The touching tale of a boy and his weasel.

It has been 180 days since my last "Theraputic" wordpile

alanddizzy — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 23:12:02 GMT

Perhaps it's me coming down from the highs and anticipation of the holidays, or perhaps it's because it's the end of the year, but I'm feeling rather melancholy this week. My birthday is tomorrow and that should help some.

But it's that time of year where I think of friends long since lost to time. And the older I get the more I find those friends were people I only knew through the internet, only knew through their AIM or their LJ handles. And when they stop signing in or when they make a new AIM and don't bother to tell me it becomes impossible to find them after enough time.

But some friends are perhaps best left in the past. Left among the memories that make you fondly smile as you remember what made you friends. Shared moments of comradery, shared moments of frustration and even fear. After so much time has past who knows if they're still the same person that you knew them as? Most assuredly not. And can the new person care for you the way the old person did?

It's a silly thing in itself, there isn't much that can be done but to move along with your life and allow those memories to inspire you and give you hope for new friendships and relationships to form, but I suppose as humans we're all inclined to moments of self indulgence, self pity and a greedy longing for things we lost through no fault of our own or others.

And somewhere amid all the self importance and woe-is-me attitude there's fear. Fear and understanding that in time, others will come and you will love them, and they too will leave. Each time taking a bit of you with them and leaving you with a bit of themselves.

One of my least favorite tactics is to "Hurry up and wait". For those of you who are unfamiliar with this horrible form of self torture it's when you know something is coming, or that you have something you have to do...but you can't do it yet. Or you can't do anything about it till it happens. So all you can do is sit and wait. It's miserable. Especially if you can't even prepare for the event or use the time to some productive manner. I've found that the best thing to do really is to distract yourself so that time moves by at it's normal pace instead of that accursed snails pace that it travels at when you're waiting for something.

Christmas went well. It's been a particularly rough year for my family and friends, a year of struggle, financial uncertainty, emotional roller coasters and so on. Where as for me it's been a year of release from the soul crushing oppression of my former employer. My new job has provided me a financial and emotional stability that allows me to find peace and take my time while the world spins out of control for others.

As such I spared no expense to friends and family. This is not unusual for me but it is more pronounced in years when others cannot do the same. The gifts I provided were met with joy and happiness which gave me a swelling of pride. There were times when I wondered if I was buying these nice things out of the goodness of my heart, out of the love I have for them, or if I was doing it to stroke my own ego, and to feel like a big shot. Whatever the case what's done is done.

I also realized alot of my Christmas is spent sitting quietly in the corner while relatives I don't know that well chat an catch up. It's odd for someone as loud and outgoing as myself to retreat to a quiet corner and simply watch other people but when surrounded by people who have only a vague interest in your life there are only so many topics you can fall back on safely. And so the easier choice is to make idle chit chat, speak when spoken to, be very polite, and accept your rewards in the form of Christmas cards with money hidden in them by uncles and aunts and Grandparents who aren't sure what sort of things you're into these days.

And of coarse as with every year, with every birthday I feel contemplative about where I've been and what I've done, where I'm going and what I'm doing. While on the surface it feels like a year that was only mildly productive I know that just beyond the obvious there are layers of accomplishments. Little things. Series that I started to love, games that I played or beat. Characters that began to develop in ways that I hadn't expected. Friendships that grew or grew apart.

A year like no other, and yet exactly like all that came before it.

I look to the future with uncertainty, unfounded optimism, shy hope. I return to work as night falls and let my mind wander, want, and wait for the things that lay just out of reach in 2012 and beyond.

Will my 24th year be the most significant yet? Or another chapter that adds to the full effect of the story?

Who will I be a year from now?

Pardon my typically verbose and psudodeep rambling, it's more for myself then anything.

alanddizzy — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 07:37:15 GMT

Hey lj, what are some anime that are better then their manga and vice versa?

alanddizzy — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 09:19:13 GMT

I'd like to take a moment to talk about a new book series I just finished the first book of.

It's called "Gone" or at least the first book is and its written by Michael Grant

It's "new" in the "New to me sense" but was originally published in 2008.

The story takes place in a little town on the coast of California when suddenly, inexplicably everyone 15 and older in the city spontaneously vanishes. In a "Lord of the flies" kind of sense (He says though he's never read lord of the flies) the kids are tasked with trying to keep their little society from falling apart, taking care of each other, establishing order. And as can be expected there's always some bullies, manipulators and devious cruel children ready to take advantage in this new world order.

This book hit me like a train in the sense that it took things into a far darker direction then I had originally been expecting starting early on when the vanishing first happens, one of the characters is in a truck with her grandfather as it careens off the side of the road when he vanishes. What followed was a brutal description of the injuries and pain that came with a horrible car accident.

And that? Was the light stuff.

A supernatural element is introduced by way of a massive impregnable barrier that has surrounded the city and surrounding area including a chunk of dessert and the ocean. Furthermore strange mutations are occurring in the local wildlife and in the children themselves.

If you enjoy character driven drama, youths being forced to deal with dark situations that NO child in that age group should have to deal with and a nice almost apocalyptic sort of setting this is a great series to dip into.

I was brought into this series by My friend Laura from Digital Dive who app'd a character from the series, after meeting someone who played another character from the series in Trans_9. From what I've read I've gained a deeper appreciation for both the characters in Trans_9 and can't wait to find out more about them both.

My only regret is now I have to wait for the checekd out copies of the second book in the series to be returned.

Icon Meme answers

alanddizzy — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 23:54:42 GMT

So I don't usually do Meme's but I was up late last night and I'm extremely suggestible while I'm barely awake.

This Meme was from Ari digi_dragon

This icon, adorable right? Whenever a new pokemon game comes around I usually end up getting suckered into buying it even if I have a hard time completing it. At some point I picked up the Pokemon Dungeon game, the sky explorer one I think. When you start playing the game it lets you do a personality test to determine what pokemon you are. I ended up with a Phanpy so I decided I needed an icon to fit it. It appeals to the less then manly part of me that appreciates adorable cute things.

At some point I decided I needed an icon for each of my big three muses, Beastboy, Noir and Jinx. I've already done a significant amount of musing on why I love her so much but I think this icon really captures the smug superiority she likes to feel particularly when she's "winning"

I love me some scrubs, and while I was in West Virginia I began to marathon the episodes on DVD. Then as I got more into gaiaonline.com I started looking for icons I could put in my siggy. Most of the icons can still be found in my photobucket under spacepiratecatdude or alanddizzy. Really...you can't stop watching it can you?

I saw this somewhere...I can't remember where. But since James is well known for cross dressing, and cross dressing is almost always hillarious (The almost being when people are taking it seriously and look good at it)
Again, you can't stop staring at it can you? CAN YOU!?

And last but not least, my default icon. I found this back when I first started looking for icons to represent me and I really do love this quote. It falls into the same category as the quote that "Anyone who calls something foolproof underestimates the ingenuity of a true fool." I like to think about myself as a fool in the traditional sense, the goofy entertainer type. In the entertaining way I try to live my life I think that ignorance and denial are my best defense against the harshness of reality.

I need to watch this movie I think

alanddizzy — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 11:38:45 GMT

alanddizzy — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 11:36:22 GMT

And here we are again

That moment between the darkness of early morning and dawn when I know the sun is racing to reach the mountains that block it's light from my valley.

Four out of my seven days a week this is around the time I'm cleaning up my tools at work and preparing to take my last break of the night if I can squeeze it in.

I enjoy my new job...well it's still new I think. I think It'll keep being new to me for at least a year. We're going through alot of changes at work which I'm only barely aware of because of my inexperience with how things used to be. However there is the constant looming threat of a particularly difficult task no one on my floor crew wants to do but we know sooner or later we'll have to start doing it again. The main floor of the hospital is done in a sort of fake marble or something and we need to strip all the wax off it and replace it with stone protector. While this will make the floors shinier then ever and last longer it is a ridiculous amount of effort and none of us really want to do it.

I should call my stepfather sometime soon...arrange a dinner with him. He was calling me over the summer desperate to see me again before Christmas because I haven't seen him since then. The issues tend to be that he lives very far away (Several hours of driving) and also I've just been busy...or so I tell myself.

I guess I'm not that motivated to see him which is sad because he's a very nice man and he's never done wrong by me after all these years. I will see him at least once before Christmas this I keep telling myself hoping to make it true.

I spent the night with some friends, we went to see a movie "Attack the Block" It was very good but I couldn't help like for the first time feeling like a third wheel. These friends have been a couple for a few months now, and they've been my friends for years...but lately they've been "Playing house" living in the boy's sisters house while she's out of town.

It's rare for me to feel like a third wheel and never with my friends. Partially because I'm such an attention whore that I chatter away and am constantly trying to engage them in the never ending rambling tales of my day to day life to satisfy my own ego.

I just got back from Kumoricon in Vancouver Washington and it left me feeling...I don't know listless. Drifting, like I'm just waiting for the next gathering of geeks so I can get lost in a crowd and feel like I belong even when I'm silent and alone. I had my best friend with me this year and that made things different. I had someone to muse with, to discuss things, to worry about, to fret over and constantly hope he was having a good time.

It's strange becoming aware of character flaws you've probably always had but never noticed before, and my friends have become either numb to them or love me despite them, it's a fine line I suppose. One to be constantly muddled over like a child walking on the painted bike lane line on a road pretending one false step will send the tightrope walker to his doom.

Am I still making sense? Yes? I'll try harder to be incoherent.

My brother has come full circle, where he was once the "Good son" because he passed his classes and was very little trouble, now he's been revealed as a self centered prick who is so into himself he can't be bothered to consider if he's being a burden to others. He's an intern at a hospital right now as a Medical Technician, but he's reached the end of his classes at the community college so unless he screwed them up somehow (and it looks like he might have) he'll have the credentials to be a professional.

But in the process he becomes more and more surly, constantly demanding money to repair his car or cover the costs of his schooling because his job at the local minigolf/gokart/arcade place doesn't pay alot. My parents are at their limit with him I feel. And he just can't understand why. He has told me he feels picked on, alone, like no one understands him and that his friends are all gone. When I tried to explain to him everyone feels that way and I went through those things too he blew me off because I couldn't understand. And really how could I? It's not like I've ever done anything difficult.

