Sure, Jan

Mark your calendars for February 16, guys. Because it's about to get real up in here.

Why?

IT'S JANET VARNEY'S BIRTHDAY!!!!

Wait, what? Who's Janet Varney? Why should you care? Homie, I'm about to answer those questions, and much, much more. 

Remember when we celebrated Grey Griffin's birthday? This is gonna be a little bit like that. So let's get down to business (to defeat... Amon?)!

First things first, look at that baby face. Isn't she adorable? She's not only adorable, but she's a professional nerd. That's right. She gets paid to be a nerd. And an actress, but still. 

Unlike Grey, you really might not have heard her voice or seen her face before. Although, if you're a fan of Avatar, you have definitely heard her voice before. Because she is Korra.

That's right, my friends. This blonde-haired, blue-eyed, light-skinned, 38-going-on-39-year-old woman is in fact the voice of the dark-haired, dark-skinned, deep-voiced (and that's actually her real speaking voice), somewhere-between-17-and-21-at-any-point-in-the-series, Avatar Korra.

Maybe you already knew that about her. But did you know that she runs a podcast on The Nerdist? Did you know that she played Carly on Burning Love? Actually, you might not have heard of that show, but it's SO good! And a little inappropriate, but good. The podcast she runs is called The JV Club, and it's about the awkward teenage years and the times that never changed since then. You might have known she hosted TBS's Dinner and a Movie. Or maybe you didn't. She was also in a relationship with fellow nerd Chris Hardwick, but I feel like I shouldn't mention that since this is a "Happy Birthday" post, and the last time I made one for a voice actress, they actually read it.

Not to mention her teeth are really straight.

But whether you already knew who she was or you really have never seen or heard her, you definitely should pay attention now.

Her voice is beautiful.

She's one of those people that could read the dictionary to me and it would sound interesting. She could talk about quantum physics and I would still listen. In fact, I listened to an hour-long podcast between her and Seychelle Gabriel, with absolutely no video, and zoned out half the time because I was surfing the Internet, but her voice, though. I just love hearing it. And Seychelle's laugh was pretty adorable, too.

She's a legitimate nerd.

There's celebrities who go to Comic-Con simply because they're contractually obligated to, and then there's celebrities like Janet. She is a hardcore Korrasami shipper, guys. I don't really ship them (I thought I shipped Makorra, but I'm not sure I would have been happy if Korra ended up with him, either... maybe I didn't want her to end up with anyone), but still. She's fully invested in her work. She's even cosplayed-ish Korra before, with Naga, bending and all. Like, what's cooler than that. I feel like when I become a voice actress, I will probably have issues separating myself from the character (I even have issues realizing I'm not Eponine... and I only played her for five minutes... at an audition...). She's just all in.

Her characters seem like an extension of herself.

I may or may not be thinking of Carly, but sometimes it's just so hard to realize that she is acting. I tried to find quotes to back this up, but I just couldn't decide which to include. But maybe the video I linked will provide enough evidence.

I could list so many other reasons, but I have a bad habit of writing posts that are way too long for one's enjoyment (I'm still working on my Legend of Korra farewell post). 

But didn't you fall in love with her? Even a little bit? I know I did. Although I've been a fan of her for awhile, anyway.

But seriously. Is she NOT the coolest woman to roam the earth?

Happy birthday, Janet! I hope it's a good one!