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My To-Do List -- Last Updated October 23, 2009
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I'm not dumb, I just have a command of thoroughly useless information. -- Calvin, The Days Are Just Packed

CHRISTMAS!

Can you tell this is one of my favorite times of year? Our family has always REALLY loved Christmas -- the songs, the decorations, the sights and smells, the traditions, everything. Sure, it's a stressful time of year, but it pays off in the end.

Just for the heck of it, I thought I'd share some of my favorite Christmas memories with people. Enjoy.

When I was five or six, our family went to a special Christmas workshop at the library, where we made snowflake ornaments (we still have some of them) and met Santa Claus. We were absolutely convinced that this guy was the real Santa -- and even some of the parents were wondering if he was the real deal. He was just so convincing in his role.

On Christmas Eve our extended family gets together for a big dinner, then the kids re-enact the Nativity. Typically one boy plays Joseph and one girl plays Mary, then the rest of the boys play shepherds or wise men and the rest of the girls play angels. Well, one year I decided I didn't want to be an angel and insisted I play... the donkey. The adults let me, and I had a blast.

When Brother #2 was three or four, Mom decided that "Santa" would bring him a new bed for Christmas, seeing as he'd outgrown his old bed. So she got one second-hand, and we spent Christmas Eve assembling and painting it after he'd gone to bed. Between the paint fumes and the sugar everyone was consuming, we got REALLY loopy that Christmas Eve...

It's a tradition that Christmas Eve is our "Mad Wrapping Party," where we stay up really late (or really early, however you want to see it) wrapping the last of the Christmas gifts. Mom usually has us kids wrap the gifts from her, with each of us wrapping another kid's gifts. One year she was handing out gifts, and she handed my sister my gifts, and me my sister's gifts. Brother #1 said "Oh, this means I get to wrap my own gifts!" Mom had to quickly correct that mistake...

The first year we had our dogs ChiChi and Mona, we were setting up our Christmas tree when the dogs wandered downstairs and began sniffing the branches. Apparently there being a tree in the house was too inviting to ChiChi, because he promptly lifted his leg and, yes, peed on the Christmas tree. We were all laughing too hard to scold him.

When Brother #2 was about five years old, we were having a very hard time getting him to go to bed on Christmas Eve -- he wanted to stay up and wait for Santa. We told him "Santa won't come unless you're asleep," but that didn't faze him... until we heard sleigh bells outside. The kid promptly bolted for his bedroom and dove into bed. To this day we're not sure where those bells came from...

Anyone have any stories they want to share?

Feature -- Have a Merry (Transformers) Christmas!

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My To-Do List -- Last Updated October 23, 2009
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I'm not dumb, I just have a command of thoroughly useless information. -- Calvin, The Days Are Just Packed

Okay, so Mom and I talked a couple things over yesterday, and the day actually turned out okay. I got to do some of the things I needed to do, such as get some Christmas stuff ready and do some shopping, and Mom got to do some of the things she wanted to do, such as make Christmas presents and get some organizing done downstairs so we can have room for our Christmas tree. I guess I was just moody the other night for some reason...

Oh, and we have our Christmas tree up. It's naked, unfortunately -- there are lights on it but no ornaments. But still, we're excited to have it up, and we were able to start our yearly tradition of singing Christmas songs around the tree every night before bed. Tonight we'll see about getting some actual ornaments on the tree.

I'm a bit frustrated that I wasn't able to find what I was looking for at the store, though. A store called Family Dollar was advertising Guitar Hero games for $20, but they were completely out when I got there. They even called the other locations for me and came up dry. So I guess I keep thinking about my brother. The problem is, he's fourteen and really hard to shop for right now. About all he does is read, play video games, and play World of Warcraft. Maybe I can find a good book for him, or some kind of WoW upgrade?

Also need to get started on Christmas gifts for my online friends, especially if I want them to actually get their gifts before Christmas. Maybe I need to cut back on my AIM time in the evenings...

Oh, and an update on our cat. We took him to the vet yesterday, since he refused to walk and his leg was swollen. He did NOT want to go into the pet carrier and complained LOUDLY the whole way to the vet's office. And when we pulled him out of the carrier, he'd bumped his leg and it was oozing some gross stuff. The vet says he must have gotten in a fight with a barn cat and been bitten, and the bite had become a rather large abcess. On the plus side, the wound just needs cleaned out good and he'll be fine. On the negative side... that cat's now costing us $250. For that price, he'd better be a little more sociable.

Okay, back to work here. Geez, we're slow on Saturdays.

Quick discussion note -- what are your favorite Christmas songs? And why? Will list my own in a future journal.

