A Grimm Review

Just finished watching the first episode of Grimm. Interesting. Not sure what to make of it yet. I think Nick's going to get kicked off the police force. His partner, Hank, is going to be brought in on the Grimm secret. Eddie... I'm not sure how I feel about him. He seems cowardly and... mmm... not sure I like him. The visuals were cool, reminded me of Constantine in their surrealness. My dad wondered while we were watching whether or not the trees and their moss were CGed. The villian of this episode, the other "Big Bad Wolf" was creepy and seemed to be a pushover. I really, really don't like the use of guns in my fantasy, thanks. Give me some Buffy style stakes, swords, and crossbows. If a gun can take down everything, it's no fun.

It's a shorter post tonight, and there might be one on the weekend despite my taking weekends off... maybe. Blame my gigantic lack of life on that. My day consisted of Stargate SG-1, Gaia, and listening to Podcasts. Oh, and there were wings involved. They were yummy. But anyway...

Love ya, Jessie.

This one made me cry

Despite the fact that Gaia's Halloween Event is still going strong and I should be hanging out in a Doctor Who related hang-out thread in the event... I've decided to take some time out to do a blog post and fanfiction review, just for you. I've also decided to leave off reviewing 500 Miles for now because it's sort of a bunch of story chunks all put together and it's super long... so I'm going to reread it and get back to you.

Hello, Darling, Welcome Home by Blackbirdox
     Yet another in a long line of Remus Lupin/Sirius Black stories I've been reviewing. So that's the first thing: if you don't like either the pairing or the homosexuality of it, go away. Second thing: Bring tissues because if you're anything like me (ie. really, really attached to the characters), you're going to need them. Third thing: I friggin love this fic and I wrote the most sappy review for it on fanfiction.net that is not going to be posted elsewhere... at least not by me...
     "Hello, Darling, Welcome Home" is a post Deathly Hallows fanfic focused on an afterlife of sorts. Expect spoilers for the rest of the Harry Potter books in which there's a mention of Remus and Sirius. I really enjoyed the stairs metaphor and I think it's widely underused as a method of "life flashing before your eyes" thing... if that makes any sense. I swear it did in my head. So Remus suddenly ends up in this afterlife place after he dies in the battle for Hogwarts and has to take a journey through his life. He feels a kind of tug toward something and so sets off up these stairs. The stairs lead to landings with doors that have pieces of his life/memories behind them.
     Throughout the story, Remus is, undoubtably, Remus. The characterization is dead on and I even bought the explanation for why he married Tonks... well part of why he married Tonks... and I never really liked that happening in the books, but I digress. The memories of Sirius we get made me smile and as Remus continues up the stairs, I started to dread what was coming. The scene where he remembers his time at Grimmauld Place with Sirius during Order of the Phoenix made me cry because of what came next.
     And finally, because the story must have an end, there's a bit of Sirius that turned the tears into a grin... but I won't say exactly what happens here. You really ought to go read it.

Random Updates

• A Conspiracy of Cartographers: Year Two has a new chapter out. I'm also taking a ten chapter break from reviewing that because I think I'll get bored reviewing it chapter-by-chapter.
• Against the Moon also has a few new chapters out, still on break from reviewing that.
• I find it quite interesting to "jump universes" while reading these... I went from reading ACoC to AtM today and, well, they're pretty much at the same place so... that was interesting.
• Here's a link to the Masquerade's Doctor Who thread: LINK Come join us!
• As always, links to the fanfiction reviewed and the author's page are in the section title.

Love ya, Jessie.

Gaia's Halloween 2

Gaia has been invaded by werewolves. Or... technically they're genetic experiments released or escaped from the infamous G-corp (makers of Grunnys, Gruckens, Gramsters, and Zombies)... but who cares? They've invaded Louie's mansion and we have a chance to join them or fight them... or both! Doing either/or apparently gets you alchemy ingredients! For yay! Except... Alchemy on Gaia kinda sucks.

Mostly, the problem with Alchemy is that the items are really expensive just to make. And the actual Marketplace value of the things conjured... kinda not worth it. That, and the items needed for Alchemy have apparently not been released in any way that you can get them properly... So, I don't do it unless they give you all the stuff for free.

But anyway... that's where we are for the Gaia Halloween Event so far. It's gone from fun to confusing... and I haven't been on since 4:30 so... they may have fixed it. I'm off to find out.

