Author Archives: Bizarre Brunette

My Love / Hate Relationship with Magic the Gathering

Posted in Gaming, Life Lately by

On Sunday, I attended my first Magic the Gathering pre-release for the Ravnica Allegiance expansion. Me, my brother, and my two friends from college met up at the coffee/game store where I occasionally work. While I had fun at the pre-release, I didn’t win a single game. To be fair, I play Magic for fun and not to be competitive. When I turned in my scorecard at the end of the prerelease, the worker at the game shop made a comment and gave me sympathy since I didn’t win a game. While I think this person was trying to be helpful, it instead made me feel embarrassed. This is what prompted my post describing in detail my love/hate relationship with Magic: the Gathering. 

Image is a selfie of me holding my Ravnica pre-release kit. I'm smiling at the camera]

I started playing Magic: The Gathering in 2003 when my uncle taught me and my brother how to play. I became obsessed with the mechanics of the cards, the art on each card, and the story behind each set. I even had a Magic: The Gathering birthday where I received a hand-picked deck and played Magic all day. This teaching didn’t stick as I gave up the game a year later because I became focused on other things. Ten years later, I was in college and an ex-boyfriend of mine had been playing Magic more often with his friends. I decided then I would try again and re-learn how to play.

One thing that was different when learning Magic in 2013 was realizing how toxic the Magic: The Gathering community can be. I played against players who were specifically targeting me because I was the only woman in the group. I had players who if I was winning, would “scoop” or draw from the match instead of allowing the game to finish. I had players be condescending towards me if I was losing and telling me I had “a lot to learn” if I ever wanted to win against them. The toxicity I experienced became exhausting to deal with.

It led to several times when I would play Magic more often and then go months without playing. I became discouraged at times based on who I had played with recently. I don’t want to give up a hobby based on my experiences within the community, but it’s hard not to. I will say, that my brother and my two friends never made me feel embarrassed because I hadn’t won a game. They were friendly to me and my brother wanted to sit down and play more games with me and offer strategy advice which I would find beneficial.

[Image is a Ravnica Allegiance pre-release pack. It's sitting on a coffee table]

My specific goal involving Magic: the Gathering is to play more! I can only get better as a player if I play more games. I also downloaded Magic: the Gathering Arena which is an online format of the game where you play against players in real time. This way even if I can’t get in a physical game at a game shop, I can play in the comfort of my own home. Finally, I discovered an all-female Magic group that plays at various game stores in Minneapolis. I’m hoping this will be a judgment-free place to learn more about the game without the harassment I had experienced in the past.

I would love to hear your thoughts about the game if you ever played it. Specifically, if you have experienced harassment in this community, let me know in the comments below.

Batman: Hush Comic Review

Posted in Reading/Books by

Hush, Little Baby don’t say a word. Mama’s going to buy you a mockingbird. 

[Image is a graphic novel cover. It shows a half image of Batman with a half image of a man named Hush. His face is covered in bandages and he's wearing a trenchcoat. Below Batman and Hush, there's Huntress and Harley Quinn in her jester look.]
Batman: Hush graphic novel cover. Image from Amazon.

After completing Batman: Arkham Knight for the second time, I became fascinated with reading more Batman comics. I’m currently reading through Knightquest which is the storyline in which Batman’s back is broken by Bane. This storyline is what inspired the Dark Knight Rises film in Christopher Nolan’s trilogy. Recently, I finished reading Batman: Hush written by Jeph Loeb. This graphic novel is probably one of my favorite Batman stories I have read thus far.

Batman: Hush begins with Batman attempting a rescue mission for a kidnapped boy being held by Killer Croc. After saving the boy, he chases Catwoman around Gotham City for money she stole from Killer Croc. When Batman catches up with her, his grapple gun line snaps and he falls to the ground. Bruce Wayne has devastating physical injuries which are repaired by his childhood friend and renowned surgeon, Thomas Elliot. Throughout the story, we see past memories interwoven in the story detailing Bruce and Thomas’s friendship.

As Batman figures out who deliberately cut his line, he recognizes other supervillains coming after him within a few days of each other. It becomes clear to Batman that someone is trying to take him down while also knowing incredibly personal information about him. The main premise behind this story is who could be the mastermind behind the vicious attacks against Batman.

