OK, so maybe things aren't as bleak as all that. Admittedly, this has been in many ways the hardest year ever. I feel somewhat displaced, like I've drifted miles away from where I thought I was or expected to be. The shit of it is, I don't know how to fix it. I know in some ways I'm unhappy, but I can't put my finger on what I need to fix. Ah, the joy of being 30. :)


On to happier things...like movie reviews! I haven't been to the movies a bunch since summer, but I did hit Zack and Miri Make a Porno opening night. If you're a fan at all of Kevin Smith, go see this movie. If you want to see a love story sandwiched in between comedic bits about making a homemade porno, go see this movie. Yes, it's dirty, but to me no raunchier than any of the unedited versions of things like American Pie. Seth Rogen is a welcome addition to the View Askew fold, and Elizabeth Banks seems at home with the fellas. This film has taken a lot of heat for the name and for the content, but I say exercise your 1st Amendment right to peep this flick. Trust me, if you have the right sense of humor, you'll laugh your head off, and you'll see a nice love story to boot.

Speaking of Kevin Smith, I bought season 1 of Reaper on sale at Target this weekend. This show is hilarious, and Kev is partly responsible (he directed the pilot and is a consulting producer). Part supernatural, part comedy, the show is like watching the funny X-Files episodes or Dead Like Me. If you like dark humor you'd enjoy this show. 

And for you comic book geeks out there, tomorrow you can pick up issue 1 of the Kevin Smith/Walt Flanagan joint Batman: Cacophony. This 3-issue series features Kev writing and Walt doing the art. I'm definitely adding this one to my stash. I mean, the villain is Onomatopoeia--how could I not love it?

Work is hell, the economy's in the crapper, and the weather is cold. But hey, there's always entertainment to keep us distracted, right? :)

Seriously, guys, I've been searching for this forever and a day. OK, let me 'splain. When I was a kid back in the '80s, there was a show called "Mad Movies". My mom and uncle used to watch it when he would stay with us, and they would usually let me stay up and watch it. (One of the greatest things about my parents and my uncle is that they exposed me to a lot of cool stuff.) I have great memories of this show. The basic premise is simple--they took old movies and re-dubbed the dialogue so that they were funny. My favorite episode was the "Little Princess" episode. They changed the plot so that Shirley Temple was demon-possessed, and the devil was in her doll. My mom and I laugh about that one to this day. The only problem was, when we would talk about it, no one would know what we were talking about, and no vids on YouTube were to be found. Until now. Here, I give to you, some clips from that episode. Enjoy! (One thing to keep in mind here, is that if you watch these and you know me at all, you'll understand why I think these are so funny. Even as a kid I had a pretty warped sense of humor.)







See? Hilarious, right?

So far this weekend has been just what the Geeky Vixen ordered. I finished up work Friday afternoon about 4 (actually a couple hours later than I intended), and Brad and I went out for sushi and shopping. Sushi was amazing, as it always is at Edo's (I had a tempura veg roll, a spicy tuna roll, and a dynamite roll...yum!). We decided to hit Target and browse for a while. I lingered in electronics looking at this cool Skullcandy XBox headset. I'm still not sure about it. While Brad was checking out the action figs, I headed to the furniture to visit the Sami Hayek office furniture I've been eyeing. When checking out the clearance endcap, I saw it. This table:



It has a glass top, side bins and a shelf, as you can see. The table retails for $60 bucks regular price. The price tag on this? $15. Oh, but you better believe I babysat that thing until Brad finally made it around with the shopping cart. I also picked up a picture frame/photo album combo and a photo frame with a storage drawer on the bottom (also from the Sami Hayek collection). These were $5 and $3.75, respectively. So for less than $30, I got a revamp for the living room and somewhere to store the baby pics my mom gave me. I am in love with the table, as the side bins provide great storage for the various XBox and Wii controllers that normally clutter up the couch and coffee table. Plus, by moving the end table we did have where the new table is, I was able to properly display my Tara McPherson Hellboy and have a place to store my gorgeous laptop.

So the living room looks great. The kitchen, however, is a mess. :)

I got up this morning and was generally lazy until Brad got home from his adventures with helping Brett move a new TV cabinet and then dealing with a tow truck when Josh's van's steering got messed up. I finally dragged myself into the shower and got ready. After a quick stop at Hero's Headquarters, we had lunch/dinner (linner? dunch?) at Cootie Brown's for some steak and shrimp for me, and steak and chicken for Brad. It was quite possibly the best meal I've had in a loooooong time. And I was geniunely hungry for it, which is good, considering my stomach hasn't really growled in a few months (my appetite got really messed up when my mom was in the hospital). Then we made a couple more stops and went to Kroger to pick up some random groceries. We got home about 7:30ish, and crashed on the couch, watched some TV and played a few games of Halo with the boys. I cleaned up my yarn and sent some half-assed projects to the frog pond, and tried to find a project to start.

All in all, it was a pretty perfect Saturday. Tomorrow we're going to see Tropic Thunder with the fellas. Oh, wait, it is tomorrow. So later today. 

That being said, I should hit the hay. G'night, gentle readers!

I totally don't consider myself to be a material person. I don't define my happiness or status by the things I have. But I have to admit, stuff does make me happy. Take, for example, my Uglydoll collection. I get giddy like a little kid each time I get one, and when I was sick and my hubby brought me Cinko, I literally kept the thing by my side nonstop for a couple of weeks. They make me smile, because they're cute little monsters.


Last Saturday my mom and I looked through old pictures, and it was so much fun. We laughed about the snowball ambush my dad and I heft upon her and my uncle, and cooed over baby pictures when we were all a lot younger, and family members we've since lost were still with us. I started a stack of photos I wanted to take home, and when I looked at them the next day, I noticed something. I am truly a child of the 80s. Christmas photos I brought home showed me unwrapping Cabbage Patch Kids, She-Ra's Crystal Castle, and Rainbow Brite, among other things. I wore t-shirts of ET, Smurfette, and various Sesame Street characters. (Some things don't change--as I write this I'm wearing an Oscar the Grouch t-shirt that says, "S is for Scram.") In a bunch of pictures, I'm sleeping/playing in a bedroom covered in Strawberry Shortcake. 

