It's Been A While...

But Internet, I have returned.

The past couple months have been rough ones for me. Dealing with the break-up, dealing with the after-math of the break-up, dealing with school and the end of the school year... And then, of course, there was this semester's version of Humans vs. Zombies, which I helped to run...

And now it's summer. I've been in and out of jobs, doing the college student thing, living off of mac and cheese, top ramen, and pepsi. My amazing grandparents gave me a chunk of money that's currently helping me live.

And then, of course, I got a job editing.

I couldn't believe it when I found it. A lady just needing her PhD dissertation edited. A lady who was willing to pay me several hundred to edit said dissertation. Do I want to have this kind of job every month in order to pay my bills? HECK YES. Despite the large amount of work, it's a job I know I'm good at.

So, Internet, that's all I've really been up to. Editing is taking up part of my day, my friends take up the other part. I'm here, I'm living, I'm eating, I'm breathing, I'm loving life. I'm planning for trips that I'll be taking in the future (one to Vegas at the end of August to visit my best friend and one to LA in November with all of my friends in order to go to a convention). And I'm getting ready to go back to Chico State in the fall.

I cant wait for school to start.

Catch you soon, Internet.

After Birthday Blues

Last night went well. I went out with some friends from the newspaper and the boyfriend for some sushi and sake. We had a wonderful time. After, we were thinking of going to the bars; however, we decided that it was raining much to hard for that and, instead, came home for some eggnog and rum. Yum!

But the birthday is over. And even though it's pouring down rain, and I would love to be working on the end of my novel or doing this:

I, instead, have to do this:

However, I have some exciting/interesting prospects lined up that, if they fall into the right place, I might mention about winter break or even the next semester. We'll see what happens!

Taking a Break

I took the night off of writing tonight. Not because I wanted to but because I just couldn't bring myself to write for reasons I will state when I have them decently clarified in my head. Probably a few days down the road. That will be a hard blog to post.

Anyway, since my novel covers steampunk, I decided to post a few things from etsy that are steampunk related, so you might get an idea of my meaning. I'm currently collecting items (not necessarily these) for my own steampunk costume for the convention in Seattle next year, which I'm totally excited about and hope that some of my steampunk loving friends will join me at. So, without further ado, here I present steampunk:

An underbust bodice that can be found at http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33763382.

An antique watch necklace, found at http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=13177128.

Aviator Goggles found at The Badger's Den: http://www.badgersden.com/Store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=304_326&products_id=1258

Pearl Cuff Bracelet: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20249909

Steampunk pocketwatch: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33787555&ref=sr_gallery_5&&ga_search_query=steampunk+pocketwatch&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=&order=date_desc&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title

And then, of course, my two absolute favorites:

The fancy cloth wrist corsage: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33820790&ref=sr_gallery_8&&ga_search_query=steampunk+clothing&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=3&order=date_desc&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title

Red and Gold Corset: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33784463&ref=sr_gallery_10&&ga_search_query=steampunk+clothing&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=5&order=date_desc&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title

Mix a few of these things together (the watch, corset, corsage, goggles) and you're getting close to a steampunk-looking outfit!

Happiness = Glee

I wish we had a Glee Club in High School.

I know it might be weird but I actually can attribute much of my current happiness in life with the new television show: Glee. I look forward to it every week, to see what songs they pick to sing. If I'm having a bad day, I listen to "Dont Stop Believin'" or "Somebody to Love" and I can't help but smile. I mean, seriously, when you have people my age singing their hearts out and you can feel it, you can feel that they actually enjoy doing this, life is awesome. Especially now, since the first volume of Glee music just came out today. I know I sound a little silly but I listened to the CD twice before my first class of the day, and that's more than 15 songs.

I'm not really sure what the writers of the show are going to do with the second season, if/when they get produced for season 2. I'm not sure what age most of the Glee kids are in but I get the feeling that they're all seniors in high school.  There are a few ticking clocks running around in the show right now and, by the time the alarms have all gone off, their year of high school will practically be over and then... what? New Glee kids? I'll just have to wait and see. For now, I'm reccommending Glee to anyone having a bad day and listening to the songs has been sending to me bed with a smile on my face.


Chapter excerpt of the day:

   
The little woodcutters cabin in the clearing had been deserted for a while.