Feature -- Spirited Away

Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
100 Theme Challenge -- 100 TF pics!
My To-Do List -- Last Updated October 23, 2009
FAQ -- last updated July 26, 2008

I'm not dumb, I just have a command of thoroughly useless information. -- Calvin, The Days Are Just Packed

Yes, I'm ranting. No, there's nothing you can do about it. Except skip this journal entry if you don't want to hear about it.

So I figure that, seeing as my day off is... well... my day off, I'll have an opportunity to have a little "me time" and get some things done that I want/need to do, such as run to the bank, do some Christmas shopping, make a few gifts, etc. And I also figured that, since my brother still has school despite me not working, I won't get roped into a "family work day," which is what most Saturdays have become around here. I was really looking forward to Friday for all these reasons.

Not anymore.

Mom has all of tomorrow planned out already, and never mind what I had planned. She wants my help taking the cat to the vet tomorrow, which I have no problem doing -- he's hurt his leg somehow and it's all swollen now. But once we get home, she expects me to help rearrange furniture, clean out her sewing room, do food prep, etc. I mentioned that I wanted to get started on Christmas tomorrow, and she countered that she couldn't get started on Christmas until her sewing room was straightened, and acted as if it would never get done if I didn't help her.

*sigh* I'm getting tired of my entire life having to revolve around what Mom wants to do and what Mom thinks is most important. My stepdad has his faults, yes, but I'm starting to see why he gets frustrated with her at times -- he feels that he can't do much of anything, even run important errands, without making sure she approves and it fits into her plans first. Just once I would like a day of my own to do as I please, without being interrupted fifty times to do chores for my mom.

As for just telling her "no," I honestly cannot do it. I don't know why it is, but I am nearly incapable of telling my mom "no, I can't help you" or any variation thereof. After twenty-six years of doing whatever it takes to keep her happy, I can't break the habit.

Mom still doesn't see any reason why I would want to move out of the house -- she says I have complete freedom to come and go as I please, and that I would go nuts living by myself. Well, I don't FEEL free. And as far as I can see, I'll never be seen as an adult as long as I live here, but as just an overgrown child to boss around. And maybe I would do just fine living on my own -- I never know until I try, right?

*sigh* I'm sorry, I'll shut up now. Just... feeling frustrated.

Feature -- Spirited Away

Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I'm not dumb, I just have a command of thoroughly useless information. -- Calvin, The Days Are Just Packed

Last of the relatives have FINALLY gone home as of last night. And the Transformers breathe a collective sigh of relief. They put up with a lot this weekend.

Don't get me wrong, I love my nephew. And I know he can't help a lot of his behavior -- he has autism and still hasn't grasped that certain actions are unacceptable. But I have to admit I got a little frustrated when he kept breaking into my room to steal my TF toys. At least he seems to understand which ones are okay to play with and which aren't, because he only took Robot Heroes. He left everything else alone, despite some of the more delicate TFs being within his reach.

My sister is contemplating getting him some Robot Heroes toys for Christmas, but sadly I don't know if they're still in stores. I guess there's always eBay, though.

In other news... they changed my work schedule on me. I now work Saturdays, but get Fridays off. That screws up my weekends a bit, but I guess I can live with it. Plus the library is generally less busy on Saturdays.

Hmmm... meme time! How about a TF-based meme to make things interesting?

Stolen from

1. Name every Transformers series you have watched:

G1 - First two seasons, movie, and most of Season 3
Beast Wars - One episode
Robots In Disguise - One Episode
Armada - Three episodes
Animated - Two or three episodes
Live-action - both movies

I'd like to watch more RID also, and wouldn't mind seeing more Beast Wars or Victory.

2. What was your favorite series?

G1, no contest. I'm by no means a purist -- I like most of the other series except Animated (don't hate it, but not fond of it). But G1 is my preferred universe.

3. Have you read any of the comic series? If so, which was your favorite?

I've read a handful of the comics, and thus far I've found them rather lacking. Maybe I'm just used to the cartoon universe, or maybe the storylines just don't grab me, but I really don't like most of the comics. Hearts of Steel is about the only comic that I liked well enough to actually purchase. Okay, I did shell out cash to buy some Marvel and Dreamwave comics too, but those were on sale...

4. Which faction do you prefer?

Um... I like both! Well, I have more favorites among the Decepticons, but really, I can't choose a favorite faction. Can I be an Autocon or a Deceptibot?

