Three Articles That I Like Right Now

I have probably posted all three of these to twitter, but then again, I post so much random linkage to twitter it's kind of hard to judge when something really resonated with me or when I just thought it was worth a read. So here, mostly so I can find them later but also for your reading pleasure, I give you three disparate articles the I like right now:

Pregnancy is AWESOME

No, not really. Kind of gross, sort of embarrassing TMI that I just needed to share ahead!

Mission Impossible A Million (SPOILERS)

Earlier this week, after a craving for Pasta House Co. salad had been satiated, I met some friends at the local multi-plex to see Mission Impossible Some Number. I saw, and loved, the first Mission Impossible movie and for the life of me, I can honestly say that I cannot remember whether or not I saw MI 2 or 3 but this 4th one was supposed to be good and it's easy to get me to agree to things when Pasta House Co. salad is involved. Some thoughts on this film:

Photo Shoot!

When putzing around on FB during my lunch at work Friday (I lead such a glamorous life, I know), I noticed that a friend who is a hobby/semi-professional photographer was looking for models for a shoot. So I volunteered. I did some modeling for friends in college (shoots which often involved sitting in the snow for hours holding very, very still while crazy cameras bigger than my torso too shots through vaseline covered lenses) and always enjoyed it. Furthermore, I don't know how many of you, dear readers, have ever been three months pregnant, but, it's just not a very pretty time in a woman's life - I have more acne than I ever did in middle school and my belly just looks pudgy, not pregnant. I thought, here's an opportunity to do something fun and feel pretty.

I threw some outfits that fit the theme in my car and drove out to the meet up spot. Can I just say how much I like having my make up done by a professional? It's amazing! My eyes popped. My zits disappeared. My lips looked full. And! All of a sudden I had cheek bones! Amazing. After about 45 minutes of make up and some hair touch ups, I got dressed and we drove out to the site.

Now, all week we have had unseasonably warm and sunny weather, so of course Sunday was cold and cloudy. The photographer decided to make the shots (taken at 3 pm) all night shots and you wouldn't know that they weren't taken after dark if you hadn't been there from the lighting.

TL;DR Version: I got my picture taken and looked pretty! Many thanks to Mike Martin at www.thevikingstudio.com for an awesomely fun shoot! Continue for pictures!

How I am like a Time Lord

I am a fan of Dr. Who. There. I said it.

Normally when I tell people that I watch Dr. Who they are either confused/never heard of the show or they are FANS OF DR WHO ZOMG and proceed to geek out over the fifth time the third Doctor sneezed on air or some other True Geekery of a Dr. Who Fan. Whereas me? I just really like the show. I have seen every episode of the reboot but have never seen any of the old Dr. Who episodes, and while I have seen each new episode, I have only seen it once. I don't have any of it memorized and honestly, even though I watched an episode last night, I do not know what Rory's last name is or any other trivia. I'm a bad geek and I know it.

That out of the way, I really enjoy Dr. Who and love the idea of Time Lords galavanting about the galaxy, especially the Doctor and his companions. There are a few neat things about the alien race to which the Doctor belongs, the two which apply here are:

1. Each Time Lord has two hearts beating in their chests.

2. Time Lords regenerate when normal humans/humanoids would die. This process has allowed the series to continue on air as long as it has and stay fun and exciting with new actors/plot lines/tensions. It allows the Doctor to die, we morn the character we loved and his death - but then! A new doctor comes to us in a blaze of light and excitement. Every time the Doctor regenerates, the first thing he does is figure out who he is now. You see, the newly regenerated Time Lord remembers his/her previous lives and is really the same person with the same general motivations, but s/he has new tastes, new interests, and a new way of looking at the world.

NDAA

I don't usually post political stuff/rants here, but I just wanted to get this out.

This is political. This is a rant. You have been warned.

GenCon ReCap - Better Late Than Never

GenCon was a blast. If you've never been and are a dork/nerd/geek and live in North America, you should reserve a room now. Every year, I meet new awesome people and do new awesome things. Every year I play in the Chameleon Games 7th Sea Larp and this year, though I bought a ticket, I missed the game. My cell phone was stolen the day before we left (major suckage!) and... I'm lame? It was such a crazy time and there were so many other awesome things to do that I figured it would be ok. I will have to play next year though!

Now, to the good part. Costumes. As I mentioned in a previous post, I made two costumes for GenCon this year. The first was a Steam Punk get up from random things I found in my closet and an awesome pocket watch.

The gloves were a thrift store find many years ago, the bracelet was a gift from my ex-step-mother, the pin was my great grandmothers, the hat was made as a gag gift (!!!) by local artist and milliner Miriam Wiegand, the top is from Target (I wear it with a jacket to work all the time). I've also got a black under-bust corset and full black skirt as well as a cameo necklace. The awesome watch? I wore it on a super long chain around my waist. The costume was comfortable enough to wear all day and I received a fair number of compliments. Not too shabby for $13.

The other costume I wore was The Wraith from the amazing Sentinels of the Multiverse cooperative card game. I got a black leotard and sewed on strapping material and clasps across the belly - this was harder than I thought it would be. It turns out that stretchy material stretches. Whoa. I then made a cape and distressed it with scissors and a grater. I wore tights and bandages up and down my legs.

Not a great picture of my costume, but you can see from left to right, Tachyon, Citizen Dawn, The Wraith (complete with impromptu invention - my favorite card in her deck!) and Tempest. We had a blast! The Sentinels team will be releasing an expansion this April and it includes a new look for The Wraith! They haven't officially leaked the art but I got to see a sneak peak and all I can say is Infrared Eye Piece! :P

Ok. So maybe I'm a fan-girl...