Like you know...the West Virginia saga.

OR my various manual labor jobs

So that's my brother, my sister is as she always is. Stubborn, emotional, loving but loud and...let's say passionate about the things she wants.

I splurged on a whole bunch of comic books...I'm going to try my best to get through them all before my next convention, and then I should focus on beating all the video games I own. So many of them were left half finished.

The continuing theme in my comic book buying seems to be strong women characters, including Batgirl, Batwoman, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Catwoman, Zatanna, the girls of Higurashi, some series called Hyper dolls, and then some other things like Soul eater, Highschool of the dead, and Boilerplate

I also spend alot of my time hiding from my thoughts by listening to podcasts. Radio From Hell, Geek Show, Cort and Fatboy, The Mediocre Show, and all the different Podcasts Big Shiny Robot and G4 put out serve as an excellent way to keep my mind occupied as I continue the dull tedious work I am paid for four nights out of the week.

Have I mentioned I love having four ten hour days and three days off? Well that might change along with all the other changes but I'm hoping not.

It's becoming impossible for me to sleep properly even on the weekends. I suppose so many years of night shifts has finally set it in my mind that the brain must be turned on between the hours of 7 P.M and 6 A.M I sleep from about 6 A.M till 1 P.M and then force myself to wake up because there is a friend on AIM I like to talk to at least once a day...even if most of what we do is Roleplay.

All this money spent on vacations...costume things, comic books. I know what I need to start saving it for and spending it on. To get out from under the scrutiny of the IRS. It will just take time. But with this job it can be done. Time...time and determination and some of that ever dwindling willpower I have.

And then...what then? College? Maybe. If I go back to college...when I go back to college it's not because I know what I want to do...I just want to study the things I enjoy. In the department of what I want to do...I don't know still. I'm in love with the idea of Voice Acting lately but again it feels like the sort of thing I'll need to wait to do after the IRS is dealt with.

That really seems to be the thing about the future...it's always easier to wait for it to come to you. I was kind of hoping the more time I spent musing on it the more enlightened I would be as to what to do about it. If I had a passion, something I could pursue and throw caution to the winds that would be an excellent driving force. Something I loved with the kind of love a manga hero feels for his particular passion. I want to feel the same way about my job that some characters feel about sports, or others feel about their hobbies.

I have hobbies I love, things I care about, as I've proven on more then one occasion I can talk and ramble and babble and muse to great lengths about the things that matter to me...and for some reason people listen.

Is it in the presentation? The subject matter? The tone?

Why was it so easy for me to stand in front of an audience of strangers at Kumoricon and crack jokes and bare my soul on the subject of RPGs? Is it because I crave the attention? Yes of coarse but what else?

What makes me spectacular?

Or even just above average.

I don't want to be a janitor all my life...it's not a bad life but it's not the one I want. I don't want to always work night shifts.

I want to be happy with whatever I do, happy in a way I haven't known yet.

I think I've gotten it out of my system...I don't know if I can sleep yet but at least this is something.

alanddizzy — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 13:10:24 GMT

Hey guys remember me?

Yeah me neither.

Anyway...so I got fired just before St. Patricks Day.

See, I had already gotten a couple strikes against me under Walmart's 3 strike policy.

There was this incident where my co-worker "Weasel-face" and myself left a container of razor blades on a shelf after cleaning an area. We were both written up for this.

Prior to that I had received a "Verbal" for my being insubordinate and attempting to listen to my ipod and stave off the encroaching madness that comes from working a dull simple task. Seriously, how do some people do simple boring work and not lose their minds? I can't stop thinking and when I do slow down it tends to be because I'm stuck looping on song lyrics.

So the next to last straw was when I took a week off work during Christmas. I couldn't get the time off approved because Walmart is a souless heartless corporation who wouldn't let me use my sick or vacation time. So I called in sick every day for a week and spent the week with my family...you know like you're supposed to do for a big holiday like Christmas.

Fun side note: My punishment for taking too many days off of work? A paid day off to think about what I had done and write an apology.

So...the final straw...

That morning our store had had a walk through...and had gotten very poor scores. This was the fault of maintenance naturally. I can honestly say we did the best we could with what we had but in the end you can only polish a turd so much.

So that night the manager called our crew together and stressed how important it was that we sweep the store before we scrub. Sweeping before scrubbing is standard protocol and something we almost always do, but the managers were of the understanding we didn't and that the dirt was just ground into the tile by the scrubbers rather then picked up. The were wrong but as we've long known about people in positions of power...sometimes fact just doesn't matter.

So I swept the main aisles and upon clearing that my co-workers were sweeping the other aisles I set to work scrubbing. I was stopped three times by different managers asking if I had swept and I told them yes.

After lunch I was summoned to the office where I was told this:

Manager: You scrubbed an area you didn't sweep.

Al: I didn't.
Manager: Manager B saw you do it.
Al: Which area?
Manager: Manager B saw you scrub the area.
Al: ...that's not what I asked.

Manager: Well, we don't think maintenance is taking sweeping seriously enough so we think it's time you find other employment.

Al: ...

