2014 oh how I will miss you

This was the year of big crazy schemes.

Comic Con

Purple Hair

Tea Party

Family Vacation

Los Angeles

Hollow-een 

NaNoWriMo '14

Blogmas...

That last one was a bust but it's the thought that counts. Right guys? ... Uh, guys? Hello?

The evidence speaks for itself. If we go on events alone, I had the most amazing year! If we go on personal growth... It was still an amazing year. I sat on the California coast in a swimsuit with no cover up... Mind blown! I don't think I ever not worn a tshirt with my bathing suit. I voluntarily went to the dentist - I was in pain, I had no choice. I found out I like working but I don't like the job hunting bit. Was nearly run over by Nathan Fillan's comic con golf cart. That's not really personal growth it's just a story I like to share. 

I went back and looked at my list of goals for 2014 and I somehow accomplished three of them. 

I earned my learners permit and am currently learning how to drive. Woohoo!

I had a job

And I went to  Salt Lake Comic Con FanX 2014

Im saying 'I' a lot which I starting to bug me so I think I'm going to wrap it up. BUT before I hit publish I just wanted to thank you. Whoever you are, wherever you might be. If you stopped by and read my thoughts, viewed my pics, followed me on twitter (shameless plug, twitter feed is to the right), etc... Thank you for being awesome. 

I'll see you next year!

-Awel

Blogmas Day 2

Well this Blogmas thing is going great, isn't it? I mean it's day 2 and I don't have any pictures. I didn't do much of anything today. I worked on Christmas presents, which I can't even tell you about because the people they're for might read this and then the surprise would be spoiled. I can tell you that it involved paint and sharpies. Crafty. I also made dinner while listening to Christmas music. Apple salsa porkchops with rice. Yummy. I didn't take pictures of that either :( sorry.

There's always tomorrow!

-Awel

Blogmas Day 1 - An update and a Christmas Tree

It's December 1st!!! The start of Blogmas 

totally not inspired by Vlogmas ;) 

NaNoWriMo is over. The word count has been validated and I have slayed my 50k word dragon! My first draft is resting, waiting to be typed, and then edited into a "shiny new penny" (which will eventually turn out to be just a bit of copper and will need to be edited again and again and again....) But for now I have time to do whatever I want. And by that I mean write my penpals (three cheers for snail mail!), DIY/mcguiver Christmas presents, and drink hot chocolate. 

What else did I manage to do while writing? I had a job. Yes. Actual employment by an actual company for the total of two days. No I did not get fired. They only hired me for those two days to help unpack and security tag products as the new store in town prepared to open it's doors. I'm really bummed out that I wasn't actually hired to work in the store. I liked working. I guess if that's the main thing I come out of that two day experience is that I like working then I guess it was "worth it".  

American Thanksgiving happened. We watched the parade and all the football games. We had turkey and mashed potatoes and my favorite - pistachio pudding. I don't know why pistachio pudding is a thanksgiving thing. There's probably some weird US history tidbit that could answer my question. If you happen to know leave a comment. 

Immediately after Thanksgiving day, my little brother took it upon himself to decorate the house for Christmas. All by himself. Here is the tree he designed for this year. It's amazeballs. 

That's kind of it for the first day of Blogmas. I'll be back tomorrow with another post. I'll make a link to all the Blogmas posts up at the top of the page so you can find them all. Or, ya know, you could come back every day and read them one at a time. What am I talking about? That would be absurd and totally not instantly gratifying. 

Merry Christmas! 

-Awel

P.S. Is it too early to wish someone a Merry Christmas? 

Hello

It's almost like this blog has gone silent. We're back to the dark ages of me not posting. I am writing. It's November. Which means it's NaNoWriMo (national novel writing month) which is actually a lie, it's international. Hundreds of thousands of people are typing away, picking up pens and scratching at paper in hopes of writing a 50,000 word first draft of a novel in thirty days. These people are crazy. This whole thing is crazy. And I am one of them.

I just thought I'd take a moment of procrastination to let you know that I haven't died. I'm here, haunched over a spiral bound notebook burried in pencil shavings. My novel is in here somewhere. I've got to find it. I'll be back in December, hopefully victorious. 

Until then if there is any holiday type posts you'd like me to write about leave a comment below.