Margaret could tell just from looking at it. The windows were tainted with dust and misuse over the years; the door hung open lazily, one hinge broken and falling off; the staircase leading up to the door was rotted and disintegrating. From her spot behind a tree where the clearing began, a quarter mile away from the cabin, she knew that it was the perfect spot to hide. No one had used it in months, maybe years. No one would even notice it as they wandered by. It wasn’t sheltered from the rain, the wind would rattle the windows something fierce, and it probably reeked with rot. The perfect place to hide.

NaNoWriMo Exhaustion... Already?

I kicked butt yesterday.

I'm proud to tell myself that because I really did. I was able to crank out two chapters and over 4500 words for the second draft of my novel in 24 hours. I spent nearly 7 hours writing yesterday. I fell into bed exhausted but totally happy last night. And, according to the boyfriend, the actual writing wasn't too bad either (but you can never trust those you love, right?)

I am exhausted, though. Today, especially, since I had to divide my time between chores, errands, school work, and writing. I struggled to finish chapter three, on which I got stuck twice but forced myself out of writers block after taking a break for an hour or so each time to work on something else. (Like reading boring literature: aka - the textbook for one of my classes. Believe me, that makes you want to get back to writing after a while.) However, I did finish it, finally, and I've made it to 7,301 words, which is a huge jump from the 3,334 words that I only need to have today. I'm looking forward to writing chapter four tomorrow, too, but I'm dreading school. I just want to spend my time writing. However, on the bright side, I organized a student NaNoWriMo group to hang out with me and write in between classes in one of the student centers and, from what they've said on the website, most people seem to be looking forward to it. I really think I'll be making a lot of friends out of this experience (just as I did with the whole HvZ experience) and I'm up for a challenge.

Daily clip - from Chapter 3:
     With a warning screech, Katisha suddenly veered to the left and Tristen clung to her neck, hanging on for dear life. He heard the screams of hundreds and, glancing to his right, he saw a large, boat-like contraption that was attached to a fabric air-filled balloon-like structure. The boat was double tiered and, from what he could tell, those with the finer clothing stood screaming at the bottom tier and those with more decent outwear screamed from the top, as the boat veered to the right, away from Tristen and his dragon. Katisha screamed in fear again, trying to stay air-born after her sudden scare and the people screamed right back at her. It hurts, Tristen… she complained, lowering their altitude once more. I must get away. Several strong beats of her wings and they were miles away from the flying contraption, leaving Tristen only to stare back at it in bewilderment.
     What in the name of the gods' could that have been?

Zombie Slayers Gone Wild - Part Four

*Gurgle*


Brains... must feed...


*Low moan*

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I want to add a side note to this blog post which, yes, is supposed to be short and stupid. You'll see why tomorrow. (I've been having way too much fun at school chasing humans around for me not to act like a silly zombie.) Lately, the boyfriend and I have been re-watching the old Star Wars movies. You know, the original three, the only ones that are worth watching. We finally got to the last one and a little conversation between Vader and the Emperor caught my eye. Now, I have watched these movies over and over again but it took a late night viewing to come up with this. I'll write it down first, see if you can catch it, and then I'll mention what I saw. This little conversation takes place just after Leah, Han, and Luke have met the Ewocks on Endor.

Vader: My son with with them.
Emperor: Are you sure?
Vader: I have felt him.
Emperor: Strange I have not. I wonder if your feelings on this matter are clear, Lord Vader.
Vader: They are clear, my master.
Emperor: You must go to the Centrilian Moon and wait for him.
Vader: He will come to me.
Emperor: Yes. I have forseen it. His compassion for you will be his undoing. He will come to you and you will bring him before me.

Find it? No?

Rewind a second. Vader kind of leads this conversation and the Emperor catches on later, making Vader's words his own. Vader is confident that he will see Luke under Luke's own terms and, at first, the Emperor questions this. He even critisizes Vader, wondering if his "feelings on the matter are clear." Then, later in the conversation, the Emperor basically repeats what Vader said, telling him "I have forseen it." My question is this: How could the Emperor have forseen this when he even tells Vader "Strange that I have not" in regards to feeling Luke's presence?

It's just so funny how little things like re-watching a beloved film could catch such mistakes. I wonder what George Lucus thinks of his masterpiece after all these years. I still love this movie, anyway.

