Author Archives: Bizarre Brunette

Best Moments from the Star Wars Prequels

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by

I have been spending more of my time reading other blogs than simply writing for my own. I find I can always come across a post that moves me in some way. This happened when I read a post written by John Siebelink titled “Why So Much Hate for the Star Wars Prequels”.  The prequels are flawed films, but underneath there are great elements of storytelling within the movies. I personally grew up with the prequels as I remember the release of The Phantom Menace. I had so many of the action figures along with Qui-Gon’s Comlink with little key cards which activated the voices of the characters. I wanted to share a few of my favorite moments from the prequels because I’m sure I’m not the only one who has fond memories of watching these movies.

Darth Maul

As a kid, I thought Darth Maul was one of the best villains I had ever seen on a movie screen. I loved the double-bladed lightsaber. Watching The Phantom Menace again I realize one huge flaw in the movie was not utilizing Darth Maul. It would have been neat if Obi-Wan in the Revenge of the Sith would have had an epic lightsaber battle to finally avenge Qui-Gon’s death. The fact that Maul appears in Solo: A Star Wars Story has me hyped for the future of other Star Wars films.

The Flaws of the Jedi

The Jedi are seen as these tremendous leaders whose ultimate goal is world peace however, they’re incredibly flawed in their logic. Not allowing their disciples to love is what led Anakin astray. He only wanted to save Padme which is how the Emperor was finally able to turn Anakin into his personal killing machine. If the Jedi were able to see how love can really strengthen someone’s resolve maybe Anakin could have still been a Jedi.

Also when Mace Windu has Emperor Palpatine pinned down and is planning on killing him, Anakin sees the hypocrisy of the Jedi’s teachings. Jedi claim they’re “good” and are on the “light side of the force” yet Mace Windu is willing to make an exception for killing Palpatine. As a kid I always thought the Jedi were the “good guys”, but after re-watching the prequels when I was older, I realized how the Jedi are flawed heroes.

Battle of Geonosis in Attack of the Clones

Another one of my favorite sequences in the prequels is the arena battle sequence in Attack of the Clones. When Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padme are tied to the poles, Padme is the first one to escape. Watching this as a kid, I saw Natalie Portman hold her own against the two main male characters in the story. She knows how to use a blaster and doesn’t need Anakin’s help to save her. Padme (even though her character arc is poorly written) was still one of the first female science fiction characters I was exposed to.

Battle on Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith

I will say this fight sequence between Anakin & Obi-Wan is hands down one of the best lightsaber duels in the prequels. I still cannot believe Obi-Wan lets Anakin burn to death because again isn’t he a Jedi who represents the good in the force, but no let’s leave your former student to burn alive. I also get chills as I watch this scene with the score that goes along with it. The music amps up the battle between these former Jedi.

The prequels are flawed films with some redeeming scenes in them. Part of my childhood was spent watching these movies so I can’t fully hate them like other Star Wars fans can. I’m interested to see what your favorite prequel scenes are.

Boston Comic Haul

Posted in Reading/Books by

As promised, I said I would also write a blog post detailing all the comics I purchased in Boston. It’s wild to think that my trip to Boston was already a month ago, time is flying by quick! While I was in Boston, I received a recommendation to visit the comic book store Comicopia. Boston has a couple different comic shops including Newbury Comics which has several locations in the city. Comicopia was terrific because it was on the west side of Boston near this beautiful colonial neighborhood. I was also impressed by their selection in this small shop. Almost all of the comics I bought were written by local creators in the New England area. Here is my extensive haul from the store:

[Image shows a sign on the left of a white brick building. It says Comicopia. There's a rainbow flag in the window. There's a wooden door with a black awning. Comicopia is a comic book store]

Siren School by Isabella Rothman

This is probably my favorite comic I bought and read. It’s a cute feminist comic about female sirens teaching young sirens to lure men to their deaths. Instead of saying sexual stuff though, they say things like “I know I can’t play video games” and other quotes appealing to the man’s ego. Definitely gave me some laughs in only a couple short pages.

