Happy Christmahanukawanzafest!

As I sit here in my living room surrounded by lights (both electric and candles), listening to Christmas music on the radio...I'm reminded that yet another Christmas has come and nearly gone. It seemed so far away and the past few days have flown by spent rushing around preparing for yesterday and today. Next up will be New Year's and then we'll be into a brand new 2015. I get to decide if I want to do anything for my 28th birthday (omg it's been 10 years since I graduated High School!) and a week later our first Skype birthday for my sister (we're both January babies).

It's no secret if you know me, or have been following this blog, I am a fan of Christmas and the winter season in general. I look forward to it more than any other holiday/time of year. So I'm always a little sad to see it go. All that preparation and lead up to one special day. Then, it's over so quickly, back to work tomorrow and all the radio stations switch back over to their normal broadcasting. At least the decorations get to stay up until the new year, we usually don't take them down until the second weekend in January. The first weekend is too soon and we're not ready to let go of the decor just yet.

This evening my mother and I will have Christmas dinner with my sister, brother-in-law, the baby, before they fly back to Tennessee tomorrow morning. It will be another little while before we see them all again, in person. Hopefully they'll be able to come back for our cousin's wedding in March. But, we were happy to have them here at all, which I count as a big Christmas present from my father to us all since he was able to pay for their flights back here. Christmas has always been about family...spending time with loved ones and family friends and enjoying each other's company, never about the presents. We as a country have always been fueled by materialism fed by infinite commercials pitching the must have gifts with malls and stores tempting shoppers to open credit accounts to spend more than they can afford. We've all spent a little too much on gifts at some point in our lives, to show our loved ones how much they're loved and appreciated. There's nothing wrong with that, in years where I had a bit more to spend, I did the same. As long as we remember to keep true to what's important, family and friends, then you'll never go wrong at Christmas.

Alright, mushy and serious stuff aside...I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and that the remainder of your holiday season continues to be merry and bright!

A Female Han Solo

A female Han Solo? What? I know, you're confused, it's ok. Grab a hold of your Ewok stuffed toy, sit back and let me regale you with this awesomeness. So, a few nights ago, there was a live read of Star Wars The Empire Strikes back in LA at the Ace Hotel Theater. The live read was part of a series of live-readings arranged by Jason Reitman. The idea behind the live reads is for different actors to read scripts from famous movies without reading the script first, so doing the performance cold. He's arranged several movie live reads so far but this is the first one that has caused a stir with his casting of a female Han Solo.

The female in question is talented actress Ellen Page who you will remember from such movies as Juno and Inception. She read the famous response to Leia's confession of love opposite equally talented actress Jessica Alba, and from what sources say she nailed it. Sadly, the video footage of the live read is down and has been since Friday (the day after the performance). I didn't get to see it but based on the cast of actors chosen, I am inclined to believe the entire thing was quite awesome. Mark Hamill was involved but not as you would expect. While he is reprising his famous role for the Star Wars movie due out next year, in this live-read Hamill took on the roles of Palpatine and the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi while Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad fame took on the role of Luke Skywalker. Chewbacca was read by The Office's Rainn Wilson and Darth Vader was read by J.K. Simmons (Law & Order, Oz, Spiderman 1, 2 & 3).

One can only hope that video of this event will surface again in the future. If not, I say we start a petition to get a short film made because this is the type of stuff that should be shared with the world. It could certainly be something to hold fans over until the new Star Wars movie premiers. It's just a thought.

Oops, I Did It Again

I seem to have replaced one obsession with another and fell off the face of the planet with this blog again. Oops. My novel is nearly complete (yes nearly, I haven't gone back to it since the end of November. No it's not a permenant break just an extended writing vacation). Ahem. As I was saying, TV. Oh, I wasn't saying that? Well, I may have jumped the gun a bit, but come now. Surely you gathered for yourselves that the other obsession I was alluding to was TV. I've been attempting to catch up on all the DVR'ed shows that I fell behind on due to writing. Mission status: marginally successful. I'm now caught up on all the shows on the downstairs DVR. Which means...yup you guess it, still the DVR in my bedroom left to go. But with all the shows now on break until January (some longer, I'm talking to you The Walking Dead) I should be able to tackle that one soon.

Especially, when I'm just not that impressed with the Christmas movies on the Lifetime channel this year. They just seem so-so this year, or they play ones I've seen plenty of times already. I'd like something new. What does a girl have to do to get some decent Christmas movies around here? Now of course I have my trusty VHS tapes (kids ask your parents) and DVDs of the classics, so I'll be watching those but there are some that I don't have in my collection. At the moment, I don't have the funds to go out and buy every movie I'm missing, as much as I would love to. But I haven't seen them in the TV guide and it's making me a bit frustrated. Don't even get me started on Netflix. Four of my favorite Christmas movies were on Netflix last year so I was able to watch them easily, but this year...zero zip zilch. That is not to say they don't have any Christmas movies, they do. But the selection is mildly entertaining at best. But they do have the Dreamworks Christmas Specials (Penguins, Shrek, Kung Fu Panda) and a Lady Gaga & The Muppet's Christmas Special. She is one talented lady.

However, none of the afore mentioned Netflix offerings are worth watching repeatedly. So now that I've seen them, Netflix has become a mute point in my search for Christmas cheer in visual form. Even Amazon Prime wasn't much help. The movies I yearn for are the ones that never get old and can be watched again and again. It's come down to purchasing said movies at some point probably after Christmas, when I'm able. Ain't that a kick in the head? You said it Deano.

It's Elementary! Sherlock Star to Play Doctor Strange Plus 30 Seconds to The Joker

Finally, as hoped, Marvel announced today that Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch has indeed been signed and will officially be playing the role of Doctor Strange in their movie set for 2016. On Nov. 4th, Benedict "will show audiences what makes Doctor Strange such a unique and compelling character." The quote (sourced directly from Marvel.com) from Producer Kevin Feige explains why they decided on Cumberbatch, basically wanting someone who was capable of showing depth and sincerity. If anyone has proven their acting chops lately, it's been Benedict Cumberbatch. The man has been adding to his acting credits like crazy in the past 4-5 years, starting most notably with the much loved BBC series Sherlock and including such films as: 12 Years A Slave, War Horse, Tinker Tailor Solider Spy, August: Osage County, Star Trek Into Darkness, The Fifth Estate, Parade's End. Not to mention most recently his portrayal of Alan Turing in the movie The Imitation Game coming to theaters soon, as well as, his voice acting lending his voice to the dragon Smaug in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit series. To say the man is everywhere, would not be an exaggeration and frankly it's due to his brilliant acting ability, down right love-able personality and unique sex appeal.

The news of Cumberbatch of course coming on the heels of DC's own major cast announcement for their upcoming Suicide Squad movie, made a couple days ago. The most important of the cast announcements being Jared Leto, front man of the band 30 Seconds to Mars, he is to play The Joker. Leto will be the first actor to step into the shoes of the iconic Batman villain since the late Heath Ledger. While some may know Leto as a singer, he is also an acclaimed actor. He won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Dallas Buyer's Club and his first acting job dates back 20 years to My So-Called Life. He's been known to take long hiatuses from acting and it was in one such hiatus that he worked on music and making albums with his band, including touring for 5 years. So he's no stranger to acting and he does take it quite seriously. Similar to Daniel Day Lewis, he's known to be a method actor--disappearing into his roles during filming. Leto was a favorite for the role and it's a good match. The other two announcements were for the characters of DeadShot and Rick Flag played by actors Will Smith and Tom Hardy respectively. They join previously announced Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney as Boomerang, and Cara Delevingne as Enchantress.

So lots happening lately in both the Marvel and DC worlds, with more announcements pending. For now, all we can do is continue to wait and hope our wait is justly rewarded. So far, so good.

Save Constantine

What is this nonsense I hear about there being a need to save Constantine? There shouldn't have to be a need to save this show. Why? Because it's a fantastic show and should most definitely get a second season. I'm not just saying this because I have a thing for John Constantine played by the talented UK actor Matt Ryan. I mean come on, the cast is amazing. Have you seen some of the things Matt Ryan has had to do in this show? There was an episode where he was covered in blood and chanting some type of spell, it was a great bit of comedy to break up the dark and serious tones of the show. Which brings me to another point, the drama this show brings is some great TV--well written. Each episode has intriguing plots and clever dialog often in a myriad of different languages. The show does have darker subject matter, but it really needs to, in order to accurately portray not only John's personal situation but the state of the world he inhabits. 

I will admit, I haven't read Hell Blazers, the DC comic from which the character of John Constantine originates. But I'm certainly going to read them now. The show has drawn people back to these comics and if it goes away, how will I be able to compare the two and get excited about things from the comics being incorporated into the show? Shouldn't I have been doing that already? Yes, probably. But I've been a bit busy ok, that's what TV show breaks are for. I just really want there to be a show coming back after said break.

I can't be the only one who feels that way, in fact I know I'm not the only one. There are plenty of fans of the show. The People's Choice Awards even have Constantine in a category for Best New TV Drama, I believe. I could be slightly off about the category name but it's definitely there--I voted for it. Maybe if more people vote for it and the show wins a people's choice award, we can secure it's second season. It's certainly worth a shot right? Right. So get on it folks, vote.peopleschoice.com. I honestly believe the show is worth it. Let's help Matt Ryan (John Constantine), Charles Halford (Chas), Henry Perrineau (Manny the Angel), Angelica Celaya (Zed), writer Daniel Cerone, and director Neil Marshall--amongst others--keep their show and continue to bring us quality television in the form of a damned man lodged in a fight against evil. 

Save Constantine.

