Any "Twihards" on my flist? hehehehe

I just saw the trailer for New Moon, and I know (due to the unbelievable media blitz surrounding the premiere) that they filmed scene on location in Italy. Does anyone know where they were shooting?

Some of the scenes from the trailer look as if they filmed in Assisi, which was the absolute highlight of my trip to Italy, and... I just can't reconcile my short visit to that beautiful town with it's incredible atmosphere and overall amazingness... to a city overrun by the mass chaos a movie shoot brings. It just... doesn't fit, my mind cannot comprehend.

So, a 10 hour transatlantic flight is never really a barrel of laughs, but it can be particularly gruesome with a head-cold, the likes of which has been compounded by really early mornings, very late nights and 1 (only one!) night of partying prior to it.

Particularly when landing.

Particularly when landing while your sinuses are so congested, you're pretty sure that the change in air pressure is going to make the veins in your eyes explode.

Particularly when, on top of THAT lovely sensation, you suddenly feel as if your ear drum is going to shoot right out of your ear if that damn plane doesn't land, like, RIGHT NOW.

I spent the first 4 days back in Toronto, feeling EXHAUSTED and disoriented, due to jetlag and the fact that my left ear had clogged right up at the end of the flight, and I STILL couldn't hear anything.

Now, what would a normal person do, in the height of cold & flu season, when they are feeling miserable, exhausted, feverish, with an aching ear? If you picked GO SEE A DOCTOR, you'd be right. I am clearly not a normal person. I convinced myself that I was just letting the jetlag get me down, using my cold as an excuse to skip work and nap in pajamas all day, watching Season 2 of Grey's Anatomy all over again. Until I finally broke down, 5 days later, and saw a doctor. Who took one look at my troublesome ear and said "Oh WOW do you have a ear infection!!", and sent me home for three days with lovely, fantastic, life-giving antibiotics.

Yeah. So, now that I've so horribly misjudged how ill I was before, I've started to overreact to everything. Add on top of that the dearth of news and media reports detailing in finite detail WHY H1N1 is so dangerous, and how it can turn to serious horrible pneumonia very quickly, I'm been FREAKING out. I've been really really stressed out at work lately, which is an entirely new experience for me, and let me tell you, I do NOT know how to handle it. In any case, I've pretty much convinced myself that the tight, restricted feeling when I breath? Yeah, that's deadly pneumonia, and not just some work-related anxiety & stress. Even though I'm 100% certain that I'm being ridiculous, I have a follow-up appointment with my doctor regarding the ear issue anyway, so I'll confess my fears and he'll sternly order me to stop Googling deadly diseases. It's a good dynamic.

Basically, if you go on vacation and live a fabulously carefree existence for 7 days, you'll come back a SERIOUS hyponchondriac.

Still working on a GIANT, pic-filled post about my trip to Italy, and how much jetlag SUCKS, but I've been sick ever since I got back and have little energy, and would therefore like to comment inanely about recent TV things I've been in love with.

1) Glee: I LOVE THIS SHOW. It's super-fun, it's incredibly campy and ridiculous, but yet, there are also fantastic realistic moments of wonderfulness that make it actually a really touching show. It makes me... well, glee!

2) Grey's Anatomy: I watched the first two season over again, and then have been catching up on the current season (having not watched the past three regularly). I miss Burke. He really added something to the show, and, you know, I just miss the days when Christina was actually a real character and super-doctor. I really miss that. However, I have to congratulate the writers on finally putting forward a good episode, in last week's. They managed to make every single character unlikeable throughout the course of that one hour, and yet, I like so many of them MORE now. My favorite thing about Grey 2.0? I love Lexie and Sloan. He's the dirty man-whore who doesn't get sentimental about women, and she's a bumbling, nervous, sensitive and fragile kid who utterly charms him despite himself. I LOVE IT, it's like catnip. Now, if only they would bring back Burke (or give us someone like him), make the doctors kick ass at that whole MEDICINE thing again, and stop making both Derek and The Chief so horribly unlikeable.

3) The Office: Not related to the show at all, but someone said the nicest thing to me this week - they said that the Office character I remind them of most is Pam! Isn't that nice?

