hearts and bones

SMASH is an exceedingly mediocre series on NBC right now about the creation and production of a Broadway musical about the life of Marilyn Monroe. We watch the show from the point of view of several different characters involved in this production, including Julia and Tom, who write the book and music, Eileen, who is trying to produce the show against insurmountable odds, Derek, the abrasive and demanding director and choreographer, and Ivy and Karen, both of whom are competing for the lead role.

It isn’t a good show…but it’s not bad, either. Think Hart of Dixie, but with more singing. Or Glee, if Glee had anything remotely resembling realism in its production values.

You can find all the episodes at hulu.com (linked above), or here at the show's website. I'm sure there are free downloads out there, too, but I wouldn't know about that. You'll have to do a little digging on your own if you want to find them.

And as per usual, my watching this trashy musical soap opera is entirely Harper’s fault…and also because The River, while awesome, has ended for the season and I was bored. But mostly, Harper’s fault.

You know, I thought that with school letting out, I would actually have time to do things outside of sleep and work, but in the past week I have:

So, to recap: I am alive, I am still writing, and I am back for all the fun things I’ve missed in the past two months. I promise. :-)

- I had a really weird moment on Sunday when I realized that Rob Gronkowski, the new tight end for the New England Patriots, is the same Rob Gronkowski I went to high school with. It was kind of odd seeing his face on the TV when they first introduced him during the Patriots/Bills game, because I remember that guy as being the absolute toolbox who continually knocked his forehead on doorways and threatened to stuff McBuff in a locker sophomore year – not the ass-kicking, touchdown-making monster the public knows today. Huh. Times change, I guess, but it's still kind of strange.

- Against my better judgment, I bought Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter on Saturday. And as surprising as it might sound, it actually turned out to be kind of enjoyable. I had fairly low expectations, honestly, because I absolutely hated Seth Grahame-Smith’s first “novel,” Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I love zombie-fiction as much as the next person (and I know I’m a little biased because I don’t like Jane Austen all that much to begin with), but come on, guys: that book was terrible. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is at least a readable book – sure, it’s full of badly photoshopped pictures, Vampire!John Wilkes Booth, and the “real reason” for Lincoln ending slavery in the South having to do with bloodsucking fiends, but the pacing is good, there aren’t any random ninjas, and Grahame-Smith is consistently spelling the lead character’s name right. As a total grammar freak, that really, really bothered me in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies because even I know that it is Elizabeth Bennet. Not “Benet” or even “Bennett.” If you’re going to use one spelling of the name, either use the right one or make sure it’s consistent throughout the damn book and not changing with every other page. Anyway, now I want to read an actual biography of Lincoln…not just one where he’s fighting hordes of the undead every five pages or so. The man led a fascinating life. I’ve heard some good things about Lincoln, and Team of Rivals looks like it could be very interesting.

- After learning that Harper had never seen it before, she and I had a Firefly marathon not too long ago. Recently, I’ve been told that I am an awful, awful android person because she has had Jayne Cobb on the brain ever since and is seriously considering writing fanfiction. Which totally wasn’t my intention at all…*shifty eyes* I think she’s just mad that she now has legitimate nerd cred, and can no longer claim that she’s just the weird mutant offspring of a punk and a hippie. Again, totally not my intention...nooo...

- I might be going to Israel in the spring! There are these things called Birthright Tours, and if you can prove that you’re really Jewish, the Taglit-Birthright Organization will actually pay for you to stay in Israel for ten days. The only thing I would need actual money for is the $250 deposit and if I want to buy something while I’m over there. Seriously, this is all legit, and there are a dozen different programs you can travel with. If you qualify, definitely look into it, because if you’re between the ages of 18 and 26, Jewish, have a valid passport, and have never been to the country before, chances are pretty good that they’ll give you a plane ticket to Tel Aviv. :o)

- My award came in the mail last week! It is glass and book-shaped and a lot heavier than I expected it to be, but it came in a fancy box and it has my name on it! Here are some pictures, because I am incredibly vain proud of this:

It's been a while since my last post, mostly because things have been getting pretty hectic around here, but it's time to catch up! Here's what I’ve been up to in the past week or so:

-  Working. I hate my job, but at least there’s one guy who comes in that makes it bearable. :3

-  Watching an absolutely awesome production of Macbeth with some friends that was performed with an all-woman cast. I love going to Shakespeare in Delaware Park – it’s honestly one of my favorite parts of the summer, and I still can’t believe that Harper had never been there before we went on Thursday. It’s a Buffalo institution! It’s been around longer than I’ve been alive! It’s the second-largest Shakespeare festival in the country! It’s right across from the art gallery I take field trips to when I want to skip school…I mean…um…when my least-favorite classes are cancelled. Right.

-  Getting ready to go back to school on the 30th. I'm ready and I'm not ready, and as excited as I am for my history classes and for the new campus and to see some of my old friends again, I'm still kind of nervous. Also, I'm pretty angry at how much I've had to spend on textbooks this semester: $300 for a psychology textbook, not counting the books for my history courses and the anthology for my English class. Three hundred dollars for one book. I better use that thing every fucking day, because if it turns out that we use it once in the beginning of the class and they update the edition midway through the semester so I can't even sell it back at a fraction of the cost at the end, heads will definitely roll.

- Listening to Wild Light on repeat for the past few days. California On My Mind is my favorite track, but My Father Was A Horse and New Hampshire are really good, too. I don’t think there’s a bad song on the album, but that might be because I’m biased. ;o)

-  Sleeping. I’ll miss it when school starts up again.

- Marathoning Bennett the Sage's Masterpiece Fanfic Theatre. I love his voice, and as crazy/disgusting/outrageously bad as some of these fics are, I've come to like having him reading terrible fiction in the background while I do other things. I think my favorite episodes have to be the Two-Part Historical Fanfiction ones, because those are hilarious.

-  Working the bar at Harper’s mom’s art show on Saturday. She’d been an art teacher at a local high school for almost twenty years and she retired in the spring, and this was her first solo gallery showing since she started teaching. Harper and I somehow got roped into dealing with drinks and patrons the whole night, but I had a good time, and the party at their house afterwards was definitely a lot of fun.

-  Still writing for that TGWTG AU emeriin came up with because oh God I think it’s taken over my brain and I seriously can’t stop, like, at all. It’s a little scary – and pretty fun – but also kind of scary because I haven’t been this excited for a new fandom in I don’t know how long.

- Three words: raspberry buttermilk cake. It is delicious and you should all be jealous. Here, have a picture - hell, have two:

A few days ago, after a conversation with the lovely Harper, I decided to look at some of the old notebooks I have stashed away on my bookshelf. Now, the thing is, I love spiral notebooks. I do. I've been writing in them since I was old enough to hold a pen, and because I want to have an archive of my life (read as, "I'm a pack rat who never throws anything away"), I've still got almost every single notebook I've had since middle school.

Anyway, talking about how we've "evolved as writers" made me want to look back and see how far I've come. Here's what I've learned so far: