Nerding Out: Hobbit Style

So a new Hobbit trailer just came out... and I love it! I'm super excited because The Hobbit is my favorite book and I can't wait to see it come to life!

So Emotional

I don't know why such simple things can make me cry. I never used to tear up as much as I do now. TV episodes or movies that never made me cry before make me cry now. What has happened to my hormones?

I blame my husband. Before we were together I was pretty solid. We met when I was 19 and you would figure that I would have gone through my emotional crazyness by then. It is supposed to be the worst when you're a teenager, right? So why, after we got together, did I soften up? I blame relationship hormones. I'm pretty sure that being in a long term relationship has caused me to change; my hormonal balance is off.

I'm still pretty close to a man emotionally though. I don't want to talk about my feelings and I usually don't want to talk on the phone for long. Tell me what's going on and then let's be done with it. Unless I'm talking to my cousin... then I can talk for an hour no problem. Not sure why that is (love you Stepf!) but I think she's the only person I've talked to over the phone since High School for longer than 15 minutes.

Collecting Freebies

I'm not sure what it is about free stuff that makes people feel the need to have it. Seriously, it's insane. Even if we don't need something, if it's free there is almost a need to have it. I went through the drive-thru of a restaurant (which shall remain nameless) and for only 50 cents more I got more food PLUS a free cup. I didn't need a cup or even really want one, but because I got a cup and more food for only 50 cents I figured "why not." So now I have a cup that I don't know if I will use.

So why do we have this urge to collect what we don't necessarily need?

Christmas Gift Anxiety

I had to laugh the other day when my sister-in-law said she didn't know what to get me for Christmas and that I was difficult to shop for. I answered this honestly...

Hard to shop for? I'm a 27 year old nerd who likes many things... books, movies, Doctor Who (and other awesome shows) and toys. Its like I'm still a kid. I have a toy collection on my desk at work. I'm happy with anything especially if its quirky or weird. I should be the easiest person to shop for.

 For example, I just bought this for myself the other day.

It dispenses candy. Awesome.

I will admit, however, that if you don't understand what is so great about things like that it can be difficult. I usually find it difficult to shop for others. I never really know what other people need or will like. Which is why I tend to wait as long as possible to buy gifts. Around mid December I start getting present buying anxiety. Thinking of that, I'd better look online now for stuff. I don't need to add anxiety to the season. Walking by all of the people ringing bells and wanting my spare change makes me nervous enough as it is. I feel like they judge me every time I hurry by them, even if I just gave some money to the people outside the last store. I can't just throw it out to everyone! Stop judging me! Breathe, just breathe.
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UPDATE- My sister-in-law and her husband got me the coolest Christmas gift ever! TARDIS cookie jar!

NaNoWriMo 2011 Begins!

NaNoWriMo just started! If you want to follow the craziness I'll attempt to write something occasionally at my book blog.

Another Year Older

Today I turn 27. I remember being so excited about my birthday when I was younger, when there were age milestones I was trying to reach. 16 to drive, 18 for independence and then 21. But now? I just want to live the best way that I can. I don't worry about aging, it's a natural process... though I may feel different about that later when I start finding wrinkles and gray hairs. I think my goal is to age without fear and without regrets. We only get one life and we never know when it will end.

For the Love of Baseball

As I was watching the Detroit Tigers (go Tigers!) game the other night I started to think about why I love baseball. I like going to games but watching it on TV will occasionally bore me. So why do I really love baseball?

I think it mostly has to do with it always being a part of my life. My Dad would play catch with us frequently and my family used to play in my Grandma's back yard whenever we all got together. Summers we used to go to the beach and listen to Ernie Harwell announce Tigers games over the radio.

 You are missed, Ernie

I remember going to my first baseball game in Milwaukee at Milwaukee County Stadium and being awestruck by the players, the stadium and the fans. But my most memorable game was at Tiger Stadium, the last season before they moved into Comerica Park. I still remember so much of that game and the stadium. I loved it and I would love to go to another game. Every year I say I would like to see another game but life seems so hectic. Life has never been as simple as when I was a kid playing baseball or sitting at the beach listening to Ernie Harwell over the sound of the waves. I guess the real reason I love baseball is because it gave me a connection to my dad that will stick with me until the day I die.

Ramblings of an Angry Wife

Why is it that when a woman is justifiably angry about something she is a bitch, while a man is just being a man?

Like today for example. I told my husband what we would be having for dinner last night. I had planned all day for the meal and when he comes home he says he’s grilling steak (not what I had planned by the way). When I get angry, he says I’m acting like a bitch. Now I’m even more angry (bordering on furious) and he won’t even listen to my side of things. I’m a bitch and there is apparently nothing I can do to change this. I don’t agree with divorce for me (other people do what you want, I don’t really care) but now I think it looks pretty good.

