The nice thing about comms like buffyversetop5 is that they inspire me to organize rec lists and celebrate my favourite writers and artists in the fandom.

Here's the posts I did for buffyversetop5:

My Five Favourite Giles/Xander Fics of 2008

My Five Favourite Spike/Xander Fics of 2008

My Five Favourite Rare Slash Pairing Fics of 2008

My Five Favourite Icons of 2008

It was awesome to recognize some of my favourite people on my flist who produce such great work. I want them to get showered with praise.

And for the heck of it, I thought I'd do my list of ( My Five Favourite Movies of 2008 )

Hi! *waves* It's been ridiculously long since I posted that I think I may have forgotten how. Okay, clearly I know how since I'm doing it. :D But after so long the whole posting thing seems so intimidating. BUT I have such exciting news which I very much want to let you know about:

reremouse and I have adopted spring_with_xan!!!!!


{info} l {join} l {affiliate} l {sign up!}

And isn't that pimping graphic fantastic?!!!! I can lavish it with the praise that it deserves because it was made by the super talented katekat1010!! And she didn't just make the fantastic graphic above, she also made the icon I'm using, 4 other icons (check out the icons here) AND a gorgeous layout that you simply must rush over and look at right now: spring_with_xan I continue to gaze at it and bask in it's awesomeness and at how well it captures Xander.

I'm super excited to be a part of keeping a comm alive that celebrates one of my all time favourite characters: Xander Harris! reremouse and I have some fun ideas for the comm, so are hoping that you will all sign up! And if you'd like to participate, but are low on inspiration, you can request prompts from us when you sign up. Also, if you're not a writer, vidder or artist, you can write an essay about Xander or rec your favourite Xander stories!! Plus, we are welcoming of WIPs - as long as you complete them before the end of the season. So, if you have a WIP languishing away, spring_with_xan could be the perfect inspiration for you to finish it!!

So I hope that you are all as excited as reremouse and myself (although that may be hard since we're pretty damn excited!). Oh, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them either in comments or by email!!! :D (It's possible I overused "excited" but it really does describe how I feel about adopting the comm!)

(quote from btvs 5:4) So I thought I would share What I Did While LJ Was Down:

1. Lamented to myself that I’d recently posted Chapter Three of If I Can’t Dance (my new S/X fic) and now it was likely to have low readership and comments. (What? That wasn’t a subtle self-pimp?! *ahem* ;) )

2. Celebrated that by some stroke of unconscious psychic powers, I’d opened random multiple fic posts on tabs shortly before LJ went down! (I have lots of tabs open at home but I was at work and normally have *no* fic open on tabs.) So I was able to read and write up comments (which I saved in an email and posted once LJ was back up).

3. Was actually motivated to work on my least favourite task at work due to exhausting all the tabs I had open.

4. Discovered that the downtime was a San Francisco based issue when craigslist didn’t work. And why was I looking on craiglist? Well…(see #5)

5. A co-worker sent us this non-spoilery post about a gay Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sex party. The post is NWS (my office is, er, kinda different so porn and nudity isn’t a problem here). Here’s the link.

( More cool links (no HP spoilers!) )

I have a rec for you all! I'm particularly excited to recommend this fic because it's not the usual pairing I read so I feel confident it will be enjoyed by all, regardless of shipping preference.

Rain by apreludetoanend - Giles/Spike, PG-13

It's set post-The Gift, and is a heart-breaking, touching and gorgeous story. To tantalize you, here's how it begins:

“Why?”

The question rises through layers of hiss and static, clawing its way above the drone, and rings cold and true in the London night.

Cars splash endless puddles onto the paving outside and Rupert Giles clings to the telephone like it’s a lifeline, like it’s God himself who’s just rung past midnight to impart the meaning of life or the meaning of death or the meaning of anything, because none of it matters anymore.

