March 2016 Wrap Up

First thing I need a bit of help.

As of right now I have cancelled all my subscription boxes and that has left me with a gap in this blog. Also add the fact that not much is happening worth blogging about right now. Hopefully that will change soon.

Until then I need to find something to write about that will also be worth reading. So I thought I would go straight to the people that are reading this right now.

I have a few ideas and would love to know what you think.

(Currently I have two monthly post; Faux Foodie and Literary Fixation)

Idea 1- Netflix Pick of the Month. Towards the first of the month I could choose a title that I watched and enjoyed on Netflix and write a non-spoilery review/suggestion.
Idea 2- Soundtracks and Scores- Not really sure about this one. It would just be highlighting soundtracks and scores that I love.
Idea 3- Exploring Tulsa- Which could include dragging my mom or a friend to find inexpensive thing to do and see in Tulsa, OK.

I am just lacking the ideas right now. So any suggestions would be a help.

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Now to the monthly wrap up.

Movies

I finally got to watch Crimson Peak. I made sure to avoid all spoilers. It was not what I expected, but I actually enjoyed it. The look and feel of the film is great. I absolutely love the sets and costumes. Tom Hiddleston is perfect as always. And the story itself was interesting. I thought it would be another type of storyline and was pretty please that it turned out differently.

I also managed to get a hold of a copy of God Help The Girl. I have been wanting to see this movie for awhile. Every since the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode where Jemma is undercover at Hydra and the song "God Help The Girl" plays through the opening montage, I have listened to these songs. (Note I prefer the non soundtrack versions of the songs)

Unfortunately I just did not care for the film. I really cannot put my finger on the reason but I didn't feel anything for the characters.

Quilts

Once again I have made a baby quilt. I really have no clue what I am doing. Things go wrong and I just keep plowing through. I am okay at piecing the top but when it comes to the actual quilting part it just all goes wrong.

I really hope the new niece won't mind that her quilt is sub-par.   

Maybe I need to take a class or something.

That basically sums up the month. Other than the massive amount of Bunny cookies I had to make last week with I may write about later.

5 Fandom Friday- Favorite Stores To Get Geeky Wares

This week The Nerdy Girlie and Super Space Chick have asked us to list our favorite stores to get geeky goodies. I have a few in mind.

1. TeeVillain  

I have bought tee-shirts from many one a day sites but I have recently stuck to just one, TeeVillain. The quality of their shirts and prints are perfect. They designs tend to be on the "villainy" side but often they will throw in some nerdy goodness, like Karen Hallion and Megan Lara designs. Worth a daily browse.

2. Redbubble

What I love about redbubble is that practically anything you can image can be there. Anyone can put up there designs and pictures for sell. I even have some of my sad attempts at graphic art on there...eris-discord42. 

3. Squishables  

Some of the cutest stuff animals I have ever seen. I bought two of the bigger ones from my cousins' kids and ended up getting a smaller Sloth for myself. They come in all different sizes and you can even find some mythical creatures there too...Cthulhu anyone. They also have food squishables too. Cuteness overload.

4. Barnes and Noble

Books, DVDs, Games and Funkos....oh my!

I could spend an outrageous amount of money at Barnes and Nobles. Factor in the Starbucks inside and you can understand why I have to avoid this place. It is my expensive version of Wonka's Chocolate Factory. 

5. HotTopic 

My magical world.

Basically HotTopic has everything I love. Band swag. Nerdy goodies. Everything I hold near and dear to me. Buttons, socks, accessories, tees, dresses...like I said everything. 

Literary Fixation- The Host

I will admit I was a little apprehensive about reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer because of the Twilight books. Being an Anne Rice fan since my pre-teens made it impossible to like these books. I mean Lestat...come on.

The Host is different. It is a first person perspective of an alien parasite in a resistant host body. Earth has been almost completely taken over by the "peaceful" body snatcher type aliens, Souls. The Soul, Wanderer, has been placed into the body of one of the last known humans, Melanie. Unlike most of the other human hosts, Melanie fights back and doesn't fade away.

The internal Mel is the stronger character. Wanderer and Mel have an antagonistic relationship at first with Wanderer starting to become more sympathetic towards Mel since they share memories and emotions. 