I truly ship Batman and Catwoman together. I enjoy their romantic partnership as Batman and Catwoman are both anti-heroes who think they are doing the right thing while also bending the law to fit their needs. 

Batman: Hush is perfect for introducing comics to new fans. Within the first two chapters, famous Batman villains are introduced which has been a common complaint from other fans about this story. I personally loved it because it fits the plot.

Who else has read Batman: Hush? I would love to hear your comments below along with your favorite Batman comic.

Playing in the Dark Ages New D&D Campaign

Posted in Gaming by

Toward the end of December, a good friend of mine created a group Facebook group regarding a D&D campaign he wanted to start. It was going to be set in the Dark Ages with 5e mechanics. The boyfriend had never role-played before, so this would be an exciting opportunity to introduce D&D to him. We had our first session yesterday complete with Moscow mules, pizza, and snacks. I briefly wanted to recap the campaign and share what’s to come in future sessions.

[Image is a selfie of me looking at the camera. I took this picture in between moments of our DnD campaign]

My character is named Althaea and she is a level #1 Elf Sorcerer who happens to be an Occult Investigator. When she was young, she started developing magical abilities much to the chagrin of her father. Her father refused to teach her how to defend herself due to being in fear of the dark source of Althaea’s magic. When Althaea was 10, her father was killed by an evil spirit. Althaea has sworn revenge on this evil spirit and finds more information behind her father’s murder.

[Image is a DnD character sheet. It lists Altthaea, a level #1 Sorcerer.]
Althaea’s character sheet! *image taken by me*

Our campaign began in January of 453 AD. Side note, as our DM revealed the date, each of our group members wrote the year wrong. I still don’t know how that was possible considering he was sitting right next to us. Our characters were trapped in a burning village being attacked by barbarians. Six of them came after us. I rolled very poorly most of the time during this attack which led to me having only one hit point at the end of the battle. Once the barbarians were slain, we investigated another town which also was being invaded by barbarians. Althaea did a lot better as she used her “ice knife” spell and it ended up landing on one of the barbarians.

After defeating the barbarians, our group of five is approached by an innkeeper. He offers us rooms since we saved his village from the barbarians. One of our characters rolled an intelligence check to determine if the innkeeper was hiding something from us. The innkeeper is hiding something, but throughout this session, none of our characters figured out what it was. Althaea did attempt to flirt with the innkeeper, but I rolled so low that he pushed me away and wouldn’t talk to me. It was at this moment I realized I should have been a Bard. Anyway, not much happened after that, but our DM said the innkeeper is hiding something huge, and the name of our next session is titled “Murder House.”

Overall it was a great first session. I will say I don’t have a lot of experience with character building with 5e rules. There was a lot I didn’t create with my character prior to the session beginning. Thankfully, the group I’m playing with is rather forgiving. The DM even admitted he wished he had done a bit more research and had a map for the players to look at.

Thanks for reading my recap! Our next session is planned for Saturday, February 2nd, so expect a post somewhere near then.

Queer Eye – Which One of the Fab 5 is My Soulmate.

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by

In 2003, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy aired on Bravo. I would watch a couple episodes with my mom and the only person I actively remember was Carson Kressley. My mom liked watching the transformations and seeing them learn to love themselves. Now, Queer Eye has been rebooted on Netflix and I haven’t had time to watch it, until now. This show is more meaningful than giving a makeover, it’s giving someone their confidence back. Before I reveal which one of the Fab 5 is my soulmate (thanks to Buzzfeed), I wanted to share a little bit about the cast.

[Image is a promo poster for the show Queer Eye. Netflix's logo is at the top left. There's a big QE down below. There are five of the cast members looking at the camera.]
Image from Netflix (from left to right Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Jonathan Van Ness, Antoni Porowski, and Tan France).

Bobby Berk

Bobby is the interior design expert on the team. Some of the apartments he has redone look incredible. One of my favorite episodes is Below Average Joe where Bobby redesigns a basement for a man who still lives with his parents. This basement doesn’t look like a basement, but more like a modern apartment once it’s finished. Bobby has impeccable taste in furniture too. Can he come to my apartment?

Karamo Brown

Karamo is by far the coolest out of the five. He’s the culture expert and I take that as teaching someone how to act, network on social media, and be more confident. His connection with Cory in the episode Dega Don’t was a moving episode. Cory’s friend is a police officer who pulls the Fab 5 over as a “joke”. With all of the recent police shootings, this alarms Karamo. Cory and Karamo discuss the political nature of unarmed police shootings. I’m glad Karamo and Cory were able to have such a respectful conversation with each other.

