YouTube Tuesday: So Over It.

Guys, it's official. I'm breaking up with Glee. We had a good run, but I just can't do it anymore. This afternoon, I'm deleting it off of my Hulu+ Queue for good. I'm hoping we can remain friends, or at least casual acquaintances, but the romance is dead.

Let me take you back...way back...way way way back to when yours truly was in high school. You see, as a member of choir, drama club, and pep squad I was a veritable tri-fecta of Loser. I was everything that teen sitcoms of the early 2000s made fun of. Being friends with half of the marching band and being in every honors class possible didn't help either. So when Glee premiered years later, I couldn't even watch it because it rang so close to home. It wasn't until the end of season 1 that I flipped over to Fox, because of a particularly gruesome scene on Grey's Anatomy, and saw the embodiment of my every dream-Idina Menzel-singing my favorite Les Mis song with Rachel.

And with that, I was hooked. I quickly transitioned to a full on Gleek before the season finale. I devoted my Summer Thursday nights to catching up on the story lines through re-runs. I downloaded album after album from iTunes. I fell hard and fast for Finn, Puck, and Jesse. By the time season 2 premiered with Empire State of Mind, I dropped Grey's like a bad habit and rose my Freak Flag even higher.

All through seasons 2 and 3, Glee and I were tighter than ever. I welcomed new characters like Sam and Coach Beiste. Together we sang, we laughed, we even cried at times. I even got my husband to watch it with me by agreeing to play the Glee Drinking Game. The season 3 finale, oh my goodness. I cried for twenty minutes even after it was over. Watching the gang put Rachel on that bus and seeing her arrive in Times Square, good lord, it was the thing drama nerds' dreams are made of.

But...

But...

But...Season 4? No. The new class? No.

Marley is NOT the new Rachel. Kitty is NOT the new Quinn. Unique is NOT the new Mercedes. And though he may be a Puckerman (in the weakest, easiest, lamest storyline ever) Jake is NOT the new Puck. And for the love of Pete, Kate Hudson will NEVER EVER EVER be the new Sue. Gag me with a spoon.

Glee producers, I know you are making BANK off of this show and are doing everything you can to keep the money train rolling. But let's face it, you really should have quit while you were ahead. This show used to be creative and fun, now it just blows. It's embarrassing how bad this season is and there's only been 2 episodes.

So let me know when there's a Jonathan Groff cameo, until then I'm out.

YouTube Tuesday: Home

As many of you know I grew up as a military brat so we were never really in the same place for very long. Granted I spent the majority of my childhood living in Abilene, TX we still bounced around from house to house every couple of years as my dad's responsibilities in the Air Force grew. So while a lot of my friends have that one home (that their parents usually still live in) that they call home, there isn't really one house that stands out among the many that we lived in when I was a kid. Que the sad violin music now...jk.

Bad Luck Brian knows what's up at DAFB

There was one constant when I was growing up though, my grandparents' home in Swartz Creek, MI. I spent every summer there for most of my formative years. The great thing about summering in Michigan is that I got to miss out on a big chunk of the Texas summer when it's known to get as hot as 116 degrees outside. Not too much fun when you're a kid and you're bursting to go outside to play. My grandparents' home offered plenty of lush grass to roll around in (an oddity to a West Texas girl), fireflies to catch at night, and sleeping with the windows open. Now of course there was a summer or two when it would get into the 90s and the humidity would make life without central AC down right sticky. After a couple of days of the heat, a nice refreshing rain would come along and we would be back into the comfortable low 80s. My aunts and uncles would interrogate me as to how I could possibly wear jeans when it's 80 degrees outside. I would say something along the lines of "um, duuuh! This is winter weather where I live! Like oh my gosh!" I was a tween in the 90s. Sorry.

There would be "camping" trips to my great grandparents' lake house where my cousin Brandon and I would roast marshmallows until we got tummy aches. My grandpa would try to take me fishing, but I would put one foot inside the shaky canoe and freak out. I would then convince my grandma to go paddle boating with me and talk about big grown up topics (menses).

The Lake

Yesterday my aunt, who is more like a barely older-sister-in-law to me, Lindsay posted a picture of her little one, the sweet flower girl you met here and here and will meet again once I unpack the CD of wedding pictures, paddle boating with our great grandma at the lake house. Man oh man did that tug at this girl's over nostalgic heart strings. I would give anything to go back to the summer of '98 just for a few moments to savor being in that place. Being with family. Being outdoors. Being home. Being in love with JTT.

that's some pre-teen hunkiness right thur

I guess the moral of this little trip down memory lane is that home doesn't have to be a house or even a town that a person grew up in. Home can be a place in your heart where you are happy and know you are loved. Home can be a memory. Home can even be just the company of loved ones.

YouTube Tuesday: Thank You

We hit 1,000 page views today!

Wa-hooooo!!!!