Zombie Slayers Gone Wild - Part Three

I must write quickly before the poison takes hold of me. I fear these are my last few moments of sanity.

Yes, that's right, I have been bitten. It was a long hard battle and I'll will tell all to you in due time.

As I got on the bus this morning, still human, I met five other male humans, well armed, who offered to get me to my class safely. I took this offer and off to class we went, without seeing a single zombie along the way. However, once in class, one of my dear friends became ill and my professor asked me to take her to the Health Center, the one place I didn't want to go (after previous experiences with that retched place) but I said I would go, anyway. Armed with socks, I walked her over to the Health Center, once again without meeting a single zombie. What is going on? I thought to myself. They should be out by now! After seeing her safe within the confines of the sick ward, I headed back towards the library in search of zombies. I knew they were out. There were at least 55 of them. It had been reported last night!

That's when I got the text message from Jo. He had been bitten and was going through the painful transformation. I shed a single tear and then closed my cell phone. All I could do was let him go to his doom.

I was right about the zombies being out. One was there, walking across a bridge I was also crossing to get to the library. She turned, ready, but was not fast enough. I pegged her with a sock before she could even get near. Inside the library, I ran into a human friend, one that needed to get to a building that had been rumored to be infested with zombies. I offered my services and we traveled without disturbance. I was dumb-founded by this time. I had hardly seen any zombies all day. Very few guarded the library, which was normally very guarded. I headed home to get ready for my second class, pondering this thought.

I suppose I let my ego get the best of me. That must have been why this happened. After class, a fellow human and I debated on waiting until 6:30 (when the zombies had to stand down) to go to a human meeting that was supposed to take place in the library at 6:45. We peeked out of the building and, though we couldn't see any zombies, I immediately got a bad feeling about the situation. I wanted to wait until 6:30 to come out of hiding but she offered that we move now, while the zombies were gone. We were sure, too, that they had all given up until we came upon the library cooridor.

We didn't even make it to the front door.

Three zombies jumped out of hiding and sprinted after the two of us. I bolted for the neared building I could see, which happened to be the second closest building. I realized, as my friend was bitten behind me and let out a shriek, that I had led us in the wrong direction. I heard fast steps beside me and turned to hit the original zombie, who immediately backed down. I kept running. Moments before I reached the door of the building, I turned to hit the zombie behind me and, as the sock left my hand, he grabbed me. I let out a disappointed wail and stooped to catch my breath as the pain of the new transformation began to flow through my veins. Moments later, the original zombie appeared, welcoming me into the horde and complementing me on my quickness of step. "We could use people like you!" he told me as he clapped me on the shoulder.

And now I am home. In these last moments, I apologize to all of you for my weakness of judgment. I was trained to be strong and I wasn't strong. I was trained to be wise and I wasn't wise. I am sorry to let you all down. I just hope that... in this new transformation...

I can find...

forgiveness...

Zombie Slayers Gone Wild - Part Two

I knew today would be much different than yesterday.

First of all, I had more stuff to carry with me today. If I had only had to go to the library and study for my evening midterm, I would have just carried on small bag. But I had my yoga mat with me, as well as a set of clothes for yoga. Which put extra weight on, extra weight that I would have to carry if I broke into a sprint away from a determined zombie.

Second of all, the finally tally for zombies last night was 22. That means that the original zombie tagged enough zombies, who tagged other zombies, to reach the count of 22. Who knew what the count would get to be today? If all of those zombies tagged at least one person, the count would reach 44. Or worse. What if they each tagged two people? The count would be 66. And I’m determined not to be one of those 66. Or 88. Or 110.

I have been taking the bus to school instead of riding my bicycle because rumors have it that last year there was a zombie outbreak and a human got chased down by three zombies while riding his bicycle to school. And there’s no way you can ride your bike and pelt zombies with socks all at the same time. So, as I stepped off the bus, I looked around cautiously, alternating between looking in front of me and then behind me every other second, and darted to my yoga class. I got there safely, without a single zombie spotting.

