I haven't written about the travesty that was this year's Grammy awards because, well, it was an atrocious blight on the music industry. Per usual, it was corporate politics and pandering, not talent. Whatever, I'm going to stop before I start getting all rage-y.

One of the most contentious issues about the Grammys this year is Taylor Swift and her assload of awards. I fucking hate her. I have probably written about this before, mostly because that asinine Love Story BS gets stuck in my brain for DAYS after hearing it and I can't deal with half-assed Shakespeare references mixed with fairies and ponies. Also: I have serious issue with a "country music star" claiming Shania Twain as their primary influence. That's like going to film school to learn the subtle techniques of Michael Bay.

Alright, so I dislike Swift. Finally though, my (and most of the internet's) rage about her has been crystallized in a phenomenal article which details the following:
1-The difference between the Taylor Swift Product and Taylor Swift the Person
2-Why the Taylor Swift Product is dangerous and is setting back the music industry.
3-Why her songs are insulting and trite.

I recommend everyone go read this article because it's excellent. Yes, the author goes a bit overboard with her love of Gaga and Beyonce (I love them too, but they are far from flawless) but she does the most thorough analysis of the Taylor Swift Product that I've ever read. Go check it out, you can thank me later.

Why Taylor Swift Offends Little Monsters, Feminists, & Weirdos

I just realized the 30th was my LJ anniversary. OMFG EIGHT YEARS! Only the appalled Maria icon can express my emotions fully.

How long have you had your journals, dearest readers?

Fringe, you are cruel to me with your cliffhanger before the 2 month hiatus. Sigh.

Per usual, here is a poorly written ramble about the show!

This episode was great! I thoroughly enjoyed it, though there were some slow parts in the middle. But still- let's go through the highlights.

( Fringe 2x15 Jacksonville )

I only have so much self control thus I am forced to passive-aggressively complain about the weather in the subject of this entry. DEAL WITH IT.

I am beginning to freak out about deadlines for school and fear not finishing on time. I'm considering making an emergency, "Oh crap you need an extra semester because you're a fucking slacker" fund. However, the URI website is mysterious on the tuition policies and fees for that sort of thing. No doubt they'll just ask me for a vital organ or perhaps a year of indentured servitude. Perhaps forced labor on a turf farm? That sounds about right. Sigh.

What we're not going to do right now is think about the amount of work I have to do/should be doing as I write this. Why not? Because it is startling and overwhelming and denying reality is one of my finest skill-sets. They say you should do what you're good at....right?

In tv watching news, I have also fallen terribly behind on re-capping/reviewing the stuff I've watched. I'm probably not going to catch up. Oops. Also, here's a fun story about how I'm an idiot. YAY! STORY TIME!

I watch Fringe. I have detailed my love of the show rather extensively (Special Agent Pacey, Nina Sharp and her freaky robot hand, Leonard Nimoy, a bovine sidekick- it's got it all!) Now, the show took a mini-hiatus (only a few weeks during the holidays I believe). Somehow during that hiatus I forgot how many seasons there were (too much holiday coffee I suspect). I thought the newly airing season was 3, not 2. (It is most definitely 2, I belatedly found out). So when Hulu updated my queue with a season 2 episode I thought, "How odd, why are they doing reruns now?" I watched it, and it didn't seem familiar but Charlie was in it so I was CONVINCED it was not the right season. Thus I was waiting for season 3. THREE MORE WEEKS WENT BY with my queue filling up with unwatched season 2 episodes. Finally, going through Special Agent Pacey Withdrawal, I decided to investigate this mystery and looked on IMDB. What did I discover? That the Charlie episode was an unaired ep. from season 1 that they re-numbered and dumped into the midst of season 2 (apparently for the sole purpose of confusing me) but that the current season was indeed TWO not THREE as my addled brain convinced itself. And so on Friday evening after having solved the mystery I had myself a little Fringe-athon. Oh, it was GLORIOUS!

Since the episodes are fresh in my mind I'm going to ramble about them a bit.

