With the start of a new year, the internet is rampant with people getting excited about the cool new things to look forward to in 2012. Lists are everywhere. A common theme I keep seeing is "most anticipated movies of 2012."
Now, I don't get to the movies nearly enough (by my reckoning, at least) now that I have a kiddo. It is possible this will be the year that changes that--she's growing up and soon we'll be able to do our mommy/daughter movie lunches together. I am really looking forward to that, but it won't come to pass probably until at least the back end of the year.* Even when it does, we'll be limited in what we can see together, because I know there will be a higher chance of her sitting still (and quietly) throughout if she is also engaged in the story. I don't think she'll be ready yet when this is released, but, if she is, this is probably the first thing I'll take her to see:
I'll be going to see Brave in theaters regardless, but it would be awesome if I could enjoy it with Baby Girl. We shall have to see.
Other than Brave, there are three other movies that I know I will be making the effort to see in theaters this year. I am super excited for each one of these.
The Avengers should, I hope, be a super fun romp. I absolutely adored Thor, found myself surprisingly engaged by Captain America, and also enjoyed the Iron Man films more than I expected. Add to this the fact that Joss Whedon is directing and I (and most of geekdom) have high hopes that this is just going to rock, pure and simple. Marvel has really done an amazing job with these one-universe films and I think that The Avengers will be the deciding factor on whether or not they keep it up. I hope they do. It's nice to have these things all tied together just a little bit. It makes the story feel a little bit more complete in my mind.
Next up, there's this:
John Carter, based on A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. This...this is something I have been waiting for for a long time. I discovered Burroughs when I was about ten or eleven, picking up the first Tarzan book and becoming completely captivated by the world that Burroughs created on the page. I picked up many of his other series, and while the John Carter books aren't my favorites by a long shot, I have grown to appreciate them more in my adulthood, despite the problems arising from the fact that Burroughs was a man writing at the turn of the twentieth century with many of the outlooks and prejudices of his times. Still, his heroes always do feel like true heroes to me, and his world-building is absolutely phenomenal. I am very pleased to know that the movie is keeping the original era of the books (post-Civil War) intact, and I am quite curious to find out how this adaptation plays out. "Squee" doesn't even begin to cover my reaction to the approach of this film.
Finally, I am also waiting on tenterhooks for:
The Hobbit just squeaks past John Carter as the movie I am most looking forward to. Mostly because I am not really worried about it letting me down like I am with John Carter. Peter Jackson has more than earned my trust in regards to this franchise. I am not entirely sure I even need to explain why I am so excited about this one, but I'll try. Martin Freeman! Dwarves! Dwarves singing! I think every card-carrying geek on the planet is looking forward to it at least a little.
Honestly? I don't even care what else comes out this year. Let these four films entertain me, and I will be more than satisfied.
What movies are you guys most looking forward to this year?
*Yes, I know that many theaters have "child-friendly" viewings, where parents are welcome to bring their young kids and the lights aren't turned down all of the way and whatnot. I personally have no desire to attend one of those. For me going to the movies is a special kind of experience. I don't even like to get up to take a bathroom break during the film. I like to nip down in my seat and just let the movie take me away. Hence my personal decision not to take my daughter to the theater until she is able to at least sit more or less still and quiet throughout the film.
Showing posts with label The Hobbit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Hobbit. Show all posts
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Show and Tell
Tattoos are always an interesting topic, and it is curious to see the kinds of reactions they spur. Those reactions are often surprising, and quite frequently, I have found, pleasantly so. Everyone who is inked has their own reasons for getting their tattoos. For me, as with most people I have found, they are largely personal, though there are, of course, those who get them specifically to show off.
I have been thinking about doing a post on my ink for a while now, and was finally kicked into gear by two recent stories I read online.
Geek Mom had a very interesting blog about the subject, and I absolutely adored the image accompanying the post.
Shortly after I saw that, Neil Gaiman posted a blog about seeing a person in the street bearing a tattoo of a quotation from his Sandman series.
You know, once upon a time, I had never considered getting a tattoo. As a high school student, I was (mostly secretly) lusting over a belly button piercing when one day my mom and little sister came home in a sort of huff. Upon inquiring what was wrong, I learned that they had been out to get matching tattoos, but since my sister was under eighteen, the shop wouldn't ink her. They also apparently refused to believe that my mom was actually her mother. Looking young runs in our family, what can I say. So they didn't get tattoos (that day).
