Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft Closed Beta

Oh frabjous day! I got selected to play the Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft closed beta for the Americas!

Not gonna lie, when I saw “Blizzard Entertainment” in my inbox, I had the knee-jerk reaction of any World of Warcraft / Starcraft / Diablo gamer – “Awww crap. I’ve been hacked. SON OF A…!!” Seriously, even with an authenticator my account is apparently highly hackable. For any of you looking for an easy target.

Anyways, if Sword Art Online has taught me anything, it’s that you never turn down a closed beta invite, as it could mean life or death if any WoW head honchos decide to go rogue. I mean, Greg Street just resigned… coincidence? I THINK NOT. But I digress.

So invite in hand, I spent the morning neglecting my housework and wasting more time than I care to admit puttering around with this new toy.

First off, I love the imagery. I love the soundtrack. And as always, the voice acting is superb. (Millhouse Manastorm sounds like half a dozen card players I knew back in my Young Jedi Star Wars gaming days.) “Ohhhh, just you wait! When I have enough mana….!”

Overall, the game is insanely simple and frighteningly addicting. It’s basically just a digital version of a collectable card game, very much like Magic: The Gathering. You draw cards from your deck, each with a mana cost and attack power / spell / action, and you get to play them based on your mana level which increases with each turn. The cards either directly attack the opponent, summon minions to attack the opponent or performs a unique function, like allowing you to draw more cards or get more health. The deck of cards you work through is designed by the player, which gives this frighteningly simple game a great degree of strategy… and potential to be very costly if my husband starts playing. Cuz when you awaken Freeman gaming rage, card games ain’t cheap, lemme tell you.

What it boils down to is your ability to design a deck and your tactical choices during the game with the cards that turn up in your hand. Again. It’s crazy simple, and loads of fun.

Anyone else had a chance to play the closed beta? (Or plan to play the open beta when it releases later this month?)

Kaito from Vocaloid Cosplay Photoshoot

On Sunday, my husband and I picked up our good friend Diego for a fun cosplay photoshoot on the beach in Gulf Breeze, Florida.

Diego is a cosplay buddy from California (in fact, the last time I saw this guy, he was cosplaying as Hugh Maes from Fullmetal Alchemist at Ani-Me Con in Fresno, California), but as luck would have it, he moved here to Pensacola, Florida to attend Pensacola’s Christian College around the same month we moved here!

I’ve been itching to do a cosplay shoot with Diego for ages now, and I never fathomed we would eventually get around to it… on the Gulf of Mexico. Haha! Life sure is a twisty, turny, never-know-whats-coming-next thrill ride, isn’t it?

Anyhoo, check out the shots we got of Diego’s Kaito cosplay from Vocaloid. He made it from scratch with his mum. Whatcha think? ^_^

10 Geeky Songs to Sing Your Baby To Sleep To

I know I’ve been spamming my blog with “4 Things To…” and “Top 10 Ways…” and “30 Things I’d Like To..” lists, BUT!

1) I’ve got an unhealthy attachment to lists.

2) Lists help me gather my thoughts.

3) Lists remind me to stop talking. If I didn’t limit myself with “Top 10’s” I just wouldn’t stop typing. Ever.

And see what I there? I even listed my reasons for making lists. I’ve got a real problem, I know.

Anyway, when I was in the hospital with Tessa – just hours after having her – I held this newborn baby creature in my hands, watched her slowly blinking off to sleep and thought, “Quick! Sing her a lullabye! Be all maternal and junk!” And I kid you not, the first thing to pop into my head and pop out of my mouth was, “Link.. he come to town.. come to save the Princess Zelda!”

Now, I’ve since expanded to, ya know, normal songs. Things like, “Oh You Beautiful Doll” and “Dream A Little Dream Of Me” and other sweet songs slightly more in line with conventional parenting bedtime ballads. But I got to thinking. There are SO MANY songs out there that would transition perfectly for the living-with-parents nerd that has become a nerd-turned-parent cooing into a baby bassinet.

Besides. You gotta raise that child right. A baby without nerd cred is just, well, just another kid. That will probably grow up to like sports. *shudder* I kid, I kid!

