Friday Pop Culture Check In

Dear Loyal Reader,

Now that I have some time to actually pause and think about stuff I've been doing this thing called "enjoying myself" again. It's a new concept I know. I hear the French invented it and then the Italians perfected it. Either way, if its European its a win for me.

I know you're dying to know what I'm talking about so I'll review by medium -

Book wise -

I'm currently reading "Speaker for the Dead" at the little brother's invitation. Apparently these Ender Orson Scott Card books have been very influential on him and he wants to share. I'm enjoying it a lot more than I was originally and am looking forward to finishing. I also read "Ender's Game" for the same reason and I liked it - eventually. These are the book version of "Star Wars" to him in terms of sacredness so a good sister should maybe know what he's talking about. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I've also thoroughly been enjoying the King Killer Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. He's a newbie novelist out of Wisconsin but has written some of the most lyrically beautiful stories that I've read in a while. "The Name of the Wind" came out a few years back and my oldest brother gave a copy of it to my Dad for Christmas. The book made the family rounds and I really liked it as I mentioned before. The second book of the series came out in early March "A Wise Man's Fear" and I read it with much the same vigor. I think I literally lost a whole Saturday to it and then some. Time well spent.

Movie Wise -

I've been a bit light on the movie side of things because, well, they cost money, but I did, like any self respecting bookie babe, make time for the new Jane Eyre



It was good. I recommend it. It's not a train wreck but it's not the strongest telling either. It was deliciously true to the Gothic aspects of the novel though which I appreciated. Movie makers get a bit distracted by the love story and ignore that the fact that it's set against these dark Gothic edges. I think that canvass makes it that much more of a beautiful story and it's almost always left out but they got it this time around. They didn't cut out St. John either. He's a common causality to the editors but he survived too.

In Future Cinema News Peter Jackson released one of, I hope, many short behind the scene videos about the making of "The Hobbit". There are not words for my how much I'm looking forward to this but I will try HOWZA! MAMMM WHHHE KKKKK! LOOOKK! ITSSSAAAAAA! IttzzaahRichardArmitage iookkk kwkkwoo woww waaaaaa PeterJacksonkjfweo nndsojf onklnlkenknewljrenlkn ;nivnIloveNewZealandakjdfjkdhhHH HAHAHAAAAKKKK ohmagahgagagaghgahgah.




Music wise -

I've been informed that I have tickets to see these gargeous bright stars called "The Civil Wars" in the near future and, like always, I'm very excited. They're a group I've had a hard time not listening to. They're amazing. I wholly endorse them. Yay for some real musicianship and for genre blends. They're always the best. Much like mixed babies.



Also, GREAT NEWS! The Beastie Boys are putting out a 25th anniversary album on May 3rd and have released this new track that I have been listening to practically on loop and cannot get out of my head. They put together this hilarious promo featuring nearly every funny person alive. I might have watched 7 or 8 (teen) times. LizPAA warning - there are two "F" words for the tender-eared



TV wise -

I've been sucked into the very funny world of BBC's "Top Gear". It's a car show hosted by three middle aged perma-adolescents. It's been on the air for about 10 years and most of the series is available on Netflix's Instant Play. I love cars. I love British humor and I love informative playful approaches to things and that is what I love about this show




They go on hilarious adventures like driving to the North Pole and they periodically have Formula 1 drivers on and WOWZAH - some of these boys are quite handsome. I've picked out Jenson Button (UK)



and Mark Webber (AUS) as my favorites.



Why has Formula 1 been keeping these darling boys to themselves?! It's just not fair.

This show has also reinforced my want (read: lust) for some WAY too expensive cars. The show is great though. I have heartily laughed during every episode I've seen. Which is many. Don't ask.

Blog wise -

Hot Guys Reading Books

Enchanted Serenity of Period Films

and Best Week Ever remain places for constant giggles and happiness.

Win Blog deserves an honorable mention as well.

So yay for enjoying myself again and yay for having so much good stuff to enjoy! I hope your weekend is made up of some of the best stuff possible!

love,
your Liz

Wednesday Giggles

My cousin pointed me at this earlier this week. I laugh harder every time I see it.

Wednesday Giggles

So I just finished the first two discs of How I Met Your Mother Season 1

its LEGEN (i hope you're not lactose intolerant because the other half of that is) DAIRY!

Barney is the Neil Patrick Harris' character and is what makes the show go from quirky/interesting to awesome. This is a quintessential Barney moment.

Wednesday Giggles

So the other Monday I was sitting at my desk and it was still pretty early so both my cube mate and I were still waking up. My cube mate is awesome. He's my partner essentially and on the surface is a tattooed rough walking guy that plays hockey and has a bulldog (who is adorable beyond measure btw. Her name is Daisy and I love her). He doesn't exactly scream "funny guy" at first glance, but let me tell ya, he is. In the form of random and 80's music.

This particular Monday Cubemate was coming back from something and sat down, my back was still turned and I just heard "BOBBITY BOOPY BAHHH" in a far too chipper voice for a Monday morning and especially from him.

I turned around and just looked at him like "What on earth..." and then he started waving his hands around like English Sailor practicing his flag communication. "BIBBETY BOOOP BOP" Needless to say I fell into hysterics for a good 5 minutes and when I finally calmed down he sheepishly asked "Didn't you see Family Guy?"




So that's been a joke for a couple of weeks and today he showed me this and I was lost to hysterics again -



enjoy -

Veritaserum

So I've admitted my absolute love for Quarterlife in previous posts and my gusto hasn't really subsided since then. The first season is over and I miss it a lot. So much even that I've gone back and rewatched episodes. About once a week actually. OK - so I'm hooked! It could be worse... It could be Rock of Love or something totally demeaning to the human race. Right? Right?!

There are two episodes in particular (18 & 19) that I absolutely love and I finally just realized why.

It's slightly embarrassing, but mostly because I tend to pride myself on how I've avoided teeny-bopper status on things. Like, I never liked the New Kids on the Block, I've only ever seen 3 episodes of 90210 (though Luke Perry did find a place in my heart for a bit - but I've always had a soft spot for the Rockabilly type), I never got on the DiCaprio or Johnny Depp band wagon either. Pretty much if anyone ever made the cover of Tiger Beat they were off my radar. However, Jared Leto (who graced that cover more than once) remains a facet of my adolescence because of My So-Called Life (which is now on DVD and my birthday is a short 4 months away..... *wink wink*). He's still tucked away in my heart. Even his obtuse 14 minute kung-fu music video with his (barely passable) band hasn't disqualified him. That's love man. That's the kind of fan I am.

It's all about the love.

I loved that show. Love loved luuurveed that show. Still do. And, like I said before, Quarterlife is from the same brain trust so there we go.

I uncandidly identify with angsty, brainy, socially stagnated, passionate female characters and I adore the male counter points they write for them and one of the things that I've realized from Quarterlife (among the many) is that I really want someone who is steely enough to fight with me.

Well firstly, and this is the veritaserum part, I think I just desperately want to be Dylan. I've always wondered what it would be like to be a 5' 2" 90 lber and to have a brain to boot. Being 5' 9" since 6th grade can give you a complex.

We also have a lot in common:
- We have similar coloring
- She wants to be a writer
- She has the tendency to be able to see into the heart of people and things but tends to feel completely invisible most of the time
- shes so busy talking she can't get out of her own way most of the time
- she has a fairly insane mother
... and the list goes on and on.

Have I made the point that she is a solid character and worthy of deconstruction yet? And!... And - and... therefore I'm not a completely hopelessly silly girl for loving her and the show so much? I hope I'm being that transparent...

Not to mention that Bitsie Tulloch is a great actress and holds a Harvard English Lit degree... That just adds to the cool I think.

Anywho -

One of the things that's different about Dylan that I want to be like is that it takes her 30 seconds to be self aware enough to say what shes really thinking (after the preliminary buffoonery in those situations where she talks too much etc). Yay for television magic. It usually takes me longer, years sometimes, to get to those kind of honesty points. And all of this usually comes out in the form of fights with Eric (love-interest-boy. aka - Mike Faiola. aka- Var Handsome Man).

My adorable, wise and learned friend Hannah (aka - the Queen of Australia) one told me about this series of books by Elizabeth Peters called the Amelia Peabody Mysteries. That's where she got my nickname (Indie-Poppins - cause I'm an Indiana Jones/Mary Poppins hybrid apparently). We were talking about healthy relationships and the marriage that the protagonist Amelia has with her husband came up. Hannah said, being inspired by Amelia Peabody that "a good marriage is a stalemate". Like you should both be each other's equal and therefore every battle is a good one, but a draw. You shouldn't be afraid to speak your mind and should be able to trust that the other person will most definitely speak theirs.

Slightly Irrelevant Aside: Maybe that's why Queen Elizabeth I totally fell in love with Walter Raleigh. He was one of the few men she met that was truly her equal. I mean, golly, she knighted him just to get him to stay in England a little bit longer. I would have for someone who would fight with me. For someone that would speak plainly to me and understood what would come out of my mouth no matter what it was, and there was someone that I wouldn't have to dumb things down for or rephrase or soften up. *sigh* - how marvelous. How truly romantic...

But back to Quarterlife and my escapist tendencies -

So - yeah - I would love a guy who I could fight (fairly) with.

I had one once. We still talk every once in a while and when we do it almost always includes moments of heated, tension filled (usually playful) bickering. I used to find this annoying but I've come to realize what it means and at one point this last week when we were going at it, via text, I finally told him that I missed it. I missed fighting in real life. How utter ridiculous is that? I missed the rush and the attraction/tension and connection. I miss feeling truly challenged by someone that close to me. I just missed it all.

I feel pretty confident in saying this because I'm fairly sure that this individual doesn't read my blog. I'm pretty sure he doesn't even know that I have one actually, at least I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't.

But that's not the point. The point is ----- That......

1)I'm a really silly girl.
2)Finding your equal is no small feat and
3)keeping him is a downright miracle. I don't have knighthoods to hand out or a script to save me or tell me what to do next.

It's blind sailing and tugging your heart strings to steer, and, honestly, that's OK.