My Newest Desktop Picture and Associated Obsession

I present to you ("you" meaning anyone other than me that is reading this) my newest desktop picture. Ta da!

Along with this wallpaper (which took me two-three hours to make in Photoshop) I present my newest obsessions: Doctor Who and David Tennant (and Torchwood, but that's not in the wallpaper).

I went on a Doctor Who and Torchwood bender. I watched all of the new!Who, the show that restarted in 2005, and Torchwood in about three and a half weeks. During that time I also went to classes and socialized. It was great fun. I am, at this moment, listening to the Torchwood soundtrack, and have been doing so for the past week or so. Because one of the first things I noticed when I started watching Torchwood was that I really liked the music. I also really like the opening. I'm taking a class called Digital Interactive Design this semester. It's a Flash class. And I would love to be able to make a sequence as cool as the Torchwood opening in Flash.

Creatures and Lengends Myths for My NaNo

"List of Legendary Creatures," at WikiPedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_legendary_creatures)
This seems like a good place to start. A jumping off point of sorts.

"Top 10 Mythical Creatures," at List Universe (http://listverse.com/bizarre/top-10-mythical-creatures/)

These are creatures that I really don't want to use in my NaNovel unless I dig really deep into research and do them differently than others have before. I just think that they are too common. Also: dragons and angels, but I am willing to change my mind if the story needs it.

NaNoWriMo: Is It November Yet?

I've given up on doing homework for the night, and instead I'm looking through the NaNoWriMo forums. I don't why looking through the forums gets me so pumped for November, but it does. I'm ready, well, inpiration wise. I have no plot, or characters. But those things don't really matter for NaNoWriMo anyway.

One thing that I've found that looks interesting (while looking through the forums) is a program called Temptation Blocker. The link is here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/temptblocker/, and I think I'll be putting it on my laptop when I get home from work tonight.

I've also just noticed that I can't find my NaNo 2007 winner badges, so I'm going to look for them online and steal them, because I thought I'd posted them on here, but apparently not. I did win though. No doubt about it.

101 Goals in 1001 Days?

I think I'm going to write up a list of 101 goals to achieve in 1001 days. It seems like an interesting concept, and I really love lists. I've fallen a little bit behind in my homework and need a few days to catch up and write my list of goals, but once I've made the list I'll post it here on my blog so that other people can attempt to keep me going toward my goals.

If you think the concept of 101 Goals in 1001 Days Sounds interesting and would like to learn more, here is the web address: http://www.101goalsin1001days.com/.

Dr. Horrible, Roswell, 21, Stargate Atlantis & More

I haven't posted in a while and figured that now is the time to do it. I have a couple of things to blog about, so here goes.

Dr. Horrible. Love it! I just checked the play count on my iTunes copy of Dr. Horrible and I've watched Act I 4 times, Act II 2 times and Act III 1 time. I've watched it 3 or four times all the way through on my iPod too. It turns out that Dr. Horrible has the ability to make sweeping and mopping at Dunkin Donuts more fun. I like that I can listen to it on my iPod while mopping without watching it. I love Dr. Horrible in ways that I can't even describe. I'll compare my love for it to my love for Stargate Atlantis and Supernatural. That should give some idea at least. I love the cast. Neil Patrick Harris is amazing. I loved Nathan Fillion in Firefly, but I didn't know he could sing. I can't think of anyone who could play Captain Hammer better than Nathan Fillion. Felicia Day has a very pretty voice. I love the way Billy (Dr. Horrible) trips over his words (especially around Penny). I love that the last line of the first act is "Balls". I love Joss Whedon. I loved the fangirls and boy in the third act. As I write this I'm adding to the play count by watching it again. I'm going to share it with my friends on Saturday. Bring my laptop to the party we're finally having and making them watch it. Now I just have to get Erin to watch with me.

Found this clip from How I Met Your Mother: I think it's pee-your-pants funny, and I've watched it three times. EDIT (9/23/2010): I can no longer find the video on YouTube, but it's called "Don't Hit the Dog" and it's from the episode "Arrivederci, Fiero."


Roswell. I've been watching Early Edition (and older show that I watched as a kid, I'll more about it later in this post) and I was complaining to my Dad that I was having trouble getting the episodes. He told me to watch Roswell. He told me that I'd be caught in 12 minutes. God damn, I didn't even make it to the title before I was hooked. I'm a very shallow person and I love Jason Behr as Max Evans. I've seen the entire first season, it's online for free at http://hulu.com/. Now I have to get my hands on the second and third seasons. I'm thinking I'll buy a set of all three seasons.

Early Edition. Early Edition is a show from the 90s about a guy who gets tomorrow's paper every morning. It starred Kyle Chandler (now in Friday Night Lights). Every morning he wakes up at 6:30am to find tomorrow's Chicago Sun Times and a cat sitting outside his door. I remembered watching this when I was younger and bought it when I saw the first season DVD set at WalMart. It was fun to rewatch it. I'm in season four now, almost finished.

