My Geek Confessions

Gamerwife posted a geek confessions post and it’s catching like wildfire! I’ve loved reading other peoples (and learning I’m not alone in some of mine!) so here are my biggest geek confessions.

I know, I know, they should just revoke my geek license right now. To be honest, I have zero good reasons for not reading these. I OWN THEM for pete’s sake. I’ve just never actually read them! I read The Hobbit when I was twelve, but never as an adult. In high school I adored the movies when they came out (still do), but I’ve just never gotten around to reading the actual books.

Blade Runner is one of those movies that I just feel like everyone BUT me has seen, especially in the geek community. When I was younger, I was really never that in to sci-fi. I was always a fantasy girl. As a late teen I started falling for sci-fi a little bit thanks to shows like Farscape. But I never got around to seeing this, and still haven’t,

Oh, the Elder Scrolls games. I should like them. They are considered by many to be the cream of the crop for realistic fantasy RPGs. And yet, I just can’t get into them. It makes no sense, even to me. I tried really hard to love Morrowind, and I just didn’t. So I didn’t bother with either Oblivion or Skyrm. I enjoy watching them (I watched the hubs play both Oblivion and Skyrim and that was super fun!) but playing them myself just isn’t my cup of tea.

Yet another show I absolutely should love. I love pretty much zombie anything. I love horror. Gore doesn’t bother me. But I found this show to be stupid from the first five minutes. I couldn’t get over how he magically survived in that hospital despite the fact that everyone else got eaten/dead. Or that in so many cases people make the worst decisions ever. Everyone told me, ‘Just get to Season 2, it’s so much better!’. So I kept watching. And for me, it never improved.

Be sure to check out Gamerwife’s post, and then write your own if you haven’t!

 

Video Game Blog Challenge: Questions 1 – 3

1. My First Video Game

My very first two games are some classic oldies. Centipede for the Atari, and Gorilla Basic for DOS (does anyone remember DOS for computers?). I was probably five or six years old, and my dad taught me how to play both.

I loved Centipede, and in my six year old head I kicked ass it. In reality, that’s highly doubtful.

Gorilla Basic was harder, but I still liked it. Here’s a basic layout of the game: Two gorillas are on opposites ends of a city atop skyscrapers. They throw apparently explosive bananas at each other in an attempt to blow the other gorilla up. To throw your banana, you have to calculate the velocity and angle needed to hit the other gorilla, taking wind speed into account. Clearly this was not math I was doing at age six, so I do remember my dad giving me a jumping off point, and then I took over with trial and error. Missing was just as much fun, as you ‘blew up’ giant chunks of building in great 8-bit graphics.

I still have such clear memories of playing Gorilla Basic. The triumph I felt when I blew up my brother’s monkey. My delight at his annoyance. That game probably started what would be years to come of sibling video game rivalry.

Centipede and Gorilla Basic were fun, but they never felt like mine. They were on my dad’s computer (and Atari), which we were not allowed to use without my dad’s permission. The first system that truly felt like mine (even though I had to share it with my brother) was the SEGA Genesis. It was bought just for US. I still remember booting it up and hearing the wonderful SEEEGAAA!! voice blare out. First games for that: Revenge of Shinobi (ridiculously hard), Sonic (ridiculously awesome), and X-Men (which kicked off me reading the comics).

2. My Favorite Character

It pains me to have to pick favorite characters in video games. It’s like trying to pick your favorite character out of all the books you’ve read. There’s just so many! In so many genres! And they’re all great for different reasons! But, I narrowed it down to two, from two games that 100% defined my gamer life.

First, Link from the Legend of Zelda series. To be perfectly honest, Link as a character is pretty shallow. He’s always kind of the bumbling hero, who just stumbles into the role of guy-who-must-save-the-world. But at nine years old, playing Ocarina of Time for the first time, I loved that. He was just an odd kid, who turned out to be the chosen one to save the world. And I remember thinking at the time THAT COULD BE ME!! I still love Link. How he pretty much always stumbles into the role of hero, and embraces being the chosen one. I also love that he’s never had a voice. It just fits.

