Aargh! I had a great rant all built up on Friday and was ready to come and type it out, but stupid blogspot was shut down for technical reasons. Alas, you all dodged my mad ramblings, you lucky fools.

Just found out that another friend is getting married. Yoinks! Guess I'm getting to that age. Everyone seems to be getting married off nowadays. It's exciting, but man does it make me feel old! Once the kids start being born, though, that's when it'll really sink in.

Hallowe'en party last Friday was good. Got a chance to chat with some people I haven't talked to in a while. Like Taryn, for example. I never seem to get to see Taryn so it was great to catch up with her. There were some amazing costumes at that party...even Alex managed to dress up. Well, he wore a hat -- which surprised an impressed us all. Laura had by far the best costume of the evening, showing up as Marge Simpson - blue beehive, yellow face, and all. I myself went as a zombie cheerleader. A fun costume, and a step up from my original idea of going as a vampire slayer. Somehow I think had I shown up with Mr. Pointy as a costume, I would have been forced to wear the yellow and orange pants of dishonour.

2 more sleeps to Kiefer!!

Well. A damn good episode of Buffy followed by a damn good episode of Angel. And a not-too-bad episode of Smallville, too (although I've seen better). If I'm going to succumb to the evil of pop-culture, it's at least nice to have some good quality viewing to rot my brain. And a good heads-up for if I ever get to visit Vegas: don't sing!

This Drew Goddard - writer of this week's Buffy - has my approval. It appears he's done nothing else...literally, nothing else at all in the entertainment industry. This is his only listing on IMDB. He's either Joss' nephew, or some fan-boy that sent in some fanfic. But it was good, and I hope to see more by him and less by Rebecca Kirshner, who brought us not only last week's weak plot, but such classics as Listening to Fear, Tough Love and Hell's Bells - none of which rank among my favourites. And the take home message last week? Don't bother to try, destiny is set in stone, and nothing you can do will change it. Real role model, that one.

Hm...another weekend over, and very little partying ensued. I guess I am getting old, after all. I turned down the offer of $0.50 shots at the Vodka garden Friday (much to the dismay of my Edmontonian cousin...I think I dissapoint him) to stay home and watch TV. On the upside, Firefly (Whedon's latest creation) is getting much better now that it's gotten past the pilotitis and established the characters' backstories. There is now actual plot, and even some funny. Saturday I spent scouring the aisles at Value Village and San Francisco for my Hallowe'en costume...those are not stores you want to be in close to Hallowe'en. Also got a little Bomberman action at Doug's place...didn't win a single match. Sigh...I need a Lei-Fang bomber-dude.

"In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock." --Harry Lime, The Third Man. An interesting insight, but one I'm too tired to comment on at the moment.

It's been a long time since I logged in for an update. I could say I've been too busy fighting battles and discovering cures, but the sad truth is there just isn't anything to update. Still the job-search, still the thesis limbo. But...ooh...got to bake with Maria last Monday. It's been far too long since we've done that. Yay!Pie. Then there was that scary trip to the yarn store with Angela...akin to a kid in a candy store. Which reminds me...never let Ang and I into a candy store together, either. We bought far too much candy (some of it rather...gross...as I'm sure Mikey will attest to).

In a desperate need to get out of the house yesterday, I called up J and we went to see a movie. Remind me never, ever, never never ever go see a kid's movie as a matinee ever again. Ever. That said, the movie itself, Spirited Away, was great. Although it's rather immaterial to the enjoyment of the show, I'm still fuzzy on what makes a cartoon 'Anime' (other than hailing from Japan) as opposed to an ordinary animated film. I'm told that it's the thematic depths and characterization; but when I asked if a deep and well plotted movie made in the US would be Anime, the answer was a resounding 'no'. So, as far as I can tell, it's Anime because it's from Japan. And it just so happens that they make very good cartoons. Sorry - animated movies. Although, according to Dictionary.com, it's all about the sex and violence.

So I'm wandering through MetroTown on a quest for yarn (who knew it would be so hard to find a particular colour?) and I happen past the Gap. There, in the display window, I see "The Black Pant is Back!" It was gone? Nobody told me this. Now, I realize I'm no fashionista, but I always figured black pants was the one thing you could always wear and not be horridly out of step with fashion. Those of you who've seen my grad-student wardrobe of track-pants and tee-shirts will not be unduly surprised at my lack of knowlege of current runway trends. In fact, of late I've become remarkably fond of over-sized plaid pyjama pants - those are comfy! Sure, you can't really go out and be seen in public wearing them, but for the house-bound hermit, they are perfect. And they are only made better by leopard print fuzzy slippers and a cozy sweatshirt. That, my friends, is the wardrobe of pure happiness.

Thoughts on the new season of Buffy (ie spoilers if you haven't watched this week's episode yet): interested to see where they take this thing with Spike. I'd be disappointed if they just resurrected the old Angel plotline, with the brooding and the mental anguish. At the same time, while I do enjoy how James Marsters plays it, I got very tired of the insanity angle back with Drusilla. Dawn is finally not being written as the whiner she was last season (there came a point I was hoping for a return of the portal...or at least a boarding school). And Anthony Stewart Head is back in the credits list, which just cinches it. 'Cause Giles can do no wrong.