Fun days deserve blog entries

Dear Friend,
Adam Young's (Owl City) other project, Sky Sailing, came out with a new album, exclusively to Itunes for two weeks, today. (I'll give you a chance to find your way through that sentence, now) I had it pre-ordered, and I love it. The album is very mellow, with a lot of guitar, and just right for dreaming.

Psych season 4 DVDs came out today, too. (Un)fortunately, the fifth season premieres tomorrow, so I can't watch all of the discs beforehand. The picture is much clearer than the previous season's which was really grainy for some reason. They look great on a blu-ray player.

I stopped in at Pier1 today, just to see if they had reed diffusers on sale (no such) and discovered that they had a few "fruity" bath products. These products included pineapple themed objects, like soap and bath gel and sponges. Obviously, I had to buy a pineapple shaped bath sponge. Simply adorable.

I watched the premiere of Covert Affairs tonight. It was all right. I'll give it at least one more try. It certainly isn't to the level of Psych, Leverage, Chuck, Burn Notice or Due South for me.

My mind rebels at stagnation

Dear friend,
I've not been blogging, even though I've been doing things that I usually choose to write about, for example; seeing movies. I've seen at least Disney/Nature's Oceans (skip it, it sucks, though the footage is pretty), Sherlock Holmes (wow, that was fun! Why haven't I bought it yet?), Iron Man (fun again, but not something I'd buy), and Iron Man 2 (I had just as much fun with that as I did with the first. But I saw them on the same day, so they kind of melded into a single, extremely long movie in my head).

Really, I'm writing now because I noticed something about myself. I like mystery shows, books, and games though I suck at figuring out the solution. I think I know why, though. I care more about the characters than the mystery. I feel as though I am missing the point, but I don't care since I'm enjoying it anyway.
I noticed this when I was watching Sherlock Holmes. My Dad had ordered the movie on Pay per View, but didn't tell me, since he didn't know I wanted to see it. Since PPV is usually a 24 hour deal, in which time you can watch as many times as you like, I decided to watch the next evening. The film cut off just before the end. I wasn't torn up about not seeing the solution to the mystery at all. I wasn't too concerned about seeing the end because I knew (spoiler, I guess) Watson was still alive. (End of the fake, silly spoiler)
Some would look at that as a sign of a very poorly written mystery. Maybe it was, but I've almost never bothered to try to follow mystery plots anyway. A good deal of the shows I watch are either cop or detective shows. Psych and dueSouth especially, but even Chuck and Burn Notice have the same sort of elements. Most people who watch LOST are talking about the need to know answers by the time the finale airs tomorrow. I don't really care. I mostly want to know what's going to happen to these characters, rather than what occurred to make all these things happen.
In other words, I care more about the characters than the stories.

Having realized this, I am beginning to read a lot more mysteries. I even went out and bought a copy of the entire Sherlock Holmes. I've read most of the first novel already, and I'm loving it. All I'm focusing on are the characters of Holmes and Watson. I have tried reading Holmes before, and most of it just went over my head, and I didn't get the hype. I'm catching on now. I find it much easier to follow the story by focusing on why Holmes is doing what he's doing rather than focusing on what he's doing.

I hope all this enthusiastic ramble made sense. I'm just happy to figure out one of the ways my brain works. I don't want to focus on a problem; I want to focus on how the problem affects the person.

(That reads like a soundbite...)

Random statements from me

Dear friend,
Every now and then I feel the need to make random remarks in this blog. This, apparently, is the first time since I've adopted the letter format to the blog. Here goes nothing.

I have a twitter account. I have no idea why, I just do.

I, as far as I can tell, am the only person who actually didn't watch what her mother told her not to watch when I was a child. As such, I still have never seen a horror movie, or an R rated movie.

Poptarts, before being heated, have no smell.

The St. Louis Arch, so I'm told, is as wide as it is tall.

Psych's and Monk's season finales are on tonight. I will miss Psych, despite the lackluster season it had.

I can't decide who my favorite is, between Yakko and Wakko. I used to say, quite decidedly that is was Wakko, but I'm not sure now.

I need to get my hands on some Krazy Kat, since it seems every comic strip writer I like credits it as one of the greatest. I've never even seen it though.

Yahtzee.

The Oscars are on Sunday, and despite the media telling me I should, I can't bring myself to care.

God is great, and greatly to be praised.

"Oh no, she has another obsession!"

