A Chomp at Love with Dinah Saur

Yowza! What a Family!

2012-02-08T17:45:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty sure I've indicated as such in the past, but in case I haven't, I have a HUGE family. All added together, I have 8 brothers. Each of my parents came from families of 4 and 5 children, leading to a large number of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Plus, many of my cousins are married and having kids these days.

I know some people who aren't particularly pleased with their families. Even through the first year or two of college, I always had extreme difficulty understanding people who would talk about how much they disliked their parents, siblings, etc. The way I was raised with the family I had, it just sort of blew my mind. And, in some ways, it still does!

I'm not going to pretend that I've always gotten on smashingly with my family. I grew up with 4 older brothers who would take time to torture their little sister from time to time. I went through my "disaffected youth" phase where I was semi-regularly at odds with each of my parents in turn. I was kind of a bitch to them on occasion and I still feel guilt over that some days. I'm also not going to pretend that they were perfect always. As any parent could tell you, it's a learning experience. You'll never be the perfect parent all the time, and you'll never do everything right in the eyes of your child (or other people, for that matter).

While it wasn't always a smooth road, I still had the benefit of having a loving immediate family and a large extended family who liked each other enough to get together a few times a year.

If you're anything like most of the people I've ever known, you may need to take a minute to process that last statement. Yes, my extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents) like each other. And what's more, we make a point to spend time with each other on a regular basis. Ever since I was but a wee bairn, my family would get together each year for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Family Camp (our annual camping trip with all the extended family and some family friends).

When it comes down to it, when I think of what I want for myself in a relationship and for my future (nonexistent) kids, all I have to do is think about my family and they way I was raised.

I want what my grandparents have - they've been together for over 60 years and I can still see the love in their eyes when they look at or even talk about each other. They are a perfectly suited couple that I have always looked up to, and likely always will.

I want to raise my kids around the extended family. I don't want them just sort of knowing that they have cousins, but not know them. I don't want them thinking the concept of spending a weekend with family is weird or just not fun. Because it's amazing and most of my best memories growing up stem from my family and these kinds of gatherings.

Finally, let's talk about my brothers. To be perfectly frank, we seriously all have not always enjoyed each other's company. In fact, through many of our formative years, we all quite despised one another. I guess that's just the way it happens when there are 5 kids born across a span of 5 years (way to go, Mom). In any case, I never really felt "close" to any of my brothers until they started going off to college, and even more so when I joined the ranks of college students myself.

We all still lived in different areas of the country (Texas, Arkansas, California, and eventually Arizona), so I didn't see them too regularly, but that's when we began calling each other or emailing with at least semi-regularity.

A few years later, I've got a brother in Texas, some in Arizona, one in China, and one local. I feel like I am in at least decent contact with each of them and even spent 2 weeks travelling around China with the one living there. I also used to be roommates with the brother living in town.

It seems just yesterday my brothers and I were arguing over who got to play with which Ninja Turtles toy next. Now, I feel like I can call each of my brothers friends of mine, and that's a pretty fantastic feeling.

In Which a Large Box of Tea Falls Into My Lap (Sorta)

2012-02-02T18:03:00.000-08:00

I'm just so excited, I can't contain myself. As I've mentioned, my brother currently lives in China. Not long ago, he mentioned sending me a few samples of teas from one of the local tea shops he frequents in Wuhan. Expecting a small box, I was thrilled to find a large one handed to me at the Post Office when I went to pick it up.

I figured there was a good chance some of the box was sort of stuffed to prevent things from bumping around. But I was wrong! Every last inch was packed to the brim with tea (and a gorgeous set of tea cups)!

I unpacked it all on camera so I can send the video to Greg, so I won't necessarily get into the exact excitement as I opened each item. Besides, I'm pretty sure you can all get a good idea just from knowing me or reading my blog, oh... ever!

I will, however, list out the teas he sent me with his annotations from the handy-dandy list he wrote out for me!

The Ya Bao tea

Ya Bao: From the ends of certain Pu-eh branches, like a white tea, but ages well.
Da Hong Pao: An oolong from Fujian across the strait from Taiwan - spicy red flavor
Jin Jun Mei - Golden Horse's Eyebrow: A really nice Fujian red tea
Tie Guan Yin: Most famous Fujian tea, from Anxi county - given by tea-shop-owner friend, from his family's plantation.
Ren Shen Wu Long: Ginseng oolong - the kind you like - from Taiwan usually - oolong (wu long) means "black dragon" incidentally [sidebar: I actually learned that recently in my reading! Woohoo!]
Huang Zhi Xiang: From Guangdong province - yellow branch fragrant - literally translated. Don't know much about it.
An Hua Hei Cha: An Hua black/dark tea - a kind of long-aging tea from Hunan - I just discovered this stuff. The saying in Anhua is, "A father buys PU-erh for his son to drink. A grandfather buys Anhua Hicha for his grandson to drink." This is a new tea, as in this one I'm sending you is not aged very long.
Yue Guang Bai: This time in cake form
Pu-erh Shoucha: Olive wrapper - a "cooked" pu-erh from 2007. Fujia brand name
Pu-erh Shengcha: Orange wrapper - 2007 raw Pu-erh from the same company - brews orange - quite well aged for a 2007

Needless to say, I'm very excited to try these out! Oh, and one final thing....

Geoffrey in a Chinese Box!

Holy Road Trip, Batman! (The Finale)

2012-02-01T18:37:00.000-08:00

Now, for my final adventures on this 3 day road trip! I arrived in Las Vegas to visit with Laura. After much hugging and excitement, I let her know that I had done a little research into tea places in the Las Vegas area I wanted to check out. Happily for me, she was right on board with going on a tea adventure!

After some Google Mapping, we narrowed it down to 3 locations and determined the order in which to visit them. I grabbed my Garmin and away we went with Jessica, Laura's roommate. As we were on our way to the first location, I realized I had never named my Garmin, so we decided to call her Georgia. Georgia directed us and, all of a sudden, Laura yelled out, "A LAKE!" for we had, in fact, discovered a (man-made) lake in Las Vegas. It was in an area known as The Lakes, so it sort of made sense, but we were very excited! We found the address where the first tea shop was supposed to be and, instead, found an office. Yes, I know. Totally lame. But we did find a lake instead, so we called it a win.

On our way to the next shop, we drove over a bridge over the lake. It was exciting! Then we were off to the next location, found in the heart of Las Vegas's China Town (which is really more like "China Plaza"). This shop was basically fully stocked in Ten Ren teas. It's a decent brand, but not exactly a favorite of mine. We enjoyed a nice pot of Oolong and got a serious kick out of the paper place mats. Best advertising ever!

From there, we went in search of the final location. After passing it a couple times, we got the turn right and found it - inside a huge, glorious antiques warehouse! Naturally, we were perfectly distracted with the antiquing. This place was amazing. It had everything from a giant New Kids on the Block pin and a Backstreet Boys scarf, to a Canada themed tea cup and saucer and rusty old swords, clocks, and phones. It was magical. We were there for a couple hours (about) when the ladies at the register came up to us to let us know they were about to close. It was only then that we realized that we went to this place for the tea shop in the first place. Turns out it had closed right around the time we showed up, so it wasn't a big deal we were antiquing instead. And I got the Canada tea cup as well as a Bermuda one while I was at it.

We decided that dinner was a must and went to this amazing place called the Geisha Steakhouse. It's in a shady shopping center just by an empty suite, with not a lot of lighting outside the building. But once you go inside, it's simply glorious! It's one of those places where they cook the meal in front of you and it's sort of a show. So much fun! Our chef was particularly entertaining and cooked a brilliant dinner for each of us. One of the things I found the most entertaining is that the special ingredient they include in every dish is at least a little strawberry ice cream. Very cool! And delicious!

I fell asleep watching National Treasure with the ladies and got up bright and shining early to head home the next morning. With an anticipated 10 hour drive ahead of me, I wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.

Georgia (now Karen, as I had changed her voice to an Australian accent) took me a route home I'd never actually driven, up I-95 and over the mountains near Reno. As I drove, I had a blast finding different stops. First, I found Area 51... in Nevada... It's a random truck stop with an alien theme and it's hilarious! My favorite item from there was a book of all the brothels in the state of Nevada. It has a description and review of each and every one. MAGICAL.

I continued on and really enjoyed driving by Walker Lake. It was beautiful! As I kept on, I came to a town with a smattering of snow fall on the ground. I enjoyed this, so I stopped briefly and took a few pictures. As I drove through the town, a bunch of things stood out making me wish they were open (alas, it was Sunday and almost everything was closed). The name of the town (Tonopah) sounded familiar, and I couldn't budge the thought that I had heard of the "Muckers" before (the high school mascot). It wasn't until I was almost out of the town that I saw the Clown Motel. YES. THE CLOWN MOTEL. You read that right! Once I saw the Clown Motel, it all came rushing back to me - "Commercial Kings" did an episode where they created a commercial for the entire town of Tonopah because it was too epic to select just one business. Check out the majesty of their commercial here:

In any case, I continued on my way and not a whole lot exciting came up until I was just past Reno. I started seeing signs indicating there was Chain Control over Donner Pass. Now, since this is a route I haven't driven before, I wasn't entirely certain if this applied to me. I had a feeling it did, but... you know. I wasn't positive. In any case, I kept on. As I was getting into the mountainous area, there was very, very, very light snow falling. Almost so small that it wasn't visible. I was grinning because I really do love snow and I'm in/around it so rarely. It wasn't sticking or anything, so everything seemed just fine.

A little further up the mountain, it started sticking. And it was slushy and stuff in the air. So I decided I should probably stop at a gas station advertising chains to ask if they thought I'd need them. I went in and they were shocked I didn't have any already with the route I was driving. That was when I spent nearly $100 extra dollars on chains... a little more than I had planned to spend the weekend in the end. But I figured I was better safe than sorry.

At this point, I wasn't driving any faster than 35 mph, due to the state of the road. To my utter horror, about 30 minutes after I picked up the chains for my tires, I saw a car spin out like crazy. They ended up in the shoulder by the barrier to the road going the other direction. After this, I started to panic a bit. I pulled over at the next "chain installation" section where there was a truck already there. Turned out to be a Cal Trans truck. I walked up to them and asked if they would be willing to help me put my chains on because I had zero idea how to do it correctly. This guy just goes, "You don't need them," and I responded that I was kind of terrified, could he please help. I was about to offer to pay him when he just said to drive slow and closed his window.

I slowly got back on the road and stayed behind a semi truck that was going so slow that other semis were passing both of us. I was okay with this. All of a sudden, I realize Karen is telling me to take an exit in 5 miles to get on I-20 and go through Grass Valley. All I could think of is how mountainous and windy those roads were through there. I wondered if I should stay where I was and just make my trip last longer, but be safer. In a bit of a blind panic, I called my friend Andrew, who was the only person I could think of who knew the area well enough that I trusted to call. After taking a minute for me to be less panicky, I described the conditions and asked his advice. His thought was that yes, it is a more direct route that will take less time overall, but it will cause me to be in the snow a little longer. He did say, however, that I-20 looked pretty clear like the road I was currently on and the snow wasn't sticking, it should be just fine. But if I was in doubt, to keep on to less snowy areas.

I did feel a little better at this point and, upon getting to the exit, it looked mostly clear, the snow wasn't sticking, and it wasn't any worse that what I had been driving on 20 minutes earlier. So I take the exit and begin down I-20 for about 20 seconds... when the snowfall becomes very heavy and starts sticking like mad. I'm totally panicking again by this point. I start to try and pull over once and start sliding, so keep on. There's a bigger section on the shoulder a moment later and I slide my way into the snow there (I sure didn't drive there, if that's what you're thinking).

I took a good minute to sob to myself in absolute panic. I knew it was time to put my chains on, but I had no idea how to accomplish this. I looked up just as a car was starting to pass me and flail my way out of the car flagging them down. Thank all that is good and holy, they stopped, turned around, and joined me. There were two women in the car, one appeared to be the mother of the other (also an adult). Neither of them knew how to put chains on so much either, but the older of the two was very concerned that I had money, gas, AAA (or its equivalent). At one point, she said, "No, you're not driving all the way back to Chico tonight. You can stay with us in Grass Valley. We're ordering pizza. You can have pizza with us." It was one of the sweetest things anyone had ever said to me. At this point, we were actually able to flag down another car with a man in it who, while not experienced with snow chains, was able to help us get them on.

It took us quite a while to get it right, but they were installed successfully and they waved me off as I drove back up to the road I had been on previously to take the easier (longer) route home. By this time, the snow was sticking everywhere and when I finally was on my way on the other main road once more, it was scary and snow stormy again. It was totally dark out by this time, too.

My saviors!

It took me another hour to get out of the snow and, when I came to the point where I could pay someone to remove my chains for me, I panicked about them being taken off so early. He assured me that just down the road it was pure rain and the snow was all gone. After some deliberation, I decided to trust the man whose job it was to know and continued on my way into the rainy slush. For a while longer, I continued going somewhat less than the speed limit, as I was still pretty horrified by everything.

I managed to get home by right around 9pm, almost a full 3 hours later than the original estimate. But I was home. And I was safe. And I called in saying I'd be coming into work a little late after my experiences of the day. So it was nice to sleep in a little, make breakfast, and come into the office with a calmer mind.

Holy Road Trip, Batman! (Part 2)

2012-01-27T16:32:00.000-08:00

One thing I failed to mention in the previous post is that, at the beginning of my 10 hour drive to Lake Havasu on Friday, I decided I would tackle another of my Accompl.sh goals, 86. Drive patiently for a full day. If I drive impatiently at any point, I must start again the following day until I succeed. To say the least, this is not the simplest of tasks. I had only gotten 2 hours into my drive (just after I left the Apricot Tree Restaurant, actually) when I became impatient with another driver on the road and officially failed the day.

In any case, I eventually made it to Lake Havasu and met up with my dad and step mom for dinner at Chico's Tacos (which is pretty entertaining seeing as I just left Chico to head to Lake Havasu). The food reminded me in many ways of the Mexican food you can get a La Comida here in Chico. I spent some time catching up with them and discussing the fact that it was apparently the 2nd Annual Hot Air Balloon Festival in Lake Havasu that very weekend. I saw the last couple balloons landing as I drove into town (around sunset) and was looking forward to seeing them the following day.

From there, we went to the community theatre where my little brothers have been playing (see what I did there?) for the past few years. John (the older of the pair) was starring as Frederic in Pirates of Penzance Junior and Jake (the younger) was one of the pirates. To say the least, it was vastly entertaining to watch my little brother running around singing in tights and having 12 girls sing about how they like his butt and want to marry him. It was their opening night, so there was a hitch here and there, but the show was very fun and I enjoyed it quite a lot! Plus, my newest sister-in-law was directing, so naturally it was going to be solid.

After the show, we all went out for desert at this place called Sno 2 Go. It's a magical place that should exist in Chico, in my opinion. They combine Hawaiian Snow with soft serve ice cream in the most amazing, delicious way. When you order, it takes a few minutes per item to be received because they put a lot of artistry into the dessert. They layer the "snow", flavor it, then a layer of ice cream, and again. The other thing is that they have perfected some pretty phenomenal flavors, some of which require personally made flavored syrups to achieve the proper flavor. For example, they have an Almond Joy flavor, Cookies and Cream, and some other remarkably accurate combinations. I unfortunately didn't think to take any pictures with the family or of this magical dessert joint, so sorry 'bout that!

I had the opportunity of staying the night at my brother and his wife's house and we stayed up late talking and watching a show. In fact, we ended up watching Never Say Never, the Justin Bieber documentary. While I'm still not particularly fond of his music (it's just not my style), I have a new found respect for the kid. He has some serious, honest talent. While he's the object of a mass marketing machine, he did not create it and he doesn't really encourage it. He's just one of the gears doing its job to keep the machine functional. So yeah... definitely have some respect for him now.

The following morning, it was very windy and overcast, so unfortunately I was unable to watch the hot air balloons take off (if they got off the ground at all that day). I did stop by the festival (like a mini carnival) for the fun of it. They had classic cars on display and a bunch of vendors, so I still enjoyed myself quite a lot. I also took a quick wander through the "English Village" in Lake Havasu just under their London Bridge. For those who aren't aware, the London Bridge in London has been replaced a few times over the years. Once, back in the '60's or '70's, someone bought the old bridge and had it transferred to Lake Havasu where it was re-built exactly as it was in London, brick-by-brick. It remains one of the big tourist attractions for the city.

I had lunch with my brother at Chili's, where he's a manager. And then it was time for me to head out of town. First, however, I wanted to track down a little boutique I had found online that has a tea room. Turns out the tea room has a luncheon once a day and only as scheduled, so I didn't get to do that. But the boutique itself had some really great stuff! I found a very cool little vase/urn in a deep cobalt blue with a peacock design in a gold color on it. I also picked up a very cute tea cup and saucer with a cottage design on it (you can find floral designs anywhere!).

After visiting with the woman who owns the boutique for quite a while, I was on the road to Las Vegas and Laura at last! I was warned in advance that the roads were going to be particularly windy, so I kept that in mind as I proceeded. As I was on I-95 between Needles and Las Vegas, I saw signs for a pretty shady looking roadside stand. They advertised having 100% honey, so I thought it would be fun to check out. The lady there was a little bit insane and kept telling me how I was the first friendly face she had seen all day. She kept regaling me with tales of her earlier customers. One customer had somehow managed to lock her (the stand lady's) keys in her car. So when I arrived, she had just recently knocked out one of her own windows so she could get back into her vehicle. As it turned out, the honey was delicious and the jerky was pretty darn tasty, so I got some of each.