Love ya, Jessie.

Gaia's Halloween 1

Okay so, the next thing on my list to review is the "Not Myself" sequel of sorts "500 Miles." This is not happening tonight and it's not going to happen until at least after Halloween. You can thank Gaiaonline and their Halloween Event... which is also to blame for me not posting an entry yesterday.

This year, Gaians are apparently fearing for the worst because we've had zombies, aliens, dark elves, vampires, demi-gods, and ghosts for the past few years. So instead of an outright battle for something or over something, we're having a Masquerade Ball! This Ball is hosted by the vampire NPC Louie Von Helson at the Von Helson manor. What that means for users is: a Flash Space and a dedicated Masquerade Forum.

The Flash space is the foyer of the Von Helson Manor in which you as your avatar can walk around and/or hang out with your friends. After you "talk" to Louie some mask options appear at the bottom of the screen. You put on each mask in turn and find a little item. After collecting all the items, you go back to Louie and he gives you an Alchemy recipie. After using this recipie via the Bifrost, you get a little masquerade-y mask brooch. I think this would have been better if we could also use it as an actual mask, but since I'm not wearing it anyway... Also related to the Von Helson mansion, on the World Map, there is a little "Beast" sprite.  The Beast shows up randomly in the Flash Space as a shadow on the window when it thunders. It's also getting closer to the mansion.

The dedicated forum is basically a forum with a background. This means that the forum and related topics take a tad longer to load, but it's worth it to be in the running to get gifts from Anons and have fun conversations and speculations.

Also, there's trick-or-treating in the shops and Towns, as usual. The NPC shop keepers are each dressed up for the occasion. This year's favorites of mine are Agatha, Brennivin, Josie, and Old Man Logan. They're dressed up as Professor Minerva McGonagall from Harry Potter; Sherlock Holmes from BBC's Sherlock; Storm from the X-Men; and Mole from Atlantis.

So that's what I've been doing the last couple of days. Hope you guys drop by Gaia and join in the fun. Link to my profile and therefore the site on the Links page.

Love ya, Jessie.

Not Myself

Okay so, you know how I said on Monday that I was gonna take the weekends off? Well... I kinda lied. That, and I promised to do this review a while ago... and then didn't. And now it's stuck in my head and I forgot to post yesterday so... you get a blog post today! Don't you feel special?

Not Myself by Princess Alexandria
     I can't remember exactly when I read this fic for the first time. Must have been sometime in high school because I wasn't on my Dad's super-old laptop -- the thing had a black/gray background with white letters/foreground things and Paint was all black and white, that's how old this thing was. It also didn't all fit on one floppy disk. Yes, I said floppy disk. I used to take some with me to school and grab fanfiction off the school computers during study hall. But anyway... I love, love, love, love this story. I've read it at least three or four times, which is kind of a lot considering how long it is.
     Not Myself is a Marvel Universe fanfiction featuring the X-Men. It's about one of Princess Alexandria's original characters, Christy Taylor. Remember this name, it's important. It also features a few others: Annie, Jessi, Erik, and Jon. Don't be afraid of the whole "OC" thing. It's definitely not bad this time. In fact, Christy's written so well that she goes on to spawn two sequel-ish things (if you count Adrift in a Room of Mirrors as all one story and not the four that are actually in it).
      The first batch of chapters are kind of a rough start for Christy due to some things revealed later in the story. She takes in the wayward Annie Thompson and things springboard from there. Christy becomes a sort of den mother for, not only Annie, but also Erik, Jessie, and Jon. Each of the characters are well grounded and don't stink of cliches the way a lot of OCs out there do.
     The inclusion of the X-Men doesn't happen until a few chapters in, but it's quite obvious to anyone familiar with the comics that the story is set in the Marvel Universe. The X-Men themselves are completely in-character, which is more than you could probably say about some of the comics they appear in. Emma Frost and Mystique are particularly well realized and feature heavily. Emma as Christy's lover-interest and Mystique as her teacher.
     The kids to eventually end up going to Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning and Christy gets more interaction with the X-Men proper during this phase. And I say kids, but they're all in college... I think... so... not really kids, but not really not either. And... this is really hard to do without spoiling things, seeing as I know this story backward and forward... so I think I'm calling SPOILERS from here on out.

