Once a Star Wars fan...

I still have this embarrassingly huge love for Star Wars. My mom is a pretty big Star Wars crazy and she just passed it down to me, genetically like. Here are five ways that Star Wars prepared me at a young and impressionable age for a long life of fandom crazy.


Han and Leia. They paved the way for my shipping habits in the future. Obsessive shipping for one and the belief that I can always win a shipping war. I fell in love with Sawyer and Kate because they were LOST's Han and Leia. And my current favorites (like these wonderful couples) all have constant bickering in common with Han and Leia. To me, true love is lots of arguing.


Fan Junk. I have a large plastic storage box filled with my figurines and merch. Yeah. And of course, I have a light saber and my first fandom teeshirt ever had Yoda on it. Star Wars threw me full force into crazy-fan-land and I've never recovered.


The Hero Story. Obviously Star Wars was one of my first experiences with The Hero Story. You know, dead parents, raised-by-another, side-kicks, white haired mentor, prophecy, cunning villain, sacrifice, power-of-love, and so on! I just really like The Hero Story.


Space Ships. The Falcon prepped me for love affairs I would have with other ships later on in my life. Serenity and Moya obviously. (Side note: I'd love to have cats named after my favorite space ship, how cute would that be!?)


Soundtracks. Star Wars definitely was my first soundtrack experience. Movie soundtracks since then have been one of my favorite genres of music. They're great studying music too. I even listen to soundtrack to movies I've never seen like Amelie and The Brothers Bloom.

Today was just lots of school and tea. But HEY HEY AGE OF ADZ IS STREAMING ON NPR! So at least my music was awesome.

The Keebler Elf

I love Keebler cookies. They are by far the best cookie brand. I don't really eat cookies anymore (ugh, being healthy, who needs it?) but when we were little and could pick a pack of cookies every Saturday, it was always Keebler. They're uber summery too, because we used to bring packs of them to the park. So behold, my seven favorite Keebler creations.


Double Stuffed El Fudge. I remember my mom went to a friend's house for a Bible study and brought a package of these and I was livid that I didn't get any.


Vienna Fingers. The old standby. The cookie for the masses.


Rainbow Chips Deluxe. These were my grandmothers favorite cookie. They are epic and you can eat the rainbow chips out.


Pecan Sandies. My little siblings hated nuts for the first few years of their lives, so there were a few dark and lonesome Pecan Sandiesless summers.


Peanut Butter Cups. The only peanut butter cookie in the world with actual peanut butter cups.


Grasshoppers. My dad has a bad habit of buying a box of these that he declares are his and his alone.


Deluxe Grahams. Put them in the freezer and then scrape the chocolate coating off with your teeth.

Today I need to do laundry, go to the gym, and do German translations and I really wanted to draw a bit and we have to pack for the weekend and there is definitely no time in there for a Farscape binge which sucks because tomorrow we're lending season 4 to the Dooleys who are moving to NJ.

Old music, kinda

Or songs that I like that are from the 1960-80's.


I Think I Love You, David Cassidy. Gah, this song, it's like that one song that is always stuck in my head no matter what I do.


Tainted Love, Soft Cell. One of my mom's songs of her ~youth. It's crazy addictive.


I am a Rock, Simon and Garfunkel. YUSS THIS SONG! One of my favorite songs to sing dramatically while flinging my arms.


Help me Rhonda, The Beach Boys. Honestly, those Beach Boys are on of the only bands that I will listen to everything.


Hey Jude, The Beatles. Favorite Beatles song, the end.


Make your Own Kinda Music, Mama Cass. Desmond likes this song, and that is good enough for me.

So today Hannah and Mom and I went into Park Slope and ate a lot and I bought a book at Community Bookstore. And then I spent over an hour on Craigslist looking at weird job opportunities.

Children's Romance

I love romance in kids books even better then in adult books. Children's romances are always more subtle (a good thing, take note authors of the world), more happy and just more adorable. Enjoy the following mixture of fanart and illustrations.
Disclaimer: Due to the depressing lack of Ember and Casson fanart, I found images that looked right, although are not originally from said fandom.


Howl and Sophie from the Moving Castle series. Diana Wynne Jones can say so much in so few words. You never get sweeping displays of affection, yet Howl and Sophie are one of the most romantic couples ever. They spend more then half of their time bickering, and the rest of it saving lives, while tossing Morgan back and forth between them.


Lina and Doon from the Ember series. There was never any doubting how perfect they were for each other.. but you know, in the first book Lina is like 12. I was a stressful journey getting to the end, because sometimes the author does not know what is best, but it ended perfectly. Once again, subtlety is everything.


Betsy and Joe, from the Bets-Tacy series. They are my all time favorite book couple. The way their relationship grows through the books... It's terribly romantic, yet so gradual, every time I read the books I find some other clue or phrase, and I'm like, of course! Does this make sense? I doubt I could ever condense my love for them into a few lines.


Ron and Hermione from the Harry Potter series. I knew they were destined from the second book, JK threw all that subtext in and you could either pick it up or ignore it, but they were always destined. And then at the end, the Epic Kiss, and it's not surprising, you want to just scream "FINALLY" at them.


Caddy and Michael from the Casson series. They are just crazy and epic. You hear their story completely from other people's points-of-view, so it can be very confusing and sometimes you literally have to decode what is going on between them. Attention to detail is everything in these books. Like, how long did it take to get that Daphne was made up? Or that Caddy was pregnant?


Shasta and Aravis from the Narnia series. They are really the only definite romance in the Narnia books, even though they're so young at the start. But they're totally adorable, and like everyone else on this list, like to fight a lot. Hm. I just wish we had gotten more from them, one book was not enough.

I feel bad for doubting Amy Pond. I'm not a huge fan of sassy female characters, I prefer those who seem to be reincarnated from Civil War generals (Olivia, Scully). But Amy is pretty all-around adorable, and like literally insane. And it took me all of two minutes to forget the name of Tennant. Matt Smith is a sexy, sexy beast.

Disney Restaurants = Disney Magic

My family can agree on two things, Disney and food. So we go to Disney World to eat, above all. Come and drool over my top 10 favorite Disney World dining spots. (We actually agree on two more things. Aliens and Musicals. And oddly, those have large parts to play while eating in Disney.)


Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe. Quick service in Future World. There is an animatronic alien, singing jazz. The burgers are amazing. It's always packed, and I can never get enough.


The Garden Grill. This restaurant goes around in a circle, above The Land ride. The food tastes so fresh and amazing. They have turkey with orange relish, oatmeal rolls, fresh salads...


Le Cellier. The restaurant in Canada in Epcot. Amazing steak, absolutely beautiful. I had the best cheese soup there, it was life changing. And the BREAD STICKS, I could go on forever.


Tony's Town Square. A beautiful, exquisite, Italian restaurant on Main Street. Great pastas and desserts, and it's basically torn out from a picture book.


Electric Umbrella. A quick service place in Future World, Epcot. Something amazing about Disney is that the burgers are different at every single quick service place. Oh, and it's beautiful, and right near Innovations.


The Rose and Crown. We've gone here every trip, and it's always been one of the most magical moments. Great soup and shepherds pie. THE DESSERTS. I had my first custard there.


Prime Time Diner in Hollywood Studios. Good old Americana meals, and waitress' who pretend to be family members, and force you to eat your green beans. And lordy, those milk shakes are heaven sent.


Donald's Breakfastosaurus, Animal Kingdom. My favorite breakfast buffet in Disney World. (Trust me, I've done a lot of them.) The food is good, the setting is amazing. Chip and Dale are there. And cheesy potatoes.


Sci-Fi Dine-In, also Hollywood Studios. You sit in a fake car, and eat your meal, and watch clips from B-movies. The chili was great, and I had my first moon pie there. (Note to potential Disney travelers: Never dine at Prime Time and Sci-Fi in the same day. Ever. You may explode.)


The Liberty Tree Tavern, Liberty Square. I got my own freaking GRAVY BOAT here. The salad is crazy good, I day dream about the buttermilk rolls, and the pork. OH GOD THE PORK. Not to mention it's all Colonial-esque.

This is not counting countless other Epcot restaurants, quick service places, restaurants in the resorts (Good Lord, Shutters) and snack shops which really deserve to be here.
School today, I have the house to myself. I think I'll watch some Doctor Who this evening if I have time. Burgers for lunch. I may saute some onions for that.

Never send an adult to do a kids job

Spy Kids. I owe these movies so much. No seriously. I mean, they sparked our obsession with spies and espionage, they got me into sci-fi. I think Spy Kids were the first consciously sci-fi films I can remember seeing! If it wasn't for spy kids, I might not love Ray Bradbury or The X-Files! THE HORROR. It's been 10 years since it came out... I can't even comprehend that.


Meet Carmen and Juni. Two young children who save the world and make the government create a whole academy to train kid spied.


Meet their kickass mom and dad. Meagan, Katie and I could quote back to you the entire first 10 minutes of the movie. Seriously, do not doubt our commitment to these films.


