I am Death, not taxes. *I* turn up only once.

Events of the week! They included spending the majority of my lunch hours in the DMV again and having good times with friends, including an ill-advised but pretty fun outing to the golf course to see the lunar eclipse on the solstice. Regrettably, none of us gained superpowers from the experience, and my suggestions to sacrifice a goat or a squirrel or something were all shot down (killjoys!), but the evening was still a success.

Incredible new Star Wars posters.
SnowJabba.
Doctor Who fashion.
AlphaDeaths. The most morbid fruits and veggies you will ever see.

Russian teens with a death wish, or the coolest thing ever? I’m going with the latter. Is there any possible way we could do this without getting in serious trouble?
SAM CAN SING, you guys!
Do you like the movie A Little Princess? If not, watch this anyway.
2-D interpretative dance? Well, ok.
6 Most Terrifying Work Commutes. Substitute “most terrifying” for “most awesome,” and you’ll have it about right. I would pay money to go on that bridge.
Remember the hand dance to “We No Speak Americano,” now sadly being used in a McDonald’s commercial? Turns out the hand dancers are world-famous Irish dancers who are starting their own experimental dance show. Hmm.

I’m sure all of you have been both alarmed and broken-hearted at the significant dearth in book reviews on here lately. Rest assured, the situation will be remedied. I reread The Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov, which I hadn’t read in 12 years or so, so that was a fun little trip down memory lane. Also a somewhat scandalous one, as I sheepishly realized that young, impressionable Stephanie probably shouldn’t have been reading this at the age of 11. I’m thinking I must have skipped parts? Anyway, I seem to have turned out mostly ok.

Then I polished off A Medicine for Melancholy by Ray Bradbury. What do I even say about Ray Bradbury anymore? Everything is fabulous, the end? I’m running out of obsessively adoring adjectives for his stories. If you haven’t read anything by him lately, give “There Will Come Soft Rains” a whirl right now. Go on, I’ll wait.

Right now I’m finishing up Feet of Clay, which is my first excursion into the writing of Terry Pratchett. I’m really not sure what’s taken me so long. He’s like Douglas Adams, but with more sensicality! (Not a word, but it should be.) I’m quite enjoying his witty turns of phrase so far, and I’m looking forward to exploring Discworld more thoroughly.

I’m also working on The Language of Bees, the ninth book in Laurie King’s series on Sherlock Holmes. It’s the last in the series (thus far), and I feel obligated to read it because the first handful were so very good–even though the last several have been awfully dull, as though the author herself is bored with the characters. I keep holding out hope for that spark of life to return, but I think it’s too late for this Frankenstein’s monster. Just let it die, King, this is getting macabre.

Here’s the mutiny I promised you.

From Thomas Babington Macaulay via Doctor Who:
“To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his gods?”

I thoroughly enjoy science fiction that is more well-read than I am.

So far the best thing about my new job is that I get to wear a rather futuristic-looking headset while answering the phone. The other day I wore braids wrapped around my head with the headset just in front of them, and I felt just like Leia in The Empire Strikes Back. Only more with the “Sir, you’re going to have to retake the Non-Invasive Echo certification test” and less with ordering the Rebels into battle against AT-ATs, sadly. It’s fortunate that I have a good imagination.

It’s been a nutty couple of weeks, and my abject apologies for not updating in all that time. My brother graduated, I was stranded at work three times when my car died on various occasions, I bought my first wall art (out of the back of someone’s car in a parking lot, no less), I threw a massive party and saw tons of friends, I spent hours on the phone with the Florida and North Carolina DMVs (and in the office of the latter), and several friends graduated. I’m trying to catch my breath a bit now before diving into several more parties and a ton of editing for my old employer.

Ok, so these links were new and relevant when I started accumulating them for this post two weeks ago…but now they’re pretty outdated, sorry.

Guy creates his own musical instrument.
Star Trek’s “The Inner Light” on a theremin.
Aperture Science in typography.
Music matrix, stolen from Ian.
“Candlelight” by The Maccabeats. Hee, Maccabeats, get it?
Lykke Li in The Black Cab Sessions.

I’m indescribably pleased that this describes pretty much all of my friends.
Plastic bag. “I wish that you had created me so that I could die.”
Found a vintage photos community.
The Metrodome collapses. I honestly thought this was fake until the news confirmed it. Can you imagine being inside as that was happening?
Trailer for a series based on Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency!
Average people doing nothing. Leave them alone.
How to insult Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Harry Potter fans.
The Tronicles of Narnia.

Star Wars through the eyes of Dr. Seuss. Yoda is my favorite.
Star Wars paper snowflakes.
Star Wars alphabet.
5 Sci-Fi Children’s Books.
Star Trek doors.
Wil Wheaton and Christmas ornaments.
Doctor Who meets Star Wars.
Scrapbook of a Stormtrooper.

Get out of my line of fire! Fantastic story about CS Lewis and his wife.
11 celebrities who were secretly total badasses. Oh Cracked.com, what would we do without you?
Gollum lives!
Aurora borealis, thanks to NASA’s picture of the day.
Lunar eclipse coming up!
Wordle.

Off to eat leftover party food…

I might never make sense again!

When last we left our heroine, she was bereft of employment and fretting over how to pay rent. Not so this week! In an extremely unlikely set of circumstances, I interviewed for and got one of the jobs I applied for the day after I found out I was out of work. I start my position as an administrative assistant for a not-for-profit organization company next Monday! The job itself sounds pretty dull, but it’s a job, so I’m not complaining. Plus I’ll have full benefits for the first time in my life, so that’s nothing to sneeze at. I’ll be doing some on-and-off work for my old company for at least a few weeks, too.

I’ve been on a rabid Doctor Who kick lately. Why haven’t I been watching this for years?? I have the most fun with British tv…

Superhero grandma.
I keep saying goldfish are creepy. Now do you believe me?
This calls for a road trip to Kansas City.

Mark Doesn’t Understand Animals, one of my new favorite comics.
Damn you, auto correct! I laughed so hard I cried, even as I realized how stupid it was.

Star Trek home computer. I’m simultaneously smiling at how cool this is and grimacing over how tremendously expensive it must have been.
Quick tire fix. This actually works??
Hallelujah Chorus flashmob.
Come to St. Maarten’s, be squashed by a 747.
A perfect sense of balance.
HOLD THE PHONE. You mean I live in a world where this is actually physically possible?!
I’m not really sure what Independence Day has to do with a wedding, but you have to admit it makes one heck of a toast.
Definitely starting a pillow fight the next time I fly.

How to survive a long fall. Aren’t you glad I’m here to tell you these things?
7 Reasons the 21st Century Is Making You Miserable. That’s…actually pretty accurate. Cracked.com can be astonishingly wise.
Holy cow, guys. Why do we not have holidays that entail wearing Viking gear and jumping horses through bonfires> ‘Cause we’re lame, that’s why.

Time for some dinner.