Nerdtastic Trailers

By now, you will have already seen the nerdtastic movie trailers floating around the interwebs. I am of course referring to Jurassic World and Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens. If you have yet to see these trailers, for the love of all things nerdy crawl out from under the rock you've been living under and Google this business. I was sick all week and I still found time during my congested misery to watch these trailers...numerous times. Once you've done that, come back here and keep reading, or proceed now but there will be spoilers ahead. Now you're probably asking yourself, but Stefanie, these are just trailers why would I care about spoilers? Hey, I don't care either way, but some folks might be touchy about trailer spoilers. I'm not one such person, but I'm a big supporter of a spoiler free environment when it comes to everything else. It's one of the main reasons I stay away from Twitter on days when my shows are on, or when I'm behind. Those East Coasters be tweeting spoilers!

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. A couple days before Thanksgiving, Steven Spielberg gave us the long awaited continuation to the Jurassic Park series--Jurassic World. Set 22 years after the events of the original Jurassic Park (yes, it's been that long, 1993). The park has been reopened and consumers are flooding to the island by the thousands like some kind of prehistoric Sea World/Zoo. The new company in charge of the whole shebang seems to have learned from its predecessors' failures. Well...sort of. The eager beaver scientists have done the impossible, they have created the world's first genetic hybrid creature. Said creature escapes and chaos ensues, cue the motorcycle raptor pack! No idea what that means? Well you would know if you saw the trailer. Jurassic World will follow two young brothers as well as (from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy fame) park employee Chris Pratt and scientist Bryce Dallas Howard (known for such "twisty" Shyamalan films as The Village and Lady in the Water). I foresee the lives of these characters becoming quickly intertwined through their shared need for survival. Otherwise there wouldn't be a movie. I know, I'm a genius. But seriously, this has the makings of being a great movie and I am certainly looking forward to seeing it. Jurassic World is directed by Colin Trevorrow and will be climbing over 40 ft walls to get to a theater near you on June 12th, 2015.

Now we jump to the trailer of a movie 30 years in the making--Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. George Lucas brings us the fourth film in the continuation of this space adventure (because I'm of the mind to pretend that episodes 1-3 don't exist) set 30 years after the events in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi (1983). To the joy of many fans, myself included, this film sees the returning characters of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia still played by Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher. Aside from the favorites we will be introduced to many new characters and a younger cast experiencing the world of Star Wars for the first time. Just to quickly name a few: Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Domhnall Gleeson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Pt 1 & 2), John Boyega (Attack the Block), Adam Driver (Girls, TV series), and Daisy Ridley (Silent Witness, TV Series). "There's been an awakening...have you felt it?" The opening line of the the teaser sends a tingle down your spine. We then are immediately introduced to a very alarmed John Boyega dressed as a storm trooper. We catch glimpses of more storm troopers and other characters before the disembodied voice continues, "The dark side and the light." Cue the awesomeness! The (new) but entirely recognizable theme music plays as the Millennium Falcon zooms into view and....the title font! If you couldn't tell, I was really excited about that part. It also made me think that my suspicions of adoption may be justified considering the fact that when I explained this trailer to my mother, I got this response "What's the Millennium Falcon?" Yup, definitely adopted (I'm just kidding, Mom). As soon as I added, Han Solo's space ship, it jogged her memory. Moving right along. Despite the theme music and the iconic space ship, the trailer left much to be desired with their being no Mark, Harrison, or Carrie. But, that of course could be the point and there is still plenty of time for more footage to be released. For some disgruntled fans, Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens is not the movie you are looking for...but I think otherwise. My butt will be in a seat come December 2015.

30,000 Words Players!

Yesterday was the end of November. I know, nothing new, that's what months do. But if you'll recall...the most famous reindeer of all. No, wait, stop getting distracted. If you'll remember--that's better--I spent all of November trying to write a novel for National Novel Writing Month. Yesterday marked the end of the frantic word-making. I am happy to announce that I hit my personal goal of 25,000 words and then continued right on past that to finish out the month with just over 30,000 words. This still left me 20,000 shy of the overall NaNoWriMo goal of 50,000 words. But I can honestly say, I am as pleased as punch (what does that even mean?) to have not only reached the halfway mark, but breezed past it. Now I will admit, I probably could have hit the 50k word mark in the last week--I had quite a lot of time off work. But I spent a few days fighting off a fever and the over all desire to be put out of my misery, none of which is conducive to writing. So those days were well spent...sleeping, there was so much sleeping. Thanks to that, my cold is all but gone and I only have a lingering cough. But I digress. Needless to say, I now have my life back and every waking moment is no longer split between word smithy and work. I can once again focus on the blog. The poor neglected blog. Admit it, you missed me too. Basically, brace yourselves. Heeeeeeere's Johnny! Well...oh you know what I mean.

It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas...Oh Wait...

If you're like me, life in the desert is definitely not conducive to the general feeling of Christmas. The temperature stays in the 60s with sunshine, clouds and Palm trees. But that sounds wonderful, you say. Not when all you want is Jack Frost nipping at your nose and days spent trying to decide if you should wear another long sleeve under your sweater or maybe just two sweaters. The majority of the northern states are being sucker punched by old man winter right now--1 to 2 feet of snow in some places...Happy Thanksgiving. I would gladly trade places right now. Yes, I'm aware of what entails: shoveling, scraping, slipping, salting, snow tires, delays. But as Freddy Mercury once sang, I want it all. It would be worth it to have an actual winter and the other three seasons. I was built for the cold, I'm certain of it, not for roasting in 110 degrees (Fahrenheit) during the Arizona summer. Our four seasons consist of: Fall-ish, Summer, Burning Inferno. If you're lucky enough to escape the valley and head up north on a regular basis, you'll actually get winter. At least there's that.

So next week of course, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving. After the tryptophan coma wears off and pants are re-buttoned, we will usually set about starting with Christmas decorations. Then it's full steam ahead into December and the most wonderful time of the year. But it's not easy getting into the Christmas spirit when there are snow birds walking around wearing shorts and t-shirts. They've escaped the snowy clutches of their winter prone habitats to come here and cause traffic delays during rush hour. You're visiting, why do you need to be on the road at 7:00am in the morning when people are trying to get to work?! Huh? Why? Ahem, sorry, rant over. But it doesn't really make sense to me. There are a few things that help, but...they seem to be starting earlier and earlier every year. I'm pretty sure it was still the first week if November when I saw the first Christmas related commercial on TV. Of course, stores were already pulling out the Christmas gear in October. But this was the first commercial of the holiday season. That was followed by Christmas music on the radio (non-stop) during the second weekend of November, this was even earlier than the station that holds the claim of being the Christmas Music Station of Phoenix. The other station started last week. I love Christmas music, one of my favorite things about the holiday season along with tasty holiday treats.I know just about every song by heart and will not be ashamed to be caught singing in the car (which is usually where I do most of my singing anyway). But even I was astonished, when my sister came across a cousin's Facebook post about The Oasis 95.1 playing Christmas music. My first comment was: They're playing Christmas Music this early? BEFORE KEZ?! (99.9 KEZ is the station where for them playing X-mas music is a big deal, the former is a brand new station this year). I had every intention of waiting longer before tuning to the channel permanently. The plan lasted about as long as it took me to get ready to go out and run some errands, because as soon as I got in the car, I caved. Nearly two weeks later and I've barely listened to anything else, except for podcasts, there will always be time for those. Then we have Christmas cards. I'm a big fan of Christmas cards, sending them and receiving them. Sending holiday wishes across the country and the world can be a lot of fun.

But the main thing, that really helps get me in the Holly Jolly mood--rather than scrooge-y and grinch-y. The Christmas specials, from holiday movies to Rankin & Bass cartoons. There's nothing that says Christmas more for me, than snuggling up in front of the electric fireplace (yeah, we can't burn stuff here) with a cup of tea or hot cocoa and watching the favorites: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snow Man, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, The Little Drummer Boy, The Snow Queen, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Holiday, The Last Holiday, Miracle on 34th Street, White Christmas, Muppet's Christmas Carol...the list goes on and on. Starting Dec.1st, there is a permanent stack of VHS tapes (video cassettes that came before DVD and Bluray for you young folks) and DVDs sitting on the floor by the living room TV, constantly being cycled through. My own 25 Days of Christmas countdown movie marathon. They usually sit next to the stack of Christmas CDs that gets cycled through the CD player. I think I might go out and actually buy some Christmas vinyl this year to play on the record player--that would be cool and different for a change. We'll see what money will allow.

Suffice to say, it's getting to the point where I can hardly wait to get started. I think it's important to never lose that child-like sense of excitement and wonderment. Because Christmas isn't just about the presents, the food, the music...it's about family and together-ness. The spirit of helping someone less fortunate to have a happy holiday as well. I know, I'm sounding like a hallmark card. But, it's truly my favorite time of year. Everyone tries to be a little bit nicer, a little bit more generous--a whole lot of fun if you throw in some egg nog. But while surprising a loved one with a gift on Christmas Eve or Day (depending on how you celebrate it) can be fulfilling, just being together with loved ones you may not see for the most of the year...is sometimes all you need.

Friends vs Acquaintances

An interesting topic was brought up on a recent episode of the 7DAG podcast. Jason, Jeremy, and Grant were having a conversation with Neil & Annaleis of the Dark Angels & Pretty Freaks podcast (they were guests on the episode as part of the 30 days of podcasting). Grant poses a question to Neil & Annaleis: Have you had the situation where someone has gone through and listened to all your shows, this is not someone you know, and they communicate with you in a way that it's weird because they feel like they know you?

Now, I'm paraphrasing here, it wasn't that exact question word for word, but it's late and I'm tired. Basically, the question was meant to get their opinions on how fans of the show interact with them and whether they felt it was on a level where the fans treated them like they were friends with the hosts because they had heard so much about them in their podcast episodes. Neil explained that they have had experienced with this type of communication and while it was a bit weird at the beginning because it was new to them, Neil expressed that he found it cool that people would reach out to them and quote things from the show or about how they have things in common like having the same dog or relating to a certain situation. He didn't mind.

