Happy Birthday Xander!!!

Xander is 6 years old today!  So far he has enjoyed his first week of Kindergarten and Zach and I are taking a treat to his class in a little bit so that he can celebrate with his class.  I can't believe that six years ago today I gave birth to my first child and he was a happy and healthy little boy.  Kids really do grow up way too fast.

Brand new baby

Waiting for the bus

DAY 24 — WHATEVER TICKLES YOUR FANCY

I painted my living room a burnt orange color - also known as Pumpkin Bar.  It took me 4 days and 4 gallons of paint.  I love it!

DAY 23 — A YOUTUBE VIDEO

It's an oldie but a goodie.  Candy Mountain, Charlie!!!!

DAY 22 — A WEBSITE

I don't frequent a lot of websites but the ones I do visit, I visit a lot.  I know the meme is for A website but here are several sites that I couldn't live without.

Pathfinder SRD - This website has everything in the player handbook & the bestiary.  It also has a bunch of the 3.5 modules that have been updated to the 3.75 rule set.  This site comes in very handy when we are playing D&D because it's much faster to just point & click for my info, even though I have the PHB.  I think the website is even more valuable for DM's because you have all the information in one place, rather than having to flip through 2 or 3 books to find it.

The Realm of Covetedness - This is Rachel's blog & it's how I get my Rachel fix when I can't visit her, which is most of the time.  She needs to blog more...and maybe post some nudes.

Facebook - a good majority of my free time is spent on Facebook, when I am not taking care of  my kids or playing D&D.  I like being able to see what my family and acquaintances are up to & letting them know what I'm doing without having to contact them all individually.  It really takes the socialization out of socializing and I'm ok with that.  I can choose what I want to respond to and what I want to ignore - PERFECT!  It also has a lot of stupid games that are quite easy to become addicted to, like Bejeweled Blitz and FrontierVille.  Which, if you're on Facebook and you use FrontierVille, hit me up 'cause I need some neighbors.

Robot Unicorn Attack - Rachel's daughter had this link posted on her Facebook a few weeks ago and I friggin' LOVE it.  Not only do you get to play a Robot Unicorn that has special rainbow sparkle powers but there is also an Erasure song playing throughout the game.  That's a WIN in my book any day of the week!

Blip.fm - This is a cool site that lets you create your own "radio station" and you can share what you are listening to via Facebook & Twitter updates.  You can also subscribe to other "DJs" and it's a great way to discover new music.  This is my DJ page.

City Of The Spider Queen - Game #1

Lulabelle has been unable to visit Candlekeep for some time now.  While I find the peace & quite of the tower enjoyable and most conducive to pursuing my studies, I find that I have missed her stories.  I was just thinking about Lulabelle & her companion, Abraxus, this evening when I received this note.  Most likely, it is a hoax perpetrated by one of my colleagues here at the tower.  However, in the instance that Lulabelle really did send this note, I have included it in my manuscript and I will confirm the story when she next visits me.  I have made no changes to the original letter & my comments are in italics.

Deer Mizter Wizurd...is that yur name?  I wunder whut yur name really is.... (My name is Garold Lightbody).  I'm sory that I havnt saw you in a while.  I have been buzy 'venturing with Abraxsus.  We got a house in Daggerfalls and I planted alot of pirty flowers that come up in whatever color that I wnat the to be.  I have a lot of pink flowers because pink is my favorite color but I put some blue ones and green ones and white ones in there 'coz I think Abraxus would like thiem that color.  I want to paint the house to match my flowers but Abaxus said no cause we have to go save a dragon from some virsions.  (I think that Lulabelle means that they have to same the virgins from being eaten by the dragon).

Andy (Randal Morn) asked us to go find the other dragon cause it's eating the townspeole (towns people) and he sent his distant cosin with us, although he was in the same room as his cosin so he cna't be that distant....his name is Sanvonam...no wait...it's Vasnoman....or maybe it was Navosam...anyway you prolly already know him coz he prolly owes you moeny too. (I can't say that I know this...err...distant cousin of Randal Morn).  I think Andy (Randal Morn) sent him with us coz he wanted him to be et by the dragon so he must be a virsion, although there was this lady who siad that Nomenclature (Navosam?) was the daddy of her behbeh and the priest cast a spell on him but he wasn't the daddy and the preist told her to find someone who had money to be the baby's dad.

