A Busy (and Sick) Bee

This week has been a rough one, between losing one of my days off when two cashiers called out on Sunday and the sinus infection that manifested a couple of days ago. Nothing else has really happened this week, since I've spent what little free time I have trying to watch new episodes of all my TV shows. Tomorrow night I'm going to have dinner with my friends before another long shift on Saturday, and then my week of fun begins. I have two days off in a row next week, so I'm going to drive down to Skipperville and visit my friends there, and then the royal wedding is next Friday morning. As I suffer through my sore throat, runny nose, and hacking cough at work for the next three days, I at least have something to look forward to.

Obscure British Actors 101: Julian Rhind-Tutt

I can't gush enough about my love for hulu.com and the way it keeps offering British comedies and dramas that are impossible to find on American television (and possibly even buy on DVD). One of my favorite shows to re-watch is Green Wing, and I'm currently in the middle of the second season. Set in a hospital and populated by fantastic cast of character actors, Green Wing is similar to Scrubs in its ability to balance grounded storylines with absurd gags. And if it wasn't for Julian Rhind-Tutt, I would have never discovered it.

• The first thing I saw him in - The ill-fated and short-lived American TV show, Keen Eddie. I watched it because it was set in London, and it was one of the few instances where I didn't actually know any of the actors that starred in it. Of course, Sienna Miller has since became a household name, and I began following the careers of several actors after Keen Eddie ended, including Julian's.
• Why I like him - Even if he was a crap actor, I'd still be in love with him because of that mop of ginger hair. But of course he's a great character actor, and I love it when he pops up in something I'm watching (like Any Human Heart, Stardust, Crooked House, and Black Books).
• My favorite role of his - Obviously I'd have to pick one of his more substantial roles, rather than a guest-starring spot in a TV show or TV movie. Although I love them both, I'd probably choose Mac on Green Wing instead of Monty Pippin on Keen Eddie due to Pippin's (occasionally endearing) creepiness.
• My least favorite role of his - How about the one where his character murdered a child? Yeah, that one.
• A role I'd like to see him in - Julian's done a little bit of everything, from costume dramas to contemporary comedies and heroes to villains, so I can't really add anything to his list. Except a role in Doctor Who. As The Doctor.

Sweet Sixteen

Yesterday was my sister's sixteenth birthday, and I have to admit that it's really hard to believe. My brother is only fifteen months younger than me, so I can't remember my life without him; however, I was eight years old when Emily was born. I remember when my parents told us that Mom was pregnant, when we found out it was a girl, when I stayed with my grandparents and family friends while Mom was in the hospital for several weeks before the birth, the call Dad made when Emily was born and I found out her name, and the day they came home. After that, it's amazing how few specific moments I can recall of her childhood, yet she's grown up right before my eyes.

Birthdays are always very understated at our house, and Emily's "sweet sixteen" was exactly the same as my own. For dinner, Mom makes us our favorite meal, then we open presents, and then we eat cake. My parents haven't thrown me a birthday party since we moved to Birmingham a couple of weeks before I turned 11, and I never even thought to ask for one for my 16th birthday. Instead, I spent my morning at a friends house after an impromptu slumber party (not for me, but to work on a chemistry homework assignment that was kicking our butts), the afternoon at the football stadium (the high school always has the band perform at their fall fundraiser), and the evening eating dinner with my family.

Emily's birthday was a little less chaotic than mine since it was a school day, and not a Saturday. She's apparently even less interested in birthdays than anyone else in the family, because we essentially acted like it was a normal day (but with cake!). Chris spent the weekend in Auburn visiting his friends, so he wasn't even home for her birthday, and Emily spent the whole day on the computer. But she did get a present from me, and she'll go to the bookstore and Best Buy to pick out her presents from Mom and Dad later today, so she seems happy enough with her birthday this year.

