_jems_

( Sons of Anarchy )

The caps are here.

This VM fic makes me so happy. It feels like the author is making sense out of all the things I never thought made sense in season 3. Dealt with in this chapter: Duncan, Piz, the FBI. But if you're allergic to WIPs, I'd recommend staying far away from this one. I think it's been over a year since the last update and we're only on chapter four. So, yeah...

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Apparently, I have things to say about TV today.

( Dexter )

( Lie to Me )

( Glee )

( Castle )


I'm going to save Sons of Anarchy for a separate post so I have time to cap a few episodes and possibly include some visual aids.

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I bought myself a new laptop with a touchscreen, and because the software provided had Twitter compatability, I got myself an account. I've been reading it and trying to get the flow of the thing, but I gotta say, I'm still not sure. Even in my one lonely tweet, I still wanted to add about another post's worth. So what's the point if I know myself enough to know I'm too wordy? But add away if you're so inclined! I've added some accounts I recognized, but I'm sure I've missed a ton.

The touchscreen though? AWESOME!

Since I'm not making icon posts any more, I'm also not getting any feedback. And sometimes I miss it! So I participated in an icon meme:




Personally, my biggest problem with my icons is lack of originality. I keep iconing the same caps over and over (I just want an icon I love from a cap I love! But still - BORING). I feel like I'm never doing anything new, just the same old thing over and over (with varying results).

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I'm sick. And it's like the worst week ever for me to be sick (pre-EMA programs with short deadlines that have to be done immediately), but I'm still staying home tomorrow to work. May not be the best for getting work done, but I need to not be at work when I'm feeling like this.

I thought I'd find myself some downloads of the new Emma mini series and really just wallow in my misery.

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Two things I've loved lately:

1. LJ's Note feature. I used to have the Greasemonkey script that basically did the same thing, but with this feature it doesn't just work on one of my computers, but all of them, and any other I might use. Score!


2. VLC Player. Now, I know everyone's been raving about this player for years, but I've always preferred Zoom Player (for its playlist function, mostly). Well, I finally found something I love it for: IT REMOVES REGION ENCODING ON DVDs!!! I can switch between region 1 and 2 with impunity! This is so awesome, I can't even tell you. Now if the capping function was only a bit better (though the frame-by-frame stepping thing has already improved it by a factor of a about a million!) (Caveat: According to VLC developers, they can't guarantee that it removes region encoding, but it'll try!)

All the shows fit to picspam...

( The Office )

( Glee )

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And all the shows that aren't...

( FlashForward )

( Eastwick )

( Community )

( Modern Family )

( The Good Wife )

( Being Erica )

( Top Chef )

( The Big Bang Theory )

( Sons of Anarchy )

( Drop Dead Diva )


(Also watching but have nothing to say about at the moment: The Amazing Race, Dexter, HIMYM, Castle, Lie to Me, The Mentalist, Bones, Cougar Town, Project Runway (okay, one thing: THIS SEASON IS BOOORING), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Dollhouse.)

( 1x05 Picpsam )

You'll have to forgive me for being picspam crazy right now, but I just found a good copy of The Proposal, and I've wanted to picspam it since I saw it in theaters. And when the DVD comes out there may even be caps!

[Oh, and speaking of caps, I keep forgetting this, but the caps from the Fringe picspam I did the other week are uploaded here. Not even 300 caps for the entire season, but I figure I won't be needing much more than that. Also, remember saava's Farscape-Caps.com? Well, at one point I managed to download all the albums, and I asked Angie if she would mind if I shared them (because I've uploaded them to an online gallery anyway since I HATE going throuh caps on my harddrive) and she said I could go right ahead. So they're here. There are even a few extras that weren't on Angie's site, like bloopers and the makeup test (they're still Angie's caps, though).]

Hokay, loooong aside, there. Let's get to the picspam!


( The Proposal. )

Next project: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles season 2. I'm capping it as I rewatch, just like with Fringe, but it's taking me a while longer to get through them (I suddenly have STUFF to do. Not on!)

