Hello all! I've been bad about updating again but my work's internet got some clever little blocks up which mean that I can't get onto facebook at all and tv.com only somedays. Not sure what makes it available some days and not others but this is all besides the point because...

I got a 2TB external hardrive with my first paycheck. It is so pretty and I spent 3 days transferring all the backup disks from my other hardrive that crashed onto it. And then another two days transferring over files from my laptop, my brother's computer and my 3rd external. I now have so much space for tv its not even funny. I've already filled up 1tb and most of it is tv with 200 gigs of movies.

I've also been busy with friends. For the past few weekends, I've had friends come down and stay at mine. It's been a blast. I miss the people who I see near daily at university during the summer. They apparently miss me too. My friend Kate is down for the week so that she can actually get to her job on time since her parents and brothers have stolen the two working cars and taken them up North. We are mostly just chilling and watching (rewatching for me) Supernatural. She's usually in Georgia or in the middle of Nowhere at her parent's house so I never get to see her and now we are reliving the old days (when we were roomates at boarding school) for a week. It's great.

I've checked out a few of the new summer shows and here is just a quick rundown

Nurse Jackie: Awesome - just awesome. I'm in love with it. I like the characters, especially the nurses. Edie Falco is ridiculously amazing. Seriously enjoying it.

Royal Pains: Not enjoying it to the same degree at all. It's been entertaining so far but it's not fabulous. It could have potential but I can't stand the younger brother. If the cases remain interesting though - it's a good enough show to fill up spare time with.

The Philanthropist: Interesting but once again it comes down to characters and I'm not digging any of the mains but the plot was interesting if a bit condescending at times and it kept me intrigued enough to finish watching it.

I have not been reading with the same fervour as the first few weeks of work but I've finished a few more lighter summer reading books. Greek Gods Behaving Badly was the first one and it was fun to read and quick. It wasn't particularly good but it was interesting and I think could make an interesting movie (not that I encourage that behaviour).

I finished War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. I liked it and I really wish I could hear the original radio play that made a whole bunch of people go into a panic thinking Aliens were really invading. The book's narrative is simple but no less chilling.

I'll start off with the fact that I am still floored that Dollhouse got renewed. I had already started the mourning process and instead Fox does something that actually makes me happy. Fox honestly surprised me and I'm excited to see what Joss Whedon does with this new season. I find he always gets amazing in his second attempt at something. Buffy season one was okay but season 2 was what really made people love the show. Season 2 Angel was by far my favourite, followed by season 5. Serenity was an amazing following up to Firefly - I don't think I could have imagined it any better with the exception of one character named Wash.

Dollhouse got amazing at the end and I do believe that season 2 is going to be amazing. Joss Whedon has yet to disappoint me.

Real Life: I am alive again and this time for longer - I swear.

So, I started work last Tuesday, my summer job, which is actually an amazing job. I make way more than minimum wage, I get job experience that actually makes my resume impressive and is in the field I'll end up, and the people are amazing here. the only problem is that my body was completely attuned to student time which meant that I never had to wake up until 11 and that was an early day for me. Waking at 6.30 in the morning is might difficult. I got so little sleep for a whole week that I actually got really ill on the weekend and ended up lying in my bed with a bad fever and cold. But I recovered in time for work this week and my body appeared to learn its lesson and I rocked this week when it came to getting at least 6 hours.

But I haven't really been watching all that much television recently which is just as shocking for me than other people who know me. I've got the first few episodes of So You Think You Can Dance which is a tradition for my mother and I. So far its just auditions which I never really care for. I like it once we have the top 20.

Beware: I'm about to get a little Book Geeky

I have been reading a lot instead. I bought all these books last summer and just never got around to them. But in the past two weeks I've finished Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, Charles Bukowski's Pulp, If You Liked School, You'll Love Work by Irvine Welsh and Your Whole Family Is Made of Meat by Ryan North.

Okay that last one may be a collection of comics by Ryan North but it took a good 3 hours to get through and it was worth mentioning because that is a great name to a book. All of them are dark but funny which says a lot about my taste in humour.

I've been meaning to read Slaughterhouse 5 for a few years now and it was so very good, sad, deperssing, hilarious, and at times just deranged but all for a wonderful reason. The more I think back on it - the better and better the book becomes as my mind works through what I just read and what it all means.

Bukowski is an acquired taste if you ask me. He is a far better poet and so his novels tend to be disjointed and hard to follow at times. His main characters are rarely likeable and awfully misogynist but it works. I think that Bukowski was not a man I would have liked in real life but his writing is funny and his observations are interesting and cause me to reflect on them, months after I've read them. Pulp was his last book before he died and it's actually quite fitting in its own way because of it.

And finally, I love Irvine Welsh. Trainspotting is one of my favourite books. If You Liked School, You'll Love Work is a collection of short stories and they are told about very different people in very different circumstances and it's all written in the very in-yer-face way that made Trainspotting so amazing and gripping.

All of these books were good but they really are made for people with a certain hurmour. You have to like black humour and you have to not mind reading stories from perspectives of people you don't like and/or don't understand. They are also not feel good books though that's a genre of book I've never been able to appreciate. All my favourite songs that I play to make me feel happy are always actually mellow and a little more melancholic, which I hadn't realised until I made a mix for a friend filled with what I thougth were happy songs for her birthday. She came back and was all "The music on your mix cd was really good but they were kind of depressing. I think I should have been able to figure that on my own - Elliot Smith was on it.

Hey guys, long time no blog, long time since I've been on here. This last semester was hard between work, school, and a giant implosion within my core group of friends (which consists of 4 people so it was pretty epic in its destruction radius), I had very little time for tv let along blogging about tv.

That little intro blurb made it sound worse than it was. To make a long painful story short, it ends up my two best friends hate eachother but still love me. The tug-of-war, emotional blackmail, and passive agressiveness that ensued was actually pretty extraordinary. I was impressed by their collective creativity. The issue remains vaguely resolved.

I'm also back in Toronto, living with my parents and working at a fantastic summer job, away from most of the chaos which allowed me to catch up on the tv I've been putting off and now that I'm mostly caught up (House being the only notable exception), I have returned to the internet blog-sphere.

And now for something tv-related - here is a rundown of what I think of a few of the mid-season replacements

Southland: LOVE! The supporting cast still needs more development and it still has a little ways to go but its intriguing and the writing is great and I think with the right tweaks it can be amazing

The Unusuals: I am also liking but am wary of loving because I'm not sure of its chances. (this is based on the pilot only)

Better of Ted: I have rewatched episode 4 about 5 times in one week. I am in love with this comedy which may also not be long for this world. If you loved Arrested Development - you should like this.

Parks and Recreation: I should like this show more but I don't. I haven't figured out what's preventing me from finding it funny but I have trouble sitting through the whole 20 minutes of it.

Kings:Amazing and NBC really took a chance. It's too bad that more people didn't watch it because I think this just proved to the networks why taking chances isn't a good idea.

Castle: Nathan Fillion is as charming as ever, the cases are interesting, and if they have a case that shakes the so far unflappable partner of his, I think this show could be great as well as entertaining

Cupid: Bobby Canavale has never gotten the greak he really deserves and this feels like it should be it. I'm crazy cynical and it really should throw me off this show but it doesn't and I think that speaks to its credit.

Lie to Me: It has potential. Upsides - the showing of celebrities and public figures as examples for micro-features is brilliant. When they brought up Cheney as contempt I couldn't stop laughing. Downside - its predictable. I think it needs to pull a House and focus more on the characters. House is as formulaic as Lie to Me is predictable, but if lie to me became more of a character drama than a crime procedural, it'd be a better show for it.

I have not seen Harper's Island yet but I do like whodunnits so I may get to it later this week after I've finished the first season of ReGenesis.

It's good to be back though! So yay!