Kitties by Greg Steele

This comic wasn’t a story, it was just an art collage of cute and chubby kitties wearing superhero costumes. Something I didn’t really know I needed until I saw it.

Good Morning Gorgon by Ben Doane and Olivia Li

[Image features a comic book cover. It shows a Gorgon (Medusa) like creature at a grocery store with her snake babies grabbing groceries off the shelf.]

The premise is simple, a Gorgon mom is shopping for all of her snakehead babies. Not much more to say than that.

The BackStagers Volume #1 by James Tynion IV, Rian Sygh and Walter Baiamonte

[Image is a graphic novel cover. The cover shows five characters on a stage set. The title says "The Backstagers Volume One"]

This graphic novel was included in HideNGoShauna’s post about graphic novels for Pride Month. The book is currently on my coffee table to remind me to read it, especially in the month of June.

Local comics are my favorite to read because there are some talented creators who aren’t getting the recognition they deserve. When you visit your comic book store, go straight for the locals section. If there isn’t one, work to change that. If you’re only reading DC or Marvel, you’re missing out on so many great comics. Support your local comic book community! 🙂

Toxicity of Star Wars Fans

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[Image is a selfie of me and my mom in a car. I'm wearing my Rogue One t-shirt]
Rogue One is my favorite Star Wars movie btw.

I want to start this post off by saying: Not All Star Wars fans 🙂  I wanted to address the darker side of the Star Wars fandom after I decided to scroll through Rian Johnson’s Twitter account. He will make a tweet unrelated to Star Wars, yet fans will still harass him about The Last Jedi. I’m in agreement with fans in the sense that I had my issues with The Last Jedi, but I don’t think The Last Jedi is on the same level as the prequels. Star Wars is one of the fandoms I’m a part of where there’s this underlying toxicity and hatred within the fandom.

Kelly Marie Tran who plays Rose in The Last Jedi is one of my favorite human beings. I followed her on Instagram to see posts from a celebrity who was down to earth and let her followers know how real she seems. Unfortunately, fans have decided to comment on her posts and harass her about her role in the franchise. This harassment led to Kelly Marie Tran deleting her Instagram account.  This is not okay and as Star Wars fans, we should be better than this.

Let’s get one thing straight: the fans do not own Star Wars. Star Wars is operated by LucasFilm and Kathleen Kennedy. Therefore, you have no right as a fan to protest whether or not The Last Jedi should be canon or not. It is a movie recognized by the Star Wars franchise and frankly, if you truly hate where Star Wars is going, then stop watching. I think we would all hold the door open for you as you leave.

Finally, I wanted to express how annoyed I am when fans say they don’t like the new movies because of “forced diversity”.!! Diversity allows every single culture to be represented on our movie screen. It’s time for a change in our Star Wars movies to see a broad mix of different characters.

Star Wars is a fandom I appreciate, but it’s certainly not my number #1 franchise I’m into. If you see this toxicity in your Star Wars fan groups, point it out. This behavior is unacceptable and Kelly Marie Tran deserves better than this.

AFTERGLOW: My First Backed Kickstarter

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[Image is a graphic novel cover titled After Glow. It shows a woman with blue hair in space buns riding on top of a gigantic gray cat]
Image from the AFTERGLOW campaign. 

I’m super excited to share with you all the first Kickstarter campaign I have ever backed! Sometimes I scroll through Kickstarter browsing through different campaigns, but I have never felt compelled to pull out my credit card and back a project. This changed when I clicked on the campaign for the graphic novel AFTERGLOW. I was drawn to the pastel artwork, the characters, and the overall storyline. It’s close to being funded even though the campaign is going to run for twenty more days. Join me in funding this graphic novel!

AFTERGLOW is told after The Glowing destroyed 80% of the population. The wildlife was impacted including animals being mutated along with water being contaminated. Lacey is one of the survivors in this new world along with her radioactive cat. Yes, you heard me right she is riding on a radioactive cat. Not going to lie the radioactive cat did draw me into this graphic novel because I will forever be a cat lady. So basically this gigantic house cat and Lacey go on adventures together.