Eventually, I continued on my way up I-95 and, as I got closer to Vegas, I could see in the valley in front of me a huge cloud. I assumed at first that it was just smog of some sort. As I got into it, I came to realize it was actually a dust cloud. There was a sign with a dust warming for the coming 4 miles. By this point, I had already experienced some seriously high winds and hit more than a few tumbleweeds crossing the Interstate. Along 2 main sections of the dust storm, the dust was so thick and heavy, you literally could see no more than 30 feet in front of you. I took to driving no more than 35 mph during these times, kept my hazards on, and twice pulled over briefly to gather my bearings. Just past the first major section of this kind of thick dust screen there was a pretty serious accident involving 4 different vehicles. The main one affected was a pretty decent sized SUV that had about 1/4 of the back of it crushed in entirely. Clearly they were going a safer speed and someone was continuing to go way too freaking fast and ended up hitting them without time to stop once they came into sight.

To say the least, it was not exactly fun driving conditions! With the wind and the dust, it felt like my car was being sandblasted while I tried to drive! By the time I got out of the worst of the dust, I started to hear a small minor knocking kind of sound from the front right of my car. But the wind and dust were still too bad for me to consider pulling over to check it out. I was close enough to Laura's that I decided to just keep on. I didn't find out until I had parked at Laura's ("Now approaching Laura. On right," as my Garmin said) that my front right blinker cover lens was completely blown out by the wind storm. The light bulb was literally hanging out of the open cavity (dirty) just flapping around.

And then I was reunited with Laura and the land was in a state of joy! With how long this is taking to tell, I've got to break it up into one more part (spoiler alert, the next part is where I pass through a "famous" town, encounter a brother, Area 51, and almost slide off the road in a snow storm).

Until then!

Holy Road Trip, Batman! (Part 1)

2012-01-23T20:53:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, I went on an epic, short, road trip. I left Thursday night and was home Sunday night. Every now and then, I just sort of get the bug to leave town. It's not a sort of situation where I'm "running" from anything, but I just like being out and about, visiting people, seeing new things. You get the drift. This desire has been niggling at me for the past few months, so I just sort of decided that I had to make it happen soon!

After discussion with the friends and family I was planning to visit, I realized I could get visits in with Christie and Laura (both are friends of mine from the Harry Potter and Wizard Rock scene) as well as finally get to see my little brother perform in a show (he played Frederic in Pirates of Penzance Junior). To top it off, I was able to knock off 3 of my Accompl.sh goals in the planning (21. See Christie for a proper visit, 36. Visit Dad, Kim, and the boys, 83. Go for at least one road trip for the purpose of being on the road).

With as little time was dedicated to the trip, I ended up having a seriously awesome weekend filled with fun, excitement, and near-death (read: almost dangerous) driving experiences!

I took Friday off work for a driving day and left for Christie's place (in the Santa Cruz mountains) after work on Thursday. One fact of note is that it just so happened to be during the first rainfall we've had in around 2 months. And it grew to be full on night as I drove. So not only was visibility limited, but the roads were slippery and I have a history of getting anxiety while driving at night due to the bright lights of oncoming traffic and the lowered visibility. I learned just how much of that anxiety came from my (then unknown) blurred vision! Wearing my new glasses, I realized I wasn't getting anxious from driving at night the way I used to. It was like the oncoming headlights were half the size they used to be and weren't obstructing my vision they way the did in the past. While I did get a little anxious from the rain, it didn't have to do with my ability to see, so I would call my new glasses a win!

I got to Christie's around 9pm, we ate dinner and went out to her garage where a mini-barbecue was set up for warmth (she couldn't find the space heater). We drank wine and caught up for hours. After some time, we were getting silly and a little ridiculous from the late hour and decided that roasting mini lemons from her lemon tree in the coals was an excellent idea. We also tried to barbecue some sausages practically directly on the coals... that was something of a failed experiment! We finally went to bed knowing we'd have to be up by 6:15 or so and I had to be on the road no later than 7. I only found out the next morning that we were up 'til about 1:30am, so I started the morning sluggishly and with a slight headache, to say the least.

I was about 2 hours into my day's 10 hour trek to Havasu when I had to stop for some breakfast. And thank all that is good and holy that I stopped where I did! I found the most magical restaurant called Apricot Tree Restaurant. I almost went to get some fast food or gas station snacks, but thought better of it and could not have been happier! I walked into the building and the first thing I see is a classic Ms. Pac-Man game! And there is one of those things where you squeeze the handle and it tells you how sexy you are. And you go around the corner and they have a little shop area, like you find in a Cracker Barrel, but the stuff they have is WEIRD. And increasingly random! There was a rack of used clothing that included a white netted t-shirt and a Hawaiian button up style shirt with the word "Beer" written all over it on drawings of signs. And there was a display case with a sword in it for some reason.

In any case, I passed through to head to the restaurant portion and there were display cases along the walls with classic metal lunch boxes! My favorite was the original Star Trek one. But it got even better! In the walls they had displayed the thermoses! And along the roof in different sections were more lunch boxes mounted to the wall. There was a Disney section and a Western section, among others. To say the least, it was amazing. I ordered the steak and eggs because I was starving and the food was kind of a bust. The steak was cooked pretty well, but had a LOT of peppercorn coating it. The eggs were like rubber and the hash browns had no seasoning. It was lame. But everything else about the place screamed glory! On my way out I played Ms. Pac-Man and was informed that I am "Hot Stuff". Not too shabby, in my opinion!

The trip continued from there and I spent an inordinate amount of time listening loudly to various CD mixes I'd made or been given over the years and singing along while my mind raced with memories! I did make a stop at Target where I picked up one of those doohickies that allows you to send your iPod to the tuner. It worked pretty decently, so I think I'll keep it (was considering trying it out and just returning it locally if it didn't work the way I wanted). That's when I started listening to my current audiobook even more. At one gas station in this length of the trip, I found a mini tea set and a hilarious fake cell phone. I bought the tea set for myself and the fake princess cell phone for my little brother Jake. My other (older than Jake) little bro gets to use/carry around the cell phone, so I got this one and presented it to Jake as a, "Well, I just didn't think it was fair that John gets to have a cell phone and you don't" sort of gift.

The rest of this leg of the drive wasn't overly exciting, but at one point I was just cruising along (I hit cruise control at about 3mph above the speed limit typically, fast enough to not upset most people, but not so fast as to gain any attention), when I saw a low-flying aircraft just sort of circling over the freeway in front of me. I immediately remembered a friend telling me about getting pulled over once out of the blue and getting cited a ticket for speeding when an airplane recorded her pace. I just kept myself on cruise and watched as a car went past me at probably 8-10mph faster than the limit. I started wondering if I was right about the (very obvious) airplane and, as I pondered, I felt my car jolt a little as a Highway Patrol car zoomed past me at such a speed it caused a little wind about me! I watched as they got closer to the car that was now a ways in front of me. I was really excited and was thinking, "Turn on your lights! Pull them over! Yesss!!!!!" And the lights went on and the car was pulled over and I was cracking up the entire time as I passed. It was fantastic.

Apparently, this is going to be extremely long so I'm going to break off here and tell you about the rest in a post #2 shortly! Woot!

Finding Mr. Darcy Didn't Work Out As Anticipated

2012-01-18T06:25:00.000-08:00

I know I said my next post would be about my plans while I'm in the UK, but that will have to wait until next time. Right now I have something even more important to talk about - Mr. Darcy.

Oh yes! I'm referring to the glorious fictional hot piece of ass that is Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley. Before I get further into this, allow me to display a few samples of the modern actors who have portrayed Darcy and stolen so many modern hearts.

Colin Firth - See how nicely he glows here?

Eliot Cowan - Mmm...

Matthew Macfadyn doing Darcy justice!

Okay, I have a thing for Colin Firth and Eliot Cowan in wet shirts. The best part is that when Eliot Cowan's Darcy gets wet, it was 100% a reference to Colin Firth's wet shirt moments in the A&E mini-series that is one of the most watched versions of the Pride and Prejudice story. Mmm....

Ha! Sorry. Was drooling a little bit there.

So what exactly is it about the character of Mr. Darcy that tugs at the heart strings of so many women (myself most absolutely included)? What gets me most is the fact that Elizabeth straight hated him at first. She got all the wrong impressions of him from insincere sources (*cough*Wickham*cough*) and he was not exactly being his best self as he got caught up in the intrigue of what he considered to be his friend's welfare. It was as she came to know him better (and after thoroughly abusing him to his face) that she came to feel deeply for him and their true love story was cemented.

While I, and so many other women the world over, just sort of wish that someday my "Mr. Darcy" will come into my life, I honestly don't anticipate it working that way. For one thing, I'm a little scared of having that initial negative reaction to someone potentially meant to be my paramour. What if I do or say something entirely too nasty that, when it comes out later, could ruin future bliss? As for the rest, all I really care about is finding someone to be with for the rest of my life. I don't really care if I like them or not at the beginning, as long as I love them in the end.

Now for the twist in the story! I have encountered a number of "Mr. Darcy's", but not quite in the future bliss sort of way. I have learnt that most of the friends I find myself closest with start out as people I'm not overly fond of. Whatever the reason may be, I sometimes just don't particularly like some people. Just a fact of life, I guess. On occasion, I get to know these people better and end up really enjoying their company! I'm not going to name any names of friends, but most of the people who fit into this category have been made aware of the fact at some point in time.

So, while I'm not going to hold my breath for a romantic "Mr. Darcy" to come into my life, at least I can rest easy with the knowledge that I already have the acquaintance of others dashing around my life!

The Joy of Friends Falling in Love

2012-01-16T18:51:00.000-08:00

Back in my high school years, I was a member of an online forum where I met some amazing and interesting people, two of whom have always stood out a little more than the rest (sorry, guys!). In addition to both of these individuals being considered close friends, what makes them so special to me is the courtship between them that I was able to witness from a separate continent entirely.

I used to have regular conversations via instant messenger with both Matthew and Esmee at different times. I remember once, within 24 hours of each other, I had a conversation with each in which they confided in me their feelings toward the other. Naturally, I wanted them to share with one another, which they ended up doing not long later. I got to hear about the first times they spoke on the phone, met in person, and when they got engaged. So these two have a special place in my heart after all of that!

Matthew and Esmee displaying the natural order.

Now here's the fun part... I mentioned being on separate continents earlier. Well, I live in California and they both live in England. So we're not exactly nearby! Despite this, I was close with Esmee and Matthew has been like my 9th brother. Hell, he calls me Sister and I call him Brother 90% of the time. It's just the way of our worlds.

In any case, when I went to study abroad in Scotland, I knew I had to take the opportunity to spend some quality time with Matthew and Esmee. So I flew into London, hopped on a train, and rode it straight to them! I met Matthew at the train station and he helped me with my extremely heavy luggage on our way to Esmee's. She was at work, so I got to meet her for the first time in a bookstore! It seemed fitting, that's for sure.

I spent my first few days in the UK relaxing and adjusting to the new time zone with two absolutely fantastic people. They shared my first ever English Tea and taught me how to properly eat scones with jam and clotted cream. We spent at day at a nearby castle/museum and enjoyed the hell out of each other's company.

Over all these years since their engagement, there was uncertainty as to the precise date of their actual wedding. Well, this past year, I received a very exciting message from Matthew informing me that a date had been set! Thankfully, it was a full year away from when he told me, so I knew I'd be able to financially make it work. Now it is nigh upon us in the next 6 months and I have my plane tickets and I couldn't be more excited to go! Next time, I'll give a run-down of my plans in that trip!

Me with Esmee enjoying a tasty cheese sandwich.

Walking Around Naked Not the Best Part of Living Alone... Who Knew?

2012-01-12T18:48:00.000-08:00

I have spent my entire life living with other people. I was born the youngest of 5, so always had my older siblings in addition to parents. When I went away for college, my first "roommate" was my grandma while I hunted for a job and alternative living situation.

The first house I moved into was with 3 other girls. I lived in that house with 4 occupants for a year and a half, then was in an apartment with 1 roommate (who had a boyfriend over regularly, so was more like 2 roommates), then in a house with 2 roommates, and two more places with a single roommate each. This made up the first 24 years of my life.

I have always had at least one roommate - most of the time I had more than one. I never wanted to buy anything too nice, because it would just be used and abused by my roommates, no matter how careful they were. Not to mention that, when we would separate ways, some of the items I had purchased or owned would inextricably be lost to the roommate for one reason or other (sometimes by accident, sometimes they would steal things, and other times they believed so fervently they owned the items that I just gave in rather than fight it out). In addition to the woes of losing property, I've even had roommates wreak havoc with my finances and, if you'll believe it, credit report. Those stories, however, are best kept close to home.

It wasn't until recently that I was finally able to financially afford to live by myself without a roommate. I cannot even begin to express how fantastic this living situation is. Living by myself, I have never kept my home space cleaner than I do now. I guess before, I could always find an excuse. Sometimes the mess wasn't mine, sometimes the excuse was that such-and-such person/roommate took XX days to take care of their mess, so I have some time. It's not to say my apartment is always immaculate, but I do clean more frequently and keep things in order more of the time. A lot of this has to do with the fact that I know that any mess in existence is purely mine. When I clean the bathroom, it's only my own nastiness, not anyone else's.

I always thought that the best part about living alone would be the ability to walk around naked whenever I pleased (which I totally take advantage of), but I have come to realize that the best part is the ability to be alone. I also have the ability to not be alone and have friends or family over. It is all at my own discretion, and it is marvelous.

After so many years living with consideration for everyone else sharing my living space, I am digging the opportunity to take only myself into consideration (my cat excepting) when in the comfort of my own home.

Personal Goals to Accompl.sh

2012-01-09T17:45:00.000-08:00

Just over a year ago, I wrote a post about a list of 101 things I wanted to accomplish in the following 365 days (this original list can be found here). The website for this was originally called 101in365.com, but has since been renamed Accompl.sh. I actually quite like the new name! In any case, I did not complete all 101 items, but did knock out exactly 51 of them. A number were also in progress and partially completed, but others were not at all.

Before continuing, I'd like to give you a little bit of insight into this project. Before the name change, the tagline for the site was, "Avoiding mediocrity one to-do list at a time", which I found brilliant. Jenn, the creator, has brought it into a slightly different realm. Instead of limiting users to lists of 101 exclusively, she allows you to set the length of your list and lock it at whatever size you desire. In Jenn's words, "Accompl.sh harnesses the power of the social web to support personal growth. Its mission is to create a place where you can develop, track and share your goals over the course of the next 365 days and beyond by providing the tools, network and support you need to accomplish great things!" I loved the concept of 101 to-do items, so when I built my new list, I made sure to come up with that number once more.

In creating a new list, I had to take a hard look at my original list and think about why the items that were not completed were left in that state. Some of them were very simple and I should have been able to accomplish them in no time, for example, "98. Post reviews of books I've read on Goodreads". This maybe would have taken me an hour. I could have taken more time and posted even more than a few or reviews of the books already in my Goodreads account. But it would have taken little time. Unfortunately for me, I was lazy. And that sucks. Because I know I could have done this easily.

Among the other items I did not complete were things like, "26. Get a new bed". This is something I still want, but it was not financially viable. In getting a new bed, I don't want to skimp and get another sub-par bed. I want a queen sized bed, I need a new basic frame (I don't care for headboards, so just a regular metal frame hidden by the bedskirt, and a larger bed would necessitate new sheets. So the expenditure isn't just the $400ish for the mattress, box spring, and frame. It's another $150 or so for decent sheets. The same issue came up with list items 34-36, which were about bringing my credit card debt down to $0. Due to my finances during the year, this unfortunately did not become possible.

Finally, I was unable to accomplish some goals because they were too lofty or filled with idealism. For example, "52. Get my #WrockWednesdays posted on time every week". This is a great goal to have, but as soon as I miss just 1 week, I am unable to list this as completed. EVER. That's no fun. I had a few goals like this that just failed to happen because I missed 1 week, or 1 time, etc.

I definitely had every intention of trying again, so this time around I made one of my goals, "64. Create this list with more realistic goals, having learned from the unrealistic things I put on my first list. And yes, this includes being careful with my wording." (View the full new list here.)

This was the first goal that I marked off when I locked this list. I reviewed the list and felt like I had created goals that were more realistic than the previous year. I did bring back some of my goals from the previous year that were left incomplete, but I generally kept these to the ones I had been too lazy to accomplish.

One of the ways I have determined to keep my goals from being over-idealistic is to put a quantity on an accomplishment. For example, "20. Try 10 new teas that I have never tried before" or "47. Attend at least 2 community events in Chico" or even "69. Wash (and wax) my car 10 times". Each of these goals can be easily measured and the only time constraint on them is the year in which I provided myself to accomplish them.

I also included some financial goals, but I kept them more realistic. Instead of bringing my credit cards to $0, I want to take them to half of what they are now and keep them there (list items 4-7). I also have some goals related to savings, "8. Start adding money to my savings account" and "9. Keep my savings at at least $100 unless there is a legitimate emergency".