So yes, back then, even, stuff made me happy. It wasn't the basis for my happiness (most of the time), but it does explain why I'm so immersed in pop culture now. (Not the pop culture of now, though, because a lot of it is more poop culture than pop culture...wocka wocka wocka.) I think as a whole we 80s kids are the ones who win at Pop Culture Trivial Pursuit, because we are more aware of the minutiae. We remember weird details that no human should retain, even about other generations (I have to say I was really excited when I beat my parents at 60s Trivial Pursuit).

It's no surprise to me, then, that every year geeks become more of a force in pop culture. Look at the summer blockbusters this year--mostly comic book movies. Even Indiana Jones has ties to comics--several times since the 80s there have been Indy comics (as opposed to indie comics), starting with Marvel and most recently landing at Dark Horse. San Diego Comic Con is *the* place for Hollywood to bring out their big guns and see what the geeks have to say. For the first time in our lives, we are the ones running the show. It's cool to be a geek nowadays. Now most of the time that would mean that the geeks wouldn't want to be geeks anymore, much like the cool kids dropped myspace when it went mainstream. This is so not the case for us. 

So what does it mean to be a geek? I'm sure it means a lot of different things to different people. I use the term "geek" in a very broad sense. To me , it's not about liking comic books, or sci-fi, or math, or video games, etc. Being a geek is so much more. It means you have a passion for something. Anything. You could be a music geek, meaning that you possess a passion/love for music so great that you spend most of your time pursuing music, whether making music, or discovering underground bands, or just listening to music 24/7. Maybe you're a movie geek, and you write reviews on your blog, read movie magazines, post on Ain't It Cool or Rotten Tomatoes, and read every book you can on the movie industry. The bottom line is, it doesn't matter what you're a geek for, just that you're a geek. People use this term as a derogatory term, but I think we've taken it back, and with a vengeance.

As for me, I'm flyin' the geek flag high (as the title of my Plurk tells the world). I'm a geek of all trades: a comic book, video game, computer, movie, music, toy, English, craft, sometimes science geek. And yes, buying comic books and urban vinyl toys does make me happy. I'm not defined by my stuff because of its worth, but I am defined by my stuff because it's part of what makes me a geek. In that way, I guess I've always been a geek. If my mom hadn't bought me those Archie comics, or if my uncle hadn't taken me to the Great Escape (the greatest used record/movie/comic book shop in the universe) and sat me down in front of the comic boxes, I might never have discovered the beauty of comics today. If I hadn't played GI Joes with my friend Joe Brandon in the 2nd grade, or if I hadn't ever had She-Ra's Crystal Castle, I might not collect action figures and vinyl toys today.

So there you have it, my Geek Manifesto for the day. I love being a geek. Why else would I spread the name Geeky Vixen all over the internet? It's who I am. A geeky girl who also has a smolder-y side, a vixen quality, a girly streak. Being a girl geek can be a minefield. I can hang with the boys because I like the same kinds of movies, and I love playing Halo, and I love comics. But that doesn't mean that I want to always be one of the boys. Sometimes I want to turn the boys' heads (OK, one boy in particular, my cutie husband). And that's where the vixen part comes in. You don't have to be one or the other. They're two sides of the same coin. Think of it as reading comics in a push-up bra. 

I leave you with that thought, gentle readers. Happy Saturday! (Incidentally, "gentle readers" is a part of my being a lit geek. Dorothy Parker used the phrase in a lot of her essays, and I'm such a fan, I picked it up.)


So I'm looking for my iPod and headphones this morning, and  I reach in my bag and pull out (in 2 separate tries) the following: a 2 pack of blank CDs and a 6" embroidery hoop.


*SIGH*

I need to clean out my purse. But am I? No. I'm blogging about it. Mostly because I thought you guys might get a kick out of it.

Umm, so yeah. I hadn't signed up for Facebook. I figured, I have a myspace page. What do I need Facebook for? 


Oh. But. Seriously. When I got my laptop (the best, prettiest laptop in the world...I'll post pics soon), I decided I'd see what it's all about. I need help. There's so much to do!

I played Northwest Trail (read: Oregon Trail). Right away one of my party died. (Sorry, Roger!) Then my husband got lost and came back on the verge of death. Then someone got bitten by a snake. (It's kinda like being at work.) Then Jerimie wasted our last bullet on a bird and we all starved to death. So we had to start over.

Then I decided to check out Plurk after hearing about it on Lime and Violet. It's like Twitter but somehow cooler. 

So the Geeky Vixen gets around the interwebs. 

My nerd heart swells with pride--I joined the GamerchiX on Xbox.com. I'm really excited about participating in the Ladies' night gaming (although I'm bummed I missed last night's Halo night). It's tough to be a girl gamer sometimes, especially if you're not of Frag Doll caliber (get it? Caliber? *Snort snort*). But this seems to be a community of chicks like me who are in it for fun. If you're a girl on xbox live and you want a girls' night in, check it out. (Also, send me a friend request - gamertag is Geeky Vixen.) I can usually be found a couple of nights a week and especially on weekends playing Halo with my boys.

Listening: "Tear Down The House", Avett Bros., The Second Gleam

Reading: Killing Yourself to Live, Chuck Klosterman

Watching: Spaced


I honestly don't know where to start, dear readers. My world is in such a different place than it was when last I posted. So that's where I shall start.


Two days after my last post, we took my mom out for sushi for her birthday. It was such a wonderful night; we laughed so hard, and when my mom couldn't eat some of her sushi, we were joking about trying to kill her with sushi on her birthday. She said that was the most fun she could have had on her birthday.


The rest of the week played out like normal. On Saturday we joined our friends Brett and Kelly at Brett's parents' house to celebrate his birthday. We ate way too much and were playing board games when we noticed missed calls on our cell phones. My dad had called both of our phones. Normally if he needed me, he would leave a message. Brad called him back, and immediately he handed the phone to me. I will never forget the tone and shaking in his voice when he said these words to me, "Kiddo, we're at the hospital. Your mama's had a stroke." With those words hanging in the air, he told me where they were and what I needed to do. We headed straight there, and with the guilt of knowing he had been calling for a while before we reached him, I broke down in the car. I was terrified. Just a couple of days before, we were laughing outside Barnes and Noble. Now, at 11:00 on Saturday night, we're rushing to the Med Center.


By the time we got there, she had been moved to a room. My dad went to pick up some things at home, and we stayed with her. It was a mild stroke, so she was awake and aware. Her left side wasn't moving too well, and her blood pressure was almost fatally high. I tried not to show my fear as I held her hand, helping her answer questions the nurse had to ask for admission. After a couple of hours, we drove home. I tried to sleep in my bed that night, but I wound up going to the couch at 5 a.m. after 2 hours of tossing and turning. With my cell phone in hand, I curled up and watched 80s videos on Vh1 Classic because they made me think of a time when I truly felt safe.


Over the next couple of days, we learned that the stroke occurred in her brain stem. I sat and read by her side while she slept and met the doctors, nurses, and physical and speech therapists who came in at all times to check this and that. She went through a battery of tests to assess the damage that had been done and to determine what to do next.


I went to the hospital every day that week, to see my mom, and to give my dad a chance to get out for a little while. As much as I worried about my mom, I was worried about my dad too. It's always been just the 3 of us, so I had to make sure we were all okay. We played cards, and did things for my mom that she did for me when I was a baby. It was the hardest week of my life. My dad and I had a lot of discussions about what we needed to do, and how this was going to change our lives for a while, maybe forever. We had to make a big discussion about going from the hospital to a rehabilitation hospital. At first, my mom kept saying, "If I could just go home, I know I'd get better." The doctors kept trying to tell her that she was a really good candidate for therapy, and how hard it would be to progress quickly if she did it at home. Finally we had to have a heart to heart with my mom, and I asked her to weigh the pros and cons with me, and told her how I felt and why. When it came time to make the big decision, she made the choice to go to rehab. We packed up and moved her to Quillen Rehab Hospital. I got to ride in the ambulance with her. This was on Thursday.


Friday morning she began her assessment for therapy. I helped her with exercises her speech therapist gave me (after I told the ST I studied linguistics in college). We had to go to lunch with the speech therapist to make sure my mom was swallowing her food properly. We asked the physical and occupational therapists what we could do to help her when she wasn't in sessions. That night I went home, confident that things were on the upswing.


Saturday at noon my dad called, asking if I was planning on coming by, and if I could bring him lunch. He said they were at North Side (the hospital by the rehab center). My mom was having more tests done and being put on oxygen. At the time we thought she was having a reaction to one of her medications. After we ate, we bought an Uglydoll for my mom to go with the Converse sneakers I had bought and embroidered for her. When we got there, she looked so much weaker, and it scared me to see her on oxygen. Eventually one of the doctors freaked and made the decision to send her back to the med center for more tests, but no one would tell us why. Once again I rode in the ambulance back to the hospital. When we got to the ER, they wouldn't let me go in with her. I eventually got shuffled out into the hall with my dad and Brad. My dad, after a couple of minutes, told the people at the desk we were going in, like it or not. We were scared that something had happened that we needed to know about.


We spent 5 hours in the ER with no explanation. The doctor who called to bring her over was off duty and could not be reached, and the ER doc wasn't going to charge us for an ER visit when it was another doctor who called us over. In the curtain next to us, there was a guy who got shot in the leg by his sister's boyfriend, or his girlfriend's brother, or something, which caused us to giggle inappropriately, especially my mom (who at this point has no volume control, so we're in hysterics trying to keep her quiet). Finally a doctor came to tell us that they're admitting her back to the hospital. Two hours pass before she gets a room, enough time for my dad to go back and get her stuff and go raise some hell about the absentee doctor. That night Brad and I went with her to her room, and she was in really good spirits, laughing and showing us how much she could move her left hand.


On Sunday she moved to the Stroke Center floor, because the neurologist determined that she had another stroke. This time the stroke affected movement on her right side, but not as severely as her left side. She had to go for more tests, another MRI and a CT scan. I sat with my dad while we waited for her to finish her MRI, and we talked about a lot of things, mostly about how we were unsure of what the future holds. 

I reluctantly went back to work on Monday, but all I could think about was my mom. I kept my cell phone on my desk, just in case my dad needed to call me. As soon as work was over I headed to the hospital. The neurologist had given some good news and some potentially bad news. She had had another stroke (which we knew), and it was in the same place as her other stroke (her brain stem), but on the right side. The good news was that she's very lucky because there wasn't a lot of damage. Then he told my parents that he had to figure out whether it was a blood clot because that meant they were at a crossroads. If it was a blood clot, they could do nothing more for her at the Med Center, and she would have to be transported either to Vanderbilt or a hospital in Virginia. If not, then she would be cleared to go to rehab. So we had to wait for the results. It was a very long night.

The next morning the neurologist brought good news--it wasn't a blood clot. They began getting my mom ready to go back to rehab to begin physical, occupational, and speech therapy. Since we had been there before, we knew what to expect. Since it was the week of July 4, she didn't get to do a full week of therapy, but she at least got a good start. Luckily she got to have the same physical and occupational therapists (Candace and Cara). She had to go for a swallow test to determine how much liquid was going to the right place and how much she was aspirating, since that was a potential risk for stroke patients. She wound up having to have thickened liquids, which were the grossest things I had ever encountered. The thickening powder smelled horrible, and having to drink honey thick liquids doesn't really quench your thirst. So she had to have an IV, but she really didn't mind it because she realized it would help her get better.

We continued to visit her and my dad (who luckily got to be her roommate at Quillen) most every night. Quillen is a very positive environment, and I really was impressed with the staff. Since I was there so much, I got to know most of the nurses who came in at night. Everyone loved my mom and dad (which, really, I can't say I blame them). Mama's first full week of therapy was really tough, but she was determined. Honestly, from the beginning she told everyone she encountered that she would walk, and she told her therapists she was going to do everything they threw at her because she knew that was the only way to get better. 

As she progressed in therapy, she got excited when she had some new trick to show me at night. When they began to walk with her, with some machine that she called Big Blue, she would tell me how far she walked. I could really tell that this was good for her. She liked her therapists, for the most part, and she was in really good spirits most days. There was one day that she got really frustrated when she couldn't do something Candace asked her to do, and she broke down. That night I told her that it was perfectly normal, that there are good days and bad days, and this was one of the bad ones. 

The next day after that we went to see the Avett Brothers in concert. One song in particular, "Die Die Die" makes me think of my mom, just for the line "She puts her hands against the life she had/Living with ignorance, blissful and sad". I broke down and cried through the first 3 songs. It was weird, but it was like every lyric made me think of my mom. With the exception of the first night, I really hadn't thought about myself in all this--how it was taking a toll on me. The gravity of the situation hit me all at once. But then I thought about how far we had progressed, and I felt much better. I was able to enjoy the rest of the show and the evening. On Sunday I went to see my mom and we played Pirates of the Caribbean Life, which I won, and it was like when I was a kid and we played board games. I realized how lucky I am to have the parents I have.

The last couple of weeks were about the same--therapy for my mom and my going to visit her. That is, until I caught the cold that wouldn't die. I called it the "I Told You So" cold because Brad kept telling me that I needed to make sure I was taking care of myself instead of running myself ragged. Sure enough, I didn't, and I got sick. This cold, which I still have remnants of, was fierce. I had to stay away from my mom (and pretty much everyone) for an entire week. Finally, at the end of last week, I was well enough to go see her. She had good news--her going home was on the horizon!

This week was Employee Appreciation Week at work, so I've been really busy with that. My mom's been really busy with her last week of therapy. See, she exceeded expectations, so at first they were going to extend her stay a week (until 8/8) to get her that much farther along with walking. Then she exceeded their expectations so much that she progressed to that point, and still got to leave a week early. She's walking with a walker, and she has all of her movement back in her right side. She still has a little way to go with her left hand, but it's really close. And her speech and swallowing are much improved. As I write this, I'm waiting for a call from my dad telling me that they've made it home. I couldn't be more excited for both of them, since neither has been home since this happened. I know it's going to be hard at first, but I know it's a welcomed difficulty.

I truly meant to write about this before now, but I've been so far in it, it was difficult to distance myself enough to write about it. It truly was the scariest thing I've ever been through, especially when I read the stats about survival rates for patients whose strokes were in the brain stem. I'm so thankful that things have played out the way they have. Along the way I've learned a lot, and I've met some really cool people. I've become a lot closer with my parents (which I didn't think was possible, considering how close we already were). I want to send a thank you note to every nurse who was cool and made my mom laugh (especially Kasey and Tim, who loves Wonder Woman as much as I do), and to her therapists. 

Through this whole thing, my mom has been really positive. She told everyone she was going to walk, and she is. She realizes how lucky she is, and she's never lost sight of what's important. I admire all she's been through, all we've been through as a family. I'm thankful that I can report good news, that things are on the way to getting back to normal. 

So the moral of the story is, make every day special, and tell those people you love that you love them. Do whatever you can to be happy. If there's something you want to do or something you want, do it or get it. As my mom told me a couple of weeks ago, there's no reason you shouldn't have something you want. Life's too short.

Today at work was B-O-R-I-N-G with a capital ZZZZZZ. Not much going on, and that's never good for me. I need some sort of crisis or something different to keep me interested. Of course, it could be that I'm recovering from 3 days of awesome.

Friday was our team outing at work, and we had a blast! Basically for 5 hours or so we became little kids. We played laser tag, putt putt, video games and way too much Dance Dance Revolution. I felt like when I was a kid, worn out from playing too hard. A trip to the comic shop and home to crash, and I went to bed about 8:30.

Bright and early Saturday morning we got up to meet our friends to go to K-town to AdventureCon! The ride there was a lot of fun, listening to music and talking. We got there just before it opened. After the sticker shock of paying 20 bucks to get in (we thought it was cheaper), we stood in line pointing at the costumed patrons. Not too many this year. I was kinda disappointed. Normally there are lots of people running around in tights. Once we got in the show, we looked around for a couple of hours. Armed with my list (see, I told you I was going to do some research beforehand), I scoured the comic booths. Action figure wise I didn't buy a lot. Actually, I bought one thing: David Horvath's Mothman vs. Flatwoods vinyl playset. (I'll post pics later.) Other than that I bought Wonder Woman comics. Lots of WW comics, to be exact. Most of them are from the 70s and early 80s, but I picked up a few Silver Age in a $3 bin, and they're in pretty good shape. But I also found what I think is my prized possession in my comic collection: a Golden Age Wonder Woman comic from 1948. It's #32, and it's beautiful. (Again, I'll post pics once my camera battery charges.) It wasn't a bad price either, especially for something I thought I'd never own.

After we left the show, we stopped a couple of places and had lunch at TGI Friday's. Then we drove to Turkey Creek to catch The Incredible Hulk before doing a little more shopping. I'm a huge fan of the old TV show, and I love Ed Norton, but I was a little wary, considering the travesty Ang Lee's Hulk turned out to be. This version was everything you could want a Hulk movie to be: great story, great action, lots of humor w/o being campy, and Ferrigno! I'd be hard pressed to choose between this and Iron Man as my favorite summer blockbuster.

