Wow, look at me, rollin' in after just a few days with yet another LJ post! Aren't I magical? Maybe I can keep up with this "internet" thing after all. ...Nah, probably not, I'm just unemployed at the moment.

Actually, that is only a half-truth; at this exact moment I am not working, BUT I did find a job yesterday! I am going to be bartending and serving at a very nice Italian restaurant downtown, and they're going to train me from A to Z. I go in tomorrow to do my paperwork and shall start training some time in the middle of next week. So that's very, very exciting.

Been a busy couple of days. Aside from the whole "getting a job" thing, there has also been much socializing and dealing with the business of moving in. It's BULLET POINT TIME.

++ On Sunday, I went to a local delicious restaurant called The Great Dane with jou, latenightarting, and sail_aweigh, whom I met for the first time that night! Dinner was DELICIOUS and then we gained the victory over a giant delicious brownie sundae. We celebrated our triumph over food by going to see the remake of "Fright Night," which was SUPER fun and very enjoyable---appropriately scary but also funny and well-written, to the point where I wanted to see it again as soon as the credits finished rolling. It had Anton Yelchin, David Tennant, and Colin Farrell, all of whom were absolutely great.

++ I have been having quality time with roomieface maypirate, watching loads of X-files and eating all the foods. She was a total boss today and helped me put together my new desk (and by "helped me" I mean "she did 75% of the work while I put the pieces together wrong," but who's counting), as well as helping me assemble the new bedframe. Then I played furniture jenga for awhile, rearranging the room, and the ultimate result is much closer to something resembling an appealing bedroom and less like a jumble of stuff in a room. There's still plenty to do, BUT GUYS, GUYS, ALL MY CLOTHES ARE PUT AWAY IN A CLOSET LIKE A REAL ADULT AGAIN, IT'S AMAZING. I'm not living out of a damn suitcase anymore!!

++ I have been ALL UP fandom's butt, particularly Avenger's fandom. It's bad, you guys. I haven't had it this bad for a fandom in awhile, not since I first got into Trek or Green Day. In fact, I'm getting ready to offer fic to the person who can help me re-do my layout to be more fandomy. After I make this post I have to go run off and watch more of "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" and troll the internet for Avengers icons, particularly of Steve Rogers. I'm making him a playlist, you guys. IT'S BAD.

++ Your daily video spam: Chris Hemsworth doing salsa dancing on Dancing With the Stars. My favorite comment is "GOD OF THUNDEROUS HIPS." INDEED.

Well, I feel like I had more to say but it got burned out of my brain by the sudden arrival of Thor booty-dancing to "Senora," what can I say. OH YES. I will write fic for the person who will help me re-do my LJ layout. Right now I've got Star Trek, Avengers, and prrrrobably X-Men: First Class and BBC Sherlock I could do. Alternately I will make you a fantastic mix with a theme of your choice (for example if you wanted me to fanmix a story for you, or based around a particular theme for you, I could totally do that). Any takers? ME LOVE YOU LONG TIME. Also, if anyone has recommendations for Marvel communities or icon communities (I really want some Fright Night icons, rawr), that would be greatly appreciated as well.

Right, I'm off to go fart around Tumblr some more. Hope everyone's hump day has been a good one! ♥

Got back to San Francisco at 10 am yesterday morning. Realized I had no phone with which to call revid and resorted to that charming relic of a bygone era, something called a pay phone.. It was magical.

Came home, ate greasy chinese food with revid, then showered & succumbed to the call of Apple and went to get myself a new iPhone. (...I don't think I ever mentioned it, but my old one was stolen while I was in New Zealand. NOT ON, NZ.) So now I am in possession of Artoo the White. (Both as a reference to his shiny purty color, and to the fact that he pulled a Gandalf and came back to me WHITER AND SHINIER THAN EVER.)

Stayed up till 1 am (36 straight hours since leaving Sydney, what the sweet hell) then slept till 1 pm. (Yeah, shut up. You would've too. Don't be a hater.)

