We’ve established that I’m a poor excuse for a goth, right? Like, I like dark things but only if I can laugh at them, too. I love Tim Burton movies (have I mentioned how thrilled I am that Armitage is doing a Burton movie? Because holy crap, you have no idea) and the Addams Family, but not so much other, really truly gothy things. Unless, of course, we’re talking about Trent Reznor who I do adore but who is a little too intense for me after a while and I’m not alone in that. This popped up on my Facebook feed last night, linked by a friend who said that it “broke her brain.” Right there with ya, sister.
I have a theory about how Philadelphia avoided the huge snow dump that was predicted for it last week. This is by no means a sound meteorological theory (You expected sound? From someone who listens to a groundhog?) but it’s inspired by another near-miss weather event, the time Hurricane Gloria largely avoided New York City in 1985. Then-Mayor Ed Koch said, “We scared the hell out of the hurricane and it went elsewhere,” elsewhere being Long Island and New England. I’m fascinated by the New York Cityishness of that quote and I always think about it when there’s some dire prediction that doesn’t come true. So my theory is this: Snowpacalypse 2015 was averted in Philadelphia because Rocky Balboa and Dwalin are there and Mother Nature didn’t want to piss either of them off. Is Mother Nature a fangurl?
Anyway, it’s still cold in Philadelphia and it’s cold here, too, so I’m thinking about coats and being buttoned up and cozy. Which means that after I ranted last week about Richard Armitage being nekkid, now I’m doing a Richard Armitage Fully Clothed and Possibly Over Dressed pic spam. Because.
Okay, in this one he’s just wearing a…what is that? Blazer? Overcoat? I can’t really tell but Judiang can ’cause that’s her with him after the Pinter/PROUST reading in NYC in January 2014. She said later that he was “a furnace.” Generates his own heat. Uh, I’m stopping there.
Judiang nearly melts next to Richard Armitage. Just don’t tell her I said that. 😉
Okay, this is what I’m talking about: a good looking dude in a cuddly sweater handing me a hot cocoa. Perfect. I’ll even overlook the hair gel thing going on there.
Richard Armitage as Craig Parker in CASUALTY in 2001. Screen cap courtesy RANet.com.
Of course if we’re going to talk about dudes in cuddly sweaters we have to talk about Harry Kennedy, right? Here he is looking a bit perplexed by whatever Geraldine is telling him.
Richard Armitage as Harry Kennedy in VICAR OF DIBLEY. Screen cap courtesy of RANet.com
He’s not nearly as perplexed as Kim Thayil, though, who’s wondering how the hell he wound up in another Richard Armitage pic spam. That background looks a little summery for a tuque but he’s a Guitar God so he gets to wear whatever he wants.
Kim Thayil is skeptical of this whole exercise. I don’t know who took it or where it’s from but I found it at blabbermouth.net.
And then there’s Guy of Gisborne. You can’t really ever call Guy cuddly. I have to say that I really felt for Armitage having to wear all of this in the middle of the summer.
Richard Armitage as Guy of Gisborne. Screen cap courtesy of RANet.com
That was from Season 2, so after they dispensed with the mustard yellow thing he used to wear (in case it got a little chilly in July in Hungary) and before they subjected him to this nonsense. “You know what let’s do? Let’s redesign his unnecessarily leather costume and add a couple layers of padding!”
Richard Armitage as Mean Joe Guy of Gisborne in ROBIN HOOD, Season 3 promotional still. Courtesy of RANet.com.
Okay, the one thing that he’s missing in all of these shots, except the one with Judiang? A smile. I am indeed one of those cheesy people who believes you’re never fully dressed without a smile and this might be my favorite screen cap of him ever.
Okay, a smirk. Whatever. Richard Armitage as John Porter in STRIKE BACK. Screen cap courtesy RANet.com
So, what are you doing to keep warm? Or cool, if you are someplace that’s warm right now? I’m gonna go get some hot cocoa now. You all have a great day!
I luuuuurve The Snarker over at RAsnarktastic on Tumblr and you should, too, if for no other reason than apparently snarking is akin to clairvoyance. The Snarker? Called Hannibal for Richard Armitage months ago.
Posted with the express written permission of The Snarker
Slow cookers are fabulous things, aren’t they? I love that yesterday morning I was able to dump a pork roast and two bags of sauerkraut into mine, turn it on to low, and walk away from it and still have something that resembled a meal at dinnertime last night. I will spare you my rant about how much I HATE sauerkraut and how my love for my husband can be measured in my willingness to handle it once a year because, by God, you have to have sauerkraut on New Year’s Day (and my further rant about how my grandmother always drained the guck off and cooked it in whatever dark beer she could find, which was the most gross smelling thing ever) and just say that I’m glad I don’t have to deal with it for another year.
Everybody else was still in bed so I had a little time to kill before brunch. It helps me to make a To Do List because I am really easily distracted so I checked the calendar on my phone and, since it was a holiday, there was nothing pressing so I promptly forgot about doing a To Do List. Instead I checked email and read a few posts and then read the very patient reply from Obscura to my slightly inebriated question about a dubious piece of mythology my brain had scrambled (note to self: “Beoesomething” is not the same as “Boeotian,” no matter how close it looks after three drinks). That took about a half hour total.
