| Mmm warmth |
[Jan. 6th, 2010|07:10 pm] |
I'm back in California! It is a glorious, glorious thing. I am all smiley and happy to be in sunshine filled, 70s weather which is my FAVORITE. After being in the cold for two weeks and knowing I am leaving in less than a month, I am extremely grateful. It definitely has started off my year on a positive note.
My travel experience was pretty good other than my plane being delayed for 30 minutes (which seems like nothing) and having to wait an hour for a bus (I missed one, tiny sign but one didn't show up). Not bad in the grand scheme of things. Very, very nice to have my Macbook Pro, watched a lot of Glee although the battery charge was less than advertised. Will need to look into that.
I am taking two courses this month, Weight Training and Tennis which is part of my plan to get in shape by means of being forced to do so. The first because I have terrible motivation in that arena (but I do like feeling strong) and the second because I need tennis partners to play with. I love love love tennis and playing (in great weather in January!) makes me remember how much happiness it brings. I just feel so alive and it makes me smile all the time and I feel like I'm playing really good right now so it's exciting. I'm actually disappointed that the teacher keeps letting us out early because I want to play more! Also frustrating is we haven't played any games yet and that's my favorite thing but my teacher promised we would either tomorrow or next week. It's so fun and I'm looking forward to playing against two of the best players there. I am also trying to run on the side and be careful with food so hopefully I will lose some weight.
It is good to have some money again since I finally have cashed both my paychecks :) Of course now I face questioning whether or not each thing I want to buy is worth it. What was DEFINITELY worth it is my new wireless headphones!! I had to buy a bluetooth iPod adapter too but oh god no wires is HEAVEN. I don't have to be tied down to my iPod! I can even control songs from my headphones. I am hoping these headphones won't break down in 1-6 months as most of the headphones I get do but even if they do, I got a cheap 2 year warranty so I should be all set :) Frys Electronics = awesome store.
Of course exercising or else the lack of travel sleep/jetlag keeps making me really tired and interfering with my Festividding plans. After going to sleep early last night (after taking a nap earlier) and getting 8.5 hours of sleep, today I took a 2 hour nap after work and almost missed dinner. I am getting increasingly worried about my lack of progress with this vid. I am in the bad stage now where the deadline is not encouraging me to vid and instead making me feel resentful and I'm kind of hating the vid even though when I watch it, I do like it. I don't know it's frustrating. I'm not worried about the deadline because I have Friday-Sunday free and I can bang it out then if I can't find the time in the next two days but I reeeally wanted to get it done sooner so I wouldn't get freaked out about missing the deadline and/or not allow the vid to be as good as I want it to be. Hopefully I'll be able to get it done soon.
I find it so weird how in the midst of ship love (cause honestly that's what it is), I can read so much fic and when I don't have one, I have almost zero desire to read any fic no matter how much I love a ship or author. Oh well, I guess, I'm sure the urge will hit me at some point.
I am just glad that right now I am feeling optimistic, getting things done for the most part and generally am in a positive mood. I had forgotten how much exercise helps with that. As well as being in the best place on earth of course :D |
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| History |
[Jul. 5th, 2009|01:54 pm] |
FEDERER WON WIMBLEDON OMG YAY!!!
I just, wow. 15 Grand Slams. 15 to take over the record from Peter Sampras. Who was THERE! I am in amazement. Of course, Roger nearly gave me a heart attack in the process as I was in complete tennis torture the whole match not knowing if he would win. Soooo scary. But in the end worth it as he won. He is now officially the greatest tennis player ever. Yay Roger!
And it was even sweeter for me as I've hated and despised Andy Roddick since I first saw him play back in 2002 or so. I will say he played better than I've ever saw him but in the end, Federer is better and has much more mental toughness. God, I love him. I'm hoping to meet him, talk one on one and get a picture with him next year in Palm Springs. That would just be amazing. It was so epic to see Sampras and Federer see each other and talk after the game, a great passing on the torch moment. And yes, I was getting some slashy vibes from them for a bit there. They are definitely the greatest ever in my book.
It was just destiny, Roger winning Wimbledon, his first and favorite slam right after he won the French Open to tie Sampras. It was, wait for it (and boy did I wait for it), legendary.