Everyone is all a-flail about how they are dropping the ball with the balance of monster of the week/mythology in this part of the season. I don't understand the concern. Season 1 was a trainwreck for the first half- I'm sure they'll figure it out. Besides everyone knows JJ Abrams likes to unravel a mystery at the slowest pace imaginable ie: Lost, Alias, etc. I suspect he has a death wish involving being stabbed to death by angry fans with sporks. So I don't  understand the concern. I mean....it's not like the mythology episodes make any sense either. Perhaps I just have low expectations here, but I'll be happy if there is any sort of conclusion. I certainly don't anticipate it relating in any way to the beginning of the series. I mean, look what he did with Alias. How did we go from Rambaldi to zombies? And as another point, the show is about freaky science and alternate universes. What part of that screams "traditional linear storytelling and pacing?" Get a clue, Fringe critics.

Everyone seems to have hated the episode with the virus. I don't really know why, I found it enjoyable. Meanwhile, people are all thrilled about Reviving Bishop (or whatever it was called) which frankly I thought was pretty lame. I mean, evil scientist is trying to forward the Nazi agenda? How is this fresh thinking? That being said, I did enjoy several aspects of the episode.

1-Walter being hilarous and apparently is an Olivia/Peter shipper. OH THE LULZ
2-Walter being back to his evil self, freaking out about the books, and obviously keeping major secrets (probably involving immortality, or time travel?) from the rest of the Fringe Division.
3-A teeny bit more info about the crazy Bishop family- and I do mean crazy. It apparently is coded into the DNA with that crew. Yikes.
4-The artist who made a swastika out of kitten pictures and couldn't understand why it wasn't selling. OH SIR. You are hysterical.

Once again, the science made no sense at all. I don't know why they bother providing an early explanation if only to throw logic out the window so Walter can save the day again. That's what gets tedious for me- the magical success of the FD every time. If the show is going to rip off XF completely they should at least consider that Mulder and Scully got their asses kicked/were nearly fired/fucked up the case ALL THE TIME.

This ends my extensively nerdy tv rant.

Time for another installment of Awesome Shit That I Cooked (title shamelessly stolen from Thursday Night Smackdown).

I need to post recipes on a more regular basis. Generally what I do is go on a bit of a cooking spree, think to myself, "Better document this culinary endeavor on the LJ!" and then have a beer to celebrate my skills. I'll fill in the blanks for you: the beer makes me forget. Apparently beer makes my academic writing more productive and my creative writing less productive. We shouldn't dwell on that. The point is, the recipe doesn't get posted until I read a food blog that reminds me that I did in fact cook something. And so we repeat the cycle. Sigh.

This time I'm going to do something a bit different. Typically I just post recipes that I have appropriated from more talented chefs (ahem, Deb on Smitten Kitchen, Martha Fucking Stewart, etc.) but today while I do have the usual crowd I am also going to try to write out a recipe that I have half-ass invented on my own. I shouldn't say half ass, because it is fucking delicious, however it's something I prepare on a regular basis and have modified over time. Thus, I have no measurements, or directions, or probably any sort of guidelines that could help you replicate the recipe. I suppose I'm posting it to taunt you. Sorry about that. But not really, because I'm going to post it anyway!

Oh crap, I also just realized that I meant to post all the cookies I baked for Christmas too. Well, it's nearing February....right on time.

Enough rambling, onto the recipes. Once again the skill level ranges from 1-10

Huevos Rancheros ala V-Neck Skill level 6, only because I have failed to provide you with actual measurements, and flipping an uncooked egg can be dangerous challenging.

( Read more... )
Classic Brownies* Skill level 4
These were amazzzzing. I might have had 5 in one day. Don't judge me!

( Read more... )
Swiss Chard and Sweet Potato Gratin* Skill level 7, for tediousness & amount of cleanup required.

( Read more... )

My roommate asked me to make her a squirrel desktop for her computer. She specifically requested "a humorous montage of squirrels." This is what I came up with....
( Squirrel-pocalypse now! )

Sweet fancy Jesus! I'm listening to the new Flaming Lips album Embryonic and it is fucking WEIRD AS SHIT. I know, you're thinking, it's the Flaming Lips; "weird as shit" is what they do before breakfast. But no, this isn't charming and whimsical weird as shit like Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. This is scary, psychedelic, space-rock weird. I'm not even through the album completely but it might already be replacing Coheed & Cambria's Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3 as my favorite freaky, robot-tastic, apocalyptic, sci-fi rock album. That says a lot. hopeavenue  you know what I'm talking about!

