Sunday, July 22, 2012

Long Time No See, But I've Been Productive!

Long time no hear. yeah, I can make all these excuses but what do they amount to? Nothing. So Im not going to make them.

Instead I'm going to tell you about my insanely busy week! Yay! Ever felt like the world was just sweeping along and you're only along for the ride? Yeah, that's what my week kind of felt like but I enjoyed every minute of it. I finished my first quilt, beat up two people to find out where my captain was (Okay, my tabletop RPG character did that...), and I started watching Doctor Who (more like marathoning...). I went to The Dark Knight Rises midnight premiere and started watching Downton Abbey. I think I can safely say that British TV has ruined me f orever.

So you see I've had a pretty crazy week but that also leaves a crazy amount to write about! Yay!

Since my aunt has threatened my life otherwise, this post is going to be about the quilt I made.



It's a baby quilt I made as a gift for one of my professors. Given how close my college math department was I thought it would make a nice gift from all the mathies. I designed it around the professor's area of study - physics. Yes, that's suppose to be the doppler effect. The border on the outside is a fabric I found online. It's a print of one of the professor's favorite online comics, xkcd. It's a pretty funny comic and very nerdy.

Anyway, I'm really proud of this quilt because it is the first quilt I've done almost completely by myself. I'm extremely grateful for all the help my aunt gave me with the parts I had problems with to be honest. Yeah, I admit some not so nice words were said about my sewing machine. Thankfully though, we ended on good terms and are still friends so much so that I have a new quilt in mind. I got the fabric yesterday with an insane amount of coupons.

In other news, I'm going to Six Flags tomorrow. You're probably wondering why a girl who is terrified of heights is going to an amusement park. I honestly don't like roller coasters but I'm going with some friends and I'm going to try to ride one of the bigger coasters. Not the metal contraptions that that spin you upside down, mind you, but I'm going to attempt a roller coaster. I'll try to get pictures. In any case, it should be highly hilarious for you, my reader. You know how insanely honest I am about embarrassing and horrifying events in my life. It really is amazing what people put on the internet nowadays.

Well, that's it for today. We'll have to see what tomorrow brings. If I can come unclued from Doctor Who long enough, I'll try to share my recent obsession with you all!

Until next time, happy readings!

PS I saw my third in-theater preview for The Hobbit. Given my friend said afterwards that she wished she could be as excited about something as I was about that movie, I think I can safely assume that I expressed the same level of excitement as the first time I saw it! :) 

Monday, July 16, 2012

Tired....

Uh... I feel like a zombie. I've done so much today. I think I've done more today then I have all summer. Ugh...That 'ugh' isn't so much for productiveness as it is for how exhausting productiveness is. As such, this post is going to be tiny. Super duper tiny, because my brain doesn't have the power to write 400 words and I think yesterday's long blog post can make up for that.

So you want to know what I did today. Of course you do. You're probably sitting on the edge of your seats as you read this. Careful! Don't fall out of your chair! ;)

HEATHER'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS JULY 16th EDITION:
1. Quilted a quilt for my aunt on her awesome... you know I don't know what it's called. It makes quilting easier that's for sure.
2. I finished quilting a baby blanket for a friend.
3. I sewed a butt-ton (yeah that's a real measurement) of my Wicked quilt. Not done yet though.
4. Made the front of a pillowcase.
5. Made binding for quilts.
6. Sewed part of 1600 quilt
7. Lost feeling in my hands...

Wait...that last one shouldn't be an accomplishment for today. Though to be honest, I'm not exactly sure how I'm typing this blog post... Anyway, that's it for now. I'll post pictures tomorrow. You know, when I can feel my fingers.

Hope your day was just as productive!

Happy readings!

Oh, Frodo and Gandalf went on an adventure yesterday to the airport. ...well, apparently the camera on my phone didn't save the picture. They did go to the airport though. Sorry I don't have any proof. Stupid camera...

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Come on, Mon! Let's go to Comic-Con!

This post was originally going to be about dinosaurs. Don't ask me why. I've developed a strange fanaticism for dinosaurs rather recently. I turn into a 5 year old whenever they're brought up. Seriously, I do, I get into arguments with my friend's kid about which dinosaur is the most awesome and which Jurassic Park movie is the best. My adopted-grandmother got Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs for her grandchildren. Their reaction: "Cool. I want to watch 'Spongebob.'" My reaction: "ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS! CAN I WATCH IT? CAN I WATCH IT?" *jumps up and down* Seriously...then again, it could just be that I act like a 5 year old, generally... Anyway, I'll save that one for another day. I blame the sudden change in topic on Pinterest. Everyone is pinning things dealing with Comic-con and all my favorite nerdy things! I have to gush! It's a requirement!

So first item on the gushing agenda deals with Neil Gaiman. I actually found this when I was looking up something about "Fables." Apparently, he announced at Comic-con via video that on the 25th anniversary of "Sandman," he will be starting a new "Sandman" series dealing with a moment in Morpheus' past! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY! Here's a link to the video below if you are a fan. If you're not, you should definitely give "Sandman" a read. It is awesome!



