not sure if I'll have over 23 posts

Each year, I've tried to blog a little more. Unless I become inspired to write 4 more posts in 11 days, I think for this year that it will be less.
2010 has quietly disappeared. I do have regrets about not enjoying the holiday more, but thankfully, I still have 11 more days to do it. On the bright side, the distance has prevented me from getting overwhelmed from the commercialism of the holiday. Sadly, though, it didn't save me from having "We are Santa's elves" stuck in my head.

So I'm sold

on the series Foyle's War. Besides the mysteries, I am curious to see what happens to Foyle, Sgt. Milner, and Sam. The writer, Anthony Horowitz, does a really good job developing the characters. I can't wait to pick up the first two episodes of series 2 at the library!
So I'm still been watching a lot of BBC or PBS programs lately. Nothing on the major networks has caught my interest except for ABC finally has a start date for its new medical series, Off the Map (Jan 12). I have been following this series ever since I heard both Martin Henderson (Bride and Prejudice) and Caroline Dhavernas (Wonderfalls) were going to be in it. Looks like they replaced one of the actors and added Rachelle Lefevre (Twilight). But, I will still probably download it when its available.
Speaking of the Twilight Saga, I finally got around to watching Eclipse. The battle at the end was okay, and I found the rivalry between Jacob and Edward amusing. The way the film portrayed Jasper's and Rosalie's back stories was, I thought, true to the book. I just wish that Elizabeth Reaser was given more screen time as Esme Cullen because I really enjoyed her performance in Sweet Land. I will probably watch the 2nd part of Breaking Dawn (when its available from my local library) because I'm curious as to how they are going to do Cullen showdown against the Volturi and what Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies and Wonderfalls) looks like as a vampire. The first part that covers Bella's and Edward's marriage is not really something I'm anticipating. Guess I am Team Jacob after all! :-)

new things

I discovered a new author recently - Cathie Linz. She writes what I call fluff which translates to the romance and chick lit genres (depending upon your definitions). I'm not sure how I found her books, but I noticed that some of her main characters were librarians so I requested a few of her books from the library. Mad, Bad, and Blonde has been my favorite one so far, and Good Girls Do comes in a close second.
Another thing that I found recently was the music of a violinist named David Garrett. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I was watching my niece, and I was trying to find something age-appropriate for her to watch. She likes music, and PBS was showing a recording of David Garrett's performance in Berlin. I was immediately struck by Garrett's talent and charisma. My niece was less impressed and nodded off to sleep. Since she usually fights sleep with a loud amount of stubbornness, though, I found that to be a good thing.

Thanksgiving eve

I suppose its been awhile since I've posted anything. I started a post about how I purchased the 5th season of Doctor Who because my public library hadn't ordered it, and my curiosity to see the new Doctor and his new companion could not be quelled. Of course, after I bought and watched the 5th series, then my public library ordered it so I could have saved about $50 bucks. But, then I would have had to wait until 20 people checked it out and returned it. So I'm happy with my purchase.
Season 5 of Doctor Who did have a different feel to it, but the elements that I admire about the Doctor were still there. He had a different face, yes, but the transition from Tennant to Smith was actually more seamless than I anticipated. So I'm keeping my DVD instead of donating it to my library. (That was my rationale when I bought it in case I didn't like it, but they already have a copy.)
So...Thanksgiving. A time for family, turkey or tofu, and Black Friday ads. I am looking forward to the first one. Food is, of course, necessary, but I like the people part of Thanksgiving best. So here I'm going to wish you happy travel, eating, and gatherings.

life on mars

I've been watching a lot of cop/detective shows lately. It kind of started by watching Inspector Lewis, and then I moved onto watching Castle and Hamish Macbeth. Now I'm about halfway through the second season of Life on Mars (UK version). Oh, and not to forget Sherlock; I'm looking forward to downloading Sunday's episode.
For me, TV shows are an temporary escape from reality, but I'm finding that I'm losing my patience with ones that don't have layered characters. I hate to admit this, but I tried watching the 3rd season of Chuck, and I just got annoyed. I mean, I liked the first two seasons of Chuck, but the writing for the 3rd was completely inconsistent so I really didn't believe that Chuck would fall for Hannah or Sarah for Shaw since Chuck and Sarah were going to run away together after season 2. And, Chuck was often referred to by his real name in front of villains when in the first two seasons, his identity getting out of being the Intersect was to be protected at all costs.
Perhaps I'm sounding like gibberish. But, I'm enough of a detail person to be bothered by stuff like that. Now if I could have everything congruently match up in reality.

