Sherlock Holmes

So today, I took my mum to the matinee showing of Sherlock Holmes. My mum doesn’t go to many movies, but I wanted to treat her to a show that she would appreciate, and as a Brit…Sherlock Holmes would do the trick.

I have read lots of Sherlock Holmes novels and so has my mum. We are both big fans and love the stories. So the idea of going and seeing Sherlock Holmes live…not just in our mind…would be great!

So the movie starts with Sherlock Holmes (played by Robert Downey Jr) and his companion Dr. Watson (played by Jude Law) successful catch the notorious serial killer and occult sorcerer Lord Blackwood right before he murders his 6th victim. However the case is not closed and after Lord Blackwoods is hung for his crimes and pronounced dead by Dr. Watson himself, he rises from the grave thus Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are back on the case.

On a side note: For anyone who has read the stories of Sherlock Holmes, this movie actually starts at the end of Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson’s partnership. Dr. Watson is engaged to Mary and Sherlock Holmes is in his opium & drug phase.

Holmes and Dr. Watson take up the hunt to track down Lord Blackwood as he takes both of the sloths on a twisted adventure of murder and black magic. Sherlock Holmes’ lover and master criminal Irene Adler (played by Rachel McAdams) joins in the adventure, but for reasons of her own. She is in fact working for Professor Moriarty.

An additional side note: Professor Moriarty showed up way before Sherlock Holmes drug ridden stage, and has always been Holmes archenemy.

This is one movie that will keep you on the edge of your seats if you are into this type of movie. If you loved Holmes…then you would love this movie.

However, my boyfriend…he may not have found this movie as good as my mother and me. He may have actually fallen asleep.

The movie has slow points, but both Robert Downey Jr & Jude Law do a great job and really draw you in!

The writers set the movie up for a sequel. You do not get to really MEET Professor Moriarty, but you know that the next story will be Sherlock Holmes v/s Professor Moriarty, back to the original!

A Few Demons More

I just finished reading a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison. It was the 5th book in The Hallow serious starring Rachel Morgan, a kick ass layline witch and bounty hunter. I picked up this series because I had finally gotten sick of the Laurell K Hamilton Anita Blake set. I needed something that was not so old. Seriously after what was it 18 books that I read of her’s the original character that I fell in love with was no longer there, she had become something else, and something so powerful that she was never not going to win. And the books were way to full of sex sex sex and not enough taking names and kicking ass…like it was in the beginning. I honestly, the last book I read of Laurell Hamilton’s was all sex and no plot. SO NOT WORTH IT ANYMORE!!

So Kim Harrison become my latest set (besides Saga of the Seven Sun…which were awesome!).

A Few Demons more starts right off with action and but kicking. Rachel wakes up to find Newt, an insane and very powerful demon destroying her church and ranting about wanting something of hers back. Rachel of course is freaking out because…well churches are sanctified…and a demon can’t come into a church without being called. Rachel has to take on Newt and get her back into the everafter!

After getting Newt out of her church by calling another demon for assitance, things don’t get any easier for Rachel, werewolves are showing up dead and the police want to know who is behind it. Unfortunately none of the werewolves are showing up in the database, and Rachel realizes that it is because they were actually human (in this world you can’t be turned into a werewolf you just are one) and the Focus (an ancient demon artifact) that was being hidden by her were friend David was turning them. Every woman that David slept with was doomed to turn into a werewolf. Every were clan want to get their hands on the Focus because it would make them stronger and give them the ability to grow the clan, but it would shift the power from the vampires to the were’s and create an all out battle. Rachel has to find a way to destroy the Focus and keep it from falling into the wrong hands.

And thanks to an unexpected visit from Newt, their church is now unsanctified and thus unsafe.

In an attempt to earn the money to re-sanctify it Rachel and Janx’s (a pixie sidekick, who lived in the churches garden with his family) accept a deal to work security at her enemy Trent’s wedding. Only to find out that the Demon Al, has possessed a human body and is able to walk around in the sun light. Al is only out of the everafter so that he can get Rachel to come back with him. The city turns into a mad house when they realize that Al is free and no one is controlling him, so the city lets out the master vampire Piscary (who was jailed for murdering layline witches by Rachel). Piscary receives a full pardon but he had in fact made a deal with Al, and made no attempt to send Al back to the everafter to avoid trial. With Piscary freed from jail, not only is Rachel in trouble, but so is Ivy her roommate (a vampire with a soul, and also Piscary’s sion) and Kistin (her boyfriend)

So now Piscary is losing, and everyone knows that Rachel has the Focus and is living in an un-sanctified church. She has to find a way to destroy the Focus, send Al back to the ever after, keep Piscary from killing her and Ivy, and get her church re-sanctified before things get really tuff….and all of this has to go down the week of her birthday.

me v/s the gnat

I have the oddest fears, or at last my friends say they are. I am scared of spiders…well any creepy crawly for that matter, I am scared of elevators and enclosed spaces, I don’t too much like heights, I am scared of germs and dirt, and I am horrified of clowns….just to name a few.

This blog focuses on my fear of the creepy crawlies.

I live by a lake, pond, body of water…whatever, and because of this, we get a lot of gnats. You all know what gnats are. Those gross little flying creatures that attack your face. I usually spray Raid around my door because it helps keep the vicious creatures at bay, but because of the weather lately there have not been as many as usually, until about 2 days ago when they started coming back with a vengeance. This was absolutely horrible for me, as I came to the realization that the battle was going to have to start again. Me v/s the gnats. I think to myself, I am going to have to go to the store this weekend and pick up my most valuable weapon against these filthy creatures…RAID! Dunnndunndunnn. But until then, I would just have to make quick dives into my house and run like a small scared school girl on the way out. Sounds like a well thought out and reliable plan right….HA WRONG! Not a good plan at all. And you would think a college graduate who is working on their masters would have thought of a more in-depth plan, but let’s not go there.

I am coming home from a busy Wednesday night. I went to the gym after my 9 hr day of busy work, I had a dinner to go to, to celebrate the 6th day of Hanukkah at a friend’s house (although I am not Jewish, I still went, I figured it is good to know, understand and respect other’s beliefs.) and it was also another friends birthday, so I had to go over and make an appearance. Finally dragging myself home at 10 pm-ish, I am on the phone with my friend Dave, and I am wrestling with the keys to unlock my door to let Jake (my puppy)and myself in. Suddenly the enemy attacks! The bastard dive bombed my ear, causing me to fall into my house as I beat myself around the side of my head like a mad-woman for 10 min. The creature, feeling that I would destroy him if he came out took refuge deep within my ear canal. The phone no longer in my hand lay on the ground as I hear my friend asking me what was going on. My dog following me around the house still attached to his leash as I run screaming in circles. Finally realizing that the person on the other end of the phone is a medic, and my medical training stops at rubbing alcohol and band aids I picked up the phone and in a calm panic tried to explain that the enemy had attacked and was now building a fort inside my ear canal and most likely laying its young behind my eardrum. My friend, after laughing, asking me if I was imagining it and then laughing some more told me to go flush my ear out with water. So there I am, dog watching me like he no longer was responsible for my crazy actions as I stuck my head under the sink and turned the water on.

“It's not working! It’s not working” was all I could say as the water flowed into my ears. The buzzing of the enemies’ radio (wings to be exact) made it impossible to concentrate. Having a complete nervous breakdown, I tell my friend that I am going downstairs. Thankfully I live around a lot of nurses. I go and knock on my neighbor’s door and again in a calm panic, explained what had happened. She jumps up, realizing how gross it is to have a gnat in your ear, begins to flush my ear out with hot water, oil and peroxide. Once assuring the enemy was dead and unable to continue on his mission of eating into my brain in an attempt to control my actions, I relax….slightly, because a dead body was still in my ear. I go home, proceed to drink until I am calm and think that an early morning doctor’s visit is in order for the extract team to come in and remove the remains.

So that is my story….

I have not overcome my fear of insects….and I think a new one has thus been added to the list.

So after crying this story to my best friend she send me a picture. it's good to know that she cares so much about my well being and the accomplishment that I just achieved as I took on the evil enemy. Good thing I love her so

2012

I have always been fascinated by 2012 and the concept of the end of the world occurring on that date December 21, 2012 (12/21/12). I even wrote a blog about it a few years back on my MySpace page, before I decided to make my blog….how do you say…more public. A lot of people are actually concerned about this date being the “end of days”. There is even an official website where you can see all of the historical references made to this date and how this date (and not the other ones mentioned before are really the end of days).

Anyhow, this is not my latest blog on how we are all going to die on this date. Although my boyfriend did say that we could get married on this date (I guess he assumed that we would be dead and he wouldn’t have to go through with it). This blog is about the movie that was released a few weeks back. (on a side note, I must say I am behind on movies lately).

2012 follows 2 major stories –
Dr. Adrian Helmsley (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) – an American geologist who traveled to India, where his friend (Satnam) shows him the solar flares and they realize that the earth was coming to an end.

Jackson Curtis (played by John Cusack) – a divorced, father of two, published autor, who ended up stumbling into Dr. Helmsley and then found out some information, from a crazy radio reporter known as Charley, that he shouldn’t have leading him to understand that the human race was doomed!!!

The story starts off with Dr. Helmsley visiting his friend in India in 2009 where they see the earth’s core heating up. Dr. Helmsley takes the information back to the President of the U.S (played marvelously by Danny Glover!!) The President works with leaders from 42 other courtiers (including UK, Canada, France, Switzerland, China, etc) in finding a way to insure the survival of the human race. The world powers decide to build “arks” where they will place 400,000 people from around the world and the world leaders. In these “arks” they do what Noah did, and put 2 of every animal, and they also include the great works of art from around the world (the Mona Lisa, the statue of David, etc). To fund this expansive operation, the government proceeds to sell tickets to the riches people around the world for 1 billion euros a seat!! But the government does not tell the populous what is happening; instead they try to escape without the majority of the world even understanding what is going on around them.

Jackson Curtis, takes his kids up to Yellowstone park for a camping weekend where he meets Charley and Dr. Helmsley. Jackson sees that the huge Lake that was once there was gone and the area was being monitored by the government. While he is gone, earthquakes start to erupt in Los Angeles. Charley tells Jackson about the Space Ships that the government is building and about the end of the world. Jackson thinks that Charley is a little crazy, but once he sees what has happened and is happening in Los Angeles he starts to believe him. In an effort to keep his kids and ex-wife (and her new hubbie) alive, he risks his life to get them from Yellowstone park to China where the “arks” are being built. Around him volcanoes are erupting, earthquakes are destroying the ground and tsunamis are wiping out land mass everywhere.

This movie keeps you sitting on the edge of your seat a good 90% of the time and is one of those movies that you need to see in theaters because of all the action!

I don’t want to give away anymore of the movie, but I did enjoy it. My boyfriend did not make a bad movie selection, actually a pretty good one. But I get to pick the next one…The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus!! Tons of Hot Guys ALL in ONE MOVIE it just can't go wrong!!

Diary's of a Dog & Cat

EXCERPT FROM A DOG'S DAILY DIARY:
8:00 a.m. Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 a.m. A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 a.m. Walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 a.m. Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 p.m. Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 p.m. Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 p.m. Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 p.m. Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 p.m. Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 p.m. Wow! Watched TV with my master! My favorite thing!
11:00 p.m. Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

EXCERPT FROM A CAT'S DAILY DIARY:
Day 683 of my captivity:
My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape.

In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the floor. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of; however, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. The audacity!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of allergies." I must learn what this means and how to use it to my advantage. Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released ? and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded! The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. The captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe.......for now.





My mum had forwarded this to me and I figured it was to funny to pass up, whoever wrote this got it totally right and I only wish I could take credit for the genius of this, but I cannot

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

As I am sure anyone who knows me or reads my blogs has figured out by now that I am fascinated by zombies. They freak me out a bit, some people fear the dark, spiders, monsters, but me….zombies. If something freaks me out…I run head long into it, so I read zombie books, go to zombie movies, plan for the zombie apocalypse (don’t laugh, you will just wish you knew where I live when it happens)

So when I was browsing on-line one day, I can across a sample of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Being a zombie fan, I got excited, emailed a few friends. And I download the first chapter and read it in a PDF format. I do this with a lot of books, cuz let’s face it, if you are not sucked in to a story within the first chapter or so, you are going to have to force yourself to read it.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is based on the Jane Austen 1813 classic Pride and Prejudice….not to much surprise there right :-). If follows basically the same plot with just the odd zombie, or should I say, unmentionables through into the mix. The book is redone by Seth Grahame-Smith, but you really can’t give him too much credit, because as I said, he just through in a zombie here or there and changed a couple of thing around.

He placed to book in a reality where England has been stricken with these unmentionables and the Bennet daughters (Elizabeth and her 4 sisters) protect the country side from the zombies because they were trained in the “deadly arts”. Mrs. Bennet is determined to find her daughter’s husbands and get them married, and once they are married they are relieved of their duty of protecting their home. As in the original, Jane falls for Mr. Bingley and Elizabeth, who only focuses on destroying all zombies, hates and then falls deeply in love with Mr. Bingleys long time friend Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth first meets Mr. Darcy at a ball held by Mr. Bingelys were they are attacked by the undead and the Bennet girls have to fight them off.

Elizabeth actually despises Mr. Darcy because he originally plotted to keep her sister and Mr. Bingley apart even though it was clear that they were in love. He then believes ruthless lies about Mr. Darcy from a soldier she befriended Mr. Wickham.

Elizabeth’s best friend, Charlotte, marries Elizabeth’s Uncle and moves away shortly after being bitten by an unmentionable. Elizabeth become of the love for her friend, decides not to kill her on the spot. Elizabeth goes to visit her dear friend and on the way back while stay a while with her aunt and uncle. While there she learns that her younger sister Lydia had been kidnapped or eloped with Mr. Wickham and that he had no plans to marry her. This would bring great shame to her family name. While at her aunts and uncles, she again meets Mr. Darcy and explains to him the honest truth of her loathing him, while he confesses to loving her.

To fall back into the good graces of Elizabeth after learning why she disliked him, he tracked down and forced Mr. Wickham to marry Lydia, reunited Mr. Bingley and Jane and reviled the truth behind why Mr. Wickham told such evil lies about him. Elizabeth is embarrassed when she learns the truth of who Mr. Darcy is and she falls in love with him and they live happily ever after.

I love zombie books, but this one is a waste of time, I saw such hype about it coming out and in the end I just felt like I re-read Pride and Prejudice. If a friend has the book or something, sure read it, but don’t go waste your money on it. It took me forever to finish it, and I read books quick, and my best friend just got bored, put it down and never picked it back up. I had to force myself to continue reading it….and I read a good 4-5 books in between. It was not the best pick of the bunch and there are much better zombie books out there!

My Evil Mind

I recently went on a trip to New Jersey and on the way up, I was surrounded by screaming children and a parent who said “stop it”, while the other parent slept, and all the kids response was “why?” as they continued to do it.
But that is not the point of this blog….On the way back, I was worried that I would have a similar experience as on the way up and have to turn around and yell at the parent! BUT I DIDN’T. Thankfully, instead, I got on a plane that was overrun by retires all heading down to FL before it got to cold up North. I think a total of 5 people (not including the flight crew) were under the age of 45! As I took my seat I had to go past a very cute old couple. I am not saying old in a young since, I am saying, on their last leg…90+ old. They were the cutest married couple I had seen in ages. They had the center and aisle seat, they were so cute. Before the flight took off the wife had to help her hubby get his seatbelt on because he couldn’t find the latch section. After the flight took off, the wife pulled out a sandwich and they split it, then they each de-shelled their own hardboiled egg. I was reading this and watching it thinking how cute they were together. Then it was nap time and they both fell asleep.

This is when my mind became evil; I started to think to myself.

“OMG what if one of them dies!”
“Well if one dies…they look so close, such the perfect couple…they both will probably die”
“Great, now I am going to be stuck trapped in a tiny seat between a window and two dead people!”
“If they die, will the flight crew make me sit here next to a dead body for the next 2 hrs of the flight?” “What do they do with bodies when they dies on a plane…I have never heard! This can’t be the first time people have died on a plane”
“Maybe they stick them in the bathroom or something and say it is out of order?”
“How do they get the dead body down the aisle without someone noticing or some child freaking out cuz of the dead person?”
“That won’t work!”
“Great, one of these old people are going to die, and I am going to be stuck here, next to a dead person, maybe even TWO for the entire flight!”
“What about when we land?! Will I have to stay in my seat while everyone else gets off?”
“Great, that is another 1 -1 ½ hrs next to the dead bodies”
“How long does it take before they start to smell?”
“Maybe I could just climb over the dead body and just get off the plane, I mean really, I have already been sitting next to this dead body for 2 hrs!”
“Is that rude, they are already dead?”
“It’s not like anyone else besides you and the flight crew know this…”

I wonder for a second….

“OMG, what if they already died?”

So I proceeded to stare at both of them for about 10 min poised to push the call button, until I am sure they were both still breathing

“Swhoo…that was close!”
“Thank god they are not dead yet!”
“OMG, why am I thinking these things??”
“What is wrong with me. I am evil! I am going to go to hell! What horrible thoughts about this cute couple”
“They are old, aren’t we suppose to respect our elders?”
“Ya, I am showing a lot of respect thinking about their deaths!”
“But I wonder, would they let me climb over the dead bodies?”
“Bad Chloé! Stop thinking such horrible thoughts! What is wrong with you, Go back to your book”

So I did, I went back to my book, but you better believe I kept an eye on them the whole flight ready to push the call button if they went into respiratory arrest or something! And I was so relieved when we landed and they both opened their eyes! It was like a new day…for me and them!

Fast Cars

So my boyfriend went out of town and lucky for me, I got to drive his car. He has my dream car….well same make and model, but SO not the right year. He drives a Pontiac GTO. I love GTO’s, I have always wanted one, not a new one, but the 72 Pontiac GTO. But considering that I am never going to have the money to afford that beauty, I am happy to drive his. (BUT it looks SO DIFFERENT). But you can imagine how spiffy I felt getting to drive it.

Ever since I meet the boy…a few years back now, he has told me over and over again that he doesn’t let anyone drive his car. So to me this was actually a fascinating situation considering how protective he is over his “girl”. I figured he would have a nervous breakdown and drag me from the passenger seat screaming, “NO, you can’t have her!”

What I did find rather funny was that fact that he made me test drive the car. OK, I know that it is a stick, but I have told him a number of times that I know how to drive a stick. When I got into the car, I was actually impressed that he had a stick and KNEW how to drive it. That is just kinda hot to me… But from my side, heck, my mum wouldn’t let me take my driver’s test in an automatic and said if I wanted to drive…I needed to learn how to drive and not just be lazy slag behind the wheel. Learning to drive with my mum was very stressful, so my best friend took me out and taught me how to drive a stick in a few hrs (I have gotten much better since) and I passed my driver’s test…IN A STICK! My first 2 cars were both sticks and my next one will be a stick as well!! But even thought I found it humorous that he wanted me to test drive it, I satisfied his curiosity and test drove his car with him sitting next to me. To be honest, it had been almost a year since I had driven a stick. AND some people do sometimes lie about the fact that they know how to drive a stick (that I have never understood)

And MAN was I a nerve racking! He wasn’t tense or freaking out on me or anything, but I could still feel the weight of his eyes pressing against me as he sat in the passenger seat. I was terrified that I would mess up or do something wrong, but I didn’t!

I passed his little test, of course, and ever since I have been driving this car without him there, it has been….well like riding a bike. I guess once you learn to drive a stick, you never forget.

So now I have finally gotten to drive a GTO and I drove my boyfriends car  NOW I have decided that I am not going to give it back. He can continue to make the payments on it (cuz my car is already paid off) but I will have his and he can have mine.

Another side thought, if he got a GTO before a midlife crisis, what is he going to do when he HAS a midlife crisis….this could get interesting.

Surviving in Today’s World

Money is getting tighter and tighter for me these days (as I am sure many others are feeling the pinch). It seems that every time I am about to get a leg up, the other one gets pushed out from underneath me. I know I don’t have it as bad as others, but since this economic crunch, things have been getting harder and harder for me. I moved to FL to get a MA thinking this would help (apparently you get more money by earing higher degrees…hum!), and I got a job, good for me right. Well I am doing 3x the work for less than ½ of what I was making (and yes I do have a BA with 4 years experience in my field….) SAD!! While I used to have weekends and nights off, I now spend that time catching up on work (not even school work) that I wasn’t able to finish during my 8am-6pm shift and I still cannot seem to get ahead. Too many times I have had to call a friend or my father and ask them to help me out just so I can pay my rent or put food on the table, but that is getting old real quick.

I live paycheck to paycheck and all of my savings are gone, slowly having drained out over time. Times are tough for everyone right now and I feel like I am sometimes quietly drowning on air! I freak out at night and lay in bed hoping and praying that I don’t get sick because even though I have insurance, the $30 co-pay is my grocery money for 2 weeks! I worry about everything; what if I get into an accident, or if something happens to my puppy, what would I do!? Who would loan me the money to be able to deal with an emergency that big!? Sleep has become something of a mystery to me, because I am unable to catch it.

I keep telling myself, don't be broke, do whatever it takes to keep your head above water, because once it does goes under, the surface seem so much farther away! In these trying times, I have turned to loans. I don’t wanna be broke (that is one of the many reasons I work my butt off every day) and I sure as hell don’t wanna feel broke (who really likes paying for gas in change?). I have to take a loan out to pay for college, which is actually not a bad thing. Loans while in college are what save a lot of student’s lives. But now, even with that loan, I think I am going to have to take out an additional loan to pay to survive because I am counting where every penny, NOT DIME, but penny goes right now! At least with a loan, I would finally be able to sleep, relax, not stress over every penny that I spend. I wouldn’t have to live paycheck to paycheck, floating checks, and borrowing money. Loans can actually work in your favor, because although I need money now, I know that when I finally get on my feet, I will be able to pay back the loan and I won’t have to embarrass myself anymore by asking for help from my friends and family. I'm surviving now, but if an emergency comes up, I've decided not to drown, but to take out a loan and take care of myself first. If I need to stay home sick one day, it will be ok to take out this small loan, instead of showing up to work and ending up with walking pnemonia and then having to stay home for a month! It's good to know I have a backup, a company who is willing to help me.

Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein

Let me just start by saying that I am not a Dean Koontz fan, I just really like to read. I have a number of audio books that my dad has given me that I listen to while I am at the gym, on the way to work, and depending on what I am doing…at work. So when I say Frankenstein on his iTunes, I had to have it. I knew it was Dean Koontz, but I figured, maybe this is the trilogy that he did well. Of course I have only listened to 1 & 2, and I will listen to 3…but I would never actually pay for them!

So Dean Koontz takes the old school Frankenstein and makes it modern day (late 90’s really). He sets it in New Orleans. Why did he pick New Orleans, I am not really sure, New Orleans is already known for Vampires thanks to Anne Rice. But, he does. Frankenstein is really Victor Helios, he changed his name after coming to the “New World” with his wife Erica 4 (Erica 4 is killed by Victor and in the book you move to follow Erica 5….obviously she is also a creation of Victors) to start building a synthetic human race known as the new race. Victor believes that the old race (humans) are primitive and weak, so he works to update them.

The original Frankenstein’s monster, named Deucalion has also survived the 200 years that has passed and he is now looking for a way to bring Victor down. However when Deucalion was built from the human remains and brought to life with lightning, Victor had implanted something inside of him that made it impossible for Deucalion to raise his hand against his maker. Deucalion is different from the new race that Victor is creating, he can think for himself and doesn’t have the programming within him that the new race does. Thanks to the lightning, Deucalion has actually become almost immortal, but he knows the truth of what Victor is trying to do and wants to bring Victor down.

Victor has upgraded his creatures since coming to the new world and now breeds his creations in tanks and downloads information & programming directly into their brain. Over the last 20 or so years, Victor and his army of the new race have been slowly killing off humans and replacing them with replicates. Victor has replaced humans on every level of the government, police department and even the corner store and local church pastors. However something is beginning to go wrong with the replicates and they are starting to fail under Victors programming, they are beginning to become more human, with emotions, desires, etc.

While working a serial killer homicide Carson O’Conner and her partner Michael Madison come across a dead new race. Which was in fact one of the failed replicates that was a police officer that Carson and Michael had worked with. With the Help of Deucalion, Carson and Michael realize the truth behind Victor and the new race and help Deucalion in his attempts to stop the apocalypse.

Carson (you follow her life more the Michaels) lives with her brother, Arnie, who is autistic and an assistant, who cares for Arnie when she is at work. Her and Michael have an interesting relationship, both in love with each other, but both fearing what would come if they were to admit it to one another. One of Victors creations, Randal Six, was also created autistic, because Victor thinks this may make him good a single tasks. Randal Six sees a picture of Arnie in a paper and see that Arnie is happy so he begins an adventure/mission to escape Mercy House and find Arnie so that he to can learn the truth of happiness.

During the story, you meet a number of different characters and a number of plots are going on at the same time, and I would say most likely one story to many, which makes it a little hard to follow and the breaks that divided each single story is not always in the best places. Honeslty, I did not enjoy the book as much as I had hoped, but you know how it is, once you start reading one, you feel like you have to continue to read it, just so you can find out how it ends, sadly this is a trilogy and I have one left to suffer through.

House Hunting Continues

I have been thinking of getting a house for a while now, but since I am stuck in my current apartment lease (for another 6 months) I was kinda stuck. AND I was upset that I was going to miss out on that 8k refund that Obama is doing! Then I found out that he was extending it until the end of April next year and I decided, I am going for it, that is PERFECT for me! My lease is up in May 15th! Awesome right! So now I am starting to look for a realtor, who can help me, narrow down all of the properties that are now on the market and actually work with me from start to closing, so that I can become a first time homeowner.

Now come the decision of should I buy here (South Florida) or go home to the Mid West. South Florida is nothing like the Mid West, and I miss my home town and nice people! So I decided to look for property managers in both areas, South Florida, I haven’t come across a really good one (I think I am going to end up going with a friend of the family for down here). However, there is a great company up home, the Real Property Management. They have a great reputation and between that and the fact that my mum and all my friends are pushing for it, well, it sounds good to me. They are one of the fastest growing property management companies in the country and with all the houses on the market right now, I want the perfect place! They inspect the property and cover some of the additional cost that you may inherit when purchasing a house. So I think for my homeward bound search, which mum will head up. I am going to use Real Property Management.

I will be sure to keep you up to date on the progress. I am looking at palaces of turkey-day up North and Mum is looking at place down here over Christmas

The List of Zombie Rules

Everyone knows, I LOVE Zombies!

There are few things in life that I am actually freaked out by. 1. Clowns scare the living pants off me; I think there is something twisted about people (I usually think of men) who want to dress up as clowns and spend the day around small children (can we say pedophiles) 2. Zombies. Admittedly, zombies are not real, but something about the living dead slowly coming after you, never stopping, never tiring, just on and on until they collapse upon you and eat you alive, either disembodying you or turning you into something like them. Yah, that kind of freaks me out.

I guess you can say I am one of the few that would rather be caught prepared instead of caught dead, so me and my two very best friends (who both also dig the zombie thing and don’t find me completely crazy for my thoughts that one day some mad scientist may create something LIKE a zombie) got together and figured, we need to make a list of Rules. NOT just a list of 10, because when it comes down to surviving not only a zombie outbreak, but an apocalypse where you could really be the LMO (Last Man On Earth) you need more than 10 simple rules that will help you survive. My friends and I came up with 50! You may think that 50 is a little much, but take what you want from it.


As for me, I plan on being an LMO. I don’t want to be caught dead, I want to stay alive and for me, this list is really gonna be the best way to do it!

1. DON’T PANIC!!
2. Always be aware of the symptoms
3. Know your facts!
4. Check all newcomers for bite marks – KILL ON SITE if they have them!!!
5. Stay Alert
6. Only the strong survive – fuck finding love ones
7. Head for the hills…GET OUT of the CITY
8. Aim for the head (DUH!)
9. Have a safe house
10. Don’t open your door (even if she/he is hot)
11. Pick up the weapons (leave grandma)
12. Stay in Shape - CARDIO
13. Limber up - cramps aren’t conducive to your health
14. Chose your weapons wisely (don’t get stupid)
15. Sanitation
16. Use the extra bullet (Double Tap)
17. Always where your seat belt
18. Check the back seat
19. Travel light
20. Don’t wait until the Apocalypse to prepare…do it now
21. Know how to hot wire a car
22. Keep extra gas in the back
23. Always clear a room (you never know what is lurking in the corners)
24. Don’t live on the first floor
25. Pillaging for weapons and food are great, but you can’t use the big screen, leave it
26. Beware of glass windows
27. Know where the exits are
28. Hit the gun range
29. Know who has your back – make a pack
30. Always have a lookout
31. Stock up on ammo
32. Keep a baseball bat by your bed
33. Know where the crowbar is
34. Get to a bar!!!!
35. Keep the lights off
36. Stay silent
37. Be Tough – It’s about Survival
38. Always wear appropriate clothes (and shoes)
39. Beware of enclosed spaces – BATHROOMS!!!
40. Keep extra TP in your back pocket
41. Don’t poke a downed zombie
42. Beware of clowns :-)
43. Keep a bike on standby (gas doesn’t last forever)
44. Alcohol is a great escape, unless you need to escape
45. Stash supplies (water, medical, etc)
46. Watch for the assholes (zombies aren’t the only one out to get you)
47. Don't be a fool... dead zombies aren't food
48. Keep it simple (Stupid)
49. Stay Alive (It’s the damn APOCALYPSE)
50. Kill as many ZOMBIES as you can!

While on my perusal of zombie stuff (I am sad, I Google “Zombies” at least a few times a week) I came across a really good zombie quiz. It seemed like something I would have come up with, had I been smart enough to figure out how. This quiz is scary accurate, and will make you quickly stop and wonder as to if you would be an LMO or not!
Do you think you would survive the Zombie Apocalypse? Take the quiz and see: http://www.oneplusyou.com/bb/zombie

Top 10 Vampires of ALL TIME!!

Vampires have always be a mystery to me, clouded in false truth. You have Vampires all the way back to the beginning of time, some even claim that when Cane killed Abel in the Bible and was cursed to walk the earth that he became the first vampire. Every Sunday Christians and Catholics (and variations of) drink the blood of Christ. Everywhere you look, Vampires and vampirism seem to be right around the corner.

So today I saw a video of the Top 10 on Screen Vampires of All time and it got me and my best friend think. Who really are the TOP TEN Vamps of ALL TIME? My best friend and I read as well so our list is a little different.