Oh! and thers this place called the Kaotic Tower (Chaotic Tower?) that esploeds all the time and then it fixes itself and it goes from fire to ice to lighting and it doesw it all day long...like clock wurk...Vasdeferenz (Navosam?) said that he'd been in the tower before while is esploded but Abraxus won't let me go in it.  He's no fun sometimez....although he did ask me to scout a head when we went to the dragon's cave.  I didnt' see just heads, though.  There were lots of guys in black robes with white skullz & an elf lady was chained up and a white dragon and a skeleton man!  and I did real good and counted them all and went back & told Abraxus about it.

The skeleton man...Abraxus called him a Lick (Lich?)...that remind me...Abraxus told me that the other dragon was going to freeze me & lick me like a fiary flavored possicle...but it never did...anyway the Lick was trying to get the other dragon to drink a potion to live forever (possibly a group from the Cult of the Dragon?) but the darogn was ignorming him and it looked like it was hurt real bad cause it's wing was broken and it looked like someone was trying to eat it's face off.  Or her face off.  Her name was...Ixnod...and she was a white dragon.  She threw the elf lady down in a big whole but abraxus saved her and then I made friends with the dragon and she ate the Lick but I don't think he tasted like a fairy flavored possicle.

I talked to Ixnod and she was gonna help us get Big Jerk Face....that's Drunkandrows (Dracandros?) cause it's his fault that she was hurt cause BIG JERK FACE was controlling another dragon and the other dragon hurt ixnod and cursed her and she couldn't heal.  But then Abraxus started talking smack talk to Ixnod and made her made and she killed herself.  I'm not sure why.

Oh...and where was Nambola (Navosam?) this hole time?  Just strolling around the cave like a big dummy! I had to make him betr but I couldn['t wish for him to stop selling people because the elf lady said it's not right to change peo[ple ...I'm not sure what she meant because Samaowhen (Navosam?) could really use an attitude adjustment!  Or a good personal financial adviser.

So then we went back & told Andy that the dragon was dead and he told us taht somebody had seen dark elves coming out of some crypts and he told us to go talk to his contact and her name was Ivy and she was a drow but she wasn't the one that was coming out of the crypts and she liekd cats and she liked Abraxus and she was digging in the dirt without any clothes on cause she liked to feel the sun on her skin and she asked us what we know about drow and I don't know much but they like spiders and they are icky but sometimes cuddly.

Ok.  I'm tired now.

Bye.

DAY 21 — A RECIPE

I've never actually made this but Rob was talking about making it so I thought I'd look up the recipe. I think I'm going to make it for the MOMS Club Fall Party in October. It looks so DISGUSTING!!!

KITTY LITTER CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package German chocolate cake mix
• 1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
• 2 (3.5 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 (12 ounce) package vanilla sandwich cookies
• 3 drops green food coloring
• 1 (12 ounce) package tootsie rolls

DIRECTIONS:

1. Prepare cake mixes and bake according to package directions (any size pan).
2. Prepare pudding according to package directions and chill until ready to assemble.
3. Crumble sandwich cookies in small batches in a food processor, scraping often. Set aside all but 1/4 cup. To the 1/4 cup add a few drops of green food coloring and mix.
4. When cakes are cooled to room temperature, crumble them into a large bowl. Toss with 1/2 of the remaining cookie crumbs, and the chilled pudding. You probably won't need all of the pudding, you want the cake to be just moist, not soggy.
5. Line kitty litter box with the kitty litter liner. Put cake mixture into box.
6. Put half of the unwrapped tootsie rolls in a microwave safe dish and heat until softened. Shape the ends so that they are no longer blunt, and curve the tootsie rolls slightly. Bury tootsie rolls randomly in the cake and sprinkle with half of the remaining cookie crumbs. Sprinkle a small amount of the green colored cookie crumbs lightly over the top.
7. Heat 3 or 4 of the tootsie rolls in the microwave until almost melted. Scrape them on top of the cake and sprinkle lightly with some of the green cookie crumbs. Heat the remaining tootsie rolls until pliable and shape as before. Spread all but one randomly over top of cake mixture. Sprinkle with any remaining cookie crumbs. Hang the remaining tootsie roll over side of litter box and sprinkle with a few green cookie crumbs. Serve with the pooper scooper for a gross Halloween dessert.

