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Amuck, Amuck, Amuck.

It is that time of the year where my ringtone gets changed to Dead Man’s Party by Oingo Boing. The Hocus Pocus dvd gets put on while I dig out my Buffy Halloween episodes to watch immediately after. Throw in various horror movies and my month is set. My personal traditions have changed over the years, trading in the lighter, cuter fair for a something a bit more twisted. This is a little sampling of the growth of my traditions throughout the years for one of my favorite holidays. Whether it be enjoying favorite movies, dressing up, or carving pumpkins, this season has always offered fun and great memories for me.

I was fortunate enough to have a mother who made my costumes growing up. I may not have always been appreciative of this when I was younger, begging for one of those horrible plastic trash bags with a mask that not only blinded you for the night but greatly limited your oxygen intake. A girl just wanted to be She-Ra, I guess. She’s made me many things over the years. As I said in my last post I went as Batman when I was five. It started because I had a black Batman t-shirt with just the emblem on it that I loved. My mom went out and bought a basic black mask and some black material and fashioned a Batman mask with a flowing cape connected in the back. It was pretty sweet, but that was how awesome my mom was. One of my favorite costumes she ever made was Pippi Longstocking. She even made the wig. Unfortunately, due to a hit of sickness, I didn’t get to go out that year, but wore it at home snuggled on the couch watching the Halloween specials on television as I recuperated. If I ever have kids someday, I hope I can do as much for them, but I think I may need to go a couple more rounds with a sewing machine first, because the last time we had a challenge the machine won. It’s definitely a goal to learn to sew better. I can mend, but I’ve never taken on the challenge of a full project before.

Trick or treating was an interesting affair growing up, as well. Living next to cornfields, there wasn’t necessarily a lot of traffic coming your way or anywhere for you to really go. That meant we had to make the trek into town, which not only meant legit trick or treating but a parade.  I eagerly joined in the menagerie of monsters and fairy princesses as we proudly marched our bedazzled and ghoulish visages down the street for all of my small hometown to see. When we came to the end, we were released upon the houses to gather our bounty of sugary confectionaries and numerous cheap plastic toys that we didn’t mind getting year after year. This was happiness as a child. Eventually we got too old to trick or treat which meant I hardly saw any, because no one came out to our house, not that I blame them for not wanting to travel to the middle of nowhere

During high school, I would dress up on Halloween for the school festivities. One year, I went as Buffy. Shocking, I am aware. I remember working hard on making a stake from real wood to go with my outfit, also ensuring the end remained blunt to not cause injury. I am a nerd, so there is always a level of perfection taken when entering such endeavors. However, being the good little girl that I was, I immediately marched down to the high school administration office to check on whether my newly made stake would be considered appropriate enough to keep with me while on school grounds. Yeeeeah, it got confiscated as a potential risk. I was patted on the head for using good enough judgment to ask, then sent off to first period. I was pretty bummed, but I got it. Unfortunately, that kind of bummed me out for dressing up for a while. I would rarely do it after that until I graduated from college.

Since I wasn’t really into dressing up anymore when I hit college, my friends and I started a new tradition, and a silly one at that. Usually we would go to whatever preferred horror movie that was out in the theaters. The other thing that we did was look up some haunted place in the area and try to go find it. Unfortunately we never found any of the places that these road trips were intended for, but the drives were usually a blast. I loved hanging out with my friends and catching up, and they loved hanging out with me and doing whatever they felt could possibly annoy or irritate me, like rolling open the side door of my car as we drove sixty miles an hour down the highway. It wasn’t exactly dangerous, because there was a special catch in the track that allowed the door to be opened while driving for extra ventilation. It probably wasn’t recommended when traveling at the speeds we were. Thankfully, we are all still alive, and I did not murder them in the process. We no longer go on our trips anymore, mostly because we are pretty spread out across the country. I personally don’t want to, because I think the potential for getting any citation from the local law enforcement concerning these activities isn’t exactly classy at our age. I do wish we found that haunted cheese factory, though. It’s the one that got away.

Now, I mostly just watch movies and enjoy the youngsters trick or treating coming to the door. I have a tier system when giving out candy. Everybody gets something, but if they come as one of my favorite characters or in something extremely awesome, extra candy will be given. Extra is always given out to those dressed as Sleeping Beauty, Stitch, Star Wars characters, Thor, and various others of my favorite marvel characters. I am still waiting for some precious child with extraordinary parents to come to my door dressed as either She-Ra or Jem. I will just hand them the bowl and call it a night.

I am sure that there are other people out there that enjoy the holiday as much I do. I would love to read about some of your traditions whether it be decorating, baking, or anything else fun like that. This is a safe place to divulge what you love, so feel free. Thanks for reading!

Camping…Geeky Style.

