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A Broken Phone, a Birthday, Food and Roleplaying!

Published on September 25, 2012, by in food, gaming, life, My LA, television, TV.

I know I have had a bit of an extended absence, but I have been staying busy.

First: I somehow deleted the internet from my cell phone, which made pre-writing my posts difficult. I am not home much, and without the ability to write on my breaks, I had very little time to blog.

Second: My husband had a birthday! We spent most of Sunday at the local comic book shop, Meltdown Comics, playing D&D or creating new characters (a full post on that to follow)!

And Monday we had a  lazy day, having lunch at The Soup Plantation….Yum…

…before coming home to play some solo games, and group games of D&D. It was just the two of us, so we both played two characters and split Dungeon master responsibilities as a way to learn. It worked. We killed goblins. And Wolves. It was rad.

But Mark had started feeling not so great around 3:00pm, so being a good wife, I turned the roast chicken we were supposed to have for dinner into chicken soup.

He relaxed on the couch while eating soup, and we watched a few episodes of Doctor Who. Mark is up to season 3 now.

Well, that was my last few days in a nutshell.

I’ll be back with a proper post and a wedding page post very soon!

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Doctor Who Series 7 Recap: “Asylum of the Daleks”

Published on September 8, 2012, by in Doctor Who Series 7 Recap, television, TV.

***Spoilers Below****

In the Season Seven opener of the hit BBC show, “Doctor Who,” show runner Steven Moffat kicked things off with a bang…er…lazer gun when he brought the Doctor back to life and his mortal enemies back to play.

***Spoilers***

First reaction.Wow. I am not going to lie. The introduction of Jenna Louise Coleman’s character, Oswin Oswald in the season seven opener has me thoroughly stumped. know that what I need to be writing right now is an actual review of the episode, but all I want to do is write a 7000 word episode on my confusion about the Doctor’s soon to be newest companion.

But, I suppose we have plenty of time for that.

So, where do we begin?

Oh, right. Skaro: The Dalek’s home planet.

Photo Courtesy of wikipedia.

It was incredibly interesting to see where the Daleks came from, though somewhat expected when the mother pleading for the doctors help turned out to be a trap.

My heart stopped when, in the next scene, we see the Pond’s in a much different state then we left them. In fact, Rory is visiting Amy at work to get her to sign divorce papers. But they are both acquired by the Daleks and shipped off to places unknown.

It was massively unexpected to see the debut of Jenna Louise Coleman months early, in the role of Oswin Oswald, who will presumably be the doctors new companion sometime later this season. Oswin is an interesting one. Incredibly intelligent, quick witted and she speaks faster than our good Doctor as she bounces about a crashed spaceship making souffles.

We soon discover that the doctor has been brought to a Dalek ship because they need saving. The doctor must turn off a force field protecting a Dalek asylum, from inside the planet. The Daleks are too afraid. So, Amy Rory and the doctor are off, because the Daleks know that “the doctor requires companions.”

Crashed and separated the three must find their way to each other. But the Doctor finds “souffle girl” first…well…sort of. She can see him on camera and he can hear her.But they are not actually together. He soon finds Amy and the two escape from an army of undead human/Dalek hybrids…but Amy looses her bracelet, the only thing protecting her from going all Dalek/hybrid herself.

Meanwhile, Oswin helps Rory find safety when he crash lands into a room from of comatose Daleks, who eventually awake pistols flaring. Oswin also helps the doctor and Amy find their own way to safety. However, when the doctor tricks a Dalek into going into self destruct and pushes him backwards to explode and therefore destroy an entire room full of the warrior race, it turns out he knew what he was doing.

The Doctor and Amy reunite with Rory, but Amy is in bad shape and still changing into a Dalek “puppet.”. The doctor must leave the two alone though when Oswin says she won’t shut of the force field protecting the planet (that would allow them the ability to escape) until he comes and rescues her.

