World Cup Wednesday!

Welcome to World Cup Wednesday, AKA Alz is Jon Snow and Knows Nothing!

For 'tis true, I know very little of soccer (or sports in general) except that the World Cup is some kind of international soccer (or football as the rest of the world calls it) shindig and a bunch of teams kick a ball around.  Exposure to Krispy and her Sister as well as some general tutoring from the latter has enabled me to grasp that there's some kind of point system and elimination that goes on based on it.  Other than that, the only other thing I know is that Uruguay's team has a member who is overly fond of biting people, which doesn't seem like either a good idea or good sportsmanship to me.

So in celebration of things that I don't really understand beyond "Alz, USA is still in the World Cup and so is Germany and they're going to fight it out on Thursday", have more World Cup Pup Loki!

It's about a cup?  And a world?  Does the cup hold the world?  Can I drink from it?

I've got German Shepherd genes so that means my ancestry is German, right?

I can totally kick this ball and catch it in my mouth!  Can I play in the World Cup?

What about you?  Are you following the World Cup or are you as lost as I am?  Regardless, I'll be cheering for Team USA 'cause, you know, USA USA USA!

Randomosity on Fridays: Then & Now Version: Loki

Once upon a time, there was an ungodly cute pupster who loved to chew on sticks:

I don't know what a stick is. Is this a stick? I will chew upon it.

Two years later, he grew up into this crazyface who still loves to chew on sticks:

I LOVE STICKS I WILL CHEW THEM ALL.

Ah, what a difference two years makes.  And yet the more things change, the more they stay the same.  We have wondered if Loki will mellow out as he grows older but I doubt it.  If anything, age will only put him further into his prime and in no time at all he will be conquering the world and making us all kneel before him.

This has been your weekly dose of the Loki.  Stay cool, chew on a stick, and have a great weekend!

Randomosity on Fridays: Castle of Otranto Version

What-ho and hey-hup, peeps!  'Tis Friday and time for your weekly dose of randomosity.

A long time ago, I read this book called The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole.  It was published in 1764.  The Goodreads blurb reads in part thusly:

First published pseudonymously in 1764, The Castle of Otranto purported to be a translation of an Italian story of the time of the crusades. In it Walpole attempted, as he declared in the Preface to the Second Edition, "to blend the two kinds of romance: the ancient and the modern." Crammed with invention, entertainment, terror, and pathos, the novel was an immediate success and Walpole's own favorite among his numerous works.

It is in this Alz's humble opinion that the blurb is giving the book too much credit.  It is legit ridic and, according to the prof who taught it, it is supposed to be.  I mean, the author himself built a gigantic Gothic-style castle complete with towers and battlements and with "gloomth" as a consideration for the decor, and then named his badass creation Strawberry Hill.  Just 'cause he could.  You can read the Wikipedia page if you're curious.

Basically, Horace Walpole did what he wanted and enjoyed doing it, and although it has been some years since I read The Castle of Otranto, I can tell you straight up that the book is full of more melodrama, lost heirs, curses, and inexplicable pieces of gigantic falling armor than you could shake a stick at.

Don't believe me?  Here's a comic I drew from when I first read the book in order to explain to people just how amazingly lulzy this book is:

Pretty sure that last bit about the fatal helmet's plumes is a direct quote, or nearly.

Honestly, I can't even remember 75% of what happens in the book because it was so random.  Who knew that 18th century literature could be so hilarious?

Q4U: What's the oldest and/or most ridiculous thing you've ever read?

Happy Friday!  Have a rollicking, frolicking weekend and remember--May the Fourth be with you!

Happy Friday: Pictures & Poetry

Happy Friday, everyone! It's been kind of a tiring week, so I'm grateful for the weekend.

In honor of that, I have some pictures and poetry for you.

Flashback Friday: Outside of the Louvre taken from inside.   [Photo: the Sis]

Spring time, flower-crowned Loki! [Photo: the Sis]

Poetry is also appropriate because April is National Poetry Month and I haven't been poem-ing at all around here. And in an extra dose of karmic goodwill, this is an e. e. cummings poem (a favorite poet of mine) read by Tom Hiddleston (whose voice is just...there aren't really words for it). So um, warning: you might spontaneously combust because this one is smexy.



