Angry Appendixes and Holiday Shopping Woes...

Hey guys!

Hope that you've been having a good week so far...mine's been on the crazy side...

On Tuesday, my sister developed appendicitis...luckily, we were able to get her to an ER before appendix rupture became a possibility. She had appendicitis before, about 7 years ago...so the surgeon opted to go ahead and perform an appendectomy. [It's a little bit baffling that the doctors left it alone the first time...] Fortunately, she was a good candidate for a laproscopic procedure rather than the traditional appendectomy...she was out of the hospital and on her way home, post-op, in less than 24 hours!

University of Maryland Medical Center - Laproscopic Appendectomy [A little blurb on the procedure]

I'm definitely glad that she's doing well...hopefully, the rest of her recovery will continue to go smoothly...

Rogue vestigial organs aside, it's been a bit of a stressful week...

As I'm sure most people are, I'm definitely beginning to feel the financial crunch that comes with the holiday season. I love giving gifts to friends and family, but it's undeniably expensive! And does anyone else have that one person [or handful of people, in my case] that just seem impossible to shop for? It's frustrating!

I keep scouring my regular shopping websites [ThinkGeek, Amazon, and, most recently, Vat19] hoping that something will just 'click' as the perfect gift for so-and-so and that said gift is on uber-sale...no luck on either, as of yet...

Anybody out there that's excellent at picking out gifts? I could certainly use some tips!

And, just in case anybody was curious, 'appendixes' is apparently the proper word for referring to more than one appendix. The organ, not the additional texts at the end of a book.

Alone For The Holidays, But Far From Lonely...

So, it seems I've achieved a minor accomplishment...

Yay! Tree!

I managed to get my Christmas tree up! 

The last couple of years, I didn't end up getting our tree up until a week or so before Christmas...so, it's quite a relief to have it already taken care of.

I decided to go for a red and aqua/teal color scheme this year...I saw a few things on Pinterest using this color combination, and I ended up really liking it! From this particular angle, it looks like there aren't many blue ornaments, but I promise that they're there...I started off with blue, added red, and apparently went red-overboard...it would probably help if I used a camera other than the one attached to my phone...

In addition to the red and blue tree, I set up a small tree in my kiddo's room. He loves it...it's a blue tree, with blue ornaments, and a blue star...he's a big fan of blue...

Another accomplishment of sorts...[maybe it isn't quite right to label it an accomplishment]...

This is going to be my first holiday season without a significant other in about a decade. /ponders Yep...a decade is actually pretty darn close.

You know...I really thought that I would be more bothered by being single on the holidays than I am. Just the thought of it seems daunting. What with the season being pumped full of commercialism and marketing as it is, it's nearly impossible to turn on the television right now without being bombarded with commercials featuring ridiculously photogenic couples doing ridiculously adorable things while the ridiculously handsome man pulls out a ridiculously beautiful piece of ridiculously gorgeous jewelry, to which the ridiculously beautiful woman appears to be ridiculously surprised...then the commercial ends with a ridiculously perfect embrace and then the ridiculously inflated promotional prices. [Sensing a trend here? Maybe?]

But, it really hasn't been that bad. Not bad at all.

I'm finding that there's a lot less stress to be had being single during the holidays.

I don't have to struggle to figure out how to plan multiple family events. I don't have to figure out what on Earth to buy his mother, grandmother, and convict siblings [yeah...that actually applies to one ex in particular...]. I don't have to argue about 'who's family traditions are more important.' [Same ex as mentioned previously] It's just so much easier!

Not trying to say that I'd be absolutely opposed to having a 'better half' during the holidays...there are some things that I'll admit that I miss. But none of those things are worth having to endure a terrible relationship!

Maybe it's that I'm reaching that point of being 'okay' with not dating...I really wish that it had been something that I'd realized years ago, but I guess it's one of those 'better late than never' sort of life lesson.

You tell it, Taylor!