One thing I'm a little upset by is that I totally zoned out and accidentally duplicated a couple of goals. I hope, however, to be able to work around them or figure out alternative ways to accomplish them, as one of each is more specific than the other. So we'll see!

Amendment: After Jenn saw this, she graciously offered to assist with the duplicate issue! My duplicates have now been replaced with legitimate goals I later berated myself for missing out. Success!

In Which Dinah Talks About Her Cat While Mildly Inebriated

2012-01-05T21:28:00.000-08:00

It has been quite some time since I imbibed a bit more than I should and made a public address during such an hour. I'm sure I've sent random texts, perhaps one to Twitter (on which I have fewer than 50 followers), so it hasn't been much of a ride. The last notable event I can recall was a particular YouTube video I made, what? 3 years ago? (Oh god, how time flies by!)

In any case, I think it shall be fun to once again indulge in the experience!

I am not drunk, if that's what you're thinking. I have had a full 2 glasses of wine and am drinking a bit more on a small third. So I am far from incoherent (that would be a full bottle in, would it not?), but my inhibitions are lightened somewhat.

I know one of my goals for this year (in addition to writing in my blog more frequently) is to include photos in my blogs more often. So here's one for you!

If I were to add a caption, it would say, "MOM! This is my private time! GET OUT!"

This, by the way, is my silly cat, Geoffrey. I have had him since he was approximately 3 months old (proof):

He was always a silly, obnoxious thing. Somewhat unfortunately for me, I totally fell in love with the scrawny bastard. I even could have had his brother instead (a much more genteel kitten, even at the tender age of 3 months):

This kitten was never named (or I have forgotten it out of self-preservation), so I cannot tell you of him.

Here's something I'd like you to tell me, however... how the hell did I get on sharing kitten pictures and telling tales of Geoffrey? I honestly haven't a clue. But it does seem to me to be a perfect time to end this silly nonsense and head to bed.

I hope you all have enjoyed the silliness and kitten pictures!

Moving Life into Hi-Def

2012-01-04T19:21:00.000-08:00

In the not too distant past, there was no point in using the words "Standard Definition" to describe the quality of pretty much all televisions and the shows and movies we had available to watch on them. It was just the norm for us. We didn't realize what kinds of details were missed until the (now typical) HD options came out.

Most people can remember the first time they watched an old favorite in HD and realized what a difference it made. Suddenly, the trees and bushes had defined leaves, the outlines of the characters' faces were clear cut.

Today, I experienced, for the second time in my life, a transition from Standard Def to HD - I got my first ever pair of glasses!

I really wasn't sure how much I needed them until I went to get my eyes checked a few weeks ago. I knew it would be useful when I was on long drives or while sitting in front of my computer at work all week long. As I was working with the doctor, I understood how wrong I was when he exclaimed, "I'm definitely picking up a prescription here!"

It took a couple of weeks to have the money to pay for the glasses, and another couple weeks for them to be made. I was able to pick them up today and, within 5 minutes of wearing them, I realized I could see each individual strand of carpet in the optometrist's office. When I moved them away, the carpet was a bit of a blur. The same thing happened as I was driving when I looked at some trees a little ways off.

I guess I just didn't know that I was living my life in Standard Def until I upgraded!

Love (?) in the Life of Dinah

2011-12-14T22:18:00.000-08:00

I alluded to my recent break up in my last blog post, and I think it will be cathartic for me to write a little more on the subject now. Feel free to pass on this post if you just aren't interested (understandable!), but this is my personal blog, so.... there.... Ha.

In any case, I had been dating Paul for just over a year when I ended things and, to be frank, things had started getting bad after just 3 months. Whenever things got particularly bad, we'd talk and things would be better for about a week, then revert back to what it was before. I had spent my year or so of being single prior to dating Paul to build my personal confidence levels. Unfortunately, a lot of my time with him undid most of the work I had done on myself. It was through no active efforts on his part, but just the general way the relationship went, our closeness, etc. I can't really get more specific here, but suffice it to say that my ego took more than a few hits in the time we were together, and most of them were directly related to my relationship with him. The worst part about it is that I didn't even realize how low my own self-worth had gotten until a few days ago. But I'll get to that in a moment.

To get back to the chronological story, at one point when we had been dating for about 6 months, we had a huge blow out and I nearly ended things then. We talked and he did a lot of convincing and I decided to try for a while longer, but reserved my right to end things if they didn't work. Well, color me surprised when they were working pretty well for at least a month or so. Then it was fading back to the old patterns. But by this point, we'd talked a little about the possibility of moving in together when his lease was up (in hindsight, this topic never should have been brought up), so I wanted to keep trying and working on the issues. And it didn't get bad. But it also didn't get good. I became perfectly ambivalent to our entire relationship. My attraction to him on most levels faded as my ambivalence grew. All this managed to do was perpetuate the cycle of apathy I had fallen into.

It wasn't until I had a very unexpected conversation with a mutual friend of ours that I realized just how generally unhappy I was. I already knew that I was unhappy with the way a lot of things had been going in my life the past year, but I didn't realize how much was also rooted in this relationship. I gave myself one more week to think on the matter, to spend with Paul, and to see if things could be different. That week just cemented in my mind that I was doing the right thing so, at the end of it, I went over to his apartment and ended things.

About a week later, when he asked to talk to me, I thought we were going to have a very uncomfortable conversation where I get more into the details of the "Why?" of the situation. Unfortunately for me, I was way off. I had an even more uncomfortable conversation where he tried to convince me to change my mind and I had to explain over and over and over why I wasn't going to and why I couldn't. It culminated in him saying some things that he really shouldn't have said in a desperate attempt to manipulate me and I kicked him out (something I am very proud of, actually).

One of the pitfalls of ending this relationship is the same as I've experienced in the past... most of our mutual friends feel like they have to "choose a side" or be more supportive of one than the other. In my past experience, I'm usually the one left by the wayside who stops being invited to events. This breakup is no different. I guess I'm still able to have a little contact with them, but it's exclusively when I initiate contact or invite them over to my place, etc. I don't know if I'll ever be invited to another barbecue, so I guess it's time to get used to it again.

It wasn't until just a few nights ago, when I was talking to a close friend about the entire situation, that I realized just how much the duration of our relationship affected the way I view myself. A lot of it falls to my physical self-confidence, but I've also started noticing how much my personality has been altered. I'm still chatty and personable, but I no longer am so willing to introduce myself to people or be a more active part of a group. I guess I am more reserved in a way. And I hate it. I was so confident before I started dating him. And it took me a long ass time to get to that point. And all of the hard work I put into myself just sort of went away.

The only good thing is that I know I've been able to build up to it before. I may not remember exactly how I did it, but I do know that it means I should be able to do it again.

Back in the Saddle Again!

2011-12-12T13:21:00.000-08:00

This month, I've gotten myself re-involved with the theatre. It's been a while since I've participated much, so it's really nice to be back! I'm re-acquainting with old friends and making new ones in the process. Plus, it's our 6th Annual Holiday Burlesque Show, which is just a blast to begin with.

The best part about this is that it happens to coincide with me going through a pretty messy breakup with my now ex-boyfriend. One of the unpleasant results has been a slight estrangement from a lot of his and my mutual friends. In most cases, our mutual friends are closer to him, so I get left by the wayside a lot. Fortunately, I am spending more time with my theatre friends again, so I at least have some backup.

The Burly Q itself is going really well. The show runs a bit long, but it's still a very fun show and the audience loves it every night. We sold out for the entire rest of the run 2 weeks in advance, which is pretty bitchin', to say the least!

One of my favorite acts is to the song 'Moves Like Jagger'. It features a couple of my very attractive male friends stripping and doing some pole dancing in unison. Let's just say I'm glad all I have to do is hit play and just enjoy the show each night.

Another favorite is brought back from the previous year, in which three gorgeous girls in black halter dresses dance to the song 'Kiss You Off'. This is one of the sexiest dance numbers and it's also one of the only (non-chorus girl) dances that does not include the dancers taking their clothes off. It was choreographed by my friend Jenney for last year's show and was so fantastic it had to be brought back (something I'm happy about).

The final number I'd like to bring up is to the song 'Never Gonna Leave This Bed'. This is another strip number, but it's a little different than most. Instead of being a single person (or pair of people) stripping their own clothing off, this act has one girl and one guy (buffed out wearing nothing but blue jeans). As the girl begins to take her clothing off, she enlists the help of our jeans-wearing friend. They re-enact the clothes removing portion of what we can only imagine is about to be a very steamy night!

I know I'm not including any photos in this post, but it's just to protect the assets of these friends of mine.

In any case, hooray for theatre! I'm glad I'm back in, even if it is just for one show at this time.

Trivia Night

2011-10-12T19:24:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks, some friends and I have been attending one of the local trivia nights at a downtown bar, the Banshee. With topics as varied as Caddy Shack, Prisons, Native Americans, and Charlie Sheen, it's no wonder we haven't snagged a win just yet. The group of individuals has changed from week to week and sometimes it's been beneficial to the team, other times not so much. But we're having a good time, we've at least placed (3rd place, that is) almost every time. Not too shabby, if I say so myself.

Plus, we've had some pretty bitchin' team names. We've been Team Snatch, The 12" Rough-Ins, and Chubby Horse. The last two are work-related jokes. You don't believe me with the Chubby Horse one, do you? Well, just follow this link and you shall find one of the most ridiculous items my company sells. GLORIOUS.

In any case, what I have enjoyed more than anything else is the opportunity to go out, have a few beers, and spend some time with friends just having a great time and guessing at all kinds of random-ass questions. It doesn't get much better than that!

On House Affiliations

2011-09-29T13:52:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, a friend of mine asked me what I would do if I was sorted into a House other than Hufflepuff in Pottermore. My response at the time was, "I've always believed I had at least some of the other Houses in me as well. So nothing will stop me from feeling like a 'Puff. Not even if I end up in a different House on Pottermore. It'll just be another House to be associated with more strongly. To be frank, it's going to be the most accurate House quiz because it's from JKR, but it's not going to be a substitute for her knowing me and for me knowing myself. I am and will always be a Hufflepuff in my heart."

I finally got to spend enough time on Pottermore (without it being out of commision for once!) to get sorted. Here's the thing - I wasn't sorted into Hufflepuff. I have indeed been sorted into Gryffindor.

My initial reaction was mild shock. I knew this would be a possibility, as I always considered Gryffindor to be my "secondary" House. But I never felt like I belonged there. And here's the thing - I still don't feel like I belong there. Sure, I have some Gryffindor characteristics, but that's where it stops. I have more (and more prominent) characteristics that make me feel like I belong in Hufflepuff and Hufflepuff alone. (Don't get me wrong, I'm all about Interhouse Solidarity, as I've written of before. But there's a difference between having all of those who are so different coming together to make things better and being told that I belong somewhere that does not feel right. I still want all the Houses to unite. I just think I should be in a different House.)

The next step in this mental process for me was to go through to the Gryffindor Common Room in Pottermore. I was looking around it, checking the stats, and started to feel decidedly uncomfortable. I don't just mean a kind of awkwardness, I felt (and still feel at least a little) physically uncomfortable. Sort of like I was being forced to put on a suit that just doesn't fit me. I feel constricted across the chest, like the arm holes are too small and the neckline too tight. All the red is abrasive to my eyes and the big Gryffindor lion front and center is straight up awkward for me to view.

I know that with time, I'll get used to the idea of being in Gryffindor on Pottermore. And I still hold with the belief that I know myself better than a short quiz ever could, even if it was created by the illustrious J.K. Rowling. I just need to get through the process of accepting the Gryffindor lion being there every time I log in.

It may take a little time, but I'll get there.

Trying to be More Active... How I'm Not Suceeding

2011-09-28T16:53:00.000-07:00

The funny thing about making an effort to be more active is that when you miss just one opportunity to stay active, you lose almost all the motivation you've been building up. At least, that's how it works with me. I probably shouldn't admit this, but every now and then when I'm dedicated to some physical activity, I'll come up with some excuse to ditch it at the last minute so I can instead stay at home and watch a movie, TV show, or just sit around doing nothing. Perhaps recognizing this failing in myself is what will help motivate me to stop doing it.

There are two things in particular that I don't want to slack off on - yoga and soccer. I'm not going to lie, I'm not particularly flexible and I'm pretty crap at soccer. I'm the worst player on our team. Last game, I scored a goal for the first time. The problem is, it was against us by an accident of my foot being in just the wrong place at the wrong time. But it still happened.

Despite the fact that I really enjoy both soccer and yoga and feel the physical benefits of them afterwards, why is it that I have trouble motivating myself to go there in the first place when it's time to start? Even though I know how much better I feel physically, mentally, and even emotionally after engaging in these activities, I don't always go. And I don't always have a good reason for skipping the activity.

I think the main reason I let myself skip these things is because it's honestly just the easy way out. What's easier than sitting on the couch and turning on the TV after a long day at work where you clearly are not your happiest? Once you hit that couch, why would you go through all the work involved in getting back up, changing into something appropriate, and leaving the house all over again, even if it's invigorating activity? Sitting on the couch can be relaxing too, can't it?

Yes, it is relaxing, but I need to remind myself that getting out of the house and going to yoga or running around the soccer field while trying to kick a ball (and sometimes getting hit by the ball or other players) is what really ends up relaxing me more in the end. The relaxation is deeper, it's rooted in a sense of satisfaction with a day well-lived and possibly even a game well-played.

When I think of it this way, I don't know why I want to take the easy way out as often as I do. I guess I just need to keep myself motivated and remind myself of the benefits of this positive behavior more regularly. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

On Harry Potter Tattoos and a Call for Opinions!

2011-09-22T14:04:00.000-07:00

When I got my first tattoo, everyone kept insisting that tattoos are addicting and once you get one, you won't be able to stop. I assured each person who gave me this piece of advice that I wasn't going to get more tattoos. I might get one more someday, but it wouldn't become an addiction where I end up with a sleeve. And hey, it looks like I was right! Of course, I currently have two tattoos and am planning my third. I have never gotten a tattoo without a minimum of 1 year of thought into it, so the third won't be emblazoned on my body anytime soon.

When I was back in high school, I never expected to get any tattoos at all. Anytime I ever thought of typical tattoo ideas, I instantly realized that if I got any of them, I would regret it someday. I like to make a point of living my life without regrets, so it was pretty easy to discount the idea of ever getting any tattoos. All of a sudden, I wasn't just a huge Harry Potter nerd, but had become integrated into something more than just a fandom. I had joined a real community. And not even with other regular fans, but I became more interested in and involved in the world of Wizard Rock. That's when I realized I wanted a way to show the world just how much this all meant to me. The thought of getting a tattoo was renewed in my mind and, for the first time, it actually sounded like an awesome idea. About 2-3 years later, I had my first tattoo.

Hogwarts Crest

This tattoo is a full-color version of the Hogwarts Crest. I spent a good year and a half searching through all of the versions of the crest I could find. One in particular (which I've seen tattoos of on other people) make the Ravenclaw eagle look like a choked chicken. And I've never understood why anyone would want that tattoo'd on their bodies. But to each their own! I ended up landing on a crest where the animals are simple, but still look good, and the shape of it actually matches the shape of my own back. So that's pretty rad, if you ask me.

I have been questioned pretty regularly about my reasons for getting the Hogwarts Crest. Sometimes it's in the context of, "Why would you get something from a kid's book? I mean, seriously... you know you're going to regret that some day." Other times I get, "But you're such a Hufflepuff, Dinah! Why get the Hogwarts Crest instead of the Hufflepuff Crest?" I respond similarly to each of these inquiries. I explain that one of the most important lessons I learned from the Harry Potter Series is the idea I like to refer to as Interhouse Solidarity. Every human being (Wizard or Muggle) is an individual and unique. Some people fit into different categories (in this case, the four Houses of Hogwarts), but as the Sorting Hat said, we need to put aside our differences and work together if we are to succeed in life and as a species. When it comes down to it, I am wholeheartedly a Hufflepuff, but I feel like it is more important to accept my differences and those of everyone around me. If we can get past all of that and work together on anything, big or small, the world will be a better place.

Deathly Hallows

My second tattoo is my Deathly Hallows symbol with the words "All is well" across the side. In the bottom right corner of the triangle, it is colored yellow against the black of the rest of the design. Quite frequently, people just straight up think this tattoo is neato. A lot of the time, people don't recognize the symbol and just see that it says "All is well", which they can relate to. I also have grown accustomed to strangers stopping me to compliment me in a simple "I like your Harry Potter tattoo" fashion, and then they immediately walk on.

I'm especially proud of this tattoo because I managed to encompass a few different ideas into a single, simple tattoo. Let's start with the obvious part, the Deathly Hallows symbol. Yes, it does show my love for HP, etc. However, it's the meaning of the Deathly Hallows that really tugs at my heartstrings. He who possesses all three Hallows is said to be the Master of Death. But what are each of the Hallows and what do they represent? There's the Elder Wand, which grants unmatched power. There is the Resurrection Stone, which grants the bearer the ability to call forth those who are dead. And finally the Invisibility Cloak, which is pretty self-explanatory. The quest for the Deathly Hallows is an alchemical quest. The famed results of pursuing Alchemy are the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir of Life as referenced in the first book in the series. However, the Deathly Hallows and the goal of mastering Death himself is exactly in this vein. The first and only person ever known to possess all the Hallows at once is Harry himself who has transformed just as the Philosopher's Stone turns lead into gold. He understood the power of life, death, and sacrificing oneself for others. He understood that to be a Master of Death, he had to embrace Death with no fear in his heart and only love. This is the understanding I wish to maintain always.

