I could be your girlfriend

There was a period of time where I read a lot of Office fanfic. But I also quite enjoyed fanvids. This was during the Pam-Jim-Karen triangle, and one of my favorites was to Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend":



So much, I loved this video. To the point that I downloaded the song and still love listening to it.

Anyway, years go by. After Kristin Chenowith's recent stint on Glee, I found myself back on YouTube, looking for fanvids of Olive and Ned from Pushing Daisies. (I liked Chuck, sure, but there's no way she and Ned could have a real relationship. Plus, I have a ginormous soft spot for unrequited love. So I shipped Ned and Olive.) And what do I find? Same song:



Whee! I'll pretend it isn't totally lame that this completely made my night.

And holy crap. There are at least three for Veronica Mars, which is kind of odd, because of these shows, it's the one that really doesn't have much of a triangle. Sure, there are times that people get between Logan and Veronica, but most of the time, it's their own issues that are the problem, not other people. I don't care, though. LoVe videos are right up there with Jim/Pam ones for me.

I never really thought it would have a happy ending

I've watched The Office since the beginning. I had watched the British version, and spent the first season of the American version pulling out the DVDs of the British one. But the second season...I was drawn in. Sure, Steve Carell is great in it, and I enjoy a lot of the characters, but I'm a romantic. If there's a couple to ship--any couple, in the world--it's Jim and Pam. So I watch the promos for this week's episode, "Niagara," the episode in which Jim and Pam get married, and I melt. The promos totally make my day.



I watch that and remember going over season two over and over...so many great moments (and a lot of the moments in that promo are from season two), such a classic ending...OK, I have to include it:



Sigh. I could watch it over and over. As well as the confession scene that comes before it.

...Sorry. I just had to watch each of those, like, 50 times. But anyway. It's nice to see that the show's being consistent. They've said for a while that Jim and Pam are clearly compatible. This is where their story logically goes. And they're just going to do it. Huzzah!

And I have to take this time to acknowledge the brilliance of the British Office Christmas Special. I hear "Only You" by Yaz and get all warm and fuzzy. But probably my favorite part is actually around 3:20 of this clip (the last 10 minutes of the special), when Tim talks about coworkers. So true. Oh, Ricky Gervais, I love you.

Chuck, Pam, and Jim

I admit that I do love me some Gossip Girl. It's incredibly soapy and fun, and there actually is some really good acting on there. And the CW did an awesome thing by having a Chuck-centric promo to the new Britney Spears single, "Womanizer." I actually wasn't a huge Chuck fan before; just didn't see the appeal. It was less "love to hate" or "hate to love" than just "hate." But his appeal has been growing on me lately. However, things will be thrown at the tv if he winds up romantically involved with Vanessa.

In less dirrrty news, there was a nice blurb in the Washington Post today about how The Office folks set up the Jim-Pam proposal scene. I'm not sure why Pam is still in New York (wasn't it an 8-week course?), but the relationship seems to be progressing realistically. Jim and Pam's relationship isn't perfect, but they ultimately do know who they are. It makes perfect sense for Jim to freak out a bit at Pam being away and having fun...but he did the right thing in the end. Seemed spot on.

I do want Pam back in Scranton, though. ASAP.

Best of all worlds!

I've admitted that I'm a complete sucker for fanvideos on YouTube. This video combines The Office with one of my favorite Mika songs. Such a cute video--and it uses some of the blooper reel clips, which makes it SUPER cute. Honestly, I'm posting it here more so I can always find it quickly. My life? Really is that exciting.

Could use more Jim-Pam kissing, though

I'm finding a lot of people's reactions to The Office season finale a bit confusing. There's a lot of "That was so depressing!" but I really can't tell why. A lot of people seem to be quite upset about the thwarting of Jim's proposal, and I can understand being disappointed--and I can understand why Pam was a bit upset; she was sure it was coming, and then it didn't--but I didn't think it left Jim and Pam in a bad place.

There seems to a belief that Jim and Pam's relationship is in a more tenuous place than it actually is. After the episode where Ryan warned Jim, people freaked out because Jim didn't tell Pam right that minute--even though it didn't make sense for him to tell her then. And lo and behold, it's obvious in the next episode that he did tell her, just at a more logical time. Pam hears about having to get training for graphic design in New York or Philadelphia? Oh noes! Well, except that Jim totally supports her taking classes in New York over the summer. Pam stated that the relationship was sound; I think she'll get over the disappointment of him not proposing when she thought he would (and if I were her, when the moment came that he turned to her and said, "Hey," I may have figured that something was up--and that Andy interrupted). I wouldn't be surprised to find them engaged come September/October; I just hope we get a flashback, because I do think that Jim will do it on Dunder Mifflin property.