And so it was I was escorted from the property for the second time in my career. My unused sick and vacation days cashed out, my last check handed to me, and 700$ of Walmart stock cashed in (Because I wanted no part of their evil anymore and refused to hold onto that stock in hopes it would grow in profit)

I wasn't particularly heartbroken about the whole affair, anyone who's spoken to me in the last three years should know how much I hated that job and found that it drove me to the very brink of depression, madness, fury, gluttony and sloth. So I spent the next 40 to 50 days filling out applications, catching up on my TV and roaring in annoyance that the Playstation Network decided THEN was the perfect time to crash when I suddenly had all this free time to play DC Universe Online.

Then I got hired.

It happened as a fluke really, my stepfather had been so helpful in my quest to find new employment and of his many helpful bits of helpfulness he pointed me at the website for IHC: Intermountain Health Care. As I discovered one lonesome night at four in the morning as my bank account dwindled and my prospects were becoming worrysome, they needed an experienced "Floor care technician" I.E: Janitor. I applied and was shocked to find I was exactly the kind of patsy they'd been looking for!

The hospital is a wonderful place to work, with functioning cleaning machines, people who know what they're doing and generally seem happy to come to work, various employee appreciation gifts. They don't even mind if I ask for overtime where at Walmart if you even accidentally went over on your time you were punished.

I now have my own Health insurance, like a real grown up, and I'm rolling my 401 K from Walmart into the current one.

To top it off? I have access to some of the coolest rooms in the hospital like the plastic surgery offices where I got to feel all the different kinds of fake boobs they have, and the allergy specialists office where she has a FREAKING SLIDING BOOKCASE that reveals a hidden bathroom! It's amazing and yet entirely mundane somehow.

Now I'm a happy Panda

I'll try and update more.

Got any questions? Things you wanna talk about? I know there are some of you out there who almost only talk to me via this LJ and frankly I want to get back in touch with you!

Also just putting this out there, I'll be going to K-con in Vancouver Washington the first week of September and my own local con Anime Banzai in October. Any of you who might have some money to burn and would like to pop over and hang out with me and my crew? You're more then welcome. I'd be happy to share my hotel room with you.

alanddizzy — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 06:22:41 GMT

So anyone still watching glee, I think Lebanese is worthy of joining my favorite terms for lesbianism

Right up there with "I Lesbian you"

alanddizzy — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:48:52 GMT

Not long ago I had, a bad case of the twenty-somethings.

One of those nights where the entire world feels like it's falling apart around you. You see the future approaching like a train and you are of coarse, unprepared.

Laying there tossing and turning I felt an anxiety I had not felt in so long. The kind where I knew absolutely that if I didn't get my foolish emotions out in the open I would not sleep.

And they were foolish, completely. I know better. Logic can explain away all my insecurities and fears.

But emotions are a powerful sometimes uncontrollable force and no amount of logic would sooth me.

So I logged into Divechat, at sometime around three in the morning.

The few remaining chatters listened, related with me, and then proceeded to join me in a string of dick and boob jokes, sexual innuendo and the like.

It's nights like this I know I can never discount how important internet relationships have become in my life. I know my meatspace friends would have done the same for me, but none of them were awake at three A.M.

So those of you that were there in the wee hours of the morning to be horribly wonderfully inappropriate with me? Thanks. I hope I can be horribly inappropriate for you as well sometime.

alanddizzy — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 15:35:14 GMT

So, in an effort to continue to hide from the reality that is my life I've really thrown myself into reading lately. Mostly graphic novels but I'll be starting in on proper books soon.

Last night I finished up Hack and Slash omnibus 1 and another book. Because I have Hack and Slash 2 to read I'll save that for later.

So today let me just share some words about "The Littlest Zombie."

The Littlest Zombie is a whimsical series of one shot stories by Fred Perry. You may know him as the mind behind the cheesecake comedy adventure series "Gold Digger."

I've been a fan of Perry's work for years though I haven't collected alot of it due to lack of funds. Last night I found myself concerned I'd run out of reading material on my breaks so I ran into a local Hastings before work and this little gem jumped out at me. With a title like "The Littlest Zombie" How could I refuse?

These stories are set in a post apocalyptic world and are bookended in front and back by a story set at Christmas time. The world has been over run with a zombie plague and there are allusions to a great war that devastated mankind. There are still survivors and though much of the issues deals with them, the story is really about a tiny Zombie just trying to get by in the world.

Our hero has no name, but we do get some narration from him on occasion. He's a clever little zombie, and he has to be because as a small child zombie he's not strong enough to fight his way to the meat when a horde falls upon it. Unlike his undead brothers he has the capacity to learn and you find yourself rooting for him despite the fact that the plain and simple of it is he's killing people and eating them.

This sometimes dark but cute series was a tasty treat for me during my work hours and I was happy I read it. The supporting cast of humans and one tiny adorable vampire are colorful and have enough personality that they themselves could star in their own books for the most part.
I can suggest this short little snack of a series to those who are a fan of Zombies, cute humor, or someone who just wants something different to read.

In comparison to some of you on my FL list, my reviews are tiny and meek.

alanddizzy — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:57:00 GMT

As Al buries himself in the 400$ of DVDs and Books he bought, let's see some reviews.

First up we have "Dr. Horrible and other horrible stories!

