one more thing. b.j. novak.

if you are a frequenter of this blog, you know that i am a tad obsessed with mindy kaling.  and of course, one can not be obsessed with mindy kaling without being obsessed with b.j. novak.  (quick random share, if you haven't read this buzzfeed article about their friendship, you should.  get ready to fall in love with the both of them!)  though i have to admit that novak first (or rather finally) caught my eye when ryan started wearing those glasses on the office and i rediscovered him via my love for mindy.  any hoot, regardless, i am a fan of novak and was super excited for his collection of short stories!

so excited that i preordered a hardcover and a digital copy!  i spent the weeks leading up to its release (which was last tuesday) googling to see if novak planned on a book tour.  i don't know if a full tour is planned but discovered he is stopping in LA!  and yes i got tickets!!!  i preordered the book to guarantee tickets but sadly since the bookstore is in pasadena and i had no way of getting the book before his talk, i decided to order it for my kindle so i could be prepared for the talk.  and what was even more amazing was the fact that being on the west coast, i got it at 10 pm, monday night! woo woo!

and with all this effort and excitement over this book, i hate to admit this but it was not worth all of my hoopla.  

i think initially i wanted one more thing to be is everyone hanging out without me? or bossypants, so  i had to remind myself that it was a collection of short stories.  and secondly, novak's book had a bad spot on my reading list.  january unofficially became the month of short stories, and every collection i read was amazing so i mean novak had some tough acts to follow.

i mean all of one more thing's stories weren't bad, it was just that ones that were made me wonder why were they included.  i think the problem with this collection is lack of editing.  too many bad stories were included that should have been cut out. 

also the opening story about the tortoise and the hare definitely did not have any wow power and the only tone it set was a disappointing one.  i have to admit that i was even disappointed by the kellogg story which people kept on mentioning in reviews.  there was an interesting twist in that stoey but nothing incredible that deserved a mentioning.

the stories i wish were edited out were:

"the rematch", "dark matter", "the ambulance driver", "walking on eggshells (or: when i loved tony robbins)", "they kept driving faster and outran the rain", "closure", and "kate moss".  the absence of those stories would have made for a better book.  

i know this sounds like a harsh review but i expected more from novak. also i have to say not every story was bad, there were a handful of gems.

my favorite was "sophia" . it is also the story from which the book gets its title.  sophia is about a sex robot that falls in love with a human.  of course, i thought of spike jonze's her and just like her, through something absurd we discover truths about relationship and human behavior.  i love how sophia explained to the narrator how everything feels infinite but it is finite and we do not commit because we assume there is one more thing out there that is better but there really isn't, it's just that love ironically gives us that feeling.  very deep for a sex robot.

i also enjoyed the nelson mandela roast. when i first read the title, i was like ekkk.  since he past away last year, i wondered if there was a debate about whether or not to include it,  but i am glad they did.  it was very well-written and read just like an actual roast!

i of course loved the missed connection stories because i of course enjoy missed connections.

i also thought the wikipedia brown story was adorable.  i didn't grow up reading encyclopedia brown as a kid.  my friend danny is a fan so it has to be a good series.  i loved how sally was always trying to stop wikipedia brown from distracting them because i always lose hours of my life randomly "researching" on wikipedia.

i also enjoyed "no one goes to heaven to see sam fogelberg" because i love the idea of heaven being non stop concerts!  i can't wait to die if that is the case!!

"chris hansen at the justin bieber concert" was very clever too because people would be suspicious of they saw hansen (from to catch a predator) at a justin bieber concert!

i also enjoyed the "shorter" stories:

(even though i love carrot cake!)

(seriously best love advice.)

(muahahahahahah)

i also enjoyed the new hitler because we do need a new positive one! and that "constructive criticism" kid was a great architect!  

i also enjoyed how punny (funny via puns) novak was in stories like "the market was down", "monster:  the roller coaster", and "the best thing in the world awards".

actually i enjoyed most of the stories but the bad ones just left the bigger impression on me.  and even though one more thing didn't completely knock my socks off, i am still recommending it.  i have to admit that i was disappointed with myself for not finding in funnier.  i mean if mindy and i should bffs, shouldn't i find b.j. hilarious?!?!?  but i mean they aren't always in sync.  oh and i have to admit that this dedication is enough reason to check out the book:

(seriously could they be any cuter?!?!?!?)

but a decent first book.  a nice try but really novak should look into a better editor for his next book.

how i met your mother. season seven.

i came late to the "how i met your mother" game. my friend larry was a huge fan but didn't think much of it (though i should start to trust him, he surprisingly has good taste in tv). then my friend saba started watching old episodes via netflix and i got hooked. and thank goodness for lifetime and fx airing it because i have gotten somewhat caught up. however new episodes are a bit of challenge. my lack of a dvr causes me to miss new episodes because monday is "dancing with the stars" night for grandma bea. plus i don't get home til 9pm. but thankfully the library has it on dvd. though i will have to wait for season 8 to come out so i can be completely caught up.

the first thing that shocked me was the number of episodes in one season. there were 24!!! i thought it would take me forever to watch but only two days. episodes were like pringles, once i popped i couldn't stop!

so here is my breakdown of the episodes (well some of them, i mean there are 24):

episode 1: so first of all, i knew barney was going to marry robin. for a while, i thought it was nora but they way lily tells ted the bride wants to see him, it had to be robin! (and i was right!)

so love love loved the "groove is in the heart" dance sequence! really neil Patrick harris is so darn cute!!! why must he be gay?!?! also love love loved robin's new hairstyle! and marshall and lily should have waited three months before they announced they were preggers (i'm superstitious about stuff like that!)

episode 2: edward forty-hands reminded me of my guy friends, they were doing that back in like 2004. this episode also made me grateful that all of our crazy partying was done pre-iphones cos we would def have some "beercules" videos on youtube.

episode 3: seriously victoria is back?!?! I hated her. she was so lame and boring. i mean she made ted wait for sex and that whole the lead up to the kiss thing, was a sad attempt to be sexy. i also hated her for her planting that seed of doubt in ted about robin, barney and his friendship! so it is kinda weird but they are such good friends who would want to ruin that? lame victoria! i hate that they brought her back!

but i do love them for their cleverness! when barney sneezed early in the episode i bought it was so random but figured they kept it in cos it happened during taping but didn't disrupt it. but it turns out that barney trained marahall like a pavlov dog to want shinjitsu every time he sneezed. so funny and clever!!

episode 4: i don't like kumar being on the show. i knew from seeing the nye episode when it aired that he and robin date this season. but do not like them as a couple.

episode 8: i always wanted ted to find the slutty pumpkin. but really katie holmes?!?! normally there are great surprise actors on the show but they really drop the ball on this one. i was mixed emotional, was so excited ted finally found the slutty pumpkin but was annoyed it was katie holmes. also the slutty pumpkin needed some sexier lingerie. it's actually a good costume, maybe i'll do it for halloween next year. was it a thing this year? i didn't go out so can't say.

it also got me thinking, he looked for her for 9 years, that is kinda crazy. but i think of missed connections i had that long ago like this crazy haired guy jeff i went to school with or this other random guy who picked me up (though didn't get my number, he was kinda drunk) by asking me to hug him like there was no else in the world (he was really cute so that line worked cos if not it would be freaky). and i wonder what happen to them, i mean if i knew they would randomly show up at some party every year, would i go? honestly probably not, well maybe for jeff. but i do have a missed connection from about 6 years ago i would try to rekindle. it wasn't a missed connection exactly because he did find me on myspace and we exchanged numbers. but he had a gf so it was more of a severed connection once she found out about his new friend, me. i did see him about two years ago at a food and wine event with a new girl. i should have said hello but didn't. he was cute and going to law school and liked to karaoke and interpol! i am quite the stalker and have found him on fb (i do know his full name) but that seems way too stalkery to message him. maybe i'll post a missed connection on craigslist and see if that works. so though it seems crazy, i commend ted for putting himself out there and at least trying.

also i need to make that tootsie roll drink!

episode 9: i really need a sign up in a place because something i have done. challenge accepted!

episode 10: i know in the post about junot diaz's book i said boo to cheating, but in a fictional world it is a okay! so yes i was in support of robin and barney cheating, i really liked them as a couple.

the concert: hilarious! it reminded me of our lady gaga cousin adventure (quick digression: the last time i hung out with my cousin danielle, she told me that my stories were himym-ish, i was quite flattered). we lost joann and roamed around the entire arena and even had security help is look for her. and then we found her in the very first bathroom we went into and had a huge party in.

