5 fandom New Year resolutions I've made

"New Year's Resolution: To tolerate fools more gladly, provided this does not encourage them to take up more of my time."
- James Agate

I abhor most resolution making. Things like 'Lose weight' and 'Spend less time online' and 'Watch less tv' and 'Spend quality time with family' and 'Have meaningful conversations' are a waste of time for me. I enjoy food, I heart being online, I adore tv, I share a house with siblings and quality time happens to be whatever we're doing at that moment, and I challenge you to define 'meaningful conversations.' Resolutions like that are just another thing I won't keep/maintain/follow. It's because I lack discipline, probably. Well, that and I could care less about any of those. I'd wager that at 37, that attitude isn't going to change much at all. I'm okay with that. The kind of resolutions I've decided I am making this year, though, are ones that I can 1) easily keep and that 2) hold my interest because they 3) speak to the fangirl in me. Truly. Like today's list that is made up of 5 fandom New Year resolutions I'm setting down for 2013. Bring it!

5 brilliant movies based on graphic novels/comics

List by Julia, Natalie, Renee, Clint and Danielle

"Don't worry, miss. I've got you."

"You've got me? Who's got you?!"

~ From Superman : the Movie

Ask a bunch of librarians for their favourite graphic novel/comics-inspired movie, and you get some wildly different picks. Some of us are superhero blockbuster fans, some of us go for indie classics, some of us like the action, and some the rich mythology accompanying the iconic characters. When I saw the Avengers (the first time), it made me want to dive into the comics and find out more about the backstory. Libraries are perfect for this - DVDs, comics, anthologies, compilations, animations... your one-stop shop for Comic Book Month!

5 unlikely tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

List by Danielle

"It is I, Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon, from the castle of Camelot. King of the Britons, defeater of the Saxons, Sovereign of all England!"

"Pull the other one!"

From Monty Python and the Holy Grail

I've been reading Sarah Zettel's Camelot series of late - four historical fantasy romances starring Gawain and his brothers, one book per knightly brother - and took a look to see what else we've got on the Arthurian myths and legends. Turns out: a whole heap! Though less graphic novels than I'd been expecting. Yes, we've got everything from gangland Arthur to high-school-teen Arthur, through muppet Arthur and Python Arthur to some actual historical retellings of the stories made famous by authors like Geoffrey of Monmouth, Sir Thomas Malory and John Steinbeck. Yes. STEINBECK.

5 new foodie DVDs

Will looked horrified. "What kind of monster could possibly hate chocolate?"
― Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel

The first day of every month is my favourite library day. I almost wish I could say because something spectacular and wondrous happens, but that isn't the case. (Well, it is to me, but wouldn't necessarily be so for anybody else). It's totally geeky, and you'll probably laugh (go ahead, you have my permission to do so) - the first day of the month is when our new titles lists are updated. It used to be a digital services tradition that when they were posted we'd go through the new romance list and read aloud the best and the worst of the titles (seriously, I adore romance novels, but where do they keep finding all these breathlessly silly virgins and autocratic megazillionaire tycoons?). Post-amalgamation, and with the four of us in different parts of the city, it's not something I do the same way, anymore. Sure, I still heart the lists, and I'll still read them (this one I've saved until the end of this month), I'll just do it at home in the evenings and chortle to myself. (Ok, it sounds more pathetic than it is, trust me). My unabashed love of the DVD documentary list runs a close second to the romance one, and with good reason. Well, five good reasons this month, and all to do with food. More specifically, Spain (oh, how I heart you, Monsieur Stein! You make me want to turn the world into one great, big, long epicurean curiosity), British chocolatiers (WIN!), a cake boss (say it with a New Jersey accent, you know you want to), a bit of River Cottage attitude, and the bad boy of baking. Et voilà, I give you 5 new foodie DVDs. I don't think there's anything I can add to that, really, except bon appétit!

5 items I'm reading because people said I should

Stefan: You're staring.
Elena: I'm gazing.
Stefan: It's creepy.
Elena: Its romantic.
- Stefan and Elena from Vampire Diaries (YES, I said Vampire Diaries!). Who said creepy couldn't be romantic...?

My desk is almost empty of books today, and there's a pic to prove it. Yesterday there were enough for me to indulge in a whimsical moment of spine poetry. Albeit bad poetry on my part. Today, I am down to 5 cds (most by Iron and Wine), a junior fiction book (thanks to a review by Emma of Booksellers NZ blog) and my TARDIS mug (fill it with hot water and it disappears from one side and appears on the other - almost as good as the real thing), and a nonfic title I picked up in New Orleans while visiting the Laura Plantation (which Laura wrote after reading Gone with the wind and disagreeing with Mitchell's portrayal of plantation life). This is...unusual for me. Often staff walk by and stop and browse and ooh and aah over covers and/or strange titles. I like to think they're impressed. Mostly I think they're horrified at how many odd gems we have hidden in our collections. And then I think that their next reaction is fear that I somehow manage to unearth them without even trying. It's like a blessing. And a curse. What's a girl to do when she's waiting on books to come in? Apparently, she relies on others for recommendations. And today's list is made up of 5 items I'm reading because people said I should. So there :)

