Donald Trump tweeted about how global warming must “come back fast” because of the colder temperatures in the Midwest. By cold, I mean it’s -20 degrees with the wind chill making the temperature feel like -50 degrees. Exposed skin can experience frostbite in minutes with hypothermia to follow. It’s dangerous leaving my apartment right now, which means I need to take the necessary precautions in how I dress. The response to Trump’s original tweet shows that we may not fully understand the science behind Global Warming. Global warming is happening even though temperatures are rapidly dropping in other areas.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) defines global warming as warming effects caused by heat being trapped in Earth’s atmosphere instead of moving toward space. Normally, heat would escape into space, but instead, certain chemicals cause heat to be trapped on Earth causing temperatures to rise. This is known as the “greenhouse effect.” Carbon Dioxide, Methane, and Nitrous Oxide contribute to the “greenhouse” effect. These chemicals are released by burning fossil fuels, producing waste, and using fertilizer.

At first, one may think who cares? Why does it matter that temperatures are rising on Earth? Let’s discuss the rising sea level. Rising sea levels caused by glaciers melting into the water could potentially sink low sea level cities such as New Orleans or even Miami could be underwater within decades. Besides sea levels, certain areas on Earth can become dry making it more difficult to grow essential crops. Over time, less crops means less overall food supply. Global Warming should scare you, as it does me. Our Earth could be negatively impacted permanently if we don’t change our current path.

Going back to the beginning, why do temperatures get colder if Global Warming is occurring? Towards the North Pole is the Polar Vortex. The Polar Vortex consists of strong winds when spinning to create high and low pressure systems which help give us the weather we have. However, when temperatures rise, the winds will start to meander instead of being isolated in the North Pole which means here in Minnesota, temperatures are way below 0 degrees.

This post isn’t meant to cause a debate because Global Warming is occurring. I’m here to provide education on what may be a confusing phenomenon. Reading Trump’s tweets further reminds me how our science education is lacking. Our Earth is going through a crisis and we need to do something before it’s too late. All of my sources come from NASA’s website 

This is the moment I wait for all year: Halloween and the arrival of Fall. Everyone at my work knows how much I love Halloween and I keep ranting about how great Fall is. It’s gorgeous outside with a nice breeze in the air which means it’s time to break out the funky pattern rain boots and cozy cardigans. I wanted to set up an October / Halloween / Fall bucket list to keep me on track. This is a rather ambitious list so I’m not sure how much I will accomplish, but I wanted to keep myself organized during this Fall season. Check out my Fall To-Do List:

• Watch the Classic Horror Movies! I own Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Mummy.
• Watch Rocky Horror Picture Show *the original* which I have also never seen before.
• Visit an Apple Orchard
• Attend a Halloween Costume Party
• See the new Halloween movie in theaters
• Carve a Pumpkin
• Watch Nightmare Before Christmas on Netflix
• Play a Horror Themed D&D campaign
• Attend the Minneapolis Zombie Pub Crawl

What else do you want to accomplish in this spooky season? Once the season ends, I’ll publish a follow-up post to see how accomplishing my list went.

I saw this 90’s themed tag on A Geeky Gal’s blog the other day and I immediately wanted to write in my answers. I was born in 1994 so I’m very much a 90’s baby. Anyone who wants to participate in the 90’s tag absolutely can! Here are my answers:

Favorite TV Show

My immediate first thought in my head was Rugrats. This is the show my mom even started to watch along with us. I remember all the Rugrats movies including the one in Paris with a huge Reptar dinosaur. I also remember watching the episode where bugs crawl into Tommy’s grandfather’s mouth while he sleeps; I was disgusted.

Favorite 90’s Song

Bye Bye Bye – NSYNC.

NSYNC or Backstreet Boys

Should be obvious because of my answer above, but NSYNC!

Favorite Music Artist

Britney Spears reminds me a lot of the 90’s.

Did you Collect Anything?

McDonalds Happy Meal Toys. We would go to McDonalds probably once or twice a week and we would collect the toys in the set. My dad would drive us to all of these different McDonald’s looking for the toys. My mom has the whole set of the Toy Story Happy Meal Toys on a shelf in our basement. I don’t go to McDonalds at all anymore, but if I’m on a road trip I will get a kid’s meal just for the toy.

Favorite Breakfast Cereal

I love Breakfast cereal. I have to stop buying it as an adult because if I come home from work after a long day, I would pour myself a bowl of cereal instead of making dinner. I think my favorite cereal was Mini Swirlz Cinnamon Bun cereal. It was delicious.