Questioning my sanity,

-Awel

October

Well friends, October has now passed. 12 months till October comes back around! Boo yah! Haha just kidding. I'm not really counting down for the next 12 months, there is plenty of things I'm looking forward to between now and then. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, my birthday... Lots of big things and lots of little things. Thank you for hanging out with me all month long. I believe that Hollow-een was a success and on top of that it was extremely fun. I can't wait to do this again next year. But until next then we'll always have this October. 

Electro - The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Okay y'all. I promised you one more character makeup before Halloween. I rushed through this and I don't like how it turned out. I may redo it down the road and redeem myself. But until then this is my current take on Electro. Enjoy! 

What You'll Need:

Bald cap

Spirit gum or other skin safe glue

Blue face paint 

White face pait

Fake blood

Baby powder

Makeup:

1. By some miracle get the bald cap on and secured with glue

2. Apply blue paint everywhere

3. Mix fake blood and baby powder until it turns orange, apply in random areas

4. Use white paint to create "lightning veins"

5. Highlight veins with  light blue (blue and white paint mixed)

 (I think it's obvious that I can't act)

Costume:

You can either go super villain route:

 

Leather jacket

Leather pants

Gloves

Boots

Or 

You can go the 'I woke up in a morgue and my skin is blue' route:

Black hoodie

Jeans

Sneakers

Those light up mouth pieces you can get around Halloween would be a great addition.

Sorry this looks like crap. Definitely going to redo this one at some point.

-Awel

Abaddon - Supernatural

Supernatural is a guilty pleasure of mine I guess you could say. I'm currently working on season 9, about halfway through, and had this wild idea to recreate something from the show. Abaddon is my third fav female from the show (Meg 2.0 being my first and Sheriff Jody being my second). The character has a killer look and I just couldn't help myself.

Now I know wearing a Demi lovato tshirt and a split throat makeup at the same time sends a bad message. But it was the only rock n roll tshirt I had. If there are any lovatics reading this please please don't kill me.

What you'll need: 

(A basic beauty makeup already applied)

Brown eye shaddow

Black eye shaddow

Purple eyeshaddow

Pink eyeshaddow

Orange/gold shaddow

Red blush

Red lipstick (use a cheap costume one)

Red lip liner

Fake blood

Black eyeliner

Mascara 

Makeup:

1. Use the purple, pink, orange, and brown shadows to create the look of puffy, baggy under eyes. 

2.Drag brown eye shaddow from the bottom of the eye brow, in the inner bridge of the nose and down to where the bag would begin. 

3. Use brown shaddow in the crease of your eyelid to create a hollow effect.

4. Create a cat eye liner and apply mascara.

5. Use brown shaddow in laugh lines 

6. Apply red lipstick. Take your finger and smudge it to one side.

7. Draw a line around your neck with the lip liner. 

8. Smudge pink, purple, and blush over line

9. Smudge brown shaddow on the outside of the pink smudge

10. Smudge orange shaddow outside brown

11. Use eyeliner to create stitches

12. Redraw line with red lipstick

13. Use a Qtip to apply fake blood over lipstick line.

14. Use makeup wedge to apply fake blood on the neck. Don't go overboard by covering up all your hard work.

 

Costume: 

Leather jacket

Band tee

Jeans

Black boots

Red wig

Black contacts (if you're willing)

So now that I'm a knight of hell what should I do? Steal the Impala or mess with Crowley? 

Happy hunting!

-Awel

Blink - Xmen Days of Future Past

Mutant and proud? I thought so. 

Things You'll Need:

Primer

Black eyeliner (sharpened)

Purple eye shaddow

Mascara

Black eye shaddow

Brushes (or you can use your fingers)

Setting spray

 

Makeup:

1. Start with a clean face and primer.

2. Use eye liner to outline the markings. I did them backwards. You'll need three triangles above the left eyebrow, one triangle above the right, one triangle below right eye, and the diamond in the middle.