This is my list:
1) Count Dracula (Bram Stoker’s)
2) Elizabeth of Bathory (if you do not know who she is…well A) You really are not that into Vamps and B) LOOK HER UP! SHE IS THE TRUE VAMPIRE
3) Blade
4) Lestat (from the Ann Rice series – NOT JUST INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE MOVIE!!)
5) Jean- Claude (Anita Blake series)
6) Vlad III (The Impaler) Dracula
7) Dracula (1931)
8) Lost Boys
9) Eric Northman (True Blood)
10) Vampire Diaries (Not the Show the BOOK)

And this was her list:
1) Count Dracula (Bram Stoker’s)
2) Elizabeth of Bathory
3) Lestat (from Anne Rice series)
4) The Count (from sesame street)
5) Vlad (from Diaries of the family Dracul)
6) David (from The Lost Boys)
7) Herman Munster
8) Alice Cullen (Twilight)
9) Blade
10) Jean-Claude (Books one and two only)

Funny how similar we are and yet how different we are. Except we both had the same TOP 2! That I love…then it starts to get a little different, but hey, we have different tastes. It is a good thing that we both love to read, and it is funny how there are thousands of wonderful vampire books and history in the world, and the ones people always think of are the ones on TV. Yes we listed a few that were in Movies, but like Lestat from the Anne Rice series...that is a series of books before it was every a movie. Blade was a comic book character for years before Wesley Snipes took him to the big screen. Books can bring the real vampire into more reality then the best made Hollywood film.

A kid kicked off the plane!!!

I like kids and one day (soon) I want to have kids, my boyfriend has two kids, and LOTS of my friends have kids (I'm at that age). I don’t think there is anything wrong with taking your kid on a flight. BUT you have to understand that there are 180-200+ other people on that flight that paid just like you did and you need to respect that. So I was watching the news and I heard the story about a mother and her baby getting kicked off a Southwest plan because the baby wouldn’t stop talking. They asked the mother to keep her child quite because there were 180+ other people on the plane who paid for their tickets as well, but apparently the comfort of herself and her baby was more important and it didn’t matter how much other people had spent for their ticket or how much work they had to complete before the plane landed. ALL that mattered where HER and HER BABY!

So when I heard that FINALLY a woman was asked to take her 19-month old baby boy off the plane, I wanted to clap! I have been on so many flights that I PAY GOOD MONEY FOR. GOOD HARD EARNED MONEY that I worked for too get onto a flight. I save penny by penny to be able to fly home ONCE a year to visit my mum, and when I go, I usually have to take time off of work and I HAVE TO work on the flight, and so many times I have had to sit in front, behind, or next to some noise ass kid who kicks, cries and screams the entire flight!! Do their parents not know how to control them? It makes it impossible to get the work done that I need, thus I DON’T get paid. I am already counting pennies (like so many people out there). I need that money. I get to go grocery shopping once every 2 months if I am lucky and then I can only spend $60-70. So when their screaming kid making it impossible for me to get my work done it directly affect how long it is before I get to go to the store again (regardless of how empty my cupboards are). We are all struggling right now, some more than me, other less than me, but if your kid makes it impossible for me to work, which means I don’t get paid, which means I will be late on my bills and not have money to EAT….we have a problem.

You may say, well why are you flying if you are that broke, you are right, I use to drive home, but now it is more expensive and more time off than to just fly. I live 22hrs away from my mum by car. So I fly, I want to see my family, I know that must be selfish of me, but I only do it once a year and I save (I take money from my grocery bill to pay for it, so I justify it by sacrificing because I love my mum). Why doesn’t your mum come to see you, good question, well she is retired, living on a fixed income and after the market crashed…well let’s just say, if I did have any extra money ever, it would go to her. So I sacrifice so that I can see my mum, maybe you can tell me I need to not go, but I don’t have much family and I love the family I do have. I spend 360 day a year alone, I want 5 days a year to not be alone. And if that offends you then I don’t care, I love my mum, maybe I am stupid for doing so but whatever.

So back to my original issues, as I mentioned I use to drive place, so there are other ways to travel. If you have a kid who you can’t control out of respect for those around you who chose not to have kids or can control their kids, then I think the airlines have every right out of the respect of the other 180-200 people on the flight to ask you to leave. TUFF LUCK… the world doesn’t revolve around you just like it doesn’t revolve around me…SURPISE. Plus, I only buy one ticket when I fly $230 a year; you buy at least 2 for you and your kid that is almost $500, that will cover you driving! So I think, if your kid doesn’t know how to be quite…help it out. The other 180 people on the flight have the right to ask you to leave or ask you to shut your kid up! SO BRAVO SOUTHWEST!! You shouldn’t have to apologize for anything! You respected the majority! Don’t apologize and you SO didn’t need to give them a refund and money for another flight! I wish more companies did that! HECK I wish there was an airline that wouldn’t allow kids at all! I know that business people, flying for work would take it, college students, people like me and my friends! Only people that wouldn’t take it would be people traveling with their little kids, let them fly together and have to listen to each other’s screaming kids! That would solve everyone’s problems

It's not OCD, It's Organization

Some of my friends tell me that I have OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), but I don’t think it is that serious. I may be a little obsessive sometimes, but not OCD. I just like to have everything organized and neat. It does take me 8 or so hours to clean my 700 sq ft apartment and I carry hand sanitizer (but who doesn’t). I keep 3 running tasks list at work, all listing the same things, one on my outlook, one as a print out status sheet and one in a pocket calendars. Neither the outlook nor the printout sheet is as compete as my pocket calendar, that one tracks everything. I put in my work tasks, shopping lists, events, classes, homework, phone numbers (especially since my phone deleted all its stored numbers in a freak occurrence a month ago), birthdays, pass codes, you name it – it goes in my calendar. It makes me feel more secure, and like my phone or wallet, I can’t leave home without it, I have to go back to get it because I feel lost without it. I think I got this habit from my mum. I think we all pick up habits from our parents. She always has one and when I turned 16 and got a job, she started giving me one a year. Since I have moved out of the house and started a career of my own, I have started to return the favour. Gadda love my mum . I am always keeping my eyes open for a good one to buy her, especially since Christmas is right around the corner. Since I spend a lot of time online (not cuz I am crazy…it’s part my job…online research) I came across a great site that has some really good deals on pocket calendars, which is a good thing, because this holiday I am going to be broke. They have so many different kinds and sizes that I know I will find not only the perfect one for me but also for my mum. The site is easy to navigate and is well organized, unlike some sites you visit.

When are we Truly Safe?

Security is becoming more and more important today. It seems to be one of the hot topics that is almost always being discussed. Do we have too much security that it is taking away from our privacy, are we lacking in security that people are able to get guns and weapons into schools and onto planes. This is a topic that will always be hot and one that will never be agreed upon. Does the NSA have the right to read our emails and monitor our phone conversations? Does the government have the right to access everyone’s Facebook account? Do people have the right to carry guns, and if so do they have the right to carry them concealed? We seem to need protection from everything today, just read the News, children being kidnapped, students being gunned down in school, terrorist attempts on federal buildings and churches, organizations being brought to their knees, Medicare Scams, the list goes on and on. When are we truly safe?

With all of the hackers running round the world today, not only are individuals at risk of losing their identity, having their bank account wiped out and more, but many organizations are also at high risk. I know the company I work for is really big on security and it would be crazy bad is someone hacked into our organizations network. All the big organizations are looking to hire Security Consultants to help them protect against the hackers. One good hacker can destroy and entire organizations with just a few key strokes. Hackers can be anyone and they can be anywhere, the internet has made it easy for them to steal money and secrets from anyone at anytime. The internet may have made our lives easier but they have not made it safer, it has just opened up a whole other avenue of crime.