Announcement on Vertigo Comics Website

I admit I was jumping up and down in my seat while I was watching it. My sister was giving me weird looks but then we had a conversation about how awesome his voice is. (I forced her to listen to The Graveyard Book on one road trip. He narrates and she loved it! I would have disowned her if she didn't. JK...not really. Jk...) Then, we laughed about how if I ever meet Neil Gaiman in real life, then I would honestly faint. I most definitely would. I've shown all my friends a picture of him and told them that if we ever come across a man that looks like the man in the picture while we're hanging out and I faint, then they are to get his autograph no matter what. Yeah... I'm weird. :)

Next item of gushing-ness: "Firefly" had a ten year reunion panel! It's about an hour long. I found a link to it on Pinterest and it's actually fairly good quality from what I've seen so far. I haven't watched all of it yet but I will soon. Just a heads up to all you "Firefly" fans!


(I found this video on Pinterest. It isn't mine.)

Third item of gushing-ness: It was also announced at Comic-Con that "The Legend of Korra," the sequel series of "Avatar: The Last Airbender," will have not only a second season composed of 14 episodes but also 26 episodes after that! YAYAYAYAY! I'm excited! :) "Legend of Korra" is really amazing. I love it just as much as the original series. lol. I just typed awesome at the end of that sentence. Hee hee. Anyway, the soundtrack is amazing and I really like where the plot is going. It'll be interesting to see where it goes from Season 1. I can't wait to see! :)

I couldn't find the link on Pinterest but here is a link to an article about it. :)
Info on The Legend of Korra


Of course, The Hobbit is at Comic-Con this year. Grrr I wish I was there. Peter Jackson keeps posting pictures on Facebook. It makes me sad. I'm almost tempted to buy tickets to next year's Comic-Con in the hopes that The Hobbit cast will be there again. You know, Star Trek has a new movie out next year as well so they could potentially be there as well.... O_o This plan is looking better and better...

AHHHH! I want to go!

Two more things to discuss: the Dream Theory and "Darn you, Pinterest!"

My Dream Theory: I'm coming to the conclusion, or rather the Nerdy Conclusion, that you can't truly consider yourself a fan of something, a true fan, until you've had a dream about it. I've already told you all about my Joss Whedon dream and that I had dreams about a few other things. Today while I was looking at The Mines of Moria Lego set I remembered that I had a dream about Harry Potter once as well. Now my nerdy-gushy-self is a legit fan of Neil Gaiman, Joss Whedon, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter! Yay! Have y'all had dreams about some of y'all's favorite things?


"Darn you, Pinterest!": Today I realized as I was looking on the "Everything: Geek" page of Pinterest that that site has made me into a "Doctor Who" fan and I've never even seen the show! Everyone pins really funny things about "Doctor Who" and I know the basic idea of the show so I find them kind of funny. The stuff that I don't completely understand but I still find funny for some reason makes me think that I'll really love the show. Of course, this also means that I'll probably become a shut-in while I'm trying to get through all the episodes. My sister has threatened to lock me in a closet if I try to watch all of them in one sitting (There are at least six seasons if I remember correctly).


That's all for now. You guys should really share some of your thoughts with me on your favorite things. I'd love to hear about them!

Until next time, happy readings!

Oh! I almost forgot the picture of Frodo and Gandalf for today... It's on my phone...I'm lazy...I'll post it tomorrow!

PS I got the pictures from Google Images. They aren't mine.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Summer Movies, Had Me a Blast!

I got to go to the movies again today. That's one of my favorite things about summer: movies! I love going to the movies. One summer I went to a movie every weekend for at least 8 weeks. Yeah, I really do love it! I really just love the experience: dark theater, awesome previews, popcorn, soft drink, large screen and a great sound system. It's just a lot of fun!

Today I saw Ice Age: Continental Drift.


It's the fourth movie in the Ice Age series. I'm actually impressed that they made four so far. Personally, I love them. I think they are hilarious and fun. Then again, I am a kid at heart. :) I honestly hadn't thought the last movie in the series did well enough to merit a fourth movie but I'm glad they made one anyway. It was hilarious. I laughed pretty much the whole time. If you're looking for a funny, silly movie, you should definitely go see it especially if you've seen the other three.

My other favorite part of summer is the previews before summer movies. It always helps you know what you should see next. Today's previews proved to be very rewarding! I saw my second preview for The Hobbit!


You know, I think I was just as excited about the first time I saw it! It looks so good! They even included the singing this time! I can't wait! I think I'm going to put a countdown on my blog. I just have to figure out how to do that first... You know, I think I'm going to reread The Hobbit, just to tide me over until the movie comes out. Well, the book is always better than the movie but it'll definitely get me pumped for the movie! :) So excited! AHHHHHHHH! I just can't contain the excitement!

Okay. Time to go read The Hobbit! Of course, I should probably catch up on my posts... nah that can wait! :)

Happy readings!

PS Gandalf and Frodo decided to join me for the movie.


I think I might make this a more usual occurrence. Don't miss where they go next!

Only  the last image is mine. The rest were retrieved from Google.

Friday, July 13, 2012

The Pinterest Addiction

I'm counting that last post as one of my four. Yay for only three to go! Of course, I'm only doing one today, because I'm an underachiever! ...good thing I wasn't taking a sip of my drink or my computer would have just gotten a shower. Underachiever? Me? What? That doesn't even make sense.

