1. THREE DAYS. CANNOT FATHOM THIS. Even though work is starting to fall in my lap again, and I really should do some of it because so much of it is due to my sitting around doing a whole lot of not much, right now my only concern is to keep from falling ill before I have to take off for the trip. Being barred from entering the US at this point is really NOT at all high on my list of priorities, nope. OMG CAN'T BELIEVE I'LL BE SEEING WONDERETTES IN LESS THAN FIVE DAYS ALSDHSADHASLDSA ♥

2. Also, I find it hard to focus these days because all I want to do is be a huge enormous dork and curl up in a corner with my stash of X-Men comics and devour them like the good little nerd I am. Today I tried to explain to my boss why Wolverine doesn't age and has apparently been through a litany of world wars in the recent past. Nerd extraordinaire, that is indeed me.

3. Cheno is a ball of cute, I just had to say. I love that the pay-off to that interview is a nice, long, glorious stretch of Over The Rainbow. Also, I SEE HER IN CONCERT NEXT MONDAY. \o/ The excitement, it is EVERYWHERE!

4. Speaking of which: native New Yorkers, where is there a good place to snag free internet? Do I have to start living in Starbucks? (Is there even free wireless there?) I have my perfectly portable little netbook, so that's fine, but I still need to know where I can go to get net access... in case the friend I'm living with has maxed out her internet time (entirely possible). I'm also trying to figure out what the weather's gonna be like: I'm sure I can easily buy anything I'm missing, since it isn't the absolute dead of winter this time. But I'm guessing I'll need an umbrella at least...

5. MORE of alphabet meme, I intend to FINISH this before I go to NY!! ( F - em - L )

6. I LEGIT TALK TOO MUCH. How is it 2am already!?!? Okay okay OKAY. Bedtime... if I'm not distracted by comics, that is. XD

1. DUDE, I AM SO HUNGRY. SO. HUNGRY. I mean, noldoparma and I had dinner at NYDC, which usually involves HUGE AMOUNTS OF PASTA AND ICE-CREAM MUDPIES, which it did - my baked pasta came with TONS of cheese and Italian ham and mushrooms, and our mudpie supposedly had Bailey's in it (couldn't taste any of the alcohol, wtf). So I shouldn't be hungry? Oh, except that dinner was... maybe eight hours ago now? *cries* But I can't eat or even drink milk because I'm supposed to run to the doctor for a routine blood test tomorrow so I have to fast. ARRRGGH.

2. Why I just don't GO TO BED so I can sleep away the hunger is beyond me.

3. Oh I know. It's a little something called FLAIL. *rolls eyes* Seriously. I ended up watching Meryl's entire interview on Inside The Actor's Studio, which I'm pretty sure I've watched before, but hey. Always good to relive the awesome. This part is my favourite - she talks about how she had a nervous breakdown when her Irish accent coach was on set ALL THE TIME for Dancing At Lughnasa (which, randomly, I kind of half-watched in a Malaysian hotel room a few years ago at 3am in the morning) - 3:28 ftw, "I didn't know why I existed". LMAO. And her bitching about not being able to remember her lines, which she NEVER DID... until menopause hit. XD Also, OMG. IRISH JIG AT 6:10 FOR THE EPIC WIN. Then the QUIZ. I love the quiz. (7:54 for her daughter's favourite word. XD)

4. So I've been trying to restrain myself from going to see Mamma Mia for the FIFTH time in cinemas - and then I discover this! Such a GOOD copy of the movie online, considering that the DVD isn't out yet! SQUEE. Those who haven't seen it can go watch it noooooow.

5. Randomly, I have stupid little zits all over my face because I missed my facial a while back because of work. ARGH. Must my job destroy even my skin!?!? *cries*

6. Watched Burn After Reading today - not one of the Coens' best, I must say. The cast was brilliant though. Especially Brad Pitt. I don't think I've ever seen him been quite so out-and-out spazzy. As a commentary on stupid people doing ridiculously stupid things, I guess the movie worked. But it didn't work quite as well as, say, Fargo, which certainly had that as one of its underlying themes.

