Random updates

Well, I think it's time for a general update. I don't remember what I've said before, so I'll say now: Tommy is walking very well and has been for a few months. He can run, squat, jump, etc. He is always on the move. He has started climbing as well and can get on the couch pretty easily. He's still not really talking, but he has said mama, dada, hi, and can imitate noises and people's tones of voice. He can respond to what people say. He can come when called (not all the time, though, sometimes he ignores me or makes it into a "come chase me" game which he thinks is hilarious), he initiates games of peekaboo, he understands no (whether or not he agrees with no is a different matter). He hands me stuff all the time, and understands what "can mommy have that" means and will come over and give me something if I ask him to.

The only book I've read was Christmas Carol. I dunno, I just don't think it's really that great a story, not good enough for there to be 80 million different variations of it anyway.

I watched a pretty good movie on netflix recently. It's called "Everything you want (love surreal)". It's a romantic comedy but it is very clean. Cute. A lot of the funnies come from picking on Canadians, which is good fun, but I think the character they're about was a bit much. Anyway, basically it's this woman who, as a girl, was very lonely and made an invisible friend, who as she grew older, became an imaginary boyfriend. Then she meets a guy in real life and uses her imaginary boyfriend to fend him off, then later regrets that and now has to try to not only keep up appearances that he's real, she has to try to figure out how to tell him the boyfriend is not real.

As for tv, mostly I've been watching The Tudors on netflix. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep watching it or not, but as I'm season 2 now I think I've pretty much decided to go ahead and finish it. I am enjoying the hair styles, especially Katherine's.

And games, I've mostly been playing Fallout: New Vegas. I've got something like 90 hours on it, but then I walk everywhere so I guess that's not saying much. The only place I quick travel is if I am south of New Vegas in the middle of the map between those two mountain ranges and want to get north, I usually quick travel up to the Robco HQ or someplace around there, so I can avoid the deathclaws. Those things are vicious. I'm level 30 and I'm still not ready to face them. I recently fended off two baby ones so I think I'm almost ready to head into the death claw territory. It's a great game, just great. I'm teamed up with Veronica, and I think we make a great team. I send her in to punch people and draw their fire, while I stand back or up high and shoot people. It works out well. I've also been taking screenshots of sunrises and sunsets. I know my graphics aren't as good as maybe some other computers are, but when I see a gorgeous sunrise/sunset or a great location to take pictures from, I do it. I may be the only one who cares but that's good enough for me.

I've also been playing Binding of Isaac a lot, which is also a really, really good game. I have like 21 hours on it. Sure it's basically the same thing over and over, but you get so many different items and enemy combinations that it makes it new and interesting each time. So far I've only won the game once. I also really like the music.

I've also spent the last week and a half sick with a nasty cold or flu or something. Wasn't so bad at first but over the last few days it's just been awful.

Daniel Daronda

I am writing this late at night because I'm distressed and must get this out. So I've been watching tv shows on netflix after Tommy goes to bed and boredom plus wanting a fairly short series led me to randomly give Daniel Daronda a try. Now, I have not read the book so I don't know if things are different there. I was only ever mildly interested in this story, but was never disinterested enough to stop watching. But the last episode just really surprised me. As if there were two writes and up till this point one of them had won and written the story his way, but towards the end grew tired and let the second one get his way a few times. And it's upsetting.

Not all of my recent netflix watches have been bad. I thoroughly enjoyed Vampire Diaries season 4. hehe, Ian Somerhalder... teehee... And I very much enjoyed "Wives and Daughters", I even cried happy tears at the end. Once Upon a Time is another I watched, but it deserves it's own post, and at another time as I have a lot to say about it. Also watched Merlin, which was good but cut short, I hear, because of disagreements between writes and actors or something? Either way the ending was rushed and felt out of place and unreal.

The rest of this post will have spoilers for Daniel Daronda.

So throughout the whole thing Daniel and Gwen are this close to being madly in love with each other. The almost kisses that they dare not ever actually have because if they do it could threaten to tear them from existence and throw them into their own world of love and passion from whence there'd be no return. But then at the end he looks at her like "Wow, she is such a broken woman, I don't want to fix all that" at the same time he's promising to help her and be "faithful" to her. She even tells him that if she left her husband she'd need someone, would he be that someone. And he says yes. What else are we supposed to take that for but that he's agreeing to marry her if she left her husband? And then he randomly decides that "Oh, I found out my birth mother is a jew therefore I must marry a jew." Like his adoptive father says, "Is this some perverse reaction to what you learned from your mother" or however he worded it. I thought Mirah was kind of boring, plain, and I really wasn't sure where that part of the story was heading. I thought he viewed Mirah as a sort of crush, but that he loved Gwen. And then at the end he basically tells Gwen "Sorry, I lied, haha, have fun living out your life of desolation, try to put a smile on, will ya?" I mean, I am glad Gwen gets the chance to heal from her horrid marriage. (which, btw, I foresaw her killing her husband pretty early on) But she should have been healing by being with Daniel. She looked to him with such desperation. She is strong, though, so at the end I got the feeling that just living with her family again was enough, but she should have had more. Daniels abandonment of her probably means she will never remarry or love again. To me, Gwen is the main character of this show. At times I had to actually remind myself, the title of the show is Daniel. Not Gwen. And if the story was not going to end with Gwen and Daniel WHY was she such a big character? If he was going to wind up with Mirah why maker her a minor, sort of irritating, side character? Why did the plot description on netflix say "Daniel's life changes forever when he meets Gwen". What does that indicate if not a romance?

I also don't understand why Daniel went out east. "To learn more about my people", he says. Well, he already has a community of them at hand, and he has that history book he picked up that he could read. He was brought up as an English gentleman and could easily get into politics or law or some such. Wouldn't his position in British politics be where he could do the most good for "his people"? Not traipsing about the middle east? Since he so badly wants to "be a leader" and help them out of their plight.

And maybe the book is different. I'll never know cause I don't think it's worth the money. Maybe if the library has it I'll check it out. But I'm not interested right now, and I don't think I will be for a while.

Sarum

I know it's been a while since I last posted about a book I've read. But this one has taken me a very long time to finish. It was over 1,000 pages! I read it mostly at night before bed.

Sarum, by Edward Rutherfurd is another book I've picked up at the used book sale. It was published in 1987. It's basically a history of England told from the perspective of people living in Sarum/Salisbury. It starts off with prehistoric man and works its way forwards. It follows fictional families that are supposed to be typical of the people who were there. As you follow them through the centuries it's very interesting to see them interacting with each other and marrying into each other. To see power shifts happen. Traits passing on.