Not only do I highly recommend this story, I also definitely suggest checking out apreludetoanend's other fic here. A couple of my favourites are This Time of Year (Spike/Xander, PG-13) and Oh Very Young (Spike/Xander,R).

And now I shall go back to catching up on TV watching and waiting for my pizza to arrive. *g*

It’s icy and snowy outside (thankfully not the loss of power and crazy ice storm conditions other people have been experiencing – although it has been freezing rain today), so I’ve been enjoying my day off by snuggling under a blanket and catching up on my TV watching.

It feels like ages since I did a TV post, so I’m excited to share some brief thoughts on some of the TV I’ve been watching. So guess which show is making me very happy right now?!! If you guessed Ugly Betty you’re right!

( Ugly Betty – First Five episodes )

( Grey’s Anatomy – ‘Six Days Part One’ (3:11) )

( 24 – Day 6: 6am-7am & 7am-8am )

( The Office – ‘Back from Vacation’ and ‘Traveling Salesmen’ (3:12 & 3:13) )

( 30 Rock – Random season 1 thoughts )

( SPN – ‘Hunted’ (2:10) )


Oh! And if you’re interested, I did a post at buffyversetop5 of my choices for the Top 5 Spike/Xander fics of 2006. There’s so many other fabulous rec posts there, I definitely recommend spending some time browsing around there.

I love this new icon I'm using by apreludetoanend (it's her most recent post) - how awesome is it?!!!

Look! Look! I have a gorgeous new default icon!!!! It's made by the super talented apreludetoanend, who generously made it as a holiday gift. This is my favourite Spike/Xander scene on the show, and the scene that made me think "you know, they'd be a cool pairing" so I'm very thrilled to have such a beautiful icon of it - isn't the lighting impressive?! Everyone should definitely check out the post here to see the other equally awesome S/X icon she made me and because there's a version of this one without my username that is snaggable!! Also, there's a wonderful S/X drabble with very fun Veronica Mars references! Yes, that's right - not only is apreludetoanend a fabulous graphic artist (check out slightlyiconic for her icons), she's also a very talented writer!

Wheee! This totally made my day!!! Thanks so much apreludetoanend!! *gazes at my new icons happily*

And since I'm talking Spike/Xander, it seems like the perfect time to pimp one of my favourite S/X authors, actually one of my all-time favourite authors regardless of pairing: reremouse! If you're not reading Scoffs at Gravity, rush off and read it now - it's here. It's set during AtS season five, and Xander is working as a watcher at Wolfram and Hart. To quote reremouse's summary/warning: Xander's a watcher, Spike's a ghost, Angel's a CEO. Watching, alcoholism, insults and periods of masculine communication via grunts and hand signals. Like all of reremouse's stories there's fabulous humour, excellent flow, wonderful characterization, awesome details and way more going on below the surface than it may initially seem. She's posting Scoffs at Gravity each weekday, and I highly recommend reading as she posts (and commenting too, of course *g*) because I feel that each chapter should be savoured on its own. Although I'm rec'ing this story, I recommend all of reremouse's work.

Oh! And since this is clearly a good news post, read here how the Firefly fandom rallied despite the cancelled Flanvention and how the actors turned up! It's so wonderful to see actors being nice and caring people. Truly a heart-warming story that makes me teary with happiness. Special shout-out to carmen_sandiego who I hope is having a fabulous time!!!

ETA: Oh my goodness in all this excitement, I almost forgot to wish kenyacandoit a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! I hope your day is wonderful and filled with many delightful surprises! *hugs*

You know those multi-fandom icon posts that'll have things like Buffy, Angel, Veronica Mars and Doctor Who, and then there'll also be some of Lindsey Lohan or Christina Aguilera? And you're like - or I'm like - Lindsey Lohan? Christina Aguilera?!! WTF?! Well, I blame those posts (which I do enjoy cause I like chancing upon icons I wouldn't otherwise) for my own personal Christina Aguilera?! WTF?! moment yesterday. I had a dream that I was about to - but actually didn't (because I would so not be sharing otherwise!!) - have a threesome with Christina Aguilera and Scarlett Johansson. It was very bizarre because I almost never think about either of them in any way (I do think Scarlett Johansson is very beautiful). I actually don't think about celebrities that much. So, when I was going back through icon posts looking for a "Logan/Weevil OTP" icon (which I now have OMG!!!), I realized that's how those celebrities got in my head (they were in some of the posts). Um yeah, so that's enough of my odd dream!

