Category Archives: Geekness

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The one achievement that will never be unlocked

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There is one area of geek fandom that I desperately have always wanted to be a part of but I never will. No, not anime or RPGs. While those are fine and dandy, I’ve tried them and while they are interesting, those just aren’t for me.

Nope, what I really wish I could do but can’t is play video games.

Growing up, my parents wouldn’t buy us any video game system. We were supposed to be focused more on our studies and any leisure time was supposed to be spent doing more studying or reading for pleasure. Video games were expensive and a waste of time. The only time I ever got to play them as a young child was when my sisters and I visited my cousin’s house and eagerly played Super Mario/Duckhunt. (Confession: because of my limited time playing Super Mario, I still have not passed the third level. Of the first game. I know. I know.)

When I got to school, everyone had video games. All the boys loved them. They brought their Gameboys and Game Gears on field trips, their Nintendo magazines and game guides were read illegally during class, and were always bragging what new games they got and what new achievements they reached. I was the weird girl who instead of being all “Boys and their silly video games” was more like “I want to join!”.

But I couldn’t. Not because I didn’t have access to games. Nope. It’s because…I GET STUPID MOTION SICKNESS PLAYING VIDEO GAMES.

Yes this is a problem that I have to face. I cannot play or watch certain video games without actually having to go throw up and then feeling like I want to die. Anything that is first person (most shooting games) or where the camera spins around while the person has to look for something, I cannot handle. I watched my friends play Portal one night (a game I would love to try out) and it was absolutely horrible. I pretty much spent the rest of the night dry heaving with severe nausea. I love playing Mario Kart but if we try just one round on Rainbow Road, my night is over.

Basically this is me:

It’s horribly embarrassing that this happens. It’s one thing to get motion sickness when in a car (and yet I can ride roller coasters with no problem whatsoever) but when watching/playing video games? While I do know some people who are the same way, it seems really rare among gamers. I’m going to assume that either a) they suck it up or b) it really is rare. I even googled “video games motion sickness” and I found an article that said this

“Getting motion sickness while playing videogames affects a lot of people, yet it seems almost like a taboo to talk about among gamers because you might not be seen as “hardcore” since you can’t play certain things.”

There are games that I CAN play and do enjoy. You may ask, what is a game that you like AND can play? One that comes to mind is Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. I was introduced to that game about two years ago and had such a blast playing it. It didn’t make me sick at all and it was fun playing it with friends. However since I have no access to it without my friends, I can’t play it without them but that was something I really enjoyed.

It’s just really sad for me because I would love to be part of this community and I just physically can’t. Video games interest me but I can’t spend time playing them without wanting to cut off my head from the pain. Which is probably good because I could see myself getting quite addicted and not leaving. So maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.

That being said, I fully appreciate everything that goes into making a good game and I’m always interested in games that have good story lines and are visually appealing. I really liked watching the beginning of Bioshock Infinite and wish I could have played it. While I’m sometimes leery about how much time can be spent devoted to a game, I’m still always interested in hearing about new games. I also don’t mind watching demos but fair warning, if I start feeling sick, I’m going to ask you to stop. It would be awesome to work for a video game company as well. And maybe one day when I have kids, I can conquer this stumbling block so that all of us can play together.

In a nutshell, video games are fun. I wish I could play them. Until then, I live vicariously through my gamer friends (you know who you all are.) And this is about sums it up how I feel:

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The songs that currently constantly on repeat

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Confession time: I like to sing along and play air guitar to music when no one is around.

You’re probably thinking, “What? Everyone does that.”

Yeah but does everyone put on headphones, and lose themselves in the song? Possibly too.

This is probably true for almost any person that 1) has access to music and 2) feels a connection to music.

For me it can be any genre of music. It can even be music that is purely instrumental. Just listening to the music creates a story in my head that, like a good book or movie, can make me feel lost in it for hours. Sometimes I become attached to a song because of the lyrics, other times it’s because of the actual music that makes me feel connected.  It’s also really good at helping you escape when you need it. If you put on headphones and focus on the music, the rest of the world just disappears for a few minutes.

