Batman!

I apologize for posting late today and then only posting what is going to be a short post. But you see I'm at the Batman trilogy marathon....sort of.

Well I've been there for the past four hours but just came home to take my dogs out and make a post. The marathon hasn't actually started yet, we've just been waiting in line to get good seats. But it starts at six and it's three movies, so I won't get out until three in the morning, so I had to come back and take care of my dogs.

For the next nine hours I will be watching the Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy, and it's going to be awesome. :)

Six Weeks (ish) to Dragon*Con!

Ok, so it's really like five and a half weeks, since Dragon*Con is six weeks from last Friday. And I apologize for those of you who don't care about geeky things like conventions that this is my second post in a row about a science fiction/fantasy convention. But after an entire weekend of reading every article posted by the people at ComicCon and watching videos of Robert Downey Jr hang out with little kids dressed as Iron Man, the Firefly 10 year reunion, and Zachary Levi make out with every hot person in the room, I'm just really in the mood for it to be time for Dragon*Con now.

Five and a half weeks until Dragon*Con, it's time to get serious about preparing for it. Prepare, you ask? Why yes, prepare. There is a lot of thought processes that go into attending a Con. Of course there is the obvious preparations like scouring the panel list to figure out your entire schedule for the weekend. And then there are the cosplay preparations (cosplay being a fancy word for costume). 

Last year I wore two costumes, which I will re-wear this year with some minor modifications. I will be breaking out my steampunk costume. Since I never posted photos last year, below is a photo of my friend Michael and me all steampunk-ified. It's great.

Basically my outfit is a Victorian suit, an oculus (that thing on my glasses), and a pocket watch (but worn as a necklace). This year, I would like to add a cool hat, that I'm planning on making. It would be a hat that is essentially a clock. But I'm not going to reveal any grand plans yet because I don't know if I'll be able to pull it off. But I will post pictures here if I do manage it. 

My other outfit last year was a Harry Potter Ravenclaw student outfit. It was great, but oh my lord was it hot. Sooooo hot. That's what happens when you're wearing a wool sweater in Atlanta at the beginning of September. Over a shirt that buttons up all the way to your neck so you can wear a tie. And the Hogwarts students wear cloaks over this business? (Which I didn't). No wonder Hogwarts has to be in Scotland. Anyway, my outfit was great, but the shirt I bought was pretty big. Like long. Like hung down to my knees so I always had to wear it tucked in. And it looked really awkward when I had to take my sweater off. So this year I would like to find a more fitted, appropriate length shirt, so that when I have to take my sweater off I don't look completely ridiculous. 

So both of those outfits will be seen again. But this year I will be debuting a new outfit. One I'm really excited about. What outfit, you ask? Come on guess. What other character have I written six blogposts about? Yes! You guessed right. Loki!

What's that you say? I'm a short, light haired girl, and not a tall, broad shouldered, beautiful man.......

Focus! Yes anyway, back to the question. How am I going to pull this off? Well, I'll never be Tom Hiddleston, but I'd be far from the first girl (or guy for that matter) to cross dress for a character they truly love who has an awesome outfit. And let's be honest, Loki has some awesome outfits. Seriously, all the heroes on the Avengers change clothes maybe twice. Loki has a ridiculous number of different outfits and they're all awesome. 

I'm going for the outfit in the picture to the right, what I like to call "Loki's lounging outfit" because he only wears it when he's just hanging around Asgard. It's one of his simpler outfits that doesn't involve a good deal of armor. And doesn't involve his helmet, which I'd rather not wear for twelve hours. Basically it's easier to create.

And create is what has to happen here. In the past I've been able to buy ready made pieces online, but all the Loki outfits available online pretty much suck. So I've contacted a local designer who does cosplay outfits and we're working together to make this outfit happen, to make it fit me, and to look awesome. (I wish I could say I'm making from scratch all by myself but seriously, I can't sew to save my life. There is like one item I might have to sew. It's pretty simple and I still might manage to mess that up).

But putting this together is going to take a lot. I'm going to have to do something to turn my light brown hair black (temporarily) and manage to slick back my crazy curly hair. In this outfit Loki doesn't have any staff, but Loki can't be without a weapon, so I'm making throwing knives, which is Loki's battle weapon of choice in the movies (outside of his staffs). I'll need to make some sort of sheath for these throwing knives, which I'm probably going to make so that they slide into the boots I bought for this outfit. It's going to be crazy. And it's going to be awesome.

Basically there is a lot to get done. And every Tuesday from now until Dragon*Con we're going to talk about my Dragon*Con prep. I'll show you how I make my throwing knives and steampunk hat. We'll talk about the different temporary hair dyes I'm going to try that hopefully don't do weird things to my hair. And when they release the schedule we'll talk about the different panels I'm excited about. 

So Tuesdays are now Dragon*Con days! Wooooo! Be excited. And tune in on Thursdays for non-Dragon*Con related programming.

Not at ComicCon

I love conventions. They're so much fun. I've written a number of posts on my wonderful experiences at Dragon*Con. And I recently went to a very small con here in Albuquerque, the Albuquerque Comic Expo. It was ridiculously tiny compared to Dragon*Con. There were only three panel rooms and only one vendor room. There were entire hours when I had no idea what to do with myself. But I also got to sent in the very front row at the Adam Baldwin panel, so that was awesome.

Anyway, this post isn't about my con experience. It's about the con experience I've never had, except vicariously through other bloggers: ComicCon.

ComicCon is often called nerd prom, though recently many in the geek crowd have decried ComicCon as becoming too mainstream. I'm not really sure what the truth of the matter is since I've never been. Either way, I will spend this week doing what I always do: reading every blogpost made by people at ComicCon and wishing desperately I was there. 

I will probably spend a good portion of this week dreaming of August and the multiple cons I'll have (including legit work conventions). I'll probably spend this week making sure all my costumes are planned. If I can't be at ComicCon, I can at least make sure I'm ready for the cons I'm going to.

Anyone out there reading this from ComicCon? Anyone else reading the blogs, tweets, and updates of people who are there with some intense jealousy? 

Cautiously Optimistic

(One day I'll get better about this posting on schedule thing. One day. That day is not today, but I promise, it will happen.)

So I've had a really hard time finding a church here in Albuquerque.  The last time I posted about this here was over a year ago, and I still haven't found a church that fits me. I thought I had. During the craziness of my travel last spring, on the Sundays that I was in town, I went to this one small Baptist Church. It seemed like a good fit. The people were nice. The music was traditional. There were people in the young adult class (though mostly college age people). But as time went on, I just realized that it wasn't for me. It wasn't just that I disagreed with some of the things that were said (which I did). It's that I felt if I revealed my truly geeky, crazy, encyclopedia self, I would be judged and not accepted. So not a good fit.

So I started trying churches again, and it's amazing how quickly I can get discouraged. Visiting a new church is always a struggle for me, because I have a somewhat introverted nature and I'm very aware of how weird and socially awkward I am. I never know how people will take it when I say stuff or if it's appropriate for me to speak up at all in the situation and I have no flipping clue what my place is in the group dynamics, so I spend a lot of the Sunday School hour contorting the bulletin in my hands while not making eye contact with people. Yeah....socially awkward.

Anyway, this past weekend I went to a church that I'm cautiously optimistic about. The service was wonderfully traditional. I knew all the hymns. At one point, the powerpoint guy in the back forgot to flip the slide to the next song, and it didn't matter. Because everyone (including me) knew the words. So we all sang from memory. 

The sermon was actually good. I say "actually" not because I was expecting a terrible preacher, but because when I opened the bulletin I saw that the preacher was going to be talking about the prodigal son. I kid you not. We all know how I feel about the prodigal son story and my recent revelation concerning it (and well Loki). So I was very wary, because I tend to get offended during prodigal son stories. But I didn't. And I learned something I didn't know before. (Namely, that by demanding his inheritance early, the son only got two-thirds of his inheritance, so he was essentially settling for less, which is--I think--something we've all done at one point or another...that is, demanding something too soon and settling for less). Of course, he only covered the "prodigal son" not the other one. He's doing that next week, so I guess the real test will be how I handle that. Hence the "cautiously optimistic".

Sunday School was also really good. The young adults class was actually a young adults class. Not a college class. Not a forty-somethings class. A class of twenty and thirty-somethings. There were two married couples and several single people. Finally! People my age! You have no idea how hard that has been to find. And the group does dinner every Thursday...so they do stuff outside of class. How cool! I'm looking for friends, I need friends, and this seems like the kind of group people make friends in. (Sadly, I can't go to the dinner this week because I already have plans, but such is life. I suppose it's better, so I remain "cautious" instead of throwing myself in before I know what I'm dealing with as I did with the church I went to in the spring).

So yeah. Cautiously Optimistic. I've got my fingers crossed that this is the right church for me. I will be going back next Sunday and I guess I'll just take it one Sunday at a time.

My Alien Response Team

(So after all those serious posts about Loki and being a slacker in blogging last week and Tuesday I decided we needed a more lighthearted and geeky post. So here you go. :) ) 

So my work limits what internet sites I can visit during the day. Not a big deal, except when you’re eating your lunch and thinking, “Hmm…I’ll check out the latest Wheel of Time re-read on tor.com while I chow down.” Because you can’t access tor.com. But strangely you can access cracked.com. Basically, it’s almost a random algorithm that chooses which websites we can and cannot visit. 

But as at most work places, news websites are perfectly acceptable, so I often find myself going to cnn.com even though I don’t actually like the site and I find most of their articles completely pointless. The same goes for their geek blog called “Geek Out!” which is really a fantastic idea gone horribly astray. Instead of it being a website celebrating different geeky things or things geek’s like to talk about, like tor.com or io9.com, it instead spends way too much time expounding on what makes geeks different and how life for geeks is different and blah blah blah. (Honestly, I find this to be the biggest problem with cnn.com in general. The way to get around stereotypes and various –isms like racism and ageism and geekism is not to point out the numerous ways in which we are different and to constantly talk about it. It’s to treat the different subjects of the different groups as if they’re the equal. But that’s my personal opinion and apparently not the opinion of cnn.com). 

Anyway, yesterday, for once, cnn’s Geek Out! had an article that was actually appropriate for a geek website. It was arranging a list of fictional characters that we would want as leaders during an alien attack. Because let’s face it, when it comes to alien attacks I don’t care who is president and how you feel about them. You really want Ellen Ripley to be leading. 

So I started thinking about who would I want on my team to fight the aliens. My own personal Avengers if you will. Note: I am only allowing myself to choose from fictional characters who within their own chronology would be alive today (so sadly no Ellen Ripley) and who are most likely to be on Earth at the time (so no Doctor). And I came up with the following list: 

• Captain America. Call it an Avengers high. Call it a deep seated love for the good old Captain. Whatever. Honestly, in any crisis, this is the man I want leading my team. He has a natural leadership ability and has that good boy scout quality that makes almost everyone love him. He’s also the sort of leaders that other leaders (and loners) are willing to follow, whether they be Mr. Fantastic, Wolverine, or Spiderman. And he’s got experience fighting Nazis, Aliens, and gods. So yeah. I assign Captain America as our team leader. 
• Samantha Carter. So this might be problematic for team dynamics because technically she outranks Captain America. But we need someone on this team capable of figuring out alien technology and capable of holding her own in a gunfight (I’m looking at you, Dr. McKay). Carter is the woman we need for things like blowing up alien ships, blocking strange technologies, and just in general keeping our own gizmos running. She also has experience fighting various different kinds of aliens in two galaxies.
• John Connor. If you need a man who can organize a rebellion on our own soil against a stronger, better foe while simultaneously keeping the human race from going extinct, John Connor is your man. And Aliens should be a breeze after robots. He’s also pretty good with technology, so Carter won’t be left hanging on her own. And he’s great with weapons and a gun, so more muscle for our team. 
• Hermione Granger. Get that incredulous look off your face. This is a list detailing what fictional, contemporary, Earth-bound characters I want with me to fight against aliens. And Hermione fits the bill. She’s smart as a whip, quick on her feet, keeps her cool under pressure, and has already proven herself fighting against a stronger enemy. If there is something our engineers can’t figure out with technology, Hermione will be there to bring the magic. And I’m fairly confident that between her and Carter we’ll be able to get some particularly awesome devices that utilize both technology and magic. 
• Magnus Bane. Another one for the magical side of things. High Warlock of Brooklyn. Like 900 years old. Does the man need more credentials? I get the impression there is very little in this world he hasn’t done (and all the “ewww” that goes with that), so he’s got the street smarts to balance Hermione’s book smarts. Together, they would be one awesome magical pair to help fight aliens. And also, he could use his awesome good looks and natural charm to seduce aliens. As long as Alec isn’t around to go all emo-teenage boy on him. Seriously Alec, get over yourself. 
• Agent J. Because well, if we’re getting invaded by aliens, the Men in Black probably know why. He probably knows what kind of alien it is and has access to all of our past history with that type of alien. He would probably know their strengths and weaknesses, or at least have access to the database that does, and would probably know their language. His humor would help defuse any tension on the team while still getting the job done. Oh, and he has access to a huge arsenal of awesome weapons to get used against aliens. And he has a neurelizer and could essentially turn our human squad into the Silence. The aliens won’t remember seeing us and we can plant subliminal messages inside their minds. That’s a win all around. 

So that’s my dream team. The people I wish we could call up in a case of alien invasion. I’m kind of concerned that there are six of them (what if half want to do one thing and the other half another thing), but I have confidence in almost all of their ability to follow chain of command and listen to whatever the Cap tells them to do. (Though I have suspicions about Magnus’ ability to do so). If we had these people on our side, we would never need to fear aliens. We would kick their butts in a timely manner. 

Notable mentions include Harry Dresden, Buffy Summers, Captain Jack Harkness, and Batman. They can be the second string.

Can You Hear the People Sing?

(My finger is still a little numb and stiff so a short post today!)

So I'm a sucker for a good revolution. Well, a historical revolution. I'm not sure how I would feel about a revolution affecting my own personal life. But I'm a sucker for stories about revolutions of the past, whether they be American, French, or during the year of 1848. (Come on, who doesn't enjoy the tale of the Second Defenestration of Prague?)

I love studying revolutions. And, as I've said before on this blog, I love musicals. So there are few things I love more than musicals about revolution. I recently bought the soundtrack to the Broadway musical Newsies (not the movie). And boy, it's fantastic. Go listen to it now. Right now. 

Anyway, it inspired me to make a playlist (which I don't often do) called "Let's Start a Revolution". It's a compilation of songs from Les Mis, Newsies, Wicked, and a few other musicals and movie soundtracks. After listening to that soundtrack, I'm ready to go save the world. 

So to share the inspiration, please watch this youtube video of "The World Will Know" from Newsies.

Burned Finger!

So this past Sunday I badly burned my finger. Like a second degree burn. It was a lot of fun. Luckily for my typing ability, ibuprofen is keeping the pain down for the most part and I can barely feel. I can also barely move the affected finger, which means this post will probably be short. Typing is possible but not easy.

Anyway, I moved into a new place, which means a new oven. I skipped church Sunday morning and spent the entire morning unpacking boxes. Around 1:00 pm I got hungry and decided to make Bagel Bites so I set the oven to heat. I had shoved my only pan in that weird drawer at the bottom of the oven while unpacking. Turns out, on this oven, that drawer heats up as much as the oven. I didn't know that. The thought did cross my mind to check, so touched the outside of the drawer and it wasn't hot at all. So I opened it up, grabbed a pan, and gave myself a really bad burn.

I immediately put it under flowing cool water (not frigid water! Never use ice on a burn! It's bad bad bad bad). Usually (for a first degree burn) you do that for about ten minutes and your fine. As I was watching it I noticed my skin was getting all really wrinkly and weird looking. So I figured I'd grab my cell phone and call my parents to see if I should be concerned. The six feet walk to my phone and back to the sink to shove my hand back under the water nearly killed me. The pain was searing. Awesome. 

So I then spent the next half hour on the phone with my parents trying to figure out how bad a burn needs to be to go to the ER. We decided it was a second degree burn and I needed to go. The problem? I live by myself. I couldn't keep my finger in cool water and drive myself. And it was Father's Day. So 80% of my friends had family they would be celebrating with. I hung up on my parents and called my friends without any local family. They didn't pick up. So I called my friends with local parents. They didn't pick up. I didn't want to call my friend with kids. So I started at the back of the list again. Luckily one of my friends answered and so graciously came for me.

I wanted to go to an urgent care facility and not the ER, because ER's are crazy. But turns out all the urgent care facilities are closed on Sunday so I ended up at an ER, which took forever. But eventually they gave me this wonderful magical cream for my finger that is sort of like the cream Katniss gets for her burn in The Hunger Games. So now my finger doesn't look terrible. Just sort of waxy. 

And after typing all that, it really hurts. Like sore all inside it and outside of it from all this stretching and working it to hard.

So there you have a rather pointless story about me burning my finger. All to explain why today's post isn't very amusing or meaningful. I apologize. I'll type Thursday's post over a longer period of time, like one paragraph an hour or something so as not to strain my finger.