One of the ways many are making a living is by going in the security field and getting extensive training in security, weapons/ firearms training , terrorist awareness and the authority to arrest people. After taking a number of course, these individuals get the online guard card and can begin a new career. But you have to remember that city/state have different rules and regulations. Firearms training in South Florida is way different then firearms training in Los Angeles.

ZOMBIELAND

I am a huge Zombie Fan…ask any of my friends, so a few months back when I saw the first preview for ZOMBIELAND…I couldn’t wait. I have seriously been counting down the days until this movie came out! I loved the previews…funny as all heck.

So my boyfriend and I went last night!!! I would have gone this weekend, but thanks to an ear infection that made me deaf in one ear...I had to wait!

One of the things I really Zombieland starts off and it goes STRAIT into the blood! Most movies build up! Not this one! You are laughing and seeing blood within the first min of the movie. I started laughing and hardly stopped until the end. AND unlike a lot of movies…these characters where not stupid and making stupid choices that would get them killed…they were survivors!

Zombieland starts in the post Zombies apocalyptic (I know that will come one day !). It has been 2 months since the first person got infected with the zombie virus (which they do not name, but for anyone who knows anything about zombies…the virus’s name is Solanum). Only a few human have managed to remain alive, mainly Columbus (he is the teller of the story). He is a college student who is trying to get back to Columbus to find his parents. The only way Columbus has managed to survive (considering he is the dorky un-athletic type who is afraid of everything) is by following his 32 Rules. I guess Columbus’ fears are what helped him stay alive. OH and like me Columbus has an UNDYING fear of CLOWNS. Yes you heard me CLOWNS.

Side note:
I knew there was going to be a zombie clown in the movie…I have known for months thanks to IMDB which had the freaking clown on the main page for ever…I COULDN’T visit IMDB until a friend told me it was finally down. So anyway I was expecting that…and looked away so I did scream (I knew it was coming). But I didn’t know about the first clown. AND I screamed…AHHH (LOUD) and screamed “OH MY F*#$ing GOD! I HATE F*#$ing CLOWNS” and jumped in my seat. It was so loud that everyone in the theater looked at me. I didn’t mean to it just came out as a reflex. I think I almost had a heart attack!

Back to the Movie:
So Columbus on his way back to Ohio when he runs into Tallahassee (played by one of my favorite actors Woody Harrelson!!). Tallahassee is a crazy zombie killer, Twinkie obsessed mad man! And he pulls up in a pimped out Escalade…not pimped out like rapper…but pimped out like ready to take down some ZOMBIES…nice (how much do you think Escalade paid for that!!!). Tallahassee agrees to give Columbus a ride. Thanks to Tallahassee’s obsession with Twinkies they stop at a store where they find 2 girls, Wichita and Little Rock. Witchita convinces the boys that her sister has been bitten and she needs their gun to killer her….but it was a scam and as soon as they get the gun…the leave Tallahassee and Columbus behind and drive off in Tallahassee’s sweet ass Escalade!

Tallahassee and Columbus set off on foot, and are lucky enough to come across a Hummer (How much do you think HUMMER paid for that…same as the Escalade?!!) The Hummer is full of weapons (gadda love those red necks). So they set back off down the road…only to find the Escalade broke down. Little Rock and Wichita trick the boys again and get the car, but are at least nice enough to take the boys with them.

The girls are heading to some amusement park so they head west…taking the boys with them. When they finally arrive in Hollywood, Tallahassee takes them to Bill Murray’s house (haha) Bill is dressed up as a Zombie…so he can fit in…and still socialize (odd). And scares the crap out of Tallahassee and Wichita, Bill and Tallahassee start talking and they convince Bill to go and scare Columbus because he is well a phobic virgin.

I am not going to say anymore because I do not want to give away the rest of the movie….and trust me I have skipped over most of it.

Oh but one thing I love The RULES!!! If you have not seen them yet….YOU HAVE TO! Rules to Live by!!!
01. Cardio
02. Double tap
03. Beware of bathrooms
04. Seatbelts
07. Travel light
17. Don't be a hero
18. Limber up
22. When in doubt know your way out
31. Check the back seat
32. Enjoy the little things

This movie is non-stop laughs! Even my boyfriend laughed (a lot) and I had to drag him to the movie! I had to beg, but he gave in and took me because he knows my LOVE for zombies!!! And I am so grateful and happy that he did take me.

ZombieLand is like a combination of Shaun of the Dead (funny ass movie) and the Zombie Survival Guide (by Max Brooks)! It is totally worth seeing and I give it for real like 9 stars out of 10!!! That is right almost 10 out of 10….There was a clown (lost part of a point). When the movie ended, I could have turned around and watched it again!!

The Revenge of Jake the Pup # 1

So this is Jakes 2nd week home alone, and I think I actually adopted underdog...not just a poor innocent little puppy that her pretends to be. Jake HATES me leaving the house. He loves to be around me, like most puppies...he follows me around the house and doesn't like to let me out of his site. So he is pissed when I leave!

When I got Jake I knew he was the perfect dog for me! He was amazing and we bonded right away. He is a little bit of a dork and so am I...perfect for each other.

Jake was having accidents in my apartment the first few days (2 to be exact) and so everyone said to me...oh he is not potty trained, you should get him a cage...dogs like cages and the cage becomes like "home" to the dog and blah blah blah. Well Jake hates the cage. It lasted about 4 days until he BROKE out! Not unlatching it by a fluck, but KNOCKED the front of the cage out! Yes.

I come home at lunch to find all of his toys around the apartment. I think to myself..."I picked those up before I left...how did they all get out again". Jake jumps off the couch and runs over to me..."HI, HI, HI". I say..."well hi Jake, how did you get out of your cage?" I walk into the bedroom and question answered. The front door is KNOCKED down!! Seriously, getting that cage together, I had to put my foot on it and pull with my both hands to get it to latch! That thing was secure and NOT easy to unlatch.

Anyway, I decide to leave him out of the cage, because well he hates it, and he is doing just fine staying out of the cage. No accidents around the house in about 1 week.

BUT Jake barks. AND again, people said...oh he will only bark for an hour or so...but NO, Jake barks from the time I walk out of the house until the time I get back home. that is like 9 1/2 hrs, if I do not have to go shopping or stop and pick something up on the way home.

Lets be honest...if he keeps that up both Jake and I are going to be on the street...homeless.

So I ask around and a trainer tells me that I need to get a a muzzle for him. Ok. I get one and the week is going great. No barking...haha...cuz he can't.

I come home yesterday to a quite house and for some reason I can't get in the door. I unlocked it, HOWEVER the flip latch had somehow flipped over. Jake had done it. My friend (Dave)tells me...don't worry about it, it was just a one time thing. Chances of that happening again are one in a million. I agree....how foolish of me.

Today I go to work...come home at lunch...take Jake out...go back to work...hit the gym...come home and I can't get into my house. Jake has flipped the LATCH again. And this time it was ALL the way over!!! WTF! I can open the door about 3 inches...you know so that it opens as far as the latch will let it. So I have to open and close the door again and again and again thinking OMG this super dog has jumped up 4 feet and flipped the latch to lock me out...I know he is thinking "HAHA leave me and see what is happening bitch". Every time the door open the 3 inches Jake sticks his butt up in the air and puts his head and paws all the way down and rushes forward..."HI...HI...why aren't you coming in...HI" I finally BREAK my way into my own house and Jake is standing there...."HI HI HI" he BARKS..yes Barks. He had managed to rip his muzzle off. Not undo the latch in the back, not pull it off his face, not even break it along a seam...but RIP it off! I had to sew it back together until I can actually go and get another one.

So why do I can my dog is underdog in disguise:
I have a 23 lb 7 mth year old puppy who has:
*Broken out of a cage that should be able to hold dogs up to 40lbs
*Locked me out of my own house twice
*Ripped a muzzle off of his face!

