I apparently still exist.

Hi again everyone who may actually stumble across this. I realize that I basically failed at life for 2009. I really wasn't in any mental state to write anything close to funny or entertaining. If I had known my life was going to be so turned upside-down a few months after I began this blog project, I probably would've thought twice about even beginning it... I hate to start something and fail to follow through. And it seemed like everytime I felt like maybe I could get started with semi-regular updates again, I'd have another bout of sadness and be set back a few steps. It was rough for awhile.

I'm getting more on track as the months go by. Or I'm at least so busy that I don't have time to sit and feel empty and sad. I want to write again, I really do, and now I'm finally feeling like maybe I could have it in me to get updates out. But of course, now that I'm starting to feel that way I'm also insanely busy and have no free time. I just started an MFA program in playwriting. I moved last month, and I started classes right after Labor Day. I had to buy a complete new bedroom set and desk right after the move plus make all my previous stuff fit into a tiny space. And I'm still keeping my full-time job as a copyeditor. Because I'm insane. I have to fit 35 hours per week of work into my schedule of two writing workshops that involve constant drafting and revising, plus I need to put in 50 hours of work each semester at the theater my program is part of. So things are kind of crazy right now. I'm tired all the time. The only good thing is that I work from home, so even if I start work at 7:30 in the morning, I can wake up around 7:00, feed my cats, and make some coffee before turning the computer on.

Anyway, so the point of all this is that while I'm here and in better emotional shape than the last few times I attempted this, I am so pressed for time right now that I can't promise updates in any regular pattern. I miss writing this blog--it was fun watching and recapping shows, some of which I hadn't seen in years. I still want to do it, and I will whenever time allows me to. My program will be over by the end of next summer, and I'll have all the time in the world after that. If anyone out there wants to keep in touch, feel free to check me out on my livejournal at http://februarystar27.livejournal.com/ ...although I really must warn you that I write in really tiny font over there because of some weird social anxiety-related issue that if I write really tiny then less people read it and laugh at me. :) I took a good six-month hiatus from that journal too during my complete mess of an existence of the past nine months or so, but I've started to at least try to write there again. There's way less effort involved in that than there is in trying to do recaps that I feel should have some level of entertainment value to others. :P

So, once again, thank you to anyone who's been checking out for updates even though I haven't been able to do any. When I get some free time on a weekend here and there I will definitely post a real update again. I haven't forgotten this place at all... I just probably started this blog at one of the worst times in my life to take on something like this. :P

Sorry, everyone!

A new comment on my last post finally prodded me into coming back here. I'm really sorry everyone. I meant to come back after Thanksgiving with a new post, but my whole world just took a sharp downturn right around then and I've had a really rough couple of months. I didn't feel up to writing much of anything. But I do want to come back. Hopefully soon. I'm sorry.

"I gotta go now, my ride's finally here": Are You Afraid of the Dark, 1.12 - The Tale of the Prom Queen

I was thinking about doing another Hey Dude recap since I've only had one so far, but my Hey Dude dvds have really messed-up volume, so I'm going with an Are You Afraid of the Dark episode. I wasn't planning on doing many recaps of this show since another blog already exists for it, but I'll throw a few in here and there for variety.

Memories:

The thing that sticks out to me from the show in general is that creepy-ass clown doll (or whatever it was) in the opening credits. That thing was freakier than most of the things that appeared in the actual episodes. The episode that scared me the most was that one where the girl and her older brother sneak up to the apartment on the top floor of their building, where these aliens in disguise invite them to play games that are really tests of how the girl would adapt to conditions on their planet, and at the end it's revealed that she is the aliens' daughter and they bring her home. The aliens' faces had no eyes or nose or mouth, and that really freaked me out. And at one point, the mother alien talks to the girl by appearing on her TV set at night when the TV wasn't turned on. That scared me so much that for awhile I unplugged my TV before bed every night. I'm such a loser. 

Anyway, from this episode in particular, I  remember the creepy old car playing "In the Still of the Night" as it drives off into the distance at the end and disappears as it drives through the graveyard gates. To this day, that song always sounds creepy to me. It's the backing vocals.

Recap:

I usually list the main characters in my first recap of a particular show, but there's no real major characters to this show because each episode has a different cast. I tried making a list of the Midnight Society members, but it's hard to describe them without visuals since lots of them have no real distinguishing characteristics. But anyway, this show revolved around a group of teens who called themselves the Midnight Society and met in the woods once a week at night to tell each other scary stories. I refer you once again to the Are You Afraid of the Dark blog where you can find screencaps for details because I am not skilled enough to put any together myself.

A ghostly figure in a white dress with a veil over her face glides toward the campfire, where the members of the Midnight Society are sitting around bored, complaining that scheduled storyteller Kristen (the blond girl) is late. They notice the approaching ghostly figure and freak out, but surprise! It's only Kristen, played by a young Rachel Blanchard. Kristen is literally the polaroid of perfection. She could be a part-time model (but she'd probably still have to work her normal job). Apparently being scary involves talking in a weird accent, because Kristen launches into her story in a vaguely foreign "fortune teller" accent. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, she calls this story "The Tale of the Prom Queen." It's business time.

We're in a graveyard, because this show is full of originality, where a girl in mom jeans is leaving flowers at a grave. She hears mysterious laughter as she's walking away, but she ignores it. Something jumps out in front of her face! --But don't worry, it's just birds. She should know that nothing scary really happens until right before the commercial break. Someone else jumps out at her, and she screams, but it's only two random guys whose idea of fun is apparently hanging out in a graveyard. The guys introduce themselves as Greg and Jam, and judging by their names,  Greg is obviously the "nice guy" and Jam is the asshole who thinks he's cool but is really pretty lame. He has feathery hair. Super cool. Jam tells Dede (the girl) that Saturday is prom night--the night of the prom queen. Dede turns to look at him in recognition of those words but then plays it off like she's never heard about this legend. Could that be significant? 

They tell her the story of a girl a long time ago who for some reason was waiting for her prom date outside the cemetery (did emo kids exist back in the 50s?), but it was a foggy night, and a car struck her in a fatal hit-and-run. They found her and buried her a few days later in her prom dress. Because that isn't weird at all. Every year on prom night, it is believed that the ghost of the prom queen returns to this spot, waiting for the ride that never comes. Greg and Jam have been looking for a grave that might be hers, and Dede thinks it sounds kind of cool and offers to help. Jam just said "let's go ghost hunting, boys and ghouls." No wonder he has nothing better to do with his life than hang out in a graveyard.

Greg points out that they should probably make sure that there really was a car accident, otherwise they could be searching for nothing. So they head off to the local library to scan old newspapers on microfilm. yay! I always thought searching old newspapers on microfilm was so cool. I'm such a loser. But not as big a loser as Jam. They find the article they're looking for in 1956. Judy Larson had been waiting for her boyfriend Ricky to pick her up, but Ricky never got the message. Ricky also accidentally drove his 1955 Chevy off a bridge, so there were two tragic deaths that night. God, it sounds like one of those smarmy 1950s doo-wop teenybopper love songs. "Oh where oh where can my baby be" and such. Oh, weird! Someone apparently created a video of that song I just quoted using clips from this episode. We think alike. Dede seems really concerned by news of Ricky's death... could that be a clue? During all of this, the doorknob to their room starts to open slowly. Oh no! Could it be the librarian out to get them? It is! And even worse, she's bringing tea! Frightening.

Dede comes up with the idea to help Judy by trying to contact Ricky and telling him to pick her up. Dede uses the word "keen," which confuses Greg, and I wish the writers would stop beating me over the head with their clever little clues. They meet that night and travel to the bridge where Ricky's car went over, and they rent a boat (after dark?) to head out to just under the bridge to hold a seance. Dede leads the seance, and creepy things start to happen. They start to hear a bubbling noise in the water, which Jam is afraid is being caused by a rusty Chevy. Dede tells Ricky's spirit to pick up Judy by the cemetery, and the bubbling noises get louder. The three get freaked out and row away as quickly as possible. 

The next day, prom night, the kids find the grave of Judy Larson at the graveyard. They wait in a spot where they can see both the grave and the gate at the same time. Greg is whining about getting cold. But then they hear windchimes, which obviously means it's a ghost because ghosts carry windchimes. Ha... and then a ghostly figure carrying windchimes appears. I had meant my windchimes comment to be snarky, but then it actually happened. Greg cautiously approaches the ghostly figure... but it is only Jam's cousin who was set up to scare Greg and Dede. Jam is enjoying this and thought Greg was going to "have a cow." Jam is totally awesome. 

Greg and Jam are fighting when Dede notices a shadowy old car coming out through the fog. It is, of course, a '55 Chevy creepily playing "In The Still of the Night" on its radio. Dede is letting her hair down and freakishly singing along with "In the Still of the Night." Greg is all "wtf???" as Dede spins around and is suddenly wearing an elegant ball gown. Shocker! She is really Judy Larson! I never saw it coming. Turns out Dede's her nickname--her real name is Judy (is Dede ever a normal nickname for Judy?). She gets into the car with ghost-Ricky and they head off through the cemetery gates as the car slowly disappears.

Random Thoughts:

-Wikipedia tells me that this show was released on dvd. Is this true? It wasn't part of the Nick Rewind collection, which makes sense given that it wasn't a Nick original. Was it released only in Canada or something? Any Canadian readers out there know anything about this?

-Ricky's Chevy is pink. Umm... creepy?

-So, if Dede didn't know that Ricky was dead, was she leaving flowers at her own grave in the first scene? That's really sad and pathetic.

-My dvd kept skipping near the end. It got really annoying. All the more reason to track down this supposed official release dvd.

"TV or not TV--that is the question": Clarissa Explains It All, 1.03 - No TV

I'm trying really hard to get back to somewhat regular posting with this blog. That being said, I also decided at the last minute to take part in "NaPlWriMo" or National Playwriting Month. It's the playwriting version of NaNoWriMo, where the goal is to write a 75-page play in one month. I think I mentioned it in this blog before, but I'll be starting up an MFA in playwriting next fall (unless I can't make the financials work out, which would be sad). I've had ten days of writing so far, and I am at the top of page 32. Not too bad. But I'm also trying to be rededicated to this blog, so I'll do my best to juggle both this month.

Memories:

The thing I remember most about this episode was when Clarissa and Ferguson are arguing over the TV, and their remotes turn into lightsaber-like swords and they start fighting with them, and then Janet walks in and says in a Darth Vader-ish voice "That's it. No more TV." I loved that scene.

Recap:

Clarissa is spying on her family from outside. She reports that Janet has declared no TV for a week to build some family togetherness. She says that she believes it was Karl Marx who said that religion is the opiate of the people and wonders what he would've thought of TV--perhaps it's the potato chips of the people? And, as Clarissa notes, potatoes do have some nutritional value.

The Darlings are sitting in the quiet living room. Marshall is working on a project for his job, Janet is creating a home library card-catalog system, and Ferguson is pretending to read while playing a hand-held video game inside the book. Clarissa, because she is awesome, is staring at the blank TV screen in protest, because it's a "great way to make parents suffer." The family tries to think of something to talk about and sits in silence for a few seconds. Marshall finally remembers a funny story to tell--he was walking by a clothing store and the sweater in the window looked so familiar, and he finally realized that it was one Bill Cosby had worn on The Cosby Show. Soon, Clarissa, Ferguson, and Marshall are laughing over memories of the Cosby episode. Janet disapproves.

Clarissa tells us the story how the family got into this sorry state. A Star Wars-like graphic that reads "Control Wars" flies across a starry background as Clarissa tells us of two warring tribes fighting over control of the TV. She and Ferguson were fighting over the remote, until one day Clarissa sent away for this super-remote that lets her change channels from 30 miles away. Then, all-out war breaks out, and Clarissa and Ferguson lightsaber-battle with their remotes until Darth Vader Janet enters and announces "That's it. No more TV."

Ferguson sucks up to his mother and says he couldn't agree with her decision more. He tries to make it sound like he's spending his time reading educational astronomy books, but as Clarissa points out, it is a book of the complete scripts of Star Trek. The phone rings, and it's Clarissa's friend Jody! Continuity! Jody asks her what she's watching, and she doesn't understand what Clarissa is saying when Clarissa says she's not watching anything. Clarissa tells her mother that without TV she will fall behind the cultural level of her peers and asks where else she can experience the "vast wasteland that we call the 20th century." And she misses Johnny Depp.

Clarissa is up in her room, staring at an empty space where an animated TV is drawn in. She had to turn in her bedroom TV to her mother. Sam enters through the window. He invites Clarissa over, but unfortunately, Janet has decreed that they must be a family together, while Clarissa just wants to be "a family apart, like normal people." She asks Sam to watch this weekend's episode of The Simpsons for her and to tell her what happens to DJ on Full House. And now I miss my childhood.

The next day in Clarissa's room, Sam comes over with a TV scanner for Clarissa, who also has a gigantic roll of wire in her room in an attempt to get a TV signal on her computer. She plans to use her Captain Video's Home Broadcasting and Reception software, and along with a satellite dish on the roof, she should be able to receive signals from around the world by using Sam's "scanning digitzer" to digitze the signals and create the image on her computer. I am loving the 90s pre-internet-ness of this episode. Janet comes up to tell Clarissa that lunch is ready and makes no comment about the giant roll of wire in her bedroom.

In the kitchen, Clarissa tells her mother she's thinking of joining a radical feminist folk-singing group. Ha. Or a fanatic religious cult where you have to shave your head, paint it red, and worship lima beans. Janet is clearly not listening and just says "that's nice dear" to everything, until Clarissa tries to slip in the prospect of maybe just watching some TV, and Janet tells her to forget it. Clarissa gives us a Special Report on "A World Without TV: One Family's Story." Marshall is running around the house fixing things that weren't broken. Janet is making weird health food combinations that would make Dawn Schafer happy such as "alfalfa parfait" and is also getting kind of cranky. Ferguson has passed out at the table and has made the shape of a whale with his drool. Classy. Marshall gets a phone call about a Lakers/Knicks game that's tied in the fourth quarter and runs to the TV. The kids and Janet follow. Janet asks if they're forgetting something, and Ferguson says yes, they forgot halftime snacks. But if the game's in the fourth quarter then halftime is already passed. Good job, writers. Janet's pissed that Marshall would consider breaking her no TV rule. And Marshall is obviously not happy with missing the game.

Whoa. Sam just entered through the front door. Crazy. Sam and the Darlings sit in awkward silence for a few seconds while Janet tries to make small talk with him. Clarissa begs for the return of the TV because it's been a whole entire day. They start up a game of charades, which Clarissa uses as a ruse to set up a signal booster to the downstairs cable for her computer before acting out the charade for "TV repairman." I didn't even realize the TV was broken--I thought it was just voluntarily turned off. Janet's angry that they can't think of anything but TV.

Clarissa and Sam are up in Clarissa's room talking about how weird Janet's being. She likes TV too and grew up with it, "when Laugh-In wasn't in reruns" as Clarissa points out. Clarissa thinks something weird is going on--today she caught Janet spraying aerosol air freshener in the kitchen, when she's usually a total environmentalist. They hook up Clarissa's computer TV, but all they can get is a Russian Home Shopping channel selling potatoes. Sam thinks that's kind of cool, but a loud electric spark kills the power. Clarissa thinks the cable booster must have overloaded. Downstairs, Marshall had apparently tried to turn on the TV when it exploded. Janet comes in to see what the noise was, and she's smoking a cigarette, which she hasn't done in forever. Marshall and Clarissa think that's very weird. She says she needed to calm her nerves because the family was driving her crazy. Can they show smoking on Nick now, even if it's an adult and everyone else comments on how gross it is? Marshall notices Clarissa's cable booster, and Clarissa confesses her computer scheme and offers them a deal on Ukrainian potatoes. Ferguson comes downstairs, looking like he's been through an explosion and screaming about how he won Mega Man 12, even though I don't think that game existed in 1991 or if the series ever even got up to 12. He stops his celebration short when he notices Janet smoking, which he also thinks is very weird.

Clarissa is outside, telling us that now the TV, computer, and Ferguson's "Game Pack" are all in for repairs, so now it's no TV for real (see? It wasn't broken last time... so why did Clarissa act out "TV repairman"?). Janet has thrown away her secret stash of cigarettes. Clarissa thinks it's gross that her mother used to smoke in high school and thinks that sometimes what you don't know about your parents you really don't want to know. She goes back in the living room where Sam and the Darlings are playing another round of charades, more spiritedly this time. Clarissa tells us that she thinks it was famous mime Marcel Marceau who said, "The family that plays charades together, stays together."

Random Thoughts:

-Ha. Clarissa calls Ferguson "pimple-head."

-Sam says he and his dad watch the generically named "sports network" all the time now.

-Sam's really into surfing in this episode because he and his dad got into it. He wears tie-dye and neon "surfer" clothes through the entire episode. The sad thing is that they probably didn't look too outrageous in 1991.

"Trick-or-treat, gutbucket!": The Adventures of Pete and Pete, 2.07 - Halloweenie

First off, thanks to everyone who's actually reading this, because it's been forever and I feel terrible about that. And secondly, I'm sorry for starting up again on yet another Pete and Pete episode, but it is one of the few Halloween specials I can find. I had really wanted to recap the Marc Summers Halloween special, but I searched everywhere and couldn't find it. For a nice little summary of it though, including some screenshots and a few clips, you can look here. And now onto the first recap in months!

Memories:

I love this episode of Pete and Pete. Like Yellow Fever, it's one of my favorites of the series. I love when they take something mundane and make it seem meaningful and important. And I love Big Pete's introverted take on everyday life. This episode focuses on the internal conflict of smashing a pumpkin, and I related to that a lot because it always made me so sad to see a crushed rotting pumpkin on the ground... it was like smashed innocence on the sidewalk to me. So Big Pete's little moral dilemma resonated with me because I too was a quiet kid who tended to overthink just about everything.

Recap:

Big Pete reflects on losing his Halloween spirit, which Little Pete is pretty pissed off about. He has big dreams of breaking the Wellsville trick-or-treating record by going to the most houses in one night. Little Pete and Nona hear from the local crossing guard that a gang called the Pumpkin Eaters will be out in full force on Halloween night, ready to smash pumpkins and steal candy from kids who haven't gotten old and jaded yet. The crossing guard says that if they don't stop the Pumpkin Eaters this year, this will be Wellsville's last Halloween.

Big Pete tells Ellen that he's sick of Halloween and happy that this year might be the last one ever. They walk into an alley of smashed pumpkins, including one that somehow managed to survive. Pete used to hate the site of a smashed pumpkin, but his growing jadedness is causing him to finally understand the sentiment behind it. The background becomes all blackscreened and Ellen whispers to him to smash it because he knows he wants to and no one's looking. Pete does, and instantly feels guilty. A Pumpkin Eater, who is bully Endless Mike with a jack-o-lantern on his head as a mask, has been watching this entire scene. Endless Mike is endlessly awesome. "Pete Wrigley! You have tasted the dark side!" heehee. And then his sidekick goon adds, "And it tastes like chicken!" A second goon asks if anyone else's pumpkin smells like tangerines, and a third agrees with him and admits to licking his once. Well, then.

Pete and Nona get attacked by the Pumpkin Eaters on the night before Halloween--shaving cream, toilet paper, the whole deal. Big Pete feels like he's somehow to blame because of the bad karma over the pumpkin he smashed. Nona's "Pop" (ha! I love how that reference totally went over my head as a kid) won't allow her to go trick-or-treating anymore, so Little Pete's dreams of breaking the record seem to be shot. (Edit: Nona's dad is played by Iggy Pop.) Big Pete feels guilty and offers to go trick-or-treating with him, even though he must be, like, 16? That is crazy.

Ellen agrees with me. She reminds Pete of Ned Richmond, a kid in their class last year who got caught trick-or-treating at age 15 and wound up tied to a tree by the Pumpkin Eaters with "WEENIE" written across his costume. The fact that he went dressed as a sailor probably didn't help his cause much. Now nobody will go near him, not even in the yearbook, where he is on a page by himself, his photo hanging upside down like he was in the tree, under the caption "Weenie."

The Petes dress up as astronauts, complete with masks covering their faces and technology that allows them to pee in their spacesuits. And walkie-talkies, which I used to think was so cool. Little Pete pees in his suit and proclaims, "ahh, science." Disgusting. They trick-or-treat all over town, and Big Pete starts to feel his Halloween spirit returning.

But the Pumpkin Eaters are out in full force, trashing the neighborhood and scaring little kids. The Petes zig-zag across their neighborhood trying to avoid them. But they wind up at the house of Ned Richmond, the pathetic kid who was caught last year. He answers the door in full costume and recognizes Pete, saying "Maybe we can go together next year Wriggles." I always loved when he called him Wriggles. Big Pete is shaken and wants to give up, which pisses Little Pete off. Little Pete vows to beat the record himself as Big Pete runs home, but the Pumpkin Eaters ambush him and chase him down the street.

Big Pete ducks into a closed haunted house, hoping to lose the Pumpkin Eaters, and scoffs at the lame-ness of all the decorations. Little Pete hears him on the walkie-talkies and calls him a traitor. Endless Mike jumps out at Big Pete and proclaims "tag--you're dead!" and the rest of his gang pops out of the shadows. Endless Mike calls Pete the "biggest Halloweenie of them all" while Little Pete reaches the last house and turns on his walkie-talkie to rub it in Pete's face. He overhears Pete pleading "What do you want from me?" and Endless Mike responding "Nothing... except your soul!" followed by maniacal laughter and knows his brother is in trouble.