3. Fill in the outlines with purple eyeshaddow.

4. Line eyes with black eyeliner.

5. Pat black eye shaddow over the eyeliner to keep it in place.

6.  Mascara on top and bottom lashes.

7. Fill in brows with black eyeshaddow.

8. Line and fill lips with the black eyeliner (or black lip liner if you've got that).

10. Pat purple eye shaddow in the middle of the lips, top and bottom.

11. Set with setting spray.

(Feel free to wear foundation or bb cream beneath this makeup if you want to)

Costume Basics:

Leather jacket

Black jeans

Black boots

Purple wig 

This is a really fun makeup. I was supposed to knock out three different looks today and I'm still wearing this one because I love it so much. 

As always if you have any questions or just want to chat, the comment section is below and my twitter link is to the right. I'd love to hear from you.

-Awel

Gamora - Guardians of the Galaxy makeup

SPOILERS AHEAD 

(sorry)

Guardians of the Galaxy is the latest release in the Marvel movie universe and may be the funniest movie of summer 2014. The movie features a cast of misfit bandits from different reaches of the galaxy.  The female lead Gamora is portrayed by Zoe Saldana. This character is an independent female alien who doesn't end up in a relationship with the male lead at the end of the movie! Did I mention that she is green?

I wanted to focus more on marvel characters this year for Hollow-een and I also wanted to do a makeup from this movie. Gamora seemed like the perfect fit. I sat down one afternoon and began my transformation. I didn't take step by step pictures (sorry) but it's pretty simple. If you get lost along the way or have any questions the comment section is your best friend.

Things you'll need:

Face primer

School grade glue stick

Green eye shaddow

Dark green eye shaddow

Yellow eye shaddow

Silver eye shaddow

Black eyeliner

Concealer brush

Lip brush

Setting spray

1. Start with a clean face.

2. Use a primer all over your face. Let dry.

3. Use a glue stick to keep your eyebrows in place. Let dry.

4. Use a concealer brush to apply the green eyeshaddow own all over your face and eye brows.

5. Use concealer brush and dark green shaddow to contour under the cheek bones, eye crease, jaw line, side of nose, and temples.

6. Use concealer brush and yellow shaddow to highlight: cheek, center or nose, center of chin, cuspids bow, forehead.

7. Take black eyeliner and create new eye brows (a single line from your natural brow, gliding in a slightly upward arch).

7.5 add a yellow highlight under new arch.

8. Line eyes with liner and also line and fill lips with liner.

9. Use lip brush and silver eye shaddow to make the markings. 

10. Spray with makeup sealer and let it dry.

(If you want to paint your arms green to match I recomend a green grease paint and a friend. Try to match your lighter green eye shaddow with the grease paint in this case)

I like making funny faces when I'm in character makeup XD

COSTUME BASICS

Black vest

Black jeans

Black boots

Purple wig

Now put on a mix tape and go save the galaxy!

-Awel

ps - I wasn't wearing a wig in these pics, that's my actual hair. 

Centerpied Super Soldier - SHIELD costume

Hollow-een 2014 post número 3 and we're getting off to a good start. This is the first costume post of the season so HOORAY.

This costume comes from the Marvel movie/tv universe. If you've never seen a Marvel movie (avengers, iron man, guardians of the galaxy, etc...) or seen the hit tv show Marvel's Agents of SHIELD I recomend netflixing them right now because you are missing out. And once you come back from a marathon of awesomeness you can return to this page and continue on.

Now I will do my best to not post spoilers because I don't know where everyone is on their marvel journey so here's a basic background to fill you in. Centerpied super soldiers are the bad guys. They make their first appearance in Agents of SHIELD season one. A centerpied is a piece of technology that is bonded to the human body to give super powers or enhance super powers if the volunteer is already super. 

Here is all you need to make this character come to life:

Centerpied 

Clothes

This costume is so cool because you can literally pick clothes out of your closet, throw them on, apply the centerpied, and you're done. That's it. These super soldiers are creepy because they blend in to the rest of the human race. You could wear camouflage pants and a black shirt to really sell the super soldier theme or you could go as normal you but be super you... Oh, oh! I know! A hipster super soldier... Too much? 

Moving on.

I wrote about how to make, apply, and remove the centerpied a couple days ago. As soon as I figure out how to integrate links I will add it to this post. But until then check out the tag Hollow-een and you should be able to find it pretty easily.

I will see you in a couple of days with another costume idea. Let me know how you're marathon of awesomeness went in the comments below or tweet me. The blog twitter feed is over there -> somewheres. 

