Absolutely Creepy-Yet Amazingly Gorgeous

For some reason, I have Yahoo! set up as my homepage when I log onto the nets, so this was the picture that greeted me. I've always had a strange fascination and respect for snakes. Immediately I wanted to learn what I could about this amazing specimen. To learn about it and other species that scientists have recently discovered, including a rat species thought to have been extinct for 11 million years, click here.

When I first studied the picture of the green piti viper up close, I was trying to compare it with the snakes I'd seen over the years. Something about it's face didn't seem quite right. And then I realized, those big black pits that seem to be glaring at you? Yeah, that's it's nostrils. It's eyes are behind them, and when I finally realized that, I was thoroughly chilled. Just because I think the creature is beautiful doesn't mean I ever want to meet it in person!

Only Fall Out Boy Looks Good In Tight Jeans and Eyeliner

Since I'm bored, and have been watching Fall Out Boy videos on YouTube all afternoon, I have to say that I've seen guys dress like them in real life, but I've never seen anyone pull it off besides FOB.

Also, Pete may be the "looker" of the group. . .


but the lead singer has an adorable geekiness that I find just as appealing.

Twice Tagged

I was tagged TWICE, by my sister and my lovely friend, Tiffany. The rules:

Link to the person(s) that tagged you - (see above).

Post the rules on your blog.

Share 6 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

Tag 6 random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.

Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

After speaking to my sister over the phone about everything including blogging, she said that since I was tagged twice, I should do twelve habits/quirks/non-important things about myself. I think it will be a challenge, but let's see what I can come up with. . .

1. I think the color gray is so pretty. Other people see a gray day and think it is drab, whereas I feel my spirits uplifted by it, or a gray shirt and think it is boring, whereas I own a bazillion different gray shirts and I adore every one of them. Of course, it helps that I have the coloring that works with gray. :P
2. I find a lot of pleasure in really jamming out to some pretty hard rock. If a good Rob Zombie song pops on the radio, I'll turn it up as loud as my car radio will allow me. I also enjoy System of a Down, Seether, Flyleaf, Drowning Pool, and Disturbed.
3. However, I make it a point to keep the songs on my iPod upbeat and uplifting. There is nothing like walking to class while listening to "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger," by Daft Punk. It's also hard to be in a bad mood when taking my dog for a walk and listening to jack Johnson.
4. I love different kinds of ethnic food. Among my favorites are German, Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Greek.
5. I am unable to deny my dog anything when she puts her mind to getting something by utilizing her big brown eyes and cute little face.
6. I am an avid follower of Questionable Content, and ICanHasCheezburger.
7. I think I'm missing the gene that makes me able to come up with cute, creative things, and the artistic ability to achieve them when I DO happen upon a cute idea.
8. My favorite dinosaur is the T-Rex.
9. I find geology fascinating.
10. I love to star-gaze when I can.
11. Taking me to a bookstore has been likened to taking a kid to a candy-store. In fact, my brother-in-law lost me once in a small bookstore. It's not hard; I'm pretty small and end up in unusual book sections.
12. My hair is almost black when I'm indoors, but when I'm outside in the bright sun, and you look closely it's actually red. Seriously, my sister might not believe me, but my hair is dark red when I go outside to take my dog for walks. I should know, I'm the closest to it!

So there you go. This is extremely close to a meme a did awhile back, but that one concentrated more on food. Enjoy! Oh, and I tag velocibadgergirl.

How a Geek Girl Keeps Herself Occupied

I promise I am not a ditz. Ok, I have my moments, but show me someone who doesn't! When boredom encroaches at my job, and I'm stuck unable to do much about it, my mind switches to Distraction Mode. And it isn't pretty. Here are some things that I've thought in the last week in DM.

• Wow, I've heard of split ends, but I don't think I've ever actually seen them before. Definitely time for a hair cut.
• Why do people wear so much perfume? She's way over there and I can still smell what she's wearing.
• I wish I could whip out my crossword puzzles right about now. I'm pretty sure I'm losing brain cells.
• I wonder what will happen next in Elantris. Why can't I read books on the job again?
• Why do they call them pants? It's one item of clothing. Sure they have leg holes, but shirts have two sleeves and we don't say, "I can't find my shirts."
• Unless of course we are searching for more than one shirt.
• How can I wear a skirt without freezing my legs off, and without doing the whole "jeans under my skirt, I'm so fashionably forward"?
  
• OMGsh, if my boss comes out to tell me something I already know one more time she's going to learn the definition of smart-ass.
  

New Addictions

A few years back, a friend showed me her set of tangrams, 7 shapes that you must use in order to fill in a larger shape. I must admit that it is a lot harder than it sounds. You have to use all seven shapes, they can't overlap each other, and they can't go outside the lines of the larger shape you are trying to re-create. That still makes it sound simple. And in a way, it is. Not in the sense that it's easy, but that it's not complicated. It takes all of your mental processes to work, but it's almost zen-like in it's style.
When my friend first showed me tangrams, I wasn't all that interested. I tried one, found that I couldn't figure it out, became frustrated, and decided that it wasn't a game for me.

But I recently rediscovered it in an unlikely place. My iPhone app store. I found Tangram Pro for free. It has 8 puzzle sets, with many, many puzzles inside each set, providing for hours of this (for me) stress-reducing game. It's free for a limited time, so I snatched it without much thought. I figured I could give it another go, and if I didn't like it, it wasn't as though I was wasting a buck or more on it. I could just uninstall and be done with it. But I became addicted. I'm actually stuck on one in the second puzzle set, having already completely the first.

