I'm International...

moryssa — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 22:45:49 GMT

From a discussion on FB, where a friend asked "Just for fun, which superhero do you think would make a good President and/or VP?"... several of us commented something along the lines of Steve Rogers and Tony Stark, because, as I said, they'd hopefully cancel out the more radical aspects of each others' personalities. Someone else said that they would be afraid of Cap being president because he'd legislate that there's only one God, ma'am, and he doesn't dress like that...

And a friend responded:
Steve Rogers would most definitely not legislate that there is only one god, because Steve Rogers doesn't impose his beliefs on other people like that. Steve Rogers doesn't give a shit what you do, so long as it doesn't hurt anyone (although he might give you a Very Disappointed Look if he doesn't agree with your moral choices). He punches Hitler in the face, not the Dalai Lama. Steve Rogers is everything that is fucking awesome about America. That's why he's Captain.

Tony Stark is Tony fucking Stark, and all that governing would get in the way of making things, which is why he'd be a perfect Veep (but maybe not so much a president, but whatever, not even bullets can kill Steve Rogers). He'd be Steve's 'Crazy Joe Biden', just running around doing and saying all the things he can't (and when asked, he'd just shrug and go 'He's Tony Stark').

And as I said, Thor would make a good First Lady, because he's basically a Disney Princess, is extremely hospitable and good with small children and animals and wants everybody to be happy and get along, reads bridal magazines and has pretty hair like a girl. He may not be the smartest person in the room, but he's smart enough to use the fact that everyone thinks he's an idiot to his advantage. And stubborn enough that whatever cause he chooses to champions will be solved by the next election.

I can't argue with a word of this post. LOL!

Harry Potter party and A Song of Ice And Fire characters

moryssa — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 17:35:34 GMT

One of my friends had a Harry Potter party on Saturday night, so I spent last week putting together a costume and then Joe and I made Treacle Tarts, Pumpkin Pasties, and Mini Shepherd's Pies.

I packed all of the above plus decorating stuff and all sorts of random crafty supplies for making wands into the car and schlepped it all to Brittney's house. We were running behind with everything, and it was a fairly small turnout, but we still had fun and it was nice to hang out with a couple of friends without having other things to distract us. We made wands and quills and decorated pumpkins and watched a couple of the Harry Potter movies and argued about things that were different from the books and ate way too much chocolate... but it was fun. :)

We were running so late that I didn't really have time to do anything other than throw on the costume that I'd made... I was intending to curl my hair and do my makeup and everything, but it just didn't happen. Here's a picture that Theresa snapped with her phone...

I'm actually pretty pleased with the way it turned out, although I need to re-do the feather boa stuff, and probably try to do something to stiffen the collar, since it's too heavy with the boa on it and doesn't lay flat. But otherwise, I think it's awesome, and Joe's horrified "Oh my GOD!" reaction when he saw me (with just the outfit-- not even with the glasses and accessories!) was priceless! :D

Elsewhere, the nominations for the "Not really annual, but as often as we have someone willing to run it" Character Meme for westerosorting has concluded, and the things I was nominated for just make my heart swell! Honest!

The two that I'm planning on campaigning for:
Davos Seaworth (one nominator's reasoning: "for being a tireless supporter of Stannis". <3!) I was also nominated as Stannis himself, which makes me squeal with girlish delight, but I think there's another nominee that is more appropriate, and I think Davos, being Stannis' #1 supporter, is more appropriate for me. <3
and
Brynden Tully, The Blackfish (one nominator's reasoning: "dedicated knight in modly retirement and leader of WarTrouts" <3) Not gonna lie, this is the one I was really hoping for! :D And I love the reasoning, as well. I can't participate in a lot of the tournaments and things any more, because I am now a moderator for House Tully. So, like the Blackfish, I have chosen to retire from the front in order to become a needed leader for my House. ;) I just love Brynden... I love the mystery behind his squabble with his brother, his devotion to standing up for his beliefs, and his staunch support for his family, even if he doesn't agree with them 100% of the time. So yeah, I'm tickled that several people nominated me for The Blackfish.

And now I just have to figure out how make awesome campaigns for them!

The one I'm not planning on campaigning for, but that I'm sure there will be others campaigning on my behalf:
Maester Qyburn XD And it's all because of the contests I created for the Tourney of the Hand. LOL!

The nominations that I think are awesome, and I'd be tickled to actually win them:
Stannis, obviously...
Jory Cassel
Dacey Mormont
Bran Stark

I understand the Stannis votes, because I am a pretty vocal Stannis-is-the-one-true-king supporter. I'm not entirely sure why I was nominated as Jory and Dacey, but as they're awesome characters, I'm not complaining! And Bran is just... odd to me, because I think he's probably the Stark that I'm the LEAST like.

And then there are the ones that are for characters that I don't really know that well, so I really wish the people who nominated me had included a reason. :) I'm not *opposed* to these... I'm just not as familiar with them:
Jon Connington
Wylla Manderly
Addam Marbrand

Overall, I'm tickled that I got nominations, because I just don't feel that I'm that active in the community, other than being a mod for House Tully. So it just gives me warm fuzzies and as cliche as it is, it really is just an honor to be nominated. :D

Calling all BPAL folk! :)

moryssa — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 17:40:32 GMT

It's that horrible, horrible time of year-- the one that steals all our money away from us! Beth's released Halloweenies and since I can't afford ALL THE BOTTLES I went searching for a decant circle. I've been getting most of my decants from meaganola's circles since I stopped doing circles of my own, and I want to drop you all a line to point you her direction as well. I've never had any issues with any of her circles, and highly recommend her. :)

The 'Weenies specifically can be found over here, and there are still lots of slots available! Tell her I sent you! (Not that it'll get you anything extra, but it'll make me feel good... :) )

Game of Thrones Season 2

moryssa — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 07:28:16 GMT

What the hell was that shit that they just aired as the season finale of Season 2 of Game of Thrones?!

Words cannot express how disappointed I am in this episode, and this season as a whole. I understand that changes have to be made to adapt a story from one medium to another. Really, I do. I actually enjoyed Season 1, even with the few minor quibbles I had with the changes. All that has completely gone out the window with this season, though.

First and foremost, let's talk about Stannis Baratheon. I know that Stannis is a very polarizing character, and that I have a love for him bordering on irrational. HOWEVER... they have completely fucked up his characterization by making him just as conniving and power-hungry as all of the other characters involved in the game-- by making him cheat on his (sickly? WTF?) wife because Mel whispers in his ear that she can give him a son-- by completely erasing the fact that Stannis is fighting for the throne because he feels that it is his duty to do so, as Robert's true heir. He feels he is the true King, and he's going to BE King, even if the realm doesn't want him, because it's his sworn duty to do so. Has Stannis done some questionable things in his quest for the throne? Yes. Oh, gods yes. But everything he's done has been out of necessity, as far as he's concerned. I truly don't think that he knew what he was doing when he created the shadowbaby that killed Renly. (I've always assumed that Mel had convinced him that it was part of some obscure ritual to the Red God, not that she said "Hey, let's make you an heir!" and he said "Sure thing!") And he would NOT have tried to kill Mel in cold blood by choking her to death because she didn't foresee his defeat at the Battle of the Blackwater!

I absolutely love the actor playing Stannis, but I HATE HATE HATE what they've done with his character. :(

Speaking of What-The-Hell-Did-You-Do-To-Him Characters, let's talk Littlefinger for a moment. How the hell has show!Littlefinger survived this long? He blabs about every little secret that he knows {to the person he knows it about!), he's obvious in his disdain for those he doesn't like, he's ridiculously careless, and he's stupid. Littlefinger is one of my least-liked characters in the book because I hate the things he does to the characters I like, but he's anything but stupid! Peter Baelish has risen from the son of a backwater fisherman to one of the most powerful men in the country-- he's very much the Thomas Cromwell of this world. He doesn't do it by being all "Well, maybe you shouldn't have fucked your brother. Har har har!" *sigh* We didn't even KNOW how slimy he was until at least book 3, and even then it was slow to come to light!

Let's move on to Jon/Ygritte/Qhoren Halfhand. I like Ygritte. She's not quite what got from the book, but she's close enough, and the characterization works. I have absolutely NO idea what happened with that whole plotline with her, though. In the book, Jon and crew capture her, Qhoren leaves Jon to kill her (as a test of his character), and Jon can't do it. Jon lets her go, she runs away, he goes back to his brothers. They are then attacked by Wildlings, and Halfhand EXPLAINS TO JON that they need information about Mance and his men, and that the only way they're going to get it is if Mance trusts him... and the only way Mance will trust him is if Jon pretends to join him and does something to prove his conviction. In other words, Halfhand flat out ORDERS Jon to kill him. This is of vital importance because while Mance thinks Jon has turned traitor, Jon never does in his heart. He is following orders to infiltrate Mance's merry band of wildlings and get information in any way he can. In the show, it just looked like Halfhand was insane and picked a fight with Jon for the hell of it. How difficult would it have been to add a couple of lines of dialog?

“If we are taken, you must yield.”
“Yield? But... They only spare oathbreakers. Those who join them, like Mance Rayder.”
“And you.”
“No.” He shook his head. “Never. I won’t.”
“You will. I command it of you.”
“Command it? But…”
“Our honor means no more than our lives, so long as the realm is safe. Are you a man of the Night’s Watch?”
“Yes, but—”
“There is no but, Jon Snow. You are, or you are not.”
Jon sat up straight. “I am.”
“Then hear me. If we are taken, you will go over to them, as the wildling girl you captured once urged you. They may demand that you cut your cloak to ribbons, that you swear them an oath on your father’s grave, that you curse your brothers and your Lord Commander. You must not balk, whatever is asked of you. Do as they bid you… but in your heart, remember who and what you are. Ride with them, eat with them, fight with them, for as long as it takes. And watch.”
“For what?” Jon asked.
“Would that I knew,” said Qhorin. “Your wolf saw their diggings in the valley of the Milkwater. What did they seek, in such a bleak and distant place? Did they find it? That is what you must learn, before you return to Lord Mormont and your brothers. That is the duty I lay on you, Jon Snow.”
“I’ll do as you say,” Jon said reluctantly, “but… you will tell them, won’t you? The Old Bear, at least? You’ll tell him that I never broke my oath.”
Qhorin Halfhand gazed at him across the fire, his eyes lost in pools of shadow. “When I see him next. I swear it.”

Seriously? We couldn't get ANY of that to explain what was going on?!

Speaking of things without explanations... where the hell were all of Dany's visions from the House of the Undying?! They're *kinda* important! And more than that, there was so much POTENTIAL there! I can get behind the fact that she went to the House of the Undying because they kidnapped her dragons. Good reason to get her there. But to leave out ALL of the other stuff? The visions of the Red Wedding, and Rhaegar and Elia, and the Blue Rose growing out the chink in the wall of ice, and the prophecy of threes... *sigh*

And then there's Robb. And whatever her name is in the show, even though we know her name is really Jeyne Westerling. I get that Richard Madden is a heartthrob and they wanted to expand his role in Season 2, since really, all he does is a whole lot of nothing in the 2nd book. So, ok, I'm fine with showing more of him ruling his little band of soldiers and being all King In The North-ly. I'm even ok with bring not!Jeyne into the picture earlier than in the book, because she's really just kinda brought in and plopped down in front of Catelyn with a "Say hi to my wife, mom!" However... Robb is Ned Stark's son. He has honor running through his veins instead of blood. In the books, he takes a wound and is being cared for by Jeyne in her family's castle. While he's there, he hears word of Theon's "murder" of Bran and Rickon. Distraught with grief, he is consoled by his nurse, Jeyne. When he realizes later that he has dishonored her, he marries her to make things right, because it's the *honorable* thing to do. He's an idiot, but he's an honorable idiot.

Show!Robb decided to screw not!Jeyne because... he was mad at his mother? Because he was in WUUUUuuuvvvv? I'm sorry, but I can actually get behind Walder Frey's upcoming pissiness in this case. I can excuse a grieving Robb who married a girl he'd sullied. I can't excuse one who simply let his hormones get the best of him and rebelled against his mother.

And what the hell were those slow-moving walking zombies at the end? No. Just, no. Not in any way shape or form.

And speaking of What The Hell... how the frak does Margaery Tyrell keep her clothes on her body? What the bloody hell?

I did, however, love the Arya/Jaqen scene (and I will miss his gorgeous mug next season). Valor Morgulis indeed. And Theon actually brought a small tear to my eye. Pretty amazing considering how much I HATE the character in the book.

Oh, and Tyrion. I adore Tyrion, and the scene with Shae nearly killed me. I don't particularly *like* Shae, but I'm glad that they're keeping her motivations under wrap (unlike Littlefinger :p) because 5 books later and I STILL don't know if Shae actually cared about Tyrion or if it was all just a job to her, and they're keeping that uncertainty in the show.

And now... holy crap, it's 2:30 am. When did that happen? :p

moryssa — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 04:23:54 GMT

All caught up on my westerosorting modly duties for now. If you've ever wondered which of the Major Houses of Westeros that you'd best fit into, feel free to join us... the queue's completely empty for now! :D

Things have been ... odd ... at work for the past couple of weeks, and with the holiday and people taking vacations, things have just been so busy and stressful that I'm pretty much exhausted by the time I get home.

Still working on costuming for Convergence... I'm mostly done with both of my costumes. Just need to assemble the pieces on one of them, which won't be that difficult except for the fact that I have 4 yards of 14" long fringe to sew onto a shawl without getting it stuck in my sewing machine. :p :) The other costume... well... I technically have all the pieces I need, but I want to re-make my skirt and I have to figure out what to do to "fix" my cloak. I like the way the hood looks when it's hanging down my back, and it's ok when it's fully tightened and up around my face, but it's too much work to switch between the two, and I think there's too much fabric at the shoulders/collar to see the rest of my costume. So I have to figure out what I'm going to do. I may just remove the hood completely and make it a cape instead of a cloak, although that's not very Sith-like. :)

I also have to figure out if I even really want to *go* to the con. :/ My friend that was going to go with me and be my wingman isn't going to be able to go, so I'm flying solo again. And while there will be people there that I know, we either have completely different interests at the con or I feel like an outsider tagging along annoyingly. :/ Having Theresa there with me would have helped mitigate that "alone in a crowd" feeling that I always suffer from at cons. :( So I really have to decide what to do. I know that I'll enjoy myself, but I also know that I'll end up getting sad and lonely, and I'm not really sure which one outweighs the other. So... if anyone wants to go to Convergence and hang out with me, I have an extra registration... ;)

Went to Gaelic Park Irish Fest last weekend. It was like a billion degrees outside, and I didn't drink ANY water on Saturday because the band kept giving me free beer/cider. I was so achy on Sunday, and it was even hotter that day. Not fun. But the band was fun. And I got hugs and praises from at least 3 different bands. So it wasn't all bad. :) Monday consisted of me sitting in the "Tea Room" tent area, where I could sit in the shade, drink my bottle(s) of water, and enjoy the nice breeze and read until the first of my bands went on at 3:00. It really was nice, and would have been even nicer if I'd had a more comfortable seat than a metal folding chair. :)

And this morning, I think it was 43 degrees out when I left for work. :p Welcome to the mid-west.

moryssa — Tue, 29 May 2012 21:57:25 GMT

Just based on prices for Cayamo, I have a feeling TRB13 is going to be EXPENSIVE. :/

Cayamo's actually a 7-night cruise, as opposed to the TRB's 5-night itinerary, but it's on the same ship, and is a month before TRB. Their cheapest cabins (interior quad) are $918 a person (+$225/person for fees). There are no quints. (And considering the fact that the rooms are smaller than those on the -ation ships, I can't imagine putting 5 people in a room anyway).

Dividing the Cayamo prices by 7 and then multiplying by 5, double rooms range from $882-1785 for non-suites. Triples are $730-1334, and quads are $656-1107.

Or we could do a family Penthouse Suite for $1257/person for a quint. ;)
(The Garden Villa sleeps up to 6, but there's no price listed for it.)

Ugh!

moryssa — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:17:30 GMT

Joe and I, because we're geeks, spent a good portion of the weekend discussing fictional characters and trying to determine their character alignments.

Alignments are very confusing for me for some reason. I mean, the basic concept makes perfect sense and seems like it should be easy to determine, but in practice, I end up going, "Uhhhh..." a lot. I'd seen this thing online somewhere that listed the alignments and had pictures and quotes from different superheroes/villains, and I shared it with Joe, which is what started the conversation. Superman = Lawful Good. I get that. Joker = Chaotic Evil. No problems with that one.

Then we started discussing other characters from other works, and how we often see characters shift from one to another over the course of the movie -- for instance, in "Thor", we see Loki shift from Chaotic Good (although I'm still not convinced he's actually *good*... but definitely on the gooder side of neutral) to Chaotic Evil.

Then we moved on to Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga. Aral Vorkosigan pretty much walks into the room for Lawful Good and takes a seat. His wife's a little more complicated. She's definitely Good... she cares about people and will sacrifice for them whether she knows them or not. When it comes to Lawful vs. Chaotic, though, she's... odd. She hates the strictures and structures of the *Barrayaran* government, but not necessarily the Betan one. She is definitely not a proponent of Chaos, but prefers a less rigid form of order. So I think we ended up putting her in "Neutral Good".

Miles Vorkosigan, on the other hand, is a different kind of complicated-- because I think Miles Vorkosigan and Admiral Naismith are two different alignments. Lord Vorkosigan is Lawful, whereas the Little Admiral is Chaotic. Both are Good, of course, because Miles has a pathological compulsion towards helping people. :)

And then we moved on to The Dresden universe... We didn't discuss Murphy, but I think that's because we both knew we'd find her sitting in a chair having a talk with Aral over in the "Lawful Good" room. Harry himself, I think we've seen shift over the course of the stories as he's come to understand more and more the *reason* that laws are in place. I would still put him as Lawful Good regardless, just because his magic is specifically about creating order out of chaos, but Joe was arguing that he fights against the establishment (ie: The White Council's rules) from the time we meet him.

And then there's Marconi. We finally put him down as "Lawful Complicated".
Marconi's odd because Harry clearly sees him as a villain, and he does run an organization that deals in organized crime, prostitution, and drugs... but the reason he does it is because if he didn't, things would be worse. Someone needed to take charge and keep the drugs away from the children and the violence away from the innocents. The question though, is "Would he sacrifice himself for people that he doesn't know?" ... and we're not really sure. We've seen him do some pretty spectacular acts of heroism, but he doesn't really do it selflessly, and we've never really seen him do anything to save or protect a complete and utter stranger. He's definitely not Evil, no matter what Harry thinks -- or what the police force thinks -- but is he selfless enough to be considered Good?

And I think the conversation shifted over to Once Upon a Time about 5 different times over the course of the weekend -- specifically to Rumplestiltskin. Evil Queen is easy. She couldn't be more Chaotic Evil if she tried. She's evil incarnate and you can't trust a word out of her mouth. Rumpie/Gold is a bit more complicated, though. Joe and I both agree that he's as Lawful as Regina is Chaotic. He does not lie, in that fey what-you-think-you-hear-is-not-necessisarily-what's-being-said kind of way. He's ruled by contracts and deals and "honesty" and "my word is law" kind of things. I'm not sure if we know enough about his motivations to classify him as Good or Evil, though. On one hand, he loves taking advantage of people... but at the same time, he ALWAYS gives them a choice. And he really doesn't ever hide the fact that there is a price for everything. All of the characters in Fairy Tale Land (and most of the ones in Storybrooke) call him evil... but have we *really* seen him do anything that would be considered evil? On the contrary, we have actually seen and heard him say things that would be considered heroic and sacrificial. In the scene where he explains the dagger-stealing plan to his son, he says "If I kill the Dark One with his dagger, I take his powers. Can you imagine me with those powers, Bae? I could get to redeem myself. I could turn it toward good. I'll save all the children on the front lines, not just you, my boy." (Bae would love to see that, but unlike his father, he is not a coward. "If the law says I'm to fight, I can fight.") Rumpy: "No, the law doesn't want you to fight, son. The law wants you to die. That's no battle, that's sacrifice, son." He points out the scarlet sky in the distance. "That's not the fires of the battlefields. That's the blood of our people, son. That's the blood of children -- the blood of children like you. What sane person would want to get involved with that?"

