My Perfect TV Family

I'm baaaaAAAAaaack!

Aren't you excited?
In all honesty though, I feel bad for being so sporadic in my blogging recently. In fact, I really shouldn't be blogging right now, because I have finals to study for and portfolios to compile. Why is it that I only blog when it is the absolutely least appropriate time?
Ah well.

Today I am going to do another fun, simple blog post. I am going to assemble my own, "perfect," TV family. Now, I personally think perfect families are boring, so I put the word in quotes because my ideal family will probably have some intentional imperfections. Also, I don't mean to say that I don't appreciate my own family. This is purely fun and fantasy... obviously, as logistically this family doesn't even really work. Two gay dads plus a straight mom? Unless she's their baby mama and we're doing a "The Kids Are All Right" thing.

Without further ado, here's My TV Family!

1. Dad- Mitchell Pritchett and Cameron Tucker, "Modern Family"

I couldn't decide! This category was a tough one, but in the end I went with Mitchell and Cameron, the devoted dads of Lily on "Modern Family" (you can't choose just one). They guys clearly adore their little girl, constantly worrying about her and doing everything they can to make her childhood as perfect as it can be. I wouldn't even mind if Cameron dressed me up in those ridiculous costumes when I was a baby. Worth it. (Jimmy Chance from "Raising Hope" came in a close second place. I haven't watched enough of the show to truly judge.)

2. Mom- Lorelai Gilmore, "Gilmore Girls"

You know what? I don't even think this one needs explaining. It's Lorelai. Gilmore. Enough said.

3. Big Brother- Simon Tam, "Firefly"

Simon is without question the best big brother of all time. The guy gives up everything he has (which is a LOT) to infiltrate a high-security government lab and break his genius little sister out of a terrifying experimental program that has made her insane. Then he sneaks her onto a ship and sticks by her despite her violent assassin tendencies, their new labels as "fugitives," and the rest of the crew's resentment. He doesn't even get with the girl he's been flirting with because he's so dedicated to curing little River. No matter what she does (which includes knifing a particularly hot-tempered crew member, wrecking his lab, randomly screaming at inconvenient moments, and trying to shoot everybody) he treats her with the utmost kindness and loving protection. He is the older brother I always wanted. Also, he's a doctor. He could qualm all of my hypochondriacal worries.

4. Big Sister- Jess Day, "New Girl"

Ok, so at this point we don't really know much of anything about Jess Day's family, but if she were a big sister, she would be an awesome one. Can you imagine the clothes you could steal from her closet? Can't you totally picture yourself and Jess sitting in your PJ's, chatting about boys and braiding each other's hair?

5. Grandfather- The Doctor, "Doctor Who"

HE COUNTS. And those of you who have seen Classic Who can attest to it (though I must confess, I have only seen bits of it). The Doctor's original companion was Susan, his teenage granddaughter. She is one of my dream roles (come on, they could bring her back!). The Doctor in his more recent incarnations is young, at more of an older-brother-status than a grandfatherly one, but he is old and wise, and also has that goofy quality that can be attributed to all great grandparents. Plus, The Doctor is kind of the patriarch of the universe, anyway.

6. Grandmother- The Dowager Countess of Grantham, "Downton Abbey"

She's sassy, she's classy, and she tells it like it is. The Dowager Countess may be old-fashioned, but when it comes to her granddaughters, she's suprisingly supportive on certain matters. She actually comes to support Sybil's controversial marriage to the chauffer, Branson, and let's not forget her legendary "Do you promise?" in response to Richard Carlisle, Mary's awful almost-husband's announcement of his leaving.

Now that's my kind of family.

Love,
Susan D. Holmes

Go Fly a Kite

Hello lovelies,
Unfortunately it seems that the universe does not want me to write a blog.
Too bad, universe. It'll take more than a 102 degree fever to stop me!
Though it has, admittedly, slowed me down.
No matter! Today is a beautiful spring day, the first of many, I hope. It's strange, because I'm very much a fall/winter person, and naturally we detest the idea of spring. But, year after year, whenever it rolls along, I can't help but rejoice in the season. Today it's sunny, warm, and wonderfully windy. Even though I am cooped up inside watching children's movies thanks to my ailment, I have the strongest desire to go fly a kite. Not that I own a kite, mind you. But that will soon change.
In response to this desire, I decided to write a short story about flying a kite. Apologies, it's not finished yet, but since I hadn't posted in a while I felt I should just pop on and make it clear that I'm still here and blogging! As soon as there's a decent draft of it I'll post it to this exact blog post, so keep checking back.

