Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.
- Sir Arthur Eddington


Well, it's been a while since I posted. I haven't been super-active on LJ lately from being out of town a lot and busy other times (for instance, since I would be / had been out of town, I would stay late at work in order to make up time, and then rush off to whatever activity was happening that I had to leave work for, and then be tired and go to bed), and also since training myself to think in not over-often updates of 140 characters or less (i.e. Twitter) has left little room for thought-out posts here.

Anyway. Christmas break was lovely. It was nice to spend the days sleeping til 9, playing Rock Band (luckily there are almost always people home/interested at my house to play together), watching the niece for hours (actually watching her, not babysitting - she's so amusing! And she dances!), etc. I saw "Avatar" after all, along with "Sherlock Holmes," "Surrogates" at the dollar theater, and "Confessions of a Shopaholic," "Easy Virtue," and "Night at the Museum 2" from Redbox. I enjoyed all of them, though Easy Virtue was something of a disappointment. Sadness.

I also finished S1 of "Castle" (need to catch up on S2 now), and spent a long time watching "Lie to Me," which my brother wanted to share with me. I admit, it's really quite fun. I like all the characters, and I think I'll keep up with it now. Also, I'm really impressed by the way Dr. Foster dresses, and I'm thinking I may try some of the styles she wears and see how they suit me. Adjusting for sleeves.

Today, for instance, I wore a new top (ivory scoopneck with crisscross draped front and cap sleeves - that I got from a catalog.. incidentally, it's the only item in my $150 order that I'm keeping, and it was only 8 bucks), tucked into a black knee-length skirt with black knee boots, and it was very cute and sophisticated. Oh, and I got my hair cut last week-ish.. Took 6 inches off and had side bangs and long layers re-cut.. but not many people have noticed it. That's okay. It just makes me feel more stylish. I even wore lip gloss today.

...That's all I feel like writing just now. I've got to switch my laundry and put clean sheets on my bed. Maybe I should change out of the skirt for that.. it's hard enough making up the monstrosity that is Tromso without having to be ladylike. I was going to talk about goals I made today, but I'll do that later.

Anybody need friends for Thanskgiving Dinner? phoenix_melody and I are staying in town, and any of you are welcome to join us. My house, next Thursday. (Fi says I'm in charge cuz it's at my house, so I'm coordinating.)

So post here if you'll be in town/coming, and let me know what you'll be bringing!



I need a food icon.

PS~ If you have a dream in which people keep asking you, "How do you ID a missing body?" you should let them know that their reasoning is wacky.

Also, if anybody's interested, the CW is marathoning "Vampire Diaries" December 14th through 18th (2 eps a day).

HOOOOLY COW, "Mentalist" was intense tonight! "Vampire Diaries" was, too (how many revelations/milestones can you have in one episode?), but the Mentalist definitely took the cake for intensity. (And I missed the first couple minutes that evidently showed Rigsby and Van Pelt showing skin. I was spoiled by the stupid TV Guide magazine.) The magazine also mentioned that somebody in the CBI would die, but I didn't expect them to go through with what they did. It leaves me wondering where they'll go from here.

Anyway, this is actually a happy post - pay no mind to the blood smiley in my icon.

I found out today that I've got 13 days of unused vacation/sick time that I'll lose at the end of the year. Six or seven days of that can be paid, if I want to cash out all my PTO hours (which do roll over at the new year).

So I took a good look at the calendar and determined that I'm going to take a whole couple weeks off for Christmas (and use the PTO there so I'm not hurting for funds in January), and a few other days here and there. That is, I'm taking a long weekend one week, and I'm only going to work one more Friday for the rest of the year! My boss gave me a bit of a hard time about my vacation plans, but hey, I earned it by not being gone the rest of the year. (A good bit of that was saved for Sirens Con, which didn't work out.) And I'm not going to feel too bad about it, cuz I'll still be there 4 days out of 5, except for Christmas break. So there.

