Requiem for a DVD player

*sigh*

My faithful friend that got me through either three or four (can't remember which birthday I got it for---15 or 16) and a half years is dead. Dead. Won't play anything, wasting space on my shelf, making the 200 DVDs carefully organized according to degree of worship standing next to it completely obsolete dead.

Not good.

Because clearly what I needed in this season of the release of every major DVD/box set I've ever wanted and Christmas gifts and an expensive haircut and oh yeah THREE THOUSAND FREAKIN' DOLLARS for an eighth of a practically worthless piece of paper that will qualify you to do absolutely freakin' nothing from a school who's name doesn't even make sense (Letters and Sciences? What the hell does that even mean???) I needed an excuse to spend fifty bucks on another electronic.

But in between a finals and a stop at Pick and Save for cookie adornments, I went to Target and bought one because the last twelve hours without any entertainment whatsoever have been killing me, and it's now in a box waiting for Daddy to set up because I am Teh Hopelessness when it comes to anything that plugs in.

Also, I desperately need to watch Little Miss Sunshine on DVD.

However, I am not, as previously assumed, Teh Hopelessness in the kitchen. Well, I mean, I probably still am, but I spent three and a half hours today making Christmas cookies, all of which are mine and mine alone, because something did not notify the Patriarch of the family that I hold the copyright for Mexican Wedding Cakes and he made them instead, I don't really care, because they are Teh Awesomeness, and I was forced to go though the Betty Crocker Christmas Cookbook last night and come up with my "own" recipes.

I did quite well. Something called a sparkle cookie, which is pretty much just a sugar cookie rolled in colored sugar, spice cookies with frosting, chocolate bon bon cookies (without the nuts, so I guess they're just chocolate) with vanilla frosting and sprinkles, and the ever popular spritz. Oh, and my fudge, which I don't think anyone really eats but I really like to make.

Everything else went swimmingly, but since last year we have somehow managed to lose a critical component of the spritz machine in our completely impractical and now probably mouse infested corner cabinet (seriously, what were you thinking with that?). Like the part that screws on the top to keep the metal thing on. Important. So I was forced to use the hideously shit-colored brown thing that my parents probably got for a wedding gift and was still in the box that had inexplicably made the move and ended up with a prime piece of real estate in our completely impractical corner cabinet.

Just an update: I thought the '70s were the worst decade for home decor, what with all the furriness. No longer true---the '80s with all their yuppiness and puke-colored appliances were definitely worse.

Also, this machine sounded like a dying baby.

I'm not making that up.

So, I haven't exactly been a beacon of personal care today. Got up at quarter to six, which is an hour when no one should have to get up because there is nothing worthy that you could possibly accomplish before seven o'clock so you might as well just stay asleep.

But when you have a math final with probability (*spat*) at seven freakin' thirty, sadly, you must. And then you find yourself sitting in the coffee shop at eight thirty not entirely able to remember how you go to campus or took that exam or what time it is exactly and it's a very strange world when you've been up for three hours by eight-thirty.

So one left. *happy dances*

Also, I've had a skim mocha and Christmas cookies today. Not kidding. That's it. Not good.

Don't care, though, because some wonderful Grobie sent me Josh's two new songs on some Hallmark CD that I'd never heard of that doesn't come out until January, and it's probably totally illegal but I don't care because they're on my iPod now and you can't take them away from me!!! Damn, that boy's damaged.



Next major project? Wrapping presents. Love to do that. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow.
Two major happiness notes: 1.) I'm finished with math for the rest of my life. Choirs of angels are singing *right now*

Also, CBS is rerunning the Christmas episode of How I Met Your Mother, which is quite possibly one of the funniest I've seen in quite a while.

Have a good day!!!

Who moved all of our decorations? And what is Santa doing to that elf?!?!?!

Imladris, why aren't you commenting???

Oh the weather outside is...actually, pretty nice. Freakishly nice, really. Bright, sunny, and fifty degrees. God bless global warming. But only if Al Gore will stop his whining about it. Because that is just getting really, really annoying.

Also, God bless book buyback, because my checking account is now smiling happily rather than scrounging for crumbs on the floor of the bank or wherever else a checkbook would eat, as it was before. So now I have sixty dollars to remember Russian and geography by, which is a rather good deal, n'est pas? Sadly, I have to keep my French book. *sigh*

So geography final---well, it was a final. And now it's over. And I never have to go back to that class again praise the Lord. And there were fifteen extra credit points available, all involving writing which is my ace in the hole. Except I forgot one of the pillars of Islam and just did the little, "They have five pillars, including... ". Works every time. They don't know I forgot Ramadan. Maybe I just thought it was less important. Also, using big words confuses the TAs. They get dizzy easily.

The last one honestly asked about the enivronmental costs to the Russian domain due to heavy industrialization. "Chernobyl. Duh." sounded flippant, so we did a little more than that. Not much, because I really wanted to get out of there and get a pretzel.

I did get out of there and got a pretzel with Mary, and it was lovely. We considered having a ceremonial bonfire and getting rid of the notes. Cathartic. And also, we're kind of pyromanicas a little bit.