Yesterday I slept in, if for no other reason than to give my feet some much needed rest. Then we made plans to get together with my parents for Father's Day. We made a quick trip to the grocery store to stock the bare cupboards. All in all, we did really well with our food purchases. We've got enough food for dinners for the whole week, and all of them are good healthy meals. Then my parents came over, and my dad watched the US Open with Brad, while my mom and I goofed around on the computer. I filled up 2 flash drives with music and a movie, and we talked about randomness. (The most interesting thing was when she told me she really wanted to try sushi--yaaaaaaay!!!) Then we went to Cootie Brown's for one of the top 25 meals of all time--it was fun, and oh so yummy!

Last night after Mama and Daddy left, we watched a mini Weeds marathon. If you've never seen this show, and you have a wicked sense of humor, seek it out. The 4th season premieres tonight (which reminds me--I should wrap this up, so I can catch the last 2 episodes of season 3). I got hooked on the show after my mom let me watch some she had downloaded from iTunes, and though I've missed a lot of the first 2 seasons, I have to say it's my favorite cable show. Yes, Nancy Botwin is probably one of the worst moms in history, based on her status as a role model, but she's so much fun to watch. I love her sense of humor.

That being said, I've got a couple of things I need to do before it comes on, so I'll wrap up. The main idea of this is that I'm trying to do better. Just in general: do better with my time, and not letting it get away from me, eating better, trying to exercise (why oh why can't I find a Wii Fit???), and just trying to be better about how I handle things. Time will tell if I actually make it--I'll keep you posted.

Later!

Not entirely true, but a little. This weekend one of my best friends from college got married. It's been a good 2 years since I've talked to her, and I gotta say it's weighed pretty heavy on my mind. I met my core group of friends in 1998 (!), and we were inseparable pretty much until a couple of years ago. We went dancing at Gatsby's (which doesn't even exist anymore), on random road trips, ate together, slept together, visited each other at work, crammed for exams, "buck danced" at the Carter Fold, fell in love and out of love with each other, got mad, made up, took sides, watched each other graduate, and eventually one day, we all did. Then one by one, we moved away, got married, had a kid, and moved on with our lives. We kept in touch, but I've never been one to do well with keeping up with anyone other than my family and close (in proximity) friends.

Then something happened. I became friends with my husband's friends. Sure, some of them were connected to my friends (which was weird, considering how many times my husband and I should have met before we did), but most of them were new friends. And these guys had more in common with me than my own friends. Don't get me wrong; some of my friends and I had similar interests, but there was this one big knot that tied us all together: school. When we started getting together after college, we talked about the present for a little while, but eventually conversation turned to "Remember when?". There's nothing wrong with that, but when that's the most meaningful thing you have to say to a person who's supposed to be your best friend, what does that mean? I eventually got married, and for some reason just stopped trying to get in touch with my old life. Now I'm reaping what I've sown.

I take full responsibility for the way things are, but I think they should too. A stupid fight last fall made things weird, but I think things were weird way before that.

I guess it's just foreign territory for me. When I was a kid, I was always "the new kid", so I never really thought about long-term friendships. I had my immediate family, and I made friends at school, knowing that when the school year was over, we'd move to a new city and a new school. Then in 5th grade, up until high school, I had to spend time with the same people. I made friends, mostly casual, a couple really close, and one to this day that I still come in contact every once in a while. Incidentally, my closest friends? Guys. I'm much better at getting along with guys. I'm not good at girly relationships. Honestly? Most girls intimidate me. I'm not super girly, at least not with most of my interests, so I feel silly talking about what I like. Just like I was ashamed of being smart when I was in school (up until college, anyway). I guess I'm still afraid there's going to be that one girl that says something judgmental. And when it happens, I don't know how to take it. I go right back to being the chubby smart kid that the cheerleader made fun of in 7th grade--the girl who slumped down in her chair and went home and cried.

There, I said it. Even the Geeky Vixen has an Achilles' heel. While I'm confident about most every aspect of my life most of the time, I have days like today. Days where I regret that one of my best friends from college got married, and I found out about it on myspace.

Song of the moment: "Paranoia in B-flat Major", Avett Bros.

Here are the lyrics (the ones I'm feeling, I'll put in green):

I keep tellin’ myself that it’ll be fine
You can’t make everybody happy all of the time
I found myself in a place that I never been
A place that I thought that I would never be
There’s people looking back at me

I keep having this dream; I’m at a party
There’s people throwing drinks and screaming telling me that I don’t belong
Lately life’s been the same I find this comfortable place
With all my friends then my friends start telling me that I’ve always been wrong
And I’m so tired of being wrong

There was a time I could move there was a time I could breathe
The crowded spaces filled with angry faces
It didn’t once cross my mind
With paranoia on my heels; Will you love me still
when we awake and you find that the sanity has gone from my eyes?

I got secrets from you, you got secrets from me
Because you’re so worried about what I’m gonna to think,Baby I’m worried too
But if love is a game, girl, then you’re gonna win
I’ll spend the rest of my life bringing victory in
If you want me to

Seeing Red

Weezer's new album dropped today. I've always liked the band (the blue album gets multiple plays every week). Lately I've had a hankering for songs like "El Scorcho" and "Photograph" in anticipation.

If you haven't seen the video for the first single on the new album, "Pork and Beans", peep it here:



(See how many Internet People you can name.... And have I mentioned that Chris Crocker is from my neck of the woods?)

The new album is very autobiographical in a lot of ways (see "Pork and Beans", "Heart Songs"). Highlights for me are songs like "Troublemaker" and "Dreamin'" that hearken back to early Weezer. This album is by far one of the most diverse. You can see elements of all of their previous work, but it breaks some new ground as well. On first listen, I love all of the songs, even the bonus tracks (I downloaded from iTunes). The bonus tracks are more organic, and in some ways darker (especially "The Spider").

Overall it's a very well put together album. By far it's the best new album (maybe the only new album) I've purchased in a long time. Geek rock is still in full effect, and I couldn't be happier. Now if only Cake would do another album.... ;)

Psst...hey you. Wanna have some fun? Some good clean nerd fun? Mark your calendar, fanboy (or fangirl). AdventureCon is coming next weekend! Comics, toys, celebrities (like Ernie Hudson!), and geeks, nerds, and dweebs galore! (And please know that I use those terms with the utmost of love for my fellow geeks.)

It's a lot of fun, even if you don't buy anything. (I, however, am never able to leave the place without an armload of something. For example, I brought home My Little Cthulhu last year.) There are people in costumes, and a lot of merchandise to peruse. A lot of times I leave thankful my husband is as normal as he is (of course it's a sliding scale, especially in a place like that).

On the nerd front, I'm working on cataloging our comics so we can have lists to take with us. (Gee, nerdy girl, would you like a pocket protector with that statement?) Nothing is more disheartening to a comic book geek (CBG for short) than coming home with a duplicate or passing up on something you needed. I'm using Comic Collector Live, and it's making things muy easy. The software is free, so if you've got a stack that needs organizing, download CCL and make your geeky life easier! (Because you've got better things to do--video games to play, blogs to post, movies to nitpick....)

My latest comic obsession is turning once again to Wonder Woman. Plagued with shitty writing throughout her Amazon life, WW is really underestimated (except for me and the gay community...LOL). Not that she's not popular, but fanboys don't often take her stories seriously, especially the older stories. And I was one of those haters for a long time. I bought WW comics because I like the covers. Then I started reading some of them. Most notably, WW vol. 1 #329. It's the end of the first set of WW comics, and it ties in with Crisis on Infinite Earths. It's a kick-ass story about WW and Themiscyra (or Paradise Island), and how it's affected by the crisis. Another one I really dug was WW vol. 2 #62. My Secret Pal at work sent me a quote from this book that was amazing, and I happened to pick it up a couple of days later.

The other part of WW comics I'm trying to find are the ones where she's out of her costume. Dubbed "The New Wonder Woman", Diana loses her powers and decides to ditch the tiara. These 20 issues or so are more kung-fu and often made fun of by critics. I've managed to get 5 or so so far, and I like them. They're kinda like the first arc of vol. 3 ("Who Is Wonder Woman?"). I like WW when she's a little conflicted and trying to find her identity. It makes it a little better when I feel that way. :) Interesting fact about those issues--many fans demanded WW return to her costume, and the biggest proponent was none other than Gloria Steinem, who felt it sent a bad message that WW changed who she was for the world around her. I don't know about that, but I like having a kinda dark piece of WW's history.

Which brings me to what's going on now. I started subscribing to WW at issue 195 of Vol. 2. Greg Rucka had started writing, and it was a really good story--elements of mythology (she fights Medusa and Circe and goes blind at one point) mixed with a modern WW (going on a book tour, being a diplomat). Then it ended with #226. A little later, Vol. 3 launched. Allan Heinberg (writer most notably of "The OC") took the helm with Terry and Rachel Dodson doing art (they are one of my favorite artist couples). The first 2 story arcs were great. Then Gail Simone started writing. Her first few issues were pretty good. The last 2 or 3, not so much. In the latest issue (*SPOILER*), Wonder Woman is put in a trance by this guy whose name I can't recall, and she thinks she's in a mead hall looking for none other than Beo-f**kin'-wulf. Ummmm, really? I had my doubts when she started writing for the book, knowing what I knew of what she did with Superman a while back (Superman with a heart shield fighting a dinosaur/dragon). And yet, everyone loves her. Maybe I'm overly critical, but Beowulf? I'm just holding my breath that things improve. If not, I may need to take a WW break and read my back issues.

By the way, I went back on my vow. I read The Walking Dead #49. It was brilliant. I can't wait for issue 50. Curse you, Kirkman!!!

Madman Atomic Comics: Some people call it weird, but I call it genius.

The Sword: If you're not reading this book, you don't like comics. Or things like Kill Bill. It's so good--go buy this book (if you can find it).

I won an auction on ebay for the Tara McPherson Hellboy Qee.



I am so excited, I can hardly stand it. She has become one of my favorite artists. I'm starting to look for copies of The Witching just so I can have more of her artwork.

*SIGH* I am such a nerd. But I love being a nerd, so there.

That's why they call me the Geeky Vixen! ;)

Great Weekend

Very good weekend--relaxing. Friday was a little hectic, mostly because of the haircut in the middle of the workday. That and the buttmonkey air conditioning guy who didn't show up. :-(
No matter. We still rocked Rambo and a little GTA IV.

Saturday was by far one of the best days in a long time. Morning internet surfing, a quick shower, and hanging with friends. Kelly and I went to see Sex and the City. Honestly, I have to say, I totally expected to hate it, but I was morbidly curious since I watched the series. All in all it was a decent movie. Certainly not the best movie I've ever seen by any stretch, but something I'm glad I saw. The funniest part was the array of young East TN cosmopolitans dressed in their versions of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte. (The funniest part or the scariest part? You be the judge.) I gotta admit that was the first time I felt underdressed for a movie at the mall. My quick review? If you're a fan of the show, you'll enjoy it. I had to put my girl hat on and not roll my eyes too much at the histrionics that seemed to ensue at every turn. There were moments that I wanted to yell at the screen, "You're overreacting! And you're not listening to anything! Stop it!!!" Other parts of the movie I enjoyed. There are no mysteries, of course, but the ride is fun. I think the most fun part was just having some girl time, and the extended preview of Mamma Mia! was totally worth the price of admission. I so can't wait to go see that one.

After the movie, we met the boys for dinner, and they were waiting with presents and flowers. Nothing can top that. As much as I used to enjoy being a single gal, having a husband is like no other.

