. Her costume itself was a stitch and she just owned it all.

Dylan Saunders (Tootsie Noodles, Pincer, other bugs) – OMG, I think I’m in love. He played two completely different main characters and dominated them both. He was part of two big musical numbers as well and I just fell in love with his voice! While he was amazing as Pincer, I really loved when he was Tootsie Noodles. As Noodles, he had some extremely choice/hilarious bits of dialogue, but also provided a venue for some of the more heartfelt moments of the show. Only he could have pulled off Tootsie’s infatuation with Mega-Girl 🙂

Brian Holden (Junior, Mosquito, other bugs) – Ah, Lupin. Brian Holden is just that guy who can play the jerk, but there’s just so much secondhand embarrassment, that you can’t completely hate him(i.e. when Junior chokes on his pot while wearing those pink sunglasses 🙂 ). I was kinda impressed with his singing voice, since he hadn’t sung in AVPS.

Jamie Lynn Beatty (Mosquito, other bugs) – I am a huge fan of hers from AVPM, AVPS, and Me and My Dick. I was hoping she’d have a bigger part in the show, but alas. She was great as a mobster-esque mosquito, though 🙂

Jim Povolo (Mosquito, Overqueen, other bugs) – Same as with Beatty… I was hoping he’d have a bigger role. I mean, he was the Overqueen, but besides his booming voice, I think he’s a great presence on stage because of his height. I am a fan, though… the guy uses his voice well for comedic purposes.

Nick Lang (Caller Bug, Mister Bug) – He’s the unsung hero of this show, as he’s a co-writer, AD *and* designed the 2D puppets, in addition to voicing some key bugs. I am in awe of his work, and the work he’s done on prior StarKid shows. I am continually impressed with the amount of creativity that flows out of his person.

New faces:

Brant Cox (Roach) – ADORABLE! Oh my goodness, I loved Roach and Brant 🙂 I could totally see him in a production of Avenue Q after watching him as Roach. His singing voice is great, and he was just an amazing presence as Roach. I look forward to more from him 🙂

Denise Donovan (February) – While I was not a fan of February as a character (Bug can do better than a ditzy scientist!), I thought Denise Donovan was really great. She really played up February’s ditziness, but at the same time you never hated that character for it. She had a good arc, and it was great to see her come around with regards to the bugs.

Meredith Stepien (Mega-Girl) – Not *enitrely* new to StarKid (she was in Little White Lie), but this was her first really big role with them, and I thought she was well cast as Mega-Girl. She had some great lines and it was nice to see her character’s arc as well. Aw, robots.

MUSIC

So, as with most of the other StarKid production, the songs were written by Darren Criss. That boy is talented… which is the understatement of the century. This show had a fair few big production numbers and the variety of song genre, as well as the lyrics and music itself, was impressive.

“I Wanna Be” – Bug’s anthem about wanting to be a Starship Ranger. This theme and lyrics would pop up again later in other songs, but the overall message was Bug’s story for the show – he wants to be a Starship Ranger and is going to do anything he can to achieve that because it’s everything he is. This song would fit into any Broadway show where the protagonist is self-motivating to achieve his/her goals. It’s upbeat and really catchy. Plus, it sets up Bug’s need to get out and Roach’s contentment to stay with the hive.

“Get Back Up” – Taz’s song to Commander Up about getting back up and into the swing of how things used to be. Brushing oneself off and moving forward, etc… This song starts off a little bit like a Jerry Lee Lewis song (not quite “Great Balls of Fire,” but there are some piano licks in there, as well as some good guitar), but then ends with kinda a gospel feel (clapping and keyboards).

“Life” – Bug’s “No Good Deed” moment, in my opinion. The song has some ominous/repetitive piano action, as well as some mysterious/building percussion. The lyrics are simple, yet profound. Ex: “There’s no choice involved in what you are given / One mind, one voice, one body to live in.” At the end, there is a piano-only reprise of “I Wanna Be” that’s very effective.

“Hideous Creatures” – It’s a rock (metal?) equivalent of “What is this Feeling?”. Two opposing sides (Starship Rangers vs. bugs) who are repulsed by the other side for pretty much the exact same reason. This is a funny song because it’s just so ridiculous and wonderful all at the same time.

“Kick it up a Notch” – Pincer’s song convincing Bug to put his mind into a human’s to become a Starship Ranger and bring the other Rangers to him… it totally sounds/feels like a combination of “Poor Unfortunate Souls” from The Little Mermaid and “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay”. (I kid you not.) I dig it. Dylan Saunders completely sells this song and then Joey Richter joins him later on after another reprise of “I Wanna Be” (love it!).