Alone together, Rory tells Amy she must put his protective bracelet on. The Daleks are removing love and adding hate to change her and since he loves her more, his conversion would take longer and buy them time. “How dare you,” Amy yells. How can he say he loves her more. He may have waited 2000 years, but she gave him up, because he wants children and after Demons Run she cannot have any more. She can’t give him children. She loves him more and so she gave him up.

Before he gets to Oswin’s location, he must pass through the asylum’s intensive care unit, a depressing dank spot that houses all of the Daleks that have survived the doctor. At his arrival they awaken (something Oswin finds curious as “that lot never wakes up”). They recognize the Doctor at once as the predator of their race, and begin their approach to kill the doctor…and Oswin can’t get the door open.

The doctor is surrounded and just as he believes he will be dying, they all stop, turn and roll away. Oswin hacked into the Daleks hive-mind, erasing all memories of the doctor. She gets the door open and beckons the doctor come in.

She can see him. He is so close. Just one more door and he can take her away.

But the doctor looks sad, confused. There is one small problem.

“Does it look real?” he asks her. This place you dreamed for your self because the truth was so terrible. Does it look real?

“It is real,” she insists.

The trouble is, she is brilliant. A genius. And Daleks need genius. They didn’t make her a Dalek hybrid, they made her a Dalek and she hasn’t faced that reality. It was all a dream.

We see cut scenes of her transformations, of her fighting to regain her humanity. “I am not a Dalek, I am a human.”

But she isn’t. She is a Dalek.

And she must EXTERMINATE! She turns on the doctor, ready to fire. And stops.

“Run,” she tell the doctor.

She dropped the shield. The attack has begun. Run to the Teleportor and get out safely.

The asylum is exploding around them as Amy and Rory ask how long they should wait for the doctor before the leave him. “Forever,” they decide and share a long kiss. The doctor sprints to the Teleporter telling Rory to go, but still locked in their embrace neither Amy nor Rory hears the Doctor and so he must grab the controller and take off.

And so a Dalek saves them all in the end. No, not a Dalek. A human. “Remember me,” she had begged.

Love this Oswin/Dalek Art by The Makku

Back on the Dalek ship the doctor Teleports perfectly into the TARDIS and pops out to say goodbye to the Daleks. “Intruder,” they bark. “Identify yourself.” “You know me,” the Doctor replies. “I am the doctor.” “DOCTOR WHO?” They shout. For you see, Oswin didn’t just erase him from the Daleks in intensive care. She erased the Doctor from the whole of the race. “Doctor Who?” he laughs, as he drops Amy and Rory back off at home, and once again makes for the stars.

True to form, Moffat created a wonderful, and somewhat terrifying episode that leaves more questions then answers. As always, the audience cannot wait for more, craving the next adventure. There are still so many questions left from last year, and so many new questions…and now with a new companion on a horizon we really can’t even begin to predict what is next.

One thing is for sure, I know I can’t wait for Saturday.

So, a quick bit on Oswin:

So, here is my dilemma regarding Oswin. If she is in fact the doctors newest companion, and not just a different character played by the same actress (which has been done before….Martha and Amy were both in doctor who episodes as different characters before becoming a companion) then where do we go from here? Oswin is clearly a very dead Dalek now, and though it is possible she adventures with the doctor before becoming a Dalek (like, if he goes back in time and looks for her) wouldn’t she have at least known him? Also, she said she had never traveled in space before?

There are a lot of rumors flying around. First that Oswin is actually Jenny, the doctors daughter in a regeneration. But at the end of “the Doctors Daughter,” Jenny DID regenerate and she still looked exactly the same. Another rumor is that she is the Doctor and River Songs daughter, but that too seems doubtful, mostly because I’m not sure how much of their relationship was actually a love affair. He seemed to have far more love for Rose and even Madame De Pompadour (The Girl in the Fireplace).

I don’t know who she is or where she came from. I do know that I really like the actress, much as I hate to admit it. I fall in love with every new companion, never wanting them to leave vowing to hate the replacement. And I never really do. Looks like Jenna-Louise will be no different. I already know I’m gonna love her.