since my last post, I...

attended a college reunion
found Triple Espresso to be not that funny
paid $7.50 to watch Red in a theater
finished the 2nd season of Lark Rise to Candleford
watched the 1st season of Hamish Macbeth
read 3 manga novels
enjoyed Jane Austen Bites Back and Austenland
There's more I could list. My mind is kind of a blur since I did the last post. Maybe that's because I've been too immersed in BBC videos. But, I did spend a small chunk of time wondering what my reunion would be like, and then it came and went without a lot of fanfare. A few things on campus had changed, but some things like the periodicals, microfiche, and pastel chairs in the library stayed the same. But, the thing that I realized, though, was that I really didn't care. College was good when it happened. It helped direct me to my present, but I didn't want to go back.
So onto the present, I'm very excited that in a few days I'll be able to download the first episode of Sherlock. I'm glad that, knock on wood, no white precipitation has fallen from the sky and that I can enjoy the this season before it changes.

so its fall

and usually, this time of year I get excited about the fall premiere of new and returning TV shows. This year, I haven't been keyed up per say. Indifferent might be the better word. Although, I did read an episode summary of Chuck, I've yet to download Monday's episode. And, I'm happy that Alex O'Loughlin is back on television (Moonlight was such a guilty pleasure), but I haven't seen the rebooted Hawaii Five-O either.

Instead, I've been intrigued by a UK mystery series called Murder in Suburbia. The series follows two female detectives, "Ash" and "Scribbs," as they solve murders in (you guessed it) suburban England. But, the actresses make their characters a delight to watch as they banter with one another. I've also watched part of an Australian series called Rain Shadow that's good as well. Its about two female veterinarians in the Australian outback. Kate is the seasoned veteran and Jill is her new apprentice from the city.

On the movie front, there are only few upcoming ones in theaters that I'm interested in seeing like Red and Secretariat next month and Morning Glory in November. But, I might just wait until they come on DVD.

so I watched Flipped

and it was good. It captured the themes from the book of growing up, falling in love, and becoming a person of integrity. I thought that Flipped was worth the price of admission, but when the credits rolled, I wondered if I would have enjoyed it as much if I hadn't read the book beforehand. Guess I'll never know unless I find a Tardis to take me back in time. That's my clue that I'm still watching Doctor Who. It's my default show to watch if I don't have any movies from the library to watch. Although, I'm getting more curious to see the 5 season along with the BBC Sherlock series. They don't come on DVD until November so I have to wait a bit, yet.

I did read another one of Regina Doman's books - The Midnight Dancers. Before I read it, I was thinking about e-mailing Doman and asking her to write a book about Paul Fester - a character from Waking Rose. Then I started The Midnight Dancers and found out that Paul was in it. It had a satisfying conclusion, but I was annoyed that the main character, Rachel Durham, didn't see Paul's fabulous qualities until the last 30 pages or so. Of course, I might be slightly biased because I really liked Paul in Waking Rose.

what do I say

I kind of shocked. The town where I live now has an Indian restaurant, and the one movie theater in town is actually showing Flipped this week-end. I'm kind of wondering what shoe is going to drop next, but maybe I shouldn't since curiosity did kill the cat.
So back to the stuff that I know..Regina Doman's books have been entertaining me. Although The Shadow Of the Bear and Alex O'Donnell and the 40 CyberThieves were great, I think Waking Rose has been my favorite so far. Although, there's two more books left in the series to read.
I never thought I'd enjoy watching Inspector Lewis since I usually not a fan of mysteries, but I caught an episode while I was on vacation. The mystery part of it intrigued me, and I thought Lewis' deputy was kind of hot. Ironically, the actor that plays him (Laurence Fox) is married in real life to Billie Piper who played Rose in Doctor Who. So I haven't quite left the Doctor Who rabbit hole. Of course, my escape from the hole might be easier if I wasn't re-watching seasons 1 through 4 and eagerly waiting the arrival of series 5 on DVD. And, I'm also excited for the new Sherlock series coming to PBS in October that was written by (you guessed it) two writers from Doctor Who.
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse score is growing on me. I think that's mainly because the composer (Howard Shore) also composed the music for The Lord of the Rings movies. Overall, I think the Twilight Saga movies would be a lot better if they had the same composer doing the scores for all of them. I really liked Carter Burwell's score of Twilight because it had haunting melodies and used unique sounds. New Moon and Eclipse use more traditional sounding scores that you would hear in a epic movies. Not to say they were bad, its just after hearing the score from Twilight, the juxtaposition between it and them bothered me so much that it distracted me while watching New Moon. (I've yet to see Eclipse.)