One thing makes me think that he may not be a super hero...My boyfriend came over last Friday night after work...he gets off at like 1:30 so he get to my place at like 2 am. Jake hears the door lock click and he rushes towards the door. Dirk walks in and Jake starts barking. Dirk playfully jumps towards Jake and Jake rushes into the bedroom (still barking) and stands behind me pocking his head around my legs barking at Dirk like crazy. He may not be an attack dog yet, but at least he will let me know when someone comes in!

But besides that minor incident I am convinced that I have adopted underdog and I love him, How could I not, he crawls under the covers in the morning while I am in the shower. I did pick the perfect dog for me.

The Beauty of Art

I love art; I have a goal to travel around the world and view art. I could spend years doing that, but unfortunately life just isn’t that long. I guess I am lucky in the fact that I have already seen so much (not as much as some and more than others, but I figure a good amount). I am a really big fan of Renaissance art, so when I got the opportunity to go to Italy not once but twice, I felt like the luckiest girl alive. My favorite painting in the whole world is “The Birth of Venus” which is on display in the Uffizi in Florence. I have been to a number of museums and art galleries because I believe so much in life being expressed through art. There are tons of places to not only view great art but to also buy it! My mom is a huge fan Monet and impressionist art, recently she has become a fan of of Ford Smith Art. She says they feel the same to her. And that is the beauty of art. You can take whatever you want away from it! Whether you like realism, impressionism or Abstract and Cubism you can find what you are looking for. Some artist have you guessing and some has you laughing but art is what you make of it. Everyone should have a good piece of art in their home!

Biker Days

It seems that everywhere I turn, my friends, family and just people on the street love bikes.

There is something about a guy on a motorcycle that just makes a girl wanna hope on the back and ride off into the distance. I love bikes just as much as the next girl; I admit that when I see a guy on a motorcycle, I look, I check him out…see what is going on under the helmet. One of my personal favorite shows is “Sons of Anarchy”, it’s about a biker gang. The show is awesome, and I tivo it every week, it show the gang side of motorcycles. But bikes are not all about gangs and getting girls and being a bad boy (although all of those are plus) and bikes are not just for guys.

My mom is a big biker, back in her younger days she use to drive a Vincent & a Norton. Even today she hopes on a bike every year and drives out to Sturgis. Looking at my mom you would never guess that she is a biker buff, but that is what makes her unique. I see the pictures of my mom when she was my age, it boots and short skirts riding a bike and I realize that we are more alike than I ever would have guessed (except I like fast cars because I am to scared to get on a bike) Bikes are a great way to express yourself.

There are so many different brands and accessories that you can get for your bike, and if you shop at the right places, online is usually the best place for the best prices. Like at some places on the web you can get kuryakyn parts and accessories for your bike at up to 60% off! Now that is a good deal. CruiserCustomizing.com is a great one-stop-shop that has over 30k different parts for all makes and models, from Cruisers to Sport Bikes to Harleys & Goldwings, you can find something unique to really make your bike show off your personality at cruisercustomizing.com.

Being the Bee's Knees

They say that your first impression when meeting someone will make or break you and those impressions are made in 10 seconds. Many times we don’t make the best impression

But it is not just a saying it is the truth. You dress to impress. When you go on an interview, you don’t come dressed down in jeans and a t-shirt, you come dressed in your Sunday best! When you go out to the club, you want to have an attractive appearance, you want to look like the bee’s knees as my mum use to say.

We all want to know who we appear to others when we go on that first interview, or on that first day of class, yah, you can look in the mirror, but let’s be honest, we don’t see what others do. Personally for me, I see every flaw and unattractive thing about myself and almost nothing that is actually what others see.

Now there is a new way to find out how you can make the best first impression possible, this cool new site, Attractive Appearance, lets you upload a picture and have it analyzed by regular visitors to the site. Different then a lot of sites that just rank you on a whole, on this site, people point out parts of you that they find the most attractive. So next time you go out you can really take this knowledge, enhance the features that people liked the best.

The Saga of Seven Suns Continues

First I just wanna say that it took me until JUST now to realize the title of the book. I guess I knew all along, but sometimes I am just slow…Seven Suns…I get it…WOW.

So I believe the last blog I wrote was book 2, Forest of Stars. Since then I have finished both book 3, Horizon Storms and book 4, Scattered Suns. I have just started reading book 5, Of Fire and Night.

This novel just keeps getting better and better. So much has happened in these last 2 books that.

The Hansa decide to deploy yet more of the Klikiss Torches and destroying yet more of the Hydrogues. But the Hydrogues fight back and during the battle of Osquivel, the earth forces are servierly beaten and many soldiers are left do die, Patrick Fitzpatrick III is among them. But unbeknownst to anyone, the Roamers had a shipyard on Osquivel. Thanks to Tasia Tamblyns quick thinking she managed to warn Del of the EDF’s plans to fight the Hydrogues there. Del has just enough time to camouflage his shipyard. After the battle between the humans and Hydrogues was over, they Roamers rescued 30+ EDF soldiers, Fitzpatrick was among them. Unable to return the Soldier back to earth for free of their settlement and secrets being reveled they put the EDF to work. The rescued “captives” resent the Roamers, but Fitzpatrick begins to fall in love with Zhett Kellum, daughter of Del and owner of the Osquivel Shipyard.

The Hanseatic League take secret action against the Roamers and destroy one of their ships and steal all of the star drive fuel. The Roamer clans react by cutting off all trade with the Hansa. This infuriates Basil and because of their continuing failures against the Hydrogues, they turn their eyes to the Roamers and start to travel the Spiral Arm hunting down and destroying Roamer facilities and taking the Roamers captive. Because of her Roamer background Tasia Tamblyn, a commander in the EDF, is removed from her EDF Jugernot and sent to train recruits on Mars and the rest of the EDF attack the Roamers. Tasia is upset by this new assignment, but does not know of the EDF’s initiative against the Roamers. After the EDF destroy Rendezvou (Roamer headquarters) and Hurricane Depot (Roamers main spot for transportation). Tasia is shocked when she hears of the attacks on Roamer stations, but there is not much she can do, she accepts the position of relocate the Roamer POW to Llaro where the Roamers are put to work, building new facilities for the EDF.

The Hansa start a massive settlement program using the ancient Klikiss transportation methods discovered by Margaret Colicos and her husband. During this resettlement program, you meet a new character named Orli, Her father jan Covitz takes Orli away from her home planet of Dremen and moves in the Hansa re-location program to Corribus. Orli is only 14 and only just a little while on Corribus, the planet and all of the settelers, including Orli’s father are wiped out with EDF battle ships controlled by Kilkiss robots attack Corribus.

The Klikiss Robots are secretly working against the humans and alongside the Hydrogues. The Klikiss robots volunteerto allow human engineers to dismantle one of the Klikiss robots and use it as a blueprint for creating new robots. Happy to have the Klikiss robots help, the Hansa quickly start producing massive amounts of Robot Copies that are to be assigned to mantas and other EDF vessels in place of humans. King Peter is warily of the Klikiss robots and tries to mention something to Basil but he is blown off, the only person he can trust is his copie Ox and his loving wife Estarra. However the Robot Copies are just at ticking time boom and the Klikiss robots are waiting to activate the Robot Copies and use them against the humans.

Jess Tamblen, who is in love with Cesca Peroni leaves Randevo so that Cesca can marry Raynald and crate an alliance between the Roamers and the Theroc, but Raynald is killed before the union can take place when they Hydrogues finally make a move on their long time enemys the Verdoni. The battle is amazing and it destroys hundrands of the World Trees. During this battle between the Verdoni and the Hydrogues, the Faeros, a fiers sun dwelling beings show up at Theroc and fight alongside the Verdoni against the Hydrogues. The Verdoni are surprised by this new alliance, but because of the Faeros, they manage to survive against the Hydrogues although many of the world trees and humans were destroyed.