Bah...whatever! Now on to more interesting things! First of all, I forgot to tell you from where those quotes came. Drumroll please! .... or not. It would be more exciting with a drumroll though...

1. Bored! - "Sherlock" (You had to see this coming!)


2. That man is so full of himself it's a wonder he can stay up on that horse. - "Emma" (I'd watched it recently.)

3. By thunder! - Treasure Planet (I was inspired by reading Stevenson's novel.)


4. She killed them with mathematics. - "Firefly" (I love this show! The quote also feeds my mathy nature.)


5. I...I don't see how that's a party. - The Avengers (It just came to me.)


Fortunately... I mean, unfortunately, no one was able to guess ALL of my quotes. Let me tell you, my cheater of a little sister definitely gave it a good shot. Thankfully though, she didn't guess them all. As such, I don't have to do anything crazy! Yay! ...maybe I should clarify. I don't have to admit to anything crazy on my blog if I don't want to do so! :) Then again, I am always admitting crazy stuff on here. Oh well, I guess I really am my own worse enemy. :\

Oh and all the postscripts were a reference to Gandalf's letter to Frodo at the Prancing Pony in The Fellowship of the Ring. I always thought that was cool and wanted to do it too one day. Now I have! My life is complete! :) I would post a picture of it, but I don't have a copy of The Fellowship of the Ring with me. They're all packed at the moment. :(

All right. Now it's time for the good stuff: the actual body of the post. Today's topic is Pinterest! I am so addicted! What is so great about it is that they have a section called "Everything: Geek" and it's like heaven! Okay okay, let me explain what Pinterest is exactly for those of you that have no idea. It's basically a cork board for your web-surfing. If you find something you want to remember, you can "pin" it to one of your boards on Pinterest and it keeps it there and even provides a image. I guess you could say it's very similar to bookmarking websites-actually, it's exactly like bookmarking websites-but you can browse through things that others "pin."

For instance, the "Everything: Geek" page. I have found so many awesome nerdy ideas. They also have a lot of jokes about popular nerdy shows. I've also developed a desire to watch Doctor Who because of Pinterest's Geek page. Yeah, so if I can convince my sister, you may not hear from me for a month if I let myself fall into that trap...

As of right now, I have 15 boards. Yeah, I definitely have one dedicated to each of my favorite nerdy things: Tolkien, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Sherlock, Neil Gaiman, etc. I also have a board that I think perfectly describes me. I'll post some of the memes I pinned on that board below. None of these belong to me despite their perfect description of me.

These are just a few of the ones that I think best describe me. In total, I have 57 pins. It's kind of funny because Pinterest keeps telling me I should write a description about myself. I keep thinking: "You should just look at my 'The Perfect Description of Me' board. That about sums me up."

Here are some memes I found that make me laugh. Hee hee... I love geeky humor.


 You know... I'm suddenly realizing that my boards on Pinterest have become a homage to all my favorite nerdy things. Ah!!! There is no end to the gushing of my nerdiness! Pinterest just manifests it in meme form while Blogspot reflects it through my words! AHHHHHH! I'm the Incredible Nerd!
 It's  similar to the Incredible Hulk except the internet turns me into some super nerdy individual every time I express myself instead of a green angry creature by getting angry.You know... I'm not sure why I included the muscles in my picture...O_o
 
Once a nerd always a nerd as the saying goes. I can't believe I'm only just now catching onto my habits. Tsk tsk...

Happy readings!

PS Only the last image is mine! Don't you love my artwork? :) The memes I found on Pinterest and the rest of the pictures I got from Google Images.

Let the Groveling Commence...

My dear readers, it is I, the blogger. You know, Heather? Hopefully, you still remember me? Yes, you know that one that gushes over the nerdiest things and... well, actually that's all I do now that I think about it. Anyway, I'm groveling for your readership once more. Alas, I have abandon you for any number of days now. The last count is four blog posts. I've come back now to beg your forgiveness and to continue blogging. These last few days I have been somewhat busy and the desire to write left me, but I am back now. I shall try not to let it happen again. Here I offer my most sincere face of regret.

 

Or a look that makes you think I just watched my puppy get run over by an 18-wheeler... either way hopefully it will suffice you. In all seriousness, please come back. I hit over 40 pageviews in one day and I think I buckled under the pressure. Of course, if I keep it up, I'll be back to zero to two views a day. :\ And I would deserve it. I do have great delights in store for you who stay with me. I am considering epic poetry for one of my next posts, or at least epic language. I'm still trying to figure it out but hopefully I'll have it posted soon.   

I'm begging you to come back, and maybe even accept this post as one of the four that you are due. You can see that I weep in fear of the four posts I must write. 


You would think I would have learned my lesson but...yeah, I definitely didn't. You can be the bigger person here and let me get away with this apology as a post. I even posted funny pictures of myself. That has to count for something! Look at my hopeful face


Just let it count for one. That can't hurt anything right? Right? :)

I'll let you guys decide even though I'm heavily leaning towards it. I mean I made some funnies and I think I met the 400 word limit. We'll see. To continue though, it was really hard to get myself to write this week as you can tell. I was just feeling blah and I didn't want to make y'all read blah. It wasn't even good blah. It was kind of depressing blah and you guys deserve funny blah which is of course the best kind of blah.