DAY 20 — A HOBBY OF YOURS

This one is easy!  Of course, my all time favorite hobby is (drum roll please!) D&D!!!  D&D, also known as Dungeons & Dragons (or Dorks & Dice), is a great way for me to combine my love of fantasy with my great imagination without the hassle of actually having to write a story.  It's also a fun time that I get to spend with my friends, being silly - or sometimes serious, but mostly silly in my case.

There are a lot of misconceptions about D&D and a lot of stereotypes that don't apply to our group.  For instance, we don't really believe that we're Elf Knights Crusading for the One True King and Slaying Demons In The Name Of The Righteous Path.  We are not a LARP (Live Action Role Playing) group and we don't dress up or run around waving swords at one another.  Also, we are not devil worshipers or members of a satanic cult.  Well, our characters might be but I, Katie, am not a satanist in real life.  And while any mundane who sat in on one of our D&D sessions would immediately be overwhelmed by the sound of clattering dice & the amount of jargon we use, my group really is not that geeky.

And for those mundies who don't know what D&D is or how it's played basically we pick a class, i.e. wizard, fighter, thief, or cleric; we pick a race, i.e. elf, dwarf, gnome, or human; and we roll up our stats, i.e. strength, dexterity, wisdom, or charisma.  Some groups roll up their stats differently - we either roll 4d6 and discard the lowest die, adding the 3 highest together or we roll 2d6 and add 6 to the final result.  By the way, a d6 is a 6-sided die, a d20 is a die with 20 sides.  Depending on what race you are, there is a table in the player's handbook that will tell you what to add to your stats - these are called modifiers.  There are also tables that tell you what bonuses to add to your saves, attack & damage rolls, & how many skill points per level you get based on what class you are.

There are several versions of D&D, such as the Pathfinder 3.75 rule set  & 4.0.  My group uses the Pathfinder rules, while 4.0 is considered the "official" D&D rule set.  And even though two different groups might be using the same rule set, the game will be completely different between the 2 groups because of something called house rules.  Sometimes there will be a rule in the book that isn't clarified or it's just plain stupid so the DM (the Dungeon Master) will modify the rule to work for his group the way he thinks it should.  And sometimes groups will make up their own rules and not even use the current versions or use a mish mash of previous editions.

The DM is responsible for telling the story and for running the NPC's (non-player characters) and sometimes the PC's (player characters) mess everything up by not going in the direction that the DM had envisioned.  Some DM's are able to work with what the PC's give them and they will change the direction of their story and other DM's will get pissed off and kill everyone, also known as a TPK (total party kill).  Of course, most of the time the PC's are responsible for the TPK by acting stupidly or just not rolling well.

The game is really a lot more in depth & my quick description really does it no justice but it's fun and I love it.  I have been playing with the same D&D group for about 10 years now and the great thing about being in the same group for that long is that you grow comfortable with the other people.  When I first started playing D&D with these guys, I was so nervous and embarrassed that I would hardly say anything!  I still get kind of nervous whenever my character is put in any sort of "leadership" position because I don't want to be responsible for other PC deaths but for the most part, I'm a lot more confident in my role playing abilities. 

Kindergarten Blues

Xander started Kindergarten today.  I took him to school so that I could take some pictures but being the crappy photographer that I am, they turned out blurry.  He's in a half-day Kindergarten class and he's going in the morning.  There are 27 kids in his class because no one signed up for the PM session.  The school principle called all of the parents and asked us to consider sending some of our kids to the PM class at a different elementary school - which is about 20 minutes away from my house.  We all told him no.  The teacher was hired about 4 days before school started.  I'm nervous about the quality of his education this year but the teacher said that if all 27 kids show up on the first day then the school will hire an assistant for her.  That's still a lot of kids in one class.

I asked Xander if he was excited about starting Kindergarten and he said that he was.  He does know one of the kids in his class because the little boy was in his Pre-K class last year.  Xander was fine with me taking  pictures until we got into the classroom and then he was done with it.  He let me take a picture of him with his teacher after I promised that it was the last one.  And contrary to what everyone said, I did not cry when I dropped him off at school because I'm actually glad that he's starting school.  I think that the boys and I definitely need some structure and it's hard to provide that in the summer when we don't have any obligations.

Xander & Ms. Holbert

DAY 19 — A TALENT OF YOURS

I don't know that I really have a talent for anything in particular.  I like to do a lot of things but I don't know that I do any of them well because I tend to loose interest in things easily.  I guess if there is one thing that I am "talented" at, it's probably my knack for saying stupid shit at the just the right time.  It mostly happens when I'm playing D&D.