rafting along

Last month, I went rafting for the day with my family. It was a guided tour and a lot of fun even though I was soaked during the entire excursion. Of course, the wet part mainly came from sitting in the front of the raft for the first part of the trip. And, the second part of the trip (even though I was at the back of the raft) came from falling in the water.
Sitting at the front of the raft, though, was a rush because I could see what was ahead of the river. But, I had to remain alert. My dad and I were the front two rowers so we set the pace for the rowers behind us. It took a few rapids to get in sync, but then we managed to have the same rhythm.
The falling off the boat part happened quick. We were going through a series of rapids (one class IV and the rest class III). The guide in the back was yelling, "All forward, all forward" so I was focused on matching the strokes of the people in front of me. It took watching the video of the trip to see what happened. The boat became unbalanced, and my side was the one that gravity was pulling down to the water. And, gravity won because I was in the water, and when I came to the surface (thank you life-jacket), the guide was there holding out the paddle. I wish I could say that I got back in the boat as quickly as I fell out. I was one of three people (my mom and another passenger on our side of the boat were the others) to get dunked. 3 people + 3 paddles = 3x the maneuvering. But, we got back in the boat and paddled some more as a team.
Since I went rafting, the part of me that likes to connect things together (particularly similar items) has tried to find something in my life that could compare to my rafting experience.
The first thing that came to mind was skydiving because going over the rapids gave me the same rush as falling out of an airplane. And, I had the same feeling of being alive after surviving both of them. However, I was struck more by what my parents and I, a guide, and two complete strangers accomplished as a team. We rafted 13 miles together. And, a lot the times we didn't quite know what was coming (the guide did - although having 3 people fall out of his raft was a first for him), but we paddled when the instructed. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I enjoyed the journey. In some ways, I don't want to directly apply my rafting experience to my life because I think it would water it down. So I'm not going to use it as a cheesy metaphor. Instead, it's a memory - one that I shared with my parents, a knowledgeable river guide, and two other passengers.

goodbye netflix

so long and thanks for Doctor Who, The Unusuals, and Alice. can't add Hamlet because the DVD got stuck before Patrick Stewart and David Tennant could finish the play. but, Being Human proved to be worth the hype. there are others I could add, but my time with you must end.
so its been fun, but my public library is ordering Hamlet so I can finish it for free.

so its the end of July...

and I woke up craving a doughnut. And, I thought of the scene in Wonderfalls where the bear is telling Jaye that "girl needs a doughnut." Today, I guess, that was me, but I haven't quite managed to find one yet. Funny thing about doughnuts, they are tasty to look at and eat, but then they kind of leave you feeling blah afterwords. Then the guilt sets in of why you ate the doughnut in the first place because the thought was more tasty than reality.
I suppose here I could insert whatever the doughnut is a metaphor in my life. But, it really isn't one. I am just craving carbs on a Saturday that I had to spend at work rather than at home.
A friend of mine recently called me a hermit. Initially, I took offense at this label. But, then I thought about it, and its kind of true. At least for my season of life right now. I have moved away from my social network, and although I have tried to replace it in my current city of residence, I haven't had much success. And, maybe that's partly because of my age or the fact that I'm introverted. I'm not sure.
Life is a funny thing. Two years ago, I was in a swirl of social activity. But, I still felt unsure of who I was in the crowd. Now, I have a better idea of who I am as a person and the crowd has left the building. Ironic, I suppose. But, I guess that's life (or at least mine).

a shockingly lack of Cons

Apparently, the new Doctor Who, Matt Smith, doesn't wear Converse shoes. I thought that this was a fluke, but it sounds like boots are his preferred footwear. This knowledge comes from surfing the Internet. But, I did find that it was David Tennant's idea to pair his own Converse shoes with his Doctor Who costume.

A new Doctor without Cons...Murdock in the recent A-Team movie without Cons...I'm not sure if I like this trend. Converse shoes used to be hard to find. I think that this was before the company was bought by Nike. At least, I used to have the hardest time finding them. But, now it seems they are everywhere, worn by people like Selena Gomez. Which is good - yeah for more people wearing Converse shoes. But, I'm not sure that I like the idea of the Doctor not wearing them. The fact that David Tennant wore Cons while playing the Doctor was one of the tiny details that I appreciated about his character. I'm not sure if I'll have the same affection for Matt Smith.

