Friday, January 7, 2011

52 Books

I apologize immensely for my disappearance. All the usually obstacles got in my way: school, laziness, writer's block, Dalek invasion, vampire revolution, and tons of hot guys asking me out. (A few of these may be exaggerations or complete bullshit.) I actually have 30 unpublished works in my drafts folder. I've come to the realization that I worry about trying to make them "perfect" but I really need to chill out. I actually wrote up a Christmas themed piece, but kept editing it and ended up missing the holiday. Since it's January 7th, most people are tired of Christmas, so I'll put it away. If this blog is still up in December, I'll share it with you guys then. I do plan to post more regularly, like once a week.

Here's an overly simplified list of the posts I have almost ready and you will be seeing soon:

-A series about all those unusual nerdy crushes I seem to develop.
-What does your favorite Disney Princess say about you? (I'm not posting this one until I see Tangled, so I can include the newest Princess.)
-Another Disney-related post on how certain Princesses and "Heroines" get ignored.
-Why I think every professional badass on TV is based on Batman.
-Overexposure destroys great characters. (or Marvel is fucking up Deadpool.)
-An assessment of the new shows I've seen in the last year. (The ups, the downs, the confusions.)
-Reasons to not be ashamed to tell people that you absolutely love Glee.
-Internet series that make network television look like it is written by a 4 year old.
-A writer should be required to pass an SAT-style test on the X-men before being allowed to write the for the Mighty Marvel Mutants.
-Hipsters and geeks have more in common than we think.
-How the misuse of classic monsters (werewolves, vampires, etc.) makes me rage.
-Give Maria Bamford her own TV show already!
-If I could conjure a patronus . . .
-Sorting the characters from my favorite shows into the Hogwarts houses.
-How to turn your costume party into a musical.
-Comparisons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to world religions.
-Shows canceled before their time. *sniff*
-Why I believe that Adrian Monk was a secret regeneration of The Doctor.
-If my favorite cartoons are made into live action versions, the actors that showed play them. (Ex. Alex Kingston as Ms. Frizzle. Right?)
-More than 50 years after women's liberation, ladies still get the shaft when it comes to media.
-Representation of different races on television and why Hollywood sucks at it.
(I realize that the last two are more serious ideas, but don't worry, I'll still try to make you laugh your ass and make you think at the same time.)

I also plan to do a series of letters to prominent people that I admire, much like the Dear "Joss Whedon" post. I'm already working on Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, the Daily Show Correspondents, Kristen Bell, Cathrine Tate, Stan Lee, Neil Patrick Harris, Craig Ferguson, and Neil Gaiman. I'm sure more will make it on this list and I am taking suggestions.

Last year, I was also slacking in my personal reading, so I've set a goal. I'll try to finish one book every week all year. That's 52 books. The year started on a Saturday, so hopefully I'll finish a book every Friday and have a post up that night or the next day at the latest. This will ensure that I'll have at least one post up a week. My dad gave me a decent video camera for Christmas, so I am considering making videos for the book reviews. I'll give it a try, but honestly, I think I'm more entertaining in words than as an audio-video component. The books can be novels, sci-fi, fantasy, historical, biographies, anthologies, and comics. Textbooks don't count, but any book with a narrative that I have to read for school does.

Last night I went through my bookcase to collect all of the books I had not yet read. I expected to find around 20. Then I would probably find maybe 10 more at my parents place and possibly borrow some from them. I would complete my collection by buying new books or going to the library. I actually found 52 books. First, how weird is it that I found exactly 52? Secondly, that is so fucking pathetic. I call myself an avid reader and I have over 50 unread books in my apartment. Last summer, I made a promise to myself that I would not buy anymore books until I had read all the ones I already owned. Clearly, I failed. Perhaps, this mission will rectify that. I am almost done with the first book, When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris.Hopefully. That post will be up Friday or Saturday night.


Under the cut I've listed all the books I hope to read.
Edit: After recounting, I realized that I have 53 books on this list. Oh well, I guess the last one will be for bonus points.