THE SPOILERY PART - for both the story and the comics
     Christy, as it turns out, has powers. Didn't you think she would? As well as having a very, very strong mental shield, Christy is also a defacto shapeshifter and can "feed" on death energy. And she's not super-powerful, unless you count the ability to travel dimensions, which she doesn't do often, if ever at all. Christy also didn't know she was a shapeshifter so that's where Mystique comes in.
     Mystique is portrayed very sympathetically, and if I hadn't loved her before the start of this story, I definitely would have by the end of it. She's just too awesome. So Mystique teaches and befriends Christy despite being blackmailed by Xavier. Also, her handler, Shortpack, is funny.
     The Christy/Emma relationship was a joy to "watch" develop. I won't tell you exactly how that happens because it's much better served by Princess Alexandria's writing than mine. Also "watching" Annie's relationship with the Stepford Cuckoos is fun. I came to really love these characters. They're so under-served by the comics. It also made losing Sophie in the main universe worse.

Sum-Up
     I think I've pretty much reviewed that in one big gush. But really, I think Not Myself is one of the best fanfictions to ever come across my notice. It's really well written once it gets going and I think you'll really enjoy it, especially if you're a fan of the X-Men. Oh, and one thing I may have forgotten to mention, this story does contain a couple of lesbian relationships. If this bothers you, I suggest you run away quickly.

Love ya, Jessie

PS: As usual, links to the story and author's pages are up there where the story title and author are given. And for those of you who aren't reading my main blog or visiting the actual website, I've added a new Kira avi to my Gaiaonline Journal... which you can find via my website on the Links page. Happy reading!

Against the Moon, the last 20-something chapters

I did reading today. Fanfiction reading. Finished one, read a few others, mostly one-shots. Nothing really to report on the one-shots. However, I will finish my review of chapters 34-51 of Against the Moon by Spotlight Delight. (Link to the fanfiction in my last post)

So we pick up where we left off, during the summer months at the Lupin's. Remus gets and invitation to go to Sirius' for a formal dinner. Predictably, this ends badly, because the Blacks are deranged. And then there's the rest of the summer. Had me laughing the entire time. Sirius is just so funny when he's experiencing Muggle things for the first time. I absolutely adore Mrs. Lupin and totally want her as an aunt or something. Mr. Lupin, on the other hand, I'm not so fond of.

I understand his paranoia surrounding Remus' condition but he's entirely too mistrustful of people. The Blacks, I can understand, but juding Sirius by the actions of his mother... I'm glad that got turned around fairly quickly. And then there's inducing Remus' nightmares, albeit unintentionally. And now I'm wondering what his reaction will be when he finds out that James, Peter, and Sirius know about Remus' "furry little problem."

Mrs. Potter was amusing and I'm very glad she managed to bully Mrs. Black into getting Sirius off to the Lupin's. She sounds kind of like the person I'd like to be and often write Himeko to be -- for those who don't know, Himeko Sorano is one of the many people who live in my head and my favorite -- strong and able to convince people of things politely with threatening undertones.

This brings us to the start of the second year at Hogwarts. The boys are completely on-form with their inquisitiveness and hey, the Invisibility Cloak finally appears! Time for more mischeif, now with less chance of getting caught. Madam Pomfrey is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters, she's so sweet and awesome. I'd like to write more about what goes on, however, that would contain more spoilers than I'm comfortable giving out. Go read it, and perhaps we can talk about it sometime.

The new chapter of Against the Moon just came out today and although I've sort of reviewed it, I'm not going to continue these reviews until Spolight Delight's got a few more new chapters out. Again, links to Against the Moon and Spotlight Delight's profile are in the last blog post.

Love ya, Jessie.

Adventures in Babysitting and Against the Moon

You thought I was going to talk about that movie, didn't you? The one with the babysitter in Chicago and the "Thor" mechanic? Yeah... no. I did actual babysitting. And yes, I am leaving that gramattically incorrect. Thank you Flashing Blade...

I got to babysit a little boy who's the son of a friend of mine, let's go ahead and assign him a little pseudonym... C. I babysat him yesterday and today and he spent most of the time playing with legos. C is 2-ish and likes to a) build really big towers out of the square legos, b) knock down or break your lego masterpiece, and c) throw the legos. He's super cute and mostly really well behaved (ie. throwing legos). And I love him to bits.