Sunday was total relaxation. Breakfast and Underdog (yes, I totally have a thing for Jason Lee, even as a dog), then lounging around and just being us. A great early dinner and some Halo 3, then more relaxation. And last night I got the best night's sleep. Dunno why, but it was fantastic!

Today wasn't actually a bad day. I had to train a technical writer for 4 hours, so that was pretty tiring, and I don't really feel like I accomplished more than that. I was busy enough not to have time to rock the iPod today, so I must have done something. Luckily I don't have to train tomorrow, so I'll be able to get some busy work done. I'm just pumped about next Friday and our excursion to Fun Expedition to play for 6 hours or so. :)

OK guys, here's a really easy way to make an impact. Check out the banners to your right, then come right back. These are 2 ways you can make the world a better place.

  1. Earthlab.com - I found this one through work (Citi is one of the corporate sponsors). If you click the link on the banner at the right, it will take you to a quiz where you can determine your carbon footprint. In addition, there are pledges you can make to help decrease your impact. There's a lot of interesting content on here. I didn't realize little things like using non-toxic nail polish remover could make a difference. (It's true!)
  2. FreeRice.com - This one is way easy. All you have to do is test your vocabulary skills. For every word you get correct, the site donates 20 grains of rice to hungry people across the world. (Just to give you an idea, 48 grains of rice are in a gram. The UN World Food Program usually donates 400 grams per person.) Thanks to Brandie, who blogged about it on her myspace site, I'm hooked. I spent about an hour on the site this morning and donated 1320 grains of rice. My vocabulary level is 45 out of 60. I challenge all of you to try to beat my score!

I watched Rambo with the boys last night. I totally expected to hate it, but it was amazing. Nothing like spending a Friday night watching heads explode. :) It reminded me of watching action movies with my dad. It also made me want to learn more about Myanmar.

Meh...

I am not a fan of Mondays. Never have been. Like the old song says, "Rainy days and Mondays always get me down..." (However, I am kind of a fan of rainy days, even if they do make me a little sad.) I am tired as all get out, and I hate being in limbo (i.e., I want someone to tell me one way or another the outcome of this thing I want to do).

Also, I think a lot has to do with the reading I did this weekend. I bought The Walking Dead trade paperbacks a while ago, and Brad got into them right away. (Apparently I was in one of my "hoard books but not read them" phases at the time.) Anyhoo, he raved about how good they were, and I decided that when I had a free moment I'd start reading them. Finally, after much coaxing, I cracked open the first book Thursday night. A couple hours later I had blasted through the first three trades. Twenty-four hours later, I had finished the first 6. Yesterday I finished issues 31-48. I kinda wish I'd stopped at 44. Don't get me wrong--every rave review this book gets is totally well-deserved. It's probably one of the best series I've ever read. But the events of the last two issues shook me to the core. It really takes a lot to rattle me--I'm not easily bothered by most things I read or watch. But this--this really got to me. I guess since I'd saturated my mind with the book over the course of 3 days, I couldn't put it out of my head when I tried to go to sleep.

I told myself this morning that was it for me. No more Walking Dead. The more I think about it, though, the more I think that's a bad choice. The fact that the story has occupied every corner of my mind for days is a testament to how good the storytelling is, and how much you truly care about the denizens of this desolate landscape. I felt like the kid in The Neverending Story, who locked himself in the school basement just to go through Atreyu's journey with him. When people die in the story, I feel the loss too.

That being said, if you're a fan of zombie movies or just some good horror writing, pick up this title. Yes, it is a challenge to read at times, since these people endure horrors at the hands not only of the undead, but of the soulless among the living. It's definitely not for kids or the faint of heart, and it won't be a walk in the park. The action is building toward issue 50; after the action we've seen, I can't imagine what Robert Kirkman's got in store for the gang.

I want to be a drummer when I grow up. Rock Band is a dangerous endeavor for an almost 30 geek hipster, because it gives you that false hope that you might actually have a shot at being a rock star. Oh well...guess I'll settle for rockin' the suburbs.

Seriously, though, I think I have a shot at being the next...

No? Hmm. How about...


Yeah, probably not. What about this one?



I'm guessing that's a no, too. OK, I think this is the one I'll aspire to...



(The next to last picture is kinda blurry, but I'll give a brownie to the person who can identify the drummer and his bandleader compadre.)

First things first...
Listening: Your Mom's Favorite DJ, Kid Koala
Surfing: emusic, iTunes, myspace

Alright. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's begin.

  1. Be Kind, Rewind - Go. see. this. movie. Just do it! It's a lot of fun. Add in the fact that Brad and I took a "get ready as fast as you can and head to Knoxville" trip, including a stop at our comic shop in Sevierville and a new place, and it was a great day. We left with a pretty good haul, not to mention we had a blast. Oh, but about the movie--not only was it fun, but it also had a lot of heart. I think my favorite "Sweded" movie was Driving Miss Daisy, just because you could really tell they'd never seen the movie before. By the end, I was a little teary-eyed. If you're a fan of movies or have a creative bone in your body, you'll see why.
  2. Kick-Ass - This comic is extremely violent, but the art is amazing, and the storytelling delivers. Issue 2 came out today, so get in on this while you can. One of our comic shop pals was part of the poster campaign. If you're a fan of Powers or would like to see a Tarantino-style Spider-Man story, this book is for you.
  3. Fables - OK, peeps. We're 71 issues in, and if you haven't discovered this Vertigo title, then you're missing out. I finally completed my collection by picking up issue #1, and I couldn't be more excited. It's got everything: fairy tales, love, violence, marriage, war, wooden puppets, magic, swashbuckling, murder--really anything you want out of a good story. Yes, it features fairy tales and characters from our childhood, but it's really an adult title (and no, I don't mean that kind of adult title). Very mature storytelling, and every cover by James Jean makes the $3 bucks you spend an investment in a piece of art.