There were definitely boring parts. Building the cathedral seemed to take forever. But then there are interesting parts too, such as the plague. While it does explain a lot of things for newbies, it also takes some knowledge for granted as being common, and a few times I felt lost, as though I'd skipped a chapter somehow. This book also inspired me to do some research. Several times I ran to google images to check something out.

While it did take a few months to read it, I am glad I did. However I don't think I'll be picking up any 1,000 page books for a while.

The Misadventures of Going to Town

I decided to go to town and everything just took sooo long and things kept going wrong. It's long so click the read more link to read about my eventful day! If you've already clicked it please ignore this part!

Tommy's 1st Birthday Cake

This post shows how I made Tommy's 1st birthday cake.

Christian Grey/Charlie Hannum

So I'll go ahead and do my chime-in on the 50 Shades casting. I don't care about the woman, Dakota Johnson, whatever, I don't know who she is but she looks ok. Just dye her hair brown. But the man... when I clicked the article on yahoo and saw this...

I was revolted. I was disgusted. This picture does him credit cause the one yahoo selected showed him as looking like he was close to 40 (christian is 27, I believe). He looked almost fat in the picture. He looked greying. He is blonde, though you can dye that. He looked craggy and worn. He was everything opposite of what Christian is supposed to be. Christian is supposed to be this uber hot guy that all the girls stare at. This is not that. I'd never heard of this guy before, but I was really disappointed. Though I wasn't really excited about a movie being made, I was still going to see it. But upon seeing this picture all the images in my head of how he looked were shattered. I decided I was never going to see the movie. Who did I want instead? I dunno, actually. I mean, I know a fan favorite was Ian Somerhalder, and yes that would have been absolutely perfect. They would have had to edit dictionaries to include a new definition of hot. But, really, I would have lost all respect for him. I liked the books but let's be honest... they're complete garbage. Anyway, after I'd spent a day being disgusted and righteously condemning their casting choice (though he's probably about the only one they could get to do it!) someone in a comment on one of the yahoo articles suggested people who hate this choice try searching up images of how he looked in Pacific Rim, which is a movie I have not seen. So, hoping that maybe the makeup team for that movie was awesome I went ahead and took a peek...

May I just say "oh my" and yes, please. I was wrong and I admit it, he'll be perfect. Why didn't yahoo use THIS picture instead of that other one!? I'm guessing a lot of the negative reactions would have never happened had they just used a decent picture.

Galactic Bounty

I know it's been a long time since I updated what books I've been reading. That's because the one I'm currently on is, like, 1,000 pages or something. I'm about 650 pages into it. Reading has been slow between still working on the house (slowly), events on neopets, and a baby who is cruising all over the place and is very grabby and getting tall enough to reach stuff. But I realized I forgot to review the last one I read before that.

It is Galactic Bounty, by William Dietz. I've actually had this on my to read list for some time. I originally bought it at a dollar store about 10 years ago. I really, really enjoyed it. I felt so comfortable, like I was at home. Scifi really is my genre. All these other books I plod through and then come here and whine about this or that, I need to just stop even buying them and go straight for the scifi.

Anyway, it's about a bounty hunter who's an ex-military guy and he gets talked (scammed?) into doing a mission for the military people and it leads to this big adventure. It's not a drama, it doesn't exist to describe the world it's set in, it's just a fun and interesting adventure set in space. It takes place in the far distant future. It's apparently the first in a series so I am definitely going to keep my eye out for the others. Unfortunately I waited so long to talk about it I can't really discuss many particulars about what I liked, so we'll just say that I don't think there was anything about this book I didn't like. Maybe I'll say I don't like the fact that I don't already own the rest of these books, lol. hm, well I can also say I dislike that the main character smokes so much, that was a bit off-putting.

Picture Time!

So we moved into town and are now living in a trailer. Here's a few pictures from that and some of Tommy. Click below to see!

Someday Soon

So I read Someday Soon, by Debbie Macomber. It's about two guys from a mercenary group who fall in love with regular women. It sounds exciting and romantic. It's also apparently the first in a series or something? I dunno, this is the first of her books I've read.

Spoilers in this paragraph, the rest are spoiler-free. In idea it was good, in reality it was meh. There's inconsistencies (seriously, if you're a retired gun for hire who specialized in getting into buildings and all the lights in your barn go out and it's nighttime and there's no reason for the lights to be off... you wouldn't step outside unarmed yet this guy does), bizarre moments (a widow and a man who's no stranger to women decide to wait till after they get married?), and eye-brow raising skeptical moments (they BOTH get pregnant on the wedding nights!?). And then there's another matter. Occasionally there's a good romance that doesn't show you the higher rated scenes and you don't care cause it's pulled off nicely. This one just kinda leaves you hanging, and the first time it's kind of a surprise like "Oh... Well, ok then, but isn't that partially what romance novels are for?", and after that you're expecting it and don't care as much.

I did not care about the main characters. The real story was with the secondary characters. I think if the book was solely about them I'd have enjoyed it a lot more. The book almost feels like the secondary characters story was the one she originally wrote, and then she realized it was too short so she threw in the main characters to give it more bulk.

So, I guess if you're wanting a light, practically kid-friendly romance novel and you don't care about a few details that don't make much sense, go for it. Personally it's going on the get rid of pile (which, btw, is donated to the library).

And don't worry, I have an excellent review coming up for the book I'm currently reading. It's a sci-fi book. And it's been so long since I've read one (I don't count that horrid robots of dawn book) that as I started it I felt a rush of extreme happiness, like I'd come home. You know, I'm messing around with all these other genres, but the one I should read more is scifi, it's the one I love the most. And maybe that's why almost all my reviews are mostly negative, because I'm not reading the right books for me.

House at the end of the Street

I more or less randomly decided to watch House at the end of the Street with Jennifer Lawrence when I saw it on netflix. I did check out the first few comments first and it seemed like it wasn't a supernatural movie so I gave it a go. It was pretty good. Not like spectacular or anything, but not bad. I liked the twist. This movie was just scary enough to be fun, but totally not scary enough to keep me up at night. And there is nothing supernatural in it at all. I don't really have anywhere else I'm going with this review I just thought I'd pop over here and say, well, what I've said.

The Curse of the Vampire

Yesterday I finished reading The Curse of the Vampire, by Karl Alexander. It started slow and boring and I had to make myself continue to read. But then it got going.