Are all men this idiotic? If so I don’t know why we put up with it. I think we should just use men for breeding purposes and start ruling the world. Less wars... just saying. So now he is in his man room eating cereal for dinner, thinking that he showed me by not eating "real" dinner. I, on the other hand, will be finding myself something good to make because I have a female brain, therefore I act less like an ape.

One of Those Days

Today is one of those days where I just want to punch someone in the face. Am I the only person who has those days?

It may have something to do with the fact that I had to go to Walmart today. Or I'm just PMS-ing. Every time I leave that place I feel worse that when I walked in. Or maybe being in crowds of people like that gives me anxiety.

But when I got home I relaxed in my PJ's, ate SpagettiOs and watched Jeopardy. Getting Jeopardy questions right makes me feel like a genius! And makes me feel better. Watching this video also makes me feel better. Laughter is contagious.

E-book Prices Give Me a Headache

There is really no reason an e-book should cost more than a paperback. I mean, think about it. There is no cost for paper, ink, printing, etc. The publishers set the cost and I understand them not wanting to lose money, but come on! What "reason" do they have for making something that costs them practically nothing to create vs the printing of a paperback? I come with examples....

All of the books above cost more than their paperback version, while the example below is at least the same.

I am more likely to buy something that is the same or (preferably) lower cost as the paperback. Am I the only one practically outraged by this? I think everyone who has the same issue needs to write to the publishers and demand lower prices. I didn't pay $150 for an e-reader to spend more money on books after all.

The Help

I went to see The Help with some family yesterday. If you haven't read the book I would suggest it. It's about these women during the civil rights movement in Jackson, Mississippi in the 60's. It's both touching and heartbreaking. The movie was great, especially when you consider that it was based on a book that I read. Usually when I see a movie based on a book I am disappointed but it managed to get the most important parts of the book. Some parts were changed, but that's understandable.... you can only fit in so much. All of the actors were really good, especially Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer who play Aibileen Clark and Minny Jakson. Emma Stone was also good as Skeeter Phelan.

Here's the trailer!

Independance Day- My Favorite Day of the Year

The 4th of July is my favorite holiday. Not just because of the fireworks, food and alcohol but because of what it means.

The fact that we are still here and how far our government has come since 1776 is astounding. The risk that those men took in writing the declaration was great. If they had been caught they would have been put to death.

And I love the wording of the declaration. If you haven't read it in awhile I suggest you do.

Weight Loss is Hard (the Exercise Part Anyway)

I really need to lose the weight I gained since my thyroid started acting like a bitch. 30 pounds is a lot and I would really like to fit into my old clothes again. The problem isn't really eating right (though that can be difficult), it's the exercise part that gets me. I'm so tired all of the time (thanks again, thyroid) that I have trouble getting up in time for work in the mornings and an even harder time staying awake when I get home from work. I suppose that exercising will help (good ole' endorphins) so I should get off my butt when I get home every day. I realize I need to stop making excuses and get it done. I need to go back to High School and have my coaches yell at me to get going again. Sports are the only part of HS I actually miss. Coaches are the best. personal. trainers. ever.

So What if I'm Afraid of Zombies

I may have an irrational fear of zombies. I also may have an idea of what I would do if there was a zombie apocalypse. Most likely I would die but there's only so much a person can do. I know it's not scientifically possible and it would be stupid to think about it too much but the idea of it happening really freaks me out!

How could this creepy zombie girl from 
The Walking Dead NOT freak you out!
 

I think its because I don't trust the morality of some scientists. I've seen movies where a scientist is like "hey, I wanna try this. Let's just see what happens." And then a whole ton of people die. I think science and morals kind of have to go together otherwise we're all screwed. I'm waiting for the day when a scientist is going to see if it is possible and the world will be doomed. I also have the same fear with biological weapons though so it's not just zombies. We have the ability to create some horrible things. The question is, should we? Where do we draw the line?

Time Travel Ponderings (Revisited)

As I was wandering the Youtubes today I saw that charlieissocoollike made a video about time travel. Very interesting and informative! He explains it way better than I ever could.

Drunken cooking? Sounds dangerous. And hilarious.

If you haven't seen this channel before I suggest you check it out. This girl gets drunk and cooks things. Or at least attempts to cook things. She drinks as she goes, burps a lot (which is kinda disgusting), makes a mess and makes me laugh in the process. Here is the link to her channel.

I like the taco episode because she is drinking jar-garitas. Fancy.

Time Travel Ponderings

Sometimes I think about time travel. It interests me but I'm not quite sure why. Maybe because there is no answer. It's complicated. Very complicated. It's the never ending question, like chicken or the egg, that keeps me thinking about it.

Such as, if someone did have the ability to go back in time and change something, would we notice the change now? Or maybe because it was changed it would become our reality and we would have no idea. Would a change in time create an alternate reality? Paradoxes are even more confusing to me.

Maybe someone had to go back in time in order for things to happen the way they have.

It's like a spiral.

A never ending time spiral. I'm not high, I swear.