5. Which character (or characters) do you like most?

Do you have to ask, honestly? I can't explain why I like Thundercracker so much, I just do. I don't really call myself a Thundercracker fangirl, and I don't want to marry him or create an OC to have his babies or anything (though I did give him a niece...), but I do love the character and try to pay respectful homage to him through my fanworks.

In addition to Thundercracker, I also like *draws a deep breath* Optimus Prime, Bluestreak, Swoop, Wheeljack, Jazz, Seaspray, Cosmos, Kup, Ratchet, Tracks, Megatron, Shockwave, Soundwave and cassettes, Astrotrain, all five Stunticons, Mixmaster, Swindle, Galvatron, Cyclonus, Sky-Byte, Animated Blitzwing, Movie Bumblebee, Movie Barricade, Movie Jetfire... and probably some others I forgot to mention.

6. Why do you like Transformers so much?

I guess I've always had a fondness for robots, starting with the Zords from Power Rangers and continuing with the droids from Star Wars... and maybe even Darth Vader, since he's a cyborg. So when I was introduced to the fandom back in 2006, I couldn't help but be intrigued.

I'm really not sure why I got sucked into TFs in the first place. Maybe it was the fact that there was so much potential to be had with the very concept of the TFs, and the many, many characters in the universe. Or maybe my vague memories of watching the show as a child made me want to take a closer look. At any rate, I has giant robots in the brain, and I'm okay with that.

7. What is your favorite pairing? Write 'none' if you are not a pervert.

I'm not a pervert, and I'm really not much of a pairing person -- there should be more to a fandom than just who's sleeping with who. But I admit that there are a few pairings I don't mind seeing or even writing.

I do like and support most of the canon pairings, such as Prime/Elita-1, Ironhide/Chromia, Alpha Trion/Beta, and Seaspray/Alanna. I'm rather neutral about Spike/Carly, but at the same time I don't hate the pairing and don't think they should be broken up. I used to support Powerglide/Astoria, but Astoria annoys me so much that I prefer to think that he stuck with Moonracer instead.

As for non-canon pairings... I'm still a sucker for Arcee/Swoop and Megatron/Maleficent. Sue me. I also fully support OC/OC pairings, such as Piston/Windblade, Riptide/Shortcut, and Gladia/Titanus (that last one being two OCs that belong to my friend StarWarsGuru).

8. Why do you like this pairing so much, you deviant?

I like canon pairings because they're canon, silly. If the creators put two characters together, it's usually for a good reason. No sense ruining a good thing, right?

The only explanation I have for Arcee/Swoop is that I did it for the crack factor and made the mistake of making the two of them adorable together. And oddly enough, Arcee/Swoop worked out a lot better than Arcee/Springer. Megatron/Maleficent was a pairing I borrowed from a friend, mostly to protest the Megatron slashfics... but I think if written well and done right, the pairing can work. Though I could be wrong...

9. What sort of sex do you like your robots to have?

They. Are. ROBOTS. Say it with me, class -- THEY ARE ROBOTS.

Seriously, why do robots even need to have sex? It's not like they reproduce like biological creatures. And one can have a romantic relationship without sex, right? At least, that's what I believe.

I do support "bonding," and even believe that TFs occasionally pair up if they find the right companion. But I don't see it as a sexual thing, but more of a one-time linking of sparks.

10. Dress someone up. Who is it and what are they wearing?

Am I weird for thinking TC would look dashing in a tux? With tails and a top-hat and bow tie to complete the ensemble? *runs*

11. If you were a giant transforming robot, would you be a pirate or a ninja?

Ninja, no contest.

12 - What are your thoughts on Transformers reproduction?

They. Are. ROBOTS. Fraggit.

My theory on how new TFs are made is what the cartoon shows -- new TFs are built, and new sparks are obtained from Vector Sigma to fill them. It's possible for a TF to be a "parent" and have "offspring" by having Vector Sigma scan his/her/their sparks, then use the programming from the "parent(s)" to create the child spark. Or a new spark can be created totally from scratch.

I know, this doesn't explain how the Dinobots and Technobots came to be... I have to think about that...

13. If Huffer and Gears threw down in a fight, who would win?

Oh geez, a Huffer vs. Gears smackdown would take WEEKS to resolve itself, because they'd have to pause to whine and complain about every dent and ding...

14. RUMBLE IS RED OR IS THAT FRENZY IS BLUE OR RED WHAT?

Since I almost always use the G1 cartoon as reference, I will always see Rumble as the blue/purple one and Frenzy as the black and red one. Plain and simple. (Unless we're talking movie-verse, in which case Frenzy is silver...)

15. Do you have a folder full of Transformers porn on your computer?

Yes, it's called my "print it off for target practice" folder... Just kidding. The answer is no, never have and never will.