The second is Aerith (Aeris) Gainsborough from Final Fantasy VII. I adored her character. I wanted to be her. I loved her story, I loved that she was the healer of the party (I’ve always favored the healing classes) and I loved her character interactions. I spent hours leveling her, and obviously went the route of her and Cloud for the love story aspect. Needless to say, when she died, I was heartbroken. More on that later in the challenge.

3. A Game I Think Is Underrated

This is kind of an odd and old pick, but did anybody every play Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup for the Nintendo Gamecube? I loved that game! I loved it because A) you were playing freaking QUIDDITCH – what’s not to love? and B) The team special moves were so much fun. It was great as you could play as the Hogwart’s house teams (Ravenclaw all the way!!) and as any country for the Quidditch World Cup. I loved to play as France or Australia, because their team special moves were so cool looking, and Japan wasn’t too shabby either. Also, you could collect cards, just like in the books, for different teams/players/etc. Useless collectible unlockables? I’m in. They are a game weakness of mine.

However, this game certainly had it’s issues. It’s controls were a bit clunky; it took some serious getting used to to navigate. And also, there was no Ireland team. None. WTF?! If I’m being 100% honest, I can’t see anyone who isn’t a Potterhead enjoying this game. Being a huge Potterhead, and this being the closest I could come to playing Quidditch at the time, I adored it.

I’m using the questions from the Video Game Blog Challenge found here. All screenshots/photos you see are found via a basic Google image search. Copyrighted to their respective owners.

Life In Photos #16

Since I have an Instagram that I post to quite regularly, I’m adding in a new section to Life In Photos. Check it out down there!

I finally hung my Funko POP! shelf! I say finally as I’ve had this shelf sitting on the floor of my living room for a good two weeks. Why? I couldn’t decide if I wanted to paint it or not. I love the plain wood, but it matches nothing in our living room…but since nothing in our living room actually matches at this point, I decided to keep it plain for now. I can’t wait to have more full size POPs for it. The litte Star Wars guys are actually mini papercrafts – they came in a NerdBlock. So. CUTE!

All the lilies in my front yard are blooming and they are beautiful! Lilies are definitely my favorite flower, and I love having bunches to bring in. Especially in that dark blue vase – I just love the contrast.

I know I say it a lot, but it’s just so true: I love my state. And where I live IN my state. We are right before the White Mountains, and these are some of the views we have while driving (or passenger-ing, in this case).

And just one more lovely sky pic, with trees as it was too lovely not to share! Beautiful day.

And lastly, a farewell photo of my beloved Jeep. Tune in tomorrow for more info!

 

Going clockwise…

1. My latest Indie Gift Box which I adore!!!

2. Tomato basil grilled cheese with my own homegrown basil…omnomnom.

3. Snagged six new hardcover mystery/psychological thrillers at a yard sale for $5. Love yard sales. Though reading about serial killers RIGHT before bed isn’t always the smartest move.

4. I bought and printed Campfire Chic‘s Three Sixty Five eBook and it’s been such a great resource for blogging! Packed with tips and post ideas. Really gets the ideas flowing!

 

 

February Birchbox AND Nerdblock Reveal

Here’s the deal: because of my total failure at planning, I realized I have four or five posts I want up before the end of February, and only three days left in the month. Facepalm galore. So I’ve combined my Birchbox and Nerdblock reveals into one gigantically long post. I received my Birchbox first, so it takes first spot on the post! Let’s go!

Second Birchbox has arrived!

Fun box this month!

New dry conditioner?! YES! Since I’m back to dying my hair red on a regular basis, I tend to spread out my hair washings as long as I can to preserve the color, which fades quite quickly. That means dry shampooing and conditioning pretty often. This conditioner is great. Leaves my hair soft and shiny, with plenty of body and smells fabulous. Loving it!