Favorite Cereal Toy

Remember when cereal boxes would give out great prizes. In General Mills cereal you could get Carmen Sandiego CD games. How cool is that? Getting a new video game to play. I still have the games and they work on my older laptop, but I think they are too old now and probably won’t work if that laptop dies.

90’s Crush Growing Up

Honestly, I can’t think of anyone I had a huge crush on in the 90’s. I’m sure I had one, I just can’t recall who that is. My first crush ever was Sean Connery from the James Bond movies, but that’s not in the 90’s.

Favorite Disney Channel Movie

I didn’t watch Disney Channel movies in the 90’s.

Favorite Cartoon Show

I really liked Digimon, Rugrats, Blues Clues, Ozzie & Drix and more.

Weirdest Fashion Trend?

I always think of those slap bracelets. The ones where you hit yourself on the wrist really hard and the band wraps around your wrist. You would grab some and smack your friend with it on the playground; good times.

Favorite Toys

I’m going to list a couple of great toys in my closet growing up regardless if they came out in the 90s or not.

• Easy Bake Oven
• Disneyland Play Set < I still have this because of how many memories were attached to it.
• Build a Bear
• Barbies
• My Little Ponies
• Teletubbies

There were probably more toys I loved, but these were my favorites.

Disney, Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network?

1. Cartoon Network
2. Nickelodeon
3. Disney

What Early Morning Cartoon Would You Watch?

SO MANY. I used to wake up in the summers early and before my dad would take us to this daycare place we used to go to, I would watch Scooby Doo. I also would watch Woody the Woodpecker, Digimon, and more.

Favorite McDonald’s Happy Meal Toy?

I had this black puppy I got as a Happy Meal Toy that was my favorite thing to carry around growing up. It used to be this running joke with my mom and dad where if my mom didn’t know where Black Puppy was, she knew I wouldn’t go to sleep that night. She always had to make sure she knew where Black Puppy was so I would go to sleep.

Favorite Book Growing Up?

Harry Potter! I also read Franklin the Turtle, Junie B. Jones, Magic Tree House, the young Nancy Drew book series, and more.

The 90’s and even the early 2000’s were a fun time. I wouldn’t relieve the years 2005 – 2009 again, but I would for sure go back to the 90’s. This was fun relieving some of my early childhood memories. If you decide to do the 90’s tag, leave a comment below with your tag URL. I would love to read it.

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.

Participating in blog tags is perfect if you don’t know what to write about. I stumbled upon this blog tag by reading A Geeky Gal and decided to complete this tag because why not? I do plan on writing some original content for this blog in the next couple of days so stay tuned for that. Otherwise, here are my answers to this blog tag:

What is your must-have tech gadget

I recently switched from an iPhone 5S to a Samsung Android and I am already impressed by the quality of the camera. My Android keeps my favorite apps organized and I also have my workouts app installed so my personal trainer can send me my three workouts a week. I wouldn’t be able to exercise without my Samsung phone.

Who is your favorite Doctor?

I have always said Nine in the past, but I do enjoy Eleven for very different reasons. A bucket list item of mine is to watch some of the older Doctor Who episodes starring Tom Baker.

If You Could Have Dinner With Any Fictional Character, Who Would It Be?

I couldn’t think of an answer so I asked the boyfriend and he said he would like to have dinner with Bruce Wayne. I would be down for that.

What is Your Gaming System of Choice?

Since 2007, I’m an Xbox 360 kind of girl. I did pick up my PS4 on Black Friday and I’m working through Uncharted now. I prefer consoles over PCs, that much I’m sure of.

If You Had a Superpower What Would It Be?

• Stopping Time so I could take a nap and never be tired.
• Be a trained martial artist like Black Canary. I know it’s not *technically* a superpower, but Black Canary is one of the best heroines in DC Comics. She rules.

Star Trek or Star Wars?

Star Wars for sure. I have never been a huge Trekkie.

List your Top Geek Movies or Series

1. DC Comics
2. Marvel
3. Miskatonic University / Cthulhu / H.P. Lovecraft-themed board games & stories
4. Doctor Who

Top Favorite 5 Favorite Video Games

1. Bioshock
2. Batman Arkham Asylum
3. Life is Strange
4. Tomb Raider
5. Star Wars Battlefront, the original Xbox edition

I was in Milwaukee, WI this past weekend unwinding with the boyfriend’s side of the family when my phone buzzed saying I was tagged in a Facebook post. Sure enough, Wintendo64  tagged me in the mystery blogger award.

