I know you are all shocked, but I am linking to the third (and last) round of preliminary voting over on Television Without Pity. I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate how important these awards are to me and to stress that it would mean the world to me if deserving shows and characters won.

VOTE HERE!

Categories include:
Most Egregiously Offensive Reality Show
Best "Hell Yeah!" Moment
Character Most in Need of Being Killed Off (Mohinder, FTW!)

*gasp* Bryce Larkin is alive?!? ... actually that was pretty obvious, but I still got all excited at the end. Cliffhanger, much? I'm really loving Chuck a lot. Although, I am sooo not a Chuck/Sarah shipper - it's all about the Chuck/Casey.

Is anyone else following all the PirateBay drama? Because illegal downloading is about to get a lot more difficult.

Aaaand, I'm reading all the HP books again. All the Weasleys are assholes to Percy. Seriously, I used to find Fred&George funny when they taunted Percy, but it's really just cruel. No wonder he ditched them all as soon as he got the chance. I don't blame him a bit.

In what, you ask? The Euchre Tournament.

Euchre: A trick-taking card game generally played by four people with a deck of twenty-four cards.

(Ironically, I just learned that another definition for euchre is "to deceive by sly or underhand means, cheat".)

Anyway, the game is really big in midwestern states like Illinois and Ohio. My family takes it pretty seriously. The game is played in teams of two. My sister and I teamed up and took on the rest of the family. There were some nail-biting moments, but we have overcome and have now won bragging rights until the next game.

(We were under the impression that we would also win ice cream, but Uncle Dan is trying to weasel out of that promise.)

So, a little plot bunny bounced into my head on Wednesday and this is the result. It's just short piece, but it's the first story I've completed in about two or three years. I would really love any feedback anyone could give me. Especially because I am tentatively testing the waters of getting back into writing.

The story was essentially to give me a chance to get all my Buffy/Xander feelings out of my head and onto paper. It summarizes my thoughts on the relationship these two characters share. Soooo, technically, I would classify this as Buffy/Xander, but I don't think that the feelings Buffy has are unbelievable and I didn't diverge from canon very far. (I'm not sure if that sentence made sense, so just read it to see what I mean.)

Title: Xander Loved Her Once
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Length: 1535 words
Pairings: Buffy/Xander (sort of), mentions of Buffy/Riley and Buffy/Spike
Spoilers: The entire series. (Told from Buffy's perspective after season seven and during the comic book eighth season - but you don't need to have read the comics to follow.)
Summary: Buffy thinks about the only person in her life who has never left her side. (And all the reasons that she doesn't deserve him.)

Excerpt: But every now and then, like remembering a strange fact from a fading dream, it occurs to her that Xander loved her once. It’s a peculiar and oddly comforting thought, one that she clings to for fear that it will soon slip away.

( Xander Loved Her Once )

I have never in my life been this happy.

Buffy Summers - Edward Cullen SMACKDOWN (Scroll down for video.)

The best part: "You know, being stalked isn't really a big turn on for girls."

I would like to direct you all back to the Tubey Award Voting Polls for Week 2 of Categories.

VOTE HERE!

New categories include 'Best Badass' (Sayid FTW!) and 'Most Ludicrous Plotline' (in which half of the options are from Heroes).

My legs are sore.

Last night was the first Saturday Night Kickball Game of the summer. It generally consists of me, my sisters, a few friends and everyone any of us can think to invite, playing the game on the feild of the local middle school in the middle of the night.

And, because it rains all the time in the summer here, it is always hot, humid, and muddy. Not to mention the mosquitoes attack us viciously. It's hard to see, so we all stick glow sticks in our hair and shoes and pockets. That, however, doesn't help us see the ball any better. There are always several hilarious instances in which someone thinks they are kicking the ball, but all they get is air.

My team won by about ten points, but not because of anything I did. My kickball skills are limited. I'm very good and cheering on my teammates when they do something impressive. My one triumphant moment was sliding home to win my team their first point. (I was absolutely covered in mud.)

Read This Now.

It's a Doctor Who story. Relatively short story and pretty much AU after School Hard. Rose's time with the doctor, comprised of short pieces that start at the beginning of their relationship and goes until the end. And, oh god, the end is so fucking beautiful. For those people are are turned off by the D/R ship, do not fear. This story is most decidedly not about how the doctor and Rose are meant to be together forever.

