A Special Kind of Princess

Art by Witit Karpkraikaew 

I've always been a Disney fan, but sometimes the princess stories make me a little ill. You know, how the girls always seem to fall in love with the first man who's nice to her. If you recall, I even blogged about this in the past.

Well, meet the new kind of Disney princesses. I don't think these gals are going to be wooing any princes in the near future. Or maybe they will, but could you imagine this Snow White's version of Prince Charming? He's either a mad scientist, a brainiac, or a sadist. Either way, it would be nice to see a change in the theme.

Now, I just wonder if someone will be writing a novel a la Wicked for these fair maidens.

Braaaiiiiin Food: How do you feel when people mash up our usual icons?

Rockstars are Everywhere

So I'm not a science gal at all. Sorry, I'm just not. My head is in the clouds and I pretty much think with my heart way too much, so it's just not my way. But the J-Bear loves science and we were both going in to work late on Monday, so we stayed up to watch the landing of the Curiosity on Mars Sunday night.

Even science guys can rock.

Not being of a scientific mind, and not understanding how these things work, I was immediately disappointed at the lack of photos and video. I mean, duh. In retrospect, I get it. It took four years for the rover to get there, how on Earth (hehe) can I expect it to give me instantaneous data over that distance? But regardless, I was starting to drift off to sleep watching that poor PR woman interview staff and "action shots" of the mission control room.

(To be fair, I should note that my guy was being awesome about it. If I was really miserable, he offered several times to watch something else. I liked sharing the moment with him).

Anyhoo, so as my brain is beginning to turn to mush and it was desperately seeking something to latch on to, I noticed the awesome mohawk guy working as an activity lead. Clearly, I was not the only one who noticed. I mean, who would have guessed that even the scientific society has such a rockstar in their midst? I was originally just taken with the fact it was a mohawk, but as the camera continued to return to this man (who I now know is named Bobak Ferdowsi), I noticed something even more incredible.

Stars.

This man, this strange, geeky, science-y man had stars on the sides of his head. Motherfucking stars!

Perhaps science isn't as boring as I thought. I get it, we need science, we live in science. My boyfriend makes wonderful scientific points to me all the time.

But at least now, for me, this guy made science fun.

Also, did anyone else noticed the two who looked for sure like they were writing each other dirty messages right there in the control room? The sexual tension between those two was lighting up the cameras.

Braaaainnnn food: How excited were you about the landing of the Curiosity?

The inevitable return

This picture doesn't have much to do
with anything. But enjoy! It's from
Walking Dead Episode Two

Miss me yet? Probably not, but I'm back and I'm going to try to have fun with this.

Where have I been you may ask? Oh, just living. Practicing my runing for the Warrior Dash and Run for Your Lives; taking part in geeky activities; and playing the games and loving life in general. It has been a good time for me, which might explain the lack of writing. You know, I'm out doing stuff instead of just writing about it.

But now, now I'm going to try to do both. Live my life and record it too, for posterity and hopefully for a few giggles here and there.

One thing I accomplished during my absence is that I actually finished another video game. I know, I know, that makes what? Maybe eight total that I've ever completed now? But this game was so well worth it. I beat Heavy Rain, which is a game that meshed just perfectly with my weird panache for exploring every single thing on a screen. I also earned quite a few trophies on my first playthrough, including the Nerd title and the award for keeping everyone alive. For me, this represents some madskillz.

I also played the second chapter of The Walking Dead with my boyfriend. If you haven't played it yet, I recommend you do. It's not fun and action, but it's thought and character development, and adds some nice additional stories to the parts you may already know and love. For someone like me, who hasn't been able to read the comics yet, it's even more enjoyable and a pretty good standalone tale. The facial expressions are super impressive, considering it's drawn in a comic book style, and the voices are superb. Seriously, it's pretty cheap. If you weren't thrilled with Chapter One, go ahead and give the second part a chance. Well worth it.

Braiiiinnnnn Food: What games have you played while I've been away?

Planning Ahead

Here's one guy's take on how to do it.

So I haven't been posting much at all because I've actually been running! I'm not sure how or when it happened, but I slowly slipped into the lifestyle of an active adult, and I have been working on my C25K regiment regularly, plus doing yoga and other activities. Even went swimming today! So I'm slowly working on that Cardio goal, and I'm pretty excited to imagine that when the need arises, I may actually be able to pick up my kid and run for my life.