Daddy's baking Christmas cookies as we speak. Yay!!! I was just thinking how we have nothing good in the house for desert because someone who shall remain nameless used my brownies to subliment his/her rage at . And now they're all gone. *sigh* But now we do. So snaps for Daddy.

My family is so weird. We 0nly know how to make like three kinds of cookies, but we're all fiercely protective of our individual right to back those three cookies, and so we end up with like four different sets of these three kinds of cookies, every single year. Except I'm the only one who makes Mexican Wedding Cakes.

Author's Note: Love the cookie and all, but what kind of lame-ass wedding cakes do they have in Mexico??? It's flour, sugar, and water dropped onto a pan. Boring.

Also, I think my dad, Colleen, and I all do different spritz cookie batches, because those are just so much fun, and a bitch to clean. And I know that we end up with at least three batches of cutouts, and possibly a batch for John as well (at his request, there is no more The Boy at least out loud

Le anyhoodles, I don't know when I'll have time to do my cookies. Probably next week, because once I get French out of the way I'm pretty much finished studying. I don't know why I bake cookies, because I have negative domestic talent, and don't particularly like cooking, and I really don't like cleaning up after people especially myself if I've made a huge mess, so it seems rather like a masochistic endeavor to me, but, dammit, I do it every year. So I will be making Mexican Wedding Cakes (copyright: me), cutouts with pretty glaze, spritz that look more like green blobs than anything holiday related, and my fudge. Which is reknowned all over...um...the living room.



Major entertainment news yesterday, y'all; Golden Globe noms released. I love it when they announce nominations, because I get all excited and start picking who I want to win and all...awards season almost puts me over the edge. As usualy, however, the HFPA refused to call me for my input, and thus there are several acceptable and unacceptable items that I feel deserve commenting on...


Acceptable Item #1.) JOHNNY!!!!11!!!! OMG JOHNNY!!!!!!!!!!


Acceptable Item #2.) *ahem* *deep breaths* Obviously, for religious reasons, I must support Johnny above all others, but I love like three of the best actor-comedy guys!!! Thank You For Smoking was freakin' hilarious, and I love Will Ferrell like whoa. And Borat guy is funny (his real name is too long).


Acceptable Item #3.) Helen Mirren is rolling around naked in all of her nominations. While this is a nausea-inducing thought, I'm happy for her, because I love and adore her like a real queen. Which I don't have, because somewhere along the line my ancestors in spirit (my real ones were toiling in eastern Europe probably under the oppressive regime du jour, because that all eastern Europe really knows how to do, but just go with me here) decided that some damn tax was too much to pay for pretty dresses, pretty accents, and pretty monarchy. Whatevs.


Also consider that she is nominated for playing both Queen Elizabeths in the same year.


Acceptable Item #4.) Meryl Streep, with all her bleeding-heartness, completely deserves this award and definately even deserves an Oscar nod. And I watched the whole movie again last night, and it was really good. I love it.


Acceptable Item #5.) The Office and Ugly Betty up for best comedy series. Two of the best comedy series I've seen in a long time, and they completely deserve it. Again, I know who I'm rooting for, but my loyalties are somewhat divided...


Unacceptable Item #1.) Um, excuse me, but where is Steve Carrell's nomination for Little Miss Sunshine? Did I get an incomplete copy?


Unacceptable Item #2.) Helen Mirren has to beat *gasp* herself to win the award! No! Did anyone really watcht he PBS thing? I wanted to, but it was like four hours long!!! She had The Queen, and Elizabeth I, and I think they should have left it at that.

Unacceptable Item #3.) Seriously, Brad Pitt? What the hell???


Unacceptable Item #4.) Only a nom for Gillian Anderson for Bleak House. Totally deserved and all, but Esther deserved one too. *sniff*


Unacceptable Item #5.) WHY DOES NO ONE SHOW MY CSI'S ANY LOVE!?!?!?! Gah. Cretins.

So Ojava posed a query on his blog that I found rather intersting and embarrassing, all at the same time. What is on your iPod? Or CDs or whatever it is that you listen to frequently, for those readers without one.

I started scrolling through mine, and realized that I am, in fact, a huge dork. Not many places can you find solid gold '90s pop next to Beethoven's 9th, but not many places are my playlist. So, rather than competely humiliate myself, I decided to list the top eleven most played songs on my iPod this year. Keep in mind that this year encompassed graduation, making me feel rather sentimental which is probably responsible for the reprehensible choice of #7. I'd like to state for the record that I am not, in fact, a Ryan Cabrera fan. *shivers*

Also, I'll explain why there are eleven when I get there.

11.) Requiem Aeternum, W.A. Mozart

10.) The Riddle, Five for Fighting

9.) Suddenly I See, KT Tunstall

8.) My December, Josh Groban

7.) I Will Remember You, Ryan *chokes* Cabrera

6.) Numbe/Encore, Jay-Z and Linkin Park

5.) Baba O'Riley, The Who

4.) Wake Me Up When September Ends, Green Day

3.) It's My Life, Bon Jovi

2.) Holiday, Green Day

and finally, with an astounding 110 replays, Number 1 is through no fault of my own and is only on here because Imladris steals my iPod and works out with it...and this is a catchy, upbeat tune.

1.) Jerk It Out, Caesars

So? What's on your iPod or playlist?