{smoke on the water}

Seriously, if you are not watching Sherlock, omg, please start.

I don't even have thoughts about Scandal in Belgravia, I just have keysmash for brains. alkfjhgdskal so, so good.

Also, Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch are clearly having The Most Fun. 

I am so pumped for next week's episode; Hounds is one of my favorite Holmes stories. Love it.

Flist! It's been so long since we've talked. How are you? Did you have good holidays? What awesome presents did we all get this year?

I got really boring but necessary things for my apartment. Like a vacuum and new towels and I got a new bed with all the bed shenanigans (super classy). And a giftcard to get a bunch of my prints/artwork from Europe framed (they're all custom jobs, groan). I also got a dvd player because Fred regained sole custody of hers when we moved.

I did get a brand new running/training watch, which was super exciting because my old one died and then I had to use this cheap buy-it-for-looks Old Navy watch which wasn't water resistant (so in the pool I had to stare fuzzily at the wall clock) and eventually could only function as a stopwatch, and soon after that when you pressed the 'go' button, the screen would go blank for a minute or two and then click in, except the time it told you wasn't even correct. So for awhile I only had vague time-keeping abilities. Anyway, this new one that I got is apparently like the toughest cute watch ever; supposedly you could rockslide down a mountain into an ocean and be eaten by a whale and it would still work.

I have also been set up to get new running shoes and other gear and you know you will hear about that because my running kicks and I are TIGHT.

I have been doing fannish things and I will do a round-up post of all that at some point.

I watched the movie The Help awhile back and I really enjoyed, so I picked up the book and enjoyed that even more. Even though I knew how it ended, I couldn't put it down. It was like watching the movie but with deleted scenes. So if you're looking for a genuinely good read (or film), I recommend it. What I liked most about both versions (but especially the book) was the range of different types of people and also the depth of each of the characters. People, on the whole and individually, are not all good or all bad, and I thought that the book did a good job demonstrating that.

Drop me a line! ♥

 dear kim,

i know you will never read this, as you don't have dw or even lj anymore, but i feel the need to say it, and maybe i'll even share it with you. right now it just needs to get out.

i want to thank you. i want to thank you for truly helping me become a better person. i'm sure you don't even realize you did, but you did. it was all thanks to that massive, week/month-long fight we had during junior year; i'm sure you recall it. from that i learned so much and i have become much more productive when handling my problems.

you taught me that aim is not the way to solve problems. you taught me that it is passive aggressive and that it has unequal distribution of power over the conversation. you taught me that an aim message while the other person is away is the coward's way out. 

you made me realize that i was afraid of confrontation.

you also made me realize that even though it is scary, talking things out is the best way to get real answers and solutions; much better than cryptic away messages or lj posts. things that only hope or assume the other person will understand; even if they do, they offer only retaliation or a cold shoulder as a response.

you made me realize that instead of spending my time formulating concise, sharp, angry speeches designed to hurt the other person, i instead should spend that time forming my thoughts into statements that clearly express what is wrong, how i feel. you taught me to exercise maturity always, and that no matter how bad things get, respect or at least civility should always be shown.

you taught me how disrespecting, hurting, someone by acting like our conflict isn't even worth my time can make a situation go from bad to worse.

you taught me to talk and to listen, to admit when i've hurt someone and not get defensive. you also taught me to not give in and take the blame for something that isn't my fault.

tonight i had a fight with another friend of mine, and though the issues involved have yet to be resolved, i know that i made my feelings clear in ways that were not attacking. i know that exercised respect and maturity throughout. in short, i know i did my best. i don't feel good about the whole situation, but i know where i stand. i hope this friendship can be worked out; without you, kim, it wouldn't have stood a chance.

thanks and ♥ forever,

liz

I would just like to state that watching children in grades K-5 rock out to a middle school symphony orchestra's rendition of Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water", headbanging like the best groupies from the 80's, was one of the greatest experiences of my life.

:D