I love complicated characters! :D

moryssa — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:54:45 GMT

I made a fishie!

I named him Clyde.

I think he's kinda adorable. (especially since I created him in about 40 minutes while being distracted by The Vampire Diaries. Speaking of which... was I the only one who let out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding when Alaric "woke up"? I was seriously afraid that he was going to be actually dead this time! O_o)

Ah, teenage vampire soap opera... I do love you so.

moryssa — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:12:23 GMT

A couple of folks had asked to see some of the creative things I was working on...

I missed several days this month because I was really sick. As in: I missed a week's worth of time at work because I was sick. And I rarely take even a single sick day much less more than one in a row. :/

The weekend following that was Tourney of the Hand over at westerosorting, with 4 days worth of puzzles, challenges, and creative contests. I didn't enter as many as I wanted, because I was still not really feeling well, but I was actually pretty pleased with my creations for all of the contests I entered.

All the voting for the contests have now ended, so I think it's ok to post my stuff.

The first contest is to create your own "Demotivational" image.

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The second: Re-imagine the cover of one of the Song Of Ice And Fire novels or tv-show episodes in a minimalist fashion. The directions specifically said: "Minimalist graphics are characterized by bold shapes, sharp silhouettes, chunky colors, distressed looks, and most importantly: condensing a lengthy story into a single simple image... Please remember to emulate the retro, minimalist style of the examples in your entry as best as possible." I was really happy with this, and thought it achieved the goal really well. (while I like a lot of the other entries, including the ones which appear to be winning, I DIDN'T think that they achieved what the rules stated was being looked for. :( )

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Third contest: Create a graphic using lyrics that you think are perfect for a given pairing. While I happen to think that Wideawake's "Broken" fits MOST of the eff'ed up relationships in the shows I love (I actually want to do a Sam & Dean vid to the song one of these days) I thought it was especially perfect for Jaime and Cersei, and again, I kinda love the way the image itself turned out... and I did blending and textures and all kinds of fun things to create it. :)

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Fourth: Create a series of "Tumblr Edits" (which it took me 3 days to realize just meant "graphics") by choosing 3 of the following:
01) Favorite house.
02) Your favorite character.
03) Your least favorite character.
04) The character you love to hate.
05) The person you think should rule Westeros.
06) Your OTP.

My entries:
04) The character you love to hate - Melisandre (I'm kinda fascinated by her, and I don't know that I really hate her. But I do love the quote from Maester Cressen. :) )

05) The person you think should rule Westeros - Stannis (Yes, yes, yes. I am wholeheartedly a Stannis fan. And since he's the only person who actually CARES about the kingdom, he's the one I want on the throne.)

06) Your OTP - Jon/Dany (Ok, I'm not really a Jon/Dany shipper. My OTP from this show would probably actually be Jaime/Brienne... with the friendship between Stannis and Davos being a very close second. But I saw this picture and was just STUNNED by the amount of pretty.)

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Next: an elimination-style icon contest. You create 4 icons, and each round the creators of the bottom X icons get eliminated. The first round, my icon came in first place with almost 3/4 of the people voting choosing it as one of their top 3. Then my icon in the 2nd round got the least number of votes, so I was eliminated. :( (which means that #3 and #4 didn't even get shown.) #1's theme was "Star". #3 was "green". #2 and #4 had screencaps supplied.
- - -

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And finally... re-image Game of Thrones as a tv show of a different genre. Images of the actors in other roles can be used... although 11 of the 21 images I used are actually from GoT. We weren't allowed to crop the images in any way-- only re-size them and lay them out how we wanted. Considering I didn't even have an idea of what to do for this one until about 5 hours before the contest ended, I think it turned out pretty decent.

Modern day telling of a zombie apocalypse story.
Set sometime in the near future, a strain of genetically-engineered DNA (extracted from fossilized Direwolf DNA) accidentally gets released into the world, causing rabies-like symptoms in humans and eventually turning them into flesh-eating zombies. Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon are world-weary detectives who find their devotion to duty put to the test. When Robert is incapacitated by an attack, Ned must take on a new partner in rookie hotshot Jaime Lannister. Along the way, people will fall and others will triumph, because when you play the game of zombies, you win or you're dinner.

From looking at how the voting was going over the past week, I'm not even going to place 3rd in any of the contests, which is kind of disheartening to me. My only consolation is that *I* was pleased with the graphics, so everyone else is just a poopiehead.

My time since the Tourney has been spent trying to figure out how to create an evil Tinkerbell costume. Talking with Joe about it last weekend gave me a bit of an inspiration, so I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do... and now my living room looks like Pixie Hollow exploded all over it. I've decided I kinda like the glittery carpet look, though. :p

ASOIAF Icons

moryssa — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:47:39 GMT

Just to share some of my creative endeavors...

These are some icons I made from the portraits of the female characters in George R.R. Martin's A Song Of Ice And Fire series, done by Daenerys-m0d over on Deviant-Art.

I loved these images, and thought they'd make beautiful icons.

Examples:

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moryssa — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:22:26 GMT

I think I've quoted Neil Gaiman a couple of times on New Year's, because he always has something profoundly simple to say, and it always inspires me. This year is no different.

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something.

So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.

I can get behind this. My goal for this year is to do SOMETHING creative every day-- whether it's writing (I actually posted a fanfic snippet a couple of weeks ago! It's the first thing I've really written-- and completed-- in probably 10 years. :p It wasn't all that long, but it was finished, and I posted it. :D ) or graphics (I won a Fanworks of the Month contest over at westerosorting! Go House Tully!) or crafty in some way (anyone want a scarf and/or hat? I've become a pro at making those on my looms. Time to experiment with doing other things...) Or, heck, I'll even accept learning how to play a new song on the Rock Band keyboard as creative. :) (The keyboard is worse on my hand, but isn't as noisy as the drums, so I can play it without annoying the downstairs neighbor. :/ Once I get the feel of the location of the keys and stop screwing up the red and green ones, I'll do a lot better, I'm sure. :p )

Back at work today. How many days until vacation?

edit: Oh, yeah... I actually wrote a Star Trek drabble-ish thing almost 3 years ago. So it hasn't been 10 years. Still, 2.5 years is unacceptable.