This is where I finally make real progress on Muse! *crosses fingers and hopes for productivity tomorrow!* (But first, preparing my costume photo for the Simplicity contest!)

I just read this excellent essay by Scott Westerfield (who wrote the Uglies series, etc.) that I thought a good number of you would enjoy.

"A Slayer Comes to Town" - how the Buffy universe is neither 'alternate world' or 'trespass' story, but rather both.

PS~ Footnote 1, at the end of the essay, totally describes Isaura.

Just caught up on two weeks' worth of Mentalist... HOO-BOY! Fun stuff. I'm sure Jane knows about Rigsby and Van Pelt - he saw it in the pilot, after all. I'm sad that I didn't find out til now, though.

And Jane with the inmates was hilarious. I wasn't super impressed with his manner of escape, but it was amusing nonetheless.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to more, as always.

I also watched 1 episode of Stargate Universe, so I have this weekend's left. And I have to watch this week's Vampire Diaries, too. I guess it's a good thing that some of my shows have taken time off in the last couple weeks, cuz I've been too busy to watch them. :(


By the way, does anybody watch "Lie to Me"?

Quotes of the Day
Here's a tip to avoid death by celebrity: First off, get a life. They can't touch you if you're out doing something interesting.
- Kent Nichols and Douglas Sarine

First you're an unknown, then you write one book and you move up to obscurity.
- Martin Myers

When a thing has been said and well, have no scruple. Take it and copy it.
- Anatole France

***

So in an effort to put healthier carbs in my diet, I made these bran muffins the other day, and they turned out SO GOOD that I wanted to share the recipe with you. :D I found a classic bran muffin recipe online, then read through the comments for people's modifications and used the ones that sounded good to me. Here's the final recipe. It's full of whole grains and has virtually no fat!

( Click for tastiness )


PS~ Glee last night was AMAZING!! I bought "Somebody to Love" on iTunes right after watching it. :D

PPS~ My "Mentalist" season 1 box set came yesterday!! All the pictures of Simon Baker are of the GQ variety, and it's awesome. I'm excited to watch the special features. X3

Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives.
- William Dement


So Monday was the beginning of Phase 2's Recovery Week in my workout program. It's pretty exciting. At the end of the week, I'll take measurements again, and then next Monday we'll start the final phase of the program (which is a week or two longer than the others).

Also, yesterday at work we watched the new infomercial for our screenprinting machine, the Yudu, and I'M IN IT! XD That is, I have a cameo, and you see me in two spots, for a couple of seconds. It's going to start airing on Sunday, I think, but I don't know where yet. But if you happen to catch an infomercial for a screenprinting machine, watch for the Tifie segment - I'm in there stuffing bags of school supplies and high-fiving it!

Also also, I have another sort of favorite show. (Cuz I need MORE going on Monday nights.. *sigh*) It's a new sitcom called "Accidentally On Purpose," and there are only 2 episodes so far. In fact, I'm a little embarrassed that I like it so much, given the premise (a woman in her late 30's breaks up with her sometimes-boyfriend/boss and has a fling with a guy in his early 20's, gets pregnant, and decides to keep both the baby and the father), but it's reeeeeallly cute! Some of the humor comes on a little strong, but the boy is so sweet and adorable, and his friends are so slacker-funny, and he gets in arguments with her boss/ex, and it's all quite fun.

Today's installment of Supernatural brought us through the finale of season 3 and into the beginning of season 4. I've been looking forward to meeting Castiel, since he made such an impression on me at Comic-Con, and I'm very much enjoying the pretty. And I'm still enjoying the story (except that Sam is making me sad.. Sam, what's happening to you!?) - seriously, this show is really well written.

Anyway, I've told people that there was one fan question at Comic-Con that was really really funny, and I finally went to find it for you people. You can watch the video HERE - that specific question is at 2:09, but the whole rest of the panel is worth a watch, too.

I have realized, this afternoon, that it would be best to forgo temple night, on account of being sneezy and sniffly and germy and icky to the extent that no one will appreciate me sharing.

Like Abraham and Isaac, I showed the Lord I was willing to give up my shows tonight, and the Lord made me sick enough to stay home and watch them after all!


I am feeling somewhat worse, but not unmanageably, and I took a long lunch break and finally bought some cold medicine and vitamin C stuff. Hopefully a non-stressful evening and a good night's sleep will help.

So last night we watched the SPN episode "Ghostfacers", and then I dreamed that I went to an anime/comic book store (which also carried a bunch of fantasy stuff, like cloaks from LotR) to look for Ghostfacers t-shirts and other swag. Random. (I think I found some, too.)

And now that I know who they are, I remembered that at Comic-Con the Ghostfacers introduced the S5 clip (via video), and everyone was excited to see them. I, of course, didn't get it. But I do now!

Still enjoying this show!! I need some SPN icons, but I can't go looking for them because I'll get spoiled. :( But moments like "I'm Batman" and "I lost my shoe" (that episode was freaking hilarious) and something Ghostfacers, maybe.. would be way fun, and definitely need icons.



Quotes for today:

Coming home from very lonely places, all of us go a little mad: whether from great personal success, or just an all-night drive, we are the sole survivors of a world no one else has ever seen.
- John le Carre

If all the world's a stage, I want to operate the trap door.
- Paul Beatty

The best way to predict the future is to invent it.
- Alan Kay

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. Today I'm feeling better about my schedule. I'm pretty much resigned to the bustle, and determined to catch my shows when I can and not stress. (Unfortunately, I have developed a cold/sinus infection that's not so fun.)

Here are some happy thoughts to make up for yesterday.

- My workout might still be a pain in my schedule (I'll be SO glad to have that time available again, in November), but it's also a good pain. I've built some pretty impressive (to me) muscles, I've lost approximately 14 pounds since I started 7 weeks ago (probably "lost" more than that, but the muscle gain counters some of it), and I'm noticing some subtle differences in the way I look. It's pretty exciting. I'm not down any sizes yet, but I think my clothes fit better on me, in general.

- Some of you may not have heard about Dr. Horrible hijacking the Emmys on Sunday night! (PS~ It's official, there's going to be a Dr. Horrible sequel!) Here's the clip if you didn't see it; it makes my heart sing.



- Smell that sweet, cool autumn air!!! Yesterday was the autumnal equinox, and now we can rejoice for the onset of fall! (Which, since I slept with the window open the other night, is probably how I got this cold.) Coworker brought in her Martha Stewart Halloween magazine today, and it's made me really excited about decorating/baking for Halloween/fall. I should get myself a copy.

- The other day I poked around the internet to see whether there was any news on the third Locke Lamora book, Republic of Thieves. While it still doesn't have a publication date, I DID find out that Scott Lynch is NOT DEAD! He's been pretty active on his LJ for the last couple months, and once he mentioned working on revisions for book 3. He's also posted the complete prologue to book 3 on his website, but I think I'll wait.

- Hey, I bought season 1 of the Mentalist, with free shipping! Yay! And the articles I saw in TV magazines the other day said that things are going to continue heating up between Rigsby and Van Pelt, so YAY!!!! Also, yesterday I filled up my car with gas at lunchtime, instead of trying to do it before I ran out on the way to Fi's for SPN. Yay for not running out of gas! Also, when I grabbed food from Guru's last night on my way to Fi's, the boy at the register was totally cute and totally smiley and totally looked me in the eyes. I may have to go there more often.

- I bought Owl City's album "Ocean Eyes" from iTunes last week and have listened to it pretty much straight for days. Great stuff. Yesterday I finally started Wheel of Time book 4. To be continued momentarily.

And there you have it, folks. I'm busy, but it's okay. I'll make it through and have time later. Next week, maybe. I hope everyone else is doing well. <3

Right now I'm upset because there's so much going on this week. I hate it when there's too much going on.

( Whining )

I'm back in town, btw. Got back Sunday night, late. It was a nice trip and I'm really really glad I went. I'll give you a recap when I have the time.