AFTERGlOW is created by K. Lynn Smith. She is the author of the webcomic, Plume. I haven’t read Plume yet, but I do have the website bookmarked under my webcomics folder. Pat Shand is the other brilliant mind behind AFTERGLOW and someone I’m less familiar with.

As far as the rewards, they’re pretty typical for any Kickstarter campaign. The more you pay, the more you unlock such as exclusive artwork, bookmarks, buttons, bumper stickers, and more. I personally only need the physical trade paperback so I didn’t pledge for any of the extra stuff, but if you’re a collector that might be worth it for you.

I have no doubt that this project will be backed considering they are less than $500 away from their funding goal. You can go check out the official Kickstarter campaign here: AFTERGLOW – Graphic Novel I have never been more excited for a graphic novel to ship to me!

Boston Book Haul

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Every time I travel to a new city I look for smaller stores to shop at. Boston has plenty of comic book stores, bookstores, and smaller boutiques. Specifically, I visited Brattle Book Shop and Comicopia which by the way if you’re ever in Boston, Comicopia is the best comic book store on the East Coast. I bought plenty of books & comics to last me a while. Since my post was starting to get a little long, I’m going to do two separate posts one for my books and one for my comics. Here were the books I purchased at this classic outdoor bookstore.

[Image features art work on the side of a building. There's a black and white art of variosu famous authors. The wall below that is painted with shelves and books on the shelves.]
[Image features book ends with various titles and authors]

Brattle Bookshop is one of the oldest bookstores in the U.S. When the weather is nice, books are displayed on racks and on the shelves in the above two pictures. There were huge shelves with one of those old-fashioned library ladders. There were two full floors of books and on the third floor were rare books. I didn’t purchase any rare books because some sets were close to $200 or more. The prices from this shop are incredibly fair as you can see that there are $1, $3, and $5 books outside. Here are my finds from Brattle Books:

Madhouse by Rob Thurman

[Image shows a book titled "Madhouse by Rob Thurman]

This is one of the books I found on the $1 book rack. This book is the third book in the Cal Leandros series which I had never heard. Cal and Neko are half-human brothers who run their own paranormal detective agency in the Big Apple. A malevolent evil being is murdering humans at an alarming rate so Cal and Neko must kill it. Seems similar to the Dresden series which I like.

The Night Manager by John Le Carre

[Image is a book titled The Night Manager by John Le Carre]

I’m a big fan of Tom Hiddleston’s role in the TV adaptation of this book. I have heard that the TV adaptation is better than the book, but I want to read the book and then re-watch The Night Manager. The Night Manager tells the story of Jonathon Pine working as a night manager at a prestigious hotel. When his former lover is brutally murdered at the hands of Richard Roper, a prominent man who cannot be touched by MI6, Pine goes undercover into Roper’s operations to bring justice to his fallen lover. I believe the Night Manager TV series is six episodes long and is on Amazon Prime.

Serpents in the Cold by Thomas O’Malley

[Image is a book cover titled Serpents In the Cold by Thomas O'Malley]

This mystery book takes place in 1950’s Boston where a serial killer is on the prowl for the next victim. Mystery is my second favorite genre to read from because I enjoy the suspense leading up to uncovering the truth. After I finish a mystery book, I always feel like I’m on cloud nine because of knowing how the book ends which I didn’t know a couple hours before finishing the book.

H.P. Lovecraft’s Dunwich Horror

[Image is a graphic novel titled H.P. Lovecraft's The Dunwich Horror]

One of my favorite board games is Arkham Horror which is based on H.P. Lovecraft’s horror stories. This is a graphic novel take on some of his classic stories. Lovecraft’s stories are intriguing, but since they were written in the early 1900s, the language used can be dull and hard to interpret at times. This graphic novel makes that easier.

Griff by Christopher Moore and Ian Corson

[Image is a comic book cover for The Griff by Christopher Moore and Ian Corson]

My final purchase is this graphic novel for a decent price. I read the reviews for this graphic novel and apparently, other comic fans are saying it’s mediocre. I guess I will form my own opinion. The book takes place in NYC where an alien invasion is occurring. A couple New Yorkers are destined to fight back and take back their favorite city.

