The Ascended Times

First Strike.

2007-02-19T02:17:00.000-06:00

That's right--it's over. We have finally made it to the end of the new Atlantis episodes until the summer. I knew I would be sad, but I had no idea how hopeless the season finale would feel. At the end of every season (and every mid-season cliffhanger), I think, "How are they ever going to get out of this one?" Of course, every season it gets worse. This time, they've powered up the star drive of the city to escape an Asuran attack and were traveling to a new planet, but they dropped out of hyperspace when they started running too low on power. Now, they're floating out in the middle of space, nowhere near a planet or stargate, with only 24 hours of power. Can you believe that?

I have to say, though, I got chills for the first time since "Rising" when they actually managed to power up the star drive with only one ZPM and began to rise into the air. This slow version of the theme was playing, and it was so powerful that they were actually doing it, that they had managed, for the first time since they arrived on Atlantis three years ago, to fly the city, even if it wasn't for very long. It just shows how far they've come since they got there. I love the way both Stargate shows have the teams getting better, expanding their knowledge, fighting new enemies. It almost made me forgive them for killing Beckett. But not quite.

I had some good luck tonight, and now I'm feeling good. I know I should go to bed soon--I have a class tomorrow--but I'm watching stuff I recorded on the DVR. I'm considering not crashing until after my morning class. My night classes for the next two weeks are cancelled (we're supposed to be working on our papers, ha, ha), and I don't have to work.

"Well, get ready. It's our first day at Police Academy 4."

TV and Ice Cream.

2007-02-14T21:09:00.000-06:00

Is there anything better? We watched Employee of the Month today, but the only parts of the movie worth watching were the parts featuring Dax Shepard as Vince (the bleached blonde guy--"This is an '81 Honda! How dare you!"). I knew Jessica Simpson was a shitty actress, but Dane Cook surprised me with his level of sucking. He is occasionally funny, and I thought he might be able to act just a little, but I was wrong. He was even worse than Johnny Knoxville. Dax Shepard is without a doubt the funniest part of that movie.

We also watched a Psych marathon on SciFi, but I grew bored with it. We just made a run for cigarettes and ice cream, and Kris is finishing Psych. I plan to let my ice cream thaw, and when the show's over, watch the stuff I recorded on the DVR while we watched the marathon--namely, South Park, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Most Shocking. (Did I mention DishNetwork caved and gave us back CourtTV? Because they did!)

I've been catching up on my reading, too. I got a bunch of good strips at work (including Red Dragon, Hannibal, The Devil Wears Prada, Little Children, Eragon, and The Da Vinci Code). I love working in a bookstore.

"You're like a singed Koala looking for an all-night burn center."

The Road Not Taken.

2007-02-11T00:08:00.000-06:00

NO, not the poem. The SG-1 episode!

It was awesome. (I watched it on YouTube, by the way. It's much easier than downloading torrent files.) I thought it was going to be a Carter-McKay episode, which was why I was so excited about it, but it actually ended up being much better. Landry (Beau Bridges) was the President and Hammond (Don Davis) was still in charge of the SGC in the alternate reality, and it really delved into how the government can take away freedoms in a time of crisis slowly, until you have nothing left. That was what had happened in this reality. The people had found out about the Stargate program and the impending Ori attack, and there was rioting in the streets and chaos. Landry declared martial law, then pretty much took away all forms of free speech and began running the government almost like a dictatorship. It was a nice commentary that seemed to stem from current events. (I don't want to speculate too much on the origins of the episode without knowing for sure, but after watching it, it seems like a safe bet to me.)

Okay, now I need to smoke. But I leave you with this:

Carter: The McKay I know would never back down from a challenge. In my reality, he is a forthright, unselfish, courageous person.
McKay: You're lying, aren't you?
Carter: Um...
McKay: Fine, I'll help you.

Death and Scrubs.

2007-02-03T15:07:00.000-06:00

Well, I just found out that someone is going to die at the end of season six of Scrubs. After reading on Wikipedia that Nurse Roberts (Lavern) would be in a coma, I felt sure it was her. However, after reflecting on it for awhile, I have decided that is certainly not definite. They have a tendency to try to trick us--like when they killed off Ben Sullivan (Brendan Fraser), but didn't reveal it until the very end. I read that it would definitely be a character who has been on the show "since the beginning," but there are lots of characters that have been mentioned but not seen since the beginning, and I think it would be just like the show to make you worry about Nurse Roberts, then kill off someone we've never even seen before. Someone suggested to me that it could even be Enid (Kelso's wife), and I think that would be an interesting turn. Killing off Lavern just seems pointless.

Apparently I've been thinking about this too much, because last night I dreamed that they killed Carla. I woke up really, really upset, then realized that it wasn't real and that I am a loser.

"The only thing I detest more than treating patients is treating patients on an empty stomach."

Submersion.