Jonathan Van Ness

Jonathan is my favorite of the Queer Eye Fab 5. I can’t stop smiling every time Jonathan says “YAAAAASSS QUEEEN.”. If I had all the money in the world, I would hire them to be my daily beauty assistant. They are the hair, skincare, and style experts of the group. I’m a fan of their style because they push boundaries without giving a flying fuck about what anyone thinks of them. Also, they have beautiful hair and I’m jealous.

Antoni Porowski

Antoni is the one I have the biggest crush on because he’s so damn attractive. He has the best smile, and great hair and could cook me the most delicious dinner. Being the “foodie” of the group, I would argue his expertise is most important. You can look great, but if you can cook, even better.

Tan France

Tan and Jonathan are the Ying & the Yang. Jonathan is the hair and beauty product expert and Tan is the style icon. I felt the series does a great job of highlighting Tan’s personality. I would say he’s one of the more quiet guys in the group which helps to balance them out.

So who is my soulmate??? Drum roll, please…..

[Image is a screenshot of a Buzzfeed quiz result. It says, "Let the Fab Five Tell You Which "Queer Eye" Guy is your soulmate". It says "You got: Tan". "You got Tan because you're a little more direct than people might appreciate. You love a strong fashion moment, and understand the importance of dressing to get what you want in life. You also love a boundary. A strong, appropriate boundary]

I’m not mad about this. I’m not going to lie, I was hoping for Antoni, but Tan is a great choice. When I read the description for Tan, this doesn’t sound like my personality. I wouldn’t label myself as direct, although I love going shopping for new clothes to wear.

I cannot recommend Queer Eye enough. The show is lighthearted, while also diving into some tough political topics. Tears have been shed in many of the episodes and I’m surprised at how addicted I became to the show in just watching one episode. I’m not on season #2 yet, but I’m excited to watch more stories unfold in the heart of the Deep South.

4th Annual 2018 Bookish End of Year Survey

Posted in Reading/Books by

This is my 4th year participating in Perpetual Page Turner’s End of Year Survey specifically relating to books, graphic novels or manga read this year. I started this in 2015 and I will continue to participate for many more years to come. Last year, I read 46 books which was a record turnout for me. This year, I only read 39 books although for 2019, I’m going to attempt to read fifty books. In the meantime, here are my 2018 End of Year Book Survey answers.

2018 Reading Stats

Number of Books You Read: 39

Number of Re-Reads: 1. I re-read the first issue of Hawkeye #1 My Life is a Weapon. 

Genre You Read the Most From Graphic Novels, but to be fair, it’s much quicker to read a graphic novel than a traditional book.

[Image is a Best in Books image from the blog tag]

1. Best Book Read in 2018

[Image is of a book cover. It shows cosplayers in the background with two people that are shown. It says Ship It on it]

Ship It by Britta Lundin. I absolutely adored the premise behind this book because it takes place on a convention tour. Britta is also a writer on Riverdale which encouraged me to purchase this book on the boyfriend’s Kindle. I’m debating purchasing the paperback version to add to my book collection.

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Would Love More But Didn’t?

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough. To summarize the book’s plot, Louise is an insecure, single woman living in England. While staying at a hotel, she meets David at the hotel bar who is irresistible. Louise is devastated to find out David is married to Adele who looks like a supermodel. As Louise develops a friendship with Adele, she finds their relationship to be unhealthy and it becomes clear something is odd about the two of them. Without spoiling the plot, this book has a supernatural twist at the end which was off-putting and I didn’t like it.

3. Most Surprising (In a Good or Bad Way) Book You Read?

[Image is a book cover. It is titled The Woman In The Window by A. J. Finn]

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn had a nice surprise twist at the end. Imagine the classic Alfred Hitchcock movie Rear Window meets Gone Girl. There’s still time to read this book before the movie is released in October 2019. The movie will star Amy Adams in the title role.