7. Then, HMV with noldoparma and her brother! I bought the first season of 30 Rock on DVD, FINALLY. XD And also Falling In Love, because... well, it might be a lesser entry in both their canons, but it's Streep and De Niro. Got to be worth a watch, right?

8. I was talking to alexia88 about XF and the dodgy fanfic I wrote back in the day. Like, from FOWLEY'S POV, ZOMG. See here. I was kind of horrified to realise that I wrote that in 1999. NINE YEARS AGO, OMG! *cries*

9. Finally. I have an icon meme I've been meaning to do. I snagged it from someone but never had time to do it, then passed it to lanafromoz who ended up doing it before I did, WTF. So I have to get caught up:

Look at your userpics list. If you have fewer than twenty icons, post them all. If you have between twenty and fifty icons, pick every fifth one. If you have between fifty and seventy-five icons, pick every seventh one. If you have over seventy-five icons, pick every tenth one.

List them on your journal and tell everyone exactly why you have it, why it's interesting to you, the keywords you use and what significance it has.

( 10,000 words )

10. Phew, that took ages. It's now 5.30 in the morning. O_O I was supposed to yoga tomorrow, but think I'll have to pass, since I have to run to the doctor's, put in a few hours at work, and then I REALLY want to see Alan Rickman in Bottle Shock and I can't imagine watching a 9.30pm show after a 6pm yoga class. D: God. Need to stop being so lazy and sleeping at such faily hours. Never going to happen though. *cries*

1. OH GOD. My computer hates my guts. A lot. I'm now posting from my dad's Mac - can I just say I'm a retard and it took me, like, TEN MINUTES to realise that the power button is ON THE BACK OF THE MONITOR? I spent ages staring at the computer going - I bet it's something counter-intuitive as it always is for Macs. And it wasn't, the power switch was just hidden in the back. *weeps*

2. Anyway - I think every time I have an epic icon blowout and leave my computer on all weekend, it tends to rebel and not want to work for a couple of days. Piece of worthless junk, taking a break whenever it feels like it - man, I wish I could do that at work. GRARGH.

3. However - TINA FEY. OMG. The more she does those skits as Sarah Palin, the more icons I'm going to end up with. That beer tab moment at the end of yesterday's SNL = PRICELESS, AMIRITE? I need to icon that tout de suite. (EDITED TO ADD: I have absolutely NO IDEA how to copy links using a Mac, so this will have to do: check out this hilarious Facebook entry alexia88 linked me to here. MWAHAHAHA.)

4. Also - since my computer is down, I figured that I could load up my thumb drive with episodes of TV I haven't yet watched and plug it into my DVD player for a tv marathon tonight. WTF - why is my thumb drive's 2GB capacity completely maxed out with just TWO episodes on there? I should be able to put at least four 350MB episodes on it, no?! ARGH STUPID PIECES OF CRAP. Now I can only watch the first 2 episodes of House. And then I guess I'll marathon Season 1 Bones or something.

5. Also, I meant to get up and go for yoga at 6pm, but I wound up waking up at 7pm. *weeps* I did sleep at almost 11am though. ARGH. NORMAL SLEEP PATTERNS ARE NOT FOR ME.

6. My computer makes me SO CRANKY. ALSKDJLAJDLAJDLSDJLAS.

1. HAI. Let's make this the randomest post in the history of ever, y/y? Memes and random Julia bits from her Studio A Cabaret interview, because they make me happy and amuse me ENDLESSLY.

2. OMIGOD. So I'm finally tracking my boot of Kerry's last Wicked and I want to DIE from the awesome. She was. SO. FREAKING. AMAZING. Riffs everywhere, in excellent voice, and listening to the boot is like listening to a friggin' rock concert. There was just so much love and energy and crazy screaming and passion that night. GOD. BEST WICKED EVER, for me. So. So. AWESOME. Plus I'm totally grooving on the quality of this. LOVE.

3. Here's the first random Julia bit. Everyone remember the 'la la la la la la guava' moment from DQYNJ? Mwahahaha, check out this longer version - wouldn't it make an awesome handphone ringtone!?!