“Status Quo” – One of my favorite songs from this show! It’s Bug’s anthem about saying no to the status quo and being content with being different and not following the norm. My favorite, favorite, favorite verse is,

“I’ll kick down the walls around me
They don’t know how strong I am
I’m not defined by boundaries
They will never understand
I’m so much more”

And the best part is, I love Joey Richter’s version just as much as I love Darren Criss’s version from his livestream. (Btw – you can listen to all of these songs and be able to hear Darren singing them… even though they completely fit the characters, you can totally hear Darren’s influence on all of them, from his choice of words and phrases for the lyrics, to the rhythm and cadence of each line. He is a very gifted song writer.)

“The Way I Do” – My other favorite song from the show! Oh my goodness, this is where I really fell in love with Dylan Saunders and his voice. I am a total sucker for songs in 3/4 time, and this song is no exception. My favorite, favorite, favorite lines are when Tootsie Noodles sings, “Now I may be dumb, but where I come from / Folks say they’re fine when I know that they’re blue. / But you don’t know you the way I do.” That is such an amazing line for his character because it shows that even though he’s not all that smart, he’s not all that dumb either, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. This is a really, really sweet song and I plan on listening to it a bajillion times.

“Kick it up a Notch (reprise)” – This is really where the “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay” vibe really shines for me… and again, I dig it. Brian Holden singing this just makes me laugh 🙂

“Beauty” – It’s a lesson about bugs and acceptance all wrapped up into a sweet little song sung by a sweet little bug named Roach. The lyrics scream “I was written by Darren Criss” (EX: We don’t got / Any kind of worry / Our way of life is laissez-fair / No wealth, no poor / Or hypocrisy / Just beauty / Beauty everywhere). This song is beautiful because it celebrates inner beauty and outer beauty, which is one of the main themes of the show.

On a whole, j’adored Starship. I can’t wait to rewatch it 🙂 I can’t wait to see the StarKids at the Digitour… hopefully they’ll sing some Starship songs and it’ll be totally awesome 🙂

See Starship. Seriously… it’s really good.

(END STARSHIP TALK)

Well, I should get going… gotta be up early for work tomorrow. Boo

Have a good one

 

STARSHIP IS FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(btw before I start typing about my day, some small animal just tried to crawl it’s way through my window. My heart is racing… bah)

So, I totally stayed up past midnight last night so I could buy the soundtrack to Starship before I even saw it. I was just too excited to go to sleep – that’s how much of a dork I am. You can get it on iTunes or Amazon… it’s only $8.91 for the whole album. 🙂

I did manage to get to sleep and then woke up around 7:30. It was raining and continued to do so until 3:00 or so. As much as this rain sucked, it is absolutely nothing compared to the horrific weather and natural disasters that have been plaguing the south east part of the US 😦 I cannot imagine what it feels like to have experienced that sort of turmoil. My heart goes out to those who have been affected by these horrible tornadoes and storms.

(the animal is still trying to get into my room… I’m too scared to get up out of bed to see what it is)

My dad took me out to breakfast (Panera bagels are God’s food… we don’t keep bagels around the house anymore b/c they have too many carbs [my dad is diabetic and has to watch his carb intake all the time], so I totally got a bagel this morning. It tasted like heaven. My people love bagels… my genetics determined before I was born that I too would love bagels. And I do…). We then went to the Fleet Farm to get the oil changed in my car, and some stuff my dad needed for the boat his park just received.

We drove home and I stayed with the dogs and had lunch while my dad went out to look at other boats with a friend of his. (With so many lakes in this state, there is always need for boats. We have a canoe and a kayak, and access to another boat… good thing we’re all accustomed to being out on the water.)

I played with my dogs and watched an episode of My So Called Life. I just started watching the series a few days ago, so I’m only a couple episodes in. I think I’m a little too old for the target audience, but it’s a show I had always meant to watch, so I’m just getting to it now.

I am still waiting for notes from my thesis chair so I can edit my paper before I send it to the other members of my committee. It was going on 1:30 and I knew the mailman wasn’t going to come for another hour or so at least, so I opted to run some errands to kill time while my laundry was drying. I returned some shoes at DSW and then all of those Sex and the City DVDs I bought the other day at Target. I got home and folded clothes, and by that time, my dad was back.

We started watching Escape from New York, but we both fell asleep in our respective chairs. I woke up around 4:30 and played with the dogs, fed them dinner and let them outside. By this time, the mail had come, but there were no notes from my professor.