Speaking of icons, earth_vexer has another round of beautiful, beautiful icons here. Her icons are so stunning and always make me want to upload every single of one of them (Why do we not get unlimited icon space? Why? /dramatics). I'm using this very sexy one of Spike in "Dirty Girls" because it reminds me of the awesome - and now finished! - trufflemouse fic:

And Let the Gods Do the Rest - The summary: What happened in Oxnard stayed in Oxnard and so did Xander...until Buffy sent him a souled and crazy Spike to help out with a little case of Apocalypse.
It's Spike/Xander and is one of my favourite S/X fics ever! To quote one of my own comments on the fic: One of the many things I love about this story is how interestingly it weaves into canon, yet charts its own very believable and fascinating - and damn awesome - path. There's a re-working of that "Dirty Girls" scene in my icon (as well as other scenes from the show) which is so well done and gives added meaning to certain lines. And there's awesome S/X banter and sexiness (*flails*). As well it has a lovely flow, great energy and I'm enamoured with the utilization of language.

So, yesterday was filled with television watching. I've now watched the last 2 hours of the Grey's Anatomy finale and the last 4 episodes (including 2 hour finale) of Lost. I was all jittery and wired after that much Lost. Yeah, I know I'm almost a month late and probably no one cares anymore or remembers, so I just have some random thoughts.

( Grey's Anatomy Season Two finale )

( The last 4 episodes of Lost season two )

I'm thinking of doing a poll, once I actually figure out how to do a poll, about which tv shows I should watch or not watch next year. I need to cut down on the ridiculous amount of shows that I watch and I have such a hard time making those decisions so have decided to let other people do it for me!! And I want to do a poll.

I hope everyone's Saturday is going well!! *g*

Tonight I have thoughts about the Smallville season finale and fanfic recs!!!

( Smallville 'Vessel' 5:22 )

( Fanfic recs!! )

Holy Crap!! That was pretty much my reaction last night. Oh, and I was shaking.

It was such an intense tv night, I was only able to watch Veronica Mars and Gilmore Girls. I noticed an interesting – and unspoilery – similar theme in both episodes. Both shows’ season finales featured the motif of waking up from dreams/sleep.

( Oh yeah, spoilers gallore for Veronica Mars ‘Not Pictured’ 2:22 )

( Some very brief thought about Gilmore Girls ‘Partings’ 6:22 )


Since this post is heavy in spoilers, I thought I’d include a couple of fun things for those who don’t watch the shows or haven’t seen the episodes yet.

- Check out this hysterical vid (that I found out about from femmenerd and kittyzams): James Marsters - Pretty Fly For a White Guy. It confirmed for me that I’m more of a JM fangirl than I’d realized because I’ve seen basically every one of those clips.

- If any of you missed Stephen Colbert’s speech at the White House Correspondent’s Diner, you must see it NOW!

In between watching VM and GG, I called one of my BFFs (in a state of shock and excitement) and we had a ridiculously cracked out conversation in which we planned two different vacations to take together: 1.Travel in England & Scotland, and 2. Take a road trip through the U.S. The second idea got really insane as we started imagining all the people we’d bring with us (our plan started to sound like The Muppet Movie).