My book pile is growing bigger which is how I like it. I always like to have something new to read. My comic post will be posted soon enough because there’s a lot of cool stuff I bought I wanted to share. Also, I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Memorial Day. Let’s be thankful for Veterans who have fought for so much to give us the rights we have.

Solo: A Star Wars Adventure

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[Image is a Solo movie poster. It shows several characters, including Han with his blaster. The Millenium Falcon is at the bottom]

It seems that Solo: A Star Wars Story movie had a lot of drama behind the scenes. This includes firing the original directors and hiring an acting coach for Alden Ehrenreich. In the second link, Alden does address the acting coach rumors and says, “It was blown way out of proportion.” Spontaneously my friend bought tickets for me and the boyfriend to attend the showing yesterday. I must admit, it’s not my favorite Star Wars movie, but it’s much better than I was anticipating.

SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT 😀

 

Han Solo’s story begins on the planet of Corellia which is a horrendous planet. Solo (played by Alden Ehrenreich) is attempting to leave with his lover Qi’ra (played by Emilia Clarke) when he escapes and unfortunately, Qi’ra does not. Flash forward three years and Han is kicked out of the Imperial Academy and is connected with Chewie, Tobias Beckett (played by Woody Harrelson), and Qi’ra who he hasn’t seen in years. Of course, Lando (played by Donald Glover) is introduced and basically, the group of them fly the Millennium Falcon completing a bounty for Dryden Vos (played by Paul Bettany) who leads the Crimson Dawn criminal syndicate.

As far as Alden’s portrayal of Han Solo, I personally didn’t mind it. I thought Alden was dominant, feisty, and sarcastic which makes up Han Solo. I think with all of the hype for this movie, I believe Alden delivered.

I was skeptical about the casting of Woody Harrelson. He’s not a bad actor, but usually, the Star Wars franchise doesn’t include “huge actors”. I was afraid by watching the movie I would get distracted by Woody because of his notable roles. That wasn’t the case. I enjoyed his character and he teaches Han the crucial lesson of “Don’t Trust Anyone”.

If you’re still reading, there will be a MAJOR spoiler in the following paragraphs. Please stop reading if you haven’t seen the movie.

One of the biggest reactions to this movie is a surprise cameo. Qi’ra has just killed Vos and you see her steal his ring. She plugs it into this desk and is talking to Vos’s boss. I’m assuming this is going to be Supreme Leader Snoke maybe? It would help with developing his backstory as a villain. Instead, the cameo is none other than. . . Darth Maul!!!!

Darth Maul is a terrifying villain and it’s a shame he was killed so early on in The Phantom Menace. I know that Maul exists in Star Wars comics, I even read a Darth Maul book in the extended universe. I just wasn’t expecting him to appear in the movie. Literally, my mouth dropped and was open for his entire scene. I’m still shocked.

My biggest complaint thus far with the film is that Thandiwe Newton’s character dies in the first 20 minutes. What’s the point of even bringing her on board for the movie if you kill her so quickly? Seems silly to me.

Solo: A Star Wars Story was not a train wreck which is a nice surprise. The movie may have its flaws, but it’s ultimately a fun movie to see in the theater. I’m interested to see how things pan out in future movies, especially with the fun cameo I mentioned a couple paragraphs above. I’m always interested to hear what readers have to say, so leave a comment below. Please also be respectful of spoilers as it is the opening weekend for the movie.

Boston… Take Me Back

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This past week I was in Boston for a family vacation with my mom, brother, and the boyfriend. We drove all 22 hours to get there and 22 hours back. In fact this past Thursday we drove 17.5 hours in one day which I don’t recommend. This trip to Boston is special to me because out of all the places I have visited, Boston is the one city I would love to move to. I’m going to share some pictures of my adventure along with why I adored Boston.