Against the Moon by Spotlight Delight
     So I've been reading another fanfiction! And it's another really well done Marauders-as-kids-at-Hogwarts one! It's also quite angsty because it's told from a very worried Remus Lupin's point of view. But there are the funny bits, as you would expect out of the Marauders. These particular incarnations of the lovely Marauders are quite a bit different from those in A Conspiracy of Cartographers. For the first off, Remus is super, super worried about anyone finding out he's a werewolf. He does not have a sister. And he let's Sirius run with the whole "Yeah, my parents beat me and that's the excuse I'm going with for my wounds when I return from visiting my mother every month" thing. Which is, quite honestly, annoying. Remus also does not have a close relationship with Lily Evans as he did in CoC... yet... I hope.
     I've only finished 33 out of the current 50 chapters, but I'm completely in love with this story. The writing is awesome. The characters are pretty much as they should be, or approximately so. Hogwarts is, as usual, a place full of wonderful things. And Remus' world outside of Hogwarts is a lot more fleshed out than in CoC. The only thing that niggles me a bit, but I can live with, is that Spotlight Delight has said that there will be no Slash. Which means that my favorite couple will not be getting couply... at least, and my reading of this might be wrong, snogging all over the place when they're of age goes. Or I could just be reading that with skewed fangirl vision...

As usual, the different color text for the title and author of the fanfic lead to the story and author's fanfiction.net page respectively.

Love ya, Jessie.

LOL

So... it's been all weekend without a blog entry. I think I'm going to go ahead and take the weekends off... which I decided and then didn't tell you. Whoops...

But anyway, today... was mostly boring. I tweeted a bunch of pictures from icanhazcheezburger.com's new Sci-fi section: Set Phasers to LOL. And that was fun. Lots of Doctor Who and Harry Potter lols to be had, as well as Star Trek and Star Wars... which I don't really like. Here's my favorite one:

I just love how it works so wonderfully with each of their characters. Also, I'm totally with River... if you hadn't known that already.

I also went to Sams and McDonalds with my dad. Lots of lols there, too... which I would tell you about but you had to be there and I can't remember most of what was said.

Love ya, Jessie.

PS: New Gaia Journal Entry for my Halloween avis and also a new Lady Kira avi in that entry.

Kintaria: Fringe Division

Today, was much better than yesterday. I actually had a good night's sleep and I did something more or less productive.

First off, I watched the first episode of season four of Fringe (I'd already watched the second one when it aired). I have to say, those translucent people gave me the shivers. And grossed me out. Color me not happy. But the overall episode was cool. I dislike not having Peter around anymore. Oliva needs him. The team needs him. It just doesn't feel right with him gone.

The other productive thing I did has to do with that new link I added. I thought I'd added it earlier, to be honest, and I was surprised to not see it when I went to use it. If you're confused about what link I'm talking about, it's the new one I added to the "Links" page, to my Constructed Mythology Wiki. <-- Look, there it is again! Now, the thing I did, other than add that, was to write out the Mayonaka/Midnight Line's family tree as far back as four generations from now... ish. My story takes place in 2019, so "now" is relative. I probably won't have most of this information up on the actual Wiki, but some of it will show up. Not sure whether or not I feel like scanning the family trees...

Love ya, Jessie.

A Most Annoying Day

If you are expecting a blog post that actually says something today, you have now been let down. Let me tell you why: INSOMNIA.

I was awake at 4 AM again today. I am not happy about this. I spent four hours-ish actually sleeping. The next hour was spent getting ready to babysit. The next three hours were spent following around a very adorable two year old and half-falling asleep on the couch while he was eating lunch. And then I came home, went to Walgreens, bought the Halloween TY Stuffed Cat: Sneaky, came home. I then proceeded to sleep for two hours. Then I did chores. And sat in front of the TV because our internet freaked out. I then watched three and a half hours of Project Runway, missed The Vampire Diaries because I forgot what time it was on at... and am now writing this post, to get something out today, at least.

Anyway... Love you guys. ^_^

Jessie.

Trip To Model Land

I only watch one reality show. This may or may not be an actual news flash, but there you are. Mostly, I despise reality TV. I don't see the point. However, this hasn't stopped me from being hooked on America's Next Top Model. This is also the only thing I've watched all day.