Today or yesterday now that I look at the clock, I found out that Neil Gaiman was on an episode of Arthur-you know the reading aardvark, Arthur Read? Anyway, he was helping Sue Ellen on her journey as a writer. Sue Ellen kept talking to her "inner Neil" throughout the show. It was really kind of funny but I couldn't help but be a little jealous. This little kid gets to meet Neil Gaiman and get writing advice from him. I don't care if he's imaginary half the time. I want an "inner Neil." Okay, maybe I could settle for some simple inspiration. (I do want to meet Neil Gaiman ONE day.) Your comments are always inspiring and I need them so don't stop, but I think that watching that episode helped me a little. It definitely kicked me back into gear for this blog and maybe in some other areas of writing I like to pursue. (*cough* my book, Aunt Sarah *cough* Please don't faint.) Isn't it awesome when you come back to a childhood show when your older and you still learn something? We'll see how this inspiration goes. I'm hoping really well.

All right, done with the serious stuff. *yawn* BORING. Anyway, there's my apology. I'm going to try to catch up over the next few days. We'll see how it goes. :) 

Until next time, happy readings!

Monday, July 9, 2012

Finishing a Book is Productive, Right?

This one's going to be a quick post because I want to get back to my book, especially since I should be reading a different one for book club... BOOKS!

Look at what I got done today.


While they're not finished-project accomplishments, I still got something done today! I started work on the jelly-roll quilt as you can see from the stripes making a V. I only sewed the stripes together and cut off 18 inches at one end. Let me tell you, folding that thing in half so I could sew it together was just too much work. I started by putting the ends together and then worked my way to the middle. Unfortunately somewhere down the road, the stripes got twisted so when I finally got to the middle... it was a nightmare. I gave up but my sis decided to give it a go. She got it untwisted and worked her way from the middle to the ends. That was probably the smarter thing to do. Even though the ends don't meet, I can still work with that better than I can with a twisted middle. Rachel to the rescue! Yay!

My hero!
I also got a big chunk of my "Wicked" quilt done! They're all sewed and cut. Now I have to iron and more sewing! yay! I should probably learn how to iron the squares correctly first...

I also started cutting random rectangles from hexagons I had. It was just so I could practice my cutting. I still have one more blanket to cut for but that's an important blanket and it terrifies me a little having to cut it. Now that I have practice I feel a little better. Maybe I'll get to that tomorrow. Today was fun though playing with my new toys! :)

I also finished I am the Messenger. It was wonderful! It's about a ordinary young man who ends up becoming a hero of a bank robbery. Afterwards, he gets sent playing cards in the mail with addresses to help people at those locations. It's really a great read. The main character is hilarious, and he has the most adorable dog called the Doorman. It reminded me a lot of the novel Going Bovine by Libba Bray (another great novel if you haven't read it yet).

Markus Zusak is a really talented author! This book is a Printz Honor book and it's one of the two books he's had win the Printz Honor. The other book was The Book Thief which I've also read. Both books are phenomenal! I don't know who he hasn't won yet. Zusak is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. What I love about him is that he has the ability to write completely differently than what you expect and still have it be amazing. I don't know a lot of authors that can do that. It's the same reason that M.T. Anderson is a favorite of mine.

I find it extremely interesting that we like actors who play different types of characters but authors that write differently from their norm can throw us for a loop. I wonder why that is. I'm fast becoming a fan of these types of authors especially if the writing is great no matter how they write. 

Time to get back to my other book The Book of Lost Things. Maybe I'll be able to post on it tomorrow! :)

Happy readings!


Sunday, July 8, 2012

La-dee-da-dee-da!

I have no idea what to blog about, so this is the post about nothing! Yay for nothing! lalalalala! Hoopty-do-da-day! I have no idea what I'm typing! Wahoo!

...seriously, this is kind of frightening. Where exactly has my mind gone? That is a very good question! Some would say that it disappeared a long time ago...

I know what I can do! Bwhahahaha! I'm going to write a post using only movie quotes. If you can guess them, then... I don't know. I'll do something. Maybe I'll let you pick the topic of my next blog post. Or you could ask me to do something crazy and I'll film me doing it. Hmm... nothing dirty mind you. Just silly. Maybe that was a bad idea...anyway, I'll think of some sort of prize. Then again, you're going to have to guess my quotes! :) Let me tell you I'm quite fluent in movie quotes.

"Bored! That man is so full of himself it's a wonder he can stay up on that horse. By thunder! She killed them with mathematics. I...I don't see how that's a party."

Meh... nevermind. I got bored with the movie quotes. It takes too much energy to think of them. If you can guess those quotes, I'll do something silly...if this post isn't silly enough. Apparently this is what you get when someone is ridiculously tired and ridiculously stubborn. I'M NOT GETTING BEHIND ON POSTS AGAIN! Whew... hmm... what to say...

Oh, I played with my new sewing machine a little today. I almost threw it across the room a few times. I really do need to think up a name for it because calling it other "words" simply isn't working...