21. I just finished watching the movie 21. I liked it. And I think this comfirms my love for Jim Sturgess, as if Across the Universe hadn't already done that for me.

Stargate Atlantis. I watched "The Seed" on Saturday. I'll be getting the new episodes from iTunes until I get back to school and have the SciFi channel. I liked the episode. It wasn't as good as "Search & Rescue" (though, really, how can you beat that episode?). I think it was because the episode was the introduction of Woolsey to the regular cast. Because they were trying to introduce him the main plot got pushed to the side. However, it had whump and that's a trend starting for this season that I'm fine with (really, I am!). Erin and I joke that SGA has added a new writer to the cast: a fanfic writer. Convulsions, surgery, internal bleeding. All in the first two episodes. We approve. Can't wait for the next episode. I haven't even seen the commercial for it.

Okay, it's thundering and lightning here, and I'm almost through with watching Dr. Horrible again, so I guess I'll finish this up and shut down.

Stargate Atlantis Episode 5.01 "Search and Rescue"

I don't want to write too much about this episode because it hasn't aired yet (it got leaked and my willpower is not strong when it comes to my obsessions) and because I'm still not fully coherent.

I watched it Saturday morning and again Saturday night. It is sooooooooooo good. I wish I could make people understand how I feel about this episode, but I doubt I can. Just thinking about it my stomach gets all fluttery and I feel like skipping. The special effects were amazing. The plot line was GUH! It was seriously like a hurt/comfort fanfic on screen. Watching this episode was one of the best spent hours (43 minutes, whatever) of my life. The acting was tremdous. Everyone from the guy that fetches coffee in the morning to the writers, director, camera people, and actors NAILED this episode. Joe Flanigan is amazing. Sometimes I doubt the amazing-ness and then I watch episodes like this one. I love the things they've made canon (though they've been fanon for a while). There are so many insights into Sheppard (and other characters too, but mostly Sheppard), how he thinks and feels. How he's reacting to the chance to save Teyla.

I cannot wait to see how the rest of this season goes. I want to see many moments where the boys (i.e. John, Rodney, and Ronon) interact with the baby. Sheppard's "I haz the baby, 'hi baby'" face is one of the greatest ever.

Twilight Chapter Reviews: 01. First Sight

I am a horrible, horrible procrastinator. I have been sitting here with my chapter 01 notes open next to me for about two hours. Now I am stopping my run of procrastination and writing this post. Yay for me!

I read this chapter and write down a bunch of ideas and quotes that I wanted to react to.

Number 01. Bella's problem with sharing a bathroom with Charlie. I have two separate, yet similar reactions to this. Reaction the first, I live in a house with four people, three of whom are women and two of those women are teenagers. We share one bathroom. The idea of sharing a bathroom with one other person does not seem as bad as Bella makes it out to be. Reaction the second, COLLEGE. Hello, in most dorms bathrooms are shared with like 20 people. I was lucky enough to get a private bathroom that I only shared with my roommate, but most have to share with an entire floor of people. What was Bella planning on doing when she went to college? Anyway. I think her reaction to sharing a bathroom was a little bit over-played. It's only one other person that she's sharing with after all.

Number 02. "No one was going to bite me" (pg. 14). This line is from when Bella has just arrived at school and is getting out of her truck to go to her first class. I like how his line is kind of ironic once you've read the books. The idea that Bella thinking that no one would bite her was a placating thought, but by the end of this book she's at an impasse with Edward where she wants to be bitten. I wonder is this is a line Stephanie Meyer planned or if she just coincidentally used the phrase "no one's going to bite you."

"They were two girls, one a porcelain-colored blonde, and the other also pale, with light brown hair" (pg. 15). On first read I thought this sentence was about Rosalie and Alice, but then I got to their descriptions and realized it wasn't about them at all. It was just about some pale students.

"As I watched, the small girl rose with her tray -- unopened soda, unbitten apple -- and walked away with a quick, graceful lope that belonged on the runway" (pg. 19). Hmm... "...unbitten apple..." sounds a lot like the image on the cover.

"So, did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil, or what?" (pg. 25). This line is hilarious. I love it! It's such a teenager thing to say, and it's a great way for Bella to learn that Edward was reacting to her and not that they way he was acting was normal for him, without her having to ask about it. Very smooth.

I like this chapter. I flows so well into the next chapter that I didn't even see the chapter heading page for chapter 02. I didn't realize I was in the next chater until page 37 when I was like "hmm, this chapter is really long". I like how this chapter introduces new characters. I think it's very realistic that Bella can't remember Jessica's name and how she's kind of overwhelmed by everything her first day. I like the way Stephanie Meyer introduces the Cullens and the descriptions she uses so that everyone can see them as she does.

Chapter 02 and probably 03 to come within the next couple days. On a completely random and unrelated note, I am watching Thoughtcrimes for, like, the ninth time. It's got Joe Flanigan in it, which is why I've seen it when most people have never even heard of it.