This site has gone black in solidarity with other sites, including Wikipedia, in protest of SOPA. You know, the way Facebook and Twitter were too afraid to do. It will be “black” from midnight Pacific Time on January 18th to midnight Pacific Time on January 19th, as will my Facebook and Twitter accounts. I urge you to spend the time you would’ve spent online today looking into ways to protect it.

To find out more about SOPA, click HERE.

To contact your local representatives and tell them you don’t support SOPA, click HERE.

My livelihood depends on a free internet. STOP SOPA.

The RETCON Writer's Room (aka: Miley's living room): Hubby/wife writing team, Yuell and Tasha Lowe-Newsome, Miley, and me at our first writer's meeting 1/10/12!

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook (and if you don’t, why don’cha?) you may have seen me refer to #RETCON, or talk about working on a script recently. Well, in case you were wondering what I was talking about…

When I went to the Magic Castle recently, I had the pleasure of meeting actress and producer, Miley (pronounced “me-lay” like Tarzan lying down, not “Miley” like Cyrus) Yamamoto, who was there with the group of friends with whom we were meeting up. We were all talking, and it came up that I’m a writer. Miley immediately said, “You’re a writer? I’m looking for writers. Do you have a spec you can send me? Do you have a card?” Um, yes, cool, yes, and yes.

We ended up meeting so that she could tell me about a webseries she’s created called Retcon. Think Buffy meets Doctor Who meets Alias.

I know.

When she told me the story of her pilot in that first meeting, I was kinda blown away by the possibilities and wanted to play in the sandbox of these characters and this world. Also, and this is important, Miley and I are totally on the same page as far as the kind of television we enjoy and how we feel about women and minorities in television, particularly behind the camera and in the writing rooms. She asked me if I would be one of her writers, and I said yes immediately!

This is an exciting project for me for several reasons:

• We’re doing half-hour episodes, so it’s like writing something formatted for broadcast television. I’ve never had cause to write full half-hour scripts that weren’t specs before, so this is new and will be wonderful practice.
• This will also be my first experience in a “writer’s room” scenario. Miley wrote the pilot, and she was going to “Felicia Day it” and try to write the whole thing herself, but while she could, she’s not primarily a writer, and she felt it would be doing the show a disservice if she did that. So, she assembled a writing team. Meanwhile, I’ve never written with anyone before, but I’m going to have to learn how if I expect to work in television for realsies. Here, I’ll be getting practice in the nitty-gritty of not taking credit for ideas I’ve contributed to other people’s scripts as well as allowing other writers to contribute to to my scripts without feeling threatened. It’ll be a great lesson in keeping my ego in check and letting the story come first. It’s a rare opportunity for a beginning writer, as most webseries are written by one person and, well, one can’t exactly just walk into broadcast TV. This will be good for me!
• We gel as a team. Tasha, Yuell, Miley and I share geeky preferences and priorities when it comes to storytelling. And also, they’re all just really nice, smart people. We’ve already started talking on the phone to go over story ideas/elements. I feel like I can help create something pretty awesome with these people.
• Look at the picture above again. Really look at it and forget about the fact that we all look like crap after hours of breaking episodes. THIS is diversity in a writing room. And we’ve even got a token dude. But seriously, we’re like the United Colors of friggin Benetton.
• Oh, and SEAN MAHER (aka Simon Tam on Firefly and Sean Beasley on The Playboy Club) is attached to play the male lead. So, you know, there’s that.

I recently turned in the first draft for my first script, Episode 3, and am awaiting notes. I felt so accomplished, having never attempted anything like that before. And that’s it. From here on in, it just gets easier! I’m excited for this whole process!

Get ready for RETCON!

I don’t know if it’s the cross-country move, the start of a New Year, or what it is that, for some reason, makes 2012 feel more full of possibility than any year before it. For the first time, despite some moments of depression in recent months, I have not only a general feeling that my life is mine to shape in any way I want, but the fortitude and confidence and drive to do it and shape it into something good. There’s something strange and sad about the fact that this is the first time I’m feeling that way, but I’m not going to let that make me sad or second-guess my ability to create the kind of life I want. There’s no reason why I should shuffle along being content, when what I want (and deserve), is to be happy.

But first thing’s first. This here little blog, THE TERESA JUSINO EXPERIENCE, turned two years old today! Huzzah! *throws confetti* To those of you who’ve read, commented, given feedback, and linked to me – THANK YOU! I enjoy having a platform on which to both entertain and through which to communicate what’s important to me. I hope you enjoy it, too!

Secondly, in an effort to do that happy living I mentioned above, I’ve been thinking about how I’d like to go about doing that, and I’ve come around to one main resolution I have for the year:

To live more consciously and genuinely.

That sounds so broad, doesn’t it? Also, sounds like something obvious – something that one should be doing all the time, not just as a one-time goal or resolution. I agree. The thing is, it’s something I’ve struggled with, and most of the time, it’s a struggle at which I lose. I’m someone who’s “on” a lot of the time, being cheerful and upbeat even when I don’t feel that way so as not to bring anyone down. I’m someone who has certain ideals and dreams for this world that you’d never know from my actions. In the interest of not “being a party pooper,” of not inconveniencing anyone, of making others happy, and – I’ll just come out and say it – of being loved, I’ve held a lot of myself in. I’ve held in good things, and I’ve held in bad things. One problem is that withholding the good things deprives the world of them, when I could be using my enthusiasm and talent to better it. The other problem is that holding in the bad things does nothing but make them turn inward, hurting me, and that manifests itself in all sorts of ways; ways that I wasn’t fully conscious of until very recently. Like I said, it’s been a struggle, and while it would be great to just wake up one day and say, “I’m going to be a better person,” the fact is that it’s not something one can do overnight, and it’s the kind of thing that’s so big, it would be easy to throw up one’s hands and not bother, thinking it too big a thing to accomplish.