Desktop Backgrounds

moryssa — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:39:34 GMT

Sometime... last year? Possibly the year before? Anyway, whenever it was, I was putting together some images to make some MooCards, and I offered to do some for seimaisin if she wanted to send me some of her favorite quotes/lyrics. She sent me a list, I searched for images that I thought matched with the lyrics, and she picked the ones she liked best to create some mini business cards.

I really like the way a lot of them turned out, though, and I wanted to find some other way to use them... so I figured, why not create desktop background images? They're all 800x600, because I don't like to have my desktop icons lost amongst the image itself... most can easily be made larger, though, if you want larger, because they've got a single color border around the edge.

Anyway... I wanted to share, since I really like the way most of them turned out... and hey, it's my journal. :)

example: (click on any of them to see them full-size. They're shrunk to 240x320 to fit on the page. :) )

If anyone wants me to do one for them, feel free to suggest lyrics or quotes or something. I really enjoy making this kind of thing, and I'm learning all kinds of things about PhotoShop (even though most of these were done before I learned some of the neater things :) )

moryssa — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:40:19 GMT

I've been listening to the audiobooks for Rick Riordan's second series about the demigods. I enjoyed the first series a lot, but definitely got the "This was written for kids" vibe from it. A lot of the things in that series were predictable to my adult-who's-loved-reading-Greek-and-Roman-Mythology-since-she-was-old-enough-to-watch-"Clash-Of-The-Titans" brain. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, though, and I gave the series to one of my nieces last year for Christmas. For some reason, though, I was kinda reluctant to seek out the other books by the author. I think it was because while I enjoyed the story, I wasn't totally invested in it. It was just a diversion.

Anyway, I finally finished reading the last book of the Vorkosigan Saga (mini non-spoilerish review: AAARRGGHH!!! HOW CAN YOU DO THAT TO US!) and was looking for something new to sink my teeth into, and the Riordan books sounded the most appealing... partially because I needed something more lighthearted. So, I queued up the "The Lost Hero" and started listening.

I was immediately grabbed by the characters in this story. I mean, I know the basics of Jason and the Argonauts, and I assumed that since the main character was Jason, this would sort of be a play on that story... but it's not. It's a completely new story. Yeah, it's got bits and pieces pulled from all of the old tales, but the way they're woven together is completely different, and even though there were parts of the story that I figured out within the first chapter, there were other parts that left me scratching my head until the end of the book, when it all of a sudden made complete sense.

And then I started the second book, and I realized... these books aren't written for children. I mean, they still lean towards the Young Adult side of things, but the writing style is much more mature, the story is MUCH more involved, and the tension in the story is much more pronounced. I'm still 95% sure that all of the main characters are going to survive to fight tomorrow... it's just that type of story... but I don't know HOW they're going to survive. Especially the ones from this 2nd story, who just seem so much more doomed. (I've still got another hour or two in the audiobook, so I'm not done. For those who've read it-- Death has just informed the questors exactly what has to be done to break his chains. It was one of those things that I KNEW as soon as I saw how he was chained, but watching Hazel and Frank's reaction to it is just heartbreaking!)

I'm not as fond of Frank and Hazel as I am of Leo and Piper (considering their "upbringing", I would expect both Frank and Hazel to be a little more ... confident? Assertive? Arrogant? Just something more appropriate to their training. But Leo and Piper are actually the ones with complete confidence in their abilities, despite less (and less strict) training.), but it's hard for me to choose between Jason and Percy.

I really thought that Riordan did a great job in the first book, though, focusing on new characters while still keeping it grounded in the world we were familiar with by sprinkling the story with the secondary characters that we already knew... and then in the second book, it feels like returning to the people we love and adding another layer to them-- Even though Percy's the only one who's returning. Odd. I guess it's because the mystery isn't there-- it's just a story about how Percy deals with his new surroundings. Anyway, the first book had to set up this new danger, and Jason's story is the mystery throughout the whole thing. We're in familiar territory, but the character is wrong, and the whole time we're wondering who he IS, and where he come from. Once we find out more about his story, then we switch over and see this whole new world through the eyes of someone who is familiar to us, and I think it's a fascinating way to set up the differences.

Anyway, I highly recommend these books, especially if you enjoyed the original Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I was under the impression that this was a new series set in the same world (so the characters wouldn't overlap, other than maybe a mention of Our Heroes or the battle they fought as a distant memory) but it's actually very much a continuation of the story, with a new danger and new characters and new myths woven into the world that we already know.

And the humor cracks me up.

And then queenofthorns posted a link to the new trailer for "The Hunger Games" movie:

I can't believe how much I'm fighting tears after watching that trailer. I gave a review of my thoughts on the story over here, but in a nutshell, the themes of the story disturbed me, and while the story engrossed me, I was drained at the end of it (or, really, about 2/3 of the way through it...) and a lot of that emotion came washing back over me as I was watching that trailer. I'm not enamored with the casting, but I'm willing to give it a shot, and the trailer is still enough to make me catch my breath and want to see the movie.

Mah Icons!

moryssa — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 17:57:01 GMT

Stolen from honest_illusion, 'cause I'm bored. :)

MAH ICONS.

default	oldest	newest


saddest	happiest	angriest


cutest	sexiest	funniest


fave ship	fave fandom	fave animated


best quote	best textless	use the most


	favorite

HOW MANY ICONS DO YOU HAVE: 197
OUT OF HOW MANY AVAILABLE ICONS SPACES: 209
IF YOU COULD BUY SPACE FOR MORE, WOULD YOU: Not at the moment...
DO YOUR ICONS MAKE A STATEMENT: If so, it's that I love many and varied fandoms. And cuteness. :)
WHAT FANDOM DO YOU HAVE THE MOST ICONS OF: By a count of 1, ASOIAF beats out New!Trek. :)
AND THE SECOND MOST: 13 - ASOIAF, 12 - Trek, 10 - Harry Potter, 9 - Doctor Who, 7 - Supernatural
WHAT SHIP DO YOU HAVE THE MOST ICONS OF: I tend to find one image that I like and stick with it, so I don't have any multiples of the same two people. I do have 4 that involve Captain Jack Harkness with various folks, though. ;)
ARE YOUR ICONS MADE MOSTLY BY OTHER PEOPLE: Mostly, yes. 98 credited to others, 36 credit unknown (but not me :) ), and 63 that I made myself.
DO YOU MAKE ICONS: Yep
ARE THEY ANY GOOD: Some of them. :)
ANIMATED ICONS ARE: amusing at times.

DO THE MEME.
Coding can be found here

Family history

moryssa — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:22:25 GMT

I'm amused...
Milwaukee Irish Fest was last weekend, and one of my friends decided to go to the Genealogy tent to see if they could help her find another level of her ancestors. (She and her parents have already done a good bit of research.) I decided to keep her company, although at the time, I didn't even know my great-grandparents' names (and could barely remember my paternal grandfather's name-- we always just called him PawPaw. As far as I knew, that WAS his name!)

