I was totally beachless for a month and a half. No one has suffered like I have. (btvs 2:1)

[cordelianne]

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms on my flist – I hope you’re having a wonderful day! I’m looking forward to calling my mom later and chatting. I feel very fortunate to have a mom who I get along so well with, who I can talk about almost anything with and who’s so supportive of everything I do. Soon she’ll be moving to Toronto and I’m looking forward to living in the same city as her again, there’s often so many things I wish she and I could do together so it’ll be nice to have more opportunities to do that. Today is also a day I recall my grandma fondly and think about what an important person she was (and still is) in my life, and in my mom’s life. She’s very much missed by both of us, but she’s in our hearts.

So, that may give you a hint that I’ve been down recently which is why I’ve been mostly absent from LJ. It’s also been super busy at my work what with launching a bunch of new things (which I was responsible for) as well as giving performing reviews – being a manager of department is a lot of work (yeah, I know – duh!). Although I am pleased that an incentive programme I launched has been embraced by my customer service representatives (because – I believe – they all work together for a goal, instead of competing against each other) AND that the first month was a success and they exceeded their goal. Still it’s been a stressful time which has culminated in me having much trouble writing fic recently – and I have been despairing because my posting day for spring_with_xan is this Thursday and I only have two chapters of Outside Pride written (I’d wanted to already be finished all of the remaining five). But I’m reassuring myself that if I continue to be blocked, at least I have two chapters to post.

Anyway, enough of emo!cordelianne! I like my LJ to be a fun, positive space for me, so instead I thought I’d give you an update of my life, in list form. So here's What’s Making Me Happy Right Now:

1. I got my hair cut and I’m so happy with the new look! It’s much shorter but still curly (and possibly emphasizes the curls more), and I feel it’s fun and stylish and cute. I love my hairdresser, he and I chat the entire time, and even though I ineptly described what I wanted my hair to look like (I grabbed the long bits and said “I want these gone”), he somehow knew and did exactly what I wanted.

2. Inspired by the haircut, I bought some cute new spring/summer clothes – shopping always makes me happy. I’m especially pleased by the purchase of this dress.

3. I will be seeing my girlfriend is just 10 days!!!!!!!!!!!!! (And now you know the real reason for the new haircut and new clothes – hee!) I am so excited about getting to spend time together again (in person) and to also have a vacation.

4. Vacation!!!!!! Oh man, I totally need to get away from work and from the city.

5. Dancing with the Stars is such a glee-inducing experience for me. Each week it delights me (with the possible exception of Billy Ray’s annoying complaining). AND I got a free ticket to see Burn the Floor presents Floorplay, a “collage of dance styles including salsa, rumba, cha cha and tango all with a sexy, modern edge.” After watching the stars learning to do these dances on DWS, it was fun to see professional dancers doing a two hour performance. A really fun show!

6. Friday Night Lights!! I have finally caught up and seen all the episodes of FNL and am absolutely and totally in love with this show. It has such great writing, nuanced acting and is beautifully filmed – and I love the scoring and music too! Thank you to my flisters, whose love for the show inspired me to find the time to watch this wonderful show. I am going out on a limb and saying it’s the best drama on TV.

7. Show renewals!!! I am ecstatic that both Friday Night Lights AND 30 Rock were renewed by NBC, despite their low ratings. It’s so exciting that two of the best shows on TV (30 Rock is fast becoming my favourite comedy show) will be around next year. And I’ve heard that How I Met Your Mother may be renewed which delights me to no end!

8. The karaoke scene in Gilmore Girls. That had me on a shipper high for days and days. I’m not really a canon shipper, I tend to enjoy how relationships play out – except in the case of Luke/Lorelai who I madly ship. I’m hopeful that the series finale – which although I’m sad about, I do think it’s time for the show to conclude – will end in a satisfying way.

9. Harry Potter! I’ve been re-reading the books, and just completed Goblet of Fire. It’s so much fun to immerse myself in that world again, and it has me even more excited for the final book (and the new movie!).

10. My busy schedule (in which I’ve been accumulating lots of overtime to use for my vacation) has meant I’ve had very little time for fic reading, but one fic (technically fics) I read and LOVE is: apreludetoanend and savoytruffle’s This is Not a Trilogy which you can find here in tags or here in memories. There are three stories: This is Not a Story, These are Not Enchiladas and This is Not My Beautiful Wife. The stories (all Spike/Xander) start from the same place and veer off in different directions. They can be read on their own, but I’d recommend reading them all. Even though each story is different, it still has this neat feeling of each story building on the previous one and sort of forming this dialogue with the other ones. Also, the stories crackle with wit and have lots and lots of fun pop culture references, as well as poignancy, sexiness and awesome character voices.

So that’s my update! I hope you all are doing well, and I shall be endeavouring to be better about commenting. *hugs*

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

Wow, I had no idea 30 Rock was low-rated. I guess it's an acquired taste but I'd been enjoying it (and how much did I love Tina Fey's pajama dance with the used tissue?)