Current Obsessions (Disguised as Recommendations), Part 5

Now reading: The King's Favorite by Susan Holloway Scott - I've been reading historical fiction for most of my life now, and the genre certainly helped develop my love for history and led me to earn two degrees in the field. Unfortunately, for every Jean Plaidy and Sharon Kay Penman (who do their research), there's also a Phillipa Gregory (who writes whatever she wants). I'm always a little wary to try new authors, so if I don't have a friend's recommendation, I usually pass them up unless their book is in the bargain section.

Although her books have been relegated to the bargain section at Books-a-Million, let me go on record and officially recommend Susan Holloway Scott as a legitimately good historical fiction author. So many things are right with her books, from the unique subject material (Charles II instead of Henry VIII) to the believable dialogue (when Nell Gwyn is remembered for her wit as much as for her affair with the king, you'd better be able to make her witty). Most of all, though, she follows the established historical narrative when possible and only uses her imagination to fill in the gaps. The King's Favorite is the second in a trilogy about Charles II's most infamous mistresses, and each book is told from the mistress's point of view. I particularly love that Scott spends at least the first third of each book on the women's lives before they met the king and that we get descriptions of the king and his mistresses from multiple points of view. This trilogy truly shows all three women as individuals, which is exactly how Charles II saw them.

Now watching: Parks and Recreation - I started watching Parks and Recreation when it premiered a couple of years ago, partly out of habit (I always watch NBC's entire Thursday night line-up) and partly because it was a spin-off of The Office. About half-way through the second season, the show really hit its stride, and it's now my favorite comedy on TV. Every character is so hilarious on his or her own, and scenes just get more and more outrageous when the whole ensemble is interacting with each other. In my opinion, the current season is the best yet because the blossoming romance between Leslie and Ben is the most natural and perfect one I've ever seen on TV. They are so adorable together that I break down giggling during every episode and actually spend my free time reading all the fanfiction I can find.

Now listening to: "Bread" by Charlie McDonnell - Charlie is one of my favorite youtubers, and I was very excited when he announced that he was releasing an album. He occasionally writes songs for his channel (and most were featured on the album), and he's a member of my favorite/the only Doctor Who tribute band, Chameleon Circuit. Sadly, the album came out while I was unemployed and had cut my extraneous spending, but a friend gave me a copy of This Is Me and I've been listening to it in the car every since. Although all the songs are catchy and creative and nerdy, "Bread" is by far my favorite song on the album.

Blogging Every Week in April

I've seen several people start BEDA (Blog Everyday in April) or VEDA (Vlog Everyday in April), and by the time I realized that I should attempt it too, I'd already missed several days. Last month I couldn't even meet my goal of ten blog posts in a month, though, so it's probably best that I didn't set myself up for failure. At the very least I can promise BEWA, however unimpressive it might seem.

Nothing out of the ordinary has happened in the past week, so blogging completely slipped my mind on my day off yesterday. The archivist I volunteer for was on vacation last week, so the only time I left the house was to have dinner with my friends one night. Other than that, I spent my time reading books, cleaning out my hulu queue, and making money at Target. This week looks to be exactly the same, except for the 'hanging out with friends' bit. It never fails that we can only find one night that everybody's free, and last night severe weather warnings canceled our plans (the worst part was that if we had waited to make a decision instead of canceling right away, we could have totally had dinner together because the storm didn't actually arrive until 7:00 and only lasted an hour).

I did go to the dentist yesterday, so that was probably the highlight of my week (and not necessarily in a good way). Ever since I got my braces off and my permanent retainers put on, I've been paranoid that I'll develop cavities on those teeth because it's so hard to clean around them properly. Apparently that shouldn't be a worry, though, because the two cavities that the dentist found are on the top of my molars, arguably the easiest spot to clean. According to my dentist, it's the rarest type of cavity, where the enamel wears away before collapsing and forming a small hole. The hole was probably there six months ago, during my last visit, but now it's starting to decay. I'll have to get that fixed in the next couple of months, particularly since my parents "suggested" I take care of it before I go to England and end up having a dental emergency there (thankfully they didn't crack any offensively predictable jokes).

I've got some exciting plans coming up, including the royal wedding and seeing Oscar-nominated movies at the dollar theater. But obviously I want to save those for another blog post.