I also got a couple of my co-workers hooked. One of them helps me solve the ones I get stuck on, or will just gaze at my phone until he can get himself to ask if he can try. My other co-worker downloaded it onto her iPod touch the night I showed it to her. Now we all geek out at work!

I Have Issues

I am getting beyond angry right now at Mozilla Firefox. It continues to crash, refuses to start up, and leaves me seething while I use the inferior IE browser, instead.

It started about a week ago. Continually, Firefox would give me a pop-up: "We're Sorry" and then go on to explain that it had crashed. I could restart it. So, I did. And the pop-up reappeared. So I quit, providing my e-mail address for information and updates. No information or updates were ever given. I finally uninstalled and re-installed it today, and it seemed to work just fine. I was ecstatic. All of my saved blogs, all of my comics! I could visit my sites again!

Alas, it has decided to crash and refuse to start once more. As I type this, I am looking at the IE browser with distain and trying to remember my stupid foxmarks password.

Urban Shaman

I've noticed a pattern in the books that I lean toward when I'm really wanting a good read. I end up with the urban fantasy genre most of the time. Oh sure I go for more traditional fantasy as well. For instance, one of my favorite authors is Julliet Mariller. I loved her Seven Waters trilogoy, which I just discovered has another book out, which I am totally psyched about. Anywho, I've basically finished my newest urban fantasy book: Urban Shaman, by C.E Murphy. This book was amazing. I loved it. The heroine is totally likable, and her powers are amazing, and the way the author describes the universe from a shamanistic point of view was really transcendant. Definitely worth the read! Sadly, I can't really offer a synopses because there are so many stories and twists and such that it's really more of go-see-for-yourself kind of book. Enjoy!

GeekGirl Wonders. . .

There are two shows on Discovery Channel that seem to me to be the exact same, except for different hosts; Man Vs. Wild, with Bear Grylls, and Survivorman, with Les Stroud. Each show has each host out and about in different harsh environments, roughing it and giving you tips that could "actually save your life" if you were ever, say, shoved out of an airplane in the middle of Alaska. They do things like build shelters, and eat dead carcasses, and drink their own pee. Really, the only difference I can fathom is in the host's accents. One is British, and one is American (or at least, he sounds American.)
So, the whole point of this little blog is to pose the question: Why have both shows? Which is better? Is drinking your own pee really a good idea?

Neglection

I have neglected to up-date any of my dear readers on my Fall into Reading Challenge, which I nearly finished, with the exception of reading The Spartans. In my defense, I did end up reading several books that had not originally been on my list. For example: Peeled, by Joan Bauer. I let my sister talk me into thinking it would be a good book, but the young adult fiction? Yeah, I'm kind of passed that now. I fail to get interested. I also read several other books that I ended up buying myself, and now I'm at the sad, sad point where I am out of books to read. Save The Spartans. :(

It's Not Easy Being Geek

I believe a huge part of my geekhood has been inherited by my father, who at the ripe age of 53 still manages to have the best and coolest new games before I even have a chance to drool very much over them in his new PC Gamer magazines. It's hard being a with-it geek when your father has already beaten the game you wish you could afford.
My dad's newest acquisition is FarCry 2. Unlike the old game, which was pretty fixed in most of its environmental content, this one allows far more freedom. Roam at random and blow things up and do your missions with zest and gusto. No more closed corridors where the only doors are to your next checkpoint or maybe just some extra ammo or health packs. You can explore to your little heart's content. Or really, to my little heart's content. You might be a player that wants to get things done and move on with the job. Either way, FarCry 2 is bound to be a grenade belt of kicks and giggles.

P.S. Do I even NEED to mention the beautiful graphics?

Why I Hate People

Seriously, 12 years of free education has failed to teach someone the very basics of science? I remember learning about rainbows in 4th grade, 7th grade, AND 9th grade, not to mention College geology, but I don't begrudge them if they couldn't afford that. Still, does this person do ANY research? Have they bothered to use Google? Will someone put them out of my misery?!

WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!?!1!

(Go to failblog.org for more great FAIL.)

Get 'Er Done!

I've finished Son of a Witch, which I really liked. Again, it's gritty, but the ending was a-freaking-mazing. I also finished Real Mosquitoes Don't Eat Meat and Other Inquiries Into the Oddities of Nature, by Brad Wetzler. Here's one of my favorite entries:

"What Makes the Moon Look Bigger at Moonrise?"
A: It's called the moon illusion, and it's just that: a trick on your eyes and brain. ...the orb is the same distance from [both horizons]. Scientists have hundreds of explanations many still clinging to a notion Aristotle put forth around 350 B.C.: that the image of the horizon moon is magnified by our lens-like atmosphere. [There is also an] "apparent distance" theory, suggested by Ptolemy in the second century and formulated by Arab phyicist al-Hasan nine hundred years later. . . . When you see the horizon moon, your mind takes into account the terrain in front of it and concludes that it's really far away and, therefore, really big. When the moon's overhead, the cues are gone, and the visual center in your brain is unable to assess it's distance (it's 249,000 miles away, after all) and thus can't determine it's size."

Pg. 19, Wetzler: W. W. Norton Company, Inc. 2005

I love me some good theories, so I thought that was pretty interesting. I'm starting on Einstein in His Own Words now.

