Things that happened when I worked 70 hours of overtime in less than two weeks in January.

Cold Popeye's chicken fingers dipped in cold Popeye's mashed potatoes was deemed a perfectly acceptable dinner. Twice.

I got dressed from the load of laundry in the dryer, like it was my bedroom bureau.

When my boss momentarily forgot about my crazy deadlines, and asked if I would be "going home to PA this weekend?," I snapped "No! I will be coming HERE this weekend! AND next weekend! AND the one after that!" Like a crazy person. 

Half a bag of chipnitzel cookies was deemed a perfectly acceptable dinner.

My hair... suffered.

I began to fondly recall that one Saturday morning when I got to sleep until 10 AM. Before going in to work for nine hours.

Barbecue potato chips and dip was deemed a perfectly acceptable dinner.

I forgot to look at the Oscar nominations until noon on the day they were announced, instead of bounding out of bed to check them.

I left my flat iron on while I went to work for 15 hours. Note: apartment did not catch fire.

I lost so very many Trivia Crack games by not playing them in time.

Half a bag of microwave popcorn and some cheese was deemed a perfectly acceptable dinner.

After working 12 hours on MLKJ Day, I muttered "This is not what they meant by 'a day of service!'"

The day I left work at 9 PM, I thought to myself "I can't believe I'm getting out of here so early!"

I once considered just staying at the office through the night, but I knew my co-worker would notice that my clothes had not changed. And sure enough, the next morning she checked my clothes.

I still managed to watch the six-hour Season 2 of The Fall, which, I guess goes to show that Netflix is like the house in Vegas: it always wins in the end.

New Sherlock tonight!

This gifset ends in the most satisfying way.

Episode 2 tonight!

Score 54, where are you?

So, I played trivia tonight with some friends at a local pub. One question, which will delight my fellow Whedonites, was this: "Aside from the series finale, how many Slayers appear in the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer?"

Whedonites, take a moment to count them up, then scroll down to see the answer.

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The correct answer is 6. (Buffy, Kendra, Faith, Nikki Wood, that Chinese Slayer that Spike killed during the Boxer Rebellion whose name I don't quite have right now, and The First Slayer, whose name I also don't have right now.) The correct answer is 6. We answered 6.

The MC announced that the answer was 3. Buffy, Faith, and Kendra.

I pounced on him like Garfield on a lasagna. (Or was that Heathcliff? I always confuse the two. What I don't confuse is my Slayers.)

He apologized profusely and said he had to take the official answer the trivia company had given him, flippety fling blang blah. That mistake cost us 5 points and gave countless other teams in the bar points they did not deserve for answering the incorrect answer of 3. I was thoroughly disgusted.

When the scores were read, we had an unfair 49 instead of our rightful 54. The first place team's score? 54. And who even knows if their 54 was padded by points unjustly awarded from that Slayer question!

I may sound like a raving lunatic to many of you right now, but you can't ask a question about something that has a rabid fandom, declare an incorrect answer, and not expect to have some explaining to do. You can't say Tattooine has three suns. You can't say the TARDIS is yellow. You can't say Faramir took the ring from Frodo. (Yes, Peter Jackson, you have some explaining to do.)

My teammate wrote the trivia company a strongly worded email, but she has yet to receive an answer. In the end, we were sidelined by a round in which you had to name the World Series champions of the past twenty years. I actually got five of them (someone get my sisters the smelling salts) but that pretty much took us out of the running.

Still, Tattooine has two suns, the TARDIS is blue, Faramir never took the ring, and there were 6 Slayers before the series finale. These things I know.

It's the final countdown!

Just under 24 hours to go! Netflix has un-made a huge mistake and the Bluths shall return to us. In celebration, here's a veritable Bluth-fest for you:

A visualization of every recurring joke in the series, and the episodes in which it occurs. Click on a joke and see which episodes it's in, or click on an episode and see which jokes are there. It's a glorious thing.

NPR did something similar, with even more detail.

53 jokes you probably missed. Did you notice George Sr.'s yarmulke tan line when he was arrested in Mexico?

And 53 more. GOB's Segway causes segues!

And finally, four teaser clips have been released. This is my favorite:

"Now the story of a wealthy man who lost everything. And the one next-door neighbor who had no choice but to keep them all together."

This weekend I went to see The Great Gatsby with Jen. I thought it was a pretty good adaptation of the book, despite Eric declaring it was no good for "many reasons," none of which he could articulate, and despite Tobey Maguire being miscast as Nick. (Don't you find Tobey Maguire is often miscast? Just me?)

Anyway, I stumbled upon these, and it just goes to show that the wisdom of the Bluths is eternal.

Find more of them here.

Today I feel jealous of England.

I hear there's always money in there.

Snow Day: PJs and comfort food

So, yeah, this is what constitutes a snow day in the DC area:

P.S. That's not ice; that is slush.

In my experience, snow days usually at least give kids a chance to go sledding. Not that I'm complaining. I slept in (very in) and I only got out of my PJs in order to shower and put on new PJs. I feel like Aunt Linda.

Also, I am watching season 1 of Homeland so as not to feel culturally illiterate when someone brings it up, which is all the time. (Now I will only feel culturally illiterate when people discuss Dr. Who!) I'm also enjoying some delicious comfort food, leftovers of something I made a couple days ago: Creamy chicken pappardelle.

I had some pappardelle from Trader Joe’s that I picked up because it looked so delicious and then I didn’t know what to cook with it. Then I discovered this recipe which reminded me of a pappardelle dish I had at Lidia’s in the Pittsburgh Strip District. That dish is seared in my mind as one of the most delicious, comfort-foody things I have ever eaten. Alas, it was one of Lidia’s seasonal pasta choices and I have been back several times hoping to catch them on a Roast Pork Pappardelle day and I never do.

So, when I saw this recipe and read the story about it being inspired by comfort food in the movie The Holiday, I knew my Trader Joe’s pappardelle had found its destiny, even if it did mean I’d have to handle raw chicken. (Raw chicken is the scariest of my terror meats, so you must realize how badly I wanted to try this dish that I was willing to go through the anguish of raw chicken.)

I highly recommend you check it out: The Best Pappardelle Dish You Will Have Outside of Lidia's Restaurant.

It was so delicious and the leftovers are just as good. Happy snow day!

Isobel Crawley has posted a new soup photo to the website Soupwrecks.com

For those who have asked, the Oscar recap is on it's way. Until then, enjoy this hilarious depiction of what a Downton Abbey episode would look like if it were a Facebook interaction.

Tom Branson has posted a new photo in the album Sybil (the baby, not my dead wife).

Ha! This is brilliant. I'm going to read them all.

You know, you're going to have to eat some of that stuff.

In the checkout line at the Target (after being turned away from my movie theater viewing of The Walking Dead because all the seats filled up 40 minutes before showtime I mean come ON people!)

Checkout Guy: Did you ever eat anything made in an EZ Bake oven?

Me: When I was a kid.

CG: Well, if you eat some of this, let me know how it is.

Me: It’s cake cooked with an electric light bulb. How good could it be?

CG: Are you buying this for your daughter?

Me: My niece.

CG: You know, you’re going to have to eat some of that stuff.

Me: Yeah, I know.

Here comes the prequel you didn't even know you wanted.

"That's right. I'm fabulous."

So, here's the deal and the deal is this: Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh! There may be a Downton Abbey spinoff headed our way. It will be a prequel and tell the story of Lord Grantham shamelessly pursuing his future wife like something out of my favorite Edith Wharton novel.

My mind is wild with delightful possibilities. Who will play the young Dowager Countess? Woe unto that actress if she does not adequately shoulder the crushing expectations we all have for our favorite character. In fact, can't they just use some sort of CGI to age-regress Maggie Smith, for surely nothing else will do.

What other familiar faces will we see? Young Carson? Young Mrs. Hughes? Young Mrs. Patmore? As a kitchen maid herself! Aaaahhhh! I'm betting a young Mr. Bates will show up as well, having fought with Lord Grantham in the Boer Wars. Perhaps even Baby Thomas will appear, having materialized out of a cloud of sulfur.

"Evil. And born this way."

One thing I can guarantee: the clothes will be fabulous. Nothing in the history of fashion can match the Gilded Age in my opinion.

I really shouldn't get too excited just yet since they still have to write the thing, cast it, film it, show it in Britain, wait a punishingly long amount of time, and then finally show it in the US, but I cannot help myself. Something has to pass the time whilst I wait for three Hobbit movies.

The Americans are coming! And so are the Irish!

New Downton Abbey trailers! Feast your eyes!






So, what have we learned? I cannot wait to see The Dowager Countess square off with her son's no-nonsense American mother-in-law. Also, the Bransons are visiting from Ireland, and how will the former chauffeur handle being in the house as a guest? How will the servants handle it? Oh, things are going to be awkward for my dear Carson. And might we see some happiness for poor Edith?

Apparently the Crawleys have begun hiring footmen from the NBA draft list, and things have gotten chilly between Thomas and O'Brien. Ooh, there's no enemy like a former friend. And why is everyone crying? I'm half afraid that if Thomas cries I might start to feel sympathy for him and I just don't think I could bear that. I much prefer to loathe him.

And for the hardest part: "January 2013." January. The vicious cruelty. You know, the Brits are getting to see it this month. How's that for fair? I think it's payback for the Revolution or something. I shall just have to make do by concentrating on the premiere date for The Hobbit.

London, baby!

Olympics, Olympics, Olympics! I am DVRing every bit of coverage and I haven't looked back. Whilst ensconcing myself in Olympic coverage like George Costanza wanted to with velvet, I came up some fun facts.

Did you know...

...the Fab Five's fab leotards for the team competition (in which they completely DESTROYED) were encrusted with 4,437 crystals each? Each! I believe that qualifies as a boatload.

Check the stones.

If you're gonna win gold, you might as well shine like a diamond while you're doing it.

And speaking of significant numbers, here's some really cool info on the Olympic cauldron. It's made up of 204 individual copper torches, one for each competing nation.

Each torch petal entered the stadium along with each team during the parade of nations, and was then attached to the cauldron pipes in the center of the arena. I saw them carrying the petals, but I didn't realize what they were at the time.

And here's the coolest part. After the games, the torch will be dismantled and each petal sent home to the member countries, so every nation will have a piece of the cauldron. Still doesn't beat the magnificent cauldron lighting of the Barcelona Games, but incredibly cool, nonetheless.

You know who’s looking fine tonight? Matthew Crawley.

Do you love Downton Abbey and Mean Girls? Of course you do. You have taste.

Rejoice! For I present to you: Mean Ladies.

Sybil! Stop trying to make “fetch” happen. It’s not going to happen!

Oh my dears. Is it really true? I can't believe it.

Fellow Downton lovers, mourn with me for a moment. Apparently season 3 will be the last for Maggie Smith. Our magnificent Dowager Countess will be hanging up her spurs. How could she do this to us?

According to the Daily Mail (You've got Paperback Writer in your head now, don't you?) a source says:

Maggie has asked Julian to write her character out. She is filming until August and then wants to leave, going out on a high. She thinks that three series is enough and she wants to get back to the stage and big screen.

Maggie, no! Don't leave us!

What is there to do but wait for season 3 (an infernally long wait) and then soak up every bit of dowager-countessness?



"What is a 'weekend'?"



Downton madness continues unabated!

In celebration of all things Downton, and just in time for the airing of the Christmas Special tomorrow night (!) the fine folks over at Vulture have supplied us with Downton Abbey paper dolls. Go here to print them.

Check out Lady Sybil's suffrage accoutrements and socialist needlework. The Dowager Countess' assortment of emotions! (My favorite is "smug.") Also includes awesome accessories such as O’Brien’s evil miscarriage-inducing soap, Thomas' oozing wounded hand, and the corpse of Mr. Pamuk!

Bring me my scissors and paste. I know what I’m doing tonight.

A very happy V-Day to my fellow Downton fans

"One can't go to pieces at the death of every foreigner. We'd all be in a state of collapse every time we opened a newspaper."

Go here to see the artist and to download and print them. Careful to whom you send the Evil Thomas one.

You can ring my bell.

All of this "Stuff Girls Say," "Stuff White Girls Say to Black Girls," "Stuff Gay Guys Living in Georgia Say" (read: lots of Julia Sugarbaker quotes) has been making the rounds, but none so marvelous as this: the wit and witticism of the fabulous Dowager Countess of Grantham.

Delight in it.



"I feel as if I were on stage at the Gaiety."

Downton!

I’m still sick as a dog and sleeping 16 hours a day, but when I’m awake I’ve been doing a Downton Abbey re-watch in anticipation for season two which finally FINALLY premieres tomorrow night! I can’t wait to see Lord Grantham and Lady Sybil and Cousin Matthew and Gwen and Carson and dear Mrs. Patmore and most especially the delightful, magnificent Dowager Countess who is clearly the most awesome character in the thing. I even can’t wait to see evil Thomas, whom I feel compelled to hiss at every time he’s on screen.

 Only 28.67 hours now…

Oh, AMC. Wherefore?

Did you all watch The Killing? Way to take 13 episodes of carefully crafted mystery and character development and flush it all down a filthy toilet in the last five frustrating minutes.

I will not be back next season. I don’t care a fig who killed Rosie Larsen.

I haven't made a huge mistake.

This is today's lunch. (Kris, hopefully this makes up for all those meat photos.) A perfect bowl of mushrooms sauteed in butter and garlic. A great companion to an Arrested Development marathon.

I do love a lazy day.