Barbaric Nerdiness

Yesterday, some friends and I went to the Viking Festival. My neighbors (I may have mentioned them before) are beer brewing Vikings (yes, for real) and they invited us last year. It was so fun, we went again this year. I had even more fun this year, I even got to throw a flaming axe. Going to a Viking Festival is a bit like stepping back in time. Many people are in costume and carrying weapons. They have music and have competitions like fish flinging, log tossing, axe throwing, archery and combat. It is barbaric and feels very manly, but it is also super nerdy when you think about it. Will Wheaton's definition of a nerd totally applies to these people (and I LOVE it!)

So Vikings are big, manly, bearded nerds who, let's face it, are really the best kind! I am 99% sure that I will eventually end up with someone who gets obsessive and geeks out over things like I do. I could totally see myself getting wrapped up in the Viking culture. I love the idea of making costumes and dressing up. And (you never cease to learn something new about yourself) I found that I rather enjoy watching men being barbaric and throwing weapons and yelling war cries. What can I say, I guess I am a primitive woman at heart. Seriously though, check this out - best nerds ever, right?

I actually learned that this sub-culture runs deep. There is a pretty big group of people that get together annually for "wars" where they go camping for a week in primitive tents and every one has to be dressed up in traditional garb, by day the men get all dressed up in their chain mail and fight battles with one another and by night they have bonfires and drink mead and dance and basically just be medieval. Doesn't that sound SO FUN?!? I would so go to that. I really need to become closer friends with my neighbors. I bet they go to those events. One day, I will tag along. Things like this really nail home how much of a geek I really am. I am hearing it as I say it, but oh well. I embrace it! Here are some pics from yesterdays adventures:

Why I love geeks (and Will Wheaton)

I saw this video clip from Will Wheaton from the Calgary Comic Expo and just love it! (Video Here) I love Will Wheaton anyway. I think he was one of my first celebrity crushes, waaaay back when he was a young teenager in Stand By Me. I love how he describes nerds/geeks. "Its not what you love, its how you love it."
I have been trying to put my finger on it for years. I have always been drawn to geeks. They are my people! One of my favorite shows is The Big Bang Theory because I identify with it so much! (oh, and Mr. Wheaton pops his head in from time to time) This (even better video here) exact same scenario has happened in my dining room countless times! I don't know if that is so much that my friends are geeks or just overgrown 7th grade boys, but either way, to have it depicted in a sitcom just makes me laugh. I just... relate.
I consider myself a geek, and not so much because of the things I like (although things like Settlers of Catan, Firefly, and pretty much all things Joss Whedon would definitely put me in that category) it is because when I like something, I really LIKE something. I have a bit of an obsessive personality which can be a good and a bad thing. People who know me know that the things I am passionate about are just that... passions! When I fell in love with theater I was not just someone who loved theater, I was someone who would take off of work when RENT came to town and "rush" in line for 12 hours with the other crazies to get front row tickets. When I first read Harry Potter, I didn't stop until I read all seven books in less than a week and went to the movies at midnight with all the 15 year old kids wearing Gryffindor scarves and lightening bolts painted on their foreheads. I love the concept of Cosplay but I don't dare let myself get into it because I know I would get way too into it and spend a lot of money I don't have making elaborate costumes.
Ultimately, I think that is why I love geeks so much, they have passion. They love things, a lot! That is a beautiful quality in a person. And, of course, they are a bit on the fringe which I love too. Who wants to be too mainstream? Blech...
Anyway, until I connect with that one passionate outsider that I am sure is out there (probably at Comic Con or something) I will keep pinning things like this on Pinterest, because... let's face it, this will probably come in handy one day. LONG LIVE GEEKS!

May the Odds be EVER in your favor...

I went and saw the Hunger Games. Twice. Yes, it has only been out three days. For those of you who haven't seen it yet and don't want any spoilers, stop reading now.  You can come back to this after you go see the movie. What are you waiting for? Go see the movie. Now!

Ok...are you back? Alright, settle in, here are my thoughts:

I first heard about the Hunger Games Trilogy from Aubree, the 13 year old daughter of my friends, Ben and Tricia. She started to explain the plot to me and as she talked I just stared at Tricia in amazement. Kids, picked at random and forced to fight to the death in an arena and it is required viewing for the entire country and considered entertainment for many? And she is reading this in school? Whaaaa??? Tricia assured me that though the subject matter is pretty intense, it is a great series and worth the read. I trust her judgement and so I borrowed the books. 