Working on rebuilding my vid collection right now and wow does the internet go slow when you try to download 50 vids at once. Crazy. I had to make a new vid folder on my external hard drive and I already have 1000 vids, not including the ones on my laptop one.
Also watched all of The Big Bang Theory in the last week. Now I didn't watch it before because I had issues with it mainly I'm so sick of male fantasy crap and I didn't want to watch a show with two geeks ogling their hot, female neighbor. Not to mention some of it is kind of offensive in a haha geeky stuff is so funny kind of way. But it wasn't as bad as I thought thankfully. And I fell in love with Sheldon Cooper. I knew I'd like him just like I knew I'd like House and boy was I right. I looooove him and Sheldon is the BEST OMG. He's the perfect antidote as there is NO ogling, full geek pride and super genius awesomeness. He cracks me up and is sooo cute and even though I know it'd never work out I totally want to marry him. I do wonder if Sheldon is asexual which would be cool to see but in any case, he is pure love. My favorite episode is definitely The Maternal Capacitance as Leonard's mother is AMAZING and my favorite character after Sheldon. I may have shipped them just a little, heh. I don't like Leonard as he annoys me with his whining and being ashamed of his geekiness but Raj is cute and Howard is well, Howard. HATE Leonard's crush on Penny which just needs to end already, why can't they all just be friends? Anyways, I would like to see more girl geeks but Leslie's cool (although I wish she and Sheldon got along) and I laugh a lot more than I thought at the show. My favorite is when they make references to shows like BSG and T:TSCC.
It's weird not having a show that I'm addicted to. Trying to get back into The West Wing and enjoying that (Toby love!). And on a positive note, 6 more weeks til Vividcon... |
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| From LA to NY |
[Jun. 3rd, 2009|08:12 pm] |
So back in Syracuse again. Ehh. The worst is seeing events in LA and not being able to go to them like the Paley event with Hugh Laurie. At least it's not the whole cast/crew I guess. I keep reminding myself that this should be the last summer I have to do this. The good thing is I get to see my kitties again :)
I went to LA the night before I left and had an AMAZING time. First I went to The Kills concert, didn't have a ticket since I just learned about it but I hoped to score one and did. It was easy actually, didn't even have to ask. But it was my first real concert and I had a blast. I did have to stand through two hours of other bands and wait for awhile for them to appear but when they did it was one of the best experiences of my life. Cause let me tell you, The Kills in concert are AWESOME. They played a whole bunch of my favorite songs like URA Fever, Sour Cherry, Cheap and Cheerful, Alphabet Pony, Black Balloon (someone actually had a black baloon!), Fried My Little Brains and No Wow among others. I wished they had played Cat Claw and What NY Used to Be but was happy with what I got especially Sour Cherry. I just loved the energy of being with all the other fans and singing along and most of all getting to see the artists perform. They are just so amazing in terms of charisma and sexiness and really getting into the music. And they'd get close to us, I was in the fourth row or so and a few times it looked like he was looking at me even if he wasn't. It's so indescribable. And after they left, we made a lot of noise and they came out again and played Hook and Line and another song with the other band, The Horror. Towards the end they fell on the floor and got all tangled up in each other, it was funny. I can definitely get now why people go to concerts, I must go to more.
Then I biked to Factory Nightclub in West Hollywood which wasn't too far. I liked it a lot, very big, had big screens like Club Vivid with pretty lights and confetti and many pretty boys :) It started out perfect too as I was high from the concert and went up to the bar and started talking with Jonathan who was super nice to me and we talked about a couple things before he hugged me and left. Then I gulped down a drink and went out to dance and just was transported to a place where I could dance my heart out and not care what anyone thought. They played a Lady Gaga song (not Just Dance breaking my clubbing record at four but I came in late so I'm sure I missed it) and best of all, Girlfriend so I could yell out the words pretending it was the House vid up on the screen. They also played Circus which was SO much fun not only because I imagined it being the Star Trek vid but because I accidentally hit this guy (not the good part) and then he came over to dance with me and it was so much fun. I danced to they chased us out and I'm sure part of the free part was the alcohol but it just felt like one of the best experiences of my life. Mmmm.
