5 Fandom Friday: Favorite Fandom Accessories I Own

This week's 5 Fandom Friday is about Fandom Accessories. Luckily I have quite a few of these. 5 Fandom Friday is the genius idea from The Nerdy Girlie and SuperSpaceChick.

1. Tee Shirts

I've posted pics of my Doctor Who shirts and some other nerdy shirts but these are from the other side of my fandom loves. David Bowie and Labyrinth shirts because I love him.

The Zydrate shirt is from Repo! The Genetic Opera, a guilty pleasure of mine.

Muse shirts from their shows in Oklahoma. I won the tickets to the Resistance Tour show in OKC from my favorite radio station in Tulsa Z 104.5 the Edge. Not only did I get tickets but they drove all the winners there in a bus. Free ride? Why thank you.

And of course my musical theatre shirts. I am a RentHead.

2. Broadway Cares Tote

Again with my musical theatre love.

I got this tote a few years ago from Broadway Cares. They are a non-profit AIDS fundraising group. They also carry some really great theatre products. Everything from signed cds and books to umbrellas and blankets.

I have seen about half of the musicals featured on this tote. Thank god for touring companies

3. Nerdy Socks

What would a true nerd be without some geektastic socks. I've got Doctor Who and Deadpool. I need some Harley Quinn ones

 4. Buttons

I have a growing collection of buttons. Some are from musicals, like Avenue Q and Spamalot. Some are from TV and film, Doctor Who and Rocky Horror. I even have some from the Muse concerts I went to. Also a ton of LootCrate ones. I feel like I need more. I want to cover this old purse.

5. Alice in Wonderland Wallet

I got this for my birthday last year. If only they made an American McGee version ; )

January Wrap Up

I never know how to start a post for an overall monthly review. Basically January is almost over and I want to recount some of the things that have kept me entertained.

Movies and TV

The film Frank started streaming on Netflix. I wanted to see this so much when it came to my local Indie theater but I missed it. I even made a Halloween costume based on Frank. I am happy to say this film did not disappoint me. Michael Fassbender was perfect as the almost recluse musician hiding in his mask. And the song "I Love You All" is oddly catchy.

Gypsy Girl (Skywest and Crooked) 1965

Another Netflix pick. I stumbled across this strange film just the other night. Starring Disney darling Hayley Mills and Deadwood's Ian McShane. A strange story about a girl who is emotionally stunted due to a childhood trauma and a gypsy boy who falls in love with her. Set in rural England in, I think, the 1960's. It could be a different time period but I am pretty sure it is supposed to have been set in the time it was filmed. As odd as all the animal burials are, this is a rather endearing film. 

Parks and Recreation 

I finally caved in and started to watch this show. I started with the first season and hated it. I gave up at about 4 episodes in. Then I read some reviews about how it gets better in season 2 and so on. They are right! I now love this show and have been binge watching it like crazy. I'm already on season 5. I want to be April. 

Goodies

IggleSwap

This month I participated in the International Geek Girl Pen Pal Club (IGGPPC or Iggles for short) Sock Swap. My swap partner sent me the cutest socks ever. Gnomes, ice-cream cones, llamas and party chihuahuas. Plus nail polish! In comparison the ones I sent her suck. These socks are fantastic.

Subscription Boxes

This month's Ipsy and Birchbox subscriptions can be seen better here . I really love getting these beauty boxes. I am slowly building a stock pile of skin care products. Pretty good sized samples too.

Challenges

Back to IGGPPC. Every month there are iggle challenges. Crafting, fitness, books, films, photography and many more. This month's craft challenge was Perler beads. The plastic beads that you can melt together to make designs. These were a staple of my childhood. Everyone in my family had these as coasters. 

For the challenge I made a pathetic rupee from Zelda and a Psychedelic Batman that came out better than I thought it would.

IggleBookWorms

I also read the book Princesses Behaving Badly for the Iggle Book Club. I joined Goodreads this month just to start participating in this group. I also put down 20 books as Goodreads 2015 Challenge goal. I think I am doing pretty well already. Below are the books I have read this month. Not counting any rereads.

Melissa's bookshelf: read

Melissa (eris_discord42)'s favorite books »

5 Fandom Friday: Songs That Changed My Life

This is the most difficult 5 Fandom Friday yet. There are so many songs that mean something to me. I could literally come up with 100 or more. To narrow it down has been so hard. I know that after I post this I will want to change it again and again.

Thanks to The Nerdy Girlie and SuperSpaceChick for their brilliant 5 Fandom ideas.