Anyway... the lady I talked to was really nice, but I'm not entirely sure she knew what she was doing. We still managed to find some references to a person that ended up being my Grandfather Jordan's father. (Whose name is Rasberry. How's that for a name? XD) I brought the info home and talked to my mom on the phone about it, and she gave me a lot more info on her parents and grandparents that I didn't didn't already know. So I signed up for ancestry.com to see what kind of info I could find.

I've traced things back thought my grandparents' grandparents on all sides, with documentation. And then I started just using the existing family trees that others had created on the site to track things back further (but not actually checking for documentation yet)... so far,
I've traced:

1) One line came to America in about 1635, lived in Massachusettes for a generation, moved to South Carolina for a generation, and then moved to Elmore County, Alabama, in about 1700 and has been there ever since.

2) One line traces back to William the Conqueror. Or possibly his father, Robert... the lines are fuzzy. Some of them claim that Mathilde's mother was Harlette Harleva de Falaise (Robert's mistress) and others claim that her mother was William's wife (whose name I can't remember at the moment). I stopped that line there because it just got really confusing.

3) Another line traces back much more clearly to Harlette (but by a different husband, so Muriel is a half-sister to William the Conqueror), and from there, goes back to the line of Legendary Kings of Sweden, eventually tracing back to Ragnar Lodbrok, who claimed to be a son of Odin.

4) Another line goes back to the Salem witch trials. (My ancestor's sister was accused of witchcraft... and apparently her husband petitioned the King, paid a couple of hefty fines, and she was never actually tried.)

5) My great-grandfather Rasberry was killed when he was struck by lightning while standing on his porch. He'd just told his younger sisters to go inside because of the storm, and right after they did, he was hit.

6) My great-grandfather on the other side had two older brothers who were in love with the same woman. She ran off with one while still married to the other.

7) One of his brothers was also a very large man-- when he died, they had to build a special casket for him... and then, when they got it to the house, it wouldn't fit through the door. So they had to take out a picture window and pass the casket in and out through the window. He had 8 pall-bearers. For my Gaelic Storm friends, does this remind anyone else of Johnny Tarr? XD

8) So far, my entire family has been in Alabama/Georgia/South Carolina almost exclusively since at least 1850 or so. The lines that I've traced back further go back through England (mostly Lancashire), with a couple of branches going through Normandy/France and the one line eventually back through Scandinavia (Sweden and Norway both). There's one line that I know is going to go back through Germany, but I haven't started tracing that one yet. I'm pretty sure my paternal grandmother's line is going to descend from the Dutch. Everything I've looked up so far, though, has gone back from Rasberry Jordan, other than the one or two stories that my aunt told me about my mom's grandparents.

So yeah... apparently I'm descended from William the Conqueror, witches of Salem, and Odin.

Joe asked if I was going to go to Camp Half-Blood now. XD

moryssa — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:09:33 GMT

Two recent conversations that made me laugh:

When I went to the cafeteria today, the lady who normally runs the register made a comment about having thought she saw me at the movie theater this past weekend... after determining that yes, it WAS me that she saw at the 1:10 showing of "Captain America" on Sunday, I asked her if she enjoyed it.

her: It was good. I was a little confused by the ending, though. It made it seem like there was going to be another movie right away!
me: The Avengers. It comes out next May. It's like a combination of all the recent superhero movies...
her: Oh ... That explains a lot!
me: *laughing*

Second conversation, with Joe:

I got the e-version of Ghost Story last night... the hard copy should be waiting on the doorstep when I get home tonight, but I figured this way Joe and I wouldn't have to fight over who got to read the book. ;) Anyway... I was reading, and kept giggling, and finally told Joe what I was reading. Then the following conversation took place:

Joe: So does the book start with Harry himself.
Me: Sort of.
Joe: Is it immediately after "Changes", or is it like 6 months later...
Me: Um...
Joe: Basically, do they just start you in the middle of the story without explaining what happened after Harry was shot?
Me: Harry is dead.
Joe: o_0 But do they explain now he escapes?
Me: Harry is *dead*.
Joe: But... o_0
Me: Seriously. DEAD.
Joe: ...
Me: Do you want a copy of the e-book?
Joe: ... um ... ... no? ... I need to sleep tonight.

He claims he's going to wait until Friday to start reading it. I laughed at him.

A Dance With Dragons

moryssa — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 02:49:02 GMT

A few thoughts, halfway through A Dance With Dragons:

It should go without saying: Beware of spoilers! ... I just finished "The Turncloak" chapter, so anything before that is game... but spoil me for anything after that and I cut you. ;)

I know I should feel sorry for Theon, but I just can't do it. I feel sorry for Jeyne, and I feel revulsion for Ramsey... and slightly LESS hatred than before for Roose, oddly enough... but I just can't bring myself to CARE about Theon. (I also couldn't care less about Asha.)

Griff/Aegon (or was it Aemon? I get the names so confused!) ... I had been wondering for a while if we were going to find out that the baby Targ hadn't been killed after all, but I sort of feel like his introduction here was kinda out of left field. We're 5 books in, and this is the first he's ever been mentioned? I'm also a little wary of him being all "Who needs my aunt anyway? I'm a Targaryen! Rawr!" Dany frustrates me at times, and I don't think she's capable of ruling Westeros yet, but if they're just going to push her aside for a long lost Targ king, I'm going to be pissed.

Bran's chapters are frustrating me in that they're kind of interesting on a concept level, but rather lacking in substance. I am curious, though, to see what he finds out with his newly discovered talent for watching tree-vee. ;)

I love Jon. I know a lot of people don't, and I can understand the complaints of him being whiny and emo, but I still love him, and while it saddens me to see him lose his simplicity and innocence, I like that he's becoming more mature and accepting the role that has been asked of him. I actually think he's doing as good a job as could be expected.

I'm also in the minority in that I really like Stannis. Or rather, I respect Stannis. He's stubborn, and he's angry at the world for its slights against him (perceived or otherwise), but I think he truly has a good heart and WANTS to do what's right for his kingdom and its people. I don't trust Melisandre any further than I could throw her, but her viewpoint chapter left me scratching my head. I want to know what her endgame is.

I'm also getting annoyed with Tyrion's chapters, and it's purely because I want to roll my eyes at GRRM. "Oh, look... here's Yet Another Person who's going to kidnap Tyrion and carry him off somewhere..." He's worse than a damsel in a Harlequin Romance! We've gotten a lot of "history" in his chapters, but so much of it just passes over my head. I don't *care* how all of these people are related to folks 500 years dead. Honest. I have enough characters to keep track of in the here-and-now!