So, manageable chunks. It’s going to be something I focus on this year. I’m not thinking about the rest of my life, or the kind of person I want to turn into, or even 2013. I’m focusing on the next 365 days and how I, in those 365 days can live more consciously and more genuinely.

What does that mean to me? Well, by living more consciously I mean engaging with myself and the world every day. I mean actually thinking about each decision I make, rather than just doing things out of habit. I mean not sleepwalking through my life. By living more genuinely, I mean putting more of myself out into the world and not being afraid of what people will think. I mean being equally honest about when I’m happy and when I’m sad. I mean trusting the people who love me when they say that they prefer it when I’m honest, and “real,” and “not on.” I’ve had several conversations with people recently to that effect; times when I’ve been so depressed about something that I haven’t been able to hold it in, and my friends respond not with the boredom or distaste that I’m afraid of, but with love and the idea that they’d rather see me being genuine. They appreciate my humor and my boisterousness, sure, but they also appreciate me when I’m not being very funny at all. I need to remember that.

Living more genuinely also means telling people how I feel about them without being snarky or ironic about it. If I love someone, I should be able to tell them so without laughing, making a face, or turning it into some kind of joke. I mean, once in a while is okay – I generally have an ironic, sarcastic sense of humor – but it’s gotten to the point where it’s almost physically impossible not to be ironic. And that, to me, is a problem. If someone does something wonderful for me, I’d like to be able to thank them without qualifiers. There’s nothing inherently good about downplaying how much you need/like/enjoy a thing. In fact, if you do – and I know this from having received it – you make the person giving you/doing the nice thing feel a little bad about having given it to you. Of course they “shouldn’t have!” But that’s the whole thing about gifts and favors – people want to give them precisely because you weren’t expecting it. They want the joy of seeing you enjoy it, and trying excessively to give it back or not accepting it graciously takes that joy away from them. Not only is being honest about how you feel about something better for you, but it makes other people feel good, too.

I plan on living my resolution for the year by focusing on the following things:

1) Living my values – this means being active in my choices as a consumer and a citizen. It will affect where I buy my food, what businesses I frequent, and who I’ll vote for. It also means being more active in my support of things. I will volunteer for organizations I believe in and give money when I can, though it really is more about active support rather than just throwing money at things. I will be more vocal about what I believe. I’ve already started doing that, but I’d like to fight my inner-censor even more. Rather than worry about “bringing the party down” or having people think less of me, if something happens or someone does something in front of me that doesn’t jibe with my sense of decency, ethics, or justice, I’m going to say something and/or do something about it. I’m not going to let the world happen to me anymore. You’ve been warned! Lastly, living my values also means treating people the way I would like to be treated, and not taking the people I care about for granted or assuming they know how I feel. I’m going to tell them. Regularly. You’ve been warned about that, too.

2) Making my outward appearance and actions reflect what I feel/believe inside - This ties into the stuff above. I want people to know what I stand for based on my actions, not just on what I tell them. However, this also extends to how I feel and what I believe about myself. Right now, at 32 years old, I feel better about myself than I ever have before. I am an accomplished, intelligent, talented woman who must be doing something right in the kindness and compassion department if I have so many wonderful friends. Then why do I eat as if I don’t care about my body, health, or well-being? Why do I dress as if I don’t care what I look like and don’t think anyone else should bother looking at me anyway? Why do I try so desperately to hide myself from people under layers of fat and ill-fitting clothing, not wearing make-up (because God forbid someone look too hard at my face), and letting my hair fall lifelessly around my shoulders? It’s the whys of these things that I’ll be looking to address this year. Notice, I didn’t say “I’m going on a diet,” or “I wanna lose __ pounds.” Saying those things has never done anything for me. My hope is that, by focusing on the whys and eliminating them, the rest will fall into place. What I want to do is make the conscious choice every day to present myself in the best way possible and do what’s best for my body, and the only way I won’t is if I have a damn good reason. (Spoiler Alert: there are very few, if any, damn good reasons.)

3) Paying attention to my spiritual self – I rush all the damn time and yet never seem to have enough hours in the day. How is that possible? Shouldn’t rushing mean that I get more stuff done and have more time at the end of the day? What I’ve realized, though, is that a lot of my “rushing” has more to do with what’s going on in my head than what I’m actually doing. I’m rushing, when what I should be doing is slowing down. I want to make time to read books. I want to write in my paper journal. I want to pray more – not just the way I usually do, with a quick thought aimed in God’s general direction, but with purpose. I want to make sure I schedule time to relax so that when I do schedule time to work, that work will be more focused. My mind darts all over the place, all the time, and it’s because I hardly ever allow myself the time to deal with what’s in there. I’m going to slow down. I’m going to make time.

This seems like a lot, but it really boils down to one thing: with every decision I make I will ask myself, “Does __________ fall in line with who I am as a person?” I will try to ask myself that question with everything I do, every day, for 365 days. Starting now.

I couldn’t believe it when I looked back and realized that I’ve been doing a Year In Review blog post since 2004! You can look back at that year, as well as 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010! You know, if you want to geek out about me, or something.

