there will be a fish

Okay, so I apparently haven't posted to LJ in so long that I'm completely weirded out by the new posting form. Yikes, it's been since October! Well, I'm back to do a five-questions meme from ignipes. I'm not sure doing this right now, when I've just had my wisdom teeth out and am currently loopy on some substantial painkillers with half my face swollen like a chipmunk, is really the best idea, but oh well. *jazz hands*

-Comment with "Winter is Coming" your current favorite catch-phrase/quote from a show/movie, because I have no emotional attachment to Game of Thrones (yet), sorry.
-I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can get to know you better.
-Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
-Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions. (If you want. Totally optional.)

My questions and answers:

1. What would your ideal doesn't-exist-but-totally should TV show be about?

Hmmm. Okay, this is an evil question, Kali; I really should expect nothing less of you. Well, I like shows where the main characters have a Purpose, a Cause for which they fight or work hard. This could be anything from the political shenanigans of The West Wing, to Nikita fighting to take down Division on her show, to John Reese and Harold Finch Saving People, Hunting Things, the family business, but I don't really care; I just want my characters to be passionate about something, something bigger than themselves or their close friends or family. A grand passion for one other person just doesn't do it for me. I don't mind romance, but unless the character(s) are also having a love affair with Justice, or Vengeance, or even Making a TV Show About Sports (Sports Night), I just won't care as much. I also like my characters kind of messed up. Emotional healthy characters are only interesting in juxtaposition to messed up ones, IMO. And I like genre -- probably my favorites are spies and detectives, because characters who seek knowledge for a living, yes please, but also with some sci-fi thrown in, because always yes.

So, I guess I would have a spy (or ex-spy) team up with a detective (or private investigator?) and have them travel around the world in order to Save Lives and/or The World, while having seriously messed up inner lives but still providing witty repartee and going from distant/indifferent work colleagues to close friends who have a deeply meaningful rapport and/or romance. While possibly being assisted by an AI, a robot, or at the very least some truly awesome gadgets, or even have them operating in the future, where there could be LOTS of sci-fi-y things, many of which would doubtless play into their issues and/or backstory. BONUS: if these characters were in some way not white-bread, conventionally attractive, totally predictable, and generally male types we usually see, that would be awesome.

...I think I just described Person of Interest (without the traveling, but with bonus character-with-disabilities). And sort of Nikita (with less sci-fi, but also bonus diversity). And maybe Fringe, too. Um...and Alias. And...Life. SIGH.

2. What is the ONE movie you think everybody should see? ONLY ONE. NO CHEATING.

YOU ARE SO MEAN. DON'T YOU KNOW I WAS A FILM STUDENT?!?! THIS IS LIKE ASKING YOU TO PICK YOUR FAVORITE ROCK. :P

FINE. Um. Casablanca. I know this is on all the Best Movies EVER lists, and therefore kinda cliche, but it's at the top of mine. Because it combines an epic situation with personal stories, and does it with an impeccable sense of both drama and humor. Because even though some of the gender dynamics don't suit me, I do believe that these characters would choose to do these things. Because Claude Rains steals every scene he's in -- from Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, and that is impressive. Because it has some of the best lines of dialogue in the history of ever. Because it makes me happy, even when it's sad, and that is the best kind of movie.

3. What's your favorite comfort food?

Is it cheating to say chocolate?

Actually, this changes. Different moods call for different comforts. Sometimes it's breakfast tacos from Maria's and orange Jarritos; sometimes it's red wine and Chinese food; sometimes it's hot mint tea and shortbread; sometimes it's mac & cheese from scratch; sometimes it's Dan's hamburgers and beer. I don't really have a favorite. I just have different ones that are more effective for comforting different moods.

4. What superpower do you want to have?

I think I would love to fly, or teleport. I just want to be able to go where I want, when I want to go.

5. What's the best advice you've ever received? Or the worst, if that's more entertaining?

I feel like this is also cheating, but the most specific instance is when I was learning to swing dance, and someone told me to count the steps through the turns. Sheer genius in its simplicity!

Okay, I do feel like that was a cheat. I don't really have a lot of specific, people-sat-me-down-and-advised me situations to recall. My parents both have had great advice, but it's the kind that's seeped in over time, things like how to recognize and control losing my temper (or at the very least, how to understand and amend for it after the fact), and how to be organized (harder than it looks!). My high school college-application counselor (who I swear to god looked like Andy Serkis-as-Smeagol, I kid you not, but was really good at her job), weirdly; she asked me once how I dealt with adversity, which isn't really advice, but... I was like "I don't know, I've never really faced any," but it surprised me and stuck in my head, which means I kept thinking about it, and now I think the answer is "not well," which is maybe not good advice, but good self-knowledge. My sister is an ongoing lesson/adviser about how to successfully co-habitate with someone. I guess, a guy I talked to about job applications, who pointed out that networking isn't just asking people for things, but making it so you're able to give them things as well (which invites reciprocation, naturally, and hence useful for job stuff) because you're in touch. This makes it much more palatable and manageable for me to think about. I'm not big on hustling for my own gain, but I like to be in a position where I can be useful to people I know and care about, and to be able to think about it not only that way, but also as giving the people on the other side of the equation that ability as well...it makes things enormously more appealing. Less like going around with my hand out, more like doing myself and someone else a simultaneous, kind favor.

Well, that was fun! I need to start posting more. I got a new job, so my life and free time are no longer being swallowed up by work like they were, which is awesome. I have weekends! And free evenings! It's amazing. :)