Sunday, May 13th

Technically we arrived in Boston on Saturday night at around 8:00 PM. After drinking a pint at a restaurant downtown, we decided to walk around downtown Boston near the Boston Commons. Boston Commons is Boston’s version of Central Park in NYC. Right on Boylston Street is this Edgar Allen Poe statue. There’s his raven and on the back of the raven is a heart from the “Tell-Tale Heart” short story. I’m a huge fan of Gothic literature so I did indeed take a selfie with Edgar Allen Poe.

[Image is the Edgar Allen Poe statue in Boston]

On Sunday, May 13th, me and my family did some more exploring. After walking through the Boston Commons in daylight, we walked to Beacon Hill. This neighborhood is so serene and architecturally stunning. Every building has a New England feel to it. My dream house would probably be somewhere in this neighborhood.

[Image is of a house. The house has red bricks, white pillars. It looks like a colonial house]

After exploring Beacon Hill, we headed over to Quincy Market. Quincy Market is an indoor Farmer’s market with a variety of different restaurants. All the food smelled so good.

My coworker recommended to me that we explore the North End of Boston. Paul Revere’s house and statue are located here. The North End of Boston is also well known as being the Italian district with many different Italian restaurants to choose from. I was surprised walking around this area how many restaurants there were! We passed at least ten different restaurants before settling on the one we picked. There was a balcony with some flowers to provide a nice ambiance. I ordered butternut squash ravioli and it was delicious. Sunday was also Mother’s Day so the boyfriend snapped a picture of me and my mom enjoying our wine. Like mother like daughter, right?  331332333341

This is the Boston skyline from Boston Commons. As you can see, we lucked out with how gorgeous the weather was. It was sunny which is something I longed for after surviving yet another Minnesota winter.

Monday, May 14th

The bookworm in me was thrilled to see that there was an outdoor bookshop in downtown Boston. Brattle Books is one of America’s oldest bookstores in the country <  I didn’t know this while we were there. If I’m ever near Boston again, I will stop here for more books.

[Image shows a huge alley. In the alley are several gray book carts with various books on them.]

Boston is a city known for all of the US history. We stopped by the Boston Tea Party Museum (which I didn’t pay to tour) along with the U.S.S Constitution. This naval ship shown in the picture below is the oldest ship still in the water. The boyfriend was really excited to see this in person. However, the museum was actually closed on Monday which stinks, so we could only see this from the outside.

[Image shows the Boston skyling along with a huge ship with three big pillars on it]

The view from the Boston Harbor is breathtaking. You can see the whole city in its entirety and look at how blue the water looks. This picture is probably my favorite picture I took on this trip because it demonstrates how beautiful Boston is.

[Image is of the Boston skyline. The water is blue, the trees are really green. There's a boat in the water passing by]

Typical couple picture in front of the Boston skyline because why not?

[Image is of me and the boyfriend in front of the skyline]

Me and my mom are on the same page with our love of Boston. As you can see she’s wearing a Patriots long-sleeve shirt.

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

Tuesday, May 15th

At my mom’s request, we walked from our hotel all the way to Fenway Park. If there’s any sport that I truly love to watch, it’s baseball. When I think of an ideal summer day it would include watching the Minnesota Twins at Target field with a beer in my hand and socializing with friends. Fenway Park is a really nice baseball stadium and I like how many restaurants surround this field. Unfortunately, we were unable to see a baseball game, but that’s on my bucket list for my next trip to this city.

[Image is Fenway Park with several flags indicating significant years for the Boston Red Socks]

Our final activity was to see the Skywalk Observatory. It’s located near this upscale hotel and you have to pay $20 to go up there, but it’s worth it. You get an incredible view of the entire city. It’s also not too packed up there so you have room to walk around and take plenty of pictures. This was another tourist activity I recommend doing while visiting Boston.

[Image of the Boston Skyline]
[Another image of the Boston Skyline, but includes Fenway Park]
[Selfie taken at the top of the Observatory]

Overall, Boston is my favorite trip I have taken so far. Another thing I learned from this trip is that this was a long drive. 22 hours is a long drive one way. I’m not sure if I would want to do another road trip that long of a distance again. I found myself growing impatient and slightly uncomfortable from sitting in the car for many hours. I’m proud to say that I drove all the way out there. It’s a cool achievement.