In some ways a single character gets to be both a damsel in distress and a fierce fighter. Wanderer, later known ad Wanda, isn't strong. She abhors violence. Mel on the other hand is a born fighter. She has lived in a world where almost everyone has been taken over. Not only does Mel have to fight for herself, she fights to protect her younger brother, Jamie.

It is Mel's love for Jamie (and her boyfriend Jared) that pushes Wanda to help her host find them and protect them from the Seekers.

The Seekers are the enforces of the Souls. One Seeker in particular has it out for Wanda and wants to take over Mel's body to find the other humans.

Like most YA novels there is a love triangle. Only this time it is more of a square. Once Mel/Wanda find the settlement of other humans Wanda starts to develop feelings for Ian while Mel is still completely in love with Jared.

Since I do not really like to write full synopses in my reviews I'll stop here with it.

The Host is an interesting YA novel. It takes both elements of traditional YA books and adds some classic sci-fi and fantasy ie body snatchers.

Having the entire book in first person from Wanda's perspective is also interesting because it allows the internalized Mel to have a voice and be present throughout the book.

In short I would recommend this to both YA and sci-fi fans. 

There is a movie version starring Saoirse Ronan and Max Irons. Like almost all books to film adaptations it is lacking but it is still worth watching.

5 Fandom Friday- Geeky Tattoos

This week The Nerdy Girlie and SuperSpaceChick have asked us to list our top 5 Geeky Tattoos We Want or Have.

I don't have any tattoos and I really doubt I will ever get one. Yet there are a few that spring to mind if I ever were to get inked.

1. David Bowie's Lightning Bolt

This is actually a design I have on Redbubble. If I actually ever decided to get a tattoo It would probably be something similar to this, maybe without the writing. David Bowie was such a huge part of my life. It would be nice to have a tribute to him.

2. Triforce

I may be a bad gamer but I do love The Legend of Zelda games. The Triforce is simple design but it represents Courage, Wisdom and Power.

3. Something Marvel

Over the past few years I have become a massive Marvel fan. I like the idea of having something Marvel related as a tattoo. Maybe a Capt America/ Winter Soldier shield. A Black Widow hourglass. There are so many options. 

4. Alice

  Life, what is it but a dream?

I have a bit of an obsession with all things Alice. Trying to think of a tattoo that would represent all things Alice to me seemed daunting. But in the end it would have to be the last line of the final poem in Through The Looking Glass, "Life, what is it but a dream?". This one sentence has always stood out the most for me. 

5. Music Notes

I was in band. I love musical theatre. Music notes would be right up my alley. I would probably go with notes from a song by either Bowie or Placebo. They both have so many songs that I have a connection with. It would take a long time to choose the right one.

2 Years Blogging

Yesterday, March 15, was my 2 year blogiversary.

In the two years that I have been messing around with this blog I still haven't completely figure out what I am doing. But I am pretty okay with that.

Despite how amateur it looks, I feel rather proud. In many ways this blog has done a lot for me. I became an Iggle and a Geek Girl Blogger. Through both of these groups I have "met" some amazing people.

I have tried to use this blog, for a lack of a better word, as a happy and optimistic space. A place to try new things, discuss subjects I enjoy (ie books and fandom) and to generally find positive things to focus on when real life hasn't been so great.

I want to thank everyone who has stumbled upon my inane ramblings.

Especially those who I have interacted with through this blog and other social media.

This has been a fun escape that I hope to continue writing it.

My goal for the next year is to broaden the subjects I write about. Continue to try new things and get involved with more activities.

As always, any suggestions are more than welcomed. Please contact me here or on my other social media accounts with anything you think I should change or add to make this strange little blog better.

Thank you

Here is a picture of Juliet rolling in the sunshine just because...

    

5 Fandom Friday: Fav Fictional Foods

It's Friday, which means 5 Fandom time!!

This week's 5 Fandom Friday is all about favorite fictional foods. Thanks to the lovely Nerdy Girlie and Super Space Chick for keeping us geeky bloggers entertained with these fun prompts.

1. Drink Me & Eat Me

Being slightly obsessed with all thing Alice related I always wanted to try the foods from Wonderland. If you remember from the films or the book, Alice comes across a bottle that says "Drink me" which causes her to shrink. Then once she is just a few inches tall she finds cake with "Eat Me" on it which causes her to grow. I would love to be able to control my height at any given time. 

