What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 02/06/15

Greetings! Here's what is going on in my world.

• Bob's Burgers

I just started watching this show on Netflix (link above) after hearing a lot about it. It seems like a show that is very popular on the Internets. It is quirky, odd, silly, and a pleasure to watch. It's the perfect kind of mindlessness for me to enjoy after work. I'll consume a few episodes and then move on with my evening. I look forward to continuing to binge through this series!

• New Tech City's Bored & Brilliant

I was recommended to check out this endeavor by a good grad school friend of mine. It is an effort to help people be more mindful and detach from their various smart devices. It recommends some easy tips that you can immediately put into action so that you can let go of the hold our modern technology has on us. I've started to do some of these things and it really does help. I'm still not where I feel like I could or should be, but doing some of these things are a great place to start.

• Medium

I've seen various random blog posts hosted on Medium over the years. It has a distinct, simple interface and now that I have started to ship some of my content from here to Medium, I've seen the publishing side of things as well. It is impressive in how simple but functional it all is. It tickles the minimalist part of my brain where it only has what it needs and it does that well. Nothing more or less. If you're looking for a quick and easy way to get into the blogging game, I'd recommend starting with Medium.

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What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 01/30/15

Hey there! Here's what's going on in my world this week.

• The Wire

I'm getting back to working on this series, which is available in its entirety on Amazon Prime (it's also in HD, which looks great). I'm almost done season two and I just have to say it again, this show was ahead of its time. I'm sure there is way more to see which will further cement this feeling but I can start to tell already why this show is so revered. All the actors are awesome and the story is very well done, with great diverse characters to boot. Definitely get to it now if you've been waiting to watch it all like I have.

• Broad City

This is a relatively new series on Comedy Central which just premiered its second season (and also just got renewed for a third). It is executive produced by Amy Poehler and was a popular webseries before being adapted into a full television show. The premise is simply following the wacky antics of Ilana and Abbi as they live their lives in New York City. This is just one of the awesome set of shows that Comedy Central is building up, such as Workaholics, @midnight, and Drunk History. The first season is available on Amazon Prime.

• Comedy Bang Bang

This is an IFC series featuring Scott Aukerman and Reggie Watts in a faux talk show that plays off typical sitcom and talk show tropes to hilarious ends. I never really watched much of it until recently, as much of the show is now streaming on Netflix (click above). They have guests on the show and everything is mildly improvised and also just random and weird. I enjoy it and watch episodes when I need something mindless to watch. I'd put it in the smartly stupid category like Workaholics.

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What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 01/23/15

Hey there! Here is what's going on in my world!

• ACPA 2015 Convention

I've finally got to booking everything (with the help of my institution) for my trip. I'm excited to check out Tampa and have a bit of a professional vacation as it were. I'll be presenting at the conference with my colleague from Rutgers, Krista Kohlmann, about our Rutgers Changemakers initiative that I had the privilege of working on with her. I recently had a thought (especially since last year's convention) about how expensive these endeavors can be for professionals so I think I'm going to try to quantify my trip to give a glimpse of how inaccessible these conferences are for the average professional (and graduate student or undergraduate student even). Be on the look out for this blog post to come!

• Spring Semester

I had a wonky and long weekend here at my institution, as we had RA training, spring move-in, and spring orientation all over the span of a few days. This whole past week has felt long and I haven't been in the same groove with the blog as I had been the first few weeks of this month. Once I have the weekend to recuperate and devote to some upcoming posts, I'll be back with it. I am excited to get back to work and see my first spring semester here. The fall was an interesting glimpse into parts of the higher ed world I haven't seen or been a part of before. I feel like I'm learning new things all the time and developing my professional demeanor with every meeting and decision I am making. I definitely need to reflect on this first year once it is all said and done!

• Adulting

Something I have had the chance to do recently (even with the aforementioned wonkiness) is buy some things for my place to make it feel a little more like home. I've hung up some more stuff on the walls (courtesy of my lovely partner), and I ordered some furniture from IKEA (a first for me). For some reason I always grumble about getting stuff like this or delay needlessly but once I get the stuff and put it up, it makes me happier. I suppose I am content with what I have and don't think I need anything else, but once I have the new thing, I can appreciate it. I think I'll need to get better with this since I have a lot of old stuff that needs replacing or just more adult things like better cookware, furniture, and better bedding.

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What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 01/16/15

Hey there! Here is what's going on in my world!