What else? What else? I'm reading I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak right now as well as The Book of Lost Things by John Connelly. Both books are very good. I'm having a problem choosing which one to read. Of course, I should probably finish I am the Messenger since it's due for book club this week. Yeah... then again I just got to the good stuff in The Book of Lost Things. Alas, having to choose between two books must be liking being asked to choose which child is your favorite: impossible. Oh well. I'll finish them both soon and then tell you, my dear readers, all about them. Yay!


All right, I think I should finish this post. You're probably questioning my sanity. Actually, it's already been confirmed. I'm mental... It hasn't really been confirmed, but it's fun to give the impression that I'm crazy. Then again, my sister might tell you I really am crazy. That's okay though. I know where she sleeps and I have a couple of pranks I've been wanting to try out...now to find a nerf gun...

Happy readings!

PS Pictures from Google Images.

PPS I quoted five movies.

PPPS Gandalf is awesome.

PPPPS If you know why I mentioned Gandalf's awesome-ness in my POSTSCRIPTs (*hint hint*), I'll definitely give you a prize.

PPPPPS Hee hee I've always wanted to do this. :)

Saturday, July 7, 2012

UFOs, Oh my!

Since I'm moving in August, I've had to clean my room and pack up all my things. Of course this means that I've found a lot of things that have been missing for a while. You know those clothes that you forgot you had, books that you thought you'd loaned to someone, and UFOs also known as Unfinished Objects.

While it's nice to discover a new wardrobe without having to buy a new one and finding books is always awesome, UFOs are just not cool. I really don't want them looming over me when I get to graduate school. As such, I've decided to finish them before I go to graduate school. YAY! Another project! Let's have a count on goals for the summer.

GOAL COUNT:
1. One post a day - succeeding!
2. Read as many of the unread books in my library as I can - yeah, right...
3. Work on grammar - think I'm doing fairly well
4. Finish UFOs

I'm not asking too much of my summer now, am I? Lol. I'll keep you readers updated as to how I fair each day or at least whenever I finish a project. Below is a picture of all the projects I've have to finish.


As of right now, I've finished two UFOs. The pile you see on the right. They're no-sew vests. I found a pattern online for making them from T-shirts. They're really neat. I'll have to post a picture of the finished vests eventually. I also have three quilts and two dresses in the pile. It's not a huge pile, but, given I have a little over a month to get them all done, I think it's a decent amount to accomplish before the end of summer.

Today I also got two helpers to aid me toward my goal!


My mom got me a sewing machine for my birthday. It's a little late, but I'm really glad to have one to call my own. I got the cutting board set at Joann's today for dirt cheap. It was 55 percent off and I had a coupon for another 15 percent off. Can we say 'ch-ching?' :) I can't wait to play with my new toys! :)

That's it for me today. Hope y'all had a productive Saturday!

Happy readings!

Friday, July 6, 2012

Dreaming the Dreams of the Nerdy

I think talking about the Firefly-themed tabletop RPG I'm in affected my dreams last night. Weirdly enough, it was more based on Joss Whedon than on "Firefly". Nothing dirty so get your mind out of the gutter.


Apparently, it took place after some friends and I finished watching the movie Cabin in the Woods. It's one of Whedon's more recent works. He wrote the script and someone else directed it. It's a horror movie, but for those who like horror movies, it's more of a comedy. I'm not a horror movie fan, but I got suckered into thinking it was more of a comedy like Zombieland. Yeah, it wasn't. So I've been having nightmares a plenty, or at least, freaking myself out really well before bedtime. I wouldn't suggest it for the faint of heart. You know, those people like me.


Anyway, in my dream, we were walking out of the film and we're at this con. It looked like Dragon-con or Comic-con. (Both of which are nerd heavens. People prevalent throughout nerd culture are at cons, such as Joss Whedon. This year Peter Jackson and some of the cast of The Hobbit will be at Comic-con. Yeah, I want to go...) We ended up going to a panel that only had Joss Whedon on it. My friends and I were the only ones in the room. We asked questions about the movie. I remember being really excited about having met and talked to Joss Whedon. Of course, my alarm interrupted my dream. What was really funny though is I remember waking up and thinking: "I'm not done talking to Joss Whedon yet." I pressed the snooze button and started my dream right where I'd left off. As we were leaving the con, I regretted not asking Whedon about "Firefly" or anything else besides Cabin in the Woods. That's about the time I woke up with an overwhelming desire to put on Facebook that I'd met Joss Whedon. It was really funny because I almost did before I realized it was only a dream! It had felt that real!

I have really weird dreams. What can I say? I'm beginning to think you aren't really a fan of something until you've had a dream about it. If that's true, then I'm currently a true fan of Neil Gaiman, Joss Whedon, and The Lord of the Rings. Then again, maybe, I'm just trying to justify my weird dreams. :)

Until next time, happy readings!

PS All images I found on Google and are not mine. Also, I caught up on my blog posts!


The Nerd, the Geek, and the Dork

I've gotten into a lot of discussions lately about what the difference is between a nerd, a geek and a dork. To be completely honest, I really don't know. I usually refer to myself as a nerd. I don't really take offense to being called a geek; however, "geek" doesn't feel as accurate a description to me. I'm not a huge fan of "dork," but I take it when people call me that.

Most people seem to think that those three terms are interchangeable, but they really aren't. To me, "dork" embodies those individuals who are simply socially awkward. Beyond that they don't really have the obsessions that nerds and geeks seem to have. They're just awkward. And there's nothing wrong with that. I'm incredibly awkward myself.