Realized for what felt like the billionth time that despite all the planning & scheming I did to run off on Ye Olde Big Trip, I had given next to no thought to what the hell I'd do upon my return. So to all of you asking "WHAT NOW?" the answer is "HELL IF I KNOW." It probably involves some form of completely over-the-top writing, though. I am already thinking about a longer trip a year and a half to two years from now maybe this time I can make it somewhere where nobody speaks English but meeee

Went and saw "Thor" (again) with some random dude from OK Cupid, had a generally very satisfying time. THOR SMASH! CHRIS HEMSWORTH HOT! Now I have to go watch all the other Marvel-universe movies again. Life: so hard. Totally had to shut down some random drunk guy on the bus, too. This actually happened: "So, like, you should come to this ...cocktail-tasting party tomorrow---" "Please stop touching me." "I'm not touching you!" "Well, not now. Because I asked you to stop." "...Oh, yeah, okay." REAL CONVERSATION.

Discovered that it's Star Trek Big Bang sign-up time again. WHAT THE HELL? WHERE DID THE WHOLE YEAR GO? Oh, yeah: writing previous Big Bang/working like a madwoman/saving up for a crazy trip/3.5 MONTHS OUT OF THE COUNTRY. Nevermind. Still, it's definitely a "where the hell did this ENTIRE YEAR go?" kind of moment.

Made an LJ post at 2:30 in the morning when I got home from the movie and wasn't tired. SIGH.

More intelligent post with Thoughts and Feelings (and hopefully pictures) to come tomorrow or the next day. Coz, GUESS WHAT, I AM CURRENTLY UNEMPLOYED AND CAN DO WHAT I WAAAAAANT! WHOOOOO!!! ....Ahem.

....here's a video of our President and his First Lady dancing at one of the many (very many, according to revid) balls they attended today, while Beyonce sings a truly fabulous version of Etta James' classic "At Last."





I am officially smitten. What a gorgeous couple, and what a lovely family. I'm still sort of stunned that this has finally happened and Shrubya's presidency is well and truly over.

In other news, I finally caved and signed up for a Netflix account, due to the increase in the number of movies I've been watching lately. Thus far in my queue I have "Zodiac," "High Plains Drifter," "The Prestige," "The Fountain," "Thelma & Louise," "Mystic River," "Fargo," "Juno," "The Full Monty," "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels," "The Maltese Falcon," and "The Life Aquatic." I just recently watched (and now own) "Dirty Harry."

So... hit me up with a suggestion (or two) since it's fairly easy to just chuck it in the queue if it sounds appealing. :D

So, most of you were probably already planning on seeing "The Dark Knight," I'm sure, but if for some reason you weren't... Oh my fucking God, go see this movie. Reaction under the cut, very mild spoilers but nothing you probably don't already know going in.


( Why so serious?Collapse )

But man. Talk about intense. I left that movie feeling like I'd been run over by one of the many exploding trucks in the film (though that might also have had something to do with the jackholes who kept smoking dope right in front of us and the fact that I am SICK >_<) but all I can think is that I have to fucking see it again.

In case you MISSED IT, HERE is my holiday-card post where I am collecting addresses. Please go leave yours if you'd like a card! (Also go leave yours if your name begins with "L" and ends with "Ooking Spiffy," because you've fucking MOVED and I don't have your NEW ADDRESS. AHEM.)

So tonight takes the cake for "Worst Movie I Have Ever Seen," which is saying something, given my fondness for crappy movies. But folks, there's "crappy" move that you still thoroughly enjoy, and then there's so Awful with a capital "A" that I would have walked out 30 minutes into it had I been the one who'd driven, or had there even been a cafe nearby to go to. The movie, by the way, was "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," and it was SO BAD. Not even the combined presences of Albert Finney, Ethan Hawke, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Marisa Tomei's boobs could salvage it. All the characters were wretched and/or despicable, you could see where the plot was headed from miles away (to its inglorious flaming tragic pile of poo ending), the story-telling was aggravating at best, and there was zero resolution at the end. "ROCKS FALL, ALL DIE" would have been more satisfying.

In other news, I know none of you are going to be as amused by this as I am, but my new sweater is hilariously large. Some of you may have heard me bitch about how hard it is for me to find clothes that fit if I don't order from a website, due to the fact that I am absurdly tall for a girl (6'1"). Thus, the fact that this turtleneck makes me feel like I stole Mommy's sweater at the age of 7 (despite the fact that sweater is IN MY NORMAL SIZE) is sort of awesome. The neck, especially, is amazing; as my mom says, it could do with "a little more turtle and a little less neck." When I pulled it on the unrolled neckpiece covered my entire head. IT WAS AMAZING. Now that you're all done being bored, return to your regularly-scheduled flist browsing.

