#my kids have made me watch the trilogy every day the past 3 weeks I need HELP

[rogueshadeaux]

POV: You are trying to concentrate on your essay in your local public library

[unexpectedreylo]

What Happened To TROS

There’s a show I watch on occasion called “Autopsy:  The Last Hours Of...” featuring a medical examiner going over celebrity autopsy reports and explaining why the celeb died.  (It’s on Reelz, in case you’re as morbid as I am.)

Many Reylos have gone over every statement uttered about the film and analyzed every bit of footage to see just what heck was going on with this movie.  Based on what’s come out in the press I was about to pitch my own autopsy theories.  But every day more comes out about TROS!  Chris Terrio digging his hole deeper, Colin Trevorrow’s alleged “script” leaking on Reddit!  As of writing, South Korea got the Art of TROS book first so images have been leaking all over the place.  

Here are my takeaways at this point:

Problem #1:  J.J. Abrams’s brand of filmmaking.  Abrams is really good at fast-paced, fun-filled spectacle.  He is also good at not explaining things, at interrupting every conversation with action/danger, and at forced, unearned moments that are more about winking at the audience than advancing the story/developing the characters.  Case in point:  Kirk and Spock acting out the Spock death scene from “Wrath of Khan” in “Into Darkness,” only with Kirk about to croak (he doesn’t).  The movie did nothing to set them up as close friends.  They were still sniping at each other the whole movie.  So it’s unsurprising TROS also had all of those elements.

Problem #2:  There was no plan.  What’s come out since the film’s release seems to emphasize that they really had no clue how to wrap this thing up because nobody had a clue who these characters were or what their story means beyond Chris Terrio’s curious obsession with Luke and Leia.  The audience attributed meaning based on what we got in TFA and TLJ but it seems like hardly anyone behind the scenes had any idea what that meaning was.  They threw away George Lucas’s road map and decided to just keep driving until they got somewhere.  

Problem #3:  There was no time.  When I was a kid, I’d see t.v. ads for Paul Masson wine starring the late Orson Welles.  The ads’ tag line was always, “We will sell no wine before its time.”  Bob Iger’s philosophy is “FTS, give me that movie yesterday!”  He announced a new trilogy to start in May 2015 at the end of October 2012.  That was less than three years.  Recall that it took months to find a director and they ended up junking Michael Arndt’s screenplay, with J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan having to do a quickie re-write in late 2013-early 2014.  Abrams was casting the film at the same time.  He asked for more time but all Iger would do is move the release date to December 2015 because he’d promised shareholders it would be out that year.  I felt that TFA seemed a little rushed and this explains why.  J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio were officially running the show as of September 2017.  Originally TROS was scheduled for May 2019 but again Abrams asked for more time and the film was bumped back to December 2019.  Still, that’s only two years and two months.  Twenty six months to figure out how to end a trilogy, end a nine-part series, and work around the unexpected death of one of its stars.  Oh and do all of this while you hadn’t given Star Wars a thought in years along with a screenwriter whose knowledge is pretty wonky.  Is it any wonder why the script sometimes felt like it was written at the last minute by college students pulling an all-nighter on speed?  By comparison, George Lucas started writing the OT in 1973, three years before he shot ANH and four years before release.  He started writing the PT in 1994, three years before he shot TPM and five years before it was released.  Star Wars wasn’t based on a novel or a comic book.  The whole saga had to be cooked up from scratch.  It required more time and more thought.

Problem #4:  They didn’t get the best closer.  After TFA, Abrams didn’t worry about the long game for the trilogy because the original plan was to be one and done.  He never had to think about Rey and Co. ever again...until Colin Trevorrow got the hook in June 2017.  I don’t know if Kathleen Kennedy had anyone else in mind or not.  But I am certain Abrams was either Iger’s or Walt Disney Motion Pictures head Alan Horn’s idea.  Why him even if he admitted he’s not a good closer?  It’s simple:  TFA made $2 billion.  With no plan, limited time, and a few years of not thinking Star Wars at all, he had to quickly wrap up a series, something by his own admission he’s not very good at.

Problem #5:  Too many disruptions.  George Lucas somehow managed to survive changing directors for each of the OT, having to let Gary Kurtz go, and the end of his marriage to Marcia Lucas, who just happened to also be the films’ editor.  The ST had to contend with Michael Arndt, Colin Trevorrow, etc. getting fired and someone else having to step in and work from scratch.  Rian Johnson seemed to be the only one able to get through production unscathed, only to get his film retconned because of the internet peanut gallery.  Carrie Fisher unexpectedly died, forcing everyone to rack their brains on how they were going to finish this without her.

Problem #6:  They were totally out of touch with what audiences liked about the ST.   Before the arrival of Baby Yoda, Kylo Ren was the most searched Star Wars character.  Yes, even more than any of the OT characters.  While lots of people love Rey, they loved Kylo just as much if not a tiny bit more.  He was the one descended from the legends of our youth:  Han Solo and Princess Leia, Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala.  It also helped that a highly-talented, charismatic actor played him.  I think audiences were rooting for him but didn’t expect him to die.  Even people I know who otherwise really liked or loved TROS thought they shouldn’t have killed him off.

Reylo was also the gas in the ST’s tank, not only as a romantic duo but as physical representation of the push and pull of the Force itself.  Their interplay makes each character more interesting and make the story overall more interesting (I had little to no investment in the Resistance vs. First Order brouhaha).  

A logical person would’ve milked this for all its worth but instead they killed off their most interesting character and half of the most interesting relationship in the trilogy.  They left their heroine alone in the desert.  Had Ben Solo and Rey killed off the Emperor together and survived, and the movie ended with the two of them walking off into the sunset, TROS would have sailed past $1 billion and counting weeks ago.

[twobitmulder]

MCU Spider-Man 3 Pitch

I have not been the biggest fan of the MCU’s take on Spider-Man, but I do think there’s a way that they could close out his trilogy and make up for a lot of what didn’t work while also staying true to what’s been done in the first few movies.

So picture this, it’s been a few months, maybe even a year, since Spider-Man was framed for Mysterio’s death. Stark Industries lawyers have been able to convince a judge that the footage was doctored to put Peter’s face in in it, but that’s only improved the situation a little bit. Half of New York still thinks Peter is Spider-Man and the other half at least think Spider-Man murdered Mysterio and framed this kid. Happy and Stark Industries have had to distance themselves from Spider-Man publicly because even though Peter Parker is technically legally innocent, Spider-Man is still wanted for murder.

Ned and MJ stand by him, but the fact of the matter is that the world is just against Peter Parker on all fronts....

That’s when Norman Osborne shows up. Norman is a tech genius and his company Oscorp has always been a sort of quiet competitor to Stark Industries. Since the Snap (or the Blip if you prefer) they’ve raised their public profile and are doing a lot of work cleaning up the world. Norman approaches Peter much like Tony did. He knows Peter is Spider-Man and he’s offering him a job with Oscorp, a way to save his reputation and earn some money (Stark Industries covered the legal fees, but the constant attention has put a strain on the already sparse Parker family budget). Norman is putting together a new team, to fill the void left by the fracturing of the Avengers...the Thunderbolts.

Now Peter isn’t an idiot. This all feels sort of suspect. After all, Mysterio came to him as a fellow hero too. So he does his due diligence. He checks with Dr. Strange and looks as far back as he can into Osborne’s past, but he can’t find a blemish, what he does find is that Osborne knew his father, worked with him when they were in Grad school, and it leads to a very tender father/son moment between them. 

So he agrees to become a Thunderbolt on a trial basis. May doesn’t like it, but Peter is 18 and she can’t stop him. MJ thinks he’s nuts. “You got lucky trusting one billionaire, you’re crazy to trust a second one.” Even Ned, trying to be supportive, can’t help but feel that something is off.

Peter meets the other Thunderbolts. Max Dillion, who can control electricity, Sergei Kravinoff, who has enhanced strength and agility, and Dimitri Smerdyakov, their own personal Black Widow and master intelligence operative. They have an early run in with Mac Gargan, now in possession of a suit of power armor and calling himself The Scorpion, but the real clincher for Peter comes when, responding to an attack by some kind of sand monster, they capture a very alive and well Mysterio.

With the path to fully clearing his name now open, Peter comes to fully trust Osborne who tells him how he wants to do what the Avengers couldn’t. He wants to build a suit of armor around the world.

Meanwhile, MJ and Ned are still suspicious and they break into Oscorp where they find Osborne’s scientists running tests on Dillon, Kravinoff, and Smerdyakov. But worse than that, they find Beck and Gargan free, and getting equipment upgrades from Oscorp scientists. They’re captured and interrogated by Osborne. MJ tells him that she’s got him all figured out, that he’s just running the same scam that Beck was, creating fake disasters to swoop and stop. But Osborne tells her that it’s much more than that. Peter represents the possibility of a new generation of heroes, young and impressionable that he can mold and shape, effectively putting the next generation of super people entirely under his thumb. Luckily for Osborne, Beck’s stunt with the doctored footage helped alienate Peter enough for Osborne to get his hooks in.

Later, Peter is worried that he can’t get in touch with MJ and Ned, but Osborne tells him not to worry, tells him that his destiny as a hero is beyond all that and that he’ll make new friends, friends on his level. Osborne shows Peter files he’s been keeping on other young people with powers (and here we can take an opportunity to show off some upcoming characters, I think Angelica Jones, Bobby Drake, and Sam Alexander would be fun Easter Eggs) that he wants Peter to start training to be the next generation of Thunderbolts.

This starts to rub Peter the wrong way and he wonders if maybe MJ and Ned were right. He hacks Osborne’s computers and steals some files on the Thunderbolt Project and takes them home to sort through them. On his way home he gets a call from MJ telling him to meet her in Central Park. 

By the time he gets there it’s dark and he sees not MJ, but Aunt May meeting with someone who looks just like Peter. Before he can call out to her he’s blindsided by a masked man (Kraven, but Peter can’t tell) who pins him down and makes him watch as the False Peter (Smerdyakov) locks eyes with Peter and makes it clear that if he makes a sound he’ll kill May. Kraven asks for the data Peter stole from Oscorpe back. Just as Peter is about to hand it over he sees May wallop Smerdyakov.

We cut to May kicking Smerdyakov’s fallen gun away from him and asking him where Peter is. Smerdyakov’s shapeshifting falters and we see a new form, a blank, smooth white face.

“How?” He asks.

May sneers at him. “You think I don’t know my own son?”

A webline hits Smerdyakov square in the chest and Peter rockets into frame, knocking him onto his ass. Kraven rushes him and Peter yells for May to get clear.

Suddenly an explosion rips through the park. Osborne, in something almost like a cross between an Iron Man suit and and Vulture’s wing harness, swoops down, picks Peter up, and plucks the data stick from the pocket of his suit, then throws him into a nearby building where Peter blacks out.

Peter wakes up in a hazy and brightly lit version of his bedroom. He sits up on his bed and makes eye contact with someone across from him.

“I let you down didn’t I? I tried to...I tried to be better. I tried to...”

“Pete,” an unfamiliar voice says, as we pan to the other end of the room and see, for the first time in the MCU, Benjamin Franklin Parker (I’m imagining Nick Offerman, but Toby Maguire would be fun too). “You could never let me down.”

Peter tells his uncle that he thinks he made a mistake, that he doesn’t know who to trust anymore, and that this whole Spider-Man thing was supposed to be to make Ben proud, to make up for...well, Ben knows...but it never seems to turn out right. It just feels like he keeps getting drawn into other people’s messes and making a mess of his own life and he’s tried to be his own person but it feels like the more he’s Spider-Man the less he knows who he’s supposed to be. Is he Tony? Is he Osborne? Is he an Avenger or a Thunderbolt? Ever since he got drawn into this people have been talking about his potential and he’s afraid that he’s not going to measure up to what people expect of him. And Ben very gently tells him that it’s not about measuring up. It’s not about being the next Tony Stark but better or becoming an Avenger. It’s not about measuring up to anyone’s ideal. It’s about knowing that he’s making a difference because he feels it’s the right thing to do no matter whether the rest of the world sees him as an Iron Man or a menace or an Avenger. And he tells him that he knows he knows he’ll do the right thing, because he can’t not, it’s who he is, it’s in his actions every day.

Peter wakes up to May frantically doing chest compressions on him in the middle of a collapsed public restroom in the park. He almost tells her what he hallucinated while he was out, but he can’t bring himself to. Instead he says they need to get to a computer.

Peter reveals that he made a backup of the data and stored it in the suit’s computer. He opens up the files and they find out that Osborne is planning to release the personal information of his teenage Thunderbolts candidates to every budding super-criminal and news outlet in the world. He’s gonna back them all into a corner the way Peter was, destroy their lives so he can pick up the pieces and turn them into his loyal army.

Following an SOS from MJ Peter find Osborne and confronts him in the Oscorp Tower while Aunt May sneaks in and rescues MJ and Ned. What follows is a climactic fight where Peter takes on Osborne’s Sinister Six while May, Ned, and MJ make their way past Oscorp’s security to stop the data leak. 

The fight spills out into the city and Peter shows off his experience as Spider-Man, staying one step ahead of his multiple foes and pulling civilians out of harm’s way.

May, MJ, and Ned manage to stop the data leak from Oscorp Tower but Osborne reveals he can just as easily release it all from his suit. He points out to Peter that as far as the world is concerned, he and the Thunderbolts are new superheroes while Spider-Man’s reputation is still in doubt. 

“Keep fighting me and they’ll hate you forever” Osborne says.

“It doesn’t matter if they hate me” Peter says, tearing the computer systems out of Osborne’s suit. “It matters that they’re safe.”

The day saved and the villains defeated and incapacitated, Peter limps to the top of Oscorp tower where he meets May, MJ, and Ned, as they watch as the sun rises over the city.