Tom Hiddleston - May I feel said he
Shared from tomhiddlestonappreciationblog using Embeddlr
listen at justonehiddles

may i feel said he
by e. e. cummings

may i feel said he
(i'll squeal said she
just once said he)
it's fun said she

(may i touch said he
how much said she
a lot said he)
why not said she

(let's go said he
not too far said she
what's too far said he
where you are said she)

may i stay said he
(which way said she
like this said he
if you kiss said she

may i move said he
is it love said she)
if you're willing said he
(but you're killing said she

but it's life said he
but your wife said she
now said he)
ow said she

(tiptop said he
don't stop said she
oh no said he)
go slow said she

(cccome?said he
ummm said she)
you're divine!said he
(you are Mine said she)

Q4U: Who is your favorite poet or what is your favorite poem?

Friday Five: Thread and Dragon Version

It's that time o' the week again.  That's right!  It's Friday!  So here are five pics of what I've been up to lately.  Well, I suppose it's a bit cheatery since there's basically one standalone pic and then a series of four related ones, but oh well.

1. Our local craft store is closing, much to my angst, because the next nearest craft stores are inconveniently far away.  As Ma Ingalls would say, though, there's no great loss without some small gain, which in this case is $120 worth of thread obtained for $30 due to clearance sales.

A rainbow of embroidery/decorative threads and metallics.

2. I have a classmate whom I have dubbed Whiny Classmate.  (She knows this and knows how lovingly I call her this to others and that there's nothing she can do about it.  HAH.)  One day she was attempting to explain to me how my flat dragon pendant idea would be much cooler with a 3-D head and I didn't exactly understand what she meant, so she scribbled out this 3-second example sketch:

Whiny Classmate insisted it's a dragon.

3.  I declared her sketch way more interesting than my original idea and decided to bring it to life in metal, as such a doofy-looking awesome dragon deserved.

WIP: Bits sawed out and domed, ready for soldering.

4. After a couple of weeks or so, here he is!  He turned out to be a brooch rather than a pendant.  The head and wings are bronze (and the wings are textured with a scaly pattern), the arms are brass wire, the body and tail are copper, and the wings and tail are riveted with silver rivets so that they can move around.  There's also a dichroic glass stone set inside his mouth.

ROOOOOOARARGARGHARGHARGH!

5. A back view.  "WHEEEEEE" is stamped on the back of his tail, and there's a bronze rat soldered to the back because I like rats and this is my pendant so I can do what I want, so there!  For added interest, I speckled the back with bits of silver solder and gave the copper a darker patina for contrast.

Wheeeeee!

The dragon was supposed to be carrying a stonesetting as an egg, and I actually made one so that it could be a removable pendant worn separately, but it looked weird when looped onto his hands so I ended up leaving it off.

I quite enjoyed making this dragon as much of his inherent charm is due to the fact that under normal circumstances the originally sketch would've been tossed in the trash without a second thought.  Whiny Classmate doodled it on the butcher paper that covered the desk, and when cleanup time came, I took scissors and cut that sucker out to save it for posterity.  I mean just look at that face.  Look at it.  How could I not?

And the day's lesson was thus: Creativity comes from all sources.

Also: Alz will do exactly what she wants.

Happy Friday, folks!  Hope you have a great weekend. 

The Winter What Now?

So I like totally agree with Krispy that Captain America: The Winter Soldier might be my favorite Marvel movie now, or at least on equal footing with other top contenders such as Iron Man and The Avengers.  And this!  This despite the fact that I found the first Captain America movie to be so utterly unmemorable that I literally do not remember 75% of the movie, to the point that I did not remember that Cap's BFF was a dude named Bucky.  When Krispy was talking about the first movie and how much she loved Bucky, I was like, "Who's Bucky?"

