Author Archives: Bizarre Brunette

Dice Rolling & Deck Building; Star Wars Destiny

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My tabletop gaming consists of cooperative gameplay, but not deck-building games. I dislike the complexity of deck-building games. When I play Magic the Gathering some of the cards are difficult to understand and it leaves me feeling frustrated. A couple weeks ago my friend invited me to the Star Wars Destiny card game release at my local game store. I cannot recommend this card game enough and I had a blast playing multiple games in a row with friends. This weekend I am teaching my brother how to play this game because I am trying to get as many people introduced to Star Wars Destiny as possible.

[Image shows 6 dice, three dice in 2 rows. Below the dice is a card deck. The top card says "Darth Vader / Dark Apprentice. This card features a young Anakin Skywalker before he becomes Darth Vader]

Star Wars Destiny offers two starter decks: Rey or Kylo Ren. I wasn’t able to buy either of these because my game store ran out of starter decks. I bought a bunch of booster packs and a couple of people gave me cards to help me build a deck, but it does help to buy a starter deck first. I pulled Anakin Skywalker and he is super powerful in this game so I ended up building a Sith deck.

Star Wars Destiny allows players to roll dice to simulate attacks with characters and activate special abilities. When I roll Anakin’s die, I have a couple outcomes including a lightsaber attack, his special ability, and a blank. If I don’t like the roll, I can discard a card out of my hand to re-roll all my dice. I have essentially one action per turn so if I choose to tap Anakin to roll his dice, that’s the end of my turn. On my next turn, I could play a card or use one of the dice on my opponent.

It sounds confusing, but once you play a few rounds you catch on pretty quick. There was one game where I kept rolling Anakin’s ability 5 or 6 times in a row and I ended up winning that game. I also heard that Star Wars Destiny will include Rogue One characters and I will hopefully have that pre-ordered because Jyn Erso is one of my favorite Star Wars characters. I’d love to build a deck around her.

Star Wars Destiny is probably my favorite tabletop game I have played this year. Local game stores should have more information about this game if you’re interested in getting started. Otherwise, you can find more information about Star Wars Destiny here: Fantasy Flight Games/Star Wars Destiny.

Easter + College Graduation!

Posted in Life Lately by

I just got back from celebrating Easter with the boyfriend’s family. The boyfriend’s family lives near Milwaukee which is about a 4-hour drive from our college campus. Besides Easter, there is a lot of other life stuff that happened so I’m going to throw that into this blog post too.

First off, this past week I finished my internship hours for college! I am all set to walk in the next three weeks. I am anxiously awaiting graduation and a little afraid of the unknown. I have been applying for jobs because I need to make money, but I’m also going on a road trip with my family in June. I’m looking forward to the road trip while also enjoying moving back to the Twin Cities area.

As far as Easter, me and the boyfriend took a day trip to Racine, Wisconsin. Racine is right by Lake Michigan and downtown Racine had a bunch of cool art galleries, boutiques, and smaller cafes. We also went to this restaurant that’s right on Lake Michigan for beer and food.

I can’t believe I’m graduating from college soon!! The countdown has begun.

[Image shows two scoops of Gelato in a blue and white striped bowl.]
Cookies & Cream + Espresso flavored Gelato! 
[Image shows a sandy beach with a great lake that you can't see across.]
Take a trip to the Great Lakes sometime, you won’t regret it. 
[Photo of me and the boyfriend. I'm not wearing sunglasses, so I'm squinting while the boyfriend is wearing sun glasses]
Lesson Learned after 22 years: Always wear sunglasses. 

The Tabletop Gamer Tag

Posted in Gaming by

I found this tag from a blog I follow, It’s More Than Just Gaming. I have been playing more board games recently, so I thought it would be fun to complete this tag.

Favorite Type of Table Top Game

Cooperative is my favorite. I like being able to pick a character and go through the game together. Some great cooperative games include Arkham Horror, Pandemic, and Letters from White Chapel. 

Favorite Game

[Picture shows two people. My boyfriend on the left and my brother on the right. My brother is showing my boyfriend how to play a board game. There's a board out in front of us with several pawns on the board. There are rules off to the left on the table]
Left to right: The boyfriend and my brother playing Arkham Horror. My 21st B-Day Summer 2015

Arkham Horror is my all-time favorite board game. I have mentioned this game every chance I get, but I love it that much. This picture that I posted above is of my boyfriend and my brother playing this game on our screened-in porch. This was one of my favorite memories from that summer.

What game have you played the most?