My friend also told me how she discovered these kids who’d started a fire in one of Toronto’s ravines, so she called the police. After waiting for a bit, she got worried about the fire because she knows how easily these kinds of fires can spread, so grabbed her red bucket and headed back to the ravine (there’s a stream in the ravine). She found the firefighters who were still searching for the fire, and directed them to it. Because they were in the ravine, the firefighters didn’t have their fire equipment so they asked to borrow her red bucket!!! That image totally cracks me up.

Despite the beautiful sunny day, I’m very cranky (thanks a lot never-ending PMS). So I thought I’d focus on last night’s very entertaining television night instead!

( 24 ‘2am-3am’ 5:20 )

( Everwood ‘Truth…’ 4:16 )

( How I Met Your Mother ‘Best Prom Ever’ 1:20 )


The wonderfully talented earth_vexer has a fabulous batch of new season 7 BtVS icons!!! I’d be using one of them now (likely the amazing one of Buffy in “Showtime” with the phrase “monster’s nightmare” on it), but I rarely get to use my lone Everwood icon.


For those of you who are James Marsters fans, he will be on this week’s Smallville episode, which will hopefully be better than last week’s.

Tonight I’ll be watching the penultimate episodes of Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars. Scrubs is also a definitely must-watch. And I’ll be watching BtVS’s “The Puppet Show” for episodic_buffy. I’m saving the House episode till tomorrow night so I can watch both parts at once. [Wow, my tv watching plans are almost as exciting as when my co-worker/friend E and I give each other updates if we’re going to washroom or getting a snack.]


Oh, E is trying to get me to see Mission Impossible III and I’ve been resisting because, as I told her I’m boycotting Tom Cruise’s existence (I had meant to say movies instead of existence, but I’m amused by my mistake). Because I’m very easily convinced – about fun stuff like this – I’m pondering agreeing to go. It could be a fun, mindless movie. Should I go? Or should I hold fast to my boycotting his existence stance?!

I'm taking advantage of the 3 day weekend and am visiting my family in Kingston. It's weird to be back in Kingston because there's always small things that have changed (a road where there wasn't one before), but basically it's the same. I'm very very thankful that my brother has wireless internet access set up in the house and that I brought my laptop. *clings to laptop* Of course, I'm now behind on my LJ reading because I've only just logged in now that my mom's gone to bed. We talked and talked, and then watched Moulin Rouge.

I did the worst thing today, and it was totally unintentional but I still feel really bad about it. I was up really late last night doing laundry, gathering my tax info (so my dad can do my taxes), packing, and organizing my tv recording schedule. Even though I had set my two alarms so I'd have plenty of time to get ready and meet my friend, who was driving me (and a friend of hers) to Kingston, I completely slept in. Not only did I sleep in ridiculously late, but the ringer was turned off on my phone (because I work late nights, I frequently turn the ringer off so I'm not woken up and it was still turned off from the previous night). So, not only did I keep 2 people waiting, I also caused my friend to really worry about me because she couldn't get a hold of me. I still feel really guilty even though my friend and I worked it out, and she was really understanding about it. I just hate being irresponsible and inconveniencing people.

In the car ride we did have a fun discussion about whether we'd sleep with Sawyer or Jack from Lost. The unanimous agreement was Sawyer. My friend suggested that Jack would probably cry, or be really clingy afterwards. We were torn about Jin and Sayid, but I think we all leaned more towards Sayid. I also noted that I'd sleep with Ana-Lucia because I think Michelle Rodriguez is HOT!!

Changing topics entirely, I've seen the username meme floating around and have enjoyed reading how everyone chose their username. I love talking about how I came up mine so I had to do it as well. ( The origin of my username. )


One last thing: If you haven't already checked out earth_vexer's new icons here, they're wonderful!! I'm now heading off to grab lots and lots, and exclaim with glee.

Happy Wednesday everyone!! I’m excited because tonight there’s new episodes of Veronica Mars, Lost, Bones AND the Amazing Race!!! That’s a lot of tv, but it’s all good tv so I’m happy.