 

Those that know me, know that I am.. a bit of a prissy person. That’s a lie. Anyone that knows me, knows that I am a LOT of a prissy person. A year or so ago, my husband broached the subject of camping. Apparently him and his family did it a lot growing up. This was new to me. My family’s idea of a vacation growing up was a theme park close to home. I was interested in this thing he called “camping.”

Imagine my prissy surprise, when I found out about tents, and PUBLIC BATHROOMS! Pretty much anyone will tell you that my worst fear, other than spiders, are public bathrooms. I always end up in one where someone is making weird noises in another stall. I can’t take it.

If we were going to go camping, we had to do it my way. We rented a cabin in a campground (with a private bathroom) and it was great. I had a great time. We made fire, had s’mores, cooked out, and just relaxed.

A year later it was vacation time again. I booked another cabin in a different part of our state.  It was in the middle of nowhere with questionable cell service. We drive two hours to this campsite, to have no one greet us when we get there. No one to check us in, and no one to give us keys to the cabin. To say I was livid was an understatement.

On the way down, my husband noticed a campground he went to as a child, and recommended that we go there for the night, and see if we can get in touch with someone the next day.

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We pull into Starve Hollow State Park, and was able to book a couple of nights in a cabin. I didn’t pay attention to the woman checking us in, until she said “comfort station.” Ladies and gentlemen of the geekies, a comfort station is another word for public restrooms and showers.

*Cue minor freakout*

We had to head back into town, because the cabin has a bed frame, but no mattresses. We needed a blow up mattress, and some other essentials. We also ate in town, because it was getting so late.

We get back to the cabin, and I decide to check out the comfort station. All I could think was nasty filthy public restrooms. Imagine my surprise!

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These restrooms were probably cleaner than mine at home! I had no problems with them at all. The rest of our (brief) vacation was fun. I tried my hand at campfire cooking.

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And made a pretty good (if I do say so myself) chicken and noodles

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We ate this with this gorgeous view

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After this trip, I feel like I could handle pretty much anything camping wise. I even made a little friend! His name is Gloomy.

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We are thinking of taking another quick camping trip soon. I am so looking forward to it. We both are. We both enjoy camping so much that for our 5th wedding anniversary, we are thinking of purchasing an RV, for jaunts like this. I want an Airstream (completely out of our price range), my husband on the other hand, has his heart set on an RV like the one from Breaking Bad. I just arch my eyebrow at him and gave him severe side-eye.

No matter what we do, I am totally excited. Who knew the great outdoors could be so much fun?

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When I first went Natural

When I first went natural
Before all of my relaxed hair (what remained of it) was shorn, I imagined I would have the cute spiral curls of my hairdresser. How misguided I was about my hair. I was incredibly misguided on the thoughts of my hair. I had not seen my natural hair before. Every girl I knew had some semblance of those loose spiral curls.
Not me.
Lord, not me.
Super kinky curly in the front, even tighter in the middle of my hair, and long and loose in the back, I have a garden of textures.
A garden, that sounds better than a nightmare doesn’t it?
The fact of the matter is, I am frustrated. I haven’t been taking care of my hair and it shows. The right side of the middle of my hair feels incredibly shorter than the left middle side. My hair is dry, and because the curls in the back are looser and more elongated, without my trusty headband I have a mullet. A Billy Ray Cyrus, Achy Breaky Heart Mullet.
IT'S NOT EVEN THIS LONG!!!!!!
I’ve neglected my hair, my blog, pretty much everything.
My hair is so bad, on my days off, I am reaching for my hat. The hat has a huge hole in it, and freaked me out, but I safety pinned that sucker and went on about my business. I would wear that hat at work, but I don’t think I am allowed to wear hats at work. I never asked. Asking about hat wear for work is a little extreme even for me.
I can’t keep neglecting my hair. I can’t keep being embarrassed to go out without my hat. Or headband.
This is the first step.
What are you trying to change?

Summer Switch up.

With the heat being as unbearable as it has been all summer, I quickly found out that my normal routine was not working. I used to be able to wash-n-go freely. Not really the case right now. Plus, the shea butter mixture from Belle Butters that I use on my hair was becoming to heavy. Right now my routine is as follows (if I don’t have any products that I am trying out):

Co-wash with whatever conditioner I am on (Wash hair once every two weeks)

Detangle while still damp

Moisturize with a combo of Ori Organics leave in condition and Kiah Alexandria leave in conditioner. 

Two strand twist

Leave two strand twisted until I have some place to go.

 

Do you have to do anything different to your hair when the seasons change? Also, How are you beating the heat?

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Title: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Genre: Action/Adventure

Director: Rob Marshall

Screenplay: Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio

Starring: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, and Ian McShane

Captain Jack Sparrow is back and finding what he does best, trouble. His newest adventure finds him at the mercy of the infamous Blackbeard and dragged along on a quest for the Fountain of Youth. Though Blackbeard’s mystical powers and preferred zombie henchmen might be the obvious choice to keep poor Jack on his toes, it is Blackbeard’s beautiful daughter, Angelica, who is the main cause of his concern. Jack leads this gang of unlikely allies to the fountain facing dangers like mermaids that have a deadly taste for man and the British Empire being captained by old foe Captain Barbossa. How will Jack make it through his latest adventure alive? By doing what he always does, improvise.

