REB #12: “She’s not going to have premarital sex until she’s married.”

– Bright Abbott on Everwood

If you don’t know me very well, you may not know this, but I watch TV like it’s my job; I watch entirely too much TV.

Which means that this past week has been amazing and yet stressful for me. On top of homework, class, and work, I now have to add a large pile of TV shows to my to do list. Thankfully, True Blood is over for the season, and Mad Men will be over next month. That’s two shows down for the season, at least 13-18 to go (depending on how you count them).

I wouldn’t have it any other way. 🙂

Sundays, I’m watching Brothers and Sisters (ABC) and Dexter(Showtime) – and, for a few more weeks, Mad Men (AMC), which I am relieved to say did a complete 180º, going from a terrible season 3 to an awesome season 4.

Mondays, I have nothing for now, but I plan to watch Lonestar (FOX) at some point, even though I’m 98% sure it’s going to be cancelled. I saw the pilot, and I really liked it. Anyway, in the spring, my Monday show will be The United States of Tara (Showtime).

Tuesdays, I’m watching Glee (FOX), Life Unexpected (The CW), and Parenthood (NBC). Unfortunately, the critically acclaimed Life Unexpected will probably be cancelled after its initial 13-episode second season order, due to low ratings. Parenthood didn’t exactly rock the ratings house either. In November, V (ABC) premiers, and if it stays in the same timeslot, it will air on Tuesdays; honestly, I don’t expect it to be renewed for a third season. I’ve seen the pilot to No Ordinary Family(ABC) and will likely be watching that as well, and I want to watch Raising Hope (FOX) at some point, but it’s going to have to wait.

Wednesdays, I have no commitments, but I am mildly interested in Undercovers (NBC). I might watch it when the season is over. Also, in the spring, Glee and Raising Hope will be switching to Wednesdays to make room for American Idol.

Thursdays, I’m watching The Vampire Diaries (The CW), 30 Rock (NBC), and The Office (NBC). I was actually impressed with The Office’s premier, as I did not like last season and fully expected this one to be terrible as well. They’ve got me for at least a few more episodes. Also on the potentially watch list is Nikita (The CW). I’ve seen the pilot, and for a CW remake, it was actually pretty good. And surprisingly strong in the ratings.

Fridays, I’m watching the final season of Smallville (The CW) – which started off amazing, by the way – as well as the shouldn’t-even-exist sixth season of Supernatural (The CW). It’s not that I didn’t want Supernatural to be renewed; it’s just that I wanted the producers/network to stick to the original five-year plan that the show’s creator had. This surprise renewal resulted in a bit of a cop-out for the season five ending, which should have been amazing but instead was a little too miraculous for my taste. That said, the premier left something to be desired, but I’ll continue watching out of loyalty and to see if it gets back to the high-quality episodes I know the show can produce. Anyway, in the spring, I’ll be watching the spinoff/second season of Spartacus: Blood and Sand (Starz). I’m so sad for Andy Whitfield and wish him the best in his cancer treatment. I hope he’ll be better in time for season three, but obviously, it’s not about the show. Best wishes, Andy. Get some rest. Take your time. ❤

*NOTE: This blog entry is syndicated from a blog I had to start for my Electronic Publishing class at U.B. this semester. I may or may not delete the extraneous blog when the class is over, but I thought I would at least give my readers the opportunity to read the contents of that blog indefinitely.

Grandma’s Spring Cookbook

Spring break is finally over, and I’m working like mad to finish my story for tonight’s Experimental Forms class. In fact, it’s almost done, but I only worry because I have to work until 3 p.m., and then I have Screenwriting at 5:30 p.m. I hope I have enough time to make the final edits I want to make.

The story is based on my grandma’s cookbook, which she wrote out, handwritten, for all her children; in December, my mom made my sister and me a copy for Christmas. It’s probably one of the most meaningful things in my possession. Without the Experimental Forms class, I might never have written this story. This is but one reason I am glad I chose the M.F.A. program I did.

Over break, I stayed in Baltimore (except for a couple of trips to the Bowie area). I worked on Monday and Tuesday (but only half-time), and I saw Justin on Monday night and Friday night. We saw Alice in Underland…er…Alice in Wonderland on Friday. In 3-D. It was a beautiful movie and a pretty good story, for the most part. I know some people expected more, but I was actually okay with what I got.