After commiserating a bit with them, a realization then dawned on me. Why hadn't I been invited to the tattoo party? When I asked, they told me they didn't think I would have been interested. Also, looking back, I am sure it was a special bonding thing for the two of them, because they were much closer than I was with either of them at that point. But still, it got me thinking. If they had asked, would I have gone along? I am not sure if I would have or not, but from that point on, the idea of getting a tattoo had been planted in my brain.
What would I get? What kind of image would I permanently want to place on my skin? I felt like it would be something I should definitely think long and hard about. Shortly thereafter, some of my friends tried to get me interested in a game called Magic: The Gathering. You may have heard of it. I bought myself a deck of the cards, and loved looking through them. I read the instruction book several times, and once or twice tried to play, but the game never really caught my interest. I loved looking at the cards though, the drawings were just so fantastical and amazing, and I had never really seen anything like that before. One card in particular caught my eye: the Dragon Whelp. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, this card showed a baby dragon, just hatched, sitting among the shell fragments of his egg. I was a little bit in love with this picture. It was absolutely adorable. It was, I realized, exactly what I wanted for my tattoo. I carried the Dragon Whelp card in my wallet for another three or four years, but that was indeed the first tattoo I ever got.
At the end of my sophomore semester of college, I had finally gotten up the nerve to get it done. I had found a tattoo parlor that had given me a decent price and was clean enough for my liking with an atmosphere that I found comfortable. I gathered up a few friends for moral support, and in I went. I gave the artist my battered and dog-eared copy of the Dragon Whelp card, and when I left the shop, this is what was on my lower right back:
As far as I was concerned, when I left the tattoo parlor, that was it. I had carried around that picture for years, I was extremely pleased with how it turned out, and a years long quest had been completed. Sure, I had heard people say that tattoos are addictive, but I couldn't imagine why. I mean, it hadn't hurt a lot, but it had hurt. Also, these things take a while to heal, you know, and require maintenance while that happens.
But then, right at the beginning of my senior year of college, a friend of mine was thinking about getting a tattoo of her own. She figured she'd go to the same parlor I had patronized, and asked if I wanted to go with her to look at designs. My then best friend (who is now my husband) teased me that I was totally coming back with a tattoo. I told him not to be ridiculous, I was just serving as moral support. Yet somehow, I left the shop with this beauty:
This was my first and only impulse tattoo. I really hadn't intended on getting one that day, but as we were looking at the stock art (this is also my only stock art tattoo), this design just called to me. The price was right, the shop was slow, and I was newly twenty-one and still feeling the urge to celebrate. So under the needle I went once more.
My senior year of college was actually a rather tumultuous one, especially the final semester. I graduated quite uncertain of where my future was headed. The plans I had made for myself and worked for over the previous years had all seemed to fall apart. I knew that I had accomplished something great, and knew that unseen opportunities would be waiting down the road, but more than anything I just felt weary and glad to be done. I also felt it was an event that needed to be commemorated, the kind of thing I wanted a permanent reminder of--so I decided to get a third tattoo.
I wanted it serve as a reminder, so for this tattoo I chose a location where I could see it every day, on the inside of my left wrist. It is the top tattoo pictured below.
My still then best friend (now husband) had introduced me to the awesomeness of Neil Gaiman by the cunning trick of getting me to read his Sandman graphic novel series. I of course fell in love with them, and the character of Death particularly resonated with me at that time. As an anthropomorphic representation of death itself, she was simultaneously feared, hated, run from, prayed for, and embraced throughout the world. She had a heavy burden to bear, but she bore it all with grace and with a quirky chipper attitude. She had a line in one of the books that to this day is one of my personal inspirational quotes:
It is a simple line, and I suppose to some it may seem a bit dire. But to me, it embraces an eternal truth. No matter what you believe happens to us after we die, I think it is universally agreed upon that while we are living our current life, that is the only life we know. It is, to me, a reminder to make the most of what you have, because this is all you get.