2007-02-01T23:47:00.000-06:00

"Submersion" was a good episode to follow Carson's death. They got out of the city and away from the scene of the accident, it was funny, and Dr. Weir even went with them. I am going to miss her so much.

The best part was, though, that it was about the Wraith. I have to say, I've really been missing the Wraith lately--it's always Asurans (who scare the living crap out of me) or some other random people that they run into on other planets.

The episode starts with Weir, Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla, McKay, and a shitload of scientists all crammed in a jumper. (We couldn't figure out why they had so many people shoved in there, until we realized that they probably needed some extras to kill off.) McKay gets shoved to the back (where all of the scientists are--"Back of the jumper") when Weir moves into the cockpit. There's a hilarious bit about McKay not remembering the other scientists' names (a sure sign they'll end up dead). They finally find the moving geothermal energy platform they've been searching for underwater and board it.

Teyla immediately senses the presence of Wraith. She tries to reach out with her mind for them, but then says that she "was mistaken." They take her at her word and split up to begin exploring the platform. Teyla and Ronon move off together, but she attacks Ronon, then begans shutting down primary systems, power, and lights to the station. When she finally comes to, she doesn't remember anything that happened, and they begin to realize that the Wraith Teyla sensed had been remotely controlling her. By the time Ronon and Sheppard find the Wraith, a queen, she has already killed the two scientists whose names McKay had forgotten. They have to flood the area they're in to knock her out, which cuts them off from the jumper. They secure the queen, and Teyla probes her mind to find out that she arrived at the station after they did, which explains why their sensors did not pick up her presence the first time that they scanned. Teyla also discovers that she had been living in a crashed dart under the ocean for thousands of years, since the war between the Wraith and the Lanteans, and that she has set the dart to self destruct and kill them all.

McKay and Sheppard realize that they have to stop the self-destruct, and they use some high-pressure suits in the station to make their way across the ocean floor to the crashed dart. McKay, of course, spends most of the trek complaining about knowing "exactly how much pressure" is bearing down on them and how difficult it is to walk. (They look really funny making that journey, by the way, and pretty much bitch at each other the whole time.) McKay tries to figure out how to shut down the self-destruct, but it's no use.

Teyla realizes that the only way is for her to link minds with the Wraith again, even though she is becoming weak from her repeated efforts to gather information. The Wraith makes Teyla release her chains, then probes her mind to discover that her dart is operational and would be able to return her to the surface--a trap set by the team to trick her. She goes to the dart and disengages the self-destruct, and then Sheppard begins shooting her. McKay pops out from behind a wall and shoots her too, but as she keeps coming at him, he yells, "She's not dying according to plan!" Finally, they kill her and return to the station to begin their research. Sheppard, Ronon, and Teyla agree that they are more interested in resting than in exploring.

I haven't been able to see the SG-1 episodes yet, but I did read about them. The third episode, "The Road Not Taken," will send Carter to an alternate reality (God, I love alternate realities--almost as much as I love time travel and time dilation fields) where--get this--SHE AND McKAY ARE DIVORCED! Hilarious. I absolutely cannot wait.

And the movies will be Stargate SG-1: The Ark of Truth and Stargate SG-1: Continuum. They are supposed to be released directly to DVD this fall. I can't wait for that either.

All in all, Stargate is rocking my world right now. (Except for poor Beckett, who I miss terribly. Come back, Carson!)

"She's not dying according to plan!"

Bad day.

2007-01-28T01:04:00.000-06:00

I'm having a bad day. I can't really pinpoint anything really bad happening to me today, I just feel like I had a bad day.

I guess I'm going to try going to sleep, even though I'm not tired at all.

I wish I could sleep like a normal person.

Good Things for Tomorrow
New Battlestar Galactica.
New Dresden Files. (Cheesey, but addictive.)
Adult Swim.
Green.

And by the way, this stuff is coming up:
Stargate SG-1, last season--April 6th
Stargate Atlantis, third season--April 6th
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, third season--this summer
Aqua Teen Movie--March 23rd (supposedly)
Stargate SG-1: The Ark of Truth, movie--this fall

"So say we all."

WARNING: Major Atlantis Spoilers.

2007-01-21T12:25:00.000-06:00

I am very, very sad. I finally saw "The Ark" and "Sunday" last night. "The Ark" was good--funny, good things happened, etc. But "Sunday"--well, words fail me. It's incredibly depressing.

Of course, Mom and I had been reading all over the Internet that they were going to write Carson Beckett out of the show, and for the longest time, we didn't know when, how, or why. We still don't know why. There was already tons of stuff by the time we saw the episode that confirmed that "Sunday" was in fact the episode where Carson "disappears"--and that he wasn't just being written out, he was getting killed off. We spent the whole episode hoping that it was somehow all a big mistake, but he does die at the end. The worst part is that they set the whole episode up with tiny details that, if only one of them had been different, Carson would probably be alive. At the end, they really screw the fans--he was just a few steps away from being away from the bomb enough to survive.

