News from across the pond

Yay! Gavin and Stacey is getting a third season!

Also, there is apparently a Hallelujah war going on in the UK. Personally, I think Jeff Buckley's version is the best.

Um... stuff

Ate too much food at lunch, following after too much food at dinner last night, and not looking forward to too much food at dinner tonight. This holiday thing may kill me.

So... random stuff. David Boreanaz likes beer, NPH won't do Joss porn, and an interview with Ruth Jones, co-creator of "Gavin and Stacey," which is a British comedy you totally should be watching.

Good news!

No, not that good news... still waiting to hear on the job. But I did get my acceptance letter for grad school. Whee!

I had a fun, adventurous night last night. It started out simple - I wanted to have dinner with Christi so that I could give her her Christmas present. Then Lindsey's flight home got canceled, so she came with us. Dinner was good, and then we went back to Christi's to watch a movie Lindsey had rented - The House Bunny. Diana came over, too, once she escaped from her communist boss who doesn't celebrate Christmas. But the DVD was scratched, so about halfway through the movie, we trekked out to Blockbuster (in the 20 degree weather and gale-force winds) to exchange it for one that wasn't scratched. Yay for med school adventures!

Had a dream last night that I had to take the PSSAs. I think that might be a sign it's time to move on. (The PSSAs are the PA state assessment, which I deal with regularly in questions from legislators.)

Some interesting stuff

Well, apparently a decision has been made on my grad school application (or so says my email from GW), but they don't seem to want to tell me what it is. I was informed via email that I would be receiving a letter in 5-7 days, and I could view my admissions decision online. Except... I go online, and it still says "application is being reviewed." What does it mean??

This makes it all better, though: the HIMYM cast acting out the best moments of 2008. Also, Rob Thomas has started production on show #6457 since Veronica Mars... did we know about this one? It stars some VM alums, Ryan Hansen and Ken Marino, and has Paul Rudd as an executive producer. Plus, Kristin Chenowith has a new show already, in which she plays an occasionally psychotic lawyer named Skippy.

TV stuff

If anyone's thinking as far ahead as the Super Bowl, The Office is the lucky show that gets the post-game timeslot, and it features Jack Black, Jessica Alba, and Cloris Leachman as guest stars.

Also, interviews with Amy Acker and Neil Patrick Harris, as well as Joss' review of the "Dr. Horrible" DVD.

Nice weather

It's been snowing all day today, which is really bizarre, because just yesterday it was 60 degrees in DC. And I have to go to the store to get food-type ingredients to make a dish for our office holiday party on Thursday. I'm falling so behind on the Christmas thing. I've gotten some cards out, but the rest will probably be mailed in January. I'm about half done my Christmas shopping (thank goodness for the internet), but nothing's wrapped and I don't have any ideas for the half I haven't bought yet. Oh, and I was going to make cookies at some point. That's probably not going to happen.

I do think my interview went well. At least I didn't say anything egregiously stupid, so there's that. I'm not getting excited or anything, because my mother is all, "It's really unlikely that you'll get the first job you apply for." (I'm like, "But... I've never not gotten anything I applied for." Except that Specter internship, which still kind of annoys me. Bipartisanship, my ass.) ...Where was I? Right. Not getting my hopes up. If I get it, yay. If not, that's okay, too. Might even be for the best, since they want the person to start January 5th, which would mean total upheaval of my life at the busiest time of the year, with probably about a week to quit my job (so much for two weeks notice), pack everything I own, find an apartment (while still paying two months of rent on my old apartment, since my lease isn't up until February) and move. Whee!

Anyway, let's move on to political news. I've been trying really, really hard not to laugh at the Iraqi reporter who threw his shoes at Bush, but I can't help it. It's a little bit funny. The Secret Service response time, on the other hand? No laughing matter.

Obama has announced his pick for Secretary of Education. He should be receiving my resume shortly.

Caroline Kennedy says she wants the Senate seat that everyone else is already willing to give her.

And finally, cars that run on coffee?

Wheeee!

I have an interview on Monday!

Gah!

Such a headache. Hard to concentrate. Good thing it's Friday.

Bryan Fuller is apparently going to save Heroes . I'll believe it when I see it. Lauren Graham's getting a new show. And Joss says no talking about the final Cylon on the Dollhouse set.

Applied for another job today, which brings the total to 11 (12 if you count my ambiguous "I'll take any one of those 3,300 jobs" application to the Obama administration).

I kind of want to make these cupcakes for our office Christmas party, but then again, the snowmen seem like they'd be kind of a lot of work. I'm all for no effort.

If anyone's looking for a Christmas present for me, here's one. (You should buy it for yourself, too.)

