This should get in a bit earlier than my previous forays into the TToT blog hop, but it is honestly the one closest to the point of never being published. It’s just been that emotional of a week, and as I reached the end of the week my enthusiasm for writing in the blog hop had dwindled substantially.

The week started off with my grandmother going into the clinic, for what was believed backup issues, which then lead to her having to be admitted into the hospital. There, they found she was exhibiting an irregular heartbeat and had to have some extensive testing done. I didn’t find out about what was going on, though, until Thursday. She hadn’t called me, though I know she brought various phone numbers with her, my father hadn’t called me, and all my calls to her were met with endless ringing (she is old-school, so no voicemail for her…). Finally, Thursday I was able to reach my father who updated me as to what exactly happened and that evening when she got home she called to talk. She tries not to call my cell phone being I get in trouble for personal use time and have been charged by my company for minutes, but it would have been nice to have been given a heads up. A voicemail, if nothing else…

So when that stressful incident cleared up another, of a more personal nature, reared it’s ugly head. At this point I was in full “Fuck It” mode. Eventually that was hashed out and things hit a mediocre sense of norm. What I was left with, though, was a strong desire to take a break from blogging. I’ve been falling almost two weeks behind on posts anyhow (and that is just TToT posts), and thought a fresh start after some time away would help.

Then I was on the fence. but leaning towards doing the post, even coaxing my girlfriend — who also has been feeling down — to do the same, citing it as the best time to participate. This morning, however, I decided I wouldn’t be a part of the blog hop and/or post any of my blog series this week, and quite possibly the week or two after.

When I hopped onto Facebook this afternoon, my decision flopped yet again after seeing a drawing my friend (and ex co-worker) — who long ago moved to the UK — randomly made for me and posted on my wall. We don’t talk very often, I’d say once every few weeks and that is being generous, so I didn’t take his drawing (and the message on it) as coincidence. It appeared I was being told to buck up and get to it. I will share the picture on Wednesday, but until then let’s see if I can’t crank out a list of Thankfulness and some trailers before then, shall we?

  1. I’m Thankful the doctor at the clinic was able to determine there was more going on with my grandma’s health than just having a terrible bout of backup.
  2. For my father being able to bring her in and spend hours at the hospital while she underwent testing that first night. I have no actual proof he did this and that he didn’t just leave right away (nor will I ask…), but I want to believe he waited around until discovering she would be admitted overnight. I’d imagine, though, with how many hours of testing that needed to be done, that was determined pretty quickly into the evening.
  3. Finally getting in touch with someone to update me on WTF was going on with my grandmother…
  4. Despite finding an irregular heartbeat, it seems that the incident was not life-threatening. At least this is what she told me. She was in the hospital for three days, which to me would suggest it was of some importance she be kept in a monitored state.
  5. Crooks. My cat has been extra lovey this week and it seems he was able to sense I could use the additional comfort.
    How Crooks views himself in the mirror...
  6. I am Thankful for my girlfriend and how supportive — and also cuddly — she has been throughout the week when visiting.
  7. The talks my girlfriend and I have had recently. Some about what we are feeling at any given moment, and others about the possibilities of what is to come in the future. I generally avoid talking too much about the future, I’m pretty bad at visualizing it, making it hard to discuss.
  8. My girlfriend keeping me calm when anxiety-bound upon discovering the Papa Murphy’s pizza I bought was too big for my oven. After a handful of ideas being tossed around, we opted to fold the edge of the pizza in and cut an inch or so off of their Bake-and-Serve pizza tray.
  9. I’m Thankful that, so far, our pizza experiment hasn’t gone completely haywire… I’m freaking starving!
  10. Writing. Even though I was (am?) dead set on taking a break from blogging, I was inspired to write up some rough drafts of future entries. Part of the break would be to actually focus on the type of posts I’ve neglected for months now. Those of a more personal nature — sans blog hops and blog series. One post turned into two and ideas for a few more have come to light. They are rough around the edges, but should flesh out easily enough. So even if I do end up taking a momentary leave of absence from the Blogosphere, it will be with the intention of working on pieces I feel I have sidestepped for far too long.

Feel free to leave your Thankful List in the comments below, if you aren’t participating directly with the blog hop!
This past weekend there was the wedding I spoke about in my last TToT and thought I would share some of the photos. The first two are courtesy of Dese’Rae L. Stage Photography. You can visit her site by clicking on the images. The rest are random pictures and some meme-style additions I had hoped to print out to doctor the back of their wedding card with, but ran out of time. 
 
I am also sharing the piece I did add to their wedding card. The one that took me hours to complete. This is likely because I am Slowplay and not the best at art programs. No, I didn't draw the piece. I just found the picture and doctored it up.
 
Enjoy!
 