Of course, this post is somewhat hypocritical because I haven't been wearing my Converse shoes much these days. Keen sandals seem to be my casual footwear of choice. But, I'm still fond of my Cons and can't wait until the weather cools off so I can wear them again with my jeans.

down the rabbit hole

In my last post, I talked about how I'm trying to live a good story. The intent to do so hasn't changed, but the reality of making it happen in my life - its been a struggle. Mainly because the summer heat quickly quells me into an somewhat autopilot state. I'll do what is necessary like grocery shopping, doing laundry, and paying bills. But, my motivation for completely cleaning and organizing stuff like my desk and closet completely goes out the window. And, I've had a major distraction, too.
I think Doctor Who should come with the following warning label: "Watch with care. After a few episodes, you may experience the intense desire to watch all 4 seasons plus TV specials. And, your curiosity may cause to google the new season on the Internet." Because that's what I've been experiencing. A simple intent to just check it out has led me to watch almost all 4 seasons. (I'm about half-way through season 4.) The rationalizations that I wouldn't like David Tennant as the new doctor or that the show wouldn't be the same without Rose Tyler haven't stopped me from downloading episodes from Netflix.
Granted, I've been watching other stuff like episodes of La Femme Nikita and Eureka. But, I'm kind of at a point of no return with Doctor Who because I can tell that the tunnel is coming to an end (at least with the 10th Doctor), and I want to see it. So here I sit, biding my time, until I can return. Logically, I know that me being a spectator on my couch in my air conditioned apartment would make a very dull story. And, I'm going to work, making chocolate banana muffins, and riding my bicycle to change things up. But, whether its temporary obsession or insanity, Doctor Who is my summer guilty pleasure so back to the rabbit hole I'll go.

living my story

I started a few postings, but I didn't seem to finish them. My church experience from my previous post has kind of got me thinking that maybe I'm just a tad too snarky. I look at life through a window without really going outside. So I've been taking Donald Miller's words to heart and trying to live a good story.
This has gotten me on my bicycle more. So far I've ridden it to work 4 days this week. I still watch a lot of movies, but I've gotten pickier in what I watch. My subscription to Netflix has also given me more choices. Last night, I opted to watch Doctor Who rather than Dear John or The Green Zone. I am not sure what it is about David Tennant (besides his Converse sneakers) that has me hooked, but I find him fascinating to watch.
I also discovered the SyFy series Alice. At first, I did not like it. I was a fan of Tin Man, and Alice was not what I expected. But, something about it stuck with me. I've been thinking about it all week so I may watch it again to try and figure out what that was.
I've visited two different churches since writing my last post, and I think I found one that feels like a home. I guess I'll keep visiting it and see.
If you're looking for a good book to read over the 4th of July holiday, I recommend Queen Latifah's Put on your Crown: Life-Changing Moments on the path to Queendom.

ponderings

The snarky critic inside me returned yesterday at church. I think its partly influenced by my frustration of meeting people at church. I got some juice and goodies in the lobby of the hopes of meeting some people. But, everyone around me was talking among themselves. I tried to smile and look friendly, but no one was returning my gaze. Since doing so made feel slightly idiotic, I gave up rather quickly.
On my walk home, I wondered what Jesus would think of my church if he were to walk in its doors. Would the people talking among themselves notice his presence? Or, would he keep me company on the sidelines and observe the activity around us? I also was curious about what Jesus would think about the message. The speaker read Scripture verses and then peppered in some more antidotes and quotes from people. Most of them, I noticed, were men. Of course, maybe Jesus would be bothered by that. I'm not sure.
I've spent most of my life going to church (either on the West Coast or in the Midwest). And, I'm not questioning my faith. I guess I'm just questioning the construct or structure of a church service. And, I'm not saying that it all should be drastically changed. There are some parts like the worship, for example, that I enjoy. And, maybe its my introverted personality at fault for feeling so isolated in the church lobby. Or, maybe its something else. Its just that, for the first time in my life, I feel like an outsider inside a church. And, personally, it sucks.