I started to cry, but only for a bit.

I am just beyond frustrated. My professor told me he’d send the notes Monday. Which meant I should have gotten them by Thursday or Friday at the latest. I don’t think he’s sent them yet. I think this because I sent him multiple emails this week regarding the status of said notes and he hasn’t gotten back to me. BUT, the other two members of my committee did get back to me within mere hours when I sent them all an email inquiring the date/time of my thesis defense.

Since there isn’t anything I can do about my thesis chair right this second, I will wait until tomorrow morning to shoot him another email – there will be no pleasantries. I will be firm and in control. I will express my epic discontent with this whole process. I tried to change thesis chairs, but he kept me with him because from our conversations, he made it sound like he was going to work with me so I would graduate on time. I sent him my materials with far more time than the 2 weeks it is customary to have a professor read the paper. I have also already expressed my need to graduate on time because I cannot financially extend this thesis process to another quarter. I’ve already paid over $450 in order to graduate in June. I cannot just absorb that cost and shell out another $450 in the fall because my professor was not responsible enough to answer my emails or get back to me in the timely manner that he should.

And I just KNOW that he’s going to tell me that he took so long because my writing is so bad and my editing skills are nonexistent. I can just FEEL this line coming my way.

You know why I went to journalism school? SO I COULD LEARN HOW TO BECOME A BETTER WRITER. You know what skill I did not get at journalism school? HOW TO BE A BETTER WRITER.

I’m just really pissy right now and upset.

I am overwhelmed with stress – so much so that my eye has started twitching on a regular basis and my tension headaches are back with a vengeance.

I am trying to plan how I’m going to be able to finish on time. Because I’m leaving Friday morning for Kansas, I don’t have a lot of time to work on my paper this week… especially because (1) I still don’t have the notes back from my professor, so I don’t have any idea what needs editing/my attention and (2) I’m working 9-5/5:30 Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. This leaves only Tuesday to really work on my paper… and I won’t be able to do that unless I get my notes on Monday. AND, I’m pretty sure that’s not gonna happen.

SO, I think I will try and get Thursday off from work. Hopefully I will have my notes by then. Hopefully I can find someone to cover my shift. If not, then I’ll just call in and suffer the consequences – that will count against my sales goals for the day, it’ll look bad on my record, and that’ll be $50 that I won’t earn because I won’t be working. But, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

I am beyond pissed off, but I am not in control of my professor’s time table, as much as I have told him about the schedule I need to be keeping.

God, I am so tired right now, but I know I will have trouble sleeping because of all this stress 😦 Booooooooooo

Besides all this shitty school stuff, the rest of my day was fine. Dinner with my dad was fun. Then we came home and watched Casino Royale, my favorite James Bond movie. (I saw it twice in theaters, and probably have seen it 15+ times on DVD…). After that, I watched the first five parts of Act 1 of STARSHIP!!!!!!!

I really wanted to stay up and watch the whole thing, but I will watch the rest of it tomorrow. Instead of watching it on my computer, I’m watching it in the living room through our Blu-ray player… everything looks better on a ginormous flat-screen TV than my computer screen. So, I’ll finish watching it tomorrow since I SURE AS SHIT WON’T BE EDITING MY THESIS.

Sorry… I’m frustrated.

Anyway, I am LOVING Starship, just based off of the five parts I watched already!

I’m so happy for the StarKid people for their great work… I am really impressed with the puppets!

Starship is available on DVD, which I will totally be getting soon!!

Anyway, I should try and sleep.

Have a good one

 

“There’s a storm coming, Harry. And we all best be ready when she does.”

It’s mighty gray out tonight… we’re watching the news right now and it looks like some rain storms are heading our way. Any time it’s going to storm, I automatically think of Hagrid’s quote from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix:

Rubeus Hagrid: It’s changing out there. Just like last time. There’s a storm coming, Harry. And we all best be ready when she does.

🙂

Today is my little brother’s birthday. He turned 25… makes me feel old. My brother also makes me think of Harry Potter… not only because he’s the one who introduced me to the franchise, but because my mom always calls him “my boy” (as in her boy, not *my* boy…). And (even though it’s very wrong of us), my brother and I always mock Cedric Diggory’s dad and go “My boooooooooooooooooooooooy“.

I love my brother and was glad I got a chance to chat with him today. He saw Scream 4 last night and we had a rousing conversation about the Scream franchise (I’ve not yet seen Scream 4). We always have good movie chats. Over the years, he’s come to appreciate the semiotics of film (my words, not his).

Today was a fairly busy day, besides chatting with my brother about movies.

My parents had been out of town for a few days, so I had some chores to get done before they got back this afternoon.

After feeding the fish and the dogs, I had some cold pizza for breakfast while I watched the first couple episodes of Little White Lie (for some reason, I started watching the show at Episode 3 yesterday instead of from the beginning… whoops). I then watched some Charlene Kaye/Darren Criss music videos while I was finishing my soda (yes, I had soda with my breakfast… I usually have tea, but I just was not feeling it this morning).

While I was chugging my last sip, I noticed there was some sort of large bird underneath our “professional birding station” (i.e. the elaborate bird feeders in our backyard). At first I thought it was a hawk, so I crept up to the window to get a better look. It wasn’t a hawk – it was a pheasant. I’ve seen pheasants before, but not out in nature like this. So, I grabbed my cell phone and tried to take a couple pictures of it as it was eating and then walking to our neighbor’s backyard. I then called my mom to tell her the news (she and my dad keep a list of the various species of birds that have been seen in our yard). She and my dad thought my pheasant sighting was pretty cool… but she saw a loon yesterday, so that trumped my pheasant story. (Loons are my mom’s favorite bird…)

After my Wild America moment, I brought my stuff from the main floor of the house back down to my room. Then, I came back upstairs to play with the dogs and clean up their toys. I then went on my computer so I could upload some songs onto my iPod. While that was happening, I emailed my thesis chair and re-sent him a copy of my thesis draft. I sent him my draft last Wednesday, but hadn’t heard from him since, so I just wanted to make sure he got it. I’m sure he did get it the first time, but just to be on the safe side, I sent it again. In the email, I also stressed that I really need to graduate in June. I paid $450+ to be registered for my thesis credit and graduation this quarter… I cannot afford to do that again in the fall. That’s too much money.

After computer shenanigans, I took my iPod to the kitchen to listen to my new playlists (hello new Glee music for next week’s episode and all the songs from Darren Criss’s livestream yesterday…) while I washed dishes. I was singing “Born This Way” like my life depended on it… and one of my dog’s was okay with that, while the other one ran in and then started prancing around my feet because I was paying more attention to the music than to her.

Of all the songs from Darren’s livestream yesterday, his song, “Status Quo,” from the upcoming StarKid release Starship was my absolute favorite. I think I’ve listened to that song probably 30+ times today. It’s got really great lyrics and an uber catchy melody. I can’t wait to see Starship – it premieres on Youtube on April 30th 🙂 And hopefully, the StarKids will sing some stuff from Starship during the Digitour next month. “Status Quo” is so great, and I’m assuming the other songs will be just as awesome. I really like Darren’s version, but I’m also very much looking forward to hearing Joey Ricther’s version too!!

Post-dishes, I played some Wii Dance on Broadway. I was determined to beat some of my mom’s scores before she got home… and I did. I now have the high score on “Luck Be a Lady” and “One Night Only”. Woot woot!

After dancing up a storm (I played for 45 minutes… I tried to beat “Bend and Snap” and “All That Jazz,” but to no avail), I let the dogs outside and gave them treats before I made myself some lunch.

I made myself some organic pasta stars in sauce (a.k.a. star-shaped spaghetti-os). They weren’t 5-point stars, though… they were totally Star of David shaped. I laughed and thought of my grandfather 🙂

During lunch, I started watching The Wiz. I have never seen this movie before, but was interested in watching it in honor of the late Sidney Lumet (plus, I love me some Michael Jackson, Diana Ross and the story of The Wizard of Oz). I only got 1/2 hour in, but I’m liking it thus far. It’s kinda dark…

I decided that instead of just watching people sing, that I should partake too. So, I turned off the movie and put in one of my Glee karaoke games for awhile. I stopped after awhile when I realized I still had some stuff to do before my parents got home.

I had the dogs come outside with me when I put more corn and seed out for the critters that visit our backyard. I threw in some laundry and then was going to try and catch up on some TV I’ve missed in the past few weeks (I’m 2 shows behind on HIMYM, 1 behind on Modern Family, 1 behind on Parks and Rec, and 1 behind on Happy Endings). But, as I sat down to my computer, my mom called and said they were 10 minutes away! So, TV will have to wait 🙂

The dogs were super happy to see my parents, as was I, of course. We had some pizza for dinner and now are getting ready to watch American Idol, Bones and 30 Rock.

I have off tomorrow, and I think I’ll help my mom with errands. Also, Darren Criss and the Warblers are on Ellen, so I’ll be watching that too 🙂

Have a good one!!