Category Archives: musings

an update, of sorts

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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.

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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.

vacation: day 13

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Excuse the delay in posting: I’m housesitting for the week and will be slightly less present on the internet.

 On Friday we headed off on our ‘epic’ road trip: a 100 mile loop through New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

The forecast had been threatening rain for most of the week, but it turned out to be a gorgeous day.

The only clouds in the sky were big, fluffy, and thoroughly postcard-worthy.

This landscape is so foreign to me that it really feels as though I’m in another part of the country.

New England is a squashed up bunch of not-so-big states (and one commonwealth; yes, Massachusetts, I heard you). While each place is unique, they are similar enough to give the whole region a cohesive identity. I am a New Englander.

Still, it’s funny the differences that crop up with just these few miles of distance between us. My fondest memories of New England are memories of the coast: of the sunrise at Nubble Light, cute coastal villages, the feeling of sand in my sneakers and cold salt spray whipping at my hair.

But New England is not all coastline – it’s not even mostly coastline – and where I grew up with the beach as my playground, many of my friends grew up knowing the rugged New Hampshire inland like the back of their hands.

I think New Hampshire can often get overlooked, and not just by outsiders. Maine has the beaches, Vermont has the Green Mountains (and the hippies), Massachusettes and Connecticut have the cities, and Rhode Island is just…well, small. New Hampshire may not have the beaches, and it doesn’t have the big name cities, but I’m not sure than any other New England state can compete for the sheer, wild beauty of New Hampshire’s interior. Where Vermont’s mountains roll across the landscape in a way that’s almost gentle, the White Mountains are harder, wilder. They jut up from behind the forest and cut into the sky. These mountains, the lakes, the rivers and rocks: to me they are exotic, and stunningly beautiful.

 

At the end of our drive, we stopped for a swim in the Kancamagus River.

fun tip: want to pronounce Kancamagus correctly locally?

Kang-uh-MANG-us. 

in which I absolutely do not, under any circumstances, FLAIL

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Blogging is hard stuff, you know. Putting together some kind of worthy content for public consumption doesn’t always flow smoothly day in and day out.

I am a writer, as the natural inclination of my creative drive and my particular introverted disposition. Though I rarely take the time to write them down, I always have at least one creative narrative unfolding in my head. It’s how I function and thrive.

The problem lately is that my inner world looks a little something like this:

Summertime, sunshine and – most significantly – chronic sleep deprivation have switched my brain into full-on ADD mode. Were I well rested, I would write research papers for fun (I would, really. It’s a sickness.) In my current state, I have trouble stringing together a single coherent thought. Hannah can attest to how often I will use the wrong word in conversation, or simply forget words entirely.

But I really don’t want to dwell on the negatives. My deliriously incoherent summertime self is vastly preferable to my sullenly disjointed wintertime self, who looks more like this:

If I’m going to be strung out, I’d rather be strung out and happy. It’s a life choice.

So, it’s not so much that blogger’s block has struck. It’s that every time I want to write a post, it looks less like a collection of well-thought out sentences, and more like a string of random letters, exclamations and GRATUITOUS CAPSLOCKING. It’s internet speak, and lately it’s the only thing that’s left in my brain.

That, and movie/television references. I could talk all day in references. Sometimes I literally can’t stop myself. I’m an Abed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So do I give in to the flail? Post what’s actually on my brain and have a fun time doing it? I think that, perhaps, I should. A couple weeks ago, I saw Thor and X-Men, and I actually was able to write a cogent review of both. It took me two days, but hey – who’s counting? I want to post more about the movies. I want to spew my love of Marvel and my thoughts about The Avengers, because aslkf;jal;skhgalk;sjfd it’s going to be EPIC. I want to gush about my TV shows and share the all the stupid stuff I find around the internet and spam Hannah’s inbox with, because I know she’ll laugh about it too.

I’ve had this blog for over 6 years now. Its tone has changed a lot over the years, as I’ve changed. There’s an ebb and flow to the style of the posts, like pins on a map that say, “Hey, I was there.” Where am I now? In the land of little sleep, where I’m getting ready to move but enjoying my summer, perpetually zombified and trying to make the most of my free time, living in my head and on the web, engrossed in pop culture and incessantly nerdy. I’m quite happy here, for now. I know that it’s just a layover. Might as well commemorate my time.

 

long sands

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Hannah and I went to the beach on Wednesday. I think we were the only ones there. Well, us and a few seagulls. They liked Hannah’s whistling.

It was cold, for June. A storm front was moving in, the same one that brought a tornado crashing down on Springfield, and the wind whipped hair into our mouths and eyes. The Maine coast is beautiful, but stark. The only things that exist here are those that can withstand the battering of wind and waves and the sharp, salty air.

We stand on the beach and look out over the ocean and say, “We’re standing on the edge of our country. Right now, standing on the edge of America.” We sink our toes into the sand and feel like we’re a part of something much bigger.