4. Best Series You Started in 2018?

[Image is of a white background. There's a rainbow cube and in the cube is writing. It's title War Cross on either side of the cube]

Warcross by Marie Lu is a great book especially if you consider yourself a gamer. Emika is a hacker who enjoys playing the world-renowned game called Warcross. When she accidentally hacks into the Warcross World Championship, she’s flown to meet Hideo Tanaka, the creator of Warcross. He tasks her with finding the identity of another hacker who Hideo believes is going to ruin the Championship game. Emika becomes involved in the scandal which has its consequences for everyone involved.

I’m shocked because I found out today that the sequel, Wildcard, was released a couple months ago. Initially, I thought Wildcard was being released in 2019. I’m going to use some of my Barnes & Noble gift card money to purchase Wildcard and it will become my top priority to read it next year.

5. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

I really liked Amy Schumer’s autobiography titled The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo. I know there’s a lot of controversy with her regarding whether or not she steals jokes. I personally haven’t looked into that much, but I do like Amy’s sense of humor. I found her book to be funny with a nice touch of personal stories from her past. I appreciate the story she wrote on gun violence as I also believe we, in the United States, have to do something to end mass shootings.

6. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2018?

Even though I didn’t like The Post Mortal by Drew Magary, I thought the book posed fascinating hypothetical questions. In this book, the cure for aging is discovered which poses the question of whether or not humans should take the cure. I personally wouldn’t because I would hate to live for eternity without my loved ones unless my loved ones could get the cure as well. Unfortunately, this book’s pacing was a little too boring for me so it ended up taking forever for me to finish it.

7. Book That Shocked You The Most

[Image shows a red moon exploding. At the center it says Calamity by Brandon Sanderson]

Calamity is Brandon Sanderson’s concluding book in the Steelheart trilogy which is one of my favorite trilogies I read. This trilogy stars David, a teenager who exists in a world where once the star, Calamity, appeared in the sky, humans were given powers. David joined the Reckoners, a rebel group that sought to fight evil Epics (humans with powers). Calamity reveals the history behind the star which is what shocked me the most because it wasn’t what I had anticipated it would be.

8. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!) *One True Pairing*

Claire & Tess from Ship It is so cute together! ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

9. Favorite Book You Read in 2018 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

I’m going to nominate Saga for this one. I read the first volume in 2017 and I read both volumes #2 & #3 this year. Unfortunately, Saga is on a hiatus right now, but the only positive part about this news is that I have time to catch up since there are eight volumes in the series.

10. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

It’s going to be a tie between Warcross and Calamity. Both books created equally thrilling environments. Honestly, I wish both Warcross and the Steelheart trilogy were getting movies. This would be visually stunning to see, but never say never I suppose.

11. Hidden Gem of the Year?

[Image is a graphic novel cover. It shows Albert Einstein towards the top. It says MP The Manhattan Projects 1]

The Manhattan Projects is a series I wish I had read earlier. It combines history, science, and aliens into one epic graphic novel. book-blogging.jpg

1. New favorite book blog/Bookstagram/YouTube channel you discovered in 2018?

I enjoy watching Super Space Chick’s YouTube channel even though we don’t always have the same book interests. Kristin reads a lot more Young Adult and Contemporary novels than I do. However, our interests coincide with her recommendations of Fantasy and Science Fiction novels. One of my favorite books I read in 2017 titled This is Our Story by Ashley Elston was recommended to me after reading one of Kristin’s blog posts. I hopefully plan on following more book bloggers in 2019.

2. Favorite post you wrote in 2018?

I really liked my post regarding my love for the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. This is one of my favorite series of all time. This post also acquired more comments than I initially thought it would which is a nice bonus.

3. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

Can I say being an adult isn’t all it’s cracked up to be?? I try to read before bed which doesn’t work out because I end up falling asleep at 8:30 PM instead of reading a chapter and then going to bed. When I was in college, I read a lot more books than I do now. That’s why I’m setting my reading goal in 2019 to be 50 books to encourage myself to read more next year.

4. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

Most of my comic book posts never get any comments or likes which always makes me sad. Comics are such an important part of my life and I wish these posts were more well received. I write what I want to write about which means I may not get any attention on blog posts that I feel deserve the spotlight, but that’s okay.

[Image says Looking Ahead]

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2018 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2019?

My top books I’m Looking Forward to Reading Are:

  • Wildcard, the sequel to Warcross by Marie Lu
  • The Lying Woods by Ashley Elston. I mentioned This is Our Story a couple paragraphs ago which is also written by Elston. She’s one of those authors where I will be on the lookout if she releases a new book.

2. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2019?

I’m going to attempt to read Game of Thrones this year, wish me luck. This is mostly because of my friend’s obsession with the TV series.

3. 2019 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

The Princess & the Fangirl by Ashley Poston who also wrote Geekerella. Geekerella was a fairy tale retelling of Cinderella but with a comic con twist. It’s being released April 2nd, 2019 and I’m considering pre-ordering it.

If you end up completing this book survey, link your post in the comments below. Happy New Year book readers! 🙂

2018 Pop Culture Year in Review

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches, Gaming, Life Lately by

2018 became a memorable year loaded with trips, comic book conventions, and everlasting memories. I wanted to write my recap post a little bit earlier before time got away from me and I forgot to publish it. 2018 was a fantastic year.

Movies I saw in Theaters:

  • Black Panther *twice*
  • Avengers Infinity War 
  • Solo: A Star Wars Adventure
  • Antman & the Wasp 
  • Mission Impossible Fallout 
  • The Spy Who Dumped Me 
  • Venom 
  • Crimes of Grindelwald 
  • Robin Hood 
  • Aquaman 

My Favorite Movie of 2018: This is a tough call, but I’m going to have to say it’s a tie between Aquaman and Black Panther. 

TV Shows I Watched:

[Image is a promo image for the TV show Bodyguard. It shows a woman and a man. Separating them is a bullet hole going through glass]
Richard Madden ❤ ❤ ❤ Image by BBC
  • Riverdale Season #2
  • Rewatching Jessica Jones Season #1 
  • Jessica Jones Season #2 
  • Parks and Recreation 
  • Mindhunter 
  • Amazon Prime’s Jack Ryan 
  • Luke Cage Season #2 
  • Iron Fist Season #2
  • The Bodyguard 
  • DC’s Titans 

My Favorite TV Show in 2018: I’m indecisive which led to me picking Bodyguard and Parks & Recreation. Bodyguard is only six episodes long which meant I finished it in a day. Richard Madden is an excellent actor. Parks & Recreation has easily become one of my all-time favorite TV shows which is surprising considering I didn’t think I would like the show initially. Shout out to the boyfriend for convincing me to watch this with him.

 Video Games I Played:

  • Lego Marvel Superheroes 
  • Uncharted Drake’s Fortune 
  • Uncharted #2 Among Thieves 
  • Uncharted #3 Drake’s Deception 
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man + the DLC

My Favorite Video Game of 2018: Marvel’s Spider-Man is the best game in 2018. I probably will end up playing through the campaign again in 2019.

Podcast I Couldn’t Stop Listening To:

Anna Faris’s Unqualified Podcast was recommended to me by my best friend. In each episode, Anna interviews a celebrity of sorts and then they take questions from fans. I prefer the questions from fans because it’s interesting hearing their life problems and hearing Anna Faris’s advice. This is the one podcast I will make sure I’m caught up on.

Catchiest Song in 2018:

I Like It by Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin has been on repeat every time I work out. Anytime this song comes through my headphones, I work out harder with whatever I’m doing.

Conventions Attended in 2018:

[image is of a woman speaking into a microphone at a table. She is wearing star earrings and has golden bracelets on her wrists]
First Panel at CONvergence 2019
[Image is a selfie of two women smiling at the camera]
Planet Comic Con: Waiting for Matthew Lewis’s Autograph

4. (Planet Comicon, CONvergence, Spring MSP Comicon and Fall MSP Comicon).

Personal Memories:

Top Three Memories in 2018:

Adopting Athena:

[Image is of a woman holding a kitty]

I’m so lucky to have this kitty in my apartment. If you follow me on Instagram, I post a cat picture often. I can’t help it, she’s too adorable. Cats are easy to take care of and it’s nice to come home from work and have Athena wait for me by the door.

Driving to Boston:

[Image is of me and my mom and the backdrop is the skyline of Boston]

My family has started a tradition of going on one major family vacation every year. This year we drove to Boston. Boston is a city I had always wanted to visit and I wasn’t disappointed. Its colonial history combined with the East Coast environment led me to fall in love with the city.

Flying to the Big Apple

[Image is of me posing in front of The Brooklyn Bridge]

I will say, that Boston has nothing on NYC. New York City was ginormous but captivating. Central Park was much bigger than I had expected it would be. Getting lost in the subway is something I will never forget, but it taught me how to navigate around. If I were to visit NYC again, I would do a lot better with knowing where to go.