While Jess is away he comes across the Wentals. They save him from death and he becomes something new…something human but not. The ancient water entities are enemies of the Hydrogues, long thought to be exstinxt. Jess Travels to Rendezvous and enlists the help of other Roamers to help him spead the Weantals so they can grow again. While at Rendezvous Jess learns that Cesca did not marry Raynald, but because of Jess’ new found power he is unable to touch Cesca or be with her.

After the Hydrogue attack on Theroc, the Roamers, at the suggestion of Cesca Peroni got the Theroc to help them re-build (unlike the Hansa, who sent little to no assistance). Basil, hearing of the death of Raynald and the Hydrogues attack on Tehorc, see this as an opportunity and sends his lover and the Theroc ambassador to earth Sarein back to Theroc so she can become the new “mother of theroc” and provide the earth defense with green priest for instant transportation.

Now that the Hydrogues know that the Faeros are no longer their alli and huge battle between the two ancient races begins and they destroy planets and extinguish suns along the way.

Nira, the green priest, is still being held captive on Dobro (the human experimental breeding camp of the Illdira). After so much pain and suffering finally get to meet her daughter but before more than a few minutes pass dragged away from Osira’h is dragged away, and Nira is beat unconscious. Jora’h’s father kills himself, leaving Jora’h the new Mage-Imperator. Udru’h, worrying that Jora’h would find out that he is still holding Nira, take Nira away from the breading plant and puts her on an isolated island.

Osira’h finally having the opportunity to meet her mother, realizes the truth about Udru’h and although she no longer cares for him, she must still do what she is born to do, and become a bridge of communications for the Ildira’s and the Hydrogues.

Jora’h’s brother experiences massive head trauma during a Hydrogue attack on his planet and is slump into a coma for some time, when he awakes he believes that he is the true Mage Imperator and should rule. He brainwashing Jora’h’s own son Thor and sets out across the spiral arm to force other Ildiran into his twisted thism web. Jora’h is sick of his insane brother and moves to take everything back.

I think that is a failry good overview, but I am sure I am missing a number of things. I cannot wait to finish reading the last two books. I am very pleased with this story and I recommend anyone who likes Sci-Fi should read these novels!!!

Do You Know What Your Employees Are Doing?

Let’s admit it, the internet makes it hard to keep your employees focused and on track all day long. People are always checking their email, Facebook account or reading up on the latest news. A little bit of web browsing is not a bad thing. Everyone needs a break every now and again and letting them check their personal email or take 2 minutes for a Facebook update won’t affect their work progress, but some employees are addicted and it can really affect their output.

Now there is a new program, ActivTrak, for employers so they can track what websites and applications a employee is using while at their desk. This easy install application will let you see what your employees have been doing and for how long by the use of screen shots and log histories. You can even send an IM to your employee just to check in on what they are doing or chat

To learn more about ActivTrak there is a very activtrak live demo available on line. In just 10 short minutes the demo walks you through how to install the program onto your computer and how to use it to monitor all of your employees. The demo is detailed and will answer any question you may have, such as how do I view screen shots of what my employees are doing, what application and sites are they using the most. The demo a little slower paced, but in a situation like this it is good so that you can either follow along or actually take the time to read and view all of your options. For an application this complex, they cover all of the information, in-depth, within the demo.

District 9

Since my family was in town this weekend, we went to go see a few movies. One chick flick and one action movie. Yesterday we went to go see District 9. My dad and I are both really into SciFi and we both like movies. I had been asking my boyfriend if we could go see this movie for about a month and I kept asking him when he was going to take me to the movies and I kept getting “I don’t know,” so I decided…I should go with my family. My dad really wants to see it and so do I, and if I end up waiting for my boyfriend to take me to go see it…I may never go! And I am SO glad that I went to see it! It was great! One of the best movies I have seen in a long time. I guess if you are not into SciFi or the Alien thing or anything like that….then you may not like this movie.

District 9 is actually done in a documentary style (which gives me hope for World War Z which is THE BEST ZOMBIE BOOK that they are turning into a movie because that is also a documentary!). The story opens in Johannesburg, South Africa. And alien ship comes to earth about 20 years ago in a “mother ship,” and it sits and hovers above Johannesburg for months without making contact. So eventually the governments get sick of this and they decided to initiate contact and they cut into the ship and discover a massive number of sick and malnourished aliens living in the ship. It seems that the leaders either died or left them, so humans take it upon themselves to bring the aliens to earth, and put them into refugee camps. The refugee camp becomes known as District 9 is is gated off and it turns into a ghetto because of the over population. The humans (because we are such a great and caring species) eventually turn to hating the aliens and we (the humans) start to refer to the aliens as “Prawns” in a derogatory way, because of they way the seem to be bottom feeders and live off the government.

A huge black market opens up inside District 9, because as like in every ghetto, there are guns, violence and Drugs. The Drug of choice for the Aliens is actually cat food. A group of Nigerians lead by a slightly crazy man named Mumbo run this black market making money by exchanging cat food for alien weapons. The only down side is that the weapons have been made to only integrate with the aliens. Mumbo and his gang use all types of rituals to attempt to find a way to use the alien weapons including eating the aliens.

Because of all the problems with District 9 the population of Johannesburg and the rest of the world turn against the “Prawns” they start to hate them, much like the KKK do towards African Americans, or the Germans to the Jews. (Sick Really). The government decided it is time to relocate the aliens.

A company, known as MNU (Mulit-National United) take it upon themselves to relocate the 1.5 (or so) million aliens to a new refugee camp known as District 10 which was located outside of Johannesburg. MNU also has another agenda at hand, they are actually in fact one of the largest weapons manufacturing company in the world and they would love to get their hands on the knowledge of who to USE the alien technology/weapons. They have to go into District 9 and tell all the alien residence that they are getting evicted.

MNU selects a man named Wikus van der Merwe (an unknown actor named Sharlto Copley). He sets out to inspect all the alien residence and tell them they are to be evicted. While he is in District 9 he comes across an alien container that shots some odd liquid into his face making him EXTREAMLY sick and starts a strange, rapid transformation which turns Wikus’s arm into a mutated alien claw. Because his DNA has found a way to bound with the aliens MNU finds this extremely interesting and kidnap him for experimental testing and they force him to operate the alien weapons. They decide that they need to actually dissect him so they can find out WHY he bonded with the aliens DNA. Wilkus of course doesn’t, obviously, wan to be cut into and he escapes MNU and flees to the only place he can hid…District 9. A huge man hunt starts in search of Wilkus while he searchers for a why to get rid of his alien DNA, become human again and return to his wife and happy home.

Of course this is only about the first 1/4th of the movie. The plot thickens and it really keeps you on the edge of your seat. I am not going to tell you anymore, because I think that this is a great movie and everyone should go to see it!!!

I think one of the things I really loved about this movie was that it was JUST as good if not better then hundreds of Hollywood movies that they make for 100million + dollars yet this was made with a budge of 30 million and they used unknown actors (who all did a fabulous job!!) and they shot it on location in Johannesburg, South Africa. I think they did a great job with this movie. I am curious what they are going to do, because although it ended….they also left it open in a way…so I would like to see what they do. And if they do make a sequel, I do not want them to go all big Hollywood bang…I would want the same thing…again!

This movie I would rate 8 ½ out of 10 stars. And it is one of the TOP movies of the summer….maybe the best I have seen all summer. I wish I could have seen it with my boyfriend, and if he would like to take me again to see it, I would for sure be down with that. BUT I am glad I didn’t wait around for him to decided he wanted to take me to a movie…because if that had been the case, I am fairly sure that I would not have gotten to go see this really amazing movie that is TOTALLY worth seeing.

Of the two movies I saw this weekend District 9 was the BEST!!!