Dodger- A Review

I am a large fan of Terry Pratchett books, and I hold him as a writer in high regard. Which is why I was very much surprised when I finished Dodger. Dodger is written very much in the same style as all of Terry Pratchett's books, and at time London heavy resembles  Ankh-Morpork in the Discworld series.

 The history that is interwoven into the book along with being from a young lads point of view, kept me turning the pages.  They had interesting real characters, such as Charles Dickens and Sweeney Todd that were a lot more fleshed out than most history  books give them credit for. While it is true that Sweeney Todd is known as the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and has been immortalized in musical and somewhat romanticized for the brutal murders he committed, not a lot has been said about why he did it, and in Dodger they talk about briefly the sensationalization of it for the time and what had made him mentally unstable.

 The true beauty of this a book about a young man trying to figure out who he is and what he wants to do with his life, it also brings forth the harsh reality that there are two sides to every coin. The self realizations that are made by the main character and the quick jaunt into several of the class levels of a Victorian London is a good guide to any individual to help them come to terms with some of those life realizations that only come with time and self analysis.

I would recommend this book to any person of youth that is on that cusp of self discovery and self realization.  This is not your typical Pratchett book that tends to run the gambit of irreverent humor and wit, but is more of the sort of book that father would write for growing son or grandson to help explain the path to adulthood and how the path is never easy.

Gifts Ideas

Every year around this time of the year I start the internal debate as to if I have sufficiently acquired enough gifts for those people that I care about. I enjoy giving gifts. I think it is fun. I enjoy seeing the surprise on the persons face when they open something that rocks their socks off. It isn't easy to surprise half the people on my shopping list and most of it requires use of the internet to acquire, unless it is a craft, and then I either go local or do it myself.

I don't want to tell you what to buy a person, because I believe that everyone deserves a little bit of thought when comes to a gift, but I will share with you some of site that I enjoy and have found a few of the odd, interesting and just plain amusing gifts at. (Also the numbers have no significance, other than the fact when I am writing a list I like to use them. It is not a rating system.)


1.  ThinkGeek

Dib is a fan of ThinkGeek Pillows!

- I love ThinkGeek, because what ever you passion is, they try to have it. There is everything from Star Trek/Wars to Doctor Who to Game of Thrones. They cover almost anything that has to do with video games and popular television shows, and a lot of other really neat things also. It is geared to a variety of ages, and if you sign up for their email notifications, sometimes you can get some really good deals on shipping.


2. TopatoCo

Dib loves putting cat hair on shirts!

-  I love tee shirts, and I love web comics. TopatoCo is a marriage between the two. They do have other things besides tee shirts, but because of my love for tee shirts, that is all I have ever purchased. I can attest that their shirts do not shrink, and that the print does not fade after multiple washings.  I know that most people can not give every person a tee shirt, but I then you can certainly fill their shoes with the various buttons, stickers and stuffed animals that they have.

3. Fred & Friends

Iggins loves shopping online!

- Weird and Off Beat probably should have been my middle name, but my parents knowing that I would be teased to the ends of the earth if they had actually did that instead of Marie. This site is where I can find all the interesting things that makes some ones stocking buzz or their birthday gift rattle. You know that thing you got from me, it might have been a Fred & Friends product. The beauty of Fred & Friends, is that most of the time you can find their products in those fun off beat stores locally, or if you are really desperate for that free shipping Amazon.

4. The Literary Gift Company

Iggins approves!

-This has been described as "The Intelligent Gift store with an Academic Theme". I think this is a fun site for anyone that has a love for reading or writing. There are more than just books on this site, and the wide variety of items that a person can find is refreshing.  I will admit that I am very much amused by the bookshelf wrapping paper, and considering that I do get a lot of books for people in general, it it is a little bit of fun to wrap a book in a picture that a book would go.  If you have never been to this site, I would say at least check it out. It isn't a cup of tea for everyone, but I know there are at least a dozen or two things that I would love from there.

Be Real

It is that time of year where traditions reign supreme, and based off of what culture you are raised in, depends on what you celebrate.  No matter what you celebrate or don't celebrate it is undeniable that the year is winding down, while it is gearing up for a new one. That sort of energy makes people crazy. I don't think there is any way around the crazy, and I think that is why some people cling to family during this season. Not because of tradition, but because if you are going to go crazy, you want to go crazy with the same people that probably instilled that crazy in you. 

I have been doing a lot of thinking about family, and not just because my father is flying in for the holidays. (Really, I swear.) I am not super close to my family.  It isn't because I don't want to be, it is because I don't know how to. I don't know how to just be. I think, and I worry, and I obsess of small things quite neurotically. I blow things out of proportion from time to time, and if I am blowing it out of proportion, then it most likely was a small thing to begin with, because the truth is I don't like to talk about the big things.  It is so much easier to throw some drama around about something I don't care about, then to actually talk about what I do care about.

I don't think that I am alone with this sort of disconnect.  I don't want to be disconnected. I don't want to die alone with my cats going feral and eating my body to survive. (I think that would only happen if my husband died first, but I don't want to tempt fate on that.) I am trying to open a dialogue. I real dialogue, not just the scripted ones about the weather, and the non conversations with canned responses.  I am opening that dialogue with my friends, and with parts of my family, which means it is going to be messy, and emotional and all those other things that sound awful. But... It will be real. And more than anything I value real.  Being real with who you are, and what relationships you have, makes all the bad days a little hard and the good days a little brighter, but I think it is worth it. 

It is easy to get caught up in holiday madness and to grow cynical over how fake it can be, and how over whelming it can be to try and get everything accomplished.  I am no saint, and I am probably not always the best person I can be  at any time of the year, but I urge everyone to develop relationships that are real. Create a real bond, and do what traditions feel real to you and have worth to you, or better yet create your own traditions.  Someone once said, "What you allow, will continue." I think that is so incredibly true when it comes to communication and relationships. 

It isn't New Years. It isn't a holiday today (that I am aware of.)  It is just today, but what I want is a better relationship and a more real relationship with some of the people in my life. To do that, I have to be real myself. Good luck world, and happy holidays. 

Writing is Hard

Writing is hard.  For the past several years I have participated in NaNoWriMo. It has not gotten easier with time. In fact I think that it gets harder. It has gotten easier to talk myself out of it, or rationalize why I shouldn't write that day. This year was the first time that I was writing up until the last day and  trying to figure out where I wanted to go next.  I was so easy to get distracted. Laundry, dishes, cleaning...things that I normally put off on my to do list, suddenly were getting done, because I wasn't sure what I wanted to write.

I did get my novel done this year, and it was with a lot of thanks to my husband for his constant encouragement. My husband has that unique ability to remind me the reason that I was doing NaNoWriMo, and it was because I like to write. I like to tell stories. I am not good at it, but you don't have to be good at something to enjoy it. The only way to get better at anything is to practice and to keep at it and not to get discouraged.

That is so much easier to say then to actually do. How does one not get discouraged? I don't have a 100% answer on that, but I do know something that works for me. If it is something that I really want to do, I need to keep a positive mind about it, and to surround myself with genuine encouragement. My husband genuinely encouraged me on my Nano novel, because he knew it was important to me and wanted me to succeed. That little bit of genuine encouragement is a large reason as to why I got to the finish line, and it also let me know that people that truly care about you will make a point to encourage your dreams.

Not everyone has a dream of writing, and sometimes dreams change along the way. I am never going to make a living as an author. I don't want to. I do a decent job at my job and enjoy my day job (most days).  I enjoy writing and writing is hard. I also have an incredible respect for authors and artists (you should see my library), however I would like to think that I am smart enough to know when something fits better into my life as a hobby. Writing is a hobby for me, and I will probably continue to challenge myself every year with NaNoWriMo, because I feel that sometimes a person needs to push their personal boundaries, even in their hobbies to truly grow as an individual. I encourage everyone to challenge themselves and grow.

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.
Ralph Waldo Emerson 

My Life in Books- Thus Far

I think that is fairly self evident that I have a love of books. In last years NaNoWriMo I wrote about how different books influenced my life. Some of these books influenced me by the contents held with with, and others by the circumstances to which they came into might life or triggered in my life.  As we draw closer and closer to the magical creative time of NaNoWriMo, I reflect on what I accomplished last year and what I learned about my self and on my writing.  

In the up an coming weeks I am going to share with you some of the books that made a difference to me in this adventure with a pulse. I am going to go back and look at last years NaNo for the first time in a year and contemplate my work and hopefully edit it and move forwards.  Below is a list of books that were mentioned in what I call "My Life in Books". As I go though this editing and rehashing adventure, and clean up some of the grammar mistakes that I don't want to admit that I ever made; I will share some of the my best and worst moments with some of the books on the list.  I encourage you to think about what books may have shaped you as a person. 


2012- My Life in Books list

1. Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
2. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
3. Oedipus by Sophocles
4. Animalia By Graham Base
5. Where’s Waldo by Martin Handford
6. Berenstain Bears By Jan and Stan Berenstain
7. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett
8. Nanny Ogg’s Cookbook: A Useful and Improving Almanac of Information Including Astonishing Recipes from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld
9. Breakfast at TIffany’s by Truman Capote
10. A Treasure of Modern Fantasy edited by Terry Carr and Martin Harry Greenberg
11. Glory Lane by Alan Dean Foster
12. Quozl by Alan Dean Foster
13. Dragons of a Fallen Sun by Margaret Weis
14. The Years Best of Fantasy and Horror Anthology 
15. Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
16. Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
17. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyers
18. Brisngr by Christopher Paolini
19. Growing Up Girl by Anne Greenawalt
20. Merchant Princes Series by Charles Stross
21. Summon the Keeper by Tanya Huff
22. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
23. Moss Gown by William H. Hooks
24. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
25. Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
26. Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
    