Progress

I posted earlier on my choices for the Fall into Reading 2008 reading challenge, which began on September 22. I've realized that I am a bad candidate for reading challenges. Sure, I finished Summer Blowout, by Claire Cook, a rather disappointing chick lit book for which I had higher expectations, and I'm nearly through with Son of a Witch, by Gregory Maguire, which is, of course, reaching all of my expectations and even maybe furthering them, but that's only two books in the last few weeks. I blame The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova. This novel is told from two points of view, or maybe in three, depending on how you look at it. A historian in her late 50's looks back on her teenage life. In doing so, she tells the story from her teenaged point-of-view, but also tells her own father's story in his own words as he recalls his travels around the world in search of the true story of Vlad Draykula, or Vlad the Impaler, as he is also known. This story has me in its little wordy grip and won't let go. But why isn't it on my reading list? Because it's nearly a thousand pages long. I'm a quick reader, but I'm not that quick!

Caution: Contents Will Burn Tongue Off

I recently bought disposable Styrofoam cups a la Starbucks to use when making myself a delicious cup of hot chocolate. I like my hot chocolate Really Hot, and I got a little tired of burning my fingers when pulling a steaming mug of milk from the microwave, so these little cups were a good investment. Except that now, even though my fingers are safe, my tongue is not. I KNOW that I should wait for it to cool down; I KNOW that I will regret that first sip, but I can't seem to help myself. Now I have a scalded tongue and the desire to try again, in case my hot chocolate has managed to defy physics and cool down considerably in the last minute and a half.

Count Down!

One of my favorite shows on Discovery Channel is the awesomely dirty Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe. The host is hilarious; the jobs are horrifying; it's just a great show to watch. Lately I've been getting a bit antsy with it, though. It is currently in its repeat stage, where they play re-runs until the new episodes come out. Sure I'll watch the re-runs but I own them on DVD so they are getting a little old for me. When oh when, I wondered, are my new episodes coming out?

And so the count down begins! 5 days! 5 days until I can see him mangling maggots, and cleaning ewers, and joking the entire way. One of my favorite older episodes is the Monkey Farm one, in which they are in Africa when they come across a place that is taking care of recovering or infirm Capuchin monkeys. Paddie, however, hates Mike and his crew, so they're basically all running in fear of this small mammal. It cracks me up every time!

If you don't have the chance to watch such wonderful episodes as the Bloodworm Farmers, the Lobster Boaters, the Penguin Keepers, or the Snake Exhibit, then I suppose you can entertain yourself with this:



Note to Readers: I WANT THIS KITTY!

Because I Rock

I could survive for 1 minute, 16 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

The Nerd Herd!

As my day off, Wednesdays are usually full of naps, reading, and surfing the web. Thus I found "Chuck," on Hulu. I'd heard about it, but I wasn't too sure it was my kind of show. And then I saw an advertisement on Hulu's TV home page for it. "Chuck. He's not shaken, he's nerd." Immediately, I was hooked. I watched all available episodes (4, or was it 5?). Although I don't know the back story specifics because only the last few episodes of season one were available, I can say that he somehow has all sorts of secret government information downloaded in his mind, thus dubbing him the nation's most prized possession, or "the Intercept." Numbers, letters, faces, pictures: anything can set him off into a "flash," where he recieves instant information from his little brain.

The totally awesome thing about this show is that Chuck is a normal geek guy working at a "Buy More" store in the "Nerd Herd" area. His friends bet on the roll of the dreidel; they decide who is to be the Assistant Manager by staging an underground fighting cage; they drink grape soda "on the rocks." In other words, they kept me laughing. It's meant to be a comedy, with a little action on the side. Check it out, and see the Nerd Herd for yourself!

On Another Note

My sister has made me aware of the Fall Into Reading 2008 Book Challenge, and I figured I could do with one of those. I'm not making any promises, since I have my plate full with school, work, and extra-curricular activities, but I will make a list, and since I was notified so late (it starts today, and I found out about it today), I will probably begin in a couple of days. If you want to learn more about it, go here. She has the information and links and whatnot. I plan on doing 12, but I only have ideas for seven at the moment, so I will list those, and re-post this after I know what I really want to read.

1. Einstein In His Own Words

2. Real Mosquitoes Don't Eat Meat

3. Son of a Witch

4. The Spartans

5. Dave Barry Talks Back

6. One Thousand White Women

7. Hunter's Prayer: A Jill Kismet Novel

Again, I will add five more when I discover what else I would like to read. Until then, Fall Into Reading!

I Am Getting Old

I might just be 21 years of age, but I feel much older. Yesterday I was sitting down at my little utilitarian laptop desk, which is made to rest comfortably over you whether you are in bed, or sitting on a couch, but I mostly use it on the floor because otherwise my dog tries to knock it over in her frantic push for attention. Anywho, I sit cross-legged, with my legs under the little table, and yesterday, as I stood to go get myself a soda from the fridge, I realized that my knees were very unhappy. In fact, one refused to support me, and so I just stood on one leg, flamingo-style, in the middle of my room and gave myself a pep talk before forcing myself to endure the pain and WALK, DANG IT!

I've had to deal with "foot falling asleep" issues as well, which is not fun because I never learn. When your foot is numb, it can't really hold your weight. I've fallen at least three times before I made this easy deduction. I think the best plan of action is to get up every thirty minutes or so and walk, just to make sure that I don't stiffen up, or have several limbs that have decided to nod off. But this entire experience has made me feel as though my real age is closer to 80, and that's just depressing.