Having my kiddo around definitely helps in this case. I have to be rather selective about who and how I date...whomever I choose to have in my life will also be in my son's life. And that's no matter to take lightly! I now realize that in my dating past, I wasn't as selective as maybe I should have been. I made allowances for behaviors that I shouldn't have and I didn't put my foot down when I needed to...but...I've learned from those mistakes. I've got no choice but to learn from them!

So, I'm just not going to date for a while [not that this is a new development...I've been out of the dating scene for a good while now...]. I've got no plans on pursuing dating until I feel ready for it, and I don't feel embarrassed or unsure about my decision at all! Man, it feels great to not have second thoughts about something for a change!

I'm not the biggest Taylor Swift fan [though that's been changing here lately, as well...she just seems far more classy than the majority of female artists today...], but BuzzFeed ran a list of some of her quotes from this year. There were a few that I really liked and agreed with, but this one is, I feel, very relevant. She's a good four years, or so, younger than me, but she's absolutely right!

Who says that it's only the old who are wise? [Not me...nope!]

How Rude...

My upstairs neighbors are the worst...ever!

For the last two hours, they've been blasting their obnoxious music. It's so loud, I could still hear it after I put in earplugs!

They're starting up again...

They do this sort of crap all the time. It's pretty much a daily occurrence. Every now and then, I luck out and get a night without the constant thumping of their sound system...but I'm guessing that's only when they're not in for the night...

It's maddening!

I've knocked on their door and asked them to keep their music down, especially if it's a school night...I'm thinking they have no clue how hard it can be to get a little one to go to sleep if it sounds like there's a bad rave going on above our heads...

Knocking on their door doesn't help. Calling apartment management doesn't help [though, I'm not even entirely sure that management even attempted to do anything about the constant noise]. Nothing's helped, and I'm running out of ways to try and solve the issue nicely...I thought about being "that neighbor" that bangs back on the ceiling whenever I find their noise levels to be offensive...but I'm thinking that it would likely backfire. As my upstairs neighbors, they've got the capacity to be so much louder and even more inconsiderate...they already stomp around like elephants, I'd hate to hear what it'd be like if they were intentionally being noisy.

/sigh

Whatever happened to people being thoughtful of those around them?

Crazy Game...

Good Sunday morning to you...

Cooper making an epic catch!

For those who might be curious, Alabama won the game last night! Roll Tide!

It was definitely a nail biter of a game...Bama started off on top, Auburn made a comeback and went to halftime in the lead...the beginning of the 3rd quarter looked pretty grim, but then I think Bama must have woken up and remembered that they were playing in the Iron Bowl and they finally started making big plays. The later part of the 3rd quarter and the majority of the 4th quarter belonged to Bama [for some reason, Bama's always been a bit of a 4th quarter team...that's why you'll see Bama fans holding up four fingers at the beginning of the 4th quarter and, if you're in the stadium, you'll hear our band play "Basket Case"...'cause they turn us into basket cases during the first 3 quarters of the game!!]

So, yep! I think this year's game was a proper response to last year's loss and all the obnoxious "Hey, Bama! Can I get a second?" remarks that Auburn fans have passed out thanks to last year's ridiculous fluke of an Auburn win at literally the last second of the game. [True stuff! I witnessed the travesty while celebrating my good friend's wedding from earlier that day!] There are videos and pictures of that mess all over the internet, feel free to search for it if you'd like, but I'm not going to post it here. [/shrug...hey, what can I say? I am a Bama fan, after all!]

Love My SEC!

What's in store for the Tide now?

Well...next week, Bama faces off versus Mizzou [The University of Missouri, for those not familiar
with college football] in the SEC championship game. I'll be honest, I'm still rather skeptical about Mizzou being in the running as an SEC team [SEC football is a whole different class of college football than any of the other conferences! Other conferences play football games, but SEC football is a way of life!], but some of Mizzou's stats from throughout the year make me think that this game may be more of a challenge than I'd like...