I realize the majority of you who will read this post will either a) not click on any of these videos to listen to the music or 2) if you do listen, it won’t be the same experience for you that it is for me. And that’s fine. That’s the pretty awesome thing about music. It’s very subjective and what works for one person, doesn’t always work for another. Heck, it sometimes doesn’t even work on the same person. I could like a song, and then 10 years later listen to it again and be like “What on earth was I thinking?”

For me right now, the songs I’m listening to feel like they are part of a bigger story. Either they describe a character, a plot, or the entire theme of the story can be summed up by one song.

So what songs am I currently listening to that make up my current stories? Here’s a random sampling.

“Found Out About You” by the Gin Blossoms – So this song originally came out in 1992 and I think I discovered it in 8th grade. That’s 17 years of me listening to this song. Every couple of years the lyrics become extremely relevant. It’s actually kind of scary how accurate the song can become in my life.

 

“False Alarms” by Josh Groban – No music post these days is complete without a Josh Groban shout out. But no really, this song has been on repeat in my car lately because I really like the music and can relate to the lyrics.  This may possibly be the only one of his songs that I will know by heart when I see him in concert this summer. I still haven’t really listened to the rest of his songs yet.

“Heaven” by The Walkmen – Yes, this is the song that was featured at end of the finale of How I Met Your Mother but I try not to let my feelings of that taint this song. It’s a sad sounding song. But when I hear it, I can see a story. If that makes sense.

 

“El Scorcho” by Weezer – This has been my favorite Weezer song since high school but in the past few months I may or may not have changed some of the lyrics to fit recent circumstances.

 

“Time” from the Inception film score – This song, I can listen to over and over again. I actually wrote a story based on this piece that had nothing to do with the movie, just how the music made me feel. I also would love to incorporate this somehow into my future wedding one day (if my future husband would consent to it). Though by stating this publicly means it won’t happen. But one can still dream.

So what songs are making stories in your head lately?

Photo credit: http://500px.com/photo/5644024/ostin-by-mariana-mikhailova?from=popular

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My answer to “What good books have you read lately?”

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Since I read a lot and everyone knows this, I’m always asked what books have you read recently that you enjoyed? I seem to have trouble describing plots to people in person (they always come off sounding really weird) so I’m not sure how much justice I do to the awesome books I have read.

I’ve read 50 books so far in 2014. This may sound like a lot to most of you but for me it’s well behind my past reading streaks and I’m actually about 25 books behind my goal of 225 books for 2014.  But irregardless of that, I’m being more choosy about what I read so lately I’ve been liking a lot of what I’m reading.

Here are just some of the books I’ve enjoyed discovering this year.

Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg (Point, 2014)

My Blurb: It’s a book about a boy and a girl who are best friends. And realize they are attracted to each other. And all the ups and downs that come with falling in love with your best friend. It was like reading about my life.

Runaway Saint by Lisa Samson (Thomas Nelson, 2014)

My blurb: This book totally gave me a hipster feel as I was reading it. Also it’s from a Christian publisher and used the word “badass”. I applaud this.

A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner (NAL Trade, 2014)

My blurb: Susan Meissner is one of my favorite authors of all time so I knew I was going to love this book. It alternates between Ellis Island in 1911, NYC during 9/11, and then NYC 2011. Very rich and beautiful.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (St. Martin’s Press, 2013)

My blurb: If you haven’t read any of Rainbow Rowell’s other books before, GET ON IT. This one is a fav for many reasons including a whole entire fantasy world created just for this book (which needs to become a book series in itself).

Anything by Sarah Dessen

My blurb: I got a Sarah Dessen kick late last year. I had never read any of her books before but I always saw them on blogs, libraries, and bookstores. So I finally gave in and read one. And loved it. And proceeded to read all but the newest one in the span of 4 months. I’m delaying reading The Moon and Back because once I finish that, I’ll have no more to read from her. Can anyone recommend other authors that are like Dessen? Contemporary YA?

And now to throw the question back at you: What good books have YOU been reading lately?

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All the blog stuff you can handle today

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So two milestones today: First this is my 100th post since I started this blog almost 7 months ago. Woo! Other than a break during the Christmas holidays, I’ve posted 3 times a week, every week since then. This is pretty awesome simply because I’m amazed that I’ve been dedicated enough to keep posting even when I can’t think of what to post. And that I’ve somehow managed to come up with 3 different types of topics each week. Woot.

