Hello, nerdlings! Guess who is totes done with their Christmas shopping? Did you guess me? Well, you're wrong. But I am SO CLOSE. So very, very close. Like, two people left close. And one of them is getting a tackle box (not a euphemism) and the other one is getting an iTunes gift card and then we just have to ship and we're done and it's going to be amazeballs. It is so exciting. Unfortunately, it's also left me half-frozen and exhausted. We spent three hours wandering around Target and Barnes & Noble and rumor has it that it's snowing out. Either way, my mind is completely ping-ponging around and I was completely unable to get past the first ten pages of the book I was going to write about today. And it's a manga. I did, however, paint my nails a lovely shade of poppy and watch a movie and catch up on Facebook, all at the same time.

 

Either way! Today is perfect for a bunch of quick hits from around the web, don't you think? You're probably all frazzled, I'm in desperate need of a restorative, pre-work week soak and I think JG,FE would be mad if I wrote a whole column about the first item on my list, especially since I already talked about how much I love Jeremy Renner (siiiiiiiigh...) a few months ago.

 

The Hawkeye Initiative: I'm sure a lot of you have seen this and, if you haven't, I hear you asking me what that has to do with us. Well, nerdlings, I do love me some Hawkeye, both of the Jeremy Renner and, currently, Matt Fraction varieties. I also love things that point out some of the absurdities of the way gender is treated in comics. For the three of you who haven't seen The Hawkeye Initiative, it's a tumblr where people are taking actual published comics, for the most part, and redoing them, replacing ladies with Hawkeye. There's a few random things in there but most of the entries are the fan work next to the actual comic book panel. It's pretty funny but also very thought-provoking. I mean, seriously, Black Widow wouldn't go into a combat scenario upside down. Really. Why do I think that? Because no one would. (Spidey aside. He is genetically crossed with a spider, you know...)

 

In other Avengers news, there's a new Iron Man 3 trailer out. It's vaguely Peppertastic, though she doesn't do anything cool but there are explosions, and the first comment on the Spinoff Online article is just “Rescue?”, which, yes, please. I know it's not going to happen and will probably never happen but I have this mental image of Pepper and Tony literally flying off into the sunset in their twinsie suits that makes me want to die but in a totally, totally good way.

 

Sir Ian McKellen is so awesome that I can hardly stand it and was kind enough to answer some questions from fans on the official Hobbit twitter account, a few of which are super-serious questions about love and life and one that led him to say naughty things about Legolas. Sir McKellen, of course, is incredibly talented, openly gay, a knight and, as the internet will have it, Gandalf and Magneto. The Mary Sue (http://www.themarysue.com/ian-mckellen-twitter-questions/#0) has some of the best questions and answers over at their site but you can also check out the tag #AskGandalf.

 

And, finally, still looking for that gift for your nerd sweetheart that says both “I'm a nerd” and “Oh, god, I love you, let's have a baby and name him Luke, which is nerdy but secretly nerdy so you'll go for it” and won't cost a billionty dollars? Look no further: SpiffingJewelry has you covered with these inexpensive, yet awesome, Han & Leia. Seriously, though, does it get any nerd-sweeter than “I love you” “I know”? No, it doesn't.

 

Okay, nerdlings. I hope we're all embarking upon an excellent week and that I can focus for more than thirty seconds next weekend. Be merry and bright for me, okay? And if you're not interested in that, be happy and give someone a hug. | Erin Jameson