-Awel

Centerpied 101

Hello boys and girls and welcome to the wonderfull and wacky world known as Awel's Hollow. At least I hope it's wonderful and wacky. If it's not then we are definitely over thinking this whole thing.

Any way it is day two of Hollow-een and I have some awesome stuff to share with you. I have made my own prosthetic... Gasp. I know! So cool. Basically I used elements glue and nail polish to create what I wanted. I will say this. The prosthetic is very flat because the glue spreads so if you're hoping to achieve a 3D prosthetic masterpiece with Elmer's glue I don't think it will work but go a head with your bad self and prove me wrong.

I'm using this process to create a centerpied appliance from SHIELD. A post on how to create the rest of the costume will be up shortly. 

CREATE:

Okay to get started you're going to need a patern. I wanted to create a Centerpied appliance from SHIELD. I google searched it and drew a rough draft on a plank piece of computer paper. I then put the paper in a large plastic bag making sure it is flat. Take your Elmer's glue and gently trace your pattern on top of the plastic bag. Wait five minutes and fill in the outline, using a paint brush to apply if needed. Let it dry over night. In the morning you should have a milky plastic replica of your drawing. Carefully peel off plastic bag. Use nail polish to color plastic prosthetic. Let dry at least 24 hours before applying to skin.

Simple right? 

APPLY:

So after you've made this cool looking thing you're probably going to want to attach it to your skin. I  used spirit gum.  Make sure you aren't allergic to the spirit gum. Do a patch test on your wrist by putting a tiny drop of it on your skin and wait 24hrs. If you start having an allergic reaction wash it off and seek medical attention if necessary. (Please don't hold me responsible for allergic reactions) Spirit Gum is time consuming to apply yourself so if you can have a friend who isn't afraid to get glue everywhere help you with this one ask. Also I don't recommend applying to your face, neck, or any other sensitive areas where the sensation of ripping off a bandaid would be extremely painful. As you can imagine if you have body hair in the area you are applying the centerpied you may want to shave it as removing the prosthetic is painful as it is without pulling your hair out of its follicles.

Basically if the idea of applying this to your arm and the prospect of ripping it off later hasn't deterred you from continuing you will then apply a layer of spirit gum to your arm and a seperate layer to the back of the centerpied. Wait until they become tacky and place the centerpied on your arm and hold down. The legs of the centerpied are going to be tricky. Have patience, add more spirit gum, and they will eventually stick.

I'd say give yourself at least thirty minutes to apply.

REMOVING:

So you've made it through the night, it is by some miracle still attached to your skin and it's time to take it off. Don't worry it's not as deadly as it is in the film. Simply take the bottle of spirit gum remover and apply to skin. If it isn't budging grab a bottle of non acetone nail polish remover and keep trying. I recommend removing the legs first and then work on the body of the centerpied. You might get down to the end and have to slowly pull it from your skin. Painful. Residue from the spirit gum will remain and it will take a few scrubs to get it off. 

As for wear time, once mine was stuck on I went and walked around the grocery store and did other things for an two and a half hours and it was still very much stuck to my skin by the time I came home. My guess is that it will stay put for as long as you need it to for a party, trick or treating, or cosplaying. 

Happy to report there were neither hydra nor shield agents at my local grocery store. Guess I don't live in a hotspot.

-Awel

Crappy image placement brought to you by tablet. 

Hollow-een 2014

Happy October everybody! It's finally here and now it's socially acceptable to talk about Halloween. But really it's been on my mind since August. Shh!! Don't tell anybody. It's also the one year anniversary of Awel's Hollow. Big round of applause if you're reading this. You're just in time for the party. I hope you stick around.

If you were here when this crazy adventure started then you might remember my attempt at 31 Days of Halloween. Creating content for thirty one days is a challenge. BUT I am back and am ready to attempt at least 15 days. Any bets on how far I can make it? Ha ha.

Today is day número uno on this 31 day journey and that means I get to talk about Halloween. I googled and youtubed (that's a word, right?) several Halloween tags and have put together my own little list. We are about to set sail into my crazyiness. EVERYBODY ABANDON SHIP!

1. Favorite Halloween Movie?

I feel like this is the typical answer but I mean, Hocus Pocus is a classic. Nightmaren Before Christmas and Halloweentown are runner ups.

