1. I love Brandon Uranowitz. I love his personality and his talent. I even wrote about how much I love him (even though I'm a starstruck weirdo). He's super talented and I think he's been my favorite discovery of this season. So I was pretty happy when this video came out this week of him singing his 3 bucket list songs. His Marriage Proposal is always fabulous, and I've never heard Parade before, so while that was lovely, I wasn't fascinated. What I adored was his take on the song from Company. He absolutely nailed it. I have no idea how he sang it so well and so quickly. I'd be tongue tied after the first few notes. Amazing! (If you just want to see that song, it starts about 2:30)
2. This is the best possible news! I am hooked on Miranda. It's about the funniest show I've ever seen, and it may have everything to do with the fact Miranda reminds me a lot of me - without the adorable Gary to fall in love with. I'd love for it to come back. I'd even take a 15 minute Children in Need special! 3. I don't tend to share a lot of the hometown love. But this program in conjunction with the Orioles and BARCS, is truly awesome! Teaching kids to read and promoting animal adoption - what's not to love!? 4. I love scrapbooking freebies - especially when they involve National Donut Day! Speaking of, Happy National Donut Day. If you're ever in Maryland and need the best donut ever, head over to the Donut Shack in Severna Park. So yummy!!!
5. I discovered the show The New Normal this week. I mean, I knew about it 5 years ago when it was on, but I finally started to watch it courtesy of iTunes this week and I loved it! It's sweet and funny and the leads were amazing. I can't believe it only lasted a season. Based on the story line and the current times, it would be a perfect fit these days. If you need something to binge and make you smile, I'd definitely recommend it!
1. Excuse the language on this one, but it's amazing! Our President's press conference yesterday was ridiculous to say the least, and Seth lets him have it for it.
2. Seeing a show I've never seen before live. I had read Peter and the Starcatcher but never caught it on Broadway. So when Bowie Playhouse announced they'd be doing it, I was pretty excited. I gotta say, even though the actors were pretty great, the show is still just as weird as it was when I read it. I just don't get it. But the rest of the audience seemed to love it, so maybe there's something wrong with me... 3. The best news I've heard all week is the casting of Miranda Hart as Mrs. Hanigan in Annie in the West End. I've been wanting to see Miranda Hart in something fabulous since her television show went off the air, and now that I'll be in England this summer, this is the perfect excuse. I'm pretty sure she'll be brilliant! 4. I'm sort of a sucker for Children's books about very diverse things. I like kids books to share stories about lives in other places or about things that you don't usually see kids books about. Add to that, great art that I've always loved and you've got a winner. That's why I'm pretty excited about this kids book about Keith Haring. I've always loved his simple drawings (his artwork was the logo for the original Falsettos!) and now there's a great kids book about his life and why art's so important. Can't wait to snag it! 5. Coming from someone who saw this show in person, I have to say that this review is spot on! I'm so happy for Brandon Uranowitz and also I'm pretty happy for me, because with reviews like this, it means he's gotta do another engagement, right?!
We've now entered that tricky part of the year between the end of summer and the start of the Christmas season when it's starting to get dark early, and there's just not much happening. I hate that time of year. I always find it quite difficult to get motivated to craft or work or even find a book I'm hooked on long enough to complete it. It's a real pain! However, I've been focused on a few things that have been swimming around my brain for the last week or so. These are those things ("dun dun" a la Law & Order - I crack myself up!) I've been reading Miranda Hart's biography. Now I know I've just finished gushing over her show, but I'm on a bit of a Miranda Hart kick because honestly, she's the only person that states pretty much everything I'm feeling. Like I said before, she's a 6 foot British version of me. She's awkward and sarcastic. She finds utterly ridiculous things funny. She never knew what to do with her life and she still feels like she doesn't. She's not married and doesn't have kids even though she wants both. Hearing her say these things makes me feel like I'm not so odd. I've also been watching a fantastic show on the CW called No Tomorrow which is about a guy that thinks the apocalypse is coming in 8 months, so he's been fulfilling his bucket list. He meets a girl that's always played by the rules and gets her to start adventuring as well. First off, I need a guy like this in my life (especially if he's as adorable as the dude in this show...). Second off, I need more excitement in my life - which is really nothing new. But it bears repeating. Lastly, I've been reading a lot about book arts and letterpress. I'm not sure I knew they were even a thing until a few years ago, but they seem like something I should know about. As someone with as many books as I have, you'd think I would have put 2 and 2 together to come to making books, but as it turns out I'm a little slow on the uptake. I've now found 2 printers in the Baltimore area that offers classes on these awesome art forms. Now I just need them to post their schedule for the winter when I'm really uninspired to do anything but curl up under the covers, so I can get my butt into gear! So there's life lately - a life spent mostly in my head these days.