This week, I feel really sorry for Bianca. I don't see how asking a simple question about math, concerning phone call times, blows up all out of proportion. Maybe it's that Shannon and Lisa didn't understand what the actual question was, or... I don't know. It just didn't seem like anyone was giving Bianca any room to explain what she meant. Lisa and Shannon just assumed she was trying to get more time on the phone. That didn't seem like it was the case. Or maybe I missed something. Maybe we, as viewers, were meant to miss something with the way it was edited. I don't know. It just feels ridiculous.

Also, can someone explain to me how Lisa's pictures are the same from week to week? I don't see it. I see how this week's photo was similar to the first week's. I just don't see her posing exactly the same. Also, it's not her fault the photos they come out with are what's chosen. It's not like they get to choose the best one. It's someone behind the scenes.

Anyway, enough about Crazy Top Models. I wanted to update you on my health issues the last couple of days. Basically, I got hit with a really bad cold. I spent a couple days laying around because I couldn't hold my head up without getting dizzy. But I'm pretty much all better now and I should be back to my regularly scheduled posting.

Love ya, Jessie.

Hiding In Plain Sight

I pretty much spent my day laying on a couch watching Stargate SG-1. However, last night I did get some fanfiction reading in. So here's what I thought about this particular piece of fanfiction.

Hiding In Plain Sight - Yumekui7
     This story was a Harry Potter fic based around Harry and Draco Malfoy post-war and disregarding the epilogue of Deathly Hallows. There are about eleven chapters and upon reading the first one, I thought this story had a lot of potential -- which it failed to live up to, quite honestly. The story involves Harry using a disguise potion in order to raise his godson, Teddy Lupin. This disquise potion allows him to appear as a female, although he can change back and forth at will upon reciting a spell. Draco happens to run into Harry, not know it's him, and decides "Oh, I like this person and I'm going to try for some kind of relationship." Sounds interesting, right? It would have been and could have been, however, the story whipped by much too fast for the subject matter. Harry spends a good portion of the story in his female disguise, which Draco does not know about. Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy are involved and know about Harry's disguise, but do not reveal it to their son until late in the story. The Draco of this particular story universe does not like being lied to, but doesn't have much of a reaction upon finding out that "Lily Black" was actually Harry Potter.
     On the subject of character, I think Harry and Luna were actually the only characters who were in character and stayed that way. Ginny Weasley, for the scant time she was in the story, seemed a bit too... back-and-forth, for lack of actual terms. Draco appaeared to be in character for the first chapter, but that died quickly. Narcissa and Lucius, on the other hand, were not in character at all. They were much too cheerful, especially after having served Lord Voldemort and been in Azkaban. Teddy... well, I suppose since we never actually see any of Teddy's characterization under JK Rowling, we don't know how he is and so I suppose he was in character... but yeah.
     I really thought I was going to be into this story and I really tried to be, but it was just too... fluffy and quick to keep all my attention. I guess I prefer some angst to my Drarry, and there was none.

Love ya, Jessie.

Werewolves Abound

Today... I pretty much wanted to die. I say this because my head feels like it's going to explode. And most of the pressure is on the bridge of my nose -- exactly where my glasses sit. Yay. But anyway... werewolves.

I watched An American Werewolf In London with my mom today. It was... interesting. Here are my initial reactions:

• The preppy dead couple were creepy. Not because they were covered in blood, but because they were so... happy about their deadness. It was weird.
• I'm totally more of a vampire person.
• The end was funny. Let's show the body of the dead guy and then cut to black with a peppy song. Much better than some ending where the nurse can't get over what happened.
• Was there an actual point to the murderous mutant commandoes from David's dream?

So yeah... I was kinda bored watching the movie and I'm glad I'm sick because I wouldn't have sat through this classic if I had been able to hold my head up sufficiently.

Because this movie had a fairly well realized werewolf for the time, I thought I'd list some of my favorites:

• The Twilight Saga - They're not actual werewolves, but they're awesome in their wolfishness.
• Van Helsing - You know, the one with Hugh Jackman. These wolves are properly furry, even if they're rubbish on four legs.
• An American Werewolf In London - Probably won't watch this again, but at least the wolf didn't look like a naked mole rat.

And my least favorites:

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Remus Lupin's transformed state looks like a long-limbed naked mole rat. It's apparently quite easy to tell a werewolf from a real wolf in that universe.
• Underworld - Again with the naked mole-rat syndrome. I understand they wanted something they could have a person run around in. However, the wolves they've got running around the apartment complex do NOT match what they've later got - clearly a man in a rubber suit that looks like a black naked mole rat.
• Buffy: The Vampire Slayer - They look like people in Gorilla suits for the most part. I think there's one of them who's actually wolf-like in the face, but the rest of them are absolute pants.