I Underestimated

I know that iPods have been the thing for forever, but they always seemed so expensive and not worth it to me. But with my new iPhone, which has an iPod on it, I decided to go for it. Might as well have some awesome songs to jam out to when I'm away from my laptop. Let me just say: it would have been totally worth it to buy an iPod when it came out.

It's like being in your own little bubble-world, where your music surrounds you in a cocoon of awesomeness. I can't help but put that extra sway to my hips when I'm listening to Paramore's Crushcrushcrush, and I have to battle the urge to scream along with Flyleaf while taking my dog for a walk. Plus, the added "Don't Bother Me" factor is perfect for me. :)

Finicky Hurricanes

I know that since I live on the coast of the great Gulf, I should accept the fact that hurricanes are a part of life. And I do. But would it be too hard to ask that Ike make up its mind? Seriously, first it was headed right for me, so I evacuated, and it changed course. Despite my evacuation inland, it was suddenly heading straight for me again. Not only that, but it was getting ready to obliterate the town I was further going to evacuate to.

So I had to grab all my crap, plus two dogs and a pet rat, and go back to my town, which was closer to the coast, but further from the storm's predicted path. I was expecting rains and winds in my hometown, since it was closer to Ike, but I hear it's all sunshine and roses there. I am exceedingly happy that I don't have to worry about my apartment flooding and my essentials that could not be moved getting ruined, but the inaccuracy of what we do understand of storms and meteorology in general annoys the heck out of me.

I Am Annoyed

There are so many ways that I like to unwind and calm down after a pretty suck day. I've always read constantly as a means of entertainment and escape, and gaming usually puts me in a good mood, especially if I can get together with a group and kick some trash. For awhile, I would rent two or three movies every few days and settle back to watch. Lately, tho, I've been listening to my favorite play lists on playlist.com. I'm pretty eclectic when it comes to my music, so I've divided them all up into categories: Hard Rock and Alternative; Country; Electronica and Synth Pop; relaxing and upbeat music.

One of my favorite bands in the hard rock category is Flyleaf. Not only do I love the lead singer and her amazingly high pitched, screaming voice, but I really dig their songs. One of my favorites is a little known (re: not played on the radio) hard rock shout match called "Justice and Mercy." It has suddenly disappeared off the face of the playlist.com archives. I searched and came up empty. :( This means I'll have to buy it from iTunes, and that's why I am annoyed.

Geeky Reading

Sure reading itself is a bit of a nerdy hobby, but I've leaned to accept the geekiness that it lends me. But sometimes, the books themselves increase the geekiness tenfold. Case in point: the two books that I have been reading lately. Magic: The Gathering-Shadowmoor Anthology and Magic: The Gathering-Eventide.

Just one look at the front of Eventide, and you'll recognize that it basically fits every geek boy's fantasy art. The books are based on the card game, which I am slowly changing my opinions about. Some people like to read or play computer games to perk their little bad days up; others like to play card games where their imagination can take them far and kick some trash along the way.

The Anthology I read first, basically a whole set of stories introducing creatures from the world iof Shadowmmoor. Cinders, Boggarts, Elves, Kithkin, Merrows: all of them strange in their own way, and mostly vengeful, terrible enemies to each other. In fact, each story seemed to end in some horrible twist that made you realize that Shadowmoor is a dangerous place to be anything, including a Treefolk.

Eventide takes the charcters and creatures from the Anthology and expands on them, explaining a little bit about how the world once was, and why it now is. It introduces a few new characters, and kills off many, many more. Full of elemental magic and plots of Shadowmoor domination, Eventide has kept me turning pages in an effort to find out what those crazy beings will think of next.

All These Things

Lately I've had these "things", I call them. They're basically quirky likes that I have.

Thing Number 1: Plaid. I love plaid. I have a pair of plaid shoes that I cannot get enough of! Plaid, plaid, plaid!


Thing Number 2: Hearts. And not cutesy little hearts, either, just simple hearts.

Thing Number 3: Robots! But only cute robots.


Thing Number 4: Rain. I love the rain. I get kind of cranky if it's too sunny for long, and my dream is to one day live in a town that is A) not sunny or B) rainy often.



Thing Number 5: The color gray. It happens to be one of my favorite colors, but it has to be the right kind of gray. I go for either gunmetal, or dove gray.

A Meme

Yay, another meme! Another random idea to get to know me better. It's your lucky day!




1. I generally don't like people, so it's kind of strange that I want people to "get to know me better" on this blog. It's not that I'm weird, it's just that people generally talk too much, or they're idiots, or something. If I don't seem to be warming up to you, it's because you fit into this category. :) Cheers!



2. I don't like to drink water. I avoid drinking it, but I will accept your offer of milk, juice, soda, Gatorade.


3. I also don't drink alcoholic beverages.



4. I think potatoes are the yummiest food ever. I will eat them boiled, roasted, fried, seasoned, mashed, smashed, or any other way you can think of. Just not raw.

If it seems like these are excessively food/or drink related, it's because I'm starving. I may revisit this meme at a later date.




5. I love to read, and will read anywhere and everywhere I can get away with it. Even as a child, when my dad would take forever comparing prices at the local grocery store, I would pull a box of food down and read all the information on it.



6. I think white is a great color for every household product. My laptop is white, my towels are white, my tea kettle is white, my toaster is white. If it wasn't so dang expensive, my cell phone would be white.



7. Even though I am female, I hate to talk on the phone. I prefer face-to-face, especially if I feel it is an important subject, and if I can't be face-to-face, I prefer texting. If I sound grumpy on the phone, it's because you are talking too long, and I'm contemplating how to hang up on you.