2011 has been the most tumultuous year for me to date both personally and professionally. Mostly good, but a lot not-so-good. Here’s the recap:

TERESA’S 2010 YEAR IN REVIEW:

Whedonistas! Top (l-r): Nancy Holder, Jenn Reese, Katy Shuttleworth, Kelly Hale, Racheline Maltese. Bottom (l-r): Jane Espenson, Lynne Thomas, Deb Stanish, and ME!

WRITING LIFE

** Whedonistas was released, thus changing my writing life forever. My first published work in a book available in bookstores, it led to me doing a string of readings, both personal and as part of a larger group of Whedonistas. It also allowed me to meet some pretty amazing (and well-known) women in sci-fi/fantasy. I was thrilled to be a part of such a wonderful project with such talented people.

** Did my first Whedonistas convention panel at Gallifrey One (February)! After having raised money to make the trip online (thank you to all of my generous supporters!), I flew out to L.A. in February for Gally. On the panel were moderators (and Whedonistas editors) Lynne Thomas and Deb Stanish; artist Katy Shuttleworth; contributors Nancy Holder, Jenn Reese, Racheline Maltese, Kelly Hale; and Jane Espenson, who has an exclusive interview in the book. After the panel, which went really well, we had a signing, during which I had someone come up to me excited to read my essay because, based on what I’d talked about during the panel, she thought that my piece would speak to her experience. I was floored by that. Later, the Whedonistas and I all went out to dinner, and I not only had the opportunity to sit next to and get to know one of my professional role models, but I got to know fellow female writers and lovers of genre with whom I have a lot in common and with whom I’ve since been becoming friends.

** While I was in L.A. for Gally, I also organized a reading on my own at a cute coffeehouse in Venice called The Talking Stick. It went well overall, though I definitely learned some dos and don’ts for future readings. While the crowd I started with wasn’t particularly large, by the end, so many had walked in and stayed that I was reading to a full house. My short story didn’t go over too well, but my Whedonistas piece went over a lot better. That, and I had some wonderful friends out to support. Namely, Heather, Alex, Amy, Julianna, and Josh, as well as Mike from ChinaShop who came out to interview me and photograph/cover the reading! That was so sweet. It was a great night.

** Back in New York, I also organized a Whedonistas reading at The Way Station in Brooklyn (March). Again, nerve-wracking, because I’d organized the event myself, but it went swimmingly and we sold several copies of the book. I was joined onstage once again by Racheline Maltese as well as Priscilla Spencer.

** I began to focus more on feminism in relation to my pop culture criticism, and wrote two articles for Tor.com – Moffat’s Women: Amy and Her Skirt, and a two part review of the film Sucker Punch – that taught me that the internet is a double-edged sword, full of intelligent people and less-intelligent trolls.

** My second Whedonistas convention panel was at Geek Girl Con (October)! That was a bit more nerve-wracking in that I had organized and would be moderating that panel myself. It turned out rather well, however. We “played” to a packed, enthusiastic room, and as I was walking to another panel afterwards, I had several strangers stop me to tell me how much they enjoyed it. Jane Espenson and Nancy Holder joined me again, along with Mariah Huehner, who is awesome. Earlier that morning, we had a signing and we SOLD OUT all of our copies of the book! Next year, the bookseller won’t under order! I was amused by how many people assumed that I worked for the bookseller at whose table we were. I had to keep telling people, “I’m sorry, I can’t help you with ringing this up. I’m actually in this book.” One day, people won’t make that mistake. Also, if you’re ever going to bring Jane a baked good, do not bring her cupcakes. Cupcakes are wasted on Jane Espenson. Bring her pie instead. Wonder at how she manages to lead a normal life with such a warped view of cake.

** While 2011 had a lot of positive things happen for my writing career, there was also some negative. I got rejected from an anthology, a sci-fi fiction website, two TV writing fellowships, and the Emerging Writers Fellowship at the Center for Fiction in New York. I also was told by the blog editor at a major entertainment blog that he was interested in my work, only to have him reject all the pitches I sent him. Just goes to show, you can’t expect success without a certain level of failure! What you need to do is keep trying!

** I left Newsarama after a little over a year of writing comics reviews for them. It wasn’t anything bad or scandalous, and I actually really enjoyed my editor and the Best Shots review team. However, I made the decision to not do anymore unpaid writing work that wasn’t my own, and so my decision to quit was in support of that. But thank you, David, for being an amazing editor, and thanks to the Best Shots team for being a lot of fun on email chains!

** I became Geek Girl Traveler! First with a series of articles at ChinaShop, then a Facebook page and a Twitter feed, then a blog. You’ll be seeing more of her in 2012.

** After a while of figuring out what I wanted to do with Tumblr, I finally figured it out and created The Gender Blender. As I post stuff there, what I’m working on in relation to my novel becomes clearer.

** Discovered the website, Cowbird, and was accepted to join this small storytelling community. Immediately became obsessed!

** My Geeks and Kink article at ChinaShop Magazine not only popped about the internet both in kink circles and blogs like the Boston Magazine blog, but it also won me a contributor contest, netting me a cash bonus and a new Flip Cam!

** Had the pleasure of interviewing: Jane Espenson (several times), Cheeks, Rachael Yamagata, Kevin Smith (to post in 2012), Simon Pegg, Ian “Enable” Wyatt, Jeryl Prescott, Jessica Mills, Candis Phlegm and Lyndsey Doolan, Eric Laden (never posted), Whitney Sorrow, Tony Trov and Johnny Zito, Cecil Castillucci (to post in 2012), and Sasha Roiz (again!).