Gaiman's Death was almost always depicted with two bits of ornament--an ankh necklace, and a little curlicue drawn with eyeliner in the corner of one eye. So for my tattoo inspired by Death (to remind me to live my life to the fullest), I designed an ankh embellished with a curlicue on one of the crossbars. This is probably still my favorite tattoo, by the way. When it healed, some of the ink got a little cloudy (black is so hard to get solid on the first try), and I probably should have gotten it touched up years ago. I haven't though, because I love the cloudiness, I think it adds to what the message of that tattoo is for me--that life is full of uncertainty, and that is okay.
(I know there are two tattoos in that picture, but as I am doing this in order, we'll come back to the second in a bit.)
My first three tattoos were all done at the same place, but on the fourth one I diverged. I had been feeling like I wanted another dragon tattoo (can you tell that I like dragons yet?), and had been watching some of my Lord of the Rings dvds and had noticed the really cool image of Smaug (from The Hobbit) on a map that Frodo pulls out at some point early in the movie. I was trying to find that image, but never did, alas. However, I did find another graphic of Smaug that I really liked and ended up choosing that.
My not-quite-yet hubby and I were sharing a house with a third roommate, and his brother was trying to start his own career as a tattoo artist. I had mentioned I was thinking of getting new ink and showed him the design, and he offered to do it for free if I paid for the ink. The ink kit he wanted only ran me about $25, and after assurances that all would be extremely sterile, I agreed to that route. So I got tattoo number four sitting in my living room watching Angel with two of my best friends. Yes, it was a homemade tattoo gun, and yes, that can be risky, but believe you me, I made sure everything was in proper order before going through with this.
I have to say, I am really happy with how it turned out, too.
And yes, I know, if this is Smaug, he should be red, but you know what, blue and green are my favorite colors, so that's what I went with. I know it is Smaug, I am not worried about other people knowing that as well, they can see it's an awesome dragon.
After this, I went for quite a while before getting more ink. But I was unable to resist the urge forever, and eventually caved in. For our second anniversary, my husband and I took a trip to St. Louis, where I had spent the bulk of my childhood and adolescence. I decided that my "souvenir" from the trip would be a new tattoo. I did some research and found a really cool tattoo parlor, and then I started thinking up a design. I settled on one that would proclaim my geek/nerd status to the world. I chose the point of origin glyph for Earth from the Stargate series. I decided to get it in a sea-green color because I felt that most appropriately proclaimed my love for Stargate Atlantis above all other Stargate series. It is on the same wrist as my ankh and pictured above.
I have to say, the parlor that I got that tattoo at was definitely my favorite out of all of the ink shops I have visited. The atmosphere was just a little bit punk rock in the best way, the people were friendly. Rather than look at me sideways when I showed him my design of choice, the guy applauded my pride in my geek status, and another guy there recognized the symbol. This is probably the biggest conversation starter of any of my tattoos, as well. Being on my wrist, it is highly visible, and people often ask what the symbol means. They usually get more of an answer than they were looking for, but, well, they asked.
(Don't feel too bad for my husband by the way. His "souvenir" from that trip was a vintage Italia electric bass.)
In the summer of 2008, my husband and I suffered a loss that hit me extremely hard. I came very close to falling into a deep depression because of it, and I knew I needed to do something to remind myself that I am actually a happy person, and that there was still a lot in life to be happy about.
Much like with my ankh, I decided to get a tattoo to serve as a reminder, both of the event that had occurred, and as a reminder to look for the happiness that is always within reach if I am willing to stretch out my hand. I looked into my own pool of sure-fire instant pick-me-ups and settled on the character of Gir from the show Invader Zim. Gir makes me go into fits of squee every time I see him, be it onscreen, on a t-shirt, in the store, you name it. He seemed appropriate.
So now he hangs out on my right shoulder, looking out for me, and cheering me up.
Now we come to my final tattoo. This one is also a commemorative piece of ink. I got it last summer on my birthday, my 30th birthday in fact. I feel it is wholly appropriate:
The phrase of course comes from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Douglas Adams' timeless advice never seemed more apt than when I was staring thirty in the face. It took me a while to settle on just the right "large and friendly" letters, but I am very, very happy with how it came out. If you cannot tell, the "O" in don't is a hitchhiker's thumb imposed over a ringed planet, which is a graphic often used to represent the book.