The topic seemed finished at that point, until Jason and Grant get into a conversation that sparked this post, the topic of Friends vs Acquaintances in regards to people meeting through social media. Neil set the ball in motion when he mentioned how great it was to discover all these other indie podcasts, when he started their podcast. Where he could really relate with the hosts because they were like him--they weren't celebrities with podcasts. He went on to say that through podcasting and starting to listen to these other indie podcast, he started to hear from and communicate with some really cool people on Twitter. People he felt like were really similar: in taste, personality, sense of humor, etc. He could really see himself hanging out with these people outside of the social media world because he has come to see these people as his friends. Maybe not in the way as a friend you would ask favors from, like helping you to hang doors or something. But still friends that he could have real conversations with.

From there Jason tries to make a point of bringing up the arguments (by which I mean discussions, not fisticuffs) that he and Grant have had regarding the subject of regarding people on Twitter as your friends. Grant had the following stance on the topic: You don't know these people, you can't call them your friends. Jason didn't agree and that he could call them his friends because he did know them to a certain extent and did talk to them on a regular basis. They then have an argument about how that was not what the previous argument was about. Do you see why I enjoy listening to the show now?

Grant makes the point that the actual argument had been the difference between calling someone a friend or calling someone an acquaintance and how those two differed to him. Grant goes on to say, you can be friendly with people but that generally meant those people were acquaintances: people you know, people you get along with, people you enjoy. His definition of a "true friend" as he calls it is: that person you can call in the dead of night and they will be there no matter what. He explains that he doesn't necessarily mean that a friend is only someone who does something for you,but someone who you have interaction with outside of just Twitter. He uses Neil & Annaleis as an example. He started out conversing with them on Twitter but then they had Grant as a guest on their podcast so he spent four hours talking to them on what was basically a phone call, in podcast form. He got to know them more that way. He doesn't think that you can be friends with someone on Twitter and actually form a connection with that person when it's simply based on 140 character conversations.

At this point, Annaleis supplies the comic relief by saying they haven't been drinking and it was getting a little deep--cue the laughter. Neil adds, that for him Twitter has opened the doors to establish friendships but he needed some other form of communication with the person: Skype, phone text, email. He may use the term friend to describe the person, but it would be meant in the acquaintance sort of way.

So, the point being, Jason and Grant had opposite view points on how they thought about people they talk to on Twitter. This has been a topic that has interested me for quite some time. Mainly for the reason that I have friends (met on Twitter) that I have never met in person, and I have no issue calling them my friends. I also have friends that had it not been for Twitter, I would have never met in person and enjoy their company so much. I agree with points made by both Jason and Grant. In both cases, my communication with my Twitter found friends has evolved to outside of twitter. For me, that's a good basis for determining whether someone is your friend or just an acquaintance. If you've met in person, or if not in person (because they live in a different country) at least in some other way besides one facet of social media. I talk with friends in the UK everyday and hope to meet them all some day, a couple sooner than that (next year). We text and email. Another determining factor: we know so much about each other. I know about their families, what they do for work, their likes, their dislikes. We exchange gifts for birthdays and Christmas cards. But most importantly, there's support and compassion. I can tell these women anything and vice versa, without feeling embarrassed  or insecure. My friendship with each and every one of them means a great deal me.

Very similar to Neil's point, there are so many people I have met on Twitter, that are really cool people and I can imagine that were we to meet we would get along famously. I call them my friends, but it's as acquaintances and I'm sure they would say the same thing about me. It's because I don't know as much about them and our contact is limited to Twitter or is not as consistent. Do I enjoy "making friends" on Twitter and chatting with people from all over the country and world? You bet. But it's not my goal to try and meet every single one of my Twitter followers and become best friends with them. I've been fortunate to have gained the friends I do have, but I'm not looking to be uber popular and be known by everyone. I've always been someone who could make friends easily, I've always thought I'm personable, kind and a good listener. But just because we both like the same TV show, does not mean you will automatically be my friend to the point where I'll share all my secrets with you. That type of trust has to be earned. One person may earn that trust faster than another. It can depend. It's not meant to be an exact science, it boils down to the ability to form a bond with someone. You learn how to make friends, through trial and error, from an early age. Playground or social media, you're calling it something different, but the same basic principles apply and you have to determine whether someone could or should be your friend.

Social media has certainly had a hand in changing the way people interact with each other. Communication is instantaneous and while limited in some cases (i.e. character limits on Twitter) you can share just about anything with anyone. On one hand, it's made things easier, but on the other we've lost that personable quality. Gone are the days of pen pals through snail mail, long distance phone conversations replaced by texting and email. At least with email and texting, you still get that sense of privacy, you're having a conversation with a single person. Everything on social media is public, it's out there and will be until you delete it. But the good thing about social media, if you do want instant feedback on an opinion or a topic, your new shoes or t-shirt, you're going to get it. Whether it's negative or positive, you just have to deal with, it's part of it. I use social media to interact with fans of the TV shows I like and to share information about those shows or other things that I like. As of late, I've starter using it as a conduit for my writing. Social media is a good way for people to get noticed for their skills or work, you can reach such a huge audience. But of course, that also means over-saturation, sometimes you just get drowned out by everyone else all trying to do the same thing. You just have to keep plugging away at it, until you get lucky.

Now I'm not in any way trying to promote my writing. It's just something that I enjoy doing, but I also like seeing how people react to it and get feedback on it. Thanks to social media, this very blog is now featured on a website. If you would have told me that when I started this blog, I would have never believed you. It wasn't something I was actively thinking about, but when the opportunity arose, I thought why not. Heck, I don't even think I'm that good. But, we're always our own worst critics. I feel like I've sort of gone off on a tangent towards the end here. Probably due to the fact that it's after 1:00am and I should have stopped so long ago. But hey, I felt this was a great topic to write about and I didn't want to forget. Plus, I didn't want too much time to pass between the episode I'm referencing and this post. How awkward would that be? Another episode would post and people might get confused. Or I'm just way over thinking this. Lack of sleep, yeah.

Yes, I'm Still Alive

It feels like forever since I last updated the blog. The last post was on the 6th, so that makes...5 days. 5 DAYS?! That's an entire work week worth of no new blogs. I am sorry dear readers. How torturous these past five days must have been for you, without my witty banter. But...you will be happy to know that my word count for my NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) novel is over 12,000 words! Woo! Go me! I've blown past where I was at this time last year, in leaps and bounds. I'm not near where I should be for the official count for day 11, but I'm proud of my progress. Seeing as my personal goal is the halfway mark of 25,000 before the end of the month, I am on task for meeting that goal. Heck, at this rate, I'll go past that before the end. Not going to raise my hopes for 50k, but never say never.

In other news, fall TV continues to be awesome and lay claim to a majority of my time. I wish I had the time to do more indepth reviews of said awesome shows, but alas, I do not. A quick run down of what I'm currently watching: Sunday you have Once Upon A Time and the double feature The Walking Dead/Talking Dead, Monday you have Gotham and Sleepy Hollow, Tuesday has a bunch which are The Flash (this one may not be on Tuesday, but it's hard to keep track of them all without looking it up) followed by Supernatural then Agents of Shield with Forever later on, Wednesday is my catch up with Tuesday stuff day, Thursday there's Haven, Friday we end with Grimm and Constantine. Honorable mentions: @ Midnight, The Voice, Ghost Hunters and a few more that escape me at the moment. These are the shows that I usually let pile up on the DVR and watch on the weekends or throw in during the week if there's time. Just pretty much whenever shows. It's a lot of TV, I know. Oh geez, I forgot Doctor Who on Saturdays! But it was the season finale this past Saturday--which I have not watched yet so no spoilers--I will be filling that spot with my whenever shows and rewatching episodes of Sherlock. 

Once November is over and I'm no longer staring at a word doc every night until my eyes bleed, I plan to throw some books in the mix. I've got a stack about 6 high just waiting to be read. There's a few from Chuck Wendig in there, Jim Butcher, Dean Koontz and a couple from new (to me) authors. So much to do, so little time. But, at least my family should not have any issues with figuring out which store to get me gift cards from...Bath and Body Works. I'm just kidding, but I do love that store. Anyway, it's time to tape my eye lids open and power through the rest of the day. Curse you lunch for being so tasty yet making me so sleepy! 

Flash....Aaaa Aaaa

Wrong theme song. As I am talking about the DC character The Flash aka Barry Allen and not in fact Flash Gordon. But darn it, if that Queen song isn't catchy. It's probably common for people to confuse the two when they hear Flash--that or a camera flash, but I digress. The Flash has been around for a long time, first appearing in comic form in 1940. The character it's self has had many incarnations aside from Barry Allen, but Barry happens to be the main character in CW's TV version of The Flash. Why bring this up you ask? Yours truly has finally found the time to sit back and catch up on the series, watching the four episodes saved on my DVR. I've been hearing a lot of feedback from folks watching the show, most of it positive. I broke down and binged all four episodes tonight. I should have been writing, but this show was definitely worth being behind on my word count again.