Of course the crappy part came after that when I had some trouble getting home since the freaking subways close in LA at night...don't even get me started. I decided to bike down to try to catch the bus I needed to take...it took longer than I thought. It was nice to see some of LA though and I managed to catch the Downtown Disney bus so it all worked out in the end. Managed to get a few hours of sleep before I had to get up to pack and take my stuff to storage. Barely managed that in time but I got home alright so it all turned out okay.
I got my job back as soon as I came home so at least I'll have some money. Been working this week in the morning and then going home and napping in the afternoon. Last Tuesday I went to Buffalo to visit my grandma since she had a seizure earlier in month and wasn't doing so well although she was home with people taking care of her. She can't really talk except for a few hard to understand words (think Failure to Communicate) but can see and understand people talking. It's so sad to see her that way :( Makes me appreciate my life and health more at least. Finally got internet there last Sunday (see West Wing post). Also spent some time with my cousin (first removed) and she was really nice. Turns out we both watch Ugly Betty and like Harry Potter so that was fun to talk about. Also in other family news, my favorite cousin is pregnant and due in August so that'll be the first baby of the family I know. I don't know what to think, we'll be cousins first removed but I like my cousin much more than my brother so I care more about this kid than any other ones. We'll see what happens.
In good Chapman news, my new major got approved! And I did really well with grades, much better than I thought :) Got two A's, an A- and a B+ so I'm really happy with that since two of my professors must have been very kind to me. A bit worried about money for next year but hopefully that should work out alright. Next year I'm taking Introduction to Graphic Design, Computer Science II, History of Political Philosophy, Foundation Course in Photography and Dance in World Cultures (GE). I'm looking forward to it although bummed I can't take History of Television (same time as major class, too many credits unless I wanted to overload myself).
Trying to work on my Premiere vid and not freak out about time and getting it done. The Vividcon schedule came out and once again I'm forced to make tough decisions between panels and vidshows. Probably going to do all panels except my own of course (I'll need to find someone to take detailed notes on Vid Watching 101-price I pay) but it's so frustrating to have to choose between Also Premiering and Understanding Audience *sigh* Ah well, better to have too much to do than the opposite. Had another vid idea for The Wire which I do like but it's so frustrating that I keep getting ideas that aren't what I want: interesting exploration of the people and ideas expressed in the show.
Reeeally hoping Federer will win the French Open this year! Nadal left it open for him so I'm calling it as fate for him to beat Pete's record by winning the only grand slam that Sampras never won. God, how I love them. Hope he doesn't let me down! |
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| Fuck. |
[Sep. 6th, 2008|10:25 pm] |
So my greatest fear was avoided and Federer won his semifinal and is in the US Open finals. BUT of course the stupid rain screwed up the other semifinal and now the final won't take place til Monday. ARGH. But fuck it, I'm staying. Some extra money for food and possible attractions, missed classes and less in my hard drive fund but whatever, I need to have the whole point of this trip. It's just frustrating.
Besides that my trip has been pretty awesome so far, forgotten (lost?) cell phone aside. Did tons of walking exploring the city, spent time with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif) counteragent and veredus who are made of awesome (with bonus vidtalk!), met Jay McCarrol at Fashion Week (!!!! he's awesome), lusted after too many items to count in the NBC Universal store, saw $11,000 outfits at Saks and am now at the wonderful Apple Store charging my iPod and updating here. So I have all of Sunday free now to do whatever I want and will watch the game at 5 pm on Monday *sigh* Only for you, Federer.
Now off to Rush, to go to my first club which of course will be filled with hot guys dancing and making out with each other :D Sounds good to me. |
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| Off to NYC |
[Sep. 5th, 2008|09:30 pm] |
Off to NYC and for once I'm not taking my laptop...but thankfully my iPod can get WiFi. I'll check in when I can. Have decided to check out Bryant Park, Parsons, Mood, Chelsea and Greenwich Village, can you spot the theme? Thank you, Project Runway. Funny enough, Fashion Week is this week so I'll get to see the tents :) Hopefully the rain tomorrow won't be too bad and Federer will make it to the final *has faith* Should be fun and I really can't wait to see my city again. Not to mention fellow fangirls! Will be doing a lot off walking around some more places in the city but like LA, it's the great kind of city where there's always something cool to look at and scenery to take in. Will be back late Sunday night just in time for classes which so far have been going well. Thank god I have lots of podfic to listen to on the way there and back.
Bye my lovely Flist! |
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| Made in LA ie Lots of Little Things Part 2 |
[Jun. 12th, 2008|12:26 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | california, doctor who, jillian michaels, john barrowman, project runway, tennis, the biggest loser, tim gunn, torchwood, tv, whose line | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | accomplished | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Not With You" by Tegan and Sara | ] |
I reeeeally miss LA. Just saying if it's not obvious. It's been annoyingly humid here and although I prefer it over cold, nothing beats the dry heat of LA. So much better to be hot there and with the dry heat, it feels good and totally bearable even in the 90's. At least for me. I did go swimming the other day which I haven't done since...last January maybe? In LA of course. I did unexpectedly meet some friends there which was nice.
Also going to Montreal with clayangel in July to see some Ryan and Greg shows and I can't wait! Never been there before so it'll be good to expand my Canadian horizons.
Okay, now TV. Kind of behind on TV watching with two episodes of Doctor Who to watch and one BSG but both shows are kind of meh to me now so ehh whatever. Hopefully will do them tomorrow though. Not much of a Stephen Moffet lover as it always seems like there is too much random other characters and not enough character love of the ones I do love not to mention plots that I'm not very interested in (The Doctor Dances two parter was okay, plus JACK). So I'm not really that happy about the news he's running the show after RTD but I'm always willing to give him a chance so we'll see what happens. I still have lots of shows to catch up on from Farscape and The X-Files (the odds of finishing before VVC are now way down) to Prison Break and Smallville to Psych, Burn Notice and Mad Men. So little time, so much TV...
John Barrowman pictures of hotness. I am so, so disappointed that there's only going to be 5 episodes of Torchwood next year. I need my Jack fix! Plus, I need Jack and Ianto boykissing...*pouts*
Speaking of, does anyone know the best place to watch the gay parts of that German soap opera? I must see it! I checked out Luke and Noah and they were very cute but the soap opera stuff was too much for me at the time...I may see all of it later though. I am interested in Forbidden Love though.
BEST COMMERCIAL EVER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGDFJPljXNw I just...god, it made me cry. As a huge flying fan, it made me want to fly again so badly and I strongly believe someday I will even if it's not the real thing. It's so cute and very, very touching.
If you've ever wanted to save a link for a later or save a post til say after you've seen a show or movie and do it quickly, try the Read It Later add on for Firefox (if you're still using Explorer...you should switch). All you have to do is right click a link or press a button you can add onto the top of your browser and you have it saved for later reading. It's helped me a lot with not forgetting certain posts and links when I don't have the time to read them or comment. I'm still kind of lazy sometimes and am gradually getting better at it.
I have a ticket to the tennis US Open finals! *squee* It'll be my first time going or ever seeing a match live so I really can't wait. Plus I am pretty sure that Federer is going to make it to the finals and tie Pete Sampras's record so I want to see history in the making. I would totally stalk him as I reeeally want to meet him but I'm just going to go for a day to save money so it's not worth the effort. I'm sure I'll meet him someday. The loss at the French Open broke my heart, I was really invested this time and it's always devastating when he can't quite pull it off. Oh underdogs, you kill me.