Overall, I think my biggest frustration so far is that even though the chapters are from viewpoints of characters we've known from the start-- Bran, Dany, Tyrion-- it's still introducing new characters and new information and just dragging out the point where these people actually get together and DO SOMETHING. I just find it hard to keep all of the characters and all of the nations and all of the cities and all of the allegiances straight.

Oh... and I don't trust Daario whatshisface. Not one bit.

moryssa — Wed, 11 May 2011 14:36:10 GMT

You know those times when you see something that bothers you in a way that's hard to explain... but you try to explain to the people in charge, because it bothers you enough that it's kinda eating away at your brain... but because of the fact that you can't really put your finger on exactly WHY you're bothered, or what a solution would be, your message ends up being one of general-sounding discontent and criticism of the people in charge, even though you tried really hard to make it clear that that's not the case?

*sigh*

And I knew it was going to happen... I was just hoping that I could word my message in such a way that it wouldn't sound like I was bitching and whining. I don't think I succeeded.

And that, of course, upsets me even more.

moryssa — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 01:53:46 GMT

Words cannot express how much this saddens me. I love Doctor Who, and I’ve enjoyed all the spin-offs, but Sarah Jane Adventures was the show that made my 39-year-old heart soar and believe that people really can be kind and generous and courageous and smart and just bloody brilliant. I will miss her, even though I never had the chance to meet her.

moryssa — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 08:01:57 GMT

I'm pretty much self-taught with photoshop, and most everything I know has been the result of trial-and-error and "Wait... that's kinda cool... what did I just do?"

So today, I was working on some images for a contest in one of my LJ comms, and found another 3 commands that I didn't know existed. Played around with them all afternoon, testing different things, and now I can go from this:

to this:

I'm pleased. :)

moryssa — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 19:10:13 GMT

This is probably not of any interest to anyone who's not a member of westerosorting, but I wanted to keep a record of this... :)

And if you're a fan of George R.R. Martin's A Song Of Ice And Fire series, you should come join us in the comm and let us sort you into your proper House. :)

seimaisin just sent through her application for westerosorting, and while we're waiting to see which house she gets sent to, we were talking about the process, and she asked what I saw as the traits of the different houses. Basically, how do I know who to vote for. And, well, I'm still working on sorting that out myself. Heh. But yeah, when I first started, I did I whole lot of going back through older apps to see how people voted on them and what their reasoning was.

I think that a lot of what I do with an app is see which characters the person reminds me of... In general, though:

Tully - Family, Duty, Honor. That says it all. 9 times out of 10, if someone mentions their family in their application, there are going to be knee-jerk reactions from people putting them in House Tully. But the thing is, I think the Lannisters, the Starks, and the Tyrells also have just as much of a sense of "family". With that said, though, if there's a really high focus on family, I do tend to lean toward either Tully or Stark. To me, the Tullys are about moderation in a lot of ways... They're sort of homebodies, in a temperate climate, with a strong sense of both honor and empathy. We don't have a whole lot of Tullys to base our impressions on, though.

Stark - Cold, secluded, reclusive... high focus on honor and justice, but with a bit of naivete about how the world really works. I also get a romantic streak out of the Starks, but I think it's related to their desire to keep to the old ways and believe in the honorable nature of other people. There can also be a wild side to them, though-- see Arya and Lyanna. :)

Lannister - These are probably the easiest to spot in a lot of ways, because they focus on money, luxury, and excess. That doesn't mean they're all EEEeeeevilllll though. Tyrion's a Lannister, and I don't see him as being evil. Like I said, there's a sense of family among the Lannisters, and they'll protect their own, but there's more of a sense of ruthlessness and pessimism about them, I think. Maybe I should say realism, rather than pessimism. I think they're full of cunningness and the desire for power, and sort of an impatience when it comes to dealing with people who don't see the world the same way they do. I also think they're a little more vindictive than the other major houses.

Targaryen - There are really only 3 Targaryens to base things on -- Dany, Viserys, and Rhaegar... and with Viserys it's hard to see anything beyond the batshit insanity. But their words are "Fire And Blood", and I think it suits them, too... they've got a strength and a passion, and a strong sense of identity. They're not as tied to "home" as the other houses, so if people mention travel, it usually triggers Dragon-thoughts in people. I associate creative people with them, as well... probably because my mental image of Rhaegar is holding a harp. :) I see them as being very impulsive (see: Rhaegar "kidnapping" Lyanna), with fiery tempers and maybe even a sense of entitlement. I don't see as much of a family bond between them as with some of the other houses, but I see them as being loyal to those who are loyal to them.

Tyrell - I think that the Tyrells are kind of Lannister-lite in my mind. They're more subtle and long-range planning. I think they're also possibly more female-dominated than the other houses, so there's a kind of smart-female vibe there. They're intelligent and family oriented, but also concerned with living the high life. I think I sort of see the Tyrells as being Old Money, with the air of someone who doesn't have to be ostentatious because THEY know they're rich and powerful, and that's what matters. Contrast that with the New Money Lannisters, who want to SHOW how well-off they are so that no one forgets it! The Tyrells are schemers... and I don't trust any of them any farther than I could throw them... with the possible exception of Loras. :)

Martell - Martell is one House that I just don't quite get. And there's a LOT of Martell love in the comm (apparently Oberyn Martell is some sort of stud?) which also leads to a lot of head-scratching from me, because while I loved the Red Viper's story in King's Landing (with Tyrion and Gregor and all the FUN there... :) ) I just found the other parts of the last book that took place in Dorne to be unbearably BORING. :p But the Martells have a sensuality and sexuality that is a little more inherent. There's a passion and a love of life and a dislike of rules. And they like the desert. Yeah, that's about all I've got. :)

Greyjoy - It's so hard for me to sort someone into Greyjoy because I hate them so much. (It would be like sorting someone into House Frey. :p ) I see them as being a little more ruthless than most of the other houses, but also a little less ... not political, but maybe polished? They're the backwoods cousin who's decided to show up at the family reunion to look for a date. Ok, maybe not that bad, but I just see them as being more literal and straight-forward, with no time for the stupid politicking that goes on in the other lands. So the folks that love the sea and who seem to have a ruthless or mean streak and an impatience for the subtleties of interacting with human beings... those are the ones that I send to the Krakens. :)

I think that's all of them.

One thing that I mentioned in response to J's app, is that I see the Lannisters and the Targaryens both as craving love and approval-- moreso than any other house. I think there is more *honest* love in House Stark and House Tully, but they're not as dependent on how they're perceived by those outside the house. Cersei's passion for being accepted for who she is, and her desire to be the center of the world, are two of her driving forces, and I see some of that in all the other Lannisters, too. J's comment about fear/dislike of being teased and made fun of, specifically because it feels disrespectful, seems to me to be a VERY Targaryen way of seeing things. I don't think it's love and adoration that they're after so much as it's confirmation and respect of their blood.