16. How many pictures does it have in it?

I haven't counted how many TF pics I have on my computer. The closest thing I have to a porn pic on my computer is the one I drew eons ago with Megatron kissing Maleficent. Yeah, I still have that crappy thing around...

17. Your thoughts on Transformers gender. Give them to me.

Gender seems to be more about personality than anything else. If Optimus Prime and Arcee were to switch bodies, for example, people would notice the difference pretty darn quickly. Many femmes also seem to have voices and body shapes that are closer to the human idea of female, but femmes with more masculine body shapes are canon (Stryka, Override, etc.), and I'm sure there are a LOT more femmes out there that have feminine personalities but look and sound more like mechs.

18. Kiss Players is the best thing to happen to Transformers. Do you agree with this statement?

KILL IT WITH FIRE!

Seriously, the creators of KISS players might have gone into the project with the most innocent of intentions, but somewhere along the line something went horribly wrong with that continuity...

19. Do you roleplay? If so, where, what, why, how?

Since quitting Deadzone I really haven't had much of an urge to RP via message board anywhere else. I still RP, but via AIM with a select few people. And yes, Glory manages to work her way into a lot of my RPing...

20. Are Transformers SERIOUS BUSINESS?

I know they're not the most important thing in the world, but still, they're something I love. That makes them serious business at times, right?

21. TRUKK OR MUNKY?

Optimus Prime is a truck. Optimus Primal is a gorilla. Get it right, people.

No tagging -- do if you feel like it.

Feature -- Spirited Away

Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
100 Theme Challenge -- 100 TF pics!
My To-Do List -- Last Updated October 23, 2009
FAQ -- last updated July 26, 2008

I'm not dumb, I just have a command of thoroughly useless information. -- Calvin, The Days Are Just Packed

*flops* Guhhhhh...

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate it. It's been crazy the past few days, so I haven't had a chance to update my journal until now. Sorry about that.

So... Thanksgiving weekend. I suppose y'all want a rundown.

Wednesday evening after work, Brother #1 and Sister-in-law took Brother #2 and I out to dinner, then to see a movie -- Planet 51. The basic premise of the movie is that an astronaut lands on a planet that's uninhabited... only to find out that it is. It's a very cute and funny movie, and a rather fun reversal on the whole "alien lands on Earth and is surrounded by humans" schtick that's so common in sci-fi movies. Name an alien-movie cliche, it's probably in this movie somewhere being made fun of.

Thursday I ended up having Thanksgiving dinner twice -- once around 2 PM with my stepdad's family, and once at about 6 PM with my dad's family. Is it sad that I had more fun around my stepdad's family, who I barely know, than around my dad's family? The only people who made any effort to talk to me were my brother and stepbrother. My sister was understandable, since she had two kids to chase all evening, but my dad made very little effort to talk to me all evening... then complained when I told him I was going home early. Ah well...

Friday -- Black Friday. I normally don't go Black Friday shopping, but Mom's friends couldn't make it this year, so I ended up waking up early and going with her. Walmart was a freaking ZOO. It was almost impossible to get around, between people blocking the aisles and stuff that had fallen off of shelves in the mad rush. Thankfully the other four stores we hit that morning weren't nearly as busy. I feel VERY sorry for anyone who has to work a Black Friday anywhere.

Also, I saw Mom tuck a few TFs into the cart while we were shopping, so I have an idea as to what I might be getting for Christmas. But I'll pretend to be surprised come Christmas morning anyhow.

The rest of Friday and all Saturday morning was spent getting ready for OUR Thanksgiving -- housework, cooking, splitting firewood, etc. The crowd coming over for dinner included my brother and sister, their spouses and kids, three of my stepdad's kids, and my step-grandparents -- sixteen people in all. Yeah, it was a bit of a madhouse, but at least everyone got along and had a good time. And of course, the food was good too.

After dinner we played a few games, then people started going home, with my sister and her husband and kids being the last to leave. My nephew ended up breaking into my bedroom a few times (we didn't have time to install a lock, so we put up a baby gate to keep him out, but he just climbed over it) and stealing some of my TF toys. Oddly, he would grab the same three toys every time -- the Robot Hero toys of Jazz, Ironhide, and Blitzwing. In the end, I just let him play with them and picked them up after he left.

All in all, not a bad Thanksgiving, despite the weekend being crazy and me being sore from chopping wood and wanting to be antisocial for the rest of today and tomorrow.

Back to work tomorrow, then on to preperations for Christmas from here on out. Wish me luck...

Feature -- Spirited Away