I have definitely come a long way from that day in high school when I first realized I would consider getting a tattoo, to now having seven of them, along with aspirations for more. I can tell you this, over a decade after my first ink, I don't regret a single one. I am not worried about what they will look like when I am old and sagging in unmentionable places, because I will know exactly what they are supposed to be.
Oh, and if you're wondering, I did get my belly button pierced. Spring semester, freshman year. I kept that in for a decade too, until my husband and I started trying for kids.
I have been thinking about doing a post on my ink for a while now, and was finally kicked into gear by two recent stories I read online.
Geek Mom had a very interesting blog about the subject, and I absolutely adored the image accompanying the post.
Shortly after I saw that, Neil Gaiman posted a blog about seeing a person in the street bearing a tattoo of a quotation from his Sandman series.
You know, once upon a time, I had never considered getting a tattoo. As a high school student, I was (mostly secretly) lusting over a belly button piercing when one day my mom and little sister came home in a sort of huff. Upon inquiring what was wrong, I learned that they had been out to get matching tattoos, but since my sister was under eighteen, the shop wouldn't ink her. They also apparently refused to believe that my mom was actually her mother. Looking young runs in our family, what can I say. So they didn't get tattoos (that day).
After commiserating a bit with them, a realization then dawned on me. Why hadn't I been invited to the tattoo party? When I asked, they told me they didn't think I would have been interested. Also, looking back, I am sure it was a special bonding thing for the two of them, because they were much closer than I was with either of them at that point. But still, it got me thinking. If they had asked, would I have gone along? I am not sure if I would have or not, but from that point on, the idea of getting a tattoo had been planted in my brain.
What would I get? What kind of image would I permanently want to place on my skin? I felt like it would be something I should definitely think long and hard about. Shortly thereafter, some of my friends tried to get me interested in a game called Magic: The Gathering. You may have heard of it. I bought myself a deck of the cards, and loved looking through them. I read the instruction book several times, and once or twice tried to play, but the game never really caught my interest. I loved looking at the cards though, the drawings were just so fantastical and amazing, and I had never really seen anything like that before. One card in particular caught my eye: the Dragon Whelp. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, this card showed a baby dragon, just hatched, sitting among the shell fragments of his egg. I was a little bit in love with this picture. It was absolutely adorable. It was, I realized, exactly what I wanted for my tattoo. I carried the Dragon Whelp card in my wallet for another three or four years, but that was indeed the first tattoo I ever got.
At the end of my sophomore semester of college, I had finally gotten up the nerve to get it done. I had found a tattoo parlor that had given me a decent price and was clean enough for my liking with an atmosphere that I found comfortable. I gathered up a few friends for moral support, and in I went. I gave the artist my battered and dog-eared copy of the Dragon Whelp card, and when I left the shop, this is what was on my lower right back:
 |
| Dragon Whelp (lower right back), inked in 2000. |
As far as I was concerned, when I left the tattoo parlor, that was it. I had carried around that picture for years, I was extremely pleased with how it turned out, and a years long quest had been completed. Sure, I had heard people say that tattoos are addictive, but I couldn't imagine why. I mean, it hadn't hurt a lot, but it had hurt. Also, these things take a while to heal, you know, and require maintenance while that happens.
But then, right at the beginning of my senior year of college, a friend of mine was thinking about getting a tattoo of her own. She figured she'd go to the same parlor I had patronized, and asked if I wanted to go with her to look at designs. My then best friend (who is now my husband) teased me that I was totally coming back with a tattoo. I told him not to be ridiculous, I was just serving as moral support. Yet somehow, I left the shop with this beauty:
 |
| Guardian Dragons (left shoulder blade), inked in 2001. |
This was my first and only impulse tattoo. I really hadn't intended on getting one that day, but as we were looking at the stock art (this is also my only stock art tattoo), this design just called to me. The price was right, the shop was slow, and I was newly twenty-one and still feeling the urge to celebrate. So under the needle I went once more.
My senior year of college was actually a rather tumultuous one, especially the final semester. I graduated quite uncertain of where my future was headed. The plans I had made for myself and worked for over the previous years had all seemed to fall apart. I knew that I had accomplished something great, and knew that unseen opportunities would be waiting down the road, but more than anything I just felt weary and glad to be done. I also felt it was an event that needed to be commemorated, the kind of thing I wanted a permanent reminder of--so I decided to get a third tattoo.
I wanted it serve as a reminder, so for this tattoo I chose a location where I could see it every day, on the inside of my left wrist. It is the top tattoo pictured below.
 |
| Death's Ankh (left wrist) inked in 2002, Earth Glyph (left wrist) inked in 2007. |
My still then best friend (now husband) had introduced me to the awesomeness of Neil Gaiman by the cunning trick of getting me to read his Sandman graphic novel series. I of course fell in love with them, and the character of Death particularly resonated with me at that time. As an anthropomorphic representation of death itself, she was simultaneously feared, hated, run from, prayed for, and embraced throughout the world. She had a heavy burden to bear, but she bore it all with grace and with a quirky chipper attitude. She had a line in one of the books that to this day is one of my personal inspirational quotes:
"You got what anybody gets, Bernie. You got a lifetime."
It is a simple line, and I suppose to some it may seem a bit dire. But to me, it embraces an eternal truth. No matter what you believe happens to us after we die, I think it is universally agreed upon that while we are living our current life, that is the only life we know. It is, to me, a reminder to make the most of what you have, because this is all you get.
Gaiman's Death was almost always depicted with two bits of ornament--an ankh necklace, and a little curlicue drawn with eyeliner in the corner of one eye. So for my tattoo inspired by Death (to remind me to live my life to the fullest), I designed an ankh embellished with a curlicue on one of the crossbars. This is probably still my favorite tattoo, by the way. When it healed, some of the ink got a little cloudy (black is so hard to get solid on the first try), and I probably should have gotten it touched up years ago. I haven't though, because I love the cloudiness, I think it adds to what the message of that tattoo is for me--that life is full of uncertainty, and that is okay.
(I know there are two tattoos in that picture, but as I am doing this in order, we'll come back to the second in a bit.)
My first three tattoos were all done at the same place, but on the fourth one I diverged. I had been feeling like I wanted another dragon tattoo (can you tell that I like dragons yet?), and had been watching some of my Lord of the Rings dvds and had noticed the really cool image of Smaug (from The Hobbit) on a map that Frodo pulls out at some point early in the movie. I was trying to find that image, but never did, alas. However, I did find another graphic of Smaug that I really liked and ended up choosing that.
My not-quite-yet hubby and I were sharing a house with a third roommate, and his brother was trying to start his own career as a tattoo artist. I had mentioned I was thinking of getting new ink and showed him the design, and he offered to do it for free if I paid for the ink. The ink kit he wanted only ran me about $25, and after assurances that all would be extremely sterile, I agreed to that route. So I got tattoo number four sitting in my living room watching Angel with two of my best friends. Yes, it was a homemade tattoo gun, and yes, that can be risky, but believe you me, I made sure everything was in proper order before going through with this.
I have to say, I am really happy with how it turned out, too.
 | |||
| Smaug (right ankle) inked in 2004. |
And yes, I know, if this is Smaug, he should be red, but you know what, blue and green are my favorite colors, so that's what I went with. I know it is Smaug, I am not worried about other people knowing that as well, they can see it's an awesome dragon.
After this, I went for quite a while before getting more ink. But I was unable to resist the urge forever, and eventually caved in. For our second anniversary, my husband and I took a trip to St. Louis, where I had spent the bulk of my childhood and adolescence. I decided that my "souvenir" from the trip would be a new tattoo. I did some research and found a really cool tattoo parlor, and then I started thinking up a design. I settled on one that would proclaim my geek/nerd status to the world. I chose the point of origin glyph for Earth from the Stargate series. I decided to get it in a sea-green color because I felt that most appropriately proclaimed my love for Stargate Atlantis above all other Stargate series. It is on the same wrist as my ankh and pictured above.
I have to say, the parlor that I got that tattoo at was definitely my favorite out of all of the ink shops I have visited. The atmosphere was just a little bit punk rock in the best way, the people were friendly. Rather than look at me sideways when I showed him my design of choice, the guy applauded my pride in my geek status, and another guy there recognized the symbol. This is probably the biggest conversation starter of any of my tattoos, as well. Being on my wrist, it is highly visible, and people often ask what the symbol means. They usually get more of an answer than they were looking for, but, well, they asked.