Now I'm not really going to say this was a bad book, really. It was just confusing. Maybe because it has nothing to do with vampires! Yes, this might be a bit of a spoiler because it's not confirmed till the end, but why should you have to go through some 300 pages just to find out that this book is actually about reincarnation? So if you came for the vampire you're going to be sorely disappointed. The back of the book leads one to believe it's about vampires by saying that this girl who's a movie star is filming in Transylvania and gets attacked in the Vladimir castle. There is one character who may or may not be a vampire, it's never confirmed, and when we see things through this person's viewpoint they have no idea that they may be one. The only thing we do know is this person can turn into a bat. There is nothing else, no blood sucking, nothing.

There's a lot of other confusing things about this book too. For example she has a great life, husband, kids, awesome mansion in the woods, movie star life, and she goes all emo about the darkness within, and everyone is way too concerned and horrified by this. The book also makes references to real life people's studies on the mind and stuff and I dunno, this isn't an area I really know a lot about. I have absolutely no interest in reincarnation or if a soul of someone can pass down through generations. So maybe my lack of knowledge left me with a giant question mark above my head through most the book.

So, basically, if you're into reincarnation, sure, maybe you'd be entertained. Me? I'm still kinda lost here. Why exactly was this book so inappropriately titled and described? Was the author scared no one would read it and thought he had to trick people into it? Either way, it's going in the "get rid of" pile.

Now for spoilers.

So she turns into a monster. When it happens she can't remember what she does. The only explanation offered her at the end is because she's connected to this guy who is a descendant of Vladimir who happens to be Vladimir reincarnate and he doesn't know it. And she's connected to him because he bit her when in bat form. He doesn't remember this because a doctor gave him a prescription that brings out his own inner monster. And she turns into a monster whenever he does. When he turns into a monster he kills people who are descended from the people who condemned Vladimir's lover to death way back when. And she is the lover reincarnate. When she changes into a monster she stays the same on the outside but when she sees herself in the mirror she sees a monster. When she tells her husband about what she sees in the mirror he is horrified and draws a picture. When he shows it to her later she freaks out and tries to kill herself. Wha?

I don't understand why this reincarnate of the woman from centuries ago is so overly dramatic. Going on and on about her inner darkness and what a monster, a horrible person she is. And, why? Because she was accused of being a witch and burned for it? This makes her inner soul so dark and demented and turns her into the most horrible of monsters that apparently freaks out everyone who even so much as gets a vague half-explanation of it?

I'm also raising my eyebrows at the whole "So what if you had an affair, everyone does it, who cares" attitude in this book.

More nails in the coffin

So apparently there's going to be a Star Wars Rebels animated series. Here's hoping they update the animation style causer seriously, Clone Wars was so 90s. But anyway, if you thought them cranking out a movie a year was bad this will be even worse! I mean, even sequels are easier for them to get the canon right on than this. You have to dig into obscure books and comics to get all the details for the inbetween ROTS and ANH era. I mean has anyone ever even heard of Tales from the Empire or Tales from the New Republic? Thought not. But on the off-chance someone has heard of them and read them I think they should include him, focus on his family and stuff. He has a great story to tell. A part of me dearly hopes but the rest of me shuts that part down and stomps on it and calls it an idiot for daring the hope. And just who is Garm Bel Iblis, you ask?

Garm Bel Iblis is a forgotten character. He was introduced in the Thrawn Trilogy, I believe. He's from Corellia. He was movie-canonized in ROTS in the deleted scenes because he had sent a representative to the senate to act in his place and his representative was in the deleted scenes (so, Disney, don't you go forgetting this!!! He is a MOVIE CANON character! You CAN'T write him out!). After the Empire was made he was targeted because it was believed he was stirring up trouble (and indeed he was working with Mon Mothma and Bail Organa to start the Rebellion and was one of the original founders of the Rebellion) and he barely escaped the bomb that took out his family. But who wants to explain all that in a 23 minute episode? Even if they did try the stupid newbie fans of today wouldn't know who he is. The only books they've managed to struggle through are the travesties Karen Traviss wrote, and maybe a handful of other Clone Wars books (though I do admit the Medstar duology was pretty awesome, and I actually really enjoyed Shatterpoint because it's anti-Mace even though he's the main character!). They don't know who Zahn is, they don't remember Stackpole, and Allston-who?

There's a lot more to consider besides just Garm Bel Iblis's fate. There's a lot more books and comics that need consideration than just the Thrawn Trilogy. The ROTS-ANH era does have a lot of unknowns but I hope they don't forget about what is known... (warning: here lie spoilers for several books and comics)

Natasi Daala was overlooked at the Imperial Academy on Carida due to being female, so she made an electronic persona who was male, and this bright young student intrigued Tarkin who followed up on this person and found it was actually Daala, and they got together. (though I like to think Daala did that for the sake of promotion and not cause she actually liked him!)

Han was an orphan on Corellia when he was picked up by Garris Shrike who taught him how to commit assorted crimes and used him in swoop racing to earn money. Han ran away and smuggled spice, falling in love with one of the people trapped in the spice factories. He rescued her. But she left him and he joined the Empire. He got thrown out for rescuing a Wookiee slave, and started drinking heavily. Chewie stuck around and cleaned Han up. Han went back to smuggling, met Lando, etc etc. Han was contacted by Bria (the woman from earlier) to help her and her Rebel friends for a large sum of money. Han promised his friends money to help but once it was done Bria gave them nothing and Han's friends turned on him for lying to them. (thus why Han thought Lando would be upset with him in ESB)

Ackbar was a slave to Tarkin.

In the Outbound Flight book (I think it was) it's mentioned that Palpatine has been having visions of invaders from Unknown Space, which is why he's so military-oriented. (and honestly if he wasn't taken down the Yuuzhan Vong would have had a pretty good fight waiting for them) So if the sequel movies are going to have Vong in them I would like a reference to Palpatine's visions in this show. But, please don't show any actual Vong yet!

And don't introduce the Chiss! omg, yes they're awesome but the galaxy at large doesn't know about them yet, except for maybe a handful of planets along the edge of the Outer Rim. And if they decide to go for Thrawn please remember he's not a big character yet! He was shuffled to the Outer Rim because he's an alien. He doesn't make a big scene till later. You can't have him being all running around doing stuff and then suddenly disappear for several years in between the OT and the Thrawn Trilogy.

If they want to try to incorporate some of the older books they can't forget to read them. For example, Corran Horn worked for CorSec and his mom was killed in a speeder accident. I think a few episodes about Corran Horn would be excellent. As long as they get his story right. Corran's grandfather was a Jedi, and his grandmother hid with his grandfather's best friend and Corran never knew until much, much later. (In light of the PT Jedi I have to presume Corellian Jedi were only loosely associated with the Jedi Order) And don't forget Corran's partner who later marries Wedge!