27. Othello by William Shakespeare
28. Hamlet by William Shakespeare
29. Macbeth by William Shakespeare
30. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
31. Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
32. The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett
33. Joy of Sex
34. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
35. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austin and Seth Grahmen Smith
36. Wolfman by Jonathan Mayberry
37. Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith
38. Betty Crocker Cookbook
39. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
40. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
41. Songs of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce 
42. Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
43. The Giver by Lois Lowry
44. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
45. Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
46. The Other Side of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon
47. Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
48. What Color is Your Parachute by Richard N Bolles
49. To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
50. Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson
51. Pippie Longstockings by Astrid Lindgren
52. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
53. Ride the Wind by Lucia St. Clair Robson
54. The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank by Erma Bombeck
55. Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgress
56. Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
57. Girl Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
58. Alice in Wonderland by C.S.Lewis
59. Borley Rectory: Most Haunted Haunted House in England by Harry Price
60. Girl Genius by Phil Foglio
61. Intercourses by Martha Hopkins
62. 101 Things to Do with Ramen Noodles by Toni Patrick
63. The DIY Bride: 40 Fun Projects for your Ultimate One of a Kind Wedding by Khris Cochran
64. The DIY Bride Crafty Countdown: 40 Fabulous Projects to Make in the Months, Weeks & Hours before Your Special Day by Khris Cochran
65. The DIY Bride An Affair to Remember: 40 Fantastic Projects to Celebrate Your Unique Wedding Style by Khris Cochran
66. Beauty: A Retelling by Robin McKinley
67. Phantom  by Susan Kay
68. Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
69. Catfantastic, Nine lives and Fifteen Tales Edited by Martin H. Greenberg
70. Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot
71. Cat Who Series by Lillian Jackson Braun
72. Encyclopedia of the Cat by Angela Sayer
73. Chicks N Chained Males edited by Esther Freiser
74. Writers Block
75. Aesop’s Fabels
76. Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
77. The Essential Bartender Guide by Robert Hess
78. Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook by Rob Heinson
79. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
80. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
81. Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris
82. Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
83. Dune by Frank Herbert
84. Catch 22  by Joseph Heller
85. The Hobbit by J. R.R. Tolkien

(Don't worry, I am not going to blog about every single one of these books. I could, but I won't. But good luck guessing which ones I am going to talk about first.)

Beginning and Middle of a Story

I am not a serious person most of the time. Anyone who reads this blog has probably realized that most of this is that is written is flights of fantasy and moments of whimsy. Sometimes a person needs moments of whimsy to get through the day, week, even next ten minutes. So, it is probably come as a great shock to many, that I do have moments of utter and complete seriousness and the thoughts of tyranny and terror do not constantly run through my mind.

We are about to experience one of those serious moments. If you want to skip this posting and perhaps read an old posting or wait for a new posting of something of utter whimsy, check back next week. I completely understand. I might just do the same later. Right now I want to talk to you about something very near and dear to my heart. I want to share with you NaNoWriMo.

A lot of people don’t know what NaNoWriMo is. For a long time I didn’t either and I had no idea what I was missing. The acronym is short for National Novel Writing Month. For those that participate, they just call it NaNo. Long and short story is that every November, from the 1st to the 30th you have the creative challenge of writing 50,000 words, which is equal to about 1,667 words a day, and are encouraged to do so through the non-profit NaNoWriMo website. The organization sends out encouraging emails, hosts lock in writing events and has a networking system to track information and promote companionship and goals.

Six years ago, I was part of a small writers group that was formed in the bookstore that the members had all worked at. We were official. We had a name. It was called The Bleeding Pens. We could write critique and edit. It was wonderful. My friend who writes for the Haveyoureadit blog introduced The Bleeding Pens to NaNoWriMo. I have no idea where she had heard about it from, but that is okay. We were The Bleeding Pens, we could do anything. We took up the challenge. Four intrepid young writers with nothing to lose discovered that 50,000 is not as easy as it sounds. With lots of encouraging, crying, drinking, and animated discussions, three out of four in our group finished.

Like all good things, they have to come to an end. The Bleeding Pens was not meant to last forever, but I learned a lot from them. Some of them I even still keep in touch with. From that time period of my life I discovered a lot about myself. I discovered that I love to challenge myself and I love every November with the anticipation of not Christmas or Thanksgiving, but the challenge of challenging myself. Doing something that feels impossible. Every year brings more challenges when it comes to novel writing time. Some of those challenges have been medical; some of those challenges have personal. I can honestly say that I have written four horrible novels that my never see the light of day much less a publishers desk, but I am good with that. I am a better person for that. I have learned important things about myself each and every time I take up this challenge. I strongly recommend for everyone to challenge themselves and to grow, either through taking up the challenge of NaNo this year, or any other challenge.

Lots of people put in a lot of hours to make NaNo possible and probably for very little thanks. They track down authors and beg and plead with them to write an encouraging letter to the participants of NaNo, while trying to keep the website running with hundreds of thousands of people using it, and probably a million other things that I am not even aware of. I have kept every single email of encouragement from every author that has taken the time to assist with this organization. It may mean a lot to the author or very little, I don’t know, but I know exactly how much their words have meant to me. When I have a bad day and I don’t know if I am going to make it through even the next ten minutes, sometimes I pull out one of those emails, or even a couple of emails and read the words of encouragement and it helps. It doesn’t make the bad day go away, but it does remind me of the personal challenges that I have succeeded in.

Go forth and challenge yourself and grow. Thank you NaNoWriMo for helping me challenge myself and find new directions to grow. Thank you authors that have taken the time to encourage me to grow,even if you didn’t know it was me.

NaNoWriMo on the Horizon

There are few things that I am truly passionate about. I am not good at show lots of excitement, and vary rarely am I one to have an attack of nerves, but one of the things that always gets my blood flowing is NaNoWriMo.  This is going to be my sixth year participating in this nerve racking, creativity draining, brain clogging, nail biting, tea drinking adventure. For those that don't know what NaNoWriMo is, I will give you a very brief explanation. It is a non-profit program that is an writing exercise tool. The goal is to write 50,000 words between November 1st and November 30th.  There is no prize for accomplishing this goal, other than the self satisfaction of knowing that you did it.  Many writer accomplished authors have used this to kick out out lines for books and countless students have used this as a spring board for writing a thesis.

I do NaNoWriMo for me.  I don't do it for any one else. It is the one time of the year that I challenge myself. It is a time that I purposely try to move outside of my comfort zone and stretch myself thin, because I have found that when I stretch myself a little thing, some really amazing things come out.

Last year I had wanted to write some sort of autobiography about my life. I don't think that I have lead an extraordinary life, but it isn't over yet. Thinking about my life, it struck me that books have shaped me in ways that I would have never expected and used that thought as a jumping board to move forward on.  Did I talk about my life thus far? Yes. Did I learn a lot about myself? Oh my golly gosh, Yes! Taking on something that I thought would be a little bit of a challenge turned into a lot of a challenge and forced me to re-examine some of my choices I have made. It also gave me a look at the people in my life and how I interact with them.

I am not completely sold on what I am going to be writing about this year, because I have two idea's roaming around in my head, but that doesn't matter. I am looking forward to this challenge and this moment of reflection and personal growth. I highly recommend anyone to step outside of their comfort zone and take up this challenge. You never know what you are going to learn about yourself until you do.

Party Brilliance

Birthdays roll around once a year like clock work. Some of them are celebrated with full fan fair and others go softly into the wind.  Several years back my dear friend Nic was changing decades. For some this could be a very nervous and nerve wracking event.  Nic is a trooper and nothing phases, especially changing of decades. For my fearless friend,  I came up with the perfect Party Idea.  It is so perfect that I have tried this party idea several times and have had nothing but wonderful results.   I would recommend this party idea for anyone that is looking to surprise any one with a couple of years under their belt.

First think you would want to do is pick a victim, I mean friend, as to whose birthday you would like to celebrate.  I recommend picking a friend is changing of decades or  a random number that no one pays much attention to like 33 or 47.  Once you have your sites set on a person, the planning needs to begin right away. This sort of party needs to be planned ahead, but not in the time consuming way.  You would want to pick a place to have a party and a general idea of who you want to invite. Once you you get that out of the way, the real fun begins.

The fun is in the clues!

What ever age the person is turning is how many gifts that person is going to get. So if they were going to be turning thirty you would be getting them thirty gifts. Now I know that this sounds like it is going to cost you a bunch financially, but it doesn’t have to be that way. If you have your guest list, you can round up some volunteers to help with the shopping expenses.  My biggest suggestion for gift buying is not the cost of the gift but the wit behind the gift.

The is a really good reason that I recommend the wit of gift and not the cost. When you get the gifts gathered, you will want to start coming up with clues.  Each gift is to be numbered and then have a clue as to what the gift is attached or written on it. Coming up for clues is not as easy as it sounds. You want to give a clue with out giving it away.

Here are a couple of examples as to what I mean about clues.

Example #1

Clue: At Least it isn’t A Stripper

Guess: Wall paper remover

Gift: Couple of Steamy Romance Novels

Example # 2

Clue: Now containing Matcha

Guess: Sushi Roll or a Small South Amrican Primate

Gift: Box of Green Tea

Example # 3

Clue: Love should be fun!

Guess: Video Game

Gift: Heart Shaped box containing rubber duckies and bubble bath

Part of the fun of the party is listening to what the birthday person guess what they think is inside the box. By numbering the gifts and doing a random draw on numbers, it guarantees that the birthday person can not anticipate which gift they are going to open next and neither do the party guests.  If you have guests that bring gifts that exceed the number of pre-arranged gifts simply put a number on it and let them write their own clue. When the birthday person gets to that gift, tell them that it is one to grow on.

***If this post look familiar, it is because it is. I originally had posted this on my old blog, and I am finally moving some of my favorite pieces and reviews over.  I still think this is an excellent party plan, and have been involved in a total of 5 these style parties, and every time they have been a hit. ***

The One Minute Manger: A Review & Insight

I am in a mentor program, and part of the expectations upon being in the mentor program is that you have to read a book that has to deal with the goals that you are working towards. I read all the time. Reading is one of my hobbies, but despite this fact I found myself dragging my heals on the assignment.  I had plenty of excuses in my head.  I worked over time. I am tired. I am sick. I have a wedding to go to. I left the book at home. I left the book at work. It wasn’t until I was getting close to the dead line I had set for myself and a really rough week at work, did I actually sit down and do my assignment. 

One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson is not a horrible read. It is not a New York Times best seller and it most certainly not in the realm of Science Fiction/ Fantasy that I normally read. It is how ever a very insightful book about managing your life.  Below is my write up on what was gained from the book. 

The One Minute Manger: A Review & Insight

Being a manager is not as complicated as people would have you believe. Everyone is a potential winner. Some people are disguised as losers. You can’t let their appearance fool you.  The more I read the One Minute Manager, the more I realize what behaviors make an excellent manager and how to assist the people that are disguised as losers to shine as a winner. 

People are more than what they appear. In order to get the best out of any one you have to invest time in them.  A person is not just their behaviors; but the person managing their behaviors. Goals begin behaviors, consequences maintain behaviors.  If you want people to reach their full potential, they need to know what they are supposed to be working towards, they are supposed to be encouraged in good behaviors and understand the consequences of their actions. 

In the One Minute Manager, it emphasized that if person does not know what they are working towards, they will never actually reach their goal.  Nobody ever really works for anybody else, they work for themselves. They work to get a good review, to advance their career, to get a kid through college, for recognition, they work for the money and various other reasons.  They don’t work because someone tells them to go to work. A person works as a means to an end.

Once goals are agreed upon, it is much easier to see what good behavior looks like, because you know what you are working towards and what to look for.  Write down the goal in a simple language. A written word is more binding then a spoken word, and is more permanent and a lot less flexible.  A person should take a moment to reread from time to time their goal so that they can evaluate if their behavior matches actions it would take to reach the goal.  

Rewards for good behavior promote more good behavior. If you catch a person doing something right, you should let them know immediately and they will continue to do the right thing. Just telling a person “Good Job” or standard “We appreciate your contribution” isn’t enough.  You need to be specific in what they did right and why it was good, so that they are armed with that knowledge to make more positive choices in the future, and can recognize by themselves the impact of contributions.

Just as you want to catch a person doing something right, you want to let them know when they are doing something wrong right away. If a person doesn’t know they are doing something wrong, they will continue to make the same mistakes over and over again. If you let them know right away what they are doing is wrong, they will be less likely to make the same mistake and move on. When it comes to telling them they are doing something incorrectly, it is important to let them know what exactly is wrong about it and that even though it is wrong, that it does not change their value and that you think well of them as a person but not their performance in that situation.  Then you have to let go and move on. If you constantly remind a person that what they did was wrong, it pigeons holes them into a behavior pattern and doesn’t give them a chance to grow from that experience. 

I think that the most important thing that I learned from the One Minute Manager is not that a person should set goals, or praise their employees or even reprimand them when they stray, but that is all boils down to accountability.  If you ask brief important questions, speak a simple truth, recognize accomplishments and be accountable for your actions, you will exceed professionally and personally. 

"The essence of knowledge is, having it, to use it" - Confucius

Baltimore Comic Con

I love comics. That is that hard to believe considering I have a comic book themed wedding. Despite this love of mine, I have never been to a comic book convention until now. Joining my husband and a couple friends who are convention veterans, I ventured to the Baltimore Comic Con. 

It was overwhelming. If you have never been to a convention before, you don’t realize how much there is to see when you get there.  When you go through the double doors into the convention center, there are booths and displays immediately in front of you, screaming for attention, while the people swarm around you trying to get by. There is what feels like a million booths to try and look at. Some of the booths have the artist and writers of comic in them that will sign some of their work, or for a small fee draw your something. Other booths are full of merchandise that you can purchase, such as toys, tee shirts, comics, prints and posters. 

Falcon

Then there are the people. There is a large variety of people that come to comic book conventions. It is like a kaleidoscope of whimsy. If person isn’t in Cos-play, they are probably sporting an equally nerdy tee shirt. I saw everything from Transformers, to Disney Princesses, to X Men and Mario. There were probably a dozen Batman, Superman and Green Lantern tee shirts, and maybe twice that many Doctor Who players.  I felt like I could happily sit in a corner and play Cos-play Bingo if they had such a thing.  I personally think that it takes a special sort of bravery to dress up in Co-splay. Not every can do it, and those that do do it, show the love for a particular character to the world proudly.

Keith Giffen

One of my favorite things about the whole Baltimore Comic Con experience was talking with artists.  Not every one in a booth wants to talk to people and be their buddy, in fact several of them I suspect would be much happier locked in a room with a pad of paper and a bunch of pens with nothing to do but draw what ever they
wanted. However, there are quite a few writers and artists that are sociable and very kind and patient to the chaotic swirl of hot sweaty bodies.  Justin Jordan (writer of Luther Strode) and Tradd Moore (Artist of Luther Strode and Morning Glories #28 Variant) were incredibly nice to talk with while they both signed my husbands copies of Luther Strode.  Keith Giffen  charmed my husband and I with stories of Lobo that were unfit for print. It was nice that even artist and writers that were just finding feet, such as Christopher Clements were engaging about what their inspiration was. To me, it seems like every one that took the time to be there was a super hero to some one, even if they weren't in costume.

I loved the energy of all of it. Even the not so great parts weren't horrible. I don't like crowds. It was crowded. I don't like touching people. I was bumped into a million times and if I wanted to look at anything, I had to get elbow deep into a crowd. I ran out of hand-sanitizer. My feet hurt by the end of the day, and the hard cement floor was unforgiving with someone who had half a dozen graphic novels and equally that many bagged and boarded comics in a page bag.  It didn't matter. Everything was perfect, when you can look person in the eye and smile and they smile back, because you both love the same thing. With much anticipation and hopefully a much larger spending wallet, I look forward to going to next years convention.  

The Thrilling Adventure Hour! A Thrilling Review

The Thrilling Adventure Hour started out as a podcast for me.  It was something that my husband and I would listen to while we were at work, or at the gym and then chuckle over later. And then it grew into something much bigger then all of that. The new time comedy in old time radio took on a life of its own. It  became one of those things that I would share with friends, and chuckle over later with a private joke from something that I had heard.

I was on beyond thrilled when I saw the fruition of the comedic genius in a beautiful hard back graphic novel. Characters that I had only pictured in my head, were brought to life in stunning color and illustration.  Opening the graphic novel did not disappoint, because it featured all the thrilling exploits of:

• Sparks Nevada Marshal on Mars
• Cactoid Jim King of the Martian Frontier
  
• Down in Moonshine Holler
• Phillip Fathom
• Jefferson Reid: Ace American
• Amelia Earhart Fearless Flyer
• The Cross- Time Adventures of Colonel Tick-Tock
• Tales of the USSA United Solar System Alliance
• Beyond Belief
• Captain Laserbeam

Just like in the podcast that over flow with whimsey and wit; the commercial advertisements betweens each tale gives a person that chuckle. A person can't help but find mirth over the cigarettes and whiskey advertisement that tease the senses like and old school refreshment time girl. 

I would recommend this graphic novel to anyone twelve and up.  The concepts are not hard to grasp, the humor is appropriate for all age ranges, and the art is beautiful. It is not required to have  prior listening history of TAH to enjoy this graphic novel. Humor can stand alone, and requires no back story to enjoy.  If you are ever at odds and ends and need a read that has a little bit of everything, it is completely worth the one thousand nine hundred and ninety five pennies (plus tax) then Thrilling Adventure Hour is for you.

50 SciFi Books That Are a Must!

I am a big fan of book lists. Part of this stems from previously working in a bookstore and the other part is my love of reading. I have trolled several of the Award Lists on Library Thing to see how my library and reading list have measured up to my bibliophile peers.    Justin Jordan (author of the comic book series of Luther Strode  and fried to cats) posted a book list that he had stumbled upon concerning how many different books a character was seen reading in Gilmore Girls. I was intrigued  I am not a fan of Gilmore Girls, mostly because I don’t’ think I have ever seen a single episode, but because I am a fan of reading and books in general, I checked it out, and then I had my fellow Twitter pal and blogger HaveYouReadIt check it out also.  

Wow.  There were a lot books on the list and a lot that I had not completely read, or read excerpts of and other that I really didn’t have any interest in reading. I couldn’t be the only one in the world that could get to sleep at night without having read the entirety of Crime & Punishment. The amount that I had not read made me a little crazy, and thinking that perhaps I should expand my horizons. But, why should read a book that I am not interested in and am not being forced to read for any sort of class? And this is how my pal at HaveYouReadIt came to my mental rescue. We would come up with our own book list of something that we would be interested in reading.    Thus began the compiling of Science Fiction Fantasy books began.  We didn’t want to go crazy with hundreds of books; we kept it simple with 50 Science Fiction Fantasy books that will knock your socks off.  Please enjoy the BAT List and figure out where your measure up, or give either of us feedback as to what you feel should have made the list!

