Some posts are Friends Only -mostly personal posts and ranties;-) If you want me to add you, please comment on this post.

Note: I love (LOVE!) new friends, but I'd like to ask you to please comment here if you add me. Just let me know from where we know each other, or why you friended me (fanfic, fandom, just thought I was super cool, etc. ;-). Because otherwise I might be all flabbergasted about strange new names on my friends list. ;-)

I friend pretty much everybody back, with the exception of blogs with heavy character (or other) bashing and blogs that are completely in a foreign language, cos I unfortunately wouldn't understand a word of those. ;-)

Nope, haven't finished New Moon yet. I admit, Bella's moping has made me very unwilling to keep reading, but I will get through the book before the movie comes out, I swear. :-) And I really want to get to know Jacob better!

I was reading a Twilight message board the other day and found this discussion on writing a book. I thought it was so funny how the fans were sort of mirroring Meyer's beginning and methods: 90% said they started writing their story in the middle (like Meyer) and that their characters are so real that they talk to them. I find this fascinating in an odd sort of way.

Coming back to the HP fandom, I still haven't seen HBP. :-P But it's still number one in cinemas here, and I can't help being elated about its success worldwide.

Oh, and a totally random note: canon peeps, please post your fics and stuff in general comms, too, not just canon (ship) communities and such! I've seen so many great canon fics and fests posted only in canon comms while the general fanfic comms tend to have a fanon overload. Spread the canon love, I say! :-)

Yeah, I totally caved. I picked up New Moon when we went shopping today; I thought it'd be good to read it before the movie comes out. Colour me surprised. It's not bad, at least so far. Yes, the dialogue tags and the beats are still awkward and overwritten in many cases, but the rest is surprisingly fine. Granted, I'm only at the beginning, so I can't say about plotting and character development yet, but so far, so good!

To me, it has to be Prisoner of Azkaban. I think Jo is an extraordinarily talented micro-plotter (she does have some probs with macro stuff, but looking at the series as a whole, it's not a huge issue), and it comes out well in that book. There's no extra meat, just an incredibly clever story that's well written. Plus, I love the Marauders & Snape backstory there.

My second fave would have to be Half-Blood Prince. It has a nice balance between a darker storyline and teen hormones (and yes, Hermione is completely her studious, naggy self there - I'd be worried if she never threw a temper tantrum such as the much-maligned bird attack). Even if it's a pretty dark story overall, it doesn't feel that way.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JO!  <3

I got another new theme! This one's by novaless, who makes great clean & simple themes. I found her via the sortofbeautiful community. It's a Jacob/Bella community, and even though I don't really ship anyone in the Twilight universe, I think that would be my choice if I did. Granted, I don't know that much of Jake's character, but what I've heard reminds me of Ron: just the regular guy with a typical guy attitude and sense of humor. Kind of the underdog, I think.

Been watching those Monarchy DVDs...now up to Queen Elizabeth I. They're generally really nice, though Starkey's wording sometimes makes me raise an eyebrow. Still, David's the man. :-)

Heee! Finally, I have my very own copy of Rolling Stone with Adam on the cover! It only took about a month to reach my corner of the world. ;-) Lookie how comfily bb rests in my mag basket.


The mag has been on sale for two days, and there was only one copy left in the store. :-O I've gotta say, when you sell out a magazine in an obscure little country like mine, where the magazine isn't even carried by very many stores, you've made it. The article in itself is pretty racy and I don't condone everything he says or does/has done, but I understand that transforming from a plump, awkward kid into a star probably wouldn't go that smoothly for most people.
And I'm just loving all the AI tour reports - the audiences have all been Adam's; he's the true star, and everybody knows it. OH HAI YOUNG ELVIS.

No idea when I'll see HBP. I've read some reviews on my F-list (thanks for sharing, everybody!), and it sounds pretty much like the rest of the films. Canon people are desperately trying to bring up some good points while having to resort to admitting that once again, the Kloves machine has struck, and H/Hr is portrayed as TEH deepest and sweetest and strongest relationship EVAR, while Ron gets the comical laughs and Snape struts by in two quick scenes. I couldn't believe my eyes when I read that Dumbledore actually asks someone about H/Hr in this movie. LOLWHUT?
Oh, I know, trying to fix the mess Kloves & Co made.