Tea too?! Apparently this box was just catered to my exact loves! I must confess, I am planning on passing the Mint Lemon Verbena one to a friend. I can’t stand mint (with the exception of toothpaste) so I know this one won’t be for me. However, I can’t wait to brew up a cup of the Organic Bangkok, which sounds heavenly.

I think perfume is one of the best things in these boxes since although I do like it, I never buy it. I’ve had the same one for about two years now, and it’s not even half empty. I just don’t wear it that often! This little sampler smells great, and is just the right size for me.

Another new mascara (I got one in February’s Beauty Box 5 as well) which I was more than happy to test out. I really like this mascara. It provides both volume and length, and goes on really cleanly, without clumping at all. The only downside that I’ve found is it doesn’t have much staying power. Even after only half a days wear, I’m starting to sport raccoon eyes. But it’s an all natural product that isn’t packed with chemicals, so that’s definitely a plus, and worth the touch-ups I feel.

More lotion? I am seriously lucking out on these boxes. This is a good lotion. I’m not wild about the scent, but it’s mild and doesn’t overwhelm you. I’ve been using it on my arms and elbows mostly, and it’s a good moisturizer.

And the ever helpful product card.

I was definitely impressed with February’s Birchbox! So far they’ve been full of useful items, so I certainly feel good about the monthly purchase.

Moving on to Nerdblock! Something about getting loads of geekiness in the mail just makes my heart smile.

First thing I pulled out was this. Another Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle squishie, albeit a different type from last box. Apparently this is a thing; I was unaware. But as a nostalgic TMNT fan, I’m okay with having them up on the nerd shelves!

Next I pulled out this box, which makes me pretty nostalgic for my high school days. Halo was the first FPS that I fell totally in love with. Please note I am talking about campaign play only – none of the travesty that I consider ‘multiplayer’ to be. We already have an RC Watrhog with Spartans on the nerd shelves, so these guys get added next to that!

This E.T. guy wasn’t too big of a deal to me, but my hubs thought he was adorable. He’s a bit older than I, so E.T. had a bigger impact for him!

This was the only thing in the box that I didn’t care one bit about. I’ve never seen the Smurfs, new or old, but luckily I have a three year old who loves new little toys to play pretend with. So it’s not a total loss for this toy!

These guys I’ve never heard of – they assemble just like Legos only larger, and I think they’re quite nifty! I really love the battle walrus. He is enjoying his new spot on the nerd shelves next to my Tifa action figure. My little miss has adopted the guy – she loves to make him drive her mini cars! As for all his teeny tiny accessories. . .yeah those got tucked away pretty quick. Otherwise they’d find a new home in my vacuum.

This sticker set is pretty fun. . .then again I have a soft spot for stickers. Definitely going to be adding some of them to my art journal, and my planner once I get around to decorating it.

And lastly, the shirt. I was never too in to Metroid. I enjoyed the ones I played for the Gamecube, but was never a diehard fan. However, my dad loves these games so on to him it goes! Another successful shirt! I’d say for random nerd shirts, 3 for 3 is pretty darn good!

Although Nerdblock remains my favorite subscription box I get, this was my ‘least favorite’ of the three I’ve received, if I had to pick. Nothing fit my particular nerd niches, but I’m still happy with what we got!

Phew! Many virtual cookies are gifted unto you if you stuck with me through all that. That’s what I get for realizing I have so many posts to get out before the end of February, whoops!

Until next time,

-Kayly

NerdBlock #2

Our second NerdBlock showed up in the mail last week and I love it as much as the first one! The geek in me definitely outweighs the girly girl aspects since I am FAR more excited about my monthly NerdBlock than I am by my other beauty subscription boxes! Let’s get to it.

I was excited from the get go. Just opening it up and I’m seeing Star Wars, My Little Pony, and Hunger Games. YES.