I think about things too much. I think my brain needs to chill out on the spiraly thoughts. It starts to hurt after awhile.

Oh, right... I have a blog

So... I may have forgotten about this. I also don't have much of anything to say at the moment. But I'd better start writing again or the blog gods will smite this blog down. Or something. Topic for next one- Time Travel. I think of it often.... especially after I started watching Doctor Who.

The Day My Thyroid Turned Against Me

My thyroid has given me WAY too much trouble for such a little thing. So I killed it and even dead (or mostly dead) it still causes me trouble. It's the... (in an echo-e voice) Thyroid Saga (saga... saga... saga)! It's never ending. If you've ever had thyroid problems you know what I'm going through. If not you're lucky so appreciate the working little bastard.

Mine was overactive. On the plus side I had a great metabolism and was never cold. The bad part of that was that my blood pressure was through the roof and my heart was beating like I was running a never ending marathon of doom. Even laying down it was like I had a miniature jackhammer pounding on my heart (oh the tragedy). So after 2 years of telling my horrible doctor that something was wrong and having her ignore my concerns, I finally got to see someone else. This was, of course, when my husband and I wanted to try for kids. Still waiting, BTW.

After many, many tests they discovered that there was something wrong with me. Shocker, I know. So some more tests later they say that I have severe hyperthyroidism . Obviously it wouldn't have been so severe if my doc 2 years ago had listened to me, but whatever. Then I see a specialist who decides the best treatment would be to get rid of the evil thyroid that was trying to kill me. At this point I saw it as an evil king lording over my health and well being, cackling maniacally in his thyroid castle of terror, so I figured why not end his rein. No problem. I read up on radio iodine treatment and figured that was for me. Little did I know there are side effects that were not included in ANY of the information I could find.

I think the evil thyroid king looked something like this....

 Or maybe this...

Because I was not on thyroid replacement hormones yet (that's right, they kill it then replace your levels- WTF?) I started getting horrible debilitating muscle cramps. From what I could find it is because calcium gets filtered through your thyroid and because the evil thyroid king was kicked out, calcium levels in my body were too low. Thus, cramping. Then there was the change of taste. What I used to like I now disliked. I gained a love of french fries when I didn't like them before. Most things had to be spicy or I couldn't taste them. I'm a foodie so I was pretty upset by this. After I started taking hormone replacement I got better but there is another issue that still plagues me to this day. Split ends and weight gain! dun Dun DUN!

I keep finding split ends and it's driving me crazy! I never had them until I did the radio iodine treatment. Then about a month or 2 later.... BAM! Split ends! I'm still vain enough to care about my hair. The fact that I gained over 30 pounds even with diet and exercise doesn't help my self esteem, so at least leave my hair alone you bastard! So there it is, my thyroid is evil. It's like in a horror movie how the villain never dies right away. They keep coming back. I have to keep checking to make sure it isn't going to crawl out from underneath my bed at night and grab for my ankles. Or I guess kankles now. Sigh.

Leave Me Alone So I Can Watch Doctor Who

I get teased by my husband a lot for liking Doctor Who. I feel like a little bit of a nerd for being a fan of the Doctor (David Tennant is my fav) but I can't help it. I am totally in love with the Doctor and I want him to take me away in his TARDIS.

I'm a Tennant fangirl. Take my away, Doctor!

He's brilliant, saves the world and can take you anywhere in the universe. Who wouldn't want some of that? Although I think that his brains make him a bit arrogant. I think the reason I love his season 4 companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) is because she brings him down a notch. SHE can make The Doctor feel like an idiot. Love! BTW she had a show (The Catherine Tate Show) that was complete brilliance. She had so many hilarious characters and sketches. But I'm a fan of British humor (can't help it, my Great-Granddad was from there) and love all things British. Except some of the food. Blah. Also, Top Gear (American version= SUCK. British version= GENIUS), Torchwood and Sherlock (modern day gay Sherlock Holmes- what?) are great as well.

What?

 What am I doing here?

This is just a place for me to share my thoughts and opinions and what not. No themes, though I do also have a book and a cooking blog that I add stuff to occasionally. Sometimes? Rarely? Don't rush me! :) I like a lot of different things and can't settle on 1. I'm hobby ADD. If that makes sense. No? Crap. I have a hard time focusing on one thing at a time and I want to do a lot of different things. Now that I think of it that's probably why I majored in Liberal Arts. It's a degree in many things without actually being a degree in many things. I call it my bullshit degree because it isn't in anything in particular.

Though I don't think anyone will read this, because lets be honest, who cares who I am or what I think? Nobody right? Well, this is just a creative outlet for me and if anyone reads it then yay for the interwebs! I've thought about vlogging instead but I don't really like the sound of my own voice (not bad really I just don't like to hear myself talk) and I feel like I would need a ton of makeup to be camera ready... and I don't like putting on makeup, so that went out the window.

More to come soon. Probably. Most likely. Ciao!