Parks and Recreation and El Centro, California

Exams are over, the semester is finished, and I am home for a few weeks before going back to Virginia to work during the summer. Holy run-on sentence, Batman! Anyway, it's nice not to have to worry about school for a few months. I have been spending my days either lounging around playing The Sims 2 or running errands and hanging out with Jackie. Not a bad start to the break, if I do say so myself. My reading is getting off to a good start, too; I read the entirety of Will Grayson, Will Grayson on the plane from Dulles to Phoenix, and I'm hoping to finish another novel (maybe Atonement) before June.

I would also like to watch the television shows I keep hearing about. I've seen the first six episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the pilot of Firefly, but as they're both on Netflix Instant Watch and many of my friends swear by Joss Whedon, I feel obligated to watch a bit more of each (especially since Firefly only lasted one season). Sara loves Mad Men and has shown me the first two episodes, so it is my roommately duty to devour the rest when Netflix starts streaming them later in the summer. My parents bought me the complete Sports Night collection for Christmas and I haven't even watched one episode, but it's an Aaron Sorkin creation, so I really don't have any excuse not to like it (Netflix assures me I will). The animation and superhero geeks in me can't wait to start Batman: The Animated Series, and of course there are the last four seasons of Gilmore Girls and practically all of Friends to finish. TV-wise, this summer is going to be exciting!

In the meantime, the shows I currently follow are all coming to the end of their seasons. Michael Scott has left The Office and the Worlds team is getting into gear on my guilty pleasure show, Make It or Break It. And then there's Parks and Recreation.

I think I've figured out why I like Parks and Recreation so much. I was drawn to it in the first place because, for all her bluster, Leslie Knope cares deeply about government and its ability to help people. Parks and Rec is caricatured and hyperbolic, sure, but it's a love letter to public service in the same way The West Wing (my favorite television show of all time, period) is. It warms my government-major heart to the point where I identify with Leslie in a lot of ways. So when (SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS) she and Ben Wyatt finally kissed in last week's episode, I had a sort-of epiphany about relationships. Ben is a bit Hollywood Homely, but he's exactly my type; he has a good heart, he's smart, he's passionate about the things (and people) he loves, and he's a huge nerd. When I saw Leslie falling for him, or really him falling for Leslie, I suddenly had this need for them to get together, and I think a large part of that is because I see Leslie in myself. Granted, Leslie has been in plenty of relationships before, whereas I've been in absolutely zero, but to see Ben kiss her gave me hope (END SPOILERS). Sometimes I feel like I'll never find a guy who will love me for me. I'm still waiting for my first kiss at age 20, and it's more than a little frustrating. But when someone who reminds me of me as much as Leslie Knope can find nerdy, political love with a guy who's crazy about her, I think that maybe there is someone out there for me. Perhaps it's silly, but I'm seriously invested in the Ben/Leslie relationship and I can't wait to see where tomorrow night's episode takes them. And really, what is television if not escapist?

With that, and the fact that my body clock still thinks it's two in the morning, I shall leave this here.

Calm Before the Storm

I have six finals in the next eight days, so I may not be posting much. Shame, because I wanted to try to update my blog every day this month. Of course, that didn't happen yesterday, either, so I guess I'll try for perfect posting in June. Anyway, last night was the Brown College Spring Semiformal (the theme was Time Warp, so I wore my second Regency dress and curled my bangs), where I spent nearly two hours dancing awkwardly and imbibing various non-alcoholic fruit juices. Today I went to Barracks Road with Sarah, where we had a fabulous lunch at Ruby Tuesday's, way too much ice cream at Ben and Jerry's, and a nice browsing session at Barnes and Noble. It was a good way to spend my last day of freedom before exams; I plan to spend much of tomorrow studying, and then it's final central. At least I'll be home in ten days!

Still Processing

There was a party on the Lawn last night in celebration of bin Laden's death. Apparently all the bars on the Corner were giving out free drinks and there was much revelry to be had. I say apparently because I was in my dorm room trying to ignore everyone who walked by my window singing the national anthem (at the top of their lungs) long enough to get some sleep. Eventually I succeeded, but I was still too exhausted to get up early enough to put a load of laundry through, which meant I had to go digging through my hamper for a passably-clean pair of jeans. Planning skills, I has them.

I still don't know how to feel, except that I thing it's wrong to celebrate when someone dies, regardless of how heinous they were. Relief, fine. I just can't believe that it's a good thing to run around like a lunatic and set off fireworks because we finally caught bin Laden. He's dead now, and while he certainly doesn't deserve any respect, I still think it's better to regard the situation with grim resignation as opposed to raucous partying. Just my opinion, of course.

Wham Episode

I got back to my dorm a little after eleven, fully intending to put a load of laundry through and write a leisurely blog post about the surprisingly wonderful performance of Rent I went to see. Instead, I open my email and find a thread on the Brown College listserv about Osama bin Laden dying.

Good Lord. I just don't know what to say. I can't string my thoughts together. I can't be coherent because my mind won't stop buzzing. Good God.

I'm going to wait for the president to give his statement. Then I'm going to try to wrap my head around this. More tomorrow.

We're Marchin' On

The day's distractions:

(All images found from a Google search.)

And a little something I enjoyed: