There are few things more fun than when you're first getting into a new fandom.  There's the fanfic, graphics, icons, and other creative efforts just waiting to be discovered; not to mention the exuberant search for official merchandise that makes me grin like an idiot and my eyes water while staring at the pretties that there are to buy.  (Though this also has the less-fun effect of bringing out my inner materialistic nature as well as emptying my pocketbook, but oh well).  I warned my mom that I was "into a new show" and she responded (for lack of a better word) with her usual stare at me like I'm an obsessed crack addict who continually needs a new fix.

Oh, which reminds me that my sister thought (thinks?) that my new "Browncoat" friends were actually seedy L.A. people getting me into drugs and the like 'cause I've been hanging out with them so much and suddenly need all this cash and money.  I tried to explain that it wasn't DRUG money, it was GEEK money.  Need them DVD's to keep me happy :)  But yeah, that was a funny conversation.

Anyway, I am fully-flung into "Stargate: Atlantis" and have finished the first season!  I had no clue it ended on a cliff-hanger and am now waiting ever-so-patiently (yeah right!) for the second season to arrive in the mail.  I'm crossing my fingers that it shows up tomorrow.  My favorite characters are, not surprisingly, Sheppard and McKay, though I'm also fond of Teyla and Ford.  Oh hell, I like just about everybody (though Zelenka somewhat annoys me).  I'm so very excited about catching up with SGA and then getting to watch it first-run this fall.

In other news, last week was my five-year anniversary of working at Sears.  If all goes according to plan (and I get my butt into gear and actually APPLY for the job I want), I will be out of there soon enough.  But my plan of moving in with my sister and her boyfriend is now kaput (for reasons not interesting enough to go into).  So that means after I do get the job (knock on wood), I'm going to have to find a roommate and move to.......*drum roll* ... L.A. (*ta da*).  Yay!?  Good things and less-good things about that avenue, but I'll wait till something actually pans out before I give it too much thought.

-Amy

P.S. I would have an "Atlantis" icon but my connection is sooo slow at the moment and I can't really peruse LJ icons right now.  I'll definitely grab some later!

My DVD player officially hates "Stargate: Atlantis."  When I bought season one yesterday, it wasn't playing so I went back and exchanged it for new discs.  Despite a few hang-ups, the new ones were playing fairly well yesterday, but today it has been a real effort each time I have to change discs.  I've checked my other movies and they all come up right away.  But I'm sure it's my DVD player cause I was having problems with "Firefly" in the last couple weeks as well.  Looks like I'm going to finally have to cave and buy a new DVD player (this will be the third in about as many years!).  The good news is that I might indulge and finally get the nifty five-disc changer from Sony I've been eyeing.  I'm mentally drooling at the prospect of watching entire show seasons without having to get up (have I mentioned laziness is an issue with me?).

I'm gonna give it a couple more chances to play SGA (this will be disc #4, yay!).  If it doesn't work, I'm resolved to go get a new player tomorrow.

I have to warn you that I'm feeling pretty fangirlish at the moment.  Yesterday the first disc of "Stargate: Atlantis" came in the mail via Netflix, and I got home from work today and started to watch it.  I'm pleasantly surprised at how much I'm enjoying the show, so by the end of the last episode I'd decided to just go buy the first season from Best Buy.  This way I don't have to wait for the rest of the season from slow-as-hell Netflix.  So I just got back from the store and am about to pop in disc 2.  Yay!

Today was a marvelously unproductive one.  I got up around noon and lazied around my bedroom, continuing my Browncoat reinstation process (which Whitney had revoked and then gave back last night) by watching “Jaynestown.”  So far, I’ve rewatched “Serenity” (Parts 1 & 2), “The Train Job,” “Safe,” “Shindig,” “Our Mrs. Reynolds,” and the just-mentioned “Jaynestown.”  I’d really forgotten how great this show is, and I break out in a huge smile every time I hear something that has become a big Browncoat reference but I had forgotten where it was from (example: “black market beagles”).  I’ve also had the last five or six episodes of “Law & Order: SVU” taking up valuable TiVo space, so I watched two of those as well.  Then I cleaned my room cause it was getting a little cluttered with all the stuff I’ve been doing lately (maps of the Queen Mary, unread comic books, movie ticket stubs for scrapbooks, etc.).