( How I Met Your Mother 5x01 )



( Glee 1x04 Picspam )

I spent the weekend watching Fringe.




( Picspam! )

Two things that bug the everlivin' CRAP out of me:

• Unless you're using it as an adjective (the premier episode), the word premiere is spelled with an E at the end. The meaning of premier when used as a noun is
  
  

  1. the head of the cabinet in France or Italy or certain other countries; first minister; prime minister.


2. a chief officer.

Season premiere, world premiere, series premiere. But Canada's premier.


• It's not Bros Before Hoes! That means you put your bros before your gardening equipment, for crying out loud! It's Hos. Ho-ho-hos! Just...GAH!!!

And now that I've gotten that out of my system, last night's TV:

( Glee! )

( Bones! )

I still haven't watched Flash Forward, but I've got it cued up to watch right after Top Chef, which is what I'll be watching in five, four, three, two...

In the past week, I've gotten up early twice in order to catch an episode that had aired the night before, before I had to head off to work: Thursday, to see Glee, and today, to see ( the True Blood finale [now with book spoilers!]. )

( Picspammage! )

I just wasted away most of my evening at Lovely Package. ( There is some really pretty packaging out there. )

I also uploaded a bunch of icons and bought a crapload of DVD sets (Life s2, HIMYM s4, Terminator: TSCC s2, Fringe s1, Middleman, Criminal Minds s1, Dollhouse s1, Twin Peaks s1-2, The Big Bang Theory s1 and probably a few more I'm forgetting). Let me just say that my wallet is hurting pretty badly right now. But retail therapy has done me a world of good, so there is that. =)

Glee is imminent! And I couldn't be happier about it, even though I just can't seem to find it in me to 'ship Rachel/Finn, which seems to be the predominant pairing. And I finally realized that it's because, aside from finding Finn pretty boring, I just don't think he's a very good singer, and the very idea that he's even close to the same league as Rachel, talent-wise, is pretty laughable to me. BUT, there has only been one episode, so I'm willing to let them (and him) win me over.

Since I last posted, I've...

• Become a purse-oholic, with two new purses under my belt. ( This is my favorite... )


• Been to see The Proposal. ( Read more... )


• Caught up with Eureka. ( Read more... )


• Redone my laptop desktop using Rainmeter and ObjectDock. I'm only using standard settings, because I'm useless at this kind of stuff, ( but I still like it. )


• Pretty much become obsessed with Ace of Cakes. I've watched every episode I could get my hands on, but it's not exactly the easiest show to find episodes of.


• Come to the sad realisation that my new-found obsession with Eric/Sookie is the most fannish I've felt in years. Season 3 of HIMYM was a fannish high-point, sure, but it still didn't feel like THIS. I'm not sure how the hell this happened, and ( BOOK SPOILERS )


• Been extra GLEEFUL about Glee, since hellopoe pointed out this complete version of Gold Digger that's viewable to non-Americans. (Thaaaaaank you!)


• Realized that NEW TV is but a few scant weeks away (speaking of which, there haven't really been any leaked pilots this year, WTF?), and I've hardly caught up with any of the shows that I meant to catch up on this summer. I guess I'll just have to stay perpetually behind on my TV watching.

This is the first time in probably a month that I've had the urge to post, so forgive me if this picspam is somewhat redundant (considering everyone has already done one today. ;-)

( True Blood 2x09 )

01. Anyone who looks at this entry has to post this meme and their current wallpaper at their livejournal.
(02. Explain in five sentences why you're using that wallpaper.)
03. Don't change your wallpaper before doing this. The point is to see what you had on.



I use WallMaster, so this is only one of many wallpapers I use (it changes every thirty minutes), but it is the only one actually made for my screen resolution (1920x1080), and as such, is pretty much the only one that actually looks good. I did grab a bunch of Star Trek wallpapers from the official site that I could put up, but that would involve some cropping (they were not 16:9), and I'm lazy, so...

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So, my vacation is over. I didn't do what I had intended to do, but that's okay, because I dabbled in some retail therapy. And I haven't loved anything as much as I love these two things in a looong time.

So, I was paying my bills the other day, and I started wondering what it's like elsewhere. I can't imagine not having e-billing, giro payments, and online banking in general. Plus, paying all your bills in one go at the end of each month makes me happy. But I get the feeling that the US is still stuck in that same old "check-is-in-the-mail" archaic bill-paying that was the norm when I lived there twenty years ago. Therefore, ( a poll! )

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Speaking of bill-paying, I'm only a few weeks away from being completely free of credit card debt, so of course I'm looking at ways to spend all that extra moolah. And I think I found it! I'm leaning towards this one, though to be honest, it's more because it comes in a pretty light blue color than for the battery life. Does anyone have any recommendations? Words of wisdom?

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I think my eReader purchase has already paid for itself, because I'm reading more books than ever. Since the beginning of May alone, I've read 15 books. 15 books! I didn't read 15 books all of last year! (Granted, it's been mostly chick lit and easy fare, but still!)

Except, reading all these actual books instead of fic has made me realize that I've probably averaged about 100 books a year, just in fic. So I'm not reading that much more than usual right now, I'm just reading other things.

---

( Teevee )

( Watched the Bones season finale. )


( And the Glee pilot. )

Numbered lists seem to be the best way to get back into the groove of things:

1. ( I finished Chuck season 2. )


2. I got my eReader yesterday, and even though I've only used it for a day, I already love it to death. I don't think I can ever go back to reading (long) fic on my computer again.


3. This Strawberry Spinach Salad sounds really yummy. I'm going to have to try that some day.


4. I uploaded some new icons to my Scrapbook.


5. ( TAR finished another season. )


6. I've had to take a few people off my reading filter because of spoilers, and I'm thinking of doing an flist cut. I mean, sure, it's just reaction spoilers, but just because you don't care about the show anymore (or love it so much you can't wait to Tell. Everyone. About. It), that doesn't mean I want to know. Though it seems silly to cut people right when TV is going into hybernation for the summer.


7. Comedies are not making me dance with joy right now. ( The Office. ) ( The Big Bang Theory. ) ( HIMYM. )


8. Everyone squeeing about Star Trek has made me dying to go see it, even though I think I've only watched one full episode of any of the franchises (a TNG episode where they go back in time? Or something?) Good job, flist!


9. I'm taking the first week of June off and I can't wait! The best part is that it's vacation days I've saved from last year, so I still have five weeks of vacation coming to me after that. I'm going to try to find a cheap last minute trip to somewhere around the Mediterranean, and if that falls through, I'm going to redecorate my bedroom. Either way? So much win!


10. Hi, Laura! =)

I've been reading (in most cases, re-reading) Buffy fic lately. There are plenty of fic tropes when it comes to Spike/Buffy fic, but I'm always surprised that two scenarios I find very interesting are in short supply. If they exist at all. ( Read more... )

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I ordered an eReader! Turns out, the iLiad lost out after all, because it doesn't seem to be very stable, and the manufacturer seems to be on the verge of dicontinuing the device. Of the two remaining devices, the Cybook seems to be better for Mobipocket files, but hardly any improvements have been made to the firmware since its launch.

So I ended up with the Bebook, which I finally settled on because the company seems to have very active support, with frequent updates, and there's even an open source project with improved functions. Also, they're releasing a new device later this year that will do pretty much exactly what I wanted the iLiad to do, but since I want one NOW, I might as well get used to this (cheap) version first and buy a new one in about a year or so.

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I'm so glad this is only a four day week, because I think The Dreaded Allergies have hit. I've been sneezing all evening, and my eyes are itching like crazy. *sigh*

I meant to post this icon meme over a week ago. Um, oops? ( MEME! )

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( The Amazing Race )

( Project Runway Canada )

Last Friday, when I was on the way to the subway, A & B Song came on my mp3 player, and I was seized by this unstoppable wave of nostalgia, and I knew I had to start up my Farscape rewatch again (I had just finished season 2 when I took a break...um, six months ago or so). But first I had to rewatch the vid that made me have the Farscape flashback and I'd forgotten something: ( I think it's all wrong )