Living in Dallas

I have a house!

Liz has been awesome, as usual.  She's been networking like crazy to find a place for us to live in Dallas.  This past week, success!  The two of us will be moving into upstairs bedrooms of a house with two other girls living on the first floor.  This seems pretty ideal to me.  If the other girls are awesome, we will all party together.  If they aren't, Liz and I can have our own upstairs partytimes.

But this means...I have a house.  This moving thing is for real.  On top of the house revelation, at church yesterday I found out three of my college friends are leaving within the week for summer jobs, and they won't be back until after I'm already in Texas.  Goodbyes are already encroaching.

There will be a lot of sadness in this move, but....the happiness is more, I think.  I've reached a point where I am very definitely ready to move on.  I love my church family and my Peoria friends, but I realize that there aren't very many ways for me to grow any further if I stay in Peoria.  My relationships and my life have gotten kind of stagnant.  Everyone else is moving forward with their lives, and I'm standing still.

Well, no longer.  I'm off to a new state to learn a new skill with a whole bunch of new people.  That should be enough to overwhelm me with growth.  But I trust that God brought me to this decision and that He will be with me through the changes.  Finally I get it.  God has good things planned for my life--I just have to go along with Him.

Doctor Who S2E01 "New Earth"

In my last Doctor Who blog review, I mentioned that season 2 is the honeymoon of Doctor/Rose.  Um, that is never more evident than this episode, where they literally chillax on the Doctor's coat, gleefully gazing at the sky and each other.

I really like this episode.  It's nice to see both of them so happy!  There is a lot of drama in the Whoverse, which makes sense because happy TV is often boring TV.  But sometimes I need to know that my beloved characters have some fun.



Of course, there has to be some plot.  And I like it too--the return of Cassandra!  I never knew I wanted more of her until we were given it.  Having her consciouness jump from various characters adds to the fun of the episode, and allows Billie Piper and David Tennant to show off their acting chops.  Cassandra!Rose kissing the Doctor, and his dazed reaction, is adorable.  Cassandra!Doctor reacting to having two hearts ("I'm beating out a samba!") is hilarious.

And like ships ship, of course they are incredibly protective of each other whenever their best friend is hijacked by a selfish villain.  But I don't even care because it's all so hilarious.

This episode is set up very obviously as a counterpoint to season 1's "The End of the World."  We've got the same villain.  But whereas last time we saw the end of Earth, this time we're at the reconstruction of New Earth.  Your symbolism does not escape me, RTD.  And just as the angry Nine has been replaced by a happier Ten, the Doctor's response to Cassandra is wildly different.  This time Ten grants her peace, lets her jump time and assure herself that she's beautiful.  That kind of mercy would never have happened with Nine.  Not until Rose's sacrifice made him a better man.

And we have the Face of Boe!  JACK!  Laughing forever.  Regardless of how much I love that connection, the Face of Boe and the Doctor really do have an interesting relationship.  At this point the Doctor thinks they barely know each other, but they are so obviously connected.  And an ominous prophecy by the Face!  So intriguing!  And the sentimental streak in me was so pleased that at the end of Jack's incredibly long life, he got to see the Doctor again. 

The happy ending where everyone is saved and cured is remniscent of "The Doctor Dances."  It's so rare for everyone to live happily ever after, but we get that here.  This is such a feel-good episode.

Real or Not Real?

I can't watch scary movies because I have a hard time separating fact from fiction.  Intellectually I know that what I read and what I see on screens are stories created by people who sat at a desk and hammered out the dialogue and rising action and denoument.

Even knowing that, my mind latches onto stories and doesn't let go.

At work today, I was mindlessly tearing apart stickers to use as prizes this summer.  Suddenly I thought, "Flora is riding a freaking bear!  They're swimming across an ocean, and man, I wonder what will happen to them when they get to the pirate island.  She's on a bear!  That must be terrifying."

Then I thought about how weird it was that I was imagining a fictional character in the midst of her fictional adventure, and worrying about her.  Rather than curing me of this misplaced emotion, it caused me to think, "Loki and Thor are back in Asgard!  I wonder what's going on there.  Is Loki is a prison?  Does Thor visit him every day and speak heavy-handed words of brotherhood and love?  Is Odin picking up any slack as loser-father of the year?  Will Loki realize that people do love him and that it doesn't matter that he's a frost giant?  Ooo, and what if he escapes!  This could all be happening right now in another world, and I wouldn't even know because it's another world!"

