I'm trying to remember a book I read when I was younger. I got it from the library and can't remember why I picked it up in the first place, but I remember enjoying it.

It was about a teenage boy whose mother joins a religious cult and he's brought along for the ride. He tries to fit in. One scene I especially remember is where a bunch of the boys are playing a game (soccer, maybe?) and this boy shouts something like, "Pass it here, Zeke!" Everybody stops what they're doing and stares at him, because one of the rules in this cult is that nicknames aren't allowed (he should've said Ezekiel, not Zeke).

There's a girl that he likes, and together they start teaching some of the younger kids about life outside of the cult. They have to be sneaky about it, and she teaches him how to train his body to wake up early. I think it ends when both of them run away and leave the cult because she's about to get married off. Maybe. I know he leaves for sure.

If anybody has any idea what this book is called, I'd really appreciate it.

There just aren't enough posts out there already about X-Men: First Class, so I decided to make my own!

I saw this movie last Friday and have been gobbling up the fandom ever since. It always amazes me how quickly fandom can spring into action (with the proper motivation, of course). While I haven't had a chance to write fic, and despite years of school art classes I can't draw/paint/make art to save my life, I would like to add this:



I saw this on SYTYCD and now all I want is an XMFC AU where everybody tap-dances, and Charles is classically trained genius and Erik learned his dancing on the streets, and when the world shuns tap-dancing for disco they clash on how to defend it until Charles takes a tragic fall while dancing for a televised performance and can never dance again, and then he and Erik resolve their differences and open a dance studio together and live happily ever after.

*breathes*

So. Now that I've said my piece, time to do the laundry and find a vet for the new kittens.

Oh, life, what craziness have you been throwing at me for the last month? Anyway, it's been a week of season finales for bunches of shows, plus the exciting announcements of what'll be returning in the fall, what new stuff will be popping up, and what got axed.

( Spoilers, yo. Lots and lots of spoilers. )

So, in conclusion, Castle and Supernatural were the wins of the week, while the rest got the job done without exceeding expectations. Next week is Glee's finale, assuming we don't get Raptured before then. Although, now that I think about it, watching Glee may fall into the category of 'Activities That Will Preclude A Person From Rapture.' Guess I'll still have to go to work on Monday, then.

Things My Life Is Currently Made Of:
Doctor Who
21st Birthdays
Harassing the City About My Car
Summer Semester
New York Trip in August
Chicago Trip in October
Summer Television
Moving into a New Apartment
Fantasy Big Bang
Dean/Cas Big Bang
Working Full-Time
CONvergence

Hm. Two months since my last post. How the heck did that happen?

Since SPN's been on hiatus for the last month and both Castle and Hawaii 5-0 are taking breaks, I've picked up a new show (well, new for me) to tide me over. Because I like a challenge, and because I'm tired of skipping over the posts my f-list makes about it, I chose NCIS. Okay, yes, I'm a sucker for procedurals, but I love characters and character development.

( The process of wooing by NCIS )

In other news! I'm being ambitious again. I signed up for both the Dean/Cas Big Bang (MiniBang track) and the Fantasy Big Bang. I'm crazy, yo, don't mess with me. The FBB draft has to be finished by June 15 (two months, what the hell am I thinking, I have a job), but the DCBB doesn't need a draft until August 15. I guess the first thing I need to do is actually come up with plot ideas...

fanfic100

Progress: 0/100

( Fanfic100 Prompt Table )

I claimed the Peter/Neal pairing for White Collar over at fanfic100!

I've been watching ABC's new show Off the Map for a few weeks now, and while I wouldn't exactly call it a paragon of good television, the jungle setting is good for pretending I'm not sitting in a house surrounded by four feet of snow.

However, there are certain factors that are beginning to quickly irritate me. ( In case anyone else is bothering with bad television, here are those factors. )

That turned out longer and rantier than I was shooting for. I shouldn't be typing for people when I'm this tired. Blah.

Winter and I are not getting along this year. Well, more accurately, winter and my car are not getting along this year.

The city had a snow emergency Monday night. I knew that, so I parked around the corner because I live on a night-plow route. What I forgot was that the morning after a snow emergency is declared, they plow the unmarked streets. Like the one I parked on the night before.

A ticket, I would've sighed at but paid. If I'd been towed, I'd have spent three days kicking myself but gotten over it pretty quick. I can admit when I've made a mistake. Neither of these happened, though. Instead they plowed around my car and, in the process, hit my precious baby.