4. Meme the first, snagged from lanafromoz! ( 60 random questions )

5. And before I work on the next meme, here's ANOTHER random Julia moment. I guess I'll never get to see or hear her as Velma Kelly in Chicago - how much would that ROCK - but at least we'll always have her doing the ridiculously difficult Hunyak monologue in Cell Block Tango, eh? LOVE. Plus, she doesn't know that 7x8=56, LOL.


6. I was tagged for a pic-spam meme by naley_forever23:
1) Pick a hot girl... or guy... take a moment to think.
2) Is this the guy/gal you want?
3) Pick his/her top 10 hottest, cutest, most irresistible pictures.
4) Tag five other users.
5) Comment with the link to your meme.

7. And finally, to end off: I forgot how friggin' AMAZING Kerry's last was. I know, I started this post flailing about Kerry, but I have to flail SOME MORE since I'm done tracking Act I and OMFG DEFYING GRAVITY. LISTEN TO HER RIFF. LISTEN TO HER BE AMAZING. *SOBS*


8. FLAILY ENOUGH FOR Y'ALL?! That took 2.5 hours, in between tracking Wicked and whatnot, OMG!!

I blame this icon post ENTIRELY on alexia88. I was SUPPOSED to wait until I'd finished a batch of Wickeds before posting, but I showed Alex some icons and she insisted that I should post them tonight before I went to bed. FAIL, it is now 2.37 am.

ANYWAY.
Here we go. Lots and lots and lots of anicons this time around, because Julia live is the best crack ever. ♥

Teasers:
[35] Julia Murney icons


Oh, and a wallpaper too!

( Cocktober stays with you in your heart )

1. HAI. alexia88 and I HAVE TICKETS TO SAVED! ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG. JUUUUUUUULIIIIIIIIAAA!!!!! On my birthday! Best night ever.



2. So I've been listening to Julia's 2007 Chatterbox interview because it turns out I am a complete total failure for not having listened to it earlier. Having listened to it now, I'm in utter agreement that I FAIL - or did, anyway - because it was SUCH a funny, fabulous interview. I love Julia's humour - she's so irreverent, and OMG so many little details about her career and everything! Like how she was deemed "too mature" to get roles for AGES because of her voice (which led to a career in voiceovers and, of course, the fact that Cocktober stays in your heart forever!!), and her dual-speed vocal cords, AND HER CHENO IMPRESSION, and how Seth kept demanding why she hadn't gone and auditioned for Fantine in Les Miz and she said she WENT, for the 10th anniversary concert, but they asked her to play Mme Thernadier!!! LMAO! Since I had so much fun, I had to slice out my FAVOURITE part of the interview, which stars Idina, kind of, and another random bit of ear candy...

OMG. I JUST bought Wicked tickets for me, alexia88 and my other crazy friend for June 15, Stephanie J Block's last day as Elphaba before she goes off to do that other musical of win with Allison Janney. They were SO CRAZY EXPENSIVE. And the seats are, like, SO not great considering how much we're paying for them. But I don't care!! It's Wicked, in NYC, and it's SJB!!! ♥ GAH. I CAN'T WAIT.

Just over two months to go... many many more tickets to buy in between. FLAIL. And, you know, figuring out a place to stay? Could be essential. BUT I HAVE WICKED TICKETS. WOO!!

Randomly, I LOVE THIS PODCAST I'm listening to. So many wonderful factoids plus Julia has such an amazing speaking voice. ♥ Like, OMG! Julia was the first one to debut Defying Gravity in NYC EVER, before the show even started anywhere! Hee. And I LOVE how she calls the entire score of Wicked "irresponsibly written", heh. It sure is. I'm in awe of any actress who plays Elphaba. Role of INSANE high and low notes. Wait, Julia's impersonating Cheno now!! WIN, LOL, SHE SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE CHENO!

SHOULD I BE POSTING FROM WORK? NO.