Love ya, Jessie.

PS: There's a new avatar in my Gaiaonline Journal. It's in Companion Avis 4.

Dreamscape

An immediate reaction to the newest page of Gaiaonline's story comic: Who names their dog "Grumps"? And Gino's mind is more messed up than mine...

And on the subject of quite odd dreams, I think I'll tell you about of few of mine.... if I can remember a few.

A few nights ago I had a dream in which I was running around Hogwarts with the Marauders. One of them, my bet's on Sirius, pushed me. I fell on my ass, with something of a scissor kick on the way down, like there was ice there... which there shouldn't have been. IRL, my leg had done one of those twitches your body does before you fall asleep. Needless to say, I woke up.

I also keep having random dreams about my mom being missing... which I don't understand because this isn't an active fear of mine. I'm just like "Oh, Mom's gone." In the dreams, I have to launch increasingly weird searches for her. This last one included a dragon that was a cross between Pernese dragons and the Drull from Backyard Monsters... O.o

Love ya, Jessie.

You Know...

I don't think I'm going to move anymore of that blog over here to this one... it just seems like it's sucking up time. I guess if you want to read the posts between that last one I posted and this one, you can go check out the blog at: PLIEADES

Love ya, Jessie.

Adventures in Shopping and Reading

Originally Posted: August 9, 2011

Today was another vaguely exciting day of shopping with my mother. If I haven't mentioned this particular item of business before, it's because I haven't actually been shopping with her in a couple of weeks. But really, that's for the best. It seems as if cashiers moving things from one cart to another is the worst possible thing they can do. Cue the rage. Anger This bothers me, as you can tell.


I also wrote my first freelance article today. It was about Tangelo Trees and how to care for them... possibly one of the least interesting things I've had to write, to date... well, except for those "What did you do this summer" papers for every single English class in Junior High and High School.


I've started reading a new book called Season of the Witch by Natasha Mostert. I thought it was going to be similar to the movie, but the movie was set in medieval times... I think... and this one stars a hacker. Not so related, but so far, it's good.


And the last thing I did today was find some emoticons because the ones provided by Webs kinda suck.

Winnie the Pooh's Miracle Day - Spoilers

Originally Posted: August 7, 2011

Okay so... don't take the title literally, it might hurt you.


I went to see Winnie the Pooh with my littlest sister and my Mom today. After slowly getting over my problems with the new voice actors and the drawing of Christopher Robin, I really, really enjoyed it. I wasn't expecting the live-action-y parts at the beginning and end, but that was a pleasant surprise. Also, make sure you stay and watch the credits because otherwise you'll miss the animated stuff during the credits and the Backson animated short at the end of the credits. Nothing in this movie jumped out at me and said "This isn't what I remember Winnie the Pooh as being," which is awesome. Also, I'm now of the opinion that Owl needs to stop reading things for people. He constantly gets it wrong. All in all, Winnie the Pooh far exceeded my expectations.


Now for the Miracle Day part. I am, of course, talking about Torchwood: Miracle Day. I just got finished watching the fifth episode and... it was interesting. I saw the cremation thing coming a mile away... if it works with vampires, why not on the new immortal people as well? And then there was Vera... I did not see her death coming and was genuinely shocked when the overflow camp supervisor person shot her. I'm genuinely sorry to see Vera go, I thought she was an awesome character and she seemed to make Rex lighten up a bit. Ester was... Ester. No change there. Rhys was back, yay! Oswald appears to be much scarier than I thought he was going to be... and Jack doesn't know him as well as he thinks he does, obviously. What Oswald craves is not death, it's attention.

Driving and Wolverine

Originally Posted: August 5, 2011

Although technically I think he's "The Wolverine"... but everyone just calls him Wolverine so...


Anyway... driving. Lots and lots of turns and almost hitting cars... and the trailer/pallet thing someone had parked in the street. How hard is it to park either in your garage or in your driveway? Leave the street free for the moving cars, thanks. Basically, I need practice.


I was up until 4 AM again today... NOT happy. But while I was not sleeping, I reread some of this book called The Wolverine Files. I highly reccomend it, even if you're not the biggest Wolverine fan. It's basically Wolverine's S.H.I.E.L.D. file... and Nick Fury's comments to various people writing the file are quite funny. The best part is at the end, in which Nick Fury yells at everyone involved in writing the file for not knowing what's going on with Wolverine. And that's not a spoiler seeing as everything in the book is about past Wolverine stuff.


Each "chapter" of the book is a different portion of the file. There are sections on Wolverine's varied war encounters, women in his life, enemies, and affiliates. The book includes pictures from various comics so that you know who they're talking about. Definitely a must-read for X-Men and Wolverine fans.

The Great Furniture Move

Orignally Posted: August 4, 2011

So... today I spent most of my time cleaning up and rearranging the Game Room in my house. Now the thing about the Game Room is that it's about the same size as our living room and takes up most of the space upstairs. It's kind of like a loft... without being an actual loft. Also, no one really hangs out there and it was kind of a mess.

After cleaning up, reorganizing things like DVDs and Xbox games and Harry Potter stuff, my littlest sister and I worked on rearranging the furniture. We've got a futon, a huge black leather couch, four barrel-like chairs, a couple shelving units filled with movies, and an entertainment center. Let me tell you, it was quite sweaty work pushing around that furniture... and vacuuming almost every time we moved something.

Also, I've started working on my "Constructed Mythology" Wiki thing. Mostly adding in the characters I'm currently working with. Take a look if it strikes your fancy.

That's pretty much it for today, I think. Tomorrow I have my third driving lesson...

Pottermore Beta (Oringally posted August 3, 2011)

So last night I decided that I would stay up all night so that I could sign up for the Pottermore Beta. Sometime around four in the morning, I checked Mugglenet.com to make sure I hadn't somehow missed it. At about ten AM yesterday, Andrew Sims had posted a news story about the Pottermore Insider blog that had a timeframe for the release of Day 4's clue. Turn out, they'd made it more US friendly and decided to realease the clue between 8AM and 12PM CST. If only I'd read that sometime before four AM.

So I went to bed and dragged myself up around nine. Nine thirty rolls around and I managed to get signed up for the Pottermore Beta. XD So basically the moral of this story is to check the hardcore fan sites before deciding to stay up all night.

If you manage to either get signed up for the Beta or want to look me up when Pottermore actually opens to the entire public my screenname is GoldOak9.

Welcome/Mission Statement

Update: 5-3-13

Wow, I'd forgotten what I even wrote on this post. Regardless, it's mostly inconsequential to how I do things on the blog now. Here's what I'm doing now:

I watch TV shows and review them, mostly. Sometimes, I'll do a movie review, a book review, or even a toy review. These reviews are highly subjective. Their content is entirely mine and entirely dependent on my time constraints/mood when I review something. I wouldn't expect in-depth analysis or much speculation. I tend not to do either of those things very often.

I also post my "Initial Reactions." They're basically like live-Tweeting/commentary on whatever I'm watching at the time. I do this a) because it forces me to make notes and b) people don't like to be spoiled via Twitter/Facebook. Since my Twitter account is hooked up to my Facebook account, people tend to get annoyed when I live-Tweet stuff. So that's my compromise.

That said, it's currently 1:23 AM and I should be going to sleep right about now.

Love ya, Jessie.

Original Post

Okay so, this is probably the... third blog I've decided to start. The others were a) on Gaiaonline and not really a blog, b) killed when Yahoo took down Geocities, or c) mostly forgotten about and now deleted. This particular blog is a companion to the blog on my website. It'll basically be copy-pasting from there to see if I drum up more traffic. If I get more traffic here, I'll delete the other blog while leaving the rest of the website intact.

The entire reason for me starting this blog is that I need something productive to do and this fits the bill as far as I'm concerned. I don't really have a concrete thing to do with this blog so it's probably going to be a mishmash of random stuff I come up with. Also, it's going to be completely uncensored. What I type is what you get. If you don't like it for that reason, I would think twice about reading further. On that note, I really hope this is the first entry to the blog you read... as it is the first and all.

What I do sort of plan to do with this blog is to review some books, manga, TV shows, movies, and anything else that crosses my path. That includes websites I'm a member of and the occasional rant. I'm going to be updating the categories as I go so if it's not there, I probably haven't written anything about it yet. The categories that are there are ones that I know I want to or am going to end up posting about.

I think that's just about it for now... so I'll go off and see what I can think up to review/talk about.