I feel like the writers have let me down. I thought he was safe when he made it into the opening credits season two, but apparently I was wrong. This sucks. Mom and I were crying pretty much from when he went into surgery until about half an hour after the episode was over. Why are they doing this to us? It was one thing to kill off Grodin in season one, then get rid of Ford in season two (where the hell is he now, by the way?), but killing off Carson is almost like killing off Sheppard or McKay. Mom also told me that they're writing Weir out of the show and replacing her with Carter from SG1! That really, really makes me mad. I love Carter, don't get me wrong, but she does not belong on Atlantis. Weir has been in charge for three years, and she is the most qualified to run that base. Not to mention that if Carter really takes over, Sheppard will be outranked and no longer in charge of the military operations. I think that's just shitty. He's been ranking military officer since about halfway into the first episode, and he deserves it.

I used to watch SG1 and be amazed at how in tune they seemed to be with the fans. They made jokes at their own expense, they brought up things people had said, they even spoofed Daniel Jackson's return to the show via the fans. A lot of times lately though, when I watch SGA (which is probably my favorite even over SG1), I feel like they're really letting us down. I used to defend the writers' decisions because I believed that they were truly trying to do things for us, but I definitely don't feel that anymore. Killing off Beckett was almost as pointless as killing Wash in the last twenty minutes of Serenity.

I guess I'm just scared that, with all of these negative changes and stupid moves, the Stargate franchise may really be over soon. That makes me incredibly sad. It was my very favorite of all shows, and it helped me escape from my problems in the world for awhile. Now, though, it's becoming another problem for me.

When I watch TV shows, I don't want to see a lot of death and sadness. I watch TV as an escape from death and sadness in the real world. I don't need it thrust upon me in my shows. Some characters are okay to kill--but only if they're extras, and you need to label them as such so we know that they aren't going to make it. (Just do it like SG1--if you're some high number team, like SG13, you're probably not going to make it.)

Mom and I made a pact that, if for some outrageous reason, they ever kill off McKay or Sheppard, we will stop watching. That's a pretty big deal for us. Mom's been watching SG1 for ten years, and I am so in love with Stargate that I have a tattoo on my wrist of the origin symbol for earth. But without our guys, the show is truly over for us. Fortunately, I doubt that will ever happen (although after this, I'm not entirely certain anymore).

We will miss you, Beckett. You were a good man, and a good friend. You will always be remembered.

Term Paper.

2007-01-18T22:30:00.000-06:00

I'm attempting to get a head start on my term paper this year. I always wait until the last minute and then I hate myself.

I'm doing the same basic paper for Plagues and Pestilence and Practice of History (I'll have to expand it quite a bit to turn it in for Practice), and I've now been on the computer for two hours going through medical journals looking for anything on Marburg and Ebola (which, of course, is the topic that I chose). I want to have a formal prospectus ready by tomorrow so I can get Dr. Anderson on board. Then I'll be at least a week ahead in P&P and 2 weeks ahead in Practice.

This is turning into a major pain in my ass. I'm actually looking for something really specific: a book of papers published in 1970 in a symposium at the University of Marburg about the outbreak in 1967. It would make a terrific primary source, and I would love to get it in the original German, but it's impossible to find. I need it, though. I'm going to keep looking forever, because that is the most perfect primary that I could ever imagine. It was the first thing published about Marburg, after the very first known outbreak. If only I could find it!

Well, back to my research. I want to have this paper done by Spring Break. (The best laid plans, I know.) Auf wieder...schreiben? Wieder lesen?

And on that note...

"So long! Farewell! Auf wieder sehen, good-bye!"

One more thing.

2007-01-10T01:08:00.000-06:00

And also, just once, I wish that a professor would notice my Stargate necklace and talk to me about it. I could develop a real ccomraderie with another Stargate fan.

Okay, everything else aside, they're finally putting Get Smart on DVD!!! This is so exciting to me. I'm always complaining that TVLand stopped playing it. It's one of my very favorite shows. It was so funny. Sorry, but it kicks The A-Team's ass.

"Missed it by that much!"

School started.

2007-01-10T00:58:00.000-06:00

Plagues and Pestilence is rocking my world so far, just like I thought that it would. Unfortunately, as part of my Practice of History class (yawn; the whole class is learning how to write a research paper, which you should have learned in high school) I have to write a juvenile paper titled "Why I Became a History Major." How is this different from "What I Did on My Summer Vactation" from fourth grade? There is no difference.

Disease is really scary, but there's something fascinating about it, too. Ebola and Marburg are my personal choices for study. This class will eventually get to them and AIDS too (another personal favorite of mine, because I saw that documentary about Hooper's theory that AIDS actually broke into the human population via the oral polio vaccine developed by Hilary Koprowski and given to many Africans during the '60s. Contreversial stuff, but also very, very interesting.