I actually suggested making some sort of list like this when they asked for "ways to improve" when the last game ended... it was very hard for me when I first joined, because I didn't really know what I was looking for. I'm still disagreeing with a lot the other votes, but at least I have reasons for the way I vote now. :) Sort of. :)

Game of Thrones

moryssa — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 05:49:27 GMT

When did it get to be almost 1 AM? :p

I have spent the evening watching promo videos for Game Of Thrones on YouTube.
I don't think I have EVER been this excited for a movie/tv show/whatever.

Apparently Comcast is doing some sort of promotion with HBO, and they have some sort of special "get to know the character" videos that are available... somewhere. All I know is that some LOVELY person has uploaded them to YouTube so that the rest of us can see them. :) If you're interested, start here (Jon Snow's featurette), and let it play... it'll automatically play the next one in the series, and there are a total of about ... um, 22? ... videos. Or if you want to start out little more slowly, let me know, and I'll point you to the more generalized House descriptions and promo vids. :D

Is it April yet? :D

American Idol, Top 13

moryssa — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 17:43:06 GMT

Lauren - I really liked this. I think I can see what J.Lo's saying in that Lauren is so effortless in her singing that it's like she doesn't have to try. But she IS good. I definitely don't think she should be going home after this performance. I do think she needs to learn a little bit of humility, though, so having someone tell her it wasn't as it COULD have been might have been is probably a good thing.
Casey - I like Casey's personality, and he's someone I'd love to hang out with. I just don't like watching him sing. Casey, to me, is one of the most karaoke people on the show, because he seems to be someone *pretending* to be a singer. It's not that he doesn't have the voice, it's just that he's playing a role personality-wise. This song wasn't really *singing*, either, IMO... it was just repeating the chorus more and more angrily. *shrug* Maybe I'm just a Beatles purist. :D It doesn't help that Casey looks like my friend Jeff, and it just freaks me out a little.
Ashthon - Wow... there were some *off* sounding notes in there. I'm not enough of a musician (Heh. Like I'm ANY kind of musician) to be able to say if anything was flat or sharp or whatever... I just didn't care for it. I was turned off by her attitude last week, and I didn't agree with the choice of her as one of the wild cards. I still think Kendra should have made it through instead, and I definitely don't think Ashthon's going to make it to the end.
Paul - Paul's a fun guy, and very unique. And he's kind of a friend-of-a-friend, so I'm required to root for him. I'm not quite sure that I *like* his voice, though. It's got a quality that kinda grates on my nerves. This song started out in a strange place, way too low for his voice. And even though he's got an amazing smile, I find that his spastic dancing distracts me from his vocal performance. Heh.
Pia - I feel like I missed something with Pia's performance last week. I mean, it was ok, but I don't get all the "OMG!" commentary. I understand the rolling-eyes response to Celine Dion, but I do love her music, and I really love this song. Pia has a beautiful voice, and she did an amazing job with a hard song. I'd like to hear her do something other than a power ballad, though. (And this was another "Let's just repeat the chorus line again and again and again and again..." song... :p)
James - I'm not a fan of screechy James. My icon aside, I wasn't a fan of screechy Adam Lambert, either. :) I can be a fan of non-screechy James, though. So far tonight, I think James has had more control over his voice than anyone else. I liked this one. I like the makeover, too. :D
Haley - Oh, I really like the sound of this. Keep in mind that I really liked Megan Joy last year, too, though. Heh. For some reason, this reminds me of Patsy Cline. I think she did a great job with the song... it was unique. (Hah! It *was* a Patsy Cline song. :D) I didn't think it was sleepy or boring at all. Yeah, it was slower, but I thought it was beautiful.
Jacob - Jacob's another one that I just don't "get". I do think he has the basis of a great voice, he just oversings WAY too much, and I just roll my eyes once he gets going. Just not my thing. This song, which I actually *do* like, was just scream-y. Do not want.
Thia - Wow, I feel so old... she doesn't know who Charlie Chaplin is. *cringe* Her voice is so very beautiful and pure, but I don't get *her*. She's been singing since she was old enough to hold a microphone, and I think it shows in that she's a pageant-performer, but she has no personality. She really needs some life experience to put behind the performance. She's just so overwhelmed by the whole thing.
Stefano - He keeps making faces. This was like a song of dualities. There were times when I thought the notes sounded sour, but I have a feeling it was just the way the song was written. There were other times when I thought he was awesome. :) I'm not sold on Stefano, but I thought he was *okay*.
Karen - She got the higher notes, but the lower notes were disappearing. Now *this* was sleepy. Not that she did a bad job, IMO... just that it was kinda dull. Unremarkable.
Scotty - I really love Scotty's voice. Hearing Scotty sing makes me realize that I need more country music in my collection. I'm not sure he's really right for American Idol, since I see the show as being geared more towards the pop side of things. I do love Garth Brooks, and this song. Kinda like with Lauren, though, singing this type of song is pretty much effortless for Scotty, so I think it's going to come down to how many of the voters will vote for a pure country singer, and how many just hate country music with a passion, no matter who's singing it.
Naima - She did have some breath problems, but it was a great *performance*. I loved the hip-hop dancing and that it was unique, like Naima herself it. I've liked her in the past ("Summertime" has been stuck in my mind for a week now.) and I'd really like her to stick around because I think she livens things up.

Overall:
Best of the night for me, personally: Lauren, James, Haley, Scotty
Do Not Want: Jacob, Thia, Ashthon, and, sadly, Paul :(
Who do I think is actually in trouble with America: Ashthon, Paul, Haley, maybe Karen

moryssa — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 19:19:33 GMT

I've loved Chloe Sullivan from pretty much the beginning, and I've loved Oliver Quinn since the first time he showed up shirtless on my tv.

I didn't know just how much I loved Chloe and Ollie TOGETHER until I burst into tears at the end of last night's episode, though!

I had suspected from the beginning that it wasn't really Clark that Chloe had married, and deep down, I hoped that it was Ollie. I was so disappointed when Chloe told Clark that she was leaving again. I mean, despite the fact that I like Chloe as a character (and would rather have her as Watchtower instead of Tess), I also just didn't want to see Oliver hurt by her leaving again. So the scene between the two of them outside at the end was just breaking my heart... and then! And Then! ♥ __ ♥

And Then I burst out crying.

♥ __ ♥

moryssa — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 17:31:25 GMT

I'm behind in my watching of several tv shows, so I'm just now getting around to watching some episodes that aired last fall. One such show is "The Event". I finally called up episode 109 and started watching it, and had to pause for a screen cap...

I don't necessarily remember the carpet, but I still have nightmares about those light fixtures. I believe they're supposed to look like branches, or something like that, but in actuality, when you're standing under them looking up, they look like bloodshot eyeballs.