1. Garbage- #1 Crush  

I choose this song to represent my grunge and later britpop stage. Still in the britpop to be honest. The music during the 90's grunge was the first music that I liked that my parents didn't listen to. Of course being in Oklahoma I was late to the scene. By the time I started listening to this music, grunge was dying. I had a cassette tape of Garbage's Version 2.0 that I wore out and bought a CD version of it as my first CD. I miss this phase in my life. I tried so hard to be alternative in my blue and pink flannel. 

2. The Monkees- Daydream Believer

I was obsessed with The Monkees when I was little. I have even written a blog post about my love for them before...here . Davy was my favorite. This music and similar songs remind my of my pretty good and naive childhood. I guess I listened to a lot of 60's and 70's music as a kid. Then I went grunge...

3.Placebo- Taste in Men

My favorite band PLACEBO. I have always loved David Bowie since I can remember. This lead me to watch Velvet Goldmine. The members of Placebo had a small role in this film as part of a glam rock band. They covered 20th Century Boy in the movie. I loved it and went on youtube and watched every video and fell madly in love. I ordered all their CDs and listened to them one a month so I could relish them individually.

I discovered Placebo at a point in my life that I was feeling lost, angry and alone. This music spoke to me. It could make me happy or help me vent out my frustrations.

I choose Taste in Men because Brian Molko is so sexy in this music video : )

4. I Cain't Say No- from Oklahoma

I am a theatre girl from Oklahoma. This song has to be on my list. For years my small town had an outdoor theatre just a few miles away that performed Oklahoma and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers every summer. Discoveryland! This theatre closed down a few years ago when the owner or his wife died. It used to be a big draw in the 70's and 80's. People came for all over the world. I went almost every summer as a kid. I knew all the songs. After the show you could go up on stage and meet the cast, have them sign your program or get pictures. 

I regret that I never got to perform there. Not even an audition : (

5. Romeo and Juliet Suite- Nino Rota

I think my mom still regrets my having ever watched this movie. She was annoyed by whatever cartoon I was watching and changed the channel to this. My introduction to Shakespeare and acting. Being six or seven I didn't really understand what they were saying but I was mesmerized by it all. My parents bought me one of the Shakespeare books that "translate" the lines on the opposite page. The first play I ever memorized. I knew all of Juliet's lines.

My descent into acting began. She should have just let me watch Tiny Toons.

January Birchbox and Ipsy

This month's Birchbox and Ipsy subscriptions have arrived. With the winter weather wreaking havoc on my skin I was ready for these. As per usual I split these out with my mom. Anything in Purple are the products she choose.

Birchbox

• Harvey Prince Sincerely- You can't see it in the picture but this is a perfume sample. These are my mom's favorites, mini perfumes. 
• Sumita Color Contrast Eyeliner- An olive green eyeliner that I really like. The color is subtle but different to the tried and true black. This eyeliner is so easy to use too, it is soft and glides on without any effort. 
• Whish Body Butter Lavender- Creamy body butter that smells a little bit like baby power. 
• DR. Jart+ Premium BB SPF 45+- I have been trying to get my mom to try a BB cream for a long time so this is perfect. And she actually likes it.
• Vasanti Cosmetics BrightenUp! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator- I literally just used this and really liked it. A little goes a long way so this sample will last. It is a exfoliating cleanser with papaya and aloe to smooth, brighten and cleanse.

Ipsy

Ipsy's glam bag includes a makeup bag each month. This month's bag is dual block colors with white on one side and blue on the other.

• Hikari Mechanical Eyeliner in Storm- First off, love the name: Storm. The color is a pretty dark metallic grey. My problem with this eyeliner is that it is difficult to use. It doesn't go on well. 
• (MALIN+GOETZ) Mojito Lip Balm- This is more of a gel/gloss and goes on a bit sticky. A small amount is all you need. It does have a faint hint of mint.
• Manna Kadar Sheer Glow- A pale pink shimmer lotion. There isn't too much shimmer to it, but enough to see a difference.
• Pacifica Natural Mineral Coconut Eye Shadow- Neither of us choose this product. My mom is not big on eye shadows and I don't like anything with coconut. I will say that it is a good sized product.
• Eco-beauty Day Moisturizer- To be perfectly honest she hasn't tried this yet. The packaging is interesting. 

Ipsy and Birchbox are $10 a month shipped in the US. Ipsy tends to be more makeup related and Birchbox has the higher end skin care samples. I am really glad that we decided to get both of these a month. 