When I get into things, I really get into things. I read through the series twice. I loved them!  Although, Suzanne Collins really doesn't know how to end a book. The books are great right up until the last 10 pages and then she just rushes through the ending. But that is a whole other blog post. 

Anyway, back to the movie. To be honest, I really wish I hadn't seen it at midnight.  (no offense, Tricia and Aubree, I enjoyed hanging out with you!) I normally get a kick out of going to the midnight showings. I have done that most recently with Harry Potter and Twilight. Yes, I am one of the oldest people in line, but it is still fun. The die-hard fans are there and they are full of energy and excitement. There is a lot of screaming and it makes going to a movie a real experience. For example, in Twilight, when Jacob takes off his shirt all of the teenage girls scream and squeal in delight. It is a bit ridiculous but whatever, I get it. In fact, truth be told, I am holding back a bit of a squeal myself. Let's be honest, Taylor Lautner is pretty ripped! I'm just saying...

What was interesting was that in this movie, whenever one of the kids would get killed in the game, all of the teenagers would squeal with delight. It was sooooo creepy! It is one thing to get excited over some werewolf muscles, it is another to get excited about someone's neck getting snapped. It was so disturbing and honestly quite ironic. The movie is about The Capitol of Panem - a sick society of people that force others to watch their kids kill each other for entertainment and here we were watching the same thing acted out and being entertained by it. Being surrounded by such excitement made me almost feel as though I was a part of The Capitol watching the games. Highly unsettling to say the least. 

Another thing that I realized was that the reason books will always be superior to their movie counterpart is because our imagination can create so much more than even the most advanced technology. The story is richer and more intense when read rather than watched. I never thought about this but the opposite is true as well, our imagination can filter quite a bit when reading. As I read about the brutal deaths in the Hunger Games, I didn't have to imagine all the gory details, I was able to kind of breeze over it. In the movie, the scenes that I might not have fleshed out were unavoidable. That being said, the subject matter (which is disturbing no matter how you look at it) was much more unsettling to me when watching the movie, especially while surrounded by a screaming mob of excited teenagers. I left the movie pondering the desensitization of a society in regards to the value of human life and wondering where we were at on that scale. 

I saw the movie again last night with my friends, Brooke and Charley and it was much better the second time around. Mainly because I knew what to expect and it was an older audience that reacted more appropriately to events in the movie so I didn't have that same feeling of being surrounded by a blood thirsty mob. I got to enjoy the movie for what it was. Putting everything that I previously said aside, it was a great movie! The characters were all very well cast, I can't think of a single one that I would have changed. Lenny Kravitz did amazingly well as Cinna and Woody Harrelson was just perfect as Haymitch! I was a bit bummed out that they didn't include Katniss' prep team. I really liked them. And they didn't really capture the depth in Peeta and Katniss' relationship but I think they did the best they could. I would imagine it is nearly impossible to adapt a first person narrative to screen without losing a lot of the emotion and depth that is portrayed in the book. All in all... it is a good movie, a great book and I recommend both. I am very excited for Catching Fire!

Breaking Dawn Review

I am a Twilight Fan. I big one. I have read all the books. Something like five times. I have all of the soundtracks. I have the Illustrated Guide. I own all of the movies and have watched them many times. I have seen most of the movies at midnight on opening night. Yep, I am a Twilight Fan... me and all the 14 year old girls in America. Don't mock me. I am allowed to have "my thing". So this is my review of Breaking Dawn part 1. It has only been out three days so if you haven't seen it yet and care about spoilers, stop. reading. now. This blog will be full of them!

I spent all day yesterday watching the three previous Twilight movies in preparation for watching Breaking Dawn last night. That was kind of cool to watch them back to back like that. It was interesting to see the different styles that each director brought to the film. I also definitely noticed the improvement in acting among the three main characters. The first movie has some nice elements but Kristin Stewart is so twitchy I can hardly stand to watch her. And Robert Pattinson makes really bizarre faces that don't really make him look like a thirsty vampire as much as a constipated, crazy man. And Taylor Lautner tends to make Jacob kind of whiney. All of that is really distracting! The characters in the books definitely don't do that! But I have to say, these three have come a long way, thank goodness!

Although Eclipse is my favorite book in the series and I loved the movie as well, Breaking Dawn part 1 was probably the most satisfying of all the movies in that it portrayed what I imagined from the book REALLY well. The wedding scene was amazing! Not only was it gorgeous visually, the music was brilliant. When Edward and Bella were saying their vows and "Flightless Bird" started playing I actually started crying. Oh my gosh, I felt dumb but Bill Condon is a genius! He manipulated my emotions with music! The song made everything feel so nostalgic. I also loved all of the toasts. Not in the book but a nice addition. It gave everyone their moment of closure as that is the last we will see of Bella's high school friends.