Tune in tonight for Dinosaurs on a Spaceship!

 

What is YOUR theory about Oswin Oswald? Do you thinks Jenna’s companion character will be a different character (possibly called Clara) or the same one?

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In Bed with the TARDIS.

Published on August 27, 2012, by in 2012.

Much to my dismay, rather than playing Guild Wars 2 during every extra moment that I have had since the game began it’s head start late Friday night, I have spent my extra time in bed.

I hate being sick, but it seems to be pretty common in my life following high stress or very busy periods of time. I’m currently one of two managers at a store that should have at least 3 and I just got married, so I think it is safe to say that I have been stressed. I also probably never recovered from Vegas.

So, after getting in a quick game session in GW2, I am now laying in bed, watching a movie and sipping throat coat tea out of the TARDIS….

I suppose if you gotta be sick, be sick with the TARDIS.

Night.

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Recovering from my Vegas Hangover…

Published on August 22, 2012, by in 2012, Adventures in Nerdom, Comic-Con, general.

So, despite promising a second post earlier, it turns out that my first day off since Vegas was going to be a lazy day. A much needed lazy day, may I add.

As I write this, I am actually even watching “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” on the couch and having a glass of wine with with my husband.

I have a husband. :)

I promise to catch up soon. I need to finish up my Comic Con posts and talk about the AMAZINGness of the upcoming season of “Doctor Who.” Also, just sort of coming down from my wedding high and getting back to priority is a biggie.

So, I will be back…and soon.

For now, have another wedding picture. :)

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15 Days of Comic-Con Posts: #5 – Tales from the Heroes Who Went Camping in Line

Published on July 24, 2012, by in 15 Days of Comic-Con Posts, Adventures in Nerdom.

**Today’s 15 Days of Comic-Con Posts comes to us from the lovely ladies of Being Fans, the awesomest Being Human Fan-site on the web. These ladies will probably contribute to Necessary Nerdom again in the future, so look out for them. In the meantime, check out all the latest in Being Human news at www.beingfans.net.**

The Quest: Acquire Amazing Seats to Saturday’s Being Human Panel.

With an unwavering resolve, our heroes ventured out into the night, knowing only the bitter cold and the uncomfortable earth awaited them. But they were given a mission, and, by Odin, they would not fail.

We thought maybe this sounded like a much more interesting way to describe how five friends who met on twitter decided to spend the night outside of the Hilton Hotel in San Diego California for the Being Human panel at Comic Con.

We, Kristi and Dana Hahn (Being Fans Fansite) have Comic Con veteran status. Mari had been to Dragon*Con, and was no stranger to the crazy that came with conventions. Jess and L arrived as Comic Con virgins. Even with that mixture of experience levels, none of us dreamed sleeping outside would appear on our TO DO list for our con trip this year.

Comic Con is always busy; nothing that should shock anyone about that statement. But this year…Comic con defined BUSY. As in, “if you want to get into your panel of choice, you’ll be spending the night outside” kinda of busy. By Friday in the early morning all of us had felt the defeat of being denied panel goodness. We knew Being Human wasn’t in Hall H or Ballroom 20, but we also knew it would still draw a huge crowd, and we really wanted to get great seats for our favorite monsters. And thus, the choice became the plan. We would spend the night.

Outside.

In line.

Like crazy fan girls.

We can say, looking back, it isn’t something we’d necessarily want to do again. It also didn’t have the horror we’d envisioned. On the negative side, it got MUCH colder than we thought it would, and we weren’t extremely prepared. Jess spent the night in her giant comic con swag bag looking a touch on the homeless side.

We scrunched up into a Kingdom Hearts snuggie that came generously donated by someone in line who felt sorry for us. Poor L didn’t get a wink of sleep, unlike the gentleman right in front of us in line who must’ve taken a bottle of sleeping pills because we’ve never heard someone snore that loudly in a COMFORTABLE bed, much less in a sleeping bag on the concrete.