I gotta vent some comic rage. I was really excited to see the relaunch of Wonder Woman, because the Dodsons were on board. I enjoyed the first 2 story arcs, and the start of the 3rd was pretty good. But Gail Simone needs to check herself lest she wreck Wonder Woman. Ish 18 was a bunch of crap--a race of random aliens whose excuse for the teenager's bastardization of the English language was that she watches (and I quote), "the MTV". Come on, now. I've read the previews of the next few issues, and I'm still on board, but issue 18 was the first comic I've read in a long time that actually made me angry.

*Whew* I feel better. :)

Speaking of Amazon(s) (LOL), I ordered 2 Image graphic novels on Saturday, and they're already here! Luckily I had a $25 gift credit (thanks, ThankYou Network!), so it wasn't too much of a bust of my budget. Popgun is a compilation of works by a lot of Image artists, including Madman artist Mike Allred. I also picked up Jim Mahfood's Mixtape, Vol. 1, a collection of his art, including sketches and flyers. It's the bomb, yo. I love Amazon so much. I think it's my favorite store, just because they have everything I'm looking for.

That's the haps for now...at least on the review front.

I bought Rock Band for myself last week, and I am having a blast. It's amazing what learning to play the virtual drums can do for you. Saturday Brett and Kelly came over, and the 4 of us rocked out like big dorks. It was loads of fun, though. I'm determined to work my way through the drums until I can actually play without my arms feeling like they're going to fall off.


We were discussing the game at work over lunch one day last week, and this guy said, "I just don't see the appeal." I quickly replied, "Well, look at it this way. I'm never going to be a rock star, but for 170 bucks I can be a rock star in my living room." So far my favorite song to rock on the mic is "Celebrity Skin" (I just love letting my inner Courtney Love shine). Drum-wise, I think "Maps" is the most fun, if not the most challenging. I wish I'd had a video camera when we were trying to play "El Scorcho". Hilarious!


Saw Semi-Pro on Friday. Not my favorite of Ferrell's, but there were some chuckle-worthy moments. I was bitter because we still don't have Be Kind, Rewind, and it's a few months until Apatow or Rogen make another onscreen presence (save Seth's voice acting in Horton Hears a Who). I am sooooooo ready for the movies to start. I know there's going to be a point this summer when I say "When's it going to end? I can't go to the movies every day!!!" Until that day, I'm waiting with baited breath.


Obsession of the moment--waiting for the new Mighty Muggs to come out. Why? Check it out:


(I can't wait!!!!!)


OHHHHHH for you comic geeks out there...if you are hankering for a good indie read, pick up Suburban Glamour. It's a 4-issue mini by the author that brought you Phonogram, which was a tremendous read (at least what I've read so far...I really need to finish some books). It has all the angst of a John Hughes movie with a little Guillermo Del Toro thrown in. Trust me on this one, kiddies. It doesn't disappoint.

To buy list:
clothes at Old Navy (thanks to the 15% off coupon I got today in the mail)
Jim Mahfood's Mixtape, Vol. 1 and GRRL Scouts, and any other of his books I don't have
Amazing Joy Buzzards
POPGUN

To do list:
Pay some bills (yuck)
Kick total ass on Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET
Oh so many other things

At the mo...

Listening: Kid Koala, "Your Mom's Favorite DJ," Left Side.
Reading: Chuck Klosterman, Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs and catching up on my comics (right now I'm catching up on Angel: After the Fall, Vinyl Underground, and Suburban Glamour)
Drinking: Water
Surfing: Jim Mahfood's website, www.400zcomics.com, www.nufonia.com (Kid Koala's site), www.amazon.com, www.oldnavy.com (I love multiple tabs on Internet Explorer!)
Totally loving: Star Wars Mighty Muggs and the fact that it is t-minus 3 days until I buy Rock Band! Close second? The new office chair and the facelift we gave the office. (It still needs work, but it's less cluttered.)
Lamenting: the fact that I haven't started any new craft projects since the embroider-a-thon at Christmas
Biggest desires: A turntable, everything I saw previewed on Action-figure.com from Toy Fair.

If you listen to SModcast (and who doesn't, right?), you've heard my new favorite song. Since I listened to episode 44 (a great ep w/Kev and Mewes), I've been obsessed with the song "Generator", by the Holloways. It's a very catchy fun song, and it mentions record players, one of my favorite things in the world.

Speaking of record players, I'm trying to find one on ebay. I want one I can hook up to my computer eventually, so that I can make mp3s of my vinyl collection (a very random collection of things from when I was a kid, and things that I've picked up at yard sales and such). I think right now, though, I want to get my favorite record player on the planet: a Fisher-Price 1978 model 825. Yes, the orange and brown model that was most recently featured in up for Best Picture in the Academy Awards Juno (go back and watch it again if you missed it--it's in Paulie's room toward the end of the flick). If you're a Homestar Runner fan, you can also see this record player being used by the Cheat.

Holy crap! I just checked the noms for the Oscars, and Juno is up for 4? I think that's amazing, because it's such an organic film. I absolutely loved it, and the soundtrack makes a bad day much better. Looks like the Academy stepped up this year, but the list makes me realize I need to catch up on flicks. Check out the list here, and make your picks!

OK, so I haven't seen Cloverfield yet. Don't worry, I'm going to--especially since at every turn someone tries to ruin it for me. So I got bored one day and took some random pictures of my theories on the monster in the film. You can view them all at my flickr site (http://www.flickr.com/photos/12866292@N04/), but here are a few of my faves:







It's amazing how much fun you can have with a digital camera and a lot of toys! :)





New blog! I'm here from my myspace blog. Not that I don't like myspace (cause I totally do...), but this seems more friendly and definitely more sophisticated. My New Year's resolution is to try to blog on a regular basis, bringin' movie reviews, music reviews, toy reviews, comic reviews, and a bunch of random other stuff takin' up space in my head. So welcome to the random!

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