Fans of "Dr. Horrible's singalong musical blog" rejoice! Here is a collection of stories further exploring the lives of Dr. Horrible, Captain Hammer, Penny, Moist and even the Evil League of Evil and their leader, Bad Horse. The stories very in art styles to keep things fresh and different from issue to issue and several of the stories tie in together altering from the characters Point of View. We also get to see such great moments such as Moist's inspiration to be Dr. Horrible's friend/minion and Dr. Horrible's first professional encounter with Captain Hammer.

I enjoyed this read in combination with the blog series (Which warrant re-watching after reading this book)

********

Next, another installment in the Serenity universe "Serenity: A Shepherd's Tale"

This series of comics has been helping to give closure to the teaming masses of Browncoats out there who were left with questions and desires after the movie gave our characters the farewell they deserved. The Shepherd's Tale continues this tradition by exploring the mysterious life of Shepherd Book in a series of flashbacks that will finally lay to rest the origin of one of the crew's most beloved members.

While some argue that it's better not to know these sorts of things and prefer to draw their own conclusions I really liked this peek into the psychological and spiritual growth of Book. A must have for Browncoats, but if you are one you already knew that didn't you? If you're not a fan of Serenity then this book won't change your mind. The series is definitely for the fans. Still I'll never tell someone not to try something new and different.

alanddizzy — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 11:17:40 GMT

I'll be honest, I kind of love the challenge of finding a great gift for people. I try to keep my memory sharp so that if something is casually mentioned by someone I plan on giving a gift to I can save it for later.

It's not a perfect system though, sometimes I have to fall back on gift cards which are PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE GIFTS no matter what people may think.

And I'll admit I do feel like kind of a big shot if I can blow out two paychecks worth on gifts before Christmas, but it's not all about the pride of being able to do something nice for people I care about.

You wanna know what it's about? The warm fuzzies.

Example, my co-worker who I don't hate Dylan. I hate most of my co-workers at one point or another but he hasn't incurred my wrath at any point yet. Because of that I bought him some headphones with the Rheeses Peanut Butter Cup logo on them because it's his favorite candy.

So I was gonna wait to give them to him this week but last week he forgot his headphones and needed some to listen to his mp3 player. Just before he could buy new ones I stopped him and said I had a gift for him in my car.

His eyes lit up like the lights on my Christmas tree and he was stunned by what I had said. The entire trip from the back of Walmart to my car he was practically flying because he hadn't expected anything like that from a co-worker.

So here I sit with a pile of gifts that need to be wrapped in eager anticipation to pass them out to friends and family in a week. Here's hoping I did as well as I think I did.

alanddizzy — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 22:07:59 GMT

There's something that always hits me hard about the Cowboy Bebop Episode "Hard Luck Woman"

In it Faye goes searching for the answers to the past she can't recall, and takes Ed with her for good measure. In the end she tells Ed that Ed has somewhere she belongs and that belonging is the most wonderful thing in the world. Faye then leaves to find that place where she belongs.

Ed takes that as a suggestion and decides to leave the Bebop to find her own place of belonging. This comes as a surprise to Jet and Spike as for the second time in as many days the girls have up and vanished without telling the boys where they're going. As she leaves Ed gives Spike a pinwheel as a parting gift.

Jet and Spike discover a goodbye message left from Ed painted onto the deck, while Ein leaves the ship to find and travel with Ed.

There's just something that rings with me that the last bit of innocence on the Bebop leaves one golden afternoon leaving the boys to quietly gouge themselves on hard boiled eggs, unwilling to yield to the silence that has been left in the ship in Ed and Faye's place.

All to this song.

alanddizzy — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:27:40 GMT

I'm just gonna apologize in advance right now if I become difficult to communicate with in the next couple of days...

...because in the next few hours I'm gonna go pick up Epic Mickey and have myself a videogame binge. <3

alanddizzy — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 16:32:16 GMT

I'm going to state an extremely unpopular opinion or so it seems and if I offend you, I'm sorry.

I. Love. The Holidays.

I love Thanksgiving, I love Christmas. I love almost everything about them! It seems more and more every year as I get older there's less and less holiday spirit, more and more people bemoan the traditions that we act on every year almost instinctively.

But I love them. And nothing gets me in the mood more then watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

I watch it every year I can and drink in the music, the dancing, the sights and sounds of the parade in a way that you can only achieve from T.V. I don't know how much camping I'd have to do to get a prime front row seat to all these performances but I'm sure it would be damn near impossible to see it all as clearly as I can from my living room.

Yes I even love the soulless smiles and empty heartless banter of the reporters introducing everything. They are robots but I love em.

There's still that part of me that loves theater and dreams of myself up there singing and dancing in front of thousands despite me being fully aware my voice isn't anything to write home about and my dancing is...well let's just say it needs lots of work. And if I was performing in it I wouldn't get to watch the whole thing live either.

But we've all got dreams and that's one of mine. To perform in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. And every year I watch I can feel even a tiny piece of the thrill.

The perfect thing to get me in the mood for the upcoming chaos that is the next 31 days.

alanddizzy — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:51:09 GMT

So, who all's watching the Walking Dead?

Isn't it totally kick ass?

I agree.