2. At what age did you stop trick or treating?

Around 15. At that point I started to help with taking my little brother trick or treating.

3. Favorite Halloween costume you have worn?

Genie. I heard that Christina Aguliera song on the radio and wanted to be a genie in a bottle. 90's kid.

4. What is your costume this year?

I haven't really made up my mind yet but perhaps something Supernatural. *hint hint, wink wink*

5. Do you like to go to haunted attractions?

The Haunted Mansion at DisneyLand is about all that I can handle. I don't like scary things or being scared.

6. Favorite Halloween candy?

Either NERDS or those random strawberry ones that magically show up in your tote like Christmas morning... I mean, Halloween.

7. Do you decorate your house?

Sometimes. I have a plastic skull in my room. Maybe I'll throw in some purple fairy lights or something. 

8. Least favorite costume? 

Sexy costumes. Sorry but to me Halloween is about being silly.

9. Have you ever repeated a costume? What was it?

I have a feeling that I've been a witch at least twice but I can't remember specifics. 

10. Do you believe in ghosts?

No. But ghost stories are really interesting.

11. Scariest Halloween?

There was supposedly a guy running around with a chainsaw one year. Freaked me out more than a bit.

12. Vampires or Werewolves?

This sounds like a back handed Team Edward or Team Jacob (Team Jasper represent!) but in all seriousness I tend to gravitate more towards vampires than werewolves. If anybody knows of good werewolf movies let me know maybe you can convince me.

13. Are you dressing up this year?

Maybe. Probably. 

14. Is your go to Halloween look funny, scary, or sexy?

Just fun in general. Last year I dressed up as a Skylander to match my little bro. I've been Lola (Hannah Montana), a Kioshi warrior (the last air bender), and a skeleton.

15. Most embarrassing childhood costume?

... Werewolf. *wince* I know, I know. But i slapped cheap werewolf fur stickers on my face because I read a book about werewolves and wanted to dress up as one of the characters in the book. 

16. Are you good at trick or treating?

Unintentionally yes but never when I'm actually trick or treating. My lil bro goes up to the doors and I hang back. The people see me in the back and give him candy to give to me. I dont even eat candy all that much. I usually give it to him.

17. Do you throw and/or attend Halloween parties?

No but I wish I did. Someday.

18. Favorite scary movie?

I hate scary movies. I usually watch them on mute because it helps cut down on jump scares.

19. Are you the prankster or the prankee?

Prankee if there are pranks to be had I'm usually the target.

20. Favorite Halloween memory?

Growing up we'd put on a Halloween mix cd (golly gee wiz, do you remember those?) and carve pumpkins. One eyed one horned flying purple people eater was one of my faves. I never could figure out if the people eater was purple or if the people eater only ate purple people. The world may never know.

21. 1-10 how much do you enjoy Halloween?

I'd say about an 9. I love the silliness of it all not so much the scary factor.

22. Have you always loved Halloween?

Yes.

23. How do you get into the Halloween spirit?

August rolls around and it's instantly Halloween prep time in my head. I don't know how it happens.

24. Favorite Halloween decoration?

Candles. They're a fire hazard, they give off odor, they cast shadows on the walls. Candles just scream Halloween.

25. Favorite Halloween / Fall scent?

Haha see what I did there? I like pomegranate I guess. 

26. Weird/odd fear?

I'm afraid of moths and goats. Not sure how weird those are.

27. Favorite Halloween joke?

What do you get when you cross a vampire with a snowman?

Frost bite.

So that's it for the Halloween tag and day one of Hollow-ween. Hope you stick around and check out what else is happening this month.

-Awel

Sometimes...

Its half way through July and the heat is unsettling to say the least.

I saw a pin this morning about cake pops and thought I'd give it another go. The last time my mom and I tried to make this quirky dessert it fell apart... literally.

So there I was in a very hot house, all windows and fans going, debating on whether I wanted to heat the house up more.

I really didn't.

But as it turns out everything I cooked for dinner was in the oven. Because of this the house was even hotter and with the humidity from the incoming storm there was no relief anytime soon.

And you know what?

Sometimes you just have to bake a cake.

After dinner I whipped up a boxed mix and split it between two pans.