When I started this little blog back in January, I had no idea that it would become such a big part of my life. If any of you are searching for a way to express your thoughts or ambitions or just share a happy moment with your friends (or the entire online world) I highly encourage you to start a blog. Sometimes there isn't a friendly ear around to hear your rant. Sometimes you want to say something that isn't short or appropriate enough for Facebook. Sometimes you want to just let your writing talents grow and thrive and there isn't always an appropriate way to let your thoughts out. Starting a blog is a fantastic way to express everything you've go going on inside. Let me clarify, that I firmly believe that blogs should NEVER be used as a way to publicly humiliate someone. Cyber-bullying is a real problem and to use your words as weapons is never okay. Think before you type. Remember who could be affected by your words. With that said, I have to say starting a blog is one of the best decisions I've ever made just for the sake of my own sanity. It's easy for thoughts to get all jumbled up inside your head. What a fantastic way to help organize your thoughts all the while exercising your funny bone.

What an amazing journey these 9 months have been! I'm still in the beginning of my blogging life and while I'm still a very small fish in a very big blog-o-sphere pond, I am forever thankful for my 10 awesome followers. Without you guys, I might not have kept this thing up after the move. Your kind words are more appreciated than you know. And for that, today I want to say Thank You. Thank you for listening to me. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Thank you for never judging me and letting me tell my story, in my words. Thank you for being a friend.

Rest in peace Andrew Gold.

YouTube Tuesday: The New Girl

Hey there strangers! Long time no blog, right? Sorry about that. We are still very much in an adjustment phase at the new house. I promise, once it doesn't look like a bunch squatters with hoarding tendencies live there, I will share pics.

I am also very much in an adjustment phase at work. Every one is really nice here, and it's the same job I've had for like...forever but it's still always strange to become a member of leadership at a new store. It's all like "Hey I just met you, and this is crazy. But this is your job. Do it maybe?" hahaha oh I just kill myself. Just kidding. That was lame and I know it. Anywho, in honor of being the new girl at work I thought I would utilize YouTube Tuesday to share one of my favorite television shows. If you haven't seen Fox's The New Girl yet, you're cray cray. It's bar none one of the funniest shows I've watched.

Zooey Deschanel plays Jess Day, a quirky hipsterette who moves in with three guys after a bad break-up. Jess has serious chemistry with one of the guys, Nick, a bartender with mild hygiene issues. Schmidt is always there to provide douchey comic relief and Winston is not just a token African American character...okay so maybe he is. But he's funny anyway. I hope this clip inspires you to become giant New Girl fans like us...and maybe come over and play The New Girl Drinking Game (that I invented and will share with you on another post).

What up dao?

YouTube Tuesday: 2012 London Olympics

I have a problem. I am utterly obsessed with the Olympics. Like, it's not even remotely ok how much I watch the Olympic games. For the record, I do not have an athletic bone in my body and I normally hate televised sports. Seriously, all televised baseball games should be solely sponsored by Ambien (my apologies to all of my die-hard Rangers fan friends...I just don't get it). So it goes without saying that my utter need to watch every (and I mean every) Olympic game is totes bazaar.

lolz

Rex-Kwon-Do...fashion genius

With the Summer games well under way, I thought it would be fun to review some of the ridiculous things the commentators say. "In this arena tonight are some of the world's best gymnasts."---Umm no shit Sherlock. Alas, there aren't any really good videos compiling all of the stupid comments so far from this year. So in it's stead, here are the 2012 Kitty Cat Olympics. Enjoy!

YouTube Tuesday: How Girls Pack

First off, I want to apologize for the lack of Movie Review Monday yesterday. I only skipped out because, well, I hadn't watched a movie in the past seven days sooo that kind of put me in a tight spot. No new releases, no reruns on TV, not even a juicy/suckfest Lifetime movie. And I know what you're thinking. A giant nerd-ball like you didn't go see The Dark Knight Rises?!?! Nope.


Source

And no, my not going to see TDKR has nothing to do with the tragedy that occurred Friday morning in Aurora, CO. The hubs and I didn't go see it this weekend because we (and by we I mean I) were some box packing mutha-fuggas. I sold a lot of our unnecessary furniture on Craigslist and thus had to clean out a lot of our previously used storage solutions. And by cleaning out I mean I just dumped all that shit into some boxes. After selling our dressers I briefly considered packing all of our clothes except for a 3 week supply. The problem is that I pack like a girl. Normally when I go on vacation I tend to take my entire closet for just a few days. I mean, you never know what is going to come up when you're visiting family and will probably never leave the house....or when you're stranded on a cruise ship and you actually have a schedule of everything that will indeed come up. So reversing this theory, I know in my heart of hearts that I would end up leaving almost my entire closet for the three weeks that we have left in our home and utterly fail at packing anything.

By now you're probably saying to yourself, gee that's really nice. I didn't care to know any of that information whatsoever but...what the fudge does this have to do with YouTube?

Well my bored-out-of-your-minds thoroughly intrigued friends, my friend C introduced me to a series on YouTube called Jenna Marbles (it's ok, I also was worried that it was some sort of porn...it's not). Jenna is this totally adorable young chick who makes hilarious video observations on how people do normal mundane things. This one about packing is so funny I almost peed myself.

This is where you say, "It's funny because it's true" it true Seinfeld form.

YouTube...Wednesday?!?!