In the mean time, to quench your kite crazy, here's a picture of a kite:

(this reminds me of Peter Pan)



And a heartwarming video of a song about a kite:

And also a book about a kite (more or less...):

25 People I'd Like At My Party

Right!
So I haven't been as faithful as I used to be with this blog, and I apologize. I'm just about to go into production for a show, but as soon as that's over I'll be able to blog more! Also, as my laptop has been accidentally locked in a school cupboard by my teacher for the weekend (don't ask), I don't have a particularly convenient way to post. So, this blog post will be fairly simple. No bold-faces type, few pictures, and for once, very little to say. And now, without further ado, here is a list of 25 People I'd Like At My Party. Not in any particular order and not any party in particular, but I do think a party with these folks would probably be the best party ever.

1. The Doctor
2. Audrey Hepburn
3. Fred Astaire
4. The Dowager Countess of Grantham
5. Emma Stone
6. Betty White
7. Clopin, the crazy singing gypsy man from Disney's "Hunchback of Notre Dame"
8. Ferris Bueller
9. Louis Stevens (Even Stevens anyone?)
10. Ryan Gosling
11. Lilo from "Lilo and Stitch"
12. Alice Adler
13. Tim Gunn
14. Lumiere, the candlestick from "Beauty and the Beast"
15. Zach Galifianakis
16. Lucy Ricardo
17. Jay Gatsby
18. Willy Wonka
19. Liz Lemon
20. Manny Delgato
21. Lorelei Gilmore
22. Cole Porter
23. Fred AND George Weasley
24. Ellen Degeneres
25. Frozone from "The Incredibles."

Love,
Susan D. Holmes

New Writing And Stuff!

Hello, all,
I AM SO SORRY.
I know I've been gone a very long time.
HOWEVER.
Please know that I have some swell blog posts planned!
Unfortunately, I will not be able to write them for a day or two...
Until then, I hope you enjoy my latest piece of writing. It is a screenplay I had to write for a class in school. I wrote it in an hour. I sort of procrastinated, a bit.

Here it is:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/15taQ1ChicabQpqsYGcSbDdqji1AswjPKJ6PxXRgnnic/edit#.

In order for it to work on GoogleDocs, I had to convert it from CeltX, a software program used for novel writing, screenwriting, etc., to a Microsoft Word Document, so it may be a bit difficult to read. It took forever to go through and get it to look script-ish and therefore legible again. It doesn't have a proper title, I've just been calling it "Elevator," so if anyone has any clever title suggestions, please do comment below.

I have to go now, but before I do, here is something delightful to brighten your weekend:

I watched the film "Funny Face" last week. I am a huge Audrey Hepburn fan... and I mean huge. This, however, was my first time seeing a film with Mr. Fred Astaire, and what a swell guy he is. Seriously, he is my latest obsession. Up next? "Royal Wedding," his only film currently on Netflix. Anyway, this is a lovely song and dance clip that really shows off Freddy's magic moves. Oh yes, I know how cheesy that sounds, but to be honest there is little other vocabulary I can use to describe his dancing. Watch and you'll know what I mean!

And one last thing:

Look! It's a kangaroo! He/she is lounging about in a very human-esque model pose. I love it. And yes, I know it's random... but it's wonderfully so.

I lied, here's something else:

Because how could I not?

If ever I was to refer to someone as a "BAMF..."

it would the Dowager Countess and Dame Maggie Smith.

Toodooloo!

(Does anyone really know how to spell that?)

Love,

Susan D. Holmes

The Black Sheep... But, Like, Nerdy.

Howdy.
Sorry I've been gone so long. It's been quite a week. And by that, I mean, of course, that it's been a totally uneventful and therefore depressing week.
Anyway!
I've always been annoyed by some aspect of my family, and today I was finally able to identify it. It's more in reference to myself that the rest of my family.
I have two younger brothers close in age to me and two parents. A mom and a dad (as these days, that deserves clarification. Woo, equality!). One of my brothers goes to school with me, and is one of the so-called "jerkish popular kids." I feel mean saying that about my brother, but I feel it must be established, and honestly. Anyway, a lot of the kids in our school call me the "Black Sheep" of my family. Some say it in a good way, and some in a bad. Today, though, I realized that I am, in fact, the Black Sheep, and the reason why. I am the only NERD in my family!

