TV and Books and Music. (You know... the usual)

It's Fall! You know what that means; All of our favorite TV shows are back (or will be shortly)! I'm really happy with some old favorites (as well as a little eh with one) and I have some mediocre feelings toward some new ones. We'll see what the coming weeks bring me when Modern Family (Tonight!), Once Upon A Time (Sept 30th!), The Vampire Diaries (Oct 11th!) and The Walking Dead (Oct 14th!) start back up. Oh, how I love TV!

I didn't watch a ton of stuff over the summer. I read a lot (surprise, surprise) but I did watch White Collar and it was really great. They were just renewed for a 5th season and I am ecstatic about that.

This is the first time that I can say, aside from Jason Stackhouse, I was completely disappointed with the entire season of True Blood. It pains me to say it but it's true. I thought the storylines were boring and kind of all over the place and I hated that Sookie had pretty much no interaction whatsoever with Eric and Bill. They underused both Christopher Meloni (man, did they waste him and his talents) and Scott Foley (that poor guy cannot catch a break on all these shows he is guest starring on). I still hate Tara but I really love Pam. The season finale showed a little bit of promise at the end of it, so we'll see where they go next season. With Alan Ball leaving and a new fella taking over, I'm really hoping things get better. I'm OK with the story having nothing to do with the books as long as the stories are GOOD and creative. So much of last season was just blah to me and that makes me sad.

We also watched Bunheads. Yes, WE. Jeff watched it with me (he will probably deny that if you bring this up to him). I loved Gilmore Girls though and it's by the same people who made that. It's basically Gilmore Girls 2.0 and it makes me laugh and there are cameos by former GG actors and I love that so it made for a fun show to watch. 

The Bones season premiere was eh. They wrapped up the season finale storyline too quickly and listen, I know it's a TV show but the ease of which they solve these murders is appalling to me. I guess after so many seasons it's just starting to get on my nerves.

New Girl came back last night and good God, I LOVE THAT SHOW. It is so consistently funny and I truly love all the actors and characters on it. It makes me so happy. I just love it.

We also checked out The Mindy Project last night (which was created by Mindy Kaling, who played Kelly on The Office). I would give it a solid OK. I'm not completely in love with it and I didn't completely hate it. It definitely showed promise though, so I will continue to watch. Speaking of The Office, we watched the season premiere. I didn't watch at all last season, so I didn't know what was going on with some stories but I was still underwhelmed by it and that makes me so sad. I used to love that show so much. I'm glad this is it's last season and I hope they really do it justice and go back to the roots of what made it so funny to begin with and that it has a good send off. With that being said, however, I think that a Dwight spin off is a terrible idea and they should put a stop to the thought process on that immediately. Anyone remember Joey? Ugh.

Dancing With The Stars :All Stars started up on Monday. My votes belong to Kelly Monaco. She was the season 1 winner and the whole reason I started watching this stupid show to begin with. I love the chemistry between her and her partner Val. Also, she is absolutely gorgeous, so there's that as well.

Now, my thoughts on Revolution: It's a JJ Abrams show. It has a lot of Alias/Lost connections. It has a cool concept, which I like. I absolutely adore Elizabeth Mitchell and Billy Burke. I think that Monroe fella is real hot. So, why then do I not like this show more? I don't dislike it yet and I know we are only 2 episodes in but I am a little annoyed by it and a lot bored with it. Maybe it's because I feel like all they do is walk around in the woods? Maybe it's because I find the fact that that one boy (Nate/Not Nate) can follow the main group of people so easily and they never see him coming is stupid? Maybe it's because I feel like there is too much fighting? Mostly I think it's because I don't like the characters who I am meant to like. That Maggie girl is irritating. The aforementioned Nate/Not Nate does nothing for me. The one guy with the AC/DC shirt is just meh and it saddens me to say this but... Charlie drives me nuts. She's always on the verge of tears, even when she isn't supposed to be and she constantly has cry-face. I hate that. Her good qualities (the hunting/survival skills) remind me of Katniss, while her bad qualities (whiny/need to constantly help/only to muck it all up) remind me of Kate from Lost. Kate, people. I hated Kate! Anyway, she will no longer be known as Charlie to me. She will henceforth be known as Kateness. I want to like this show, I do. I want to know why the power went out and why everyone is so angry but I need to be entertained at the same time, so these next few episodes need to wow me.

You might notice that I haven't mentioned any excitement toward the premiere of Greys Anatomy. Well, that's because I have none. I will watch because I have invested a lot of time into watching this show but I am so angry at it that I'm really not looking forward to it. Every interview I read with Shonda Rhimes makes me like her less and less and that alters my feelings on the show... even though it probably shouldn't.

