To Johnny or not to Johnny...

The last two days I have been diligently watching the first series of '21 Jump Street', and while watching it, the following question became a crucial part of my conscious: who is hotter, Penhall or Hanson?
Johnny fans, please don't despair: the question is NOT whether Peter DeLuise is hotter than Johnny Depp (can that ever really be a question?), but whether the fictional character Tom Hanson is hotter than the, again fictional character, Doug Penhall.
Now, both men have some of the same things going for them: they are policemen and look damn fine in their uniforms, they are young and have nice bodies, and because they live in the eighties, they obviously have no shame in the clothing department. I know, the last one can be seen as a minus point for the McQuaid brothers, but after watching a whole series, the eighties outfits become kinda attractive (watch those bulges....).
Both of them also have some of the same cons: they are fictional, young in the eighties therefore now (almost) the same age as my dad, and, ehm, I think that is all I can come up with. So, if we ignore these minus points as being irrelevant to the real question at hand, how can we establish who is the main hottie? (and I'd just like to stress again that the fact that Tom Hanson is in real life the Johnny does NOT count!! That would be an extremely unfair advantage) This question has to be answered by a detailed character analysis of both men. And when I say character analysis, I mean, ehm, well, leching session.
So, let's start with Doug. He, from the start of me watching the show, when I was a 12-year-old and already heavily addicted to the Johnny, has been my favourite. Why, you ask? Well, here's why: he is, without a doubt the hottest guy I have never met. He is big and strong and can obviously protect you very well, and although he is a bit of a lad, he has proven in the 'Next Generation' episode (I think; watching all of the episodes in two days really does not help to differentiate the separate storylines), that he has obvious settling-down-and-starting-a-family potential. Also, he is definitely the best dresser of the lot. I mean, between Captain Fuller's weird eighties sweaters, Judy's ridiculously big and ugly earrings and Tom's frankly sickeningly conservative outfits, there really isn't much competition. Ioki dresses very well, but is quite obviously stylish, and I like the more playful and informal look, and therefore, Doug is definitely the winner in the clothing department. Most importantly, Doug is the cool guy, the bad boy, the one who with his strange charm alone could win you over. And we all know girls like a bad boy... (hence Johnny's appeal, but enough of that, we are talking about fictional characters here!) Also, Doug is good at sports and kinda looks like a teddybear, someone whose hugs would take all your cares away. So, to summarise: Doug is winning at the moment because he is bigger, badder and better dressed. Right now I can't really think of any bad points about him, except maybe that he's not the brightest, but then again, I don't think he's stupid either, so yeh, no bad points!
Tom, on the other hand, has a lot of bad points, sex appeal wise. He might be very goodlooking, but why does he hide it under a stupid haircut, boring clothes and an annoyingly straight-laced attitude? He gets a bit better as the series goes along, but on average, he is the one guy in the show who looks like he wants to be a pipesmoking conservative 40-year-old rather than a sexy, crimefighting 20-something.
So, after watching almost all of the episodes, I thought I had my mind made up: yes, Tom looked good in the McQuaid brothers episode, but that was because he was dressed as a bad boy, and not as himself... As himself, Officer Tom Hanson was, quite frankly, a disappointingly boring and unsexy man. And then.... the last episode turned everything around. It thoroughly confused me, and now I just don't know anymore...
In the last episode of the first series, Officer Hanson and Penhall have to infiltrate a 'gang' (none of the 'gangs' in the show are really allowed to call themselves real gangs, as they are mostly highschool kids trying to get over whatever their parents have done wrong) of punks. So, everyone including Penhall is thinking that, obviously, he is going to be the one actively infiltrating and Hanson is gonna be the geeky brother. But no! The writers mess with our heads and make Hanson the punk!! And Penhall the geeky stepbrother with greasy hair!! Immediately my conceptions of Hanson and Penhall were drastically altered. Hanson looked effing gorgeous as a punker, and although he was assuming a role (as he was in the McQuaid brothers episode) he actually started to like being a punk... And Penhall started to be this uptight-ish boring dude... And because Hanson stayed in his punk gear all episode, and Penhall in his grey raincoat which made him look like a stalker at best, I am now incapable of making an informed decision about the Penhall/Hanson debate. The only way I can solve this is by watching all 4 series that include both the Johnny and Peter DL, and reporting back to you after that. So, Lizzy, if you're reading this: I hope you know what to do!! Make you mark in this most important debate! If you want me to resolve this issue, you have to lend me the other seasons... Otherwise, this mystery will forever be unsolved...
(Does anyone think I might be a little obsessed? No? Okay, me neither..)