Can't sleep, but I have my P&P class tomorrow. I read the chapter and read the notes online. I'm so ready. Hopefully, I'll get my German book tomorrow and be just as ready for German Civilization on Thursday. (I like that class, too, but those two are really the only ones that I have any real interest in. Practice, Concepts, and American Government (as taught by Patrick Stewart--no, unfortunately, not that Patrick Stewart) are incredibly boring. I was actually looking forward to Government, too, but so far it's been a huge disappointment, and it's going to include group work--which I hate--and sitting too close to everyone else in the class--which makes me very uncomfortable. I need to sit in a more secluded area or I feel like people are crowding me.

Well, I guess I should go to sleep. I have class at 11am tomorrow, and for me, that's very early.

"Call me Mayor Chapstick."

My super cool dream.

2007-01-02T15:17:00.000-06:00

I had this really cool dream the other night that I am really proud of. Kris and I were on some kind of game show where teams composed of two people had to do these stupid tasks. The only one that I remember was us using some kind of pump to inflate a giant yellow elephant balloon, but ours had a hole in it. I was trying to fix it, but Kris pointed out that the rules said we had to inflate the balloon, but not that it had to stay inflated, so once we finished, we just abandoned it with air leaking out of it. We were winning, too. We ran down this hallway, turned a corner, and I started running down the stairs so that we could get outside and run toward some kind of mountain, where our last task awaited us. As I ran down the stairs, I looked over and saw one of the other teams--oddly enough composed of Dick Cheney and Angelina Jolie--trying to inflate their giant elephant balloon, only theirs was purple. Angelina was wearing an evening gown and high heels with her hand on her hip while Cheney tried to inflate the balloon, and they were bitching at each other. I turned to Kris so that we could point and laugh, but I couldn't find him. I got to the bottom of the stairs and looked around, and suddenly he sailed down from this ledge up high, landed on his feet in some kind of kung fu pose, and looked over at me. I said, "Let's roll," and he rolled his eyes and said, "Let's just go." We started running toward the mountain, and that was about the time Kris woke me up. I still wonder what that last challenge was.

The only thing that I remember from before the contest started was that we were on a ferris wheel with Kate Moss and she passed us a joint. Weird.

I'm trying to talk Kris into seeing The Holiday with me on his day off. I only want to see it to watch Jack Black and Kate Winslet get together, and now I've waited long enough that if we go to a matinee, there probably won't be anybody else there. (I hate crowds--well, other people, really--so I always try to time my movie experiences that way. The only one I didn't do that with was Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, and I absolutely couldn't wait for that one, so I went to a matinee on opening day. There still weren't very many people there, but I was the only one laughing out loud. I'm still not sure what was wrong with everyone else.)

Time to finish my DVD. I'm putting Slither and an episode of Scrubs on a disc for Mom. Tonight we watch "The Game"!

"His chin looks like balls. Should I cover that too?"

New movies.

2007-01-01T00:35:00.000-06:00

Been awhile. Hey, some of us have lives.

(Yeah, I know. I laughed at that one, too.)

Anyway, I've enjoyed some movies lately, and I would like to share them with you. The most important was Nothing, which I ordered from work and finally got a month later. It was God-awful, but I got it because David Hewlett starred in it, and I really liked it, but I also recognize that you'd have to be a DH fan to actually enjoy it. Kris actually watched the whole thing with me, if you can believe it, but he kept looking at me and rolling his eyes, and the only part that he actually laughed out loud for was when Dave was trying to play the drums better, and he kept trying to hate away memories that held him back, but every time he played, he still sounded the same. Finally, Andrew says, "It sounds exactly the same," and Dave replies, "Yeah, I know, but I just hated away that I gave a shit."

Next on my list was Clerks II, and it rocked my world. It was possibly even funnier than the first. My absolute favorite part was when Randall took on two Lord of the Rings nerds (because Star Wars is the ONLY trilogy), and he actually made one of them puke. Plus, he said the exact same things that I said about Frodo and Sam when I saw the movie. (Sorry, guys; Star Wars IS the only trilogy. Count it.)

Then Kris bought Dead Man's Chest because he couldn't stand not seeing it anymore, which made me incredibly happy, too. It was awesome. Also possibly better than the first. Johnny Depp rules one of my many worlds. I really, really hope he goes for it with Tim Burton and plays Sweeney Todd. That would make me happier than I can possibly describe. He would make the perfect demon barber of Fleet Street.

We also watched Superman Returns. It really didn't impress me that much--I just wanted to see Kevin Spacey play Lex Luthor, which by the way, he rocked. I love Kevin Spacey. My favorite Spacey movie is one of my favorite Jeff Bridges movies, too--K-PAX. Ah. I love the Bridges brothers, too. (Because as I'm sure you know, Beau Bridges joined the cast of SG-1 last year. Rock!)