However, I'm also aware that I'm not invincible, and I'm on the early part of my training as of yet. Thankfully, the folks at the Run for Your Lives 5k race have made the days of my departure a bit easier on my friends and family by offering their funeral services as a prize. I have entered to win this unusual $5,000 award, and am wondering how others will feel about it if I were actually to be randomly selected. Honestly, I don't see it as a negative. $5k is nothing to shake a stick at, and really it was their run that got me off my butt and moving in the first place. Lucky for us all, the chance of me actually winning are practically impossible. But props to the run organizers for a super interesting marketing attempt.

Braaaaiiin Food: Where do you draw the line for collecting money?

Passing It Down to the Generations

If only we got to experience Pac Man
 like this as children.

My boyfriend and I took our kids to the Art of Video Games exhibit at the Smithsonian this weekend. We really wanted a chance to share our memories - and in a large way our heritage - with our youngins, and in some ways the show allowed us to do just that. Both of them got to play Pac Man and Flower on giant project screens, and then took a tour listening to stories about all of the different consoles we grew up with, to include not only NES, Genesis and the original Playstation, but even Commodore 64 and Colecovision (though now that I think of it, was the Atari even there?).

The exhibit was fun and a nice trip down memory lane for us 30-something gamers. But if I had any complaint, it would be at the brevity. I think all told the exhibit was about two large rooms, maybe three. And while the consoles were on display with a few images, there wasn't really any art. I think, in my head, I was expecting framed prints of landscapes, characters, and iconic pieces of lore (like the bob-omb) to adorn the walls so that we could share our personal memories with our offspring. Instead, I felt like it was more of a scientific reverie on what once was and what now there is. Surprisingly, there wasn't a little addendum about "what could be," either.

I wouldn't say that it was a waste of time, and I think I'd like to go again to explore a bit more in detail without the munchkins. But I did think the entire exhibit could have been so much more.

Now I just need to find a new way to share all the oldies but goodies with the wee ones.

Braaaaiiiinnn Food: What bits of nostalgia would you want to share with your kids?

Rule #1: Cardio

So for those of you who don't know, I'm a bit of an overweight zombie girl. Makes sense. As we all can surmise, it's the chubby ones who will fall to the undead first.

But hopefully, that will change!

I have set my sights on the Run for Your Lives 5k run, and I have begun training. I am starting off with the Couch to 5k run program, and then I'm going to get some friends (who are amazing, and I'm a lucky gal to have them) to help me train up for the terrain running and obstacle parts.

And, of course, my megawesomeness boyfriend is running with me. Along with a few friends. And hopefully, my seestar.

So soon, with luck, I will be on my way to surviving the apocalypse... both in the race, and in real life (when the time comes). I mean, seriously, what better motivator for learning to run than to be able to run from zombies?

Once I've mastered the cardio, it's on to shooting and double taps.

Braaaiiiinnnn Food: What is a good motivator for you to get moving?


UNDEAD BONUS! Check out this cool kickstarter venture to help you train for any zombie chase you might run into.

Apocalyptic Valentine

Shirt from Woot!

So for those of you who had no idea (somehow), I have an amazingly awesome boyfriend. Because of having kids, and jobs, and real adult lives, we aren't able to see each other on today's day of love, but we are still able to do nice things for each other like we always do.

With that being said, I sent him this lovely e-card assuring him that he's safe during the zombie apocalypse (for now). I just wanted him to know that I cared.

Seriously, I'm not sure what to make of Valentine's Day. I like to think that my guy and I take pretty darn good care of each other every day, and I certainly have no lack of signs from him that he thinks of me and thinks I'm pretty darn spifferiffic. However, I did not receive a zombie-themed love note from him declaring his future eating habits. Perhaps, something like this might have sufficed. It has a cute little message attached, doesn't it?

Romantically Apocalyptic

But regardless, I don't need these things to know he cares, and I don't know why at least ten times today people wanted to challenge me on this notion. It's common for people to talk about celebrating Christmas every day, but what about the great Valentine's? Is it really just a mass consumerist scam to make us all go crazy and buy gifts for no reason but because today of all days we are supposed to? Ergo, does that mean I can't expect these awesome things any other day?

Me no likey.

Seriously, everyone. I adore my boyfriend. He adores me. We don't get to see each other today and it sucks. But it does not mean it's broken, or it's not as good as I think, or anything else. I think it's awesome.

And hell, who else would appreciate my awesome Valentine's card choices?

I'd wish you a happy Valentine's Day but I rebel. I wish you each instead a happy love-everyday-day. And if you haven't found yours yet, I hope you find it soon.

After all, everyone needs to have a last snack for the apocalypse.

Braaaaiiiinnn Food: How important is Valentine's Day to you?