Cut to a few weeks later and the media is still divided whether Spider-Man is a hero or a menace. Norman Osborne has been taken to The Raft after a data leak from Oscorp Tower revealed business dealings with remnants of Hydra, AIM, and the Fisk Crime syndicate. MJ, filling out applications for a journalism major at ESU, looks knowingly proud and justifiably smug as this is reported. 

The film ends as Peter, in his Spider-Man suit, approaches a young girl sitting on the edge of a rooftop, flames dancing on her fingertips. Ned and MJ monitor him from a jury-rigged computer display and talk to him through his suit.

“Hi,” Peter says to the girl, “Angelica Jones?...Can I talk to you for second? I think I can help you.”

Post Credits Scene 1: Peter is visiting Dr. Strange again who tells him that he honestly can’t say if the vision Peter had was anything more than a near death hallucination, but that he should take comfort in knowing that the people we’ve lost can still help us once they’re gone, even if it’s just their memories. Peter presses the issue and Dr. Strange shrugs and says anything is possible. There are infinite worlds after all, different planes of existence, different dimensions.

Peter Scoffs, “That’s just something Mysterio made up to con us”

“Well even a broken clock is right twice a day” Strange replies.

Post Credits Scene 2: Osborne is locked up in The Raft. Footsteps approach. General Ross comes up to his cell and shakes his head.

“Beat down by a kid Osborne. Well, even so, you still put together a damn impressive team. I had some ideas about continuing your little project. I do really like the name.”

[signor-signor]

Trending 27th - January 2020

What have been your efforts in the campaign for SaveWOY and what are your upcoming plans to save WOY? Now this is a question worth answering!

In the past, I made a little list of the things I did to support SaveWOY and bring awareness to Wander Over Yonder’s existence and its third season plans. Since then, I’ve done a whole lot more from hand-drawn art to more intricate art. Some of them are almost as special as that signed poster @peepsqueak got from the WOY crew as a token of their gratitude.

Here’s an updated list of everything I did for SaveWOY so far:

Attended the SaveWOY picnic at Griffith Park, where I got to sign a banner.

Pointed out various higher-ups involved in the business of Disney television.

Sent several letters to the higher-ups, some of which had envelopes with an image of the downed space pod taped to them.

Started a weekly Twitter post series, SaveWOY Thought of the Week.

Made Lite-Brite art of Wander and Lord Hater, which Craig McCracken and Francisco Angones liked.

Attended D23 2017 with an Operation: FORCE drawing of Hater, a colored page of Wander and Sylvia and a few facts about WOY, and an orange pen with a green hat (I got the hat from the aforementioned picnic) - there, I signed a bench with Wander and the phrase, “Never hurts to help.”

Signed my name, drew Wander (and my own character, Jacken DeBox), and wrote, “Happiest place in outer space!” on the highest beam for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

Wrote a letter (and drew Wander) for the victims of the Las Vegas tragedy with the message, “The darkest times call for the sunniest smiles!”

Got Craig to reveal the name of the ship (said to play a BIG part in S3, made a cameo in Future-Worm) when I commented that we’d have to figure out the name - his response: “The ship is called The Star Nomad.”

Wrote a couple of cards to two Disney higher-ups with the message, “A little nice makes naughty think twice!”

Drew Dominator in a situation that might take place several seconds after she passes the downed space pod, just in time for Noël Wells’s B-day.

Made the Star Nomad with LEGO Digital Designer.

Made three images in the style of the original Star Wars trilogy VHS set.

Posted 50 WOYS3PredictionPolls on Twitter.

Made an image of “The First 5 Years” with over 140 individuals (including the question marks for 3 new mains and 2 new regulars - I still want to know what they look like!) and one cleverly made Hidden Mickey.

Shared WOY-related images from my 1st 5 Years fan art on Twitter acknowledging the B-days of most of the voice actors (Charlie Adler, Kevin Michael Richardson, Ken Marino, Josh Sussman, H. Michael Croner, James Adomian, Jason Ritter, and Piotr Michael clearly noticed).

Typed a summary of how I think the S3 premiere would go.

Typed lyrics to “Let’s Go Soarin’ and Explorin’,” a song from my aforementioned S3 premiere summary. Wouldn’t it be great if Andy Bean used it?

Made a microgame with WarioWare: D.I.Y. where the player has to spin the fan to make the Star Nomad fly. Part of a chorus from “Let’s Go Soarin’ and Explorin’” included.

Started FanCharacterFriday on Twitter - more Tumblr users seem to like Dr. Otmar Vunderbar.

Made a short comic page of Lord Hater trying to break out of the DTVA vault plus a sly reminder that Disney owns the rights to WOY.

Shared a list of potential episode titles for S3.

Made an actual LEGO Star Nomad based on the model made with LDD. Hopefully, those who worked on WOY have noticed. In case you missed it, here’s a picture...

Now, the ideas I have in mind for further boosting support for the campaign. I may not be able to do most of them myself, but they are certainly for everyone’s consideration.

Provide updated information of higher-ups (if any).

As soon as we find out what Kid Cosmic looks like, expect fan art of him saying, “Watch my show and tell your friends so we’ll make that Mousey Company pay for what they did to my half-brother!”

Another SaveWOY picnic - if there’s one in my general area, you can count me in.

LP album artwork of My Fair Hatey.

A mural identical to that of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate consisting of not just characters from WOY, but also characters who were said to debut in S3 and characters who’d fit in perfectly, namely some of my OCs.

Pumpkin stencils of the main characters for Halloween.

Drawings of various WOY characters stuck on the ex-secret planet explaining why they need to leave said planet. Maybe I could also show how the galaxy’s villains would react if they learn that Lord Dominator’s been bested by Lord Hater.

Drawings consisting of SaveWOY-related messages spoken by the main characters from Disney shows that got at least three seasons (e.g. DuckTales, Fish Hooks), tons of love from the viewers and the executives (e.g. Gravity Falls), or both (e.g. SvtFoE, Mickey Mouse ‘13).

Example with Phineas and Ferb:

Phineas: “We may be creative and famous, but we’re not the ones who came up with the Star Nomad. It’s the ship powered by orbbles! Orbbles! I’d LOVE to see it take flight, wouldn’t you? If you let Mr. McCracken end the show his way, and not the executive way, which, truth be told, is the absolute worst, Wander will surely be elated!”

Ferb: “The Orbble Transporter was invented by conjoined twin brothers, voiced by the performers of the theme song.”

Irving (peeking in from the side): “Speaking of voices, the titular main character sounds JUST LIKE ME! How could you possibly resist?! And look, just because I’m the biggest fan of these guys (gesturing to P&F) doesn’t mean I have no interest in what’s planned for the furry orange fella!”

Since I’m a full-time Disneyland cast member, I should be able to make contacts with anyone who might have more clues about what S3 would entail. It might be a long shot, but if I’m able to convince Disney that WOY’s influence on my life boosted my chance at gaining employment at the company, they should understand.

A weekly Jeopardy-type pop quiz on Twitter - here’s the catch: you must refrain from finding information online when you read the answer (I bet you that the most hardcore fans of the most popular shows will get most of the questions wrong).

Example: This arachnomorph got his name from a dog tag he swallowed when he infiltrated a fish-shaped ship. He later became Lord Hater’s beloved pet.

-Who is Captain Tim?

Summaries of S3 episodes I made up myself a while back.

More fan-made characters - my most recent is an elected official of Cluckon, Mayor Spye C. Drumstick.

Conjuring a logo that best fits the status of S3/TV movie - Wander Over Yonder: The New Galaxy (the center would have the silhouette of the Star Nomad with Wander and Sylvia on it).

Brainstorming possible ideas for the three new main characters.

If all else fails, I suggest we make a web comic based on the hints we accumulated back in 2016 and what we learned from the cameo in Future-Worm’s finale. Team Sea3on has been taking that approach for SatAM Sonic the Hedgehog S3, though they are also making an animated version.

That’s about all I’ve got so far. In closing, I have several questions to ask as the new decade kicks off.

Disney executives: Are you even listening to us WOY fans? What more do you want? I’ve done so much for the campaign that I feel I’m entitled to know everything that was planned for WOY’s third and final season, especially now that I’m working full-time for your company. If you tell us what your demands are, we’d be happy to oblige.

@crackmccraigen: Are you aware of how hard the fans and I have been trying to talk Disney into giving you the chance for true closure? We’ll make sure we watch KC when it comes out on Netflix. If we’re lucky, we might see WOY get added to Disney+, where it should get that closure, assuming you’ll have finished KC your way before then.

@suspendersofdisbelief: I know you’re super busy with DuckTales and you love the plans for WOY S3 so much that you can’t bear to reveal it all in one post, but it’s been waaaay too long since we got any hints from you. Are there any other WOY S3-related facts you could describe in much greater detail? The campaign could do with more motivation.

Non-WOY fans: Are you convinced? Need I remind you what’s in the end tag of the “last” episode of WOY? You know there’s much more to life than tales from the land of Ooo, a blue middle school cat boy in a world of unusual individuals, adolescent twins in an Oregon town filled with oddities, a half-gem half-human protagonist, a coming-of-age princess of Mewni, a trio of ursine trend-followers in San Francisco, and all that jazz. If you’re not one bit interested in Hater’s origin story and all that was planned for S3, it’s your loss.

Pessimists: Will you please dispense with this unnerving “Wander is dead” talk? As a certain Popeye would say, “That’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more!” You’re not trying to let the Disney bosses win, are you? You probably used to think previously canceled shows like Hey Arnold!, Samurai Jack, and Young Justice could never be brought back. The point is, all is not lost.

@peepsqueak and WOY fans/SaveWOY supporters: Have I been of assistance? Almost every remark I’ve ever made shows wit and perception. I mean, just think. Wander is still stuck in that vault where his goal of reforming Lord Hater remains incomplete, and he has no idea of what threat awaits him. He says, “Glorn, help us.” It’ll take something big and extraordinary to convince every Disney fan (and perhaps every Netflix fan) to talk some sense into the higher-ups. Not to mention the replacement/back-up voice actors we’ll have to find if Disney takes even longer (we already lost one - René Auberjonois). We shan’t rest until we get the answers!

@disneyanimation

[boristhemonster]

Bad-ass? Well...that’s open to interpretation...

Life as an engineer whose work involves blowing shit up on a regular basis is quite apt for a girl like me; an intermittently virtuous science nerd who gets a little too excited when she sees a detonator and finds no sound more comforting than a perfectly timed open-cut blast. Historically I’ve been strung like an abnormally high pitched violin and handled stressful moments with the finesse of a cranky two-year-old, but now I seem shrug and giggle and get entranced into a ‘solutions’ mode over two glasses of wine. That which began as a wrathful little tyke permanently on edge is now able to hold a conversation without dropping the F-word or trying to convey that “I didn’t choose the thug life”.

Think that sums me up the best. I think age has helped me relax a bit.

Raised on a robust diet of political incorrectness, Monty Python and an impressive array of choice words, I like to think I’ve achieved a level of reasonable wit and badass-ness. Not badass by international standards, of course; I’m yet to reach any sort of Vladimir Putin level, predominantly due to a lack of nuclear weapons or assassins at my disposal, nor enemies requiring poisoning. I don’t dislike my ex-boyfriends that much...

But I did have a cat called ‘Vodka’ in high school, and I work with commercial explosives for a living. I have a coffee mug that assures me every morning that I’m a total badass, endorsed further by the adjacent mug that reminds me that coffee keeps me going until it’s ‘wine time’. There’s also an ‘Angry Birds’ one ostentatiously perched on my desk at work. I received second-class honours in my engineering degree because I substituted ‘study-and-behave time’ for ‘wine-and-oysters-with-my-bestie time’ a little too often to have first-class bestowed upon me. Then there is this weird thing I have for painting pictures of dead trees while practising Russian with my fridge (if it ever talks back I’ll have to reassess some life choices).

My favourite ‘group’ of ‘things’ is a ‘murder’ of ‘crows’. I love ACDC and Korn, and I can pretty much recite Eminem’s The Real Slim Shady at the drop of a Snoop beanie (now that’s gangsta). I shot a can about fifteen metres away with a rifle once and I look like a Columbian drug runner on my driver’s licence. While writing this, I slaughtered three tiny fruit flies and made a batch of banana and blueberry muffins when the recipe explicitly said ‘banana and pecan’. I even found a picture of my Mum smoking while wearing a grey hoodie and made a ‘Thug Life’ meme out of it.

Aged seven, I brought home my one and only ever gold star, impressing and confusing the hell out of my parents. They were an unsettling blend of proud and disturbed upon discovering it was because I didn’t hit anyone at school that day (in my defence, those other kids always coloured outside the lines, so in my opinion they got what was coming to them). The jubilation was short-lived. The next day I copped a ruler over the knuckles for writing three of my favourite choice words in my Year 2 exercise book.

Somehow my Year 3 teacher managed to suppress the anger in this ireful little cherub and I went on to be very uncool in high school. I’m almost proud of how uncool I became because I think it set a benchmark for all nerdy kids out there. All the math, chemistry, reading and Star Trek binges afforded little time for things like friends, boys and personal aesthetics. My parents surely were pleasantly surprised. Dad realised he wouldn’t need to buy a gun or hire bikies while I navigated puberty. Mum let me have a lock on my door. I stayed in my room mostly to hide from the world, so there was little to spark any fear that I’d climb out the window or do anything other than my homework, read the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy, or gaze into the mirror wishing I was pretty.

I distinctly remember being called a ‘slut’ when I didn’t kick a ball back to a school boy on the oval one time and as I stood there on a grass mound like a stunned mullet, my first thought was, how ironic. It was well-known and, to look at me, entirely conceivable, that I hadn’t even kissed a boy. That didn’t change until I was nearly nineteen and at University. It started off with my left leg being dry-humped at a party.

Seven years, a graduation, four failed relationships, many wines and a bunch of inadvertent ‘social suicide’ attempts later, I was literally smashing it out as a drill and blast engineer in Queensland.

My career blessed me with four years in one particular tiny mining town in Queensland cattle country, around a hundred kilometres inland from Bundaberg, and it taught me a few things. Firstly, one does not go to the ladies’ room. One takes either a ‘slash’ or a ‘horse-piss’. Second, worship your coffee baristas like they are gods because they are nowhere to be seen out in places like that town. Thirdly, orange liqueur won’t cure a cold, no matter how much vitamin C you believe it contains.  On that note, that drunk stockman at the local pub who tells you that a pint of straight Bundaberg Rum with a squeeze of lemon, followed by ‘sweating it out’ overnight in a swag out in a paddock somewhere will cure your cold, is lying. Finally, try not to strip down to a bra and short-shorts and sing a drunken Happy Birthday to an out-of-towner Council road worker, or dance with the diesel mechanics on the pool table singing Hotel California and drinking straight Jack Daniels. Confining one’s beverage appreciation to the comfort and privacy of one’s own couch is paramount to maintaining a respectful image when one must work and live amongst the same, single group of small-townsfolk.  

Gosh, did I learn the hard way. Now my life is based in a large coastal town north of Sydney, where there are those glorious things called ‘coffee shops’ and ‘anonymity’. And if my dear, well-wishing colleagues ever ask what I have planned for the weekend, I will fight my honest-to-Buddha badass-ness, which would ordinarily propel me to inform the enquirers that I will be savouring red wine, from the bottle, on my couch, in my pyjamas…which kind of need washing because they’ve acquired an odour reminiscent of stale piss and milk that is three weeks past expiry… and I will be ordering two Margherita pizzas on the Friday night so that I have Saturday’s breakfast covered, too.

Instead, I graciously impart that I will be busy with yoga, running on the beach, drinking my own body weight in green tea, and diligently working on that trial report that’s due in two weeks.

Next time we shall discuss how I didn’t learn the above lessons very well, the ‘bad drag’ dress-up party and how I lost my motor skills and lost one of my guns, the weekends bat-caving with the RAAF-ies and finishing off the remaining tequila while watching Team America and Animes, and my personal favourite: when I sat open-chested in a tee-pee in front of ‘nipple-readers’, dressed up in a space suit and a blue-green wig.

Werrrrd.

AK

[fullfrequencycollective]

What is the purpose of a small, independent record label in 2018?

That’s the question I’ve been turning over in my head these past few months. I think I have an answer, but it’s gonna take some explaining. Stick with me.

Why Bother Records, the record label I started with my best friend Christian back in 2015, slowed down considerably over the past two years. The last release I was substantially involved with the release of was the Halogens / Staten split at the end of 2016. After that, I used the name to help Justin Fernandez release Staten music in a much more hands-off manner. Things slowed down because I was a senior in college, preparing to full-time student teach the following spring, and thinking probably a bit too much about my “future” or whatever. It felt like just one more thing I had to deal with during a period when I had an exceptionally high number of things to deal with, so I put it on ice.

Now, in my second year of grad school, my fourth and final semester, nearing a career path in education that seems manageable if slightly creatively unfulfilling, I feel decidedly stable. A month or so ago, I caught the feeling that I should bring the label back. That’s when I started thinking about what a small independent record label looks like now, after the time I’ve spent away from one.

I guess it starts with what a record label like Why Bother does. When I was operating Why Bother a few years ago, after an artist agreed to work with us, I did a number of discrete things. I hand-produced cassettes that I was able to produce for cheap. I redesigned and laid out album artwork to fit the unique cassette layout, then took the art to the printer and cut inserts to fit by hand. I assembled the product. I did publicity for all of our releases.

So what was all of that for? What was the purpose? I think it falls into three categories.

1. I wanted to financially support artists.

I got the idea to make WBR a cassette label after reading this Pitchfork op-ed back in my very first week of college. A selection:

“Speaking of vinyl, which is an expensive gamble for a small label, I like that cassettes are inexpensive. I buy them in bulk from National Audio Company in Missouri for around 50 cents each, and jewel cases are about 22 cents each. Usually I end up doing my own artwork and labels. Runs of 50 or 100 are small by any standard, but if you want to do everything, they take more time than you might think. I don’t like the word “cheap” here, but I like the situation that not having to worry about money puts me in. It’s just a cassette. I don’t feel bad about giving them away to people. Most people I don’t expect them to even listen; I doubt they have cassette players. But I’m interested in those 10 or 15 people who end up trying. Those 10 or 15 people are more interesting to me than Soundcloud plays.”

Tapes are inexpensive. You can turn a profit from them much more easily than you can from CDs or vinyl. I think we usually broke even on a tape run after we sold 8 or so. Toward my desired goal of putting more money in the artists I liked’s pockets, I think the math works best with cassettes at this scale. So I liked that part of it as a broke college kid.

But there’s more to the story as well. That’s not the only reason. Another selection:

“Music released on cassettes doesn’t feel desperate or needy or Possibly Important. It tends not to be concerned about The Conversation. It resists other people’s meaning. That’s what I like about the cassette. It whittles down our interactions with music to something bare and essential: Two people, sometimes more, trying to feel slightly less alone.

…

I like the community of labels. It’s small, humble, not exactly well organized. You meet people in a stumbling, haphazard way, which is refreshing in the age of the targeted ad. Steve at Moon Glyph. Tom at Mirror Universe. Emily at Love Lion. Opal Tapes, Trilogy Tapes, Leaving Records. I usually have not heard of the artists, who usually do not have publicists “working” the record. I often buy five or six tapes at a time, whatever releases are available. Sometimes they come right away, other times they take three weeks and two of the cassettes don’t have music on them. I listen to cassettes on a small Sony boombox (with Mega Bass), usually when I do the dishes or get ready in the morning. The music feels like a secret between friends.”

That brings me to another important ideal:

2. I wanted to build a community.

Music communities changed my life. From those first Marlboro Rec Center Now or Never/Feverview shows, to hearing “Red Floral Dress” for the first time in a basement filled with my friends, to all of those weekends at the Asbury Lanes, to every friend I’ve made at grad school that started with some conversation about how Against Me! kick ass. All of those moments are what draw me to music. Music communities are the rope that tethers me to this world.

When WBR started, we had the Mayflower Collective. We had friends who were all into the same things. We had something. I wanted WBR to co-exist with that something. One of my most firmly-held beliefs is that there is power in numbers. We take what successes we’re blessed with and use them to lift the family around us. We take care of our own. To elaborate on that Springsteen reference:

“In art and love, one and one makes three. In music, if it makes two, you’ve failed, my friend.” — Bruce Springsteen

To make three:

3. I wanted to curate what I thought was the best of the best.

One of my more vivid memories from the NJ scene was On Your Marks’ album release show at the Lanes in 2013. Standing there, watching whatever band was playing, I looked around and noticed that the place was damn near sold out. That my friends who were just trying to play shows with their friends and write dope songs, had somehow convinced two-hundred or so locals to pay money to see them play. I tried to scale that in my head—how long until it’s the Stone Pony? Then Starland? Then the Arts Center? What was the ceiling?

That was the moment that I felt an obligation to show my friends off to the world. That was the moment that I decided that I wanted to write about music. I started my dinky little blog later that week to get some work done that summer.

I carried that mentality with me when I decided to start the label. “How can I show the world this awesome thing my friends did? What’s the best way of doing that?" I only ever reached out to artists who I genuinely believed in. The musicians making songs that I felt in my body. The people I knew were good people. I only worked with *music* and *people* that I had faith in. I can’t speak to how much money we would have made if we didn’t pass on a few opportunities, but it kept the drive going. It still does.

~

This is running long, so I’ll summarize here. I want to reboot the label with those three concepts in mind. I want to get to the base of them. I want to try something new. Full Frequency Collective is that something:

The new Why Bother Records will have two facets:

1. A traditional record label that will dub cassettes to financially support our artists

2. A podcast that serves to explain why I love the music we release so much

Because I don’t want to make money off of this, and instead focus my efforts on supporting artists and causes I believe in, Full Frequency Collective is primarily going to be subscription-based. I’ve launched a Patreon where subscribers can get in for $1 or $5 each month. They can get in or out whenever they choose, but I’m hoping some folks will stick around. I am aiming to release a tape from a Featured Artist every other month. The podcast is going to be weekly, with every other episode being subscriber-exclusive. After the manufacturing prices, hosting prices for the podcast (extremely low), and whatever unforeseen cost it takes to create this endeavor, all money from the Patreon will be split between the Featured Artist and a charity of their choice (pending my approval—we ain’t shipping money out to hateful causes and we ain’t getting scammed).

To elaborate a bit on what you’re getting for your money:

If you pay $1 each month, you’ll get access to the subscriber exclusive podcast episodes. The regular podcast will come out every 14 days and consist of interviews with the featured artist about the creative process, the making of their records, their artistic ideals, etc. I’ll also get guest on to talk about the world of music news, music we get down with, happenings in the arts communities. Kind of structured. The subscriber exclusive episodes would be something more like “Jake and I talk about Karl Marx and economics for an hour,” more freewheeling and off-off-topic. 

If you pay $5 each month, you’ll get every tape we put out, every subscriber-exclusive podcast episode, a shoutout in the podcast each week, a copy of every zine I make, and the satisfaction of knowing that you’re contributing to both the arts community and charity.

Here’s the thing—

I know this is weird. I know this is not a “traditional” record label business model. But I think it works better. I think it’s a way to put money in the hands of artists who make the work I feel passionate about. I think it’s a way to give back to the communities that need us. I think it’s a way to put your music in the inbox of people who may or may not have heard of you before. I think it’s a way to combine the parts of the creative process into a larger, more complete picture, like the channels in a full-frequency stereo sound system. I think it’s a way to build a new type of community.

Thanks. You can subscribe here. If you have any questions, reach out. Let’s make something.

[perfectirishgifts]

Here Are The 12 Best New Movies That Hit Netflix This Past Week

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/here-are-the-12-best-new-movies-that-hit-netflix-this-past-week/

Here Are The 12 Best New Movies That Hit Netflix This Past Week

50 First Dates

On Tuesday, dozens of new films hit Netflix NFLX . There are so many great ones to choose from…so where do you start?

Hopefully, this list can help. Here are ten great new movie options to consider on Netflix. And at the end of the article, you can find every new movie that will be added to Netflix throughout December.

50 First Dates (2004)

Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore have proven to be a great on-screen couple. First came The Wedding Singer, and 2014 gave us Blended. But their best effort may have been 50 First Dates, a film in which Sandler’s character falls in love with a woman who has amnesia and can never remember what happened the day before.

A Thin Line Between Love and Hate (1996)

It seems that much of Martin Lawrence’s work didn’t age well for many people. But I would encourage anyone to go back and give his early work a chance, as movies like A Thin Line Between Love and Hate (which Lawrence wrote and directed) are dark and romantic in a way that might surprise you. The film focuses on Lawrence’s character, Darnell, who is targeted by an obsessive ex-lover.

Chef (2014)

Jon Favreau has of course directed some of the biggest movies of the past decade, including Iron Man and The Lion King. But in 2014, he made and starred in a little-seen movie called Chef that delighted audiences. The film follows a chef who quits his position at a prestigious restaurant and decides to launch his own food truck.

Effie Gray (2014)

Dakota Fanning has never been as prominent of an actress as she was during her early days. But she actually still continues to churn out great performances, including her portrayal as Effie Gray. This biographical film, written by Emma Thompson, follows Gray as she marries distinguished writer John Rusin. But Effie soon starts to feel ill as her husband stifles her at home.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Ah, a classic! To this day, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial might be my favorite Steven Spielberg movie. This is a great pick for anyone who hasn’t seen the 1980s classic sci-fi family movie (or is just looking to rediscover its beauty). The movie centers on an alien that crash-lands on Earth and then befriends a young boy. The boy must then try to help the alien make its way home.

The Jurassic Park Trilogy (1993, 1997, 2001)

I’m sure many of us have seen Jurassic Park. But what about the second and third movie? I recently watched all three myself, and I believe it’s a worthy triple-feature experience. The movies take place in a world where we’ve been able to recreate dinosaurs using prehistoric DNA.

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

At the time of release, Kung Fu Panda was a welcome departure from the same-old-same-old we had come to expect from animated movies. And the DreamWorks classic kept that energy up for the sequel as well. Kung Fu Panda 2 follows Po as he battles a new villain that threatens the Valley of Peace.

Monster House (2006)

The 2000s were rich with underrated and under-seen animated movies. And that includes Monster House, which was dark and scary in a way that most animated movies these days won’t touch. The film centers on three kids who believe one of the homes in their neighborhood is haunted.

Quigley Down Under (1990)

When I was a kid, I was essentially forced to watch lots of westerns because of my dad. At the time, the genre annoyed me…but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve gained a soft spot for westerns. And that includes the great Quigley Down Under, in which an American rifleman travels to Australia for a job. After his employer turns on him and leaves him to die in the outback, the man plots his revenge.

Runaway Bride (1999)

As opposed to the westerns my dad constantly watched, I actually have fond memories of Runaway Bride when it came out in 1999. This classic romance follows a woman named Maggie, who is deemed the “Runaway Bride” after leaving three different men at the altar. A journalist plans to write about her fourth trip down the aisle, but then unexpectedly falls in love with her.

Every New Movie Added to Netflix in December

Available December 1

3 Days to Kill

50 First Dates

A Thin Line Between Love and Hate

Angela’s Christmas Wish

Angels and Demons

Chef

The Da Vinci Code

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Effie Gray

The Happytime Murders

The Holiday Movies That Made Us

Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park III

Kung Fu Panda 2

Little Nicky

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Monster House

Peppermint

Quigley Down Under

Runaway Bride

Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family

Why Did I Get Married?