Ok, it's 5 am, and I'm wide awake, one whole hour before the alarm. How's this possible?

Well, might as well do a bit of blogging. :-) This time, HP style. I just read that Rupert Grint had the swine flu! It was even in our national papers. Now, that's an OMG moment! Thank goodness he's okay now!

Also, I saw the first HBP outdoor ads last night! I've gotta say, I got a bit excited as I sat in the subway and one of the back walls was entirely covered with a HBP poster. It had Ron and Hermione on one side and Harry and Dumbly on the other:

I really got almost teary as I sat there; it reminded me of how much I love HP after all and how many wonderful moments I've spent reading the books and sharing the love in the fandom. :-) Oh, and there was another ad, too, in an ad stand (rack? scaffold?) very close to my work, and it featured those posters with two characters in each. Spotted at least Ron and Ginny.

And someone posted this excerpt of an interview by Daniel Radcliffe in honestlyronald! It really made my day!

"But I have to say, today I saw playback of Ron and Hermione's kiss [from the final book], and it is easily, from what we've filmed so far, the biggest moment in all the films. It is," he says approvingly, "a great kiss." "

Could it be that Kloves of all people finally got something right about the canon relationships? :-o Yay!

Just a meaningless squeeage post: I have a new layout and a brand spanking new Adam mood theme! YAY It's my first customized one ever! The downside is that now it takes me ages to pick a mood.

Bad news: I feel like a cold is lurking behind the corner. Please, stay away, sniffles.

Well, I gave my userpics another overhaul, which means many of my previous entries now sport my default icon. Ah well, such is life. I just have this inexplainable need to go icon shopping at regular intervals. Found some beauties this time! :-)

I've been neglecting my other fandoms quite shamefully for Adam. I know, I know, I get overobsessed with things. Anyway, I've been checking things out now, and well, surprisingly enough, I'm not that excited about HBP. I haven't looked at any of the previews or the released images. If you want to know the truth...the upcoming New Moon movie excites me much more right now. The thought scares me since I'm not a Twilight fan - or actually, I do think I am a Twilight movie fan. But I have a theory about this...

I can't seem to get interested in HBP because I'm so fricking sick and tired of the canon butchering...the H/Hr stuff, the joke!Ron stuff, the sacrifice of Snape's screen time so that there can be one more extra Emma scene. My Ron, the BRAVE, witty guy who does not whimper or make comical faces and who is actually Harry's closest mate, is nowhere in the movies, nor is my Hermione, the incredibly annoying but good-hearted know-it-all, who is PLAIN and sports a near afro hairdo. And after the last three movies, I've simply had it with having my expectations crashed once again by Heyman, Kloves & Co.

So, the Twilight movies are non-threatening; I'm not really emotionally invested in any character or ship (though I was intrigued by Jacob in the first movie and think he has potential) and I can just follow all the hoopla and enjoy it. Which leads me to...I really liked the New Moon trailer. While it's heavy on Edward and there are some overly sugary moments, it has a lot of intensity and emotion, and Jake's transformation in midair is great, not too showy. The warm orange glow is interesting as well; I wonder if they moved away from the bluish hue on purpose with the new director. Anyway, definitely looking forward to that one.

Meanwhile, must go and check Adam's Twitter, so 'xcuse moi...;-)

I found this wonderful wallpaper site by accident today and thought I'd share. I love their fantasy illustrations in particular, but they have so much other stuff, too, including great nature photos. Worth a visit!

Click on my screen below to go to the fantasy section of the site! :-)

I can't believe Michael Jackson is dead. It's the end of an era.

Rest in peace, Michael.

I've been watching The Buccaneers these past few days.