Looking forward to watching more Supernatural tonight. I think my LJ icons need updating, to reflect what I'm about these days. (It's sad to think that mostly I'm "about" various TV shows.. I comfort myself with the excuse that it's about pretty people (art) and fun storytelling (writing), but it doesn't seem to hold up well in regular company. My brother sure got sick of hearing about SPN this weekend, though he enjoyed the two episodes I downloaded to show him..)

This morning was rough. I almost called in sick, or at least to come in a couple hours late. But I didn't have a fever (I was slightly chilled, actually), so I told myself I didn't have an excuse. Turns out two of my coworkers (one of them being my art director, who gave me a hug yesterday) are out sick today. I hope this morning's trouble was my system fighting it off and not some precursor..


Also, I did something interesting the other day. After finishing Artslam, life got busier again and I ended up taking time off from doing Muse stuff. I've been caught up in other stuff and hardly even thought about Muse, so of course the momentum is gone. But the other day I was annoyed with my screensaver, and on a whim changed from the default to "My Pictures slideshow" and moved all my Artslam pictures into the folder. And now every time my screensaver turns on, I get an unexpected jolt of delight and enthusiasm from seeing random Muse drawings come up. :)

I still haven't gotten around to much planning or writing in several months, and I'm not sure what's holding me up, except that I feel like I still have no time lately. Will reexamine. Listening to Stackpole's "The Secrets" podcast is pretty inspiring right now, though.


PS~ LOVE this weather. Rainy and cool and definitely becoming sweet, sweet autumn... Summer, get thee hence! Thy days are numbered!

Can somebody please explain to me how the time zones work with network television? I just went through the fall TV lineup and was pleased that there's only one conflict with my shows - but then I remembered that I might have the time zones wrong.

Please help!



For those who are curious, here are my notes: (All times listed are the "x" in "x/y Central" and I'm on Mountain time)

Monday (all starting September 21)
8:00 HIMYM - CBS
9:30 Big Bang Theory - CBS
10:00 Castle - ABC

Tuesday
8:00 NCIS - CBS (if I need a fix)

Wednesday
9:00 Glee - Fox (starting September 9) NEW!

Thursday (all starting September 10)
8:00 Vampire Diaries - CW NEW!
9:00 Supernatural - CW
10:00 Mentalist - CBS

Friday
8:00 Smallville - CW (starting September 25)
9:00 Dollhouse - Fox (starting September 25)
9:00 Stargate Universe - Syfy (starting October 2) NEW!
(I'm not even sure if my apartment's cable gets Syfy, so SGU may have to be watched on the 'net, unfortunately, anyway. We'll find out.)

Sunday (starting October 4)
9:00 Three Rivers - CBS NEW! (stars Alex O'Loughlin from "Moonlight" - I thought I'd give him a chance in his new show, even though it's a medical drama and definitely not my thing)

"Now & Again" is a show from the late 90s that I caught on a Sci-Fi channel rerun marathon several years ago and could never find again (except for a little bit on YouTube). chibidrunksanzo miraculously found it on Mininova or something, after I'd been looking for it off and on for years, because she is awesome. Abd now I have the whole (one season) series, and I've been watching it a little at a time for the last couple weeks.

It's about an insurance salesman (John Goodman) who dies in a subway accident, and his brain is harvested by the government and put into an experimental artificial superbody (Eric Close - you may know him from "Without a Trace"). In his new life as a special tool for the government, he's babysat by the lead doctor on the project (Dennis Haysbert, who you might remember as the president from "24" or all his All-State commercials), and there is much snarky banter on the part of the experiment and much stone-faced smack-down on the part of the doctor. The real heart of the show, though, is not the action-y government escapades that they get embroiled in - it's the fact that every opportunity our lead character gets (or makes), he steals off to interfere in the lives of his grieving widow and daughter (played respectively by Margaret Colin and Heather Matarazzo (the friend from "Princess Diaries," who doesn't bug me in this show as much as she used to)), even though he's been warned that their lives are at stake if his secret gets out. Because more than he hates the missions, the constant exercise tests, the crappy healthy food, or the constant supervision/coercion of his new life, he hates being separated from his family - especially when he hears of all the hardship they're experiencing because of his own death.