WHAT IS MYSTERY BLOGGER AWARD?

Straight from the creator: “Mystery Blogger Award” is an award for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts. Their blog not only captivates it inspires and motivates. They are one of the best out there, and they deserve every recognition they get. This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging, and they do it with so much love and passion.

The Rules:

• Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog. Thanks, Wintendo64 for nominating me! Her cosplays are amazing.
• Display the award logo on your blog.
• Mention the creator of the award and provide a link as well.
• List the rules.
• Tell your readers three things about yourself.
• Answer five questions from the nominator.
• Ask your nominees any five questions of your choice, including one weird or funny question.
• Nominate from 10 to 20 bloggers.
• Notify the bloggers by leaving a comment on their blog.
• Share the link to your best post.

My Three Things:

1. I didn’t start reading comics until after seeing The Avengers in 2012. It sparked something within me that led me to read comics. After buying Justice League and Green Arrow, I was led to Image Comics which produces my favorite indie comics. I definitely swing DC > Marvel, but I’m slowly becoming more immersed in Marvel comics as well.
2. I have always wanted to build my own computer. Living in a one-bedroom apartment, I have no room for a desk with a computer. When I upgrade to a two-bedroom apartment, I want the second bedroom to be a library/work room with a desk. That’s where I want my computer to go.
3. Chicago is one of my favorite places to visit.

Questions

What’s a fictional food you have always wanted to try?

Butterbeer sounds like it would be so good.

Dream Cosplay

I have always wanted to cosplay Elektra or Catwoman.

What is your LEAST favorite video game/book/movie?

I will pick one from each category. My least favorite video game would be Call of Duty because they release a game each year with nothing really new in it. My least favorite book would be a toss-up between Emma by Jane Austin and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Emma is a horrible person who’s extremely judgmental and Wuthering Heights is way too depressing of a book to read. Finally, one of my least favorite movies would be Knowing which stars Nicolas Cage… it was really bad.

If you got a ticket to any fictional event, where would you go?

The first competition that I thought of was the Triwizard Tournament from Harry Potter. I would want to watch, not actually participate.

What new game/book/movie are you looking forward to being released?

Avengers Infinity War is by far what I’m looking forward to the most!

I’m going to break the rules for this blog tag and say anyone who reads this post and wants to do the tag is nominated. If you do decide to complete this tag, here are my questions:

1. What is your all-time favorite OTP?
2. What would be your dream career?
3. The worst vacation you have ever been on?
4. What’s one popular movie / TV Show/book/comic that everyone loves, but you absolutely hate?
5. Night Owl or Early Riser?

I have been trying to think about what my “best blog post was”. To be honest, I love everything that I write for BizarreBrunette. All my readers inspire me to keep blogging about what I’m passionate about.

Living in Minnesota allows me to have access to a variety of different comic book conventions. The Twin Cities specifically (which is a group of cities near Minneapolis / St. Paul) has a huge geek population. It’s part of the reason why I feel at home in this Midwestern, overlooked state. Although I would like to attend more conventions out of state, it’s extremely expensive. I wanted to compile a list of different conventions I want to attend in the next five years. It’s almost impossible to attend all of these in the same year and be able to buy a bunch of stuff. Here is my conventions bucket list:

Planet Comicon Kansas City 

I’m going to cheat and include the convention I’m attending this month. This convention goes on for the whole weekend, but me and my friend only bought a Saturday pass. We also are staying in an Air B&B and that wasn’t too expensive to stay in Kansas City for the weekend. I don’t know what to expect with this convention, but I do plan on taking pictures, buying stuff, and blogging about it when I get back.

C2E2

There are the big three conventions all across the United States: San Diego, NYC, and C2E2 in Chicago. This is completely doable for me since I have a college friend living in the Chicago area. She told me if I ever wanted to come to this, she would let me stay with her. Maybe I can convince her to come with me? 🙂 I have been to Chicago twice now and I will more than likely visit again. I have heard this con has grown in the most recent years and I think it would be fun to wander around and possibly meet bloggers that I know.

Dragon Con

My cousin has been to Dragon Con before and I have seen her Facebook pictures, this con looks epic. From my research on this con, it seems like there are fewer celebrities and more panels, merchandise, and parties. As much as it’s cool to meet your favorite celebrities, that’s not why I attend conventions. I attend to buy comics, meet new people and possibly cosplay. Dragon Con would be a dream come true for me to attend such a large event.