(Don't feel too bad for my husband by the way. His "souvenir" from that trip was a vintage Italia electric bass.)
In the summer of 2008, my husband and I suffered a loss that hit me extremely hard. I came very close to falling into a deep depression because of it, and I knew I needed to do something to remind myself that I am actually a happy person, and that there was still a lot in life to be happy about.
Much like with my ankh, I decided to get a tattoo to serve as a reminder, both of the event that had occurred, and as a reminder to look for the happiness that is always within reach if I am willing to stretch out my hand. I looked into my own pool of sure-fire instant pick-me-ups and settled on the character of Gir from the show Invader Zim. Gir makes me go into fits of squee every time I see him, be it onscreen, on a t-shirt, in the store, you name it. He seemed appropriate.
So now he hangs out on my right shoulder, looking out for me, and cheering me up.
 |
| Gir (right shoulder) inked in 2008. |
Now we come to my final tattoo. This one is also a commemorative piece of ink. I got it last summer on my birthday, my 30th birthday in fact. I feel it is wholly appropriate:
 |
| Don't Panic (right wrist) inked in 2010. |
The phrase of course comes from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Douglas Adams' timeless advice never seemed more apt than when I was staring thirty in the face. It took me a while to settle on just the right "large and friendly" letters, but I am very, very happy with how it came out. If you cannot tell, the "O" in don't is a hitchhiker's thumb imposed over a ringed planet, which is a graphic often used to represent the book.
I have definitely come a long way from that day in high school when I first realized I would consider getting a tattoo, to now having seven of them, along with aspirations for more. I can tell you this, over a decade after my first ink, I don't regret a single one. I am not worried about what they will look like when I am old and sagging in unmentionable places, because I will know exactly what they are supposed to be.
Oh, and if you're wondering, I did get my belly button pierced. Spring semester, freshman year. I kept that in for a decade too, until my husband and I started trying for kids.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Setting Goals is Important, But So Is Actually Reaching Them
Happy Friday! Learn how to carve a pumpkin in today's Gronk!
So, I have an announcement of sorts to make. I have decided to participate in this year's National Novel Writing Month. For those of you unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo, each year in November, writers around the world get together and each of them write (or at least attempt to write) a 50,000 word (175 page) novel during course of the month. That works out to about 6 pages a day, so all it really takes is an idea for a story and the dedication to actually make the time to sit down and do it. The big selling point of NaNoWriMo is that it provides a community for writers to get together and help each other meet their goal. The idea here is quantity, not quality. Just get a first draft written. Then, you can go back and fix it up all you want.
So, I have my story idea, and I am starting to assemble my cast of characters and do a little outlining and world building--you can have all sorts of background material assembled beforehand, but you can't start writing the actual story until the first of the month. I am officially taking a hiatus from video games in November so that I can devote that time to writing (and give myself a break to recuperate from the intensity of Dragon Age before diving into Morrowind). I even have a local friend who has signed up to do it as well, so we are going to plan to make a few "writing dates" during the month to get together and just write sans husbands and babies. I am super excited about this. And I am sharing it with all of you, and planning to make frequent updates on Facebook so that I will actually stick with it. My biggest obstacle in writing throughout my life has been just getting the story finished. I usually start off pretty strong and then get stalled, wander away, and never come back. I am determined not to do that this time. I don't care if what I churn out is absolute crap (I hope it's not), but I am going to finish, dang it.
If any of you out there have been kicking around the thought of writing your own novel, now is the time to give it a go! Head on over to the site, sign up, add me as a buddy. We'll keep each other on track! My user name is AtlantisDragonGirl. Let's do this, people!
In entertainment news, looks like the film production of The Hobbit is finally on track and moving forward. It's been greenlit, with Peter Jackson officially directing (as he should have been from the beginning), and the cast is starting to be announced! It is just flat out incredible--and I am in love with the idea of Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. Nothing but good can come of this, folks.