Dear Friend,
I'm using the moments between Super Bowl commercials (you know, when actual football is happening) to post here in my blog. I've something I wish to share with you, whether you end up looking at it or not. If you do want to look at it, feel free to use the links in this entry.
So, I've started looking at DeviantArt again. There are some people that I like to check for new art on a somewhat regular basis. I've noticed a couple of these people had a certain artist's series in their listed favorites. I decided to check it out and that's how I became a fan of Lackadaisy. I mean, come on, Cats in Prohibition era Missouri running a Speakeasy? How was I not all over that from the beginning. I'm kidding, of course. The only thing in that last sentence that really got me to give this a second look was cats. I'm seriously mad about cats.
I decided to give it a go from the beginning. And the art kept me going until we got past plot development into character development. I am nothing if not "character driven."
Anyway, the first thing that grabbed me was Rocky. In typical fashion, I adore the enthusiastic wimp musician with the smart mouth and poetic phrases. When I started picking up on an unrequited love, I was sold. Oh, and he may be a bit of a pyromaniac? Or not, but he does to like his "Sweet Justice." Yeah, just about everyone in this strip has some mental and moral issues.
On the mental and moral issues note, I need to bring up Freckle. Don't let the baby faced adorable looks fool you, that kid is messed up. He derives far too much joy from discharging a weapon. That could be why he got kicked out of the Police academy. I love him, too. These two cousins are pretty much the main characters in this comic.
I love the character designs that the artist is using here. Her work is amazing to me. I enjoy her sense of humor, too. I am beginning to notice a trend in my entertainment; I love serious subject matter handled in a frivolous manner. For example, this (Organized crime and cats), Psych (Murder and humor), Chuck (spies and more humor), Pushing Daisies (death and quirkiness) and a few others. Anyway, I keep trying to decide who my favorite character is, but they're all so great. Just about all of them make me want to scratch them behind their ears, but with a lot of them you know if you tried you'd get shot or strangled (especially with Viktor and Mordecai, but they are so cute!).

So, check out this comic. You may be pleasantly surprised.

I am allowed to change my mind, no?

Dear friend,
I know that I am recorded in this blog as being sick of the song "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis. I changed my mind. I've done this before, hated a song at first listen, and then (usually after everyone else is sick of it) I end up liking it. I think all I needed to like this song was a story to go with it. The music video seemed void of a story, and I didn't really get the story to the dance choreographed to it on So You Think You Can Dance, but this fan video for Psych's Lassiter and Juliet made a sweet story to me.
I'm so happy that Psych is returning this Friday. I decided to check out a few of the site's I frequent during the season and came across this gem. Enjoy it.



To be completely off-topic, the "Mr. Opportunity" ads for Honda are back and I am just pleased as punch to randomly hear Rob Paulsen again! I think he'll always be one of my favorite voice actors, if only for Yakko alone. Back to your lives!

It always comes around back to you

Dear Friend,
I survived Valentine's Day. Spending that particular holiday with 3 and 4 year olds is pretty fun. They get a kick out of getting and giving Valentines to their class mates. They get more of a kick out of having a "party" at the end of the school day, right after the nap.
LOST that night was pretty good too. To have yet another random confession I kinda "heart" Daniel Faraday. I don't know why, at all. I just... do. I sort of consider him my trade-off for killing Charlie. I'm odd that way I guess. I'm interested in the mystery of this show again, and want desperately to know what happens to the people who are not part of the Oceanic 6. Especially after this latest episode where Kate has Aaron. That's just messed up.
Had news of the "crush at first sight". He's doing well, it would seem. Plus, he's not married. Yet. I didn't find a way to really ask if he was engaged without the person I was talking to getting suspicious/weirded out. Who knows, maybe the guy I was talking to was already suspicious/weirded out. At this point I don't care. It's just that I've had at least three dreams of the guy getting engaged and married and was curious. It's weird.
Had a different sort of dream this morning, involving my brother trying his darndest to get me and this other guy together. The dude was not my "type" though. He had light brown hair, but that's all I remember from the dream. I've actually had dreams about being with or marrying guys with light brown or even blond hair for years. I tend to go for dark haired guys, though. Odd.
Miss Psych.
Miss Chuck.
But I'm glad the Writer's Strike is over! Yippee!

Valentines Day is coming! Consider yourself warned!

Dear Friend,
I predict that this year for Valentine's day I will once again be only looking forward to a new episode of LOST. That is exactly the same thing I was focusing on last year. So, my thought that the best V-day present would be someone to offer to watch LOST with me without talking through the episode is still valid.
Anyway friend, I found some videos that seem appropriate for the holiday. If you wish to blame anyone for me posting these (other than me, obviously, since I really am to blame for posting them) blame Livejournal and the "Lassiet" community to be found therein. Blame Livejournal in general for introducing me to the phrase OTP or "One True Pairing" which I find hilarious. Anyway, Juliet/Lassiter is my OTP for Psych.



And one of my favorite songs is is this video.

Yesterday was my birthday

Dear Friend,
Yesterday I had a birthday. However, I am more excited that I have (as far as I can tell) tagged every single post in my blog. This was a completely unnecessary task, but I just wanted to do it. Granted, not all the tags are accurate, some posts don't have a tag that they need. I plan on fixing that over the next few weeks, but right now at least all of them have labels! Yay me!
I took Friday off at work, so I could do some early birthday stuff without the crowds of weekend shoppers and what-not. I went to a huge mall, got fun stuff and ate at Noodles and Company. Such fun. Top it off with a hilarious episode of Psych (though lacking in Juliet/Lassiter interaction... in my opinion) and you've got a great pre-birthday.
Then my dear brother came to visit. On my actually birthday I slept in, played video games, had my favorite dinner and cake. Great day. Even if my brother had me watching Karate Kid.

