Geek in Heels - Page 43

Aug 23, 2012 • In Entertainment, Funny, Geek, Movies

Joss Whedon’s Secret Plan

I believe that The Avengers was one of the most entertaining movies I have seen this year. And after having re-discovered my love for Firefly earlier this summer by rewatching all the episodes (and the movie)…

How could I not share this fantastic cartoon by Gutters? Oh if only this were the case…

P.S. — I once read that Gina Torres, the actress who plays Zoë in Firefly, was considered for the role of Storm for the X-Men movie franchise. Umm…who else thinks that she would have made a much more KICKASS Storm than Halle Berry? I mean, nothing against Ms. Berry, but I always felt that her portrayal of Storm was not dark enough.

The Human Mind Can Be a Disgusting Place

One of the most memorable novels I have ever read is American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis. (And in case you weren’t aware, yes the movie is based on the book.) While the book is meant as a satire of 1980s American materialism, greed, and superficiality, the reader cannot help but be horrified — and transfixed! — by the narrator’s description of his murders and the thought process that goes behind them.

It’s actually a great read for those who do not easily get queasy, or can appreciate genius in its various forms.

When I read the book for the very first time back in my early twenties, I remember thinking that the author must have one sick mind to even IMAGINE these scenarios and thoughts.

I also remember feeling relieved; I felt fortunate that I had not yet in my short life come across anyone with disturbing thoughts such as these.

But the more I think about it, how would I know?

Does anyone really know what’s truly going on in the heads of their neighbors, coworkers, acquaintances…even their friends and relatives?

The answer is that we don’t.

And I couldn’t help but be reminded of this as I read a highly appalling story on Reddit yesterday.

The following is a screenshot of the original story that was found in a post somewhere in the deep web. It may be a bit difficult to read as it is in image format, but I highly doubt that anyone would want to re-type this story as it is CREEPY as hell.

Warning: the story below is extremely graphic and disturbing!!!

Do you now want to go wash your eyes out with Clorox? Do you want to go sob in a fetal position under a shower? Are you now haunted by images of these “dolls”?

While there is a very good chance that the story is fake (see: “urinary track” vs “urinary tract”), it can still be very disturbing to think that someone has imagined this tale and most likely ENJOYED writing it.

And I thought The Human Centipede was bad.

Sisters, Month 9

My mother tells me that when my sister was born, everyone predicted that we would become best friends because we were so close in age (we’re 22 months apart). However, that turned out to be not the case because our personalities were soooo different.

While we get along fine now, my sister and I didn’t have the best relationship growing up. If we weren’t fighting, we were ignoring each other, or doing completely different activities. In fact, we didn’t begin to really talk to each other — by this, I mean engaging in meaningful conversations and confiding in each other — until we were both in our mid-twenties.

My mother recently observed that Claire and Aerin also seem to have completely different personalities, and expressed her concern that they too would fight like cats and dogs as they got older.

I admit that I’m a bit worried about this too. 🙁

We recently got rid of our coffee table in an effort to create a larger play area for the girls.

Aerin, being much more easygoing, sociable, and adventurous, has recently taken to following Claire around the house. It is clear that she already looks up to her older sister and wants to play with her. However, Claire tends to get annoyed or upset at Aerin and is still having a hard time learning to share not only her toys and books, but also her loved ones’ attention and affections.

I would say that at this time, at the ages of 22 months and 9 months, they get along and play together about 50% of the time.

And when they do get along, it is plain adorable. Like the times Claire tries to “read” to Aerin by flipping through the pages of a book and pointing out pictures and jabbering away in her own special language. (Aerin usually responds by trying to eat the book. Claire says, “NO!” and tries again. They repeat this for a few more minutes. Finally, Claire gives up and walks away, shaking her head and muttering under her breath.) Or when Claire pushes Aerin around in the walker, as evidenced by the video below:

I guess that at this time, all we can do is keep encouraging and nurturing their relationship, and hope for the best.

1988: A Great Year for Movies

Illustrator Andrew Wilson has done a fantastic job creating the following poster in celebration of some of the greatest movies of 1988. Can you recognize all four movies referenced in the poster?

I’m loving the tributes to Akira and Beetlejuice, but I’m a bit disappointed that another great 1988 movie — Die Hard — wasn’t included. (Did you know that J gifted me the Die Hard trilogy in Blu-Ray for my first Mother’s Day? He knows me so well! ) Can you think of any other great movies of 1988?

If you’d like a 18″x24″ giclée print of the poster — limited editions numbered up to 50 — it can be purchased here for $70.

And, just because the dinner scene from Beetlejuice is too epic not to post:

Via Geek Tyrant.

This Past Week…

I went out for the first time in I don’t even remember when and two great things happened. The first: I got carded! The second: I got hit on by three different guys — mama’s still got it!

I was rewarded for my adventures the next morning with a raging hangover. I definitely can’t handle liquor the way I used to…and a hungover mommy is neither attractive nor fun. This is why, boys and girls, I should always remember to keep my alcohol intake to a minimum.

My in-laws discovered a restaurant in Chinatown that sells not one…but TWO Cantonese-style ginger scallion lobsters for only $16. Score!

My cousin visited to see my daughters for the first time. It was so strange to remember that years and years ago, I used to change her diapers. Now she is a college grad with an enviable career who is obviously ALL GROWN UP.

The Hunger Games Blu-Ray I had pre-ordered arrived and I watched it with J that very night. I still believe it is one of the best book-to-movie adaptations I have ever seen, and J liked it as well. (He hadn’t watched it in the theaters.)

I finalized the plans for my trip to LA next month. I can’t wait!

Aerin began to really crawl, not just scooting backwards like she has been doing for the past month. Since Claire never crawled, I almost felt like a first-time mother again as I dealt with this newfangled trick.

We began receiving RSVPs for Claire’s birthday party. I’m still in disbelief that my oldest daughter is turning two soon.

Video Game Characters Reinvented as Traditional Japanese Woodblock Prints

Ukiyo-e Heroes is a project that follows the execution of pop culture in Japanese art. In artist Jed Henry’s own words:

Ukiyo-e is a Japanese word. Ukiyo was the pop culture movement in old Japan. The Ukiyo crowd were the trendsetters of their day. Actors, artists, entertainers. And ‘e’ means pictures. So one interpretation of Ukiyo-e could be pop culture pictures from old Japan. And just like Japan had a huge pop-culture scene back then, Japan still exports tons of popular characters and stories. Especially in the form of video games. And it’s pretty obvious that when modern Japanese designers were making the first video games, they looked back on their own artistic heritage for inspiration.

Traditional art combined with video games? Oh you know me too well…

Can you pinpoint the origins of these designs? I can — and I can’t get enough of the “Street Fighter”-inspired triptych!

My Own Version of Hell

I once read a book which depicted hell as being different for each and every person. According to the author, every individual has a special version of hell specifically designed around his/her deepest fears and anxieties.

I couldn’t help but wonder what my customized hell would be like. And as I ran down my list of phobias (birds and fish…shudder), I realized that my fear of objects is nothing compared to my fears of certain situations.

Like many others, I suffer greatly from the first and greatest sin: pride. Add this to the fact that I was often teased and bullied as a child — if not altogether excluded or ignored — and my own version of hell would be obvious. Mockery. Humiliation. Shame. Feeling left out.

Perhaps a circle of the people in my life, with me at the center, while they tease me, laugh at me, and spit insults at me? For all eternity?

(image source)

As Claire continues to grow and mature, it is becoming apparent that she takes much of her personality after me — her sensitivity to her surroundings, in particular.

But these days, I am afraid that I may have passed down my deepest fears as well.

I have read that most children begin to experience embarrassment between the ages of 15-24 months. Claire, having always been emotionally advanced for her age, started exhibiting signs of self-consciousness right after she turned one. There was a period of time when we, as adults, had to be extra careful when faced with funny stories or situations, because whenever everyone in the room started laughing, Claire would get upset because she was afraid we were laughing at her!

As she gradually grew out of this phase, we began to witness a different reaction. For the past few months, whenever everyone starts laughing, she will stop whatever she was doing and laugh loudly too. Most of the time, it is painfully obvious that she has no idea what everyone else is laughing about — she was either distracted or not paying attention to what was going on — and this forced laugh just sounds fake.

It is indisputable that she only laughs along because she wants to feel included.

As parents, we all want the best for our children. We hope and wish that they will only take after the best facets of ourselves, that the things we despise most about ourselves will become lost and eventually disappear from our family’s gene pool.

Perhaps this aspect of Claire’s personality will change as she grows older. But for now, I can’t help but feel at least a bit guilty that my young daughter, who is only still a toddler, is already experiencing emotions of self-consciousness and potential shame.

Because now, my own version of hell includes my children alongside me at the center of the circle of humiliation.

Strangers from the Past, Stories for the Future

One of the many side effects I experience from antidepressants is vivid dreams. I remember having some crazy dreams the last time I was on meds, and this time is no different.

Luckily, the dreams are hardly ever terrifying. Excitement and thrills? Sure. Like the one I had recently about ancient Egyptian warriors taking over Times Square (yeah, even I had to laugh as I described it to J). But most are just very detailed, colorful, and stirring.

Is there an underlying theme to my dreams? I’m a bit embarrassed to admit it, but I would I have to say that the dreams I experience most these days are of the sexual sort. I don’t think that I have ever dreamt of full-on sex, but everything else seems fair play.

I once read that when having sexual fantasies, women tend to create imaginary partners while men usually think about women in their lives — mainly, sexual partners from the past. I remember laughing as I read this, because it further confirmed the theory that I have a typical guy’s mind when it comes to many things!

So yes, I have been dreaming a lot about guys from my past. Ex-boyfriends, as well as those I casually dated, and even those with whom I have shared one-time drunken make-out sessions.

(Wow, I kinda sound like a slut, huh? I promise I’m not. My history with men seem to be on par with most of my girlfriends — and many times, a lot less.)

(image source)

Mentally reuniting with the guys from my past has inspired me to look through my old journals. I have books and books of them saved from my teenage years on, and while a lot of them are embarrassing (often causing me to shake my head at my younger self, asking “WHAT were you thinking?!?”), I am grateful for them. Because now, with old memories diminishing every second due to “mommy brain” as well as my aging body, I have trouble recalling many of these events and feelings from my earlier years.

I am so glad I wrote them down.

J and I have been watching re-runs of Grey’s Anatomy lately (because don’t you know that’s what couples do? 😉 ) and I couldn’t help but be reminded of this situation as Meredith discovers her mother’s old journals. The journals that brought her closer to her mother — uncovering aspects of a mother she wouldn’t have known otherwise because she was cold and distant throughout her childhood and later developed Alzheimer’s.

I am not saying that I predict a similar relationship with my daughters. I hope I will raise them better than Ellis Grey did with Meredith, despite my not being a naturally affectionate person.

However, I do know that there are some things I would never be able to share with them — at least to their faces.

And that’s where these journals come in.

That’s where my 11+ years of blogging can help.

Many readers of this blog have commended me for my honesty regarding motherhood. They say that my daughters will appreciate and cherish these thoughts when they grow older.

I want my children to know even more. I want them to learn from my mistakes and my experiences. I want them to see facets of their mother that remained hidden, whether through memory loss, embarrassment, or even plain ol’ choice.

In a post last week, I confessed that I was feeling uninspired as of late. Well, I believe that I have found a solution. Because if leaving behind a part of myself for my kids is not inspiration enough, I don’t know what is.

The Movie Genres Recipe [Infographic]

Here are some popular movie genres, visually boiled down to their basic components. I especially love the last element of the Alien Invasion Movie Recipe!

It’s interesting to see how many of my favorite films follow these recipes to a tee; I guess it just goes to show that formulas for success exist for a reason.

Does your favorite movie fall under one of these genres? Does it fit the bill?

Via Geek Tyrant.

Penguin Paperback Style Covers for Video Games

Are you a gamer who also cares about home decor, i.e., beautiful book spines on your shelves such as the Penguin Classics collection? If so, Etsy seller James Bit has the product for you: video game covers à la old Penguin paperback books!

These custom covers, costing $6 for 3, is a surefire way to class up your video game collection. The seller goes on to note:

When ordering, please include your game titles and let us know which console they are for. . . .Your new covers will be sent via email as a high quality PDF. Just print them and slip them into your game case. No shipping costs to you and the file is yours forever in case something happens.