Um, I'm behind on TV, which means I still haven't seen the first two episodes of "Leverage" or this week's "Chuck." I've gotten into this habit of going to bed really early, which kind of cuts into my TV watching time. Also, I started rewatching Angel season 1 and now I totally love Doyle (it may be the Irish thing).

Here's an update on the "5 suggestions to improve Fringe" I posted a while ago, which I am actually still watching (it helps that it's the only thing on Tuesday nights).

Things I don't understand

1. Why are we busy? It's December. It was DEAD the week before Thanksgiving, and it's supposed to stay dead until after New Year's. What the heck is going on?

2. Why am I tired? I got 8 hours of sleep last night, and usually get at least 6-7 every night. Yet instead of waking up feeling refreshed, I wake up feeling like I've been run over by a truck. Maybe it has something to do with the whacked-out dreams I've been having.

And finally, this does not make me feel better.

TGI Friday

Man, it is deader than dead today. Here's hoping this lasts through the holidays.

A couple sorta-good reviews for Leverage, which premieres on Sunday, as well as a sorta-good review for Dollhouse, which to be honest is exactly what I've expected from the show all along. (I don't care how many times Joss says Eliza Dushku is a brilliant actress. I've seen her in plenty of roles by now, and I'm not convinced she can do the "different person each week" thing very convincingly. There are at least six actors from the Buffyverse alone who could do that better than her.)

Also, really interesting interviews with Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss on Mad Men.

My TV thoughts, let me show you them

Okay, so I've been dropping the ball a lot lately on the TV watching, but I managed to catch up over the weekend. I finally got around to watching 24: Redemption, which I thought was pretty good. Mostly it just got me anxious for more 24, which I guess was kind of the point, but I did like the whole Jack-in-Africa deal (I kind of love the idea of him traveling the world doing good deeds to make up for all the bad things he's done), and I'm glad they got a chance to do it, after scrapping it from season seven.

The plot itself was a little predictable (I knew Jack was going to trade his freedom for the kids as soon as they handed him the subpoena), but no one watches 24 for its unpredictability anymore. We watch it to see Jack kick ass, which he did pretty well. I admit, I laughed my ass off when the African dude tried to torture Jack, like, "You pathetic amateur! This is Jack F'ing Bauer. You think you can break him? Dream on, baby."

I also watched the Psych Christmas special, which for some incomprehensible reason aired in November. (I've given up trying to understand the schedule monkeys.) Best part of the episode was definitely Gus and his sister: "Forehead!" "Ears!" How great is it to have such a close relationship that you can insult someone without actually insulting them, all you have to do is name the body part?

Also caught up with last week's HIMYM (naked Barney!!!!) and Bones. Can we please knock it off with the "Booth is dumb" storylines? He's not, okay? He's an FBI agent. They don't let idiots into the FBI, trust me, I've applied. He may not be as geeky as Brennan and the squints, but he's not stupid. Take note, Show, you're on notice.

Stuff!

Would you believe it, Cobie Smulders is pregnant? Must be something in the water at that HIMYM set. Whatever it is, Craig Thomas is willing to capitalize on it. Also HIMYM-related, the 50 reasons to have sex napkin from last week's episode and Neil Patrick Harris answering some questions.

Also, a summary of every episode of House ever. I admit, I totally lost it at "patient poops a lung." LOL!

A really good review of Leverage, an interview with David Tennant, and OMG Joan paper dolls!!

How many shopping days left?

Annnnd, we're off! My dad already bought himself his first Christmas present - a GPS, which does not seem to speak English as its first language. I thought something was up when the instructions were written with British spellings, but worse than that, it doesn't know abbreviations - it calls streets "saint" (St.) and it calls drives "doctor" (Dr.)!

Awe. Some.

No, thank you, Daddy. I don't want one for Christmas. I want one that works, please.

I'm sure I will be posting soon asking for gift-giving advice for all the difficult people in my life. Likewise, if you'd like a Christmas card from me (and you'd like it before February), shoot me your address or, for those of you with addresses in multiple states, which address you're most likely to be getting mail at in mid-to-late December.

Before we go full-tilt into the next holiday, my Thanksgiving was okay. Too much food. Lots of leftovers. Patches likes me again. (She's really quite friendly as long as you don't try to touch her.)

Once again, my parents took advantage of me being home for Thanksgiving and got out all the Christmas decorations and put up the tree, which Patches did not try to climb this year. We also baked cookies on Saturday, but I think we're getting too good at it, because I was having to break some on purpose in order to be allowed to eat any.

Chelsea was very happy to see me when I got home - and wonder of wonders, had NOT knocked her water bowl over. Victory! *does happy dance* Now, of course, the new challenge is getting her not to eat the Christmas tree.

Big links post coming up!