Afterwords, however, it was a different story. On my way out of the building, I ran into another member of the resistance, a girl around my age looking very rattled. I asked her if she had seen any zombies and she immediately told my how she had bumped into her friend in a building who had been turned into a zombie and how, even though it was only the second day, they were growing in number. I thanked her, promising to be cautious, and set on my way. I had planned to head straight to the library to study for a midterm, avoiding any narrow paths where zombies might be hiding in wait of an unaware human. However, there was a slight kink to my plan. I needed a scantron for my exam and the only place that I knew to get one was the student store. I mapped the path out in my head before starting out, using the same method as before of alternating between looking in front of me and then behind me.

I had almost made it there. As I crossed an open grassy area, students absolutely everywhere, I could see the student store in front of me. I debated breaking into a sprint but I decided that it would make me much less aware of my surroundings, as I would have to sprint and look ahead. As I rotated my gaze to behind me, I suddenly saw it: a male zombie, dark-haired, about my height with an orange bandanna, racing towards me. For a moment, I froze, and then, feeling the weight of the sock of my hand, I whipped around, aimed the sock at him, and threw it. He jumped past me, the sock missing him by an inch, and as he turned to try again, I recovered my sock and threw it. I thought it missed him until a disappointed look crossed his face and I knew I had hit my target. “Fifteen minutes!” I yelled and then hustled to the student store, breathing hard by the time I was inside. I was only there for five minutes, so I knew he couldn’t follow me for another ten. That was enough time to get to the library, I told myself.

The trip to the library was a little less eventful but only slightly. A zombie in a green bandanna stood against a pillar, texting, glancing around him. I froze, watching him closely, and then I moved slowly, quietly. I can only suppose he didn’t see me, although I was ready, sock in hand. As soon as I was close enough, I made a bolt for the door of the library and retreated safely inside for a couple hours of studying.

A few hours into the library session, I ran into a bunch of humans who were watching zombies in front of the library from a window. We bickered for a while about whether or not they could get me to my 6:30 before 6:30 (since the zombies have to stand down on campus after dark) and we finally were able to work out a route to my class before it became too dark. We also worked out a major zombie massacre on Thursday afternoon (if we all were still humans by then).

Jo is still a human. We’re keeping each other safe.


Final tally:

Megan – 1

Zombies - 0

Zombie Slayers Gone Wild - Part One

The epidemic has begun.

I've seen several of my fellow humans but no one can seem to tell me who the original zombie is. All we can do is walk softly and become paranoid people. My fellow classmates - those not knowing or caring about the epidemic - stare at me strangely. I'm sure the orange bandanna around my arm looks slightly strange but it's the only method the fellow members of the resistance and myself can tell who is who.

We hear the zombie are growing smarter.

The infection begins at the forehead, the sin growing grayish and ragged. We're not entirely sure how it began; rumors are that a freshman chemistry student went rogue and ingested a tampered formula. We do know that once touched, the infection spreads like wildfire. Those who have started getting the infection decided to move their bandanna from their arms to their foreheads to hide the beginnings of the infection. It tricked us at first but, once one of those monsters with the bandannas on their heads attacked a member of the resistance, we grew smart, too. Anyone wearing a head bandanna is immediately pelted with ammo... er... socks. Or hidden from.

But I am not the hiding type.

I have not seen a zombie today but, then again, it is only the first day of the epidemic. Jo, on the other hand, was caught in an elevator with a human who had very recently been turned into a zombie. As soon as he could find me, we immediately snuck out of the building before that one zombie retrieved her zombie friends and killed us in a zombie fashion. I would have stayed and fought for the resistance but we're not quite sure how many zombies there are on campus at the moment. Once we see more zombies, we can take different precautions.

I am determined to survive the week.

Me, brandishing my sock and orange bandanna.

Jo with his yellow bandanna, determined to fight for the resistance.

It Just Takes Faith

The boyfriend showed me this last night. I though it would show it to you since I find it pretty funny. It's in those "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" style commercials.

HvZ Craze!

With all this talk about zombies lately, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

Well, I'm not really surprised. More stoked outta my skin than anything else.

The week before Halloween, my university is holding a game of Humans vs. Zombies that a LOT of students (and even some teachers) can and will get involved in. Everyone will start out as humans and wear bandannas around their arms and one person will begin as the original zombie, wearing the bandanna around his/her head. The original zombie has to go around campus tagging people and turning them into zombies (they'll shift the armbands to their foreheads), who will then go around tagging more people. They can only attack those involved in the game, of course, and the object of the game is to stay alive. If there is at least one human alive at the end of the game, the humans win. If not... well... Zombieland! Sounds epic? I haven't even told you the best part yet. In order for humans to avoid zombies...