Here are a few examples:

Rob - I want to roll to say something hateful in Dark Speech. rolls the D20 & gets a 1 (which is an automatic failure)
Me - You just said, "Bunnies playing in the snow!"

Me - So what is it that your character does for a living?
Al - He's a practitioner of the Necromantic Arts.
Me - Is that anything like painting?

Randy - You must be vigilant!  They may assault us!
Me - Why would they throw salt at us?

DAY 18 — WHATEVER TICKLES YOUR FANCY

Wow.  I'm actually posting this one on the correct day.  I guess I will talk about my weekend & other stuff.  We had a birthday party for the boys on the 14th of August - one of the hottest days of the year.  My dad's new wife has a big-ass bouncy house and she brought it over for the boys and all of the other kids to play in.  They also had their brand new swing set that my mom had bought them for their birthday (Aaron got it finished that morning).  We also set up a little swimming pool for the kids to jump in and I think that they all had a good time.

I made the boys a cake but it fell apart when I was getting it out of the pan.  I had made the cake the night before and it stuck to the bottom of the dish and ended up in pieces on the counter so I had to go to Marsh to buy a new cake.  I was afraid that they would say that I have to pre-order the cake but they had one that was perfect for the boys & they even wrote "Happy Birthday Zach & Xander" on it and I only had to wait for a few minutes for them to do it.

CAKE FAIL!!!

The bakery cake

My mother-in-law offered to watch the boys that evening so that Aaron & I could go out.  We went to an Italian place in Pendleton called Daddio's for dinner.  I ordered the lasagna and it tasted like the Stouffer's boxed lasagna that costs $3.99 for 2 lbs. and Aaron said that his fettucini alfredo was overcooked but that the chicken in it was good.  Then we drove to Anderson and bought a matress for the top bunk of Xander's bed (since the nephews were spending the night we thought it might be useful to finally put a matress up there) and then we went to the mall where I found some Lillith Saintcrow books for $1 a piece.  We also went to The Dollar Tree, where I ooohed & aaahhhhed over all of the Halloween decorations that they have out & to The Danger Room, Anderson's only game store, where I drooled all over the D&D books & the Magic cards.

We also drove around Anderson to try to find a place that would do piercings.  I was going to get the cartiledge of my right ear repierced at the mall but apparently the little piercing booths haven't been piercing cartiledge with a gun for several years now and you have to go to a tattoo/piercing shop to do it.  So then I decided to get my nose repierced but we couldn't find a place to do it.  The one shop that I walked into only did tattoos but my neighbor knows of a shop that does it for $20 so I'm going there tomorrow to get my nose redone.

We had to go to Troy, Ohio on Sunday for our nephews' birthday party and it was at some place called Jumpy's.  The kids had a great time but we were only there for 2 hours and the girls that were running the place were very prompt about kicking us out right at 1:30 PM.  We decided to stop at K-Mart on the way to my mother-in[-law's to see if they had any Ohio St. jerseys for the boys & ended up doing all of their school shopping.  We headed to my mother-in-law's for a few hours and had dinner with her and then we came home.  I begged them to have the nephew's birthday party on a seperate weekend next year because this was just too much for one weekend.

It was a good thing that we did their school shopping on Sunday because I ended up babysitting for about an hour today.  I also cleaned the walls in the living room & took down all of the pictures and tapped off the edges so that I can start to paint.  I finally settled on Pumpkin Bar and it's a dark orangish-reddish color.  It's going to be very pretty by the time I get it all done and I can't wait to finish painting the living room.  It'll be like having fall in my living room all year round.

Xander starts Kindergarten tomorrow so we took him out for ice cream tonight and got his clothes ready for school in the morning.  He says that he's very excited to start school but we'll see what he says when I get him up at 7 AM.

Speaking of getting up early, I better go to bed so that I'm not too cranky, either.

DAY 16/17 - SONG THAT MAKES YOU CRY/AN ART PIECE

A SONG THAT MAKES YOU CRY (OR NEARLY) - There really aren't any songs that I can think of that make me cry.  But I'll never forget the conversation that my friend Mandy had with her mom and then she told me about it years ago.

Mandy's Mom - "Do you know what song makes me cry?"
Mandy - "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy by Rod Stewart?"