Despicable Me Vs. Megamind

alanddizzy — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 22:41:08 GMT

Just got back from seeing Megamind and as a fan of good Villains I thought I should compare the two.

As far as movies go I think I prefer Despicable Me, if only because I have a soft spot for sappy family type stories.

As far as evil geniuses go...well they are both pretty lousy, but Megamind's schemes actually seem to see some progress and I think the reason is he plays by the villain handbook. His whole life is defined by the relationship he has with his hero where as Gru doesn't have to worry about hat sort of thing. He doesn't have a superhero to compete with just other villains.

On the subject of Minions we have Megaminds loyal best friend named Minion, a fish alien in a gorilla-like robot suit as well as an army of bitey robot hover machines. Gru on the other hand has an army of sometimes inept sometimes extremely capable genetically altered corn, and three orphan girls. I'm going to say Gru wins in this department because his army is incredibly loyal to him despite them not being robots, and they made me laugh more.

Both movies were great twisted takes on the role of a villain in a movie, both ended with dance party musical numbers but we'll forgive them for that.

The long and short of it is that I'm more likely to app Gru instead of Megamind but I love them both.

Al's thoughts on Glee Episode "Hairography"

alanddizzy — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:10:37 GMT

Kurt, Damn you catty little bitch. For a guy who hasn't seen the series since the first season (And only like four or five episodes of that) I didn't see that revelation coming that he wanted to be with muscles.

For those who have watched the series does the wheelchair kid contribute anything? I heard he had a few fantasy sequences where he could dance but that was about it.

Also? Damn Mr. Shu whenever you get all manly or intense I forget that you're running the one club that might be more flamboyant then theater.

...is it just me or did the Glee Club just kind of..steal the show from the School for the Deaf? I mean yeah it was all touching that they came together but...if I were one of those deaf kids I'd be pissed.

alanddizzy — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:05:17 GMT

19. Character you’d like to go karaoke with

I know it says characters but you know what? I'll do what I want.

I love Titan baddies, so if I were to go karoke singing I'd wanna take the best of the bad assuming they were in an inclination to do so. Imagine the chaos, imagine the destruction. It could be considered taking my life into my own hands but for the memories it'd be worth it. I know I only have the Hive Five pictured but I'd love to take all the baddies with me. Even the inhuman ones. Imagine watching Plasmas and Cinderblock trying to sing YMCA.

1. Your favorite character
2. Your least favorite character
3. Character you’d date
4. Character you’d like to go shopping with
5. Character you’d like as your child
6. Character who would probably be your rival
7. Character you have most in common with
8. Character you look like the most
9. Character you’d bring home to your parents
10. Character you’d never bring home to your parents
11. Character you’d become best friends with
12. Character with your favorite voice/seiyuu
13. Character you’d go camping with
14. Character you wouldn’t mind being roommates with
15. Character you’d want to cook for you
16. Character you wouldn’t mind prancing naked for you
17. Your OTP
18. Character you wouldn’t mind having as a parent
19. Character you’d like to go karaoke with
20. Character you wouldn’t mind having as your butler/maid
21. Character you’d have in your party if you were in a RPG
22. Another OTP of yours
23. Your favorite character of the opposite gender of #1
24. Character with your favorite uniform/outfit
25. Character who would be your band-mate if you were in a band
26. Character you wouldn’t mind having as your boss
27. Character you wouldn’t want to run into in a dark alley
28. Character you’d want personified into a dog
29. Character you’d want personified into a cat
30. Character you’d want to cosplay as

In other news I'm en route to K-con~

alanddizzy — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:00:28 GMT

18. Character you wouldn't mind having as a parent

Check out father of the year here.

Killer Moth may be a criminal with plans of taking the city hostage but he is also a doting loving father. Too bad his daughters a whiny pain in the ass brat who only cares about herself. I gotta feel bad for the guy because it's hard enough being a single parent, holding down a full time job and raising a kid. I mean yeah it looks like he probably does alot of his work from home but that doesn't change the fact that he's probably got no time to himself especially with a needy brat like Kitten.

On the flip side of things though she really does love her daddy deep down. I draw my conclusion from the comic issue where Kitten took on several different criminal Identities claiming to be the daughter of other well established male criminals all in an attempt to make her father pay more attention to her. (I doubt he was ignoring her probably just not giving her 100% of his attention)

1. Your favorite character
2. Your least favorite character
3. Character you’d date
4. Character you’d like to go shopping with
5. Character you’d like as your child
6. Character who would probably be your rival
7. Character you have most in common with
8. Character you look like the most
9. Character you’d bring home to your parents
10. Character you’d never bring home to your parents
11. Character you’d become best friends with
12. Character with your favorite voice/seiyuu
13. Character you’d go camping with
14. Character you wouldn’t mind being roommates with
15. Character you’d want to cook for you
16. Character you wouldn’t mind prancing naked for you
17. Your OTP
18. Character you wouldn’t mind having as a parent
19. Character you’d like to go karaoke with
20. Character you wouldn’t mind having as your butler/maid
21. Character you’d have in your party if you were in a RPG
22. Another OTP of yours
23. Your favorite character of the opposite gender of #1
24. Character with your favorite uniform/outfit
25. Character who would be your band-mate if you were in a band
26. Character you wouldn’t mind having as your boss
27. Character you wouldn’t want to run into in a dark alley
28. Character you’d want personified into a dog
29. Character you’d want personified into a cat
30. Character you’d want to cosplay as

alanddizzy — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 21:41:54 GMT

17. Your OTP

Your shocked I know.

