elapses

Today was that day -- the first true show of spring, when all anyone can seem to talk or think about is how nice it is outside, with an awkward reverence that comes from knowing more ice is just as possible as a string of these days. Somehow we have grass now! That does not even seem possible, and yet. And yet! My French lit class is on the third floor and it has this magnificent view of the flatirons, which is so nice in winter, because you watch the flurries pass the mountain backdrop and thank everything you don't have to go back out there for another thirty minutes. But today we were much too close to the sunshine not to feel jealous of it, and good lord was it every difficult to tear our minds from the windows, back to Flaubert and his métaphores figées.

There was this weird attitude in the FMM comments about Brennan, this idea that she is somehow "less" of a character and Bones is somehow "less" of a show now than it was in seasons one and two. This is not the first time I have seen this said, and I have to say it completely and totally mystifies me. I get that Bones has since season three has devolved into a certain kind of silliness that is only going to appeal to certain people, what I cannot wrap my head around is this idea that Bones was some magnificent show back when it was not this ridiculous. Most of season one of Bones feels to me like the blandest, most mediocre procedural possible, peppered with these incredibly awkward, trying-too-hard character moments that are endearing only if you are looking back on them with season three/four/five eyes. Not completely-- there are a handful of standout moments and a couple of standout episodes, but even the memorable parts are the ones that are more in keeping with the tone of the later seasons. Season two is harder to comment on because I've only watched it the once, the first time, two years ago during the strike, but I will tell you that pretty much what I remember is a) Aliens in a Spaceship (good television), b) the one where they go to Vegas and go undercover as an engaged couple (delightful silly television), c) some stuff with what I think of as Bones' mytharc, which is not actually a mytharc at all I guess but just the ongoing story with Bones' parents, which I actually always liked, and d) the second half of the season was really boring and I just wanted it to end. ANYWAY, outside of the "Aliens in a Spaceship" argument... where the hell are these people coming from? SERIOUSLY I DO NOT UNDERSTAND AT ALL, WHY WOULD ANYONE EVER PASSIONATELY MISS SEASON ONE/TWO OF BONES? Where is the greatness? The realism? THERE WAS A HOLOGRAPHIC COMPUTER. Ugh I realize I am being derisive but it genuinely eludes me, it really seems like after two seasons they realized their best moments were the moments when they were taking a page out of the books of ff.net authors everywhere, and then let that formulate how they would continue with the show. I can't even dig into the Brennan idea, I can't tell if it stems from the perception that her social obliviousness got better and that got worse again (which I can't comment on, I guess I haven't paid enough attention) or the idea that she's less ~ass-kicking~, because to be honest I am so okay with that being a backburner part of her character, that moment in the pilot where she kung fus out airport security is so awkwardly written and conceived I sometimes wonder how any of us ended up as fans of this show.

This dress in red was Annie Edison (of Community)'s valentine's day dress, and then two weeks ago Kristin Kreuk wore it on Chuck. I've had it since December in blue and I wear it so much, finally decided the universe was telling me (via television, naturally) to get it in red too. I'M HOLDING IT IN MY HANDS RIGHT NOW, best decision ever.

[Poll #1513465]

ETA: And by "would" I meant "wouldn't". God Alexandra, learn to type.
ETA2: Also tread carefully in the comments if you don't want to be spoiled for what's aired so far in season 3!

THE FACTS ARE THESE: once upon a time there was this stupid, stupid little show called Enterprise. And it was absolutely terrible. So terrible, in fact, that the two creators finally said "fuck this shit" and handed it over to someone else, who made it SO MUCH BETTER. Or he would have, had it not starred Jonathan Archer, AKA THE WORST CHARACTER IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE. Do not be charmed by the fact that he is played by Scott Bakula-- HE IS AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL.

What I am trying to say is it takes a lot of fortitude to watch this show-- to get around the terrible writing, the (sometimes) terrible acting (LOL ANTHONY MONTGOMERY, as much as I would like to eat you up with a spoon, there is a reason they never gave Travis lines), the terrible characters who refuse to die NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES IT ALMOST HAPPENS, the fact that Brannon Braga really likes to write about NAZIS IN SPACE, the part where it's... Star Trek, etc. So much is wrong that it is difficult for anyone to get to the good part. The good part being Trip! and! T'Pol! in! season! four!

Anyway. goldenmelisande needed more Trek after you know what movie, and she picked this and them, and her subsequent enchantment has reawoken things I have not felt since I was fifteen. And believeeeee me, I know Catherine and I are almost-but-not-quite the only people left in the known universe who care about them/this fanmix (and since she's already aware of/helped me pick out a good two thirds of these songs, THERE IS SOME QUESTION OF WHY I AM EVEN POSTING THIS), BUT THEY'RE JUST SO LOVELY AND ANGSTY, IT CANNOT BE HELPED. And what it not to love? VULCANS*! HUMANS! HALF-NAKED YOGA MASSAGES VULCAN NEUROPRESSURE! PSYCHIC BONDS! Yeaaaaaaah.

*Admittedly T'Pol is the WORST VULCAN EVER, but it's kind of really adorable.

( anyway. this is a fanmix for star trek enterprise! I'M SO COOL. )



WHILE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT... things, uh, I am basically grateful that twitter exists because it means THIS EXISTS:


SO YEAH, THAT HAPPENED.

( chuck was on tonight! )

ALSO HEY, is anyone still watching Gossip Girl?? I saw promos this weekend and I am super curious about what's going on with Serena's ~marriage~ but not like, curious enough to watch it.

Hi livejournal! goldenmelisande and I were engaging in NBC network mathematics because we are nerds as much as they suck, they carry a lot of the TV we watch. Anyway uh, I am getting kind of lost, so ( any input is appreciated! )

GUESS WHAT THOUGH! My best frieeeeeeeend is back (from South America)!!!! I would be at her potluck right now but a) it was going to suck/be full of her parents weird hippie friends and b) she was going to be way too busy playing hostess to pay all that much attention to me anyway. And Ian's party later tonight is probably going to be 8x the fun. BUT THIS WEEKEND!!!!

I CANNOT BELIEVE NOT ONE OF YOU TOLD ME ABOUT THIS (Chuck casting spoilers), you guys are supposed to be my EYES and EARS and YOU FAILED ME and hooooooly crap that is going to be magnificent.

P.S. BONES!!!!!!!!!!!

Things I should be doing instead of writing up this post:
- finishing my last paper of the semester
- studying for Chem tomorrow
- writing my yuletide
- UM, ANYTHING?

So I kind of want to talk about Harry Potter again (sooooooorry) and how I think the epilogue is so much better when you're not a) reading it for the first time and b) interpreting "all was well" as "happily ever after". Because it isn't happily ever after-- they lost so many. It's about how if the survivors cannot enjoy life, what was the sacrifice of the dead for?

OKAY BUT YOU GUYS! I feel like between this and my drunken confession to reading Next Gen fanfic last weekend I am coming off as some weird psychopath (...because who else reads Next Gen fanfic? I MEAN REALLY? All I wanted was stories about 11-year-olds discovering hoggy warty Hogwarts and having dumb adventures, but all there is is like... a bunch of people who can't let go of their Draco/__________ pairing continuing it on with Draco/[child of __________] porn). I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW, I am having fun with my mini-Harry Potter phase, because like, I haven't felt this way since Deathly Hallows came out and even thaaaaaat was pretty much just excitement stretching from the OotP movie to the discussion superskittles76 and I had over Tex-Mex a couple of days after the book was released. I totally used to write Harry Potter fanfic, and once it was done it actually felt like I was totally over it. Like actually completely forever only passingly interested in Harry Potter. But silly self, you don't get over these things for good.

ANYWAY WHAT THIS POST IS ACTUALLY ABOUT IS THE POTTER FAMILY NAMES-- James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna, because I HATE THEM LIKE BURNING. Part of that is maybe me being neurotic, because it actually drives me a little batty that like, every baby ever born in fiction is named after someone. LIFE DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY, friends. And I would like to demonstrate that with a poll!

I know a lot of you actively think about what you would name your kids (captaincatapult and goldenmelisande did their own polling to this effect pretty recently): is that because you think they're beautiful names, or is it because you want to honor someone in your life?

( this poll is really awkwardly phrased, I apologize in advance. )

I... don't mean to belittle anyone that does want to name someone after someone. I think it is a lovely, lovely way to honor someone important to you (I found out recently that my favorite Aunt Monti is named for a Professor Montague that my Nana was especially affected by, which I think is so lovely), what I take issue with is the frequency with which it happens in fiction. It's like anytime anyone pops a kid out it has to be named for someone, they cannot be bothered to come up with their own names. (It is lovely, though, in the West Wing when Toby calls his baby girl Molly after the dead secret service agent.)

I guess the other thing is that they're all Harry's names he wants to give to honor all the dead in his life, and it just... doesn't sound like Ginny had much input at allllll in what to name them. You know? She lost family too, but the scope of people represented in the little Potter's names is all Harry. Something about that really kind of bothers me. (BUT, on the other hand, I think a legitimate argument can be made that Ginny recognizes that having kids and a family means... not necessarily more to Harry than it would to her, but it's special to her, the youngest of seven, in a different way than it would be to little orphan Harry, who has always craved that family connection. It's like Scully and Mulder! And the way poor, emotionally abandoned Mulder really desperately would like a family, but Scully has grown up in a big family with brothers named Bill and Charlie and even if she would like kids, Exceeeeeept it's not like Scully and Mulder at all, because Mulder does not view himself as deserving of that family, and they weren't supposed to have kids. BUT STILL, I think Scully named William for Mulder's William and not her Williams for the exact reason that Ginny might let Harry give all her kids really awful names.)

Hi my name is Alexandra and sometimes I like to write up six long paragraphs about something everybody already agrees with anyway/doesn't even think about anymore and post them on the internet.

P.S. LAST NIGHT'S CHUCK WAS AMAZING.

Last night on Chuck, ( some stuff happens, all of which leads up to this: )

Isn't it just fitting that is this season of all tv seasons that is going to be incomplete on all notes? (NBC's "why yes! we do intend to replace comedy night done right with the apprentice!" is kind of hurting my hope. Especially considering basically my entire tv schedule is NBC-based. Ugh.)