i'm nothing but trouble, baby.

YES, I KNOW. He was unfairly matched up against Barney Stinson, and he'll need a total miracle to catch up to Barney's over 2200 votes - but I love Danny, so I just can't let this one go. He's a total sweetheart! He hates soccer! He writes to impress women! He's basically my dream guy, you guys. And the fact that he is probably going to lose to Barney just makes me sad.

(This contempt is also due in part to the fact that The West Wing's Josh Lyman isn't in the running this year for Fandom March Madness. I mean, I love CJ - I really do - but Joshua is my absolute favorite.)

What's been going on in my life (aka, things I'd rather be doing than post):

1. Playing around with my new webcam, which arrived yesterday afternoon.
2. Marathoning the entire series of How I Met Your Mother.
3. Reading up on football and political news via Google Reader.
4. Deciding what to write for my picfor1000 story.

Other than that, not much else. I go back to Grand Valley next Sunday, and I'm incredibly anxious to do so - going so far as to get my ridiculous sleep schedule back to something more normal. Some of the drama alums from my high school are having a party Friday night, but I'm probably not going to go because a) I can't get a ride to this person's house; b) Numb3rs returns then (SHUT UP, IT'S IMPORTANT); and c) there's going to be a lot of people there I don't know/weren't really close to while in high school, so it'll probably end up being really clique-y. So.

(See, I told you: Boring.)

1. Christmas was great. Very low-key; It took us literally ten minutes to open presents. I got David Plouffe's The Audacity to Win, season 3 of 30 Rock, and a check for $60 from Grandma - which went towards this webcam, Kristin Gore's Sammy's Hill (because I need 60 more cents to qualify for free shipping, and that was the cheapest thing I could find that I actually could have a use for) and this shirt (which is technically free, but with shipping cost me 25 cents), all while also paying of my credit card bill to something more manageable. Dinner with the aunt&uncle&cousins was good as well; I was able to pick up my two little cousins Lucy and John (I had been forbidden to lift anything heavier than 20 pounds before and shortly after my surgery, but now I'm all better), ate some delicious beef tenderloin, and played a super-intense game of Mad Gabs with my older cousins and the adults.

2. Speaking of family get-togethers, one of my uncles and his two kids are coming later tonight! Both are close in age to Graham, Monica and I (cousin Mairead is Graham's age and Austin is right in between Graham and Monica) and they're staying until after New Year's - so we've got all kinds of shenanigans planned; and unlike last time Mairead was here (back in July, right after I got out of the hospital), I won't be too tired or weak to participate. We're getting together with the aunt&uncle&cousins again for a New Year's Eve party (which will definitely include an epic Mad Gabs rematch), and then everyone is coming over here for New Year's Day to watch bowl games on our big TV.

3. Other than the holiday plans, not much else is going on. Graham had ACL surgery last week, so I'm busy tending to his needs. Definitely catching up on my sleep. Marathoning TV - I finished season 3 of 30 Rock in about two days, and I've now moved on to How I Met Your Mother. Ordered my books for next semester (only $200 worth). Gearing up to try and write a lot in the coming weeks.

4. Also busy working on my year-end stuff. My picspammy entry is almost done - I have one more show to picspam, and then decide how I want to format it. My playlist of songs I listened to in 2009 is finalized, and I'll get that posted ASAP. And of course there's those year-end survey things - I did the fandom one earlier today and I'll probably do the year in review one sometime tomorrow if things aren't too busy.

5. NFL playoff scenarios give me major headaches.

Long time, no update. Here goes.

School is going along fine. A little stressful, seeing as it's midterm time already - even though I've only been in classes for not quite two months. Luckily, they're not all in the same week and aren't all technically "midterms". I had my first exam in Social Problems last Monday (received an 82% - not as well as I thought I did - but it's the only first exam and I really didn't know what to expect, and I can make it up by doing really well on the other two), a take-home essay for Mass Media&American Politics due Tuesday (which if you saw my tweets Monday night, you know how hard it was for me to get through it), and the rest are all this week: I have a paper/presentation due Monday evening for Communications Research, and exams Thursday and Friday for World Politics and Concepts of Communication, respectively. So yeah, I'm going to be super-busy this weekend. If only the apartment wasn't so cold and there wasn't an America's Next Top Model marathon on Bravo right now, I'd totally be motivated to actually work.