THEY CAN PELT SOCKS AT THEM!!!!

That's right. That's the only way I have to defend myself. And it is EPIC.

The whole thing was started at Goucher College a few years back and, if you watch the documentary at http://humansvszombies.org/, it became a big deal. At Goucher, humans can use nerf guns and socks to stun zombies for 15 minute intervals. They all formed teams and it just brought a lot of people together. I'll be interested to see how big this will get at my university. I'm planning on bringing an extra bag just for socks. I hope I can last the week!

I'm There for the Entertainment

I'm really supposed to be working on my journal article review but I thought I would take a quick sidestep for a moment or two to describe to you all a point of interest, annoyance, and humor that has been growing in my life over the past few months.

"What could it possibly be?" you ask.

Facebook advertisements.

I've been on Facebook for about... oh... 4 1/2 years. Never did I pay any attention to those advertisements that hang out on the right-hand corner of my screen until recently. I'm not sure if that was because in high school (and junior college) I was more of a popular person and concentrated more on what people had written on my page and less on what was on the edges. However, I can tell you with honest that, lately, I look forward to logging onto my Facebook account JUST to see if I can find an advertisement that will trump yesterday's winner. Now, I realize that they tailor these advertisements to fit each person's Facebook page (because they want you to click on them) so I'm assuming that the reason why I would find something like this so particularly funny is because these advertisers think they know me... yet they really don't. So, will all this in mind, let's look at today's top advertisements:


Be An Egg Donor Angel: Financially, emotionally rewarding

I've already talked this one over with my mother. She thinks that getting through college by donating my eggs would NOT be the way to go. "Wouldn't it frighten you to know that you have a kid running around out there?" she asked me. "Naw..." I replied. "It's the good of the cause!"


Chatterberries - Your Wedding and Bridal Network as Original as You: Online bridal network and planning resource guide like none other. Latest in wedding news, fashion, and more.

Wait... when did I say I was engaged? (By the way, stuff like this will start showing up on your page the moment you change your status from "single" to "in a relationship.") What's great about this was that I was able to show it to the boyfriend and say, "See? Even Facebook says that we should get married!" It's a real mood killer, my friends.


Dawn Price Baby: Strollers, gifts, gear, carriers, toys, and more. 

Wait... now, I'm supposedly pregnant? How did that happen?


Learn from Jesus: Text "Amen" 2 "Jesus"

Jesus has a cell phone? SWEET! I'll text "Amen" to that!


Libreria Legado: Una repuesta a la necisidad de difundir la produccion intelectual centroamericana al mundo.

I took 3 years of Spanish, none of which I remember. The last time I took a Spanish test was... spring of 2006?




And today's winner?

Track Your Boyfriend: Wonder where your boyfriend is? Suspect that he's cheating on you? Click here and track his location!

Because women deserve the right to be unnecessarily paranoid!!

New Projects!

I just found out on Wednesday that the National Novel Writing Month is in November.

Isn't that just EXCITING?

I've always wanted to try and I decided that, why not only try it, but just be one of the winners this year? That would entail writing 50,000 words in 30 days. And it really wouldn't be that hard; I would just have to make sure that I write every single day and don't lazy. It would be a really good way to knock out the second draft of my novel in 30 days. Especially because I reaaaally need to do that. Really. It's time.

Now, I know what you're thinking. 50,000 words! But, if you break that down by thirty days, it becomes 1,667 words a day or approx 3 pages, single-spaced. See? Not really that hard. On some days, I'll probably end up doing more. And the cool thing about NaNoWriMo this year is that there is a new program that they are testing called Scrivener, which basically helps you write your novel by setting it up so you can access everything easily. I have another program like it called Story Mill but, as I test Scrivener out, I really like it a lot. The trial for it for those attending NaNoWriMo this year is longer than 30 days since the makers really want writers to buy it. It lasts from the beginning of October until the 7th of December. If you're attending, you get a 20% discount on the product if you actually buy it after December 7th and, if you win, they'll give you a 50% discount.

I'm so excited. The majority of my school projects are early this semester and NaNoWriMo stops before finals so I can take the time to study for that as well.

Yay!