And second: If you follow me on Twitter or on Facebook, I know you’ve seen me keep talking about this and you’re probably sick of it and want to be like “You already told us! Go away!” But for the rest of you, as I mentioned previously, I am a contributor to the newest blog on Entertainment Weekly‘s website, The Community. And this was the first week that my post was up!

To recap (heh), I’m currently recapping the show Metal Hurlant Chronicles on the SyFy channel. The show airs on Monday nights at 10pm.

So I’m slightly at a disadvantage than most people when it comes to watching and reviewing TV shows because well…this is my TV:

smalltv

Yep. That’s right. I have the tiniest TV ever. And obviously it’s not HDTV. And I don’t have a DVR either. (Heck at this point, I don’t even have a DVD player that works.) So if I want to watch a show, I HAVE to watch it live and I can’t pause, rewind, or fast forward. So this makes things challenging. Luckily for me the show comes on at both 10pm and midnight so if I didn’t catch something the first time around, I can wait an hour and rewatch. Now if I miss it the second time, then I’m just screwed.

Since I didn’t know exactly how I’d be writing this or what was expected of me, I ended up staying up all night trying to write my recap. I haven’t done an all nighter with this much pressure on me since grad school. I ended up going to bed at 6:30 am. The next day was very rough. I think I’m getting too old for this type of thing.

Anywho this is very exciting to see this!

ew

You can click here to read my entire post! Don’t worry if you haven’t watched it or it makes no sense to you. That’s how I felt the first time I watched the episode as well.

For the next four weeks, I’ll be recapping two episodes a week. As I said, the show airs on Monday night so my recaps will be up sometime Tuesday morning. Since I’m pretty OCD with my posting schedule on THIS blog, I probably won’t keep posting when I do have new posts up, so be sure to follow me on Twitter or on my Facebook page (links are in the sidebar to your right) to find out exactly when they do go up.

So yeah, allow me one last geek out about this and woo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Celeb Fangirling: NASCAR Edition

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When you first meet me, there are probably many assumptions you will make about me and some will be dead on right and others so wrong that you will feel embarrassed that you assumed. However there is one assumption that almost no one ever makes about me because you would just never think that about me. (I also realize that by telling you this, I can’t use this when playing “2 Facts and a Lie” anymore.)

I like NASCAR.

I know. I know.  I don’t fit the demographics of your typical NASCAR fan.  AT ALL. But I do. While I’m not the HUGE fan I used to be years ago, it’s still entertaining for me to watch every now and then. I check up with the race stats and news, see what drivers are in the running for the Chase, find out who has switched teams and gotten new endorsements. Sponsorships have always been interesting because sport has so much product placement, more so than any other sport I believe.

I’ve never actually been to a race and I doubt that I will get a chance to in my lifetime (and I kind of doubt I would fit in if I actually got the chance). However I have been to the Bristol Motor Speedway and I did get to drive on the track. Granted it was during the Christmas lights show and we were going like 10mph but it was an awesome opportunity. And the banking on those tracks is REALLY steep. It’s basically like visiting a Roman coliseum.

I also did enjoy Talledega Nights and Cars for being NASCAR themed movies and because I got a lot of the in jokes.

Though I’m going to have to admit this. My reasons for why I started liking NASCAR are rather dubious. Fine, let’s just admit it. Back in 2002, I started watching NASCAR because I thought Dale Earnhardt Jr. was hot. It was summer and I had a broken ankle and couldn’t move around easily. And I remember one Sunday when I couldn’t go to church and I was stuck lying on the couch. I turned on the TV and since we didn’t have cable, I had limited options and there was a NASCAR race on. I started watching. Then they showed clips of the drivers. And I’m like. Oh hey that guy is cute. And thus, it began.

I basically became a Dale Jr. groupie for the better half of two years. I watched every race. I did my research on him. I bought and read his book. It was an awesome time. I really got to understand racing and became involved in that whole culture. Much like folks do fantasy football, I did fantasy driving leagues. I had to know about ALL the driver to see which one would be best each week and how they would do for the whole season. I learned about trades and what went on during off season.

I was such a big fan that I won passes to meet him when he came to Norfolk in 2002 for arena car racing. I was so excited. I had my calendar all ready for him to sign. And I knew what I was going to say to him. I was in college at the time so I was going to say something like “Oh, you should come to Virginia Tech and party with us sometime.” Because you know he totally would have. (*sarcasm*) Instead in typical awkward Deborah fashion, what came out was “You’re hotter in person than you are on TV!” His response “Um….thanks.” And then this picture was taken.

dale jr

Can you feel the awkwardness? Because I still can. How many Asian fans does he really have? He probably remembered that for awhile. I ruined my chances!

As I’ve gotten older, I realized realistically, Dale Jr. and I probably would not have matched well. He’s a lot older than I am and he’s….more Southern than I normally like. He still sounds like a great guy to hang around. And actually I’m looking back at pictures of him from 2002-2004 and he looks a lot better NOW than he did back then. Then again my tastes have changed a lot since then.

But my affiliations have since moved on to his teammate. Kasey Kahne. I mean….come on.

And

And

Because it’s not just me who feels this way:

Though just like with Josh Groban, what is it with all the older woman?

And he’s also a good driver as well. The first year he raced in the Sprint Cup he got Rookie of the Year, he finished 4th in 2012, and he’s had 16 wins and 127 top ten finishes in races. He’s very good at what he does. And it doesn’t hurt he’s easy on the eyes too.

The fun part is that now with social media, I can follow both these guys on Twitter to see what they’re up to. While I haven’t gotten a response back from either of them yet, (Dale Jr might still remember me and thus avoiding) it’s still cool to be able to connect in ways one couldn’t beforehand.

All this to say that I do enjoy watching races. NASCAR does have a stereotype to it, but if you take the time it’s actually pretty fun to watch. You can make all the jokes you want. I am secure in my liking of this.

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Eat. Read. Enjoy.

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I love to cook. I enjoy feeding others. While I’m not a total foodie, I do enjoy trying out new foods. Confession: when I’m eating at home, I like to watch the Food Network or food shows on the Travel Channel because it makes my food taste better. And sometimes there can nothing quite as pleasant or satisfying as enjoying a novel that has tons of food in it.

Why are books about fiction satisfying? Because I get to learn about new foods. I get to read about how food is prepared and enjoyed. It’s just enjoyable reading about cooking and eating in a novel format vs reading a cookbook (which while sometimes can be satisfying as well provided there is narrative in it). The story doesn’t HAVE to be 100% about food. But it can talk about the food in the characters’ lives and how they revolve around it. The key to a good foodie fiction is an excellent story with the added benefits of the love of food thrown in.

You can totally tell when an author is just putting food in the story just because they have to and when they really enjoy it themselves. Characters don’t eat just because it’s a necessity, they enjoy and savor their food.

Here are some recommendations of foodie fiction (all with glorious recipes so you can enjoy what you have just read) that I have enjoyed over the past year:

A Table by the Window by Hillary Manton Lodge (2014, Waterbrook Press)

My blurb: Online dating adventures plus Italian/French food plus family secrets with a surprise dash of Doctor Who references = I WANT TO EAT THIS BOOK

The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan (2014, Sourcebooks Landmark)

My blurb: Paris. Chocolate. Storylines that alternate between here and now? More helpings please?

Out to Lunch by Stacey Balls (2013, Berkley Trade)

My blurb: Friendship, food, and geeks. What more could I want in a book? (PS HAWKEYE GETS A SHOUT OUT. SO MUCH WIN)

Stones for Bread by Christa Parrish (2013, Thomas Nelson)

My blurb: Thanks to this book, I have totally learned to appreciate what good bread is. Plus learning about reality cooking shows.

The Girls’ Guide to Love and Supper Clubs by Dana Bate (2013, Hyperion)

My blurb: If you don’t know what a supper club is before reading this book, when you finish you will have already joined one.

What are some of your favorite fictional books about food?