2. Pies from Waitress

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Waitress is one of those endearing and quirky films that also has depth. And also some of the prettiest pies.  I actually would love to try and make all the pies she describes in the film. Maybe I will someday. Yum.

3. Pan Galactic Garble Blaster

This fictional cocktail from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy sounds both painful and delectable. In the book it is described as "having your brains smashed in by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick". This may not appeal to everyone, but I would love to try it.

4. Fizzy Lifting Drink

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Everything in the original Wonka movie looks delicious and creepy. That one room where everything is eatable is as far as I would have made it. "Just leave me here, I'm good. nom nom nom". Yet I would really like to try the Fizzy Lifting drink. I would be a bit more careful, like checking for industrial ceiling fans beforehand. The idea of being able to "fly" for a few minutes sounds fantastic.

5. Basically All The Food In Harry Potter's World

From the Chocolate Frogs to Butterbeer, the World of Harry Potter is full of some of the most creative foods known to wizards. Luckily many of these have been made for us Muggles. But it is not the same. My chocolate frogs don't hop. A feast does not magically appear on my table. Being a muggle sucks. Guess I'll just have to make a hot fudge sundae without any magic.

Faux Foodie- Flower Tarts

Once again we tried to make our own take on something we saw on Pinterest. We may never learn.

This time we made "Flower Tarts"

Using pie crust we cut flowers shapes with a cookies cutter. We then very carefully placed this thin flower shapes into a mini cupcake pan. This was not easy. We had to push the middle of the flower shapes down into the cupcake, for lack of a better word, holes.

This sometimes resulted in tearing, which resulted in frustration.

After the pie crust had baked a new challenge presented itself. Because of the shape and thinness of the pie crust the "petals" kept wanted to break off. Getting these to the cookie rack was just step one. Placing them into individual cupcake paper cups was close to a Herculean task. 

Then came the lemon curd...which we made from scratch. While it was delicious, it was a massive pain to make. It required straining, lemon zest and a whole slew of minor steps just to make a single batch. 

Thankfully we opted for canned Cherry filling for the other Flower Tarts.

These looks so cute and taste really good. But the work that went into these cause many a fight between me and my mom.

We were just frustrated. So many tarts did not survive this process.

5 Fandom Friday- OTPs

I can think of no better way to reenter the blogsphere than to come back with a 5 Fandom Friday.

Since last month I took a break from the blog I missed out on some 5 Fandom Friday fun. Lucky for me this week The Nerdy Girlie and SuperSpaceChick choose a "make-up prompt" week. I choose "Favorite One True Pairing" for my make-up post (cupcakes came a close second.

1. FitzSimmons (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

via GIPHY

For me FitzSimmons have been a packaged deal since day one. They have had many things come between them but you just hope for the day that everything works out in their favor.

2. Steve (Capt. America) and Peggy (Agent Carter)

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One of Marvel's most tragic love affairs. Two people, perfect for each other, a dance date set and then time literally comes between them. I love that Peggy fell for Steve before he become Captain America. 

Even though I am more than fine with Peggy ending up with Sousa, I will always want Steve and Peggy to get their happily ever after.

Guess I'll just have to be satisfied with some Steve and Bucky bromance ; )

3. Rory and Amy (Doctor Who)

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Amy and Rory were my favorite companions on Doctor Who. Their love story felt real. Amy may have been the Alpha but they were equals in so many ways. They saved each other as well as the Doctor. 

The trio of 11, Amy and Rory will always be peak Doctor Who for me.

4. Ned and Chuck (Pushing Daisies)

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I still wish Pushing Daisies had been given a bigger chance. Everything about this show was beautiful and quirky. I absolutely loved the visuals.
At its heart though was the love story of Ned and Chuck. Childhood friends who meet again after Ned brings Chuck back from the dead with his accidental magic.
There romance is bittersweet because if Ned touches Chuck again she will be dead and stay dead. Yet even with that morbid crux they still have one of the sweetest relationships.

5. Logan 5 and Jessica 6

Logan's Run is one of my all time favorite films....ever.
Yes it is campy at times but I love it. It was filmed in an old mall in Texas. The effects are bad. I don't care. This is one of the first films that made me love sci-fi. Plus it has a Jerry Goldsmith score. Don't know who he is? Look him up, some of the most memorable movie scores were written by him.
At the center of the movie is the love story on the run of Logan and Jessica. Possible my first OTP.
Watch this film and love it