5 items I watched/listened to because that's what being a fangirl makes me do, ie. stupid things :/

Fangirl: A rabid breed of human female who is obesessed with either a fictional character or an actor. Similar to the breed of fanboy. Fangirls congregate at anime conventions and livejournal. Have been known to glomp, grope, and tackle when encountering said obesessions."
- UrbanDictionary.com

Let the record reflect that I am not obsessed, I don't glomp, grope or tackle. I do, however, hang out on LiveJournal and I attend Armageddon (which is a Con). By Urban Dictionary's definition I'm not much of a fangirl. My kind of fangirlness is a little less cray cray. No less silly, however, I'll own up to that now. When I like, I like *intensely* To the point where I request/watch everything we have that features whatever current film/tv show/actor I'm 'in like' with. More recently: Supernatural, Sherlock (the BBC modern adaptation), Teen wolf (yes, the teeny bopper one, and don't judge me for it), Inception (tell me that didn't do your head in and that you don't need fanfic to sort out the threads and put them right) and, more recently, Chuck and Gossip girl (yes, the show I said I'd never watch), both of which I'm about to start BECAUSE OF REASONS that's why.

THAT MAN *points up* attached to THIS POST *stamps foot* is Ed Westwick. Dark, brooding, ridiculously good looking, cheekbones so sharp they can cut glass. I've never met him. I very probably never will. Lately, though, I find myself thinking I should watch Gossip girl JUST BECAUSE he's in it. Not for the looks (although those certainly don't hurt). More because I like the character that he plays. Chuck Bass is filthy rich, pompous, hedonistic, ambitious, clever, somewhat rude, quick with a response, rocks a business suit like nobody's business and schemes with the best (the worst?) of them. I watched an episode in passing the other day (sibling IS a fan) and Westwick/Bass delivered a line that had me going, "What? WHAT? GIMME!" *makes grabby hands* And I did that thing I do where I get all SQUEE and indulge my weird behaviour by working my way through his movies and audiobooks (he's British, who WOULDN'T want to hear that voice?) (Ok, so that's not a rational reason, but I never ever said I was rational now, did I?). Now I've run out of everything of his we have in our libraries... except Gossip girl itself. So, this week I bite the bullet and give it a go. The Ed Westwick thing, though, isn't the worst of my fangirlness. Oh no, it gets better/worse. As you'll see from this post: 5 items I watched/listened to because that's what being a fangirl makes me do, ie. stupid things for awesomely irrational reasons :/

What crazy, mad, wonderful things does your fangirlness/fanboyness make you do?

These 5 movie lists are why you should take this book home

"Why read this book? Because we've all had that queasy feeling in our stomachs as we peruse the massed ranks of movies in video stores, movies-on-demand, or online rentals, and begin to panic slightly as the realisation dawns that we can't quite remember the name of that film somebody recommended last week, don't want to fall back again on an old standby (you can't spend every leisure hour watching Cary Grant reruns), but don't really know, as your eye runs through the titles, which film you want to rent or buy. With this book you need never suffer again."
- Paul Simpson in Movie lists

Title: Movie lists: 397 ways to pick a DVD
Author: Paul Simpson
Publisher: Profile
Year: 2008
Summary: These lists, arranged by genre, director, or actor, answer that most difficult of questions: what DVD should you rent for the night? Fabulously quirky and enjoyable, this book is both a celebration of movies and a handy, entertaining guide to films guaranteed to deliver. Oddly enough, most movie guides are not full of recommendations. But Movie Lists is-and you don’t have to watch them all before you die! Paul Simpson is the author of the best-selling The Rough Guide to Cult Movies. He is a man you should go to any lengths to have on your side in a trivia quiz.

I don't understand why I can't spend every leisure hour watching Cary Grant reruns. This does not compute *puzzled look* Seriously, though, I adore books that put their money where their mouth is and declare why I should want to read their book. Last week on the Auckland Libraries blog I recommended some film guides that seemed like they would offer up suggestions for movies I might find interesting. You know the type of stuff: quirky, off-kilter, maybe unusual or even a teensy bit cheesy. One of the books on that list is sitting on my desk at home and I flip through it and SQUEE over it and clap my hands (fully aware that I resemble a sealion when I do so) and immediately start comparing DVD titles against our catalogue. Sure, we don't have everything, that just isn't possible, and there's no way I could watch everything that caught my fancy, anyway, but I'm darn sure going to give it a go. And here are 5 movie lists that are good reasons to take this book home. (Or 5 reasons I took this book home?).

If you had to write your idea of a perfect movie list, what would you call it?
(I would call mine "You know those types of film lists that are over populated with deep and meaningful dialogue that will forever inspire you and change your life? Yeah...this list is not that!") #truestory