I can see being a bit bummed about Toby leaving. I'm not pleased that they made him into a bit of a jerk in the last few episodes, but from interviews with the writers, it's obvious this was unintentional. I had no problem with Toby crushing on Pam, but I think the hand on her leg was a bit much. And he did seem to take it too far. But I still like Toby.

I was a bit concerned that it made it seem like Michael was justified in his hatred of Toby, but I don't think that's the case, and I think the finale showed that. I'm a bit bummed with the new HR woman; I had hoped that she was playing along with Michael, but it doesn't look like that's the case. Though I do admit that I found her whole bit with Kevin was highly amusing. And she did give us a nice moment of Michael being not completely bizarre, which is always good.

The only thing that didn't really make sense was Jan's pregnancy, but I'm willing to give that a pass...for the moment. But overall, the finale made me laugh, and I loved the tag. Awesome. The deterioration of Dwangela made me sad, so that totally made my night.

Thank you, EW photographer

When I first got my Entertainment Weekly on Friday, I wasn't blown away by the cover. At first. Then I noticed a blurb about John Krasinski. And, flipping through it, I also noticed an article on Jason Segel. Sweet!

Let me tell you, the picture of John Krasinski is very good. The story is also nice, confirming that he's a nice guy. And I may have swooned a bit at the sidebar, in which he imagines life as an English teacher. I already have a soft spot for teachers, and John Kras + English teacher = Hot. I'm just bummed that the picture goes across two pages, making it harder to tear out and put up in my cube. Because I'm 12 years old. And I saw License to Wed for him. (And will totally see Leatherheads when I have the time.)

Sadly, the article on Jason Segel doesn't mention that he also enjoys musical theater. One of my favorite YouTube clips is Segel and Neil Patrick Harris singing "Confrontation" from Les Mis on The Megan Mulally Show. Awesome. I totally want to hang out on the How I Met Your Mother set.

Also worth checking out from this week's issue is the list of top baseball players in the movies.

Mrs. Jim Halpert

I was watching a first season episode ("The Alliance") of The Office (thanks, TBS!) and it really struck me how John Krasinski/Jim looked that early in the show. It was really seeing him talking to Dwight (picture) that made something in my brain click, and for a minute, I saw him as I saw Jim when originally watching the first season. I enjoyed the first season OK when I first saw it, but every episode made me want to pull out my DVDs of the British Office. It wasn't really until the second season that I stopped thinking of the characters as Not!Tim and Not!Dawn and Steve Carell.

Looking back at that picture, I remember when I wasn't all caught up in the Jim-Pam story. I think my perceptions of characters change once I've spent a lot of time reading about them online; I've spent way more time on TWOP, reading about Jim, than I've spent actually watching the show. Looking at the Jim in that picture...he looks like a normal guy. Which, really, is part of the point of the show. But when I think of Jim now, he's all idealized and dreamy.

I guess that's kind of how it works in real life, too. You kind of stop seeing people as they actually are, and how they look is colored by your relationship with them. And Jim? Jim, to me now, is just about the cutest boy in the world. I can't remember the last time I watched an episode of the American Office and wanted to watch my British DVDs right afterward.

Kiss me...

I'm not a huge fan of public displays of affection. Holding hands can be cute, and the occasional hug is OK. Kissing? Well, a peck every now and then is fine. Obviously there are cases when more is more than that is totally acceptable (weddings, picking someone up at the airport), but in general, I don't want to see other people making out.

Except on tv or the movies. Then I love it. The other night I was watching something when two characters kissed and I got giddy. I've watched--multiple times--a montage of Veronica and Logan making out. After the season two finale of The Office, I went back and watched the big Jim-Pam kiss countless times. Thinking about the clothes fluke makes me smile. Watching the end of Bridget Jones's Diary, I yell at Bridget for shying away as Mark Darcy nuzzles her neck.

So...why? Maybe it's because I'm involved in the fictional relationships at a deeper level. After all, as a viewer, I get to see the major points of these relationships--the big moments. I'm certainly more invested in them than I am with a random couple on the Metro. Or maybe it's just that usually by the time the kiss happens, I'm nursing a crush on the guy and that watching the girl kiss him is a way to live vicariously.

It's probably a combination of the two. Plus, the people on tv and in the movies are generally prettier than the people I encounter in everyday life. That definitely makes it easier to take.