Things I’m Obsessed With

Welcome to the latest Things I’m Obsessed With!

Books:

So, you’re probably sick of hearing me talk about Red Letter Revolution by now.  I’m pretty sure I’m done with blog posts about it (at least for now) but I can’t over-stress how incredibly inspiring I thought it was.  I have Irresistible Revolution (also by Shane Claiborne) and I bought (but have yet to read) Everyday Missions: How Ordinary People Can Change the World.  I like most of the books that I read and in any given year, there are easily dozens that I love.  Red Letter Revolution has the potential to completely change my life.  (I say “the potential” because we’ll see how much actually happens.  I hope I stick with this.)

TV:

American Horror Story comes back TODAY!  I think you all remember how much that show dominated “Things I’m Obsessed With” last season, and in just a few hours (roughly 26—I’ll be watching it tomorrow morning), I’ll know if this season will do the same.  The promos look incredibly creepy and I am ready to be scared.  :)

I’m also slowly preparing to say goodbye to 30 Rock (and completely okay with saying goodbye to The Office).  I’m hoping that Private Practice and especially Parks & Recreation will be renewed, but we’ll see.  Both of those are having really great seasons so far.

So, what are you obsessed with this week?

Things I’m Obsessed With

Welcome to the latest Things I’m Obsessed With!

TV:

We’re only a week away until American Horror Story comes back!  I seriously cannot wait; I fell in love with it right away last season and I have high hopes for this season.  Although it’s a Ryan Murphy show, which means there’s going to be a hard and fast decline coming and I’m preparing myself for that.  I just hope it’ll be maybe next year.  Or the year after. :)  Nip/Tuck kept my love much longer than Glee did, so here’s hoping it follows the good doctors’ lead more than it does the kids at McKinley.

Movies:

As you’ve noticed, I’ve been working my way through a bunch of horror movies.  So far, most of the ones I’ve talked about are old favorites, but I have some that I haven’t seen yet coming up.  For example,  believe it or not, I’ve never seen Critters.  Or Phantasm!  So I’m planning for that to change this year.

Life:

I saw Wicked last week and absolutely loved it.  :)  So much so that I watched The Wizard of Oz again the next day and have rearranged my reading schedule so that I can read the series of books (by Gregory Maguire).  It won’t happen until early December, but still it’s on the horizon!

So what are you obsessed with this week?

Things I’m Obsessed With

Welcome to the latest Things I’m Obsessed With!

TV:

30 Rock is back tomorrow!  I can’t even tell you how excited I am to see Liz Lemon again…even though this IS the last season, which I can’t even talk about.  AND most of my other shows are back, too!  I am loving Parks & Recreation so far, and Shonda Rhimes has already made me cry twice (Private Practice and Grey’s Anatomy).  If it weren’t the last season for The Office, I think we would be breaking up AGAIN but I think I’ll make myself keep watching.  It has to get better, right?

Movies:

You may remember that I spent part of last weekend at the Monster Mania scary movie convention at Hunt Valley.  I had hoped to meet Jamie Kennedy, but he didn’t appear while I was there.  (Although admittedly, I wasn’t there for very long.)  I did get autographs from Edward Herrmann (who was in The Lost Boys but who I know better as Richard Gilmore from The Gilmore Girls and FDR in Annie), Heather Langenkamp (Nancy in A Nightmare on Elm Street 1 and 3, plus Wes Craven’s New Nightmare) and Amanda Wyss (Tina in ANoES but who was also in Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Better Off Dead).  My horror movie fan street cred was tested because I had Edward Herrmann sign my DVD of Annie, but I don’t care.  I LOVE that movie way more than I do The Lost Boys (or even Gilmore Girls).

Anyway, all three of them were incredibly kind.  I was a little tongue-tied around Edward Herrmann and just sort of mumbled and ran, but I was able to talk more to Heather Langenkamp and Amanda Wyss.  Heather and I bonded over our love of sleep (she asked how she should sign my DVD and I said that I liked her line “Screw sleep!” even though it was against everything I stand for and she was like, oh yeah, me too) and I may have made Amanda’s day by letting her sign “Robert Englund’s spot” on my DVD.  She even asked to make sure it was okay, and I was like, “No, go for it!” because I have all the Elm Street movies and he can sign one of those.  If I even get to meet him, which I hope to.

AND I was able to find and buy a copy of Popcorn (review to come in a few days!), which I haven’t seen in probably 10 or so years.  So the weekend was a huge success, as far as I’m concerned.

Life:

Guess what I’m doing tomorrow afternoon?  SEEING WICKED! For the first time.  I feel like the last person to have seen that play, so I am very excited to change that.  I’m hoping to read the Gregory Maguire series after I see the play, but we’ll see how long that takes.

So what are you obsessed with this week?

Things I’m Obsessed With

Welcome to the latest Things I’m Obsessed With!

TV:

My shows are back!  Tomorrow is when Grey’s Anatomy comes back and I’m waiting for 30 Rock (next Thursday, I think) and American Horror Story (mid-October) but for the most part, they’re back. :)  TV is third (out of three) for my pop culture entertainments but I am always so happy when my shows are back.