If ANYONE (seriously, anyone) is thinking of doing NaNoWriMo next month, please let me know. I would be so blessed to have a fellow writer undertaking this with me. The web address is http://www.nanowrimo.org/ . At this exact moment, the site is down but it should be back up again soon and you can sign up! It's totally free and, like I said, you win if you write 50,000 words or more. That's it. And lots of people win every year.

Also, there's a Write-a-Thon that they are having in San Fransisco on the 22nd of November and you have a raise a certain amount of money to attend (will be available once the site comes back up) but this is just general information for all of you. I'm positive that I wont be able to attend that.

Until November... chapter outlines, here I come!!

Caffeine Machine

Me and my Pepi... we go way, way back. I don't remember the days when I wasn't sipping that sweet, sugary goodness, hoping to stay awake for another class. So when I heard the words "the government might regulate caffeine" in my Drugs in Our Society class, I had to dig deeper. I needed to know: would I be regulated as to how much how soda I'm allowed to drink in a day before "intoxication"? Are they going to tax soda even higher then they already do? Since I'm not a coffee drinker and energy drinks mess my already excitable system up, I'm incredibly curious to know what they will do to soda.

According to an article by the Wall Street Journal (linked and posted here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203674704574328322293679870.html), the main regulation that people are encouraging for is the mixing of caffeine and alcohol.

"Proponents of tougher regulation are calling for everything from outright bans to warning labels stating that mixing caffeine and alcohol could carry health or safety risks. A primary concern of the groups is that caffeine and other stimulants may mask feelings of drunkenness, which could lead users to act recklessly, such as driving while intoxicated."

Of course, me being the brilliant person that I am, I had no idea what-so-ever that they put caffeine in alcoholic drinks and the other way around. It makes sense, though; people love to play with things they shouldn't play with. I totally agree with this regulation, especially because it is mentioned later on in the article that the risk of accidents people get into due to alcohol rises with the addiction of caffeine. It freaks me out how people take so many risks on alcohol. Did you know that the more you black out, the more often you can black out? It's a pretty scary fact.

However, alcohol aside, I'll turn to another article (http://www.cypnow.co.uk/inDepth/ByDiscipline/Education/936907/Health---dangers-caffeine/) by the NCB (National Child's Bureau) about just caffeine in specifics. It appears, from the looks of this article, that they are thinking of just putting regulations on energy drinks. (Whew!) This is because of all of the young people now (in high school, especially) who are consuming a ridiculous amount of energy drinks. I supposed I don't have to tell you this, though. You probably have either tried, currently use, or know someone who uses energy drinks for that extra kick or to "party like a rockstar."

"Phillips believes some young people are using the drinks as "a legal way to get high". He says some teenagers see the drinks as a cool status symbol, because their packaging resembles beer or cider cans."

Well... no. I went to a high school where energy drinks were cool but I think it's a bit of a stretch to suggest that they're like beer cans. Now, if the kids were "cool", they could convince one of their older friends to buy them one of the alcoholic caffeine drinks and really find a way to get high. These are drinks that keep you awake in class; why wouldn't high school-age kids drink these drinks? Many of them, such as Amp (in my opinion), taste like soda (Amp tastes like Mountain Dew), so that's a plus.

Although, some do taste really nasty, and I can't imagine how people can choke them down. Monster for example. I just shudder to think about it.

"He has witnessed young people suffer from twitching, paranoia and aggressiveness as a result of caffeine drink consumption.

"'They cannot stop their actions because they are suffering withdrawal symptoms when trying to limit their intake, so we have been treating it as an addiction,' he says."

Ok, this really made me think of a website (http://www.energyfiend.com/death-by-caffeine) that I stumbled across one day that I need to share with everyone. This will involve hours of fun. No joke. You write down your weight, "pick your poison", and find out how fast how many caffeine drinks of the brand could kill you. I'm a lightweight so, for example, after talking about Amp, it would take 104.65 cans of Amp to kill me. On the other hand, it would only take 47.57 Pitt Bull Caffeine bars to kill me. Scary, huh?