Here's an example of a character I would consider a dork:

 Zuko (the guy in red) from "Avatar the Last Airbender" would be considered a dork because he's incredible awkward. His awkwardness is extremely adorable (I often call him "adorkable," which according to TV Tropes is a type of character prevalent throughout the nerdy culture). As I said before, while dorks are extremely awkward, that doesn't mean being a dork is a bad thing. In fact, Zuko is in my top three favorite characters of that show. :)

Now, the difference between "nerd" and "geek" is tricky. Both of these have the social-awkwardness balanced by the obsessions. You might be asking why I think fixations balance out social-awkward behaviors. Well, one problem of the socially-awkward is the lack of conversation. You know that awkward silence that stems between two individuals upon first meeting. Yeah, I know that silence really well. Anyway, an enthusiasm for a specific topic can lead to a discussion which gets rid of that silence and with it, the awkwardness. Yay!

My opinion on where the two diverge comes from the extent of the obsession. Geeks live their obsession in spurts. They have marathons of Star Wars every so often, or they reread The Lord of the Rings once every year.  Nerds live their obsession on a day-to-day basis. Everything can be related to something in the show, movie, comic, book, etc. that they love. They always find opportunities to discuss their obsession. Truly, the amount of time an individual lives in their obsessions is what I think is the biggest difference between a nerd and a geek.

Here's my example of a nerd and a geek.

Nerd
Ted from "How I Met Your Mother" is a nerd because he lives the nerdiness daily. The gang spends a whole episode interrupting him with fart noises every time he references something nerdy. He makes up some pretty dorky jokes. He's a nerd for all intents and purposes.

Geek


Marshall is a geek. He's borderline nerd honestly, but I would still classify him as a geek. He has the Star Wars obsession just like Ted; however, he doesn't seem to live the nerdy life as fully as Ted does. The gang never makes fun of him for being too nerdy like they make fun of Ted. Marshall's pretty close to being a nerd but he falls a little short.

There is definitely a lot more to this nerd, geek, dork conversation than I've discussed here. I'm sure there are several arguments for what makes a nerd, or the requirements for being a geek, or even what encompasses a dork. They all have something to contribute to the definition of these terms; however, I'm not sure we'll ever have a completely accurate definition of any of them.

What do you think it means to be a nerd, a geek, or a dork?

Happy readings!

PS Images from Google.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

In Which We Learn How Nerdy This Blogger Is

I got over 35 pageviews yesterday! How exciting! That is the first time I've gotten so many. I guess I should keep up whatever I'm doing. ...what exactly am I doing?

This is how happy I am!
First thing on the agenda today is a small rant: DON'T GET BEHIND ON YOUR POSTS. IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO CATCH UP. It really is. I'm only two posts behind right now. Once I finish this one it will only be one but I'm not going to crack out one right after the other especially given how early in the morning it is. >_< So tomorrow I get to write two posts instead of one because I didn't catch up today. I know I keep saying that I'm going to catch up today, and then I just disappoint. You readers probably aren't disappointed in me. I appreciate that but I'm disappointed in myself. I set myself a goal and I'm not accomplishing it. That can be slightly frustrating, especially for someone OCD like me. Tomorrow is another day as Ms. Scarlett once said. As long as I finish the summer strong then it won't be like I failed my goal too miserably.
Not sure what's with the smileys today... O_o
Now the reason I didn't get to write two posts today as to deal with Treasure Island. We had our book club meeting today and I did not stay up all night last night trying to finish it. I had to get up early this morning in order to finish it before the meeting and that ate up all my writing time. Then, of course, I could talk about a book for hours even if I didn't like it. After the hours of talking, it was time to go play games until I got home a few minutes ago. You can see that today has not been conducive to writing blog posts, but I did have a lot of fun and that counts for great deal despite my failures with regards to this blog.

Here I go making excuses. All right, to make up for all these excuses, I'll tell you a funny story for this post. This story involves me admitting something very nerdy about myself. You guys already know that I am extremely nerdy. What I am about to tell you will only tell you EXACTLY how nerdy I am.

I...have recently...become addicted to...tabletop role playing games (RPGs).

hee hee... smileys are fun!

Yes, yes, I hear your gasps and I can imagine your wide-eyed stares. (Yeah, I'm talking to you, Mr. Smiley!) Some of you that actually know me might be thinking of never talking to me again. Alas... actually, you people and your gasps of horror have no idea what you're missing out on when you classify tabletop RPGs as "too nerdy." Trust me, I was once among your ranks, but I discovered the error of my ways this last semester. My only problem now is that I'm attending a college next year that doesn't have a games club so I shall be ripped from tabletop RPGs just as I have come to love them.

I should probably explain the joys of tabletop RPGs before I go into this story but I'm tired and I need some sleep. I'll use another post to talk about them in detail. For now, here's my story.

I'm currently taking part in a Firefly-themed tabletop RPG. Yes, I mean "Firefly" as in Joss Whedon's amazing show. My character is the mechanic and I created her to be somewhat dizzy. She actually has the complication "Leaky Brain Pan" so she can be pretty crazy. Anyway, the other night we were in this situation where we were trying to enter a warehouse, but this guard was in our way. The group decided to get in a fight with him in order to get around him. We all thought it would be over in a few turns, but everyone was rolling poorly. Our poor doctor got piston-whipped in the face and was bleeding profusely from her mouth and nose.