4) Little Dorrit: I've been watching the 2008 BBC miniseries, and OMG, I love Matthew MacFadyen. I didn't even know he was in it when I started watching it, and let me tell you about the horrible amount of SWOONING that has happened since. Also, the story is lovely, and told really well, and Amy is played by this darling girl so well that you just want to, like, hold an umbrella over her head because the idea of her getting caught in the storm makes you want to sit her down next to a fire and force feed her soup. Highly recommend it (and you can get it on iTunes!)

5) Vampire Diaries: So, this show is pretty bad, but it's also SO GOOD. I really like it - it's a complete guilty pleasure. It's not like Buffy and it's good that it doesn't even try. It is also NOT like Twilight, in that the girl is smart enough to book it when she realizes her true love is undead. AWESOME. I do recommend it, for fluffy pleasure-viewing, because there are a few poignant moments hidden there, underneath all the fluff.

And I'm out. I'm spending a rainy day, home sick, rewatching episodes of Glee and am contemplating following it up with the first season of Pushing Daisies.

I fell in love in Venice, left my heart in Florence, found my soul in Assisi and gained a whole new perspective on the world in Rome.

More about my trip (with pictures, because, damn if I didn't take 4G worth!) later, but for those of you wondering if Italy is somewhere worth going, my answer is a whole-hearted "I would never have left if I had a choice". I promise you, it is just as beautiful as you see it in all the movies.

For now, I'm going to console my aching psyche, having been torn from Rome 15 hours ago, with my box-set of HBO's Rome, in an attempt to fill the void it's left on my heart.

I'm going to Italy in a few days.

Do you like how nonchalantly I said that? Like, oh by the way, I'm going to Italy.

But, alas, I am. I fly over night, land in Venice, then travel to Florence and then on to Rome. All in 6 days.

It's not nearly enough time, of course. How could there ever be enough time in Italy?

In any case... does anyone know what the weather is like right now? I've been checking the forecasts, and it looks like about 20-25 degrees-ish. But... do I need to pack an umbrella or a raincoat? Does it get cooler at night? Is it particularly humid (I am a girl with naturally curly hair - any type of humidity and it's best for the safety all those with me, that I pin it all back - should I plan for that?)

OMG, Italy!! In a few days!

...is to, apparently, just live in the desert. Because, let me tell you, my hair has never looked more perfect. It's all wavy, but not too curly, and evenly wavy throughout my entire head (you know when you get one side that's wavier than the other, and you feel lopsided? It's not doing that), and because it's so long now, I basically have perfect model hair (think Serena from Gossip Girl! Seriously!)

I may never go home.

Not to mention less superficial things I've fallen in love with here, like the mountains, and the sunsets, and the way the mountains look in the sunset, and how it can be 120 degrees, but I'm still surviving wearing long sleeves and pants (and nylons instead of socks, because I forgot to pack socks - who forgets to pack socks???) because it's so breezy. I love that the hotel's main floor is basically just one large, open-air patio, that there are solar panels running stop lights, and that there is just so much sun here.

Which means, I have clearly gotten over the cranky from traveling the other day (although, in my defense, being in 3 times zones over the course of 8 hours can be confusing, so a bit of my crankiness was justified!)

What I also love? Is that in Toronto time, it's almost 11 a.m. (which means I've been up for hours already), but here, it's not even time for breakfast yet. Woot for jet-lag!

Am in Pheonix, AZ for a few days. Internet, did you know how HOT it is here? Do you know how blissfully mild and beautiful it is in Ontario right now?? Because, let me tell you, the change in going from one to the other does not a happy Hope make. I'm going to be traipsing around the damn desert tomorrow. Just imagine that - a redheaded Canadian girl traipsing around the DESERT.

Chicago is not a fun airport. I think my favourite American airport may still be Atlanta, although Sarasota has a place in my heart because it's just so damn cute.

I've discovered that I have a rather healthy fear of flying in smaller planes. I much prefer larger ones - give a 747 any day. Not nearly as bloody turbulent.

Gahh... anyone from Arizona on the flist? How do you stand this heat??

Am jetlagged, cranky, have huge headache and am feeling pasty and gross when compared to the perfectly tanned hotel staff wandering around so helpfully. Must be all that vitamin D they get.

Also, forgot to change my shoes before I left the office, so have been traversing three airports in heels. Low heels, but heels nonetheless.

