Confess here often?

From the Pick-Up Lines for Catholics group on Facebook. I'm easily amused.

I have a migraine and a history final in the morning and oh my God was the Hundred Years War complicated. Which one was crazy? (Oh. Charles VI. Thank God for Wikipedia.)

Ugh. I read the Alison Weir book on Queen Isabella. That's as much as I know.

Maybe I'll go watch the next episode of The Tudors in an effort to aquaint myself with the Wars of the Roses. It's connected. Kind of.

Also very tired, as I was on a bus at six fifty-one this morning.

I don't remember driving home. That can't be good.

Think I did okay, though. Surprising, considering the fact that I did nothing but watch season finales on TV last night. Bones was good, so cute at the end, even though it's quite obvious that Booth and Bones aren't going to do anything. Criminal Minds was amazing, but I am not pleased with Karen Hayes from 24 trying to kick Hotch out---go back to CTU and leave my crime dramas alone, bitch.

And then, CSI:NY. What to say? Other than the major ickiness, it was quite a good episode. A few smacked moments, lovely. GAH! PEYTON STUPID WHORE.

I hate her.

*ahem*

The Office finishes up tonight. So I'd better have my dynastic struggles figured out by then.

Speaking of which, this sounds like something I would do. In fact, I'm a little bit surprised I haven't done it already, seeing as how I fall on the steps pretty much daily.

Pssh. I knew it. Melinda was always too good. She should just go have a recording career and let Blake and Jordin drunkenly stumble out of limos for the next ten years.

Well, that's all I've got for you today. Off to go try to figure out the damn investiture controversy, and maybe pass out.

Oh, and if Mickey would like to know how How I Met Your Mother actually ended (I didn't give it away in the last post, I promise), please let me know. I could compose an essay I loved it so much. *tear*

It's going to be legend- wait for it...

How awesome was the season (yes, thank you, God just the season!!!) finale of How I Met Your Mother ??? I cried. Really. I don't cry.

I was screaming obscenities at the screen during the whole pregnancy thing, because I. Don't. Like. Robin. She is a cold frigid person who does not deserve Ted's children. So there. *sticks out tongue*





In other news, oh, good. I like her. I shall watch her spin-off.

I am not shocked. I would not want to be the guy next to him.

Everyone needs to watch CSI:NY tonight. SERIOUSLY. They're all wet and have guns. It's an obvious ratings ploy. I DON'T CARE. It's like the producers read the message boards. I know I'll be rushing home from my logic final to watch.

Well, I need to go study.

Well, you were being kind of a grinch.

Art history is over. The flashcards are worthless. If I hadn't worked so damn hard on them, I'd be overwhelmingly happy.

Not looking forward to Wednesday night/Thursday morning, what with the two massivly difficult exams within twelve hours of each other and also everybody is wet on the season finale of CSI:NY, so clearly how advertising developed after the industrial revolution is not going to be first on my mind. {Insert joke about my inappropriate CSI-crushes here.}

After that it's just history, which could be insanely easy or make me want to open a vein right there in class. I honestly have no clue.

I just got an e-mail from sombody who must be in my history class saying that he was in jail for the past two weeks, and really hoped he could salvage his grade. Yeah. I think that may be a perfect example of the evil of the "Reply All" button.


NBC announced their fall schedule this morning, which I was not terribly interested in as I only watch The Office and that wasn't going anywhere. Studio 60 is officially not coming back. *tear*

CBS does theirs on Wednesday. *crosses fingers for HIMYM*

The Empress is taking her AP Psychology exam tomorrow. I've never taken any AP tests, but these are apprently administered under third-world conditions for six hours or something insane, and frankly it makes me a little bit glad that I haven't ever taken one. I wrote for an hour and fifteen minutes this morning and my hand still hasn't uncramped.

I'm very much oppposed to standardized tests. I still have ACT flashbacks. They're evil.

Watching Brothers and Sisters on abc.com because my tape (Yes, I realize I should have a TiVo. I'm poor. Leave me alone. ) didn't work. Dead babies for Mother's Day. That's nice.

Well, it's wicked hot here and I'm going to go lie down on top of my bedspread and try to remember truth functionality (Sadists made it a comprehensive exam. Bastards.), so a demain.

History. It's just one thing after another.

A year ago I was sobbing in the car after my art history final. Oh the way we were.

Witness the death of my last shred of academic integrity. I don't even want to show up for the finals. *headdesk*

The last week has been completely and utterly worthless, especially when I drove down for my JMC discussion (my sole class yesterday), and the TA walked in, collected papers, announced that this was his last class and he was kind of sick of us, and then left. Yes, that is a two hour round trip for a FIFTEEN minute discussion. I was not amused. I ended up with majorly unmotivated TAs this year, too. Art history person told us in April that she was done with this and couldn't really be bothered to grade our tests because she was finishing her thesis, and then made us all go see her exhibition because she didn't feel like teaching that day, and JMC guy is apparently over all of us.