That's what friends (and mothers) are for...

Lately, I have been feeling exceptionally bad about myself and what I do in life. The essay I was supposed to write is still unfinished, but I got an extension and a lot of sympathy from my tutor, who has given me how ever long I need to do it, and made me fill out an extenuating circumstances form. This makes sure that if I completely mess up my exams, the University will be able to talk to the place I wanna do my MA at and tell them I'm a good student, really...
So, I don't really want to go into what all is wrong right now, but I do want to talk about how I am going to get over it. And one of the main things I have found out in the last few day is that I have some really good friends and the best mum in the world.
One of my friends donated some johnny (depp, that is, althought cash is just as welcome) and chocolate, another took me shopping today, and yet another took me home for dinner and a general good time. All of my friends have made me feel so loved lately, and I know it sounds squishy and cheesy but I am really happy I have such amazing friends. Friends who will let me be sad but will also let me know they are here for me when I need them.
And then there is my mum. My lovely, lovely mum, who talked to me for 1.5 hours last Thursday, then 2 hours on Friday, and even phoned me on my mobile on Monday while I was in Sainsbury's (for the first time EVER, by the way) to make sure I was okay and to make me feel so loved I almost burst out crying in the middle of the store.
So, basically, I just want to thank everyone (you know who you are), and I promise you: as soon as I am back on my feet, I will be there for you guys 100%.
Thank you,
Love,
Me

Procrastinating...

...is what I do best!!!
Like now, I should be starting my 3000 word essay that is due tomorrow at 1500 hours, but I never know how to really START an essay... I know what I want to say but not how, and, ehm, I am lazy so don't wanna start the real work. I wanna go outside in the snow and have a nice long walk on the beach. But living in Coventry, in the middle of a very big country, this ain't gonna happen. I miss living in Amsterdam, where I could just go on the train for half an hour an hey presto!! Beach!! But I've never even seen an English beach...
Okay, will stop myself from procrastinating too much, and will go start my lovely essay on rape and incest in Middleton's 'Women beware Women'.
Have a lovely weekend!!
Merel

Argh

Trying to change things on this thing and not finding out how to!! Eeps, I am afraid any credibilty and authority I may have had will completely vanish if people even read this thing.....

The Internet

As no one has probably noticed, as no one reads this blog, I haven't posted anything in a long while. I kept thinking about it, but I never did, and I have only just found out why: I. Hate. Computers. This makes me sound like a geriatric, so I think I should explain.
Computers, in the world of Merel, are evil machines made to take over the world with humans as willing helpers. This is why they never do what you actually want then to do, and randomly do things you really don't want them to do. Unfortunately, my department requires everyone to hand in their essays in a very particular format, and this means I can no longer hand write all my essays, like I used to do in secondary school in Amsterdam.
Ah, the days of yore, when pens actually ran out of ink because they were used, and when people would still frantically search for pens when given a phone number. Now, everyone else seems to just use their mobiles for everything, and I feel hopelessly old-fashioned when someone wants to give me their number (no, never a cute guy, mostly slowly accumulated girl friends) and I look for a pen rather than my mobile. And no, I don't have a contract phone, or even a slightly cool looking one. I have a £20 pound Nokia on Tesco Mobile pay as you go. The only slightly redeeming feature is Snake II, which I hardly ever play.
But anyways, back to computers!! Last summer, as you can read in the post called 'Laptop' (very original, I know), I bought a laptop which has been both a source of joy and pain for me. The internet was working fine, until, all of a sudden, it would only do hotmail and msn, and even that badly!! So I phoned the IT service desk run by my uni, and after doing absolutely nothing to help the guy said he couldn't think of anything else so he hung up. I had to write an essay, so I didn't phone again until last wednesday, when I got the most bastardish guy EVER! I usually explain to people I know almost nothing about computers so they don't confuse me with their instructions. This guy eventually made me tell the computer to automatically detect DNS server, which shut down the internet completely. Lovely. When I told him this he said well, you can come in and we'll look at it if you pay us £26. HA!! I dont think SO!
I asked him if he could just tell me the numbers I had put in for the DNS server again so at least some of the net would work, and he said I shouldn't do that cos it would only be a plaster and wouldn't cure anything. Then, he said, 'well, you've just told me you know very little about computers, so I am not going to explain it all to you'. Whadda bitch. Turned out he was wrong as well, when my housemate (ex-boyfriend, but he has his uses!) fixed the internet by setting the DNS server to the right numbers. HA! So now I am going to file a complaint, which is what I do best.
Conclusion: maybe I don't hate computers so much as the people who know about them and think you are a moron just because you need their help.
Moaning session over!!