A short query borrowed from someone on my LiveJournal list:

please recommend to me in a comment one of each:
- a book
- a band
- a movie
- a livejournal user (skip this if you want)
- something cool to do

Thanks!

...In with the new

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I don't actually believe in Astrology, but once in a while Astrology.com's horoscopes are actually rather accurate. I don't know how accurate this 2006 yearly horoscope is, but I guess I'll find out, won't I?

Anyway, in lieu of anything actually resembling "content" to post, here's my horoscope (and, of course, the horoscope of every Capricorn everywhere) for the year 2006 (besides, who wants to end the year with images of Paris Hilton as the last note? ;)).

OVERVIEW: With Saturn -- heavenly purveyor of many sought-after qualities like integrity, responsibility and discipline -- as your ruler, you're an inspiration to everyone around you. So whether your current companion is by your side for platonic, professional or romantic reasons this year won't really matter. They'll just be proud to be with you. And while you're not ordinarily fond of the spotlight, you'd better try to get used to it, because it will be just about impossible to avoid. In fact, the attention, admiration and applause of the masses will be around every corner for you this year -- and it's your own darned fault.

You began working hard to achieve your professional goals (especially that reputation for fairness and benevolence) around late summer 2005. The response from coworkers and higher-ups has been terrific ever since, but don't forget that all this has happened for one reason: because you've put in the time and effort to make it happen. But 2005 was really just practice -- 2006 is your year to shine. Don't you dare try to avoid the accolades!

In other news, you'll also have plenty of romantic opportunities to pursue this year. You're due to meet someone -- or finally notice someone -- in January or February. This particular someone will be entertaining, magnetic and spontaneous enough to keep you interested for a good long time. (It's a good thing, too, because you're definitely not in the mood for games.) If you're happily attached, keeping it that way won't be tough at all, especially from April through August. You and your sweetie will probably be getting along so well, in fact, that you may temporarily disappear from your social circle's 'active' list. Oh well. It's good to hibernate every now and then -- especially when puttering around together in your PJs sounds far better than taking a chauffeured limo ride to the opera. All in all, life will be good, thanks to your number one squeeze -- and you've certainly earned it. Kick back and enjoy the fruits of your labor and the company of your loved ones. Then, with your unselfish motives intact, get out there and spread your blessings around!

The wrong type of productivity

Based on Sarah Slean's comments regarding her song, "Bank Accounts" - she says that she wrote the song years ago, but she's now realized that the song's been about/for Paris Hilton this whole time. :)
         
(Please don't make me save any more pictures of Paris Hilton onto my computer. Ever. Thank you SO much. :))

And one for Christmas from the movie Jarhead, which I haven't actually gotten a chance to watch yet. :P (And hey, it turns out it's Jake Gyllenhaal's birthday today. Well, that works out nicely.)


(Please credit juliet_a and comment if you're taking any of these.  Thanks!)

Standing still

I know it's cold outside. I know it's chill-you-to-the-bone windy, too, and yet...when you've been sitting inside by the window all day studying for exams, and you watch it go from day to night, and you've still got more to study, you can really feel how much that day has been wasted on necessary but unpleasant pursuits. I don't know what I would've been doing if I didn't have to study – I'd probably make a useless waste of my time anyway – but it would be nowhere near as depressing as doing this. Not that I'm depressed, of course, but it would be nice to get more into the holiday cheeriness of things sooner rather than later. Blah. I hope that in my lifetime, a minimum number of days is wasted on things I don't want to be doing in the first place. How likely that'll be once I take into account (1) starting a new job next fall, (2) life, and (3) my own proclivity for wasting time on my own even without necessary things to do is open to interpretation. Wish me luck.