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How to Win and Lose at Series Finales

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WARNING. THERE BE SPOILERS IN THIS POST. YOU WERE WARNED! THIS IS ALSO A REALLY LONG POST!

Unless you just avoided social media and entertainment this past week or you just don’t care, you may have seen that How I Met Your Mother ended this week after nine years. You also probably saw that the series finale had very mixed emotions from viewers ranging from “Great!” to “WORST THING EVER”.

Series finales are tough to do. How do you end a show for good after it has become loved and adored by millions of viewers? It’s really hard to try to answer every question, wrap up ever story line, or make everyone happy. Should you cater to the fans and give them what they want or do what you as the creator/writer wanted to do from the beginning?

Disclaimer: I’m one of the few who did like the series finale of Lost. I felt like that needed to be said.

I’m one of those people who has issues with continuity. I realize that sometimes it is hard to keep track of everything that happens. But what I don’t understand is when writers (of books, movies, and TV shows) just ignore everything that happens in the past and just tries to write around it and pretend it never happened. I’m not talking about a remake or a reboot. I’m talking about kids disappearing halfway through the show only to show up in the finale like it never took place.

There are the shows that end up getting cancelled way before the creators intended it to. Sometimes it’s right in the middle of a story line that leaves major cliffhangers. Other times the show gets cancelled abruptly and the last episode is not a farewell episode at all and is pretty bland. An example of the latter is the series finale of Full House. Sure Steve comes back in a cameo appearance but the rest of the episode doesn’t tie up series loose ends (Will Danny ever remarry? Will Jesse and Becky stay in the house forever? Why is Michelle still there?) and just leaves the viewers thinking that next year everything will be the same. Except there wasn’t a next year. There have been series finales when it turns out everything was just a dream (St. Elsewhere, Newhart) and ones where it turns out to just be a backdoor to another series (Andy Griffith Show). Then there’s the series finale of M*A*S*H which is the mother of all series finales because everyone and their mother in the US was watching it as its STILL the most watch series finale in history, and until Superbowl XLIV, the most watched television broadcast show in American history.

Let me give two examples of what I thought were good series finales to me.

1) Breaking Bad – As someone who had only started (binge) watching in the last few weeks of the show, I hadn’t been invested for a long time period as others from the beginning. But still there was great anticipation for how everything was going to play out. And as the weeks kept going by, the shows creators and writers managed to fulfill every thing I could think of. By the time the end credits rolled, I was completely satisfied. I did not need a spin off, I didn’t want to throw my remote at the TV, I was able to be like “Yes, this is how its done.” Loose ends were tied up, questions were answered, what I wanted to happened did, there was pretty much no other way it could have ended. Well done. Yes there’s going to be a prequel but the story is essentially done.

2) The Office – I was a big fan of The Office, until Steve Carrell left the show and then I stopped watching for several years. To me, Michael Scott WAS the show and without him, it wasn’t the same. But when the series finale came, since I had invested several years into it, I tuned it. And it was lovely. Even though I didn’t know who some of the people were, even though I didn’t know what some of the subplots were about, even though I still need to update myself with my favorite characters’ lives, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I even cried. I felt that the writers realized that old fans were going to return and made the episode a good bit of nostalgia mixed with the current trajectory of the show. (They even added in David Brent!) And it was a great sendoff and good closure.

Basically it’s like when I close a book. If I am satisfied with the story and I don’t need more, when I feel like I can let the characters or their legacy live on without more episodes, without spinoffs, or even a prequel, then that’s when the show has closed out for good for me. It doesn’t have to end happily. People do not even need to be alive. But I don’t want to see sloppy writing or rushed events or to play with the viewers’ emotions just for the sake of ratings or other things.

And in my personal opinion: How I Met Your Mother did not have a good series finale. I did not enjoy it. I’m not going to argue with you if you liked it. I’m not going to try to convince you to NOT like it nor are you going to be able to convince me on why I SHOULD like it. For me, personally it hit a little too close to home. You can read here about my love for the show. Basically I started watching it because I was in a Ted/Robin situation and I had to find a way to distract myself when things didn’t go as I planned. And it kept mirroring my life and I grew heavily invested in the show and the characters’ lives. To me the ending was basically the creators fulfilling a slap bet with me and delivering one to MY face. And the best part? There are so many people who felt the same way.