I rolled poorly so I had to go last even after the bad guy. Eventually, it got to be my turn and I decided to shoot at the guy since he had already started shooting at us. I made my roll to see if I'd hit him. I botched. In tabletop RPGs, "botching" means you rolled all ones. This also means that something funny is going to happen. We were all laughing because the scenario was turning into a bad situation and we were interested to see how it could get worse from this botch.

Our games master rolled a die to see who I shot. Can you guess? Yup, I shot our doctor who was already injured. This caused even more laughter. Having hit someone I had to roll damage which, in my case, is a d12. The highest damage I could deal was a 12. Laughing, I said "Wouldn't it be funny if I got a 12?" Yeah, I rolled a twelve.


I don't think anyone stopped laughing for 10 minutes. I couldn't breath I was laughing so hard. Our poor doctor couldn't believe her ill-luck. She lived and was able to walk back to the ship to get fixed up. The amount of awful that happened in that situation was just too funny and was only increased when I had to explain to the captain how our doctor got shot. My character would never have admitted to it being her fault but she got ratted out by the first mate. I think that moment was declared one of the funniest so far. I don't think we've laughed that hard since we began and I'm not sure if we will again. Oh, I hope so.

Here's a little scene of our Lego counterparts acting out the scene. Yeah, that's a pool of blood draw with expo marker. Poor doctor...


Hope you enjoyed my story. I'll have to explain tabletop RPGs in another post. Maybe that'll make this story a little more funny for those of you that don't know that much about them.

Until next time, happy readings!

PS All the smiley faces are from Google Images. They are not mine. I only used them for my own amusement...um, I mean, your entertainment. The last two photos are mine and depict actual events. Don't steal them... O_o  Aw, isn't my mechanic the cutest? :)

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Look, It's Internet Grammar! Run Away!

Post two of the day and I think I'm going to talk about grammar. It's been pointed out to me that I make a lot of mistakes. I'll be honest, I know my grammar has been pretty bad in these last few posts. :\ You may not believe this but I am usually a pretty big stickler for the grammar. Many of these posts have made me cringe.

Why do I post them then? Well, that, my friend, is a very good question. To be completely honest, I have no idea. Who knows how many people see my horrible grammar on a daily basis (Well, around 20 depending on if they read it or not. At least that's what my pageview counter tells me. Yes, I'm watching you watch me... 0_o)? Given that it's on the internet, it's available for any body to see. So why am I not more careful? Well, I don't know you people. Actually, I know at least one (Thanks for reading my blog, Aunt Sarah!). You other viewers don't comment on my blog so how do I even know if you are even reading it?

...wait, what if my appalling grammar has pushed you non-commenting viewers away? Oh dear, I hadn't thought about it that way. Okay. Okay! Here's the deal my dear readers, from now on I shall keep my grammar in check. No more crazy bad grammar. I promise. Maybe this will help more people follow my blog (hint hint). :)

It does make you wonder why people are so willing to put bad grammar on the internet givenhow many could see it. My guess is that it has something to do with instant gratification society in regards to the internet. Want an answer to that question? Crack open Google. You could have your answer in seconds. You use to have to go to a library and crack open a book. I'm not complaining about the endless amounts of information that's just at our fingertips but you have to admit it only fuels our desire to have things done now. Fast internet, fast-forward through commercials, etc. We live in a fast paced society so grammar is bound to take a hit. Why spell out the whole word when you can cut "before" down to "b4" and "okay" to "k?" Spelling quickly moves to: "Who needs that comma? They understand what I'm saying." And there goes grammar. >_<

Example where commas are important: Let's eat grandma.           

Seriously, commas save lives. So long live grammar!

All right, I'm off my soap box now. :) Sorry, I have an English minor and you gotta deal with it. I'm going to add a link to a really funny blogger who writes about internet grammar. In the post, she talks about the "alot." It is pretty funny and all her idea. Not mine. I just find her ideas funny. Then again, I'm a nerd. And I'm proud of it!

Hyperbole and a Half: The Alot is Better than You at Everything

Happy readings!

Let's Talk About Treasures

Suggestion, don't get behind on blog posts. You will NEVER catch up! It's extremely hard and can be considered somewhat painful. My goal for today is to finally get caught up. Only three pots to go! I can do this!


Currently I'm in the middle of Treasure Island. Just kidding. I haven't even made it to the halfway mark. >_<  Have any of you read Treasure Island? I'll be honest it wasn't a book I really ever had any desire to read. I can't really tell you why either. I've seen several movies based on Treasure Island: Muppet Treasure Island, Treasure Planet, and even a few movies that stuck to the original premise of the story, but I have never gotten the urge to read Stevenson's novel. That is a little unusual for me I have to say.


After I saw the musical Les Mis I wanted to read the book. I haven't yet, but the desire still arose. After I saw the BBC mini-series Cranford I wanted to read Elizabeth Gaskell's books on which the series was based. Most movies, shows, or musicals I watch inspire me to read the book they are based on if I already haven't, but not Treasure Island. Weird.