I'm still hung up on Scrubs, and still for Cox. I love sarcastic guys. I also love these guys because I see a lot of Kris in them. Kris likes a lot of them, too, whether he'll admit it or not, because he sees hmself in them, too. (If you're counting, he likes Jack Sparrow--well, Johnny Depp, too; Dead Man is one of his favorite movies--Dr. Cox, and Randall, but he still hates McKay--my crush on him is too big--and Dante--he thinks he's a dork. Actually, we got into a big fight because I like Dante because Kris says he's ugly. He's not ugly, though, he's adorable, and I think he's sweet. Kris hates him.)

I also got a super cool talking Peter Griffin pen (Family Guy). He says a lot of really funny stuff, including my favorite, "A degenerate am I? Well you are a festezio. See? I can make up words too, sister," and the ever funny, "I have an idea. An idea so smart my head would explode if I even began to know what I was talking about." Good stuff.

Still can't sleep. I was up till 5:00 this morning, then slept for three hours. Then Kris brought me a Denver omelette burrito, and I was up for awhile longer. Mmm. It was good, too. Now I'm listening to the Scissor Sisters (quietly, because Kris is asleep, but he stayed up until midnight so that we could kiss. I can't believe this is our third New Year together.)

Anyway, Scrubs time!

"Form of...an ice menorah!"

The Tao of Rodney.

2006-12-21T00:49:00.000-06:00

Well, I wrote a really detailed description of "The Tao of Rodney," but my stupid computer shut down and now it's gone. Let me just say, it rocked my world. I love Dr. McKay. Unfortunately, my love of McKay is slowly being pushed aside by my love of Dr. Perry Cox of Scrubs. Even Kris likes Dr. Cox, and usually when I'm in love with a TV character, Kris hates him. This time, though, he actually respects my love enough to not comment on it. He even likes singing his wrong song.

And now, Dr. Cox:

I suppose I could riff a list of things that I care as little about as our last week. Let's see... low carb diets, Michael Moore, the Republican National Convention, Kabbalah & all Kabbalah-related products, Hi-Def TV, the Bush daughters, wireless hotspots, the OC, the UN, recycling, getting Punk'd, Danny Gans, the Latin Grammys, the real Grammys, Jeff that Wiggle that sleeps too darn much, the Yankees payroll, all the red states, all the blue states, every hybrid car, every talk show, everything on the planet, everything in the solar system, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything every-everything that exists, past, present, and future, in discovered and undiscovered dimensions! ...Oh, and Hugh Jackman.

(And J.D.'s mental response to this? "Hugh Jackman is Wolverine! How dare he.")

RE: Bastards!

2006-12-18T23:11:00.000-06:00

Those bastards at ASU STILL have not posted my grades. They will pay!

Bastards!

2006-12-16T01:29:00.000-06:00

Grades now will not be posted until Monday. There is no excuse for my grades not to be up. I took my last final over a week ago. Sorry, but I remember my professors not being lenient with me about this kind of stuff, and I don't ever remember getting more than a week to finish an assignment, either.

I couldn't find where they should be posted before, but I finally found out it's under "Registration History." I have no idea why. Shouldn't it be under "Records"? I mean, it's a record of how you did in the class, right? But don't ask me. I'm just a college student.

"Ah, the pitter patter of tiny feet in huge combat boots."

Fall Grades.

2006-12-14T14:03:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine told me the other day that grades for the University would be posted on the website Thursday. And what a surprise, ASU hasn't gotten around to posting them. What a shock. See, I could probably view them on my transcript, but I have a hold on my account because I owe them $50. Not for a parking fine or anything (although they do love to give those out). In fact, this is the first semester that I've ever not gotten a single ticket. No, the reason I owe them money is from an internal error. I got my parking tag the first day of classes, which they charge to your account. For some reason, though, they decided to send me a refund check for my excess financial aid before charging my parking tag to my account. Grr. It's infuriating. I just want to see if I passed.

I would go pay it today, but that would eat up all the money that I have, so I'm going to wait until I get paid tomorrow.

I miss Kris. He's at work.

I made a pretty good five-alarm chili last night, but since it required some beer to make it, I used it as an opportunity to go to the liquor store, and I got a little tipsy last night, which did not mix well with the chili. Fortunately, I slept it off before I got sick.

Later!

"I can be terse. Once in flight school I was laconic."

Nathan Fillion!

2006-12-13T05:37:00.000-06:00

Can't sleep, can't sleep! (It's after 5:30 a.m., by the way.)

I watched Slither a few hours ago, and it was good. Plus, Nathan Fillion (who you should remember as Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly) is the hero, an adorable small town police chief who curses a lot. Awesome. Although I am still experiencing some lingering sadness about the death of the Mayor, who sent me into fits of hysteria with his rants. His rage over the lack of Mr. Pibb in the cooler while everybody was getting taken over by slug-like creatures was particularly memorable.

Now I'm watching Firefly in honor of Nathan while trying to wake my boyfriend out of a sound sleep for work. Since I can't ever sleep, I have become a human alarm clock.