And DWTS is probably going to be really interesting next week now that we're down to the final four. I was shocked that Joey ranked so low last week. There must be a lot of 90210 fans still out there. Where are all the N'Syncers? I have no idea who used to be a favorite in the band (besides Justin) but how can one not like Joey? (And it's not like he can't dance)

The show sounds great! Glad you had fun. And that's really terrific about your mom's upcoming move.

[cordelianne.livejournal.com]

I don't think 30 Rock is intensely low rated, but I'm sure it pulls in less viewers than the other NBC comedies (except for Andy Barker which had lower viewers despite how awesome it was). Still, I'm relieved that it was renewed. And OMG that was the awesomest dance!!! And I loved the whole Cleveland song!!! heee! That show makes me very happy, and Tina Fey is so awesome!

Oooh yes! I can't wait for next week. I'm very pleased about the final four - thank god Billy Ray was eliminated. According to Camisha who read a lot of DWS blogs (and then realized she shouldn't), lots of people were voting for Ian to ensure Billy Ray got eliminated so that may have swayed things and caused Joey to get less votes. I'd really like Laila and Apolo in the finale but would also love Joey too. I like Ian but he hasn't wowed me yet.

I think you would have enjoyed that show! It was fun and because it was at a theatre I could see the dancers really well (I'm thinking of your experience at the DWS traveling show). And yes, I'm excited about my mom's move which is stressful for her right now but will be good once she's here! :D

[yourlibrarian]

And OMG that was the awesomest dance!!

It's funny, I was just listening to an interview with one of our campus English professors about chicklit. It made me glad to read fanfic where women aren't continually obsessed with their weight or clothes. It also made me think about the Daily Show in that it seems comedies are our last bastion of straight talk in the media about anything.

lots of people were voting for Ian to ensure Billy Ray got eliminated

Well that makes sense. He certainly deserves to continue much more.

(I'm thinking of your experience at the DWS traveling show

Heh, yes, having a good view is important. I noticed they're planning another tour this year. I wonder if any of the current seasons participants will be on it.

[cordelianne.livejournal.com]

The only chicklit I've read is Bridget Jones and it was quite a mind-shift for me to deal with her constant obsessing about her weight and her appearance, but the humour of the book helped that not be so annoying. But, man, that would be tiring if the book wasn't funny.

It also made me think about the Daily Show in that it seems comedies are our last bastion of straight talk in the media about anything.
Definitely! I think because a show is a comedy, people take it less seriously which allows those shows to get away with way more social commentary (I think SciFi/Fantasy can also get away with more too because it's not literally taking place in current times). I remember how amazed I would be that Arrested Development could get away with all it's obvious critiques of the Bush administration.

I saw that the DWS traveling show is touring again, and pondered going but it's a bit too far for me (and in a big venue and I wouldn't be able to afford seats). It says that Joey Fatone and Kym Johnson are performing in it which is a good team to choose. I'm only half-way through watching last night's episode but am continuing to love this season! :D

[yourlibrarian]

I wonder if the Canadian version of BJD is like the British or the American edition?

We just finished watching yesterday's episode. I thought Joey's jive was the most fun dance I've seen all season. Mike thinks that dancewise he'd currently rank Joey, Layla, Apollo and Ian in that order, but who knows about the voting. And if I understood right they're going to have 3 couples in the finals this year instead of just two?

[cordelianne.livejournal.com]

I suspect the Canadian BJD is the British edition. We normally get the British editions here. Like for Harry Potter, it's always the British ones so we have the Philosopher's Stone not the Sorcerer's Stone.

Oooh, I'm looking forward to Joey's jive! I'm just watching last night's now (I had to watch the Gilmore Girls finale first). Oh Ian finally got his three 10s! I'm so happy for him even if he's not my favourite. Ahhh, I'd been wondering how the finale thing was going to work, so I guess it is 3 couples. That'll be interesting.

[yourlibrarian]

Lucky for you then, as there was a lot chopped out of the American version apparently.

Yes, I was happy for Ian too, he seemed to find that to be what he needed to get out of the competition. I was particularly amused about the way he leaped on Joey backstage afterwards. It seems to me the two have become the closest friends out of the bunch. I see below you loved the jive too. We just finished watching the results this morning and it looks like that's going to be quite the three-way fight next week.

[cordelianne.livejournal.com]

Lucky for you then, as there was a lot chopped out of the American version apparently.
Oh wow, that's too bad! It wasn't until quite recently that I discovered they make different American versions of things than the original British versions. While I've been re-reading the HP books, I've been noticing the various Britishisms and wondering if those were changed in the American versions.

Awww, that was a great moment when Ian hugged Joey! I'm so happy he got that moment before being eliminated. I'm very excited about the final 3 - the good thing is I love them all and would be happy if any of them won. Next week should definitely be interesting! :D

[cordelianne.livejournal.com]

OMG!! I just saw Joey's jive! That was fantastic!!! And I agree with Mike's ranking. Now I'll have to watch tonight's results show and see who's in the finale 3.