AN ART PIECE (PAINTING, DRAWING, SCULPTURE, ETC.) - Judith Slaying Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi

I first saw this painting in one of the many art history classes that I had to take at The Herron School of Art. I've always been a big fan of Caravaggio and when I learned about this painting that not only used Caravaggio's style but improved upon the original, I had to learn more about the artist who did it.  It is theorized that Artemisia Gentileschi painted the scene around the same time that she was raped by Agostino Tassi, the man who was supposed to oversee her career.  It was very unusual at that time for a woman to be allowed to pursue a career in painting or to paint scenes of such graphic violence. 

I can just imagine the shame and anger that Artemisia felt as she painted Judith Slaying Holofernes, a scene depicted straight from the bible.  Artemisia's own father sent her to study in Tassi's studio and she was betrayed by the man who was supposed to be mentoring her.  Tassi not only stole her virginity but he also coerced her into continuing the sexual relationship with promises that he would eventually marry her and make her an "honest" woman.

Artemisia was forced to undergo a vaginal examination and was also tortured and accused of being promiscuous when she first met Tassi.  This sort of scrutiny was very damaging to a woman's reputation when all she had was her virginity and/or her dowry.  Tassi was eventually found guilty of raping Gentileschi and he was exiled from Rome but he was allowed back 4 months later.

DAY 13, 14, & 15 - FICTION/NON-FICTION/FANFIC

Been busy so I feel behind on these posts.  Still busy so I'm re-posting some oldies but goodies although the fanfic review is new.

FICTION - Lucifer's Scar; A Love Story by Rachel Turner is about God & Lucifer and the relationship between the two of them but not in the conventional sense. God creates Lucifer because he is lonely and the two of them carry out carnal relations in the midst of a beautiful realm that Lucifer created to please his lover. God actually gives Lucifer the power of creation and it is Lucifer, not God, who creates the Earth & all things within it, including evolution.

God created Lucifer to be the perfect companion, so Lucifer knows everything that is in God's mind and he picks up on the guilt and shame that God carries in his heart. Lucifer begins to question his purpose and he desires to feel that he is unique, not some whim of God to be cast aside when something else comes along. Lucifer learns that he is not God's first attempt at companionship, but the sixth creation; the first five resulting in failure. Lucifer resents his role as a "play thing" and through the meddling of Fate & Chaos itself, he begins to revolt against God.

The angels Peter, Silas, & Simon conspire to expose Lucifer's relationship with God and in so doing, seal their own doom; unknowing that they are the witless tools of Chaos. Lucifer, feeling he has been used by God, condemns him and tells God that he hates him. God tells the Fates that he would forsake everything to be with Lucifer but Lucifer rejects him and vows to make a realm far away from God, where he would raise an army against heaven.

The culmination of Rachel's book is the war against heaven, in which Chaos is revealed as the BIG BAD. Chaos comes from nothing and returns to nothing in the end. Lucifer comes to realize that the ultimate idea of perfection is simply accepting the imperfection in others and that one's shame must be embraced in order to transcend above it. He is given a second chance and is reborn as Jesus, retaining all knowledge of his previous life. He must now work to undo all that was done in his name as Lucifer.

Rachel re-imagines the story of Christianity and presents to the reader her interpretation of creation and evolution, God and Lucifer, Adam and Eve, and the war in heaven. She creates beautiful imagery and visceral reactions to the ongoing events of her story. Rachel tells her side without it seeming blasphemous but as another version of the original story. I highly recommend this book but be warned, it's not for those who are faint of heart or the religious zealots.


NON-FICTION - Broken Music: A Memoir by Sting - I've been wanting to read this book for a while now because I am a big fan of The Police and I've been in love with Sting since I was old enough to listen to his music.  I really didn't know what to expect from this book because I don't read biographies often.  But I'm really glad that I read it because it was fascinating to read about how Sting grew up and what led to his music career.

One thing that I forget about him is that he was born in 1951 and that he's the same age as my dad.  Sting grew up listening to Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles and he got his start playing bass in a local group that played big band & jazz.  Sting's command of prose is very descriptive and I can picture the town of Wallsend, England, where he was born & raised as dark and romantic; with dreary skies and hulking ships blocking out the sun, & the ruined shells of buildings blasted during WW2 still left standing.  I can taste his frustration and excitement at almost making it several times and the struggle that he endures to follow his dreams.