I thoroughly enjoy the show. It's interesting, well written with a great cast. Not to mention, a lot of well known cameos, by not just other DC characters but actors from other well known TV series/movies. Considering it's on the CW, I'm really impressed. It's not easy to match up to my one and only favorite CW show, Supernatural. Here's a quick run down of the main cast: Grant Gustin (Barry), Danielle Panabaker (Caitlin Snow), Tom Cavanagh (Dr. Harrison Wells), Jesse L. Martin (Detective Joe West), and Rick Cosnett (Eddie Thawne). Grant is well known for appearing in Glee, Arrow, and the 90210 reboot. Danielle has appeared in Yours, Mine, & Ours, Mr. Brooks and the TV shows Shark, Necessary Roughness, and Justified. Ed, Love Monkey, Eli Stone, The Following plus Yogi Bear and a plethora of TV movies grace Tom's list. You might remember Jesse L. Martin from a little thing called Rent, Law & Order and Ally McBeal. Whereas Rick's acting credits include: short film The Elephant in the Room (which he wrote and produced as well), Headland, The Bet and The Vampire Diaries.

Being a fan of musicals, I was familiar with Grant and Jesse prior to the show and being the king of TV Christmas movies, the same went for Tom. I haven't really seen much of what the rest have been in. So, I'm thinking that for most of the cast, this show is a pretty big deal. But, they portray their characters very well. It also marks another thing (DC comic related) that TV is doing right. I'll definitely keep watching it, live or at least next day. Rather than just letting it build up. I have enough to watch as it is without letting too much pile up.

But watching the show also gave me some serious nostalgia for the DC Universe Online for Play Station. I was obsessed with that game for a long time. Guess what one of my favorite super powers was? Yup, super speed. Your character would even give off sparks just like the Flash. I of course also had a character that flew like Superman, because who doesn't want to fly like Superman? I think this show has (in a secondhand way) revived my interest in the game. I'll be penciling some gaming into my schedule real soon. I also really need to brush up on my comics. So many comics, so little money.

So if you're a fan of The Flash or just a fan of DC, I highly recommend the show. It's not too late to jump in and the previous episodes can be found on the CW website. New episodes air Tuesdays at 8/7 c.

That Sound You Heard: A Million Broken Hearts

So, Benedict Cumberbatch blew up the internet today when news broke of his engagement. Sherlock Holmes, would be (hopefully) Doctor Strange, is off the market. Fans all over world have wept a sea of tears. I will admit, I found the 38 year old British actor very attractive, but I'm not shedding any tears over this announcement. Quite the contrary, I'm happy for the guy, he seems very happy and they make an adorable couple. But what I really like, in fact, find freaking amazing is the way he made the announcement. It has to be the most classically romantic engagement announcement I have ever seen, from a celebrity or otherwise. Forget the big diamond ring, or the private publicists running stories out to all the major papers. Six short sentences was all it took. Benedict wrote an advert for The Times, an English paper, in their Births, Deaths, Marriages section. The announcement read: Mr. BT Cumberbatch and Miss S.I. Hunter: The engagement is announced between Benedict, son of Wanda and Timothy Cumberbatch of London, and Sophie, daughter of Katharine Hunter of Edinburgh and Charles Hunter of London. See what I mean? It's so simple and yet so perfect. Sophie Hunter is 36 and a theater director/actress who met Cumberbatch on the set of the 2009 movie Burlesque Fairytales. They have managed to keep their relationship very private and out of the media spotlight, which is not easy for a celebrity as popular as Benedict Cumberbatch. I'll leave off with this: congratulations to the happy couple.

No Nonsense November

So you may have noticed that I haven't written a post since before Halloween. Consider this a quick update as to why. November was the start of National Novel Writing Month which I'm participating in again this year. I'm trying to make an effort at accomplishing more than I did last year. Last year's attempt was laughable, I just didn't put much effort in and it's not going to be the same this year. I spent most of Sunday, trying to catch up on the word count (which I'm now behind on again) but I'm already further along in these past couple days than I was in the entire month last year. I'm taking that as a small victory already. But I of course also don't want to neglect the blog at the same time. The solution to that being shorter posts for now. I'm literally trying to do three different things at once right now. I'm watching my shows, working on this post, and listening to an internet radio show. Commercials are my friend right now.

Halloween! It was last Friday, as I'm sure you noticed. I dressed up at work as Cleopatra and got the most compliments on a costume that I can ever remember receiving. My ego could hardly be contained within my cubicle. It was pretty great. Not bad for a last minute costume the week of Halloween. Next year, I have something else in mind and will try to plan ahead. I was thinking about something that I could use for more than just Halloween. Like a an outfit that could work for a Comicon cosplay as well, so most likely something Marvel or DC related, but it's not for sure yet. This year I also found out that wearing a wig all day is not so bad. It wasn't uncomfortable in the least. Later that evening, I helped taking turns handing out candy and babysitting the little Capuchin monkey, as we've begun to call my infant niece. It seemed as though we had less trick-or-treaters this year, but we ran out of candy at just after 8:00pm (about an hour and a half after it got dark). So, a successful evening none-the-less.

It's official, I'm listed on the Seven Days A Geek website as one of their blog contributors. I even got a shout-out in one of the recent episodes, along with a compliment that really made my day. I would recommend checking out the website, not just for the blogs, but to see what the whole podcast is about. I realized today that I've been listening to the show for almost a year now and it's definitely my favorite indie podcast (which I consider to be a podcast not run or backed by a celebrity). The guys are a great, very entertaining and you can tell they really love doing it. Here's the link, tell them Stefanie sent you. http://aaronhenderson-smith.wix.com/s7evendaysageek

In Related News...Marvel's Phase 3 Announced

I'm a bit behind as this news broke yesterday, but I had a lot going on last night, so...better late than never. 

Yesterday, Marvel made another huge announcement at the El Capitan theater in LA. This was a planned announcement and from reports the place was packed. Appearances at the event included: Joss Whedon, Scott Derrickson, the Russo Brothers, Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans.

The purpose behind the whole shebang: announcing the release dates for the Phase 3 movies. Phase 2 is almost complete and will end with the Ant-man movie due to be released in July of 2015.

So let's get right into it shall we? Phase 3 will kick off with Captain America: Civil War on May 6th, 2016. They initially quoted a title of Serpant Society to throw people off until Iron Man (Downey) and Captain America (Evans) came out on stage to announce the correct title. It was also mentioned that this would be a cinematic Civil War, which leads me to believe that's code word for: will stray from the comics. The Captain America movie will be followed by Doctor Strange on November 4th, 2016. As of yet, Benedict Cumberbatch is still unconfirmed, otherwise they would have announced it at the event, which they did not. I'm crossing my fingers.

Next up, we have Thor: Ragnarok on July 28th, 2017. This movie will see Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston back in their iconic roles as Thor and Loki. Following that, on November 3rd, 2017 will be Black Panther. It's been announced that the Black Panther will be played by Chad Boseman, who is known for his work in shows such as: Lincoln Heights and Persons Unknown. The movies: 42, Draft Day and Get on Up. Black Panther is set to make his first appearance in Captain America: Civil War prior to the stand alone movie.

The last three: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 May 2018, Captain Marvel July 6th, 2018, Inhumans November 2nd, 2018 and Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 May 2019.

Sadly, there are currently no plans for a solo Hulk movie with Mark Ruffalo or anyone for that matter. But a fan can dream...hope...sell her soul to Crowley. Well, maybe just dream and hope--I'm kind of attached for my soul.

Extra Extra...Read All About It Marvel News

The rumor mill has begun to spin wildly once again, as the story broke today that Marvel had found their Dr. Strange. According to multiple articles, nothing is definite but Marvel is about to begin final negotiations with none other than the super sleuth of 221b Baker Street himself, Benedict Cumberbatch. Aside from Sherlock, you may also know him from such roles as Smaug from The Hobbit, Khan from Star Trek into Darkness and the upcoming role of Alan Turing in The Imitation Game.

The coveted role of Dr. Strange had previously seen Joaquin Phoenix in talks with Marvel before those talks ended. Other names in the hat: Tom Hardy, Ryan Gosling, Ethan Hawke and Jared Leto. So, who exactly is Dr. Strange you ask? He is a Marvel character created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in the 1960s. Dr. Strange is a neurosurgeon who uses sorcery, mysticism, and martial arts to protect the earth from magical threats. The stand-alone movie is going to be directed by Scott Derrickson and produced by Kevin Feige (Marvel Studios' head honcho).

So far, this casting rumor is the most promising of all, as most names previously mentioned were either just thoughts or found to not be the best fit. Cumberbatch's name has been in the mix since quite early on and his track record has proven the guy is an uber talented actor. In my humble opinion--which may or may not be biased because...well...Benedict Cumberbatch *ahem*--he is going to be great in the role. I'm hoping that the next update we see is an official greenlight from Marvel that Cumberbatch has agreed to do the role. Meanwhile, pre-production has started on the film itself which is currently slated for a 2016 release.

Best Two Minutes of Your Life

So, it's been almost a week since the official trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron leaked it's gloriousness all over the Internet. I've watched it repeatedly. In fact, if you have not watched it yet, stop reading this instant. Don't worry, your rock will still be there. Go to YouTube and type in Avengers Age of Ultron. It'll only take two minutes, you'll thank me later. But remember to come back, you need to keep reading. 

Avengers: Age of Ultron is of course the highly anticipated sequel to the hugely successful Marvel's The Avengers (third highest grossing movie of all time). So needless to say, the sequel is expected to be huge. I wouldn't doubt if it knocks it's predecessor of its high horse. 

The movie centers around one of the most recognized villains of the Avengers, Ultron--an artificial intelligence with a robotic body covered in armor made out of adamantium. Adamantium being the same substance that was bonded with Wolverine's skeleton and is nearly indestructible.

I'm not going to give a play by play of the entire trailer. It's not necessary, since you've seen it now (plus, I only have so much time on my lunch break). But it's for certain that there will be much destruction in this movie. A few seconds of footage shows our Avengers in dire straights: Thor dropping his hammer (Mjölnir), Hulk smashing, Captain America's shattered shield. Insane! Can it be May 1st, 2015 already?