The corner of the triangle (representing the Invisibility Cloak) I made yellow because I had to get some little piece of extra Hufflepuff in my life. While I didn't want to exclude the other Houses by getting just a Hufflepuff Crest, getting this small badge of additional pride by integrating it seamlessly into my Deathly Hallows symbol seemed the perfect solution. And I put it on the Invisibility Cloak, because if I were to possess one of the Hallows, that would be the one I desired.

Finally, the words "All is well". This is a present tense version of the last three words in the entire series, at the end of the Epilogue. The exact words in the book are, "All was well." And I love it. However, I wanted to increase the feeling of urgency and pull this line into the present. I sometimes get extremely frazzled and stressed out. Whenever this happens, I force myself to take a deep breath, look at my tattoo, and tell myself that all is well and everything will work out. Sometimes things suck, but those sucky times pass as long as you maintain the right attitude.

My Next Tattoo

The reason I'm giving this detailed run-down of each of my tattoos is because I am in the midst of consideration regarding my third tattoo. I've wanted to get a tattoo that helps represent Wizard Rock in some way for quite a while now. I could never quite figure out what it would be. Maybe the Wizrocklopedia W, but that felt too narrow, I had never found any lyrics that felt right for a tattoo, and I'm no musician and would feel weird with any kind of stylized musical symbol (stylized in an HP sort of way). There was a time when I would go through any number of ideas, marking each of them off as something that just wouldn't work for me. Eventually, I gave up and simply stopped thinking about it.

And suddenly it hit me. There are some lyrics from a Wrock song that not only speak to me on a personal level, but they would bring that love of Wizard Rock and what it means to me into physical reality. The song is 'Up To You' by Riddle TM. The problem is, I have two pieces of this song that I like and cannot decide between. Please note that I have not made any final decisions on how the lines will be broken, etc. on either of these options.

Option 1: Who You'll Be

"There's no more prophecy / So think of who you'll be / 'Cause now it's all up to you"

This one is a little more clearly HP-related with mention of the Prophecy. But it's a great quote/line about how we have the power to direct our own lives and determine our own destinies.

Option 2: Don't Be Scared

"Just carry on / And don't be scared / 'Cause it's up to you"

This is more general and has a similar take regarding taking control of our own lives, but it has a twist. One of the main things preventing us (ME!) from realizing our hopes and dreams is the fear that we will fail. We need to forget that fear and carry on with our lives, doing what we can to improve ourselves and our lives.

So now I have a favor to ask. Let me know which quote you think suits me more! Which one do you like better? Feel free to add comments explaining your thought process. I'm just excited to get some input before I proceed further with my design process!

Chapter 4: Discovering Felicity, the Fierce Amazon Nook Within ("Amazon" in the Xena: Warrior Princess sort of way, not the company)

2010-11-13T11:11:00.000-08:00

Introduction and Prologue
Chapter 1: The Rise of the eReader
Chapter 2: In Which Dinah Veritably Salivates Over the Nook
Chapter 3: How Magic and (Dare I Say) Karma Resulted in a Spur-of-the-Moment Indulgence (Or How I Learned to Stop Caring and Love Purchasing My Nook)

I don't know about you, but when I get a new gadget I always feel like I'm learning everything about it from scratch. It doesn't matter if the new item is a replacement, if I had played with other ones before, or if I had never touched one a day in my life. All I can say is that a new gadget is a new experience every time. For me, at least.

Despite the number of times I had handled the display Nooks, there was something different about beginning to use the one that was to be my boon companion. Once I set it to charging, I naturally began to register my Nook by connecting it to my BN.com account. When I started this process, it prompted me for the name of my Nook.

Now, I have a great many quirks, one of which is my tendency to name all of my electronics specially. I prefer women's names, especially the "sexy" ones. Please don't ask me to explain this, because I surely can't! Just two of the names I currently use already are Vivian and Marilyn, to give you an idea of where my mind is at. I knew I had to come up with a name that allowed my Nook fit in with the other electronics and not feel like she was being ostracized (yes, I do personify my electronics... don't you?). When it all came down to it, the name Felicity stuck out and I went with it.

I started exploring Felicity and came upon the "Your New Nook" article in the Daily section. This was probably one of the greatest (and most fun) introductions to a new gadget I've ever come across. It is witty, sarcastic, and just plain funny! It keeps in mind that the target audience is indeed tech savvy and a minority of users will have any real trouble with the device. Which is true! It's so simple to use, I couldn't imagine being swamped enough by it to need to actually call in the experts. Fortunately, they also have a more legitimate section giving real details on how to use the Nook, but the fact that they still manage to have fun with it proves to me that they know their target audience and they are happy to roll with it.

Syncing Felicity up with the full library I had been amassing took little time and, once it was all in place, I was able to browse and read with ease!

I have had so much fun with the color touch screen, using it to browse titles by cover, flip through pages, and even browse the internet. Keeping track of where I am in multiple books at once has been a breeze, too.

More than anything else, the e-ink display has been my favorite feature. I recently spoke with my mom about her discovery of the e-ink display. She said she didn't realize just how amazing it was until she decided to pick up a physical book and held the page next to the e-ink display for comparison. The crisp clarity of the display shocked and amazed her.

Personally, I love the fact that when I stay up late reading, I will sometimes doze off. When I've done this in the past with physical books, there's always that moment when I jerk awake and freak out about the possibility of the pages slipping and me losing my place in the book. The e-ink display is so page-like to me that I've found myself dozing off (as per usual) and jerking awake with the same fear of losing my place. Then I have that moment of realization where it hits me that I can't lose my place. Absolutely fantastic!

So, I didn't really want this to turn into an advertisement for the Nook, I couldn't really help it too much. The features just do it for me! No lie!

With that, I think I'll be leaving this for now. Look for my "Epilogue" in the coming days in which I will discuss the Nook Color, which was released while I was already in the process of writing this short series. Now, off I get to spend some quality time in the Barnes & Noble Cafe with a free smoothie (god, I love the fun free offers I get just for owning a Nook)!

Chapter 3: How Magic and (Dare I Say) Karma Resulted in a Spur-of-the-Moment Indulgence (Or How I Learned to Stop Caring and Love Purchasing My Nook)

2010-10-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

Introduction and Prologue
Chapter 1: The Rise of the eReader
Chapter 2: In Which Dinah Veritably Salivates Over the Nook

Not everyone who reads this will know me, so for those who don't, I have a tendency to keep very busy. I almost always have something going on and some plans in the works. What this has meant recently is that I have some rather expensive plans in the works coming up and, in addition to buying a car and the upkeep on that, all of my spare money was going toward trips I would be making in the future. For every new thing I had to pay for, I realized it was going to be yet another month until I could afford to purchase a Nook. In mid-September, by my calendar and financial planning, I determined that I would finally be able to buy myself a Nook sometime in mid to late November. By then I would have finished paying for my trip to China, I would be back from Wrockstock, and I would be caught up on my bills. In the meantime, however, I was living on the extra $30-40 per paycheck, and that wasn't going particularly smoothly.

One night, a friend told me a story of his good fortune to find hundreds of dollars in his account when he anticipated very few. To this, my immediate response was, "If the $3 in my account magically turned into $300, that would probably be the most amazing thing ever." Little did I know, things were already beginning to turn around for me.

A few days later, I reached the point where I could ignore my account balance no longer. I needed to confirm that I hadn't accidentally overdrawn or I would be a ball of anxiety for days. When I looked, if you'll believe it, the approximately $3 that had been in my account were multiplied to over $330. As it turned out, the bank had charged me 10 overdraft fees in error and their way of correcting it was simply returning the money. A part of me wants to call this a cash-in on my Karma points, but just to be on the safe side, I simply refer to it as MAGIC.

This sudden surplus not only allowed me to pay more into a couple credit cards, but it allowed me to put aside $100 for personal fun use. I wasn't sure how I would use it quite yet, but I had a few ideas floating around in my mind.

Just a day or two later, I was driving right by the local Barnes and Noble and I instantly thought about the Nook. The logical part of my brain took charge and told me to keep on driving, that I was already prepared to wait until mid-November and that I should stick with that plan. That $100 could be better used for any number of purposes. So I drove past, like a sensible person should. Half a block further, that gremlin in the back of my mind (you remember him from my early Kindle days?) came sprinting to the front of my mind, flawlessly jumping all hurdles in the process shouting for me to turn around, that I deserved to give myself a treat after dedicating an entire day to helping someone else (I was returning home from a Habitat for Humanity build). Well, kids, I saw a small road off to the left and next thing I knew, I was flipping a U-turn and heading back to Barnes and Noble.

I walked in, straight to the Nook table and told the girl there exactly what my plan was. We briefly discussed what it came with and what I would want to purchase with it immediately to keep it from breaking due to clumsiness before I had the opportunity of getting the Kate Spade cover I wanted (it's soooooo pretty). Twenty minutes later, I had paid and was out the door, possessively clutching the box containing my new Nook in my hands (in such a way as to remind me of the midnight release party at that very same store where I was the first person in the line to receive my copy of the final Harry Potter book).

All I had left to do then was go home, plug it in, and begin the discovery process anew.

To read the rest of this series, see the following links:
Chapter 4: Discovering Felicity, the Fierce Amazon Nook Within ("Amazon" in the Xena: Warrior Princess sort of way, not the company)

Chapter 2: In Which Dinah Veritably Salivates Over the Nook

2010-10-27T10:47:00.000-07:00

Introduction and Prologue
Chapter 1: The Rise of the eReader

At this point in the story, you may be thinking about just how fickle I seem to be. Why did I give up on the idea of an eReader with the Kindle around but immediately transfer my former feelings for the Kindle to what amounts to a different version of the same thing?

It sounds petty, but I can’t deny that a major attraction for me was the Barnes & Noble name. I have been going to Barnes & Noble stores my entire life and have always loved the atmosphere, the new book smell, the chairs provided for sitting and reading, and the overall helpfulness of the employees. Most of their employees are also great lovers of books and tend to provide fun and interesting suggestions based on what I’m browsing, carrying, or reading a few pages from. I have rarely been disappointed with a recommendation from a Barnes & Noble employee.

Another aspect of it being a Barnes & Noble eReader that made it so attractive is the fact that there are plenty of physical locations that I can go to at a moment’s notice. Once the Nook was officially released, there were tables set up in almost every Barnes & Noble store where there was an employee waiting to answer your questions and there were Nooks on display waiting for you to try them out.

Oh! The glory of that first time I held a Nook in my hands!
It was so much smaller, sleeker, and more attractive than the Kindle (which I had seen first-hand by this point). The touch screen made a world of difference to the overall desirability. There was a beta web browser, there were games, and there was the option to browse your books by viewing the covers. This option alone made a huge impact on me. One thing I absolutely love about physical books is the cover art. While I’d still be able to see it in black and white on the Kindle, the Nook made up for the loss of color by providing it! Yeah, that’s right, Kindle. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

I found myself dropping by the Barnes & Noble store in town more often than was customary of even me. I would first stop at the Nook table, chat it up with the employee there, repeat any number of conversations reminding me why the Nook was a clear superior to the Kindle (and any other eReader, in my opinion), play with the display Nooks, browse the rest of the store for a few minutes, and then I would leave. After a while, some of the employees that frequented the Nook table came to know me by name. If they personally owned one, they would tell me how much they loved it. If they didn’t, we would commiserate over our mutual desire.

During all this, I started paying close attention to my emails from Barnes & Noble. I came to realize that a number of the emails (especially around the holidays) would contain links to entire sets of eBooks temporarily made available for free. That is how I came to begin building my eBook library. I also discovered Free eBook Fridays on the BN.com blog, another way to grow my collection.

By this point, I knew it was only a matter of time until I became a proud owner of a Nook.

To read the rest of this series, see the following links:
Chapter 3: How Magic and (Dare I Say) Karma Resulted in a Spur-of-the-Moment Indulgence (Or How I Learned to Stop Caring and Love Purchasing My Nook)
Chapter 4: Discovering Felicity, the Fierce Amazon Nook Within ("Amazon" in the Xena: Warrior Princess sort of way, not the company)

Chapter 1: The Rise of the eReader

2010-10-26T09:24:00.000-07:00

View the introduction and prologue here

When eReaders were first announced, I was intrigued. I had no particular desire to own one, but I certainly had an interest in playing with one to see what they were all about. This was made difficult by the fact that the only well-known eReader on the market was the Amazon Kindle. Since Amazon is a purely online company, there were no brick and mortar locations for me to drop by to see what this Kindle thing was all about. Despite that, I continued to keep an eye on the progress of the Kindle, reading about updates, improvements, and (after not too long) the rising competition. The only real draw these eReaders seemed to have for me was the fact that I could put so many books on it at once (there was also the little gremlin in the back of my mind jumping around shouting, "New gadget! New gadget!" in a shrill voice). All the eReaders I had seen at that point seemed a bit on the bulky side (with a surprisingly small screen), none of them looked attractive to me, and I didn't even want to think about the prices on them. The e-ink display was intriguing, but I'd have to see it to believe it and, as already discussed, that just wasn't an option.

After a while, I think the aforementioned gremlin in my mind worked his way forward enough to convince me that I should assemble an Amazon Wish List containing a Kindle and all the accessories that appealed to me or seemed necessary.
The release of the Kindle DX (the larger version of the Kindle) appealed to me greatly since there would be more screen space for actual reading. Eventually it occurred to me that the large size was just going to make it even more impossible to carry around and get any kind of use out of. Thus the idea of getting an eReader, while still interesting, lost its appeal and my Amazon Wish List was left to gather the internet equivalent of dust.

Seemingly out of nowhere (probably because I had given up on paying attention to developments with eReaders), Barnes & Noble announced the Nook. The Nook was their own eReader, with many ideas drawn from the Kindle, but improved for greater user appeal. Instead of that ugly keyboard, the Nook was to have a color touch screen. While I can't remember quite all the features that were available with the first release of the Nook, let it suffice to say that my desire for an eReader was (forgive the cruelty of the following pun) reKindled in the form of the Barnes & Noble Nook. To add fuel to fire, the Nook was originally priced lower than the Kindle, which also had to lower its pricing to accommodate. This stiff competition finally put eReaders into an accessible price bracket, and I couldn't have been more excited.

Next thing I knew, the e-dust was wiped off my Amazon Kindle Wish List just in time for me to empty it out. Barnes & Noble had my vote and there was a rapidly built Wish List over at BN.com filled with the Nook I wanted and all the associated accessories.

To read the rest of this series, see the following links:
Chapter 2: In Which Dinah Veritably Salivates Over the Nook
Chapter 3: How Magic and (Dare I Say) Karma Resulted in a Spur-of-the-Moment Indulgence (Or How I Learned to Stop Caring and Love Purchasing My Nook)
Chapter 4: Discovering Felicity, the Fierce Amazon Nook Within ("Amazon" in the Xena: Warrior Princess sort of way, not the company)

Introducing a Short Series

2010-10-25T12:32:00.000-07:00

As many people already know, I recently purchased a Barnes & Noble Nook eReader, which I absolutely adore. Not long ago, I read a short article titled something along the lines of "An Avid Reader Who Loves His Kindle More Than His Real Books". While that is certainly not the actual title, it is reminiscent. After reading that, I felt inspired to write up my own story of why I love my Nook so much for my blog. To say the least, I got a little carried away and now I have quite a long story. Due to its length, I've decided to release it in pieces. Today I present.... the Prologue.

Why I Love Felicity (My Barnes & Noble Nook eReader): A Short Story

Prologue: Why I Love Physical Books
In recent years, since eReaders grew in popularity, I've noticed a development in the book industry. Publishers have been forced to offer their books in a new form: eBooks. Welcome to the digital age. Now the consumers have the option between physical books and eBooks. Note that I carefully avoid referring to the physical books as "real." I believe this would leave the idea, somewhere in your mind, that I consider eBooks as less than real or less than adequate. Since this is the exact opposite of what I'm trying to get across, I want to make the distinction clear. To some, the choice is simple - they love the physical books too well to give in to the digital age. I want you to understand just how much I, too, love physical copies of books before I explain to you why I love my eReader so much.

I'm one of those people who will walk into a used bookstore just so I can breathe in the scent of books that have been handled by no-one-knows for however many years, picking up dust, absorbing the scents of the houses they have lived in, and, without exception, becoming the perfect blend of age and wisdom. Before you ask, the answer is yes. I am still discussing how I perceive the smell of books.

I love the sensory experience of a physical book. Not just the musky scent, but the feel of the bound volume in my hand - the control I have over it and the disguised fragility of its pages, bindings, dust jacket. The texture of the pages in a book varies from smooth to the coarseness of a rougher, more natural sheet; the kind that makes you feel like there must be something precious contained within to merit such heavy stock. Then there is what I like to refer to as "Bible paper". This is the stuff that is so thin, you can easily see the print on both sides when looking at just one. It is more like the tissue paper you use in gift-wrapping than something you would expect to find bound and printed on. Yet there is still this quality to the page that forces me to handle the volume with delicacy, to occasionally lick the tip of my finger to turn a page without causing any lasting damage. When I read a book with this type of paper, it feels like a greater accomplishment to make it an inch into the book than it does with others.