If they must include Wedge don't forget his family owned a refuelling station above Corellia that exploded when criminals (pirates?) pulled away too fast and fuel got out. Wedge escaped because he was away with Booster Terrik (who is another person they shouldn't ignore). And don't forget Wedge's sister. She ran off with Baron Soontir Fel and together they had like 4 kids or something. But don't include all that because Soontir Fel and joined the Chiss and Wedge hasn't heard from his sister in forever.

Please, please do not do any cut away *hint hint*s where you show Luke doing stuff. This show is not for Luke, it's not about Luke, don't include him. And on that note Obi-Wan can't be in it either. He's changed his name and become a hermit. He can't go off doing stuff. And Yoda has that escape pod that's probably only good for one or two flights so he can't go off doing stuff either so leave him alone!

Yes, Force Unleashed was cool, but is it canon? Or is it semi-canon? I never found out. Games are looser canon than any other form, I believe.

And while we're talking about iffy canon let's not forget the Tales comics! In one it shows Leia's interactions with Tarkin. In another it shows Leia's first meeting of Palpatine. Yes, being iffy canon they can re-write that but I don't think they should.

I don't think they should include Talon Karrde because at that point in time he wasn't really doing anything for the Rebellion.

For giggles you can include Borsk Fey'lya. That'd be fun, actually. Unless he joined later, I really can't remember.

Cut it out with the Mandalorian stuff. I love Boba to pieces but give it a rest already. Especially as we move away from Clonetroopers go to Stormtroopers. Remember some Stormtroopers are clones of high officers as gifts to them to honor them or something. And some Stormtroopers are real people (Davin Felth, anyone?). Oh, and don't include Boba, please, my heart can't take it anymore. You're already running him into the ground, just stop, now, while people still have some shred of respect for him.

Also might be nice to show Ysanne Isard running around. Even if she doesn't say anything, if she's just in the background.

And there's probably a lot more I'm forgetting about.

Augason Farms Butter Powder

So I was out of butter the other day and wanted to make tuna helper, which requires butter. Well, about 3 years ago Rosaur's had a bunch of Augason Farms stuff on a big display so we had got a bunch. These are cans of dried foods that last pretty much forever. One of the cans was a can of butter powder. I'd link to it on Amazon but their price on it is insane, so here's the Wal-Mart link.

This stuff is amazing. It's 1/2 a cup of powder to 1 ¹/₂ tsp water = 1/2 cup (or 1 stick) of butter. I was dubious about how little water they wanted me to use but since I dump all my ingredients in and then start cooking and tuna helper needs water anyway I shrugged it off. As I was cooking it it smelled weird but it tasted just fine.

So yesterday I tried it in chocolate chip cookie brownies. I mixed the powder, water, and sugar and... wow! I've used butter in various states of softness from almost hard to melted in cookies before and none of them worked as well as this stuff did. It mixed wonderfully. It mixed thoroughly. The 1 ¹/₂ tsp water was indeed enough. The brownies baked beautifully and set up really well. These were the best brownies I've ever made.

This is definitely a product I'll be keeping around from now on!

The Revenant

Tommy seems a lot better today. Took a goodly amount of naps (didn't time them but I reckon about 1 hour and 45 minutes total, much more normal) and didn't seem to be in as much pain. I feel better too.

So the second book I read was a short one. Like 225 pages. I don't normally read ghost books. But I've had this one on the shelf for a long time and I felt ok with reading it now. It's The Revenant by Brana Lobel.

It is about a boyfriend/girlfriend who live together in an apartment building that used to be an old house where something bad happened long ago and has echoed through the years to haunt them. It starts as a scary story and ends scientifically. It almost felt like the author had left off at some point and someone else finished it for them. The scary parts are scary, of course, but the scientific ending kind of throws you and makes the rest of the book not so scary. Which can be good if you're like me and still get childish nightmares after ghost stories, lol.

Was it good? Yes and no. The main character is despicable and a horrible person. But the story draws you in and doesn't let you go. So if you can overlook the main character's flaws (flaws as a person that is, not flaws as a fictional character) it's very enjoyable. And I found it very easy to overlook her lifestyle because the story was so good.

One thing I found kind of funny that has nothing to do with the story or anything is that the previous owner of this book underlined various words that I guess they wanted to look up the meaning of someday. I knew some of them, which made me feel smart, but others I had to look up too. Also some of the page corners had been folded over to mark pages. OMG AUGH! *head-a-splode* Use a bookmark, people, come on! Don't ruin books just cause you're too lazy to find a marker. Even a torn off piece of an advertisement or junk mail will do! A business card! Square of toilet paper or piece of paper towel or napkin! Something, anything, just don't fold the corner of the page!

On to the semi-spoiler portion of this:

The scientific part is that it turns from being about ghosts haunting people to about time travel! Yes, that's right, the apartment is "haunted" because that area happens to have a time travel portal or whatever around it. But this is one of the stupid methods of time travel. See, the boyfriend goes back in time to save a woman who died in the past. However it was this woman's death that was such a big part of the time travel and haunting thing. Without her dying the book would not exist. There would be no conflict, no reason for the boyfriend to go into the past to save her because she would have already been saved. This is how my view of time travel is. Like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban's time travel. However the time travel presented here is one used in other media. Another book I read explained it as each jump in time makes a new parallel universe. So this version isn't really bad so much as it makes no sense to me.

Another thing is I didn't see what connection the boyfriend and girlfriend really had with each other. I believe the hauntings made them think they loved each other more than they actually did. Which I guess isn't necessarily bad, I just wish someone in the book had said so.

Finally finished 50 Shades

I managed to finish two books recently. I'm behind on talking about them because my keyboard broke and I had to wait for a new one because I use a usb one. I do this because the keyboard built into my laptop has most the keys broken off (started with 2 keys coming off with a cat ran across it and it went from there... it's been a slow 2-year process) so typing on it was excruciatingly slow and I had to stick to short sentences or I'd have gone insane. Now I'm going insane due to a super mega teething baby who only took one 30 minute nap the other day and two 30 minute naps yesterday. We're on one 30 minute nap for today and he's watching Color Crew right now which is keeping him more or less entertained.