You can argue against me all you want and completely disagree with me and that’s fine. It’s not going to change my mind. It was a personal experience and we’re all going to think differently. But I’m just going to state why it was not good for me.

Barney and Robin get divorced within 15 minutes of the show’s opening. We just spent AN ENTIRE SEASON having their wedding shoved down their throats. We were forced to witness this wedding hour by hour. WE INVESTED TIME IN THIS WEDDING. Only to have it casually end as soon as the broadcast starts. I’m not denying that this doesn’t happen in real life. But I’m thinking the only reason why the wedding weekend lasted so long was because the writers weren’t sure that Season 9 was going to happen at all, and when they were granted the opportunity they had to find some way to milk it out. And so they did, forcing the viewers to become emotionally invested in something and then just act like it didn’t matter at all.

Ted finally meets the mother. And it was glorious. I loved their meeting. It was everything I wished it would be. Except. They don’t get married for 5 years, even after two kids. In what world, does Ted Mosby NOT marry the mother of his children? Don’t tell me that Ted finally learned what love really is. No. If you love someone, you will want to commit to them and marriage is that. And PLUS: during the episode “Trilogy Time” in 2015 while Ted is holding baby Penny, HE IS WEARING A WEDDING RING. It’s not that hard to go back and check on this!!

The mother dying. Honestly I’m ok with this. It’s sad and I would have loved a happy ending but it happens. No, what my issue is we never see Ted mourn. We grew to love the mother with the mythology and build up over the years and then Cristin Milioti was just fantastic. But we never see get to really see Ted with her. Had the show done it right, I feel like we would have at least had time to process and then not gotten our hearts stomped on and be forced to accept that….

THE MOTHER WAS A RED HERRING ALL ALONG. The show has always been how Ted and ROBIN were meant to be together. Because in the last few minutes, we find out that Ted has basically told the story to his kids and it’s really asking their permission to ask out “Aunt Robin” which the kids give because “Mom was barely in this story!” (The scene with the kids was taped before season 2. So all along they were going to kill the mom and have Ted end up with Robin. I despise this. I feel like they forced themselves into this.) The entire series we’ve been so sick and tired of Ted and Robin, will they, won’t they? Because Robin made her decision. She has shown over and over that she only wants things when she can’t have them. Robin is the girl every guy dreams of. No emotional crisis, drinks Scotch, smokes cigars, loves sports, and is super hot. In this sense she is perfect for Barney. But that even couldn’t last. Ted was willing to be everything she wanted and needed and she still didn’t want him. So he FINALLY lets her go. They made Robin LITERALLY float away. Ted meets the mother.

Tracy (the mother) is basically the woman who gave Ted kids because Robin could never do this. Yes, she is the perfect woman for Ted but not the love of his life. Ted is a suburban dad with two teenagers. Robin is TV anchor who travels, lives in the city by herself, with 5 dogs and is independent. Is she really going to drop all that for Ted’s life? Ted has been holding onto a hope for Robin ALL THESE YEARS. I got out of this, “Hey! That guy I’ve been in love with for years that I keep waiting and hoping on? I’m going to let him go literally and figuratively. Then I’m going to meet the guy who is going to be the perfect guy for me. And we will be happy for a few years. And then he’s going to die. But there’s a happy ending because I will still get to end up with the first guy!”

I have other issues but I will leave you with this Buzzfeed post which other than number 14 (mixed emotions? no, I know how I feel) is exactly how I view this situation.

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And so for (insert my name) of (insert my hometown), opportunity knocks!

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So in fun news for today: I can officially announce that I’m going to be contributor for Entertainment Weekly‘s new blog The Community.

community

How did this happen? Well, I happened to be on Twitter (ok ok, I’m always on Twitter) and saw that the EW was looking for bloggers about television shows. So I applied. I then got back an email asking for writing samples about shows I’ve written. I sent in my blog posts about How I Met Your Mother, The Walking Dead, and Doctor Who. Apparently there was something in there that was good enough because then I got a reply back saying I had been chosen and could I be available to speak on the phone with an editor?! I’ve been chosen along with 20 other bloggers to write about TV shows and I’m geeked. It’s been an awesome whirlwind experience over the past few months and I’m really excited about doing this. I mean basically I get to do what I’m already doing, just with a potentially bigger audience.

