Sunday, July 24, 2011

San Diego Comic-Con International 2011

I went to Comic Con yesterday with my friends Cindy and Carlos. It was nerdtastic! We left around 5:45am to drive to San Diego for the event (we live about an hour and 45 minutes away). Registration went by way quicker than I was anticipating and we grabbed our first piece of swag: The Comic Con Bag (picture to come). Luckily, we were all able to get the one for Batman: Arkham City (others were stuck with Supernatural or other not-as-cool ones, even though I was hoping for the Justice League bag).

Getting into the convention center was equitable with being in a huge crowd of people who were trying to run away from a massive hoard of zombies. Think stampede. Once inside, it didn't get much better. Think Tokyo subway terminal.

Alas, this was what I was expecting. Rubbing up against fellow nerds and fighting to snatch up super cool freebies. What I wasn't expecting: not being able to see any panels. The lines were redunkulous and most of the people in them had been there since the doors opened. We decided to make our way to the booths we wanted to see most and then squeeze our way through to the others. Next time I'm thinking wait in line to see the panel I want to see most first, then fight my way to the booths. Even though we hit the booths we wanted to see most first, the swag we wanted to get had already been given away or sold the previous days. Big bummer. Next time I'm thinking go on Friday versus Saturday or maybe even Preview Night and Friday night and turn it into a mini vacation of sorts. But that's only if I'm able to get tickets like I was lucky enough to this year.

It was actually pretty tough to capture good shots of anything considering there were a bajillion people trying to do the same thing and I kept getting jostled around by passerby, but I snapped a few shots before storing my poor Nikon for good. Declan got a few scratches on her viewing screen. I'm very distraught about procrastinating and not buying her a screen protector. : ( Nevertheless, here are a few of the pictures I did take (Blogger minimizes them so you'll have to click on them for a better view).


Nananana Batman, Batman! Or should I say Lego Batman. : )






Halo's one of my favorite video games (no doubt I play this one the most) so when I saw these unreleased action figures I geeked out. I'd love to have the Spartan holding the rocket launcher.


I love Bleach (even though it's an extraordinarily long anime) and I wanted all of these action figures. They were incredibly detailed.


All I can say is: Hell yes.


The game on my to-buy list after Gears of War 3. People playing Resident Evil: Raccoon City. It looked badass.

I'll update this when I'm not as sleepy. ; )

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Swimsuits!

I have been kindling this obsession with swim suits for awhile now. Summer in California? I mean, how can I not drool over the opportunity to wear these beauties! dELiAs is having a great summer sale with some very cute swimsuits and I want to buy pretty much all of them. I know I'll snatch up at least one. Here are a few of my favorites.



I have yet to add a polka dotted bikini to my collection. I mean doesn't every girl need to own a yellow polka dot bikini?



I'm a huge fan of one pieces and I adore the back and front of this one. Imagine the cool tan lines you'd get!



I've never owned a tankini but I loved the cinched up sides on this one, although I'd probably get it in a solid color versus polka dotted.

Besides dELiAs I also find these old style (my favorite!) swimsuits to be very chic and very out of a poor college student's price range unfortunately.


Via Anthropologie (www.anthropologie.com)


Via ModCloth (www.modcloth.com)


Via ModCloth (www.modcloth.com)


Via Greedy Girl (www.iamagreedygirl.com) by Hayden Harnett (www.haydenharnett.com)

Updates, updates, updates!

I must point out that my last post was my 100th one, and a rather spiteful 100th post at that. In all seriousness, I just posted some song lyrics that had been spiraling around in my cranium for awhile and didn't even notice it would be my 100th post. But, wow! 100 posts on this little blog of mine, how quaint. All my mumbo jumbo and random tidbits have finally compiled into something somewhat impressive. Since I've never been able to keep a diary - this being the closest thing I have to one, I am very proud of myself. A good pat on the back for Grace.

Now, moving on...

I saw the midnight show of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 with my best friend and posse and let me tell you: HUGE disappointment. I can't believe Harry Potter fans actually accepted it let alone liked it. They barely kept to the book and changed things around for no apparent reason, not to mention changing the climax of the entire book series. I must rant and for that reason I alert those who aren't familiar with the books to leave straight away.

First of all, I was fine with the first half of the movie, up until after Gringotts. I thought the part when Harry and gang were staying with Bill and Fleur pretty good, minus the talk they had with Ollivander. He never tells Harry that he won't succeed! But I digress, I could overlook that little interesting bit they decided to include.

Then, when Harry meets Aberforth. A part in the book that is highly amazing and awesome and shocking and interesting because you've been reading up until this point how little about Dumbledore Harry (and essentially you) knew in reality. Aberforth is horribly introduced and the story about how Ariana was actually killed not even told! How could you not include that? It adds such depth to the story. When Harry arrives back to Hogwarts, it only gets worse. The director decides to make Harry look like a complete idiot. Harry's the one who's supposed to realize who to find to figure out where the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw is, not Luna! I don't want to even get into the whole scene in the Room of Requirement either...