But anyway, here’s my list of 10 Geeky Songs to Sings Your Baby To Sleep To. Let me know which geeky lullabies you would recommend. ^_^

1. Biblo Baggins by Leonard Nemoy

2. Legend of Zelda by System of a Down

3. Star Wars Song by Chatting Kids Space Camp

4. Momiji Song from Fruits Basket

5. Everybody to the Limit by Strong Bad

6. The Ultimate Showdown by Lemon Demon

7. Ballad of the Noob by Stone Falcon Productions

8. His Cheeseburger from Veggie Tales

9. The Galaxy Song from Monty Python

10. Guten Tag Hop Clop from The Producers

Lord of the Rings Artwork from Exile Into Imagination

So the annoying skin tag on my finger from me stabbing myself with a screwdriver whilst hanging up some art FINALLY fell off. Then I thought – I didn’t tell my blogging friends all about our newest wall art! So… SHOW AND TELL TIME!!! Wheeeeee!!! *runs around in circles*

When we were at FANdom Con here in Pensacola, Florida a few weeks ago we gave in and bought a sketch of Gollum printed out over Lord of the Rings sheet music from Exile Into Imagination. No, it’s not original artwork. Yes, it’s just a copy. No, it’s not autographed. But we just couldn’t help ourselves. Lord of the Rings is just SO underrepresented in our home!

Jonathan and I have a huge autographed wall art collection. I mean HUGE. A combination of our mutual desire to collect rarities – and our love of conventions where autographs from nerdy idols abound – has resulted in our literally having too many framed art pieces to fit our walls. Most of our collection is sitting in storage back in California collecting dust till we can have a place with enough wall space to display them without it looking jumbled and tacky.

While I am an anime / sci-fi / fantasy / video game / pop culture nerd, I’m also a sucker for order and interior design. I try to walk that fine line between fine art display and nerdy man cave exploding on the walls.

Just a sampling of some of our framed artwork:

Autographed Chris McGrath Dresden Files cover art, autographed Star Wars poster, autographed Hatsune Miku Vocaloid poster, autographed Captain EO poster, autographed Tron: Legacy limited edition art, autographed limited edition Brian Froud Labyrinth concept art, limited edition Blizzard World of Warcraft art, autographed MST3K poster, autographed original Mickey Mouse drawing from Disney animation, autographed Firefly artwork, autographed Rurouni Kenshin art from Nobuhiro Watsuki… so on and so on and so on…

Because of our growing pile of autographed swag, we’ve decided to limit our artwork purchases to only original and extremely rare pieces of art.

For instance, one of the last art purchases we made were some original hand drawn Fruits Basket artwork and painted backdrops from the original FUNimation anime. Whenever you see the Sohma kitchen scenes.. yeah, I OWN the kitchen. It’s hung up in my dining room. (This is seriously my most prized possession, wall-wise.)

So while we’ve laid down the “no more prints, copies, or unoriginal art purchases” rule, we caved when it came to Gollum leering out at us from sheet music. How could we say no?! Now we just need to get it autographed by Andy Serkis (voice of Gollum) the next time he’s stateside for San Diego Comic Con.

Okay, that’s it for show and tell. Gonna go drown myself in some more coffee. Seriously guys, I have a problem. I need a coffee intervention or something….

Warm Bodies Movie Review

Yes, yes, yes, this movie came out ages ago. February 1, 2013 to be precise. At the time Tessa was the size of a pea swimming around in my belly. (So much for me being prompt and cutting edge in my reviews…)

Everyone that knows me knows that I am a sucker for unconventional romances. Nothing tickles my fancy more than a forbidden love. Your boyfriends a vampire / ghost / werewolf / zombie / alien / your brother? AWESOME! Just let me pop some popcorn and pull up a front seat to that shiz. I’M SO THERE.

So naturally the concept of this movie had a little foothold on me before I’d even illegally downloaded legally, lawfully and obediently purchased the film.

So my review! (Warning: Spoilers!)

Overall, I liked it! It was far more morbid than I’d anticipated what with the eating of her boyfriends brains and all. I’d expected gore from a zombie movie, but the stashing away brain chunks to nom on later was just creepy to me. Then again I’m a notorious wuss.

While the story has the classic zombie flick flaws – (Really? She disguises herself with just a smear of blood? REALLY?!) – every time you start to take it too seriously, the quirky humor makes you go, “Oh yeah. Zombie comedy. Just go with it…”

It’s one of those “don’t think too hard” movies, but even so it’s got it’s well thought out moments. Like the lead guy and gals names: R and Julia. Subtle tip of the hat to Romeo and Juliet, maybe?… Star crossed lovers. Families hate each other. Yeah? Yeah?! Or am I thinking too hard? (I’m probably just thinking too hard.)

I wasn’t super thrilled with the soundtrack. It was too prominent and in-your-face. I likes me my subtle movie soundtracks. But I did love the dry humor. “Say something human, say something human… how are you? Nailed it!” And it was Twilight cheesy (every sci-fi, fantasy, horror comedy romance MUST be tempered with a healthy amount of cheese), but without being Twilight painful… and thankfully without the horrid Twilight acting.

In fact, the acting in this film is pretty dang stellar. The lead guy whats-his-face (*quick Google search*) Nicholas Hoult, pretty much carried the whole movie with his voice over acting and bumbling zombieness. Oh. Looks like he’s gonna be playing Beast in the upcoming X-Men Days of Future Past movie? Iiiiiiiinteresting….

Anyway, I figured this movie would be a win, when this film had everyone successfully cheering on necrophilia (finally, I’m not the only one!), with the audience internally screaming, “Now kiss the dead guy! KISS HIM!” during the closing scenes. That’s my idea of a good film. *wink wink nudge nudge*

Overall this movie was just FUN. While it’s not a new favorite, it’s certainly worth watching.. and forcing friends who haven’t seen it yet to watch. ^_^

American Cosplay Experience Pick of the Month

I always get fangirly giddy whenever one of our cosplays get’s featured, or reblogged, or mentioned in some random way or whatever. I was just talking about that not too long ago.

Anyway, it looks like Jonathan’s Spike Spiegel cosplay from Cowboy Bebop is the American Cosplay Experience pick for the month of November. If you go to the main website here, you’ll see his pic in the top right corner, in a little window of awesome.

So every time fellow nerds log in to troll cosplay photos, upload their own works, yadda yadda, they’ll be assaulted by my handsome hubbies awesomeness. Considering there’s like a bajillion registered costumes on that site, and only a handful of “Pick of the Month”s, I think it’s pretty frikkin’ sweet. (Oh, the things I swoon over as a doting wife….)

You can see our full Cowboy Bebop cosplays and photoshoot here. It was one of our best shoots, if I do say so myself. ^_^

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Cosplay

When Jonathan and I moved to Pensacola, we didn’t bother packing any of our cosplays. I figured we’d be far too busy with a newborn, we wouldn’t have any events to wear them to, and having just popped out a baby I doubted any of my costumes would fit (and I doubted right!).

So when we decided to go to FANdom Con, and anime convention here in Pensacola, we started getting some serious cosplay itchy feet. We had to cosplay, and we had to cosplay NOW. We didn’t know who to go as, and we were very much out of time for putting any decent costumes together. So we were resigning ourselves to go “naked” as I like to call mundane wear.

BUT THEN! Jonathan made a comment about his hair looking like Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and then a lightbulb just kinda went off. I’d go as Dark Willow, and Jon would go as Spike! Jon was able to pull the entire outfit out of his closet (just had to buy the red shirt), and I was able to find the pants and denim jacket at a thrift store. And voila! Spike and Willow cosplay.

We call these easy clothing costume “Closet Cosplays”. And while they’re not my favorite, they are fun to whip together for quick photoshoots and to keep the money draining cosplay bug at bay. We took these photos at St. Michael’s Cemetery in Pensacola, Florida, and our friend Mason helped us watch Tessa / take photos during the shoot. So! Whadya think? ^_^

Geeky Sexy Text FAIL

So at first I was far too embarrassed horrified to post this, but after spending half of the day in tears from laughing so hard, I thought I may as well share this with the blogosphere before I explode. (Maybe this is why my husband and mum call me Little Miss Disclosure?)

So today was Tessa’s two week check-up at the doctors. It was a great visit. Her jaundice is now completely gone, she has just passed her birth weight by one ounce (she had gone from her birth weight of 7 pounds 3 ounces, down to 6 pounds 10 ounces in week one, and is now up to 7 pounds 4 ounces in week 2), and she was calm and bright eyed for the whole visit – even during the poking and prodding. The hospital staff kept raving about how relaxed and observant she was. So I left the hospital in a rather chipper mood, content in the knowledge that my baby is the cutest, coolest, chillest, healthiest baby on the planet. EVER.

As I was leaving the hospital, my handsome husband calls to ask if I’d like to meet him for lunch and a coffee date. Well, duh! My husband just this past weekend got leave to move out of the barracks and move in with me. For the first time since his joining the Navy on June 3rd of this year, we are now living together again. BUT, on certain nights when he works late or has to get up particularly early, he’ll be spending the night on the base for convenience sake. Tonight is one of those nights. So a coffee date was an unexpected treat.

We sat for a few hours at a Starbucks, cooing and oohing and ahhing over our gorgeous princess. As the pain of childbirth gets farther away and my stitches start to heal, I keep finding myself ruing the fact that I can’t, shall we say, get jiggy with it. Watching my sexy husband in his NWU’s – holding our precious daughter, brazenly babbling in baby talk to her in the middle of a Starbucks – and already feeling the kindling of desire to make another baby and grow our little family has kind of heightened that resentment.

I always thought the curse of “the pain of childbirth” spoken of in Genesis 3:16 was all bundled up in the single moment of shoving a 7 pound human being out of your hoo-haw. But now the sexual frustrations whilst sporting a vagina that makes me wish for death while pooping gives a whole new meaning to how “your desire will be for your husband” can be a curse.

