Trying New Things

Or who the heck thought this was a good idea?

If the above wording makes little sense to you, you're in for a real treat. I tried some new food and drink this past weekend, and have come to mixed conclusions.

Dew S A, also known as the three color Mountain Dew drink. I've been avoiding this drink for a little while since I first saw the cans come in their boxes to the end of the aisles at Walmart and Tops. I wasn't sure how I would feel about them mixing together 3 flavors of their drink.

This weekend we had the bravery to get one bottle, as you see to the left. It's not a huge sample size, but as I am only one person testing the flavor and deciding how I felt about it this was an adequate size. Besides I didn't want to be stuck with 11 cans if it was gross to drink.

The verdict was that it was alright. It's not really unique in my opinion, having more of a berry flavor than anything else.


The next new flavor actually shocked me. It was honestly a surprise to see it at the store on the shelves.  Sweet Corn flavored potato chips.

UTZ you have seriously got a winner here. As someone who has had to give up eating corn on the cob because it bothers my stomach, the taste of these combined with the texture as you chew them mimics corn on the cob surprisingly well. I have to say that out of the three new food and drink flavors I'm sharing my experience with, this would be the winner. These were wonderful.

But I will say they might not be what everyone expects. They truly taste like sweet corn. Where often potato chips have a chip flavor still, these lost that completely somehow, and nothing could have been better for them.

My third new experience was Pepsi FIRE. This was ... unique? It's not quite what I expected. I assumed it was going to be like Dr Pepper but with a slight cinnamon taste. Instead I got something completely different.

Pepsi Fire is akin to drinking a liquid cinnamon altoid. If you haven't eaten altoids, think of those little red cinnamon candy buttons, pretty much the same thing. Does this mean it was unpleasant? No... but it does mean it left me unimpressed and with little reason to purchase again.


So the verdict on a whole, is that the only product here that I would purchase again is the UTZ Sweet Corn flavored potato chips. Kind of sad really, I expected so much more from big brands like Pepsi and Mountain Dew. But today I have to say the winner is the potato, with the big taste. Definitely a great flavor and I hope they keep it, even if it's only seasonal.

Music Monday : Don't Be Bitter

Today I was torn about what to post. I won't elaborate, but I am sending a message out that isn't necessarily staying true to the message in the music I've selected. Sometimes being bitter about something comes with the territory. As we age we have experiences that may be good for us, but they may be a hard pill to swallow or accept.

I've been having a little trouble accepting something, even though in the long run it doesn't matter anymore. What does matter though are the people in my life now, the things I have the opportunity to do now, and the adventures that life is continuing to bring my way.

Let your life be magical, don't let bitterness make it sour and gray.

Bea Miller - This is Not an Apology

Nikki Cleary - Hated

Sheryl Crow - If It Makes You Happy

Michelle Branch - Are You Happy Now

Fall Out Boy - I don't Care

Please Be Safe

This coming weekend for many people is a weekend that they spend celebrating and visiting with family and friends. There are often barbeques, water balloon fights, and drinking. But I want to remind you to make sure that everything you're doing is done safely.

Some of you know what it's like to lose someone to drunk driving. It's a shock, and it leaves a hole that doesn't necessarily ever go away. Please don't let it be a downer, just keep it in mind if you choose to drink this weekend. DO so safely, and know your options. If you're not sure that this is an issue that can concern you please take a moment to look over the information available to you at DrinkingandDriving.org.

.Here's another warning for you, as it's the holiday weekend I'm sure there will be a number of police checkpoints. So you don't even necessarily have to worry about being careful. If you do choose to drive drunk and you come up on one of the checkpoints it won't matter how careful you think you're being. So please just have a designated driver or another safe option available to you.

Have a great weekend and we'll see you next week.

Just a Personal Update

I know that last week seemed a bit odd, since I pulled out some older writing of mine to share with you. But the thing is sometimes it's fun to look at the old pieces and compare them to the style of the new ones. The same goes with some of the crafts I've been working on for the crafts swaps I'm participating in on instagram. I thought maybe you'd be interested in seeing some of the pieces I've been working on lately, I'm a little proud of how some of them are progressing.

So one thing I have finished lately is a necklace that I've titled Greenman #2. I started this piece over a year ago, along with another that I have yet to get a good photograph shot of. Both pieces are different, but feature the metal greenman face pendant.

I found the pendants in my travels, and picked up what few were available at the time squirreling them away until the inspiration would hit me. When it did last year, the piece I'll call Greenman #1 dragged. It wasn't cooperative, and it felt stagnant to work on, so I stopped putting them all away until a later date.

But now my muse is back and my inspiration has let me finish not just #1, but #2 as well. I think I have 2 more of the pendants, but one is already spoken for. The one seen here is mine, because while it may look very long, it's shorter than I intended for it to be.