Also, we miss the whole battle of Hogwarts pretty much. We get the beginning (where Neville stupidly taunts snatchers which doesn't happen and for some reason he is still there when the barrier is brought down), Fred's horribly shot death (I wasn't even aware that he was dying in that scene) - and the end where everyone is super jolly, laughing, having a cup of Jo, oh, and Percy is randomly seen in the background (guess he must have returned, then?) I mean, there was so much material in the book the director could have gotten to make the battle of Hogwarts the epic battle it truly was meant to be! From including Grawp and the house elves and Peeves battling to showing the individuals we Harry Potter fans are so fond of fighting it out with our most hated Death Eaters.

Then there's the part when Snape dies and Harry finds out the truth, shot not in the Shrieking Shack (which would have made perfect sense!) but in a random glasshouse! Why?! When so much history happened in the Shrieking Shack? Harry's dive into the pensieve is another issue I have but I'll gloss over it and move on: It was awful.

Then the part with the Resurrection Stone. I felt no emotional pull at all during that scene when it was supposed to be the most heart-wrenching feeling I was supposed to be experiencing. Harry accepts his death. I open at the close. And I feel nothing. Then of course there's King's Cross. Dumbledore says some heavy and very Dumbledore-y things in that discourse but it came across as simply strange and confusing.

Finally, the climax. Harry and Voldemort start dueling...and the entire time Harry says nothing to him while battling when in the book he is saying the best lines in the entire book, calling him Tom Riddle instead of Voldemort, explaining to him that Snape had actually betrayed him and how he, Harry, actually holds the Elder Wand and how it came to be the Elder wand, defending Dumbledore, telling him this was his last chance, etc. But, no. Instead they fly through the air, clutching onto each others faces (what?) and playing jedi mind tricks until Voldemort turns into gray tissue paper.

Once the "finale" is over everything just turns back to normal. It wasn't like Harry just defeated the Dark Lord or anything. And then Harry, Ron, and Hermione are on the bridge instead of Dumbledore's office (stupid!) figuring out what to do with the Elder Wand. Harry doesn't snap it like in the movie. He uses it to fix his own broken wand "Reparo" and then says he's going to put it back where it came from, looking at Dumbledore's smiling portrait in his office.

Anyway, that was my rant. I'm sure I missed a few things, but one last thing I didn't like about the movie was how comical they made it seem, there were way too many jokes flying around at some of the most pinnacle points in the movie. Not that it would have made a difference since they butchered it anyway. But come on.

It received a big fat F in my opinion.

Moving on from Harry Potter...

I went to Universal Studios on Saturday and it was really fun! I haven't been there since I was probably seven or eight. So much of it has changed! We went on every single ride and attended every single show in one day. My friend Guido and I even participated in one of the shows: Special Effects. It was pretty embarrassing to be honest but we were pressured to get involved (we even had to sign waivers). My friend Guido had to dress up in an astronaut costume and get attached to some wires and I was going to control him with a remote (imagine my anxiety). What I didn't know was that he'd be switched out of the costume and replaced with a double and that my remote control actually wasn't the one controlling "Guido." I caught on eventually but I looked pretty stupid up there freaking out that my friend was doing back-flips and supposedly flipping out on some wires. And of course the lady kept asking us if we were dating, etc. how much more embarrassing could it get?! Still, it was a fun time : )

Then on Sunday my shift got cancelled (praise Jesus!) and I took full advantage of it and dragged my BGF to see a free Pacific Dub concert with me at The Slidebar in Fullerton. It was my first time ordering drinks at a bar. I freaked out when the bartender asked me if I was going to order more drinks to which I said I was and then held hostage my driver's license and card. Now I know what opening a tab means at least. Pacific Dub were amazing! And we got to meet the guys! They were all so cool and super friendly! All of them are twenty except the drummer who's my age, which was weird to find out. They signed their newest EP for us and a cool poster Josh and I agreed we'd have shared custody of (they only accepted cash). It was a super fun Sunday and made me depressed to think I was back to my boring work days come Monday.

I've also been working on a DIY project for my best friend Caitie's birthday (this Friday) - I know it will come out cool. I'll post pictures when I find the time.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Not Like You

Once I knew you well
So well I thought, so right I knew
You were that one who held me tight
Let me know when I was wrong
That I wasn't alone

So now when you see me
Now that you're over it
Do you even realize what you've done
You've got other girls on your mind
You've got some fucking nerve
Asking me to care
Just who do you think you are

I thought I knew you, I thought you were so right
But you were so wrong
That false sense of humility
That queasy smile and worn out grin

No, it doesn't suit you baby
No, it's not like you baby

So now when you see me
Now that you're over it
Do you even realize what you've done
You've got other girls on your mind
You've got some fucking nerve
Asking me to care
Just who do you think you are
-GG

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Harry Potter survey, HELL YEAH!