Sting doesn't mention The Police until almost the end of the book, maybe seeing it as the culmination of all that he experienced when he was younger.  A little tidbit that I found very interesting was that Stuart Copeland, the drummer and founder of the Police, is the son of Miles Axe Copeland, Jr., one of the founders of the CIA.  I would recommend this book to anyone who loves the music of Sting and/or The Police.

FANFIC - I'm not sure if Supernatural: Heart of The Dragon qualifies as a fanfic but I'm not a big fan of fanfic and it's the only thing that I've read that might come close.  I'm also not a big fan of the TV show Supernatural and the only reason I read the book in the first place was because I was supposed to review it for another blog (although that never happened & that's a whole 'nother story).

The book is set into three parts and follows the story of Sam & Dean, their grandparents, & their parents as they all hunt the same killer but in different time periods.  The book is supposed to take place during certain episodes of the show but I honestly could not tell you which episodes that would be because I didn't really care.  The killer was actually the spirit of a Samurai who had been tricked into servitude by a demon and it was being controlled by a man who was half-Chinese and also very arrogant and bitter about a lot of shit.  The Samurai spirit went around killing the people that the half-Chinese dude got mad at.

Both the parents & grandparents of Sam & Dean were able to banish the Samurai spirit for 25 years at a time but they were never able to actually defeat the spirit.  It wasn't until Sam & Dean came along that the spirit was finally returned to his final rest and the demon was destroyed.  Or was the demon destroyed?  I don't remember.

The book was boring but I'm sure that it would be enjoyable to a fan of the show.

DAY 12 — WHATEVER TICKLES YOUR FANCY

Hmmm...this is hard because nothing is really tickling my fancy right now.  I spent all morning at the Madison County Health Dept. waiting for the boys to get their last vaccination for school.  We got there at 9 AM (right when they open) & didn't leave until noon.  It's my fault because I knew back in April that they needed the shots but I waited until the last week before school started to get it done.  I don't know why I thought I could just breeze in there and back on out.  I'm a dumbass.

Both boys did really well while we waited & when they had to get their shots.  Xander didn't even cry when he got his, just flinched and said "ow".  Zach did cry but he didn't struggle or try to fight me while I held his arm.  I told them both last night that we were going to do this today and when they asked if it would hurt, I told them that it would, a little, but that it would stop after they got their shot.  I think they handled it a lot better than if I had sprung it on them as we pulled up to the place. 

It cracks me up that everyone thinks that they are twins or that Zach is the older one because he's a good 4 inches taller than Xander.

Nothing else to talk about, other than it's too damn hot to leave the house & the boys got their new swing set on Sunday and it's still not put together (it's about 45% done).  I'm hoping that Aaron gets it done before their birthday party on Saturday.  Otherwise, I'll have my fat ass out in that 100 + degree weather with a screwdriver (not the drink) & a bad temper.

I did play D&D on Sunday with the guys and it was fun but I was super freaking tired because I was out all night on Saturday.  My dad watched the boys so that Aaron & I could go to a friend's birthday party.  It was fun but I drank a lot & I was really tired so even though we had Rock Band 2, I was ready to leave by 11.  As it was, we didn't get home until 1:30 AM but it was nice to sleep in on Sunday.

That is all.

DAY 11 — A PHOTO OF YOU TAKEN RECENTLY

DAY10 — A PHOTO OF YOU TAKEN OVER TEN YEARS AGO

DAY 09 — A PHOTO YOU TOOK

At the Pool of Radiance

DAY 08 — A PHOTO THAT MAKES YOU ANGRY/SAD

This picture was taken a week before my brother died

DAY 07 — A PHOTO THAT MAKES YOU HAPPY

My little padawans

Happy Birthday, Zachary!!!

I can't believe that Zach is 5 years old today.  He has grown so fast and he is now taller than Xander, who is 11 months older than he is!  Zach will start Pre-Kindergarten this fall and he will learn to write his name, his ABC's, & how to count to 100.  He is going to play soccer this fall!  Happy birthday baby!  I love you!!!

Baby Sasquatch

Zach - age 1

Zach - age 2

Zach - age 3

Zach - age 4

Zach - age 5

DAY 06 — WHATEVER TICKLES YOUR FANCY

For today's 30 days of blogging installment, I'm going to do a book review of Urban Gothic by Brian Keene.  My friend Sarah let me borrow the book & she told me that it was the most disgusting & disturbing book that she had ever read so I went into this book with pretty high expectations.  After reading the book, which does have some very graphic descriptions of some very violent acts, I have to say that it's still not the most disgusting book that I have ever read, that distinction still goes to American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis.

Keene's book takes place in the slums of Philadelphia, where 6 white kids who have just graduated high school are returning home after a concert.  The unofficial leader of the group & driver of the car, Tyler, decides that he wants to go to Camden, NJ to score some drugs.  Tyler swears that he knows where he is going, only to end up lost in the worst neighborhood in Philadelphia, where his car breaks down.  Instead of staying in the car & calling Triple A for help, which one character - Stephanie - does suggest, all 6 teens get out of the car & start to argue.  At this point they are confronted by 6 black teens who decide to "have a little fun" with the white kids but who really only want to help them.

The white kids panic when the black kids start to talk to them & one of the kids, Brett, screams out, "Fuck you, N.....".  There is a split second where everyone stands in shocked silence & then Brett takes off running down the street.  The rest of the group follows Brett and they take refuge in an old, abandoned house at the end of the dead-end street.  Apparently there are neighborhood legends about this house being haunted & the black kids run to another house on the street and start pounding on the door for help.

In the meantime, the white kids are confronted by the inhabitants of the house - which happen to be strange, mutated carnivores who have been living underground, "...before the city, before the buildings and the cars and everything else..."  The house itself has been converted into a maze of death traps, with the windows bricked over & a steel door that comes down to cover the front door after anyone enters the place.  There is only one way out of the house, which is through the tunnels underneath it so after the initial brutal attacks in the house, the teens are forced to go down into the subterranean darkness to try to escape.

Keene spends great detail on describing several of the attackers, even going so far as to describe some of them in depth twice.  This seemed rather redundant  & it was almost like he wanted to rub it into the reader's face just how gruesome a creature that he had created.  It would have been more effective if something a little different was noted about the monster with each description, after all it was 2 different groups of characters viewing the monsters, but he pretty much quoted his original observation verbatim.

And while Keene got rid of several of the characters right at the beginning, he still had several characters to follow & of course, they split up when the get into the dark tunnels under the house.  I guess if there is one thing that D&D has taught me, it's never to split up the party.  Anyway!  I feel like he had to rush through the main story in order to follow each character from the group of white kids and the side story that he was telling about the black kids.  And then there was a completely random character inserted at one point after the wihte kids go into the house.  At first I thought he was going to be the white kids' salvation but I guess he was just there as an excuse to give another brutal descriptions of savage killing.

There were never any reasons offered as to why the carnivorous mutants had taken up residence there or how they were created or who taught them to hunt people the way they did (it was referenced that they had been taught their homicidal behavior).  I suppose that all of that may not be important to some people but I would've been more interested in the back story than the in-depth descriptions of Noigel's infected penis.

Over all, I say the book was ok.  It seems like Keene wrote the book with the idea of having it adapted as a movie directed by Eli Roth & starring Jessica Biel as the intrepid heroin & Matthew McGory as one of the mutated freaks.  It's not something that I'll ever read again but I'd recommend it to those who like a fluffy horror piece.

Mix CD - 8/04/10 - Rachel's Birthday Mix

1. Editors - Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool
2. Incubus - Admiration
3. Heaven 17 - (Don't Fear) The Reaper
4. Incubus - Love Hurts
5. Lykke Li - Little Bit
6. Florence + The Machine - Heavy In Your Arms
7. Bullion - Say Goodbye To What
8. Phantogram - When I'm Small
9. The Presets - If I Know You
10. k-os - Catdiesiel
11. Two Door Cinema Club - Something Good Can Work
12. The Police - Secret Journey
13. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Phenomena
14. Massive Attack - Paradise Circus
15. Darkest Hour - Demons
16. Acumen Nation - Remedial Math
17. The Runaways - Cherry Bomb
18. Ministry - Everyday is Halloween
19. I Blame Coco - Quicker
20. In Noctumn

DAY 05 — YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE

"What's the use of a good quotation if you can't change it?" - Doctor Who

It's pretty self explanatory.

DAY 04 — YOUR FAVORITE BOOK

My favorite book is actually a trilogy & I think I can get away with naming 3 books as my favorite "book" because each book is a continuation of the one before it.  The Dragonlance Chronicles consists of 3 books - Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, & Dragons of Spring Dawning.  I first read the DL Chronicles when I was living in New York - a boy that lived in our apartment complex had let me borrow them.  It was right around the time my parents were having marital problems & this was when I was just starting to read fantasy books.  I was around 11 years old.

I really immersed myself into the world of Krynn and into the problems that the heroes of the story were facing.  I admired Sturm Brightblade & Tanis Half-Elven & I was fascinated by Kitiara & Takhisis but my all time favorite character is Tasslehoff Burrfoot.  Tass is the reason why I love halflings so much and why I always want to play one in our D&D campaigns.  I really identified with Raistlin Majere because of what I was going through at the time - not so much the evil & hate everyone part but the being picked on for being different part.  Moving away from my dad & our home to New York and to my Aunt's house in PA was very traumatic & I was sick the entire time we lived in PA, much like Raistlin (although I didn't cough up blood).

Reading these books has forever shaped the person that I became today & it instilled within me the love of anything fantasy.  I was too young to read into the story and simply took it at face value - the story of a courageous band of friends who were looking for something to believe in & who had to overcome many adversities to find what they needed.  Sure, there are many stereotypes involved in this story, heavy borrowing from Tolkien and whatnot but I can still read these books today and be completely drawn into them, the same way I was when I was 11 years old.

DAY 03 — YOUR FAVORITE TELEVISION PROGRAM

"So I'm wondering, do the other cookie animals feel sort of ripped off? Like, is the hippo going, "Hey, man, where are my pants? I have my hippo dignity." And you know, the monkey's just, "I mock you with my monkey pants!" And then there's a big coup in the zoo." -- Oz!

If you had asked me what my favorite TV show was 3 years ago, I would have said Buffy The Vampire Slayer.  It was really the first TV show of its kind, what with the vampires and other supernatural shenanigans.  Well the first LIVE ACTION TV show of its kind, if you don't count Scooby Doo - which obviously influenced BtVS when they dubbed themselves the Scooby Gang.  Joss Whedon introduced a whole new way of speaking to the American culture with his "Whedonisms".  BtVS has to be one of the most quoted shows among geeks today.

I loved the interaction between all of the characters and I really felt a connection to all of them.  I cried with Buffy when Angel went from the loving boyfriend to the homicidal maniac, I felt Willow's awkwardness and I rejoiced when she finally found herself and became strong & self-confident, & I could relate to Xander's unrequited crush on Buffy - who hasn't been in love with one of their best friends at some point in their life?  I loved Cordellia's snarky comments & Oz's laconic attitude and I got mad when both of them left the show & were replaced by Anya & Tara.  I LOVED Spike and Drusilla but I would've happily staked Dru if it would have gained me Spike's affections.

Spike was definitely my favorite character on the show - I would've named my first-born after him but Aaron didn't want a little kid named Spike so we compromised with Xander.  I think he had the best lines on the show & his bad-boy attitude was a lot of fun.  I hated they way they changed him towards the end of the series, by having him fall in love with Buffy & gaining a soul to try & win her love.  I didn't mind him falling in love with Buffy but he should have stayed evil & attempted to win her love through diabolical means.  It would've kept that story line a lot more interesting.

Evil Hotness

But if you asked me about my favorite show today (which technically, no one is asking, it's the blog thingee), I have to say that my favorite show is True Blood.  Mordicai made an observation a few months ago that True Blood is a pornier version of BtVS, which is probably why I like the show so much.  I also have to say that this is one of the rare occasions that the show is much, MUCH better than the books.  I've read all of the True Blood books & they were good but as Rob said, the books were written to entertain 13 year old girls.

I think the writing for the show is 10 times better than the books.  I also like how the writers of the show are changing the story line & adding things to keep those who have read the books on their toes.  And I'll give you 3 chances to guess who my favorite character is....  Actually, I have several favorite characters on True Blood.  Lafayette is probably at the top of the list and I'm glad that the writers decided to keep him on the show.  His character actually died in book 2.  Pam & Eric's interactions are some of my favorite to watch & of course, for sheer hotness - Eric can't be beat.  He is the perfect combination of mischievous schoolboy & blood thirsty vampire.

Sookie Stackhouse: [In reference to Godric] He's your maker, isn't he?
Eric Northman: Don't use words you don't understand.
Sookie Stackhouse: You have a lot of love for him.
Eric Northman: Don't use words I don't understand.

TruBlood, it keeps you alive, but it will bore you to death.