Anyway, I finished 50 Shades of Freedom. There will be spoilers as my mind is so exhausted from Tommy's teething that I can't think enough to separate this into a non-spoiler and a spoiler-full thing. Seriously, that super super high pitched scream makes my ears feel like I'm going up and down super fast and they don't have time to pop before the next pressure change so I've had a constant headache the last few days. But I have to do this because I want to start a new book (haha as if I could concentrate with a squirming screaming baby on my lap, and yes I have changed his diaper, fed him, and given him tylenol and he has a mountain of toys around him) and I don't want to start forgetting things about the others I've read.

So I think her way of drinking tea is stupid. Like, really, one quick dip of the bag and that's it? That means you're drinking, what, vaguely flavored water? If I'm wrong correct me, but I let my bags steep for the recommended 3-5 minutes, usually more.

I think she was out of line to get mad at him for being mad at her for getting pregnant. I completely agree with him on this. She had one thing to remember and she failed. I mean, seriously, I can't be the only one who spends the 2-3 days before her period experiencing at least a little anxiety and then there she is not even caring if she takes her birth control. Yes he was in the wrong for going off and getting drunk, but can you blame him? He takes care of everything and gives her one simple little task. Go get one stupid shot every few weeks. She can't even handle that much responsibility? Then I guess it's a good thing she married a rich guy.

Also I hope people who work desk jobs take their jobs more seriously than she does. It seems like every other day she's leaving early and she spends ages writing personal emails every day. Course being the boss means you can do that, I guess.

The car chase was bizarre. So this person knew where his parents lived but not where he lived? Or was the intent to ram them off the road? Or... wait, whaaat?

The ending of the book was awkward. Like "Oh here's some random stuff I wrote that I wanted you to see so here it is". It almost felt like those "And here's a preview of the next book" add-ons. But I'm not really complaining cause I did enjoy it.

btw, I totally thought Jack was gonna be Christian's brother. Way back in book 1 when we first meet Jack he's got red hair. And he has mannerisms identical to Christian's. It's even hinted at when Ana thinks the mannerisms are familiar. And then we find out they're from the same town. And that Jack's older. And that they have similar, ah, tastes. The books were hinting at it very heavily. I thought for sure that Jack's dad cheated on his mom and Christian was the result and that's part of what broke up their family and why Jack hates Christian so much, because his illegitimate brother made it so well in the world and got all the luck. And then we find out they're not related. So I have to wonder was it planned to be the big surprise (he's not his brother!) or was it poor writing that mislead me?

Those are my complaints. Everything else was the usual fantasticalness. I mean, yeah they're trash, but they're good trash. They're easy summer reading when your mind is turned to mush and you want a fun story to read. And I totally wanted to go back and re-read them once I'd finished, lol. But I'm not going to, not yet. But I do see myself reading them again later. I will say that's one good thing about the akward add-ons at the end is that it made me want to reread them.

I'll talk about the other book maybe tomorrow. Or later. We'll see.

Fanfic Time!

So yesterday I got into a major writing mood. And what did I do? I spent all evening (well, Tommy's nap, a little while he played in the exersaucer, and when he went down for the night) writing a.... Bob/Wendy angst/romance Bob the Builder fanfiction! -_- Cause I'm just that lame! But, wow, it felt great just to do a short one-shot. I need to do those more often. This is actually something I've been wanting to write for a while. If you really pay attention to Bob and Wendy's interactions you come to the same conclusion I did. Wendy loves Bob and he basically ignores her. There was even one episode that closely resembles what I wrote where she's out with Bob when he's talking to the crew and then she's basically ignored and starts to head back into the office and he says her name and she turns to him all hopeful and he tells her some job or other he wants her to do and she's all "Oh.... sure, Bob..." It was so sad! Also, even if Bob does love her back they're stuck on being friends. They've got the whole "what if they don't like me back and everything gets too weird I'd lose them forever" thing going on.

Anyway, what surprises me the most about it is that I wrote it in first person. I don't do first persons, normally. I much prefer 3rd person, and even as I wrote it I found myself drifting back into 3rd person and I had to keep fixing it. But I really feel it was the sort of story that had to be 1st person.

It's pretty short, 2,263 words. But I had no real goal or purpose in mind. I had a vague idea and then yesterday an opening line came to me and I went with it. Later that line changed and became the ending line.

As you read this is all angsty goodness until you stop to really think about it. This is a serious, angsty fic about... a children's cartoon!? That aspect makes this whole story pretty funny.

btw, great show. I never knew how awesome it was until some months ago when I put it on for Tommy and I've been hooked ever since.

Anyway, here's the link to the story:: Wendy's Bad Day Also, I know some of you will probably look at my profile to see my other stories. Please note I wrote a lot of that when I was 13 and 14, so they're pretty childish sometimes. I have some kid-Boba ones I put up when I was about 17, I think, and I think those are good. If you go to my site my Dark Jedi thing is pretty good, and also in first person, oddly enough.

...I give myself 6.5 out of 10 stars.

9 Strand Dutch Braid

So I gave the 9 Strand Dutch Braid a try. It's actually not as hard as it looks, it's just time consuming. It took me about an hour. It's my first attempt so it's a little rough, but I'm sure with practice it'll get better. I had to put on a headband because the top was a little lumpy.

Castlevania: Mirror of Fate

I'm not sure when the last time I mentioned Castlevania: Lords of Shadow was, but there's now a sequel. I don't mean the DLC, which I still don't have, but an actual sequel. Apparently this awesome game didn't sell enough to make a regular game on the Xbox or something again so it's on the 3DS. It's called Mirror of Fate. There will be spoilers of varying degrees. I'll try to keep to minor ones.

So let's talk about characters. I haven't played any of the older Castlevania games, just Lords of Shadow and now Mirror of Fate. But I've seen Victor play a few of the others. Castlevania has a lot of pretty guys in it, and I don't mean gay pretty, I mean like Link pretty. So I was excited about this game cause, well... Gabriel instantly made the top ten hottest guys in video games/movies/books list. Not just for his long, dark hair, but also for his angst and his ability to keep going even with his whole world crashing down around him. Now, apparently this game condenses things quite a bit. So long-time players will find Simon is Gabriel's grandson and Trevor and Alucard are the same person. Are either Simon or Trevor/Alucard hot? No. I'm sorry, but no. Simon is a redhead and, no offense, but ew. lol But he is really awesome. He's fun to play as. He has a fairly unique fighting style and special moves that, at the very least, make you smile and occasionally make you laugh. I don't like his clothes much either. Trevor has dark hair, yes, but his face is ugly. He's got good clothes, though. Trevor plays a lot like Gabriel did in Lords of Shadow, at least from what I can remember, it's been about 3 years. And Alucard? He can do a lot of fun things, and is actually a little better looking than Trevor. Bizarrely enough... But, really, Gabriel is still the best, even in this game.

The game is fairly short. I seem to remember playing Lords of Shadow for 8-10 hours at a time, yet this game only took me about 10 1/2 hours to finish. I am still only about 80-some% done. But I do pride myself on playing and completing the entire game on Normal, instead of Easy. I actually didn't realize I was playing on Normal until I was on a really hard boss. And by then I figured why not, I'd gone this far. Some of the bosses were really hard. So when you get to Dracula you're all "Ah, this is going to be super hard..." But it's not. He's actually a really easy boss. Though, the final battle is a little harder but still not as bad as some of the other bosses.

Quicktime events how I hate you! I get to a cutscene, sit back, grab a drink of water or some food, set the controller down (or system, I guess in this case) to stretch my fingers when all of a sudden "X" omfg, what!? *chokes on mouthful of soda and drops candy bar in mad dash to hit the button* And then I die. I also can't enjoy cutscenes cause I'm always sitting there with twitchy fingers waiting for that horrid X or Y, or, even worse, Hold R. And then there's the ones where you have to hit the button multiple times but it doesn't tell you that right away. You don't get enough of a grace period on hitting the right buttons. Sometimes I panic and it takes me a while to find the right button. Give me an extra second or two! I always have to redo quicktime events several times before I get it right, and usually I only get through them on memorization, not because I have quick reflexes. It totally messes up what might be a good scene to watch. However, a definite plus for this game is that actual storyline cutscenes are in a different animation style so I know for sure I can relax for a bit.

I tried to use the 3D. It's the first 3D game I've played for the 3DS. I found that I instantly set it to half-way. And over the next 15 minutes I found myself turning it further and further down until I eventually just set the game back to 2D. My issue with it is I can't hold it at a good angle and the picture kept jumping.

The story is good. It's along the same lines as Lords of Shadow and I can see it being a sequel very easily. It's like a mini-game, kinda. I even cried a little at the end. The gameplay is good. The game is very addictive and once I started playing I couldn't put it down. I usually played during Tommy's naps and after he went to bed for the night. And whenever he woke up it was really hard to turn it off. It's a very, very good game.

Anyway, the reason for this review is to try to get sales up! I want a third game! If Lords of Shadow didn't sell enough for them to make a full-on game what makes anyone think a handheld game that's only 10 hours long is going to make enough for another sequel? So if this review didn't convince you to buy it maybe this fanart I found will... because, well... oh, my... *fans self*

http://gokcegokcen.deviantart.com/art/Gabriel-Belmont-Montage-260223493

Yoohoo Brownies - Fail

I made brownies with yoohoo in them. The idea sounded good, but I don't think they're actually that great. They're too rich. Maybe a different kind of brownie would do better. They're still edible, and even tasty-ish, just not something I'll make again. I am glad I tried it, though.

How to use the yoohoo.

The brownie recipe I used, subbing yoohoo for oil.

The Lightkeeper

I finished reading The Lightkeeper, by Susan Wiggs last week. It is about a man with a dark past who is a lightkeeper. He finds a shipwrecked pregnant woman who has her own past. I chose it because I realized I have a handful of her books and yet I've never read any. With another used booksale coming up in April I don't want to find myself picking any more up without knowing if I like her or not. So I picked the one I thought I'd like the least.

The non spoiler review is that it was good except for some fantasy aspects that made me giggle a little. Because you know that person, the one who talks about how she's supermom who always has time to cook, clean, do her hair and makeup, homeschool the kids, and has time to hang out with hubby and wonders why people are wasting precious time whining about how their baby isn't sleeping through the night since "it isn't hard, mine started at 6 weeks", but if you go their house it's a wreck, she's in sweats, hubby hasn't had any since before the baby was born, and dinner came from the frozen section? The author sounds like this person. Not really in a bad way but in a "roll your eyes and giggle" way. Also there's some parts that sound very convenient, but when you think about it it works and it all makes sense. I liked the interactions with the towns-people. I thought that was really well done. I also really liked how the book follows his and her perspectives, but if you picked up the book and, at random, flipped to any spot you'd know who's perspective you're in. It's subtle, but they have very distinct ways of thinking and narrating. So good job to Ms. Wiggs! Cause that's something I'm struggling with in my own (pathetic and slow) writing is the ability to make your characters sound like separate and individual people. Which is something she pulls off effortlessly.  Anyway, it was good. I liked it. Not my favorite romance novel, but not bad. I'm willing to give the other books a try, and I will go ahead and if I find myself getting more of her books at the booksale I'll go right on ahead and do so.

Spoiler review! The eyerolling part all has to do with the baby. So she has the baby, and then her milk comes in and she cries about for like 5 minutes, and then is handed a cold washcloth. Yes, a cold one. When I had this problem everything I read suggested a hot washcloth. But whatever, this takes place in 1870-something so maybe they had different ideas. And then he leaves the room for 5 more minutes, goes back in and she's somehow expressed enough to not only soak the bed but comfortably feed her baby! And after that she has no problems with it at all. She never has cracked nipples, she never has supply issues, she never has latch issues. And then, she loses ALL her baby weight and her stomach is "as though there had never been a baby there at all", which means no pouch, no sagging. And she apparently managed this in about 3-4 months just by puttering around the house. Her baby starts sleeping through the night at 2-3 months and she's so confident in this she leaves the baby with a neighbor one night! The baby lets them have sex without suddenly screaming half-way through. Also she starts doing it again at 6 weeks. Without pain or discomfort.
The convenient part is that she somehow wound up having the baby of this guy's ex-business partner. And then somehow wound up on his beach. Now this does make sense. Because this partner was looking for some lowly girl to have his baby, and she seems the sort that might draw attention. And it makes sense cause she took passage on one of his ships and it crashed at a place known for destroying ships. So it's not really too convenient cause it is all connected in a believable way.

I can't think of any good way to end this. I don't like the 5 star rating system. 3 sounds too low and 4 too high. Let's do a 10 point system. We'll go with 6 or 7.

Bought paper versions!

We went to town to do some shopping and came across this at CostCo, and it was cheaper for the boxed set from them than to order from amazon, so we picked it up! ee! Now I just need to get back to reading the 3rd book! I'll do that after I finish the one I'm currently on.

Updates - New Title

Ok, so I have a new title in mind for the blog. Desolate Tranquility. A few years ago while reading Jane Austin's Persuasion I came across the line "...Anne walked up at the same time, in a sort of desolate tranquility..." and it struck me. So there it is. I'll leave the url alone for a while to get you used to the new title and so you know where I've gone when it doesn't work or whatever happens when you change urls.

In other news Tommy is sitting unassisted some. I tried spoon feeding him rice cereal a few times and about... 2 weeks ago? I think about that long ago, he started acting like he wanted my food. He got so interested in anything I was eating or drinking. He was doing ok with cereal but I decided to move him up to solids. I mean he'll be 6 months on the 9th, and I know they recommend 6 months, but a lot of people start at 4. I doubt starting solids a few weeks early will make that big a difference. I made him pureed carrots a few times, and he liked that well enough. I gave him mashed banana twice but it made his tummy upset. I read bananas can give babies constipation. So we'll hold off on bananas again for a while. I had a coupon for gerber 1st foods so we picked some up. Prunes, apples, green beans, and sweet potatoes. I hate green beans and sweet potatoes and I'd never tried prunes. But whatever, good to expose him to all sorts of stuff. So far all I've done is the prunes. He did alright with them, I guess. Better when I started airplaning the spoon and making silly noises at him. The last two days he's been fighting his evening nap pretty hard so he got almost no solids at all. I don't know what's up with his naps right now. Growth spurt, maybe. As if he needs to grow more right now! lol He was 18lbs 03oz on the 14th. But he doesn't look fat. I mean he's a little chubby but all babies are. I borrowed an exer-saucer and ever since his leg strength has gone way up. If I sit back and stand him between my legs and he holds onto my shoulders I can let go and he'll stand against me for a few seconds. And he absolutely loves that he's finally figured out how to blow raspberries. lol The one thing he's not doing is rolling over! He's done it. He can do it. He just doesn't want to. Whatever, at least he can scoot. He hasn't gotten up in a crawl position yet but he can definitely scoot.

 

Review: Eaters of the Dead

So Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton is the most recent book I've read. I chose it spur of the moment almost 3 weeks ago as we were rushing out the door and I wanted to bring a book with me.

I was incredibly confused throughout the whole book on whether or not it was fiction. I know this is a fiction author, though I've never read his other books. Yet he talked about it in the intro and had the footnotes that made me think it was real. The truth is it's a little of both. It's based on a real life manuscript and after the beginning it takes off on it's own fictitious path. The true, historical, part is that this Arab goes off to a new post in the north. The fiction is that he goes off with some vikings to fight neanderthal cannibals. The fiction part is apparently based on Beowulf, which I have no previous experience with in any way, so I can't compare the two.

There is also apparently a movie based on this book, which I think I might have seen, though I don't remember it a lot. It's called The 13th Warrior. Now who would have guessed that? I only found that out cause I was getting that amazon link up there and happened to see it. I mean the title does make sense but you would have had to read the book to realize that title was connected with this book.

The writing is very plain and matter of fact. Hardly any emotion at all. But I do think it was a good choice to read since I was frequently interrupted during it and I didn't care about being broken out of it. It wasn't the sort of story you get sucked into. That's not to say it's not a good story. Just that it's not the sort that you get so into you don't want to be jarred out of it. I could stop and pick up at any point and it took no effort to get back into it.

The deciding victorious moment is dull and anti-climatic. Very anti-climatic. I'm talking about the cave scene. There's all this buildup for, like, two chapters, and then in one short paragraph it's over.

Overall it's an ok book, I think. I mean, I'm not going to say you should go out of your way to read it, but it's not something to avoid either. The only bad thing I have to say about it is that the cave scene was surprisingly short.

Vampire Diaries

So this is a bit late but oh well. I finished watching Vampire Diaries about 2-3 weeks ago. I dunno, February's been weird. I kept forgetting it was February at all for like a week and now I keep mixing up what day it is. Anyway...

I really, really liked it. But I had no idea it was an in-process show. Netflix only has the first 3 seasons. Apparently there's 4 with a 5th on the way or something. Great. I only started watching it cause I saw it on the recently added list and it was 2011's season, so I guess this means I have to wait till next January to watch season 4? Maybe I'll see if I know anyone who has the dvd (is there a dvd? I'm sure there has to be) so I can borrow it. Or if I find it cheap I'll just buy it. I intend to do that with the first 3 seasons. Also, apparently it's based on a book? The opening credits say so. I shall have to look into that some day.

I do like watching Twilight cause it's just so stupid, but this is way better. I mean, there are some things that seem similar, but, really, this is waaay better. It just draws you in. It's very addictive. Towards the end I was staying up late at night to watch them, and sneaking them in during Tommy's naps, instead of doing things like cleaning. lol The end of almost every episode ends in a cliffhanger. And since it consumed my life for a few weeks I am taking a break on tv shows for now.

Now, just cause I wanna, my favorite characters are Damon (*squee*), Alaric, and Elijah. Really, Damon is just a really, really well done character. Sometimes you don't know if he's bad or good, sometimes you just want to break down sobbing and cuddle him forever, other times you want to slap him. ...usually you just want to hold him and stroke his hair and cry and tell him "I'll love you..."

Anyway, I have a few complaints, since we all know how good I am at complaining. I don't think they're very spoiler-ific, though if you want to avoid minor spoilers then stop reading now.

How can people just slice open their hands over and over? Like everyone's doing it and no one cares. Occasionally there's a wince or gasp. If I sliced open my hand I'd be crying like a baby, but these people are all "*slice* Ho, hum. Just another normal, boring day. Oh, I suppose I should think about bandaging that sometime." Not everyone has that kind of pain tolerance!

When she loses all that blood in season 3 no one cares, not even her. Now, when I had Tommy I had to get 2 bags of blood. So I assume I must have lost about 2 bags. The show indicates she lost several bags. Now after having lost just as little as I did I passed out 10 feet from where I lost it, and then was confined to my bed unless I had a nurse to supervise me getting around. Two days later I wasn't allowed to even shower unless someone was in the next room listening for if I needed help. Meanwhile Elena's all "Ladida, lost several bags of blood and all I have is a bit of a headache. Let's go home so I can paint!" What!? If someone I knew lost that much I'd be taking her to the hospital asap to get more.

Made the List

So, at the risk of sounding like I'm 13 again.... I'd like to welcome the newest member of the "Fictional Men Who've Stolen Barbara's Heart" group. He's dark, he's tragic.... Heeee'ssss.....

Out of everyone on my list I believe he'll be most friendly with Gabriel Belmont... ;) Seriously, though, I've liked him since the 2nd episode. And now that I'm in the beginning of season 2 I am all over him.