I  think my favorite Treasure Island movie I've seen is Treasure Planet. It just calls to my nerdy soul. :) Admittedly, it has been a while since I've seen Muppet Tresure Island and Tim Curry plays John Silver in that version. I don't think you can go wrong there. I <3 Tim Curry. I might have to rewatch it...


Seeing all these versions of Treasure Island has given me a general idea of the book's plot, and I have to say I'm fairly impressed with those movies. They fall in line with the book pretty closely. General plot-wise not necessarily the setting. Yet I'm looking at you, Treasure Planet.

Not sure if I can really say more about Treasure Island the book as I haven't finished it yet, but these are just my thoughts on it so far. maybe I'll get to the end and be absolutely in love with it. Probably not, but stranger things have happened.

Until next time, happy readings!

PS Images from Google.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

There and Back Again, It Only Took 10 Years


I am so excited about this movie!!!!!!!! Sorry. Maybe that was a random way to open a blog post but I recently saw a trailer for The Hobbit while I was at the movie theater. That's the first time I've seen a trailer for it in theaters and for some reason it seem to make it more official for me. It also made me realize how close this movie's release date is! Just a few more months! :)


From my other blog posts you've probably realized that I love Tolkien and The Hobbit is one of my favorite books. I really enjoyed The Lord of the Ring movies that came out 10 years ago. The only problem I honestly had with them was what they did to poor Faramir. Shameful, Jackson, just shameful. But I'm still looking forward to his rendition of The Hobbit. I think he's chosen excellent actors!


Martin Freeman as Bilbo is a brilliant choice. When I first heard he was going to play Bilbo, I couldn't help but think of him as Arthur Dent in 2005's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. If you haven't seen that movie yet and want a good idea of how Freeman is probably going to portray Bilbo, you should definitely see it. Especially if you have doubts as to whether he can pull off the part because he definitely can!

 
Richard Armitage as Thorin is also another great choice. The last movie I saw Armitage in was the BBC mini-series North and South. He does an awesome job as the lead male in that movie. I'm interested to see how he will play Thorin. I think he'll pull of surly, obsessive dwarf very well. My only problem with him is the fact that he looks like a Klingon. Hopefully I'll be able to get past that for the movie. :)

I don't know when the first part of The Hobbit is going to cut off so I'm going to go ahead and talk about two actors I'm really excited to see. Those two would be:


Lee Pace and Benedict Cumberbatch! :)

If you've ever seen "Pushing Daisies" then that's probably from what you remember Lee Pace. He plays the lead character Ned. In The Hobbit, he's going to play King Thranduil, or for those less Tolkien-wise, the king of the Mirkwood elves. I think he's a great actor and I can't wait to see him in The Hobbit!

I've already gushed about Benedict Cumberbatch, but I know he's going to do a great job! He's a great actor and I can't wait to see him play Smaug especially after seeing his interaction with Martin Freeman in "Sherlock."

I seriously can't wait until this movie comes out! Yay! All right. I'm done gushing. Or at least on this post. lol.

Now to see how many more posts I need before I've caught up...

Until next time, happy readings!

PS Images are from Google.


Sunday, July 1, 2012

Pixar does it again!


Saturday I had the opportunity to see the Pixar movie Brave. I've been wanting to see it since it came out but this was the first opportunity I had to see it. I know, waiting a whole week what a bummer. ;) As you've probably seen in the commercials for the movie,  it was done by the creators of Up, Wall-E, and Toy Story 3. Up and Toy Story 3 are my favorite, favorite Pixar movies ever! I also really enjoyed Wall-E so how can you go wrong right?

Brave was great! I really enjoyed it. Pixar does it again. I don't know if you've notice but Pixar films seem to deviate from the usual Disney set up. They're just good feel good movies. And their plots are alway surprising. At least to me. By surprising I mean the commercials never give you a great idea of what the story is about. And yet still somehow make it look good.

Pixar accomplishes the same thing with Brave. I'm not giving the surprise away though! Bwhahahaha. You're just going to have to see it for yourself! I definitely recommend seeing it. It was extremely funny and I enjoyed the overall plot. The imagery was beautiful! Extremely beautiful It made me want to go to Ireland or Scotland. Somewhere with rolling hills and magical forests. So pretty. The actors do a great job with their characters. I couldn't imagine anyone doing a better job. Merida was done by the same actress who played Evangeline in Nanny Mcphee.


I really like this actress. She's shown up a lot lately. She also plays Peter Pan in Finding Neverland. Soon you can see her play Dolly in Anna Karenina. She always does a great job and I can't wait to see what she does next.







Emma Thompson did the voice of the mother and Billy Connelly was the father. When she's not playing a 19 year old when she's 40 or in a movie with Anthony Hopkins, I like Emma Thompson. (If you can guess what movies I'm talking about, I might give you a prize! Especially if you don't have to look it up.) She does a really great job as the mother. Billy Connelly was fantastic. I love him. He's such a good actor. Honestly, all the actors did a fantastic job.

While it was a wonderful movie, I will admit that it wasn't nearly as good as Up and Toy Story 3. You should still go see it though. It's makes for some great laughs!

One more post and I'm all caught up! :)

Happy readings!

PS Images from Google.