[To clarify my previous comment about SEC football...simply looking at nationwide football statistics for the last 5-10 years will show which conference has been dominating the college football world...SEC teams bring an intensity to the game that no conference can match, and we have the championships and records to prove it! With SEC football, you play it big to win, or you go home...]

/ponders....oh no!

Just remembered that my older cousin is hosting his annual Christmas party this coming up Saturday...he's an Auburn fan, so it probably doesn't matter to him that it's the same day as the SEC championship game.../sigh oh well....maybe they'll be at different times.

It's Game Day! Let's Go, Bama!!

Alabama vs Auburn - THE Rivalry

It's game day!!

Ask any college football following resident of Alabama which is the biggest, most important game of the year, and I guarantee you they'll say it's the Iron Bowl...and you know what? They'd be absolutely right!

The Iron Bowl is the ever-anticipated Alabama/Auburn football game...fan of rivalry games? This is the biggest, deepest, strongest rivalry in the nation...hands down. The animosity between the neighboring schools is, quite simply, a force to be reckoned with...Alabamians are groomed from the day we're born to cheer for one school or the other, and it grows into a life long passion unlike any other. [I know it probably sounds outlandish to anyone on the outside looking it, but it's absolutely true! The first photos of my kiddo have him wearing an adorable little Alabama hat while wrapped up in an Alabama blanket...true story!]

Growing up in a military family, my first 18 years or so were not as steeped in the Iron Bowl traditions as many of my friends and family...but that doesn't mean that Bama/Auburn influences weren't there. On my dad's side [I guess it would be silly to think it would originate from my mom's side, wouldn't it...], my grandfather and grandmother were HUGE Alabama fans. Bama stuff was all over their home...I remember playing with some of it when we would get a chance to visit. Portraits of Coach Bryant, Alabama bottles of Coke, hats, pillows, blankets...you name, they probably had it or knew where they could get it...

Living in other countries and states, I never understood how big of a deal college football was until we moved back to Alabama when I was in middle school.

Roll Tide!

With family influences, I declared myself a Bama fan...which cemented friendships with some, and drew some boundaries with others. [I've got a few family members that are Auburn fans, some friends, too...but football stuff is a topic we typically shy away from for the sake of maintaining a good relationship...] However, it wasn't until I started college that I really began to take my place as a steadfast member of the rivalry...four years of attending the University of Alabama, and I'm proud to say that I'm a Bama fan for life!

Iron Bowl - Wikipedia

Iron Bowl Wins Coaches' Poll For Fiercest College Football Rivalry

ESPN - Alabama/Auburn Rivalry Gallery

I've added a few links, feel free to check them out if you'd like to read a bit more on our insane rivalry...a quick internet search will give you hours and hours of material covering the Iron Bowl!

And, I've got to say it...ROLL TIDE! C'mon boys, let's beat Auburn!

Thoughts On Death Note....

Well...I just finished watching Death Note.

Overall, I thought the series was...umm....interesting, I suppose.

Netflix has the series listed as having only one season with 37 episodes. However, as characters and motives change due to the progression of the story line, I think that it's acceptable to view the entire series as having two definitive parts....

Okay. If you haven't watched the show yet and think that you might like to watch it at some point...you should stop reading this post now...some of the things I'm about to say about the show are going to be MAJOR SPOILERS...now that the disclaimer is out of the way, I'll continue...

L

Those who are familiar with the anime or manga know that this odd looking character is L. [L is the brains behind the operation that is trying to capture Kira] He is odd and quirky but he is undeniably a genius...[this is proven several times during the anime]

Bahahaha!

At first, I found his character to be off-putting and rather annoying...but as the story progressed, he quickly became my favorite character. I mean, what's not to like? He's brilliant, self-assured, and delivers some of the funniest lines in the anime...the little comic strip to the right? That's an actual scene from the show...hilarious!