** Was a guest on two podcasts! A roundtable discussion of Doctor Who S6.1 on 2 Minute Time Lord, and an interview along with Pendard re: Geeks and Kink on Polyamory Weekly. Apparently I’m an expert on geeks and kinky sex or something. There are worse things at which to excel…

Me, Amy, Heather, and Elena celebrating Life Day!

PERSONAL LIFE

** Sadly, no men of note. It was a slow one for dating. There was this one time where I thought I was being flirted with at a wedding, but that turned out to not be the case. Then there was this other time where I thought I had game at a geek singles event. But that was just men thinking I make a really good friend. *sighs* That’s how the cookie crumbles.

** 5 year anniversary of my mother’s passing.

** I turned 32 with little fanfare, but spent a fun night with Joanna and her brother, Carlos, at a really gorgeous spot in Queens on the East River that I’d never been to before. Had my first Four Loko. Also, managed to get a free slurpee at 7-Eleven.

** After Gally in February, I made the decision to make moves toward moving toward Los Angeles! At first, I was going to move to Plano, TX and save up money while living with my friend, Angela. However, another friend, Maritza, offered to let me live rent-free with her and her husband in Santa Monica in exchange for babysitting, so a plan was created for me to move out to Los Angeles toward the end of the year!

** Everything after that decision felt like prep for that. Everything I did became “my last ____ in New York.” I stopped babysitting for Caleb and Toby (whom I loved), and after my lease was up at my apartment in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, I spent a month at Maria’s while catsitting, a couple of weeks at Robin’s, then my last few days in New York at Liz and Alex’s. Hurricane Irene didn’t stop my goodbye festivities, and after planning parties for myself, I was surprised by another party thrown by my friends that had been planned since June. I cried. A LOT. I visited my mother’s grave one last time, saw my dad one last time (for now), and said goodbye to my family. Leaving New York was the biggest, most life-altering thing I’ve ever done.

** On August 31st, 2011, I left New York on a jet plane. Don’t know when I’ll be back again. I had been given letters written by some of my closest friends that I was instructed to read on the plane. After Robin and Joanna escorted me to the airport and waited until I got all the way through security before leaving, I got on the plane and started reading my letters. As the plane pulled off the runway, and I saw the skyline of my hometown fade into the distance behind us, I cried. And the letters I read were beautiful.

** Once I got to L.A. I was immediately greeted by lots of social people, and also lots of financial difficulty. I started out at Maritza’s, but that fell through for various reasons, and I had to move out. I lived for a little over a month with my friend Theresa and her husband Alan, until that fell through for various reasons. Now, I’m living where I should’ve lived in the first place, with my friend Heather and her boyfriend, Alexis. I have my own room, have been contributing to food, and will begin contributing to rent this month. I’ll be here until I save up enough for a car and a security and first month on my own place. It’ll be a while, but this lease isn’t up for two years, so…I’m a Valley Girl now. My first few weeks of living here were filled with parties, events, coffee meetings, and getting-to-know-yous…

** And then the doldrums set in. L.A. winter (which consists of rain, clouds, and temps in the 50s) was a mite depressing. So was the fact that I’m broke and stopped being able to afford being as social as I wanted to be. There was a period of a couple of weeks when I was actually rawther depressed. I’m much better now.

** The Occupy Movement has become a big part of my life, and when I first heard about it going down at Occupy Wall Street, I really regretted not being in NYC to be a part of it. But then, I got involved with Occupy L.A. My friend Mike and I camped out at Occupy L.A. on the fourth night (and got interviewed by KTLA the next morning). While I haven’t been able to get there since then (no money for bus fare, no car), I’ve been spreading links and writing my face off about it. When I traveled to Seattle and San Fransisco this year, I visited their Occupations and took pictures. I will post them eventually. If you’re not outraged, you haven’t been paying attention.

** Speaking of travel, I went to Seattle for Geek Girl Con. Money was tight, so I ended up only being able to get TO Seattle. Had to wait on a paycheck to get back. It came later than expected, so I was stuck in Seattle for an extra week, which was fine. In addition to Geek Girl Con, I had an amazing time staying with my friend, Heidi, then with a new friend, also named Teresa, and her partners, Scott and Larry, all of whom were super sweet to me. Geeked out at the Battlestar Galactica Exhibit and the Avatar Exhibit at the EMP Museum. Sat on the bank of Lake Washington. Visited the first Starbucks. Had lunch with some new friends, Jennifer and Anita. Had dinner with a new friend, Kristen. Had breakfast with a new friend, Christina. So all my meals were covered, and I got to hang with some wonderful people in the process. Taking the train to Seattle rather than a plane made the trip that much more memorable. If you can take Amtrak anywhere, especially up the West Coast, do it! It’s beautiful.

** Traveled to San Fransisco the weekend following Seattle through the generosity of friends. Stayed with Anita and her boyfriend at their place on Valencia – it was so sweet of them to let me stay there barely knowing me. Met up with Cathy, Matt, Angela, and Heather and we walked ALL OVER. (that city is seriously ALL uphill) Fisherman’s Wharf, seals, Chinatown, Lombard Street, the Comic and Cartoon Art Museum, and it all culminated in seeing Kevin Spacey play Richard III at the Curran Theater. He was great, even if the production was a bit uneven. But the second half was MUCH better than the first. Would love to visit SF for a longer period of time.

** Went with my new friend, Judi (Deb’s sister!), to see Riverdance at The Pantages Theater, and saw Merle for the first time in years. Also saw Padraic, Niamh, Maeve, and some of the other Riverdance cast and crew I’d gotten to know in my years working for the show. So surreal! But it was good to see everyone!