Before we start, hope everyone had a good 4th of Julio! And now, a Harry Potter survey.

Harry Potter- Tell about a scar on your body.

I have a scar on my elbow from running on the pool deck at a swim banquet my freshmen year of high school. My swim coach shouted out that there was only one cupcake left. It was worth it.

Ron Weasley- Something you’re afraid of.

Animal-wise I am terrified of star-nosed moles, especially when they eat worms. And bears. Bears freak me the hell out. Except panda bears.

Hermione Granger- A subject you know a lot about.

Easy: Harry Potter. And history/Lit.

Draco Malfoy- Closest green item to you.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows : ) It's my third time reading it. I'm on Chapter Twelve: Magic is Might.

Severus Snape- Your favorite Alcoholic beverage.

Frozen margaritas, particularly strawberry.

Rubeus Hagrid- Your favorite animal.

I really love giraffes. I think a giraffe would be a pretty badass Patronus.

Luna Lovegood- Something about you other people find weird.

Haha, well, a lot of things. That I play Xbox or that I leave tips in dollar bill origami shapes. Or that I'm filling out a Harry Potter survey.

Neville Longbottom- Your favorite flower.

Forget-Me-Nots.

Nimphodorah Tonks- Something you would change about your appearance.

Um, just going back to the same pants size I was in high school would suffice haha.

Fred and George Weasley- The last prank you pulled on someone, or someone pulled on you.

I haven't really pulled any pranks lately or at least of epic proportions. I scared one of my co-workers while we were cleaning a theater this past weekend. I know, it was spectacular.

Voldemort- If you were to make a Horcrux, it would be…

First of all, I would never make a Horcrux. But, if I must, then it would be...my copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Moaning Myrtle- The last thing to make you cry.

My friend's passing.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

How many of these have you read?

I follow a blogger who always posts interesting tidbits, and I thought this one most alluring.

According to BBC most people will only have read 6 of the 100 books listed below:

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth.
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt.
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Misérables - Victor Hugo

I find that a little less than disconcerting, particularly because most of these are classics.

Here's my count, in bold, of the books I've personally read - and I mean entirely or the entire series:

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy.
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth.
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt.
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Misérables - Victor Hugo

A grand total of 31. I'm actually glad I came across this list because I've been looking for a good classic to read for the summer. I've been rereading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (3rd time) preparing for the movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which comes out July 15. So excited. My best friend, who when we were 10 bonded over our passion for Harry Potter, are dressing up and going with an ensemble. I've never done that, and usually dislike when people do, for a movie. But for my favorite story of all time...I just have to. It's such a sad thing to realize that Harry Potter is coming to an end on screen. Although I didn't really like a lot of the HP films, it was still something, especially when the book series was over. Oh well, at least there's Pottermore (J.K. Rowling's new HP website), but still, I miss those characters. No story will ever compare. I think the first book I'll want to tackle off this list will be "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" by Mark Haddon. My favorite English teacher from high school loved this book, and his opinion is one I truly respect. This list just reminded me of it. I think I'll pick it up tomorrow : )

Oh, and if you want to follow the blogger I mentioned, her blog is called "Adventures, Languages, Cuisines, and Randomness" - she's far more interesting to follow than I am, and she's always got a nice tidbit to share.

Relationships.

Both my relationships have been...so...packed with emotions. If only someone could step into my shoes. There's just no way to explain them to someone without conveying how it actually was, how they actually affected me. Sure, telling someone conveys enough. I mean, do I really want someone else feeling the way I felt? Not necessarily.

Still...

It's crazy how people have relationships, and how each relationship is completely different than any other couple's. There are similar circumstances, of course. Similar experiences so to speak. But only that couple will ever feel what they felt with one another. Only that couple will leave an imprint on the other the way they have.

I've only had two relationships. But let me tell you...two is more than enough. I wish I had experienced that "stupid-doesn't-count" relationship(s). But unfortunately, both of mine were serious. It's crazy to me mostly because they still affect me to this very day. I've learned more from them than I have from any other type of relationship. Perhaps because the topic of love is very dear to me. I'm a romantic at heart, though it may not seem like it, all I want, all I need, is love. But really...isn't that everyone?

I don't know. Recently I've been reassessing things. Not going to say what exactly. But I want to help someone. Someone I was once very close with. Fate is the deciding factor here. I'm finally over it, and I'm finally semi-understanding it. Only time will tell I suppose.