Last night my mom felt bad for me, so she pretended to seem interested when I said I was going to watch Doctor Who. We watched Blink, which everyone knows is an INCREDIBLE episode. Despite my knowledge of this, I felt self-conscious throughout. I kept explaining things in a really defensive manner, and writing off potentially-lame aspects of the episode with comments like "it's not really like this anymore." Why? When I have just stated, with confidence, that Blink is freaking amazing?
I also find that I feel uncomfortable discussing other typically "nerdy" or "odd" things with my family, such as Discworld novels and other science-fiction-y books, Portlandia and other "offbeat" shows,  and even my own writing.
I don't like playing my music out loud in case something weird comes on, and I don't like watching most of my TV shows when other people are home.
I went to my friend's house a few days ago. She is a fellow nerd, but, unlike me, she comes from a family of nerds. And, to clear up any misconceptions, even though they like science fiction etc., they are still fully-functioning, socially-adept members of society. I walked into my friend's house and was greeted by the sounds of a Star Wars movie playing in the family room as a test of the new surround sound speakers. My friend's little brother, not much younger than my own, said "hey." He was clad in a Star Trek t-shirt, and asked my friend earnestly about a chapter in Fellowhip of the Rings. My friend's parents were sitting together in the living room, drinking tea and reading. I followed my friend around her house in awed silence. It didn't seem real.

Anyway, enough of that. My family is a good one, even if I do get a tad lonely among the cool.

-Susan D. Holmes

P.S. On a side note, my dear friend Alice Adler and I discovered a wonderful website while searching for each other's best-friend-day gifts (yes, we invented a holiday specific to us, more explanation to come). One of the tradition's of our holiday is to send each other an awesome t-shirt. However, no matter where I searched, I just wasn't able to find a satisfactory Doctor Who or Sherlock tee to send my dear friend. Then, I stumbled upon the website redbubble.com. This site is AMAZING. I typed in my searches, and THOUSANDS of witty and adorable designs popped up for my shopping convenience. The products, which are usually t-shirts or stickers, are very reasonably-priced, and ship within 24 hours! And you can choose any color t-shirt, and they will print the design for you! It's really quite lovely. Do check it out.

I adore this shirt!

This is irrelevant, but, when I was posting the picture, I accidentally, out of habit, clicked "paste" instead of "insert picture." What, you ask, popped up on my screen? This Doctor Who quote, which I must've copied at some point for some reason or another:

"She said that you were a Mr. Hottie...ness. And that she would like to go out with you for...texting and scones."

How awesome is that?

Try Saying "Peculiarosity" With An Irish Accent

It's fun. Seriously. I made an entirely new blog post to tell you so.

It's Super Bowl Sunday!

...And that probably won't be acknowledged at any other point in this blog post.
I don't have anything against football, but I am the only person in my family who isn't obsessed with it. I will spend the evening doing make-up homework with classical music blasting in my headphones to drown out the party noise.

Oh would you look at that, I did reference it!

Anyway, I have a lot of miscellaneous, unrelated things to post about today! That's always fun, I think. First, I found this magical video online. A friend posted it on Facebook, and I had to share it. It's beautiful and riveting. I also love the music that accompanies it.

I just love things like this. It's such a powerful way to use media to unite us. I wish we as humans could see ourselves on a global perspective, rather than a country-by-country or person-by-person perspective. We'd see how close we all really ought to be, and what a fantastic people we really are, and the potential we have to be great.

Next up is a random quote from The Great Gatsby that I stumbled upon while re-reading the book this morning:

"High over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual watcher in the darkening streets, and I was him too, looking up and wondering. I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life." -The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald is a beautiful writer. His writing is so lyrical. I wish I could use words the way he did.
There is a new movie version of The Great Gatsby coming out next year. There's lots of buzz about it, because of its stars. Personally, Carey Mulligan is one of my favorite actresses, and I love Leonardo DiCaprio (in Catch Me If You Can, of course; never seen Titanic. Go ahead and gasp), so I can't help but get excited about it. However, one of my very literarily-knowledgable (is that a word?) friends pointed out that movie versions of this book never seem to work well, because the novel is so character-driven rather than plot-driven, and the filmmakers struggle to engage a wide audience by adding in action and events. We shall see!

Well, it certainly looks snazzy. I'm rooting for it!

And finally...
I couldn't resist sharing this, especially after my lengthy Downton Abbey post back in January.
This clip is the digital short from last night's episode of Saturday Night Live. I'll be honest, I forgot to record it and didn't even think I would be missing much (except of course for the brilliant music of Bon Iver), but, according to my friends, Channing Tatum proved to be a pretty good host. My friend texted me as soon as this short started. I laughed so much. Perhaps my favorite quote: "Like eavesdropping? Then this show is for you. Anytime anyone says anything, a third person hears it in the doorway." I also loved that they dropped the "Down-town Abbey" line, because any faithful fan of the show knows the aggravation experienced whenever someone inevitably calls it by that name. I suppose this digital short may've been pretty odd to those who have never seen Downton, as all of the jokes were directly related to its characters and content. Well, maybe this will encourage them to watch! The more, the merrier.

Love,
Susan D. Holmes