Constantine

Tonight was the premier of the fall's most highly anticipated TV show, or so says NBC. It doesn't hurt that it was the only new series premiering on NBC this week. It followed after the premier of the new season of Grimm (an on-again-off-again favorite of mine). For those that have not been following the details of Constantine, like me, let me provide a little bit of background information before I delve into my thoughts on the premier.

Constantine is a DC comic series (ongoing) launched in 2013 to replace the 25 year old popular series Hellblazer, much to the chagrin of many. I have not read either series so I am impartial, but I will probably check out a few issues of Constantine. You know, for posterity's sake. The character himself was created by Alan Moore during the 1980s.

For those that want to know, and admit it you do, IMDB summarizes the show as follows: A man struggling with his faith is haunted by the sins of his past but is suddenly thrust into the role of defending humanity from the gathering forces of darkness. Thank you IMDB for those thrilling words. Would it kill you to use a comma?

It's a decent summary but based on what I saw in the episode, I would disagree he is haunted by sins of his past. It's pretty obvious for the majority of the first episode that he's haunted by the biggest failure in his past. I'm not going to reveal it just yet, because I'm not big on spoilers and there may be those out there that are waiting to watch it.

I like what I've seen so far, it was intriguing and I'll definitely tune in next week. The main character is of course John Constantine played by Welsh actor Matt Ryan. Matt Ryan is probably best known for the movies Layer Cake and Fly Paper as well as voicing Edward Kenway in the game Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag.

In the premier, Non Est Asylum, we find our protagonist in (you guessed it) an asylum. He checked in of his own free will to be "convinced" that demons don't exist, when he knows they do. There was heavy use of symbols and ancient languages in the episode, which was very akin to another favorite show of mine that deals in angels and demons.

So overall, what do I give the season premier of Constantine? I'll give it a solid 3.5 out of 5.0. I really enjoyed John's snark and humor as a character--Matt is pretty easy on the eyes as well. Plus, the accent, ladies love an accent (I know I do). Anyway, back on point. I have a good feeling about this show and I think it's really going to find it's own and only keep on getting better. Of course, for DC fans, this is a big deal. With this premier, we now have not one, but two DC related TV shows on prime time TV. The other being Gotham on Fox. Marvel is hot on their heels, with the duo Agents of Shield and the upcoming premier of Agent Carter in January. So stick around folks, and give Constantine a try while you're at it.

Switching Things Up A Bit

You may have noticed some slight changes to the blog. I've gussied her up a bit and updated my profile. Why the change you ask? Well, I volunteered to be a contributor to the website of one of my favorite podcasts, Seven Days A Geek. I'm not trying to brag (well maybe a little bit), it's an explanation. What does this mean for the blog? Well, not too entirely sure yet. I hope to find out more details soon. However, what I do know. I'll be cutting back on the random posts--the ones where I was basically writing just about anything that popped into my head, for the sake of having written a post. I'm going to be focusing more on content and geeky topics that I like or would fit with the website.

With that being said, it more than likely means I can't guarantee a post everyday, but I'll certainly try my best. As most of you know, who know me, work takes up a huge chuck of my day and my baby niece currently takes up chucks of my evenings (I love helping to take care of the adorable little monkey though).

To be honest, when I decided to give blog writing another go I never thought I would get this far. I'm proud of myself for sticking to it. For not letting the old excuse of "not having enough time to write" stop me in my tracks again. Another side effect from my renewed spark for writing: I'll be participating in NaNoWriMo again this year. For those that don't know what that is, it's the National Novel Writing Month. It occurs annually during the month of November. I participated (if it could even be called that) last year. I did not write the goal of 50,000 words. I'm definitely aiming much higher this year, a starting goal of halfway (25,000 words), then going from there.

Anyway, that's all the news that's fit to print. Who knows, it could turn out that there won't be any major changes to the blog once I start writing for the website. But, I'm excited and looking forward to this opportunity.

A Fan's Convention

I just finished watching William Shatner's Get A Life, which is a short documentary about what it means to be a Trekkie (fan of the TV show Star Trek). This documentary is probably not new to most, but it was my first time seeing it. I really enjoyed it, being a big Star Trek fan myself. For those who were like me and have not seen it, here is a brief synopsis: William Shatner reached out to fans from all over to get their personal stories about why they were fans of Star Trek, centering around Creation Entertainment's Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas.

I'm not all that familiar with Creation Entertainment and their conventions, other than that I have heard of them and I'm on their mailing list for the Supernatural Conventions. I have yet to actually go to one of their conventions, in any city, for any of the shows that they have conventions for. Star Trek and Supernatural are just two out of the many many fan experiences that they offer.

My exposure to a convention has been limited to our local Phoenix Comicon which has grown exponentially in just the past three years that I've been working there as a volunteer. Prior to 2012, I had heard about Comicon, but had never attended. I'm now at the point where I couldn't imagine not being a part of this amazing pop culture event. I owe it all to simple happen stance, a co-worker was involved and asked a friend (and also co-worker) to volunteer. I was interested and went along to apply as well. The rest, as they say, is history. I have been a photo booth coordinator for three years running and I love it.

So seeing this documentary, it made me think of my own experience with a convention and the experiences of people I've met. Conventions are for the most part, about the fans. It's about giving like-minded individuals the opportunity to be in an environment where they can interact with each other and with their heroes. It's a place where they can be themselves without fear of admonishment or ridicule. You have people of every age, race, orientation--with varying degrees of passion for the things they love. There is a general understanding that you don't have to like everything or love something as much as someone else, to be accepted or get along. Are there exceptions to the rule? Of course, but they're minor blips in the grand scope of the entire event. Despite the stress and the consistent feeling of being constantly on the go, I have had nothing but great experiences at Phoenix Comicon and most people I see/work with would agree.

As much as I love Phoenix Comicon, I certainly want to broaden my horizons when it comes to conventions. I want to be see what differences some of the other larger conventions have, such as: Emerald City, C2E2, Dragon Con, New York Comicon, the big daddy of them all San Diego Comicon. In February, I have plans to attend my first Creation Entertainment convention, the Salute to Supernatural con right here in Phoenix, part of their additional cities tour for the 10th Anniversary. Then we'll see from there.

Conventions are a fantastic way for fans to express themselves and to just enjoy the things that they geek out about. I highly recommend attending one if you never have. It's a unique experience that continues to evolve and become bigger and better with every year.

Not That Impressed

I'm not that impressed, my overall feeling about American Horror Story Freak Show. For multiple reasons, I'm not sure if I'll continue watching the show. I don't have much drive to watch it and the story so far is not gripping. It certainly makes sense for it to be set in the 50s, this type of story could only be set in a time period when people feared the different and strange. My problem is not with the setting but with the character development. I have yet to be drawn in and care about the plight of these characters. I don't care much for Elsa, even though Jessica Lang is a great actress and does a good job of pulling off a German Accent, the character is very predictable. While, it may have seemed like a good idea to recycle most of the cast of the last series, I have a hard time not comparing the new role to the old one. Then of course (also as predicted) there is the murderous creepy ass clown. He's dirty, mute, crazy...likes to stab people to death with a pair of scissors. I'm not going to be having clown filled nightmares anytime soon but they certainly dialed up the creep factor with this clown. I'm not sure if I'm more disappointed by the fact that they added the clown or that they didn't give him more depth and intelligence instead of just being an erratic monster. I may give it one more shot but I'm not rushing to watch the new episode, not when I have other things recorded instead.

Triple Post Struggles

It was definitely not easy to try and churn out three post tonight after a long day at the office. It didn't help that I was multitasking the entire night either, but...I managed to pull it off. Firstly, there was a four hour long podcast I was trying to finish, still an hour to go on that tomorrow. Then of course being Monday, it was Gotham and Sleepy Hollow night, while also watching two episodes of Once Upon A Time, because apparently we had somehow fallen behind with that one. Some where in there was also the hour long weekly Supernatural Radio show. I try not to miss it--one: because there's always good music, two: because it's been a Monday night tradition of mine for a year now. A busy evening to say the least, but partly of my own making. I could have waited to watch the shows, but then that would also mean waiting with the podcasts associated with those shows. What else am I going to listen to at work tomorrow? The podcasts are the only other thing besides music that keeps me entertained. So the sooner I can catch up on my podcasts...the better.

Damp Cowboys and Muddy Outlaws

Sunday morning we woke up and prepared ourselves for breakfast at the Bisbee Breakfast Club before we mad e our way to Tombstone for Helldorado Days. Breakfast was delicious and we were all feeling incredibly stuffed--to the point where it felt as though we could have been rolled out of the restaurant. I've discovered a new way to eat eggs: with cream cheese. It's tasty and I found myself wondering how I had never tried it before. But of course, I plan to eat it more often now.

We stopped at the scenic pull off to the old Bisbee copper mine and took some photos through the fence. There was a running stream that wound its way all the way down to the very bottom where it pooled in a dark brown pond. It was a fantastic view. From there we drove the short distance to Tombstone, watching out the car windows as the dark clouds loomed over head.

We hopped puddles crossing the street from the parking lot to the main street. We sought shelter under the awnings and walked beneath them all the way to the winery--Silver Creek Winery from Tombstone. They do wine tastings and I was looking forward to sampling different wines then the last time. By the time we finished (and left with three bottles of wine) the rain storm had subsided and we were hopeful it would hold off long enough to be able to properly look around. One of us in the group had not been there before. Sadly, it was just the tail end of one storm and there was another lined up and waiting. One gun fight took place in the middle of the street while the clouds dribbled on the outlaws and lawmen. They had to hold tight to their hats as the wind whipped through, letting go to draw their guns. Three outlaw went down and spent a good five minutes lying on the wet dirt road. The show ended and the heavens opened in applause letting loose more rain water from above.