Anyway...somewhere around the halfway mark of the series, L dies. Guys...L dying, to me, was a slightly less scarring version of Harry Potter's Snape dying. [Yes, yes...the death of Snape was much more gut wrenching...but this character death is definitely up there...]

I can understand why L's character had to die for the sake of the story...well, kind of...but this was a pivotal point for me. I found the series to be far less interesting once L was no longer a key player. The absence of his character changed the show to the point that I almost stopped watching it...obviously I continued on to finish the series...but, honestly? I didn't really want to.

Light Yagami

This handsome looking fellow to the left is Light Yagami, pretty sure that it's alright to say that he's the main character of the story.

As the story begins, Light is introduced as a very intelligent high school senior [he boasts the best test scores in Japan] who has the brightest of futures ahead of him. His father is Chief of the Japanese Police Force, a detail that Light eventually uses to his advantage.

Light is the first human that encounters the Death Note dropped by the shinigami Ryuk [I mentioned Ryuk in my previous post on Death Note] and he ultimately becomes the mastermind behind all the Kira killings and the fallout that follows.

Light's character development is...well...it's crazy! He begins with intentions that are, for the most part, 'good.' He aims to rid the world of evil doers and criminals, and he's found ways to do so utilizing the Death Note...but it doesn't take long at all before his intentions become warped into something much, much more sinister.

Truer words have never been
meme'd...

Before you know it, Light has become determined to become the new 'god' of his idea of a Utopian world...one that has been shaped and groomed by himself acting as Kira. It becomes clear that Light intends on achieving this goal through pretty much whatever means are necessary...Light goes so far as to using deaths of his family members to insure his coming out on top...which is just plain dirty.

The depth and detail that Light puts into his plans are remarkable. He is able to correctly anticipate people's actions even months in advance...so, in that aspect, he's quite impressive. There's one twist that occurs shortly before L's death that definitely had me giving him mental applause...but his thought processes are just too insidious to overlook and, in my opinion, render him unlikable. At the end of the story, Light had zero redeeming qualities. None. And that's a lot coming from a girl who typically sympathizes with the bad guy!

Though, I definitely give the writers credit...the progression of Light from innocent high school senior to world dominating sociopath is extremely well-done. By the end of the series, Light becomes a character that is truly unsettling...watch the last episode...tell me that his laughter isn't that of a maniacal villain!!

The 'Post-L' portion of the show focused heavily on Light's interactions with Misa as he manipulates her to fit into his Kira plans.

Misa's the blonde...not the
shinigami behind her...

I really, really dislike Misa's character. Really dislike her.

She's the second human that encounters a Death Note...she becomes the first 'Second Kira' in the story...and she goes to outrageous lengths to meet up with Kira/Light. The story says that she's infatuated with Kira due to him killing the murderer of her parents, but then she meets Light and 'falls in love' with him and the fact that he's Kira.

I was very disappointed that her character never developed any real depth...throughout the whole series, she's just this gullible, stereo-typically dumb 'pretty girl' who will do literally anything Light asks her to just because she fell in love with him at first sight.

I mean...seriously.

Misa goes along with whatever Light says [she even goes so far as to sacrifice half of her remaining life span, twice!] in hopes of being useful to him so that he might love her back. It's pathetic.

But...the introduction of Misa and therefore the second Death Note does create more complexity for the story...and it gets interesting at times to see how Light manages to juggle not just one, but two Death Notes. [But I still don't like Misa. Nope.]

What else....

Oh, yes. Near.

Near

Near steps in and fills the role as L's true successor [After L's death, Light fills in as the replacement L for the media and what not...but Light isn't actually going to pursue Kira now, is he?]. The story reveals that L and two younger potential successors grew up together in the same orphanage. The two younger ones, Near and Mellow, seems to be at odds over who will be L's true successor...L didn't have the chance to pick one of them before he died. Mellow, the older of the two, gets frustrated at this and relinquishes the role to Near [though, as I'm sure you'd predict, Mellow leaves to pursue Kira on his own].