Today was so worthless I couldn't even really be bothered to stay. JMC professor had a hangover, which she was quite vocal about (it was actually pretty funny).

I am at the end of my rope.

Get off for Mother's Day, though--- *whee* Totally didn't think that I would, especially what with the last minute begging/pleading/ransoming of my first born to get off for the Confirmation of the Empress.

Although, I suppose I could have missed that, as I was not asked to be her sponsor. *haughty sniff* I demanded during Mass that the Boy have me as a sponsor. I refuse to go through life not doing that. And the person I was totally banking on doing it for has now apparently abandoned the Church and is leaving the country on a big boat, so that's probably not going to happen. I need more friends. *sigh*

Just FYI, I'm taking applications for people to travel to London with me in January. Mommy Dearest and I had our bi-monthy sobbing fight discussion regarding the trip this morning, and as the Lovely Mary seems to be backing out on me, I need a traveling companion to make her feel better.

One that, preferrably, is tolerant of those who are not white people from Milwaukee,

And my application I mean do you have the money? Because that's really all I need.

Speaking of British things, the first Prime Minister you can imagine voluntarily having sex with resigns. And annoucned thatsome guy I don't even want to think about in the same sentence as sex would be his successor. Booo. Poor form. On a slightly more serious note, this is quite sad. I liked Tony Blair.

Have to work tonight. But I don't have to do dishes and I do get to wear my very cool headset, so I'm not too upset. On the other hand, Grissom is hanging out with his little dominatrix friend again on CSI. My headset isn't that much fun. And I didn't mean that to sound as dirty as it did, no matter what impression the paragraph above may have given you. I promise.

Okay. I'm talking myself into a corner. I'm going to go now.

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!!!

My Inner Pop Culture Whore is also a End of the Year Top 10 List Whore.

Shhh. Don't tell anyone. She's kind of embarrassed. But she will sit and watch VH1 for pretty much all of December.

Also, she doesn't really feel like studying or cleaning, which is pretty much all she has to do today before five thirty. Oh the joys of exam week.

So, without further ado, her top 10 15 favorite movies of 2006, including ones that she saw on DVD for the first time in 2006. Don't worry, she only does recent ones, though. For instance, she recently viewed Newsies (1994) and while it definately deserves a place on her favorite movies of all time list, it does not get one on the '06 list. Even though it kind of deserves it. But she digresses...

In a very particular order...

15.) A History of Violence~ Viggo Mortensen being a mobster. This is enough to get her to watch the entire movie many, many times. She wants the DVD desperately (last minute Christmas gifts, anyone???). Also, That Guy Who Is In Everything playing his brother was quite good.

14.) Friends With Money~ Okay. The pot and vibrator gags aside, this was a very good movie in that indie kill-an-afternoon kind of way. I loved it. I wonder if anyone has the DVD for cheap?

13.) Inside Man~ Another movie I didn't want to go see and Imladris insisted and it turns out to be a favorite. And, in a surprisingly show of emotional maturity on my part, *not* just because of Clive Owen. Not that much emotional maturity, because he's still pretty damn sexy, but he's not the only reason. It's one of those movies that you kind of forget you loved, or even saw, and then you remember and you're like "Damn!!! That was a great movie!!!"

12.) Walk the Line~ Yes, I've totally used this before, but half of me would be scared to run into Joaquin Phoenix in a dark alley, and the other half really, really wants to. Really. Also, snaps for newly single Reese who totally deserved the Oscar and how much did we love her dress???

11.) Good Night and Good Luck~ One of the very few good and memorable things to come out of my American government class last semester. Very good in a quiet kind of way. Also, we heart George Clooney.

10.) Stranger Than Fiction~ I was reading something about this in the paper the other day, and the columnist said that this was one of his favorite movies of the year, but it was one he wasn't even sure he liked until the end. And I completely agree---it was kind of depressing for awhile there, but when it was over, I really, really was glad I went.

9.) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest~ Okay. I know. You're all going to comment about how my devotion is failing and what not, but I really do have a good reason for putting it so low on the list. First, let it be known that known that, as a sequel to POTC and a Johnny movie, this could not get any closer to my heart. However, as a movie, well, it kind of pales in comparison to the first one, or any other movie on the list. I didn't notice it in theaters, probably because I was all "GAH!!!! JOHNNY!!!!!!! POTC 2!!!!! GAH!!!!!!" all through them, but when we watched it again on DVD a couple weeks ago...well, I kind of got very confused. What was the point of the island? And why didn't Jack follow through with the 99 souls thing? And what the hell was up with Elizabeth bringing the horniness? Seriously. Down, girl.

But I still love it, and I still can't wait for May 2007. *squee*

8.) Marie Antoinette~ Yes, I realize that it made about six bucks. And that the blessing before sex is majorly skeevy. And that Mary will never be the same again. But I really, really liked it. Can't wait until it's on DVD.

7.) Casino Royale~ Two words: Bond ass. Go see it.

6.) Thank You For Smoking ~ One of the most hilarious movies that I've ever seen and if I could remember a single quote or funny line I'd tell you, but sadly I cannot. Still, awesome movie.

5.) The Devil Wears Prada~ I cannot say enough good things about this movie, even if the message of "Lose weight and sell your soul and get to wear pretty clothes" kind of sucks. It's still awesome. And read the book (now available in mass market paperback for only $7.99---run to your bookseller now!!!)

4.) Capote~ I'm not a real In Cold Blood kind of girl. In fact, I read the book and couldn't sleep for three days because I was convinced somebody was going to kill me over $16. But this was, quite possibly, the best film of 2005, and it's only #4 because I saw it in 2006 with so many other good movies! The true test of my devotion? I bought the DVD after it was on sale for being new but before it was on sale for being old. Paid full price. Can't remember the last time I did that.

3.) The Prestige~ Unquestionably one of my favorite movies this year. Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, and Michael Caine. You cannot possibly get a bad movie out of that cast. And it wasn't even a bad movie---it was really good!!! And it's coming to DVD on February 20th. *does insanely happy dances*

2.) Little Miss Sunshine~ A quest to get Colleen carded on the day after she turned 17 was a bust. But the movie that we saw was completely awesome. It is a travesty that Steve Carrell didn't get a Golden Globe nomination for this. TRAVESTY, I tell you!!!

1.) The Queen~ There are very few movies I will see at night when prices are highest. There are even fewer that I will see at an unfamiliar theater where I have to wait in line and listen to the mayor ramble about what a great city this is. Fewer still will I miss a new episode of CSI for. This was one of them. I don't even know how to describe what I loved so much about it (well, Helen Mirren was a big part of it) but I completely and totally fell in love with it. If you can find it in a theater, I highly suggest going.

So, back to reality where dirty dishes and conjugations of -er verbs await. Comment, please...

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?

Yeah, he started bugging me, so I spiked his tea with codeine.

Oh, loved the Christmas episode of How I Met Your Mother. Of course, I love everything having to do with that show and would, in fact, marry the dude who plays Ted just so I could be kinda connected to it. Hell, I'd marry Neil Patrick Harris. Or maybe I'll have Colleen marry him. She doesn't like to be touched.

Okay, now I'm going to write about the painful experience where I was forced to sleep in the same bed as my sister hostel-style and yes I realize that sounded kind of unholy, but it was kind of unholy Galena, but first, my cloud.

It is, quite simply, a cloud that looks like England. And Wales. And Ireland. And even Greenland is up there. Isn't it pretty??? This may or may not have been when Imladris wondered why the moon was out so late in the day before she realized it was, in fact, the sun. *snickers*

This was right before the wind shifted and Wales declared independence.

So, Galena. Lovely, really. Did lots of eating and consequently feel like a moose, but that's okay. Got a lovely Italy shirt much like my "espresso" one that did not, as I had hoped, drum up tips but rather drummed up the number of people staring at my chest because it was suddenly all bright and sparkly. Humph.

Love Galena. It deserves a place in the Empress's official realm.

Beginning of finals. *scary music plays* Mary's away message says, "Final 1, Part 1: Damn the French". I was quite amused.

So I have an oral exam ina couple of hours, and frankly have a headache at the thought of how badly I'm going to do at it. *sigh* I can't wait before this is over and I can leave. And sell my books, because my checking account is dangerously low, y'all. Seriously.

Also finally switched over to the new blogger---blogger beta. After testing it with a fake blog, of course, because once you switch over, you can't go back. But I liked it, and now I have fun little tags, too, like LJ. So if you, say, needed to know when I rambled about Johnny Depp or the current British royal family, or indeed even any previous British royal family, you could simply click on the tag and find all appropriate entries. How cool for you, huh???

I'm not sure if you'll be able to see it or not, because it's taking quite some time to switch over two years of my wordy crap, but it will be prettier and more streamlined when you do.

Okay. I'm going to go take Tylenol and try saying J'ai mange whatever. Ciao, bella.