Meet Floop. Because it's a cruel, cruel world all you little boys and girls.


Meet The Presidents Daughter. Also known as that slutty teen from Gossip Girl. Huh.


Meet Lily from Hannah Montana. And her brother.


This is Demetra. She changed my life. Say what you will about the third movie, but I had never even contemplated the idea of a cyborg/compute program developing a personality till I saw it.

You know what? I haven't changed much. When I was 11 I was in love with Eugene Meltsner and my OMG dream job was a Secret Agent. When I was 14 I was in love with Desmond Hume and my OMG dream job was a CIA agent. Today I am in love with Fox Mulder and my OMG dream job is a FBI agent. Variations on a theme, no? And will I ever grow up?

Sci-fi for kids

I was thinking about some of the best science fiction out there for kids, and this is a list of a few of them...


Aaron Stone is a TV show on DisneyXD all about mutants and androids and two teenagers (Charlie and Emma) who have to save the world from the Omega Defiance. The best episode so far was the one where STAN the robot goes back in time through a wormhole to save Charlie. All girls of about twelve need to watch this show now. If it had been around during the height of my obsession with all things spy/detective/top secret agent it would have been my favorite thing ever.


The quite recent Disney movie, Race to Witch Mountain had many flaws, but would make a great introduction to science fiction for a kid. I mean, it has a bit of everything. An Aluminum Foil lined trailer where a paranoid sci-fi author hides from the world. Cattle Mutilations. Worm Holes. Area 51. "Trust No One." Telekinesis. Geeky conventions full of freaks. Really Big Government Conspiracies Of Epic Proportions.You get the idea.


Arthur. Yup. That animated show on PBS about talking animals going to school and dealing with everyday scenarios. Or at least, that's what it looks like from the outside. But if you start studying the show, it's a lot more then that. It has TWO cannon species of aliens. Buster has been abducted, maybe even twice. Aliens stole DW's snowball, and then returned it. There is fortune telling, zombies, vampires and ghosts and Omble! I'm pretty sure that actually Arthur is the X-Files for kids. For almost every weird X-Files you can find a parallel Arthur episode. What Arthur is best at is the "or was it?" stories. For example. The Brain tells Fern that science fiction and fantasy is stupid, so she sets up a complex hoax involving giant killer worms. Strange things start happening around town, like the entire community garden gets trambled and eaten in the night. In the end, The Brain finds out it was all just Fern and Binky playing a prank... or was it?


E.T. I actually didn't watch it till I was older, but if I has seen it when I was like, eleven, it would have blown. my. mind. Sci-fi that takes itself seriously but also caters towards children is always the best.


The Spykids Trilogy. They weren't exactly good movies, but they introduced me to some sci-fi concepts I had never even dreamed of. Demetra for example. I don't think I had ever thought of what would happen if a robot, android or computer program developed a personality or even feelings. I don't think I'd even ever really thought about robots, androids or computer programs before. And the movies are brimming with crazy gadgets, which are a must for every good child spy who fights crime and genetically altered zoo animals.


Most people think of Adventures in Odyssey as a dated radio drama about good Christian character for six to twelve-year-olds. Which it sort of is. But it is also more. Odyssey has CIA agents, time travel, government conspiracies and mind-control. The show has had a few epic story arcs bordering, if not crossing into the realm of sci-fi and fantasy (Dalton Kearn, A Name Not a Number, The Blackgaard Saga) but none have been quite as epic as The Novacom Saga. Government agent Jason has a romance with wayward spy for Novacom, Monica Stone. The entire DeWhite family gets relocated to the middle of nowhere thanks to the Witness Protection Program. Agent Borland of the FBI is awesome and fakes the death of Mitch, the undercover FBI agent who turned out to be AREM. Eugene and Katrina finally marry at her dying father's bedside. Arthur Dent saved the world, and then offered Whit a muffin. There is lots of mind control and brain waves and strange virus' and mass cooperation cover-ups and Bennett Charles and stolen technology level four passwords and genetically engineered cockroaches and BEWARE ANDROMEDA OMG!! Oh. And it's terrifying.

Lilo and Stitch is often overlooked as a masterpiece of science fiction. But it is. The aliens and Men In Black are done so superbly and subtly you almost forget that it is science fiction. But it is. And there in lies the charm. Also, Cobra Bubbles has some of the best one-liner to have ever come out of Disney Animation Studios.

Now I am going to go execute my many plans for today. They involve napping, drinking tea, surfing the Internet and reading lazily.