Then I got a notification from Pintrest that one of my cousins created a new board called “Menu Planning.” Then I looked at the new board. Then I went down the rabbit hole that is Pintrest, specifically Pintrest boards that have to do with organization. Here’s the thing about organization: I am a Libra. I love for things to be beautiful and balanced and have about half a million things that I’m interested in so some form of keeping track of them is a Great Idea. However, I am also indecisive so prioritizing is an issue for me. I also live in fear that I’ll finally decide on The Organization System of My Dreams, set it up so that it’s balanced and beautiful, and then I’ll find another thing that I’m interested in and it’ll throw the whole system off and I’ll have to start all over again. I also have a sneaking suspicion that committing to a system is leveling up as an adult and I don’t know that I’m ready for that. I can still fit into my earrings from high school, after all, I’m not a grown up yet.
By the time I pulled myself out of my Wow-That’s-So-Pretty-I-Wonder-If-I-Can-Talk-DH-Into-Making-That-For-Me haze (note: this haze has in the past included a marimba and a mud room, neither of which I have because he knows if he waits a week I’ll change my mind) two hours later the kids had gotten themselves cereal and there was no point in making brunch. This is yet another reason I’m not certain that I’m really a grown up yet. So I decided that I really really need a To Do List and then I found another Pintrest board that featured a To Do List as a Brain Map instead of a numbered list and was totally enamored of not just the pinner’s map but also the whole concept of brain mapping so OF COURSE I had to look it up and that took another hour or so of surfing links, starting with Wikipedia. Then a couple of friends and I got to chatting, and this always happens in code that’s not quite text speak but kind of shorthand. You know shorthand, right? I think I remember some of it. I wonder if there’s a shorthand chart online…oh look, yes there is.
Then there was the Unfortunate Incident of the Silly Putty, with laughtrack provided by the live studio audience of Hey,Jessie! on Netflix. You really don’t want to know.
To Do List, that’s where I was, right? I decided that actually sitting at my desk might put me in the right frame of mind to make the damned thing already but then I was stuck: brain map or numbered? And if it was a brain map, what colors should I use? And who used my neon green highlighter and left the cap off? We have extras in the hall closet, right? Well, no, as it turned out we don’t because oldest used them for a geography project and told me last month. I wrote it down on my To Do List for December under Stuff To Buy and I know I did because I found the list in the hall closet, and it’s right there underneath light bulbs. Do we still need light bulbs? I think we do.
The other thing I love about slow cookers? They’re forgiving. You can shoot for six hours but, if you happen to spend an hour or so totally distracted, it’s isn’t a tragedy if you miss it. The pork was delicious, the sauerkraut was not (but I didn’t expect it to be), the mashed potatoes I managed to finish in there somewhere were pretty good. Yeah. Anyway, I hope you had a lovely holiday, no matter what you got up to doing. Make any resolutions? I’d share mine but I can’t decide between the many I need to make. I’ll be back later, maybe you guys could suggest something? Comments are open.
A couple of weeks ago two fellow bloggers nominated me for the Liebster Award, a blogging award intended to spread the blogging love and you KNOW I can’t resist that, right? So I’m thanking KellyDS from Nowhere In Particular and supersonicsonja from Off To New Zealand for thinking of me but you might not be thanking them after you get through all of the nonsense below. Seriously, gang, go make a snack, I’ll wait.
Just not this one. This one is mine.
Okay, ready? First, the rules.
1. Thank the person who nominated you and link their blog into your post.
2. Answer 11 questions which you have been asked by the nominating blogger.
3. Nominate 5 to 11 other bloggers who have fewer than 1,000 followers.
4. Add a new list of 11 questions for the nominated bloggers.
5. Paste these rules into your post.
6. Make sure your nominees know about your post and their nomination.
So the eleven questions, which in this case is actually twenty-two and is where it’s gonna get long. KellyDS’s are first because I’m going in alphabetical order.
1.) Is there a song that you like different versions, i.e.covers of? which is your favorite?
There are a bunch but at the moment I’m going with Janis Joplin’s cover of Nina Simone’s “Little Girl Blue.”
2.) What is something you’re afraid of that you’d like to force yourself to face?
I am a serious arachnophobe.
3.) What is your favorite footware of Richard’s?
The boots get me every single time.
4.) What is your favorite photography subject to view? (flowers, buildings, etc. not RA 😀 )
My kids and family.
5.) What is a habit of yours that you’d like to break?
I am a world class procrastinator.
6.) Have you ever had a dream about Richard Armitage? share a short summary
A couple of summers ago I dreamed that he and I were in the same hotel lobby and he winked at me as he walked out the door. Beyond that he shows up as a face in the crowd every once in a while.
7.) What was the first professional play/musical that you saw and how did it affect you?
A production of Cinderella, I think. It was exciting to watch but nothing that really stayed with me.
8.) What has been your least favorite pet that you’ve owned and why?
