Squeeing with the stars

Since I'm in LA for a couple more days--hence the lack of posting--it seems only right that I share with you all some completely uncritical, fangirly squee-age for the day. I promise that this won't happen too often here; I'll go back to being a dour and cranky feminist (joking!) posthaste.

Three relatively-recent blogging ventures by actors I enjoy have sprouted up recently, and while I'm not usually into fan culture in the sense of virtually stalking certain celebrities, I'm actually finding myself fairly excited about the increased interweb exposure of the following lovely ladies...

Firstly, Amber Benson's Official Blog, where she actually posts fairly frequently, is pretty compelling, and she's already introduced me to a great photographer I may not have otherwise discovered and gotten me kind of excited to check out her new fantasy novel, Death's Daughter. She covers a lot of things on her blog, although it's mostly day-to-day life sort of stuff. She did recently write a bit about her experiences in Hollywood--pretty typical expectations for a young female actor, unfortunately, but I like how Benson recounts refusing to conform:

Anyway, I quickly learned that no matter what you do, you can't please everyone all the time. So, I stopped trying to compete with girls that just naturally understood how to dress themselves to extol their boobalicious virtues and concentrated more on the quirkier parts that just felt more like the real me.

And it worked. I just did what made me feel good about myself–and what made me happy–and the work I wanted FOUND ME.

I didn't have an uncle in the business, I never dated anyone famous or powerful and I kept my boobs pretty much where they belonged (for me at least) in my top. I just threw myself into what I wanted–and after a bit of soul-searching–found what suited me most. Then I just persisted. I didn't take the rejection personally and I did stuff for myself.

Secondly, there's Jill Bennett's blog (thanks, Brianna), which is primarily a home for her new web series, We Have to Stop Now, about a couple of lesbian therapists who wrote the book on maintaining a loving marriage but whose own marriage is falling apart. The web series stars Bennett, Cathy DuBuono and comedian Suzanne Westenhoefer, whom I adore. (Along those lines, I should add that my other favorite comedian, Bridget McManus, also has a blog, but it's been around for a while, which is why I didn't feature it here.)

You can watch the pilot of We Have to Stop Now on Jill's site or below:


We Have To Stop Now: Pilot Episode from Jill Bennett on Vimeo.

Lastly, but certainly not least, Kirsten Vangness, who plays my favorite character on my favorite crime show, Criminal Minds, and whom I totally want to be my best friend, just took up blogging again (after her CBS-sponsored blog went permanently missing last year shortly after the Writer's Strike began). You can check out her guest post over at Criminal Minds Fanatic. I'd love it if she started blogging independently again, but I'll take what I can get.

Have a lovely Tuesday everyone!