I love Funko figurines. I think they are so adorable. And slightly creepy, which in my opinion just makes them better. My hubs was THRILLED with this little Luke Skywalker! He is a big Star Wars nerd. He already has a little plush Yoda hanging from  his rearview mirror, and is now going to mount this guy onto his dashboard! Which is just perfect, since it’s a bobblehead. Spectacular.

   

Next I opened up the My Little Pony figurine. My three year old is a huge MLP fan, and I can’t deny it – I totally like that show. It’s funny (I have literally laughed out loud on multiple occasions), it has great animation, and it has a worthwhile message – what’s not to love?! Anywho, we got a Fluttershy which is perfect, since she and Pinkie Pie are my little missy’s favorites. Why they are black, I don’t know, but my daughter loves it and that’s what counts!

 

I ripped into my Hunger Games mini-fig next. Well, I tried, got frustrated, then finally gave in and opened it with scissors. Inside was a mini Johanna Mason figurine! Suits me just fine – I love Hunger Games, so onto the nerd shelves it went. On the close up you can see she seems to have a case of cave-man face but shhhh let’s not ruin it. . .
I find this slightly ironic as Johanna is supposed to be all sexy and super hot, but seriously her head is about the size of a pencil lead – how much detail are you expecting to get in there?! Moving on.

I was intrigued by this Ninja Turtles splat ball. Mainly because I had no idea what that was. But TMNT always makes me feel super nostalgic. I have very fond memories of watching the original cartoon with my big bro and honestly, does it get any more classic than the guys-in-suits live action movies? Anywho, the toy is kind of like a combination stress ball/water balloon. We’ve had fun tossing it about the house, and trying to stick it to walls. The hubs and I attempted to give it a home on our nerd shelves but the three year old dictator was having none of it. So it resides with her.

I saved unrolling the shirt for last, as I have decided I will always do! I feel they are the biggest surprise, so I like the anticipation. This month was an awesome Batman shirt! My hubs is thrilled. I too am a total Batman fan, but since I got the Zelda shirt last month, this one was all his.

Yet another awesome NerdBlock! Click the link below to sign up and you too can have a mini nerd Christmas every month!

Connect With Me

December NerdBlock Reveal!

I am so late with this post, considering I opened my Nerd Block for Christmas and the next one will be shipping out this week or next. But I digress.

Nerd Block is a monthly subscription box filled with nerdy goodies! Every month you receive one t-shirt plus a boxful of nerdtastic goodies! For me, this was entirely a ‘how can I go wrong?!’ situation. I’m into lots of nerdy things. I have two large shelves in my living room dedicated to nerdy collectibles. All our friends love nerdy things too if there were things we want to share. Clearly this was a no brainer. So I asked my hubs for one for Christmas. . .and then happened to be the one checking PO Box when it arrived. So I knew I was getting it, but the contents were still a surprise!

My Nerd Block all ready to be opened! I think I’ll put things in order of what I was least excited about, to what I was most excited about.

These little guys are called called Crazy Bonez. I had  heard of them, but had never seen them. My daughter likes them, so that’s a win for me!

Next was a Monster Marble. This was something I’d never heard of and while I don’t have a use for it, my cats have certainly enjoyed batting it all around the kitchen (it has a marble on the bottom so it rolls everywhere).

Eeee!! I love this little Captain America! Although I never read the comics (I was always a Batman girl) I love the first movie and Avengers, and my hubs is big fan. Even better? It’s a pen! Seriously, the bottom unscrews and there’s a little pen. Love it!

Then there was this watch, called a ‘Samurai Watch’. Why? I don’t know; pretty sure Samurai’s were not sporting digital watches. . .but the point it this is a pretty sweet watch! As you can see, it looks just like a chain-type bracelet, then when you push the side button, the time shows up (the tick mark on the top left designates PM – it is not there for AM time). Also, this thing is heavy duty – I was impressed with how durable it feels. However, this watch was huge on me as well as too manly for my taste and my hubs hates wearing a watch (despite the fact that I think it looked super sexy on him. Le sigh.) So we ended up giving to my best friend’s hubby, who loves it. That’s a win in my book!