My favorite products this month are from Birchbox: the Sumita eyeliner and from Ipsy: the Mojito lip balm.

5 Fandom Friday: Conventions I've Been To Or Wish To Attend

It's Friday, Friday, 5 Fandom Friday!

This week's 5 Fandom Friday from the brilliant minds of The Nerdy Girlie and Super Space Chick is all about conventions. I have only been to one convention. Gasp. So I will start with that one.

1. The Tulsa Trek Expo 2009- I cannot believe that this is the only convention I have ever been to. It was a strange and wonderful experience. Having never been to one before we really didn't know what was going on or who was going to be there. So we didn't get any photo ops or autographs. Instead we walked around amazed by the cosplayers. The Ghostmobile was parked outside the convention center. Darth Vader and gold bikini Leia were there of course. And the strangest Superman I have ever seen. I will not give details on that because it was really odd. I was big into Torchwood at the time and pick up all the Torchwood badges and a picture of Jack and Gwen. I also found a very old Logan's Run badge and and 10th Doctor Who one that I had to have. For the past few years the Trek Expo has not been held : (

   

   A little blurry but LOGAN"S RUN

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2.  San Diego Comic Con- This is the big one everyone talks about. I want to go so badly. On G4 they used to have live coverage but sadly that is over. After watching Tom Hiddleston take over as Loki on youtube I NEED to be there. 
3. Dragon Con- This is actually the first convention I ever heard about. I was addicted to the New Zealand post-apocalyptic kid's show The Tribe when I was in Junior High and High School. Around this time many of the cast members went to this convention. 
4. Tokyo Tulsa- I had heard the name before but did not really pay attention to this convention until I started watching Attack on Titan, my first anime. Now I want to cosplay as a Scout.
5. Tulsa Comic Con/ Wizard World- Last year Tulsa got its biggest convention yet. So many amazing actors and actresses came, including a bunch from The Walking Dead...Darryl!! Unfortunately I could not afford to go last year. I really hope they bring it back this year. PLEASE

Honestly there are so many conventions I would love to attend. 

Donating Hair

My hair had gotten really long. It was long enough that I could almost sit on it if I wasn't paying attention. While I like my hair long it does have it drawbacks. Waking up looking like Cousin It and Medusa's spawn. The excessive amount of shampoo needed to wash it. The wind trying to blind and choke me with it. 

Instead of just trimming it I wanted to donate it instead.

I looked into a few different donation groups and decided to go with Pantene Beautiful Lengths. This group makes wigs for women who have lost their hair due to cancer. They only require 8 inches of hair, which was not a problem for me since I ended up cutting around 12 inches off. I do not have anything against any of the other donation programs. I think that they all are trying to do some good for people who need it. I just choose this group based on some research.

Not the most flattering backside picture

After trimming up my hair a bit, to even it out, it feels so strange. It hits just below my shoulders. I have not had my hair this short in years. I will admit it is easier to deal with. Since it has been so cold lately it is nice to not have so much hair to dry. 

Also I think my mom had a perverse glee in cutting off my ponytail.

5 Fandom Friday: Why I Hate Winter

I am changing up this week's 5 Fandom Friday prompt from The Nerdy Girlie and Super Space Chick. Instead of "My Favorite Things About Winter" I'm going with "Why I Hate Winter". Right now I am writing this as close to the heater as I can get without actually catching fire and I'm still bloody cold. Living in Oklahoma means extremes in weather. You might get one day of perfect Fall or Spring weather but that is it. More likely it will be negative temps one week then blistering hot the next. Tornadoes, floods, droughts, heat waves, blizzards, ice storms and lately a ton of freaking earthquakes. Yeah, earthquakes.
Since I am in a "I hate the cold" mood, here is my list of Why I Hate Winter