I do like TV, yes I do

Dear Friend,
Psych was new last night! Yay! Woo Hoo! Pass the pineapple!
Sorry, I'll try not to do that again. But, no really, I am happy that I can look forward to Friday nights again. It was a good ep, not great, but still funny and... Psych-ish. I liked the sub-plot with Lassi and Jules, mainly because I like the idea of those two together, but I don't actually want them to actually be together on the show. Does that make sense? I just like to insert subtext in my own head.
I also love that now that the N is on 24 hours, I get to see Radio Free Roscoe every day! Squee! (Wow, that's a stupid word, but so expressive!) I really do love this show, in all it's cheesy glory. Even if it does go a trifle soap-opera-ish at times, (Ray/Lily vs. Travis/Lily... who cares) it's fun.
LOST comes back this month. Happy me, but actually I am not looking forward to this as much as I expected. Partially due to the fact that we only get half a season this year, due to the stupid writer's strike. It's also because it's been so long I've lost some of my enthusiasm. I'm also mourning the loss of Charlie (if he did die... I think he did. I'm spoiler-free after all).
I think Chuck returns this month too. I'm not sure when, though.

All in all, January is a good month for my TV viewing. Do a happy dance, friend.
Don't forget that right now, Barnes and Noble is having their Buy 2 get 1 free DVD sale right now. I bought all of Campion, 3 seasons of Last Detective and the 4th season of Gilmore Girls. It's great!

Are you a fan of delicious flavor?

Dear friend,
Aren't you excited about Christmas? I am. I love Christmas, just the sight of a tree ornament or a string of lights and I feel like grinning. I love carols, too. I'm a sucker for Christmas.
I've heard of a lot of carols lately. Did you know that despite so many songs claiming so, Angels don't sing. At least, the Bible never describes them as singing. They talk a lot, but never sing.
Psych has a Christmas special this Friday. I so must be there. I just had a mini marathon with the 2nd disc of my season 1 set. So fun.
I'm in charge of decorating the classroom, my friend. I've done a little shopping, but mostly I plan on raiding my family's well stocked holiday collection. I just want to post to take advantage of my new winter colorscheme and layout. Pretty, don't you think?

Dear Friend,
This is where I found the awesome icon this entry is displaying, and many others that rock just as hard.
Now, the real reason I'm writing to you today, friend, is this: I'm starting to really like Chuck. Honestly, I has become the replacement for Psych right now. I'm sad to think that it's probably going to be "gone" soon thanks to the WGA strike. Between Chuck and Heroes Monday night is my TV night now. And thanks to the strike that will soon be over.
As far as the strike goes, I've only heard the side of the writers, and obviously the solutions sounds simple, give them the money. I haven't heard the perspective of the studios, yet I doubt I'd really end up changing my mind. I just want it over so I can get back to being entertained. Especially since only half of next season's LOST is filmed, production has ceased for the Office and they're threatening us with reality TV.
What do you think?

Lather, Rinse, Repeat endlessly

Psych is back of Friday, I don't know if I could be happier about a TV show. I don't know if I anticipate LOST as much as I anticipate Psych. The previews look really funny. Well... that is, they did until I saw them so many times that I can almost say them along with the television. Still, I love Shawn and Gus. I've been watching the reruns this week, at midnight (1 AM bedtime, so fun... unless you want me to be useful before 10:30 AM) and I've just now noticed how Shaw and Juliet look at each other. It's cute. I can't tell if it's supposed to be like that on the show or if it's just because the actors are dating. Either way, I think it's kind of sweet. Just please, don't make them date on the show, that gets annoying. If they did that we'd have to have a storyline about whether or not Shawn will tell Juliet that he's not really psychic. Only Shawn, Gus and Shawn's dad should know that.

Last night's SYTYCD, *SQUEE*!!! Benji and Pasha in the same room, and Pasha dancing a Benji choreo! Love love love! OK, I'll try to stop being a fangirl now. (Why was Benji wearing those horrific glasses? and why didn't anyone other than Cat acknowledge Heidi's existence?)

The Singing Bee vs. Don't Forget the Lyrics: winner (for me, at least) Don't Forget the Lyrics. People kept saying the shows were identical, but thought they're based on the same concept the formats are different. And DFtL is decidedly less annoying. What's with the annoying dancers on TSB? Wayne Brady's a more entertaining and endearing host than Joey Fatone, as well.

I'm going 21 days without secular music. It's a sort of fast, it's driving me nuts. Unless it's on TV (and I won't turn on music videos, despite that loophole) or playing in a store or some such place, all I'm listening to is Christian. Kind of hard, actually, but fasting isn't supposed to be easy.

Psych you out in the end

I miss Psych.
I fear I've missed every episode of the season... but I'm not sure.
I'm glad I downloaded the pilot back when itunes had it for free.
Shawn Spencer is one of those people that in real-life you would want to slap,but on tv is entertaining.
*sigh* soon I'll see more.