• Legend of Korra

This television centric post will start with a series I just finished recently. Legend of Korra (for the uninitiated) is the followup series to the popular Nickelodeon animated show, Avatar: The Last Airbender. Both now stand as some of my favorite shows of all time because they are fun, action packed, and deal with some important, serious concepts for a children's show all while having an awesome, strong female lead. I would probably lump these shows into "young adult" fare, but they both seem to try to broadcast to a wide audience. Nevertheless, I'd recommend both of these shows to anyone. Legend of Korra had an awkward distribution (it went from airing on television to being dumped online at the end) but it at least got to tell the story it wanted to share. The ending (no spoilers!) was a great way to send off, further cementing it as a show ahead of its time. You can find The Last Airbender series around popular streaming services and Legend of Korra is on Hulu/Amazon Prime.

• Parks and Recreation

This beloved NBC sitcom just came back for its final season this past week. The premiere was great and made me happy we were going to have this awesome (albeit short) farewell to the show. It could have ended several times before but the quality has been consistent so I'm happy to see more of it for a short while longer. With the series doing a time jump, it allows for a fresh take on the show, which could have easily gotten stale. I look forward to seeing more of my favorite old characters in Pawnee one last time and have the show go out on top. You can stream the entire series on Hulu Plus, Netflix, and (mostly) on Amazon Prime.

• Agent Carter

Speaking of awesome & strong female leads (Leslie Knope & Korra fit this bill), Agent Carter premiered recently and I watched the two-part event with my partner this past week. This Marvel series serves as a followup to the events of Captain America: The First Avenger, as well as a spiritual prequel to the current series, Agents of SHIELD, which has already connected itself to this new show's titular character. Peggy Carter has been a fan favorite character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as she stole scenes in First Avenger as well as had her own excellent "pilot" in the Marvel One-Shot that accompanied the Iron Man 3 home video release. I enjoy her character a lot and the series shows some good promise from the outset. I'll be sure to give more thoughts when the mini-series is through in a few weeks.

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What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 01/09/15

Hey there! Here is what's going on in my world!

• Google's Inbox

I've been using this new way to manage your Gmail for about a week now and I love it. It helps simplify my messages and get my email out of my way. The ways it compiles common emails and messages of the same type as well as allows for easily snoozing, pinning, and archiving messages. You have to get invited (I can invite you!) or request access from Google (which takes some time) but it is definitely worth it. There is a free app for iPhone and Android, and you can also access it via the Chrome web browser. I definitely recommend you check it out if you love Gmail!

• Band of Brothers

I just finished this mini-series on Amazon Prime, where it is available to stream alongside many other HBO series. The story surrounds Easy Company and their journey in Europe during World War II. It came out over a decade ago but still holds up well. The series spans over two years worth of time in the matter of ten episodes so the story does sacrifice character development and some nuance for this fast pace, but the emotion and action are still definitely there. This is a great series for any American history fans like myself, and you'll even see a lot of familiar faces before they became major celebrities, which is fun.

• Perspective

"Follow the trend lines, not the headlines." I saw this quote recently in an article and it resonated with me. Too often we get caught up in the little things right in front of our face we forget to look at the big picture. The world is getting better and safer all the time, but people don't see or can't realize the incremental change and improvements that are happening. Change takes time and with marriage equality now available to the majority of Americans, I know this is true. I lived to see this happen over the course of my short lifetime, so I know we can make a difference if we all rally together. The aforementioned article does a great way of explaining this point of view, and it's a perspective like this that helps me stay positive and motivated to keep working hard.

Thanks for stopping by!

What I Was Geeking Out About: December 2014

Welcome to this monthly wrap up of my weekly geek outs!

I’m always getting excited about a lot of stuff. Every Friday I share what I’m into and this is an attempt to serve it all up together in one place. Check out everything and hope you find something you like! (This is another short week due to the winter holidays)

• Week of 12/05/14
• Week of 12/12/14
• Week of 12/19/14

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 12/19/14

Hey there! Here is what's going on in my world!

• The Fault in Our Stars Movie

I watched this movie with my partner the other night and it was a heck of an emotional ride. I haven't read the book so I don't know how it is different or the same, but I found the movie to be a great depiction of love, loss, and the importance of opening ourselves up to the world versus closing ourselves off to avoid being hurt. The whole film just feels well done and is just the right amount of everything for anyone, so whoever you watch it with, they should like it. I haven't read any of John Green's work but I'd be intrigued to watch the movie of his next book, Paper Towns.

• The Interview Release CANCELLED

I've been following this story through all of the entertainment sites I follow, mostly out of curiosity as to how it will be handled. I'm not really interested in seeing the film but just on principle, it is intriguing to see how Sony handles the hack, the threats, and the media firestorm over it all. Recently Sony cancelled the worldwide release of The Interview, stating they have no plans at this time to release the film in the near future in any form. I can understand why they made that decision based on the possibility of something bad happening and limiting your liabilities, but the vague threats from the group and no real idea of what they're capable of, it seemed like a flinch on the part of Sony to give this group called The Guardians of Peace, what they want. I'm not too choked up about it, but it is an intriguing story to follow and I'm sure it's not over yet.