By the way, I chickened out of my haircut before Thanksgiving. Maybe later today?

"Hey, I didn't fight in no war. Good luck to you, though!"

Irresponsible.

2006-12-12T02:03:00.000-06:00

That's right, I saw "Irresponsible," the next installment in my series of Atlantis episodes that won't be shown in the U.S. until March. I rule, I know. It was pretty good, but the stuff with Kolya and Sheppard was pretty anticlimactic, not to mention that there wasn't even close to enough McKay time. I can't wait for "The Game." It's going to rule.

I also had an awkward conversation with my mom about why I don't go to church. Yikes.

I've been watching Scrubs (for Dr. Cox, like I always say), and it's been pretty funny. Turk sings this hilarious song to his wife to the tune of the Sandford and Son theme song:

"Quet down now
It is time to watch the show
Yes it's starting
Don't be lickin' me no mo'
Matter of fact, get me a Handi-Wipe!"

Turk's other hilarious moment came when he beat his wife arm wrestling and said, "Do you see what happens, Carla? Do you see what happens when you mess with the warrior?" It was pretty awesome, but unfortunately, now it's Kris's new thing.

We got Marvel Ultimate Alliance from GameFly yesterday, and it rocks my world. Right now I'm playing Wolverine. Kris and I were playing together--he was Thor--but he quit because I wouldn't stop telling him how gay Thor is. Now I have to play alone.

Well, I actually only got on to kill some time. I want to watch World's Wildest Police Videos, but I wanted to let it go for a few minutes so that I can fast forward through the commercials. I love police videos. You see some pretty wild shit on them. I've seen cars get T-boned by 18 wheelers, I've seen crazy fugitives, I've seen cars fly into establishments, I've seen cars explode, and I've seen more car crashes and PIT maneuvers than I can even remember.

"Lemme ask you a quick question: are you trying to make my head explode? Because you have no idea just how frustrating it is working your ass off trying to inflate a tiny little balloon inside somebody's clogged artery when all that person has to do, really is - oh, I don't know - go for a walk in the morning or choke down a fresh green salad. And you come back here looking like that? And, I know here, I know I'm supposed to be Dr. Give-A-Crap, but you wanna hear the God's honest truth? And this is a fact: you are what you eat. And you clearly went out and devoured a big fat guy, didn't ya?"
--Dr. Cox to a fat patient

Free at last!

2006-12-08T02:45:00.000-06:00

Dr. Cox: Go ahead and thank what's-his-name.
Nurse: Jesus?
Dr. Cox: That's the one.

That's about how I feel right now. You see, normally right now, I'd be saying, Oh, crap, it's 2:00 in the morning and... then I would worry about how I should be asleep so that I could get up and go to class tomorrow, or how I was neglecting to do some studying or homework. But not now, baby! I finished my last final today, and that means I have a month out of school with no worries about papers or grades. Hallelujah!

Tomorrow, Kris and I both get paid, and I'm off! I already registered for classes. I'm excited about Plagues and Pestilence, which will be taught by my advisor and is about the history of disease around the world. It will be interesting, and it will count for one of my world histories (after this I only need one more). We even talked in her office about The Hot Zone and The Cobra Event. Unfortunately, I can't put off taking Practice of History anymore, even though I already know how to write a paper in a history class. I've been doing it for several years, thank you. That's what the whole class is, you know. An introduction to Tarabian (which I had to use in high school) and how to cite sources, with a big paper due at the end that you have to have an advisor for. (My plan right now is to do something on disease and get my advisor to help with that, too.)

After this semester, just two more German classes until I finish my minor. Plus, my advisor thinks that I can graduate next spring! I'm on the road.

Saw "Echoes," and it was funny and cool, of course. Poor Rodney; he had to take Drammamine before he could go down in the water in a Jumper for the third time since they arrived on Atlantis, and the second time within two consecutive episodes. I love sarcastic guys so much, it's really pathetic. The only reason that I watch Scrubs is because of Perry (Dr. Cox). I really don't like any of the other characters, except maybe the Janitor. I actually want to scratch Elliot's eyes out with a scalpel. But Dr. Cox makes everything worth it. He's just so mean. He makes me so happy. I've even been watching a little Becker recently, and he made me happy just the other day by blaming some gum he stepped in on the street on the IRS. It was beautiful.

"Impossible! It came to me in a dream. And I forgot it in another dream."

My new hero.