I also decided it’s time to get crackin’ on getting acquainted with some of the fandoms I’ve been wanting to get into.  There’s a humongous list, but near the top are “Stargate Atlantis” and “Farscape,” so I added a second disc to my Netflix account and put SGA at the top of my queue.  Then I bought the three “Farscape” Starburst Collections for season 1 off BestBuy.com because they aren’t available at Netflix OR Blockbuster Online (much to my disappointment).  The only show I’ve ever bought without seeing first was “Firefly,” so I am crossing my fingers and taking my chances on “Farscape.”  I figure if I don’t like it I can sell it for a bit of money to the local Video Liquidators or else give it away to someone.  I’m really hoping I like it though...and if I do, the rest of the seasons are available on Netflix.  I also signed up for a free Blockbuster trial, thinking they DID have “Farscape” season 1, only to find out that they only have 1 disc from the Starburst Edition, not the whole season.  So I put “Twin Peaks” on there instead, only to find out the discs are a LONG wait!  Grrr!

So that was my day.  Maybe I'll write about Disneyland and fun bonfires later, but I'm too tired to right now.  Though Steffy (dragontamerno3) put up a good recap of the Disneyland trip on her journal (but I warn you: pay no mind to all the “spacey” comments aimed at myself...it’s all bunk!!!).

But he may have gotten one thing right.


That is all.

So the sociology awards banquet was tonight and I survived.  If there is one thing that is definitely NOT my element it is nice dinners where you need small-talk wit and proper table etiquette.  It didn't help that I knew hardly anyone else there, so most of my pre-dinner time was spent talking to my mom about my graduation plans.  Dinner was finally served and I was good and ate my salad.  It was only a little traumatic.  After raviolis and dessert, the presentation of awards began.  When it was my turn and the department head read off the paper to introduce me (a paper I had filled out a few weeks prior), this is what was said: "Amy's goal is to get married and have lots of pets and a horse or two."  *cringe* OK, yes, that was what I wrote, but I didn't expect it to be read word-for-word.  Especially when everyone else was having *real* goals like doing something with their life.  And my legacy is to have pets.  Hmmmm.

Anyway, the banquet dragged on for another hour and a half and I was about to implode from boredom when it was finally over.  I came home and cleaned my room and now here I am.  Tomorrow I must write my final paper essay due Monday.

Promise not to laugh and you have my permission to click to see how I looked tonight.  Dress 'n all.

    Here is my heart and I give it to you
    Take me with you across this land
    These are my dreams, so simple and few
    Dreams we hold in the palm of our hands
    
Thursday was one of the best days I’ve had in recent memory, if not ever.  I got up around 11:30 to get ready for the Craig Ferguson taping, intent on getting there super early to not only get a place in line but to put my friends’ souls at ease when they got there and I was already there, tickets in hand (‘cause there was this whole paranoia thing...heh).  So anyway, I left my house around 12:30 and got to the studio soon thereafter.  I ended up parking at the Farmer’s Market, which would later cost me $20! (those bastards!).

I had no clue what to do with myself, so I followed some people past some benches marked “audience” until I saw an entrance guarded by a man with an x-ray scanner.  I told him what I was there for and if there was anywhere to wait.  He laughed at me and couldn’t believe I was there so early.  OK, thank you for saying so.  He said I should go wander around the Grove or something, because they wouldn’t call us until 3:30 anyway.  So I left, a tad humiliated, and proceeded to walk back to the benches marked “audience.”  I called Whitney to explain my humiliation and after I hung up I got ordered by a security guard to go wait  on the sidewalk outside the premises.  Another walk of shame.

So things had been going kinda rough, but about 10 minutes after I had started standing on the sidewalk (a line had started to form with two people in front of me), a group of three people entered line behind me.  I striked up a conversation and one of them was a Browncoat and from the SoCal board.  We continued talking until gradually more people showed up and we were all talking and having a great time.  Wendy showed up around 2:00 or so, and I decided to cross the street to get a bagel, as I hadn’t eaten all day.  Whitney and Steffy called when I was across the street and I  tried my best to direct them to where we were...despite this, a minute later I saw them walking toward the group.  I yelled out to them but traffic on Fairfax was too loud.  The stupid little bagel shop was closed so I ended up going to the little restaurant next door and getting a can of 7-up with an extra cup in case someone else was thirsty.

Back across the street, James had also shown up and the line was growing.  We talked about various things, including the various places we had ever visited, and once again my paltry travel experience made me yearn to go places.  I’d love to travel, but I’m not too keen on going by myself...but I digress.

LJ Cut for length

So it's not the best picture, but for your viewing pleasure:



All those figures aren't usually there, but I picked my favorites and put them on the window ledge to accent my geeky new Star Trek lights.

And SQUEEE, I lied in my previous entry that said I wouldn't spend my tax rebate check on a 12" Sideshow Spike, cuz I just won him and he's all mine!! Who needs move-out money, really? :/

Another night I can't get to sleep.  Between not being able to stop thinking about certain things and a general desire to not face the work day tomorrow, my head is not equating my lack of energy with sleepiness.  Too bad your brain doesn't come with an on/off switch (that is, if "off" didn't render you brain-dead, but I digress).

The last few days have been pretty good.  On Thursday I worked an 8 hour shift with no bosses to check up on me.  I still got a lot done (my damn work ethic), but I didn't stress myself out doing so.  And I may have cheated on taking a wee bit longer break than I should have.  Anyway, that night was the meet-up, and I was so excited that both Wendy and Whitney were able to make it, since I wasn't expecting either of them.  I had so much fun, I'm certain that was the best meet-up I've been to.  I was forced asked nicely to share my Geek Goodies from the back of my car with the group, and I must say it was worth it by watching Whitney almost break into a car that wasn't mine.  Who would have figured there'd be two Camry's from Valencia within three parking spaces?

Today was the horse shindig, and that was awesome as well.  Despite some technical difficulties mounting up (God that steed was tall and that saddle small), I was happy with how I rode and handled "Old Blacky."  He really didn't like being passed up and much preferred the front of the pack, which was fine by me.  I take lessons from a lady in Agua Dulce, but I really liked the trails in Griffith Park and may go back sometime soon for another trail ride.  Yee-haw!

I also really wanna go to Las Vegas, after watching a 20/20 segment dealing with casinos and gambling.  It's been a couple years since I went (for the first and last time).  Road trip anyone? ;)

I also wanna go the Renn Faire (yes, I know there's like two weekends left).  I also left a message on the SoCal Browncoats looking for someone who wants/needs an extra roomie for Comic-Con.  I'm determined to make it there, even if I have to (A) Sleep in my car, or (B) Spend the night in Mexico as a drug mule.  Don't ask :)

Well, writing has calmed my head a little, so maybe I can fall asleep now.  We'll see!

You ever reached that point where you stayed up so late (or early, rather) that you can't really fall asleep?  And even if you could, it feels kinda pointless since you just have to be up in a few hours anyway?

Well, here's to hopin' I can catch a few zzzz's so I don't fall asleep on horseback later today...

So I just got home from a fun night out with some friends to watch a free screening of Nathan's new movie "Waitress" at the Grove in L.A.  I left around 5:30 and got there just a few minutes before they started ushering everyone into the theater.  It was me, Wendy, Whitney, Steffy, and Michelle (and after the movie, Tabin joined us for dinner).  They were all already there, so they saved me a spot in line.   Anyway, I went into the movie knowing absolutely nothing about it, but I ended up really enjoying it.  As a rule, I'm not a big fan of "romantic comedies," but this movie is much more than that.  I very much recommend it!

After the movie we wandered around a bit and decided to eat at the Cheesecake Factory.  The wait for a six-person table was too long so we split up into two groups of three.  Tabin, Whitney, and I had been in the middle of an interesting conversation so we ended up dining together inside.  Fun stories were told and I had a good time there.  Then it was time to split up and say our goodbyes.

Now, for the ride home.  One thing about me is that the words "north," "south," "east," and "west" don't mean a lot when I'm trying to get my bearings to find my way to the freeway.  A lot of the time, if I'm somewhere unfamiliar, I accidently start going the wrong direction and have to turn around to go the right way.  Though once I'm going in the right direction (figuratively and literally), I usually have no problems getting where I'm supposed to.  So here I am, going down Beverly and realizing it's the wrong way, when I look up and see Cedars Sinai Hospital, where my dad works and just so happened to get off in about twenty minutes.  I figured he could either tell me the way he goes to the freeway or I would just wait for him to get off and follow him home.  So I called him and he said he'd meet me down at the entrance in a bit,.  In the meantime, I'm driving 25 yards, doing a u-turn, and repeating, so I wouldn't have to deal with parking.  I did that about 25 times until my dad came out, then I followed him to the freeway.  About halfway home, I called him to tell him I was almost out of gas.  So he found an exit and led me to a gas station and pumped my gas for me so I wouldn't have to get out in "not the best part of town."  I don't think I would have run out of gas, but I was relieved to have half a tank to go that last twenty or so miles.

So that was my night...now I'm about to head off to bed and get up in a few hours for school (ugh).

Today has been an extremely lazy day.  I watched all 8 episodes from my Netflixed "Flipper" Season 1 and enjoyed them as much now as I did when I used to watch the reruns on Nick in the early '90s.  So that killed 4 hours and I turned my attention to the eBay auction I've had my eye on: a 12" Human Spike from Sideshow.  There was about 15 minutes left and I put my bid in (I've wanted this guy for awhile now), but it became too mcuh $$ and I gave up.  I'm determined to get my greedy little hands on it someday, though.  Oh, and it was especially tempting knowing that I have a $200 tax rebate coming soon, but I'm disciplining myself to put that away for move-out money.

So now I'm looking at my calendar and the next month or so is gonna be busy!  A lot of it will be fun stuff, like the Waitress screening next Tuesday, the Meet-Up next Thursday, the Horse Shindig next Saturday, and the Craig Ferguson taping the Tuesday after that.  There's lots of other stuff to look forward to as well.  Next week is a great comics day: "Astonishing X-Men," "Runaways," and "Buffy #3" all come out.  Then the movie "28 Weeks Later" comes out on the 11th, which I'll probably see by myself (it's become a kind of tradition to go see scary movies alone because no one else really likes them).  Then there's a U.S. Women's soccer game in a few weeks (to watch on TV) and the Serenity PVC Set is supposed to ship mid-May.  School-wise, I've been invited to a departmental honorary banquet in a few weeks, and then I'm graduating on the 30th!

Oh yeah, and I also secured tickets (for me and my mom) for the final U.S. Women's soccer game before they play in the World Cup in China.  It's in August at the Home Depot Center...yay!

I also finished "Runaways" Hardcover V1 and started V2, so that I can buy V3 when it comes out and then continue the series in real-time (I'm collecting the individuals that are in the current run so that I can catch up).

Sci-Fi is also airing a mini-marathon of the first 8 or so episodes of "Stargate: Atlantis" so it will let me get a jump-start on Netflixing the first season.  Next month they're airing the first episodes of the original "Stargate" as well, but I figure it will be too hard to try to get through all of those seasons while I'm also trying to play catch-up with "Stargate: Atlantis" (assuming I like the show enough to Netflix the rest of it, that is!).

Friday was the OMWF/Smile Time Sing-A-Long in Pasadena.  After working from 6 a.m. to 10:45 a.m., I slept all afternoon to prepare myself for being out late.  I got there early and hung with Wendy for a bit and then returned my purse to my car and got an admonishing look from a security/police bicyclist for jay-walking.  Then I went inside to buy some raffle drawing tickets but ended up volunteering to sell them outside in the line.  It was super fun and I counted and handed out the tickets while Susan collected the money, Suzanne collected the ticket counterpart in a bucket to draw from, and Brian was selling the fun bags.  I was feeling happy and outgoing and was excited to wear a “Volunteer” badge (yes, I'm a nerd).  And Suzanne had made me a new Serenity button!!!  At the meetup last month I mentioned how I lost it at B3, and she  had remembered and made it special for me (and wouldn’t accept a donation for it either).  It was so sweet and put me in an even better mood :)

I also volunteered to cross out tickets at the door, and that was fun too.  Then we finally got inside and Marsia called up all the Crew and Volunteers, and while I didn't feel worthy up there next to the "real" planners of the event, it was exciting.  Oh, and I got to sit in the “Guest” section behind David Fury, Ben Edlund (I think that's his name), and Camden Toy.  The showing itself was fantastic, and I laughed SO much at some of the comments made by fellow Buffy fans.  I loved the “Shut up Dawn” and of course the comments toward Willow & Tara (I'm such a shipper, lol).  "Smile Time" was cool, too, but the real winner for me was OMWF.  After the raffle winners were announced I stuck around to see if they needed my help and ended up going to Conrad's with Marsia, Brian, and the others around 1:30 a.m.  It was fun, but my social anxiety was in full swing and I didn’t really say much.  Camden sat across from me though, so I can always say I had dinner with a Gentleman ;)

So that brings me to driving to Glendale tonight to see “Hot Fuzz” with Whitney, Wendy, Mike, Joe, and Joe's girlfriend Stephanie.  Despite a humiliating moment at the beginning (yes Whitney, it will be a story someday, but for now it's just between us!), I got over it and had a GREAT evening.  The movie was hilarious and very entertaining, and afterward we went to a restaurant (I can't recall the name) and had dinner.  Unfortunately I ended up ordering the PASTY buffalo chicken sandwich...ugh!  The waitress was nice enough to not charge me, so it was all good.  We finally had to part but Whitney called me on the way home and I ended up having a nice conversation with her (she beat me home by a few minutes...I swear Santa Clarita isn't in the boonies!)

So that was my weekend....made some great memories, some not-so-good ones, but enjoyed myself immensely.  I can only hope for more weekends like this in the future :)

Man I wish I had the $$$ for this right now. And I wonder why I can't focus on writing my damn paper?



Well to be fair I did write almost 1 page of my 3-5 page essay. I got an extension so I can turn it in whenever, though I'm losing points for each day it's late (it was supposed to be due today).

It's almost time for "Drive," so I guess I'll have to continue my paper tomorrow (I work in the AM then have a horseback riding lesson in the evening).

I can't wait 'til I graduate in May...no more papers ever!

Well I had the entire day to write my essay midterm due on Monday, but I found my time to be better spent sitting in front of my TiVo enjoying the hours worth of crap it's accumulated lately. So now it's a quarter to nine, I've gotten nothing accomplished, and all I have to show for it is some funny "Whose Line" skits stuck in my head (yes, I love that show). Well, to be fair I also caught up on my "Angel" TNT episodes, and I am definitely enjoying season 5 more the second time around.

I also wanted to make note of the awesome time I had with the "Wendy/Whitney group" (taken from Suzanne's post on SoCal Browncoats) at City Walk the other night. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun. I really clicked with our group, and now I'm more motivated than ever to Netflix "Stargate Atlantis" to see what the fuss is over this David guy ;)

Oh yeah, and everyone should take the time to ride a mechanical bull at least once in their lifetime! (If I knew how to do a LJ cut I'd include the photographic proof, haha).

I've had about a half-dozen online journals/diaries over the last few years, and none of them last very long, but I think I'll test the waters again and see if I can update this thing regularly. But right now I'm sleepy and I think I'll go to bed soon, seeing as how I work at 6AM tomorrow. So, maybe I'll be seeing you again...