I've been watching the health care debate happening in the US with some degree of morbid fascination. My absolute favorite part are the rallying cries of terror that the US system may one day resemble the Canadian health care system, which... let me tell you, whenever someone mentions health care in Canada, OUR rallying cry is the fact that we never EVER want it to resemble the American system and every single politician in the country, regardless of party affiliation or ideology, swears they would never let that happen. For two countries that really aren't so different, both of those decidedly intense reactions are pretty hilarious, don't you think?

I will say one thing about it - as a relatively right-wing person, there are aspects of the Canadian system that bothers me - I do believe, for instance, that private health care providers should be allowed to compete for public heath care dollars, because the bureaucracy of the public system creates a lot of waste, and private companies have abilities to access a lot more capital than public companies (although, with the recession, perhaps that is changing). But, a lot of my perspective has changed this summer, watching my mother being treated for cancer.

My father runs his own consulting business, and my mother is a volunteer at one of the local schools. Because he is considered a contractor, he does not have any health insurance benefits (which, in Canada, would be to cover things that our public insurance plan doesn't - glasses, visits to the dentist, prescription drugs). If it were not for the support of the public system, which not only provided world-class doctors and radiation treatments, but also her ridiculously expensive chemotherapy treatments, anti-nauseants and the myriad of prescription drugs she's needed ever since her diagnosis that would otherwise have had to been paid out-of-pocket due to the fact that my parents do not have work-provided benefits. If it were not for this system, my parents would undoubtedly have had to sell their house (the dream house they've worked their entires lives to own) in order to pay for her care - two individuals who have never required use of my country's social safety net before now.

Um... I guess the only other thing I'd like to say on the matter is that Canada's public system? Idea was totally stolen from the US.

In other news, I'm trying to drastically cut back, if not eliminate, my consumption of refined white sugar and flour, and it's incredibly difficult. I used to think I was addicted to my morning coffee, but no, it's not the coffee - it's the tons of sugar I put in it. Scary suff.

It certainly has been awhile since I've updated. To keep life simple, here is a list:

1. I am alive.

2. My mother's last day of radiation & chemo is officially on Tuesday!!

3. Now that the dgficexchange is over, I can tell you that I wrote the fic Throw Ginny Weasley Under a Bus. The story took a turn I didn't want it to, in order to finish on time... My brain did that thing it likes to do, where it takes what should be a 10,000 word one-shot and twists it into something where the next I know, I'm plotting a multi-chapter fic (see: "The Spirit's Lounge", my submission from the 2007 fic exchange) that I can't possibly finish. At some point, I'd like to revisit the story, and build it out a bit more, but only once I'm finished CIC.

4. Speaking of CIC, omg, it's almost been a year since I've updated. Bad author! Bad! I dusted off my laptop and started typing the half of the chapter I had written when I was on vacation in March. September is shaping up to be a fairly busy month, so I'm going to try to squeeze in an update before the craziness starts.

5. I've been watching the BBC's Merlin, and find it completely delightful in a family-friendly-entertainment kind of way. It's a faintly clever reimagining of Arthurian legend, depicting Arthur as a teenage boy and Merlin as his servant, instead of mentor (think Smallville, but British). It's pretty great, considering that you start off really disliking Arthur (imagine that!!), but by the end of the series, you fall completely in love with him.

6. I'm also strangely addicted to the new series, Defying Gravity, and I can't figure out why. Is it just me, or is this not the most boring show on television? It takes an entire HOUR for something tiny to happen. And yet, I HAVE to tune in every week and I don't know WHY.

7. I killed my friend's plant. She's on vacation this week and asked me to look after her plants for her, and now one is dead. What do I do?

All for now. Hope everyone is well.

I'm on "vacation", which means I'm working from home while nursing a seriously awful migraine, when I should be out enjoying the sunshine.  But, on the bright side, I've discovered an absolutely BRILLIANT TV series I never knew existed.  But, on the downside, it's already been cancelled, and the first season is the ONLY season.

I've powered through the 8 available episodes of NBC's Kings and have been completely floored with how fantastic they are.  I mean, it stars Ian McShane, so the acting is absolutely unprecedented, but I didn't know the rest of it was going to be spectacular, as well.  It's intriguing, inventive, symbolic, intelligent and just really brilliant.  I can't help but feel like, had this aired on HBO, it would have won several Emmys and been renewed for at least a few more seasons.  It's some of the best: acting, writing, production & artistic direction I've seen, hands down (well, next to Rome and Deadwood, but they were on HBO!)