A couple hours later and I'm sitting in the living room, Deadliest Catch on TV, a piece of cake before me, and a cup of hot chocolate nearby. There are rain drops on the windows. Its a good night.

- Awel

(Cake pop experiment tomorrow!)

June

A photo is worth a thousand words... and I haven't bothered sharing any for a couple of months. I miss the monthly photography posts. Its an awesome feeling looking through the pictures and remembering everything you did in a short period of time.

June was full of adventure. Lots of pictures. Lots of memories.

I hope you don't mind that i want to share then with you.

We chased hot air balloons through town. There were a lot of close calls with the balloons. One landed on the road and another almost landed on top of a house! A one point we "lost" the balloon we were chasing and it was directly above us.

Other adventures last month took us to Bryce Canyon National Park. The most expensive place I've been this year next to comic con! Oh but it was breathtakingly beautiful.

Have I mentioned that I'm afraid of heights/ falling?  This weekend vacation tested my comfort zone a bit. Let me see if i can describe this experience.

Imagine that you're walking up to a look out point and all you can see is sky on the horizon. Your stomach is already feeling slightly uneasy. You inch forward. Suddenly the ground appears a hundred feet beneath you. A sheer drop to oblivion. Which is exactly what your stomach does as your knees buckle and give way. You'd grab onto the railing if you could only reach. You haven't made it that far yet. You're already uncomfortable. A few more steps won't hurt you. You baby step to the edge take a deep breath. Snap a few pictures and then brave looking around. After a few seconds of wonder and adrenaline you practically sprint back to the car, .05% ready for the next look out point.

I experienced that  about 15 times last weekend and the only thing I would trade that for would be to do it all over again but not have this fear of falling. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to do that.

Bryce Canyon was the best way to end the month of June. Can't wait to see what July has in store.

-Awel

P.S. I did infact wear my Batman cap at Thor's Hammer.... no, I wasn't trying to implode the realms.

Daily Obsessions: Tea

 

Tea. Tea. Tea. Tea. Tea.

 

I'm more of a soda girl myself but you know what I finally discovered today? Tea is tasty! Consider my mind blown *insert explosion noises*.

 

I've had tea in the past. Hot tea. Iced tea. Room tempt tea. I've just never liked it. But for some odd reason I spent a couple of hours brewing tea this morning. Yes hours. I admit that I have some nasty brewing habits and I get the terminology wrong so I apologize . I steep the tea too long and then dilute it with more water to make enough for the family. Make it sweet and serve it with ice and the entire jug will be gone before the sun sets.

 

Normally I just use regular Lipton tea bags but this morning I decided to try mixing teas to see how it would taste. So I added a couple of raspberry flavored ones into the batch this time. I know I'm not a genius or anything but when I tasted the tea I kind of flipped out. I "invented" raspberry tea!!!

 

I then decided to whip up a few batches of singular flavors like pomegranate, blueberry, and wild berry. The pomegranate is amazing. The blue berry is addicting. I might have to make more of that tomorrow. I'm allergic to some of the ingredients in the wild berry so I don't know what it tastes like but it smells like fruit punch and if that's what it tastes like I wouldn't like it anyway.

 

Having decided that I should learn more about tea I turned to the internet for some insight and now I have questions.

 

What the heck is bubble tea? I get the concept. A tea and tapioca pearl concoction. But like what does it taste like? Do you eat the pearls? Do they squish in your mouth?

 

The only way I'll ever know is if I make my own bubble tea. I'll have to make it one of these days because I'm really curious now.

 

Do you drink tea? What's your favorite? Any recommendations?

-Awel

Maleficent

WARNING: POST CONTAINS SPOILERS

Before i get into whether i liked this movie or not let me share what I was expecting.

This is supposed to be (to me) the retelling of a classic Disney cartoon from the point of view of the villain. Awesome! A villian story for once! Creepy.Twisted.True to character. Should be a great time.

The trailer featured war scenes, a dim witted Aurora, fairies, and a villain lurking in the shadows. Alright. I can dig it. Magical creatures and the fight for their survival. Seems a little out of place but let's see where they take this.