I love this show. It makes me really happy. I think it's clever, witty, angsty, poignant, and just plain fun. It's so full of situational irony that sometimes I want to explode. Also, Eric Close is adorable. And every time I see an All-State commercial, I hear Dennis Haysbert's voice saying, "I'm Doctor Theodore Morris" and it makes me smile.

That's all. I just wanted to share. Check it out on YouTube, maybe - you can watch it here. :)

YAY!!!! CBS has finally released its fall schedule, and the Mentalist has been renewed after all! (They keep saying it's the best new show on the most-watched network - but you never know what the TV stations are going to do.) In the fall it will come back on Thursdays instead, and an hour later.

They're also switching around my Monday shows.. HIMYM will be half an hour earlier, and Big Bang Theory will be an hour later (apparently they're trying to boost it with a later time - I figured that they didn't post episodes online (argh!) because they were trying to force people to watch it on TV). But I'm not going to watch the stuff they've got between (ugh), so.. We'll see what happens, I guess.

Also, they're introducing a few new shows, including a new medical drama starring the star vampire from Moonlight. I'm really not into medical shows, so I probably won't watch it. Sorry.


PS~ Sup's back today. I can feel alright about weekend plans now.

After watching episodes of the Mentalist all afternoon, I do believe this is my favorite show right now. (And not just because of Rigsby and Van Pelt. I like everyone else, too. A lot.) Starting from the beginning, I've now caught TWO episodes I hadn't seen before.

There's a two-hour finale this week that I'm excited (and sad) about. I hope it gets renewed.

I've got time for one more episode tonight, I think..

Today was kind of crazy. We had a town hall at work, where we watched the new infomercial (one of my teachers from BYU was in it!), and then I missed lunch (and discovered later that someone stole it out of the fridge - grr!) for a really intense deadline meeting with almost everyone involved in cartridge production. There was a lot of discussion afterward, amongst my team, and we decided to stay late to get a leg up on the stuff that's needed on Monday... and then about 6:30 the power went out in the whole building, and there's nary an emergency exit light in our office so we had to break out our cell phones to find our way to the door. We hung out until it came back on (about an hour), but then the network and internet were down, so most of us called it a night after all.

Sounds like a weird dream.

Now I'm watching old episodes of the Mentalist (stupid slow load time) and toying with the idea of drawing, since my desktop's video card still won't let me play games. Urg.





PS~ CONGRATULATIONS, isauraoktobre, for finishing writing your FIRST NOVEL today!!!!

First of all, check out this new Transformers trailer. It looks amazing!

Second, I am now following Nathan Fillion on Twitter. And he sounds just like Nathan Fillion! (Note to self: catch up on "Castle" - you're an embarrassment to the Nathan Fillion fandom.)

Last night I went on Marvel Digital Comics (I got a subscription last fall), found they had some of the Marvel Illustrated: the Iliad, and read Issue #1. Diomedes and Ajax are both in it. XD But they look ridiculous (actually a fair amount of the art looks ridiculous), and I'm totally awesome. And by "I" I mean "Muse."

And here are a couple of Twilight links.. Five Reasons "New Moon" Might Be Good (check out the photo on number two), and Meet the New Faces of Twilight: New Moon (the Quileutes are on the first page, and the Volturi are on the second page).

Also I have just remembered that "Dollhouse" is on tonight. I really like that show.


Also also, here is a fun tutorial on how to make planets in Photoshop that Howard Tayler linked on Twitter. :3

Ricky Gervais explains that the American "The Office" is based on his British "The Office," which, it turns out, was inspired by a Japanese "The Office." (A real kick especially for those of you who speak Japanese. *snicker*)