So, there you have it. Seven random things about me. That was the meme. Seven random things. If this meme makes me sound grumpy it's because a) I usually am and b) I am so hungry!

The General Public . . .

I know that television networks base their shows contracts on viewers' preferences. The more people who click in, the more rave reviews and recognition a TV show and its cast receives, the better the chances are that the show will continue on for seasons to come.

Examples: Desperate Housewives, ER, Friends. Shows that the public have gone absolutely nuts over. And the seasons kept on rolling on out. Or keep on going, in Desperate Housewives' case. But what is the deal with the newer shows, or am I just now noticing the trend?

The sex/drugs combo sells, and it seems that lately, it has been selling quite well. Nip/Tuck, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, even a newer show where a rich family has its own dirty laundry of sex and drugs that is probably going to enjoy a long spot on its network all seem to have people tuning in religiously (or Tivo-ing, in more and more cases).

This blog isn't to rant on an amoral society. I don't like that stuff, so I steer clear. What I'm annoyed over is the fact that the shows that I like -good shows with strong followings!- are getting the shaft! Come on, people, one season of Firefly? I KNOW Firefly has a huge following, even now, and yet it was only one season long. I blame a lack of advertising. I'd never even heard of it until it popped up one day on SciFi. And what about John Doe? I'm just now getting into it, right into season one, and I realized that one season is really all I'm getting. And why do I have a feeling that Bionic Woman is going to go the way of these others?

The only science fiction show that has really taken off is Battlestar Galactica. That thing is like a soap opera and a scifi flick all wrapped into a nice burrito of oh snap, that just happened. It's as though if a show does not keep our ADD public constantly inundated with more and more drama, the show isn't worth it. Not fast-paced enough? Good-bye, show. Someone actually knows their baby's daddy? Trash. The in-laws aren't killers? Not worth the effort.

All I'm saying is this: we geeks like our techie, geeky, fact-full shows. So support a geek, and give our shows a chance. We'll thank you for it by making books and crazy fan fiction and hosting conventions and dressing up in crazy-weird outfits for the movies that will inevitably come. :) Oh, and we'll probably shake your hand. . . if you come to our conventions.

Books, Books, Books

I've gone through a myriad of books at a surprisingly fast pace, even for myself, I think. As a teen, I read because it took me elsewhere, and now I've returned to that habit, pushed there from boredom, or sadness, or anxiety. I could list the many books that I've read in the past two weeks, but I'll only mention two: the first I finished last night before drifting off to sleep at one in the morning. I've noticed Lillith Saintcrow's books on the sci-fi/fantasy shelves for quite awhile, and I finally bought one. I enjoyed the book, but as of yet have not been able to get a hold of the following two in the series, which are apparently available, but always sold out. So, I moved to her more well known series, the Dante Valentine books. Or the first one, at least. Working for the Devil was so good, despite it's sadness. It mixes a futuristic view of the world with a unique twist on how close Hell is to the world at large. I can't say that I appreciated her view of Hell as less evil and more a parralell universe with different ideas of how things are, or even the idea that we, as humans, were created -not by God, but by demons. Yet somehow it all combined into a fascinating, fast-paced, magick-filled story that makes me really look forward to the next in the series.

The book I moved on to today is Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, by Gregory Maguire. I've read a few of his books, beginning with Wicked, and I keep coming back to them. There's something about the way he takes a well-known fairy tale and flips it around, letting you see the other side of what it could be; somehow fitting his ideas into the fairy tale and yet making an entirely new one at the same time. When you read a fairy tale as a child, the story is what it is: oh, yes Hansel and Gretel survive after almost being eaten by a wicked witch. The End. But Gregory Maguire seems to see beyond the story: why was the witch the way she was? What brought her to that point? What must her life have been like? Were Hansel and Gretel really good little children? Or was there something beneath the surface that, in the end, makes you wonder if the witch should have won instead?

I've only just begun Confessions, but already I am enthralled. This story does not use the point of view of Cinderella, or Clara as she is so named in this book, but is told through the eyes and voice of Iris, the younger step-sister. Already the fairy tale is taking shape, and yet forming a new one all its own.

Yet Another Thing I Suck At

Ask any woman to show you her "fat jeans" and she'll know exactly what you're talking about, where they are, and what circumstances would have to befall them before they would actually deign to wear them (i.e. natural disaster in which fat pants are only means of covering oneself; laundry day, etc.). I myself have a pair of "fat jeans," jeans that should never sit at my hips unless I plan on not being seen by any sentient being save my beloved, uncomprehending, and non-judgmental dog, Sophie. However, I didn't know about my "fat jeans" until I hurriedly pulled them on and rushed to work, too hurried to notice the issue until it was Too Late. Once at work, I sat down at my desk and noticed that I felt flabby. I looked down and realized that my thighs were not exactly being advantageously covered. Oh, yes, I had found my "fat jeans," but a little to late to save myself from them.

Now, when a woman says she's wearing her "fat jeans," it doesn't necessarily mean that she is fat, it only means that the jeans themselves have the amazing power of making her feel fat. My jeans did a fantastic job of that. Which leads me to wonder: do other women discover their FJs after having worn them or is it an instinctual thing? Do they feel the power of the jeans once they pull them from the depths of their clean laundry pile, or do they wear them one day only to discover the true horror that the FJs could invoke? One thing is for sure: I now have a pair of jeans to wear in case of an emergency, like I am the last person on earth and there are no sheep close enough to shear in order to wool, card, and knit a decent pair of sweats.

If I Had a Quarter. . .

for every time someone told me something should not hurt, there would be a lot of people with black eyes. Okay, so the saying might not work with the changes I've made, but still. Yelling at me because a Nerf ball is foam, and foam doesn't hurt does not change the fact that getting smacked as hard as someone can possibly bat the ball at me in a very sensitive place hurts.

It doesn't change the fact that even though it's just water, and water doesn't hurt, when water is shooting full speed out of an outdoor hose into a gaping wound that will not stop bleeding hurts.

It doesn't change the fact that slamming my knee in a funny place shouldn't hurt that bad, even though it obviously does hurt that bad.

So, do yourself a favor. Stop trying to make me feel like a wussy idiot, or listen to me tell you that it's just a black eye, so it doesn't hurt that bad.

My Sister, the Beauty Product Queen

Anytime I come up to my hometown, I stay at my 'rents house, and I get the chance to try all of my sister's beauty products without the hell of actually having to buy them myself, only to discover that they are not as good as they promise.

Last night, before hitting my not-so-comfortable bed, I used my sister's toothpaste, her face wash, and her night cream. The toothpaste is specially made to whiten your teeth, and when I squeezed it onto my toothbrush I had to double check that it was, in fact, toothpaste, because it had the color and consistency of a face mask. When I began to scrub my teeth, I had to re-check the tube AGAIN to really make sure it was toothpaste because it had the taste of a face mask, too. Blech.

The face wash was made to make you up in the morning, with a zesty scent of lemons and some sort of herb, and little round beads that exfoliated. It wasn't life changing, but it did the job really well, clearing up my skin overnight. Afterward, I began to dig in her cabinets to see what other products I could play with. I found night creme. When I think of night creme, I think of old ladies' trying desperately to stem the tide of aging, but it said it would moisturize, smooth, and soften my skin, so I figured why not?

When I smeared little dabs on my cheeks, chin, nose, and forehead and began to massage it in, I was again reminded of old ladies because it smelled like old lady powder. Was it talcum? Was it oldness? Who could say? I sucked it up and finished letting it soak in, then, done with trying to make my face as pretty as it can naturally be without the additive of make-up, I went to bed.

In the morning, my skin was clearer, and my normally ruddy complexion was more evenly toned. My face was baby soft, too. Looking and feeling touchable, all for the low, low price of absolutely nothing. Yay me.

The End

I finally plucked up enough money to let myself buy the new Penny Arcade game, On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One. This game, with it's RPG-style, is usually not my bag of cats, but I decided to give it a whirl because I enjoy Penny Arcade's blog/ web comic, and I've seen nothing but pretty good reviews for it. Instantly I loved the feel of it, the narrators dark and dramatic voice, the comic-esque graphics and cut-scenes, and the ever-present ironic and goofy Penny Arcade humor.
The game starts off with your character's creation, and goes from there, incorporating a giant robot, the two Penny Arcade guys (Tycho and Gabe, for those who aren't familiar with PA), lots of stuff to smash, mimes, clowns, and hobos, among other things. You must complete a series of objectives in order to progress through the game, and should you need hints you are given the option of looking through your case book. By-standers, I discovered, are also good at keeping you going in the right direction. You have a cast of friends that help you in your time of need, including an awesome bright pink robot, which I LOVED. Oh, and a cat, which endeared me to the game as well, although his super secret power had me in fits of giggles, though it was generally not so useful.
I bought and downloaded the game from a reliable gaming source that decided my debit/credit card was A-OK with them (Greenhouse denied me!), and began playing immediately, just to get an overall feel for it. Bad Idea. I immediately became addicted, and played for three hours straight, before my lower back couldn't take it anymore and other duties called. Later today, I came home from work and played for another two, before taking a much needed nap, and then I traveled up to my hometown and played for another three hours resulting in my Pwnage of the game. Yes, eight hours of playing and now my gaming is done.
All I really want to add: they better come out with Episode Two, ASAP.

Putting the "Girl" in GeekGirl

I recently went on a bit of an Internet shopping spree (is there any other for a GeekGirl?), the sales and clearance section of the Victoria's Secret website. I found the cutest pairs of pants ever: twill and trousers and sexy, skinny jeans, oh my! I wanted desperately to find a few good shirts, but all of them are decidedly meant to stay inside the pages of a supermodel magazine, and not on, oh say. . .me. *sigh* Seriously, who, outside of Hollywood stars, wears a shirt (labeled under "tees") that plunges down to your navel?

Their shoes didn't really warrant more than a quick peak, but I managed to find a tankini that I feel in love with: a dark khaki color with lime trimming. Teh cute! I ordered it with extra length since my torso is long and I need one that doesn't hitch over my navel. All in all I bought 4 Victoria Secret items and managed to save over a hundred dollars. Am I an awesome shopper, or what?

One of These Days

Nothing much of interest has happened of late, except for maybe the long awaited release of the Penny Arcade game, "On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness." I know I'm a little late on mentioning it, since it's been out for over a month now, but I haven't gotten around to actually buying it yet. When I do, my dear readers will be the first to know . . . well, my opinion anyway.

Since that's really all the geek news I can muster at this point, I thought this could be another blog wherein my readers can get to know me a little bit better. Little known fact about Geekgirl: I have always wanted a koi pond. Not only are they a beautiful fish, and having a beautiful pond a tranquil way to calm my hectic mind, but the symbology behind them also interests me.

The Japanese attribute different symbological meanings to many things, including animals. One of the ways koi are viewed is knowing that they are strong swimmers and like to stir up the waters, in this way symbolizing non-conformity. But that's not what really captures my interest when it comes to these little fishies. Another symbological meaning attributed to the koi is strength in adversity; koi are known to swim against the current.

Another well -known symbol the koi represents is Luck. And I could always use a little Luck!

A Great Big Geeky Heart

In my bid to find some good entertainment, I recently visited Hulu, a site that allows you to watch certain TV shows and movies for free. I watched the first episode in season 2 of Burn Notice, a great show if you're into cute spies and their bad awesome friends. I then decided to try a go at Bionic Woman, definitely a geek venture. The show did not fail my expectations, so I finished off the first (and only) season available (for now).

Then, out of TV shows to keep my attention, I decided to take a trip down SciFi Lane. Destination Truth is on its second season on SciFi, but I never really gave it a proper watch. I have to say, my interest is peaked. Again, I re-iterate that paranormal goings-on were given proper discussion room in my household alongside Politics and Fashion, so to me a show that seeks to investigate tellings of monsters and other things that go bump in the night isn't so out there. And its darn interesting to see their findings when they use tech instead of mumbo jumbo to investigate. Currently I'm viewing a show where they're chasing a Vietnamese sea monster about Ha Noi Bay. Their tech is detecting giant masses of movement under the water, and one of their investigators is witnessing some crazy splashing going on - they're trying to draw it out into the open- and all I find myself thinking is - that poor thing must be so freaked out by all these people!

Making History

In my previous post, I mentioned the books I bought on a recent shopping trip. I started the first one from that grab bag of goodies today, and I am going to have to say something unprecedented, not only about the book, but just in general. My sister was right.

Queen of Babble in the Big City, by Meg Cabot, is already annoying me, and I've only gotten through the first chapter. She talks. A lot. In fact, she blabs on about worth-less things that I'd really rather not have to read about. And she does it in a manner that makes her sound like she is still in the sixth grade. I've noticed a trend among Meg Cabot's characters, and that is that they are all the same. They have the same cadence when they speak; the same sense of humor; the same attitude. It's like she's using the same character in every book and is just applying different names.

Usually, I'm inclined to give a book a chance, but I think I'll lay this one aside and pick another. The Queen of Babble will just have to wait for a day when I have nothing better to read.

Weekends, Weekends . . .

My sister came down this past Saturday to hang out and shop with me, which was a lot of fun. I hardly ever get a chance to be really girly unless I'm with her, and I'm usually not in the mood to be girly unless I'm with her. Lol. Funny how that works out . . . We hit the mall first, stopping off at several clothing stores. I was looking for shirts and pants appropriate for working in, but still cute enough to wear whenever, and my sister was looking for beauty products and such. I'm big on trying to hit only sales racks, but that doesn't mean I'll settle for crap, so it's hard to find exactly what I want sometimes. In the end, I walked out with two t-shirts and an ADORABLE wallet that I did not need, but bought because . . . well, it was adorable. It was just fun in general to be shopping, even if I didn't buy a lot. We went to a few shoe stores, and one of them even had my favorite brand name, SUGAR, which makes adorable shoes, but I wasn't up for buying them because none of them really grabbed me. : (

Afterward, we went to my favorite store on the planet: Barnes and Noble. Of course, I immediately left my sister's side to peruse the aisles. At one point, I think I told her to go do something else besides following me. : P I bought four books: When Demons Walk, by Patricia Briggs; The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova; Night Shift, by Lilith Saintcrow; and Queen of Babble in the Big City, by Meg Cabot, which is a favorite author of both me and my sister. All in all I was very proud of myself, because I didn't spend more than the budget I had set for myself.

We then went to my aunt's house to visit my cousin Sara, since my sister hasn't seen her in forever. We went out to eat and acted crazy and cracked other up. Then we went back to my aunt's place and took some pictures, after which, I got bored and watched TV while they played on MySpace and messed around with make-up and such. I might be in a girly mood, but I am not a big fan of make-up. And I'm not the kind of person that can play on MySpace for hours. I have to have something else to do, or I go nuts. So, I watched Just Friends. At one point I started to get really grumpy and worried because it was getting so late and my sister still had the hour and a half drive to go before making it back home.

When she finally dropped me back off at my house, I told her to call me as soon as she made it home, otherwise I would call her. I was determined to stay awake until that call, so I read a book, and even though I was getting so sleepy my eyes were going blurry, I just shut one and read with the other, clearer one, until my sister called at 1 in the morning to say that she had made. Phew. I fell asleep soon after.

Try to Be a Little Mature

The Discovery Channel is always on at my house, usually for sound background, but also because I like a lot of their shows. Dirty Jobs, Myth Busters, and any specials they have usually keeps my interest. Sundays are a BIG day on Discovery Channel, though, because they have many different specials and documentaries, which I, in my geek-state, find fascinating. Today as part of their extravaganza, they had the "Mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle."

This is nothing new, to me or for Discovery Channel. They usually do something on UFOs and other paranormal stuff often, and I grew up in a household where paranormal things were considered real and significant. On this Bermuda Triangle documentary, they were discussing possible reasons why ships may go down in the Triangle area. They hypothesized about methane gas, and even did several experiments and showed some examples caught on tape, in which methane build up caused the sinking and/or total annihilation of ships. This was an interesting hypothesis; I hadn't heard it before, so it was something new for me to mull over and consider. But I could not help the urge to laugh every time they would say something along the lines of "the methane build up would release a giant bubble that rose to the surface and burst. . . "

To me, it was comical, first the word bubble itself, and second the idea that a "giant bubble" could destroy huge ships. I'm sure it could happen, but every time they would reiterate the "Giant Bubble" theory, I would giggle a little. Because I am a dork, on top of being a geek.

Party Like a Rockstar?

Last night, I went out to a club for a co-worker's birthday party. Originally, I wasn't planning on it, but another co-worker insisted that I should go, because she wouldn't know anyone and she didn't want to hang out alone. So, I grit my teeth, and went.

I hitched a ride with my aunt, which I knew was a bad idea in the first place, since I would stay out later, and could only really leave when she did, but the way things turned out, it was the simplest solution. I met her at work, and pitched in for my co-worker's gift, and then we jumped in her car to pick up her friend Josh. We were 30 minutes later than we said we would arrive because Josh had to do his hair. Yes, you heard it right, Josh spent 30 minutes doing his hair! I jumped out of the shower, brushed mine with a comb, and let it figure itself out. I think I must be blessed, because sometimes I end up with cute waves when I do it this way.
While we waited for Josh, I told my aunt that

1. I don't like big crowds.

and 2. I don't like being touched, or having someone in my personal space.

We got there, and things were going not so bad. I was introduced to my co-worker's brother and his girlfriend, and my aunt managed to stay around me for the first 30 minutes or so, before going off and doing her own thing. My co-worker's brother's girlfriend and I really seemed to get along, and we chatted for awhile, eating the cake and laughing. She told me that she thought I was so little and adorable, and that my bangs were really cute, and I told her that she was really sweet. (I did tell her that she was pretty, but then I worried that she might think me gay, so I just let her know that she was sweet after that. In my defense, she was pretty, with stick straight hair that my sister would admire and a cute outfit to boot.)

After that, things started to go a little downhill. My other co-worker arrived, but with a friend, so we didn't really hang out together. The music wasn't bad, although it was so loud you had to shout to be heard, and even then I didn't know if I was being heard because I couldn't even hear myself. I went home with a sore throat. One of my aunt's friend's got a lot drunk, and thought it was funny to poke me after I told my aunt to stop poking me when she spoke. I then had to tell her drunk friend to please stop touching me, and amazingly my aunt stood up for me. Sort of. She said I was weird about people touching me. Her friend didn't take the hint. It was a good thing she was a she, or I really would have been mad. Of course, I kept wondering if she was a lesbian, so I'm not sure how much her gender really helped her in the long run.

I danced a little, but only around my table, and only with my aunt. At one point, I told my aunt's boyfriend that I was going to sit outside. Being in such a huge crowd, with so many people so close, was starting to make me feel a little sick, not to mention the uber-loud music and the ever constant mist of cigarette smoke that seemed to waft in my direction no matter where the smoker was. Aside from the fact that I don't smoke, I also do not drink, but no one really seemed to give me a hard time about it, which was a blessing.

All in all, I realize that going was a Bad Idea. Next time, my co-worker(s) are just going to have to be happy with the general "Happy Birthday" I manage to grant them.

P.S. That cat up there? Yeah, he's feeling as annoyed as I was.

Geekage Linkage

Since nothing really blog-worthy has happened lately, I thought maybe my readers would appreciate a few links and a clip or two to check out. I, like many others, have my favorite sites and blogs that I check on a daily basis, but these sites can only up-date so much in a week. So, in the event that you need something to occupy your time a bit while on the great interwebs, I found a few things to fill in for you.

1. This first clip is an old Monty Python skit that never keeps me from really loling, no matter where I am. That's why I avoid it while at work or in other public places where I might get a few people looking askance at me when I laugh hysterically to myself.



2. Equally hilarious is Simon's Cat. What's so freaking funny about this clip is that this is what cat's do!



Finally, a few links for my fellow geeks to visit. These links can take up as much time as you need them to, because of course they have archives, but a couple also require you to actually start from the beginning. A little warning, tho: A few of the following links can be a little inappropriate for those that are sensitive to language and innuendo. Otherwise, enjoy!

First up, Starslip Crisis. As of yet, I haven't come across anything offensive in this web comic, so feel free to enjoy it whenever! This is one of the comic's that requires you to begin at the beginning in order to follow what's happening. It's a daily update, so the archives are quite bulky. Don't worry, tho, because reading them is never a chore, and it'll save you when there's nothing on TV.

Next is Questionable Content. As you might gather from the title, it has some questionable language and innuendo, however, it's not pornographic, which is what I first thought when I read the title. Nope, just good ol' fashioned Indie soap opera funnies. Oh, and this one also has a linear storyline, so start at the beginning if you want to know what's going on.

Another web comic-slash-blog link that I've linked to before (although not under its name) is Penny Arcade. This one also has some bad language, and possibly some offensive images as well, although I've only seen one comic that bothered me with its imagery. More often than not it's just goofy, and the blog is a good way to keep on top of what's going on in the gaming industry.

Another comic that's floating out there,PvP, I haven't kept up with, so I can't really warn about language/imagery, but it's fairly well known, and entertaining to boot. I'm starting at the beginning comics, so feel free to do the same, although I have yet to recognize a linear plot.

My last link, GeekSugar, is also one of my favorites, as far as actual blogs go. It keeps me up-to-date with all the cute and fab tech, fashion, and sites I could ever ask for.

So there you have it: links for when you have absolutely nothing to do. Be sure you LITERALLY have nothing to do, or you might get caught up and then you'll end up doing nothing productive all day (I've SO been there!).