School has started, so that means that my reading list is currently dominated by books similar to History of Philosophy: a Short Narrative, volume 25563, or Lombroso's Genius & Insanity, or all the other equally exciting books. I'm going to be posting about them, for sure, but my comments will only be relatively intelligent.

For Japanese Lit Challenge, I'm currently reading Murakami's Wild Sheep Chase, having finished Flight of a Butterfly. I really want to talk about both of these books in detail, and I shall. Soon.

As far as other media goes, I've picked up Charmed again. Am currently on S04. Gossip Girl's new season has begun on September 1, but I have yet to finish S01, so I'm not watching it yet.

To my general horror, I've also read about four Harlequin novels lately. I figure this is the only kind of book I can process after coming home from uni & work, and instead of simply not reading anything, I pick anything with letters and go on.

Okay, I lie a bit. My original intention was research. I wanted to read a couple of romance novels to see if it's a type of book I can possibly write (I do this sometimes w/ other usually overlooked by me genres). It has been decided since then that I can't, but as there are still about four of them lying next to my bed, I just pick them up and scan through them as I fall asleep.

A more substantial post coming.

Labels: alma mater, anthro, books, challenges, charmed, japanese literature challenge 2, murakami, tv

*flails* Please do not expect coherence.

I still dislike Jenny Humphrey. For some reason, Serena feels a bit ... different. I used to like her more.

And damn, I wish I had a Chuck to visit after receiving some menacing note from hell. :P Chuck isn't the loveliest person out there, but he's one of my absolute favourites so far. No, seriously, it's got little to do with my Bad Boy Fetish. He just seems like a very complex character.

Monday (Tuesday for me) can't come soon enough.

Labels: gossip girl, tv

Somebody ought to kill me. When I first watched the pilot episode of Gossip Girl, I brushed it off as yet another teen drama, so automatically I had no interest in watching it, and I didn't even finish the first episode.

About two weeks passed, and for the reason now irrelevant I decided to give the pilot another go. Then there was the second episode. Then the third. In two days I was done with all 13 episodes currently released, all giddy and demanding moar.

What do I love about this series? I don't even know, to be sure. There's style. Oh, I love how everything is styled. Then there's plot. I haven't read the GG books (from what I've read online, the TV version took liberties), but damn, I love all the plot twist & turns the series undergoes. Then there's memories. I'm not saying that I was a happy-go-lucky NY Upper East Side kid, but I was raised in a similar local atmosphere, so I just... I don't know. I wanted to be a teen all over again. :P

Or maybe not. One of the things I enjoy most about the series is the interaction between Rufus Humphrey & Lilly van der Woodsen. Who are old and weathered, as far as the teen audience of the show is concerned. I, on the other hand, absolutely love them, and get very happy when they get some screen time.

But, who are my favourite characters, you ask? Well, it's Blair Waldorf and Chuck Bass, of course! (Not necessarily together.) Knowing me, it's not surprising. I love me a certain type of character.

I mean, Serena is nice. Dan is nice. They're... Well, they're nice. That's about it. They're not exactly 2-D, but they're nice.

My least favourite character? So far, it's Jenny Humphrey. Don't know why, I can't quite put my finger on it yet. But I just happen not to like her, dramatically. Another character I often want to slap is Blair's mother, Eleanor Waldorf. Blair's no ray of sunshine, but I can certainly see why. I relate to the girl, somehow.

Anyway, so I am desperately waiting for April 21. Or was it 22? Knowing my luck, it'll be May before I get to watch the next episode. OMG, so excited!

Please excuse me while I go and browse endless amounts of Gossip Girl imagery.

Labels: gossip girl, tv

(Note: If you haven't yet watched the show and are considering it, please refrain from reading the post below, since I throw in a spoiler or three for S1-S3 of Charmed.)

I'm up to Season 3 in Charmed, and haven't really talked about the series much, have I?

Truth is, I find it hard to talk about TV series unless I really, really like it, and while I find Charmed quite enjoyable, I probably wouldn't rec it to most people.

Season One came and went for me -- aside from various demon backgrounds and BoS design, nothing has really captured my attention. I did not enjoy the romance storyline much, and what I was really interested in -- inter-relationships between the three sisters -- was not developed enough for me. I was very sad when Andy had died, though. He was far from being my favourite character, and his relationship with Prue hardly interested me, but it's always sad to see a character die. I did find it a bit anti-climatic, though; but it's not necessarily a bad thing.

Season Two, now that I think of it, I can't quite recall, with an exception of a couple of episodes -- like 2.05 (She's a Man, Baby, a Man!), wherein Prue turns into a guy, and 2.09 (Ms. Hellfire), where she assumes the identity of a hitwoman. It's been quite amusing. 2.14 (Pardon My Past) has been quite nice also. Overall, I loved it that S2 paid much more attention to relationships between sisters.

I'll talk about Season Three later, once I actually finish it (I've a couple more episodes left to go).

As far as characters go, I'm constantly turned between love for Prue and Phoebe. Prue (visually) reminds me very much of my Mother when she was younger. I even told Mum about that, and she's agreed. My very loved person from the series is Darryl Morris. I don't know, I'm constantly charmed (uh, bad unintentional pun) by the guy. I figure he's like a breath of fresh air in the middle of all the magical demon hunting and constant romance underlines and sisterly womanly schemes. Leo can't quite grow on me the way I want him to grow on me -- and I think it's got something to do with the fact that he's a Whitelighter and is therefore too 2-D good for my tastes. I love me some spark of evil.

Which leads me to Cole, with whom I was instantly enamoured, very much like Phoebe. I find it hard to watch the last remaining episodes of S3, both because of the impending doom of Prue being killed, and because Cole is caught and is in trouble. I get very affected by characters' well-being, I have to take breaks.

Thassit for now, I'll talk about S3 later.

Labels: charmed, tv