Thursday, February 25, 2010

Cheryl, Queen of the Fairy Geeks!

For the first time ever, right here on my blog, I'm going to reveal the true extent of my geekdom. I'm not ashamed. I'm a dork. Deal.

I think by now most of my friends know that I work with an organization called the HP Alliance. The idea of the organization is to help children to understand and get passionate about important world issues by using themes from Harry Potter. Trust me, this method works. The organization managed to raise a fortune for Haiti last month. I can't remember what the final count was, but it was over a hundred thousand dollars. Even as I type it, I can't believe it. This is truly an incredible organization, lead by a guy who is talented, and knows what he's doing.

I'm currently co-leading a book drive for the HP Alliance. The project is called Accio Books! (In the near future I'll be hitting everyone I know up for a book donation, so you might as well start going through your closets and shelves now.) The books collected will benefit the Mississippi Delta. The campaign is set up like a contest. Four teams: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw, all competing for the House Cup. Each team has a Head of House. Each Head of House is a celebrity - three of them are from bands, one is a famous author.

As part of this, I'm trying to put together a series of four livestream shows. Each show will have a "House Theme." For example, our head of Slytherin is Brian, on his show he will talk about why Slytherins are the AWESOMEST, and why they will, of course, win the House Cup. Same goes for the other four Heads.

The head of Hufflepuff is a young woman named Lauren Fairweather, and when I was told that she had agreed to participate, I had to admit that I didn't know who she was. Everyone I spoke to about her was SUPER enthusiastic and excited that she was jumping on board with us.

So, of course, I googled her, and I found tons of info online. She's from a band called The Moaning Myrtles, and she also is part of a video blogging project called Five Awesome Girls. Check her out.

http://www.youtube.com/fiveawesomegirls#p/u/2/ZNhjFShZ0rY

laurenfairweather.com

I spoke to her on the phone tonight, and she was very sweet and accommodating. I've spent a fair amount of time on her website, and I'm becoming a fan. Please support her, if you can.

On a side note, one of the other Heads is someone who I'm a massive fan of. Seriously massive fan. Actually, Vicky is a massive fan, too.

Excitement!

Oh, and BTW,

http://www.thehpalliance.org/




Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Don't Mind Me, I'm Just Your Trusty DD

After a fabulous evening of Improv-ing last night, the bunch of us went out to drink. OK, I didn't drink because I had to drive (and I will take this opportunity to grudgingly give Christine one point in the great Car vs. Subway debate). I sat and chatted while everyone else drank.

It's OK, I don't need to drink in order to have fun. I'm not seventeen anymore, after all. *Sigh*

Anyway, a guy we know, Ming (cool guy, I like Ming) told us that he doesn't know who John Candy was. Of course, we all jumped down his throat and screamed things like "What do you mean you don't know John Candy??? Uncle Buck, Canadian Bacon, Cool Runnings!!!"

Ming is an immigrant to Canada (I think he said he's from China), and he's lived her for, like, years and years. 20 years, he might have said. Don't quote me.

What's my point, you ask? I'm so very glad you did ask!

Clearly Canadian broadcasting is sadly lacking if people can live here for such a long time and not encounter any of his work. Why are John Candy's movies not on TV more often? Why is SCTV no longer on? Everyone who lives in this country should know John Candy. He was a Canadian icon. I'm sad about this.

Maybe I'll write a letter to...somebody. The Comedy Network?

This will require more thought.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Things Cheryl Hates, Volume Two

Ok, I can admit it. I'm a huge, huge, HUGE fan of "Lost." Of course, there are plenty of things to hate about the show. Many of the characters are annoying, the story rarely makes any kind of sense at all, and just when you think it's all leading somewhere, they hit a time warp and end up at the beginning again, just to name a few. I enjoy the show immensely, despite all of these things.

Here's my rant of the day. It really annoys me that for the past season or so, the character formally known as "Sawyer" is now called "James." Yes, I understand that the character's official name was always James Ford, and that Sawyer was a nickname. But every other character called him Sawyer in every single episode until around the end of season 4. Why do they now call him James?

That's bad writing. Once a character is established, the name used until that point is that character's name. There's no changing it!

I also miss the former awesomeness of the character. I used to sit in front of the TV and wait for Sawyer to come on, because I wanted to see which book he would be reading. Funniest moment of the entire series: Sawyer sitting on the beach, mismatched glasses on his face, Are You There God? It's Me Margaret, by Judy Bloom in his hand. ROFL!

Also, in previous seasons he didn't go through a scene without giving someone a hilarious nickname. He does that less often now. :-(

End Rant.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Drives me Freaking Nuts!

I've finally found the single thing that pisses me off more than anything else on the planet. It might sound like a silly, petty complaint, but I just can't tolerate this anymore, and I'm forced to sever all ties with anyone and everyone who does this. Are you ready for it?

I hate it when people (adults, specifically) refer to the fourteenth of February as "Valentimes Day." I know that it's ridiculous that I'm complaining about something so insignificant - and, of course, that I'm a total bitch for writing about this, because many of my friends and acquaintances are guilty of this common mispronunciation - but it never ceases to amaze me just how many people I encounter each year who mispronounce the word.

People, this inane, over commercialized day is actually called "Valentines Day" and not "Valentimes Day." Why does it seem as though at least fifty percent of the English speaking population does not understand this? Have these people never seen the word spelled on a piece of paper or a calendar? Have they never received a card with the word printed, V-A-L-E-N-T-I-N-E! Or do people simply not pay attention?

If you've got a minute, google "Valentimes," and shake your head at the insanely high number of results.