Finally, I love the look of my bookshelves, filled with books of all shapes and sizes, colors, and materials. The bindings on my favorite books worn to share with the world just how loved they are. The titles barely legible, cracks streaking across the words or lettering flaking away. Sometimes my books are stained, other times they manage to get away from my grasp in pristine condition. No matter what condition they are in, they still look glorious there, standing in their not-so-neat rows.

I really love books.

To read the rest of this series, see the following links:

Chapter 1: The Rise of the eReader
Chapter 2: In Which Dinah Veritably Salivates Over the Nook
Chapter 3: How Magic and (Dare I Say) Karma Resulted in a Spur-of-the-Moment Indulgence (Or How I Learned to Stop Caring and Love Purchasing My Nook)
Chapter 4: Discovering Felicity, the Fierce Amazon Nook Within ("Amazon" in the Xena: Warrior Princess sort of way, not the company)

A Recurring Theme

2010-10-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

I know I've done this before, but I always seem to come back to it. I think it has something to do with the fact that things never seem to get resolved. Or maybe I just can't seem to exhibit enough patience to allow for a real resolution to come about.

Most likely, there is just no such thing as a "resolution" to the way my life works. You see, I can't help but be preoccupied with the status of my love life, if you will. This is not to say that I feel the need to jump into anything. I just feel like it would be nice to get back on the horse and have some kind of legitimate... something. I'm not entirely certain. I'm not ready for anything serious, but I'm getting tired of being so lonely and, when I'm not totally lonely, I feel like my options are, to say the least, limited. Not always in a good way. In fact, usually not.

I went so far as to spend months thinking to myself that, while my options seemed many and varied, my actual possibilities were few and far between. Overall, a pretty cynical outlook. I like to think I've gotten a bit more optimistic (though I admit, it hasn't been much of an improvement).

All things considered, I'm sure there's a very good reason I put "Go out on a date" on my 101in365 list. And when I put that on my list, I decided it would have to be a real, honest to god date. The kind I haven't had in a very long time. The kind that is acknowledged as such before it happens. The kind that I'm not tricked into, for all intents and purposes.

I guess what it all comes down to for me is that I need to keep up my patience, remain open and honest, and be willing to pursue possibilities that I feel may have merit. Now I just have to follow my own advice.

Things You've Always Wanted to Know About Me

2010-10-13T17:58:00.000-07:00

I posted this on Facebook as well, but wanted to put it here to get the full spectrum of ideas and topics to discuss:

In an effort to write more in my personal blog, I'd love to hear some questions or topics that my friends would like to hear me talk about (even though I'll actually be writing and you'll be reading, you get the point, right?). So if there's anything you'd like to find out my opinion on, any stories you'd like me to tell, or just curiosities about me you always wondered about... now is the time! Let me know and I should get to it at some point!

Double Post!

2010-10-12T15:11:00.000-07:00

Woah! What could I possibly be thinking with this double post!?

I do have a point. I swear... I was just looking through my older posts to see when I last posted and what kinds of things I posted when I realized... I'm not very creative. Seriously. And I seem to drop the ball on multiple occasions. If you don't believe me, look at the titles of my posts from June this year and then look at the titles of my posts this month so far. Also, check out what I'm doing.

I need to actually complete things now.

A Discussion of my Goals

2010-10-12T10:53:00.000-07:00

You know, as great as it can feel to finally organize something that you've wanted to have around for a while, that's when you start realizing exactly why no one else did it first. There's just a certain degree of insanity that comes with the territory of being an organizer. No matter how diplomatically try to approach things, there is zero chance that everyone will be happy. Then you'll be confronted with the people who are not only unhappy, but are outspoken about it (even if it's just one out of twenty). That one person will put a damper on the entire experience of starting up something that you've wanted to participate in for years.

I figure the best I can do is take it all in stride and just roll with the punches. I'm excited to have created something awesome like a book club! Even if it's short-lived or breaks down into a much smaller group, I'm happy to say that I accomplished something that brings people together for a social day of book discussion! Heck yes!

Since starting this Book Club is goal number 3 on my 101in365 to-do list, I want to talk a little about the progress I'm making on a few other goals over there right now.

First, I am working on goal 23, to go through all my stuff and get rid of what I don't need. Now here's the trick - I've gone through all (or most) of my stuff at least 3 times in the last 2 years and done something similar. However, I've never quite managed to get rid of as much stuff as I know I need to. There's something drastically wrong with that, in my book. At the same time, I have already gone through all the stages of convincing myself that I need or use or will use most of the crap I've still got around. So I've already got a small stack of stuff started. I'm hoping very much that it will continue to grow, but I honestly just don't know how much it's going to. I guess it's all just a matter of time!

Next is goal 10, to read the Narnia series. Growing up, this entire book series was always on the book shelf. In fact, I hardly have a memory of looking over the book shelf without considering picking up this series. I know that we read at least one of them as a family when I was quite small (most likely The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe), but I know I never read more than that. We watched the old school live action films a lot, too. I even had a crazy dream in my childhood involving a skip-it and Aslan (weird combo, I know, but I swear it made sense at the time. It was the 90's after all). However, I still never quite go around to reading these books. Now that I've got my Nook (and can double up reading these books with goal 19, to make good use of my Nook), I have been steadily making my way through the series. I've finished the first two and am a little over halfway through the third, Voyage of the Dawn Treader. They are quick reads and I'm having an absolute blast! I'm almost glad I left them off to read until now. I don't know if I would have appreciated them quite right if I had read them as a child.

Finally, I want to talk about goal 84, in which I determine to be more physically active. While I'm still not quite getting my butt back on my bike like I want to, I have been more physically active than I was even just a month ago. I'm playing soccer, I'm running (occasionally), I'm starting to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity (which gets you physically active, trust me!), and I'm generally moving around the house more while cleaning and doing some rearranging. While I'd like to add some more hiking, camping, and bike riding to this list, I'm generally quite satisfied with the results of my efforts!

Overall, I'm having a great time working on my 101in365 list these days. I saw that Kathleen got her list started and I'm eager to see what kinds of goals she and the other ladies from Love!Vomit come up with! Speaking of, I officially challenged them in my most recent video to make these lists and to join me in this. The way I see it, we can help encourage each other, help accomplish some goals, and give ideas for creative goals and ways to accomplish them. What is life if we have to go through it alone?

Who Knew Avoiding Mediocrity Could Be So Inspiring?

2010-10-06T14:38:00.001-07:00

I've decided I would like to write updates here more often. Part of what has caused this determination is a nifty little website called 101in365. This is an interesting new take on the "to-do" and "goal" list idea. The brain child of a very interesting young woman named Jenn, 101in365 doesn't just offer the chance to set goals to accomplish, but it provides healthy challenges for all of us.

The first challenge is to come up with a full list of 101 things that you would like to accomplish in the next 365 days. I bet you were like me when I first read approximately the same sentence, "101 items on a to-do list? That seems easy enough!" Boy are you mistaken (as was I)! The 12th item on my list is "Come up with 101 goals" because I could already tell that this was going to be something worthy of marking off.

This first challenge is actually a kind of double-trouble situation.
Not only do you have to come up with a full list of 101 things to accomplish, but you honestly have to start scraping the bottom of your barrel to determine what things you would like to do. It forced me to reflect on my life, what I own, how I behave, habits I have developed... I thought about what things in my life I was unhappy with; what I wanted to be better at; trips, goals, and events that I had been talking about for months (or even years) on end without actually doing them. I took the opportunity to evaluate friendships, my latent feelings about friendships that are over, and grow determined to develop more meaningful friendships.

To add a cherry to the icing, I also took the opportunity of seriously challenging myself with such items on my list as "Fully let go of the B. situation" and "Agree to do something that I am not comfortable with, but which will not cause any actual harm." It's a fun and engaging way to help me better myself and try new things!

Top off all of that personal insight with the little goals (like "Learn some origami" and "Make a first aid kit for the house") and I not only have a better idea of where I'm at on a personal level, but I have actual activities to fill all the hours I normally spend doing absolutely nothing or honestly just wasting time.

When it all comes down to it, I can't put it any better than Jenn did on the site. "Avoiding mediocrity one to-do list at a time!"

Who Knew Anger Could Affect Me This Way?

2010-06-24T14:49:00.000-07:00

I don't even know how, but I've been crazy busy. I mean, I've been dealing with a lot of stressful personal situations lately, so I guess it just makes sense that when I actually have time to myself, all I want to do is lay down and be exhausted.

Add to it the fact that my back basically went out last week. When David gave me a short massage he said it felt like I had three spines with how tense the muscles were on either side. That should not be the case. And since that was worked out, I've had crazy tension in my shoulders that was so bad the other day, it actually woke me up before my alarm even went off. Again - that should not be the case. The worst part is that I think I've managed to peg what is causing this physical tension: emotional stress.

Some of it is definitely related to my lack of physical activity to the extent of which I should be active, but more of it has to do with the stresses I've been going through related to people. Plus, as I was reading from The Way We're Working Isn't Working yesterday, I was hit hard by one line in it. The interesting this is that this line wasn't the point of the chapter. Nor was it intended to be so hard-hitting. But when I read it, I had to stop for a minute, re-read it, and contemplate just what it meant in my life. What exactly is it that I read?

"It takes less than ninety seconds for limbic system programs to be triggered, surge throughout the body, and then be completely flushed out of our systems. [...] If you stay angry after ninety seconds, it's because you've chosen to stay angry." (The Way We're Working Isn't Working pg. 131)

It's that final sentence that really struck me. The first one is the physiological evidence. The second is the emotional realization. I hadn't thought about just how angry certain situations had made me. I kept telling myself that it was all just my anger running its natural course and doing its own thing. But when I read that sentence, "If you stay angry after ninety seconds, it's because you've chosen to stay angry," I understood something for the first time: I wasn't letting my anger run its natural course. At that moment, I felt the tension in my shoulders tweak a little and it hit me that what I've been holding onto with this recent situation and even some older situations has been having a negative effect on my physically. It's been building for a while but with the new situation and what it has led to, this anger and stress has decided to truly manifest itself.

Other than this blog, I've actually already shared this piece of wisdom with a few different people. What I want to do now is to learn to let go of my anger and to honestly get to a place where it no longer affects me. Basically, I need to go from this:

to this:

Thank you Google image search!

But seriously, the point of all this is that I have unconsciously been allowing others to control me by harboring these feelings of resentment and anger toward them. It is time to take back control of my life and my body and to let go of these things that are lowering my overall quality of life!

Getting Started

2010-06-09T07:19:00.002-07:00

Yesterday after work, I went over to Bria's and we worked with a Yoga DVD she got a while back. It was her first time using the DVD, so neither of us knew just what to expect from it. As it turns out, it was generally a decent routine, but they had these weird "anti-transitions" where they just finished describing a pose and you were supposed to hold it, but then the video would straight cut to them in a completely different pose and it was awkward and you weren't quite sure if you were supposed to continue holding the original pose or move yourself into the position they were now shown in. Besides that weirdness, it was pretty good, though.

I also found my old Yoga journal from when I took Yoga at university.
I found descriptions of the Five Rites and decided that I wanted to start those back up again. I started this morning with a few Sun Salutations to warm up then moved on to the Five Rites. It was actually tougher than I would like to admit. I only did 5 reps of each and I still felt like I was pushing myself. I used to do 20 reps of each and be perfectly fine. I'm way out of shape. I hope the Yoga aspect of this project will help me re-energize physically and start getting back into decent shape. I'm thinking a decent bit of Downward Dog is in order to start building up my shoulder and upper arm strength. I'm going to start looking into which Yoga positions will help build and tone which muscles. Should definitely be interesting!

I got my writing in with my blogging yesterday but didn't get around to any other writing. I'd

like to get really rolling with some of those other writing tasks I've got in mind. Especially the ones where I get some things written for work. I've sort of gotten a start on one about barbecues. I'm still going back and forth between the ideas of writing about a single, specific barbecue for a product highlight or writing about how to design and build your perfect outdoor kitchen.

Based on the economy, I feel like the product highlight would be more logical, but who doesn't dream of having their own outdoor kitchen? Okay, so I don't dream of having one... I just wouldn't say no to it. Mmm.... outdoor kitchen. Now I'm thinking about them, I'm even more intrigued by the idea. What would have to be done to fully convince someone that an outdoor kitchen was what they wanted? I certainly don't know, but if I was a salesperson, I'm sure I'd figure it out. Thank all that is good in the world that I don't have to deal with that nonsense!

Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent, aren't I? I wanted to end this by sharing a passage from The Way We're Working Isn't Working that I read yesterday. In addition to it allowing me to reflect on myself, it actually brought about thoughts about some of my closest friends. I feel like they would benefit from considering the following paragraph, but would fight it tooth and nail if I tried to send it their way:

"The fear of what we'll see keeps us from looking at ourselves more honestly. Denial prompts a cycle that feeds on itself. 'Each violation of one's standard brings a negative affect that makes it unpleasant to be self-aware,' writes the psychologist Roy Baumeister. 'The person avoids monitoring his or her own behavior, which makes further violations possible. The longer this goes on, the more unpleasant it is to resume monitoring oneself, because one must recognize that one has severely violated desired patterns of behavior.'" (The Way We're Working Isn't Working pg. 28)

A Little Discussion of my Goals

2010-06-08T12:24:00.000-07:00

I let things get in my head way too much. Little things that don't necessarily mean anything will drive me crazy and morph into wild situations where people despise me and all they want is to be rid of me. Sometimes I find there's an inkling of truth to my insanity, but that it isn't accurate in that crazy way I let it get in my mind. That place where I'm 10 years old again and running home crying because I literally have no friends.

Like I said. I let things get in my head too much.

Just yesterday, I got a fortune cookie that told me, "You will make a change for the better." I think that this 21.5.800 project could be the key to that. I want to use it as time to be introspective, to really assess myself, and to work toward improving myself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. So I think that this time, for once, my fortune cookie will prove true.

I've recently been reading a book by Tony Schwartz, the man behind The Energy Project. This project is all about balancing our energy instead our time, as is so commonly the goal of the individual. While this is already extremely worthwhile to me as a concept, the most fascinating aspect of Tony Schwartz and the Energy Project is the fact that it brings together studies from many various areas in order to form one coherent way in which we can work to energize ourselves:

The principles at the heart of this book grow out of a rich body of research across disciplines ranging from nutrition to cognition; strength training to training strengths; emotional self-regulation to the role of the right hemispheere of the brain; extrinsic to intrinsic motivation." (The Way We're Working Isn't Working pg. 11)

But this isn't some self-help book - this is a book focused on business and the workplace. It helps the reader gain a balance in the different kinds of energies in their life in order to be more balanced and efficient in the workplace.

If you aren't me, there's a good chance you think this sounds extremely boring. But hear me out on this one. How many hours a week do we spend at work? I don't know about you, but I spend a minimum of 45 hours a week in the office. Sometimes quite a lot more, depending on how much work I have to get through and how much energy I have remaining. Recently, all I want to do is leave the office the second I hit 8 hours. I remember a time when I would work 10 hour days just for the heck of it so I could get that OT in and make some extra money. So why is it that I can't keep up my energy like I used to?

That is the question I'm hoping to answer by reading The Way We're Working Isn't Working and by following through with 21.5.800.

One thing I hope to improve in my performance at work is my motivation toward completing my tasks. While I enjoy my job and feel rewarded for the efforts I put forth, it still isn't exactly what I want to do with my life. It's a step on the right path, but I'm not there yet. So, in addition to the self-reflection I hope to accomplish with my writing in the coming weeks, I have decided to start writing articles for my company's blogs. I've been speaking with our Social Networking Manager about what he plans to do with the blogs and I have been re-reading a number of the previous entries to get an idea of where to start. I have some ideas and even a few beginnings already. Now all I need is a small backlog so I can share them with the right people at the right time. Who knows? Maybe it'll even afford me the opportunity to move back into the specific position that I crave so much! It could be the perfect way to show the company how driven I am toward achieving my goal and how well I can accomplish the task.

Either way, we'll see what happens. I'm just excited to continue working to achieve my goals in life.

21.5.800: A New Project!

2010-06-08T09:14:00.000-07:00

Today, I am embarking on a new project. I know exactly what you're thinking right now: "But Dinah! You NEVER start new projects! I mean, seriously! You're like the laziest person I know in the world!" Come on guys! Where's the encouragement? ;)

In all seriousness, this is going to be another fun project. I mentioned it briefly on Facebook about a week or two ago. It is called 21.5.800. It lasts just 21 days, but it should be an intense and fun 21 days. What it all comes down to is this: I will be writing a minimum of 800 words per day (similar to the idea of NaNoWriMo, but it can be any kind of writing, even blogging!) and I will be doing Yoga at least 5 days of the week each of the 3 weeks in the project.

You can read more detail about this project here, at the original post from the person who organized it.

As for me personally, I am going to be doing this project with my friend Bria, the Dizzy Pixie. She is actually the one who first told me about it and I have to say... I'm pretty darn excited to do it! After work today, we're going to head to her place and do our Yoga together. While it will definitely be too expensive to go to a local Yoga place 5 days a week for 3 weeks, we plan on hitting that up every now and then in the coming weeks. For now, we are sticking with a Yoga DVD that Bria has and I plan on using my Wii Fit for some Yoga (hopefully in the mornings before work if I can wake myself up in time!). Heck, I think I'll even break out my old Yoga journal to see about some of the morning rituals that I haven't done in years.