The lovely couple. The bride was beautiful. Okay, the groom was pretty handsome too. Loved his grey suit and purple tie!
As much as I like the first photo, I absolutely LOVE this one! I believe it's my favorite!
These were delicious! I only had two, but they were OM NOM NOM! I knew I should have chosen Batman for my addition to their wedding card, but I'm really happy with my choice.
Random Observer: "But he isn't even eating tacos..." Me: "Exactly!"
This and the above were two pieces I had wanted to add to the back of their wedding card. Woe is me...
The piece I added to their wedding card. It features Wolverine and Jean Grey of the X-Men and lines of the bride's favorite poem. There are multiple reasons why I felt this picture was fitting, from character themes to loose connection with the poetry lines chosen to their wedding/relationship, but I would go on and on and on and on and on...


Not a whole lot to say about this week’s trailers. We have a simple mix of drama, comedy, and animated sequels. There may be some randomness thrown in, as well.

Anyhow, lets get to it…

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 (9/27/13):

I enjoyed the first movie (of this possible trilogy?), which was based on a popular children’s book. But I don’t recall many details of the movie, just liking it. What I do recall thinking right away when seeing the trailer for the sequel, though, is “Why?”. I suppose that question can be asked for the plethora of unneeded sequels the movie industry pumps out year after year, so why should I be surprised? Even kids movies (maybe especially so…) fall victim to this. If I had children I would probably be roped into seeing this in theaters, but as I don’t… Redbox/Netflix.

Metallica: Through the Never (10/4/13):

This is a trailer I wanted to share a few weeks ago, but kept pushing it back. The trailer itself isn’t the best and what’s being presented comes off as clunky to me. The concept seems interesting and maybe it will play out a lot smoother than the trailer. Beyond being a Metallica fan (mostly the old, but some of the new — or now, older new?), I can’t find any reason to rush to the theater to see this. If I rush anywhere for Metallica it would be a live show.

Zero Charisma (10/11/13):

This is a movie for all my gaming geek friends. Nerds? There always seems to be confusion around geek/nerd/dork, but I believe most I know fall into the geek department. Anyway, this seems to have been produced by Nerdist Industries, or The Nerdist, that has plenty of videos up on their Youtube channel. Honestly, I rarely see any of their videos beyond what friends post up on FB, which is seldom. So really, seeing their little logo does nothing for me. The content, though, is one that I’m all too familiar with and I love watching movies (fictional or non-fictional) based on the subject matter. I don’t believe this will be a widespread release, and I’m not even sure it’s not straight to DVD, but I would like to see this once it hits RB/NF.

Kill Your Darlings (10/16/13):

Last week I posted Big Sur. and I wanted to place it together with this movie to keep some kind of loose theme, but decided against it. At some point, I may venture themes a bit more than I do. There’s possibly a resurgence of interest in the Beatnik Generation? I like a handful of the cast featured in this movie, and believe the acting will be above average, but I will wait until available on RB/NF.

Grudge Match (12/25/13):

My first thoughts when viewing this trailer were: It’s kind of weird seeing Stallone in a boxing role outside of Rocky. I’ve only seen about two of the Rocky franchise, but when I saw this movie was about boxing with Stallone I automatically assumed it was of that franchise — sans the title (which I think the last Rocky movie did?). I like both Stallone and De Niro, along with some of the supporting cast. This could be a fairly decent comedy and wouldn’t mind checking it out. Considering all the other movies being released during the holiday seasons, though, I’m afraid this may fall into the sidelines. Or into it’s respective corner, as it were...

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (6/20/14):

Unlike the sequel for Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, I’m actually really excited about this movie. Sure I could ask the “why?” about it too, but whatever. Don’t judge. I really, really hope they don’t mess this one up — I loved the original. Lately it seems some of the sequels for animated (and blockbuster) movies have been lackluster and devoid of the heart existing in the originals. Given the amount of time between this release and the first, I’d like to believe they put a lot of time and effort into doing it’s predecessor justice. I even recall watching some of the “straight to DVD” spin-offs (akin to the Shrek spin-offs). I’d definitely love to see this once it’s released in theaters!

Did any of the highlighted movie trailers interest you? Did you enjoy Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and/or How to Train Your Dragon? Are you excited for any of the upcoming animated sequels? Will your love, passion or interest in Tabletop Gaming, Metallica, the Beatnik Generation, and/or boxing draw you to see any of the respective movies?

XVI | 10 THINGS OF THANKFUL | XVI


It was a busy weekend, or at least a busy Saturday. Some friends I made during NaNoWriMo got married, so the ladyfolk and I spent the day and evening celebrating with them. I probably should have drank, given the circumstances. You only (hopefully) get married once, right? I will make up for it another night. It was a beautiful wedding on a beautiful day. Perhaps I can get permission to use some pictures on Wednesday!