anyway, i have to admit that i am pretty amazing at concerts in this regard. last coachella during florence at the machine i had to pee badly, like piss on myself bad. so i went by myself in the middle of their set. as i was walking back i thought to myself, how am i going to find my friends? but guess what! i did!!! those light up tambourines sure did help. my friend mona was amazed, she was sure they had lost me. we were all really drunk and/or "full of sandwiches" so i could have been a goner but i'm quite resourceful when i'm trashed!

ps love that the guitar man was a cardboard cut-out! lol

episode 11: bro-parents! when i saw this episode i texted larry to see if he and peter could become bro-parents. though i realized later that they did try it once before with stella, their dog. in the end, peter kept the dog, which is how it would probably play out if they ever had a kid.

i was also excited about the robin and barney kid news!

ps loved jai from queer eye for the straight guy was on this episode!

episode 12: i had read about this episode online. and thought it was kinda weird and very serious. i thought this season had some very serious moments but that is life as we get older, our lives are no longer just fun and games. i felt bad for robin, not being able to have kids. it's one thing to decide not to have kids and quite another to physically not be able to. i am always scared this is going to happen I me, that i will end up like charlotte from "sex and the city". i think it was great that himym did an episode about this because this is an issue for thirtysomething women. however i did not like how forlorn it was, that she had no children at all, i mean adoption is always an option for women. i also can't imagine barney not being a dad. but maybe there will be a twist? she had no real kids in that episode so there is still an opportunity for adopted kids.

episode 13: i skipped this on the dvd because i saw it when it aired. this episode made me cry, i was pms-ing. it was just so sweet to see marshall still bonding with his dad.

episode 14: this is a great example of why this show is so great! how they redid the opening credits to do "how i met your barney" then the russian opening! when the gang changed. it's things like this that have caused me to fall in love with the show. like how some of te made up websites for the show are actual websites online. it's kinda amazing tha they do things like that!

episode 15: i didn't like this episode. found it uninteresting. though i did what to know what happen to the gouda.

episode 16: i was not at all excited about kevin and robin. and though it was sad was happy that he un-proposed because she couldn't have kids. sad but kevin wouldn't make her happy he was too easily weirded out by the gang for it to work.

episode 17: seriously ted! he just can't get over robin. it was kids sad that he is still hung up on her but then again i spent about 4 years of my life hung up on someone that only saw me as a friend. so i get it.

and though it was sad when marshall asked robin to move out but i understand it too. as much as i hate the bakery bitch (victoria), their friendship was hindering ted from finding the one. i think the reason why i have been single for the past 5 years or so are due to the friendship that i had. i didn't need a boyfriend because i spent all of my time with cody. even now i am never lonely for companion because i have a guy friend that can fill any void. dinner? larry. art date? jerry. concert? danny. happy hour? shawn. i am never in need. and let's be honest my body's current state has ruined any desire for sex. i am so fat that i wouldn't want to have sex with myself. so it's tough because as much as i love my guy friends i am never sadly lonely so am never motivated to date. but now my age is staring to kick me in the butt on the dating front. (wow himym really captures all of these awkward stages in life.)

ps i saw on wikipedia that conan was in the background in this. i totally missed it and returned the dvd to the library so will youtube it.

episode 18: hated the introduction of karma. barney couldn't get over robin that quickly! it was as if he was a completely different person that the first half of the season was a different character. made no sense!

episode 19: i want to start having intervention for my group of friends.

episode 20: i have never seen the star wars trilogy and i need too. this made me sad because so much can change in 3 years. this made me hopeful that maybe in 3 years i'll have a kid like ted. my only complaint was why did they still have the apt after three years, marshall and ted are both dads. moving out should have happened.

episode 21: barney and i would be the best of friends. i would be game for any of "the night that . . ." adventures he came up with. especially the mariachi one. seriously through if we were friends, it would be lengen---wait for it---dary!!! i mean i am good at laser tag, and by good, i mean i get super melodramatic and act like i'm in some vietnam reenactment. but seriously he's awesome, and i am awesome so we would be super awesome together. though not as awesome as he and robin together.

episode 22-24: WTF ted?!?! the bakery chick?!?! seriously??? she shows up in her wedding dress! red flag! she is obviously not marriage material! robin is right you do go for wrong the people. you are goddamn idiot. did you forget she held out on you? that again is not marriage material! good luck but your life is end up going to shit if you stay with her!

on a happier note that was a great birth story! and that kid does have the coolest middle name though i would never give it to my kid. and i knew barney was going to propose but thank god he ends up with robin!!!!! so happy for them!

so that was lone but the season was. thanks for reading this much.