In yet other news, I can't stop listening to "Sam's Town." Dammit, Brandon Flowers. I hate you. Why does your music have to be so good?

And now, I'm exhausted, so I'm going to go to bed. This bout of rambling has been brought to you by the letter R. *waits for Sesame Street R-doll to dance across the screen* Night!

Several things.

One, I've had a busy weekend; worked almost the whole way through, and I work again in roughly 40 minutes here. My evening will end well, though; I'm going to go see "Sunshine" with Deb, Robin and Jo after I get off, and said group of friends are all going to come visit me at work to eat dinner. EXCITEMENT.

I had a conversation with jou and Robin last night about my sadly very long list of movies I Have Not Seen But Really Should. The conversation actually started in reference to the fact that for a disturbingly long time now, it seems, I've stopped doing things like reading for pleasure, watching movies frequently, or doing any kind of consumptive entertainment. This....embarrasses me to admit, as a matter of fact, and I can point to a number of possible reasons for it, stemming mainly from my tendency during my college time as an English major. (I mean, when you're reading 900+ pages a week for assigned reading, the last thing you want to do is curl up with a book in your free time. Me, anyway.) So I'm making a dedicated effort to change this. At least I have a nice library already built up of worthwhile books I HAVE read.

But back to the movie thing: Anyone want to suggest movies to me? I'm making a point to watch at least 1 movie a week, even if it's in my bed on my computer 'cause I have no one else to watch it with, and before I leave for San Francisco we're having a big Movies For Kat marathon. Everyone is bringing one movie they feel it's a crime that I've never seen.

Here's my (short) current list of movies I've never seen, but really would like to get around to, because people seem almost offended—and no, I'm not shitting you on any of these:

+ Forrest Gump
+ Grease
+ Top Gun
+ Citizen Kane
+ Schindler's List
+ Apocalypse Now
+ Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
+ Spiderman 2
+ High Fidelity
+ Dirty Dancing
+ Aliens (any of them—I HAVE seen "Alien Vs. Predator" though, don't ask)
+ Anything by Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Mononoke Hime, any of them)

Wow, that list was longer last night. And—I believe this part is academic, but it bears talking about anyway...I have no desire to be what some people might refer to as a film buff. I'll never be snobby about films; I'm just too easy to please, and I'm fine with that. I'm not interested in being a critic. I enjoy movies, but mainly when I'm with friends; I didn't grow up viewing it as a serious artistic medium, because that's just not how we approached movies in my family. But I get the feeling, sometimes, like I'm missing out on shared cultural experiences and cues, and that bugs me. Not that I need to start watching daytime TV in order to be an Educated Member of the Culture, but whatever. I want to see more movies. Tell me what you think I really ought to see.

And as for books, no worries there; I already have a list a mile long. Thanks!

Nothing quite puts the cap on your panic-inducing mound of stress as realizing, "Hoshit, I only have 10 weeks left before my big deadline!" except to remember that you in fact only have 9 weeks because you'll be spending 5 days in the Bay area with your frantic mother helping her look around for a house & do job interviews. That being said, it's time for a time-wasting post while I'm on my afternoon break—now with more pictures and youtube links!

( Who wants to give me a scalp massage? Bueller?Collapse )

And on that note, I should probably have some food before I go back in to work tonight. Adios!

The Second Coming ~ W. B. Yeats

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

I was going to spend tonight detailing the events of my trip to Chicago in November to see Heavens, but after reading a few unsettling articles and realizing I don't remember the last time my mother did anything in her free time but play video games, I think I'm going to give the internet the finger and go read a book. Just the fact that the idea of not being connected tonight gives me the equivalent of withdrawal jitters is a pretty fucking clear signal. But before I go, I figured I'd at least share. All stolen shamelessly from zarq's journal — darling, you manage to find the best links and I don't know how you do it, but I appreciate it.

+ What We Don't Know

+The Radical Christian Right Is Built on Suburban Despair This one made me so twitchy it's not even funny. theory_of_chaos, wonderleafy, fangirlsays and kiji_kat, you should especially read this if you haven't yet. I can't promise it will make you happy, though. Probably the opposite.

+65 Percent of Americans Spend More Time With Their Computer Than Their Spouse

+Laugh, Cry, Believe: Spielbergization and Its Discontents

And...well, this isn't world-newsly, but I'm linking anyway.

+Pete Wentz: The Project *smiles*

Night folks!