And finally, for anyone wondering, today is the first (of two) Halloween party I'm going to this year, and I did manage to get my costume assembled in time! My husband picked up the sweatshirt from American Apparel last weekend for me, it was even on sale. I have to give Doctor Who's costuming department huge props on their taste in sweatshirts, too, this thing is awesome comfy (I may have "tested" it out on Sunday). I found a skirt for $3 at Berry Good Buys. It's not quite as mini as dear Amy's skirt, but it is about as mini as I personally should ever be wearing (and it has attached shorts inside, double yay). I was a little worried about finding a pair of Chucks in a bricks and mortar store in the style and color I needed, but then I remembered that Foot Locker totally carries a big selection of Converse and I had success there. I couldn't really tell from my reference photos if her shoes are navy or royal blue, but they had navy in my size so that's what I went with. I found a red wig that (after a washing and thorough coming/brushing out) will do alright for now, and I rounded the costume out with some black pantyhose, a black headband, black socks, and a gold watch (that I found on clearance for $7, score).
I will try to get some photos of me in the costume to post for you as well.
And finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that it is my alma matter's Homecoming weekend. Go Frogs! Also, go Rangers, you only have to win one more game! (Please do it tonight so I don't have to drive through game traffic on my way to Dallas tomorrow, kthxbye.)
So, I have an announcement of sorts to make. I have decided to participate in this year's National Novel Writing Month. For those of you unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo, each year in November, writers around the world get together and each of them write (or at least attempt to write) a 50,000 word (175 page) novel during course of the month. That works out to about 6 pages a day, so all it really takes is an idea for a story and the dedication to actually make the time to sit down and do it. The big selling point of NaNoWriMo is that it provides a community for writers to get together and help each other meet their goal. The idea here is quantity, not quality. Just get a first draft written. Then, you can go back and fix it up all you want.
So, I have my story idea, and I am starting to assemble my cast of characters and do a little outlining and world building--you can have all sorts of background material assembled beforehand, but you can't start writing the actual story until the first of the month. I am officially taking a hiatus from video games in November so that I can devote that time to writing (and give myself a break to recuperate from the intensity of Dragon Age before diving into Morrowind). I even have a local friend who has signed up to do it as well, so we are going to plan to make a few "writing dates" during the month to get together and just write sans husbands and babies. I am super excited about this. And I am sharing it with all of you, and planning to make frequent updates on Facebook so that I will actually stick with it. My biggest obstacle in writing throughout my life has been just getting the story finished. I usually start off pretty strong and then get stalled, wander away, and never come back. I am determined not to do that this time. I don't care if what I churn out is absolute crap (I hope it's not), but I am going to finish, dang it.
If any of you out there have been kicking around the thought of writing your own novel, now is the time to give it a go! Head on over to the site, sign up, add me as a buddy. We'll keep each other on track! My user name is AtlantisDragonGirl. Let's do this, people!
In entertainment news, looks like the film production of The Hobbit is finally on track and moving forward. It's been greenlit, with Peter Jackson officially directing (as he should have been from the beginning), and the cast is starting to be announced! It is just flat out incredible--and I am in love with the idea of Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. Nothing but good can come of this, folks.
And finally, for anyone wondering, today is the first (of two) Halloween party I'm going to this year, and I did manage to get my costume assembled in time! My husband picked up the sweatshirt from American Apparel last weekend for me, it was even on sale. I have to give Doctor Who's costuming department huge props on their taste in sweatshirts, too, this thing is awesome comfy (I may have "tested" it out on Sunday). I found a skirt for $3 at Berry Good Buys. It's not quite as mini as dear Amy's skirt, but it is about as mini as I personally should ever be wearing (and it has attached shorts inside, double yay). I was a little worried about finding a pair of Chucks in a bricks and mortar store in the style and color I needed, but then I remembered that Foot Locker totally carries a big selection of Converse and I had success there. I couldn't really tell from my reference photos if her shoes are navy or royal blue, but they had navy in my size so that's what I went with. I found a red wig that (after a washing and thorough coming/brushing out) will do alright for now, and I rounded the costume out with some black pantyhose, a black headband, black socks, and a gold watch (that I found on clearance for $7, score).
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| Red sweatshirt and black skirt. |
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| Blue hi-top Chucks. |
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| Pantyhose, gold watch, headband, and black socks. |
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| Red wig, pre-washing. |
I will try to get some photos of me in the costume to post for you as well.
And finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that it is my alma matter's Homecoming weekend. Go Frogs! Also, go Rangers, you only have to win one more game! (Please do it tonight so I don't have to drive through game traffic on my way to Dallas tomorrow, kthxbye.)
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