chuck me

The 3rd season of Chuck is finally starting to get good. I was excited when it came back on in January, but the transition of turning Chuck into a spy was kind of rough to watch. The drama of Sarah not trusting Chuck to be a spy and the addition of Hannah and Chuck's relationship with her kind of dampened my enthusiasm. Gone, was the silly banter and comedy, but now it has returned with Morgan and Casey. Making Morgan a part of the team and having Casey train him was complete comic genius.
But, I'm curious to see what person from Chuck's past is going to try to harm him. That was a spoiler I heard somewhere from the end of the season. And, I'm wondering if this season will be the end of Chuck or if it will be picked up for a 4th season.
Speaking of Chucks (Converse shoes), I recently found out that Murdock from The A-Team TV series sported a pair. I was reading an article on the new movie version of The-Team coming out in June, and someone noticed that the new Murdock (Sharlto Copley) wasn't wearing Converse shoes in the trailer. This intrigued me to download a few episodes from the TV show, and Murdock is, indeed, wearing Converse hightops.

hmmm

I started this blog because my friends had blogs. And, I've always fancied myself to be a writer even though my high school English teacher told me I clearly was not one. Still this blog has somewhat lived through my many moods and reluctance to share my private thoughts with the world. Even though I don't always like sharing because I'm like Shrek. I have layers like an onion - not cake.
So when my computer died a few months ago, I toyed with the idea of ending this blog because I only update it once a month if I'm lucky. And, who wants to read about what I'm watching and reading. Sure, if I were someone like Roger Ebert or Meg Cabot, maybe I'd have more of an audience. But, I'm a librarian.
Still, I thought I'd prolong the decision for at least another post. Mainly, because going to church today made me feel snarky. I like my church, but for some reason, the guest speaker's message caused my inner critic to go a little berserk. This is what I wrote earlier today in my journal.
I barraged with Bible verses. Not that the verses themselves are bad, but what do they mean? The speaker is quoting what other theologians said and antidotes, but God is more than a list of attributes. What does God mean to him personally? He mentioned his view of God as a kid, but what is his view now? Does he struggle eating salt and vinegar potato chips? Is he spending time with God? God is immeasurable, but you (the speaker) define him by 5 attributes.
So that's what I wrote. And, then it got me thinking about describing God. What does He personally mean to me? Well, when I was young, he was a distant relative that was concerned for my welfare. Now, He's my friend. I sometimes take our friendship for granted and don't always put in an equal effort. But, I love him and sometimes I can see him dance or do somersaults. And, other times I wonder why or where He's leading me. But, I wouldn't make it in this world without God. Chocolate helps, but its no match for God.

blah

I started three posts, but I didn't finish them. That has been my mood of late - blah. February is when my patience for winter disappears. I'm tired of bundling up so I don't freeze my butt off. I am frustrated by the dingy white stuff on the ground that partially melts to puddles or can quickly freeze to make a slippery sidewalk that takes you by surprise. I'm done with winter. So my desire to write stuff for this blog has waned because everything that I think of seems blah.
But, then today, I started reading Donald Miller's new book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, and he talked about how he was approached by filmmakers who wanted to document his life. This put him in a quandary of sorts because he tried to think what the film would look like. Of course, I am not a published writer like Miller, but if he can turn his blah into a book, the least I could do was to write this post.
Besides wishing I lived in a warmer state, the new year has being going okay. Of course, there has been the drama of my laptop dying and me trying to figure out how to replace it. I decided how I'm going to spend the majority of my vacation time. And, I discovered North and South - the book by Elizabeth Glaskell not the one by John Jakes that was turned into a mini-series with Patrick Swayze.
Glaskell's book was also made into a mini-series for television. One of my friends told me about the mini-series because the same actor who plays Sir Guy in the BBC version of Robin Hood is in plays John Thorton in North and South. This knowledge made me curious enough to get the DVD from my library. But, the library copy was defective, and I was unable to watch the full mini-series. So I bought it from Barnes and Noble. I liked the mini-series. Glaskell's story is similar to Pride and Prejudice because its hero and heroine have a mistaken impression of one another and then their respect and admiration for one another grows so I investigated to see if it was published before or after Austen's novel. It proceeded it so I got Glaskell's book from the library and read it.
Now, I'm kind of reading two books. In addition to Miller's book, I started Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton.
I've been watching movies and television shows, too. They actually had The Young Victoria play in my town's movie theater so I saw it. My affection for Bones has re-emerged. I was a little turned off by what happened to Zack, but the interns that replaced his character and Sweets are growing on me.
So that's my update from blah land. Maybe one of these days I'll post something more meaningful than how I escape through movies and books. But, for now, that's all I'm writing. Cheerio then.