My Resolution for 2019:

Spend lots of money at Universal Studios in Orlando!

Attending the Aquaman Pre-Screening

Posted in Life Lately by

Writing for Twin Cities Geek gives me the occasional perks such as seeing Taron Egerton in Robin Hood for free on Monday night. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to score Aquaman seats from Twin Cities Geek as another reviewer snagged them before I could. However, through the Warner Brothers website, I was able to score two tickets to the advanced screening show which made the boyfriend happy.

[Image is a cardboard cut out of Aquaman.]

On the day of the advanced screening, me and the boyfriend left about 3 hours early because it was a 40-minute drive in rush hour traffic. When we got there, we were surprised at how many people were camped out already. We thought we were getting there early, but not early enough. The line wrapped around the theater towards the back entrance where me and the boyfriend found the end of the line. I was a little nervous we weren’t going to make it into the theater.

For those who have never attended a pre-screening event, the tickets we had didn’t guarantee us seats. It was on a first-come, first-serve basis. This was a huge lesson learned for me if I ever attended another screening like this. The earlier you show up, the better. However, after waiting in line, I was elated to see us entering the theater and we were able to get seats right in the front row.

Since Aquaman hasn’t been released yet, I won’t say too much about the movie until others have had the chance to see it. I will say this movie is visually stunning and Jason Momoa does a great job of portraying Aquaman on the big screen. I will never forget when I met Jason Momoa and he told me this movie was going to be great and he wasn’t wrong.

My Health & Fitness Update

Posted in Life Lately by

I haven’t written a fitness update in a while. The last post I wrote was an update on the personal training sessions I had been doing at Anytime Fitness. However, I don’t have a personal trainer anymore. The boyfriend got a job working at Lifetime Fitness which comes with fantastic benefits including a free membership for me. I couldn’t justify paying for a gym membership when I was given one courtesy of my wonderful partner. Since Lifetime offers a variety of different group fitness classes, I have been leaning towards mixing it up between cycle, barbell strength classes, and occasionally yoga or barre. I enjoy the variety in my workout routine because it’s engaging, different and motivating.

Additionally, I have my new Fit Bit Versa which I’m in love with. My company puts on one heck of a holiday party complete with prizes given out for hard-working employees. The grand prizes of the night were a Fit Bit Versa, Vikings vs. Bears tickets at the new Vikings Stadium, Blake Shelton tickets, and Jingle Ball Concert Tickets. None of the prizes stood out to me besides the Fitbit Versa. I put my name in for the Versa and I had talked to my coworkers all night about how awesome it would be if I won. When they were pulling names for the prizes, my coworkers were crossing their fingers hoping I would win. When they called my name, I almost cried tears of happiness. I don’t think I ever ran so fast up to the stage to accept my prize. I was hugging my Versa and my heart was racing because I didn’t think I would win because I never win anything.

[Image is of me dressed formally. I'm smiling as I'm holding my Fitbit to the camera]
AHHH I still can’t believe I won 🙂

Initially, I had never owned a fitness device, but I had been considering purchasing one for a while. The day after my company’s party, I was experimenting with the Versa. My current home screen for my Versa features a kitty who when you walk, you feed it. If you don’t walk enough the prior day, the kitty disappears, which at the moment the kitty has disappeared because I played too much Batman Arkham Knight yesterday. If you don’t have a fitness device, I do highly recommend purchasing one.

[Image is of three women smiling. They are all dressed formally]
🙂 🙂 🙂 I do love the people I work with. 

Another update to my health, and nutrition routine is eating more vegetables. This is a HUGE struggle for me. Living on my own, I have more control over how many vegetables I eat, but because I didn’t grow up eating them, I’m picky with what I like. I have been roasting vegetables such as asparagus, sweet potato, butternut squash, broccoli, cauliflower, and green beans. This has been a game-changer for me! I’m really proud of myself for accomplishing the task of eating more vegetables.

Overall, I’m super thrilled with my health achievements this year. Notice how I never mentioned my weight in any of the above paragraphs. Weight is a number, but it isn’t the best indicator of health in general. I have never felt better in my 24 years of life and I’m making better food choices now. I would love to hear any health, nutrition, mental health, etc. changes you made this year in the comments below.