Despite a friend bringing a companion who didn’t know the meaning of not giving away movie spoilers, it was a fantastic experience and there was plenty to be Thankful for…

  1. The Wedding invite. I’m incredibly Thankful I was invited to my friend's wedding. When it was all being arranged I was sent a “Save the Date” letter (still unopened), but soon after found out that cuts had to be made. This mainly surrounded costs for food, and I understood. Being I knew the couple for only a brief span of time (since last Nov) it made sense I would be placed on the chopping block. In fact, I may have even offered myself up for the chopping block, though there was mention of me being an usher for the wedding. As it turned out, cuts were reduced, and they were able to invite their full guest list and even allow +1s!
  2. The Wedding itself. As I mentioned above, it was a fantastic wedding and the ceremony itself was simple and quicker than what I imagined. The couple looked great, and there were tears and laughs shared by all!
  3. The Weather of the Wedding Day. Earlier Saturday morning I took a stroll up to Rainbow Foods for some breakfast. The sky was thick with clouds that seemed to threaten the sunny forecast I had read about just the evening before. As the day progressed, though, the clouds broke and the sun shined down. It wasn’t overbearing, but just right.
  4. Not falling asleep during the wedding and following party. I had been up the night before at 3am and just couldn’t fall back to sleep. Maybe I was overly anxious about going to the wedding even though I played no part in it’s organization. I did, however, know there would be a fair share of people I wouldn’t know. I brought a 5-hour energy drink with just in case, but never had to use it.
  5. Seeing friends. I had met the bride during NaNoWriMo and over the past few months the NaNo group we all built began to dwindle in attendance at our chosen hangout locations. Many times I’d end up being the only one present. Almost all of them were at the wedding and I was very happy to see them.
    Forgot to post this in my last [Mostly] Wordless Wednesday post
  6. Kate. I was thrilled to be able to finally introduce my girlfriend to this group of friends, and they seemed equally as thrilled to make her acquaintance.
  7. New clothing. I am way way behind on buying new clothes. I always have an excuse, the biggest being: I’m working out and will just need to buy new ones again. Yeah, still wearing the same sizes. I wear things until they are literally falling apart. The wedding offered me a reason to buy some new duds. I was able to pick up a nice pair of pants and a dressier shirt, as well as two simple t-shirts. All of them were on sale for half-off! I even bought a belt. My old one was being held together by literally two or three remaining strands at one section…
  8. My wedding gift. This may sound odd, and it wasn’t anything much more than a card really, but I will try to explain. Since buying my grandparent's 25th Anniversary card, and then adding to it, made me want to be a bit more creative with the wedding card. I wasn’t able to buy an extravagant gift, but I’d like to think the “thought that counts” and effort is very visible in my choices. The project itself caused some serious stress as I tried to figure out how to get it just right. I hope to share it this Wednesday as well.
  9. A great week. Stepping away from the wedding listing, this week, in general, was relaxing (when not stressing about the wedding — so much for stepping away...) and I was able to get in plenty of time with my girlfriend. More good foods and fun times together. She was a real trooper this weekend taking on the task of meeting my friends. Unfortunately for her, there are still many more to go…
  10. Random things that get me to be creative. The wedding and inspiration to create additional offerings for the card is one example. A Blog post resulting in the comment I left is another. My sense of humor is usually an acquired taste, but I feel I have my moments. If nothing else, I made myself laugh and did so at no one else’s expense. You can’t beat that!

Feel free to leave your Thankful List in the comments below, if you aren’t participating directly with the blog hop!

[MOSTLY] WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - FRIENDS

Cadence and I doing what we do best: pretending to write! Okay, maybe that's just me...
There were a handful of pictures I would like to share, but I prefer asking permission before placing up random pictures of people. While it is generally okay via Facebook, a blog I feel is a bit different considering it’s a lot less private. Cadence (who I met during NaNoWriMo last Nov) was online and sweet enough to allow me to use one of her and I.

 

Another friend I met during NaNoWriMo is featured in an upcoming documentary about Midwifery. I’ve never heard so much talk about births, babies, and placenta (and what to do with said placenta) since making the friends I have during NaNoWriMo. There is a screening of this movie on Sept. 24th and I’d love to go, but am uncertain I will be able to. I would love to support this documentary, so we will see. A few weeks ago, I asked permission to feature the trailer on my Trailer Tuesday blog series, but never got a reply, so I’m going off the reservation here, because I can't fathom how it wouldn’t be okay.

Thankfully, she found this hilarious...
This is a friend who I barely have any contact with, and it seems that is pretty commonplace with those that have known her for even longer than I. She works a ton, is a student, and is just all around awesome. Maybe I am biased because she is a cosplayer, MtG playing artist, singer of randomness, and overall geek like myself? I dunno. This was officially my first attempt at making a meme, and I thought she was going to kill me. I’ve actually never shared this until now, though she gave me permission to months ago. I honest to God thought when I hadn’t heard a reply back after sharing it with her the first time meant she was contracting out my life.


A little song dedicated to the friends I’ve made (and almost made) throughout the years. Usually I can tell when I’m going to be (or would be) good friends with someone or a group of people. I’m not a very assertive/aggressive individual, though, and it may be unfair to others to leave the leg-work of getting together to them, but I’ve gotten better. Most of it revolves around insecurities and self-love. But, sometimes you can’t help who falls into and/or out of your life, regardless of our hopes and wishes.

Are you Thankful for your friends? Are you knowledgeable about Midwifery? Have you created any Memes? Does “We’re Going to be Friends” remind you of anyone?

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