The honeymoon scene was very well done! Isle Esme was beautiful and the whole thing was very romantic, yet tasteful. I love how they captured Bella's nervousness. Surprisingly well done, Kristin Stewart.  In fact, Kristin did a great job in the whole film. Not twitchy at all! And holy cow... did they make her look sick! I was very impressed with Bella's transformation. It was incredibly realistic and slightly nauseating, as it should be. And the birthing scene? Woah! Nothing more needs to be said. Woah!

I think one of my favorite moments was when Charlie called Bella and she told him that she was going to Switzerland. His pain at not being able to see her was very well portrayed. I love Billy Burke, and to be honest, I think he is my favorite character in the whole series. I just feel so bad for Charlie knowing what is coming! He is just so lovable and awkward I can't stand to see him in pain!

Jacob's transformation is nice too. He is becoming a man and is a lot less whiney than he has been. I am really excited for part 2 when he steps up even more. I think that they really handled the imprinting scene well. That could have been creepy, and who knows, maybe if you haven't read the books, it still was creepy because it is not explained as thoroughly but I think the idea came through pretty well and it worked.

The final scene was predictable of course, but perfect. It was the perfect place to break and I am very excited to see part 2. A WHOLE YEAR AWAY!!! arg...

I will leave you with this: the lyrics of "Flightless Bird". I love the song, it has such a beautiful melody, but have you ever listened to the words of Edward and Bella's love song? Weeeeeird! It goes to show that music is emotional and it can make you feel a certain way no matter what is actually being said!

I was a quick wet boy, diving too deep for coins

All of your street light eyes wide on my plastic toys

Then when the cops closed the fair, I cut my long baby hair

Stole me a dog-eared map and called for you everywhere

Have I found you

Flightless bird, jealous, weeping or lost you, american mouth

Big pill looming

Now I'm a fat house cat

Nursing my sore blunt tongue

Watching the warm poison rats curl through the wide fence cracks

Pissing on magazine photos

Those fishing lures thrown in the cold

And clean blood of Christ mountain stream

Have I found you

Flightless bird, grounded, bleeding or lost you, american mouth

Big pill stuck going down

Um... yeah... romantic.

I was duped!

Once, when I was in the fourth grade, I went through the cafeteria line at lunch and got a nice big scoop of applesauce. I love applesauce. It looked delicious! I saved it for the very end of my lunch. I figured it would be a nice palette cleanser to chase down my sloppy joe.  I took a nice big bite of the juicy sauce only to discover that it was sauerkraut! Being a mere fourth grader, this was my first experience with sauerkraut. It was an unpleasant one, to be sure! And honestly... who serves sauerkraut to kids in their school lunch?!? Talk about traumatizing their taste buds!

Anyway, this got me thinking, much of our enjoyment of things come from our expectations. When reality lines up with our expectation, we are happy. When things are different than what we were wanting, we are let down. This definitely is true with food. That is often why people want to know ahead of time what is for dinner. We want to get our taste buds ready for it. If I am expecting spicy, chicken enchiladas for dinner but then get served pot roast, I am not going to enjoy it as much. Not because I dislike pot roast, but because I was expecting Mexican food and my taste buds weren't prepared for pot roast.

I find that this is also true for entertainment. Movies in particular. I went and saw the movie "One Day" today. It just came out in theaters so I won't give away any spoilers or anything but let me just say, I felt a bit duped. From the previews, it looked like a quirky romantic comedy starring Anne Hathaway. I was in the mood for a feel-good movie. It was set in Europe and looked to be along the lines of "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset" (two EXCELLENT movies, by the way) Well, I walked away with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes and a bit of resentment at the fact that I was now totally depressed.

I will admit, there is a morbid side of me that deliberately watches sad movies sometimes just to make myself cry. Sometimes I kind of want to be depressed and sob over a pint of Ben and Jerry's and just be miserable. Today was not that day, yet I was forced into misery. Thanks a lot Anne Hathaway. I am now depressed and teary and have no Ben and Jerry's because I was not prepared for this. I think I will go watch something ridiculously funny to pull myself out of the dumps. Any suggestions?

Oh, and by the way, "One Day" was a good movie. I recommend it, just don't expect to be happy when you leave the theater because you won't be.