So I started watching The Biggest Loser on a whim a few days ago...and somehow developed a serious crush on the trainer, Jillian Michaels. I definitely have a type for tough, awesome, ass kicking woman especially dark haired women. The thing is while I think a lot of women are very pretty, I'm usually not very attracted except for a few and personality plays a big part in that. The short list (besides Jillian) is Lena Olin, Alexandra Hedison, Kate Moennig, Karina Lombard and Lena Headey (Katee/Starbuck in the miniseries is very close). But sometimes the stars align and they definitely do in this case. My love for her has grown exponentially while watching Season 5 (how much do I hate the game? FUCK THE GAME) and she pulls off the HARDCORE, yelling (and I love that she swears so great) trainer like no other and I loooove it and eat it up. She's got me so invested in her winning that I cheer ecstatically at the victories and cry at the losses (oh god one scene in S5 was SO heartbreaking it HURT...oh the woobieness). I love a good Jillian beating and nothing beats Jillian HUGS (they make me so happy!). She's so inspiring to me and a great role model which works for me so much as having people to look up to motivates me a lot. Team Jillian for LIFE. (Trainer love! ie where Jillian and Bob are cuteness)
Plus I love that she loves martial arts as one of my dreams is to be able to kick ass like all my girl heroes (and guys too) that I love from both my Sydneys (first Walker Texas Ranger, then Alias) to Buffy and all the other great warrior women (Zoe love!). I will definitely be making that happen at some point. If there's one thing I love about this season it was the awesome display of GIRL POWER. Just so amazing to be the underdogs and yet pull off some awesome, awesome wins. Because women CAN do anything and accomplish their dreams and do the impossible. Fucking A.
Also in one episode there was TIM GUNN. I literally screamed in the middle of the night, I was so excited. Talk about dream crossovers actually happening. There has not been enough Tim Gunn in my life lately. And I hope this puts the zaftig debacle to bed (TWSS...sorry force of habit). Also, July 16th is the Project Runway premiere, yay! Still the best reality show ever.
( Picture of Jillian under the cut in the shirt I want SO MUCH IT HURTS (see subject line) )
Never done this meme so I'm trying it: You give me three names in a fandom I know, I tell you whom I'd toss off a cliff, whom I'd shag, and whom I'd marry. Then (if you like) I give you three names, and so it goes. |
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| OMG this is the gayest week(end) of my life |
[May. 28th, 2008|02:55 pm] |
So I may have spent most of Memorial Day weekend watching all of Brothers & Sisters. But it was so worth it! I enjoyed it greatly and it was so nice to get addicted to a show again for the first time since Oz. I was really annoyed the other day seeing someone describe TV as "visual crack" but you know what? I love my visual crack. The addictive quality is the best part! So I started watching mostly for the gay storylines with low expectations but it turned out to be pretty good. I love the family banter among all the family with all the funny lines and making fun of each other in a affectionate way. My two favorite characters turned out to be Kevin (I am nothing if obvious) and Sarah who I recommend for everyone on my Flist who loves strong, business women who are awesome. Also Sally Field is wonderful as Nora and it's so great seeing Ron Rifkin back on my screen! Odd at first as I kept expecting a Rambaldi reference or him to have some kind of mastermind plan or being weirded out that he has slightly similar relationship to his former psyriatrist on Alias. I wonder if I don't like Balthazar Getty or he just has a habit of picking kind of wooden characters because he's the weakest cast member for me here. The Everwood cast is fun to see here too as well (damn you, Berlanti! hee) and it cracks me up that Robert McAllister is like Bobby from Jack and Bobby. Rob Lowe is pretty but I HATE the politics storyline on the show. There was a great quote that described me from the show, I don't like the fight [of politics], I like supporting the cause. But the family and relationship stuff is great.
It's just so nice to see a gay character (Matthew Rhys is soooo cute as is his accent) get the same amount of time as straight ones in his relationships. There is plenty of boykissing on this show :D It SOOTHES MY SOUL. It really does. I never get enough of it. And Scotty is adorable especially when he smiles and kind of closes his eyes *melts* I'm so easy. It's amazing what having one gay couple can help break up the heteronormality (see also Grey's Anatomy).
Anyways, spoilers: ( Spoilers for S1-2 of Brothers and Sisters )
I think loving this show is my cue to watch Six Feet Under which while it has a different tone and better overall writing, is all about a family with a family business, a gay character (Michael C. Hall!) with boykissing and Rachel Griffiths. So add that to my long TV watching list. Which speaking of, here's a TV meme about the past TV season:
( TV 07-08 Season Meme )
I've been sick with a cold/headache all weekend as well which was annoying but thankfully it's mostly gone. I've been feeling pretty optimistic about my life lately which is always good. This summer I really want to do a lot of things I haven't done before. For one, I want to really explore the city and go out and do stuff which I've never really experienced or seen. Plus I want to visit some places from my childhood that I never really got to say goodbye to. I just never went out a lot in high school and I'd like to really do that. Also I'm planning on going on seeing the US Open finals if I can because I reeeally want to see Federer play (my favorite tennis player) and hopefully tie or beat Pete Sampras's (my previous favorite). I saw them play together a few months ago (on TV) and it was just amazing. So that will be a fun NYC trip.