Yesterday the weather was insane. There were snow flurries for a few seconds, then they stopped. Half an hour later, there was hail!! Fortunately it didn’t last too long. And then there were snow flurries again. Nothing has stayed and I’m holding out hope this is the last snow for the year. But it’s like the weather has PMS.

Lots of tv has been watched by me the last couple of days:

( 24 ‘10pm-11pm’ 5:16, Who’s evil now? )

( Grey’s Anatomy ‘The Name of the Game’ 2:18 )

( Gilmore Girls ‘I’m OK, You’re OK’ 6:17, Actually no-one’s okay except for Lane and Paris )

( Scrubs ‘My Chopped Liver’ 5:16, Why JD and Turk are the best friends ever! )

I was going to write about House (with Michelle Trachenberg!) but I was just alerted that the Conservatives are re-opening the same-sex marriage issue and holding a free vote about it. I am very mad and upset by this. WTF?!! No government should be taking away human rights. I recall having an argument with someone before the election in which he refused to believe me that the Tories would do this. This is one instance in which I hate being right. There is hope that this will fail because the Conservatives are a Minority Government and the other parties (Bloc Quebecois, NDP and most Liberals), who make up the majority, will vote in support of same-sex marriage. But still…. It’s hard to feel reasonable when we could potentially lose human rights.

To try and end on a happy note I wanted to rec some really good fic I’ve been reading recently:

globalfruitbat’s Heroes which is a beautiful and addictive post-Not Fade Away ensemble story.

octoberxsong’s Placebo which is an amazing Spike/Angel story that could also be a manifesto for the pairing.

Also, if you love Xander, check out the masterlist for The Replacement Celebration -- A Two Xanders Are Better Than One Brouhaha. It’s double your Xander goodness!

One of my friends just told me that Chevy's letting people make their own ads as a cross-promotion with The Apprentice. She also gave me this link:

SEE THIS BEFORE IT'S TAKEN DOWN!!!!! The text is so very excellent!!
ETA: Sadly, it looks like it might have been taking down. It was a neat ad which looked like a serious car ad, but the text was a critique of environmental practices. It ended by saying that in the vehicle you can drive to what wilderness remains and stay in your car which is a padded cell. One of the lines that I actually remember word for word is "we sold our souls for oil."


I'm excited because one of my RL friends has gotten an LJ: mr_dave_gripes

Here's how he describes his LJ: So, my goal with this journal is to update it every day with a complaint (or possibly more than one complaint.) They're normally pretty amusing and/or make you say 'right on'. Here's a recent one: My kitty is very badly behaved. And she seems to know it, too. She is unrepentantly bad. Never a truer word spoken about mr_dave_gripes's cat.


In other news, I've had a very positive response to my idea for a BtVS/Anne of Green Gables crossover fic which I posted at entrenous88's Secret Fanfic Writing/Reading Shame Meme. If you haven't checked this post out, I urge you to because there's so many interesting and fun ideas there. Anyway, because of the good response - apparently there are more BtVS fans who love Anne of Green Gables than I had initially thought - I've been pondering actually writing the fic! I probably won't do it until the summer, because I'll need to do lots of Anne-related research (hee!) but I'm now seriously thinking about this fic. I've also realized that Giles needs to be there, and he and Marilla could have a tentative and sweet romance. *sigh*

Today has been a WEIRD day. My awesome friend, spookymonkey, and I were discussing how the warm weather brings everyone outside. And it also brings out the crazy!

On my way to work I had a freaky experience. At some subway stations there's these automatic entrances (ie. no actual people work at these entrances). There's floor to ceiling turnstiles made of really sturdy-looking materials which turn, like a revolving door, when you swipe your metropass or put in a token and thus allow you to enter the subway station. I should add at this point, that I'm TERRIFIED of getting stuck in one of these turnstile door things, because if you're stuck, there's nothing to climb over. I've actually seen a woman get stuck in one of these turnstiles so this is not a totally insane fear.