Also, because it isn't real, but whatever.

I have this problem all the time, but it was especially bad after I saw The Matrix.  I was so intrigued by the idea that everything I sensed and lived was just a computer construct.  I mean, for like a year, I would think, "This isn't even real.  My homework?  I don't need it.  If I could break out of this, I could stick a needle in my head and just know algebra."

My imagination is a little overactive.  If I'm going to obsess over stories, then they'd better be good ones.  No horror or gore for me.  I'm already paranoid enough.

Let Me Talk Your Ear Off About The Avengers

I am super obsessed with The Avengers.  I saw it in Turkey, and for the first two days that I was home, every other sentence I spoke to my mother was, "I want to see it agaaaaain!"  Eventually I wore her down, or intrigued her enough, and on Sunday night we went to see it.  Two viewings, and I WANT MORE.  The world agrees with me, based on how successful The Avengers has been.  But I've never been able to simply say that I like something.  I have to dig in and find out why, and then share my reasonings with everyone, whether they care or not.

First of all, The Avengers is just fun.  A bunch of dysfunctional superheroes forced to work together to blow stuff up and save the world?  It'd be hard to make that boring.  And it certainly is helped exponentially that the movie was written and directed by Joss Whedon.  He has an incredible talent for writing groups of people, for writing wit, and for writing drama. 

As much as I love wit, and there is loads of it in the movie, what really makes me adore The Avengers is...the Avengers.  Those characters!  They are so well-formed and messed up and awesome!  Because I had an over-abundance of thoughts, I'm going to break this down character by character.  Cut because this flail is going to get long, and beware: thar be spoilers ahead.

Well, I'm Back

During my layover in Amsterdam, a girl sitting across from me said, "I like your shirt."

"Thanks."  I paused, then looked up again.  "Do you know that it's from Doctor Who?"

"Yes!  I love that show!"

We ended up talking for an hour before boarding our flight.  Then eight hours later she found me at the luggage pick-up, and we talked for another thirty minutes.  Guys, I found an internet friend in real life.

Let me explain.  I am not like most people.  I have thoughts and opinions that tend toward the weird.  And I'm fairly obsessive.  When I like something, I like it a lot.  I am not content to just be a fan--I have to join fandoms!  According to my definition, being part of a fandom means getting involved (most likely online) with either a) fan meta, b) fan fiction, or c) fan art.  You can contribute or consume, but you are adding to the experience in some way.  The TV show, book, or movie is not enough on its own.  You need more!

I have been this way since junior high when I discovered the Harry Potter fandom online.  But very few people in my real life circle of friends share this interest.  People side-eye when I mention shipping or an essay I read about the Spike/Willow redemption arc in season 6 of Buffy.  I've gotten used to that, because I know that somewhere in the world, there are a whole lot of people like me, because I see them doing stuff online.

But now I met someone in real life!  Who brought up shipping on her own!  And who shares my love for Doctor Who, The Legend of Korra, and Harry Potter.  She has a tumblr!  She trolls the interwebs!  Oh my gosh, it was wonderful.  I am not alone.

We traded tumblr information, and now we are internet friends.  But we were real life friends first, which is a huge step in some sort of direction.

Now I'm in Peoria.  I've gone to church; I've gone to work.  It's back to normal.

Touristing Again

For once Stephanie and I both had a lazy morning!  On Friday we left the apartment around 10:30 and rode to the tourist district dominated by the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque.  On the first bus, I settled against a window, feeling very cool as I read and stood on a moving vehicle.  Then a guy got on and screamed at the bus driver.  He starting shoving him, and a couple guys tried to get in the middle and stop him.  Everyone else on the bus was staring and tsking, but he wouldn't stop freaking out.  At the next stop Stephanie and I got off to avoid any potential problems and rode the tram instead.

When we finally got to one of the cultural centers of the world, where did we go?  Shopping.  Which turned out great, because we got everything on our to-buy lists, and the guy who helped us gave us okay deals because Stephanie spoke Turkish with him.