Books Update

I gave up reading Sense and Sensibility. I was about to start chapter 7. But I just can't. I'm just not into it right now. I can't even really explain what's wrong with it. It's just... boring. The movie is boring too. This is the first time I've had a problem with the Jane Austen books. For example, Persuasion, which it's packed with, was excellent. And Emma was great. Northanger Abbey was fun. Pride and Prejudiced, well, that's just classic. I'll come back to this some day. But for now I need to find something else to read.

Also I couldn't find this version of the book anywhere online. It's part of the Borders Classics series. So I just took a picture of my own copy.

National Geographic's Mysteries of the Ancient World. Been reading that before bed to help me get to sleep. I thought it was really good. It was made in 1979, so I'm sure some of this is outdated as archaeology moved on since then. But I found it informative, thoughtful, and interesting. I just wish there were more pictures. The guy writing it keeps talking about this or that that he saw or looked at but leaves out the picture. There are pictures, just not enough.

As for right now? I  have no idea what fiction book I'm reading next. I've been kinda busy with other things, like Caesar III, and I discovered Vampire Diaries, so I haven't really been reading a lot lately. My before-bed book is currently Characters and Viewpoints by Orson Scott Card. So far I've only read the intro but I already like it.

Poll...

Are you...

1. Not Interested.

2. Somewhat Interested.

3. Interested.

4. Very Interested.

5. Extremely Interested.

Tommy Update

Tommy is 4 months old now and gets cuter and more handsome every day! He was 25" and 15lbs 15oz at his 4 month checkup. He can sit unassisted for a few seconds. He has rolled over a few times. His sleeping was great, he'd sleep from 10-4:30. Then, at about 3 1/2 months, he started waking up at 2. I think he might be going back to a decent schedule cause over the last week or so he's woken up later in the night, around 3, and one night 4. I'm still exhausted though, as he's decided 6am is a wonderful time of day to get up at. I am worried about tonight though. He's more or less been asleep since about 2:00. Growth spurt, probably. Yesterday he was eating a ton. I just hope he sleeps tonight.

Basket Weave Hair

My first successful attempt at basket weaving my hair! I don't think I'm quite ready to do it without braids first, though, and I'm certainly not ready to do it french braid style like some do.

Edit: I just realized I didn't say how I did it. I followed this tutorial, only I braided my strands to make it easier to keep them separate.

Rename

I need rename ideals. I would like to rename this blog but have no idea what to name it. I have a serious inability to choose names and titles, but I would really like a different name. So if anyone has a suggestion please leave a comment or email me. I don't know if more than 1 person reads this regularly, but either way, I need a new name.

Wrapped French Braid

This hairstyle is a french braid with sticks stuck in it, then the tail wrapped around under the sticks. There are no pins in it. It's a variation of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6vq6paUaF0

Fair well to Darth Flannel

To explain lapses in continuity and re-writing of canon some Star Wars fans look at things from the point of view that we are in the future, as said in the opening screen, "A long time ago...". We are basically archaeologists digging through the history of a civilization from a very distant galaxy. And as archaeology text books from today would contradict and add to text books from even 50 years ago, new movies, books, comics, games, and *sigh*, yes even tv shows, can be added and worked and hammered into place to make everything fit. Remember when Boba Fett was Jaster Mareel, exiled journeyman protector from Concord Dawn? Our archaeologists just hadn't dug far enough! Silly us! Now with the information we unearthed 10 years ago we know that Boba is his own person, his dad came from Concord Dawn, and Jaster Mareel is basically his adopted grandpa. What a wonder modern discoveries are, aren't they? Well, some people also have the theory (fictional theory, obviously) that George Lucas is actually an alien from that galaxy far, far away, and he's the major contributor to the historical records of his galaxy.

Well, I have come to the conclusion that he kept a clone of himself on backup just in case he got homesick. I do believe he has become homesick and went back to his home planet sometime last year, or the one previously, and left his clone here to run amok.

.....either that or he's dying of a terminal illness and hasn't told anyone yet and wants to tie everything up before he goes. I imagine in the next month or so we'll hear a news article about his kids in some way or other.

random stuff

Random thoughts and stuff time!

Did you know they still make Barney? I threw one on at random for Tommy and I kept thinking to myself that Barney's voice was odd and the things he was saying were odd and the whole episode in general was odd and the music was odd and I said, "This has got to be a later episode." So I looked and... 2011! Somehow that just makes me feel really old cause I've been watching Barney for as long as I can remember. And despite the hatred that show garnered I actually really liked it.

Other tv related things, I've been trying random kid shows for Tommy. Yeah, yeah, kids under 2 shouldn't watch tv, whatever. I'd go insane without the tv to distract him while I do dishes or take a shower or he's just plain bored. Remember, at this age he can't grip well and toys just don't entertain him much. I do have a rubbery type grippy ball coming in the mail, so we'll see if that entertains him! Anyway...
I found I actually really enjoy Bob the Builder. It's a fun show and I don't care if Tommy likes it or not. :p
I do not like Baby First and neither does Tommy. I have tried a lot of different episodes and he has been entertained by none of them. I'll try them again in a month or so cause it seems they could be educational.
Tommy was very entertained by Sesame Street. When they introduced the letter and played a horn noise Tommy immediately copied it himself. Awww....

I've been doing some reading to try and figure out how to write more than one character. Cause I realized all my characters in all my stories are basically the same person. In my research I've found that the name is actually Gary Stu, not Marty Stu. When did this happen? And how did I start calling him Marty Stu if that's not his name? Or have I just stumbled on the only 2 sites out there who call him Gary?

Tommy has a tooth coming in. Poor boy. He's been drooly. Sometimes I can see the moment his tooth pain hits him. It makes me cry cause I deal with tooth pain on a daily basis. My poor little boy shouldn't have to suffer tooth pain. It makes me angry knowing he has a lifetime of tooth related pains and agonies ahead of him. He'll be on the state kid medical coverage and we'll take him to the dentist on that but after he's too old for that he'll be on his own. And unless his life turns out different from ours he won't have the money to pay for dental work. I know it is all about priorities and, personally, I'm reserving my arm and leg for something I actually want to spend them on. Overall, though, I think he's handling it rather well.

Tommy's gotten so big. He was 14lbs 2oz at his 3 month weigh. He goes back for more shots on the 9th so we're doing a well check then.

Well, that was all. Back to reading how to make separate people! See, it's really hard for me cause I'm so shy. I don't interact with people well. I have social anxiety and am socially awkward. How am I supposed to make different people? They all speak with my voice. I gave one guy a certain way of speaking and I am constantly having to go back and change things he's said cause I wrote them in my voice by accident!

I'm sure this phase where I feel like writing will pass. It always does, and usually before I can get much progress in.