I am a very geeked geek.

Oh my. What's this?



Could it be... a box of happiness?



Why yes, so it is. And what does that mean I have???



Damn skippy I have a complete set.

Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Fortunately? Unfortunately?

...this has got to be photoshopped. But it's still 100% awesome and perhaps the 2nd best thing I've seen today.

Qapla, sir.

Word seems to have gotten out

Any illusions I harbored about keeping my Trek addiction in the closet at least where my extended family is concerned were officially shattered Christmas morning:



Merry Christmas meeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! Um, wow. I'm extremely excited (and overwhelmed with everyone's generosity!), and ...also a little embarrassed. I'm going to have to throw out some stuff, move things around, and find prominent storage space for an entire shelf's-worth-o-Trek somewhere. Darn. :)

In less geeky news, it's my parents' 40th anniversary today! Yay!!! Months ago, my mother sneakily went through old albums and collected photographs of the two of them over the years, and had them put into a slide show set to old songs of theirs. Since May, she's been giddily looking forward to today when she could finally show it to my dad. She wasn't disappointed -- he cried through the entire thing, then insisted on watching it four more times.



Happy 40th, 'rents!!!

It's an exciting life I lead.

See? SEE??? This is what happens when I don't set a schedule for myself. I never. Blog.

Last night, Kasey came over for a Trek & Pizza Night of Awesome, and it was, as you might imagine from its title ...awesome. She came over at about 6, we got down to watching at about 8, and didn't quit til about 2. That's six solid hours of Trek: 3 TNG episodes, the new movie, and all the new movie's special features. It was hardcore. I then stayed up to finish Robin McKinley's The Outlaws of Sherwood, and I'm not going to say all the Trek's been affecting my brain, but I may or may not have kept picturing Alan-a-Dale in a visor. Catherine, you have so much to look forward to.

I missed church today (which may have had something to do with the whole me staying up til 4 to finish my book after the Trekathon thing ...my priorities not always being entirely what they ought to be), then spent most of the afternoon washing dishes, doing laundry, and cleaning. I've gradually over the last three years turned into someone who keeps her apartment relatively clean and tidy, which is, honestly, quite a shift and something I'm very pleased about. I still don't quite live up to my mom's precedent, but I do consider myself to have taken a step in the right direction -- keeping my home relatively clean is one of those things I consider to be a staple of adulthood. It still takes an imminent houseguest to make me clean my bathroom and I don't own a vacuum cleaner, but, well, babysteps.

Other notable events of the last few days include a massive snowstorm, me almost slipsliding my way into a head-on with a van, a red semi-truck with human skulls on the dashboard hovering disconcertingly below my office window, me finally getting a start on my Christmas shopping, and an inaugural wearing of the new scarf. I feel sort of like a turtle with it on, but it's really pretty, so we're going to try to ignore the whole drowning in yarn sensation and concentrate on the colors. Mmmm, seafoam green.

Picard's *way* hotter than Kirk. (Sorry, Shatner.)

So here are my reactions to last night's introduction to Trek:

William Shatner doesn't look like William Shatner.

5 Year mission? This is sounding like Gilligan's Island. Also, that's negativity for you -- assuming your show's only going to last 5 years. Of course, it only ended up lasting three. (And, like, a million movies, to be fair.)

Am fascinated to learn that the first Redshirt was actually wearing blue.

The sexism in TNG is subtle. The sexism in TOS is ...not subtle. (Although snaps for effort.)

Uhura's a cutie! I think I'd only ever seen the actress when she was older. She's very, very young here.

So, I got on IMDB to double check the title of this episode and noticed there's a Season One: episode zero ("The Cage"). I paused and read up on it a bit, and it puts together a lot of random scraps of information I knew -- the Captain Pike background story, the fact that Roddenberry originally wanted Majel Barrett to play the first officer and was told it was too controversial, ...this, etc. I love behind the scenes info.

Kirk's an ass.

It is SO WEIRD to see William Shatner acting serious. I'm way too used to Boston Legal Shatner.

I've seen major elements of this plot in at least four TNG episodes so far that I can think of.

The sound effects are A. May. Zing.

There's some remarkably cutting edge camera work in this, and a surprisingly engaging plot.

BLAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Sulu. (I swear all I'll ever think when I see him is the Scrubs episode where Carla and Turk get married.)

Uhura's supposed to be Swahili?

The phasers. Ohhh, the phasers. So cute!!! There's like a half second pause before people react.

Aww, I heart McCoy.

I love how truth serum is a staple in any/every sci fi or fantasy story.

Woah, Kirk just had a Picard moment! He got all introspective and philosophical for about a second and a half. I gather this won't be a trend.

The background stills during the credits are all from episode zero, not from the episode I just watched. I love it. Giggle, snort.

That just about wraps it up. I've actually been up to some non-trek-related activities lately, but stuff like this is so irresistibly bloggable. Not, like, birth of Christ bloggable, but fun nonetheless.

Where no Holly has gone before

Readers, I'm about to watch my first episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. I'll let you know how that goes.

So far, the DVD menu design is even cheesier than TNG's (which, actually, I think is kind of cool, in a cheesy, geeky sort of way ...sort of like the show).

Folks, this is going to be epic. I can feel it.

In which electronic communication occurs

Monica and I had the following exchange today:

Monica on Twitter: I am in the process of assigning people to get me seasons of Doctor Who from the Amazon sale for Christmas. Who is taking season three?

Holly on Email: I'll get you Dr Who season 3 if you get me TNG season 3, 4 or 7. ...I'm totally serious. ...Although I should point out I'd be getting the better deal, financially.

Monica: Yes you would. You horrible girl. But if TNG goes on sale I’m all over it! Or would you be okay with used copies? Or… Best Of sets?

Holly: Nope. I require each season to be new. Shiny. Without flaw or blemish. Sealed by the factory with tender, loving care in delicately folded plastic wrap. Each season is only $41.99 right now on Amazon -- that's down $30 from the list price. *wheedle*

Monica: DVD snob.

So if anyone's looking for a way to drop $40 or so on some appreciative friends by way of early Christmas gifts, I hope this helps.

In other news, my friend Kasey is having a conversation with Robin McKinley over on Twitter. McKinley's responded twice to her so far. I... I am not that cool.

Icons!

Of what else? I do have photoshop on my old computer, but using it would involve coaxing Fritzy awake and transferring a lot of files back and forth with a thumb drive, which always sounds like more work than I'm up for. These were therefore done with Microsoft Office Picture Manager and are pretty simple. I'm pleased with them, though.

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16. 17. 18.