Then we went to Starbucks, grabbed bread at a street vendor, and sat in a park to eat.  There were cats lounging around everywhere, and I found it hard to concentrate on our conversation, because I kept wanting to watch them and coo over their cuteness.  To my ever-living joy, other Turks and tourists were the same.  They took pictures of the cats, fed them, and petted them.  I tossed my bread to some cats, and Stephanie did too.  I'm so proud of her.

We went to the Cisterns to fulfill my tourist quota.  It was like descending into the Mines of Moria!  A cave of pillars with walkways and some lamps to light your way.  There was also a booth where you could dress up Ottoman style and get your picture taken.  After some embarrassingly gleeful debate, Stephanie and I agreed to do it. We were dressed (me in red, Stephanie in green--how did they know our Hogwarts sorting, oh my gosh) and seated.  A woman adjusted our outfits and told us how to hold our scarves to our faces.  It was hilarious and awesome.

We planned on buying just one copy, but when we got to the counter, that changed.  The guy was super cute, trying to convince us to buy the CD so we would have all the pictures.  We said no, we only wanted one picture, and as he was printing it, he offered both the print and the CD for the price of the CD alone.  We consented, and he grinned, "I win!"

We reemerged into daylight and ate lunch at the delicious corner restaurant where we ate with our team three years ago.  I had my last doner wrap and elma chai.  Since it was still early and we were done, we took a ferry to Asia and got juice at our juice bar again. The fast ferry returned us to Europe and eventually back to the apartment.

Vonda made a delicious dinner and Emily made a delicious dessert.  I can see why Stephanie likes them so much.  We watched Stardust while we ate, then spent the rest of the evening doing whatever.  We went to bed around midnight, and had to wake up at 3:15 in order to get to the airport in time for my flight.  Urgh.

Aw Yeah, Avengers

We had to wake up early Thursday morning to meet Sarah and catch a minibus to Tulay's house.  She and her mother had made a huge spread for kavalta (Turkish breakfast).  I love it all, but I'm not a fan of how hosts serve you food even after you are done eating.  It's rude not to eat it, but it makes me want to die.  What starts as something lovely becomes torturous.  Probably I should learn to eat slowly, so that my empty plate doesn't look like I want more food.

Sarah had to leave to do something else, but Stephanie and I stayed a couple more hours to watch Turkish celebrity gossip TV and take some pictures.  Fatma, Tulay's mom, gave me a gift, which was super sweet.      I hope Stephanie is able to keep in frequent contact with their family even after her language classes are over.

Around noon we caught another minibus to take us to the dernek.  There were no scheduled classes or anything, but two women (can't be alone) are assigned to be there Thursday afternoons.  The dernek is set up so that the ground floor is for men and the upper floor is for women.  In a couple weeks Thursdays will be women-only days, so women can use the couches downstairs and be more visible to people walking by.

Stephanie baked a cake to give to a woman who lives across the street.  Then we worked on putting together a video, because that's what we do when we hang out.  One woman stopped by, but she was looking for someone else.  If I were working at the dernek all the time, this would have been one of those guilty days when I really don't want anyone to come, even though it is my job to get people to visit.

When the dernek closed at 5:00, Stephanie and I caught the metro bus and rode to the hugest of huge malls.  We met Vonda, Emily, and the boys at a Carl's Jr in the food court.  When we finished eating, we met up with Bir Kan, a Turkish friend of theirs. Then we went to the in-mall movie theater to see The Avengers!  And it totally met and sometimes exceeded my ridiculously high expectations.  I just completely adored it.

Watching it in Turkey was extra funny, because a lot of the American culture references went over the heads of 95% of the theater, but our row would crack up.  Especially Vonda.  Half the time I was laughing at her loud laughter. It was just gearing up and getting really good when the movie went off!  Apparently it is a thing to have intermissions in Turkey.  It is the only thing I hate about this country.  Stephanie tried to tell me that she enjoys breaking up an awesome movie to stare at a blank screen, but I refuse to believe her.  It's awful.

The movie ended around 10:00, and Bir Kan walked Stephanie and I back to the bus stop.  He is really hilarious and sweet.  We parted ways, and as we rode the crowded bus back toward the apartment, I raved and raved about The Avengers.  I need to see it again.  Now.