1. The Cold- My floor furnace broke this year and I had to get one of those freestanding gas heaters. The way my ancient house is set up means that little to no heat gets to my bedroom. I have an electric blanket but it has a safe mode that turns it off after 10 or 12 hours. So sometimes I wake up curled in a freezing ball underneath the covers knowing that the only way to get warm again is to make a mad dash to the living room. But getting there means getting colder first. Dilemma. 
2. Roads- I worry about the roads a lot. Especially for my family. I do not have a car right now so I don't drive much and I refuse to drive at all if there is ice or snow on the road. Too many times I have been in a car that went to stop and just kept sliding. I am sure my panicked screams really make it better. 
3. Laundry- This one may seem odd, so let me explain. My laundry room is not attached to the house. It is attached to the garage and I have to go outside to get to it. Back when my mom used to live in this house she would sometimes have to dig a path through the snow to get to the laundry room. I am basically a groundhog and will not attempt it to do the laundry in the snow, ice or even if it's just really, really cold. This means there are times in the dead of winter that I will end up wearing shorts and tank tops because its better than going out there.
4. Bad Time To Start A Diet- I have learned this the hard way. With it being so cold all I want is comfort and junk food. Also fresh fruit and veggies are harder to come by right now. There are always apples and bananas but damn it I want fresh peaches.
5. 2007 Winter Ice Storm- Over a week without electricity. Everywhere. Luckily the roads were clear but trees everywhere had fallen and taken out power lines. It was so bad that electric workers from other states had to come here to help. It was the nice men from Georgia Power that got our electricity working. They literally had to go house to house to fix it. Over a week without being able to eat anything that didn't need to be refrigerated or cooked made me ill. That and no real heat. Also a giant tree fell on my car...
   

That being said I am not fond of Summer in Oklahoma either. It should always been Spring or Fall. If only we had Spring or Fall here ; )

I'm Trying- A New Year Update

I am trying to stick to the eating healthy goal I gave myself for this year but geez it's tough. The colder it gets the more I want comfort food like freshly baked cookies, warm bread etc.

My Mom and I started this resolution last Monday, December 29th. We looked up healthy recipes, made menus and read all the labels when we went shopping. The problem is we don't really like healthy food. We made a broccoli cheese soup that made us sad. We discovered that pesto is our sworn enemy. Yuck. And whole wheat lasagna rolls with spinach just isn't the same.

Spinach lasagna...not the best

 What to do now?

I have started going through the food that we know we like and making changes here and there to make them healthy. Basically cutting out as much of the processed parts as possible. This of course means that I am making a lot of our menus from scratch. Luckily I am an overly organized person. Mom just stops by on her way home and picks up her prepacked meals all ready for her to fix up in minutes when she is ready. Lucky mom. 

Honestly though, I like the whole organizing process. I feel like I am in control.

Bit of a power trip maybe

My only real problem is Food Porn.

What I mean by that is I somehow always manage to stumble across food blogs, pinterest recipes and yes even browse thru fast food websites.

"Oh Krispy Kreme, you are beautiful. There you are mister Burger, how I have missed you. Cheesecake, you sexy beast"

I miss you 

This is usually when I forage in the kitchen for anything junk food related and binge. But I have been working really hard to stop that dreadful cycle.

On a better note. I have been keeping up with exercising. I hate it but I feel great afterwards. That's something.

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In the area of goals:

I have signed up for Goodreads and joined the Geek Girl Pen Pal Iggleworms group.

Geek Girls Pen Pal Club always has some challenges each month be it photo, craft, exercise and many more. This year I plan to get more involved with these.

   

5 Fandom Friday: New Years Fandom Resolutions

It's the first Fandom Friday of the year!

This week The Nerdy Girlie and Super Space Chick want to know our 5 New Years FANDOM resolutions.

1. Wear My Geektastic Tees: I have a bunch of geeky tees that I have gotten from the T-shirt a day sites like Teefury, Ript Apparel and TeeVillian. The problem is I never get out enough to wear them, it seems like a waste to wear them alone in my fortress of solitude. Another part of this resolution is to stop buying so many of these shirt. Really, this is only a small collection of what I have. I don't include Megan Lara's designs in my non buying goal because I kind of need them. The bottom row are Megan Lara's designs. So pretty and detailed.

2. Books of Ember: After reading the Hunger Games and Mortal Instruments series I have become a devoted YA fan. I read Beautiful Creatures but it just didn't pull me in. So the YA series I want to start next is The Books of Ember series by Jeanne Dupau. I'm open to any YA series suggestion. Only I really hated Twilight.

3. Return to Alice: Madness Returns: I started playing in November but I got stuck in a difficult area, then the holidays took over. It has been a casualty of the "December Void". Soon.

4.Nail Art and Cosplay: I want to get back into attempting nail art again. I have a ton of nail polish that I haven't been using. This will be a Pinterest Fail waiting to happen. Also I have always wanted to get into cosplay. I have seen so many amazing bloggers post their cosplay pics and I want to try. Maybe something like Attack on Titan or Chiana from Farscape. 

5. Game of Thrones Re-Watch:  I would really like to re-watch the entire GoT series before the new season begins. This is the least likely to happen out of all of these resolutions. Maybe it can happen.