I got the DVD a while ago, but got to watch it only now. I first saw it on the telly in the 90s and really loved it, and it's been interesting to see it again after ten years. It's quite different than what I remembered...for one, I remember really hating the Duke of Trevenick (James Frain, who plays Thomas Cromwell in The Tudors) and thinking he's cold and uncaring ('twas the fervor of youth, I suppose;-). However, now I see many more nuances in him, and I actually think Annabel is too hard on him, demanding him to change his outlook on life at the snap of the fingers. He clearly cares for her very much, but doesn't quite know how to express it. So, now the character I disliked the most on the previous viewing has become my favorite - plus James Frain is a sublime actor! Puzzling stuff. :-D

Anyway, for those who might not know, this is a story based on Edith Wharton's unfinished novel about four American girls who come to England in the 1870s and marry into aristocratic (or almost) families. It's not a pretty picture, but it isn't as sobering as I remembered. It's not your usual period drama, though: all the women smoke, for example, and there are illicit love affairs and homosexuality. The Amazon reviews seem sharply divided into those who liked it and those who were dismayed that it wasn't as "clean" as Austen (although I dunno what's so clean about Wickham's shenanigans, for example;-). In any case, I recommend it because it gives a much more realistic picture of the upper class in Victorian England than many other period dramas.

I will never see snakes the same way again.

Via the_glass_onion

Rules:
01. Anyone who looks at this entry has to post this meme and their current wallpaper at their LiveJournal.
02. Explain in five sentences why you're using that wallpaper!
03. Don't change your wallpaper before doing this! The point is to see what you had on!

( Big Surprise )

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I speak three languages fluently and can read about five more languages. That's living in a small European country for ya. ;-)

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The American Idol finale aired here tonight (I know! The channel that shows it is not one of the majors), and I spent an enjoyable two hours (well, an enjoyable hour and 50 minutes) by the telly making a necklace and just grooving along.
( Recap here )

Okay, this is gotta be the cutest thing ever!


Seeing the warm friendship of this queer glam rock god and the sweet Christian boy-next-door has been truly inspiring. Change IS possible!

They finally released both Kris's and Adam's versions of No Boundaries internationally on iTunes! The song is cheesy, but Adam makes it awesome; I could listen to it over and over again.

And pardon me, now I must finish painting my nails black. With orange flowers.
;-)

www.adamofficial.com

It JUST opened today. I saw it on Facebook and immediately went there. When I got there, there were 2 people online. Created my account, and bam! - five minutes later there were nearly 1500 people online!

I'm in such a twitter over tonight's Idol finale - and I can't even watch it! It's not shown here in at least a couple of weeks, and I must go to bed within hours. And tomorrow morning I have a trainee at work and can't spend idle moments reading about everything on the net. Oh vey, this life!

Anyway, I'm so nervous because I so want Adam to win, yet I fear Kris will take the jackpot. After all, Adam is at least bi, dresses in flashy clothes, uses makeup, and oozes queer sexuality, and that might be too much for some people. Make that many people of the conservative persuasion. There have been reports that hint at this, and even Bill O'Reilly did a show where he contrasted "the gay guy and the Christian guy". Now, I like Kris a lot, he's a sweet guy and sure, he can sing, but Adam just blows everyone out of the water. He is the most original and entertaining performer in Idol history, and his talent is simply breathtaking. He electrifies the stage every time. Yet he might lose because of who he is, and that I find sad.

On the other hand, I know his career is already made, no matter if he loses. But still...Adam wants to win, and that's why I want him to win. There are rumors he'll wear black leather tonight, which has sent his fans into a frenzy (including me;-) but then again...he'll probably reprise Mad World. It was fine, but I feel he's best in fast-paced songs where his energy gets properly out. Kris excels in ballads, so I hope Adam will do what he excels in.

In any case, if anyone reads this who hasn't yet picked a side or hasn't even watched Idol this year, consider voting for Adam. He deserves it.

PS. For a sampling of Adam, watch Whole Lotta Love. ;-)

My Adamania has reached a level where I needed to do something. Ergo, out came some iconses and iphone/iPod Touch wallpapers: 13 icons and 3 wallpapers (can be used both in the iPhone and iPod Touch).

The usual rules:
-copy to your own computer and don't direct link to my files
-don't alter, and please give credit to praize
-and the most important one: SHARE THE ADAM! These are not restricted to LJ, use wherever you want to

Previews...

Icons:

Walls:


( This way to the goodies... )