** Spent Thanksgiving with my new friend Emily at the place she shares with her boyfriend, Phillip, as well as some of his family. It was a really nice night (with great food!), and I was so touched that she invited me. Emily’s a good’un.

** Celebrated Christmas with Heather, Alexis, and their family and friends at his mom, Julie’s, place. REALLY great food, and I had a Malta for the first time in years! Met some great new people (and possibly a new personal trainer!), and was touched that Julie and Heather thought of me with gifts knowing that I couldn’t afford to give gifts this year (and even after they’d each agreed that no one was doing presents this year!). Also got some unexpected Christmas gifts from Robin and Heather E, as well as a ton of Christmas cards from everywhere. Skyped with my family. It wasn’t nearly as sad or bad as I was expecting. I felt a lot of love. I’m a lucky person.

** Roscoe’s. Chicken. And. Waffles.

A sampling of the new friends I’ve made this year: Maritza, Bob, Emily, Amy, Anita, Jennifer S, Theresa W, Alan, Teresa G, Scott, Larry, Judi, Jared, Jenni, Jenni P, Julianna, Josh, Vicky, Shanna, Jessica M, Stephanie, Dina, Sarah, Elena, Chastity, Dino, Elliot, and several more peeps. I’ve been so warmly welcomed in L.A. it’s not even funny.

Robin and Me just before her wedding!

FRIEND-RELATED AWESOME

** My BFF, Robin, got married to the love of her life, Matt – and I was her maid of honor! It was SUCH a great wedding. Everyone looked amazing, I danced so hard I hurt the next day, and everyone had a wonderful time.

** My friends Robyn and Jerry also got married in the Virgin Islands. I was originally supposed to officiate the wedding (I even became a minister in the Universal Life Church!), but my finances wouldn’t allow me to make the trip, and I had to back out, which bummed me out severely.

** Katie got pregnant again! Her first son, Nate, was a long-awaited gift. Now, this woman’s like a friggin’ rabbit! But seriously, I’m so happy for her and Aaron.

** New York State passed marriage equality! I put this in my “friend-related awesome” section in honor of all my friends in New York who can now get married! Now, for the rest of the country…

The cast and crew of Husbands at their premiere at Meltdown Comics

GEEKY/POP CULTURE HAPPENINGS OF IMPORTANCE

** I launched Beginning of Line in January 2011! In December, we’ve just posted our 18th story, which was our “Caprica Season 2″ finale. I’m so proud of all of my writers and artists – talented people, all! I’m looking forward to planning Season 3 and continuing to create stories set in the Caprica universe in 2012!

** Geek Girl Con was a huge success, and the best convention to which I’ve ever been. Hands down. It was so well run, I met so many amazing people and gained so many opportunities because of it. I can’t wait for Geek Girl Con 2012. I’ll be there with bells on!

** In television, 2011 introduced me to two of my favorite new shows, Once Upon a Time and Grimm. Torchwood: Miracle Day was really enjoyable (though I still have 2 eps to watch!), and the webseries, Husbands, was an adorable look at gay marriage. Doctor Who, Season 6 was really cool, if a bit confusing. Fringe had its best season ever. The Walking Dead? Not so much. And I caught up with two brilliant AMC shows: Mad Men and Breaking Bad. I cannot WAIT for new episodes of those two in 2012!

** In film, the end of the Harry Potter franchise totally satisfied me. I was one of the only people in the world who really liked Sucker Punch, apparently. Loved Super, Paul, and Friends With Benefits. And BRIDESMAIDS! Thank you, Kristen Wiig.

** Thankfully saw the Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark on Broadway once they worked out the kinks. It’s still not a perfect show, but it’s fun, and MUCH better than what it was before, from what I hear.

** Sadly, we lost Doctor Who‘s Elisabeth Sladen and Nicholas Courtney. RIP.

** In addition to Gally and Geek Girl Con, I attended Long Beach Comic Con and Comikaze Expo, both of which weren’t terribly thrilling.

** Went to the Husbands premiere at Meltdown Comics.

** In addition to Riverdance, I went to see a production of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea at the Crown Theatre in NoHo. L.A. DOES have a theater scene!

** I was named one of the Top 11 Geek Girls of 2011 according to the Chicago Tribune Red Eye’s “Geek to Me” blog! Thanks to Elliot Serrano for thinking me worthy of inclusion in such wonderful company! WOO HOO!

Got to meet: Jessica Mills, Candis Phlegm, Lyndsey Doolan, Jane Espenson, Cheeks, Sean Hemeon, Alessandra Torresani, Magda Apanowicz, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Amy Berg, Felicia Day, Vincent Caso, Amy Okuda, Bonnie Burton, Michelle Boyd and the rest of Team Unicorn (except Clare!), Adrianne Curry, Sean Becker, and Juliet Landau. STILL have not met Sasha Roiz despite interviewing him twice, a jillion tweets and emails, and crossed communiques to get coffee when I was visiting L.A. earlier in the year. Well, Sasha – you have until the end of the world in December to make it up to me. Ball’s in your court.

2011 was a huge year for me, and there are amazing things in the works for this new year. 2012 is going to PWN! And I’m looking forward to sharing it all with you!

Before Glee. Before “Once More With Feeling” on Buffy. Before Cop Rock. There was a show that was everything a television musical should be. That show was Rags to Riches.