Without a question Arkham Horror. 

What game do you want to add to your shelf?

[Image shows two card decks. One has "Mr. Grumpers" which features a cat on it similar to Grumpy Cat. The right deck says "Secret Agent" and has two women seated next to a man in a tuxedo"
Smash Up at River Quest

Smash Up is a game I definitely should purchase for my own collection. I love the cat deck obviously, but I also need the expansions too. It’s easy to learn and goes by quick. Arkham Horror can take 5-6 hours which I am not always in the mood for.

Favorite Game to Share with Non-Gamers?

[Image is a board of the board game Shadow Hunters. It shows a swirl pattern where the pawns are moving towards the middle. There are three piles on the board "discard, hermit and black discard"

Shadow Hunters is a great game for beginners. This game also goes by pretty quick and it’s easier to learn too.

Well-Known Game you haven’t played?

I still have yet to play Munchkin! 

Show off your Game Shelf!

Unfortunately, I don’t have a game shelf. My room at my house at the moment is so small that my games are piled in the most random places. Instead of showing off my shelf, I’m going to show off some board game pictures I took. I tend to take a lot of pictures while playing board games because I like to upload them to my blog and it reminds me of memories while playing the game.

[Image is of a card from the board game shadow hunters. The name of the woman on the card is Ellen and she is listed as a hunter. Ellen has a long braid down her back.]

Playing Shadow Hunters at my uncle’s house. My brother owns this game so it wouldn’t appear on my gaming shelf. This is a hunter card and she tries to hunt the demons and other such creatures. Isn’t the artwork super pretty though?

[Image shows plastic cats in orange, white and black laying on a table]

Here Kitty Kitty is another quick game about collecting cats. At the end of the game, you earn points based on what type of kitties you collect or what cards you have at the end of the game. It was a fun random night of gaming at River Quest. 

[Image shows a board game placed on stone. It shows a board with the deck "Eve The Illusionist" on it]

My last photo is from playing Red Dragon Inn 2 outside. Me, the boyfriend and my friend played this game outdoors.

I linked the tag at the beginning paragraph, so feel free to complete it if you’re interested!

Dietland & Discussions about Harmful Diet Culture

Posted in Reading/Books by
[Image is a book cover. It says "Dietland" in white font. In the middle, it features a cupcake with a top of a grenade on it. The author's name is at the bottom where it says Sarai Walker"

CW: Fatphobia, Dieting.

Weight loss products are everywhere. On average, we spend 20 billion dollars per year on weight loss products. The way we market weight loss is destructive to mental health, physical health, and financial wellness. I was convinced the key to happiness was being smaller, but even though I have my insecurities, I generally like how I look. Dietland is an honest depiction of what it’s like to wander NYC and to be fat. This book wasn’t what I had expected, but I still think it’s worth a read because it’s eye-opening to how we treat people who aren’t skinny.

Dietland depicts the daily struggles of Plum Kettle. She hides her appearance behind baggy clothes and is quiet. She is dreaming of her weight loss surgery that will turn her into “Alicia”. Alicia is the skinny, beautiful woman who gets dates all the time and probably has a handsome boyfriend. Plum gets connected with feminist icons who teach her what beauty truly means and how to accept yourself.

That seems so corny, but I love how Plum develops throughout the book. She becomes such a badass in the end. She’s confident and proud of her body and I think a lot of women including myself struggle daily with this concept. It sickens me that as a culture we have become so mean. Many of us often assume someone’s health status based on their size when that’s frankly none of our business.

Steering this post back to harmful diet culture, the diet industry tries to make people (men are included in this discussion too) feel bad about themselves so they purchase these products that may not even be healthy anyway! Our bodies aren’t designed to lose weight quickly. Under my ACSM (American College of Sport’s Medicine) Certified Personal Training Certification, it’s healthy to lose 1-2 lbs. per week. These products are saying 5-10 lbs. in a week… it’s not reliable or safe.

To end this post, put Dietland on your bookshelf and be kind to each other. Don’t assume someone’s health status and be proud of the natural beauty that we all radiate.

Iron Fist (2017)

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by

Welcome to my second post on a new category I like to call, “Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches” In this series, I will discuss the latest TV show, movie, podcast, or other media content that I finished watching. I just finished watching Iron Fist which has had a lot of Marvel fans talking and posting online.