I think the reason I love this OTP so much is the first love aspect of it. Beastboy grows so much from this first relationship. It gives him the strength to even take on Slade one on one and make a damn good showing for himself.

While there's something to be said for the opposites attract appeal of Raven/Beastboy there's just as much to be said for how Terra and Beastboy feed off one another and build each other up. She's rough around the edges, runs away from her mistakes and needs someone supportive and determined. He's attention hungry, dedicated and loyal to the core.

I owe alot of my affection for this OTP to Ari naturally because of how long she's played Terra and the character development she's brought to the geomancer. We've been able to explore different directions of the relationship and managed to turn it into a powerful combo helping the duo survive the worst of times.

It's not perfect, but like all first loves it's fragile and beautiful if not potentially fleeting.

1. Your favorite character
2. Your least favorite character
3. Character you’d date
4. Character you’d like to go shopping with
5. Character you’d like as your child
6. Character who would probably be your rival
7. Character you have most in common with
8. Character you look like the most
9. Character you’d bring home to your parents
10. Character you’d never bring home to your parents
11. Character you’d become best friends with
12. Character with your favorite voice/seiyuu
13. Character you’d go camping with
14. Character you wouldn’t mind being roommates with
15. Character you’d want to cook for you
16. Character you wouldn’t mind prancing naked for you
17. Your OTP
18. Character you wouldn’t mind having as a parent
19. Character you’d like to go karaoke with
20. Character you wouldn’t mind having as your butler/maid
21. Character you’d have in your party if you were in a RPG
22. Another OTP of yours
23. Your favorite character of the opposite gender of #1
24. Character with your favorite uniform/outfit
25. Character who would be your band-mate if you were in a band
26. Character you wouldn’t mind having as your boss
27. Character you wouldn’t want to run into in a dark alley
28. Character you’d want personified into a dog
29. Character you’d want personified into a cat
30. Character you’d want to cosplay as

alanddizzy — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 20:37:53 GMT

16. Character you wouldn’t mind prancing naked for you

Anyone but number Eight. Sorry Melvin come back in like ten years.

1. Your favorite character
2. Your least favorite character
3. Character you’d date
4. Character you’d like to go shopping with
5. Character you’d like as your child
6. Character who would probably be your rival
7. Character you have most in common with
8. Character you look like the most
9. Character you’d bring home to your parents
10. Character you’d never bring home to your parents
11. Character you’d become best friends with
12. Character with your favorite voice/seiyuu
13. Character you’d go camping with
14. Character you wouldn’t mind being roommates with
15. Character you’d want to cook for you
16. Character you wouldn’t mind prancing naked for you
17. Your OTP
18. Character you wouldn’t mind having as a parent
19. Character you’d like to go karaoke with
20. Character you wouldn’t mind having as your butler/maid
21. Character you’d have in your party if you were in a RPG
22. Another OTP of yours
23. Your favorite character of the opposite gender of #1
24. Character with your favorite uniform/outfit
25. Character who would be your band-mate if you were in a band
26. Character you wouldn’t mind having as your boss
27. Character you wouldn’t want to run into in a dark alley
28. Character you’d want personified into a dog
29. Character you’d want personified into a cat
30. Character you’d want to cosplay as

alanddizzy — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 21:24:34 GMT

15. Character you’d want to cook for you

When you're hungry you know what to dooooo~ CALL CYBORG!

The man is a man after my own heart. He likes his meat and he likes it manly! If I can't get Cyborg to make me a big meaty bowl of chili or BBQ of some sort then at least let him make me one of his giant waffles? Please?
1. Your favorite character
2. Your least favorite character
3. Character you’d date
4. Character you’d like to go shopping with
5. Character you’d like as your child
6. Character who would probably be your rival
7. Character you have most in common with
8. Character you look like the most
9. Character you’d bring home to your parents
10. Character you’d never bring home to your parents
11. Character you’d become best friends with
12. Character with your favorite voice/seiyuu
13. Character you’d go camping with
14. Character you wouldn’t mind being roommates with
15. Character you’d want to cook for you
16. Character you wouldn’t mind prancing naked for you
17. Your OTP
18. Character you wouldn’t mind having as a parent
19. Character you’d like to go karaoke with
20. Character you wouldn’t mind having as your butler/maid
21. Character you’d have in your party if you were in a RPG
22. Another OTP of yours
23. Your favorite character of the opposite gender of #1
24. Character with your favorite uniform/outfit
25. Character who would be your band-mate if you were in a band
26. Character you wouldn’t mind having as your boss
27. Character you wouldn’t want to run into in a dark alley
28. Character you’d want personified into a dog
29. Character you’d want personified into a cat
30. Character you’d want to cosplay as

digi_dragon tagged me in a meme, and now I have to do it and actually tag people back. I BLAME YOU ARI!

Oh well. Let's do this thing.

If you’ve been tagged, you must write your answers in your own LJ and replace any question that you dislike with a new question.