Rags to Riches (1987 – I was 8 and 9 during its two-season run) was a musical dramedy about a food industry millionaire (played by Joseph Bologna!) who, in order to project a family-friendly image and secure a business deal, takes in 5 orphaned girls with every intention of returning them to the children’s home as soon as his goals are met. He inevitably comes to love them and ends up adopting them. Taking a page out of Diff’rent Strokes’ culture-clash playbook, Rags to Riches found its conflicts not only in the fish-out-of-water element of these poor girls suddenly living in the lap of luxury, but also in the fact that each of the girls came from a different background and/or had a different set of experiences. There was the Black one (played by Tisha Campbell!), the half-Asian one, the blonde one, the little one. The half-Asian one was also the socially conscious one who also happened to be emo, before emo was a thing. The blonde was, of course, a sort of “Valley Girl” who loved big accessories and shopping.  Yes, it was a cheesy show (what show wasn’t in the 1980′s?) that traded in stock characters, but it was also an opportunity for a diverse demographic of girls to see themselves in a television show.

But the truly great thing about Rags to Riches was that it did a musical television show right. It’s one thing to write an entire musical for one episode of a show (like Buffy), or have a show be an original musical, but not commit to its own musical world (like Cop Rock), or have a show be a musical that’s built on the latest pop hits and stretching the story to make them fit the songs instead of the other way around (like Glee), but what Rags to Riches did was commit to a sound (60′s doo-wop), use the familiar melodies and choruses of songs with which people were already familiar, but have original lyrics that had to do with what was actually happening to the characters. It had exactly the right balance of sing-a-long-ability (from the familiar oldies chosen) and new material (new lyrics to learn!) to make a successful television musical.

I remember Eileen, Joanna and I loving this show when I was a kid. I remember “playing Rags to Riches” with them and other friends. I’m sorry it only had two seasons! If anyone feels like letting me create a similar show for today’s audience, I’d be happy to take a crack at it.

I’ll leave you with EPISODE 2 of Rags to Riches! I would’ve left you with the pilot, but the pilot didn’t have the really fun theme song! You can find the pilot and all the other eps on YouTube, too.

I hope you’ve had and continue to have a wonderful Christmas season, have a fantabulous New Year, and that 2012 brings us all Rags to Riches-style changes for the better!

You’ll be hearing more about my plans for the New Year once we get closer to New Year’s Eve. However, I came across something interesting today that will serve to help prepare my brain for the rest of the stuff I want to accomplish. Thanks to Gala Darling, I came across this great little article that lists the 7 Questions to Ask When You’re Not Sure Who You’re Becoming. Here are my answers, as completely honest as possible:

1) What am I freakishly good at?

I’ll reluctantly say writing. Reluctantly, because I don’t think I’m necessarily freakishly good at it. It’s something I do well, but there’s always room for improvement. Then again, the article follows up by asking What are the things that come so naturally to me, they don’t even register as legitimate ‘talents’? Writing has always been something that a lot of my non-writer friends “can’t even understand how I do what I do.” The same way my mind reels when I notice how good some of my friends are at math, or visual art, or knitting, or cooking. It seems to me that those skills require one’s brain to work in a way mine just doesn’t. Apparently, some people feel the same way about the way I write. So, there’s that.

But what else am I freakishly good at? I’m kinda The Child Whisperer – able to get any kid, no matter how shy, or surly, or crabby, or frantic, to simmer down, trust me, or fall in love with me. It’s a gift I’m proud of. I’m also good at mediating conflict. Generally, even if two people I know are fighting with each other, they don’t ask me to choose a side, and I’m usually pretty good at navigating that and either getting people to talk to each other again, or convincing them to be civil enough to each other around me. Lastly, I think I’m really good at putting myself in other people’s shoes. Just call me Atticus Finch. But seriously, I’m good at fostering an environment of acceptance and tolerance, because I don’t judge people based on appearances or social awkwardness or intelligence or lifestyle. I think people generally pick up on that about me and feel at ease. These aren’t things at which I excel all the time, but they’re the things at which I’m best.

2) What do I geek out about?

Geek Culture. I would say that I geek out about comics (though I haven’t read any in a while, because I’m broke), or sci-fi television, or sci-fi stories in general, but the truth is, I geek out about geekery. I love the culture that has come up in the past few years around all of this other stuff I love.

I geek out about anything related to language: English grammar, etymology, spoken word poetry, learning new languages (if you love me, you’ll buy me Rosetta Stone for French, Japanese, Arabic, and Swahili – it’s a Bucket List goal of mine to speak 5 languages fluently before I die.), slang, etc.

Lately, I’ve been geeking out about activism. Not just about one cause even, but about methods by which we can become more involved in the world, and ways in which I can get people to do so.

Lastly, I’ve been geeking out about television writing. I used to not care a whit. Now that I want to do it, I suddenly care very much about the players and how it works. And it’s not even about the conscious decision of “I should get to know the industry of which I’d like to be a part!” but more, “An article about female writers in television…ooh!” Now that I’m learning what it takes, it looks like a really big, really fun game I wanna play.

3) If I was a horrifically superficial & shallow person, what would I really want?

To travel the world indefinitely on an unlimited budget and just experience things, and to be the person everyone considers the leader. Like, if I were in a situation like the one on Lost, I’d want to be the Jack. But better. Because I’d be better at it than he was. But you know what I mean! I want to be the person that everyone else gravitates to and just assumes knows what to do. So, yeah – to be that person, traveling the world, forever.

4) What do I want to be known for?

I want to be known not only for the things I write, but for what the things I write make people do.

5) If I had a full year off, and a stipend of {insert ‘how DARE you?!’ amount of money, here}, how would I spend it?