Iron Fist centers around Danny Rand (played by Finn Jones) who becomes a trained warrior titled the Iron Fist after his parent’s plane crash in the Himalayas. After 15 years he returns to modern New York and is quickly shocked to find that the Hand (the terrorist organization that is the sworn enemy of the Iron Fist) has infiltrated Rand Enterprises/Danny’s company. The show tells Danny’s story as he takes back his company and uncovers what happened to his parents.

To make this post easier to read, I decided to put bullet points for my initial thoughts on the show. Another reminder that there will be spoilers after this paragraph. 

  • Finn Jones did an okay job being Iron Fist, but I think it would have been really cool if Marvel added diversity to the cast of the Defenders and cast an Asian American actor.
  • Ward Meachum is a jerk in the beginning.
  • Wow, Faramir is a bad guy and is portraying an evil dad, how ironic.
  • Iron Fist does a better job explaining the back story of the Hand than Daredevil Season #2.
  • I was shocked that Colleen ended up being a part of the Hand, I wasn’t expecting that. It goes to show how you can be so devoted to a cause without really understanding what you pledged yourself to.
  • Iron Fist goes at a slower pace than the other Marvel Netflix shows
  • Colleen Wing was my favorite character in the show along with Ward Meachum.
  • I felt bad for Joy Meachum because I feel she didn’t get the character development that she deserved.
  • This show isn’t mediocre because of Donald Trump’s presidency (Finn Jones blamed the show for being bad because of Trump being elected as president)

As for ranking the Marvel Netflix superheroes, Iron Fist is my least favorite. I don’t think the show was horrible like other reviewers stated, but it definitely has its weak moments. I will say that I was disappointed because I had high hopes for the show. I’m still excited for the Defenders, but if Iron Fist does receive a second season, I hope it will be better in quality.

Throwback to the 80’s; Paper Girls Volume 1 & 2

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I have recently been reading a lot of Image graphic novels lately. One such comic that I’m loving right now is Papergirls. The references to the ’80s, pterodactyl-like creatures flying around Cleveland, and female teenagers being the protagonists in an alien invasion make Papergirls a must-read for 2017.

[Image is a cover of a graphic novel titled Paper Girls 1] It features four female teenagers, one on the left is smoking. The one on the left is also on her bike]

Papergirls follows Erin Tieng waking up in the early hours of the morning to deliver newspapers. After being harassed by some local boys, she is defended by Mackenzie, KJ, and Tiffany. The quartet notices some strange occurrences including locating an alien capsule, ninjas from outer space and flying pterodactyl-like creatures. These four are the only hope that Cleveland has in preventing the destruction of planet Earth.

I will purchase any comic with mostly all female characters. Zodiac Starforce, Rat Queens, and now Papergirls have all-starred female ensembles. I can’t choose a favorite character because they all add to the story and further the adventure.

Papergirls was such a fun graphic novel and I can’t wait to read the third volume.

My Health Goals

Posted in Life Lately by

Happy First Day of Spring! It was 61 degrees on my ride home from work in the late afternoon and it was a nice change of pace. I feel on cloud nine from this wonderful day outside. As I was contemplating what to blog about I realized that I don’t write about health or wellness on this blog. Usually, I write about comics and books, video games, and general posts about my life. Today I wanted to write something a little different and share my health goals.

Eat More Vegetables

I eat plenty of fruit in a day, but veggies? Not so much. I love red bell pepper, carrots, and broccoli yet I don’t cook enough with veggies. I have a huge sweet tooth, so sometimes vegetables aren’t appealing to me. I find that when I cook vegetables with olive oil and some pepper they’re good to eat. It’s difficult for me to eat veggies raw and if you can, good for you!

Yoga/Spiritual Exercise Once a Week

I have been slacking on yoga. My workout regime is three days a week of cardio and two days of strength training. That leaves two days of active recovery. On one of my recovery days, I want to add yoga or I want to attend a yoga class at my internship. Yoga is beneficial and I feel that I need to try harder to make this happen.

I’m in a good mindset where I can set these goals for myself without feeling insecure about how my body looks. I’m grateful to have reached that place even though it took a while to get there. I would love to hear your health and wellness goals in the comments below.

Recovering from being Overworked.

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I am graduating from college this spring. With graduation coming quickly, this semester has been busy due to finishing my internship. With my internship being unpaid, I do have two other jobs that help pay for my groceries and rent. Towards the end of February, I was feeling drained. My friend kept messaging me to hang out with her, however, I felt too tired to do anything else. My friend came to pick me up and we ended up having a chill night watching movies and talking. It was exactly what I needed. It made me realize that something had to change within my schedule. Fortunately, I was able to leave one of my jobs for the time being which has helped significantly.