Excerpt:
"Rose Tyler, nineteen, no life, no ambitions, no adventures but she's just seen the Earth die five billion years in the future with a man who claims he can no longer remember his own name but knows how to save lives and think that it's nothing special. He trusts her.

And it's fantastic.

It's terribly, awfully, violently oh-bloody-fucking-hell-I'm-going-to-die fantastic."


Seriously, read it. Right now.

And, then, if you have time, read all of her other stories. She's got a selection of Buffy, Harry Potter (with the best Snape characterization I've ever read), Doctor Who and one really cute LOST story.

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Yeah, I'm spazzing majorly.

Because I just received Vegas Movie Studio 9! (Yeah, yeah, I know. Not exactly the most extensive or most up-to-date software, but I am still so happy.)

I'm actually hugging the box right now.

I can make vids. Actual, real vids. It's going to Legen-(wait for it)-dairy!

*runs away to install and start playing around with it*

SQUEEEEEEEE!

I was reading Goblet of Fire on the metro today.

A girl sits down next to me. After a minute, she asks, "Are you reading the Harry Potter books for the first time?"

I reply with "Not even close. I'm just trying to re-read the first six before the movie comes out next month."

We spend the next few minutes talking about various things in HBP (which we both agree is the best book in the series) that are going to be messed up in the movie.

Like how the preview makes it look like half of it is going to be a romantic comedy. And did we really see the Burrow on fire in the trailer. We both agree that we will forgive any mistakes they so long as Snape is a total badass.

Then, just when I was thinking how awesome she was - "So, have you read the Twilight series?" she asks sounding entirely too excited.

My response, "..."

Why do random HP conversations always end with a Twilight discussion these days?

Okay, my general rule for teleivion shows is that I don't have an official opinion on anything until I have seen 10-20 consecutive episodes.

I established this rule after several years of abuse from people who would swear to me that CSI or The OC are better shows that Buffy, Firefly, LOST or BSG because, and I quote, "At least they make sense". Because of my obsessive need to defend my shows to the death, it became necessary to create a rule. If someone felt the need to express the hatred for my shows without have seen the required number of consecutive episodes, I could dismiss everything they were saying with an easy "Your opinion has no basis and I reject it."

But, I admit, I have entirely negative feelings for Tru Blood and I haven't seen a single episode.

Yeah, it's unfair. There's really nothing to base it on. But, all I hear about it is "OMG! The vampires are to hot and sexy and the girl's human and these vampires are fighting over her and biting is about sex not killing and omg soooo hot!" Which makes me think that it's just a racier version of the Twilight novels.

Feel free to jump in and tell me I'm wrong because, as I said, I have nothing to base my opinion on. But, come on, vampires are supposed to be EVIL! That's kind of the point.

Just thought I'd pop over to share two important links. They're both from my favorite television review/snark site.

First, their suggestions for how Heroes should be cast next season. (The first step - "We nuke everyone and start from scratch.") Hear about the replacement actors here.

Second (and much more importantly), they hold a vote for their version of the emmys with all the shows that the establishment of Hollywood will never let in (*cough*BSG*cough*).

There are all the normal categories, but there are also some fun ones like 'Best Performance by an Inanimate Object' and 'Most Egregious Product Placement'.

VOTE HERE

(Just, please don't vote for House and Wilson under 'Best Non-Romantic Friendship'. Their relationship is romantic and I am beyond upset that it wasn't an option for that category.

I has a pretty new layout. I wasn't planning on getting an Office themes one, but it seemed to make sense since working in an office is what I shall be doing for the next two months.

I also added a matching mood theme. And it only took two and half hours to get it all working properly (Roomie, you'll be proud of me. I even had to mess with the codes and everything. It was highly techie of me.)

Aaaand, I gigured out how to delete tags that I haven't ever used. There are several tags which were created by unfortunate typos and have been displayed on my sidebar ever since. No more!

It has been a very productive evening. And, now I am off to bed because I have work tomorrow.

(Un)important Announcement:

Conniption is my new favorite word. Bonus points shall be awarded to anyone who can use it in their comment on this post.

Noun. A fit of hysterical excitement, panic or anger.

*le sigh*

It was a loooonnng day.

Things That Make Me Happy Today
Having dinner with fragmentedsky because she is hilarious and I had missed her.
Taking off uncomfortable shoes after the long commute home.
Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Hearing about helplessdancer's fabulous time in Spain
Veronica Mars (currently watching season two with my sister)

Aaand, finally, a really, really, really incredible VM fanfic Read it, right now. It's just a one-shot; won't take long. It's a scene between Veronica and Logan at Shelly Pomroy's party and it is brilliant; seriously perfect voices.

Excerpt: Logan laughs again, and it's a sound you're getting really sick of. "Lilly was cruel. You can dress like her, talk like her, walk like her, Veronica, but that's the part you'll never be."

He's right, and you know he's right, and you hate him for being right, because Lilly isn't completely human anymore, any more than Logan is. You've scrubbed off her rough edges and polished her up, and he's caught you doing it.

And that makes you the one who betrayed her.

I finished Watchmen.

And it was good. Like the asljk;jhdkjdasljk;jhdkjd kind if the good.

I do rather wish I had found the time to read it before I saw the movie, but, honestly, there was no time that week. (Honestly, roomie, it was the week before spring break, remember? I soooo didn't have time.)

Three quick thoughts are under the cut below. The cut is just for safety. I don't think I spoiled anything particularly significant and the book has been out for like fifteen years.

( three thoughts on Watchmen )

I'd totally forgotten by Harry Potter OTP... Draco/Goblet.

"Harry could see Draco Malfoy banging his goblet on the table. It was a sickening sight." - Philosopher's Stone

I'm reading the Harry Potter books again.

The goal is to finish HBP by the time the movie comes out next month. So far I'm half-done with Chamber of Secrets. I'd forgotten how adorable Neville was in the beginning.

I never quite realized how exhausting it is to work full-time.

My life this week has basically been: Wake up at 6:00 am. Leave the house by 6:40 am. Take bus/metro into the city and arrive by 7:45 am. (Get Starbucks if I am early enough.) Work from 8:00 am until 1:00 pm. Go on lunch break for one hour. Work until 5:00 pm. Start taking public transportation to get back home and arrive at 6:30 pm. Once home, I generally eat dinner, watch a little tv (but nothing that requires much thought), read a little fanfic and pass out in bed around 10:00 pm.

So, nothing much to post about. But I think I'm doing well at work. They all seem to really like me and that's what a job like this is all about - connections. It actually looks like they'll be moving me back to being the Deputy Chief of Staff's assistant. Hence, I am basically going to be Donna from the West Wing.

In other news, even when I'm tired, I obsess about my icons. I uploaded new ones this week. Aand, I finally caved to put in a Gossip Girl one. I know it's a stupid show, but Chuck/Blair 4ever!!!!!!

So, the job.

It all started on Tuesday when I headed into downtown Washington DC to start my job/internship with the Dept. of Homeland Security. First, I was instructed to go to the meet with human resources (at building #1) to fill out lots of forms (in addition to the hours of paperwork I had to complete to be offered the job). Then, the other new interns and I were sworn in and promised to defend the constitution against all enemies. After that, we were all sent to the security building (building #2) to be photographed for our badges. We then returned to building #1 because they forgot to give us one of the forms.

Finally, I was sent to the place (building #3) where I will actually be working for the rest of the summer. What's my job there? I sit at the reception desk and - wait for it - push a button to open the door so that employees don't have to swipe their ID's to gain access. Literally, that is all I had to do. There is no ringing phone that I have to answer, no visitors that I have to ask to sign in.

Still, I am ridiculously excited about the job. I do have my own desk and computer and phone. And, my boss is really nice. She seems to have realized that I can be working on other things while I open the door, so she found my some odd jobs to do yesterday.

I love being in the city all day and having a full-time work week. But I still get nervous every morning. The only downside to having actual work to do is that I have to do it well. But it's a great opportunity and I'm meeting a lot of super important govn. people.

*holds up badge* Ruth Clemens - Summer Intern.

Is nothing sacred?

If Joss Whedon were dead, he would be rolling over in his grave. But they are pulling this crap while he's still around, which has got to be even more painful.

Producers should beware that Joss' loyal fans will have to attack this blasphemy. With rocket launchers. Because that's how we roll.