Anyway, I swipe my metropass and am quickly went through the turnstile when I'm half-way in and the door stops. My heart starts pounding because even though I'm pushing on it nothing is happening. I turn around and see A GUY CRAMMED IN BEHIND ME!!!!!!!! I just about have a heart attack. I yell "Holy crap man!!" Yes, I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't even really swear, despite being completely freaked out. I guess he was trying not to pay, and sneak in behind me?

Fortunately the door had caught on him and my shoulder bag had stopped him from getting in all the way (yay bulky bag!). He immediately jumped back and I pushed my way through into the subway station. I walked really really quickly down to the platform, and didn't see him again. I am still freaked out about this.

Whenever I went outside for the rest of the day I had strangers talking to me, or asking me if the salsa I was buying in the grocery store is good. On a normal day I would have enjoyed everyone's good spirits about the warm weather but the turnstile experience had me all jumpy.

Enough of RL, on to TV talk!

( House )

( The Amazing Race )

( Teachers )

( Veronica Mars 'The Rapes of Graff' 2:16 )

( Not really spoilers for Bones since I'm in the midst of watching it )


Before I finish watching Bones, I just remembered this discussion my friends and I had about Snakes on a Plane which I thought I'd share:

Me: blah blah blah explaining about Snakes on a Plane.
Friend one: It's like they're combining two different fears together. So the sequel will be Spiders in an Elevator?
Friend two: And then there will be Lizards in a Closet.
Me: That sounds like a porn film.

ETA: I forgot to pimp entrenous88's fun post Secret Fanfic Writing/Reading Shame Meme. I posted my idea for a BtVS/Anne of Green Gables crossover here.

So crossoverman, karabair, octoberxsong and selenak all did this fun meme about Your Six Favourite TV Shows. And I just had to play!

The tricky part for me was narrowing down my favourite televisions shows to a list of just six. To make it easier I decided not to include shows that ran for only one season (eg. Firefly, My So-Called Life, Freaks & Geeks) or are in their first seasons (eg. My Name is Earl, How I Met Your Mother, the new Doctor Who). I also cheated and included BtVS and AtS as one selection even though the shows are very different and deserve to be listed on their own. I also want to give a special shout-out to Joan of Arcadia which I didn’t include because it was cancelled after 2 seasons.

List your top six favourite shows:

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel (BtVS/AtS)
2. Everwood
3. Gilmore Girls (GG)
4. Veronica Mars (VM)
5. Battlestar Galactica (BSG)
6. Arrested Development (AD)

( The answers are here )


Other random stuff:
1. My cab driver hit on me last night. He actually gave me his phone number which I was so startled by that I just accepted. (I won’t call him though.) It was an okay experience because he wasn’t creepy about it or anything.

2. entrenous88 has a new Spike/Xander AU WIP fic Box Office Smash in which Xander’s an errand boy on the set of a movie. She posted the second part today and it made me so giddy and happy for the entire day! Go read!!

3. I got to play more of the BtVS video game on Friday night. So much fun. I was particularly good at being Xander which made me very happy! I also kept giggling at the cheesy lines Xander would say: “Stake. A vampire’s last meal,” and, after staking a vampire “It’s so much better if I pretend they’re all Spike” (Of course I did not imagine any slashy connotations to that statement!)

4. I’ve discovered that I get the most fic writing done on the subway. I’m thinking I need to find a few hours and just ride the subway so I can finish the fics I’m working on for spring_with_xan and entrenous88’s! ’The Replacement’ Celebration -- A Two Xanders Are Better Than One Brouhaha.

1. David Boreanaz - Last night when my friends and I were discussing the awesomeness of this week's Bones, I had the following revelation:

I only watch Bones for David Boreanaz. Sure, I like the other characters, but I wouldn't have even tuned in (forensics stuff icks me out, and crime stuff bores me) if it weren't for David Boreanz. I realized this when my friend was commenting on a plot point, and I didn't remember what she was talking about. I could however talk at length about DB dancing, when he was in the hospital etc, but I don't pay attention to the plot ... it's all about David Boreanaz.