It was around that time we decided to call it a day, weather radar had been checked and it didn't look like it was going to let up at all. Besides that, it was getting on into the afternoon and we didn't want to head back home too late.We did have a three hour drive ahead of us and we weren't quite sure what weather to expect on our route. A quick stop at Starbucks prepared us for out trip home and luckily we had smooth sailing for a majority of the way. About an hour outside of Phoenix, we hit a dust storm and there were moments the high wind pushed against the car while we pushed through the fog-like curtains of sand. 15-20 minutes later we made it through the blowing dust and continued on through clearer visibility. Just outside of Phoenix we caught up with the storm front and it was pouring again. We made it home in time to watch The Walking Dead, Talking Dead, and to eat a bite. The adventure ended there.

Karaoke Queens take Bisbee

This is a bit overdo, but as I always say...better late than never. I'm fairly certain I've been using that phrase since I heard it in Ghostbusters 2 (Cheech Marin's line when the ghost Titanic arrived). But I digress...Bisbee. We got a late start heading down south and arrived around 2:30pm starving to the point where our first stop had to be for food, instead of our actually destination (my friend's house). Our mistake: not eating enough for breakfast, or none at all, before hitting the road. I honestly wasn't hungry that morning but I still felt quite foolish for skipping it none-the-less. It was difficult to think straight.

One Applebee's meal later, we met up with my friend Jaimee and dropped off our stuff at her house before hopping into the car. We got to Bisbee rather late, found parking, entered the beer fest and tried to figure out where to start. We were surprised to have received 15 tickets to use at only one ticket per mini beer. Someone could easily get drunk off that much beer, even in mini form, but as we realized the water and soda also required tickets. So, someone could pace themselves with water between their beer tastings. Unfortunately, we did not have very much time to spend in the beer fest--it ended at 6 and last call was at 5:45pm.

Luckily, there was no shortage of bars in Bisbee. We walked around a bit more before going to the Screaming Banshee Pizza place, but due to over an hour wait we only had drinks (mini beer shots) instead of food. From there we walked through town some more and stumbled upon a small jazz style band playing in an inside courtyard. The air was thick with a certain medicinal smell which incited giggling fits in us. We thought it best to leave the area before the band thought we were laughing at them.

Next, it was time to check out another bar. After IDs were checked at the door, we were pleasantly surprised to find a karaoke setup inside. We found an empty spot at the back of the bar beside the stage were the karaoke system was setup. This is the second time that we randomly found karaoke in Bisbee, so needless to say we had a very good time. Five hours later, I (the designated driver) drove us back "home" where we immediately crashed and went to sleep--singing along with every song will do that. An amusing side-note: we put our name down as Winchesters, a tradition we started the first time we all met, and once again a random person recognized that it came from Supernatural. The Supernatural family is everywhere.

New Adventures Ahead

Well new to a certain extent. I'm driving back down south this weekend but further than Tucson--to Sierra Vista, Bisbee and Tombstone. I visited these locations in August, going back for special events: Helldarado in Tombstone and a beer fest in Bisbee. It should be a real good time. I'm typing this post with one hand, while the other is holding a baby. As you can imagine it's slow going and not an easy task. So this will be the shortest post I've written in a while (probably). But, I'm sure you'll understand. I'll make up for it with tomorrow's post. Until then.

Guess Who's Back? Back Again, iPhone's Back, Tell A Friend

That's right folks, finally. I was blessed with a functioning iTunes this evening when I returned home from work. I restored the phone to factory settings, then backed it up with what was saved on my computer. But, you were going to the Apple store, you say. Yes, that was the plan. Again, that plan was thwarted, but it was no big deal. I knew restoring was an option and how bad could it be? Why do I keep tempting fate? Poking the sleeping Apple gods. Four hours later, my phone is back to being normal, with the damn update. It turns out the last time I backed up my phone, was longer ago than I thought...oops. Needless to say, I had to: reenter all my passwords, install 4 apps, delete a ton of podcasts that I had already listened to, delete emails and setup new features. It was a tedious process, one that I hope to not go through again anytime soon. I swear, if I have the same problem with the next update...ok, deep breath, not going to think about. To quote a wise baboon: It doesn't matter, it's in the past. But through it all, there was one good thing to come out of this. I got caught up on quite a few shows while I was waiting for the restore, the update and the back-up. So there's that.

The Wrath of the Apple Gods

I spoke too soon. Mere seconds away from the update being finished, I get an error message. The update could not be completed. My phone goes into safe mode and requests to be re-connected to iTunes and the only option it leaves--restore to factory settings. I turn off the phone and the computer and I go to sleep because by this time it was past midnight and I had been waiting long enough for the update. I went to work the next morning with the plan to stop at the Apple store to have them kick the phone out of safe mode which they've done before with a previous phone. After work something else came up so I didn't make it. So, I decided to plug it in and restore it. I have a version saved on my computer that I can sync onto the phone to get it back to where it was before (or close to it). But now, a new issue has arisen. My iTunes doesn't want to cooperate. This means another day with no phone, which isn't a tragedy but it is annoying. There will still need to be a trip to the Apple store. I tell you, I've always been fond of my iPhone and I've had minor issues before--it's starting to wear thin. If I had the ability to add more storage to phone, that would be one way to make things better. But that's of course not how the iPhones are made. They can not be changed or enhanced beyond the mandatory updates. I still have at least another year left on my contract, so a new phone is out of the question at the moment. However, once my plan is up, I may consider alternative options. I didn't think it would ever come to that. The moral of this story: the Apple gods are mingy, capricious ass-butts. Bad form Apple, bad form.

A Face Palm Moment

As you may be aware, I've been having problems (annoyances) with my phone in regards to installing updates. Mainly due to the fact that I have limited space available. In order to download the update it requires at least 4 GB of space on the phone, which I don't have. But here's the kicker, the moment of realization--a real doh! moment. A friend reminded me, there was a way to by-pass the issue of trying to free up space, it wasn't necessary--I could skip sacrificing apps to appease the Apple gods. We are all so used to automatic updates, or updating once we are connected to WiFi, because of it's ease and convenience. We have been conformed to rely upon it and therefore have been blinded to the old process of updating the phone via the computer and the iTunes program already installed on it. That's right, the computer, using the USB cable. It will download the update and install it on the phone without the need for extra space and bonus...everything currently on it stays. I will admit, I felt like a dummy for resigning to leave my phone to it's fate of no longer functioning properly. The only downside: it takes forever. Two hours later and it's still not quite finished yet. But I'll take it, if it means I can finally get the phone working and not have to lose more apps. Twitter, Facebook, Mail--the biggest offenders of space usage and I use them all frequently. So I was dead set not to relinquish any of them, and now I don't have to. Tomorrow I update my mother's iPhone...the battle ends. To the victor go the spoils.

The End of Another Weekend

It happens all the time...there's no stopping it, and no way to get it back. Another weekend has come and gone. Those two days of freedom used in any way you wish. It ends abruptly--or so it always seems. Monday rolls around and it's back to waking up via alarm clock radio, dragging one's self out of the comforts of the bed to prepare for the day ahead. Some days are easier than others. Some days you regret ever getting out of the bed, other days you're so glad that you did. It may seem like a guessing game, as though you can never be quite sure what the day will bring. While this may be the case for a percentage of the time, it is not always up to chance. It's every bit up to you to shape how your day will go, then it is to the workings of fate. Certain things may be out of your control at the moment, but it won't always be that way. You have the ability to decide what kind of day you're going to have. You choose the way you react to events and allow your mood to adjust accordingly. Could you be grumpy when something doesn't turn out the way you had planned? Of course. Could you not let it phase you and keep that frown upside done? Affirmative. Your attitude towards things is what you make it to be. Are you entitled to venting your complaints every once in a while? Feeling sadness and disappointment? Absolutely. But it all comes down to self-control. Not letting yourself get too carried away by how a day turns out, can make all the difference. I had a very hectic day at work. I could have been grouchy, stressed, annoyed...possibly all at once (I will admit to some slight annoyance at one point). But I kept plugging away and accomplished a decent amount. I still had more to do when I left, but tomorrow is another day. So here's to keeping a positive attitude and kicking the work load in the ass.

Zombies Are Back!

Today marked the season premier of the new season of The Walking Dead, easily October's most anticipated TV show premier. Who doesn't love zombies at Halloween time? This episode was action packed and very good. I called a couple things and was happy to see my theories proven true. There were just some really awesome moments in the episode and I was not disappointed. Fantastic way to start things out. I'm certainly looking forward to the upcoming season and finding out where this new path takes the characters. The premier of course meant that the after show, Talking Dead, hosted by the very funny Chris Hardwick was back as well. I'm a fan--his podcast, Doctor Who specials, SDCC (San Diego Comicon) panels, Talking Dead and most recently At Midnight. I have yet to see one of his stand-up shows, but would love to. Some day.

I'm Back!