Despite some discomfort, the wait contained some interesting moments. We arrived at around 11 PM on Friday night, and spent the first few hours trading time inside the hotel lobby to charge our various phones, cameras, and laptops (not that it mattered being that the hotel had a HORRIBLE wifi/and 3G network). Dana watched a VERY beardy Johnny Galecki (of The Big Bang Theory) go down the escalator with a drink in hand only to turn right around at the bottom and go back up. Mari pointed out Joshua Jackson (Peter Bishop on Fringe) as he was leaving the hotel. A few minutes later he came back in and started going up the escalator and Dana yelled out “Hi Joshua Jackson” and waved. Surprisingly, he waved back and smiled. She then proceeded to yell, “I love your show! Fringe I mean!” to which he ignored, and rightfully so.

About 3 AM, Dana woke up literally shivering and decided to go into the hotel lobby and sit on a couch to get warm. Funnily enough, the air conditioning blasted on full, so it didn’t quite warm her up. However, as Dana sat shivering, she looked up to see Matt Smith, her Favorite Doctor (Kristi’s being Tennant), being a nice guy and taking a picture with a random fan. L and Dana watched as he hurried off, and reappeared a moment later with a pretty female. He started on his way out the door when a security guard stopped him and told him he wasn’t allowed to have an open beer in the lobby. Mr. Smith didn’t seem pleased, but handled the little disagreement with taste and manners…and then he left with the beer and the girl.

The Comic Con employees were kind and let us all inside at 5 AM, an hour earlier than they promised.

Once inside, we also realized we’d been standing in line with two girls from the VRO, an internet radio show that has interviewed quite a few awesome celebs. It was awesome to get to meet them (and exchange business cards).

The Being Human panel started at 3PM, so we had a long day ahead of us, but it was worth it.

We got ourselves right in the front of the panel.

Even though we would’ve definitely made it inside for the panel regardless, we would not have had a shot at getting such great seats. In thinking back to that view, the wait doesn’t seem difficult at all.

 

The five heroes wearily trudged back to their homes, though they felt elation in their hearts as they had conquered their foe. It was a long battle, fraught with laughter spurred on by delusion and desperation for coffee, but they knew they had devoured victory. And they even looked cute doing it.

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15 Days of Comic-Con Posts: #1 – Discovering Comics

Published on July 18, 2012, by in 15 Days of Comic-Con Posts, Adventures in Nerdom.

Comic Con 2012 was a wonderfully nertastic weekend of geeks, gamers, nerdy eye candy, video games, shopping and role playing. Not to mention dice and drinking. But this years Comic Con convention brought something that last year’s did not.

Comics.

For me at least, anyway.

I was just never much for Comics in the past. I certainly loved the movies and television shows that were based on comics, but I never found them at a young age, nor did I discover one I was interested in as an adult.

Well, that all changed this year at Comic Con.

It all started back in March at WonderCon. We went to Anaheim for the Comic Convention and my birthday, and it was there that I spotted the IDW booth and a poster that would start my journey to discovering comics.

Assimilation was still yet to be released back in March, but the mere idea of a Doctor Who/Star Trek cross-over comic was enough to peak my interest. But since it wasn’t out yet, my excitement for the comic soon faded.

Until I went back to Comic Con last weekend. The IDW booth was literally the first booth that we saw once entering the exhibit hall, and I was immediately reminded of my hunger for the comic.

I walked up and asked if it had a release date yet….and was bummed to hear that it had already come out, and that they had sold out all of the first and second issue at the preview night.

:(

He told me they saved 100 or so for the comic signing the following day, and if I had the time and patience to stand in line for the signing, I would be able to buy a copy.

I wasn’t sure what kind of line I might have to stand in, but I knew I wanted the comic, and I didn’t want to leave without it. I was told to arrive 15 minutes before the signing and I should be able to get a copy with no problems.