Do you live in Boston? I would love to know what other cool things I missed out on. Leave a comment below!

Netflix’s Thrilling Show; Mindhunter

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by

Me and the boyfriend have made regular plans to watch a series together. After just coming off of Parks and Recreation, it was my turn to pick the next show to watch. I had seen Mindhunter on Netflix and it attracted my interest. DePepi wrote about Mindhunter on her blog and described it as “witty, harsh, and intriguing”. The boyfriend was all for watching this show. By the end, he was disappointed as there was only one season. Mindhunter has been picked up for season #2 and I know me and the boyfriend will be anxiously awaiting its release date.

SPOILERS AHEAD OF COURSE 😀

[Image is a black and white poster for Mind Hunter. It shows three people and the reflection shows a car in an alley]

Mindhunter gets its inspiration from a book written by FBI agent John E. Douglas. Douglas has interviewed Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy, Richard Speck, and more psychotic individuals. Thomas Harris based his character Jack Crawford off of John Douglas (the author who wrote the Hannibal book series). I haven’t personally read the book myself, but it might be a book I may be interested in.

Mindhunter takes place in the 70s when Charles Manson’s recent crimes shocked the United States. FBI Agent Holden Ford (played brilliantly by Jonathon Groff), admires from afar as to why the killers do what they do. He wants to understand these violent criminals to help prevent the crimes from happening in the first place. When he brings this idea of criminal profiling to his director, his director rebuffs him saying the FBI is only meant to solve the crimes when they happen. Holden is eventually paired with special agent Bill Tench (played by Holt McCallany) whose job is to reel Holden in before he does something he regrets.

The drama from the show stems from Holden Ford’s actions. In one such episode, he secures a confession from a man who rapes and kills a 12-year-old girl. As Holden interrogates him, he appeals to his mind by talking about how the 12-year-old looks older and how fresh her vagina is < not even joking this was how he secures this confession. His mode of questioning works, but at what cost. Holden is an FBI agent can he really talk this way while representing the federal government?

David Fincher is an executive producer on this show which probably explains why I enjoyed it so much. Fincher is a miraculous director and has directed some of my favorite movies (Se7en, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo adaptation, Gone Girl, and Fight Club). 

To be honest with you, this show starts off slow. Me and the boyfriend were three episodes in when we contemplated starting another show. Once you watch the episodes, they get more intriguing as Holden discovers more cases to get involved with. The season ends with a cliffhanger as Holden appears to be having an extreme panic attack after visiting with Ed Kemper and scenes showing the BTK killer in Kansas.

I encourage you to give Mindhunter a chance. It starts slow, but the pace picks up leaving me and the boyfriend wanting more to watch. If you have ever been a fan of Criminal Minds, think of this as a prequel to that show. Without the impact of Mindhunter, Criminal Minds wouldn’t have ever existed.

Road Trip Tips & Tricks

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So you want to go on a road trip? I prefer driving versus flying unless, of course, I’m traveling to another continent. In less than two weeks, my family & the boyfriend are driving all the way to Boston and I couldn’t be more thrilled. I find with driving you can experience so much more of what the U.S. has to offer versus flying past all of the cute small towns or lush forests along the way. I wanted to give a couple road trip tips I learned to help create a smooth driving experience with friends or family.

Dress Comfortably for the Drive

I never drive in jeans because I want to be comfy if I have to be in the car for 10+ hours. I personally love driving in activewear because it’s soft and doesn’t cling to you in hot weather. Activewear is the way to go for driving long distances. Also wearing sneakers versus flip-flops is a must! It’s unsafe to drive in flip-flops because it doubles the amount of time to move your foot from the accelerator to the brake. Please wear sneakers 🙂

Pack Sunglasses or a Hat to Protect your Eyes

[Image is a picture of a couple taking a selfie. It appears they on a pier near a lake]
Racine, Wisconsin. Can you tell I forgot sunglasses?