At any rate, the new movie is all kinds of ridiculous funtimes, so here's one of the titular characters (the subtitular character?):

Ahem.  Anyway, after Captain America on Thursday, there was then Game of Thrones on Sunday.  And thinking of those two things, and the fact that Krispy asked me to blog today, and it being late and my brain capacity at approximately 28.5%, I doodled this:

And then I thought: What would the Winter Soldier look like as a direwolf?

And then a further thought persisted: HOW ABOUT A MANATEE AHAHAHAHAHA.

And, had it not been quite late at night (or technically morning), I might have pursued further thoughts.  We shall have to see if further thoughts occur in the future.  They may well might.

Q4U: What's your favorite superhero movie, Marvel, DC, or otherwise?

Randomosity on Fridays: Random Photos!

Short blog post before the weekend and also it's late as I type this because I just got back from seeing Captain America: The Winter Soldier!! So onwards!

1) Captain America: The Winter Soldier may very well be my new favorite Marvel movie, which is kind of crazy considering how much I love Loki and all the weird fantasy-ish mythology-bending hijinks of the THOR franchise. And also considering that I thought the 1st Captain movie was just okay / a long prologue/trailer to The Avengers, it kind of says a lot about how much I liked this movie.

If you like action-y movies more in the flavor of a political thriller but with the added awesomeness of having ridiculous superhero powers (i.e. the action sequences are way more over the top than what you'd see in like a Bourne film...and considering that Captain America is like stronger & faster than your average badass), you'll probably like this movie.

Also, BLACK WIDOW. She needs and deserves a movie ASAP. Marvel, make it happen. Scarlett Johansson has said The Winter Soldier is partly a Black Widow movie, and it's true. The character goes through a lot and I loved the bonding time she has with Cap. (And the other ladies of the movie are badass too. So yay!)

Basically, Marvel has another hit on their hands here, and I'm looking forward to the far weirder Guardians of the Galaxy out later this year.

2) Happy book mail for me this week!

Won this beautiful Penguin Drop Caps collection book from Penguin Classics!

Received this signed copy of the gorgeous Nightingale's Nest!

3) We went to a gallery reception for the picture book Sparky! by Jenny Offill and illustrated by Chris Appelhans. Chris was there to sign, and he drew us a cute sloth!!


4) The Sister went on a Lego binge and we now have much to build.

[Photo: Sister]

The Sister's completed X-Wing Lego Microfighter.    [Photo: Sis]

5) The Sister visited her friend, who has a really cute, really fluffy dog!

[Photo: Sis]

HAPPY WEEKEND! If you see the movie, tell us what you think!

Friday...uh...Three!

It's time for the ever-wonderful ever-useful Friday Five!  Or would have been five if only I could have thought of five things--alas, I could only think of three.  What have we for you today?  Three random jokes for which I cannot claim credit but hope will give you a smile as you celebrate the weekend.

1. Why did the rat roll in the mud and cross the road twice?

Because he's a dirty double-crossing rat.

2. Why did the hipster burn his tongue?

Because he drank his coffee before it was cool.

3. How did the art thief make his escape?

He stepped on Degas to make the Van Gogh.

It's supposed to be the wettest weekend in years out here, so Krispy and I will be bundling and blanketing up in an effort to stay warm and dry.  In the meantime, got any good jokes to share?

Pet Day!

So apparently yesterday was National Love Your Pet Day but as Krispy's Sister says, "National Love Your Pet Day is everyday."

So have a blinky Loki!

"What's going on?"

As well as two smooshy ratties:

"FREEDOM!"

"Must you invade my privacy?"

Have a great weekend!  Glomp your beloved pets!  Or, you know, gently pet and moosh them if they happen to be smaller than standard glomping size.  What pets do you have or have you had in the past?

Shady Loki and the Mouse

Loki has many friends and some respected alpha dogs and a few punching bags.  But like any true villain hero, he has a nemesis.  Specifically, there is a mouse that lives in the tree in his yard that is the bane of his existence.