I’m also liking the new shows I’ve seen (I’ve discussed Go On and The Mindy Project before, but I also like Animal Practice) but I was so ridiculously happy to see Leslie Knope again on Thursday. 

Books:

I have been reading so many awesome books lately and there are even more ahead.  Kathy and I got a lot of the same books at BEA, but she’s managed to read almost all of them before I did, so after reading her reviews for What’s Left of Me, Burn For Burn, The Diviners and The Raven Boys, I was even more excited than I already had been to get to read them.  I am also excited to read JK Rowling’s new book (which just came out) and so many other books (included but by no means limited to The Secret Keeper, Crewel, Red Letter Revolution, Live By Night, Skinny and Son).

Movies:

For the first time in months, I’m off this weekend.  That would be cause enough for celebration, believe me (I get to sleep in! AND enjoy a four-day weekend!) but the reason I’m off is to attend a scary movie convention.  I know everyone has heard me discuss my love of scary movies, so it’s not very surprising that I’m excited.  But even more exciting than a few days devoted to my love of all things horror is the fact that Heather Langenkamp will be there.  In case you don’t know who that is, she plays Nancy in A Nightmare on Elm Street.  Which, in case it comes up on Jeopardy is my absolute favorite character in my absolute favorite series.  And the chance to get my Blu-Ray signed? YES, PLEASE.

So what are you obsessed with this week?

Things I’m Obsessed With

Welcome to the latest Things I’m Obsessed With!

TV:

I am starting to watch the new shows (so far, I am really liking Go On) but I’m really excited that Parks & Recreation is back tomorrow!  Most of my other returning shows are back next week and I should be getting the first season of American Horror Story next week, too.   I’m especially excited for Grey’s to come back, but book club is that week so I will probably have to wait until the following day to see my friends at Seattle Grace.  (Also excited for Private Practice—I hope Addison chose Sam.)

I’ve decided that I will be watching The Office this season, too.  It’s the last one, and even though I haven’t loved the more recent seasons, I do want to see how it ends.

Movies:

It’s almost October, which means it’s almost time for A Nightmare on Kel’s Street!  As you know, I am a huge, huge fan of scary movies and any excuse to watch a bunch of them makes me happy.  But I’ll also be talking about various aspects of the genre and probably why I like some movie monsters/villains more than others (I’m sorry, Jason is awful.  And I will be addressing why).  If there’s any movie you want me to watch or topic you want to see me talk about, let me know. :)

So what are you obsessed with this week?

Things I’m Obsessed With

Welcome to the latest Things I’m Obsessed With!

TV:

Thanks to OnDemand, I watched the pilot of The Mindy Project and completely loved it.  So much, in fact, that I have since watched it at least two more times (and no, thank you, I will NOT be more specific).  I will admit to not really liking Mindy Kaling’s character on The Office, but I loved her book.  I’m not really a huge fan of sitcoms but I laughed out loud so many times during the pilot and can’t wait to watch the second episode.  It’ll be airing Tuesdays at 9:30 on Fox, and I think it’ll be joining Parks & Rec and 30 Rock as one of those shows that I just watch over and over.

Movies:

As you probably know, I’m part of an online movie club.  September is Meryl Streep month and I am super excited.  Our picks are Sophie’s Choice, Out of Africa, Doubt, The Hours and The French Lieutenant’s Woman.  The club itself was inspired by Mia March’s wonderful book The Meryl Streep Movie Club, and so I’m excited to finally get to see Sophie’s Choice and Out of Africa.  (I’m hoping to watch at least one of them over my weekend.)  I also haven’t seen The French Lieutenant’s Woman, but that isn’t as iconic as the other two.  And I loved Doubt and The Hours.  (I will also admit to being a little sad that nobody picked Silkwood.)

Books:

I am so excited to read Tilt (the new Ellen Hopkins novel).  It came out yesterday and she is one of my absolute favorite authors.  I also have her second adult novel for review, but that doesn’t come out until November so I have to wait a bit to read it.  I am scheduled to review Tilt in early October so yes, technically I have to wait a bit to read this, too.  Still, at least I have it.  :)

I’m hoping it’ll somehow “accidentally” move up in the TBR pile…

So what are you obsessed with this week?

Things I’m Obsessed With

Welcome to the latest Things I’m Obsessed With!

Books:

I’m afraid to jinx it but I seem to be out of the slump!  And I have some amazing books coming up (Audition and Subtraction by Amy Fellner Dominy; Fathomless by Jackson Pearce; Breed—which Jenn recommended) so I’m very happy that it ended when it did.

TV:

Also arriving yesterday? The complete fourth season of Parks & Recreation!  So if the slump doesn’t break, I plan to enjoy the further adventures of Leslie, Ben, Ann and especially my beloved Ron Swanson.  There are definitely worse things than that.  I am in withdrawal for Breaking Bad, but it helps to know that I can at least watch P&R while I wait for my other shows to come back.  And new episodes of Weeds are on, at least for two or three more weeks…but this season isn’t very good.  I’m not unhappy it’s the last season.