The part that floors me?  One of the co-stars is the guy who plays Carter Baizen on Gossip Girl, and I didn't even recognize him until just now.  He doesn't look or dress particularly different, but you're so lost in this world and how freakin' brilliant he is as an actor, that I TOTALLY didn't realize it was him.  The boy can act!

The dialogue is measured, intelligent and powerful, with these incredible monologues that are meant to seem almost biblical in their tone (it is a "modern" re-telling of the story of David, and there is a constant undercurrent of religious themes and symbolism running throughout, but in a fantastically brilliant, accessible yet intelligent, way), but what strikes me is how natural a lot of it seems.  There are a few moments of ick (you know, when you watch something and you cringe a bit over how unnatural the dialogue is), but overall, it's just mesmerizing.

If you want to have your heart broken (due to the fact that it was cancelled), in exchange for hours of fantastic entertainment, I encourage you to check it out... I might do a pusher-post on this, it's THAT good.

Well, I finished and submitted my fic on time.  I'm not really pleased with it (I really don't think I fulfilled the prompt at all, really), but by the point I finished, it was far too late to rework it the way I wanted to.

Plus, I was rushing to finish because I had a date with The Client that I was really excited for, but then he cancelled last minute. I had already sent my fic in at that point, so I've just been watching Season 6 of Sex and the City and wallowing in disappointment.  I had the crazy girl moment when I picked up his voice mail message, as this is the second time in a week he's cancelled on me, so I was freaking that maybe this was his lazy-ass way of breaking up with me (not that we're in a committed relationship at all), but then I gave it a few minutes, and called back, and realized he really just wasn't feeling well.  Crisis averted.  Rational thinking can sometimes work in your favour!

I am so very far behind on my D/G Fic Exchange entry.  How far?  I've written about three paragraphs.  Which I can no longer use, as I have ONCE AGAIN changed my mind about how I'm going to write it.  Seriously.  I have no idea what possessed me to sign up this year, I knew that these months were going to be ridiculous, and here I am, so close to the deadline and with NOTHING.

Am going to be spending this evening writing, and will be writing until the wee hours tomorrow (thank goodness for Canada Day!) - wish me luck!

1.  My personal real-life Gmail account was hacked last night!  Someone sent a whole bunch of spam-like email to people posting in the Personals section of Craigslist using my email account during a time in which I was nowhere near my computer.  Only reason I even notice is because someone actually replied to the message, which, dude.  In any case, have changed my password, of course... but don't know how it was hacked in the first places (I am very Veronica Mars-ish with my passwords, and it was a combination of letters, numbers, CAPS and punctuation, all chosen at random...)  Very disconcerting.

2.  Have made absolutely no progress to speak of on my D/G ficexchange story...  Am starting to get worried about it all.  I have about a page of notes scribbled out, but nothing remotely useful to start writing.  Eek.

3.  Saw the movie Up in 3D last weekend.  It is spectacularly amazing in so many ways, mostly in that it has a truly awesome story and the overall message of the movie is so well done, it's hardly preachy at all.  There were tears, there were SO many laughs and a really big happy sigh at the end.  If you haven't seen it, you totally should.  I loved it so much.  One of the greatest romance movies ever!  Plus, the animation is absolutely spectacular.

4. My mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer back in April, which I found out about an hour after I found out that my best friend had just lost her father to cancer (let me tell you, that was an AWESOME day).  Her prognosis is great, and so far, it just doesn't feel all that serious.  Isn't that weird?  I think compared to what my friend and her family went through, where her dad was seriously ill before they even were able to diagnose him and he spent SO much time in the hospital, because he was so ill that he coudln't be treated as an out-patient, it just doesn't seem to have the same sense of immediacy.  She starts radiation / chemo in a week or so, and may be then, reality will finally sink in that she's actually ill.  At the same time, the really remarkable thing is the way that family and friends rally around you.  My mom had a surgical-type biopsy (I still don't really understand the full details of the operation she had), and developed a post-op infection, and so was pretty ill for awhile.  Even family who live on the other side of the province were calling every day (all of us - not just my parents, but my brother and I, all of us individually) to see how she was doing, how we were doing, etc.  It's been a pretty amazing show of support, and we're incredibly lucky to have such wonderful people around.