I arrived 30 minutes early.

I was first in line and I was thrilled. I knew I would be able to get my comic since I was first, and getting it signed by THREE people was a bonus I hadn’t expected. I wasn’t alone in line for long. I met a few fellow Doctor Who fans; the conversation was easy and enjoyable and the 30 minutes passed quickly. Waiting in that quick line was actually a highlight of the day.

They opened the signing and I stepped right up to see not two but SEVEN covers! I couldn’t decide which I preferred, so I bought them all and the artists quickly got to work signing the masterpieces.

I was so excited.

The folks at star trek even snapped a picture of me, and when I arrived home after the Con two of my friends informed me that I was featured on the star trek Facebook page.

That is me in the glasses with the green bag and the TARDIS earrings. Hehe…cool.

I’m just glad I got a photo with the artists. Had I not been featured on the page, I wouldn’t have gotten a photo at all. The signing, and the buying of my first EVER comic was a HUGE highlight of the con and I am so glad I took the time out of the day to accommodate the event… now I have some good reading material and probable collectors items all at the same time.

What was the first Comic you ever bought?

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Late Night TV in Bed…the Nerdy Edition

Published on May 19, 2012, by in Uncategorized.

Mark and I tend to enjoy watching TV in bed for about an hour or a half hour before bed. It is relaxing, and if we fall asleep…well, we are already in bed.

A few months ago we started watching FRIENDS from the beginning. We own the complete series, and have actually already watched them all from start to finish during the course of our relationship at least twice.

And now he has plowed through the whole series again. It was time to find some new late night TV show to begin.

It must be TV (we are too likley to get wrapped up in a movie and not sleep).

I went to Best Buy after work today to pick up season one of Doctor Who, since he has never seen the show start to finish.

But they didn’t have it.

Instead, I found that season one of The Big Bang Theory was on sale for about 17 bucks. Score.

So we will nerd our way through that, before I have to run back to pick up season two.

Let the nerdom begin.

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WonderCon: Day 2 – It’s Easy being Green

Published on April 10, 2012, by in 2012, Adventures in Nerdom, Comic-Con, Uncategorized, WonderCon.

Part I – WonderCon: Day 1 – The Couple and the TARDIS

I have discovered that the effects of a two day hangover are somewhat nullified when I am excited about something. :)

Wondercon Day two brought a mild headache (my fault), rain, bitter cold, and lots of green. Yay St. Patrick’s day!

We woke up around 8:45/9:00 on Saturday. There were four of us who needed to shower and eat, and we had high hopes of making some panels at 10:30.

Nate wanted to learn how to build his own R2 unit, and I wanted to attend a panel called “Goal Setting for Creative Types.”

After a small continental breakfast (all of our stomachs were a little too effected by vodka to eat too much), we headed to the hotel lobby to call a cab. By SoCal standards, we were in a veritable downpour (but not by Florida standards). The shuttle driver for Disney was about to leave, however, and he offered to give us a lift to the convention. It was a good thing, too…

The rain made LA drivers idiots. It took us 45 minutes to get the 1.8 miles to the convention center. We could have walked faster, and the cab cost would have been exorbitant. Still, we tipped the nice driver ten bucks for his trouble.

We sloshed through the rain, and Nate and Kara decided to try for the R2 panel despite the fact that we were late. I, however, decided that showing up to a goal setting panel 15 minutes late probably showed a lack of planning. So Mark and I walked the floor.

Almost immediately I ran into a group of people with the seriously coolest Dr. Who costumes on. And the group also contained the last centurion.

After that, Mark and I pretty much decided to scour the place for food. We were both starving and the convention center food had failed to impress us the day before.

This is where I express my dismay Wondercon and the Anaheim convention center

The geniuses that run the Anaheim Convention center decided that since they have so much space they would book THREE events for the same weekend. THREE. And…the events did not really match.