Seriously, though, I realize that this subject is actually quite a big deal. If you didn't know, caffeine is a legal drug and should be used with extreme caution. It is highly addicted and I know people who are strongly addicted to it. I've had teachers who come to a 9am class with a half-consumed can of Cola in their hands. I've even struggled with it, especially when I have to wake up after only 6 hours of restless sleep and attend an early class. It's very tempting to down just a can at 10am, then another around 3pm, and maybe finish off with one around 8pm to keep me awake to study. I don't do that (because I would go into water withdrawals if I drank 3 cans of soda a day) but I'm saying that it's the thought that's there.

If you've never heard of the story, there was an energy drink called Spike Shooter that came out a couple of years ago that had very scary amount of caffeine in it. On the can, if you even bothered to read it, it says that kids under 16 shouldn't drink it and, when consumed, the person should only drink half of the drink at one time. This drink ended up hospitalizing several teens because drinking an entire can gave them heart palpitations. I looked it up on the Death by Caffeine site and this one could kill me in 26.16 cans. That is VERY scary.

So, watch what you drink.

But, those of you who drink soda, you have no worries about being regulated. Or even dying. Because, if it really would take me 206.55 cans of Pepsi to kill me, I'm going to keep guzzling like nobody's business, baby.

Not Horrible At All

On Friday night, Jo and I went to the local theater to see a live production of my 2nd favorite show by Joss Whedon (creator of "Firefly"): "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog."

I was a little skeptical about how the production would turn out. The mini-show came out on the internet in July of 2008, when the writers were on strike, and it was a mega-hit at the time. I have the music and the DVD, and I considered getting some goggles as well to look ready for the show but, unfortunately, there wasn't enough time (or money) for that. So, we went in, hoping that the actors would be able to pull off Nathan Fillion's "Captain Hammer," Neal Patrick Harris' "Dr. Horrible," and Felicia Day's "Penny."

It went a lot better than expected! The guy who played Dr. Horrible was pretty good and his singing was decent, but I did miss Neal Patrick Harris' little quirks that he put into the character. The music was a little wacko during the show, so he was able to pull off the song without the music for a couple of seconds. My favorite song of his was definitely "Freeze Ray" because all of the people pretending to be in the laundry mat kept pulling out odd articles of clothing, such as a pair of booty shorts with "juicy" written on the back and a bright pink thong. He also was able to pull of a little reaction that Neal Patrick Harris had forgotten to pull off in the original, which impressed me because I knew they had watched the extras on the DVD!! I was, however, very disappointed when he didn't pull out my favorite line in the entire first act:

The guy who played Captain Hammer, on the other hand, had the role down pat. The entire audience cheered when he rode in singing, "A maaaan's gotta a do what a maaaan's gotta do... Seeeems destiny end with meeee saving you." He knew just when to look arrogant and how to switch from that to the sweetest expression he could muster when Penny looked at him. Nathan Fillion would have been proud. He also had two hysterical moments, one that was meant to be funny and the other one that was an accident. The first was when he looked Dr. Horrible in the face and said, without smiling (props for this): "The hammer... is my penis." The audience cheered and laughed and, somehow, he was able to keep a straight face. The second was at the end of the show. There were these people dressed all in black like ninjas who did little prop changes while the actors were on stage and one was hiding in the corner at the end of the show. As Captain Hammer yells, "Mommy! Someone maternal!" he pushed a podium off stage and, in the same whiny, crying voice, says, "waaaaaah.... waaaatch ouuuut niiinjaaaa..." Yea... you would have had to have been there. It was so funny, though, that it took Dr. Horrible a couple of seconds to recover and continue with the show. (I love Nathan Fillion's grin in this picture...)

The girl who played Penny threw me off at first, mainly because they had deviated from her stereotype as the skinny girl with red hair that the beautiful Felicia Day is; however, I really liked that looks wasn't a concern. She had a really great singing voice, especially for "Penny's Song." She especially pulled off the awkwardness between Captain Hammer and herself pretty well. This picture below is Penny and Dr. Horrible in his song, "Freeze Ray."

All in all, the show was a really good interpretation. It did make me want to come home and immediately listen to the soundtrack with the voices of Neal Patrick Harris, Felicia Day, and Nathan Fillion.

So, if you haven't seen this, I would recommend Netflix-ing it or something. It's only 45 minutes long but it is a beautifully planned plot line. Joss Whedon was able to give the characters distinct personalities and the actors were able to make those personalities shine. And, if you're not going to see it, at least watch this clip and tell me what you think: