The new shows just keep coming. So far this week I've been impressed.
NCIS - They did a creative take on wrapping up the season finale cliff-hanger from last year, but still leaving it open to see how things will progress this season. I was glad to discover that watching all those re-runs on USA hasn't turned me off of the new season.
NCIS: LA - They made some changes to the set-up of the show since they did the introductory episode during NCIS last season. The blonde boss from CSI is gone (too bad) and replaced by the tiny woman from The Incredibles (jury's out on that one). It seems to have shifted from a large team format to a partners with office back-up format. I do like Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J's chemistry so that might work, although I hope they don't ignore the other techies.
Castle - It just keeps getting better and better. I'm impressed each week and can't stop giggling at Nathan Fillion's hilarity. I follow this great blog The Park Bench, and her post sums it up better than I can.
Still to come this week: CSI, FlashForward and Community, but I'm gone Thursday nights at my Bible Study Small Group so I'm going to have to figure out a system for watching them OnDemand (Comcast) or online. When I do see them, I'll let you know what I think, since that's what I like to do.
September 24, 2009
September 14, 2009
Boastin' and Braggin'
What I Did on My Summer Vacation...
I had a crazy and full summer in the Archives. I had two big projects that needed to be finished at the start of the school year, and I definitely felt the burn more than once. But with plenty of Mt. Dew and a few refreshing, long lunches I'm done with both projects. I will now take this time to brag.
Project 1: Sharing Our Past Online Collection - Last year I won a grant for the Archives to digitize 5,000 images and then create an online collection. It was finished in August and I'm now working on the marketing campaign. Please take a look here and let me know what you think. It's basically a visual history of USF, and it's like my baby so be kind with your criticism.
Project 2: Founder's Day Displays - Last year I volunteer (or was volunteered, my memory is a bit fuzzy on that) to do a display with materials from the Archives for Founder's Day. It was pretty successful so this year I was asked to do 3 displays. Wow, that was a lot of work, but it's done. You can check out the Archives' blog for pictures and more info.
So there's my Egypt.
Newsflash - they're now asking me to help with a fourth display - and by the end of the day today. eek.
I had a crazy and full summer in the Archives. I had two big projects that needed to be finished at the start of the school year, and I definitely felt the burn more than once. But with plenty of Mt. Dew and a few refreshing, long lunches I'm done with both projects. I will now take this time to brag.
Project 1: Sharing Our Past Online Collection - Last year I won a grant for the Archives to digitize 5,000 images and then create an online collection. It was finished in August and I'm now working on the marketing campaign. Please take a look here and let me know what you think. It's basically a visual history of USF, and it's like my baby so be kind with your criticism.
Project 2: Founder's Day Displays - Last year I volunteer (or was volunteered, my memory is a bit fuzzy on that) to do a display with materials from the Archives for Founder's Day. It was pretty successful so this year I was asked to do 3 displays. Wow, that was a lot of work, but it's done. You can check out the Archives' blog for pictures and more info.
So there's my Egypt.
Newsflash - they're now asking me to help with a fourth display - and by the end of the day today. eek.
September 11, 2009
Tis the Season...
...for new shows. One of the best things about fall is the new TV season. Unfortunately, I tend to fall hard for shows that are quickly canceled, but it never stops me. In the last few years TV schedules have gone all over the map. It used to be everything premiered in September, ran for the school year and re-ran during the summer. Now there are shows premiering in mid-winter or whole seasons running during the summer.
For example, Leverage has had two seasons in less than a year and 10 Things I Hate About You had their first season in a couple months this summer. It breaks up the routine, but can be confusing and easy to miss stuff.
As for the new fall season, I've only seen two new shows so far, but I liked them both. Glee is a great mix between High School Musical, 90210 and Napoleon Dynamite. I'm excited to see what they do with it.
I also watched The Vampire Diaries last night. It has potential. It's based on a series of books that have been on my "To Read" list for a while now so that upgrades it in my head. The thing that stood out for me the most, though, was the music. It was FIERCE. So many good, mood-setting songs, and I had actually heard of some of them before. Because the internet is an information overload I found a list on someone's blog:
Sort of by Silversun Pickups
Here We Go by Matt Kearney
Consoler of the Lonely by The Raconteurs
Say (All I Need) by OneRepublic
Take Me to the Riot by Stars
Thinking of You by Katy Perry
Kids by MGMT
Running Up That Hill by Placebo (my current favorite moody song)
Death by White Lies
Back to Me by The All-American Rejects
Siren Song by Bat for Lashes
Never Say Never by The Fray
I may just watch the show for the music.
I hope the rest of the shows I try out this fall do as well. Fingers crossed none of them get canceled early and break up with me.
For example, Leverage has had two seasons in less than a year and 10 Things I Hate About You had their first season in a couple months this summer. It breaks up the routine, but can be confusing and easy to miss stuff.
As for the new fall season, I've only seen two new shows so far, but I liked them both. Glee is a great mix between High School Musical, 90210 and Napoleon Dynamite. I'm excited to see what they do with it.
I also watched The Vampire Diaries last night. It has potential. It's based on a series of books that have been on my "To Read" list for a while now so that upgrades it in my head. The thing that stood out for me the most, though, was the music. It was FIERCE. So many good, mood-setting songs, and I had actually heard of some of them before. Because the internet is an information overload I found a list on someone's blog:
Sort of by Silversun Pickups
Here We Go by Matt Kearney
Consoler of the Lonely by The Raconteurs
Say (All I Need) by OneRepublic
Take Me to the Riot by Stars
Thinking of You by Katy Perry
Kids by MGMT
Running Up That Hill by Placebo (my current favorite moody song)
Death by White Lies
Back to Me by The All-American Rejects
Siren Song by Bat for Lashes
Never Say Never by The Fray
I may just watch the show for the music.
I hope the rest of the shows I try out this fall do as well. Fingers crossed none of them get canceled early and break up with me.
September 9, 2009
30 Rocks Birthday Weekend Extravaganza!
I had a superb and magnificent weekend in MI celebrating my birthday with friends and family. (And apparently it's caused me to use descriptive words usually saved for movie reviews and magic shows.) Saturday started with some shopping with mom (always awesome) and then the 30 Rocks Day of Adventure started. Basically, I made my friends go around with me to some of my favorite spots around Lansing.
1) Old Town - we hit the snazzy boutiques Grace and October Moon and even walked through the peppy Polka Dot Bead-a-full shop.
2) Lansing City Market - I was on a mission by buy chips from the El Azteco stand, but was too late so I got some really good popcorn instead.
3) Cheddar's - there's only one reason to go to Cheddar's in the middle of the afternoon...that's right - A Cookie Monster. mmm.
4) Frances Park Rose Garden - such a glamorous and well-tended garden with awesome views of Grand River. It doesn't feel like you're in the middle of Lansing. We tried to get in the background of some wedding photos, but were unsuccessful.
5) Jesse and Scott's house - why not? They moved in last week and are working on unpacking and decorating and were more than willing to give a tour to a car full of girls.
After the incredibly fun afternoon we returned to my parent's abode for the evening party. The 30 Rocks evening was a rousing success. It was so much fun to see some of my favorite people all in one place and the food was great (especially since my mom picked all my favorites). There was cake and laughter and creative presents (Margaret brought me 30 rocks - 30 rocks candy sticks - awesome) and a large game of Apples to Apples.
Sunday was another fun day with family. We celebrated the September birthdays all together at my parent's house. It was great to see everybody, especially since I live out of state now and don't get to attend as many functions. And yes, there are 30 candles on that cake. My grandma said "Just be glad we didn't use 82."
Overall - awesome. On a scale of 1 to 10...52.
1) Old Town - we hit the snazzy boutiques Grace and October Moon and even walked through the peppy Polka Dot Bead-a-full shop.