Speaking of “last season,” it’s also the last season for The Office and I’m trying to decide whether or not I want to watch it.  I am currently rewatching episodes from season 7 (season 8 comes out on DVD later this month and season 9 is the final season) and it’s a lot funnier than I remember, but still not as funny as earlier seasons were.  But it IS the last season, and I’ve watched all of the first seven seasons and probably most of season 8.  (We keep breaking up but I keep crawling back to it.  It is not a healthy relationship.)

So what are you obsessed with this week?

Things I’m Obsessed With

Welcome to the latest Things I’m Obsessed With!

Books:

Still in a reading slump.  Since I last blogged this, I have started several books and have not finished any of them.  Starting to get really unsettled.  Especially because I am running out of scheduled posts.  So if the blog goes dark after TODAY, you’ll know the slump didn’t improve.  (I am typing this up on Saturday, so hopefully it’ll go away by then…)

TV:

We are also running out of new episodes of Breaking Bad.  The AMC people gave it an extended season (16 episodes) but are splitting them into eight this summer and eight next. SUNDAY’S EPISODE is the last.  This season has been insane and I don’t know how I’ll wait a year to see what happens next. 

Fortunately, all my other shows are coming back pretty soon, which is good.  Especially since I’m not actually reading.

I am especially excited for September 4, which is when season 4 of Parks and Recreation comes out on DVD.  I started watching the show this year, and went back and watched the first three seasons while watching the new episodes as they aired (and as reruns).  Still, I’ve probably missed half the season and cannot wait to see a whole bunch of new P&R episodes.  I have a bad feeling that the show will be canceled after this season, but I hope I’m wrong.

So what are you obsessed with this week?

Things I’m Obsessed With

Welcome to the latest Things I’m Obsessed With!

Books:

I just started The Sweet Life, which is the six-volume serial that Francine Pascal released for e-books.  It’s set three years after Sweet Valley Confidential.  I’m not very far in (I’ve read one chapter in the first volume) but it’s already incredibly juicy and fun.  (According to Amazon, you can get the whole set in hardback in October.)

I loved the Sweet Valley series (mostly Twins, but also High) when I was younger.  (The problem is that I started reading Sweet Valley Twins when I was in early elementary school and then I went to Christopher Pike and RL Stine and then pretty much to adult books, so I never read all that many of the Sweet Valley High books.  Very weird, I know.)  Anyway, getting to spend time with Elizabeth and Jessica as grownups is pretty awesome.

TV:

I spent probably 20 minutes Monday night talking with a coworker about American Horror Story.  Season two of that show doesn’t begin until October, but most of my shows are coming back next month.  I’m pretty excited; I miss my TV time.  I don’t watch that many shows, and one of them (30 Rock) is definitely ending next season and I think it’s not looking too good for two others (Parks and Recreation and Private Practice).  So I’m hoping to check out the TV Preview of Entertainment Weekly to see what shows I should check out. 

I am notoriously picky when it comes to TV (I am a book and movie person; TV is a distant third in the race for my affection, although the shows I love I am very, very passionate about*) and as of now, this is what I watch:  The Amazing Race, Private Practice, American Horror Story, The Big Bang Theory, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation and Grey’s Anatomy.  (I also watch Weeds—also ending this season—The Big C, Mad Men and Breaking Bad.)  I definitely want to watch that serial killer show that Kevin Williamson’s doing (I think that premieres in January?) and I think I can add two more shows on top of that one. 

So what are you obsessed with this week?

* = Have you heard me discuss Breaking Bad?

Things I’m Obsessed With

Welcome to the latest Things I’m Obsessed With!

TV:

I am so in love with Breaking Bad.  It’s the best show on TV, I think, and the show keeps getting better each season.  With its fifth season (and last, unfortunately), each EPISODE is getting better.  I hate that According to Jim was on TV for eight seasons and Breaking Bad only gets five. 

It’s a hard show to recommend to people, because it’s not one of those shows where you can just tune out.  You have to pay attention the entire time.  And it’s also pretty dark—most of the characters are at least somewhat unlikable.  But it’s also a fascinating character study, in terms of how Walter White sells his soul over the course of the show.  I’m not sure if he can redeem himself but I also think that at this point, if the show ends with him in prison, he’ll be lucky.  (I’m pretty sure he’s going to die.)

Movies:

I’m starting to think about scary movies, which makes sense because we’re getting closer to October and A Nightmare on Kel’s Street!  I don’t know for sure what I’ll watch (suggestions welcome!) but I think a Paranormal Activity marathon is very likely.  And, of course, I will be watching Halloween. :) 

Books:

The new Laura Lippman comes out Tuesday.  I am insanely excited for it, even though it’s not scheduled to be reviewed on my blog until the end of the month.  (Which reminds me: I have been doing SO WELL at sticking to my reading schedule!)

If you don’t read Laura Lippman, I can’t recommend her enough.  Her books are smart and suspenseful and just really well-written.  The day one comes out is always a high point of my reading year.

So what are you obsessed with this week?