In true Disney fashion there is a song for the film which is sung by an artist whom I'm unfamiliar with. The song is creepy. Its slowed down and a kind of a downer compared to the original song from the cartoon. Now I'm thinking okay... maybe they're taking a Tim Burton approach and making this villain story all kinds of creepy and evil and truly awesome. I like this. Let's go see this movie!

With these expectations and assumptions that I had going into this movie I was highly disappointed.

The creepiest thing in the movie was that  Umbridge played the pink (fairy) pixie. Speaking of the pixies (FAIRIES!), the blue pixie (FAIRY) wasn't spunky or sassy. She was a stereotypical, golden  hearted,  dip dye haired pixie that only turned the pink pixie (evil headmistress, harry potter reference) blue once! Once!

But I must calm down about these silly and quite undereducated in the ways of human child development pixies before I turn a crow into a dog. *sigh*

Don't get me wrong, this movie is cute and funny and my eleven year old brother  and I had a great sister/brother outing. He loved the movie. Laughed all the way through it. Had some questions at the end about who was doing the narrative. "Is it sleeping beauty or maleficent? Because it sounds like Angelina Jolie". The narrator is "sleeping beauty" by the way. (Oh! And that's another thing. They never called the little beastie Briar Rose, always Aurora.)

I was really looking forward to seeing how they animated the actress into the awesome green fire dragon. Nope. No such thing happened. I guess turning a crow into a dragon is a lot easier.

Anyway I hope whatever they're doing for Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast will be great. Hopefully they'll make a great true villain story soon. Perhaps Ursula? *crosses fingers* please please please be Ursala. I volunteer to write the script!

-Awel

*art work created by me

Purple

I dyed my hair purple.

 

Yup.

 

I took my long frizzy curly messy brown hair and I slathered it with a cheap box dye and turned it purple.

 

And you know what?

 

I absolutely love it!

 

I still have good hair days and bad hair days. All of that doesn't matter though because I love my hair.

 

And do you know why?

 

 Because its purple!

 

This was an experiment that could have turned out horrible. I could have ended up with blotchy itchy my scalp is on fire hair. I could have had to chop it all off and I would have been fine with that, I look great in short hair. But it turned out amazing! Thank goodness for that!

 

I don't want to look back on my life and think that decisions like this are phases. It was something I wanted to do. It was something that I was passionate or inquisitive enough to do. It was something that I did and it turned out that I loved it.

 

This is not a phase. This is something much more wild than that. Dyeing my hair purple was the best thing that I could ever have done.

 

This feeling that I have. This positive sense of self that has come out of this is worth so much more than the twenty dollars I spent on the dye.

 

I don't know how long I can keep my hair purple for. Fifty years? Five? Three more months? Two days?

 

All I know I that I love it and I'm happy.

 

-Awel

p.s. this is the first photo of me that I've posted on my blog. So... hello

Comic Con

How would I describe comic con? Amazing! Fantastic! Completely terrifying for this five foot three individual in panic mode as I try not to get trampled by my "people". Obviously I loved it!

It was the first time I've ever gone to thing like this and the first time I've ever cosplayed as well. I got a lot of awesome feedback on my Camp Half blood Costume. Every once in a while someone would say "I love Percy Jackson!" Or "half bloods!" Or "I really like your shirt!" And then after explaining that I painted the shirt myself, "you made that?!" Haha getting random compliments throughout the day was pretty cool. Next time I'll try to start up a few conversations.

I took a pic with the TARDIS. Looking back now I wish I had gotten a solo pic so I could share it on here but having a pic of my brothers and I standing around a time machine (one of the only free things at the con) is really special.

The booths were amazing as well. Lots of variety. Collectibles, posters, plushies, pokemon cards (GOTTA CATCH THEM ALL), new technology, TV castings, and novels. It was really packed with just the booths in there. As a souvenir I bought two buttons/pins. One has a dalek and the other has Captain America's shield.

I know what you're wondering. did I meet any one famous? No. Unfortunately I'm not wealthy enough to afford meet and greets and the photographic proof of the meetings. But I was nearly ran over by the security golf cart that Nathan Fillion was being escorted on. Five feet away isn't so bad right? By some miracle I also squeezed into the Karen Gillan panel and the Adam Baldwin panel. She's lovely and he's incredible! Both panels were well worth the long line and the doubt of getting in the room. #backrow

As for other celeb sightings I got to see Ioan Gruffudd aka Mr. Fantastic from across the room. My brother also say Jason David Frank aka the white power ranger and Sir Patrick Stewert who needs no introduction!