As a stand alone character, Near is very likable...but as a successor to L? Meh...not so much.

Oddly enough, I can't really pinpoint a reason why I didn't like Near...I think it's because I liked L as much as I did.

In the end, Near is able to out-smart the officially-lost-his-fruit-loops Light, prove that Light is Kira, and expose the second Kira [X-Kira, at this point] all in one fell swoop. Everything goes down inside of an abandoned warehouse...and the scene begins with Near wearing an L mask. That was creepy...

Wait...what?!?

The series has one of the most 'wtf' endings that I've seen to date.

Light has a clear mental breakdown, X-Kira dies with an actual geyser of blood spurting from his chest, and Ryuk has a few words to say before he writes Light's name in his Death Note...

 I grabbed a screenshot from a YouTube video of the blood geyser scene...I'm not going to post the actual video [you're more than welcome to look it up, if you'd like...the character's name is Mikami...] but that should give you a good idea of how crazy Death Note's ending is...

I've read that there have been a few post-production thing released that kind of elaborate on the story's ending and some of the events that happened afterwards...but I'm really not interested in watching them. [That is, with the exception of the one showing Ryuk's thoughts on the whole thing...that, I'd watch...]

Overall...I think Death Note is a good anime, and I suppose that I would recommend it. But once you reach the point that L dies, feel free to skip to the last two episodes or so...but beware of the L-masked Near...there are something that you can't un-see!!

What A Curious Little Beasty...

I watched a few movies over the last several days...thought I'd share my thoughts/opinions...maybe someone will find them useful!

First up is Disney's Maleficent.

I remember being ridiculously excited for this movie when I first started seeing trailers for it last year.

To me, the big selling point of this movie was that we would get to see a different side to the classic Sleeping Beauty fairy tale...I've always been a big fan of classic protagonists. For years, I maintained that it would be a brilliant paper topic to write about the happenings in The Phantom of the Opera from the view-point of the Phantom. Most people view the Phantom as the clear-cut villain in the story...after all, he terrorizes the opera house and it's patrons...and he kidnaps Christine! Call it the odd side of me, the side that can't help but be drawn to things that are melancholy and misunderstood...but I've always sympathized with the Phantom rather than despised him. His poor soul...the pain and suffering that he must have been made to endure, especially when he was a child...

/sigh...my views on Phantom could make up for a dozen posts on their own, and I'm getting away from the actual topic...

The movie begins by announcing to the viewers that the "true" story [of Sleeping Beauty] isn't quite as we've been told. Then we are shown a young Maleficent and are enlightened as to why she grows to be in conflict with the King [as we see in the beginning of Disney's animated Sleeping Beauty].

Now, I really liked the whole premise that this movie has set for why Maleficent becomes the villain that we are familiar with. I can't go into detail without ruining the story, my apologies. Just know that it's pretty good...I wouldn't say that it makes for a 'must own' DVD or BluRay, but I definitely feel as if I got my money's worth out of my RedBox rental! [Yeah, yeah...I know it's less than a whole $2, but when money's tight, money's tight...]

I've got no wings on me!

The only thing that I didn't really care for has to do with the classification of magical creature that the story has chosen for Maleficent. In this movie, she is said to be a fairy...the largest of all the fairies in the Moore. I'm sure that I'm discontent with this classification only because of what I've come to accept as fairies through stories and various books are very different than this 'fairy' version of Maleficent. Fairies are, in my mind, supposed to be tiny, wisp-like creatures with delicate butterfly-type wings...unless it's a dark fairy...that's a different story...

Anyway...I thought that perhaps this winged Maleficent would be better classified as a Valkyrie. But some quick research on the topic and I learned that this would not be a proper classification either.

Originating in Norse mythology, Valkyries were female spirits [helpers of Odin, if you would] that hoovered around battlefields and would select those that were to die in battle. Commonly depicted with wings on their helmets, but the Valkyries themselves do not have wings. [I mistakenly thought that they did] Turns out that this misconception is probably because the Valkyries were allowed to disguise themselves by taking the form of a swan...but if  a human were to see a Valkyrie in her true form, she would become an ordinary human and would never be able to return to Valhalla.