Since the “how DARE you” amount of money needs to be used within a year, rather than have only a year of #3 on my list, I would use that year and that money to build my dream business that would incorporate the arts and helping the homeless. You wanna know what that idea IS, don’t you. Well, I’m not telling. (Funny how, as honest as I’m trying to be in this post, there are some things that are so naive-sounding and grandiose and embarrassing that I just can’t mention them here!) What I WILL say is that it’s an idea I’ve had since I was about 15, and I will make it happen before my mortal coil shuffles off to Buffalo.

6) What’s going to be carved on my hypothetical tombstone?

As I’ve already told several of my friends, I’m going to have a holographic, interactive tombstone. Picture it: an enormous monument that houses my coffin. Outside, the monument will be surrounded by a velvet rope and plenty of outdoor seating. Mourners will be escorted in one or two at a time by a burly, yet fun bouncer. There will be floodlights going off as if my grave is the site of a movie premiere. And outside the door of the monument will be a big touch screen where people can start my interactive tombstone. They press a button on the screen, and a hologram of me will pop up saying “Hello! And welcome to Teresa Jusino’s grave! She hopes you enjoy your stay. For a photo retrospective of the life and times of Teresa Jusino, press one! To hear her singing her favorite karaoke songs, press two! To ask Teresa questions from beyond the grave, press three…!” That last one would, of course, require lots of pre-recorded responses. Unless, of course, I actually can come back from beyond the grave, in which case “3″ will ring some kind of bell in my spot in Heaven, and I’ll just come on down. Give me a minute, though. I don’t know how long that trip is.

This was my Halloween costume in 2004. I was "A Republican."

7) If my parents / my grandma / God / whoever holds my sense of personal propriety in check was GONE (poof!) and there was no one to offend, upset, or disappoint… who would I become?

Wow. That’s kind of already true. And I kind of have already been doing that. I was actually talking to one of my best friends late last night via GMail Video Chat, and talked about the fact that I feel like, now that my mom is gone and my dad doesn’t really know what’s going on, I’m finally growing up and figuring myself out, whereas I didn’t really have a “rebellious period” in my youth, and pretty much lived my life to make them proud. Don’t get me wrong, I still want them to be proud. It’s just that now I’m less concerned with them, or anyone else, agreeing with my choices. Thankfully, I don’t have to worry about offending or upsetting anyone else in my life, because they’ve all proven time and time again that they don’t judge me and/or love me no matter what. Even if they see me/think I’m fucking up, they step out of my way and let me make my mistakes without too much fuss. I’m very lucky that way.

And that’s that! Hope that allowed you to get to know me a little better!

First of all, it’s technically Christmas until the Feast of the Epiphany, which is on January 6th this year. The Twelve Days of Christmas are actually the days after Christmas Day. So, that’s why I’m still doing my Christmas posts now.

Yeah, that’s totally why.

Secondly, I wanted to happily announce that NICOLE GUZMAN has won my Christmas Giveaway. And as she lives in L.A, I look forward to giving it to her WHEN WE FINALLY HANG OUT!

And now, for my Tenth Post of Christmas…

The New Year is rapidly approaching, and is rumored to be our last one ever! While I don’t necessarily buy into the Mayan calendar, New Year’s Day has been my favorite holiday for a long time, because it allows us the opportunity to start over, to live with purpose, to make the decision that this year we are going to be the people we want to be. While we accomplish that to varying degrees each year, the New Year allows us all the chance to make that decision again, and to see where it takes us.

On Spotify, I have a playlist I’ve created called “I Fucking Rule.” It’s a list of songs I’ve put together that both inspire me to be better and celebrate the fact that I’m already pretty fucking awesome. As the New Year approaches, I’d like to share my 10 favorite tracks from that list. Hopefully, they’ll get you jazzed, too! And I’d love for you to share your favorite inspiring songs in the comments below!

1) Airplanes, Part II – performed by B.O.B, featuring Hayley Williams and Eminem

One of the few times when a remix is better than the original. I love this song, because it speaks to the dreamer in me, and to the fact that success doesn’t come from sitting around wishing and hoping, but by taking action and making things happen for yourself. No one is going to hand you your dreams. On the one hand, it’s entirely up to you. On the other hand…it’s entirely up to you!

2) Don’t Rain on My Parade – performed by Lea Michele

I listen to this ALL THE TIME. A musical standard sung by a new talent who kicks the shit out of it. Oh, life is juicy, juicy and you’ll see, I gotta take my bite, sir! What better vibe to carry into the New Year? Nobody, but nobody, is gonna rain on MY parade!

3) A Mistake – performed by Fiona Apple

A song about taking pleasure in one’s mistakes – because it’s the only way anyone really learns anything. Also, mistakes are fun – in retrospect, if not at the time! I hope Fiona comes out with another album sometime. I miss her!

4) No Love – performed by Eminem, featuring Li’l Wayne

Bad. Ass. There’s no other way to describe this song. Well, there’s no other way to describe this song once you skip Li’l Wayne’s lame verse and get to Eminem’s GOLD about 2 minutes in. It’s also the best anti-bullying video I’ve seen this year. And the message is clear: say what you want about me…because my talent makes me stronger than your pettiness. And while I’m generally the kind of person who will treat everyone with a certain level of love and respect, even people who’ve not treated me well, it doesn’t mean that I’ll go out of my way to do it.