The one complaint I have about the con was the food. Expensive and nearly deadly. It was $3.50 for any nonalchoholic beverage including water! and my chicken fingers were cooked but slimey and close to the raw side in the middle. So thankful I didn't get food poisoning on this trip. The three hour ride back home would have been brutal.

The cosplayers at this con were amazing! I was a dummy and didn't get any pictures so you'll just have to take my word on it. The one cosplay group that blew me away was a Black Widow, Captain America, and Winter Soldier group. Oh my gosh you guys! These people could have passed for stunt doubles in full costume!! Incredible! I was waiting in line for Adam Baldwin's panel when two Iron Men walked by!!! And then I waved at Gumby and you know what? Gumby waved back!!! That pretty much made my day. Its the little things.

I have at least one pic I can share with you but I can't upload it right now. I'll update this post later with pics :)

Thanks for waiting for a month for my comic con story
-Awel

Lets Chat

Hey there interwebs!

So lets chat.

Something really exciting is happening this weekend. I'm going to comic con! Well its not officially comic con but its a fan convention put on by the people who do comic con. It counts! Going to cross that one off my 2014 bucket list! woo!

I'm really really really pumped to be going. It'll be my first con type event and my brothers and I are cosplaying as characters from the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series. I've still have to make my costume. Typical me leaving everything to the last minute. If I had it done ahead of time something would be seriously wrong me.

Photos from the event (possibly the first one of my face posted here) and costume tutorials coming in the next few weeks. *crosses fingers*

What else is happening? Well my friends are coming to visit me next month! My grandma is also coming up. She's moving even farther away so it'll be the last time I see her for a while.

My computer needs a transplant. I am in need of a replacement battery so I can continue to blog! despite there being very little content I really like putting my thoughts into the void.

I put in for a writing internship a couple months ago and i'm just being honest, i'm not going to get it. BUT its the first move I've made to make writing a career. SO Hoorah! for me. If you happen to be one of the people that is from the internship place, HI, feel free to look around.

Yea... that's pretty much it. But before I go I have favor to ask. If you are reading this will you leave a comment? Please. I'm pretty much staring out into a dark, empty void when it comes to this blog  Some kind of sign of another being out there would be nice. I'd really appreciate it.
-Awel

Dont-cha Give Up

 

 

Another Monday post on a Tuesday... welp, theres no way to fix this because I don't have access to a time machine. But if it is any consultation I did pick out these tracks whilst I stayed up to see the moon change colors. it should count in the long run haha

At first this mix tape was going to be titled No Guys Allowed. there was a reason or this. when I started making these lists I noticed that the ratio of male artists to female artists in my music library was completely unbalanced and heavy handed in the male artists favor. I wasn't really baffled at this but I felt guilty for not supporting more female artists. So all of the artists preforming today's tracks are female.

But now, as you can see its no longer about an all female cast. This is the message I needed to hear and need to hear daily. I need a daily reminder to seek the positive not only in emotion but in word and action. These songs are just a handful of lyrics out there for situations like these. What are your favorite?



1. Fall Down or Fly - Lindi Ortega

This song reminds me that i'm the one that decides how situations affect me. I can either let things affect me negatively or I can let them affect me positively. Those are the only two choices, being unaffected is not even.... you can't be unaffected by anything.


2. Don't Waste the Pretty - Alison Iraheta

Fun fact Alison was a contestant on the first season of American Idol that I watched. This song has a lot of different messages. The most prominent is about a sour relationship. What I take from it is that I shouldn't waste my energy on things that are negative.


3. Give Your Heart a Break - Demi Lovato

Challenge. Listen to this song  as if you're best friend is giving you the best advice in the world (though the 'when my lips are on your lips" line doesn't really go with this take on the song).  Sometimes you just need someone to be there for you.


4. Fly - Hilary Duff

Nothing like pulling the soundtrack of your tween years off the dust shelf.


5. Stronger - Kelly Clarkson

Victory chant!



I'm going to leave it at that. Thanks for hanging out with me.
-Awel