1. Wondercon
2. State Ladies High School Volleyball Tournament
3. State Middle School Cheer-leading Tournament

WTF?

Because, ya know…Jocks, Nerds, and Cheerleaders always got along so well?

Honestly, that wasn’t the problem. While the cheerleaders were a bit daft (I overheard one who couldn’t figure out why everyone was wearing green….uh, really? St. Patrick’s day…no?) The volleyball girls were cool. Most were super excited to get photos taken with the awesome costumes at the Con.

The biggest problem is that the Anaheim convention center is situated around three hotels…and that’s it.

Comic con is in the Gas Light district in San Diego. At any given moment, there are like 150 choices for food, and drinks….and they always have a TON of food trucks lining the road.

However in Anaheim, you have the food at the convention center, and a few hotel food court options. That’s it. We had to wait 20 minutes to order, and then another 20 minutes for our food because there were sooooo many people between the con and the sporting events.

I was flat out angry by the time we ate. Just…don’t triple book the convention center if there are not enough places to eat. Really? And I blame the people at WonderCon for not setting up for some local food trucks. How hard would that have been? I mean really.

Grrrr.

Okay, so that was my rant. We ended up finally eating and hooking back up with Nate and Kara. Nate found another panel I might like, since I missed the first one.

It was pretty cool, actually.

It was called “Where Do Ideas Come From.” It was really about overcoming writers block and learning to meet deadlines. The speaker was Barbara Randall Kesel (New Teen Titans, Meridian, Hawk and Dove) and her advice was invaluable for this aspiring novelist.

After the panel, Nate was thrilled to meet Tom Servo (From MST3K)…but I think he liked me better. ;)

St.  Patrick’s day Chewbacca was maybe my favorite of the day. Check the little hat. Love him.

We wandered around the expo for a while after that. Nate and Kara ran off to another panel, this one on cartoon voice overs, but Mark and I have never had much of a problem just hanging out looking at stuff.

Its basically why we get along so well.

We love looking at stuff.

After a while though, I got a bit anxious to do some shopping, so Mark placated me with an early birthday gift.

Its an awesome TARDIS phone charm that flashes and spins. We dropped everything (literally) to figure out how to attach it to the phone. It makes me pretty happy.

The last few hours at the expo was just spent looking at stuff and taking pictures of the awesome costumes. Everyone went all out with the masquerade that night.

I even got to see Felicia Day signing autographs. She is so lovely and seemed so genuine and nice to all those around her. I love to see that.

We ended the expo for the day by getting to see the massive group from GI Joe that we had seen walking around separately all day. It was beyond awesome.

We headed back to the hotel early, around 5:30 to wash up, eat and nap before heading back out to the masquerade.

We walked back and by the time we got inside I was so cold it took a 20 minute super hot bath and a cup of tea to even begin to feel thawed out.

While I bathed, the boys went to taco bell for grub. Tacos are Irish, right?

After we ate, everyone else took naps, but I was too keyed up to sleep. So I finished reading “The Hunger Games.”

Right as I finished (totally epic right?) It was about time for everyone to wake up.

We had a few drinks while we got ready. Mark and I applied our star wars tattoos (gifts from Nate).

I’m sad to admit, the masquerade was a bust. I thought it would be this cool party where we all mingled and had refreshments and judges would roam around judging the costumes.

Eh, no. The “refreshments” advertised, turned out to just be water…that got knocked over early on and was not replaced.

The masquerade was a costume contest where people performed or just walked out in costumes. The room was black and quiet.

It was pretty lame as social gatherings go, though some of the costumes/performances were pretty cool. We missed most of it however, and left soon after the little short star wars film festival started.

I did get a pic with Optimus Prime (the coolest costume) before we left.

We headed downstairs to the hotel bar for St. Patty’s day foolishness where we found my good friend Cary, from Dungeon Master.

We all had a pretty good time, despite the lack of bar selection. It was nice to be with friends and at midnight we all gathered around to celebrate the official kick off to my birthday.

