Well ...

So, obviously I have not been keeping up with this blog. A lot has gone on over the past year, and I can't say that the majority of it has been good. Then again, this has been a year that has seen the deaths of some of my heroes, the latest being the irreplaceable Carrie Fisher, and the election of a sociopathic Cheeto to our highest office, so maybe my life during 2016 is just a microcosmic representation of the greater shitstorm.

Now, my plan is to take up production again here - catch up on my challenges, write about my experiences over the past twelve months, start my new blog (more on that later), etc. - but first? Updates!

First, I'm going back to school this spring. It's just the prerequisites, though, which isn't necessarily exciting, but hey, I'm fucking thrilled. Well, not necessarily about the statistics class I have to take, but the other stuff - anatomy and physiology, developmental psychology, microbiology - is what I'm really looking forward to taking. Then, in May 2018? I will be starting nursing school.

Second, for those of you who don't follow me on Facebook, Three and I are getting divorced. It's been a long road that started well over a year ago but only truly began when I came back up to Louisville. I'll delve into it more deeply next year (NEXT YEAR OMG), but it does lead me into my third point.

I'm currently writing a screenplay for the first episode of a web series that is loosely based (at least factually - emotionally, it's spot on) on my life after I left my husband in April. I've been very blessed with the people I've met in the last eight or so months I've been in Louisville, and I actually have an infrastructure here that will actually enable me to get this for-real accomplished. It's bizarre, like I was meant to go through what I did and meet the people I have so I could do this. I even have a friend (hi, Mel!) who is going to help me market it around town. So again, be sure to check on my Facebook for updates about that. It'll have its own Facebook page (currently, it's not visible because it literally has nothing on it) and eventually its own website.

Fourth, I probably won't be doing any more Life with Pets, which kind of pains me. Zola is living with my parents permanently, and only Mushroom and Ramses are left. Even though that merely mentioning it vaguely causes me to feel a pit of sadness in my stomach, I know I'll have to write a post about it soon.

Well, that's it for now. I probably won't be putting anything on here other than back-posts until after the first of the year. So Happy New Year to everyone, and let's kick 2016 on its ass!

Hello, darkness, my old friend ...

(Ed. Note: God, what a pretentious title ...)

So you know how it feels when your entire life basically goes tits up? That's pretty much where I am. Quite frankly, things are still a bit too raw to discuss in depth, especially on the internet, so you'll have to excuse my vagueness for the time being. But I will say that, at the end of this month, I'm moving back up to Louisville.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Review

Via Comic Book Movie

SPOILER WARNING: I'm going to be referencing quite a bit of the plot from this movie, so if you haven't seen it and care to be spoiler free before going in, I don't recommend you reading much past the break.

Full disclosure: I went and saw this movie after reading bad review after bad review, so I was set to dislike it from the get-go. Yay, another Batman origin story retelling! Henry Cavill looks like a douche-bro! Wonder Woman is barely seen! The story is nonsensical! Zack Snyder is getting "paid millions of dollars to pretend not to be Michael Bay!" Jesse Eisenberg was woefully miscast! I'm sure you've read all of these, too. The internet was inundated with negative criticism, so much that you could barely find anything positive to say about the movie.

Now, usually, I try to be open-minded whenever I've read reviews of movies I'm going to see because, hey, I'm an individual and I like to make my own decision as to whether or not a movie is a piece of crap, but when it comes to DC, there's always this little skeptical devil on my shoulder, reminding me of how many times the publisher and WB have royally fucked up some of my favorite characters (*cough* the Finches' Wonder Woman run *cough*).

So imagine my surprise when I realized, "Hey, I don't hate this movie."

29 Day Cowboy Bebop Challenge, Day 22: Storyline I Wish Went Longer

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Cowboy Bebop is damned near perfection when it comes to plot. Not only are episodes dedicated solely to character development, but everything is tied together in the end, even if it is bittersweet. So I can't really say that there is any storyline I wish was extended, which kind of seems like a cop out, but I'm okay with that.

< Day 21: Something That Didn't Happen I Wish Did

Day 23: Character That Deserved More Screen Time >

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29 Day Cowboy Bebop Challenge, Day 21: Something That Didn't Happen I Wish Did

To be honest, there's not a lot about Cowboy Bebop that I would change, as evidenced by yesterday's post, so today is going to be short and sweet: I wish we could have seen how Jet handled the finale. His entire life was wrapped up in the crew - especially Spike - and now, all he has left is Faye. I understand that Bebop is ultimately Spike's story, but they spent so much time building up the rest of the main cast that I feel a bit cheated without knowing what Jet's reaction to the events was. Oh, well. I can write fanfic, I guess.

< Day 20: Something That Happened I Wish Didn't

Day 22: Storyline I Wish Went Longer >

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29 Day Cowboy Bebop Challenge, Day 20: Something That Happened I Wish Didn't

Cowboy Bebop is one of those shows that I feel is nearly flawless in its execution. Sure, it has its problems - "Gateway Shuffle," for example - but every detail was so exhaustively planned that to change anything would make that puzzle just sort of fall apart.

29 Cowboy Bebop Challenge, Day 19: Dubbed or Subbed?

When it comes to foreign cinema, in most cases, I would rather read the subtitles than hear completely retooled dialogue that is devoid of the cultural context of the original language. Watching martial arts movies from the 70s and 80s, it's painful to see English voice actors try their damnedest to fit English words to the lips of the on-screen actors, and it's actually a little worse with anime. The first Akira dub was awful, mispronouncing names and acting like they were in a kids' movie*, and Bubblegum Crisis' voice actors sounded both over-the-top and monotone (sometimes simultaneously, which I didn't think was possible) that I nearly refused to watch the rest of the series after the first few minutes of the first episode. Then there's the whole Sailor Moon thing, which I will be discussing in a future challenge.

29 Day Cowboy Bebop Challenge, Day 16: Favorite Location

Yay, a short answer one! The universe we see in Cowboy Bebop has some amazing scenery, from the Martian landscape to the endlessness of open space, but my favorite location we see in the series is Venus, especially because of the last scene in "Waltz for Venus." It's just so pretty, and you know what, I'd brave the possibility of getting Venus Sickness just to see this:

Via Gary's "Cowboy Bebop" Page

Floating cities! It's like Bespin but cooler! Now, I can't find a picture to show you - I'm side-eyeing the internet really hard right now - but one of my favorite images from the episode is when the spores are floating in the sky, and OMG, it's so beautiful. It just gives you an excuse to watch the episode, I guess!

< Day 15: Favorite Fight Scene

Day 17: Favorite Song Off the Soundtracks >

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