GAH! I love Funko figurines (in fact, my hubs bought me a Jaimie from Game of Thrones Funko for Christmas!). They are so CUTE! And both my hubs and I are big LoTR/Hobbit fans so I was pretty darn pumped about this. Invisible Bilbo now happily resides on one of our nerdy shelves.

Saved the best for last – this month’s shirt! ZELDA!!!!!!!! I am a huge Zelda fangirl so I was ecstatic about this. Just an FYI, when you sign up for Nerd Block you pick your shirt size ahead of time so you know it will fit. We opted for a Men’s Large that way it will fit my hubby if he likes it more, and if I like it more, I can easily mod it on the sewing machine for a more girly fit. Which I am absolutely doing for this shirt!

Needless to say, I was pretty impressed with our first Nerd Block. I can’t wait to get see what January’s box holds!

Connect With Me

Game Nights

I love games. Board games, video games. Even hide-and-seek with my toddler is hilarious (mainly because she giggles every five seconds and it’s just so stinkin’ cute!!). This past weekend me and my wonderful friends had a game night. It was fantastic. It had been SUCH a long time since we’ve been able to get together and have one, especially since we used to do it every week. But you know, that was three years ago when we lived next door to one another, didn’t have children, and had half the responsibilities we do now! So needless to say, it was unbelievably great to spend a whole night with friends, pig out on some junk food, and play tons of board games, and in general spend the whole night having fits of hysterical laughter. Plus we’ve now decided to re-initiate a game night – though on a monthly, not weekly basis. Score!
And since I never go anywhere without my camera, mingled in this post are a few of the most hilarious best shots from the night. My friends are awesome.

What we played:

I had never played ANY of these, which was awesome because I love to learn new games! We started with Ticket to Ride, which I had really wanted to try. I’d seen the Table Top episode (a show on the Geek & Sundry Youtube channel – check it out!) where they played it, and both me and my husband really wanted to try it ourselves. It’s AWESOME. Extremely easy to learn, and not too long to play! Highly recommend it. Oh and yes, in case you were wondering, I do sing “She’s got a ticket to ri-ide. . .” every. single. time I read the title of the game. And not always in my head.

You know it’s time to get serious when D’s Jayne hat comes out. (Game pictured is Ticket to Ride).

Fluxx, and it’s alter version Star Fluxx are very fun, but not great for long periods of time. The games are (generally) very short – ten to twenty minutes – so they make a really nice filler game in between longer board games. We played a total of about five rounds in throughout the night. Bonus: if you’re a sci-fi geek, you’ll get a kick out of the Star Fluxx cards. Jam packed with references to Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, and tons more.

I learned I’m capable of making a Muppet Face. This is what happens when I’m not getting the cards I want! Oh and also, the shirt I’m wearing is totally from Krmball Clothing – click the link, or go to my shops page to check her out!

Tsuro was awesome as well. It reminds me of the game Carcassone (another great one) and though the gameplay is similar, the concept and ‘point’ of the game is different. This game is pretty quick too – we played multiple rounds in a row just because it was fun!

After D busted out the Jayne hat, A. had to trump him with her epic motorcycle helmet. From then on, hats were required for game playing.

We wrapped up the night with some WiiU, which was also ridiculous amounts of fun. I can’t wait for our next one – we plan on teaching our friends Ascension, and maybe busting out some Catan!

My hubby (left) and D after tying for the win in Ticket to Ride. My favorite picture of the night!

Oh, and just in case you were thinking it, I’m not in any way associated with the companies for these games, and I am not getting paid to say awesome things about them – I just truly enjoyed them. It they were total poo, I’d tell ya that too!
Do you enjoy gaming (of any kind)? What are some games you like to play? I’d love to hear it – I’m always looking for new things to try.