2006-12-04T02:21:00.000-06:00

I have found someone new to worship, and that person is Chelsea Handler. I liked a lot of the things that she said on her show, but the main thing that made me sit up and pay attention was this line: "And why are we letting Angelina Jolie have kids? Doesn't anybody remember when she was making out with her brother with a vial of blood around her neck? I would rather see a baby in a dumpster than in her arms." It's about time that somebody said it. I've been thinking it ever since I saw all the shit that's out about what an amazing activist and mother she is. Please! It's easy to be an activist when you're a celebrity. They act like we're all bad people for not donating money and time, but some of us don't have any of either. If I were a celebrity with millions of dollars, I'm sure that I could throw a few thousand at a charity and take a token trip to an orphanage in Africa, too. (Although after reading The Hot Zone, I'm pretty much scared shitless of Africa.) I just think that rich people who preach at us are all hypocrites. Why don't you give up your million dollar homes and all of your material things if it's so important to help others? Why do you need all that money? Don't preach at us, bitch.

On a lighter note, my mother and I will be watching the next episode of Atlantis tomorrow, called "Echoes." It will be about McKay and Sheppard going down in the water in a jumper (the second time McKay has had to do it since his traumatic experience in "Grace under Pressure") to study whales. It's going to be awesome, probably with a lot of McKay and Sheppard back and forth. Yay illegal downloads!

Back to annoyed. I'm almost out of cigarettes, so I have to ration them because I'm not going out again. Wah. I like cigarettes.

Time for South Park!

"Bodies are for hookers and fat people."

I'm a nerd.

2006-11-28T18:58:00.000-06:00

Yes, I know I'm a nerd. This isn't exactly a revelation. But I was talking to this girl in my German class after we finished asking each other the questions we had to ask, and she saw the tattoo on my arm and the necklace I was wearing, plus the giant picture of Rodney McKay on the front of my folder, the Earth address from the side of my folder, and the coverstone from the back of my folder, and she said, "So, I guess you're like a Stargate superfan, huh?" I immediately began explaining to her why it's the best show ever, and she held up her hands and said, "So if I looked up the definition of the word 'fan' in the dictionary, would I see your picture?" I was like, "Of course!" She did patiently listen to me talk about it, though.

Then I got home and looked at my blog, and I realized it's all Stargate, Star Wars, Tenacious D, and Family Guy. So I am going to talk about something else. Hazzah!

So...uh...

What's up?

....

Well, uh, gotta go to the store and get dinner. See ya!

"How can you be a scientist and not worship at the altar of Roddenberry?"
(Yes, it's Coombs from Stargate. So sue me.)

I learned something interesting.

2006-11-27T19:44:00.000-06:00

I went to two classes today, which at first bummed me out after a whole week of no classes, but I actually learned some cool stuff today.

My two classes were Art and Arkansas History, both of which normally bore me to tears. (I kind of like AR Hist., but the class is two and a half hours long, and my attention holds at one hour, tops.)

In art, I learned about the surreal movement in Europe and that they were actually painting dreams by allowing their subconscious to take over the work. It was pretty neat, and it brought this painting into some much-needed context.

Then, in AR History, I found out the George Takei was interned with his family in the camp at Rowher during World War II. I saw a special once on TV where he talked about the internment camps (and how that contributed a lot to his need to hide his homosexuality for so long), but I didn't realize at the time that it was actually in Arkansas. Interesting stuff.

In other news, The D's movie rocked my world. My favorite line was when open-mic night guy gets up on stage to read what the band asked him to say before they play (if you've seen the episodes, you know that part was a hilarious staple of the show). The card says something like, "It was foretold that a band would come, and now they have. And they will come again, here, in your ear-pussies." Almost as good is when Jack is telling Kyle that finding the pick is more important than women and orders him to "get his head out of the pussy clouds!"

And I have now seen the second part of "The Return"! That's right, and it won't even be on Sci Fi until March, but Mom and I have seen it. It was one of the best second parts I've ever seen, and definitely one of the most fulfilling. Sometimes they have to drag the second part out into a third episode (the beginning of this season is a prime example), but they didn't do it this time. The jokes just kept coming, too, and McKay and O'Neill had some of their best lines ever. (Like when O'Neill says, "They've got Beckett! I feel comforted." Or when Woolsey says, "That sounded like an explosion! What was it?" O'Neill replies, "Something exploding.") McKay saved the world (yes, he is Superman, regardless of what he says); Sheppard fought back Asurans and ran around (looking tasty while doing it, of course); O'Neill pulled some cool moves, including diving into a submerged portion of the city to shut down operations for the team in the Jumper (eerily reminiscent of Kurt Russell's last scene in Poseidon); Teyla and Ronan held the Asurans at bay; Weir and Beckett helped execute the plan; and Woolsey...well, he was there, too.

Time to eat! (Yes, again.)

"Oh, my God! I'm a fat guy!"

Tenacious D! The Pick of Destiny! Yay!

2006-11-22T02:40:00.000-06:00

Can you tell that I'm excited? I remember reading about the Tenacious D movie for the first time like a year ago while surfing the Internet late at night, and now here I am, on the cusp of finally getting to watch it!! I'm so excited that I can't sleep. I'm going at 1:30 tomorrow (I have to work at 5, so that's the only one I can go to). I hope it's not packed, but I'm sure it will be--tomorrow's opening day. But then again, maybe everybody will be getting ready for Thanksgiving.

Yay!

And now, let us all enjoy The D:

"There were some scientists
Tryin' to figure out the Sasquatch riddle
Then they figured out it was a missing link
In Search of Sasquatch
That was a kickass In Search of
With Leonard Nimoy
Kicking out the jams
He captured imaginations
Of people all around the globe
His name was Sasquatch
So I'm told
His legend's ancient
In the ancient scribe
Of the Indian tribe
Apache tribe..."

--From the episode entitled "Death of a Dream"

Thanksgiving dinner moved. Grrr.

2006-11-21T14:56:00.000-06:00

Dad moved Thanksgiving dinner to 5:00 pm, which is outrageous. We always have dinner at noon, or maybe one. When Mom told me, I said, "That's an abomination!" She laughed. I also said that he only has to make these big meals like 2 or 3 times a year, so he needs to suck it up, be a man, and have dinner ready on time. But what's done is done. Dinner's at 5.

Of course, that throws off my whole schedule. Now we'll have to drive to Cherokee Village in the morning and have lunch with Kris's family first, then come back home for dinner at my parents'. As much complaining as I've done, though, this will actually be easier. We won't have to drive back to Jonesboro in the middle of the night or spend the night in Cherokee, so I guess this actually works out better. The main down side is that I think my sister's husband will be able to come now, and I was looking forward to hanging out with Kayla without Joe.

Anyway, I'm really only on the Internet to get the codes for unlimited health and force on the Revenge of the Sith video game. It's the only way I can play--I suck. Plus, I was tired of watching Kris throw the controller across the room every time Mace Windu kicked his ass. We got the super sabers code, too, and the super sabers are badass, but everyone has them but us.

Kris keeps saying he's sick of getting Star Wars games, but he's the one who always ends up playing them. So ha! (They talk way too much in Revenge of the Sith, though. If I hear Anakin say, "I'm more than your average Jedi" one more time, I'm going to kill him myself.

"I'll cut you in half, traitor!" --One of the random Jedi in the Temple

Poor Dr. Felger.

2006-11-17T01:18:00.000-06:00

Poor Dr. Felger. I know he's a screw-up, but he tries so hard. His most redeemingly quality (besides his innate nerdiness) is that he worships SG-1. He's one of the few people who recognizes their greatness on the show, and I appreciate him for that.

Why am I talking about Felger? I just watched "The Other Guys" for the first time (I got season 6 from Netflix; I've never watched it before because 1) my mom doesn't own it like she does the other seasons, and 2) Daniel Jackson ascended and was replaced with Jonas Quinn, whom I'm not fond of). It was so funny. It made me so happy. Just the references to other sci-fi shows alone was worth it. I liked it when Herak showed up and named off the SG-1 members one by one until he got to Jonas, and said, "You I'm not familiar with." O'Neill explaned that he was new.

I'm also excited about Thanksgiving. Why, you ask? Well, I'll tell you! I love to eat--food is one of my great loves (right up there with television and Steely Dan), and Thanksgiving is all about the food. (Oh, and giving thanks, I guess. But mostly the food.) One of the reasons I love Dr. McKay so much is his own personal love of food. He's always hungry. And I particularly love the food down here--it's one of the truly great things about living in the South. Thanksgiving is always a big spread at my house. We'll have ham and turkey for sure, and it's possible that my grandfather will bring lamb. Green bean casserole, cauliflower casserole (Dad mad it up--it has cauliflower, rice, cream of mushroom soup, and cheese), Mom's homemade rolls, two kinds of dressing (Mom's traditional and Dad's "everything but the kitchen sink"), cranberry sauce (with and without berries), skin-on mashed potatoes, and giblet gravy. And for dessert, pumpkin pie, pecan pie (made the Southern way, with lots of Karo), chocolate pecan pie (my Mom's family recipe), Grandma's macaroni salad, and possibly Dad's famous magic bars (with chocolate, coconut, and nuts). Awesome!

The best part is that Kris and I are going to try to go to my parents' house for lunch, then go to his family's house for dinner. That means 2 huge meals and 2 sets of leftovers! (Kris and I know how to work Thanksgiving.)

I'm probably going to go get my hair cut tomorrow. I'm out of classes for a whole week, and I have to work tomorrow, but not until 5:00. I like to get my hair cut before the holidays so that I look good when we see our families, particularly Kris's. After all, I'm a decade younger than he is, and I don't want to look like a bimbo. It's going to be the shortest "Major Carter cut" I've ever gotten. (Yes, I get my hair cut like Carter's. It's not that bad; I used to get it cut like Monica from season two of Friends. I like to pick one cut and stick with it, and I usually take in the exact same picture. I get my hair cut about every three months, and they've gotten used to me.)

Here's a picture of what I want:

"You ended that sentence with a preposition! Bastard." --Col. O'Neill