Clearly Wayne has been hitting the sauce. If by sauce we mean a blender full of LSD and paint thinner. Oh no...I think people are whispering in Russian now? Reciting math problems? I don't even know what is happening with this album but I love the hell out of it already.

This strange end of the world music coincides with the latent Golden Globes rage I'm experiencing today. If Sandra Bullock beating out Helen Mirren for a best actress trophy isn't a sign of the end of times then I just don't know what is.

Needless to say, I'm off to check when the Lips are touring again. I suspect they'll need to bust out more than the UFO and confetti cannons for this one!

Am watching space documentaries on Hulu while trying to get my shit together write cover letters for 2 jobs. I am the biggest procrastinator on the planet- I really think my brain is doing this as some form of strategic failure.

I am applying for a fellowship which in the time from when I first discovered it and today when I looked at the info again seems to have changed the job description. This is to my advantage as they have now added a research topic that I have experience with and am actually qualified for so that's good. But it still seems odd to change things after initially posting the position. Whatever.

Went to New Haven Friday night to visit SRL. Haven't seen her in months due to her crazy school schedule + my moderately challenging schedule. We did the usual-drinking, eating, watching stupid things on You Tube. Commiserated about our grad school woes/disappointments. Sat AM I went for a walk to a coffee shop while she was at an appointment. FYI for the vegans: Cafe Romeo has a wide array of delicious looking vegan desserts (lemon-ginger cupcakes, cherry almond cookies, raspberry cake). I couldn't try any of them but I was envious.

After that we went to East Rock Park for some low-grade hiking (one of those parks with wide paved slightly inclined trails). After that went to a restaurant for lunch/drinks and I tortured the waitstaff on a quest for allergy free food. I ended up with vegetable soup which probably had chicken broth in it but they tried so hard to accommodate me I felt cruel turning it down. Afterwards the burly, tattooed chef came out to introduce himself and give me a lecture on how soy is the downfall of the culinary industry and its proliferation is due to the media + FDA trying to dissuade people from using transfats. It was hilarious AND educational.

Also planned to do some work on the train on the way to and from New Haven yet I neglected to bring my jump drives that have all my documents saved on them. So glad I carried a laptop so I could play free cell on the train. :P  Also forgot a toothbrush. Not my best packing experience.

Was supposed to go to Lady Gaga show today but she cancelled the show :( Am eagerly awaiting news of a reschedule date. They gave me a refund but apparently people who bought tickets get the first crack @ buying them for the new date. Hopefully that will work out.

Tv is back! Hooray! Time for my thoughts, safely hidden behind an LJ cut for your spoiler-free convenience.

Big Love

( free at last )


Chuck

( 1, 2, 3 )

I've decided to give Lush facial products another go, despite the disastrous results I've had in the past. I've been having severely dry skin lately so I decided to try their Vanishing Cream moisturizer. It has very similar ingredients to the Caudaulie moisturizer I tried a few months ago with the added bonus of not costing SIXTY DOLLARS (wtf sephora). Anyway...thus far have used it for 2 days and no additional breakouts so that's a positive.

Randomly wore bright orange/coppery eyeshadow today despite not leaving the house. It started off as an accident. I sometimes use the L'Oreal Hip duos because they are of surprisingly good quality; I have one that is a light brown and a bright orange (Flare, for those of you who are deeply interested in what cosmetics I own). I meant to put my brush in the light brown but was distracted and stuck it in the orange. Being lazy and not feeling like cleaning off the brush (reason number 700 why I should pony up the cash for another MAC 217) I figured I'd give it a try and see if I could make the orange work. Well I certainly can! I paired it with some other crazy oranges and yellows from my Coastal Scents palette and was pleasantly surprised. In the past I have always had a major fail with bright eyeshadow colors, so either my skills are improving or my skin tone somehow wants to wear bright orange.