Spider-Man Fights The Maggia in Turf Wars

Posted in Gaming by

I apologize for my prior Spider-Man reviews because I kept forgetting the hyphen in Spider-Man. I believe The Modern Gafa pointed it out to me a bit ago, so when it came time to review Turf Wars, the newest DLC from Marvel’s Spider-Man on the PS4, I made sure not to forget it. It’s such a silly mistake, but I’m a human being and I’m capable of error. These new Spider-Man DLCs are intriguing and add more elements to the story and Turf Wars is no exception.

The focus of this DLC is on Spider-Man’s relationship with Yuriko (Yuri) Watanabe. I practically know nothing about characters in the Spider-Man universe, however after looking at the Marvel Wiki, I realized the game is accurate in its portrayal of her. Both Yuri’s father and grandfather served on the police force with her father being arrested for accepting bribes from the mafia. Yuri wanting to distance herself from the toxicity her father created, became a police officer dedicated to doing things the right way. I adore her relationship with Spider-Man as he’s the goofy one and she’s the serious character in their partnership.

Turf Wars, picks up with Spider-Man investigating stolen Sable International tech led by infamous criminal mastermind, Hammerhead. Yuri leads this investigation and unsurprisingly a shootout erupts. Many of Yuri’s men are killed ruthlessly which changes Yuri. Spider-Man is left to pick up the pieces of locating Hammerhead and preventing Yuri from performing an act that cannot be undone.

As always, there are side quests to do in this DLC like The Heist before it. I prefer completing these before going through the story. The bases are surprisingly difficult with the new appearance of different enemies for Spider-Man to fight. There are more of Screwball’s social media challenges which are annoying, but easy to complete.

I’ll be sad when the last DLC titled Silver Lining releases in December. I have gotten used to new content being added for this game. Eventually, I plan on playing New Game Plus which will keep me invested after I complete Silver Lining. I can’t recommend Marvel’s Spider-Man enough as it certainly is my game of 2018.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; One of My All Time Favorite Novels

Posted in Reading/Books by

CONTENT WARNING: This novel contains violent depictions of rape and sexual violence.

To unwind after an eleven hour day, I like to curl up on my sectional sofa with a fuzzy blanket and read a book. I try to end my night reading, however I end up crashing at 8:30 with my boyfriend removing the book from my hands. I’m a self proclaimed bibliophile as they’re certain books on my shelf I treasure more than others. One of these books is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

When I was a junior in high school, I enrolled in a Detective and Gothic Literature course. It was one of my favorite high school classes where I read Frankenstein, Dracula, and A Study in Scarlet. One assignment was a book report to present to the class. As you can predict, I chose The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo begins with Mikael Blomkvist, a disgraced journalist who lost a case of libel against a powerful industrialist. Immediately after the sentencing, he’s summoned to Henrik Vanger’s mansion. Vanger is a retired CEO of a successful company who originally heard of Blomkvist following his trial. Vanger says he will give Blomkvist evidence of this industrialist’s illegal activities in exchange for helping Vanger solve the murder of his niece, Harriet Vanger which occurred over 30 years ago.

Meanwhile, we have Lisbeth Salander. She’s an intelligent computer hacker who has been assigned to conduct research on Blomkvist specifically for Vanger before Blomkvist meets with him. Salander and Blomkvist become entwined when she helps Blomkvist unravel the mystery behind Harriet’s disappearance along with revealing a horrific family secret.

As I first read this book, I was disgusted by the sexual violence Salander was subjected to. It was uncomfortable to read this book while comparing how society handles sexual assault. I will never forget reading the section where Salander gets revenge on her rapist. It made me really like Salander as a character because even though hypothetically, this was not the way to seek justice, it was a relief to see her rapist get what I felt he deserved.

I was feeling inspired to write this post since I finished reading the first volume of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo graphic novel released in 2013. I’m preparing to read the second volume shortly as it’s a nice recap of the story while also showing some gritty artwork in each panel.

Before I end this post, I wanted to share a story Stieg Larsson told. When Larsson was fifteen, he witnessed three men raping a friend of his while he stood by and didn’t intervene. This moment altered him as he pled for forgiveness to his friend and they never forgave him. Let’s stop sexual violence by believing survivors when they come forward and intervening if there might be unwanted sexual activity occurring. We can all be allies to prevent sexual violence.