The weird thing about this is that I've never been that into DB. Obviously I like him because Angel and Buffy are my favourite shows. And I've always understood other people finding him hot but I never did. It's just that recently I've been drawn in by his hotness.

To not be completely shallow for a second (although I'm not getting all philosophical either), I think that Booth is an ideal role for him because it really allows DB's charisma to shine (thankfully not the type of glowy Charisma-as-Cordy-glow though!). It makes me lament that Nicholas Brendon: a) isn't on tv right now and b) doesn't have a similarly great role. Oooh, I'm suddenly having happy of thoughts of Nick Brendon guest starring on Bones!!! Sadly, these are just my wishes because when I was imdbing Nick Brendon the other day there were no upcoming guest spots for any tv show listed. *pouts*

( Spoilers for Bones 'Two Bodies in the Lab' 1:15 )


2. Good Bad Movies - On another, but completely different joy-inducing note, the so-bad-it's-good movie Snakes on a Plane now has a trailer here!!! It starts with Samuel Jackson's character declaring Enough is enough, I’ve had it with these snakes. Oh yeah, and in case the title of the movie isn't clear, it's about snakes on a plane!!! *g*


3. More Linking Fun - SNL is going crazy with those digital shorts (eg. Chronic(what)cles of Narnia), and now has one of Natalie Portman rapping. It's not as funny as the Narnia one but it's still very entertaining.


4. Pimping - lillianmorgan has written an amazing Spike/Buffy fic Your Face Appears in Mine which is a beautiful and poetic non-linear story.

earth_vexer has a batch of very impressive and wonderful new icons!! I excitedly grabbed many of them including this one:

which is my new default userpic (I would be using it now but I HAD to use my new Booth & pudding icon by angdelia). I also recently changed the layout of my journal, which a friend reminded me I haven't mentioned. I'm still working on it, but let me know what you think!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY globalfruitbat!!!!!!!!!! I hope you've been having a fabulous day filled with lots of delightful surprises and fun times.


I'm still reeling from this week's episode of 24! ( 24 7p-8pm 5:13 SPOILERS )


You may not know this about me because of my continual rambling about Jossverse stuff, television and movies but I LOVE to read!! Or I used to until my endless English degree slowly created a book aversion. I spent most of my childhood in my bedroom reading, and even when we got a colour tv and cable when I was 10 years old, reading continued to be my favourite activity. I still enjoy talking about books and I've been hoping to rediscover my joy of reading books again.

Anyway, this leads to me pimp a great new community started by earth_vexer: librumincendere

Here's the description of the community: Librum incendere is a place for fans of the Whedonverse to discuss their favourite books. It's not a book club per se - there will be no reading assignments - just discussions about books that we love.

Book burning is strongly discouraged.

No reading assignments and good discussion about books?! That sounds awesome to me!!

I had such a lovely weekend and I've been in such a good mood, yet somehow that hasn't translated into any LJ posts. Weird.

Here's why I'm so happy:

1. Seeing Transamerica (an excellent movie) on Friday with one of my best friends. I really loved how it ended and the performances are marvelous. After the movie my friend and I had yummy Mexican food and Margaritas. THEN we went back to his place and played the Buffy video game!! I had way too much fun pretending that I actually WAS the slayer.

2. Celebrating the birthday of one of my oldest friends on Saturday night, who's still my friend despite being roommates with me TWICE over the years! She's not a huge Buffy fan and she endured all of my Buffy parties. Now that's a true friend.

Going to another friend's birthday party and managing to talk Jossverse stuff with multiple people. I didn't even initiate the discussions! I did get to wow people by informing them about BtVS's 9th anniversary. One of the girls I was talking to (who's a new appreciator of the show) said she didn't like "Once More, With Feeling". I was so shocked that I didn't really know how to respond to her. I'm still baffled.

