These are not my shoes

I have fallen shamefully behind on my television posting. I have not, however, fallen too badly behind on the actual television watching. It helps that I've had a lot of stuff I needed to do around the house this week that I could do while some of the crappier, more boring shows played in the background.

The Bionic Woman is not getting any better and Isiah Washington is abysmally bad. That scene where he's fighting Jamie was just embarrassing. And it's not even all his fault--the dialogue was so bad it made me wonder if David Eick wrote it that way on purpose to make Isiah look like an idiot. If so, mission accomplished. Unfortunately, I'm also starting to suspect David Eick might be kind of an idiot, too.

Journeyman is still boring, but I'm growing fond of the the flashbacks, and not just because they give me an escape from the frowny wife and dick brother. It's fun the way they use music and a few visual clues to establish the year, and that they're flashing back primarily to years that I remember well. I like trying figure out what year it is before the main character does. I knew, for instance, the moment they started playing "Roam" by the B-52s and panned across a Field of Dreams marquee that it was 1989.

So, was The Office made of love this week or what? Okay, I totally could have done without the whole pizza boy plotline and probably it would have been a tighter show if it had been cut down to 1/2 hour, but still. That was some fantastic television, people. They really seem to be excelling in their fourth season. And I adore the way they're handling the Jim/Pam stuff--thank you, Greg Daniels for proving to the the world that a happy couple can, in fact, be funny *and* fun to watch. Oh, and Bruce Fretts obviously needs to go into a different line of work.

Speaking of shows that were starting to suck a little bit, I enjoyed last night's Friday Night Lights a lot more than the premiere. Yes, I still want to punch Julie in the throat, and yes, I hate that they've taken my two favorite characters (and two of the most amazing young actors on the show) and given them the lamest, most trite, out of character storyline possible. Still, they're acting the hell out of that bad storyline and I get a little bit excited whenever they're in a scene together. And yes, I may have squeed a little bit at the ending last night.

Am back from a fantastic time in Los Angeles. There was much frolicking on the beach (by the munchkin--I didn't so much frolic myself), sipping of fruity drinks and just generally having a blast with friends. And tlbelle got married! The wedding was beautiful and tons of fun and even those of us who'd vowed not to dance were lured onto the dance floor when they played "Boogie Shoes." Because who among us can resist the call of the Boogie Shoes? No one, that's who.

And even though we spent most of our time at the hotel in Santa Monica, we managed to have a few celebrity sightings. Anthony Anderson was on Mr. Sus' flight from Houston. mikijean claims to have seen Mandy Moore outside our hotel, although no one else was paying attention so we have no verification. Also, Mark Ruffalo and his kids walked out of the hotel and down to the beach with us. It's possible that some of us stopped to unobtrusively watch as he proceeded to do chin ups and swing on the rings at the Old Muscle Beach.

And now I am back and I have painters in my bathroom, but the tile is all done and the new countertop is supposed to come tomorrow so there's a chance the renovations will be done by next week. Yay!

I've been enjoying the new Office DVDs immensely. The deleted scenes for The Office are always so good it's like getting to watch new episodes. And my Dundie is proudly displayed on my mantel, just where Michael would want it to be.

Best of all, it's September now, which means the new fall season is just around the corner!

Here follows my recap of the Best Trip to L.A. Ever. Featuring famous knitting stores, cake, dead bodies, and Brian Baumgartner (times two!).

austin360 and I arrived at LAX Thursday afternoon, found mikijean and checked into our hotel. Then we spent a delightful evening with tlbelle, bgirlla, and ja_is_my_muse, full of catching up, knitting and dinner at Versailles (mmmmCubanfood).

Friday morning we all met up for a late breakfast/lunch at an adorable little place near Beverly Hills. While we were there, Rachel Nichols walked in and we spent a few minutes trying to remember what shows we'd all seen her on. Then, a few minutes later, Brian Baumgartner arrived and sat down at a table near us, which was a weird coincidence because we were going to be seeing him at the Paley Festival later that night. We also spotted Janine Turner walking by with bright red hair, so already we were off to a terrific start at celebrity bingo.

( Yarn! )

After that we chilled and knit for a while until it was time to head out for dinner. We decided to eat at the Farmer's Market at The Grove, and on the way to meet up with the others we're pretty sure we walked by Ashlee Simpson and her new nose. And then when we did meet up with the others they said we'd just missed Eric Millegan, which was another totally weird coincidence because some of us were going to be seeing him again later on the Bones set that night. It's like fate! Also, I had some truly fantastic crepes for dinner. Seriously, I haven't had crepes this good since I was in Paris.

( The Office! )

( Bones! )

( Other fun stuff )

I was a bad, bad girl yesterday. And it was all the fault of my mouse, because my right mouse button broke (which is a Very Bad Thing when you are in World of Warcraft surrounded by murlocs, BTW) so I had to go to Best Buy to get a new one.

Only once I was there, obviously I had to buy S3 of Arrested Development, because--duh--it's Arrested Development. And I had to get the new LOTR editions, because mikijean told me I had to and I always do what mikijean says. And then I had to buy The Office, but not just The Office S2, the limited edition Dunder Mifflin Severance Package set, because OMG awesome! It comes in a mini paper box! With a Dunder Mifflin notepad! And post-it notes! And Dwight's business card! Plus a hilarious dayplanner with Michael's notes all over it. And both seasons for only $10 more. Totally worth it. And then of course I came home and convinced austin360 and tlbelle that they had to have it too. Because I am evil.

Thanks to everyone for the hugs and sympathy yesterday. I'm feeling a bit better today. My fever's down, which is a v. good thing, but my throat still hurts like whoa. Sadly, the munchkin's off school today so no wallowing on the couch for me. Yesterday I comforted myself by watching the whole Luke/Lorelai sweeps breakup & makeup arc episodes. I totally fast-forwarded through the first 30 minutes of "Pulp Friction," though, because it's just plain dullsville until Luke puts on that leather jacket. MmmmmmmdateLuke!

( NBC's The Office )

( Tuesday's House )

( Potential Lost casting news )

ETA: Dude, this mood icon perfectly illustrates how my throat feels!