• Finality, Conclusions, and Closure

 The year is coming to a close, and I've reflected on the past year and will soon look ahead at 2015 (blog post to come). What I like about this time of year is wrapping things up (pun intended) and finishing things. You can let go of things that held you back, get rid of things you no longer need, and move on less burdened. It's something that is more intuitive for me than it may be for others, but I definitely encourage you to finish those things on your to do list you've been waiting to do, let off some of that nagging weight, and march onward with less. Minimalism is where it's at!

* PS: This will be the last geek out post for the year, and I'll be back the first full week of January (post will be up on Jan. 9). Next Monday's movie review will be the last until that same week as well. Taking a short holiday break from bloggy stuff and coming back strong in 2015!

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 12/12/14

Here's some geeky stuff I'm into this week!

• Mid-Season Finales!

All my favorite major shows on the air right now have taken their winter hiatus (Arrow, The Flash, Agents of SHIELD) and I have caught up all the way with them. All these shows have been on point recently, with Arrow continuing it's strong stride it has had since the series premiere, The Flash coming strong out of the gate, and SHIELD finally figuring out a good flow and setting up some shock waves for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). I recommend all of these shows and I feel like I talk about them often, so that should give you an idea of how much I enjoy them all. I'm glad there are so many great options for geeky, superhero based television right now. I can't wait for another good option to be premiering soon...

• Agent Carter

The hype has been building for this show recently, as it will be a filler during the hiatus of Agents of SHIELD. It will premiere with a two-hour event on January 6 and then continue on until SHIELD comes back on March 3. I'm looking forward to more Peggy Carter (never a bad thing) and to see more of the MCU and the origins of SHIELD. I am a fan of everything Marvel has churned out lately so I don't expect this to be any different. Peggy deserves her moment in the spotlight so I'm glad she's finally getting it.

• Reflection

I enjoy reflecting back on things that happen in my life. While it is important to be present in our lives, appreciating all that we've accomplished is important too. It often amazes me all that can happen in a year even when it feels like it flies by. This year was a big one for me, which I've detailed in several blog posts (here, here, and here). I'll be posting a year in review episode as the finale for the first season of The Student Affairs Spectacular podcast (check above or here) on Tuesday which will focus on looking back at that aspect of my life. 2014 was a landmark year for me, and I'm excited for 2015 and to live my life as a working professional, out of school and doing the things I love.

Thanks for stopping by!

What I Was Geeking Out About: November 2014

Welcome to this monthly wrap up of my weekly geek outs!

I’m always getting excited about a lot of stuff. Every Friday I share what I’m into and this is an attempt to serve it all up together in one place. Check out everything and hope you find something you like! (Pardon the short list, I didn't post during the holiday week of Thanksgiving)

• Week of 11/07/14
• Week of 11/14/14
• Week of 11/21/14

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 12/05/14

Hey now!

Welcome to another superb week in geek!

• More Marvel News!

So there was a lot of big announcements coming out of Marvel this week. Ryan Reynolds is back as Deadpool (very cool), Krysten Ritter is Jessica Jones (pretty neat), and Benedict Cumberbatch is Doctor Strange (!!!). Whether or not I'm invested in these specific people depicting these specific characters, I'm just excited that these projects are legitimately happening and are moving forward. We're long overdue for a proper Deadpool movie, the slate of Marvel series on Netflix should be a lot of fun, and Doctor Strange is a big deal for the next phase of Marvel movies so I'm glad we have our lead set now. Now for the rampant speculation as teaser images come out!

• Holiday Parties!

My first semester as a student affairs professional is coming to a close, which is a whole post on its own but my "reward" for this is a bunch of super cool holiday parties to go to! They'll be the first I'm going to as a working professional, and apparently the one here at my institution is pretty awesome so I'm looking forward to enjoying some good food and good times with my friends and colleagues as this semester (and calendar year) come to a close. It's been a wild ride and I'm ready for some rest and relaxation.

• Winter Break!

Speaking of rest and relaxation, I'm very grateful for the opportunity to take the vacation time I've earned to head back down to NJ with my partner to see her family and our friends. I'm taking about two weeks off between Christmas and New Years so just expect a slow down of posting until after the new year. We all deserve a break and the ability to be present where we're at. I do love my blog but it is just another thing to jumble my brain with sometimes. I encourage everyone to take time off whichever way they can. There is hardly ever a down time in higher education but in these slower times over the winter, get away and do something fun or see people you've been missing. It's always worth it!

Thanks for stopping by!