Another project that I'm working on is something that is completely new to me. You can see my progress to the right. (Don't mind the needle and thread in the picture) It's a Nightmare Before Christmas inspired wreath, sort of.

While I may not usually be the sort to make wreaths this one has been coming along a little bit at a time, slowly. There's little details that you can't exactly see clearly in the image, such as the pinking sheared outer edges of the Burton-esque toe pincher casket shape.

The current status of this project is unfinished though, I still need to add a few more flowers, and maybe a couple of large bells if I can get my hands on any. Unfortunately as far as I have found so far, they're not in season. Not the large ones anyway.

 The last project I'll share with you today is my cheshire cat painting. While I know it appears to be non-traditional, I did my best to try and utilize the source material in a manner that would let the character be seen.

I tried to merge the grey and blue version of the cat from the live action films with the purple and pink cat from the classic animated film that Disney had released. The result as you can see is a bit odd. But I'm happy with how it's come out.

It's not just paint though. It's actually a mixed media painting. There's sharpie, acrylic, pencil, and watercolor used in order to express the image I had seen in my mind. It's not a perfect expression of what I imagined, but I find the result pleasing enough. Not that it's something to worry about I suppose. I still need to seal it to prevent any possible running.

There are some other projects that I am working on, but as of yet they're incomplete and I don't feel comfortable sharing them with you. Thank you for your interest and patience, hope you're having a magical week!

Music Monday : Think Outside The Box

This weeks challenge is to think outside the box. Don't let the choices of the people around you limit your decisions. Be unique and special. Don't be a square. Not that being a square is a bad thing. But by being creative you may find something you thought you were missing.

I hope you have a magical week, and the song choices this week are fun and hopefully they help break up the monotony of your day.

Van Stephenson - Modern Day Delilah

Patty Smyth - Goodbye To You

King Charles - Bam Bam

My Chemical Romance - Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na)

Carrie Underwood - Starts with Goodbye

From The Archives : Lenore Part 1

Sometimes it can be fun to pull something out of the archives, just to see what people think of it. Sometimes this can have positive results, or it can have negative results. But either way, this is something I was working on for one of my livejournal accounts eons ago. I hope some of you enjoy it, and who knows, maybe in the future there will be more of it to read.
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There's always a minute in which I wonder whether or not what I do is wrong. But tonight it doesn't really matter that much. But i could feel the nagging little voice starting in on me as I dipped my hands under the faucet to meet the warm rushing rivulet that was being pumped through the pipes. I rubbed my hands together enjoying the sight, as the soap bubbled and helped rid my skin of the damning red stain of her blood.

It's never easy when i set to, taking a life. But everytime... I hear that small voice escaping them as they plead for mercy that they have rarely shown themselves it thrills me to the very center of my black soul.

But even that at times... rarely, but at times has been enough to stop me.

But tonight I couldn't help myself.

She had been standing in the rain as I drove along in the rain. It wasn't even a light rain... it was heavy icy rain that hit my windshield with a thud, mocking me with the idea that it could turn into sleet or hail at any moment. I barely even noticed her on the corner as the light changed to red and I was forced to stop. That was when my death instincts hit me.

Looking through the water splattered glass I saw her standing in the rain, positively soaked through. her hair was plastered to her head, and her clothing hung from her like loose sails on a sunken ship in the ocean, flapping in the icy rain as the wind drove it against her body and my car.

I didn't recognize her right away... but as my "training" kicked in i realized that she was listed to be...dealt with. So i rolled the window down a bit and peered out, turning on the overhead light so she could see inside.

"Hey... you want a ride?" I inquired softly through the barely cracked window as I reached over to unlock the passenger side door.

"Well... i'm waiting for the bus...." She sounded uncertain as she shifted in the rain and wrapped her arms around herself in a futile attempt to get warm. she most likely didn't see me as a threat.

"Yeah...well the next one isn't for another hour." I stated it flatly, because i knew the bus route around here well. Call it one of the curses of my job. I have to know how to find people.

"You don't mind? I'm awfully wet..." She looked inside my car and looked a bit uncertain.

"Aww they're just pleather seats." I laughed realizing she was worried about the seats inside my car.

"Oh.. ok." She smiled brightly at my laughter and reached over and opened the passenger side door and slid in, dropping her purse with a plopping sound, almost like adding a water balloon to a pail of its fellows, at her feet.

"Buckle your seat belt... Where ya headed..." I gave a command and a question as I pulled away from the curb as the light changed for the second time. In a way I suppose i was lucky that there wasn't anyone else out in that awful weather.

"the bus station..." her words, few as they were were heavy and acted as a weighted question. She was hoping for some direction, someone to tell her what to do now.

"you don't sound certain." I knew why... she was running. She was running and didn't want to be caught.

"I don't have anywhere else to go..." She said it with a little waver, and I wondered if she even suspected that I already knew everything she had ever done... both good and bad.

"You can come home with me then." I shrugged and smiled at her as I flipped the overhead light back off.

"Thank you." she sounded small and a little defeated as she said it, like she was relieved to have someplace to go besides the bus hub. I couldn't blame her. I reached down and turned the radio on to some old music and we rode in silence until we reached my home.

Video Gaming isn't For Everyone

But there are reasons for many of us to utilize video games.

A video game is an interesting thing for a number of reasons. They can be educational, challenging, as well as entertaining. Personally I never considered myself to be a video gamer. But there's been a lot of changes in my life the past few years, and I think now I would fit into the classification of a video gamer.

The past few years I've come to find a enjoyment in the distractions offered by video games. They're often completely different from day to day life, and the ones I've had a preference for weren't considered gamer games. I really only played things like Second Life, a little bit of Bubsy on Sega Genesis (barely) and a few other games that merely flitted through my life. They didn't really hang around long.

Well, Second Life did. It's held on fairly well, and if I had a regular connection to the internet I could reliably connect by I'd likely still be a regularly player. But unlike the first person shooter games, or other challenges offered by other games, Second Life is more of an interactive social platform. I feel the best description of the game is Barbie Dolls for grownups.

But over time I have evolved. Now I spend a little bit of time almost regularly playing Final Fantasy Online. I've finished a few games, Journey and Dream Chronicles. Perhaps not the most challenging games available but they challenged me while being low on intimidation levels.

But over the years I've realized that video games aren't really for everyone. Some people have creative talents that flourished amazingly well without the hindrance of preprogrammed entertainments. You can argue that video games aren't preprogrammed, but they truly are limited to the scripts that the designers provided to them. Some people are full of stories and ideas that are amazing, they only need an opportunity to share their unique talents with the world and to feel free to do so.

Video games shouldn't be used as a replacement for life. Instead they should be used as a supplement for the things that we may feel to be lacking in our lives. There are for example desires in some of us to travel, but our circumstances may not always enable to do so. Games can offer the opportunity to explore and entertain ideas that our daily lives do not let us experience. This does not mean that they are for everyone. But they are something people should consider more.

Games are not just games anymore. Games have become social environments in which kinship and friendships blossom without the boundaries created by societies unrealistic expectations. But this should not be a replacement for reality. It should merely be a supplement, an opportunity to spread mental wings and gain insight without the confines of our personal boundaries. Personal Boundaries include : Social status, appearance, health, disabilities and many other things that may make it difficult at times to get a fair shake.

But again video games aren't for everyone.

But I've come to the understanding that I can appreciate them for the art form they are, as well as for the opportunities that they provide for different people to explore ideas and thoughts they may otherwise never have the opportunity to enjoy.

So don't judge someone just because they play video games, or any other kinds of games. There is often an underlying need or desire that is being fulfilled by the opportunities offered by the game.

Music Monday : Be Friendly

This week I wanna challenge you to be friendly. Not that I think you're not. But go ahead and smile at someone, say thank you for someone's common courtesy. Hold the door open for a stranger. Give up your bus seat to someone that needs it(especially if your stop is coming up soon).

Enjoy your dose of music for the week, and remember we're always curious about what you're listening to.

Remember as the week goes along, that smiling and being friendly in general makes magic easier to come by. So make some magic today and have a great week!

Joey Ramone - Don't Worry About Me

System of a Down - Old School Hollywood

Sum 41 - Over My Head (Better Off Dead)

MGMT - Time To Pretend

The Pretty Reckless : You Make Me Want To Die

What's on Screen : The Skeleton Key

This past weekend I had the pleasure of having a weekend of relaxation and film devouring with one of my best friends. We watched a variety of different films, but not all of them are appropriate to share. But the movie we watched that I do think would be interesting to share with you all is today's topic of choice.

The Skeleton Key is actually hard for me to classify. I'm not entirely sure if it's a horror film or a drama. It's listed as both, as well as a thriller. It's an interesting fictionalized look at Hoodoo. Plus it has a lot of jump scare moments.

I recommend this film for older viewers, I doubt younger children would find it appealing or understand the ending.

This isn't really a good explanation or review of the film. It's more a small note of recommendation if you're looking for something unique and different to watch and make you think. Here's hoping your weekend is wonderful.

Event Reflection : Lil Con 2017

Well I know it might seem a little silly to be writing a reflection about the event we went to this past weekend, but I want to share some of the things we did and some of the unique things I've added to my collection.

All in all Lil-Con 4 was as usually alright. It wasn't like the large cons, but it also is a more pleasant experience when it comes to small social excursions. Now, when I say We, there were 4 of us who went together as a group. (One arrived late, but that doesn't discredit his attendance). So as with many events, I have to say it was pleasant in part due to the company I attended with.