2) Lansing City Market - I was on a mission by buy chips from the El Azteco stand, but was too late so I got some really good popcorn instead.
3) Cheddar's - there's only one reason to go to Cheddar's in the middle of the afternoon...that's right - A Cookie Monster. mmm.
4) Frances Park Rose Garden - such a glamorous and well-tended garden with awesome views of Grand River. It doesn't feel like you're in the middle of Lansing. We tried to get in the background of some wedding photos, but were unsuccessful.
5) Jesse and Scott's house - why not? They moved in last week and are working on unpacking and decorating and were more than willing to give a tour to a car full of girls.After the incredibly fun afternoon we returned to my parent's abode for the evening party. The 30 Rocks evening was a rousing success. It was so much fun to see some of my favorite people all in one place and the food was great (especially since my mom picked all my favorites). There was cake and laughter and creative presents (Margaret brought me 30 rocks - 30 rocks candy sticks - awesome) and a large game of Apples to Apples.
Sunday was another fun day with family. We celebrated the September birthdays all together at my parent's house. It was great to see everybody, especially since I live out of state now and don't get to attend as many functions. And yes, there are 30 candles on that cake. My grandma said "Just be glad we didn't use 82."
Overall - awesome. On a scale of 1 to 10...52.
September 3, 2009
Author! Author! Author!
On Tuesday I went to the Book Club Kickoff Celebration at my local public library. I've been going to a book club through this library since I moved to IL and thought it would be fun to see what this celebration was all about.
They invited a number of local authors to come and talk to us. I hadn't heard of any of them and most of them are romance writers so I thought it might be a bit boring. I ended up having a great time! My name was drawn for a free book, and when one of the women from my book club told them it was my birthday, I got another free book. And since both the authors were there I got them signed.
I'm really excited to read them and see if they're any good. It was such an enjoyable evening and the women were so nice and approachable. I would recommend checking them out if your stumped for a romance or historical romance or supernatural romance read.
The Authors:
Luisa Bueler - Mysteries
Dyanne Davis - Supernatural and African-American Romance
Blythe Gifford - Historical Romance
Keena Kincaid - Historical Romance
Michelle Larks - African-American and Christian Romance
Ann Macela - Supernatural and Historical Romance
They invited a number of local authors to come and talk to us. I hadn't heard of any of them and most of them are romance writers so I thought it might be a bit boring. I ended up having a great time! My name was drawn for a free book, and when one of the women from my book club told them it was my birthday, I got another free book. And since both the authors were there I got them signed.
I'm really excited to read them and see if they're any good. It was such an enjoyable evening and the women were so nice and approachable. I would recommend checking them out if your stumped for a romance or historical romance or supernatural romance read.
The Authors:
Luisa Bueler - Mysteries
Dyanne Davis - Supernatural and African-American Romance
Blythe Gifford - Historical Romance
Keena Kincaid - Historical Romance
Michelle Larks - African-American and Christian Romance
Ann Macela - Supernatural and Historical Romance
September 2, 2009
Random Thoughts of the Day
These came through on a forwarded e-mail and made me laugh... a lot. Thought I would share my favorites. (I don't know who wrote them, if you do let me know).
* I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
* Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete oppostie direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
* I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
* The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work e-mail with the phrase "Regards" again.
* Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow on it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards of FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.
* How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
* I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
* Lol has gone from meaning, "laughing out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".
* Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.
* Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".
* Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that G as in...(10 seconds lapse)...ummm...Goonies".
* MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
* I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.
* If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.
* Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem...
*I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
* I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
* The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fatso before dinner.
* There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
* I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
* Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete oppostie direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
* I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
* The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work e-mail with the phrase "Regards" again.
* Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow on it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards of FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.
* How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
* I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
* Lol has gone from meaning, "laughing out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".
* Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.
* Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".
* Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that G as in...(10 seconds lapse)...ummm...Goonies".
* MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
* I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.
* If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.
* Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem...
*I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
* I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
* The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fatso before dinner.
* There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
September 1, 2009
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