That said, my brain was feeling inclined to wander to the dark side as we left Starbucks and I dropped my husband off at work.

Now, I’m a geek, through and through. As is my husband. So while driving home, I found my mind drifting over various scenes from The Lord of the Rings. I was thinking about the scene in The Fellowship of the Ring with Gandalf at the Walls of Moria, where the Doors of Durin read, “Speak Friend and Enter”.

Since my ADHD mind was still thinking about all the baby making I’d like to do, I naturally thought the lines from that scene would have made a great sex lead-in joke. So – feeling clever and geek chic – I sent my husband a sext that only a nerd would find both humorous and arousing.

After sending my masterpiece, I sat snickering to myself over my clever naughtiness, anxiously awaiting the response of “Mellon!” followed by an equally nerdy repartee. (I’m sure this speaks volumes for the healthiness of our marriage / sex life.) When my phone finally made it’s little iPhone “you’ve got a text” chirp, I pounced on it to read:

I don’t think I’ve ever been so red in my life. Seriously. I’ve been blushing so hard for so long that I’ve got a frikkin’ RASH on my neck. The gal from Starbucks texted back, knowing I was Jonathan’s wifey because we sat loitering for hours in the store, me sitting across from Jonathan with a drink in my hand with my name on it. Out of all the innocent, random, G-rated texts I send Jonathan, THIS is what I send when Jonathan leaves his phone at Starbucks. Seriously. W.T.F.

When I picked up the phone, there was no mention of my text, but there were a LOT of broad grins and half-heartedly concealed snickers and giggles. Especially when they had to ask the obligatory security question before handing the phone off.

“What is the picture on the home screen?”

“Uhhhh, my husband cosplaying as Thor.”

“*snicker snicker*”

Oy vey. And the worst part is, I don’t even know if the barista even GOT the Lord of the Rings reference, or if she just thinks I’m some awkwardly worded skank that sucks at sexting and likes to play dress up with her husband – who makes a mighty fine Thor if I do say so myself.

Jonathan, of course, thought all this was just hi-larious. Man. That boy OWES ME. Amiright?!

Nerdy Bibs, Blankets, Burp Cloths and Diaper Covers

Alright folks. This is my first batch of nerdy sewing projects for my daughter Tessa. I have spent the last five years with Jonathan working on all kinds of crafts and projects for cosplays and holidays and geekiness of all varieties, so I knew I would eventually be cranking out random baby paraphernalia for my future children. I thought making this first round of goodies would make this whole parenthood thing more real, but with my daughter only two months away, I am still having trouble wrapping my brain around the concept of being a mother. Me? A mom?! I still watch anime and relate to the shy 13 year old characters! How is this whole raising a human being thing gonna pan out?!

At any rate, I had fun making these goodies over the last few weeks. All of the fabrics were purchased from either Joann’s Fabrics, Wal-Mart or the LA Fabric District. The prints are all a variation of Star Wars and Marvel / Avengers. (Gotta introduce baby girl to the classics!) So here’s what I made:

Burp Cloths:

I made these burp cloths using a variation on this tutorial from Chickpea Sewing Studio. While some of the cloths have the decorative strip of fabric down the entire length of the terry cloth as the tutorial shows, I made a couple of the cloths with the nerdy fabric strips on the very ends of the cloth, so when baby burps up it will most likely land on the terry cloth, which is far more absorbent.  That way you get functionality while simultaneously getting to nerd represent! hehe!

Receiving Blankets:

I made the 32″ x 32″ Marvel Comics self-binding receiving blanket using this tutorial from the blog Sew Much Ado.

I didn’t use a tutorial for the 36″ x 36″ Star Wars receiving blanket, I just kind of… made it. But for those of you interested in a simple, no pattern required sewing project, the closest I could find to what I did can be found on this tutorial from KDBuggie Boutique.

Diaper Covers:

I made these diaper covers using McCalls pattern 6223. I will say, I was a little nervous about making these. I always had it in my head that diaper covers would be difficult. Maybe it was a loose association with the mess that usually comes with diapers? Who knows. But these were effortless and easy. I will be using this pattern again and again, I’m sure. These were my favorite to make thus far.

Newborn Bibs:

These were also made using McCalls pattern 6223. I’m not overly crazy about bibs (or making them.. CURVES, ugh!) but I wanted to make a few for some “OMG, look at that adorble baby geek!” newborn pictures.

So that’s my first batch of geeky baby projects. I’m planning on making many more in the future (changing pads, nighties, infant car seat covers, oh my!) but I thought I’d share these for now. ^_^