BAT List

1. I, Robot– Isaac Asimov
2. Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert Heinlein
3. Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card
4. Hyperion – Dan Simmons
5. A Canticle for Lebowitz – Walter M. Miller
6. The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth, and Other Stories – Roger Zelazny
7. Carlucci – Richard Paul Russo
8. Accelerando – Charles Stross
9. Time Enough for Love – Robert Heinlein
10. Ship of Fools – Richard Paul Russo
11. Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell
12. Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
13. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
14. The Once and Future King – T. H. White
15. A Spell for Chameleon (and all subsequent Xanth books) – Piers Anthony
16. The Golden Compass – Philip Pullman
17. Enchantment – Orson Scott Card
18. Dune – Frank Herbert
19. The Great Book of Amber – Roger Zelazny
20. The Scions of Shannara – Terry Brooks
21. The Black Unicorn – Tanith Lee
22. The Blue Sword – Robin McKinley
23. Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkein
24. The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis
25. Across the Nightingale Floor – Lian Hearn
26. American Gods – Neil Gaimen
27. Small Gods- Terry Pratchett
28. 2001 Space Odyssey- Arthur C Clark
29. War of the Worlds- Orson Wells
30. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy- Douglas Adams
31. The Hobbit- J.R. R. Tolken
32. Howls Moving Castle- Diana
33. Wizard of Oz- Frank Baum
34. Alice in Wonderland- Lewis Carroll
35. The Last Unicorn- Peter S. Beagle
36. Interview with a Vampire- Anne Rice
37. Harry Potter Series- J.K. Rowling
38. Summon the Keeper- Tanya Huff
39. Quozl- Alan Dean Foster
40. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea- Jules Verne
41. Beauty: A Retelling – Robin McKinely
42. The Good Fairies of New York – Mark Millar
43. The Cat Who Walked Through Walls – Robert Heinlein
44. The Chocolate Hollow Bunnies of the Apocalypse – Robert Rankin
45. Resenting the Hero – Moira Moore
46. The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldrich - Philip K. Dick
47. Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin
48. Watchmen - Alan Moore
49. Sandman - Neil Gaiman
50. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke

Wonder Woman Volume1: Blood

Wonder Woman. Just the name of it makes me think of lassos and golden underwear. I honestly did not have a lot of pre conceived notions as to who I thought Wonder Woman is, other then perhaps a kick butt Amazon with a take charge attitude. I was unexpectedly surprised that I enjoyed the relaunch of Wonder Woman Volume 1: Blood in the DC's New 52.

The story starts out with a bang and continues to deliver with an upper cut of awesomeness that continues through the entire graphic novel. The history of Wonder Woman is executed beautifully, because the reader completely understand why it is relevant to what is happening in the present. In addition the colorful characters of mythology live up to everything you would think they would do, which makes the plot line even more interesting. 

I am very much excited to see what is going to happen next and can't wait to read the next graphic novel in this new series. It is good to see that there is a strong female lead that comes from a very human back ground and is trying to do their best to cope with the uncertainty of the future.  Not only does Wonder Woman sparkle in her own right, they supporting characters have enough substance to them to leave a person intrigued and begging for more. 

If you are looking for something to read, that is as visually pleasing to the eye as it is to the mind, try Wonder Woman, it is more then just another pretty face with anger issues. 

The Uncommon Bride

Weddings. They are a common, and yet wholly unique at the same time. Every persons wedding is different. Every bride is different. Not every bride wants to what fluffy movies that are geared to a wedding audience.   Not every girl wants to sit down and watch every wedding show out there, choose bridesmaid dresses for hours or argue over seating arrangements. Sometimes you just want to watch something that has a wedding, but isn't in your face about it.

Here are 10 movie recommends for the uncommon bride.

1.  Kill Bill
2. Rocky Horror Picture Show
3. Beetlejuice
4. Robin Hood (For those with a funny, make that Robin Hood- Men in Tights)
5. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 1
6. Moonrise Kingdom
7. Nutty Professor II
8. Flubber
9. Bride of Frankenstein
10. Corpse Bride

Sometimes you want to watch a movie that stuff blows up in, but you also watch something that has to do with a wedding that isn't your own.  Enjoy. 

Tuning into Darwin's Radio

Last year for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) I wrote about books that influenced my life in one way or another. I had near a hundred books that I talked about in my mini novella. I came to a realization that not only do I use books to escape from reality, but I use books as a way to connect with other people, most particularly I use books to be able to communicate with my parents.

I don't communicate well. I am at best passive aggressive. I don't like to rock the boat.  I  am not one to enjoy larges amounts of drama.  I don't think I have ever seen a family that hasn't rocked the boat, that isn't aggressive and that has mastered the avoidance of drama. My family is unconventional and full of anxiety and mood swings. The thing that we can do and do very well is read. My mother is a huge reader and so is my father, and when we need to find something to fill silence, we resort to one thing.

"What are you reading?"

My dad lives in California. I do not. I don't keep up on California politics. I don't read the LA Times and I don't really miss the air quality warnings, and the 9% sales tax. I sometimes miss the excitement of an earthquake, but not the chaos of the aftermath of a big quake. I do miss my dad. We don't get to see each other that often, but when we do we try to make the most of it, which is why it is so important to me that we talk on the phone often.

" The flat afternoon sky spread over the black and gray mountains like a stage backdrop, the color of a dog's pale crazy eye."

My dad recommended this book to me, Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear.  He went on about this book for months. I honestly have never read anything by Greg Bear, so it was foreign territory for me, but it sounded interesting.  Then one day it showed up in the mail. It was a hardback book, that had a library code on the jacket cover, and then another library stamp on the inside.  I love getting books in the mail, but for a small moment, I had to wonder if my father was a book thief. Did he steal this book from the library, because he thought I would like it? It was an autographed copy of the book that was in pretty good condition for being in a library. After a little bit of research I discovered, it was just a library book sale that my dad took advantage of to get one of his favorite books.  I did not dive into the book right away. I had other stuff on the night stand to read and that I was in the middle of.

"Bacteria made us. They take us back in the end. Welcome  home."

I am on vacation. It is beautiful  on vacation, and I have time to read.  I brought the book with me. I don't know if I am going to like it. I don't think that I will hate it, but it isn't my usual cup of tea. I just started it and am not more then two dozen pages in, but is makes me think and not in a bad way.  I can't wait to finish it, just so that I have yet one more thing to talk to my dad about, and in a small way feel a little bit closer to him despite our distance apart.

I killed a clown.

I killed a clown. Or at least that is what I tell people when they see my hands.  I am pretty sure that clowns bleed a rainbow of colors, because clowns aren't humans. They are space aliens trying to infiltrate our planet. That might not be a true story, but so far I have had no arguments about clowns.  

 Once a month, I get together with my girlfriends and we do something, anything. We make an adventure out of it, because one cannot have too many adventures in this life. It was decided that it would be fun to do a little bit of tie dyeing.  I personally don’t remember the last time I did any sort of tie dyeing. It had to be at least a dozen years if not two decades since I have had any sort of association with tie dye. I now know why.  It doesn’t matter how much you try not to get any on you, it is still going to happen.  The gloves they include in any of the kits are a joke. They tear easily and made for giant hands, so there are all sorts of gaps for dye to seep into, especially if you have any sort of enthusiasm for the project. You get a group of girls together with some sangria and bottles of dye, and things can get pretty interesting and enthusiasm was not lacking. It was an adventure that has certainly proved to be a learning experience.

We tie dyed the following: 2 Dresses, 10 Tee Shirts, 3 Pairs of Socks, Various Undergarments, 1 Beds Sheet set, Yoga Shorts, Towel Set, Hoody, Fedoras, Ball caps, 3 Dress Shirts, Bandana’s, 5 pairs of feet, 5 sets of hands, 3 legs, 2 arms and  1 forehead.  I am sure that there is more that was dyed and I am just forgetting it, because I may have ingested some dye at one point or another.  There was a lot of dye flowing around and, since there were five of us, and five pairs hands and 5 sets of feet were dyed, you can guess that I got dyed.

It was fun, until I tried to get it off, and then I learned that the Internet is a liar.  Here is a list of things that I have tried thus far to remove the techno-colored from my hands. Please note that none of these things actually worked. 

1.        Acetone- It removes nail polish, and has been said to help remove hair dye from furniture.  This is did not work in the slightest.  Having now had the experience of rinsing my hands in acetone, I can attest to this.  Acetone is cold. It is creepy and it feels like your life is seeping out of your hands, but it did nothing to remove the dye. It didn’t even make it fade either.  I would not recommend trying this method, unless you want to know what it is like to shake the cold clammy hand of death.

2.        Orange Cleaner- I had high hopes for this. It is supposed to be able to clean anything. It doesn’t. The gritty texture and the strong smell of oranges, was kind of pleasant after shaking the cold hand of death with Acetone. However, with the exfoliation and the determined scrubbing and rubbing the solution together, it did nothing to lighten the coloration of my hands. On the bright side my hands felt smooth from the exfoliation and every crack and crevice in my hand was highlighted even more in the stubborn dye.

3.        Baking soda and Dish Soap- This is form a dye removal website. I am not going to mention the website, because I think they are using hair dye, and any cure for hair dye does not apply to tee shirt dye.  I thought it would be worth a try since I had both items in my home. Mixing dish soap and baking soda is weird. It makes a paste that almost feels like play dough. Rubbing it onto my hands was sort of like trying to wash in slightly blue cookie batter.  The baking soda continued to smooth my hands even more. It felt kind of nice, but did nothing for the dye. The dye was stubborn.

4.        Toothpaste- This is probably the weirdest home remedy that I saw, but in its own way it made sense. Tooth paste is whitening and used to remove stains on teeth. In theory it could possibly remove stains from a person’s hands.  In theory it works. The act of covering my hands in tooth paste, I don’t think I will ever forget. I learned that when you cover your hands in tooth paste, they start to tingle because of the mint in the paste.  The longer you keep the paste on, the more it tingles. After you wash the paste off , your hands will smell like mint for the rest of the evening. Despite the tingling, and the minty smell, my hands did not seem any less tie dyed.

After about four attempts and a shower later to remove the dye, I decided to just go to bed.  It was like magic; once I fell asleep I completely came to peace with myself and my new skin colors.  Waking up in the morning I gave up on changing the color of my hands, and decided to compliment my new and improved color pallet by painting my finger nails a rather fetching pink.  Then the real miracle happened, while I worked throughout the day, the color just seemed to come off of my hands and lighten and fade. It was amazing. By the end of the work day, I no longer looked like I murdered a clown or strangled a rainbow.  I would say that the moral of the story is that sometime it is easy to get distracted by the small things in life and if you just keep moving those small things sort themselves out, sort of like tie dye.