^^^ This will make your road trip pictures look better if you’re not squinting against the sun.

Plan out your trip, but leave room for spontaneity

[Image is in front of a Superman statue. Superman has his hands on his hips. The statue is tall! A woman is in front of the statue doing a similar pose to Superman]
Metropolis, IL

Figure out museums, parks, and other attractions you must visit, but leave some room on the road trip for stops along the way. When I was driving through Illinois to get to Kentucky, we found the city with the largest Superman statue + museum. There was a sign alerting us to it so we pulled off and took many photos outside the museum and with the statue. It makes the road trip more memorable if there are stops that you weren’t originally planning for.

Have an emergency fund.

Include at least $400 for an extra hotel room, car repairs, or medical emergencies. In June 2015, me and my friend drove to a music festival in Michigan. When we were pulling into the campgrounds, my car shut off and wouldn’t turn on. We were able to gather at least ten people to push my car off to the side so I could call for a tow. This event unfortunately put a damper on our vacation because we weren’t sure how to get home and we didn’t have the $$$ for major car repairs. Thankfully it all worked out, but it could have been much worse.

Set a budget!!

How much will you spend in a day? How much are you planning for the trip? This is crucial to ensure that traveling doesn’t break the bank. Also when you think of purchasing a souvenir, actually ask yourself “Do I really need this?” Sometimes if we truly evaluate our purchases before impulsively pulling out our credit card, we can make the right decision and not regret it later.

I hope these tips are helpful, but ultimately you will come up with your own road trip tips when you experience the pleasure of driving from point A to point B. Also if you’re from the East Coast please give me recommendations of things to see. I have never been out to this part of the U.S. so I need all the help I can get.

The Avengers; how much this movie means to me.

Posted in Reading/Books by

This past week I watched The Avengers with my boyfriend to prepare for Infinity War. This movie has a special place in my heart because it helped me get into reading comics. I remember sitting in the theater being a senior in high school and preparing to go off to college that fall. I watched this movie and I was entranced by all of the characters with their backstories and how they worked together. I wanted to dedicate a full post as to how much this movie meant to me and how re-watching it gave me all the feelings.

As I mentioned, I was a senior in high school when this movie was released. Reflecting back to that time in my life, I was insecure. Insecure about my looks, my body, and who I was as a person. My uncle persuaded me, my brother, and my mom, to go to the theaters to watch this movie.

Everyone probably has their favorite Avenger. Most would say Iron Man or Captain America, but my favorite was Hawkeye. I had an obsession with Jeremy Renner for a couple years after the release of The Avengers. I still have two Jeremy Renner Hawkeye posters in my old bedroom at my mom’s house. Hawkeye is an ordinary human being who is forced into this alien invasion by Loki. He’s also the Avenger who I think is given the most crap because he uses a bow. However, his hand-to-hand combat skills are lethal especially when he’s paired with the Black Widow.

Also, can I just say one of the very first OTPs I had was Black Widow and Hawkeye. I have always wanted to know what the hell happened in Budapest!?!?!?!. I was shocked when Black Widow was paired with Hulk because it seemed odd to me. I feel bad for Hawkeye because I felt he really didn’t get the attention that he deserves in the Marvel universe and I know other fans agree with me.

I didn’t visit a comic book store until the summer of 2013 when I brought my ex-boyfriend to Mead Hall Comics & Games in Minneapolis. I bought a few single issues without really knowing what I was looking for. Now, I buy mostly trades because it’s difficult for me to keep up with single-issue comics. I wouldn’t have even started buying comics if it wasn’t for seeing The Avengers in the theaters.

To wrap up this post, I wanted to say how The Avengers has really transformed me into the geek girl I am today. It helped broaden my interests and put me deep into the Marvel Comics fandom. I’m excited to see where Marvel movies will head and I’m looking forward to reading more superhero comics and enjoying free comic book day this year.

[Image is The Avengers movie cover. It shows from left to right: Hawkeye, Hulk, Iron Man, Nick Fury, Black Widow, Captain America and Thor in the middle of NYC during the alien invasion]