In recent times, I've been going through some personal struggles about who I am, how I interact with the people around me, and how they behave toward me. Especially in the past week, I have been extremely conscious of how people treat me and how they alter their behavior around me. It's both fascinating and horrible to witness. It's surprising how many people just stop being personal when they start talking to me. It's like they just aren't comfortable around me and I'm really not sure why. I mean, I've worked years toward being as comfortable with myself as I am, but my comfort does not extend to others, which makes me feel awkward, then all potential for a good, real conversation seems to go down the drain. How does this happen? I have no idea.

I think one thing I'd like to explore with 21.5.800 is how this happens and how I can fix it. Because to me, it feels like a break down in the way I live my life. It makes it extremely difficult to cultivate relationships and friendships the way I want to.

So that's what I'm looking to get out of this. Some personal insight, an improved physical state, and a healthier mindset. I'm pretty excited!

Reality Check!

2010-03-24T08:42:00.000-07:00

The way I see it, I am rooted in reality. I didn't used to be. I used to live in a world where I was on the path I was expected to be on and it was good. Where I had the time and determination to think about everything I did in terms of what it meant to me and others, but almost in a pretentious way. I have been thinking about my life and my goals recently and have determined that there are two ways for me to view my life as it is now.

Side One:

I am 23 and don't even have my Bachelor's yet
I can't even afford to be in school right now
I'm single and suck at this whole "dating" thing
Why would anyone want to be in a relationship with someone like me, anyway?
I'm in a job that I don't really want making less money than I should
I don't have the time or money to travel or visit people
I can't seem to finish any major tasks I set myself
My goals in life are lame

Side Two:

I am 23 and have already earned full benefits at my full-time job
My full-time position is very secure, even in this economic climate
The University system is pretty effed up right now and costs more for less, so it's a good time to be out
I lived in Scotland for 4 months. 'Nuff said.
My job is on the path to my ultimate career goal
I am gaining valuable work-experience that will give me an edge on any future job competition
I am happy.
My life goals may not be exciting for other people, but they give me a sense of fulfillment when I accomplish one
I am a unique individual who is unafraid of being herself
I have an amazing family
I have amazing friends both close and far away
I receive constant love and support from said family and friends
I am happy (yes, that one is important enough to list twice)

So, yes. I am not on exactly the path that is expected of me, but I feel like I'm taking a scenic detour right now. When I get my degree at long last and go after the jobs I want, I am going to have a serious edge on my competition. I have experience. Much of my competition will be fresh out of University and have only ever worked in a coffee shop. I still consider my actions and how they affect myself as well as those around me, but it has become less about being intellectual and more about being considerate and giving.

I prefer Side Two. Sometimes I slip into a Side One mindset, but I don't let it last long. Who would want to? So yes, I am still realistic, but I just choose to see the ways in which things can be positive.

Raaaaaaaaage!!!!!

2010-01-20T19:13:00.000-08:00

I can't say the specifics here... or anywhere public, for that matter.... but all I can say is that people I thought were friends seriously disappointed me. The worst part is that they couldn't even tell me themselves. In fact, they don't even know that I'm aware of what happened. It was someone else who, upon discovering the situation, thought I should know about it as well. And this friend was right. It sucks a lot, but I'm glad to know the truth.

But I'm still pissed off and hurt to my core. Not sure who I can talk to about it, though. Stupid people.

Can you say Busy!?

2010-01-19T08:26:00.001-08:00

Bwahahaha! Just realized I haven't updated for a while now. And that the last thing I wrote about was how frustrated I was that people assume I'm slutty. If only they knew what my actual love life was like. Non-existant. Hahaha. Fools!

In any case, I did just update my youtube for the first time in even longer than this blog, as well. I guess I'm in sharing mode. Awesome!

So, I think my favorite part about writing the Daily Wrocket is the fact that even I am learning about new bands! Sure, most of it still consists of bands I've at least heard of prior to choosing to write about them, but there have been a couple where I knew nothing about the band but their name and the fact that they had at least one song of at least a minute in length. I don't always know what to say about a band, but that's part of what makes this all so interesting. I just get going until I hit on something I want to expand on. It's been a blast, to say the least. And now I'm starting to get more guest writers! People are eager to write editorials and album reviews. It's been amazing. Seriously!

Other than that, I've been doing some more work with the HPA. While I'm technically not a staff member right now, I'm going to be helping lead some awesome fandom research. The team I'm leading is the Joss Whedon team, naturally. And for an HPA event this weekend, I'm currently in the process of contacting the entire cast and crew of "The Guild". So I've got my fingers crossed that I'll be hearing back from some of them soon and we'll be able to start building relationships across the fandom barriers! And yes, I know "The Guild" is not technically part of the Joss Whedon fandom, but it is a creation of Felicia Day (who also stars in the web-series), who is one of the actresses Joss keeps bringing back for multiple projects. That's legitimate enough of a connection for me! So there! Besides, I'm more than eager to actually connect with some of the cast and crew if at all possible. They're all freaking awesome and that's a fact!

In any case, I'm just keeping busy as a general rule. Things currently on the docket: work (full-time.... yay?), knitting group every Tuesday (with some seriously awesome little old ladies!), a movie night with friends around once a week, the Daily Wrocket (every day!), the Wizrocklopedia, about to start a new tabletop game with friends (every other Wednesday), lead the Joss Whedon fandom research team, occasional House Managing at my theatre, finish filing my taxes, finish paying off Anna (who is the reason I was able to make it to Wrockstock!), start saving up for a car, start saving up for the various weddings I've been invited to this year (including one that I'm in), start saving up for Wrockstock, and somehow manage to make it down to Lake Havasu to visit my Dad, step-mom, and little brothers!

Wow... when I list it all out like that, it's.... a little scary. I think I do too much. Hahahah. Ah well. At least I'm having a good time, right?

Well, that about wraps it up for me right now.

Not a Slut

2009-12-14T12:16:00.000-08:00

Just letting people know - I am not a slut. I am not promiscuous. I do not sleep around. I don't sleep with just anyone. I do not sleep with someone just because they make me dinner. I do not sleep with someone just because they show interest in me.

For fuck's sake. Could people please stop assuming I'm promiscuous?

That is all.

The Daily Wrocket and What I've Been Up To... Not Much

2009-11-13T10:51:00.000-08:00

Today is Day 7 of the Daily Wrocket. Holy criminy, that's exciting!

As supportive as the Wizard Rock Community always has been, I am still in a state of shock to see the number of readers, the comments, the messages from friends and strangers. I always knew I would have a small readership. I have friends who had every intention of reading daily from the get-go. Some of these friends are Wrock fans, some are interested in the concept of Wrock, and some just wanted to support my endeavors. So I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has supported me from the beginning of my work on this project. And I want to say thank you even more vehemently to everyone who has been reading the Wrocket since it's launch. Your interest and support is so amazing to me!

Additionally, the Wrocket launch party at Wrockstock was beyond amazing!
I spread the word on it as much as I could. Unfortunately, I know of some people who couldn't make it to the party because they didn't hear about it until after the fact, but I swear I tried to tell everyone! I honestly expected maybe up to 30 or 40 people over the course of the night, but in the end, there were well over 100 attendees! WOW! It felt like everyone still awake at Wrockstock that night was there. Thank you so much to my friends in the cabin that allowed me to host the party there. And thank you to everyone who attended for keeping things under control, the noise level down, and the mess to a minimum for a party of that size.

As for the rest of my life... I'm just keeping busy, as usual. Working full time, working on the 'Pedia, writing the Wrocket, having dinner-and-a-movie nights with friends, working at my local theatre. The funny thing is that I'm actually doing less now than I was just a couple months ago. I'm totally cutting down. Nothing prevents me from desperately missing my Wizard people, though.

Other than that, just the usual financial stress. Nothing new there, just as terrifying and anxiety-inducing as ever.

Whoa! It's the Artwork!

2009-10-18T17:42:00.001-07:00

Exciting news!!! A while back, not long after I decided to pursue the Daily Wrocket, I contacted my lovely friend Aelfie to see if she would design a logo for the Wrocket. After much anticipation, the final designs have been revealed and I think it's lovely and fun!

Inspired by the classic scene from Say Anything, I give to you... The Daily Wrocket!!

So thank you, Aelfie! It's AWESOME! I can't wait to get this show on the road!!

Today

2009-09-23T09:27:00.000-07:00

I go through phases. Everyone does, for that matter.

Some days I feel wonderful about myself, who I am, where I am in my life. And other days not so much. Today is one of the days where I still feel wonderful about my life and how I live it, but I start to understand why no one seems to show interest in me. Or, rather... why the people I have any interest in show none toward me.

Just one of those days when I get to be down on myself for a while. Just wait until I perk back up in a few hours.

T-Shirt Uses

2009-09-16T09:20:00.000-07:00

As you may know by now, I have made the decision to cut back on a lot in my life. This includes the amount of clothing I have (which is entirely too much). The most difficult to part myself with are my Wizard Rock and other awesome HP related t-shirts. But I have so many. And I only wear some of them on any kind of regular basis. So why do I have them, I keep asking myself.

So I went through most of my t-shirts (only missed a few as they were in a different location at the time) and made two piles outside of the closet. In the closet, I'm keeping. Outside the closet are the random shirts/articles of clothing I'll be donating to the local Salvation Army and a separate pile of all my HP and Wrock shirts that I've had trouble getting rid of but don't wear for one reason or another. But I don't want to just donate them. I want them to come to more immediate use.

Here are my ideas: take pictures of the shirts I'm getting rid of and offer them to whoever wants to pay shipping and/or take a select number of them and cut them up, turn them into sort of canvas/reusable bag, get that bag signed by Wrockers at Wrockstock and auction it off for the HPA.

Maybe I can do both? Make the bag and offer out the rest of the shirts that didn't get cut up to go into the bag?

What do you all think? I'd love to hear opinions!

The Life I Live and Love

2009-09-14T11:03:00.000-07:00

Let's start this out right. I love my life.

I love the things I do. I love the commitments I make. I love the people I know. I love the places I go, the adventures I embark on.

But I've felt a sort of discontent in recent times. I'm trying to evaluate what is really important and what things in my life no longer hold the meaning that they once did. I've been considering the way I present myself - the clothes I wear, the way I speak, how I take care of my belongings - and what this means about me. I think about all the things that I dedicate my time to and what benefits I gain from them, the things I lose as a result of the time and effort I put into these things. I've been thinking about the way people view me - their initial reactions to making my acquaintance.

I feel like I need a truly fresh start. I'm considering just getting rid of a lot of things I've never been able to, even when I have purged my life in the past. Do I really need so many books on hand? Do I need so many DVDs? Why do I keep so much of this nonsense simply because I historically have an emotional connection to it, but no practical need of?

What if I went through my wardrobe and told myself I was only allowed to keep a dozen shirts, two pairs of pants, and a couple of my skirts? Then I could donate the rest to people or places who need them (maybe get some of my Wrock shirts signed by a bunch of bands at Wrockstock and auction off for the HPA after turning them into a bag or something?). I could spend a day in thrift stores restocking just enough to give me a working wardrobe.

What if, for the first time in my life, I got rid of all the fluff in my life?

I think I'd like it. I need a change. I am at a time in my life where I just want to let myself evolve naturally, but I'm being held in one place by things from my past that no longer hold meaning beyond the memories they evoke. And I don't need physical reminders of memories for them to still be real and give me pleasure.

What I need now is someone to hold me to this. Someone who will be in the room with me and ask me why I should keep something and to discern the bullshit from reality. Ideally, I would be my own taskmaster, but if I could have help, that may be the best way to get started on a cleansing venture such as this.

Daily Wrocket Preview #2

2009-09-03T12:59:00.000-07:00

Below is my next preview from the Daily Wrocket as it stands at this moment. I'm sure there will be some minor editing to this section, but I feel pretty good about where it stands now.

The below preview is the entire page titled "What is Wizard Rock?" It is designed to provide a basis of understanding of the genre for outsiders and (hopefully) a modicum of pride for insiders.

Any and all comments, suggestions, and constructive criticisms are welcome! Either comment here or email me at: dinah@dailywrocket.com

What is Wizard Rock?

Wizard Rock is, at its core, music about Harry Potter. This does not mean every song is solely about the boy wizard (not to deny that a decent amount of them are), but rather that the musicians involved in the movement write songs inspired by the characters, events, and themes found in the book series. Just as a "Muggle" music (as some of us Wrock fans refer to non-Wizard Rock) is inspired by everyday happenings, emotions, and situations, Wizard Rock is inspired by the same things, but with a focus on them as seen within a specific book series.

A Brief History of Wrock

It is widely accepted that the first Wizard Rock song was 'Ode to Harry' in 2000 by the band Switchblade Kittens that was later put onto their album The Weird Sisters. While I agree that this was one of the very first songs about Harry Potter (and certainly the first one to be widely distributed), I peg the beginnings of Wizard Rock taking place approximately a year later with the advent of Harry and the Potters.

"But wasn't it the first big song about good ol' HP?" you may be asking yourself, "I thought you said Wizard Rock was music about him?" Yes, but it's not quite so simple as that, as you'll see discussed in the section below on what seperates Wizard Rock from other music scenes.

Paul and Joe DeGeorge, also known as Harry and the Potters, started making music about Harry Potter by a happy accident of last minute cancellations from bands slated to play in their backyard. I'm sure it was stressful at the time, but I call it a happy accident because those bands cancelling essentially created a new musical genre.

The Potters started touring and telling anyone and everyone to start their own bands about Harry Potter as well. To their surprise and great joy... many of their fans did begin creating bands after listening to their music. Some of the first bands were Draco and the Malfoys, The Whomping Willows, and The Parselmouths.

Over the intervening years, nearly 700 Wizard Rock bands have popped into existence, some of which have stuck around and released extensive discographies (Catchlove and Ministry of Magic stand out in my mind at the moment), and some of which have released no more than a single song and left the band behind entirely after that.

If you'd like to read a more complete history, check out the History of Wrock posted on the Wizrocklopedia. Or better yet, order yourself a copy of the Wizard Rockumentary and watch with an open mind!

What Makes Wizard Rock Stand Out From Other Music Scenes?

While it all started as a single band, Harry and the Potters, one of the key ingredients to Wizard Rock is the community element. There's a reason I refer to it as the Wizard Rock Community in discussion (whether with newcomers to the idea of Wrock or to veterans of the community). Wizard Rock, by and at large, is very Do-It-Yourself. Most bands write their music, record, master, burn to CD, design and create album art, and anything else in the long "To Do" list of making an album all by themselves or with the help of friends. It's not unheard of to have music professionally mastered or to send an album out to be professionally manufactured when demand is particularly high, but that does not negate the creative process that the Wizard Rocker goes through prior to that point in production.

But that's not all, folks! Wizard Rock has this amazing tendency to support various charities and non-profits through touring, charity compilations, and general fund raising. The Whomping Willows' Matt Maggiacomo is one of the forerunners in charity fund raising, having raised money for disaster relief in Haiti and for the Harry Potter Alliance, among other charities. Also on the map for their extensive work are Paul and Joe DeGeorge (Harry and the Potters), Stephanie Anderson (Tonks and the Aurors), and Jarrod Perkins (Gred and Forge), among many others.

One charity that has received upwards of $15,000 over the years from various fund raising (including the Wizard Rock EP of the Month Club run by Paul DeGeorge) has been First Book, an organization promoting literacy by providing books to children in need. In this regard, they share an important feature of the Wizard Rock Community: the promotion and spread of literacy. As is made pretty obvious, the entire Wizard Rock genre is inspired by a book series. All of us Wizard Rockers and Wizard Rock fans are also fans of this spectacular book series that inspired us to make music, love each other, and share our passions with complete strangers with similar interests. We want more than just our music to spread, we want a love of reading to spread to those around us and those listening to this music.

This is what makes Wizard Rock stand out: We aren't in the general mainstream, we don't have competition among bands, our musicians have a very DIY and independent attitude toward their music, and the Community at large has a major focus on spreading literacy and supporting non-profit organizations.

All I can say to this is: Awesome!

Where Can I Learn More About Wizard Rock?

The very best way to learn more about Wizard Rock is to explore it for yourself. My favorite way to do this is to find the myspace page of any Wrock band and to start looking at their friends list. There, you'll see a ton of other Wizard Rock bands. Just keep clicking around and listening to more music! You never know what you'll come across!

If you don't have the time to spend clicking around, feel free to peruse the Wizrocklopedia for a list of as many Wrock bands as have been located so far and news updates on what is going on in Wizard Rock. Alternatively, you can check out Real Wizard Rock for a seriously awesome selection of Wizard Rock lyrics from many of the genre's biggest (and some lesser known) bands.

And if all of this sounds like too much work, just sign up for the EP of the Month Club for a mere $60 (the entire profits of which go to benefit a non-profit organization). You will receive a total of 12 EPs over the course of the year, sent out quarterly. That's only $5 per disc! And you'll get a seriously rad selection of Wizard Rock to listen to!

Random Thoughts

2009-08-31T13:38:00.000-07:00

I stole this from a friend over Facebook. But it made me happy, so I thought I'd spread the joy. :D I went through and bolded my favourites.