I watched The Office and 30 Rock the other day, online. I never have time to watch them when they air on Thursdays. Anyway, I found The Office funnier than it has been most of this season, even if there were a couple of cringeworthy moments (***SPOILER************Dwight choked Kevin? Seriously?************END SPOILER***).  There were a couple of good Michael scenes, which I was surprised about, because I haven’t liked Michael at all this season. There was also some “inconsistent” behavior and dialogue from some characters (I’m talking to you, Phyllis), but my Experimental Forms and Fiction teacher (he teaches both classes) makes a good point: People are inconsistent. So, I was mostly okay with it, especially when Phyllis called Michael “numbnuts,” and then immediately changed her tone. She knew that wasn’t her, and for that, I loved this moment. My favorite line of the episode: As Dwight stood in the middle of the local dump, he said, “This place has gone to hell.” How meta of him.

30 Rock was brilliant, as has been the case for a while now. Truth be told, I like it better than The Office, these days. I don’t have time to elaborate right now, though.

Last night, I watched the latest episode of Spartacus: Blood and Sand, and it was pretty good but not quite up to par with the best episodes of the season. Even so, for a show that started off in terrible shape, I’m impressed and delighted with how far it’s come.

Finally, I also continued a recent endeavor last night: re-watching the original FOX/SciFi series Sliders (1995 to 2000). I watched the season two opener before I went to bed last night, and I must say, it was one of my favorite episodes of the series and had perhaps one of the best endings of any series. Ever. Plus, I don’t remember having seen it before! I can’t believe I missed this the first time around, if that’s the case. Thank you Netflix for reconnecting me to Sliders!

I guess I’d better go now. Unfortunately, I’m finding that work is the most lucrative time to blog, for me. It forces me to write quickly. Maybe that takes away from content, but every once in a while, I’ll do a blog on my own time.

Those are the ones to wait for. Maybe next time…

Snow Update

All this snow was fun for a few days, but in the last couple of days, it has officially become a pain. Thursday, Kari and I spent about an hour digging her car out of the snow so she could go to a follow-up job interview the next morning. The wall/gate around the parking lot had fallen down on one side because of the snow. Some protection that was!

And I had to skip The Vampire Diaries (while we were digging) and Supernatural (while I was making myself some dinner) because of it. I just watched 30 Rock at 9:30 while I ate. I plan on getting caught up today.

Last night, Justin came over, and it was annoying finding a place for him to park. The parking lots are, of course, not plowed very well, so people were just parking wherever they could find room. So that’s what he did, too. We considered going over to Lori’s to hang out with her and Mike and Kari, but as we had just found a parking space and hadn’t seen each other in over a week because of the snow, we decided to stay in.

I’ve been staying up until 4 a.m. and sleeping until around 11—this snow has messed up my schedule—so it was nice that Justin had to leave early this morning to be back in time for a dress fitting. I think he’s done with this particular freelance job. On to the next one! Anyway, I got up about 9:30 today, so I’m hoping that will get me back on track. By the end of today, I plan to get caught up on The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, and The Office, as well as finish reading The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, for class. I pretty much hate it. Everything in my Experimental Forms class has been difficult to get through. *sigh*

Oh well. Another requirement down, after this semester (two actually, plus an elective). In three months, I’ll have a year of my program done. If I think about it like that, it’s going a little too fast (but we still have summer)! I guess that’s why we are planning as many events as possible while we’re here—me, Lori, Kari, Mike, Danielle, Wendy, Eli, Tykia, and some others, plus Justin for some of them. We might go to the aquarium tomorrow (there’s something special there on Valentine’s Day), but Justin and I will probably go to dinner or something to have some alone time.

I guess I should get to work on my plans for today. Vampire Diaries, here I come!

P.S. If you couldn’t tell, Justin and I are still dating and are official (have been for over a month at this point). I apologize for the confusion, if you care enough to be confused (LOL), but I had to wait until after I was fully out to my family, which happened over Christmas break. Finally.

Open for Friday?

Apparently, the University is going to be open tomorrow, officially, but liberal leave is in effect, so a lot of classes probably won’t happen (thankfully, I don’t have any classes after Wednesday anyway). Phase II of the Snow Emergency Plan for Baltimore City is still in effect for Friday, so cars will be towed if they are blocking snow emergency routes. Free parking for all University of Baltimore members at the Fitzgerald Garage “on Friday and through 8 p.m. on Sunday.” What that means is anyone’s guess; it’s kind of ambiguous.

So, seriously? We’re really going to open for one day?

And we’re supposed to get more snow next Monday. I wonder how that will go.

For now, I’ve finally started reading for Monday’s class, just in case, and I’d like to get most of it done by tomorrow so I can work on my writing for Monday and Wednesday. But on top of all that, I’m watching Ugly Betty, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, The Office, 30 Rock, and Smallville this weekend. And I’d like to get caught up on Nip/Tuck (I’m SO close!).