Earlier this week, there was a hashtag going around like wildfire - #ThreeFictionalCharacters. The goal was to choose 3 fictional characters that are most like you. It's taken me a while but I think I finally figured it out. I LOVED this idea when I first heard about it, but it's taken me the entire week to really nail down who I think I'm most like. Now that I have those 3 characters, I'm fairly shocked I didn't think of them immediately. 1. Miranda, the character played by Miranda Hart in the BBC show Miranda: She's a single girl in her 30s. She's awkward, sarcastic, unable to tell the cute boy she likes that she likes him and did I mention she's socially awkward? In pretty much every episode there's at least one scene - usually more than one - that reminds me of myself. Also, the cutie she's in love with is Tom Ellis whom I also think is adorable so we have the same taste in cute boys as well. She's basically a 6'1" British me.
2. Dory from Finding Nemo - I have to admit I'm a bit forgetful, not to the extent Dory is, but I've been known to forget random things on a daily basis. But Dory is also eternally optimistic. She's a positive thinker and just likes to be around the people that love her. She's happy and enjoys life. She's helpful and is up for an adventure just to help Marlin. She has all sorts of good qualities that I strive for, and sometimes succeed at. I also happen to think that Dory's advice to Just Keep Swimming is the best advice for anyone going through hard times.
3. Donna Noble from Doctor Who - And I promise I'm not just saying Donna because she's my absolute favorite companion. Donna is always ready for adventure. She's lived a fairly boring life being a temp in Chiswick, and when given the chance for adventure and travel with the Doctor she's more than ready. She's the perfect friend for the Doctor. She wants to see everything's she's missed over the years, and the Doctor is ready to show it to her. She's also completely sarcastic which is pretty much how I live my entire life. And aside from choosing not to hug the Doctor - come on man! who wouldn't hug David Tennant if given the chance?! - she's yet another me.
I read a lot of British newspapers and watch a lot of British television, so if you don't know anything about what I'm about to say, I'm not surprised since no normal person really cares. But it was announced last week that Matt Smith (aka the 11th Doctor) would be regenerating at Christmas of this year. As a fan of Doctor Who, it's always fun to guess who the next doctor will be though I'm sure that fans of 11 are heartbroken over his decision to leave.
I must say that I've never really been a fan. All of his episodes are too dark and (to be honest) a little too confusing for me to wrap my non-time-traveler-y brain around. However, in the past few days, as I've seen more and more online, I must admit that I will be missing him as well. I catch myself quoting him a bit which is just slightly freaky...not to mention useless since no one I really care about knows what the heck I'm quoting.
But the best part of this new regeneration is all the speculation of who's next. Who will be the 12th doctor? I've seen arguments on whether or not they can bring back 10 (which I'd be all for however, I'm just not thinking it's going to happen) or turn one of the companions into 12. They've even gone philosophical in their debates, trying to decide if the doctor can be a woman or should he continue to be white. I'm not sure what the best answer would be, though I know he's (or she's I suppose) going to have some very large trainers and a bow tie to fill coming after David Tennant and Matt Smith. But just for fun, and since every other Who fan is throwing their 2 cents in, my choices are below:
If it's going to be a girl - Miranda Hart (mostly because I find her hilarious!)