We went back to the hotel after that. We drank a bit more, and Mark gave me a birthday gift. My very own tenth Doctor Sonic Screwdriver! yayaya!

Then I ate my St. Patrick’s day dinner (pickles are for sure Irish) before passing out.

Little did I know, that would be the last night that Mark was my boyfriend…

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Knott’s Berry Farm – Coaster Run 5K

Published on March 25, 2012, by in 5k, Health and Fitness.

If I’m being honest, I don’t really like to look at 5:00 am on a Sunday morning.

I don’t like it at all.

Add about 46 degrees to that equation, and I am not starting out with the best conditions for my first ever 5K. But I made it work.

I did ignore the alarm I set at 4:30, and 4:45…and the one Mark set (oops…)

But a bad dream about missing the race sent me straight up in the bed at 5:00am…wide awake. So, that was something.

It was difficult to find the parking lot for the race. Knott’s Berry Farm’s have never impressed me with their signage, and today was no exception. There was like one sign…far away from the address given on the race page. Lame.

But I left way early anticipating long lines to pick up my race bib, so I still made it in plenty of time.

I got to bib pick up by about 6:25.The sun was just starting to peer into the lot, and the Knott’s roosters were crowing their little heads off. I found it sort of hilarious, actually. Happy Race Day, from the roosters.

I wondered around for a while, after bring my race tee and bag of goodies to the car. I grabbed a free coconut water for some pre-race hydration, and snacked on an apple and half of a cliff bar. I also got a free $5 gift card to Home Depot at one of those spin the wheel, get free stuff booths. Score.

But finally I made my way over to the start. They did three starts. The first was a sub 7 minute mile, the second was 8 to 12 minute miles, and the last was over 12 minute mile/ walkers.I squeezed into the back of the middle group. I run about an 11.5 minute mile, but didn’t want to squeeze in with the walkers either.

Apparently there was traffic (I didn’t see any), so we started about 12 minutes late. I got tired of staring at my shoes, and I didn’t know anyone…so I took a picture of my race bib for posterity.

It is my first race, after all. It’s on my leg, because despite cold, I thought my sweatshirt would come off at some point (which it did).

The gun fired for the 7 minute milers, and I got ready. We moved towards the start line, and I turned my music on, and fired up my fit bit’s stop watch. Bam. We were off…

Well….sort of.

My group of runners was the biggest, and it was so crammed I could hardly move, let alone jog. I was just hoping, that if I must get stuck in a crowd, they would at least move along.

About half a mile in, we did run under Ghost Rider…which was pretty cool. I mean, this is the Coaster Run, right?

The crowd really didn’t thin out much during the race, but I was happy to find that most in the back of my group seemed to keep up my pace. I was even able to carve out a little spot for myself in the far right. I had to slow to a walk about five times, but never for more than a minute or so to catch my breath or stop a cramp from spreading.

I was thrilled to find the water station about half way through. I don’t really like running with anything in my hands, so I was ready for a quick cup of water. I was so into running that I tried to drink it while I was still jogging. It went everywhere, but I got enough down.

I meant to check my time once or twice on the fit bit, but I never really got around to it. But I felt I was keeping up the best pace I could, so why did it matter?

Finally, with a little over half a mile to go, I glanced at my time. 29 minutes. My goal of 35 minutes was within my grasp. But I had to run. I quickened my pace, which was good since I started hitting the race photographers, but I stumbled with the finish line in my site. I had to walk…just for a second. But then, I regained my composure and sprinted all out to the finish.

It was worth it.

My official race time was 34:46.

600 Mason,Samantha 1200 36:19.3 34:46.0 11:13

I know it’s nothing special…but for my first time, I was really happy to reach my goal.

After I crossed the finish, I nearly fell over gasping for air. Someone handed me a medal, and I stumbled over looking for water, after shakily getting my sensor off my right shoe. I tried to eat an orange, but settled for sucking the juice out of it. And my complimentary Knott’s pie came home with me for later. Food was not an option.