My unsolicited advice for today: don't let tomorrow be a waste, people. :)

The Icon Post

What better time to post this than the first full day I have off to study for exams? Considering that I have all the time no time in the world to study, here are all the icons I have ever, ever made. Please let me know which ones you like, intensely dislike, and/or actually want to save on your computer for future use (please credit juliet_a), just 'cause I'm curious. And in case you didn't notice (*cough*), a lot of the Veronica Mars icons are exactly the same, except for the fonts used. If you could also tell me which fonts you think look best on those, that would be great. :D

( The Two Towers: Engrish Subtitles )
( Veronica Mars: Heroine )
( Kingdom of Heaven, Phantom of the Opera, Lord of the Rings )
( Tori Amos, Buffy the Vampire Slayer )
( Our Lady Peace )
( Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest )

Whozits, Whatzits, Gadgets and Gizmos

Slayer comma The

I miss Buffy.

But then, you wouldn't think that I would, since at least 3 former Buffy cast/crew members have turned up on at least one Veronica Mars episode. I mean, it's always nice to see Charisma Carpenter again, and to see Alyson Hannigan again, but seeing them playing different characters just makes me miss the old days when they were playing Cordelia and Willow and all of those characters I became so attached to over the years were all on the same show. Ah, memories.

In effect, though, watching Veronica Mars seems the most logical follow-up to watching Buffy. Intelligent writing. More than a smidge of melodrama. Humor. Sarcasm. Appealing characters. Characters appealing in their wretchedness. Absorbing storylines. Tiny blonde girl with more resources than you'd expect. Bad guys. Good guys. Romance. Action. Joss Whedon. Charisma Carpenter. Alyson Hannigan. All things that both BTVS and VM have in common. Besides, it says so on the back of the VM DVD cover: "A little bit Buffy. A little bit Bogart. A dash of Nancy Drew." (Note: I also used to read Nancy Drew.)

I think it's funny that, over the years, it's seemed like I've liked a lot of different things...but, really, if you look at my progression from reading Nancy Drew books to watching BTVS to watching VM, it's like...my tastes haven't really changed at all. Since I was about 10 years old. Oh my. So apparently, I just keep liking the same thing over and over again, only in a slightly different format. Hmm.

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It's very powerful and probably very dangerous. Has a purifying power...or a cleansing power - or possibly scrubbing bubbles...

My room got marginally neater yesterday, and I tidied up/sorted through/got rid of assorted papers lying around. I say "marginally" because there still are, of course, a good number of papers still lying around. But anyway, my tidying mission wasn't really brought on by any need for cleanliness this time, but rather because I realized I had no idea where my OLP Healthy in Paranoid Times CD was. Hence, the need to clean. After we moved in here, I had to find places to put all my CD cases because my CD rack is full, so the OLP case could've been anywhere. Eventually I found the case hidden behind my journals in my nightstand (alll right then...) and my CD was actually in the back of my CD wallet (well, duh, that makes sense). Crisis averted. But it was a harrowing half-hour or so, let me tell ya. :)

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To read makes our speaking English good

Mom just picked up the Chronicles of Narnia boxset for me today, which is exciting. I've deliberately put off reading those until after I see the movie, though. It's better this way. Anyway, the movie looks good enough -- I wasn't sure I enjoyed the whole talking-animal thing (I know that's important and all, but still), but every time I see Susan Pevensie using a bow and arrow in the trailer, I'm re-encouraged. I wonder if there's some archery thing I could do for fun in the summer? HA! Watch out, innocent passers-by... ;)

A Series of Unfortunate Events is finally showing on The Movie Network soon, and I saw at least a couple things in the preview that are different from the book. For instance, why doesn't Klaus have glasses? And what's this I'm reading about the movie covering the first three books, but by starting and ending the movie with the story from the first book and sandwiching the other two in the middle? Hmm. But at any rate, I'll be glad to finally see this.

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The who whating how with huh?

I thought I had less fannish things to write about, but I guess not. Sorry about that, folks. There's no cure for this sickness, whatever it's called. I suspect one would call it "Excessive Fandoms", but that's just a hunch.

Back to auditing; oh joy! Yay for fraud! (Or, you know, not.)

Happy holiday shopping! I'm [basically] done. Muahaha!