Product review: Degree Motion Sense Deoderant

I bought some deodorant yesterday. I didn't pay too much attention because quite honestly, I don't stress over my deodorant, as long as it keeps me cool and dry, I am good. When I got home I realized that I got the new Motion Sense kind that gets activated by your arm movement. Sounds like a total gimmick, right? Well, all day today, every time I reached to type something on my computer or pick up the phone I definitely got a whiff of "spring fresh" or whatever scent I ended up with. In fact, right now, I just reached to take a sip of my water and *BAM* spring fresh all up in my nose!

Now, spring fresh isn't a bad smell or anything, but I thought the point of deodorant was... anti-smell. I just want to smell like me, without the B.O. I don't want to feel like someone is spraying Fabreeze in my face every time I move my arms. Honestly, it was quite distracting. But I guess it works, it is about 3:30 in the afternoon and I put it on at 4:00 this morning and my pits are still quite springy and freshy! That is pretty impressive!

And, I have to say the cute cashier at Trader Joe's today was unusually friendly. He asked how my day was going and what I was up to for the rest of the day, then he told me that he was getting off of work in an hour. I don't usually have such conversations with cute cashiers so I can only assume that having "spring fresh" shooting from my armpits while I whipped out my wallet gave me a bit of an edge. I felt a little smug knowing about my secret deodorant power.

So, all in all, I give this product a thumbs up. Yes, it is distracting to have bursts of scent attacking my nostrils every few minutes all day long and I am a little concerned that my sense of smell might be desensitized to the point of losing it all together, but it seems to attracts the men-folk and well, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!

P.S. I Googled the deodorant to make sure I got the name of it right and stumbled upon this blog. It is way funnier than mine and almost made me delete this whole blog post but instead I will just attach this other guy's blog so if you want to read a funnier review on this deodorant, click here.

Let the beer brewing begin!

I mentioned a while back that I had beer brewing, viking neighbors. Well, my roommate has been hanging out with them and now his new hobby is brewing beer. Now, I am all about him having a hobby that doesn't include getting baked and playing video games, but this one does have some drawbacks.
For one, he is building a huge storage shed thingy in our back yard to house all of his beer brewing paraphernalia. I was hoping to eventually put a table and chairs out there for summer get-togethers. I guess it is my own fault for waiting too long to claim the space, now the back yard is filled with brewing stuff and pretty unusable for anything else. Bummer!

The bigger drawback is the beer itself. Have you ever smelled beer being brewed? It smells very strong and vinegary. This is happening in my kitchen right now:

It is filling my house with a hot, sickeningly sweet/sour smell. I am upstairs in my room with the window open and the fan blowing and I am still having a hard time breathing. My cinnamon wall plug-ins are no match for this! My house no longer smells like woman lives in it. It is becoming more and more "bachelor-paddy" every day.

In my bathroom there is now one of these:

Now, I have to admit, watching the bubbling yeast in the brew does make bathroom time a bit more entertaining, but seriously? This is NOT going to live in my bathroom. No way! I am hoping that when the giant shed in the back is done, the beer will move out there. If not, we will be having a discussion.

Sigh... the compromises one must make when sharing their living space with a random person they found on Craigslist. At least I can whine and complain about it to all of you. Okay, in unison, one...two... three... "Poor Tamara!" I am done now.

Muahaha!!!

In order to test your loyalty, I have been toying with your emotions by posting my blog and then yanking it away, posting it again, and yanking it away. I am using this subtle manipulation to make you understand that my blog is a hot commodity and if you happen to catch it, you are very lucky. What can you learn from this, dear friends? Do not take "The Blog" for granted. I can take it away at any time! For now, read on, my minions, read on...

P.S. Just kidding, Blogger has a glitch and it keep messing with the recent posts. It should be fixed soon. But it is nice to know that I actually have readers who notice when it goes missing. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside! :)

The internet is pretty cool (I hope it is not just a fad)

I was recently pondering the wonders of the internet. It is quite amazing, when you think about it. If you are watching a movie and see someone who looks really familiar but you just can't place it, just open up your laptop, go to IMDB and voila! mystery solved. Gone are the days of those inconsequential questions looming in your brain and bothering you for hours. Have you ever gotten into a heated debate over song lyrics? Does Michael Jackson sing, "Annie are you, ok, are you ok, Annie?" or is it "Eddie are you ok, are you ok, Eddie?" Debates like these can destroy friendships. But with the wonder of the internet, you can simply Google it and avoid said catastrophe! Writing a paper for school? Forget old, dusty, encyclopedias, we now have an ever growing and changing wealth of information in Wikipedia and as Michael Scott once said, "Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject. So you know you are getting the best possible information."