In other real-life news, I NEED A JOB. BADLY. Though this is nothing new, I am running out of money way too fast for someone in my situation. I can't even pay off my credit card bill anymore, that's how bad it is. But sadly, I've been so busy with other school things that I haven't had a chance to check out Grand Valley's student employment office. Maybe after midterms are done and things quiet down academic-wise. If all else fails, I can see if the campus newspaper is still looking for people, even if it's going to be extra work.

TV has been hit or miss so far for me. Mad Men has been incredibly enjoyable as of late - it's really hitting its stride, and I'm anxious to see what's coming next. The Big Bang Theory remains hilarious as always, and I'm really warming up to Barney/Robin on How I Met Your Mother. CSI:NY and Criminal Minds have been really uninteresting this season so far, but I refuse to give either of them up because a) I'd have nothing to do on Wednesday nights, and b) I want to see them get better. I am, however, really excited that 30 Rock returns next Thursday - Liz Lemon&Co. have been absent from my life for far too long. I've also watched this weeks' The Office and House, but I think both of those need a re-watch and their own posts for extended thoughts and analysis. Those will come soon enough.

The NFL has also been in my life lately, which, yay. Great way to spend a Sunday, you guys. And my New York Giants are undefeated so far, which is awesome. Although I'm disappointed I don't get to watch as many of their games on TV as I'd like.

Took my first Government exam earlier today, and I think I did okay even though I didn't study for it at all. Luckily there were extra-credit "current event" questions taken from the Newshour summaries that I'm pretty sure I got correct, so that should boost my grade a bit. One of the questions was about Scott McClellan's book claiming the Government spied on a famous politician, and one of the choices was Sarah Palin. I laughed and got weird looks from the people sitting next to me. I guess I'm just used to her being the butt of jokes lately.

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( How I Met Your Mother. )

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I'm attending the debate party tonight, but there's only three people attending: me, the person hosting, and one other person; that might get a little awkward. Plus I'm an elitist when watching things on TV, and now I only like things on a big screen and in HD because that's what I'm used to here at home, so I don't know how that's going to work out. I did decide not to participate in the phonebank tomorrow just because I don't want to randomly call up strangers and tell them to vote for Obama. I'm just not that type of person. But I am getting my Obama t-shirt later this week (hopefully, I can't understand the UPS online tracker), so I can support him that way.

And I absolutely love these photos, especially the last one. He's looking more and more presidential everyday.

I seriously might cry from the shitty day I've had so far. I woke up an hour before I was supposed to because Mommy had to yell to get Graham up, and our bedrooms are right next to each other so I could hear everything. Then I spent too much time on the computer this morning (in my pajamas, no less) and was rushing to get dressed and forgot to put my rings that I wear every single day on in the process. When I forget to do that, I just know bad things are going to happen. (No, I'm not superstitious, but I am a little stitious.) I had my first Statistics test this morning and I left my calculator in my purse at home, so I had to use my cell phone's calculator under the table because they're not allowed; using that took forever and I was rushing to get it done and I silently feared that I didn't do well. And then I had to rush to Government, which I hoped would be canceled again. No such luck. I considered skipping but decided it was just not worth it.

Now I have to go sit in Speech class for 3 hours and learn about stuff I learned back in 10th grade about how to be an effective speaker and such. Then I'm staying here an additional two hours because Dad can't pick me up until 6. But Allison Janney on Ellen will be waiting for me when I get home, so that's something to look forward to.

I'll talk about HIMYM after Speech because it was so fun to watch last night, and I don't think it's right to talk about something so awesome when I'm talking about my horrible morning. So.

I leave for Omaha early tomorrow morning. And I haven't even packed yet.

Well, the stuff I want to take to occupy myself during the 12-hour drive is all packed, but my clothes aren't. They're sitting on my floor, waiting to be packed. I've been too busy trying to get as many videos on my iPod as I can. I have most of The Office Season 4, HIMYM, Enchanted, and The Little Mermaid. Attempting to download the Lost pilot (to play along with lost_redux) and Leatherheads, but they won't go on the iPod because a) the iPod converter doesn't work, and b) there's no room on my iPod. It's kind of ironic; this time last year I really wanted an iPod, and this year, I want a bigger one! (That's what she said!)

So. This is probably my last entry until I come home. I highly doubt I'll have internet access or even access to a computer while I'm in Omaha, so see you in a week!