Available December 2

Alien Worlds

Fierce

Available December 3

Break

Chico Bon Bon and the Very Berry Holiday

Just Another Christmas

Available December 4

Bhaag Beanie Bhaag

Bombay Rose

Captain Underpants Mega Blissmas

Christmas Crossfire

Leyla Everlasting

MANK

Available December 5

Detention

Mighty Express: A Mighty Christmas

Available December 7

Ava

Manhunt: Deadly Games

Available December 8

Bobbleheads the Movie

AmarElo – É Tudo Pra Ontem

Lovestruck in the City

Spirit Riding Free: Ride Along Adventure

Super Monsters: Santa’s Super Monster Helpers

Triple 9

Available December 9

Ashley Garcia: Genius in Love: Christmas

The Big Show Show: Christmas

Rose Island

The Surgeon’s Cut

Available December 10

Alice in Borderland

Available December 11

A Trash Truck Christmas

Canvas

Giving Voice

The Mess You Leave Behind

The Prom

Available December 14

A California Christmas

Tiny Pretty Things

Available December 15

The Grizzlies

The Professor and the Madman

Available December 16

Anitta: Made in Honorio

BREAK IT ALL: The History of Rock in Latin America

How to Ruin Christmas: The Wedding

Nocturnal Animals

The Ripper

Run On

Vir Das: Outside In – The Lockdown Special

Available December 17

Braven

Available December 18

Guest House

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Sweet Home

Available December 21

The Con is On

Available December 22

After We Collided

Rhyme Time Town Singalongs

Shaun the Sheep: The Farmer’s Llamas

Available December 23

The Midnight Sky

Your Name Engraved Herein

Available December 25

Bridgerton

Available December 26

Asphalt Burning

DNA

The Magic School Bus Rides Again in the Zone

Available December 28

Cops and Robbers

Rango

Available December 30

Best Leftovers Ever!

Equinox

From Hollywood & Entertainment in Perfectirishgifts

[dumpsterfirebooks]

10-11 Questions Answers

So a million years ago there was a thing going around where you answered 10 questions then wrote 10 of your own. Obviously at this point I’m not going to write any but have some answers. Tossing this all under a keep reading because it’s hella long.

@azuremirwae

Questions were:

1. Which would you choose to do: go to a cafe alone with a book and music, or sit on a bench in the woods with music and a book?

Woods with music and a book. Cafe’s still have a habit of being loud.

2. What is your favourite colour and why?

It really depends on my mood but I lean towards blues just because they’re calming.

3. When, during the day, is it most likely for you to feel sleepy/tired?

I get up at 4:30 every morning for work so I’m basically sleepy all day. Around 1PM is when it gets the worst.

4. When upset, which method usually helps you feel better: talking about it to somebody, or dealing with it alone?

It depends on what upset me, if it’s my family that upset me it’s definitely better to talk to somebody about it.

5. Do you have a specific vision of how you want your life to be in the future? If so, what is it like? (The answer to this does not have to be realistic.)

Honestly I just want to be happy. If that means living in a tiny house traveling the world awesome, if that means living in a mega mansion that’s cool, if it means nuclear family with the husband and 2 kids that’s fine. I just want to be happy 300 out of 365 days a year.

6. What are some of the things/causes you are very passionate about? (Optional: why?)

Umm idk if there really a cause I’m passionate about. Charity wise I always try to donate to the Progeria Research Foundation and I donate my hair to Wigs For Kids.

7. Given no one would object to it or judge you for it or that there won’t be any trouble, and you’d have all the materials for it, how would you like to dress everyday? What would be your aesthetic?

Pajamas, I would live in pajamas. I’m way too lazy to plan outfits. If I had the energy and patience I’d be all over the leather jackets, and skinny jeans. I don’t have the chest for body suits but if I did I’d wear them with the jackets and jeans.

8. What is your favourite aspect of nature?

Just weather in general. I love thunderstorms, I like when it first snows, and I love the air in spring.

10. Which one is your favourite: forests, mountains, or the sea? Why?

Forests because I love the woods. I’d say mountains because of the view but I can’t with really tall places.

@illyriangoddess

Questions were: 

1) Favourite YouTuber?

I don’t actually watch YouTube often.

2) Fave time of day?

Sunset

3) In which fictional world would you want to live?

Oh god I don’t think I’ve seen a fictional world that’s made be want to live there pronto. I like fantasy and dystopian books so those don’t generally breed pleasant worlds to live in. I mean Prythian would be lovely because of Cassian and Azriel but they’re already kind of taken so I’d probably be pretty bored.

4) Most recently used emoji?

The laugh/crying one

5) Place you want to visit?

The U.K

6) Favourite gif?

I mean I use the James McAvoy fanning one a lot and the Charlotte squealing one a lot, but anytime I can use a Game of Thrones gif I’m happy. I loved this one from Ru Paul that said something like “past thirsty straight to dehydrated’ and B made me one that I can’t find right now that’s “it’s so smutty I’m gonna die.”

7) Pick a gif that describes yourself

Somewhere between the “you’re kidding right”

and laughing so hard I can’t function.

8) Least favourite character?

Of any book geez umm idk. I’m just going to pick from some of the more recent books I’ve read and say Mal from The Grisha Trilogy.

9) Favourite Villain?

*Eyes my bookcase suspiciously* “Big Brother” not a character but a group of characters from 1984.

10) What kind of perfume do you own/like?

I’m obsessed with scents I swear I basically own a store sized shelf of Victoria Secret body sprays. Here’s a really bad thing, I have different ones I use when I’m around different people. My everyday don’t care one is Vanilla Lace, I used to wear Pure Seduction a lot. If I’m going to be around a guy I like a lot I wear Bombshell but I also love Tease (those are the these cost more so I’m obviously trying scents.) So basically I’m a terrible person.

 @highladyofnorta

 Questions were:

1 - Do you like cold weather or hot weather?

Cold I can always put more layers on, if it gets too hot there’s only so much you can do.

2 - Do you actually like studying?

I do. I love learning new things and constantly wish I could just go to school as a profession. Not teach because that’s literally what I went for, started doing it and hated it, but just be a professional student.

3 - Dream vacation?

Trip around the world.

Europe: Greece, Italy, Croatia, France, Belgium, Germany, U.K, Ireland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland.

New Zealand, Australia, Maldives.

4 - Say one thing you like about your home country.

The food. Deep fried everything is so bad for you but it tastes so good.

5 - What’s your favorite book atm?

That’s like asking a parent who their favorite child is. I like my favorite is always going to be Wuthering Heights or 1984. Wuthering holds a special place because I was 1 of 7 people who picked to read it in my British Lit class in high school (everyone else chose P&P because of the movie) and actually understood it. 1984 because it’s first off such a good book about the influence the government can have on you. Second, how quick a person will rebel against the system and how quickly they’ll conform back. 

*I’ve just now read this says atm so basically my answer is Rhapsodic.*

6 - What do you like about your best friend?

Which one I have multiples? They’re all funny and good listeners.

7 - When was the last time you did something nice to someone?

To someone? Geez ugh I’ve got a no touchy rule right now so I haven’t done anything nice TO anyone. For people though, I unloaded my mom’s car for her so she wouldn’t have to be in the heat and I sent Clarie a care package a few weeks ago filled with all kinds of nonsense.

8 - Do you like shopping?

Yes. Especially if it’s online and I have money. Hello Amazon Prime my dear friend.

9 - Most embarrassing memory of your childhood?

Well geez there’s just so many because I’m a walking embarrassment. I’ve told the “good lick” story but when I was in high school I wore a sleeveless shirt to school with a hoodie and didn’t realize that the top had come down when I unzipped the hoodie and I spent a good 10-15 minutes walking around in my bra so that was cool.

10 - How would you react if a flirty anon showed up in your ask box?

Hit me. Idk I’d probably be flustered as all hell or literally not even process there’s flirting. I have a habit of being exceptionally oblivious when it comes to things like that.

@Rugrat-mama who’s new url I don’t know

Questions were:

1.)If you could be any character in a contemporary novel who would you be?


I have absolutely no idea.

2.) You are sent to Prythian for 24 hours to kill any High Lord, who do you take out and why?


Beron because I don’t dislike the others that much.

3.) Go to TV show?


I’m so bad with t.v. lately but Law and Order:SVU is always good.

4.) Do you think the cauldron made a mistake making Elain & Lucien mates?


Lol, I wouldn’t call it a mistake they’re both lovely characters I just personally don’t ship them. I’m also more than happy to see a relationship play out where the mating bond is rejected. I like the concept of Feysand being mates and accepting, Elucien being mates but denying, and Nessian not being mates with anyone, but choosing each other.

5.) Do you have a favorite classic movie?


I haven’t seen any classics which is bad I know. To me classics are things from the 80s and that’s terrible.

6.) What is your favorite childhood memory? If you don’t have one, you can skip it, I understand. 


Going on vacations with my immediate family and my grandparents.

7.) Do you believe in love at first sight and/or soulmates?

I believe in lust at first sight for sure. I like the idea of love at first sight because I’m a low key sap, but I’ve never experienced it so idk. Soulmates would be rather nice, but I’m mixed on it. It seems nice to know there’s for sure someone out there for you but at the same time it’s like you don’t really have a choice. Or what if you miss each other for whatever reason.

8.) If you had to choose between Azriel & Lucien, for yourself, who would you choose?


While I do enjoy sarcasm I don’t think I could handle that with Lucien forever we’d kill each other. Azriel has that mysterious vibe to him where you’d constantly be learning new things about him and that makes things a little more interesting. Yeah not everything you learn will be great, but I feel like he’s still evolving more as an individual whereas Lucien is a take him as you see him kinda guy.

9.) Do you ship Mor with anyone?


No one in particular. I know some people ship her with different Archeron sisters but I already ship them with people so I guess Viv’s sister.

10.) Describe your dream vacation.

All expenses paid trip around Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Maldives.

@justbooklover 

Cold or hot weather?

Cold

Favourite sweet food?

I have a really bad sweet tooth, chocolate mousse is my absolute favorite

Favourite movie/s?

Super random but here they are: Labyrinth, The Swan Princess, Beauty and the Beast(animated), Daylight. Literally so damn random I know especially since Daylight is a terrible movie but for some odd reason I love it.

Favourite music genre?

I’ll listen to just about anything even country is starting to grow on me.

What do you like to do in your free time?

Read or sleep. Anything quiet where people leave me alone is generally great because I’m around constant chaos.

Have you ever wanted to smack someone’s face against a wall?

Yes and I have.

Do you smile often?

Idk if I smile often but I am a giggle queen. I’m always laughing.

Pineapple on pizza?

No, but I like pineapple on it’s own. I’m weird with pizza though I don’t like any kind of sauce.

Favorite author/s and book series?

Shakespeare. I have a lot of Anne Rice that I’ve been working on for the past 10 years, Nicholas Sparks even though every book is basically the same, and I’m slowly working through the Outlander series.

Single, taken or waiting for a special fictional character?

Always waiting for a fictional character but otherwise single.

Sweet or salty popcorn?

Salty like my personality. The more salt the better I know it will kill me someday but salt is my favorite unofficial food group.

[kyoulove]

40 Questions - Meme for Shippers

So @bethanyactually was doing these yesterday, and I wanted to answer them all, so I am! I’ll do a couple then put the rest under a cut so you all don’t get a wall of text. :D (I’ve actually had this open in a word document for about a week, so it’s way later than I intended to post hahahaha whoops)

1.  Talk about the first ship you ever had. OH MAN. My wee shipper heart! I think (think!) the first one I ever had was the couple from Today’s Special? That kids show where the mannequin came to life and they were obviously in love with eachother.

2.  Talk about three of the most important ships throughout your life. Oooo in my life? Well…. Snape/Hermione was one that I shipped for YEARS as a teen (I still ship them but don’t actively read about them). Bulma/Vegeta from DBZ really got me into fandom as a youngling. Inquisitor/Cullen is so important to me too, because of the impact that Dragon Age Inquisition had on me.

3.  What’s your current OTP? But how do I pick just one? Right this second I have tabs open for stories to read with Bellamy/Clarke, from The 100. And also Jyn/Cassian from Rogue One. And a couple random Inquisitor/Cullen stories and Steve/Bucky ones.

4.  What’s your current NOTP? Um….. There isn’t a lot I don’t ship, really….. Hm…. Haha - Voldemort/Hermione. I don’t know what was happening in the internet last week but wow. Ooooo wait I thought of one! Ron/Hermione. Nope, don’t like it.

5.  Do you have any poly ships? Damn you, Leverage, but you made me ship it. So hard. SO HARD.

6.  How do you feel about love triangles? While I’m pretty much over them right now, done right I don’t necessarily dislike them. Sometimes. Really though, at this point in my reading/shipping life, a love triangle seems like such a contrived plot point that I just want it to go away.

7.  How do you feel about RPF? It makes me really uncomfortable, and I don’t read it. Fictional characters are wonderful to write about, but real people are actually real people and there is a line there, I think. (Though, when I was but a young teen, a couple friends and I were deep DEEP into writing Hanson RPF – I think we wrote that they moved in next door? It spawned and epic and ultimately weirdly tragic tale.)

8.  Have you ever shipped yourself with a character? Have I ever introduced you to my fictional husband, Ser Cullen Stanton Rutherford? (Though honestly, I actually ship myself more with the Iron Bull, because I can’t play through his romance in game.)

9.  Do you have many ships that never got together at all? Yesssssss so many. Betty/Jughead (I haven’t thought of them in so long, thanks Riverdale), let’s not even get into Stiles/Derek, are Clarke/Bellamy actually together? I don’t know, I think most of my ships are not canon. I tend to like those almost more in fandom, because romances that happen on screen have already happened! It’s a weird feeling.  

10.  Do you ship any characters that have never met? No, I can’t think of any?

11.  Talk about your favorite first kiss. Ooooo Veronica and Logan. They have an A+ first kiss.

12.  Have you ever been disappointed when your ship finally got together? Well, most of my ships don’t…

13.  Has a ship ever broken your heart? YES. Elizabeth and Will in Pirates of the Caribbean. The ending of the first trilogy, where they can only be together for one day every 10 years was SO UNSATISFYING I can’t actually watch the movies again.

14.  How do you feel about will they/won’t they? Uggggg. I don’t mind a bit of tension about the relationship, but if it’s dragged on too long I lose interest, and frankly think the relationship becomes unhealthy. Pining is great, pining for years is awkward. (See: Bones)

15.  Have you ever “shipped at first sight”? Yes, pretty much always.

16.  Talk about a ship you initially disliked. I would say probably my OT3 from Leverage, just because I didn’t want an OT3 in my life LOL.

17.  Talk about a pairing you’ve stopped shipping romantically. When I was reading the first Mistborn book, I initially shipped Vin and Kelsier together. However as the book progressed, they fell into more of a father/daughter relationship which suited the characters perfectly.

18.  Talk about a moment which made you question an entire ship. I’m sure there is something but I’m drawing a blank, friends. A BLANK. I guess the entire Civil War arc made me question all my Steve/Tony feels?

19.  Have you ever shipped something despite yourself? Well, I am normally not into poly relationships, but then ALONG CAME LEVERAGE AND HERE WE ARE. Lordie. The three of them are just so in love. I really didn’t want anything to do with The 100 as a show either, but I slipped and fell in thanks to the fanfiction LOL.

20.  Talk about a ship you feel alone in shipping. Lassiter/Shawn from Psych. I mean. Clearly they love eachother. But there just isn’t a whole lot of fanfiction! One day, maybe!

21.  Is there a ship you just don’t get, but have nothing against? Scott/Stiles, I think. I really love them as brothers, and have a hard time moving past that!

22.  Which of your ships have the best chemistry? Steve/Bucky, probably. Sterek is a close second too!

23.  Which of your ships deserve better writing? All have good writing, I think, but I think the Jack/Phryne ship needs more. Much more. Because I love them and I need it :D (Actually, more is basically what I want for all fandoms ever, because I’m just so greedy LOL)

24.  Do you mostly ship canon pairings? No, I think I ship the ones that never really happen the most!

25.  Have you ever shipped a pairing before you even started watching the show/movie simply because of gifs and graphics or similar? I have never had the slightest desire to watch The 100, but I ship Bellamy/Clarke so hard. I also started watching Teen Wolf solely because of the quality Sterek fandom of the time.

26.  Have you noticed a pattern in your shipping? Is there a romantic dynamic you’re more drawn to? I love enemies to lovers, I love “OOOPS I caught a feeling what do I do”, I love an age difference (only in fiction kids, only in fiction), I love sass and pining. I love a long, drawn out story where both of the idiots think the other doesn’t have any romantic feelings. Oh, and coffee shop AUs. Classic.

27.  Is there a ship you’ve shipped for most of your life? Not really, though Snape/Hermione is probably the longest running one.

28.  Does shipping come easily to you? As easy as breathing. I love love! Show me two people with the slightest degree of feelings and BAM I have probably shipped it.

29.  Do you need to ship something to really enjoy a movie/book/tv show/comic? No, but it certainly helps! And frankly, unless it is a piece of entertainment with only one person I am probably going to find the ship hiding in it.

30.  Name a couple of fandoms in which you have no ships. Ahahahahahahahhaha it’s possible that one doesn’t exist but TRY ME INTERNET.

31.  Talk about one of your favorite headcanons for a ship you love. It’s not really a headcannon per se, but I’ve read a lot of fanfics where Jyn/Cassian share a bed before they really admit their feelings and I love itttttt.

32.  Share five must-read fics. But How to choose??? Tearing Down the Heavens [Inquisitor/Cullen – Dragon Age Inquisition], Champion’s Coffer [Hawke/Varric – Dragon Age 2], let’s give ‘em something to talk about [Jyn/Cassian – Star Wars Rogue One], regardless of warning the future doesn’t scare me at all [Clarke/Bellamy – The 100], This Your Protect [Steve/Bucky – Captain America: The Winter Soldier]

33.  Name your favorite fanartist(s). Ummmm….. I don’t have one?

34.  Share your favorite fanmix for your OTP. I don’t have one of these either!

35.  Recommend 1-5 shipper blogs. Pass – I don’t want to link to people and all the blogs I follow are multi fandom blogs :D

36.  Do you create fanmixes/gif sets/fanart/fic/fanvids and so on for you ships? Nope!

37.  Do you have a favorite trope and/or AU for your OTP? Coffeeshop AUs are just the best I think. A long slow burn and enemies to lovers is also great.

38.  Do you like and use ship names? I think the only one I really use is Sterek, the rest of them are name/name.

39.  Is there a fictional relationship you’d really want for yourself? Mmmm nah. I mean, I love my husband a lot, and frankly, we put our favorite characters through some shit!

40.  If you could change one thing about your OTP, what would that be? Hahahah I don’t have an OTP – the closest I can get is sometimes an OTP within a fandom lol. Let’s see. I think across the board I would like to see more producers/writers who love the fandom actually DO something with that information. Less queerbaiting and actually making it canon, for a start (looking at you, Teen Wolf). If there are some unattached people that are loudly and enthusiastically paired together, why not try it out? Sometimes the writers have a different path in mind, and I get that, but so often in shows it’s to draw out the tension or to just ignore it entirely. And please, stop the love triangles.

Well, now that I’ve read and written the word “ship” way to many times, thank you and goodnight. :D

[fatherjerusalem]

all of them

God damn it, @imkait, I hate you so much.

1. Spotify, SoundCloud, or Pandora? Pandora is the only one I’ve ever had a paid account for, and the only one I ever will.2. is your room messy or clean? Messy, but like I can find where everything is. When it’s clean, I have no idea where to find anything.3. what color are your eyes? Hazel.4. do you like your name? why? I do not. Mostly because as a kid growing up, I would get made fun of for copying Bart Simpson (even though I was 10 when the Simpsons started), or kids would come up with the obvious nickname for me.5. what is your relationship status? Hahahahahahahhahahahaha. Oh, you were serious about that?6. describe your personality in 3 words or less: Toby Ziegler -Jewishness7. what color hair do you have? Brown8. what kind of car do you drive? color? None and no color.9. where do you shop? Like… for food? WinCo. For other stuff? Usually Amazon.10. how would you describe your style? Nonexistent. 11. favorite social media account: Tumblr, cuz that’s where I’ve met some really great people and made excellent friends, who don’t include @imkait who is horrible.12. what size bed do you have?  I actually sleep on a couch. I’ve had beds before, but man. A couch just feels more comfortable to me.13. any siblings? One. A three years younger brother.14. if you can live anywhere in the world where would it be? why? Not the United States, let me tell you, because Republicans are going to fucking kill us all.15. favorite snapchat filter? wat16. favorite makeup brand(s): wat17. how many times a week do you shower? I shower every day, because good hygiene. So… seven.18. favorite tv show? Like… now? I don’t know. I don’t know that I have a favorite one on now. Of all time? Veronica Mars, The West Wing, Friday Night Lights, and Chuck.19. shoe size? 12/13 depending on the shoe.20. how tall are you? 5′10″21. sandals or sneakers? Sneakers22. do you go to the gym? I walk past the gym on my way to Circle K. Does that count?23. describe your dream date: At this point? Literally anything. 24. how much money do you have in your wallet at the moment? At the moment? $0. But I just paid my half of the rent, and I don’t generally keep lots of cash on me, so…25. what color socks are you wearing? I almost never wear socks.26. how many pillows do you sleep with? Three under my head, one covering my head.27. do you have a job? what do you do? I am a research/marketing assistant. It basically means I google answers to questions for clients and post ads for their businesses.28. how many friends do you have? ONE LESS THAN I USED TO HAVE, LET ME TELL YOU THAT.29. whats the worst thing you have ever done? Like… today, or….? Sleeping with my girlfriend’s mom is pretty up there…30. whats your favorite candle scent? Vanilla. Yum.31. 3 favorite boy names: Alex, Logan, Mitth'raw'nuruodo32. 3 favorite girl names: Jaina, Veronica, Nynaeve33. favorite actor? Denzel’s amazing, so is Tom Hanks, David Tennant of course, and I like the Marvel Chris’.34. favorite actress? Kristen Bell, Emma Watson, Krysten Ritter, and I will admit that Olivia Munn came out of nowhere on the Newsroom and I was blown away by her.35. who is your celebrity crush? Kristen Bell, duh.36. favorite movie? The Crow, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Kingdom of Heaven (director’s cut), The Lord of the Rings trilogy.37. do you read a lot? whats your favorite book? Lord yes. Anything by Neil Gaiman, and the Wheel of Time series.38. money or brains? Brains.39. do you have a nickname? what is it? “Hey fuckface”40. how many times have you been to the hospital? Only… three times? I think?41. top 10 favorite songs: This is long enough already. I’ll just cheat and say the Hamilton cast recording.42. do you take any medications daily? Nope.43. what is your skin type? (oily, dry, etc): Skin-y.44. what is your biggest fear? That there’s 50+ more questions to this.45. how many kids do you want? Ideally? Right now? Definitely not ready for kids at all.46. whats your go to hair style? Just kind of… there.47. what type of house do you live in? (big, small, etc): An apartment, so… small.48. who is your role model? Norman Borlaug, Jackie Robinson, and Hillary Clinton49. what was the last compliment you received? God… have I ever received a compliment? 50. what was the last text you sent? *blows a raspberry and goes back to munching on his delicious macaroni and cheese*51. how old were you when you found out santa wasn’t real? SANTA ISN’T REAL?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?52. what is your dream car? The Angelmobile from Angel, but, like, if I could somehow turn it into a hybrid to save on gas… 53. opinion on smoking? Can I bum one?54. do you go to college?  Nope55. what is your dream job? Writer, or teacher if I can figure out how to be patient with people.56. would you rather live in rural areas or the suburbs? Up a god damned mountain.57. do you take shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels? I don’t stay in hotels enough to have an opinion on this. But yes.58. do you have freckles? Nope.59. do you smile for pictures? Nope.60. how many pictures do you have on your phone? Um… I have a bunch that people send me, but pictures I take? Hardly any.61. have you ever peed in the woods? Yes. And if you say you haven’t, you’re a fucking liar.62. do you still watch cartoons? Yup, and I’m god damned proud of it too. Some cartoons today are amazing.63. do you prefer chicken nuggets from Wendy’s or McDonalds? McDonalds, clearly.64. Favorite dipping sauce? Honey or bbq.65. what do you wear to bed? Boxers66. have you ever won a spelling bee? Nope, but I helped my team come in second at a Knowledge Bowl in seventh grade….67. what are your hobbies? Reading, playing video games, filling out this fucking list.68. can you draw? Nope.69. do you play an instrument? Nope.70. what was the last concert you saw? Oh god… I don’t know. I don’t get to go to many concerts anymore. Maybe… Blink-182?71. tea or coffee? Coffee.72. Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts? We don’t have any Dunkin Donuts in my state, so… definitely Dunkin Donuts.73. do you want to get married? Why? You asking?74. what is your crush’s first and last initial? A.B.75. are you going to change your last name when you get married? If I get married, and she wants to keep her last name, I’d definitely consider it if that’s what she wanted.76. what color looks best on you? Black77. do you miss anyone right now? Yes78. do you sleep with your door open or closed? Closed, mostly because I like the cold and my roommate gets whiny if the temperature drops below 85F.79. do you believe in ghosts? No.80. what is your biggest pet peeve? Willful ignorance. 81. last person you called: My dad.82. favorite ice cream flavor? Mint chocolate chip or cookie dough or both combined.83. regular oreos or golden oreos? Triple double stuffed Oreos - they have a cookie, vanilla cream, cookie, chocolate cream, cookie. They’re delicious.84. chocolate or rainbow sprinkles? Rainbow sprinkles. Always.85. what shirt are you wearing? It’s… grey.86. what is your phone background? It’s a snowy road.87. are you outgoing or shy? Shy in real life, outgoing online.88. do you like it when people play with your hair? Eh, I guess. Depends on the person.89. do you like your neighbors? Generally. Not when they blare their fucking music though. Pricks.90. do you wash your face? at night? in the morning? Well, I shower in the morning, so….91. have you ever been high? Yup.92. have you ever been drunk? Yup.93. last thing you ate? Macaroni and cheese.94. favorite lyrics right now: “But we were only strangers cornered in a dark room/Projecting slides of cozy lives on the wall/In the dark I thought I saw you/Or was it nothing at all” 95. summer or winter? Winter - except for the snow.96. day or night?  Night97. dark, milk, or white chocolate? Dark. 98. favorite month?  March.99. what is your zodiac sign: Pisces100. who was the last person you cried in front of? I literally have no idea.

[givencontext]

Once Upon a Time, It Was the End of the World

We are coming to the end of the year. It’s the end of a decade. If you are as old as me, you might remember twenty years ago when many thought that the world would end at the turn of the millennium. We partied like it was 1999, and then we had to get up the next morning and carry on. Actually, I was sitting home alone watching the ball drop on TV. About 30 seconds later, my future 2nd ex husband came running in asking if he made it. Nope. Thus my millennium started with a “men will disappoint you theme.” But the world didn’t end. The computers didn’t even crash.

Ten years later, at the end of 2009, I was doing great. I had lost 135 lbs, I was running 3 or 4 times a week. I had a great job, great kids, great friends. I had been a single mother for a long time, and I had lots of great support from my family, but I was starting to think about dating again. I was going back to school, so I was juggling a lot, and I was rocking it. I had my own home, multiple cars, and my kids were happy and healthy. I had a good therapist helping me with the not-so-good stuff. I had come a long way in those ten years.

Then I met someone and did something I never thought I would do again. I got remarried. I thought we were good for each other, and in some ways, at some times, we were. One downside was that I gained back 90 lbs of the weight I had lost. Then I lost 100 lbs again. I learned a lot about myself through that process. Another downside was that some people are determined to be miserable. I won’t speculate about what causes someone to behave that way. I won’t give advice about how to avoid this situation or chastise myself for not getting out sooner. I believe everything, good and bad, happens for a reason and eventually leads me to higher good. Will I understand what this is leading me to by the end of the next decade? I have to be okay with the chance that I might never understand.

Each of my first two marriages gave me a beautiful baby. I have always seen how even the most terrible things that happened with X1 were required to put me in the right place to encounter X2 and that all of these things had to happen for me to have the two squids that I have. Therefore, I couldn’t change anything in my past without risking changing everything, and I would never risk that. Now I’m at the end of a 3rd marriage, and I did not have a kid with X3. Why shouldn’t I regret this one?

I don’t know what the next branch of my journey looks like, but I know it starts here, and I know this is exactly where I am supposed to be. I can already identify some valuable lessons I have learned in the past decade.

Having a support system is critical

I deserve happiness and good things and to be surrounded by good people

I have to practice self love and self care first

My primary Love Language is Acts of Service, I can practice this on myself

No man will ever spoil me like dad did, but I can spoil myself

Happiness and Love are choices that we make every single day

When people show you who they really are – believe them

The world is always ending, and it is also always beginning

Nothing gold can stay, but we can stay gold

So here we are, at the end of another year, another decade, another relationship, another spin of the wheel. Is this the end of the world? Or is it once upon a time? The short answer is: YES.

If you are asking yourself how the world will finally and truly end, let me suggest that someone might just throw a black hole at our planet. I just read the third book in The Children of the Dead Earth series. Scifi book club liked this series so much that we read one book each year for three years. I really enjoy these books. I enjoy that they don’t take themselves too seriously and that they reference pop culture stuff that no one this far in the future is going to remember. I like the police procedural style that I would probably not read if it wasn’t hidden in science fiction. This is yet another of those trilogies that ends by trying to turn into something more, but I read it with the mindset that it would be the end, so I felt a sense of closure, even if the author has other intentions. Someone at book club said, “but it didn’t end!” and I found myself saying, “Oh, but didn’t it?” For me it did, and it didn’t. And I have peace with that.

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[shanannigansthebibliophile]

Hey guys!

I’m back with Part 2 of my TBR Tackle! After another successful school drop-off (Again, she didn’t even look back *Sniff), I am going to pick up where I left off yesterday. If you missed Part 1, click here!

Science Fiction & Dystopian

Fly Paper: A Novel by Chris Angus

How do you fight a deadly disease that comes from beyond planet Earth?

When a 2,000-year-old mummy is unearthed in central China, investigators from all over the world fly in to Washington, DC, for a top-secret meeting, hoping to find an answer to its mysterious genetic anomalies.

But the scientists may have mistakenly released a new, deadly disease of extraterrestrial origins in the process of examining the genetic markers of the ancient mummy. The devastating human error causes a worldwide plague—one that penetrates the barriers of the human immune system. Sino expert Eric Logan and archaeologist Dr. Marcia Kessler lead an expedition back to the icy glaciers of China to extract a much older 20,000-year-old mummy, which could help them formulate a cure. Even as they embark on their mission, the strange illness afflicts the people around them, turning men into mindless monsters.

The team retreats to a remote Buddhist monastery and must hold off a vicious army of victims. As they wrestle with the possibility that they may be the last living humans on earth, someone finds an ancient burial object that may hold the key to ending the apocalyptic epidemic . . .

My Thoughts…

Sounds really good right? Well, it was okay but it wasn’t all I had hoped for.

It was well written and engaging enough, but it was missing something. Unfortunately, I can’t quite say what that something is but it left me feeling a bit unsatisfied.

Overall, a decent read with a good premise but had a lackluster ending. As the song says, “That don’t impress me much”.

Rating… C+

The Dreams by Matthew R. Flemming

Waking up in an unknown forest with four strangers, James has an unsettling feeling that the group is not alone. As tension mounts and he finds himself questioning the motives and loyalty of his companions, one of the group members disappears, leaving only a pool of blood behind. It soon becomes clear that something very large and unnatural is in the deep secret places of the forest. And it knows they are there.

My Thoughts…

This was originally a DNF. The first one in a long while. I loved the premise and the cover is brilliant, but it was so messy. Disorganized with way too many words. I hate overly descriptive writing!

This what I put on Goodreads:

DNF: Good premise by lacking proper execution. I couldn’t stick with it.

REVISED…

OK I finished it but only because I needed to know how these poor suckers ended up here. I still maintain my original opinion.

Yes, I went back and finished because I felt bad. It did not get any better!

Rating… D-

Ghost Virus by Graham Masterson

The girl had been staring into her mirror all morning before she picked up the small bottle of sulphuric acid and poured it over her forehead.

Samira was a young woman with her whole life ahead of her. What could have brought her to this? DC Jerry Pardoe and DS Jamila Patel of Tooting Police suspect it’s suicide. But then a meek husband kills his wife, and the headteacher of the local school throws her pupils out of a window. It’s no longer a random outbreak of horrific crimes. It’s a deadly virus. And it’s spreading. Somehow, ordinary Londoners are being infected with an insatiable lust to murder. All of the killers were wearing second-hand clothes. Could these garments be possessed by some supernatural force?

The death count is multiplying. Now Jerry and Jamila must defeat the ghost virus, before they are all infected…

My Thoughts…

This book is hard to classify. It’s a little bit sci-fi, a little procedural, with a paranormal backbone. The premise is a bit misleading, which I guess is the point but I thought I was going to be reading a good plague story.

I loved everything about this book until the origin of the virus is revealed. Then I was like, “WTF? Are you kidding me?” And not in a good way. It’s just so silly! Here I was thinking that this book had everything. Suspense, gore, mysterious virus, and then the author went and ruined it for me.

Maybe you will like it and won’t find the ending ridiculous. You’ll have to make that decision for yourselves.

Rating… C

Blue Skin: A Dystopian Vampire Thriller (Book #1) by Steven Jenkins

The world has turned inward, away from the sun, in the wake of a mysterious disease that has altered the human race. No longer able to bear healthy human children, our mothers and daughters have brought vampire-like hybrids into the world, and with it a new order. Now that reproduction has been banned, those left with young children face a terrible and devastating decision – turn your babies over to the government or pay the price. For young Freya, keeping her brother hidden is the only real option.

Enemies of the state, Freya must stand between her family and the forces of a fearful world. Although her brother may not be human, there is little else separating her and those of the blue skin.

Choices will be made. Lines will be drawn. The battle for humanity has only just begun.

BLUE SKIN is the first book in a 5 part vampire dystopian, thriller horror series.

My Thoughts…

Ooh I really enjoyed this book and the follow-up, Blue Skin: Book #2 that was released this past May. Good vampire stories are really hard to come by these days since the genre was drowned in vamp tales due to the Twilight phenomenon.

Blue Skin however, is an interesting mix of vampire and apocalyptic. The fact that the vampires are children make it especially horrifying.

Great writing, a unique plot and a strong female protagonist make this book appealing to all sorts of readers. I’m looking forward to reading more in this series!

Rating… A+

Contemporary Fiction & YA Fiction

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (Books 1-3) by Jenny Han

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister’s ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all

P.S. I Still Love You

Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter. She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever. When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?

Always and Forever, Lara Jean

Lara Jean is having the best senior year.

And there’s still so much to look forward to: a class trip to New York City, prom with her boyfriend Peter, Beach Week after graduation, and her dad’s wedding to Ms. Rothschild. Then she’ll be off to college with Peter, at a school close enough for her to come home and bake chocolate chip cookies on the weekends.

Life couldn’t be more perfect!

At least, that’s what Lara Jean thinks . . . until she gets some unexpected news.

Now the girl who dreads change must rethink all her plans—but when your heart and your head are saying two different things, which one should you listen to?

My Thoughts…

I’m lumping all 3 of these books together, not because they don’t deserve individual reviews (They totally do!), but because I read them all together, one right after the other like a big novel.

Why you ask? Well I watched the Netflix movie of course, and fell in love! (Read review)

As soon as the credits rolled, I quickly purchased all 3 books and had myself a lovely binge read. All 3 were fantastic! Nostalgia inducing, charming, adorable, and funny. I really enjoyed them and I’m happy with how the author ended the trilogy.

Want to hear something crazy though? I liked the movie more and something tells me I’m not the only one.

The actors had such great chemistry! ‘Lara Jean’ and ‘Peter’ were so good together on screen which added a whole new dimension to the story. Honestly, they made the story and I really hope the other books get movies too.

Rating… A+’s all around!

Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

Charlotte Davis is in pieces. At seventeen she’s already lost more than most people lose in a lifetime. But she’s learned how to forget. The broken glass washes away the sorrow until there is nothing but calm. You don’t have to think about your father and the river. Your best friend, who is gone forever. Or your mother, who has nothing left to give you.

Every new scar hardens Charlie’s heart just a little more, yet it still hurts so much. It hurts enough to not care anymore, which is sometimes what has to happen before you can find your way back from the edge.

My Thoughts…

Warning: Major Triggers! Mental illness, Abuse, Addiction, Self-harm, Suicide, and Disturbing Scenes (Just to name a few).

I would give this AMAZING book 6 stars if I could! It’s riveting, evocative, heart-wrenching and incredibly illuminating. It’s not the easiest book to read but if you can stomach the darkness, it’s a brilliant story about survival and self-discovery. The protagonist ‘Charlie’ will take you on one hell of a journey but it’s worth it. Just be prepared to feel every emotion on the spectrum.

Honestly, I have nothing negative to say. I truly loved it, if that’s the right word, and can’t recommend it enough!

Rating… A+++

Well, I’ve caught up a ton with these two posts. They’re certainly some of the longest posts I’ve ever written lol. Like I said before, I had really gotten behind with my writing but I’ve never stopped reading (I’m 18 books ahead on my yearly Goodreads challenge) and I never will. 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on these books, especially if you’ve read them.

Until next time!

      #TBR Tackle & Mini Reviews (Part 2) #BookBlogger #BookReviews #Books #AmReading #BookHaul #Thriller #Romance #YA Hey guys! I'm back with Part 2 of my TBR Tackle! After another successful school drop-off (Again, she didn't even look back *Sniff), I am going to pick up where I left off yesterday.

[locutius]

Locutius Letter 13: 🤖Bots, ❄️Iceland, and 👂Soundscapes

The Most Important Design Skill For An AI-Dominated World

Admission: I tried reading John Maeda’s Design in Tech Report while standing in line at Passport Control and I had to give up on page 21 (consulting firms M&A) because it was literally unreadable on my phone. Argh. Ranting about abandoned and/or poorly maintained acquisitions aside, this quote stuck with me:

“Computers aren’t good at inclusion,” he says. “They’re good at exclusion, because they’re only based on past data. The business opportunity for the future-thinking designer is in inclusion.”

🖥🖥🖥

Microsoft Soundscape

So often we think about accessibility in terms of telling people about what’s right in front of them (or obstacles in the way), but if you’ve ever travelled to an unfamiliar place, you know that discovery comes from paying attention to what’s off the beaten path as well.

“Obstacle avoidance is not the problem, we have a dog, a cane and our blindness skills for that,” said Erin Lauridsen, Access Technology Director, LightHouse for the Blind in San Francisco. “The gap is knowing where things are and being able to decide what's of interest.”

When I travelled to Tokyo I ran into a lot of problems because I couldn’t read street signs or business names. This is a problem that visually impaired people deal with every day. I recommend watching the video to get an idea of what the app can do. Read more:

Watch the video on the project site (It’s the best explainer)

Soundscape app empowers people who are Blind or have Low Vision to explore the world

Download the app (iOS only, sorry)

👂👂👂

Bots! Why your chatbot needs to care about context

When it comes to conversation design, chatbots and VUIs have a lot in common (and a lot not-in-common..ephemerality, cough, cough). In this article, Gillian Armstrong covers some of the context your chatbot should care about, beyond When, Where, and What (these are things your VUI should care about, too). Read it: Why your chatbot needs to care about context

🤖🤖🤖

More bots: Mental health AI platform, Woebot lands $8M in funding

What makes Woebot different? Before founding the company, Alison Darcy was a clinical psychologist at Stanford. How rare (and great?!?) is it to see someone with subject matter expertise founding a company. Interested in working at Woebot? They’re hiring a creative writer who can specialize in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: https://woebot.workable.com/jobs/655376 Read more about Woebot:

The Chatbot Therapist Will See You Now and

I spent 2 weeks texting a bot about my anxiety — and found it to be surprisingly helpful

😞😞😞

Facebook / Iceland / Linguistics

When I interviewed at Facebook, one thing the Groups team was excited about was that most women on Facebook in Iceland belong to the same Facebook group. Yeah, like Pantsuit Nation, but for *all* of the ladies in Iceland. Granted, there are only 167,000 women of any age in Iceland, but when you’re talking about cultural decimation, those numbers become even more important. In an article in The Guardian, Jon Henley details how digital language chips away at Iceland’s language and culture, one phone at a time, in interviews with Icelandic professors of linguistics and digital media. “Once, outside school you’d do sport, learn an instrument, read, watch the same TV, play the same computer games,”...“Now on phones, tablets, computers, TVs, there are countless games, films, series, videos, songs. You converse with Google Home or Alexa. All in English.” Read more:

Icelandic language battles threat of digital extinction

No mean girls: Why one-third of this nation's women joined same Facebook group

❄❄❄

Locutius Links

Oral-B made a 2-minute podcast for when your kids brush their teeth. It’s marketed for Alexa, but it works on Google, too. / Gimlet Media

Alexa has follow-up mode Now you don’t have to say “Alexa, turn on the kitchen lights.” and then “Alexa, turn on the dining room lights.” You can’t say “Alexa, turn on the kitchen and dining room lights” or “Alexa, turn on the lights for dinner.” But baby steps, eh? / Apple Insider

Microsoft drops ‘Hey Cortana’ in favor of just ‘Cortana’ on smart speakers / The Verge

How Otto, a German ecommerce giant, uses artificial intelligence. This one you'll need to read for yourself. Automation isn't going away. / The Economist

Why you Shouldn’t Skip a Linguistics Analysis Before you Pick a Company Name “The three basic metrics to test for are pronounceability, negative meanings, and existing brand associations.” / Rewind and Capture

Review: I tried Levi's $350 denim jacket featuring Google technology — and it made my commute so much better I’ve tried this jacket, too. All I can say is that I wish they made a ladies version because the cut on this one is strictly for guys with trim waists and big shoulder muscles. Also how 'alterable' is "smart" clothing? / Business Insider

The Feds Can Now (Probably) Unlock Every iPhone Model In Existence / Forbes

Now we know why Siri was so dumb for so long / Mashable

It turns out that humans don’t like robots that don’t like humans. Who could have predicted this?!?! / AV Club (no, not The Onion - this is a real story about people putting BBQ sauce on robots)

Robotic Tortoise Helps Kids to Learn That Robot Abuse Is a Bad Thing. What are the ethical implications of harming a robot? Do we get mad if people hurt their cars? Or are robots more like pets? Is there something predictive about how we treat robots? Or are humans actually smart enough to know that robots don’t have feelings and they’re just machines? Why do we describe breaking a robot as immoral, but we wouldn’t use the same description for a vacuum cleaner? I mean, unless it was a robot vacuum cleaner. / IEEE Spectrum

Robot ethics aside, here are the best things I bought this week:

Melatonin. I just returned from Tokyo and right now I’m confused by two things: 1. Which side of the sidewalk to walk on, and 2. How there is a 16 hour difference between Tokyo and San Francisco, and yet I am somehow not jet-lagged? I’m chalking this up to 3 mg of melatonin on my first night in each place (Yeah, just one pill, one time, each way - for $8.00 you get more melatonin than you'll use in 10 years). At this point, I don’t care if Melatonin is a placebo. I just know that I feel like a normal human being, which should be impossible.

Make your kid happy with a set of My First Temporary Tattoos: Adventure, Creatures, Sports, and More. These temporary tattoos are easy to apply and look cool for a week. The only downside is that a) they're an add-on item, and b) you have to use rubbing alcohol to remove them.

A PURSE THAT CAN FIT A 10.5” iPAD PRO IN A CASE INSIDE OF IT. And that’s all you need to know. Okay, also it is leather, it’s on sale for 70% off of the regular price. And it is SUCH A NICE BAG, with zipper pockets and places to put your charger and your wallet and even your pens.

Until next week! Abi Jones Editor, Locutius Is there something I missed? Reply to this email with a link! Want to chat? I’m on Twitter at @jonesabi Disclaimers: Yes, this newsletter includes affiliate links! I've made $2.14. Thank you, whoever clicked on a link in this newsletter and ended up buying The Hobbit: The Motion Picture Trilogy. And yes, I work at Google. The views in this newsletter are mine, not Google’s, obvs.

[rememberthattime]

Chapter 31. Move II. Part II. Home

Alright, where’d we leave off with the last post?

Part I was Japan, our first week after leaving the UK. Part III will conclude with our arrival in Sydney. That means Part II will be the time in between. The awkward middle brother, or Jeff, of this three-part moving post. Included in Part II: Christmas in Dallas, New Year’s in Woodinville, and reunions in Seattle.

Over the past two years, most of my posts have been about our travels around Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and soon-to-add, Australia. That said, I still like to add our trips back home, specifically because I want them to be included when Chelsay converts this blog into a book. I’ve done all the writing and uploading, so she can handle eventually turning this into a NYT’s best seller.

That was a joke (except not, she definitely needs to make this a book). The real reason I want to write about our trips home is the same reason I write about any of our travels: I don’t want to forget.

As I wrote in my wedding post, this blog should be a time machine. 20 years from now, I’ll open the book that Chelsay publishes and place myself back in what will likely be our most adventurous years. Young D’Derek (or whatever weird name Chelsay decides on for our first) will be learning to drive, and Diana (the classic, sensible name I choose for our second) will be taking piano lessons, while Papa Mike heads back to Iceland or Morocco or Jordan or Japan via these posts.

That said, as exciting as our travels to new places have been, some of our favorite memories will undoubtedly come from our returns to the familiar. I’ve written about our first trip home in March 2016 (Chapter 7) and our second trip home that Christmas (Chapter 15), so now, without further ado, here is our third trip home: Christmas 2017.

Oh, one more note first: because there are so many moments I want to remember from this third rendition (and because I’m three months behind in writing about this long move), I’ll structure this post in bullet form.  Okay, now: Christmas 2017.

Highlights from Texas:

Our trip began in Dallas, and as all trips to Dallas begin, we started with Chick-fil-a. It might just be fried chicken and a pickle, but I’d take it over a 18 oz steak any day.

While Chelsay, Liv, and my mom got mani/pedis, my dad, brothers, and I headed to Top Golf. Not even the dumping rain could stop Matt & I’s pin-seeking in our 2-on-2 match up.

The Kerns play a lot of games. Pictionary is always a family favorite, while the meme game seemed slightly inappropriate for this crowd. A few new additions to the game arsenal were Matt’s e-games, where we all come up with funny responses to various prompts, then vote on the best (my mom’s “Shmule” response was an all-timer). One surprise favorite was also one of the simplest: Uno. The unexpected enjoyment actually had nothing to do with the game, but more to do with someone inevitably making a fart joke. (You can tell it was a fart joke in the picture below because my mom is not amused).

Bocce, and braving the frigid temperatures to complete undoubtedly the worst matches those courts had seen.

Another Kern family tradition: back-and-forth putt-putt battles between the kids and parents (+ Chelsay).

It doesn’t even matter who won.

It was definitely the kids.

Christmas cookie making, with some highlights being Matt’s Grinch, Chelsay’s wreath, and Liv’s stocking. Definitely the worst cookie goes to Jeff (”Someone’s in here”).

Pasta on Christmas Eve. Continuing our tradition of informal Christmas Eve meals (grilled cheese, Italian beef sandwiches, tortilla soup, sloppy joes), the family decided on homemade pasta this year. Chelsay made a phenomenally hearty Bolognese sauce, while the family spun out rolls of al dente linguine.

The Christmas Day photoshoot.

After a delicious Christmas beef tenderloin, my mom shared the basics of piano playing with Chelsay, while Matt, my dad, and I took a long, cold, sunset walk down the Trophy Club fairways.

THREE successful Escape Rooms, including a near record-setting win with 24 minutes remaining. Based on our experience, we now get free Escape Rooms for life!

Countless gut-busting meals, including Feedstore ribs, Anamia’s taco salad, Christina’s queso, Mi Cocina sunset fajitas, and i Fratelli thin crust pizza.

On a sad note, Abby’s memorial, where we followed my dad’s heartfelt but humorous eulogy by saying goodbye to the cutest, strangest, best dog any family could hope for.  

Highlights from Seattle:

Playing with Miles. His favorite games: Monster Auntie Chelsay (he got so excited that he pooped), Bucket Flights through the house, and Uncle Mike Express, where I delivered my little passenger to Grandma Helen Station or Papa Sum Pass.

Din Tai Fung & Lucky Strike with Chelsay’s whole family, which included shot-caller Chris destroying the record high score in pop-a-shot.

Runs around Crystal Lake. Dan & June have been in this house for years, but the setting blows me away every time I see it. I loved going for chilly runs around the lake, quietly taking in the massive trees, charming homes, calm waters, and beautiful surroundings.

Ringing in New Year’s 2018 with Chelsay’s family, Dev, Babs, Auz, Kels, and our new friend Harvey.

The second annual virtual golf showdown with Danny. Similar to Chris at Lucky Strike, we set some high scores (high scores are good in golf, right?)

Saturday nights with Auz, Dev, Hanan, Tiin, ALoh, Trav, Ben P, Rob Sooz, and Andy Lit at the 5715 House (aka STZ Pad 3). That house has to be one of my favorite places in the entire world. You can visit the Eiffel Tower or Sahara Desert, but it’s hard to beat watching the NFL playoffs on that shitty couch, bumping all the hits from 2011, embarrassing ourselves with throwback beer pong, or epic 3 AM battles in Hockey.

Catch up drinks with Chelsay’s friends, including Officer Nicole, El Gringo (Will), and the Doctors (Matt & Shiva).

Busy season JC meetings w/ Mark Fitz, and the occasional bucket with him & Dev at Bellevue Muni.

Dan and June’s first Escape Room, overcoming some of the hardest puzzles we’d ever faced to escape on their first attempt.

Chelsay and I’s triumphant one-day return to the city. This was my favorite day in Seattle. Although I had a few trips to the city for nights at the 5715 House, Chelsay and I mostly stayed around her parents’ place  in Woodinville. On the weekend before her flight to Sydney though, we went with her parents on a reunion tour through the city. We ate breakfast at Portage Bay, walked through South Lake Union, took in the Space Needle views from Kerry Park, visited Pike Place Market, returned to Green Lake for cookie cakes, and enjoyed a nightcap tasting to top it all off from Woodinville Whisky. Our January in Seattle was largely about reconnecting with friends and family, but this day was Chelsay and I’s reunion with the city.

Countless gut-busting meals, including Firenze Amatriciana (possibly my new favorite dish in Seattle), Pink Door Bolognese, La Carta tacos, Great State burgers & crispy crinkle fries, more Chick-fil-a, and of course, Juju’s home cookin’.

Chibi just trying to sleep through all of this.

Alas, our six week return to the States was just a tease, a brief glimpse into our former lives.

Like this blog, life is a collection of different chapters, and each chapter has its setting. Most of Chelsay and I’s story has taken place in the US, though our past two years were set in London and our next two will be in Australia.

Throughout our story, we understand the importance of remaining present in each chapter. Sometimes it’s fun to reminisce or look ahead, but Chelsay and I always come back to the present and appreciate our current setting while we can.

As I write this, it’s been three weeks since I left the US, so Chelsay and I are well into our new lives in Sydney. The next & final post in this trilogy will show how much we’ve already enjoyed our latest life chapter, but this post is a reminder that nothing can ever replace the love I feel for our story’s first setting: Home.

[kkoehn17]

So I’ve decided to use this week as a kind of “wrap up” for 2017. Monday was the last episode (in 2017) of All the Good Things, and today we take a final look at my 2017 goals. Let’s see how I did:

1) See Star Wars

COMPLETED

That’s right folks, I can finally unlock a new level of society because I have officially seen all the Star Wars films. Well, at least all of them except the new one. But to be fair, that one wasn’t on the list because I didn’t know it was coming out. So as of now I’m counting myself among the I’ve-been-too-busy-with-the-holidays-to-see-the-new-one-yet breed, which is exactly where I want to be.

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2) See 5 WLRA’s

COMPLETED

WRLA (pronounced wool-rah) is my nickname for the World’s Largest Roadside Attractions, which I became addicted to sometime last year. It is among my life goals to see them all, and so I’m chipping them off slowly. This year I shot for five, and ended up seeing the fifth one just under the wire. My sister and I drove out to see the World’s Largest Donut on New Year’s Eve Eve. The other four I saw this year were the World’s Largest Paper Cup, Fishing Fly, Thermometer and Monk.

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3) Try this jean rug DIY

COMPLETED

I did most of the prep for this project back in September, but didn’t actually sew it together until this past weekend. On one hand I could say I’m glad I was ahead of the game (at one point) because when I finally sat down to sew it together, all the pieces were already cut. But on other hand, I wish I would have just taken the time to sew it together back then, it might have been a tinge less stressful. Regardless, I’m very proud of the end result. It’s nowhere near perfect, but it’s something I actually sewed with my own two hands and, like, HOW COOL IS THAT?!

The original

Mine

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4) Run 1,000 miles

COMPLETED

It’s almost unfathomable that I can write “complete” on this goal, but it is, in fact, COMPLETE! I, Kimberlee K, ran 1000 miles in 2017. EEEK. You can read all about this ridiculously crazy feat here.

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5) Complete The Ultimate Fit Bit Week

COMPLETED

At the beginning of the year I decided to make my own Fitbit achievement known as “The Ultimate Fit Bit Week.” Essentially I wanted to see if I could meet every goal (i.e. steps taken, calories burned, active minutes, etc.) every single day for an entire week. Let me tell you, it was not easy, but it’s one of those things that I can now say that I did, which is cool. You can read about it here. Also, if you’re reading this, Fitbit, make sure you name this challenge after me if you ever make it, you know, a thing.

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6) Volunteer (at least) 5 times

COMPLETED

As I’ve said in previous check-ins, this was one of my favorite goals of the year, which made it a no brainer to add it to my list of goals for 2018. I’d highly encourage anyone and everyone to volunteer if they get a chance. It’s truly one of the most rewarding experiences!

These were my five for this year:

Food Forward (5/21/17)

Children’s Hunger Fund (6/24/17)

My Stuff Bags (8/10/17)

Food Forward (8/26/17)

Children’s Hunger Fund (10/7/17)

You can find opportunities to volunteer here.

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7) Go to a sporting event of “every” kind (i.e. baseball, football, hockey, basketball, & soccer)

60% COMPLETED

When the year started, the NFL, NBA and NHL were all in the tail end of their regular seasons and moving into the playoffs, thus making tickets to the games way out of my price range. So, since I knew baseball would be an easy one to check off (because I’m a huge Dodger fan), and soccer season was just about to start, I decided to channel my energy into those and put the other three checkpoints on hold until the end of the year (a.k.a the beginning of a new season). In the end, while I was lucky enough to be invited to a hockey game (in a suite!! Thanks, Sam!) I never found my way to a basketball or football game this year. But don’t fret! At the end of the day, not going to a basketball or football game doesn’t make my year a “failure” or this goal a wash. And it would be a waste to get caught up in the parameters of the goal and obsess over the failures rather than celebrate the successes. For among the casual weeknight Dodger games I got to attend this year, I also got to see Game 6 of the World Series, and got my family out to see an LA Galaxy soccer game, which we probably never would have done otherwise. When I think about it like that, I’d say it’s a pretty successful goal.