Yes, there was no blog post yesterday. I know, you were probably very worried. Please set your mind at ease, for now I give you two blog posts in one day. This is of course to make up for my absence yesterday. Now, if you read my previous post, you should not have been surprised by the lack of words. I was busy having an enjoyable time out of town. I drove down to Tucson, having left later than I had originally planned, and arrived at around 2:30pm. I left my things and the car at my friend's house and we hopped into her car to head downtown. Yesterday there were a couple different events going on in Tucson: Tucson Meet Yourself and Second Saturday. Our first stop was my friend Jessica's favorite brewery, Borderlands. It's a pretty cool place with great beer. We met a couple more of her friends there and we all had a beer before moving on to get something to eat. We walked from the brewery to where Tucson Meet Yourself had been setup. There were ethnic performances and food from all over the world, all representing their culture there in Tucson. After scouting what they had, my friend Holly and I settled for some Chevapchichi from a Bosnia place, it was delicious. WE grabbed dessert and sat on the grass inside the main tent to watch the performances. First, there was a band that played Baltic/Hungarian/Greek style music basically a big mix of styles from Eastern Europe and Greece. The next performance was belly dancers who danced for the crowd. Funny enough, my friend Jessica actually works with one of them. After the dancing ended, we headed back out into the swarming crowd, grabbed some pirogies and fried bananas then wandered out of the festival area. We wanted to head back to the brewery, I wanted to buy some beer to take back home with me and in the process we passed through streets set up for Second Saturday. That basically meant a bunch of vendors had tables setup on the sidewalks selling just about everything. We came away with a snow cone. I purchased by beer, brought it back to the car and then we decided to go to another brewery for round two. Because there was a football game going on that night, there was no space at that particular place so we went for another one. The second was back in the direction we had just gone, almost back to the first brewery. We get there, have a flight and then leave. While we were there, we get hungry and they don't serve food, so a plan for food was thought up. It was back to the car for us. This time we drove, to a pizza joint, that also served beer. We shared a 14 inch pizza, drank some 5oz samples of different beers and chatted while watching the rest of the game. We finished out the night by driving out of town to a scenic view to look at the stars. Tucson is a dark city, which means all the city lights are much dimmer than here, so it's easier to see them without having to drive to far out into the sticks. It got cold and we headed back to the house. So ended the adventure.

Fun Plans Ahead

I will keep this short, mostly because I'm tired, but also because I'm only now having the time to get to this. Between catching up on shows and taking care of the baby, the opportunity did not easily present itself. There's also not much to talk about...except for my plans for the weekend. I'm heading down to Tucson tomorrow to hang out with some friends for the 1st Annual Chili Fest. There will be chili...there will be tasty local beer-- it's gonna be awesome. I'll spend the night, head back up Sunday morning then spend the day putting up the Halloween and fall decorations. I'm looking forward to a fun, relaxing weekend. I sure as hell have earned it.

One of Those Days

One of those days where you just feel drained. It limits your willingness to do anything but sit in front of the TV and potato it up on the couch. The only difference between other days: add a baby. It's a bit odd, watching shows like American Horror Story Freak Show with a baby. Now of course I know that she can't understand a damn thing. I guess it's really just the new experience of having a baby in the house. I'm pretty sure I've gotten off topic again. But that's just the state my brain is in. Plus, the TV isn't helping to reduce distraction. Really, my point is: I'm not capable of getting much today. At least nothing that's coherent enough. So that's my brain status. Sweet mother of sin, I hope tomorrow is not as rough as today was, I'd like to not spend most of my evening as a vegetable. Just part of it, that'd be ok.

The Post-est With the Most-est

Does it make sense? Not really. But I liked the sound of it and thought it appropriately described my feeling on the subject. My last blog post got the highest number of views in a while, that wasn't entirely baby related. It's no wonder that those get attention--who doesn't love babies? Especially when they're not yours. Heh. Anyway, this is not about that, its about posts and really about the writing in them. It makes me happy to see there's interest, even if I don't know for sure that each of the 22 people actually read through the whole thing. But there was a bit of feedback via Facebook so I know a few did. I'm hoping that it's at least showing through how much I enjoy it--the writing, the creativity, the story telling. It's been a long running part of my life since grade school. I created little stories in class about all kinds of things, stories that earned high marks and high praise. To this day, my grandfather still asks if I remember the booklet of stories I put together and gifted to him and my grandmother and then proceeds to pull it out from a cupboard. I basically made a copy of all the stories I'd written in school, hole punched them and tied them together with string. Tween me was very impressed with my efforts. My love of writing has continued on through the years, through each hiatus and episode of self doubt. I have enough material saved up that could easily add up to a couple novels combined. Maybe one day there might be a new collection of short stories, by yours truly. A new set of creativity tied up with string.

Well That Didn't Take Long

It's already come to the point where a single DVR is not enough to hold all of the TV shows we currently want to watch. I avoided one heart attack earlier having been saved by the DVR upstairs, and cancelled one other show (sorry Tattoo Nightmares:Miami, my sister can watch you on the regular receiver). The DVRs are reserved for important shows, namely what the majority of the household wants to watch and the majority is not currently interested in bad tattoos. It's enough that Live Free or Die and the Life of Mick Dodge or whatever are being recorded from the National Geographic channel. Get this, my sister says she likes them because she learns about nature. Sweet baby jesus, so go hiking in the woods and learn about nature, don't watch it on TV.

But I digress--so we're moving on. While many shows have already started, there are still a few more coming up, most importantly the new season of The Walking Dead. Luckily, Strain is hopefully ending soon and there will be nothing else to compete with my zombies except for OUAT (Once Upon A Time). I did decide to keep watching it. So my high volume days continue to be Monday and Tuesday. Throw in a couple shows that I watch occasionally or not at all but mom does, and you've got DVR mayhem. But, I'm used to it and I will be able to figure out a way to watch everything, while still finding time to write, read, and help with the baby. It's all about piece meal-ing it out. I think I might try creating my own schedule, see how that works. Let the experiment begin!

Just Another Manic Monday

It was really just more of your average Monday. Woke up, was sad the weekend was already over again, then dragged my feet until I left the house. Even the coffee this morning didn't really do much to lighten my mood. It wasn't until lunch time and after some m&ms and a snickers that I felt less like a rainy storm cloud --chocolate was the silver lining. I spent the morning plugging away at my email, listening to podcasts, it was the same routine in the afternoon. Basically what  I would consider a productive day. Stopped at Anna's Linens on the way home to buy a new chair cover for the reclining chair in the living room. Max likes to sit on it and rather than let it get hairy or clawed, we use the cover to protect it. The last one had started to wear out so we tossed it. The next thing that I have to buy is some more double sided tape for the bottom of the couches and chairs--also to deter clawing, it works very well. Then it was home sweet home for dinner and TV watching. We went with something easy, pizza. Ended up watching Once Upon A Time, during which yours truly fed a bottle to the baby while mommy went to Walmart. After that was Gotham to end the night. We're all too tired to keep watching anything else. There's still an episode of Sleepy Hollow to watch, plus the Supernatural Special that was on tonight. Those will be the first two on the list for after work tomorrow, followed by Agent's of SHIELD, the season 10 premier of Supernatural, and Forever. I love fall TV.

Baby's Next Adventure

Lilyan had an even bigger adventure today. We ventured out for some lunch at a local restaurant with myself, my sister, the baby, and our parents. We sat outside on the patio, it was hot but there was a breeze going and plenty of shade. We enjoyed a nice lunch and of course there were more people fawning over the baby. The couple at the table next to ours kept whispering about how cute she was. After lunch, we stopped at the grocery store real quick and the same thing--aww look at the cute baby. So she was out and about longer today than she has been so far and did very well. Not much to tell about this new adventure, I know, not very exciting. But it was a good milestone. This proved we can go out and do things with her without having to worry to much. She really enjoys sleeping, that helps.

Baby's First Adventure

By adventure, of course, I mean that I had an errand to run and we decided to bring the baby along. My boss from my seasonal job asked if I would stop by so she could give me my review for the last season. My sister wanted to let her see the baby. She got stopped by two older ladies while standing in line for coffee. They asked every question they could think of and gushed over how tiny and adorable Lilyan is. My boss cooed over her too. But who wouldn't, right? Babies are adorable. After my review, we were getting ready to leave, after my sister had fed the baby her bottle and she was stopped by a very nice Indian man and his son. He asked how old she was and how much she weighed. When my sister said she was 3 months old and weighed 6 pounds and 3 ounces, he remarked to his son, "Oh that's tiny, you were 8 pounds." He congratulated my sister and they went about their way. On the way out the door there was a table of young Asian ladies who got so excited over Lilyan that they started acting like a couple of j-pop fangirls. At least according to my sister, I was already outside and didn't hear when she passed by the table with the stroller. All in all, my sister was one proud mama, with how much attention she and the baby received. I really enjoyed the free coffee.

From Normal to Crazy in Four Hours

Let me tell you a bit about my evening tonight. I get home from work, having left late (story of my life) and I ate a bowl of mac and cheese for dinner. Next I got to feed the baby, which was great. After she was burped by mama, I sang her to sleep. So that all seems pretty normal.

Then the craziness ensues...I turned on the live 100th episode of the Seven Days A Geek Podcast broadcasting on Radio Fubar. The show started out fairly normal, with four of the five hosts. They played some games, had some folks call in and then it all spiraled into uncontrolled hilarity. There were some great moments, but wow. One host fell in love with the Cuban guests from Miami, two hosts got frustrated and the other just enjoyed the ride. Four hours later it was still going, no format and the show notes were out the window. But because the Radio Fubar website offered a chat setting, it made interacting easy and fun. Otherwise, the show would have probably been a bit hard to follow. However, it was a live show (a celebration) and I do think the hosts deserved to let loose. Making it to 100 episodes is a big deal and being one of my favorite podcasts, I'm happy for the boys that they made it to this milestone. I hope they have many more episodes in the future. If you care to give them a listen, which I recommend, check out www.7daysageek.net.