One of the aspects of the internet I find incredibly intriguing is social networking. Talk about making the world smaller! Facebook has connected me with just about everyone I have ever known in my life. If I want to know what Little Sammy from 3rd grade is up to, I can check out his Facebook and find out. In fact, just today I saw a post on one of my friend's wall from a guy I had a huge crush on in 1999. I literally haven't thought of him in years. I was able to see some photos of his wife and child and find out what he has been up to in the last 12 years. WEIRD! One time, when my friend was in labor, her husband posted regular status updates from the delivery room until they had their baby. It was like a play by play of the birth with baby pictures not even an hour after the baby was born. WEIRD!

Does anyone remember MySpace? (It was that thing that everyone used before Facebook) The thing about MySpace was that it was more public, at least in the beginning. Anyone could see your page. Consequently, I ended up meeting quite a few people through MySpace. I went on a number of "blind dates" (still single, so clearly none of those worked out) But I actually met a few people who became my real, genuine friends! In fact, I still have a couple of friends that I am pretty close with that I met on MySpace back in 2006. It doesn't seem weird to me but when I really think about it, it IS kind of weird that I have some friends that I have known for five years who genuinely know me and have walked me through the up's and down's in life and vice versa. Yet, I have never actually met them.

That was until last week. My friend, Tom, from Colorado, came for a visit and I got to meet him after being phone/email buddies for five years. It was cool (and kind of bizarre) to connect an actual person to a voice on the telephone. There are so many mannerisms and unique things that make up a person that you can't see over the phone. Apparently my voice makes me sound taller than I am and I do a little "head-bobbing" thing when I talk. (which now, I am a little self-conscious about - thanks, Tom) We had a really fun time hanging out and I think it is pretty awesome that I am friends with someone from Colorado who I never would have met had he not randomly stumbled upon my MySpace page years ago.

Yep, the internet amazes me. I love the random friendships I have made and it makes me wonder how many awesome people I am missing out on because they live in another part of the world. It makes me excited about an eternity in heaven; think of all the relationships we will develop when we are not limited by time or space. WEIRD!

P.S. Chris, I know you read my blog... you know it is your turn to come visit now, Florida isn't THAT far away! :)

Itchy!

There was a HUGE (well, it probably looked bigger in my house than it would in the wild, but huge nonetheless) spider crawling up my curtains. I squished it with a paper towel and saw about 20 baby spiders explode from underneath the big mama that I just squished. I had to pick off each baby one by one and stared at the curtain for about 15 minutes to make sure I got them all. That was about an hour ago. I am still itchy thinking about baby spiders crawling on me. *shudder*

I am thinking about starting up a business called "rent-a-man" for all the single women out there who occasionally need manly services. No sexy stuff or anything like that (there are already businesses that offer that sort of thing) but stuff like helping set up a Christmas tree, chopping the onions for dinner, being a date at a social event, or squishing spiders. I bet I would make a killing! I would have been willing to rent a man to squish all of those spider babies for me.

I am still itching!

mmm... beer...

I really dislike beer. I wish I didn't. Other people seem to really like it. I try a swig every now and then just to see if my tastes have changed. They haven't. I end up with a puckered face as I choke down the brew and feel like a five year old as I go back to sipping my Diet Coke. This doesn't really have much of an effect on my daily life... today, however, I really wish I liked beer.

Why you ask? Well, I have these neighbors, they are kind of vikings. Yes, vikings. In fact, my neighbor recently shaved and cut his hair but before that he looked a lot like Stoic the Vast... well happier, and minus the helmet, but otherwise, spitting image!

Anyway, my viking neighbors do viking-like things like have axe throwing competitions and dress up for renaissance fairs and play the bagpipes (actually, I don't think the bagpipes are really viking related, but I think it's noteworthy) and they brew beer. In their apartment. 

I struck up a conversation with viking-neighbor a couple of weeks ago while getting my mail and asked if I could have a couple of beers for my friends. He invited me over and gave me a tour of his home brewery which was like my own apartment but the bathroom was transformed into a kind of beer-celler with kegs piled to the ceiling and the dining room held an industrial sized refrigerator filled with beer and the back patio was filled with other sorts of beer making paraphernalia. He mentioned that his trademark was to put a lemonheads candy in each bottle. I didn't quite catch why, but apparently lemonheads make for awesome beer.

So, now I have a bottle of lemonhead viking beer that was brewed in my own apartment complex. How cool is that? I plan on bringing it to my community group tonight to share with my beer savvy friends. I brought the other bottle to my other community group last week and heard it was pretty good. It just feels like such a shame to be in possession of one of a kind lemonhead viking beer and not even care to taste it! I do like throwing axes though...