I do have a few frustrated observations about the convention though. There was a workshop that we went to attend, and sat waiting for almost a half hour before finally realizing the previous workshop leader had no intention of leaving. Needless to say we felt quite disappointed as the topic of discussion was one that we were eager to roundtable with other gamers about. But in the situation it seemed there was no intent of our workshop even happening. There was a table too close to a doorway, which made it difficult to get through to the stairway to go to the upper floor where the workshops were mostly being held. This would have also been a big problem if anything had happened and there had been an emergency.

But let's look at the positive things that we took away from Little-Con 4 this year.

We got to see a GREAT presentation about how to draw the human form for comics or portrait work. I learned a lot of interesting things I'd never been taught when I was in school. Art of Stace gave a great overview.

To the right you can see some examples of her work that I got to bring home with me. I purchased the Mario Throne of Games print for my boyfriend who's planning to hang it up by his autographed photo of The Angry Video Game Nerd, so that is definitely a positive score. There was a fun coloring contest that revolved around the top print in the image which was exclusive to Lil-Con. I personally have a fondness for smaller prints, so I picked up her dragon book image as a card to frame and add to my personal collection.

Art of Stace is on instagram - as well as on face book.

 I got this awesome Journey art print from Wendigo House. I'm absolutely tickled and excited to add a piece about this game to my collection. Why? Because I actually finished this game all by myself.
I highly recommend the game to those of you who haven't played it. It's a unique experience when it comes to games in my opinion, and I loved how the characters 'chirp'.

Wendigo House is on facebook and instagram as well. She has a variety of different art pieces that aren't video game based, so check it out if you get a chance.

I love my patch and pin from The  Lady Disarray. I have a rather basic set of screen printed patches for on my next bag, but this one will add some color to the collection. It's hand dyed too, so if she does future batches there's no guarantee there will be another one like mine.

My pin is of a brain on a stick because the concept made me laugh.

You can find her on instagram and on etsy.

I also got a new card game. I'm really excited about playing this one again because it was  ton of fun. It's made by the same company that put out CATS, which is another fun card game.

Psychological Warfare plays with the various character concepts and lets you give other characters baggage and negatives to their worth. I think I might be explaining it wrong, but we had a blast playing it at the convention and I brought it home with me because there's no such thing as too many games.


But yeah... uhm. I guess that's all you're tired of hearing about Lil Con, but who knows, maybe you've got something you want to share too.

Music Monday : Be Fearless

The month is moving along well. Though there's always room for improvement when it comes to plans. But then, life doesn't always go the way we planned. So keep that in mind, don't be afraid of a change to plans.

Be fearless and take things in stride so you always have a clear head on your shoulders. If something is starting to overwhelm you, don't be afraid to stop a few moments and clear the tension out. Be fearless and take control. You have a magic inside you, let it help you get through the week!

Crown The Empire - The Fallout

Trivium - Brave This Storm

Nine Lashes - Where I Belong

Audioslave - Like a Stone

Killswitch Engage - Always

Just Visiting : Lil-Con 4

Special events are always a lot of fun. They can be a bit expensive at times, but once in a while there's fun things that are family friendly that anyone can go to. This particular event we've been attending for a few years now. We're excited that it's coming up this coming weekend. So we've decided to share this one with you.

Lil-Con 4
Sikora Post
950 Payne Ave
North Tonawanda, New York 14120

It's only a $5 cover charge, and to be honest the games and people there are a lot of fun. There are various workshops and presentations, and contests. In the past few years there's been a pokemon hunt (sort of like a easter egg hunt). There have also been art contests, so if you're an artist you can also bring along your workbook and some supplies to participate.

My friends enjoy it because it's light enough to be fun, but it has enough detail to be worth going. It's a great convention for starters, so if you have a friend or child you'd like to introduce tot he idea of conventions, this small one is ideal.

Oh! And don't forget May 6th is also free comic book day! Check to see if any of the comic book stores in your area are participating to get some new comics to try. Thanks for joining us, maybe we'll see you this weekend.

Music Monday : Be Curious

It's May first! I can't believe how fast 2017 is flying by. We've got great momentum, and some amazing trips planned in the coming months. But for now we have to stay focused on the more immediate goal of getting through this month and the next. Summer will be a refreshing time, that's for sure. But for now there's no reason to get ahead of myself.

So let's be curious this week. To help instigate and inspire your thoughts we've selected some music you may not have hard yet. Well, not in this form at least. Some may be new to you. But I hope they all help inspire your curiosity this week.

What sort of plans are you putting together for those warm months of July and August? Or are you not thinking about that yet? In any case have a magical week and we'll be here hoping everything goes well for you!

PostModern Jukebox - Die Young

The Lost Fingers - Pump Up The Jam

Max Raabe - Sexbomb

Brian Setzer - Sexy Sexy

Ruth Etting - If I Could Be With You