Author Archives: Bizarre Brunette

Carrie Fisher & Female Secret Agents – Recently Read Books

Posted in Reading/Books by

It’s been four years since Carrie Fisher passed away. Isn’t it unreal how time passes? I remember hearing the news and feeling a sense of shock. I never met Carrie in real life, although she had a way of making you feel like she would have been your best friend. She cared about Star Wars fans while being a champion for mental illness. I finally read her memoir, The Princess Diarist, along with another book, and I wanted to combine them into one post.

The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

This is the book most well-known for discussing Carrie’s intimate relationship with Harrison Ford. This memoir is so much more than that. Carrie talks about her audition for the part. Interestingly enough, Carrie auditioned for both George Lucas and Brian DePalma, who were looking for the leading part in his Stephen King adaptation of Carrie. Carrie discusses how she was supposed to lose weight for her role as Princess Leia and how the role impacted her as she aged.

Carrie walks a fine line while discussing her relationship with Harrison. The description is delicate. She’s able to discuss her relationship with him without revealing everything, especially since Harrison himself is extremely private. The way she describes their interactions sounds like Harrison. She also states, “How I’ve portrayed Harrison is how Harrison was with me forty years ago.” She’s able to tell this story without the bullshit and recognizes how Harrison isn’t the same person he was with Carrie. I think this shows the tact and professionalism Carrie exhibits when she wrote this memoir.

Another part of the memoir I enjoyed was how Carrie discussed her fame from the saga. Carrie details some of the offensive interactions with fans as they talk about how her body changed and how she aged since her role. She talks about how exhausting it was to sign autographs while not making a huge profit off of it. As fans, we need to respect the actors who work on the series and how they are people, just like us.

Carrie Fisher was a national treasure. She will be missed forever. I would recommend this memoir if you’re a fan of Star Wars and simply miss Carrie’s presence in the fandom. I rated The Princess Diarist four stars on Goodreads.

The Athena Protocol by Shamim Sarif

The Athena Protocol is a sapphic, young adult spy adventure novel. The Athena Protocol follows an organization titled Athena, which is an all-women spy organization. They work outside their global governments to deliver justice and deconstruct corruption in various countries. The agents are well-trained to handle the challenging environments they’re thrown into.

The Athena Protocol follows Jessie Archer as she’s on a mission in an African village. Her mission is to rescue women who have been kidnapped. She witnesses violence against these women and ultimately kills the man responsible. Athena has one rule: no killing. Jessie is fired and left out of a major operation happening in Belgrade. Jessie decides to work alone and flies to Belgrade to assist her team without their knowledge. Stakes are at an all-time high as Jessie uncovers new information that may jeopardize the safety of her fellow agents. Jessie is in danger, and she’s alone.

One series I read a lot when I was younger was the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, starring Alex Rider, a young kid working for MI6. The Athena Protocol is this series; however, women are leading the front. Each Athena agent is given some backstory. Jessie was recruited to this organization by her mother. Caitlin is a Southern belle who went to war in Afghanistan. Hala was seeking asylum in the UK and was recruited by Jessie. Every spy within Athena had their own stories, and I found them interesting to read about.

The action sequences were well-written and made me anxious for the characters. Jessie is put into some intense situations at age. The last thirty pages were intense to read. It’s surprising to me because The Athena Protocol is only 295 pages. It’s difficult to combine all the action, character development, and descriptions of the Athena group and have it all work together. Shamim Sarif, the author of The Athena Protocol, is incredibly skilled at creating this world.

I cannot say enough good things about this book. According to Goodreads, I finished this book within two days of starting it. The second book in the series is out now, and I’m going to order it on my next book haul. I rated The Athena Protocol five stars on Goodreads.

I hit my 2020 reading goal on Goodreads today! I still have a couple more books I want to finish before the end of the year.

Halloween 2020

Posted in Life Lately by

Happy Belated Halloween! I hope you all had a wonderful, spooky season. I still haven’t taken down my Halloween decorations yet. My stormtrooper holding a pumpkin is still sitting on an end table, while my windows are decorated with fun Halloween-themed window stickers. With COVID-19, I was able to host a small gathering with my friend and her boyfriend. I’m glad I could enjoy Halloween safely.