If you like TV shows, you should definitely check out the blog. It’s written by other superfans so you’ll get a nice variety of shows and different styles of writing. While the blog is already up and running, I won’t start posting until the week of April 20.

The first show that I’ll be covering is Metal Hurlant Chronicles on the SyFy channel. (It’s ok. I hadn’t heard about it either when I was originally assigned to it.)

 

But after watching the trailer, I’m excited to see it. It’s a sci fiction book based on a comic book series. Meaning, yes it’s a geeky show.

Synopsis from Wikipedia: Métal Hurlant Chronicles is an English-language Franco-Belgian television science fiction anthology series based on the popular comics anthology magazine Métal Hurlant, known in the United States as Heavy Metal and in Germany as Schwermetall. All the episodes are a self-contained story taking place on a different planet with a different cast, linked together only by the idea that an asteroid, the “Métal Hurlant”, passes the planet in question during the events of the story. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9tal_Hurlant_Chronicles)

It’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea and that’s ok. The next few weeks I’m going to spend time doing some research on the show and comics so I can familiarize myself as best I can. Either way, this should be a fun time! If you follow me on Twitter or on my Facebook page, you’ll find out when I’ve posted!

Addendum: This is a really interesting opportunity for me. Unlike the other folks that are also going to be writing, I am not a journalist. I didn’t plan on writing about entertainment for a living (though it’d be pretty cool) and except for a few years as a high school correspondent for my local paper, I haven’t really tried my hand at journalism. I have a career outside of this. Yes, I like writing. Yes, I like to blog. Yes, I love entertainment. But it’s not what I was originally planning on doing. So it feels a bit weird to get chosen to do this and sometimes I really question why I got picked. Also it doesn’t help when I go online and see articles saying that I shouldn’t be doing this and that “exposure” doesn’t count as compensation and how I’m just screwing things up for “real writers”. It’s really easy to have all the insecurity slip in right now, and tell myself “you’re not that good!” or “you shouldn’t be doing this!”. But you know, I’m not going to focus on that. Right now, I’m ok with just getting experience and exposure. And no, nothing is wrong with me for wanting that. I’m also looking forward to learning things that I wouldn’t have I not been granted this opportunity. This isn’t a full time job for me and I’ll always have this blog to fall back on. So if next year I’m right back where I started, it’ll be ok. I’m excited to do this and we’ll see what comes out of it. I’m also going to have to grow a thicker skin it seems.

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Yes, I will be YOUR Punk Rock Princess.

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New Found Glory (album)

New Found Glory (album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ve talked about how I am a huge Beatles fan. I also have mentioned how I am now a Josh Groban fan but I haven’t really listened to his music. Well at least until yesterday.

Other than The Beatles, my music taste has both varied and stayed pretty constant. I am the type of person that likes a song and not necessarily a band and their entire catalog. Going through my mixed CDs over the years you would probably find many bands/groups only listed once or twice simply because I enjoyed that one song of theirs but never ventured into anything else.

I was having a discussion the other day with a friend about music we listened to in high school and how it made us feel really old. And then I saw an ad pop up on my Facebook sidebar promoting a concert with 4 bands I like in high school being held in Maryland next month and I realized how most of the bands are now in their late 30s or pushing early 40s. And I’m like….oof, gosh this makes me feel ancient. (Especially after reading this article on Buzzfeed.)

But then I decided let’s take a stroll down memory lane and go back to 2001-2003. Back when I was 18-20, these were bands I listened to. I went to Warped Tour in 2001 as well as other numerous shows of this nature (ah The Boathouse, I miss thee). Punknews.org was one of my favorite websites. And I wore a studded belt. Yes, I listened to a lot of pop punk/emo music.

I realize that there’s a good chance the majority of you won’t recognize these bands because you don’t listen to this type of music. But that’s ok.