The gang wants to tie Pete from the goalpost, or perhaps to the roof of their car and drive him around town all night. That is kind of awesome. But Endless Mike has something special planned for Pete. Pete asks what they're going to do to him, and I'm getting a very "Luke Skywalker vs. the Emperor" vibe from this scene (only that vibe is coming from the original version of the film, not that crappy digitally enhanced version). Endless Mike says that he saw Pete smash the pumpkin yesterday, and now he's here hating Halloween even more. "Just like you?" Pete replies. Yeah, totally a Star Wars vibe. Endless Mike tells Pete to smash the pumpkin he has in his hand and that together they can take down Halloween forever. Pete asks, "And if I don't?" and Endless Mike says, "Two words. Ned. Richmond."

Big Pete is all inner-conflict-y and feels the power he has to destroy Halloween coursing through him, but his inner child wins out and he instead smashes Endless Mike's mask open to reveal his identity. Somehow Pete is shocked to discover that it was Endless Mike, as if it wasn't obvious the entire time. Even Endless Mike thinks that is ridiculous, as he says, "What'd you expect, Mr. Tastee?" He instructs the gang to "fry the weenie," but it is Little Pete to the rescue! He gave up his visit to the last house and, with the help of the crossing guard, came to save Big Pete. Which I never understood. It would've taken two seconds to ring that last house's doorbell first. But whatever.

The next morning, the Pumpkin Eaters are charged with cleaning up the neighborhood they destroyed. Endless Mike is scrubbing Nona's father's front porch, and in quite possibly the most awesome reference ever, Nona's dad comes out, hands him a Q-tip, and says, "You missed a spot. Stooge." Again, totally went over my head as a kid, but great. The Petes didn't break the record, but they managed to save Halloween for years to come and know that they will never again lose their Halloween spirit.

Random Thoughts:

-The crossing guard refers to the night before Halloween as "devil's night." But on Are You Afraid of the Dark they called it "mischief night." I had never heard of either of these before seeing these shows. Which one is more common?

-Big Pete says that his brother is taking the news that this Halloween may be the last "like someone punched his soul." hee.

-The black-and-white "old footage" of the famous kids who broke the record years ago dressed as ghosts is sooo creepy looking. There's something unsettling about it.

-Little Pete tells one of the people at the house they're trick-or-treating at, "You know the routine. Hustle." That was awesome. I wish I'd been brave enough to say things like that as a kid.

-Another awesome Little Pete comment, from after Big Pete has ditched him: "Hey Blowhole... in 45 minutes, I'm going to famous. And you know what you're going to be? ...a blowhole!"

-Polaris' "Waiting for October" runs over the closing credits, and I love that song.

-In my search for the Marc Summers special, I managed to come across this old Nick Halloween-related bumper, which I totally remember, and this ad about a kid who won Nick-or-Treat and got, among other things, his weight in M&Ms. Such a cool prize. I wonder where that kid is today.

Apologies... new post is on the way!

This is me sitting down to write a new blog entry! yay! I'm sorry it's been since Labor Day that I had a real entry up. I have like 300 pages of reading every week for the class I'm in. I haven't even been able read all the blogs I'm linked to that I love reading. I seriously feel like I've dropped off the face of the earth since September. So I apologize for that. My problem is that I had a really nice schedule down before I moved in August, where I'd watch my episode on Friday and get the writing done over the weekend. But that was thrown completely upside down when I moved because lots of my weekends were spent bouncing back to my family's house where it is impossible to get anything done. And then Mondays and Tuesdays are completely devoted to reading for class, which sucks up Wednesday night, and I usually feel drained after that. I need to figure out a new schedule and stick to it. But anyway, I am sitting down to watch the only Halloween-related episode I could find, and the update will be up whenever I'm done writing about it.

epic fail.

Well, I officially fail at being a blogger. I haven't been able to update in forever because the English class I signed up for is way more of a timesuck than I'd expected. And I'm applying for a fellowship and the application is due at the end of this week, so I've been a little panicky lately about getting everything submitted on time. But still, no excuse for not writing. I'm thinking about altering the blog setup somewhat when I'm finally able to relax and get my next entry up. I might have to do short summaries but add more "Random Thoughts" bullets at the end, because as it is now my summaries are way too long and take hours to finish. And if the recaps take me less time to write, it will be easier to find time to get them done in between my class and everything else. So, slightly new format coming soon ("soon" being sometime after this Friday when I can finally put this mess of a fellowship application behind me). I feel bad that this blog has taken on somewhat of a "life of a soon-to-be grad student" subplot lately. I hope to be back onto the fun topic of Nickelodeon nostalgia very soon, because it's a much more enjoyable topic to focus on.