Tag eleven people. Don’t refuse to do that. Don’t tag who tagged you.

→ What song are you currently addicted to?

→ What's your favourite season?

I'm gonna say The Holiday season. The stretch of time extending from Halloween to New Years. I don't much care for the other two months of winter past December and September holds little for me, but I love those three months between.

→ What’s the latest movie you watched?

Inception, which surprisingly enough lived up to the hype for me. Then again I do love Joseph Gordon Levitt with a passion since the movie Brick.

→ What is the one skill you wish you had?
Perfect Photographic memory. I'm terrible at remembering things.

→ What’s your current fandom/obsession/addiction?
Artemis Fowl, I'm on "The Infinity Code" right now. I blame Laura!

→ Where would you like to visit?
A handful of specific internet friends in their natural habitats, Disneyland,Disney World, Universal studios ect...what the question didn't say I had to pick just one.

→ What Web sites do you always visit when you go online?
Hotmail,livejournal,4chan (co section only). Then several times a week I check some webcomics.

→ What was the last thing you bought?

→ Favourite time of day?
During the work week? Mid afternoon. Days off? Night, late night~

→ What's the last thing that made you happy?

→ Do you want to learn another language?
Yes, but don't ask me to pick which one.

→ Five things you can’t live without.
Food, water, air, sleep, socializing

→ (This is the question Al put in) Favorite Icon on LJ go!

.

Meme tags to:
akino_ame ,anesidorian , binarypeaches ,lankyanimelass , iruka_yuywell , jchaos , jenioctavia , razorsaw , saft , shaungarin , nuevayuimaxwell

Do it or don't I really don't mind. I'll be interested to see what you say but I know memes are time wasters ;)

alanddizzy — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 21:02:44 GMT

14. Character you wouldn’t mind being roommates with

Starfire!

Give me a roommate who's respectful and kind, willing to help out with the chores but not a total uptight stick in the mud.

I get the feeling it'd be like Mork and Mindy but with more fan service.

I'd just have to make sure I do the cooking...

1. Your favorite character
2. Your least favorite character
3. Character you’d date
4. Character you’d like to go shopping with
5. Character you’d like as your child
6. Character who would probably be your rival
7. Character you have most in common with
8. Character you look like the most
9. Character you’d bring home to your parents
10. Character you’d never bring home to your parents
11. Character you’d become best friends with
12. Character with your favorite voice/seiyuu
13. Character you’d go camping with
14. Character you wouldn’t mind being roommates with
15. Character you’d want to cook for you
16. Character you wouldn’t mind prancing naked for you
17. Your OTP
18. Character you wouldn’t mind having as a parent
19. Character you’d like to go karaoke with
20. Character you wouldn’t mind having as your butler/maid
21. Character you’d have in your party if you were in a RPG
22. Another OTP of yours
23. Your favorite character of the opposite gender of #1
24. Character with your favorite uniform/outfit
25. Character who would be your band-mate if you were in a band
26. Character you wouldn’t mind having as your boss
27. Character you wouldn’t want to run into in a dark alley
28. Character you’d want personified into a dog
29. Character you’d want personified into a cat
30. Character you’d want to cosplay as

More Meme spam

alanddizzy — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:52:53 GMT

<b> 13. Character you'd go camping with. </b>

I'm not a big fan of camping as a rule. I could do it but it'd have to be with the right group of people. I think now that I'm older I'd probably find ways to enjoy it. More ways then when I was younger. If nothing else I'd bring a couple thick books.

So if I were to go camping with any Titan...

<a href="http://photobucket.com/images/teen%20titans%20raven" target="_blank"><img src="http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp168/haru_036/Teen%20Titans/Raven.jpg" border="0" alt="Raven Pictures, Images and Photos"/></a>

OK I know it's a little strange but follow my logic.

I'd want to go with someone competent, someone who if something happened would know what to do. But at the same time I don't want to go with one of the Titans who would turn it into a training program. I get the feeling if Raven wanted to go camping it would be more about meditation in nature or some such and that's fine I can handle that.

The only concern is she's so introverted it could potentially be like going camping alone. X3

1. Your favorite character
2. Your least favorite character
3. Character you’d date
4. Character you’d like to go shopping with
5. Character you’d like as your child
6. Character who would probably be your rival
7. Character you have most in common with
8. Character you look like the most
9. Character you’d bring home to your parents
10. Character you’d never bring home to your parents
11. Character you’d become best friends with
12. Character with your favorite voice/seiyuu
~~13. Character you’d go camping with~~
14. Character you wouldn’t mind being roommates with
15. Character you’d want to cook for you
16. Character you wouldn’t mind prancing naked for you
17. Your OTP
18. Character you wouldn’t mind having as a parent
19. Character you’d like to go karaoke with
20. Character you wouldn’t mind having as your butler/maid
21. Character you’d have in your party if you were in a RPG
22. Another OTP of yours
23. Your favorite character of the opposite gender of #1
24. Character with your favorite uniform/outfit
25. Character who would be your band-mate if you were in a band
26. Character you wouldn’t mind having as your boss
27. Character you wouldn’t want to run into in a dark alley
28. Character you’d want personified into a dog
29. Character you’d want personified into a cat
30. Character you’d want to cosplay as