This blog is faaaaabulous!

Huge thanks to Thea & Ana at The Book Smugglers for passing me the Torch of Fabulosity!

And now, I have to list 5 things I’m obsessed with and can’t live without and then give the award to 5 blogs.

1. Books! There are few things in this world I love more than books. The Fanboyfriend, my family… er… yeah. That’s about it. ;) Books are my lifeblood, my bread and butter, the reason I wake up in the morning. Okay, not the only reason I wake up, but you get the picture. If I could spend the rest of my life reading books all day long, I would do it in a heartbeat.

2. Spec Fic! Though I doubt my parents intended it, I was raised to be a geek. As soon as I was old enough, I had action figures from The Empire Strikes Back, and my parents took their little three year old Fangirl to see Return of the Jedi in the theatre when it came out. When I was 8, Willow took its place as one of my favorite movies EVER. I watched Star Trek: TOS, TNG, DS9, and Voyager religiously. I read as much science fiction and fantasy as I could get my hands on, and even talked my high school senior English teacher into letting me write a big report on Arthur C. Clarke’s 2010. It was pretty much destiny for me to be a Fangirl.

3. Comics! Comics and I have a tumultuous relationship. We go through phases where I buy regularly and immediately devour the new issues while sitting in my car outside the comic shop. And then we go through phases where I get pissed off at Joe Quesada for the endless crossover events and dumbass storylines, and I won’t buy for months. But I still come back to comics; I love the visual medium. At the mo’, I’m just buying Hellboy, but I’m holding out hope that Quesada will retire and someone better will take over at Marvel. ;)

4. Photography! When I was working on my Bachelor’s degree, I started out with a minor in Photography, and was very seriously contemplating doing a double major. I dropped it when I realized that it would both kick my ass and empty my bank account (4′x5′ film is EXPENSIVE), but I never lost my love for photography. Now that I’ve got a great DSLR camera, I’m really starting to get into it again, and I’m remember just how much I love finding that perfect photograph lurking in everyday situations.

5. Travel! I don’t post often about travel, mainly because I’m a grad student and therefore don’t have the time or the funds to travel often, but oh my god, I love it. I love stepping off of a plane and knowing I’m somewhere unfamiliar, and that there are amazing things just waiting for me to discover. I keep holding out the hope that I’ll be able to get a job as a travel journalist one of these days, and then I can get paid to do what I love.

And now it’s my turn to pass on the fabulousness!

Arrogant Self-Reliance – Three of my favorite words: feminist, academic, pop culture. Okay, pop culture is really a phrase, but you get the idea. Amy reads pretty much everything and posts thoughtful commentary on it.

BookWrites – BookWrites isn’t just one blogger; it’s a team effort. Run by members of my own English department, BookWrites is a place for students to post reviews of young adult and children’s literature. It’s great to get such a wide range of books and opinions.

Fantastic Fangirls – The four bloggers at Fantastic Fangirls are a wealth of fascinating female commentary on comic books. I love their group posts, in which all four tackle one subject.

Fantasy Cafe – Absolutely awesome reviews of speculative fiction, with a great layout. I want a coffee cup with a dragon!

Heroic Hips – All comics reviews, all the time. Is there anything better?