Of course, I want to attend San Diego and NYC as well. So many conventions, and so little time. What other conventions should I add to this list? Let me know in the comments below!

Last weekend I attended Minnesota Fan Fest for free because I was technically press. I write for Twin Cities Geek on the side and I was writing various articles about the convention. My first article was about Minnesota Fan Fest’s controversial cosplay policy while also covering local creators’ thoughts about Fan Fest. Minnesota Fan Fest overall was a fun convention, the only downside being the attendance was low. This puts stress on the creators because they want to make money at this convention. Knowing this information, I wish I would have budgeted more money to spend, but I still left with some fun accessories, so check out below what I bought at Fan Fest.

Tee Turtle Octopus T-Shirt

I would have posted an actual picture of my shirt, but it’s in the laundry and has coffee stains on it. When I walked the convention floor, Tee Turtle was the first booth I noticed because I didn’t realize Tee Turtle would be tabling at MN Fan Fest. I probably would have bought more than just the shirt, but I know that I already own too many geeky T-shirts, so I only bought one.

DC Comics Bombshell Figure

I don’t actually need to buy any more toys or trinkets, but I still do. I was hoping for Black Canary or Killer Frost, however, I pulled Lois Lane. She isn’t my favorite character, but I’ll still keep her next to my Leonard Hofstadter bobblehead toy on my bookshelf.

Through the Darque Gates book

I volunteered to be a beta reader for Christopher D Schmitz’s sequel to Wolf of the Tesseract. I was able to score this book for free and I encourage anyone who hasn’t read Wolf of the Tesseract to read it.

Severance Lost by J LLoren Quill

This book combines elements of Game of Thrones with Lord of the Rings. The kingdom Malethya needs a hero to stop the blood mage from wiping out villages. Slate Severance is the protagonist of the story, devoting his life to protecting Malethya. I haven’t read it yet, as it has been added to my book stack.

Madame Xanadu

Madame Xanadu is a psychic private detective living in New York with her black cat investigating a murder scene with supernatural elements. It’s a graphic novel that’s great for mature readers as apparently there may be graphic violence in some of the issues. I love independent comics and this one sounded decent.

Whenever I attend a convention, I always have to budget money for spending. I tell myself not to spend money, but then I walk the floor suddenly I’m handing someone my credit card. Minnesota Fan Fest will be a convention I attend next year and I’m hoping it will grow into something as big as C2E2.

Being a college student has taught me to be frugal with the way I spend money. Thrift shopping at either Goodwill or TJ Maxx has taught me how to have great style on a budget. Thrift stores offer the cutest clothes for cheap. In these past two months, I went thrifting twice so I wanted to share my thrift store haul down below.

Clothes: 

I found this Star Wars Rogue One t-shirt for $3. If you follow me on Instagram, I wore this shirt to my graduation rehearsal on “May the 4th” This shirt is soft and looks great paired with leggings or with a pair of skinny jeans.

This was the dress that I wore for graduation. It was only $10 dollars and it has pockets on either side so I could fit my phone in the pocket. It made it easier to meet up with family & friends after the ceremony.

This maxi dress cost $15 and it was worth the price. It’s more form-fitting than the other dress I bought. I wore this the day after graduation as my family took a day trip to Lacrosse, Wisconsin. The geometric print is different from what I typically wear because I wear black a lot, but I’m trying to get out of my comfort zone.

Toys: 

I didn’t find this at a thrift store, instead, my friend was getting rid of her BB8 Remote Controlled toy. If I didn’t take it off her hands, it would have ended up at a thrift store, so that counts right?

How to Train Your Dragon is such an underrated animated film partly due to Toothless. This was a Build-a-Bear exclusive that I found while thrifting. I couldn’t resist purchasing this.

Miscellaneous:

I found these Spider-Man trading cards from the 30th anniversary of the creation of Spider-Man. I don’t know what these cards are worth, but they were in pretty good condition. I have a big stack of cards that I have been reading through. The picture above features The Avengers but there are cards that feature how Peter met Gwen Stacy, MJ, and other major events in Spider-Man‘s life. I plan on buying card sleeves for them so they don’t get bent out of shape. 

I would say thrift shopping has been a success! I found new clothes to wear and new collectibles to add to my collection. I do plan on thrifting much more in the future.

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.