Image is a photo of me my fiance. We are dressed as Darth Vader and a Stormtrooper. I'm Darth Vader and I have my hand out and my fiance is clutching his throat.
You disappoint me.

Me and the fiancé went as Darth Vader and a Stormtrooper. This is the first year we put our kitty, Athena, in a costume. She had a harness with a cowboy mouse sitting on top of it. I think technically, Athena was a horse for Halloween? She hated the harness, so we only put it on for photos and took it off.

Image is a photo of me, my fiance and our kitty. I'm Darth Vader, my fiance is a Storm Trooper and my fiance is holding Athena with a little harness with a cowboy mouse on it.
One Big Happy Family.

We were able to eat pizza, play music, and have a couple of cocktails. I made a cocktail titled Witches Brew. I found the recipe off Pinterest. It has white rum, blue curacao, raspberry juice, ginger ale and I topped it off with blackberries. They were boozy. I did wake up feeling slightly hungover the next morning.

Photo is of me and my friend. I'm dressed as Darth Vader, she's dressed as Alexis from Schitt's Creek.
Darth Vader and Alexis are actually best friends

Ultimately, I’m glad I didn’t miss out on Halloween. It wasn’t what I wanted it to be. Last year, I spent it at a brewery dressed up with friends. With COVID-19, we have to make do with what’s safe to do. Now, I’m quarantining until Thanksgiving because we are seeing the fiancé’s family in Milwaukee. Let me know what you were for Halloween this year in the comments below.

Image is a photo of Athena. She's wearing a brown harness and on it is a mouse dressed as a cowboy.
Better look at Athena’s harness.

Normal People (2020)

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by
Image is a promo poster for Normal People on Hulu. It shows 2 people leaning into kiss each other. They each have a shadow of their person. The man is on the left looking away, the woman is on the right looking the other way.

My friend finished watching Normal People on Hulu and immediately messaged me asking if I had watched this series yet. As a side note, I take a while to watch TV shows since my fiancé and friends seem to watch them faster than I do. She couldn’t stop raving about Normal People and how the sex scenes seemed to be realistic. Normal People is an emotionally charged story of two people falling in and out of love throughout their lives.

Based on the book of the same name by Sally Rooney, the series follows Marianne Sheridan (played by Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Connell Walderon (played by Paul Mescal). Marianne and Connell first meet in secondary school, with Marianne being painted as the weird girl who reads too many books. Connell is popular, although he is attracted to Marianne, he doesn’t want his friends to know. They have sex, and Marianne is angered to learn Connell takes another girl to a dance. Marianne and Connell meet again throughout their adult lives as they contemplate being committed together.

The chemistry between Daisy and Paul is undeniable. I wouldn’t be surprised if these two were dating after the camera stopped rolling. This show is an emotional rollercoaster. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t crying every other episode. The sex scenes feel real. They aren’t fake and feature over-the-top moaning. As I watch these scenes, it feels like two people having sex who truly care about each other’s well-being.

I have to offer a slight content warning as this series is extremely emotional to watch. Marianne is a victim of familial physical abuse by her brother. The show doesn’t explain why this happens unless I missed it. From the abuse, Marianne finds herself in abusive relationships. It’s heartwrenching to watch because we know Marianne deserves so much more. There’s a storyline leading back to suicide as one of Paul’s friends from secondary school commits suicide. As I mentioned, this is an emotional series beyond Marianne and Connell’s relationship. It’s important to be in that mindset to fully enjoy this series.

I haven’t read Sally Rooney’s book, which the series is based on. I’m undecided if I will read the book because I loved the show. Usually, I recommend reading a book before viewing the adaptation, but this adaptation is so good! A couple of my favorite book vloggers have already rated the book, and their reviews weren’t positive. I have this book on my to-be-read shelf, so maybe I will get around to reading it eventually, but it’s not a high priority.

Normal People is so much more than a love story. It’s a commentary on love, life, and experiencing tragedy. As mentioned above, it’s best to be in the mood to watch this series. I cried every other episode because I was happy for the characters, or I genuinely was sad for them. This is a series I would re-watch if I need a good cry. If you have read the Normal People book or seen the series, let me know in the comments below.