Soooo....yeah. Pretty sure this rules out Maleficent as being a Valkyrie.

If you're harpy and you know it...

My next thought was that maybe it would be more correct to label Maleficent as a harpy.

I remembered, from my World of Warcraft playing days, that harpies were female creatures with wings. [Vicious, vicious female creatures...] The fact that harpies have wings is pretty much where the similarities with the newest version of Maleficent end. Maleficent certainly did not have a bird-like body or feathers aside from her wings...

Soooo....nope. She's not a harpy either.

/Shrug

So, I guess she's a fairy. Why not.

Overall, it's a good movie. Give it a watch...maybe you'll be able to think up a better classification than fairy...if you do, please share!

I hadn't anticipated typing this much for just one movie...but it seems time has escaped me, so I'm going to have to save the other movies for another post. At least I'll have something to write about!

Social Awkwardness Strikes Again...

Know what's the worst? [Okay, maybe not the worst worst...but definitely sucks...]

What?  Oh. Yeah! I Totally knew
you didn't mean to call. Totally.

Looking down at your phone to see that you've got a missed call from a friend...getting a tiny bit excited because, well, phone calls from friends are far and few between...calling said friend back...and then realizing that they've butt-dialed you and they have no idea why you're calling them.

Yep. That's me...bringing you awkward moments since the mid-80's....you're welcome.

Waiting Always Sucks...

A bit of exciting news: I subscribed to this month's Loot Crate!

I wrote a post about the awesomeness that is Loot Crate back in September [Loot Crate Post], but this month will be my first to receive a Loot Crate.

Must...Buy...Loot Crate!!!

I'd received emails informing me that this month's theme is a "Battle" crate...and when I found out that there's going to be Assassin's Creed and Street Fighter merch in the crate, I couldn't resist!

Yesterday, I got the email confirming the shipment of my crate...now I'm just waiting for it to get here...[note that I never said I was waiting patiently!]

I'll be sure to post about the contents of the crate when it arrives...here's to hoping it's awesome stuff!!

Hey There Mister Creepy Eyes...

Hey, hey, hey!

Hope this Tuesday evening finds you doing well...

Not much for me to complain about at the moment aside from the nagging headache that I'm currently hosting...I'm thinking I can thank the ever-lovely Alabama weather for the headache. Crazy swings in temperatures are pretty normal for good ole Bama...but they're still a huge pain. Average temperatures dropped a good 20-30 degrees [brr!] and we're looking at temps climbing back another 20 degrees or so by this weekend...crazy stuff, I tell ya! I really don't mind the cold, [I'm one of the few Bama residents that actually likes the cold...] but I need some semblance of consistency!

Death Note

Still working my way through Death Note...

It's a pretty short series...there are only 37 episodes available on Netflix. [Madoka had 12 episodes and Ouran had 26...] I'm thinking I could probably finish the series in about a week, maybe two, unless I pick up watching Supernatural again....

One of the main reasons that I've waited so long to start watching Death Note is the sheer creepiness of the guy with the crazy eyes in the background of this picture...[I've since learned that his name is Ryuk. He's a shinigami {literally meaning 'death god'} that's gotten bored and decided to toy around with humans for a bit]

Turns out that I rather like Ryuk. He's much funnier than I'd anticipated...not funny enough to completely override the fact that he doesn't have eyelids [which is always creepy. Always.].

I'm trying really hard not to accidentally spoil anything about this series...I spend so much time mindlessly scrolling through Pinterest for anime stuff, that I'll stumble on some of the bigger twists for different series without even meaning to...[it happened when I was looking through some Madoka pins...I managed to accidentally learn about the 'big twist' of episode 3 before getting to watch it...it definitely took some of the 'oomph' out of it]

More anime/life posts soon!