an update, of sorts

where I’ve been: Here.

When my depression kicked in I thought, “No one wants to read a blog by someone who is all blah blah blah, I am depressed.” So instead you’re reading a blog by someone who is all, “It’s amazing what supplements and a reprieve from paid sleep deprivation will do to relieve depression.”

You know, so I don’t have to be all “blah blah blah.”

Yes, I am still freezing my appendages off in the Great White North. No success with the job hunt yet, and I made the executive decision to take a break for the holidays and come back to it with renewed enthusiasm in the new year. Because if anything is motivating, it’s the idea of being here for another February in New England.

 

what I’ve been doing: Tumblr-ing!

(click to visit my Tumblr blog)

What is Tumblr? It’s like Facebook-meets-Twitter-meets-blogging. It’s an incredibly nerdy little corner of the internet where memes are born and you can find just about anyone who’s really, really into that thing (or things) that you’re really, really into. It’s like social networking for the socially awkward, and all you have to do to be involved is just jump in with both feet. Tumblr is all about freeing yourself from the fear of being *too* into something. If you love it, love it loud. Shout it from the rooftops. Reblog a hundred photos of it. Tumblr is what you make of it, and my experience has been that it’s smart and creative, and a haven for the highly visual. Hell, there’s even a Tumblr ballad.

in summary:

what I’m listening to: Girl Bands

I was pretty jazzed when Florence + the Machine released Ceremonials at the beginning of November.

I then proceeded to listen to it about a hundred times over.

Then a few weeks ago, someone on Tumblr posted this music video:

I am in love with this video. I love the concept, I love the art direction. I think it’s brilliant and empowering, and I’m recommending it to everyone. Also, I am completely and totally obsessed with this song mix.

No, really.

So of course I bought Marina & the Diamonds’ The Family Jewels and I love it. LOVE. IT.

I may just have a thing for girl bands with a stylized “and” in their name.

what I’m watching: Nerd Stuff

This has not been a good television season so far. Supernatural is tanking, Sanctuary just tanked, and The Office has begun it’s slow and inevitable demise.

Oh yeah, and Community is on an indefinite hiatus.

The only show I’ve been really *excited* about is Once Upon a Time. It’s interesting and fun and has no problem embracing its campy side. But still Hannah and I were itching for a new show to get into and work our way through, whole seasons at a time. Enter…

Full confession: I’ve never been much of a Trekker. I watched all of the movies, but only occasionally caught an episode (save for the multiple-hour marathon I watched while Mom was in labor with Hannah). Prior to this month, I had only seen enough Deep Space Nine to know that it was set on a space station, the Ferengi were very ugly, and Dr. Julian Bashir was very, very cute.

That right there is face of my 13 year old self’s crush.

You may laugh, but a few years later I started watching Stargate SG:1 because of one Dr. Daniel Jackson, and truly began my descent into nerdom. My teen self seems to have been drawn to men with advanced degrees.

But I don’t think I would have appreciated Deep Space Nine as much then as I do now. It’s a slightly more serious Trek, layered with issues that I would not have understood or appreciated back then. The characters are so strong and so diverse that you can get a little spoiled before you realize that not all TV is like this. And as for the doctor?

He’s still pretty cute.

I’ve also been watching Kings, NBC’s short-lived attempt to modernize the story of King David.

It’s an interesting show, in that it’s really not *bad*. It seems to have suffered from being a little too high concept and a little too reliant on allusions that the audience may not always catch. It plays out much like a modernized Shakespeare tale, with rich dialogue and solid performances. David is a somewhat bland protagonist, but the other characters more than make up for his lack of depth and pathos. I’ve really enjoyed it a lot, and it’s a shame that NBC gave up on yet another truly original show.

 ________________________________________

So that’s what I’ve been up to for the past, oh, two months or so. It’s the new year now and all I have to say to 2012 is…

Bring. It. On.

Nowhere in the United States of America…

“Does the wheel of the seasons turn more brilliantly than in New England.

Winter’s blankets of white, the long-awaited buds of spring
accompanied by the run of maple sap,
summer’s bouquets, and the magnificent palette of autumn:

all are feasts for the senses, and lead to the characteristic New England feeling
of existing in tandem with, and often at the mercy of, the great forces of nature.”
- Tom Shachtman

[did I mention we drove to the top of Mt. Washington? More photos to come...]

knocks you down

Someone once described what it was like when to be on the receiving end of an indirect lightning strike. One moment he was standing and the next he was just…

staring up at the sky.

photo by Hannah, because she is amazing

It didn’t matter that I knew it was coming a month ago, it didn’t matter that I knew it was coming last year, when the seasonal depression struck this year I swear I was upright one minute and flat on my back the next.

And all I could think was What the hell? Wasn’t I just fine?

In light of this, the timing of Hyperbole and a Half’s latest post is a rather humorous coincidence (and a welcome bit of understanding).

It’s not about the job or the move or anything else which, all things considered, I’m feeling pretty positive about. But no amount of positive thinking will change the basic fact that when you’re me and it’s winter, this is what happens. We’re like the Capulets and the Montagues, man. When we get together bad stuff happens.

Sleep eludes me yet again tonight, so I’m sitting here at 1am, listening to pretentious indie music, drinking wine, and organizing my external hard drive. That’s just how I roll.

 


Last week I recorded two vlogs for a forum challenge. I’ve got a third one in the works, but as you may note from these videos, I can be bit of a perfectionist. At least about certain things.

I think Mom really appreciated that it was an audience that finally motivated me to make my bed. Whatever works, right?

Also observe if you will…

hey, hey . . . it’s thors-day

(because this is a thing that actually happened)


Sometimes I wonder why I didn’t get into comics when I was younger…

and then I realize that Younger Emily really didn’t need things to be even more of a nerd about.

Plus, it is fun to discover that there’s a whole wide world of stuff that’s entirely new to you.


Comics are great escapism, of course, which makes them a welcome addition to a somewhat dreary October. No news on Austin yet, and it’s thoroughly fall-time here.

I’m in the ‘twilight zone’ of moving: making mental preparations to leave while still being here, unable to entirely ignore day-to-day planning and the reality of things like the impending holiday season. It’s weird…but it’s a mostly okay weird.