Gibbous – A Cthulhu Adventure

Posted in Gaming by
Image is a photo of a video game main screen for Gibbous - A Cthulhu Adventure. On the main screen is a black cartoon cat, a man with both of his hands over a book glowing in bright neon green and a detective wearing a top hat and a coat. On the left are the game options which say: Continue New Game Load Game Options Language Cutscenes Help Quit
Gibbous A Cthulhu Adventure. Photo screenshot taken by me.

I’m back to writing regular posts! After hosting a Halloween party followed by the US election, I wanted to take a week off from writing posts. I can’t believe Halloween is already over, and Thanksgiving is a couple of weeks away. I wanted to write a post about one of the spooky games I played leading up to Halloween this year. This was one of the games I mentioned in my “Spooky Steam Haul” post. Gibbous – A Cthulhu Adventure is a spooky, point-and-click game with a magical talking cat.

Image is a photo of a man wearing a red shirt and jeans. There's a black kitty on his right. It's a photo from the game and he appears to be standing in a market in night time.
Buzz and Kitteh. Photo screenshot taken by me

The story focuses on two major characters. Detective Don R. Ketype is a PI tasked with recovering the Necronomicon. For those unfamiliar with Lovecraft’s writings, the Necronomicon is an evil book filled with spells destined to bring the world to its end. Don visits the library and meets Buzz Kerwin, a college student. An explosion occurs, with Don getting kidnapped, and Buzz finding the Necronomicon. Buzz takes the book back to his apartment and repeats a spell that allows his cat, Kitteh, to speak to him. Both Don and Buzz need to find out who’s after the Necronomicon and return Kitteh to her normal kitty state.

Image is a photo of Buzz and Kitteh in a red world that looks menacing. Buzz is wearing a red t-shirt and jeans, kitteh is a black cat. Behind them is a huge red circle that looks like a moon. There are several red boulders in the distance. Buzz and Kitteh are on a platform of dark brown and black rocks.
Buzz and Kitteh! Photo screenshot taken by me

I adored this game. I liked playing as Don and Buzz, although Buzz was my favorite since he had Kitteh with him. The game was well-designed and never glitched. The game was challenging enough that certain levels took me a bit of time because I would get stuck on what I was supposed to do next. Being a fan of Lovecraft’s work, there were several references to his work throughout the game.

As far as replayability, I ended up playing this game twice through. The first time to complete the game and the second time to unlock all the Steam achievements. There are story-based achievements and missable achievements. The missable achievements were slightly annoying at times because you can’t go back and play a level. If you miss the achievement, you would have to play the entire game over to get that achievement. According to Steam, I played this game for 13.9 hours. This is with two full playthroughs of the game. It’s safe to say this game will take six hours to complete.

Gibbous – A Cthulhu Adventure is a fun, spooky game perfect for any cat lover or HP Lovecraft fan. Gibbous – A Cthulhu Adventure can be purchased on Steam for $19.99.

President Joe Biden & Vice President Kamala Harris

Posted in Life Lately by

The election was this past week. Last Saturday, the results were announced with Joe Biden winning the presidential race along with Kamala Harris being the first female Vice President in our nation’s history. It’s a historic time and I finally feel as a country, we are back on track.

I don’t discuss politics on this blog. This blog is my geeky space where I discuss pop culture, books, comics, video games, and any other topic I want to write about. However, this election is way too important to skim over. I was never a fan of Donald Trump. The way he would talk about various groups of people is appalling. The US is not containing COVID-19 and whether it is entirely President Trump’s fault, he’s still leading this nation. This is his responsibility.

It’s difficult to put into words how happy I am with Biden’s election. I’m more thrilled for Kamala Harris being the first female Vice President. Little girls will get to grow up in an era where they will see representation in the highest office in our nation. I hope this means that we are closer to seeing a woman being elected President in my lifetime.