Random thoughts from 25-35 year olds as seen on facebook, but very funny.

Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?
When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn’t already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.
I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...
As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.
I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.
Even under ideal conditions, people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey, but I’d bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...
My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?
It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.
I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.
I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lights than Kay.
The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard before dinner.
Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you’re going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you’re crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
That's enough, Nickelback.
I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know” feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?
Kids today are soft.
There is a great need for sarcasm font.
I think everyone has a movie that they love so much it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone’s laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.
I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.
I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart”, all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".
How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?
Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in’ examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"
What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?
While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.
MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.
Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
I would like to officially coin the phrase 'catching the swine flu’ to be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an overweight woman. Example: "Dave caught the swine flu last night."
I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
Bad decisions make good stories
Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!
Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?
If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.
Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't bea problem...
You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.
Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don’t want to have to restart my collection.
There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
"Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.
I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren’t watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'
I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello?Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?
I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

Never Happier to be Clean

2009-08-30T09:37:00.000-07:00

This has been an extremely long week. Worked 50 hours in the office, but am still behind on my project to the point where my boss is unhappy, had to change my sleep schedule to start getting to work around 4-4:30 am, had to tech the show, which would keep me awake far longer than I wanted to be up when I had to go to work so early, and to top it off, I couldn't make it to HC84 because it was far away and I had to run the show.

So last night's party was a very welcome thing. However, it wasn't just any old party. It was a Food Fight party. Everyone brought a token messy/sticky/squishy food item for the fight and we stashed them on tables in the backyard. At 11:30, all of us in our food fight clothes, rearing and ready (and drunk) for the food fight gathered in the center of the grass. On the count of three, we all made mad dashes for the various containers of food around us. It was a mad five minutes of throwing glop around, grabbing mashed potatoes and smashing it into peoples' hair, smearing spaghetti and red sauce across someone's shirt, picking up chunks that were on the ground and throwing them back into the chaos.

Holy freaking crap, it was a lot of fun.

To wash off, a bunch of us jumped into the pool and continued having a blast. There were also a couple people hosing everyone else off. Despite all the hosing, dousing, swimming, etc.... when I woke up this morning, I had dried mashed potatoes and other unknown food remains in my hair. Best. Shower. Ever.

Will definitely grab and post pictures from last night as soon as people get them up on Facebook.

I think last night was the most fun I've had in a very long time with the possible exception of a certain roof excursion at Azkatraz. But it's definitely a close call.

I can't wait for Wrockstock to blow this out of the water. Because I'll be damned if it doesn't!

The Daily Wrocket

2009-08-21T09:06:00.000-07:00

As the Daily Wrocket official website is still in progress (and thereby closed to the public), I have decided to post at the least a very small preview from what is ready so far: a portion of my answer to the question, "What is the Daily Wrocket?"

So sit back, relax, and read a little about the Daily Wrocket to give you an idea of what it's all about!

What is the Daily Wrocket?
Have you ever considered how music plays into our lives and the effect it has on masses of listeners? I hope to use this project as a way of learning about and sharing the effect that Wizard Rock in particular has on the individuals who listen to it every day by observing the bands instead of the listeners.

I will be taking a different Wizard Rock band each day for 365 days and focusing my thoughts and discussion of Wizard Rock through them. The ultimate goal of the Daily Wrocket is to take an alternative approach to listening to music and sharing it with others. This is not a project where I plan on listing a band each day with their rap sheet of albums and music to date. No - I want to react to the music, to the band, and to the impact each band has had on the Wizard Rock Community, the Harry Potter Fandom, and on my own personal life.

I hope for this to be a very personal approach to music, Wizard Rock, and the challenges that arise in a small, close-knit community and how we rise above them to grow closer and stronger than ever before.

If you're a Wizard Rocker and would like to have a write-up about your band on the Wrocket, please email me at: dinah@dailywrocket.com I will send you interview questions to answer so I can make your write-up as awesome as possible!

An Update After a Long Time

2009-08-20T09:12:00.000-07:00

I recently realized how ridiculously long it's been since I've done any kind of blogging here. A lot has happened in the meantime:

My opinion article turned fiasco

Azkatraz

Running two productions at my local theatre (still running the second one now)

Freya went to Europe for two weeks

Preparing as much as possible for the Daily Wrocket

I moved out of my old house

Staying with my grandma until the next place is ready

Continuing to work anywhere between 42 and 50 hours a week

I'm sure there's more, but I'm having trouble remembering more than that right now. It's pretty ridiculous, to be honest.

In any case, I've been doing a lot of thinking about a whole ton of stuff lately. Among these things is where the Wizard Rock Community is right now and what the future of it is. It's a terribly interesting train of thought and I'm working on writing up a few things about it right now. None of them are quite ready and I'm still trying to decide where I want to post them. One option I've been considering is re-instating my bi-weekly "Straight From the Dinah Saur's Mouth" column, but I have yet to determine whether or not I'll have time for that, what with the Daily Wrocket coming along so swiftly. We'll see.

Speaking of the Daily Wrocket, I've got a decent amount of the information for the website itself written. I'm collecting Wizard Rock email addresses and interviews to make my writing about them better and more interesting, but I'm slacking on actually getting write-ups written so far. I need to just sit down one day and start going through what I've got, listening to music, and writing my thoughts on what's going on. Hopefully I'll have time to do this sometime this weekend. Hell, I should just make time for it. It's the only way I'm going to get anything done. I can write about the bands I have interviews from and even do some write-ups on bands that haven't been active in an extremely long time. I don't anticipate getting a response from any of them regarding interviews, but that doesn't mean I don't have enough fodder to write about them!

I've purchased the domain name and have an email all set up. I just need to get the domain name linked to my blog (which is proving to be troublesome at this point, I think I just need to actually call their customer service on this one). Also, my lovely Aelfie is designing banners, icons, and the like for me. Once I have those, I plan on getting the web design set up (with the help of the ever-awesome Aaron, who also does the web design for the 'Pedia), and to start using social networking sites to begin promoting. By then, all the info pages will be up on the website and maybe I'll post occasional thoughts about my progress prior to the official launch to keep people updated and interested.

Well, I really ought to get going now. I just thought I'd give a basic update now that I have thought about it! Hope you're all having a wonderful day and that everything is awesome in your lives!

Random Interlude #2 (click image for full comic)

2009-05-20T16:24:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Brittany for this! www.toothpastefordinner.com

LeakyCon To Do List:

2009-05-18T15:24:00.000-07:00

~~Make cds for people~~
~~Get carry-on luggage from Grandma's~~
~~Make cookies (unnecessary)~~
Write down all the times and places I'm meeting people
~~Do my laundry~~
~~Make gifts for two individuals who may see this, so I can't say what~~
~~Make more powerpoints for the HPA (unnecessary)~~
~~Get final touches done on WRPCA winner envelopes/cards~~
Pre-order live Wrock album from Leaky (save for later)
~~Maybe register for the Michael Goldenberg or Hottttt Cheryl keynotes (unnecessary)~~
Take a minute to breathe
Complete at least these two projects at work before leaving
~~Pack my bags~~
~~Not forget anything (I think!!!)~~
Gear myself up for being on a panel with some majorly amazing people
Not be a bumbling idiot on the panel
~~Make copies of Pat Hull albums for James~~
~~Make a list of all the things I'm picking up for other people (get something signed for Chan, and I'm sure there's more!)~~

I'm sure there's more. I should have made a list like this much sooner. *facepalm*

Some input, please?

2009-05-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

x-posted from a note on Facebook

Hello Friends!

I have decided to try an interesting project. I don't know how well I will do it, but hopefully it will be awesome! What I'm doing here is looking for input (positive, negative, and constructive are all welcome! Especially constructive. :P). Additionally, I am trying to figure out WHAT to call it. I honestly haven't a clue at the moment. So maybe title suggestions?

So here's the idea:
I want to choose a different Wizard Rock band each day of the year for 365 days. Each day I would listen to as much music from the chosen band as I can, provide a helpful list of their songs and/or albums, review the band, reflect on Wrock as a whole in relation to this band or as brought up by the band, potentially make a vlog once a week or something along those lines.

At this point, I just have a vague outline of what I'd like to do. So what things would you like to see happen with a project like this? What would be a good name for it? What are your thoughts on what has been going through my mind so far?

Thanks for your input, everyone!

UPDATE: Suggestions I've received so far have essentially been to go for it, but have a few ready in advance for days when I can't make it to the computer.

Family and my Weekend

2009-05-09T20:17:00.000-07:00

I have been spending the weekend with my family, and I love it. It's the first time I've seen my dad, step-mom, and little brothers since the end of last July and, as crazy as they can be, it's pretty glorious. Friday night, they arrived in town, I went to my grandparents' house and had dinner and chatted quite a bit.

Lovely.

After that, I went out with Juanita and Andrew because Andrew is about to move to Washington. Juanita and I ended up back at my house at 2am - at which point I noticed James was online, so we drunkenly Skype chatted with him for about an hour before going to sleep around 3:30am.

Then it was an early morning for us (up at about 8:15am) to go grab some breakfast at Cafe Coda, immediately followed by a bit of tidying in my room and meeting my family at Saturday Morning Market at 10am. This led to an approximately 9 mile bike ride with my dad, my aunt, and my little brothers (including a bit of a picnic on the creek in the park). It was a great time.

After this, I made it home in time to catch about the last half of the Wizarding Radio Hour, which was particularly fun, actually! I look forward to future airings. I had a great time with it. A bit of rest later and I went back to my grandparents' house for dinner where I had a drink with everyone, a large dinner, and a good amount of discussion and telling of family stories.

Now I'm dead exhausted and SO looking forward to sleeping. I feel a bit bad because I want to go to Tila's birthday party tonight, but I don't have a ride there or back and I would be a lame guest because I'm so tired.

Ah well, she knows I love her and hopefully I will see her soon enough anyway!

When Incompetence Pays Off

2009-04-26T21:32:00.000-07:00

I just re-installed my OS in order to fix some obnoxious glitches on my computer. Before I did this, I saved all my important files to blank CDs. When I put the first disc into the computer (this disc being the one I put most of the really important things onto), I discovered that I had failed to fully close the session, meaning my computer couldn't read the disc at all.

FUCK.

That was all I could think. I was screwed. Then.... I started restoring my iTunes library (backed up to a million blank DVDs) and realised my computer was running out of space. That didn't seem right! So, that's when I discovered that I hadn't deleted or even replaced all the old information on my computer. It just happened to get pushed into the "Windows.old" folder instead of the new "Windows" one. I did a little digging, and found every single file I thought I had just lost.

GLORIOUS!

So... I guess the moral of the story is that when things look like they've gone wrong because you were being an idiot (like me), just hold out a little longer before getting upset. Chances are your idiocy will be found elsewhere in a way that actually helps you.

Or something.

Because I'm Lame

2009-04-25T11:27:00.001-07:00

Bwahahahahaha!

2009-04-16T13:38:00.000-07:00

Thank you Jason!

From: http://www.smbc-comics.com/

I'm Awesome(ly Nerdy)!

2009-04-15T21:28:00.000-07:00

So... the other day, there was a random reference to Pokemon by James. This reminded me of how I used to collect Pokemon cards when I was in middle school and then again not long after I started at University. Tonight, I looked over and saw the cabinet in which I have stored these items for the past couple years, taking them out to reminisce over every so often.

So I opened it and started giggling, looking at all that filled it. I had forgotten just how much I enjoy these little things in my life. I started pulling things out, looking through my toys one sort at a time. I started with my Pokemon cards. I have a rather large binder filled with them. I have a couple long cardboard boxes filled with more. I have a couple decks that I had built in individual cases. I have more just stashed around that didn't fit anywhere else. What I had nearly forgotten about, however, were my "special" Pokemon cards. Well, they're special to me. I once saw on eBay, an unopened box of 1st Edition base set cards... wait for it ...in German! I bought it and had more fun opening those booster packs than I had ever had in the past! I now have almost the entire base set in German but for a few cards that happened to not be in that box. Additionally, I had purchased a couple starter decks in German... both from the Fossil set.

To continue, I next took a quick peek at my old Magic cards. I don't have many, but it gave me a good laugh at how I got many of them. You see, I had a Swamp deck back in my day. I didn't have many cards and wanted to make my deck better, so I went around to my brothers and step brother to see if they wanted to give me any. My step brother, in particular, was very helpful. He had a bunch scattered in his desk drawer. Of course, it turned out that he used to stash is illicit green smoking substances (XD) in that drawer. So I ended up with a ton of cards that smelled strongly of marijuana. Cracked me up.

Anyways, so then it was time to look through my Harry Potter TCG cards. I have a binder filled with some from each set I have (my old 'Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion' binder with a Potterpuff image on the cover). In addition, I have a two player starter set, an old box from the Diagon Alley set, my own deck (Quidditch and Potions headed by Oliver Wood), and a slew of unopened booster packs!

I have officially decided that I will not yet open these booster packs but wait until one of two things: either LeakyCon or when James comes to visit (hopefully with Christie in tow for the weekend!). Either way, it will be so much more fun with friends who are as crazy about HP fun as I am and I'm already excited!

So the whole time I was going through these things of mine, I kept thinking to myself, "I'm awesome! I love this stuff! How can that not be awesome!?"

If you'd like to look at many more pictures of these things, check out the album here!

Working Out

2009-04-15T17:05:00.000-07:00

Follow-up on yesterday's post:

Things have worked through. Took about 20 hours longer than it should have, but it's fine.

ps. I forgot how much I like the song "Snape vs. Snape" by MoM until it just turned up on my iTunes on shuffle. XD

Uncertainty

2009-04-14T16:10:00.000-07:00

If I don't hear back in the next day, I think it's too late.

It isn't worth the heartache of going through it again and again. I am trying. I am putting forth the effort and getting no response. I haven't officially decided yet, but I think I know where this is leading. I love the people as individuals, but as "co-workers" of a sort, there is a lot of trouble. They say that communication is most important of all things, but they are failing at that game now. Feel like I'm being shut out.

Don't want to lose friends over this, but I fear that I might.

Sorry for the vagueness. Don't want to give any details until I know what will be happening.

Funny Story Time, Kiddies!

2009-04-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

After Cannibal was over on Saturday night, I was down in the performance area talking to friends of mine who just saw the show. Then some random guy walks up who looks almost vaguely familiar. He starts talking to me, excitedly proclaiming, "See? I did end up making it!" and other such phrases that made me think, "Do I know this guy and just forget who he is?" So I continue talking to him a bit asking how he liked the show, etc. And then he goes, "Your name is Dinah, right?" I laughed and said it was wondering how I was going to get out of the situation where I had no idea who this person was in the first place. At which point he says, "You probably don't remember my name, do you?" I explained that I am terrible at names and I'm sorry and blah, blah, blah... the usual.

It turns out, after a little more discussion, that I met him in the stairwell down to the U Bar one night when I was drunk (and don't remember meeting him) and I must have told him about Cannibal and apparently gave him a hug.

Yeah... good times... ?

My guess is it happened the night I went out with Janae, because no other night did I wander down there following enough Jager to make me at least a bit forgetful of the events ending the evening.

A Beautiful Day on the Horizon

2009-04-11T11:37:00.000-07:00

So, to start off... last night was the opening of Cannibal: The Musical. It went very well! Lots of fun, went out to the only local pub afterwards. Didn't have anything to drink as I was driving home right afterwards, but it was nice to hang out with everyone from the show for a bit. And to not have the annoying kids in the show around. :D

When I got home, it as about 1:30 and I realised that it was morning in the UK and I wasn't quite tired and James deserved a shot at chatting at me when I was dead exhausted. Ended up talking for a few hours and it was lovely. Woke up exhausted around 10:15 this morning, but today will be great anyway!

So.... onto the day I'm looking forward to now! To begin with, I'm still house sitting for my mum, which means I have probably the best view in the city. The day is so clear I can see the Buttes (the world's smallest mountain range) straight out the window. Rarely is the air so clear and the mini-mountain range so crisp in appearance. I just wish I had a camera to take a picture and show you. Alas, I do not at this time. :(

However, sometime soon, I will be going over to my cousin's for my family's Fourth Annual Wine and Brewfest. Basically, everyone brings some kind of six pack - a beer that is uncommon, interesting, or just something they'd like to try - and we spend the day together drinking and having a good time. Yeah. My family is freaking awesome. Adam and Mary started this new tradition and it is definitely a good one!

Of course, I have to run the show tonight, so can't drink too much. And the fact I have to drive over there is another thing. At least the show is late night and I can wait until I'm perfectly cogent to do any driving and tech running.

After the show, we'll all be heading over to Tony's birthday party, which should prove to be particularly entertaining! It will be good to see everyone again and have a good time. I don't know if I'll be drinking much there, as I'll still be driving myself about. But if I do, I'm sure I can crash if necessary. I doubt I will, but I'm sure it's available.

Anyways, off to start my day!

Things You Know You Want to Do...

2009-04-09T20:30:00.000-07:00

1. At lunch time, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars. See if they slow down.

2. Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.

3. Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.

4. Put your garbage can on your desk and label it "in"

5. Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over their caffeine addictions, switch to espresso.

6. In the memo field of all your checks, write "for sexual favors."

7. Finish all your sentences with "in accordance with the prophecy."

8. Dont use any punctuation marks

9. As often as possible, skip rather than walk.

10. Ask people what sex they are. Laugh hysterically after they answer.

11. Specify that your drive-through order is "to go."

12. Sing along at the opera.

13. Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems don't rhyme.