5) What You Waiting For? – performed by Gwen Stefani

What AM I waiting for? I love this song, because it’s upbeat tough love. Take a chance, you stupid ho! That sounds like something I’d say to someone. Well, maybe I wouldn’t call them a ho (depends on the person. I know plenty of hoes, and I say that with love), but I would definitely call them out on being stupid for not taking advantage of their potential. Wasted potential, as I’ve said before, is something that pisses me off. A lot. Seeing a friend with talent squander it because they’re afraid just makes me angry. Knowing I have talent and don’t act on certain ideas I have because I’m afraid makes me angrier. So, I’m trying to not be a stupid ho in 2012.

6) 32 Flavors – performed by Ani DiFranco

This song celebrates a woman’s greatness while reminding both men and other women that said greatness isn’t a threat to anyone else’s. The dictionary definition of humility is “the quality or condition of being humble;  modest opinion or estimate of one’s own importance, rank, etc.” You can think yourself great without thinking yourself greater than others. You can use your own greatness to encourage greatness in others. Everyone is great at something, no matter how small, and we should all be proud of our talents. And we shouldn’t be threatened by or jealous of the talents of others. We should be inspired!

7) Fireball – performed by Willow Smith, featuring Nicki Minaj

This girl is, like, nine or ten, and she’s totally a role model to me. That, and she has an a awesome rock/hip-hop musical sensibility, and she’s badass without being vulgar or acting older than her age. I love that Nicki Minaj chose to do a verse on this song, too, as she’s another woman who inspires me with the sheer force of her bravado. I also love the image of a woman in the game actually helping a girl coming up in the game, rather than experiencing All About Eve-esque jealousy. This song is made of win and makes me want to do ALL THE THINGS.

8) The Show Goes On – performed by Lupe Fiasco

A song that reminds me that greatness is possible no matter what your background. Also, a reminder that once one achieves greatness, it’s their responsibility to help others do the same however they can. No matter what you see when you look outside your window; brown grass or green grass, picket fence or barbed wire, never ever put them down, you just raise your arms higher. Indeed.

9) Gives You Hell – performed by All-American Rejects

Sometimes, you need to indulge in the part of you that wants to rub your success in someone else’s face. Rather than doing it to someone in person, channel all that passive-aggressive energy into singing along with a song like No Love, or this one! I also love that this song is from the point of view of someone unabashedly living the way they want and not living the 9 to 5 grind just because it’s what he’s “supposed” to be doing. The best revenge against someone who criticizes your life choices without knowing what they’re talking about is living well.

10) Pretty Girl Rock – performed by Keri Hilson

It certainly helps that I can fit my name so neatly into the lyrics – My name is Terry, I’m so very fly, oh my, it’s a li’l bit scary – but I really love this song, because it too spreads the message that one can embrace one’s awesome without hating on other people. It also encourages all women to do the pretty girl rock rather than be catty with each other. Love it.

Enjoy the rest of the holiday season, and here’s to embracing your awesome and encouraging the awesome in others in the new year!

My enormous wine glass and I celebrate the birth of Our Lord.

My first Christmas in L.A, and I was lucky enough to be welcomed to spend Christmas Eve with the Cruz Family! I was so grateful to be given such hospitality and warmth this holiday season. Also, LOTS of food. Lots of Puerto Rican fare, to be exact…

Rice and beans, pernil, veggies, and a malta. It doesn't get much more Latino than that.

 Yes, there were pasteles. No, I didn’t have any.

In addition to hanging with Heather and Alexis, and getting to know Alexis’ mom, Julie, better, I also got to meet some awesome new folks. His bro, Eric, and Eric’s girlfriend, Lila, as well as his friend Kyle and Kyle’s girlfriend, Jessie. Very cool people to chat with (and get tipsy with). Did you see the size of the glass of wine I’m holding in the first photo??

Click to view slideshow.

There was also a very pretty dog in a cute dress that said Santa Baby, and a very cute little dog in a shirt that said Elf-sized. Which he is. And I totally wasn’t expecting presents – I was at someone else’s family function, after all – but I got presents, and I thought it was so super sweet that Julie went out of her way to welcome me in this way.

I keep meeting super-nice people out here. I know that there are self-serving douchebags in L.A, but I haven’t met them yet. Maybe, just maybe, I can keep it that way? We’ll see.

In any case, I had a wonderful evening filled with amazing food (Heather’s first turkey rocked!), awesome people, and great conversation. Who could ask for more?

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope that you’re finding a way to be happy today, wherever you are, and whoever you’re with.

A girl named Sunshine - Occupy Seattle - October 2011

I stumbled upon an awesome website called Cowbird, which seeks to be a library of human experience, where people can tell stories – documenting life on the planet – as well as contribute to the larger stories going on in the world, like the Occupy Movement for example. I’ve just posted my first Cowbird story, called “Sunshine,” about a moment I experienced when visiting Occupy Seattle. You can see/listen to it HERE. Yes, there’s audio, so you can hear my mellifluous tones.

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!

I was going to wait until the New Year to debut this puppy, but I COULDN’T WAIT! So, as the seventh installment of The Twelve Posts of Christmas, allow me to introduce you to…

GEEK GIRL TRAVELER!

You’ve followed the Twitter (and if not, you should!), and you’ve “Liked” the Facebook page (ditto!), and now you can enjoy the blog. This is Geek Girl Traveler’s official home on the web, and it will go above and beyond my column at ChinaShop (though links to my ChinaShop stuff will be there too, natch) with lots of exclusive content I’ve got planned! If you are a geek and love traveling, join me as I combine the two. It’ll be a hoot!

As for the video above, it’s for my entry in the NOLABound program! Wanna know why you should watch it? Check out the entry about it over at the new Geek Girl Traveler!