3. I walked to work on Sunday! It was so warm and lovely it felt like Spring!!

4. Watching the BSG season finale. ( BSG 'Lay Down Your Burdens Part 2' 2.20 thoughts and a rambling comparison to Angel's 'Not Fade Away' 5:22 + Angel's 'Home' 4:22 )

5. Reading amazing Spike/Xander fanfiction. On Sunday I was overwhelmed - in the very best way - by a lot of really good Spander. I highly recommend:

witling's The One in the Hospital. It's schloompy goodness! She also recently wrote some angsty AU Spander which is just awesome: The Land of the Lost.

tabaqui has a compelling WIP amnesia!Xander fic with Spike being all protective As If We Should Forget We Have No Hands.

savoytruffle has a Dirty Dancing plot + Buffyverse characters = human AU crack/charity fic WIP Dirty Dancing Spander Style which is so fun!

I suspect I'm forgetting some great stuff, but I just HAD to rec those fics!

Happy 9th Anniversary Buffy!!! How awesome is that it's 9 years to the day when Buffy the Vampire Slayer first aired?!!!! Oh, and if you were wondering, I did indeed do the dance of joy. I've even done the dance of joy for my co-workers before, thus confirming for them my insanity!

molly_may has a fabulous way of celebrating by asking people to Pick an episode that you feel is underrated, and tell why you like it. This idea makes me so happy, so I rambled on about my love for "Doublemeat Palace" and "Bad Eggs" here. I'm now inspired to write up something coherent about why I love "Bad Eggs" which I'll hopefully post in the next couple of days (hint: love of Xander is involved).


globalfruitbat tagged me to write a list of the five things that are most effective in bribing me. When I was thinking about this, I realized that I don't really need to bribed as long as you're nice and respectful to me and other people. But, that's not fun, so here's my list:

1. Chocolate. As Buffy observes There is no problem that can not be solved with chocolate. Well, except for barfing!

2. Offer to drive me somewhere in a car. Bonus points if it's to visit my grandpa or parents. I don't own a car nor do I need to because I live in downtown Toronto right on the subway line. Also, I hate driving and am scared of driving in Toronto (this is a result of being from a small city). I love to walk and take transit, particularly because it's good for the environment. But sometimes I just love the convenience of being driven somewhere.

3. Talk about or offer to watch anything Jossverse.

4. Talk about L.M. Montgomery with me, or better yet buy me the first edition of Anne of Green Gables. Of course, if someone could actually afford to buy the first edition I'd do ANYTHING for them. Oh dear, I hope my stalkers aren't reading this. Just kidding, I don't have stalkers (*looks around nervously*).

5. Um, I'm having trouble coming up with a 5th one. So I'm going with: make me dinner. I hate to cook but love to eat yummy home-cooked meals.

Okay, I tag crazydiamondsue, crossoverman, entrenous88, monster_grrrl, and ozma914.

I think I'm still feeling crazydiamondsue's beautiful "Xander Shaped Love" posts part one and part two, because I'm quoting Xander in my title (BtVS 2:13) and using my lovely new Xander icon made by fallen_ember.

Now onto my other tv shows!! I have such a good time watching Grey’s Anatomy and 24. They’re both having kick ass season and – for different reasons – are the very best kind of crack. Here’s some VERY random reactions and thoughts (notice how I manage to talk about Angel the Series in the 24 section?!!):

( GA ‘Yesterday’ (2:19) )


( 24 ‘3pm-4pm’ (5:9) )

Both these shows are just so FUN. I wish there were more shows that could provide this much good entertainment. Lots of people agree with me particularly about Grey’s Anatomy, have you seen how well it’s doing in the ratings?

Also, Grey’s Anatomy has a really great show writer’s blog!