Everything you could possible love about the Pirates series is back and just as entertaining. I don’t think I will ever getting tired Jack Sparrow and his comedic frolics. With all the trouble Jack seems to find himself in the middle of time and time again, he seems to still have so much fun that the idea of becoming a pirate is very appealing.

I did have a couple of concerns about the new movie before I saw it. One, how could the story possible hold up against the last three films? And, two, how could this film be as good without character favorites, Elizabeth and Will? The last two films seemed determined to one-up the previous with bigger effects and an even more massive plot. The idea of the fountain quest seemed intriguing, but I wasn’t so sure that it could compare to the rest of the series. I was pleasantly surprised that I liked the more compact adventure the quest for the fountain was. There was no need to scour every inch of the world meeting danger upon danger. This film achieved focus much like the original film and stuck to it. As for the second concern, I am personally a fan of Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom, but their characters story had such a satisfying ending from the last film that they just were not missed. With the story having such a specific focus it would be hard to fit Will Turner and his own ship of souls into the plot. Of course, I have also come to the conclusion that it doesn’t really matter who is in the film as long as Captain Jack is present.

This film is fun and highly entertaining. Whether you’re being mesmerized by action and effects of the film or laughing at the antics and dialogue, you will definitely not regret seeing this movie. I recommend spicing up your Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides experience by seeing the film in 3D.

I give this film 5 Buttery Kernals.

Death.

There has been a death in my family. I will return to write in a couple of weeks.

Sick as a dog

I am typing this from my phone. Not feeling too well lovlies, I have the flu. I will resume blogging as soon as I am moble again.

Shaun of the Dead

Genre: Comedy/Horror

Director: Edgar Wright

Screenplay: Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg

Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Morgan, Penelope Wilton, and Bill Nighy

Shaun lives his life catering to his best friend, Ed, with no want for a bigger picture, which is why his girlfriend, Liz, leaves him. While trying to embrace the fact that Liz is gone and yet still concocting a plan to get her back, something darker is happening to the world around him. People are turning into zombies. As soon as Shaun accepts this new dilemma, he is determined to rescue Liz and his mother with the help of Ed and get them to the only safe place they can think of, the pub.

I really adore British movies and the dry humor, so when it was mixed with horror, I fell in love. Yeah, they’re fighting zombies, and they’re laying all their hopes on a beloved pub that will be their sanctuary. Who needs to figure out why there are zombies or how to take care of them. This doesn’t seem to be a good recipe for success, but this film actually works. Plus, although brief, the addition of Bill Nighy to a cast is never a bad thing. This movie is good fun if you enjoy dry humor and can laugh at blood and flailing limbs.

There is one problem that I did have with this film. At the end Shaun is faced with the horrible reality that his mother is about to turn into a zombie and that he will probably have to kill her. A tough matter regardless the zombie situation, yet this is a comedy. They did not however choose to lighten up the situation, but chose to make it very dramatic. The scene was so out of place compared to the rest of the film that I was completely removed from the main plot and then thrust abruptly back into the hilarity. I just felt that they needed to make the transition a little more harmonious to the rest of the tone of the film.

I give this film 3 Buttery Kernals.

Drag Me to Hell

Genre: Horror

Director: Sam Raimi

Screenplay: Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi

Starring: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, and Lorna Raver

Christine is a nice girl with the boy of her dreams and always living by the rules. She is competing with another coworker for a promotion. Trying to take a more assertive role to make her look like the ideal candidate, she denies a loan extension for an older woman. Because of this, the woman ends up cursing her. Struggling between belief and ridiculousness, she begins seeing things and is attacked by the unknown. Now she has to figure out the curse before it takes her life.

This is the first horror film that the Raimi brothers have done since the Evil Dead trilogy. Because I love Sam Raimi just as much as I love Bruce Campbell, I immediately ran to the theaters to see it. I was not disappointed. It was just the kind of fun that is expected out of Raimi. The film had plenty of gross moment that made you squirm, yet were so gross at times that you were cracking up, which was the point. Raimi does enjoy his horror, but he also enjoys making you laugh.

There was just one thing that disappointed me thoroughly about the film. Ted Raimi was of course in the film, which I fully expected since he is a Raimi. Bruce Campbell was not, however. I was just shocked that Raimi was doing another horror movie that he wrote and no cameo from Mr. Campbell? I mean he did cameos for the Spiderman movies. I just hope that there was a schedule conflict, because that would be the only reason I’d let Mr. Campbell off.

I give this film 3 Buttery Kernals.

Coming Soon: Shaun of the Dead