But I did it! And I’m really proud of myself for sticking to it. And yes, I know. I look like just as big a nerd as ever.

Next one in two weeks. :)

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WonderCon: Day 1 – The Couple and the TARDIS

Published on March 23, 2012, by in Adventures in Nerdom, Uncategorized.

We left the house at around 9:30 am on Friday morning. The convention hall didn’t open until noon, but we still had to obtain our badges. I wanted to be among the first inside when everything opened.

WonderCon was very organized in the initial process. I never had to ask once where to go or what to do in terms of badge pickup. And I was impressed to find a very neat line to get into the exhibition hall.

At Comic-Con, it was more of a cluster of people shoving and pushing and getting crushed.

The doors opened up right at noon, and everyone filed neat and orderly into the hall.

It was awesome. Vintage posters, towers of t-shirts, toys, stuffed animals…Marvel had a cool station set up by the front doors and main entrance.

I shop Stylin Online occasionally anyway. They have a HUGE selection of comfy nerdy tees for any occasion (see above). Can’t wait to go on-line and redeem my WonderCon coupon.

I was very impressed with an Pendragon Costumes who made brilliant period pieces, as well as a few more unique options. I totally fell for the Doctor Who corset.

And Nate really fancied the dress. :)

But the real winner of that booth was the purse I found, inspired by the tenth doctor (my Doctor).

After browsing a few more racks of t-shirts (love this one)….

…we found the star of WonderCon Day One…

Artoo (or R2 if you prefer).

Gosh, he was so adorable. I would ask him questions, and he would respond in various ways. I ran to find mark (we had wondered away from each other) to bring him to the amazing robot.

“Help Me Obi Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.” I had to. :)

It only got cuter when he found a friend,

After parting ways with the droid, we headed out to a food truck by the Hotel next door. On the way out, I found the BSG display.

I loved that show. I was late catching onto the fandom, but once I did, I plowed through every single episode mere months before catching up to the final season. I still owe that fraking show a Halloween costume. Pure genius. So say we all.

We thought the food truck was selling something or other, but it turned out it was free teriyaki to promote an anime series, “Ultimate Ninja Storm: Generations.”

Score.

I love free food. Also it was yummy.

We ended up going back into the convention hall and settling for nachos and pizza. The nachos were great and extra cheesy, though the pizza was just okay.

Have I mentioned yet, the extreme amount of swag we collected on the first day. I mean we got comics, buttons, bags…fake tattoos. It was all very fun and I collected more than enough. Look for an epic give away at the end of my day three wrap up: The bag of fun nerdy awesomeness I am giving away from all three days is spilling over. So keep reading to have a shot at that.

Some other stand out booths from Day One:

The NASA booth – Check out more info on the first Human to go into Space at www.yurisnight.net, and learn about the upcoming Venus Transit

Tomboy Teez was another great smaller t-shirt shop I found on day one. I got a sticker for joining their mailing list, and once again, a coupon. Check out their shirts. Especially for fangirls.

We spent a bit more time on the expo floor, but after a terrifying run in with the sand people

we decided to head up to the ball room for a world premiere screening of Superman VS the Elite, along with a panel.

First of all, can I just take a minute to say how awesome this cartoon was? The story was wonderful, the voice acting was inspired and the artistic direction was beautiful. I really enjoyed watching this story unfold.

The panel was also really interesting. Its so cool to hear about the process from comic to screen, as well as listen to actors explain their process. Everyone seemed genuine and excited.

After the panel we all got a sneak peak of the newest batman cartoon as well.

Its gonna rock.

But at this point, it was late and we were all dead tired.

We made the 1.8 mile walk back up to the hotel to celebrate the weekend, and good friends.

Before turning the camera off for the night, for the sake of general merriment, we did grab a few pictures of our adorable ensemble.

Mark and I generally won’t match on principle…but it seemed okay for such a nerdy occasion. :)

To be continued…

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