So here we go:

New Found Glory was one of my favorite bands during this time period. To this day, I still love their first four albums with their self titled one being one of absolute favorites of all time. I saw them about 4 times in concert. The last time I went though, I was quite sad because at the age of 20 I was one of the oldest people at the show and the kids there didn’t even know this song.

Saves the Day was the first non Beatles album that I ever bought. I was a freshman in college and I went to the mall to the record store and paid for Stay What You Are, with a check!

I got introduced to Alkaline Trio because of a boy I liked at the time. (Which is pretty much a good reason why I liked most of these bands TBH). This is my favorite of all their songs, though I prefer the version on the Vagrant Records sampler (if you know which one I mean, you rock).

I didn’t really like AFI too much, but I loved this song.

I saw Something Corporate in concert with New Found Glory and I loved how they used the piano/keyboard. Ah this just brings back memories.

This song by the Get Up Kids….to this day it’s one of my go to songs for just kicking back.

And this was just a brief sample of what I used to listen to back in the day, and still sometimes today. I hope that was a fun trip down memory lane for you as well (or I just introduced you to some new bands).

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2014 will be the summer of Deborah fangirling at concerts

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Yesterday, I woke up to an email from Wolf Trap announcing the first names in their summer concert schedule. And to my absolute delight, two of the names on their list included…..Ringo Starr and Josh Groban.

Much fangirling then commenced. Aka loud gasps, a shriek, and fistpumps.

Last summer I saw Paul McCartney when he came to Nationals Stadium and it was a dream come true. Ever since I became a Beatles fan, one of my goals was to see a Beatle before they died. And last year that happened and it was so totally awesome. If he is able to another show in this area, I’ll be there in a heartbeat.

Ringo Starr and all his band

Ringo Starr and all his band (Photo credit: Eva Rinaldi Celebrity and Live Music Photographer)

So imagine my glee when I find out that it’s possible for me to see another Beatle in concert the very next year! I could have a complete set! Now truth be told, Ringo is my least favorite of the Fab Four and I barely know his solo stuff, unlike Paul’s which I know about 75% of. He did come to my hometown years ago but I had to miss it and I honestly thought I’d miss out on the opportunity again. Now that he’s coming, I have a feeling that I definitely am going to have to make this concert. I imagine it’ll probably be like one big sing a long like Paul’s was. Confession: I will probably get a lawn seat though. But still. I’ll be seeing ANOTHER BEATLE. BACK TO BACK! START THE SCREAMING!!!!!

And then…Josh Groban is coming. JOSH GROBAN IS COMING! And he’ll be here for not one…but TWO shows! Ok ok. You can stop rolling your eyes. I know you are.

Josh Groban

“But Deborah, you don’t even listen to his music and no the Christmas album does not count.”

Hey – to that argument I have all his albums currently in my car. Granted the Christmas album is the only one I’ve listened to but still, I will get to the rest eventually.

“Deborah, you only just started liking him a few months ago and that may have been for dubious reasons.”

Just because I did and if I did does not diminish the fact that it’d be cool to see him live. I’ve done this with other bands, I like them for a few months and then I went to their shows.

“You’re actually willing to spend money to see a guy that you don’t listen to his music and you only like because of Twitter?”

Yep. Indeed. Your judgmental ways will not ruin this happy occasion!

So yes. Josh Groban is coming for TWO nights in August. (I wonder what he’s doing during the day, no I am not going to find out) Perhaps reasons will come out later but I’m actually a bit surprised that he is. He doesn’t have a new album coming out and as far as I know other than one random show up in Boston, no other shows have been announced for the rest of the summer. So there doesn’t seem to be a huge tour. And plus, he’s coming here for TWO nights. Other than, they can get more money out of people, that seems surprising to me. I’m not questioning any of this. Perhaps it’s just fate. I’m kidding. Stop the eye rolling again.

But I mean…after this happened…

josh

I actually think I might get real seats for this show. I like to try to win tickets or something but I have no idea what radio station would give them away since he has that weird music that doesn’t actually play on radio except for Christmas. I also have no idea what a concert of his will be like. Do people sit there? Do they stand? Do they sing along? Is it mostly older women? We will find out.

Anywhos, Ringo + Josh Groban = one very happy summer.

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