Sorry for the delay in YouTube Tuesday guys. I've been outlandishly sick this week. First a stomach virus that the doctor said I probably picked up from eating something weird. Then yesterday I came down with a sinus infection out of nowhere. So today I'm posting yesterday's weekly in between NyQuil induced naps and Pinterest searches for Vick's remedies.

Some of you know that on Friday evening, the hubs and I went to the Summerland Tour concert at the Moody Theater here in Austin. Even though I was sick, it was still the most epic concert of my life. Each act got better and better. By the time the evening ended, I was on cloud 90s (tee hee). Granted that could be due to the vodka+red bulls that I downed like water. I promise I will write a whole post about our evening when I'm feeling better. But just to wet your appetites for now, here is one 90s music video from each band that we saw that night. Remember when music videos were still on TV? Ah those were the good ol' days.

All videos courtesy of YouTube...obviously. On another note, there will be no Wedding Recap Wednesday this week...sorry. I know that's two weeks in a row but I need to go lay down now. Ugh.

YouTube Tuesday: F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

This week I kind of suck as a blogger.

Movie Review Monday was a major disappointment, today I have not a single relevant video for YouTube Tuesday, and due to the holiday, tomorrow there will be no Wedding Recap Wednesday. My apologies to all of you who actually read this drivel.

With that, I leave you a mix of some of the best moments of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. All of us who grew up in the 90s know what an awesome show this was and how it affected American culture as we know it. Rarely does a day go by that I don't catch a rerun at least once. Gotta love syndication.

YouTube Tuesday: Portlandia

Recently, thanks to my friend A, I discovered a little show called Portlandia.

Source

It's a short-based comedy starring and written by Carrie Brownstein and SNL's Fred Armisen on IFC - the Independent Film Channel. The show is centered around the hipster-Mecca, Portland, Oregon. Granted I've never been there, but living in another Hipster Paradise, Austin, I definitely understand everything. Some people take defense as if they're attacking today's progressive lifestyle, but really it's a sort of hubris. Most people I know are guilty of many of the topics that they make fun of. Hell, I saw myself reflected in both the "technology overload" and "put a bird on it" shorts. Even though I constantly bitch about hipsters, I know that compared to my immediate friends and family I'm practically a fat Zoeey Deschanel.


Source

There's a particular short on Portlandia that struck pretty close to home. And by home I mean the place where I spend most of my waking hours, work.

"You want the Simply Everything Plus Plan"
"What's that?"
"It's simply everything...plus text."
OMG...that is freaking hilarious. I know you're supposed to get mad at the Wireless Toyz employee, but I feel for him. Trust me, he doesn't want to be as big of a doucher as he is forced to be.

Thus ends another YouTube Tuesday. Thanks for hanging out with me. Oh, and you can find Season 1 of Portlandia (which includes the episode with this clip) on Netflix.

Portland--it's where young people go to retire.

Inaugural YouTube Tuesday

Earlier today, my friend "Chuck" from work and I were watching some YouTube videos (while on break of course!) and I had a fantastic idea!

Why not start a blog series showcasing a great YouTube video every Tuesday.

This week I bring you one of my favorite new bands Walk The Moon and their song "Anna Sun." This song has been all over the radio the last couple of weeks so I'm sure you've heard it at least once. I really listened to the words today and I couldn't believe how much the chorus described a situation in my life right now.

Those of you who are pretty close to me know that Mr. Catkins and I are in the throws of purchasing a home right now. We've decided to buy an older home close to his family in rural Texas. It is a beautiful home set in a very pretty area of our state. But because it was built almost 50 years ago, it is going to require some serious renovation. It's the kind of house that would make Bob Vila's pants get tight...if ya know what I'm sayin' :)

The chorus of the song goes like this:
"Oh Anna Suuuun! Oh Anna Suuuuunnn! What do ya know? This house is falling apart. What can I say? This house is falling apart. We got no money but we've got ha, ha, heaaarrt. We're gonna rattle this ghost town. This house is falling apart." ***

Our house is not quite falling apart but it needs a lot of work. But that also means we can make it our own. The "we got no money" part is mostly true on my end. I have got to get my spending under control if I am ever going to be comfortable in this life. I have an awesome job and it is a shame that I am not in better control of my finances. But I know I will get there because "we've got ha, ha, heaaaarrt." My better half is amazing when it comes to helping me achieve personal goals...like learning to not blow my entire paycheck at Ikea. And, by George, we ARE going to rattle that ghost town. I just know that we will be leaders in our community some how some way.

Hopefully, our house won't be "fa-fa-falling apart" soon enough. We have big plans for it and we can't wait to make it our own. Don't worry, I'll keep you abreast of all the changes we plan to make. I know that eye-roll you just gave me was one of pure excitement.

***Disclaimer: I usually don't actually know what the words are to songs so this is my best guess. I am the girl who thought Guns N Roses' "Paradise City" was "The Very Last City" well into college. I also thought Whitesnake was like "a twister" born to walk alone...rather than a drifter which actually makes sense. Not to mention AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds are Done Dirt Cheap" will always be "Dirty Deads THUNDER CHIEF!" to me. Oy! I swear, if I didn't know myself better, I would think I'm a total weirdo.