I've been feeling a lot more romantic for awhile now, Jack/Irina kind of inspired me back in January and it hasn't really gone away so who knows, maybe I'll find someone. It feels like I'm over my two year kind of thing (don't ask) and even though who I'm looking for is rare, you never know. It'd just be nice to actually experience romance versus live vicariously through my favorite TV character although that's always a nice alternative for my hopeless romantic self.
I'm been in kind of a vidding funk in typical horrible timing but I'm working on my 5 facts vid meme I got tagged for and it's just so much fun! It's definitely helping so that's good. Now that TV season is over, hopefully I'll have more time for vidding stuff.
I've been experiencing an Office renaissance with all my love for the show coming back full force as I rewatch the show. It's reminding me why this show is my favorite and why I want to obsess about it so much. I'm still going to be doing my rewatch with clip notes/posts after Vividcon season is over. But for now fun rewatching is always great. It's funny, in the past couple weeks, I've had people on my Flist falling for The Office, Firefly and The Wire and it just makes me SO HAPPY to see such great reactions to them and reminds me of the first time I fell in love with all of them. It really is an amazing feeling and one I wish I could repeat sometime. And that is why I watch so much TV, in that never ending hope that I'll find another show that makes me feel that way and so full of love. |
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| Update |
[Jan. 8th, 2007|08:12 pm] |
Happy (belated) Birthday corliamat! Hope you had a great day :)
I am SO glad I am back in California! It's so perfect out, 60-80 all week and it feels heavenly. Today it was 80 (in January!) with a breeze and I was in paradise. After that freezing winter break, I am ever so thankful and back to being completely in love with California. Ashley/California OTP! I'm playing tennis this month and it's so good to play again. My game isn't too rusty so I'm able to hold my own in games. I still can't fathom playing outside in January, it's beyond awesome. This is what I dreamed of all last year and I finally did it :D
It's so nice too to have so much free time and to be able to do whatever I want. Especially weekends where I have absolutely nothing to do. So far I've perused my Flist endlessly, got up to 3x14 in Gilmore Girls, vidded a lot, read fic and a bunch of other things. Not to mention, I've reeally been enjoying having my own room. It's so nice not to have to worry about another person and just do my own thing.
Have I mentioned that I love California? |
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| Sports and Shows |
[Sep. 13th, 2004|11:18 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | arrested development, boston legal, everwood, football, gilmore girls, jack and bobby, joan of arcadia, lost, one tree hill, smallville, tennis, the oc, tv | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | happy | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Take me out" by Franz Ferdinand | ] |
Today was my lucky day as two of my favorite sports players/teams won and did well. The lovely man in my icon, Roger Federer pulled off a wonderful win over Hewitt in the U.S Open, 6-0, 7-6, 6-0. The first set was a true work of beauty as he was playing at the top of his game leaving me to drool at all the gorgeous shots. The second set was a little disappointing with the unforced errors and missed first serves but there were some great points played there and he did get out of trouble by acing a lot, following his and my idol, Pete Sampras's precedent. And the third set was the icing on the cake, in a delicious end. I just love how he transcends the boring power games of the other players (minus Henmen, who's style I do like) and plays the real art of tennis. Some words to describe his style of play, some mentioned by the announcers: beautiful, elegant, smooth, graceful, makes it look easy, silky, amazing and the list goes on and on. Roger is definitely the true champion of tennis. Not only him, but the Philly Eagles won in football :D My homeboy Donovan was excellent in his game and Terrell Owens was a great receiver for him. They better win the Superbowl this year, I don't know if I can take another disappointment.
Onto my show scedule for this year:
( Fall TV season schedule behind cut, slight spoilers within )
Basically the new tv season is one of the best things about fall. |
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