5. Whatever you do, don't ready so-called women's magazines or blogs, particularly when you've just started dating someone.  That will mess with your mind SO much.  According to EVERYTHING, I'm doing everything spectacularly wrong - like not waiting a few days to call him back, or responding to his emails asap.  The thing is - I like him.  I want to talk to him, I want to send him that flirty-jokey email and see what he responds with, and I want to spend more time with him.  I can't believe I've managed to avoid this nightmare for so long in the adult world - I've managed to dodge other attempts at dating quite successfully.  Bah.  The age difference is still weird at times (mainly when I need to remind him that I was 6 when the 80s ended), and we're both fairly busy people so really only have a day a week to see each other... Seriously!! I'm an obsessive girl, and I HATE that.

On a complete whim, I opened iTunes this morning, as I'm about to head out to HMV this afternoon (and iTunes is a good way of tracking which new release movies are out), and to my utter amazement, they've added a whole slew of TV shows available for download in the Canadian store!

Let me tell you... Canada is insanely protectionist when it comes to television and media.  Something like 10% of content broadcast by radio and television stations has to be Canadian in origin, and there are so many limits about what can be brought across the border... we don't get so many US networks because they would compete with Canadian networks that similiar, etc... which is why it's taken so bloody long for iTunes to start carrying tv shows, and when they first started, the majority of it all was by Canadian studios.

In any case, we've finally joined the 21st century.  Congratulations, iTunes Canada.  This means that I'm downloading the entire 2nd season of Gossip Girl, and will be going insane over it for the next few days.  And yes, I bought it and am downloading it, even though as soon as the box set comes out on DVD, I'll also be buying it.  It's that good.

Many things to post about, but so little time. Thus, a list:

1. For a girl who spends what little free time she has writing cheesy romance fic, I'm surprisingly pathetic at living my own cheesy romance.  The Client and I have been on two spectacular dates, but spectacular in the sense of "OMG, the Dorkiness, it BURNS" - in a delightful, butterflies-in-the-stomach-inducing way.  Will admit to being a bit smitten - the dorkier and less "smooth" he gets, the more smitten I am!  Boys are so SILLY.  It's fantastic.
2. Have been spending too many nights up late reading awesome D/G fic - all entirely at si_muove_rpg If you haven't already signed up as a member so you too can read the awesome, you definitely should.  For a girl constantly battling the butterflies whenever she get a new email from The Client (seriously, why can't I be rational?), it's hitting all the perfect notes that make me want to squee.  Plus, there are a lot of other really well-done ships (Ron/Pansy! Who would have thought I'd like it?)
3. Have been writing a wee bit.  It's patio season in Toronto (really, patio season is the ONLY reason to live in downtown Toronto), so I've been trying to crank out the next CIC chapter whilst basking the warm glow of late spring sunshine.  Half of the chapter exists on paper, half of it in my twisted brain - just need to get it into a digital format.  Soon, I promise.
4. Because I'm an idiot, I signed up for the D/G Fic Exchange.  Hoping to shake out the cobwebbs and get back to writing a bit more regularly.  Of course, I am experiencing a serious case of writers' block.  Need some inspiration.  Hopefully patio season will help.
5. In a former life, I was a constitutional law JUNKIE (I was a political science major, if that makes me any less of a geek), so I've been overdosing on news of the newest nominee for the US Supreme Court.  Very interesting!
6. Saw Angels and Demons last weekend.  Read the book, but if you've read one Dan Brown novel, you've read them all... I enjoyed the movie, mostly because it ramped up my anticipation for impending Trip to Italy of Awesome, which is coming up fast (well, October).   It being set in Rome and all, it was hard not to squee a few dozen times over all the pretty.
7. Caught up on Grey's Anatomy and never fail to be NOT surprised by their twists.  Can see them coming miles away!  Oh, the fabricated emotion of it all.  Miss fun-and-witty!Izzie, and sweet-puppy!George and kick-ass!Bailey.  Why is a man who played Lucius Vorenus in Rome (one of the greatest series of all time, I do maintain) wasiting his time with this drivel?? SERIOUSLY.  YOU HAVE TALENT. 

So. At work, I am in a fairly junior position and I've recently just conquered the internal aspects of my job... for the sake of ease, let's just say that I work in sales. At the end of the work day on Monday, a co-worker, who is not my boss, but has a higher title and also reports directly to my boss, invites me to come along with her to meet a client, something which is a rare treat for me (yes, I'm that eager annoying keener who feels that new work experiences are a 'treat'), so I eagerly agreed to go.

In RL, I'm an incredibly shy, reserved person. I can be outgoing and talkative and charming, but really only with the people who know me very well. I just don't open up very easily (typical Cancer, what can I say). So tagging along for a drink with a client is a serious chore for me - it's my mountain to climb, if you will, in my career. So, gearing up to meeting the client, she was telling me about him, explaining how she met him, that they were old friends and that it was a pretty good way for me to start interacting with clients as it would be a pretty easy meeting.

We get to the bar, sit down and start to chat... and the Client (capitalized from now on) has a surprising amount of stuff in common with me. Went to school in the same city as I did, studied the same field, even had some of the same profs. The co-worker slipped outside for a cigarette and we started to chat, and it was all pretty easy going. I am thinking to myself, this is freakin' fantastic! Look at shy little Hope, schoomzing a client so naturally!!

Co-worker's husband shows up, and then she gracefully sneaks away. Slowly it dawns on me that this is a lot more than just a drink with the Client. She totally planned all of this, and had totally set us up.

I'm ashamed to admit it, but I totally texted my friends when I had the chance, asking them to call me to find out "where I was" - yeah, I totally made them rescue-ring.

The worst part? She did well. I really like the Client, and plan on seeing him again. Which means she WINS, even though I'm completely furious with her. It's also kind of tough, because I thought I was super charming and fantastic on my first meeting with a client and it turns out he knew all along it was a set-up... so my entire view of the experience is completely coloured by that... GAH.

Also - I need a random sampling of opinions. The Client is about 8-10 years older than me. While I don't feel the actual age difference is huge, I feel like we're at totally different places in our lives... I'm the 25 year old who works too many damn hours and spends the rest of her free time partying when she should be focusing on more adult-related things (like, you know, grocery shopping more than once every six weeks, or making the scary commitment to living room furniture), and he's got a fairly senior position in his company, OWNS a house, etc... Is this weird? Everyone in RL that I've asked about it has dismissed it as just Hope being neurotic, but it's still a lingering question in my brain...

Do not covertly arrange a set-up for one of your single girl friends, bring her there and leave, with her being the only person in the room who doesn't know that this is a set-up. If you do that, you won't have any single friends left.

I promise to tell the story when I have more time.

I am just about at my wits' end. I cannot believe this is still going on.

Sure, they have now moved the protesters off of the MAJOR street they were blocking (for five days), and I managed to get one full night's sleep in my own apartment. But now, here it is, almost 1 a.m., and they are back at it, with their bloody drums and megaphones and a FREAKIN' sound system and generator.

I cannot believe this. I'm really seriously going to crack up about this. I've barely sleep in almost a week - two nights (one in my own apartment, one at a friend's - yes, I actually had to leave my own apartment!) are just not enough for a person to function.

You know, when you live in a democratic society with a constitution guaranteeing all citizens have rights - like the right to protest or demonstrate - you also have a little something called the rule of law. And a HUGE part of the rule of law is that all laws must be equally applicable to all members' of that society - it's that tiny bit of freedom that you give up in order to live in a democratic society. WHY, then, can they not respect that there are noise by-laws in place that are applicable to EVERYONE? Just because you have a point to make or a cause to promote does not mean that enforcing those by-laws, which everyone ELSE has to follow, is an infringement on your freedom of speech.

I'm really upset right now (and bordering on irrational, due to lack of sleep). I think I've been patient, and while I've been mildy exasperated by this nonsense, I've seriously had enough. Demonstrate all you want, but respect the other members of your society and shut the hell up after midnight. Turn off your megaphone, stop banging your drums, shut off that damn microphone and respect the others in your community that you are inconveniencing.

Protesters finally dwindled down to small enough numbers that the police were able to scoot them off of the street they've been blocking since Sunday night. Right now, they are still out there, protesting away, but in much smaller numbers, and a bit further away. Can barely hear them over the rain!

I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep in my own bed without being kept away or woken up by angry angry demonstrators.

I finally caught up on my Gossip Girl. Man, this show is like some weird hybrid of America's Next Top Model and Veronica Mars, in that I realize it's pretty frivolous and completely ridiculous, but the dialogue is tight and witty, and I really love a lot of the characters. I'm so hooked.

( Blathering, with a side of spoilers for most recent episode )

Oh, so addicted.