It's All About The Sexy Swagger

We all know I'm a raging Anglophile. That is no secret. That I am also a fan of the James Bond franchise shouldn't be a surprise either. I was very, very skeptical of the casting of Daniel Craig as James Bond but found the reboot that was Casino Royale to be wicked awesome and Mr. Craig to be this generation's Steve McQueen (Seriously, Google image search them both. They could be father & son). So I was breathlessly anticipating Quantum of Solace. I was a little worried after reading some critics' responses to the film. But I shouldn't have been. It is also wicked awesome. Sure, it lacked some of the emotional depth that Casino Royale had, but it wasn't like there wasn't ANY emotional development. Additionally, I thought it spoke volumes about Bond himself, that he was becoming a violent automaton after the events of Casino Royale. Additionally, the Bond girls were beautiful, but that didn't undermine the intelligence they were supposed to have, unlike the unfortunate Denise Richards' attempt in The World Is Not Enough. But what I really meant to say here, is that Mr. Craig has perfected the sexy swagger. The man can be trudging his way across a Bolivian desert after surviving a plane crash and HE STILL MANAGES TO LOOK DEAD SEXY AND TOTALLY COOL DOING IT. That is a gift, my friends. This picture doesn't really do it justice. You'll have to go see the film.

Also, if the universe is at all just, I will some day drive an Aston Martin. Oh, and the new song isn't half bad either.  I raised an eyebrow about pairing Jack White and Alicia Keys but it actually works.

Have you ever had a moment in which one little event sets off a chain reaction of mental dominoes that makes you realize you might not be as happy as you thought you were? And that maybe you have spent a lot of time trying to convince yourself that you are happy so you don't have to deal with the reality of being unhappy?

One Of The Many Ways I Avoid Homework

Several years ago there was a show on TV called Wonderfalls, which was random and funny and I liked it, but after a couple of episodes I lost track of it and it was shortly thereafter cancelled. Turns out Fox only aired the first 3 episodes of the 13 made. Due to the miracle of Netflix, I found the DVDs for the entire 13. I love this show. I bought the DVDs with the Amazon.com gift card I got for my birthday. (thanks, Heather!) Toward the end of the season, there is a truly heartbreaking scene that was accompanied by a haunting song I hadn't heard before. So I have spent quite a few hours obsessively hunting the song and the artist down on the internet. And now, thanks to the iTunes gift card I got for my birthday (thanks, E!), the song is now mine. Which I have listened to a billion times now and see no tiring of it in sight. So I thought I would share it with all of you. And subsequently spent another few hours hunting it down on YouTube. My readers are way more important than Econ 446. Hope you enjoy! 

P.S. Wonderfalls was created by the same guy behind Pushing Daisies. If you like Pushing Daisies, I highly recommend checking out Wonderfalls. Or vice versa. And Lee Pace (the adorable Ned the Piemaker) is in both.

P.P.S. I am also completely obsessed with this song, although it has absolutely nothing to do with anything. And since the actually music video for the song gives me a migraine, I thought I would include a little Doctor Who video. So sad David Tennant is leaving!

Hail To The Chief

I don't know how many of you took the opportunity to listen to President-Elect Obama's acceptance speech tonight. I know several of my regular readers are not fans, but I think his speech, purportedly written by him and not a speech writer, was impressive. He is a charismatic and eloquent speaker and tonight I think he managed to do what he does best, focus on the future and focus on possibility. Regardless of your political leanings or opinions about the man himself, it is awe-inspiring that the United States of America elected an African-American President. If he had been born fifty years earlier he would most likely have been denied the right to vote, but today he is the future President of the United States of America. That is amazing. It renews my faith in the American people. My faith that we can move past the darkest parts of our history, that we can uphold and build on and expand the ideals of equality, justice, and liberty on which our nation is founded, that we can look to the future and build a better future for our nation, our children, and our world. It will take sacrifice and hard work; it might be painful. But it is possible. And so I say, like the crowd in Chicago, "Yes We Can!" 

Halloween And Assorted Other Uncertainties

In an effort to be outgoing and in honor of my new calling, I went to my ward's Halloween dance/party. I wasn't feeling particularly creative and my Daphne (from Scooby-Doo) costume had seen better days. So I just slapped on some goth nail polish, a bunch of black eyeliner, a black leather cuff I found at Claire's in the 'Claire's for Boys' section, and my beloved Supernatural Metallicar t-shirt and went as my evil twin. Not particularly creative, but I wasn't feeling particularly festive. Part of it was the hellacious week of presentations-being-criticized-by-the-professor-in-the-middle-of-them-in-front-of-the-rest-of-the-class and other school stresses. Part of it is that Halloween was my mom's second favorite holiday and celebrating it is hard still (seriously, almost had a complete and total meltdown on the bus two weeks ago because I overheard a man telling his daughter about the Great Pumpkin). And part of it was the fact that in the days of Yore, Parker, Treat Queen, and I (and any other assorted friends we could drag into the mayhem) would make Halloween fun, whether we did anything grand or not. So, the evening consisted of me trying to be involved and join groups and make friends and dance and enjoy the festivities, all the while thinking "if only Parker & Treat Queen were here." I can't lie, I breathed a sigh of relief when I left the party at 11. It just wasn't the same without my good friends. So many inside jokes, cryptic references, collective memories that were missing. And sometimes I don't know if I have the energy to start all over.