With any political post, I will not tolerate any hatred in the comments. I reserve the right to not approve any comments or report them as spam. I write this post because I want to make it clear where my opinion lies as this election is crucial in the time we live in. If you’re a Trump supporter, I will not debate you in the comments. I was harassed by Trump supporters when Trump won the election in 2016 and as I re-read this post, I don’t think it’s disrespectful or rubbing it in anyone’s face. I stand by Biden / Harris and I voted for them because they would be the most qualified to lead our nation out of this pandemic we are living in.

Celebrating Fall at the Apple Orchard

Posted in Life Lately by

Trying to find activities that allow for social distancing can be challenging. My fiancé decided we should go to an apple orchard because at least it’s outside. We settled on visiting Luce Line Apple Orchard, located in Watertown, MN. It was thirty-five minutes away from where we live, which is the perfect amount of driving.

This apple orchard was huge! Their apple fields span at least a couple of miles. At the center of the activities was a white barn to buy fall-themed merchandise. Pumpkins were scattered around the premises, and various animals were sniffing children’s hands looking for food. Since the property was so big, we didn’t feel we were on top of anyone, and it was fairly easy to socially distance. We went on a walk around the fenced-in animals and found a couple of quiet moments to take pictures.

Image is a photo of me and my fiance smiling at the camera. It's a sunny day, so my husband is wearing sunglasses and a jacket.

As far as food, we each ordered a corn dog. I haven’t eaten a corn dog in a while since our state fair was canceled back in August. Additionally, we went to the cocktail stand and ordered a tangy apple sangria. IT WAS SO YUMMY. It was worth the $9 purchase. As we sat and drank our tangy sangrias, we saw Bigfoot walking around. Someone dressed as Bigfoot walks around the Orchard. There are Bigfoot signs throughout the Orchard. My fiancé and I couldn’t stop laughing when Bigfoot would scare little kids.

Image is a photo of trees with yellow leaves. It shows a gravel path forward.

Finally, we stopped at the white barn. I picked up more candle wax for my Owl wax burner (I don’t remember what it’s called, but it burns wax). We picked up some homemade maple syrup and a couple of smaller decorative pumpkins that are currently sitting on our TV stand.

A photo of a tree with yellow leaves. The sky is blue with no cloud to be seen.

Trying to come up with activities during a Pandemic is tough. My fiancé and I take social distancing and mask-wearing seriously. Luceline Apple Orchard was perfectly spacious, allowing for a cute date day while being safe.

Challenger: The Final Flight

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by
Image is a poster for the Netflix shows Challenger: The Final Flight. It shows seven people standing and shadowed black. To the right, it shows a space ship preparing for takeoff. It's ominously shaded black.
Challenger: The Final Flight

My fiancé loves watching documentaries on Netflix. While we were creating our wedding website, my fiancé started playing Challenger: The Final Flight as background noise. Instead of contributing to our wedding website like I should have, I started paying attention to each episode.

Challenger: The Final Flight has only four episodes, with each episode ranging from forty-two to fifty minutes long. The series introduces the astronauts, provides background information before The Challenger launched, footage from The Challenger as it exploded, and the aftermath of the investigation. What happened with the Challenger, and was NASA responsible?

My knowledge of the Challenger explosion was next to none before watching this docuseries. I knew a teacher was on board and the shuttle exploded shortly before take-off, but that was about it. I was crying throughout the series. Families, children, NASA, and the United States all watched what happened to the Challenger. Relatives turned to each other in shock and held each other as they cried. Students were in awe as they weren’t sure what was happening. Hearing the relatives of the seven astronauts speak as they relive this moment was horrifying. Some of the relatives knew their loved ones couldn’t survive, while other relatives tried to deny what had happened.

Christa McAuliffe was a teacher in New Hampshire who was one of 11,000 applicants who applied to board the Challenger. She was the final of ten and was chosen to be the first teacher in space. She took a leave from teaching while she trained to be an astronaut. She had planned to teach two fifteen-minute lessons to students from space. I’m imagining how I would feel if one of my teacher friends were chosen to go into space. I would feel happy for them, but anxious about what could go wrong.

The failure of the O-rings caused the Challenger’s explosion. The docuseries details how NASA knew about the history of the O-Rings’ failure since 1977. That’s nine years before the Challenger launched. Richard Feynman, a scientist on the Manhattan Project, was included in the post-investigation. Feynman demonstrated how the O-rings are more likely to fail in lower temperatures. On the day the Challenger launched, it was 36 degrees.