Not my pet but one of my roommates in college kept a ferret that smelled really REALLY bad and continually got into stuff. Like the time I came back from class and found him contentedly shredding the feminine supplies I kept under my bed.
9.) If you could insert yourself into a RA film as an original character, which would it be and how would you effect the outcome of the story?
Um…huh. How about Random Barmaid With A Crush On Thorin Oakenshield Number Five and it wouldn’t change the outcome at all.
10.) What is your favorite movie about classical mythology?
Hercules.
11.) share a random Richard Armitage related confession
I’d love to read his backstories, wouldn’t you?
Okay, and supersonicsonja’s staaaaarrrrt…NOW!
1. What are you listening to right now?
“Little Girl Blue” by Janis Joplin. Because I just finished answering KellyDS’s questions and had to hear it.
3. What’s your favourite country and who would feature in a soundtrack for that country?
Canada. And pretty much any Canadian but Nickelback.
4. Which song do you put on when you have to do a chore (like tidying up)?
It varies. Something loud, though. Bon Jovi a lot recently.
5. Up-tempo or slow?
Up-tempo mostly.
6. If you could be part of a band (past and present), which one would you choose?
Um, for an actual band probably The Runaways. However, remind me to tell you about the all-girl harmonica band that my ex-roommate and Lala and I were going to put together: The Harmonic Hunts. There was bourbon involved and blessedly the idea died when the bar closed. 🙂
7. Vinyl or digital? Why?
Vinyl. Because pops and hisses were an essential part of the rhythm section.
8. Think of your favourite non-music artist/hero/person from history — which song reminds you of him or her?
I was dragged totally against my will in my early teens to see Liberace. It was so completely uncool but absolutely magical.
11. Your Top Ten playlist *ever.*
Okay, I will have you know that this JUST ABOUT KILLED ME so for the purposes of this question the questioner shall be known as supersonicSADISTsonja. Only ten? I repeat: SADIST.
Any song Eddie Vedder sings ever, but especially “Hunger Strike” with Chris Cornell and Temple of the Dog (because holy carp, those two voices together are magic) and “Rockin’ In the Free World” with Neil Young and YES I KNOW that’s eleven but when have you ever known me to not take it up to eleven?
Okay, now I get to do the nominating and the asking. So I’m shouting out the following blogs:
Okay, questions. I have given this zero thought whatsoever to these so off-the-cuff here:
1. Beatles or Rolling Stones?
2. What was your Richard Armitage gateway drug role?
3. What’s your favorite Richard Armitage role?
4. What’s your favorite picture of Richard Armitage?
5. What song would you like to hear in a fanvid? Any particular scenario?
6. Coffee or tea?
7. If you could have dinner with any two people living or dead who would they be and why those two?
8. What book are you reading right now?
9. If a train leaves the station travelling east at 50 MPH and another leaves fifteen minutes later travelling west at 55 MPH how long till I start crying because I hate word problems?
10. Fili or Kili?
11. How long did it take you to answer these questions?
So, thanks again to KellyDS and supersonicsonja, this was fun! Have a happy and safe New Year’s Eve wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, dear reader, and the last spin of 2014 is The Beatles. Because.
Uh, oh, I was typing, wasn’t I? Anyway, so Mean Mistreater Dude up there is even meaner than he looks, as it turns out. I’ve long suspected that he’s been messing with us and now, NOW I have the proof. Really. In my pocket. Before we get there, though, I need to tell you how I discovered this truth which involves a visit to the Repository of All Great Truths: Tumblr.
A couple of weeks ago The Snarker at RASnarktastic posted this little beauty.
Posted with the express written permission of The Snarker
I had NO IDEA such a thing was available in the Armitageworld Catalog (in the section right behind Medical Supplies; smelling salts are STILL on back order, BTW. What a way to run an Army, amirite?) so of course I ordered it right away. No longer would I be in the dark about what the Dude really means in 140 characters because, like I said, he’s messing with us. Obviously.
So today’s Tweet. You see the uppercase X there? I’ve gotten my share of notes from Brits and I know that a lowercase X can be an expression of affection but what could an uppercase one possibly mean? I pondered and pondered and finally asked my Magic 8 Ball. Magic 8 Ball is still not really speaking to me after — okay, that’s not really important. The important thing is that I had a reason to use my Secret Decoder Ring and I am SO GLAD I got one!
It occurred to me that the X was maybe a clue so I set my decoder ring to X. HA! It’s kind of like backmasking, you have to really be careful what to look for while you’re decoding but I finally FINALLY cracked the code. What it REALLY says is — NOT AT ALL APPROPRIATE for random people who might be offended to stumble upon so I’m not going to leave my translation out in the open here. I have a reputation, after all, and what he REALLY meant was too much even for me. Think on that for a second. It took me a minute or so to recover and then I wondered what else he’s slipped by us.
You guys. Ignorance is bliss here. Like, I will only make up nonsense tell you if you really want to know but you have to ask. I will say, the one where he looked like he was being swallowed by a bacon tulip? Not really bacon. I just can’t even on that one.
Mean Mistreater Dude. What are we going to do with you?
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