It's a little mouse.  We've seen it, Krispy and I, a little scurrying blob cloaked in the darkness of the night, seen the tiny glint of its eyes when a timely flashlight spots it.  Sometimes it hops onto the roof of the house to do who knows what, though Loki is convinced it is up to mischief and there's only room for one God of Mischief in his territory.

The second Loki hears anything treeward, he goes tearing off rawring and snarling and growling and barking and bristling.  He rises up and balances on his hind legs, and will try to climb up the tree or the wall or anything nearby the better to get at that villainous little mouse.  Then he'll go charging back and forth along the wall, barking and growling and browling and garking, and charge around all the rest of the yard to make sure that the rest of the yard knows he's not slacking on guard-duty, and then return to glower up at the mouse hidden among the branches, frustratingly far out of reach.  He'll also sniff around the base of the tree and investigate the area between trashcans.

If I sniff around here often enough, the mouse might magically appear!

I'm just like, "Loki, if you bark at the mouse, it's not going to come down.  What has the mouse ever done to you?"

And Loki, he whirls around with his hackles raised and he says to me, he says, "That mouse is a little bastard!  It's ruining my life, and yours, and everyone's!  It's a demon from hell hell-bent on destroying everything in this world that's good!  You couldn't possibly understand or else you'd help me catch that evil awful horrible terrible thing!"

All this week, Loki has been barking at the mouse.  We can hear it nibbling away on something.  It's quite a familiar tune to my ears since it's the same sound as when my rats are eating something, a sort of quiet studious gnawing.  It drives Loki insane.

Damn you, mouse! Damn you to wherever mice are damned!
Even my demoneyes aren't powerful enough to
laser you into submission!

I gave him a bone the other day that was stuffed with some kind of disgustingly gelatinous pale chicken mass.  It looked blech and it smelled gross and Loki loved it.  For the rest of the night, he was content to chew upon his new bone.

Mouse? What mouse?

And the next night, it was back to barking at the mouse in the tree.  I give him points for persistence.

He's gonna be a happy boy pretty soon because his favorite people are coming back and he won't be stuck with me anymore.  Krispy and her Sister have been having a blast abroad.  I've no doubt there will be picture-laden posts coming in the near future!  In the meantime, WELCOME BACK, KRISPY~!

Friday Five: Doodle Version

I was thinking about a post concerning the WTF-ery of Dragon Ball VS Dragon Ball Z, or a post about Real Life Experiences of Things You've Read About and Take For Granted (i.e. things like "he got the wind knocked out of him" or "her knees collapsed beneath her"), but those posts will have to wait since it is late and I was doodling with my tablet and then was like, Oh crap it's Thursday which means I have to post for Friday.

So here are five doodles for our Friday Five!

1. This was me today, because I neglected to check what the weather was going to be like:

If I don't look particularly wet, it's because I didn't get
particularly wet. But my thirst for vengeance is yet to be slaked.

2. I drew a unicorn!

3. I also drew a dancing unicorn:

Any resemblance to certain fat princesses is entirely coincidental.

4. Since Krispy is frolicking abroad in the land of BBC Sherlock and Doctor Who, I wondered if I could draw the Union Jack from memory.  I actually didn't do nearly as badly as I expected, although in retrospect maybe some cleaner line work would have made a big aesthetic difference...

5. Last but not least, I was in the process of doodling a ratty when I got distracted by a hunger pang.  After satisfying said hunger pang with a lemon Oreo, I got distracted by watching TV.

My weekend plans involve glorious things like sleeping and eating and playing with Loki.  Sometimes simple is the best.  Have any exciting or simplistic weekend plans?

Happy Friday, folks!

2013 in Review

I wasn't going to do a year-in-review post since it's already halfway through January, but then I thought about how quickly 2013 flew by and how much happened. It was a crazy, wonderful year.

Two of my long-time friends got married, and I was a bridesmaid in one, which meant some of the best times ever with some of the coolest people I know. The Sister and I went to our first Comic Con in San Diego, and it was everything we didn't dare hope it would be (better to go in with no expectations & just enjoy). I finally met and got to geek out with an online fangirl friend; I met more online friends IRL this year too; and I found and made friends with lots of new people. I did a 5K of my own free will, though really it was just because it was the Color Run and I just wanted to be covered in colored powder.

So yeah, lots happened, and here's the recap!


JANUARY

Instead of making New Year's resolutions, I made a One Word Resolution to be PRESENT.

I reviewed an e-ARC of Elsie Chapman's debut DUALED and finally got include blog/Twitter friend Lydia Kang's book cover in a Waiting on Wednesday post!

The Sister & I got sucked into Downton Abbey, and I helped throw a gorgeous (if I do say so myself) Tuscany-themed bridal shower for one of my best friends!

[Photo: Gennia]

FEBRUARY

Alz showed off her skills in both jewelry-making/soldering and book title poetry writing, while I revealed my (not-so-secret) origin story: how I got my nickname Krispy.

Plot twist, I willingly did a 5K run. Not so surprisingly, it was the Color Run & I did it for colors. [Photos from Gennia]


The Bad B*tches Bachelorette Weekend happened, and it was straight-up magical. Fireside board games and snow in the red-rock desert.

[Photo: Gennia]

Alz revealed her impressive unicorn herd.

The blog got a clean new look courtesy of the sweet and super-talented Caroline Richmond.


MARCH

We (re)discovered Theo James & finally had a new album from Justin Timberlake.

I met Mindee Arnett, with whom I later had a Dream Thieves ARC-sharing pact, and got a signed copy of her debut The Nightmare Affair.

Alz did a fascinating analysis of YA Dystopian first lines.

Then, we + the sister had a magical weekend in Palm Springs, where we imitated dinosaurs and attended our good friend's fabulous wedding. It was probably one of the most fun things of 2013 and/or ever. I mean, confetti cannons, c'mon!

[Photo: Docuvitae]

[Photo: Sister]

I actually managed to participate in the YA Book Club for Gayle Forman's JUST ONE DAY.

Loki celebrated his first birthday!

APRIL

April was National Poetry Month, and by some stroke of fate Lydia Kang & April Tucholke start tweeting poems based on medical terms. I joined in, and eventually we started #twtpoem for our Twitter poetry. Our first prompt was "atropine."

Loki & Sadie had play dates & they were nuts.

[Photo: Sister]

I reviewed an e-ARC of the vibrant YA dystopian THE SUMMER PRINCE.

Another childhood friend of Alz and mine had her wedding in April. We weren't part of the bridal party, so it was a lot more relaxing. It was a lovely ceremony and fun party!

(And shhh, Cake Club was accidentally formed.)


MAY

Alz dazzled us with more hand-made crafts, while I began my collection of "galaxy"-themed clothing.

We saw a bunch of movies; Lydia sent us a bunch of cool Control swag; and I finally met IRL a fellow fangirl, lady geek whom I've been chatting with for a year - Nicole!

We also hit up the Arrested Development Netflix tour stops and then finally watched the new season!


Double good news: the Sister and I found out that we were in fact going to Comic Con! And Mindee Arnett was a doll and promised to share her The Dream Thieves ARC.

Sis, cousin, and I saw Imagine Dragons.

[Photo: Sister]

JUNE

We presented to you the (still unsolved) mystery of Loki's disappearing poo.



The Sister hooked me up with a free pass to the Capital Cities show at the El Rey, and I signed up to do Ready.Set.Write!

We watched a bunch of movies & I got my signed copy of Neil Gaiman's THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE.

Oh, and we made an impulsive, late night decision to buy tickets to see Coriolanus in London (which is happening in less than a month!!) because of REASONS, ahem.

Loki swam to keep cool.


JULY

Thanks to Mindee Arnett and the ARC she sent me, I got to read THE DREAM THIEVES months in advance!

Geeked out (& roped the Sis in too) over 4th of July with my US Revolutionary History gear; I got my "unicorn" (purple, pink, red) hair; Loki maybe killed a bird, but he's not sayin'.

Knowing this, I'm sure NO ONE is surprised I LOVE the show Sleepy Hollow.

The Sister discovered the Terrifying Mr. Darcy, and unrelated, Alz taught her to make Jellybean Prongs!

Then, we had the geekiest weekend of our lives at SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON!!! (And I got to meet Twitter friend Lauren.)


Hugh Dancy! And Loki (Tom Hiddleston)!!


Here's a post with all the SDCC recaps (scroll to the bottom).

Ended the month with a Justin Timberlake & Jay-Z concert at the Rose Bowl.

AUGUST

Girl's trip to Las Vegas! Of course, we were silly. We imitated One Direction (who were also in town that weekend, so our hotel was overrun with teenie boppers [do we still use that term? clearly, I am old now]) and took a pic with a Backstreet Boys poster.

Discovered a most delicious food place in J-Town with the Sis and Alz. Also, was lent an ARC of Lydia Kang's debut CONTROL from April Tucholke!

Celebrated my birthday in various ways: a post from Alz, seeing The Neighborhood, eating a hamburger-shaped birthday cake, receiving bedazzled e-cards of Tom Hiddleston from a bestie.

Also of note, N*SYNC briefly reunited (whut), Ready.Set.Write! ended, and I got really into poetry again.


SEPTEMBER

Alz wrote another interesting post, a brief analysis of the color spectrum of her read books and her reading habits, and I reviewed Stephanie Kuehn's debut CHARM & STRANGE.

Also, she and the Sister did another craft project: this epic Loki dog jacket (for Loki).

[Photo: Sister]

We had some epic sky, met Markus Zusak, and the Sister did a Fall Music Recs post.

This was also her birthday month. We went to a kids science museum to see dinosaurs and to Lego joust!

[Photo: Sister]

The Sister got me in to the sold out Bastille show, and later in the month, we went with our cousin to see M83 at the Hollywood Bowl. We also saw LORDE at some point.

But the best concert we saw this month (maybe all year) was THE BACKSTREET BOYS at the Gibson Amphitheater! Went with my besties/ fellow fangirls. Best time ever! I wish this happened every year.

[Photo: Gennia]

OCTOBER

Family trip to the San Diego Safari Park ended up with us making friends with giraffes and rhinos!

My pic is in the SD Zoo magazine for Jan 2014!

Halloween-wise: carved pumpkins with friends, and Loki and the Sister were really excited for costumes!

[Photo: Sister]

[Photo: Sister]

Oh, and I met Twitter friends Corrie and Cat!

[Photo: Cat York]

NOVEMBER

You mean, Nerdvember? The Sister & I did a challenge to incorporate geekiness into our every-day wardrobe. I think we did pretty well.


Also, there was NaNoWriMo, the release of the THOR: THE DARK WORLD & the sister wrote a Buzzfeed article about it.

We got to see the THE BOOK THIEF and CATCHING FIRE movies early because the Sister was super lucky and won advanced screening tickets to both.

Alz shared the Button Quail Murder mystery, and it was also her birthday month!

Our other friend celebrated her birthday too with karaoke and Disneyland....where we met Thor.

[Photo: Sister]

And speaking of, back in September when the Sister took a pic of me by 3 Loki cardboard stand-ups at the movie theater...

[Photo: Sister]

we didn't think we'd actually get Loki'd and end up winning one of those giant things in November!

There was, of course, Thanksgiving and a Michael Bublé concert too.


DECEMBER

Our post-Thanksgiving sales purchases arrived (Blackmilk and ShadowplayNYC) and Loki got a stuffed dragon toy that we named Benedict Cumbersmaug.

The Sister and I built a book tree.

Alz and I participated in the always-fun YA SUPERLATIVES BLOGFEST before we took a blogging break for the holidays.

We baked cookies and played board games with friends. The Sister and I spent a day off with our mom, and we went to an art gallery and photobombed Sauron.


Even Loki(s) got into the Christmas spirit!

(And we had the last Cake Club meeting of the year.)

[Photo: Gennia]

So that was 2013! What a year!

Q4U: What are some of your fondest memories of 2013?