I am still watching Doctor Who. I just started David Tennant's stint and I adore him already. I totally get why he is everyone's favorite Doctor.

I can't tell you all the books I've read over the summer because there are just too many but I will tell you (as I told all of my Facebook friends), go read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I'm not going to tell you anything about it, just take my word for it and read this book. Then we can discuss it. It's so so good, guys. Also, Emily Giffin's new one, Where We Belong was fantastic. Fantastic. Read that one too!

Lots of new music came out in the last couple weeks. All by my favorite bands; The Killers, Green Day, Ben Folds Five and Mumford & Sons. The Tragically Hip have a new one coming out as well. All of those bands (with the exception of Mumford & Sons) are coming here in concert. ALL of them. What are the chances that all of your favorite bands come to town within months of each other?

Junior High Blahs.

There was this episode of Full House called "Back To School Blues". It's from season 3 and it's the one where -------- > DJ starts 7th grade at a new school. She quickly realizes how different Jr. High is from Elementary school and ends up having to sit alone in the cafeteria at lunch time... in a phone booth, where she pretends to be talking to someone but really, she's just listening to the time. Now, I know television shows and movies make school out to be a lot more dramatic in some cases but this episode always comes to mind whenever someone starts middle school because it showcases how awkward being at a new school can be. Throw in being in a new school, in a new CITY and it makes it ten times more awkward. (Oh, and no worries, DJ turns out just fine by the end of the episode and has plenty of friends to sit with at lunch).

I bring this up because my niece, Emily, started 8th grade in a new school, in a new city this week.  Yikes. She's been dreading it ever since talks of their family moving began back in December. And really, who can blame her? Being a kid is tough enough without having to start all over and make completely new friends in a new environment. I remember how awkward Junior High was. I was constantly aware of my actions and always terrified I was going to make a fool of myself. The school was bigger, the kids seemed bigger/meaner and the classes were more overwhelming. I was in that weird transition phase between friends that some kids go through. Kind of in limbo. Not really belonging to one group or another, just doing my own thing. It was weird and I always felt like an outcast but I suppose most kids feel that way at that age, right?

Emily is a wonderful kid. Brilliant, actually. From the moment she was born, I knew she would be special. She has turned into a beautiful, funny, talented girl who is obsessed with the Hunger Games (ha!) and I'm really proud of her. She is a fantastic writer and a terrific actress and I have no doubt whatsoever that she will have a whole plethora of new friends by the time Christmas rolls around. But right now things seem real sucky for her and I get it and I want her to know that everyone goes through things like this. EVERYONE and we all turn out a little better and a little stronger for it.

With that being said, I thought it might be fun (or cheer her up) if we shared some fun/horrifying/silly Junior High stories/memories with her so she knows that this is a life experience that we all go through and we all make it out A-OK.

 I'll go first:

-In 7th grade, I had gym first hour and I thought that was the worst thing in the world (later, in high school, I ended up having swim first hour. I was cursed). It wasn't that bad though. It just took some time getting used to a new routine. One time, I wore a skirt to school. Obviously, you had to change for gym class but I left my nylons on and figured I would just put my PINK sweatpants on over them (we were learning how to play football outside). After class, when I went to change, I had pink fuzz ALL over my legs, stuck to my nylons. I was horrified. I think I managed to de-fuzz myself pretty good before embarking on the journey to my next class but I was super paranoid the rest of the day.

-The very first day of Junior High, I didn't think to bring a pen, pencil or paper with me to class (who does that?!). I thought it would just be a day full of talking and we wouldn't really have to do any work. I was completely embarrassed when everyone else was getting all their supplies out and I was just sitting there. I think someone ended up letting me borrow a pen and a piece of paper. I felt like an idiot.

-This one is my favorite/worst. It also happened in high school but I'm counting it anyway. We all had to go to the gym for a pep assembly. Tons of kids/teachers were in the the stands, students were flowing into the gym to take seats in the bleachers. I was walking across the gym floor to get to the bleachers, tripped on an exercise mat that was in the middle of the floor, stumbled and fell flat on my face. With the whole school watching. I was mortified. So so embarrassed. When I got back up, I tried to laugh it off along with my friends who were with me but I was horrified. But see, now it makes for a good story!

Go ahead and share some of your stories because the point is; we all go through it and we all survive it.

And really, at least we don't have to enlist ourselves into a reaping, right? Junior High is more appealing than the Hunger Games isn't it?? There's your silver lining!