Alternative State Fair

I was listening to a new favorite radio station, Alt AZ 93.3 today, which replaced the old KDKB Rock station. I was a bit saddened by this at first, but I have two other rock channels, one modern and the other classic rock. So those both more than make up for the lost channel. Plus this new station plays great music so there's that. Anyway, a commercial came on for the Arizona State Fair. In the midst of this commercial, they mentioned one of the bands headlining a concert on one of the fair days. Weezer. I've been a fan of Weezer since High School--my freshman English Teacher was kinda obsessed with them. On days when we didn't have a lesson plan (which wasn't often) he'd play their music in class. So imagine my delight when I found out they were coming here. Not only that, but the station was having a contest to give away tickets to the show. I was all over that. After entering for the contest I hopped onto the State Fair website to see who else was coming and to my continued amusement--Sublime will be there too. I just heard Caress Me Down on the radio the other day (same station) and it dawned on me that I had not heard the song in forever. I know that song very well along with Santeria. I may go to that show as well, sadly, no contest for those tickets. General admission is free with fair admission, but you can buy reserved seats for $25, which is not bad. I wonder how long I'll have to wait before they give away the tickets. We shall see.

Lots of Good Stuff Today: Baby Lilyan and an Essay Contest

So first off, baby Lilyan is finally home! We are all super excited. I rushed home after my dentist appointment today and got to hold her for the first time. The last time I got to hold a baby (related to me) I was 6 and it was my little sister, now a mother herself. I still can't believe it sometimes. The baby is doing great and after two bottles and four or so hours of sleep (first time it was about two hours after the first bottle and three hours after the second. She's about to get her third bottle soon. She's a very calm baby and hardly cries so my sister definitely got lucky--she takes after her aunt.

I'm going to keep this short, because I'm tired--it was a long day. I submitted a short essay for a contest about 20 minutes ago. It was for GISHWHES and the winner would have their essay published in the Coffee Table Book. It's funny, I actually already had something typed up, my previous blog post, The True Meaning of GISHWHES. The word limit was 300 words though, so I had to trim it down a lot. But it fit perfectly for what they wanted for the essay entries. However, it's left me a bit thin on creative juices now though. So I'm going to call it a night.

Not Much in the Mood

As the title says, I wasn't much in the mood for writing today. Call it fatigue, call it disinterest, call it what you will (another earworm perhaps?). I instead busied myself with finally uploading months old photos and getting them off the camera. It was long overdo, I've had an empty album on Facebook since July--the San Francisco Trip album. I had issues uploading to the album from my phone and then just kept forgetting about it. I contemplated reading earlier, but since I needed to clear off more space from the phone (still trying to download the latest update) it sparked me to get the pictures off of my camera as well. Next up, is getting all the pictures and stuff off the laptop and onto the external hard-drive. It's about time I did some cleanup, the laptop has been a bit laggy. I know, not a proper term, but I like it. My laggy laptop. Then, I made time for my Tuesday night TV fix and paused my computer cleanup project--it was time for Agents of SHIELD and Forever. I am loving Forever more and more. It's clever, funny, grips at your emotions and grasps at your attention. The second episode of AoS brought us a conclusion to the Creel hunt and a startling surprise in the preview for next week's episode. Part of me was shocked and the other part was kicking myself and saying "I knew it!". I'm really looking forward to that episode. Hmm..so much for not being in the mood to write.

Solid, Solid as...an Awesome Night of Television

If you recognize the song, you're welcome for the ear worm wiggling its way through your brain. If not, moving on. Another solid Monday night of television with the second episodes of Gotham and Sleepy Hollow. I'm really enjoying both and looking forward to seeing things unfold. My reaction is no surprise, for Sleepy Hollow because I've been invested for an entire season plus two episodes and have loved it since day one. While Gotham is still getting it's feet wet, it definitely has the makings of greatness. Like it's young hero to be perhaps? 

I happened to catch the full length teaser to American Horror Story Freak Show. A lot of returning actors, as is common with the AHS shows thus far. This theme in particular had me weary, and not just because there could be an appearance of creepy ass clowns. I don't have a phobia of clowns, I just really don't like them. Especially when they could be capable of strangling you with a rubber giraffe. I had heard about the new theme last year and I didn't quite see how they were going to pull it off. Without just being weird and predictable. I am willing to give the first episode a chance and I'll let you know how I feel about it then.

In the Next Couple...Again (Baby Lilyan Update)

Once again, my sister has been told that the baby will be coming home in the next couple days. Of course, something we have heard before only to have it not happen. This time, she was told this by one of the doctors, so whether that makes a difference we shall see. Baby Lilyan is at 6 pounds now, possibly over since that weight is a few days old. I'm not a doctor and I don't know (nothing about birthing no babies, sorry, couldn't help myself) much about what the normal weight is for a full term baby girl. But, I'm thinking that 6 pounds is not too shabby and there is really no reason to keep her in the hospital any longer. Now, would I rather her stay long enough to be 100% clear rather than have to go back, of course. But she is off all the supports and has been consistently gaining weight. I think, in my non-medical opinion, that enough is enough. You're probably thinking, careful what you wish for. You seem mighty quick to want to lose sleep from a crying infant in the house. I'm not too worried. Will there be times where I will not get sleep? Probably. I'm usually a pretty heavy sleeper though. But the point is: there will be a crying baby in the house. Not in the hospital with strangers (as wonderful as the nurses are), but here with family. Will I sacrifice my sleep for a chance to finally hold my niece, feed her a bottle, or watch her make adorable infant faces? The answer is a resounding YES! So, that's where we're at, more waiting. I'm hopeful though that in the next couple days, there will be a baby update about how little sleep I got from a crying baby next door and it will be great.

Soggy Hikes Not Recommended

While I highly recommend hiking to anyone--great form of exercise--however I must caution against trying to hike in a thunder storm. So as I mentioned yesterday, today being free entry into any National Park day, we decided to visit the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. It's located in Flagstaff (just outside of it) and includes several hiking trails as well as old pueblo ruins. We got a late start, as per usual for family outings, although this time it was due to the fact that I had to get the air in the tires filled before we could head out. My tire pressure light had come on the day before. So that took a little bit of time and then we took a bit more to eat some breakfast. But then it was road-trip time and it was great to just get out of the city again. We figured a bit of rain wouldn't hurt and if it turned out to be a lost cause we wouldn't be losing anything for going. We took umbrella and jackets just in case, it seemed a sound plan. Fast forward two hours later to our arrival in Flagstaff. I've been to Flagstaff, AZ on numerous occasions (as I have previously mentioned) but had never ventured to the park. I'm sure there are still many other hidden treasures of northern Arizona to explore as well. A few of my friends attended Northern Arizona University which is also located in Flagstaff, so that was mostly the reasoning behind my frequent visits. But, I'm getting off topic. Hiking...thunderstorm. So, rain was in the forecast for today, we left Phoenix outrunning what looked like quite a storm and by the time we arrived at the park, it seemed as though we had succeeded. We hiked a strenuous 1 mile trail at the top of which you can look down into the depression of one of the former volcanoes in the area. By the way, a little fun fact for you: The Sunset Volcano erupted in 1045 but trees did not start growing back in the area until 450 years ago. It was a good hike and we were only interrupted by rain once on the way up--a light rain--we thought we would be fine. Just as we make it back down to the parking lot to start on the more interesting lava flow trail, it happens. The heavens unleash a torrential downpour which we narrowly avoided by jumping into the car. Now we again convince ourselves that its just rain and it will pass--we decide to wait it out. 10 minutes later: Thunder bolts and lightning, very very frightening me! Ok, Queen may have over exaggerated a bit because it was really cool to look at. But that also meant that trail number two was cancelled. Slippery lava rocks in the rain holding an umbrella during a lightning storm--that would have gone over really well. We drive back to the visitors center to wait some more (by which I mean buy souvenirs). It lets up a bit and we decide to drive all the way through the park to check out the Pueblo ruins, you know in case we might be able to see something from the car as we drive by. We even braved getting out at the first one but then our old pals thunder and lightning decided to crash the party again. So I got a couple pictures and we hightailed it out of there as it started to rain...again. So we made due with slowing down as we past the other two ruins in order to sneak a quick look and eventually made it out the other side. Back to Flagstaff! We enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Galaxy Diner on historic Route 66. If you're ever in Flagstaff I recommend a stop there. Tonight they even had a guy playing live music on a keyboard, guitar, and harmonic. No, not all at the same time, he wasn't Dick van Dyke. The Galaxy Diner is a 50s themed restaurant famous for it's decor and good food. The last item on the agenda was a quick stop at the Route 66 Roadhouse (they have some really cool cars for sale there, specifically a 1966 Ford Mustang) for a beer and then it was back on the road homeward bound. No more rain, and made it back in time to still post this today. So, lesson for today: Don't go hiking when there's an 80% chance of rain in the forecast. Chances are, it turns into 100% by the time you get to where you're going. Cold, wet, wind--not so much fun. Still would give this little adventure two thumbs up though. The plan is to return some other time, when it's not raining.

Rain or Shine?

The title is worded as question because I'm literally asking if there is going to be rain or shine for tomorrow. I know, not as dramatic as let's say making it a statement. That's a lot more gripping. But the weather will have an outcome on my plans for tomorrow. You see, Saturday is National Park Day and all parks are free to enter. All parks in Arizona and I'm sure in the country. A friend posted a list of all the parks in the state and there was one in particular that I've never been too but been close many times. Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. It's located in Flagstaff, AZ, which I have visited many times, the most recent visit in July. I think there was even talk of trying to fit in a trip there, but there wasn't enough time as we spent a majority of our time in Flagstaff itself, Belmont and Sedona. So what's my point? Something to do with rain perhaps? Indeed. Currently there is a flash flood warning for Flagstaff and they are currently being pelted with rain and in some places hail. The news has predicted that rain is likely for tomorrow and given that Flagstaff is two hours north of Phoenix, it is cooler there and the chances that it could rain again through out the day are higher. It's not often that you can get into parks for free, once a year that I know of for now, haven't looked into it further. It would be a shame to not be able to go because the weather doesn't cooperate, when most of the year it's sunny with not a cloud in the sky. So cross your fingers for me and hopefully the post for tomorrow will be a recap of how awesome hiking through the park was.