Challenger: The Final Flight is a heart-wrenching look at what happened with the Challenger. There’s a lot we can learn from this tragedy to make space exploration safer, and the importance of analyzing scientific data. Challenger: The Final Flight can be streamed on Netflix.

Spooky Themed Graphic Novel Reviews

Posted in Reading/Books by

It’s halfway through October already! Minnesota had its first snowfall last week, which was way too early. The snow has already melted, and we are back to the orange and red hues of fall. I have been trying to read all the horror and creepy books, and graphic novels on my shelf. Here are my most recent graphic novel spooky reads.

Image is a comic book cover for For Goodness Sake Volume #1 by K. Lynn Smith. It shows a woman with turquoise hair and her eyes are closed. A man with two devil horns protruding from his head is looking back at her.
For Goodness Sake Vol #1. Picture taken by me.

For Goodness Sake Volume #1 by K Lynn Smith

Rayne Waters is a self-proclaimed hippie. She lives on a decked-out school bus as she drives around the US. While driving, she meets Thatcher, a man with red devil horns. Thatcher was put under a curse with no memory of how this occurred. Rayne invites Thatcher on her bus as they cruise around the US while attempting to break Thatcher’s curse.

For Goodness Sake was a graphic novel entirely funded by Kickstarter. I backed K. Lynn’s other graphic novel on Kickstarter, and I have been a fan of hers ever since. For Goodness Sake was delivered to me earlier this year, and I saved it for the fall to read. I missed out on K. Lynn’s Kickstarter for Volume #2, and I’m bummed.

For Goodness Sake was such an enjoyable read. Rayne and Thatcher have genuine chemistry together. In this volume, I felt I got to know Rayne’s backstory and what compelled her to deck out a school bus. K. Lynn’s art has a unique style. Whenever I read one of her books, I can immediately identify her art.

I could write endless paragraphs about the first volume of For Goodness Sake. The first volume can be found on K. Lynn’s website. I rated For Goodness’ Sake five stars on Goodreads.

Cult Classic Return to Whisper Volume #1 Rahal, Cunha, Cunniffe-Wright, Esposito, and Koh.

Childhood friends Wyatt, Dwayne, Andrew, Malcolm, Bobbi, Aubrey, Sparrow, and Cage meet in their treehouse to watch Cult Classic, a local horror TV show. From the show, the kids decide to steal a journal belonging to James Benjamin Vance, the founder of Whisper. The journal supposedly shows where the hidden treasure is buried in Whisper. This story is balanced by jumps into the future as it shows the kids as adults returning to Whisper to attend the funeral of their friend.

Cult Classic Return to Whisper suffers from trying to introduce too many characters. I could barely follow all the characters and keep their backstories straight. There were a few characters I barely knew anything about, so why should I care what happens to them? The story itself wasn’t told as clearly as I had hoped. I’m still wondering what exactly happened to some of the characters, as a curse may have impacted them.

If I were to describe Cult Classic, it reminds me of Stephen King’s It meets Goosebumps. Cult Classic wasn’t the strongest first volume of the series. This is a book I would have preferred renting from the library versus owning. I rated Cult Classic Return to Whisper three stars on Goodreads.

Image is a graphic novel cover for Joker 80th Anniversary. It shows a woman with turquoise and green hair. She is holding a Joker white mask that has blood on it.
Joker 80th Anniversary! Picture taken by me.

The Joker 80’s Anniversary 100 Page Super Spectacular #1

Yes, I’m aware this is more generic comic book reading than Halloween-themed. However, The Joker is one of the most notorious villains of all time, and the way Joker torments his victims could be on the creepy and ominous theme of this post, so I included this novel in this review.

In this 80th anniversary edition, this graphic novel shows past covers featuring the Joker, along with a compilation of various stories. One of the stories features Punchline, Joker’s new girlfriend. While I find Punchline’s name to be cheesy, I like her look. I’m intrigued by how Punchline will be involved in the newer runs of DC Comics.

As a fan of DC Comics, I thought this was interesting to read. I liked looking at the older comic covers. It reminded me how Joker has influenced Batman. The assault of Barbara Gordon, along with the murder of Robin, Joker is one of Batman’s most threatening villains. I rated Joker 80th Anniversary four stars on Goodreads.

There are only 11 days left till Halloween, and I hope you all are enjoying this spooky quarantine season.

Autumn Engagement Photos

Posted in Life Lately by

2020 has been a chaotic year. On the bright side, two weeks ago, my fiancé and I took our engagement photos. We are getting married in October 2021 and wanted our photos to have the beautiful colors. We drove to Duluth, MN, which is right along Lake Superior. The colors were at their peak. Our photographer sent us a couple of the many photos taken. I wanted to share them because I’m pleased with how they turned out.

Image is a photo of a man and a woman holding hands and looking into each others eyes. They are sitting on a log and behind them are yellow trees in the distance.
This one is my personal favorite so far.
This is the black and white photo of a man and a woman kissing on a log. Trees are behind them.
This photo shows a man and a woman shadowed, but in the background is a lake and what appears to be mountains, but it's actually a city. The moon is off in the distance.

With the Pandemic, I find it can be difficult to stay positive. These engagement photos were a nice emotional boost. I never thought about spending the rest of my life with someone until I met my fiancé. I didn’t know then what I know now, but there’s no one I would rather spend my life with than him.

Horror Tag

Posted in Uncategorized by

A Geek Girl’s Guide is at it again with the blog tags. This blog tag is the Horror Tag. I never used to be into anything horror. Now, I’m finding myself watching scary movies and reading horror books. These are my answers to the Horror Tag. You can find A Geek Girl’s Guide’s original Horror Tag here

How old were you when you saw your first horror movie?

I can’t remember a specific age at which I watched my first horror movie. Growing up, my brother watched a little bit of Chucky and had nightmares for weeks. I would say this is my first horror movie I remember, despite the fact that I never watched any of it.

What was the first horror movie you saw?

Scream is the horror slasher film I distinctly remember watching for the first time. I also remember watching One Missed Call at a sleepover with girlfriends during middle school.

What is your favorite horror movie?

I’m a fan of slashers. The Scream franchise is my favorite horror movie franchise of all time. I like the fact that the movies make fun of slasher movie horror tropes. Sidney Prescott is my favorite “Final Girl”.

Do you prefer gore or thrillers?

Thrillers. I can’t stand gore. It’s why I will never watch The Walking Dead. I get why gore exists, but it grosses me out.

If you got trapped in one scary movie, which would you choose?

NONE. Who wants to be trapped in a horror film? If I have to pick, I would say Scream. It’s a bunch of high schoolers in the 90s partying and having a good time, so that’s more fun than anything, I suppose.

If you were in a horror movie, would you be the final girl, the first to die, the comic relief, the smart one, or the killer?

Everyone wants to answer this question as the Final Girl because I think no one wants to say they would be killed off. If I were to answer this question accurately, I would say the smart one who may not live to the end of the movie. I make rational choices most of the time, and I am aware of my surroundings when I’m alone.

While watching a horror movie, are you the person who yells at the characters, the person covering their eyes the whole time, or the person who falls asleep?

Covering my eyes! I hate jump scares.

Have you ever played a horror game? What is your favorite horror game?

I don’t play horror games much because I hate jump scares in a game. Is Resident Evil a horror game? If so, I would pick the franchise in general.

If you got trapped in one horror game, what would you want it to be?

NONE. I would say Dead by Daylight because at least you’re not alone, and you’re working together to escape the killer.

Here are all the questions:

How old were you when you saw your first horror movie?

What was the first horror movie you saw?

What is your favorite horror movie?

Do you prefer gore or thrillers?

If you got trapped in one scary movie, which would you choose?

If you were in a horror movie, would you be the final girl, the first to die, the comic relief, the smart one, or the killer?

While watching a horror movie, are you the person who yells at the characters, the person covering their eyes the whole time, or the person who falls asleep?

Have you ever played a horror game? What is your favorite horror game?

If you got trapped in one horror game, what would you want it to be?