This year, I realized a few things that helped me get to a better place with everything going on in my life right now. I mentioned this already, but being able to hang out with or call my friends helped me. I’m the type of person who likes to keep things to myself instead of sharing them with others. I think this contributed to feeling overworked because I didn’t talk to anyone about how I was feeling. Being able to share things with my friends put me in a better place.

Besides talking with my friends, I started planning my exercise. Exercise will always be important to me. Once I finish my workout, I feel so much better. I feel like I’m ready to go through my week.

Finally, I have made it a goal to take one weekend a month to go home and stay with my mom and brother. Every time I do this, I come back refreshed for the next week. Me and my mom will watch movies and have good quality meals at the dinner table. I’m thankful that I have a loving and supportive family and I understand that not all families are like mine.

I’m in a much better place than I was a few weeks ago. I’m fortunate that I was able to drop one of my jobs because that’s certainly a privilege. I know that my situation won’t last forever as I plan to move home after I graduate. I simply need to make it through these next few months and once I graduate, it will all be worth it.

Logan (2017)

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by
[Image is a movie poster for Logan. It shows a sunrise in the background with a man with claws walking toward the image. At the bottom left, it says March 3rd"

Last weekend the boyfriend came back home after visiting his parents all week. Once we were back, me and the boyfriend went out on a date night and saw Logan. To prepare for Logan, we have been rewatching all the X-Men movies in chronological order. Surprisingly, the X-Men are the group of superheroes I know the least about. For someone who doesn’t know a lot about X-Men/Wolverine, I enjoyed the grittier take on Wolverine’s story.

Logan (played again by Hugh Jackman) is aging as his healing factor is failing him. As he takes care of Xavier (played by Patrick Stewart), Logan is asked to help escort Laura (played by Dafne Keen) to safety. Logan is astounded when he sees that Laura displays similar powers and it’s confirmed by Xavier that Laura was created from Logan’s DNA. Logan feels personally responsible for Laura and dedicates himself to making sure she’s safe.

For an R-Rated Wolverine movie, this does feel more violent than the other movies that Wolverine is a part of. I wouldn’t equate it to Deadpool as I do think Deadpool is more gory and inappropriate. Hugh Jackman doesn’t disappoint as he embodies Logan and the tragedies that he carries with him. Without spoilers, I do think this is a fitting ending to Hugh Jackman’s portrayal of the character.

Logan was a loving tribute to Hugh Jackman who played this role for almost two decades. I’m curious as to whether or not Laura will take over the franchise and how this movie will relate to the other X-Men movies.

Gears of War 4 – Review

Posted in Gaming by
[Image shows a video game cover. It says Xbox One at the top. Towards the bottom it says, Gears of War 4 with the 4 being in a different color than the title. It shows three characters each holding guns and in an action like stance. Rating M for Mature 17+ at the bottom left corner]

Gears of War will always be one of my favorite video game franchises. For every game, I would try and complete every campaign on the insanity difficulty which is the hardest difficulty in the game. Marcus, Dom, Cole, and Baird each had unique personalities that turned them into amazing teams. When I heard Gears of War 4 was being developed, my initial thought was is this necessary? While I enjoyed playing Gears of War 4, I kept thinking to myself if the series should have ended at Gears of War 3.

For those who aren’t huge Gears of War fans, here is a brief overview of the games. Sera is the fictional planet that Gears takes place on. At the end of Gears of War 3, an imulsion countermeasure was released wiping out the Lambent and the Locust which are the evil creatures in the game. 25 years later, humanity has been affected heavily by this imulsion. Cities are walled-off to prevent the decline of humanity and “outsiders” are humans who oppose this action. J.D. Fenix (Marcus’s son), Kait Diaz, and Del Walker are a part of this group who travel between cities and violate all sorts of international laws.

As the group attempt to steal supplies from the C.O.G (which is the army that Marcus, Dom, Cole, and Baird were a part of) they’re attacked by “the Swarm” a group of creatures that aren’t human. The group tries to find Kait’s mother who was kidnapped by the creatures.

I will say that Kait is my favorite character in the group as the Gears games had mostly male characters to play as. The action sequences in this game were entertaining as I’m the person who enjoys hiding in a corner and taking out enemies from afar.

Overall, I enjoyed the game because I like the mechanics of the Gears games. Was this game necessary? It’s tough to say. I think there’s nothing wrong with ending the series on a high note. Gears of War 4 was fun to play, but I also think the franchise could have been left alone.