BUT. BUT BUT BUT. WHY WOULD IDINA HOLD A CONCERT ON MY BIRTHDAY - WHEN I AM IN THE US - BUT IN CALIFORNIA? DSKJFAJDSKJALJALSDJLSKJDLSADASDA. GAAAAAAAAAAAH. alexia88!!! *sobs* Isn't this terrible timing? All her promo events have been in NYC so far. :( 

Gaaaaah. I'm happy she's taking her not-tour further out, more people need to get to know her and her album of awesomeness, dammit. BUT. SADFACE. 

Flying to San Diego would be the insanest of insane things EVER. *grumps* 

I guess I shall have to make do with seeing Julia Murney live. Though that's hardly a chore, heh. 
(It's so hard for me to stay grumpy/mad these days, lol!!)

I'M IN THE PROCESS OF BOOKING PLANE TICKETS ZOMG.

Well, not really. I should be in bed as it's 2.35 am and I anticipate tons and tons and tons of work tomorrow. *sadface*

But!!

1. It was a good day at work, even with, you know, the actual work. Because I'm still hyped up on my New York flail, OMG. alexia88 and I have been chatting for ages and just being all flaily and happy. (Plus, Alex, BIRDLAND = OMFG, AMIRITE?!) Seriously, this trip is the best thing I have ever done for myself and for my mental health. I was so down just a week ago about my whole work situation, and now I'm in a ridiculously good mood all the time. Thank you, Alex m'dear, and also lfae, for flailing with me and making life all good again.

2. Also got my performance bonus today! For once, I felt genuinely rewarded for all the crap and hours I put in at work. Plus, it'll pay for my June holiday, whoo hoo!! Turns out staying 'til 3am? Might have been worth it after all... ;)

3. And of course my fellow Julia Murney fangirls - welcome to all the new friends I've made because of Julia flail, hee! You guys made my week. Actually, EDUCATE ME. Tell me random factoids about Julia! I know she makes a mean pancake, lol, and that she's a native New Yorker. Did she get classical training the way Idina did? Or is she just naturally amazing? SPAM ME WITH JULIA LOVE.

4. And I shall return the favour. You WANT to be clicking on the cut, oh yes you do... yes, especially you Julia virgins out there. Because man I love this woman's voice and there's proof right here.


5. I really don't want to be at work tomorrow. I just want to flail online. Can you tell, LOL?

1. NYC IN JUNE HERE I COME. I've been flailing over the possibility with alexia88 for a couple of days now, especially after I discovered that Julia Murney was going to do a show in June. So I was halfway talking myself into going but, like, just horrified at how dorky and terrifying that would be to fly just to see her in a show that no one knows anything about (it's not like it's Wicked, hai!) and she might get all of ONE song or whatever. So I tried to convince Alex to go with me so it doesn't feel so pathetic, and OMG everything just SNOWBALLED INTO SO MUCH AWESOME TONIGHT. Partly (mainly) because I read that Curtains is closing on June 29, which is all kinds of fail because I REALLY love DHP (and also Jason Danieley) and want to see him in something live, so I showed that to Alex, who was JUST as horrified, and we've since talked ourselves into a two-and-a-half week long FANDOM FLAIL FEST. This is what it looks like right now: a week in London, where we'll see Kerry Ellis' LAST Wicked together, and other shows and more flailing besides. Then just over a week in NYC, where we'll see SJB's last and Kerry's first in Wicked, if those aren't sold out (would they be, so far in advance?!?), CURTAINS, JULIA FRICKIN' MURNEY IN SAVED! and Tony Danza for Alex (he's doing a cabaret!), and lots and LOTS of other shows in between. OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD THIS IS SO PERFECT. The flights look good - yeah, we've already checked - so I just need to get the okay at work on Monday and we can start booking for shows. GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!

2. CAN I JUST SAY? FASKFJDLKJFLAJSDAJSDAOPRUWEIORFJASDLKFAS.

3. ALSO? FLAIL. FLAIL FLAIL FLAIL.

4. OMG I NEED A RECORDER NOW. FLIST. HELP WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS. And teach me how to use one, LOL!!

5. And LOL, I actually did other things on my lazy Saturday!! I watched Into The Woods with my Broadway dork of a brother, and LOVED IT. It was a semi-amateurish production, done by the local theatre/arts college and featuring a bunch of students about to graduate or something. But it was so much fun! I LOVE Sondheim now, I think, for the insane complexity of his work - it really is just such fantastic song-writing, with words and ideas and themes all mixed together, and who wouldn't love a musical that looks at fairy tales in a completely skewed way? Sondheim totally did it before Shrek, and here he explodes all the myths with much post-modern cheer - with the happily-ever-after coming at the end of Act ONE. SO MUCH LOVE FOR SONDHEIM. I had a lot of fun at this, and it was great flailing with my brother too, who's SUCH a Broadway dork. I love that we're getting into this at the same time.

6. After that I went to see Grace Is Gone with John Cusack, because HAI I adore John Cusack in every way imaginable. And he was fantastic. It was a good film too - rather depressing, since it's about an Iraq war widower and how he tries (or not) to break the news of their mom's death to his two daughters. But Cusack was fantabulous as ever.

7. I am sooooooooooooooooooooo obsessed with Julia Murney. I just had to say that again. But today it really just HIT me, you know? That just thinking about this woman and her singing and her humour and everything makes me smile. That's when I know I've hit fandom paydirt. I CAN'T BELIEVE I MIGHT REALLY REALLY BE SEEING HER LIVE IN JUNE. FRAK.

8. I AM SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW. SO. SO. HAPPY.

9. noldoparma - I KNOW THIS IS OBVIOUS TO YOU BY NOW. BUT IF YOU WANT TO SEE CURTAINS/JASON DANIELEY, YOU HAVE TO COME WITH THIS JUNE. YOU HAVE TO.

And a good thing it's strike spam day too!

ANOTHER Mamma Mia trailer for the freakin' WIN. I just wish they'd dare to show more footage of the actors actually singing. No more backing tracks, omfg. I WANT TO HEAR MERYL SING ABBA. But this trailer is excellent. SO LONG, with lots of footage of Meryl being a dork (LOVE!) - an apparently totally slutty dork, to boot - and just beautiful beautiful images of Greece and blue skies and sparkly seas.

Oh god it needs to be July NOW. So I can watch this and TXF2...


Edited to add: I uploaded Julia Murney's album I'm Not Waiting to convert alexia88 to the Church of Murney. (I succeeded and I don't think she's even listened to the album yet, lol!!) So figured I might as well put the link up for you guys too. Go ahead - don't you wanna know what I've been flailing about like a crazy person for the last few weeks? ;)

1. HAI, WORK? AS MY ICON SAYS - GTFO. I finally had a great day today. Like, great - and it's been long overdue, obviously, since life most emphatically hasn't been great in the last five years month or so. Of course, it was only great because the actual amount of work I did was negligible - we were all just in such a high, happy, spazzy mood for being done with a big paper and not having anything on our plate that we just were hyper all day and went out for lunch and cut out of work early on time. Especially me and noldoparma - our cracktastic hyperness fuelled only by our passionate love for everything that is Jason Danieley. (<< CLICK. YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO. Because he is love.) Oh, and his gorgeous wife Marin Mazzie too, of course. But mostly Danieley.

2. So after hypering our way through not very much work at all, we left on time for a shopping spree at Vivocity, an excellent dinner at Chinese restaurant Bosses, and then we even made our way to the Bellini Room at St James Power Station for a couple of sets. (With my boss in tow, ha - it's ridiculous how fun-loving and young she is when she's, like, fifty next year.) I LOVE the jazz band there, because it's so fabulous to have a full jazz band - minus the double bass - playing right in front of you, trumpet, saxophone, piano, everything. The singers were a bit off today though (one of them was on some kind of lethal cocktail of drugs, I suspect, since he was SO out of character and randomly bouncy). But it was just great to be OUT.

3. And then I get back home to Youtube and have since allowed myself to get incredibly incredibly flaily about Julia Murney - again - as Elphaba in Wicked. Because really really REALLY she acts the socks/pants/whatever off that role. I love Idina, obviously, and always will, but I love Julia at least as much. She's that good. And some really excellent-quality videos have been popping up on Youtube recently that make me love her more: please to be watching her singing, for the last time on Broadway last year, As Long As You're Mine (for Elphaba/Fiyero shippers, Julia and Sebastian Arcelus are SO getting it on onstage - to quote the wonderfully insightful book232!) and No Good Deed (with the full cornfield scene that precedes it, WIN!) Watch it before Youtube takes the videos doooown. And I'm rewatching these because Julia's SO cute in them, and as a result, must pimp them, again - it's Julia chatting about going green for the role as she's getting painted and costumed to go onstage in about half an hour or something. ( one | two )

4. So that this isn't just a post of total fail flail, I have an icon meme, courtesy of book232! Come play with me!


5. Uploaded the Wicked OBC soundtrack for someone, so might as well leave the link up for anyone who didn't download it the last time I flailed about Wicked. You might as well download it and find out what I keep nattering on about, because I suspect I'm never ever EVER gonna stop... ;)

YOU WANT PROOF OF HOW TXF2 PROMO PICS HAVE MELTED MY BRAIN? CHECK OUT MY FAIL > HERE <.

BUT SERIOUSLY. HOUSE/CUDDY/MULDER/SCULLY OT4. YOU KNOW YOU ALL WANTS IT.

Tagged for a meme, in a manner of speaking, by athenaraven:

The rules are easy, just post 10 things that recently made you happy! Then tag 10 people everyone (;D) and force them to post this meme on their LJs. Because it is good. Everyone needs a little happiness once in a while.

1. You guys. For serious. To all the folks, old and new, ILU! :)
2. The new XF promos. Dude. They couldn't be any hotter.
3. ALL ATTENDANT FLAILING: my concentration at work is shot to pieces and I no longer sleep, apparently. But I've never been happier.
4. A shiny new paid account and 100++ icons! *tackle hugsalexia88 for our matchy indulgences*
5. JAY CHOU SONGS - no sign of video from our concert yet, but I found a short one of Jay playing the gu zheng for Fa Ru Xue from his US concert. WIN WIN WIN. I LOVE THAT INSTRUMENT. I LOVE JAY.
6. Idina Menzel's new album and all the live concerts I've been d/l-ing
7. Movies of win are going to be released over the next few weeks - like Juno, and SWEENEY TODD, and OMG, CJ7 with Stephen Chow LOL.
8. WICKED!
9. Getting wired back into AIM again. Anyone else on it? :)
And of course, 10: Just being a fangirl again. I've missed communal!flailing!

Sigh. There will be music pimpage a little later tonight - I owe people lots of stuff! And I'd rather stay home and flail, but I have tickets for a show and have to leave in, like, five minutes.

SPAM ME WHILE I'M AWAY, LOL. KEEP MY INBOX COMPANY.

HAI IT IS 7.45 AM AND I HAVE YET TO GO TO BED. I BLAME IT ON FLAILING, I DO. BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT I'VE DONE TODAY:

1. Watched The Savages, which was excellent, because Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman are ALWAYS made of excellent.

2. Went to Jay Chou's concert for the second night in a row. It was awesome, of course - asjfasjfdalskjalsdjal! My sister made a video of him playing the gu zheng but Youtube is being evil and not letting her upload it. I WILL SPAM WITH IT LATER. He was incredible though. And even brought his grandma out onstage for her to dance the tango, LOL. Cuteness.

3. Returned home for EPIC FLAILING with alexia88 - I have missed you SO, hon, even though we got to meet up just last month! But it was all good, because we both went bonkers with flail and now we have paid accounts and a hundred++ icons for our flailing purposes. WIN. I have spent hours adding icons and I haven't hit the limit yet. HEAVEN. [shameless hint ahead] Anyone on my flist wanna make me an icon to celebrate? HIT ME. ;)

4. Spent way too long re-customising LJ layout BECAUSE IF YOU HAVEN'T GONE MAD FOR THE XF2 PROMO PICS, WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU??

In that spirit of open-mindedness, therefore, check out the new layout:


And 5. Guys! Go contribute to the pic-fic at my_vicodin! Go on, it's FUN!