Now I have to fill out paperwork, get estimates for repairs, print off pictures from my camera, and cross my fingers that the city'll pay for it, which they'd damn well better. I got one estimate already which put the repairs at just under $2000. The driver's side door won't shut properly and the bent metal keeps pressing on the tire when I make left turns. I never did find my hubcap.

Ugh. I'm so sick of winter.

So I like my job. I'm a cashier at a gas station (just got promoted to shift lead, yay) and I get to talk to people. There's always something to do. It'd be nice to sit at a desk for eight hours a day, but since that's pretty much all I do at home, at least there's something that gets me moving around.

I started this job on weekend overnights because it was either take the job or lose my car. It took eight months to move to a more regular evening shift, but I still occasionally get called upon to pick up some overnight hours. Saturday was one of them. The regular overnight employee took a week off to help with the birth of her second granddaughter, so I got to enjoy an unusually boring 10pm-6am shift during which everything got done perfectly and I finished several crossword puzzles.

Then there was the parrot.

A woman came in to buy lottery tickets. She went straight to the counter, no dallying, which I can appreciate. I got halfway through the transaction before I realized the colorful ball in her hand wasn't a pair of gloves but a live, untethered parrot, climbing over her fingers. Her reasoning for bringing him in with her? "He didn't want to wait in the car."

Talk about a health code violation. I figured as long as he didn't make a break for the donut case, we'd be okey-dokey. Still, I finished ringing her up as quickly as I could. Luckily, nothing else too crazy came up, and I'd rather deal with a parrot than the usual awkwardly serious date invitations from men twice my age.

Do you ever have days where it's incredibly difficult to get outside of your own thoughts? Today's kinda like that. Of course, I'm making it worse by hiding in my room, catching up on seasons of Criminal Minds. But normally I have something that forces me into contact with, gasp, other people. Not today. Today's my day off. I really should stop having those.

Okay. Ignore that first paragraph while I attempt to sound like a normal person. Two weeks into the New Year, and my resolutions are holding up pretty well. No pop, even though I'm thirsty for it all the time. Instead I've been drinking more juice and soy milk. Those little Crystal Light packets have become my new best friend. I've only missed one day of writing so far. It's getting easier to remember to pick up that pen and write, even if it's just a few sentences.

Still not caught up on House, or Dexter, or The Walking Dead. Instead, I've picked up another series that I watched years ago when the first season aired: Criminal Minds. I remember being pissed about the cliffhanger at the end of that season, but I never saw the conclusion of that story. Apparently I did see some of the second season, but only bits and pieces. Having just started the third season, I'll say I'm still enjoying it. I already knew that Gideon left, so no surprise there. Introducing new characters on a procedural show like this actually seems like a great idea, because it keeps things interesting. When the plot of each episode is basically a formula that rarely changes, the character storylines have to be a little more flexible.

Still love Reid. He's adorable.

In other news, networks are premiering some of their new shows during the mid-season and I've been perusing the offerings with a fairly cynical eye. After the lackluster display of creativity this past fall, my expectations are low. So far I've only watched Off the Map, which interested me enough to bring me back for another week before I decide whether to dump or keep it. Also coming up soon are The Chicago Code, Harry's Law, and, looking all the way through to March, Body of Proof.

The new semester started on Monday, and right now I have to settle down into some good old Spanish homework. Adios!

It's officially 2011, as of nearly an hour ago now. No parties for me tonight, since there's work to be done tomorrow, and a book to finish reading, and fanfic to catch up on, and friends to see for the last time until August, and why the hell don't I own a white collared shirt?!

The shirt's not so important. I really just wanted to record--for posterity's sake, and so I can make fun of myself three hundred and sixty-five days from now--my resolutions for the new year. Supposedly it's easier to achieve goals if they are specific, concrete, measurable things, so that's what I've been aiming for as I've pondered what I want from my life in the coming year.

( #1: I will run in a marathon. )

( #2: I will cut pop out of my diet. )

( #3: I will write everyday, even if it's just a single sentence. )

There are other things I plan to do this year, but they don't really fall into the New Year's Resolution category. Some are more Celebrate Being Twenty-One, like signing up for a gun safety/training class and getting a tattoo. Others, like finding a date for my cousin's wedding at which I damned well will be as cute and sexy as my irritatingly tall and perfect girl cousins, are wishes and daydreams that would be nice, but aren't necessarily...necessary.

Best of luck to anyone else whose gone through the trouble of thinking up resolutions for the year. Fight the good fight, fellow soldiers.