14. Put mosquito netting around your work area. Play a tape of jungle sounds all day.

15. Five days in advance, tell your friends you can't attend their party because you're not in the mood.

16. Have your coworkers address you by your wrestling name, Rock Hard Kim.

17. When the money comes out the ATM, scream "I won!", "I won!" "3rd time this week!!!!!"

18. When leaving the zoo, start running towards the parking lot, yelling "run for your lives, they're loose!!"

19. Tell your children over dinner. "due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go."

Rawr

2009-04-09T18:14:00.000-07:00

I don't really have much in the way of anything to say, but I felt like getting a good old fashioned rawr out there.
Image from this site.

A Nice Day

2009-04-08T20:39:00.000-07:00

I nearly forgot to write this blog! I told James I would, so I feel obligated to now. XD

So today has been interesting, but is ending quite nicely. It started with the lovely ability to sleep in for nearly an extra hour complete. That alone should have been enough to make my day glorious! However, not long after I got to work, Greg started IMing me and, when I explained that my weekend is jam-packed and he explained that he was trying to organize a surprise weekend visit with me, he got angry. What it all comes down to is I was so angry at him that I was literally shaking at my desk. I went on Twitter and asked James to come online and talk to me because I just needed to talk to someone I actually enjoy talking to.

After a bit of ranting and raving to the ever patient James, I stopped shaking, I felt a bit better, and I was actually able to form a coherent thought. So James... you are the only reason my day ended up fine in the end. Huzzah!

After lunch, I got a chance to get to know one of my co-workers better and discovered she's quite a lot of fun to chat with. She called me over at one point later to help her with a piece of a project that was really just causing her a massive headache. Took about 20-30 minutes, but was a lot of fun, once we got it figured out.

From there, I got to check on my grandma's cats, pick up some food at Trader Joe's, and head to my mum's home. Laundry took place while I got my bath ready... and let me tell you... I now understand why people love bubble baths so very much! It was just like in a movie when you see the woman in the bath with bubbles so thick she might as well be fully clothed under all the white. Except it was me and it was real. I learned something important for my future bath adventures.... have a glass of cold water nearby!

So now I'm silky smooth, eating delicious vegetable lasagna from TJ's, typing up this silly account.

But oh! I can't believe I forgot to mention this sooner! Earlier today, my friend Chelsea and I were walking out to the coffee truck that parks outside our work building a few mornings each week. I accidentally caught a snail with my shoe and broke it's shell. It was still alive, so I put it among some foliage to hopefully recover. Within an hour of this, Felicia Day happened to post this to her Twitter: "Seeing lots of snails in LA lately. I know people hate them, especially gardeners, but I don’t. Fairies use them as mounts after all. "

My friend @replied to Felicia saying: "I love snails (because they are mounts for fairies :)) but my friend accidentally broke one’s shell as we were getting coffee " And, once I saw this, I sent another @reply to Felicia explaining, "I would like to mention (as @[my friend]’s friend) that it was an accident and I moved it to safety so it could try and recover!"

Chelsea and I started giggling about it because it amused us. But the story doesn't end there! Apparently, Felicia got so many hilarious @replies that she wanted to post a number of them in her blog. Chelsea and I are among them and are some of the first mentioned! Absolutely hilarious!

"I guess having over 300,000 followers on Twitter can be a good and bad thing. The bad is I can’t possibly follow or know each and every person who follows me, but the good is that when I get so many insanely smart and wonderful responses to things I tweet. I would love to RT (ReTweet) them all and share them on my Twitter feed, but sometimes I get so many awesome responses I can’t give credit where credit is due. So I decided, based on a Twitter I did this morning, to share some of my favorites."

So... if you'd like to see this post, check it here. We're @caliclia and @WrockDinahSaur

Cannibal: The Musical

2009-04-06T22:53:00.000-07:00

So I'm doing some tech for a show called "Cannibal: The Musical"... Freaking hilarious. Tonight was the first time we had any actual tech. I'm running the follow spot. But let me tell you... it is the jankiest form of follow spot that I can possibly imagine.

To begin with, it's not actually a spot light. It sticks, it gets very hot and has no handle, and the aiming is freaking awkward as hell! Oh... and I haven't even mentioned the best part. There is some kind of giant power thingy with a huge, extremely noisy dial that turns the light on and off. I have to do that every time the light goes on or off... and some cues are pretty fast, meaning it's even louder. We're going to try and WD-40 it tomorrow, but we really don't know if it'll even make a difference. Bah!

But the show is really coming together and should be a blast. We open on Friday night! Yay!

Okay, now I really just need to get some sleep. :P

Thought of the Day

2009-04-05T14:08:00.000-07:00

In the words of Andy Scott and Trevor Griffin, "Love is like oxygen."

Shit. It's true. "You get too much, you get too high. Not enough and you're gonna die." Currently searching for that middle ground. Good luck to me!

And yes... I am quoting cheesy glam rock from the '70s. Get over it. :D

(That's the band off to the right, by the way... The Sweet. How can you not love them when they used to wear outfits like that?? I mean, for reals! )

Thanks to Wikipedia for the picture.

A Wild Night

2009-04-04T12:19:00.000-07:00

Okay.... so last night was freaking awesome. Janae made it here not long before 10pm, so it was easy and fine to just head out pretty much right away. I had given much thought to where I would take her because it was her first time going out drinking since turning 21 earlier this week. The way I saw it... I had to give her a true Chico experience, so to the U Bar it was. For those who read this and don't live in Chico (which I think is everyone, actually), the U Bar is something of a dive, but one that's actually pretty decent. The drinks are cheap, but not terrible. So it works out well in the end.

Anyways, we started at the U Bar, I had been waning more and more all day, so I started the night with a Jager Blaster followed immediately by a Long Island. Janae decided to stick with fruity cocktails and got some kind of strawberry drink. Then I saw a friend of mine, so we sat with him and his other friend and chatted a bit. After finishing our drinks, we decided it was time to move on. We went to Panama's, but it was particularly lame, busy, and smoky all at once, so we just left and headed to Duffy's where Janae had another cocktail and we had a good time chatting. Then, to keep up with the Chico spirit, we went by the Bear. It's not a very fun place to go at night, I find... but I felt like it was part of the experience. It was just waters for us there and then we left and hit Normal St. because it is right around the corner from the Bear. By chance I ran into some old friends I hadn't seen in many, many months and that's when the night got particularly interesting.

Heidi and her boyfriend started buying me more and more drinks. And all of them had Jager. I had a Jager Bomb (like the Blaster, but pre-combined) and a half followed by a Red-Headed Slut (or something like that... I don't really remember the name because by then I was pretty well inebriated). At this point, I ran into Matty and when Heidi and Anthony decided to head to Panama's, Janae and I joined with Matty in tow. At Panama's we just had a couple glasses of water and did a good bit of dancing.

And now that I'm typing all this up, it sounds pretty lame. But we had a great time. Janae and I came home, had some more water, and put on Mr. and Mrs. Smith to fall asleep to. My bladder woke me around 5am and the Janae's stomach woke her just after. It took a couple hours for Janae to be better again, but she got a little more sleep and ate a bit of toast (my personal stomach quencher) and headed back up to Redding.

Apparently, when we got back from the bars, I did a little bit of Facebook updating and wall posting. Awesome. XD

A Brief Interlude

2009-04-03T21:21:00.000-07:00

So I just wanted to put in a brief little interlude from the nonsense going through my head. I'm going out tonight with Janae and it's going to be tons of fun. She's coming down from Redding right now and we'll be going out and having a rad time.

So in celebration, I wanted to post something joyful and adorable all at the same time. I present to you... lolcat #2!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Inebriated Ramblings

2009-04-02T22:36:00.000-07:00

This post is made while I'm a little in the drink. To be precise, I've had half a bottle of wine to myself and that's about it. I actually made a vlog for my youtube channel, but for some unknown reason, it won't upload. Honestly, that's probably for the best.

I am a pretty ridiculous vlogger, even in the soberest of moments. So not having to inflict my friends upon the torture of seeing me vlog while inebriated is probably a good thing. Of course, blogging while inebriated isn't much better, but at least you can't see my face.

Why that makes a difference, I really don't know. But the fact that you can't see the expressions I'm making is pretty significant.

I drank half a bottle of wine tonight. So forgive any spelling or grammatical errors I make. I don't think I'm making any, but I might be making a shitload.

The big question: why is Dinah drinking tonight? Answer: because she feels truly and completely alone for the first time in a long time. I believe that being even just a bit inebriated is a great way of learning how people actually feel about certain things. I know it's when I feel most honest. Without realising it, I am more honest (which is seriously saying something) when I have had a few than when I'm stone sober.

Huzzah to that..... or something.

Anyway, it's late - I've been drinking - and now I need to sleep. I hope you enjoyed these inebriated ramblings.

Skipping Ahead

2009-04-02T20:04:00.000-07:00

So remember that post a bit ago about wanting to skip ahead and get to the happy ending of my life? Well, I've been thinking about that a lot recently. Sure, it sounds nice in theory, but when it comes down to it... that's not what I want or need right now. It's true, I can think of at least one person who is pretty much exactly who I would love to have in my life 'til death do us part. But that's not what I need right now. I think I still need the freedom of being a woman of sense and independence.

Looking ahead to the me of 5 years from now, that person looks even more appealing to my sensibilities. And by then I may just be ready for more. I don't want to miss my middle, as Lorelai Gilmore would put it. I see the beginning, I see the ending I could have... and as much as I want to jump forward in time and just have it... I don't want to miss my story, my middle.

The important part isn't the result, it's the journey that takes us there. So I guess it's time for me to just live it up, go with the flow, and have a good time with my life. No more fucking around and feeling sorry for myself because things aren't turning out as well as I had hoped. No more being shitty at keeping up with people and wallowing pitiably because I don't seem to have anyone around anymore.

Yes, there are rough times. Yes, I have always gotten through them as well as I could. And now it's time to just freaking get over it.

Life - here I come.

And the sad part is I can't even bring myself to end that statement with an exclamation point.

Taking a little trip...

2009-04-01T08:16:00.000-07:00

So..... I'm planning on going to Mars. Their flights are all booked right now, but hopefully I can catch one of those ones in 214 days they mentioned on the site.

What I'm Looking For

2009-03-18T20:27:00.000-07:00

I'll be honest. I don't know what I'm looking for. Right now, I just want to have a fun time. I am so unbelievably happy to not be in my last relationship that it shocks me every time I realize it. At the same time, while I miss the comfort of having someone I could (sometimes) rely on when I needed human contact, I definitely don't want to be in a relationship now. Not if I have to fight through the beginning stages that always seem so nice at the time. I guess I just don't want to deal with that right now. I want the happy ending. I want the first letter in "Slay the Critics" at the end of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8, Issue 22. I know what the ending is, but I don't know how I'm going to get there or who it's going to be with.

For those who don't have access to this issue of Buffy, allow me to enlighten you. The very first letter was led into with these simple words from Scott Allie (the man who answers the letters sent in), "And now...a very special Slay the Critics. Please read the following letter, everyone." To say the least, he has never instructed the readers to make certain to read a specific letter. In fact, he has commented on getting flack from fans for not printing the entirety of every letter in the past. Yet this one was somehow special. I read on to learn the story of a guy who is not only new to Buffy, but to Joss Whedon in general. He told the story of meeting a girl. A girl who tried to get him to watch Firefly to no avail. A girl who he compromised with (without telling her) by watching Buffy, without realizing that she didn't even like the show at the time. When he shared his news, they agreed that if he watched Firefly that she would watch Buffy. They both loved all of it in the end. And now they are eagerly reading Season 8 in comic book form. Now for the important part, as this letter-writer put it. He ended his letter with a proposal to his girlfriend.

My initial thought? "Where can I find one?" But what about this story makes me wish it was mine so much? I think what I desire most about this isn't the nerdy boyfriend/fiance. It isn't the amazing and perfect proposal in a comic book/Joss creation. Sure, these things are both great and amazing, but what I really want is the relationship where happy compromises are made, where interests are shared and valued, and where life improves. Ha! You thought I was going to say I wanted the happy ending, didn't you? Well, I do. But it's not what makes this story or this relationship particularly poignant.

Yes, I know relationships require work. Yes, I know they're hard. But this is what I long for: the simplicity of just loving someone for all they are.

I'm jealous.

Buffy art from: http://www.whedon.info/

One of those days...

2009-03-09T10:56:00.000-07:00

Today is officially "one of those days"... You know the one. It's the day the alarm didn't go off, you woke up after you were supposed to already be at work, and it all just frustrates you beyond means. Top it with feeling shitty the night before and managing to use it all as an excuse to take a day off work.

Plan for the Day

Buy new alarm clock
Watch more episodes of Angel
Read some graphic novels

And now... to make things a little better, I am leaving this off with an adorable lollercat.

WonderCon '09

2009-03-08T21:11:00.000-07:00

A week ago, I went with a few friends down to San Francisco to attend my first convention - WonderCon. Let me just say it... freaking awesome day! I met people I admire, people I love as actors, and people whose comics I enjoy. I also found out about various comics, music, and other such nerdy things that I would love to learn more about!

We got to the con a bit later than we had hoped. Christie and Mojo were already inside and waiting in line to meet Felicia Day. They said the line was already cut off and she was supposed to leave soon, so I ran and snuck into line with them. Terrible, I know... but the fact that Felicia Day was there and doing that signing was the number 1 reason I went down there in the first place. While we were in line, Mojo pointed out Kim Evey, the producer of The Guild. He, being an employee at PAX, knew her and introduced Christie and I briefly. Then it was time to meet Felicia Day. They were sold out of Dr. Horrible DVDs, so I had to satisfy myself with just The Guild instead of the pair. Felicia Day signed it and chatted with Christie and I. She is totally down to earth and extremely fun to chat with. Great times!

Next on the list was Adam Baldwin. Oh Adam Baldwin. I can't deny that he's amazing. A great actor playing a phenomenal character in Firefly and Serenity. Gotta love him. When I first got up to him, I was a bit worried that I would be disappointed when I met him - that he would be rude or apathetic. And at first I thought my fears were manifesting themselves. But in the end, Adam Baldwin was just a stand up guy who was extremely pleasant and nice. It was a rare pleasure to have the opportunity to meet two people I admire so much as actors and have them both turn out to be just great!

After Adam Baldwin, I decided to do a bit of wandering. I came across a ton of comic book writers and artists. Really just anyone and everyone who wanted to spread the word of their work and hopefully make a sale or two. As I was wandering, I would stop whenever something was at all intriguing to me and have a chat with the people behind the tables. In the end, I had a ton of great conversations with people, artists, and writers. Some of them were just so excited to have someone so much as talk with them, it was pretty hilarious. I think they just sit behind those tables all day long for three days and have hardly anyone actually stop and talk to them. So in the end, it turned out very well because a few of them were just so grateful they even gave me free stuff. One woman, after telling me about her book when I asked, decided that she had a feeling about me. As I was walking off she called me back saying, "Wait a minute! I have a feeling about you. I just have this feeling." At that moment, she grabbed a copy of her book, asked me how to spell my name and signed it to me. I have been reading Watchmen so I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but once I have, I've promised to email her and tell her my thoughts. I want to send anyone interested toward her site, though. She was just so nice! The book is called Fortress and you should totally check her site.

In addition, I got to meet Ted Naifeh, the writer of the Courtney Crumrin graphic novels. I had no idea he would be there, and when I saw him selling some original artwork, it was all I could do to walk away without the intention of finding one of my friends to borrow a bit more money from. Sadly, he wasn't as nice as I would hope - more interested in making a sale than talking. Once I told him I didn't have money but I greatly enjoyed the Courtney Crumrin stories, he just lost interest in me entirely. He did have little things to hand out for free and was nice enough to sign one for me anyway... so at least there was that much, right? Better than nothing, I guess. Like I said, though... he had some original artwork there and I wanted some of it so badly. I guess I'll just have to wait until the next time he's at a con or something of the sort nearby and I can afford to spend a little extra cash on it.

Anyway, other than all that, it was mostly hanging out with friends, attending a couple panels, and just having a generally good time. I can't wait until the next con, to say the least! PAX, here I come!

An Introduction

2009-03-08T19:52:00.000-07:00

So this is it. Me.

A little about me. I'm Dinah. Fondly known in the Wizard Rock world as Dinah Saur. To be honest, I had the nickname Dinah for somewhere near 4 years before I realized that adding a "Saur" on the end turned me into the extinct beast with which I have so long been fascinated. Sometimes I'm just a little slow on the uptake. Similarly, one of my greatest weaknesses is probably the fact that I'm extremely gullible. No, not enough that I'll look it up in the dictionary when you tell me it's been spelled incorrectly, but I sometimes take a bit of extra time to figure out when someone is speaking in jest.

I am a huge fan of Harry Potter and pretty much everything created by Joss Whedon. I am a gamer and enjoy a good graphic novel or interesting comic. I not only listen to Wizard Rock, but I help run a site dedicated to spreading the word and the love of the genre.

More than anything else, I highly doubt anyone will want to read any of this. I don't see myself being interesting enough for people to check my blog or any of it. Despite that, I find it's just nice to have somewhere to let out my thoughts. So enjoy when it comes up!