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8) Try every class at the gym

VETOED

The lack of progress on this one began with a lack of facilities, due to water damage at my local gym. It was back up and running in April, but then April turned into May and then June and then July, leading me to believe that procrastination had taken over. While that was definitely part of it, the truth was, I was scared. By July I had hit the 500-mile mark of my running goal, making the finish line something I could actually picture, and I was scared to do anything that might prevent me from reaching it. So around October, I more or less forfeited—or rather vetoed—this goal for 2017 and decided to add it as a bonus goal for this coming year. I still want to get a taste of what my gym membership is getting me and I figure it will be a good way to stay in shape.

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9) Do The Princess Diaries painting

COMPLETED

You remember this iconic scene from classic RomCom The Princess Diaries, right?

I mean I think it’s safe to say we were all jealous of that mother/daughter arts and crafts session. Lucky for me, I have an amazing group of friends and family that dove headfirst into this project for my 27th birthday.

You can read about that day here.

Also, I recently got a chance to hang the end results up on my wall and it makes me smile every time I pass by.

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10) Find and try the “Best of” restaurants in LA

COMPLETED

This was another goal that I was super excited about and it did not disappoint. I’ve always wanted to take more advantage of my access to downtown Los Angeles, and I feel like this search for the “best of” restaurants in my five favorite food groups (i.e. pizza, burgers, ice cream, donuts and sandwiches) helped me scratch the surface.

Here are my five finds:

Pizza: Pizzeria Mozza

Burgers: Battle of the Burgers

Ice Cream: Salt & Straw

Donuts: Randy’s Donuts

Sandwiches: Mendocino Farms

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11) Watch every film that has ever won Best Picture

98.88% COMPLETED

As of my last check-in, I had 60 movies to watch before the end of the year. When the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, I only had one. Before you “awww”, know that this was intentional, as I realized (too late) that the last movie on the list was the final film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I haven’t seen the first two…

…DON’T GIVE ME THAT LOOK. I realize this is another cardinal sin of cinema and I’m going to make right, okay? I’m adding this trilogy as another bonus goal for 2018.

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12) Learn to Longboard

VETOED

Similar to goal #8, I more or less quit on this goal after I became knee deep in my running. It just seemed too likely that I’d fall off my longboard and tweak an ankle (or worse) and I wasn’t willing to give up the progress I’d made. So, again, this was postponed. Hopefully I’ll find the courage to *shred* in 2k18.

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13) Learn to do a headband braid

COMPLETED (I GUESS)

Have you ever adopted a new hobby and put in a bunch of time to get better at it, only to realize that your skill level is and always will be pretty basic. Yeah, well that’s how I feel about the headband braid. After spending the year watching a bunch of different tutorial videos and knotting my hair a bunch of different ways, I more or less accepted that I’m just not good at headband braids. I get the basic concept, but my end result always looks like I let a little kid play hair salon. SO, I’m forfeiting my pursuit of the perfect braid. The way I see it, at least I can say I tried, and at least I have a handful of friends that are willing to do my hair.

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14) Reach the 100,000-mile mark on my car

COMPLETED

This was another highlight of my year. After hitting the 100,000 mile mark, my family and I loaded up into Jeffrey—wearing sparkly hats and homemade glasses no less—and took a ridiculous amount of pictures and Boomerangs to commemorate the occasion.

You can read all about Jeffrey’s (my car) big milestone here.

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15) Do a bar/pub crawl

COMPLETED

As if it were destined for my attendance, when I Googled “bar crawls” in October, I found 12 Bars of Charity, which divides its attendees into “teams” and gives them t-shirts to showcase the charity they choose to support. My friends and I were on the “black team” which supported the Boys & Girls club. And while we only made it to three of the twelve bars—because we spent too much time talking at each one —we still had a great time, and talked about going again next year to go to the bars we missed. (Though at this rate it will take us 4 years to see them all)

If you’re interested, 12 Bars of Charity has events all over the country. Check here to see if there’s one near you.

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16) Sing Karaoke

COMPLETED

Much to the surprise of my pre-2017 self, karaoke became somewhat of a staple for my year. My friends and I found a favorite place and made many an appearance on a Saturday night. I found that it is one of the best ways to blow off steam and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

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17) Complete Project Lightbulb

COMPLETED

Project Lightbulb is the nickname I gave my family’s dream vacation to Iceland. And while it became clear that this goal would be impossible to complete this year, I decided that as long as we made steps towards planning and booking it—a.k.a inching it to a reality—I’d call it a win. That being said, this year we did take steps in the right direction by officially opening a savings account so we can slowly save up enough money to make this thing happen! Iceland here we come!

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And that, as they say, is that! I completed 14 of my 17 goals, which is an accomplishment in itself, and what I didn’t finish, I plan on carrying over into this new year.

But the ultimate win here is the I CAN that comes alongside the setting and completing of goals, no matter what those goals may be. This list of 17 goals inspired me to get completely out of my comfort zone, which led me on new adventures I never would have experienced otherwise. I can only hope that the goals I set for 2018 can do the same.

If you are someone who is looking for some inspiration in your life, I highly encourage you to set goals. Whether big or small, artistic, athletic or otherwise, write them down, put them out into the universe, and then go for them! You might surprise yourself how much you can accomplish.

Happy New Year!

2017 Goals Final Check-In So I’ve decided to use this week as a kind of “wrap up” for 2017. Monday was the…

[njawaidofficial]

'Spider-Man: Homecoming': Why Does Peter Parker Mean So Much to So Many?

http://styleveryday.com/2017/07/07/spider-man-homecoming-why-does-peter-parker-mean-so-much-to-so-many/

'Spider-Man: Homecoming': Why Does Peter Parker Mean So Much to So Many?

Dan Gvozden, a life-long Spider-Man fan, is a Heat Vision contributor and co-host of Amazing Spider-Talk podcast.

Several weeks ago, at my bachelor party, a friend asked me, “Why Spider-Man?”

Out of context, it must seem like a strange question to be answering at one’s bachelor party, instead of engaging in male-centric merriment and copious amounts of alcohol. But you see, I’m no ordinary fan of the webbed wonder, I’m what you might call a fanatic.

I will never forget the first time I encountered the character, peeling back the pages of the gold-covered Amazing Spider-Man No. 375. Inside the pages of that comic I met Peter Parker, in a costume that was torn to shreds while investigating a man named Eddie Brock, the host of a creature named Venom. Comics!

I had no idea what was going on but I knew I needed more, precisely three-hundred and seventy-four more issues worth. Since that day, I set out to collect every single issue of Amazing Spider-Man ever printed, now totaling nearly eight-hundred issues. Thousands of dollars, quizzical looks, and close-calls later, I’ve completed that collection.

Along the way, I learned the answer to my friend’s question, “Why Spider-Man?” The simple answer is, “Because he’s me.” That’s not to say that I’m a brunette kid from Forest Hills, Queens, who fights tentacled villains with my arachnid-induced superpowers; though I did live in Forest Hills for a couple years, natch. I was, like Peter, a socially awkward kid, unsure of my future, scared of the consequences of my actions, trying to do the best I could… just like everyone else.

That’s the appeal of Spider-Man and his alter-ego Peter Parker, he’s everyone. Whether he’s blasting off into space, lifting tons of steel over his head, running a Fortune 500 company, scraping coins together to pay for laundry, or eating wheatcakes with his Aunt May, his story is our story, his journey our journey. Peter is primed to not only be the “everyman” but to be the stand-in for the audience, no matter the medium.

When, at sixteen years old, I was struggling with the loss of my best friend to reoccurring brain cancer, Peter was there for me. His strength in the face of adversity and emotional defeat reminded me I wasn’t alone, that the mere act of perseverance was enough and that we carry our loved ones with us every day and reflect their love through our choices. That year I carried dozens of Spider-Man comics around in my backpack, seeking solace and comfort in the reliability of Peter’s resolve. The extra weight was never even a thought.

I’ll never forget my reaction to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man for the first time. Embarrassingly enough, I wept in the car ride home from the theater (they were not tears of joy). Honestly, the experience was probably too much for me to handle at the time. I had spent my childhood describing to people and outright lying, as a form of wish projection, that I had heard about various Spider-Man films headed into production; including a Venom vs. Carnage film, which seems to actually be happening now (I take it back). Whatever that first Spider-Man film would be, it would have to contend with over a decade of fantasizing, and rarely does art live up to a decade of childish imaginings.

Still, many of my initial reactions to the film still hold true for me today. The film works best when it is focused on the origins to the character, specifically in regards to Peter and his relationship to his family and friends. I still feel that Raimi and his team absolutely nailed the most important part of the story, the sequence with the burglar, Peter, and the wrestling coordinator. Raimi somehow manages to get the audience on Peter’s side, cheering for him when he lets the burglar get away with robbing the place. Obviously, this would be undone moments later with Uncle Ben’s death, landing a sweet sucker punch on an unaware audience.

After several years of reading Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley’s Ultimate Spider-Man, a grounded approach to rebooting the Spider-Man character and a smash success, it was hard for my brain to switch back to enjoying a campier Spider-Man representation. As a fan of the character I longed for my favorite characters to be taken absolutely seriously. To this day, I still have trouble watching scenes like the one where the Goblin ties up Spider-Man and talks to him about “owning this town,” like some kind of third-rate mobster. My negative emotional reactions were so bent out of shape, when a friend had a birthday party to see the film, I joined them in the lobby and then ducked out of the film just so I wouldn’t have to relive it.

I was more prepared for 2004’s Spider-Man 2, with my expectations rightly brought down to a more realistic place. The film was everything I could have dreamed of and remains my favorite superhero flick. My friends encouraged me to see the film opening night, but I was hesitant; no one likes to be the spoiler to a group of excited filmgoers. Attending the screening were dozens of people in various Spider-Man costumes and I remember feeling like I had made a mistake in not embracing the enthusiasm of the moment.

I loved the film, and who couldn’t. Spider-Man 2 remains the most enthusiastically faithful representation of any comic book character in film. The film loves Peter Parker, while also beating him up at every single possible moment. I left the theater, went home, bought tickets for the next morning, and this time wore every piece of Spider-Man gear I could assemble from my closet. I read comics while waiting in the line to get in, bought the catchy soundtrack, and cursed at myself for not getting onboard this hype train years earlier.

This would be my undoing for 2007’s Spider-Man 3. Dressed in full Spider-Man regalia underneath a Peter Parker photographer get-up, I was ready to be impressed by the third outing in this trilogy. A large group of excited friends and I camped out in Times Square for the midnight premiere: taking photographs, speculating on how the Harry Osborn plot would resolve, and saying a silent prayer that they would handle Venom (a fan favorite) appropriately.

We were devastated.

I don’t want to relive the disappointment of Spider-Man 3, but its failures were important to my development as a filmgoer and were the base for a growing cynicism that I’ll admit still has a strong hold over me. Even a layperson could quickly put together what likely happened behind the scenes of the film and the deleterious effects to the characters could not have been more devastating. To turn an audience against Peter Parker, Mary Jane, and Harry Osborn, while sloppily introducing Gwen Stacy, was an incredible feat and one that I felt would undermine any future installments in this series. The silent walk back to the subway and subsequent ride to Forest Hills was not how we expected the night to end.

My screenings of 2012’s Amazing Spider-Man and 2014’s Amazing Spider-Man 2 were met with a similar apprehension and excitement. I loved the cast they assembled, was optimistic about director Marc Webb and writer James Vanderbilt, and hopeful that with a relaunch they could veer more towards my beloved Ultimate Spider-Man and avoid the mistakes of the past. I didn’t expect the films to invent a whole new series of problems that underlined what was becoming a crystal-clear misunderstanding of the titular character.

This Peter Parker reflected me and my values in no way. When challenged to live up to his great responsibilities he flaunted his decision to go in the opposite direction. When bullied and bruised by his peers and enemies he decided to hit back stronger, with a vengeance. A young Peter Parker once said in the comics, “Some day I’ll show them! Some day they’ll be sorry! Sorry that they laughed at me!” It’s the ravings of a potential villain and a warning about who Peter may have become without learning a powerful lesson in power and responsibility from his Uncle Ben. This Peter Parker was that villain.

Still, it was exciting to see Spider-Man, with the aid of CGI, move and fight in a way that I could have only dreamed of. I also have to admit to tearing up during Amazing Spider-Man 2 when Spider-Man approaches a bullied child, scaring off his bullies, and asking him to tell him a bit more about himself. When that child returned in the final moments of the film in a Spider-Man costume, it definitely hit me hard. I later learned that Andrew Garfield had advocated for those scenes to be added to the film and it makes sense. As a lifelong fan of the character, Garfield understood the power that superhero comics can have on a bullied child, eventually empowering them to stand up for the values they hold dear.

On Thursday, I attended the first screening of Spider-Man: Homecoming I could find. Dressed in a Scarlet Spider hoodie, to aid in finding fans with as deep a knowledge of the character as myself, my wife and I nervously sat down for the film. Between all the back-and-forths between Sony and Marvel over the future of this character, I was ready to just see what they had to offer, pushing back any of my knowledge of the complicated dealings that made this possible. It was hard to watch Spider-Man: Homecoming without any baggage, but I was determined to do so.

To put it succinctly, I loved the new film and its very unique take on Peter Parker and Spider-Man. This was no longer the Tobey Maguire, mopey Peter Parker that was representative of Spider-Man from the 1960s comics, but a fresh remix of every generation of Spider-Man stories, with some seriously deep continuity digs. My love of the character is very much rooted in the more soap operatic interpretations of the source material, that Sam Raimi also seems to love, but there’s no way not to embrace Tom Holland’s fresh take.

We’ve gotten six Spider-Man films, with three different actors, three different directors, and three different continuities in fifteen years. It’s a lot for anyone to take, especially if you’re a diehard fan like myself. But just as Peter had to learn a few lessons to find himself, the cinematic representation of Spider-Man’s journey has been equally as valuable.

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