200 plus 10!

This is my 200^th post!

Yay! And wow!

To celebrate I had originally planned to write a list of 200 of my favourite things but I ran into two snags when attempting this:

1. I don’t like 200 things so most of the list would have been outright lies where I pretend to like things just so you, my Dear Readers, would think I am cool.
   I suppose I will just have to find other ways to make you think I am cool.
2. I am waaaaaaaaaaaay too lazy for that.

Since that idea was a bust I decided instead to share with you all a list of my Top Ten Favourite Blog Posts!

You are welcome.

These may not be my most well received posts but they are the ones that have meant the most to me through my many years of blogging. I won’t bore you by delving into great detail about why I chose each post but will instead help you to read them by providing links.
(If you wish to read them, that is. I mean, I’m not going to force you … Which isn’t to say I wouldn’t force you if I could! … Did things just get weird?)

So, without further ado, here are my Top Ten triSARAHtops Blog Posts!

10) To Bus Man, My New Love

9) Love Letter pt. 7 (Harry Potter)

8)  Penguins Being Penguins

7) Friending Etiquette

6) Choose Your Audience

5) Love Letter pt. 4 (Felicia Day)

4) Low Brow? How About No Brow!

3) Weird Winker

2) The Dissatisfaction of Angry Mittens

And my all time favourite post?

1) Humiliation? Yes, please!

And to my readers, Thank You.

Thank you for reading (or skimming, or whatever). I can’t say how blown away I am every time someone likes or comments on a post. I have always loved to write and really only write for myself, but being able to share it and read feedback is a truly delightful experience.

Once again, Thank You.

Sincerely,
SMRP.

I leave you now with some sage advice! “Drink Wine! Don’t keep things bottled up!”

 

 

An Alphabet of Sarah

These are a few of my favourite things …

A             Awkward Love Letters

B             Board Games

C             Crafts!

D             Dinosaurs

E              Earls, of the Historical Romance Variety

F              Felicia Day ❤

G             Geeking out about Marvel Movies

H             HARRY POTTER! (Still? Always!)

I               Instagram Filters

J              Julia, obviously

K             Kevin too, I suppose

L              Lord of the Rings (and the Hobbit Too)

M            Mercy Thompson Books by Patricia Briggs

N             Nieces and Nephews (Munchkin Love)

O             October and all things Fall

P             Penguins! ALL OF THE PENGUINS!

Q             Quotes about ridiculous-ness

R             Robots, preferably ones that aren’t out for world domination

S              Scrapbooking

T              Travelling

U             Umbrellas and Rainy Days

V             Vancouver Island Explorations and Hiking Dates

W            Writing, every day, all the time, forever

X             X-Men

Y              Yogilates ❤

Z              ZUMBA!

I am currently working on some Alphabet Quiet Books for my niece and nephew, filling them with alphabets of animals and objects that I believe they should know and love (I plan on introducing them to many a Fandom) and thus had personalized alphabets on the brain.

Also, I suffer from a lack of inspiration today so this is all you get.

Finally, Dear Reader, I promise to start writing again soon though I really have been enjoying my temporary hiatus/vacation.

Subconsciously Boring

Over the last week I have had a disturbing number of dreams about work.

First I had a nightmare where my work phone was replaced with a massive old school rotary phone and my computer was swapped with one from the early 90’s. The image of those large floppy discs piled up in front of me and teetering on the edge of my desk is still burned in my mind.

We used to have one of these when I was a young’en and I have such fond memories of playing ‘Clyde’ and ‘Cosmo’ on its glowing green screen!

It was horrifying.

Then on Thursday night I dreamed about an entire work day, start to finish, and then felt completely cheated when I actually had to go to work on Friday morning. Apparently dream work days don’t count no matter how accurate they are.
(At least that’s what my boss told me. I am still waiting on a second opinion.)

Finally last night I dreamed that I had brought my filing proposal to my boss and she loved it which was awesome and so delightful! Then I woke up which ruined everything. Everyone knows that when you dream about something important going well it is obviously going to be a disaster in reality. That’s just science.

Obviously work has been on my mind so much lately that it has invaded my subconscious and I am not very happy about it. Sure, I love my job, but the 40 hours a week is more than enough thank you very much.

This is why I have decided to gift you, dear reader, with a list of “Ten Things I Would Much Rather Dream about than Work” (Or, “Even My Subconscious is Boring”). Hopefully this list will inspire me to be a bit more interesting in my sleep.

1. Hogwarts, Obviously.
2. Being a Mermaid.
3. Traveling with The Doctor and going into the future so that we can binge watch all of the planned Marvel Movies.
4. Owning a pet Dinosaur.
5. Sleep. (I figure if I dream about sleep that counts as double the rest, right?)
6. Being best friends with Felicia Day.
7. Traveling.
8. Having my own cooking show.
9. Finding out I have enough points for 10 free movies on my Scene Card.
10. Writing a novel AND mastering the art of wearing my glasses on the end of my nose in order to look more sophisticated. (Those two things go hand in hand, right?)

Now I just have to train myself to think about one of these things really hard right before I fall asleep. Wish me luck!

Dreams of Hogwarts, Dinosaurs, Sleeping, and Marvel Oh My!

Fictional Characters I Wish Were Real (or, My Imaginary BFF’s)

I’d say this list is in honour of ‘World Book Day’ which took place yesterday but since half of the people on it are from TV Shows that’s not very believable. Let’s just be honest and say I wrote this list because I wanted to.

Please note I have nothing against my real friends. I just obviously think these people would be cooler to hang around and would totally up my street cred (which could really do with some ‘upping’).

So without further ado I bring to you, dear reader, my list of “Fictional Characters I Wish Were Real” (or, “My Imaginary BFF’s”):

1) Veronica Mars
Pros: She’s badass, sarcastic, and could help me with any and all future detective work. Maybe we could even start our own business.
Cons: Her awesomeness would outshine mine.

2) Tony Stark (aka. Iron Man)
Pros: Played by Robert Downey Jr., super brilliant, super rich, SUPER HERO. Also, I would never have to drink alone.
Cons: He doesn’t really seem like the type to share and, if I’m being honest, there really is no point in having a friend with a super badass superhero suit unless you can borrow it.

Oh, Methos! You were one of my first fictional crushes. Not just an older man but the OLDEST man. Be still my heart.

3) Methos
Pros: With Methos as my “phone a friend” I would be able to beat my brother in ANY history debate. Plus he has such a soothing voice.
Cons: People are always trying to chop off his head. (If you don’t know who Methos is FOR SHAME! Highlander is still one of my favourite shows.)

4) Hermione Granger
Pros: She’d be able to introduce me to my future husband Harry Potter AND she would be my “in” to all things Hogwarts.
Cons: She’s friends with Ginny Weasley whom I obviously dislike. Bitch.

Deep down I know we wouldn’t really get along, but I’m sure mutual hatred is just as much a basis for friendship as common interests … RIght?

5) Kara Thrace, (aka. Starbuck)
Pros: She’s badass, no-nonsense, and hands down the best viper pilot ever. Bonus: think of all the jokes we could make while in an actual Starbucks!
Cons: She’s a bit of a bitch and would probably sleep with my boyfriend.

6) Rory Gilmore
Pros: I feel like we would just have the best time ever, hanging out and making cool literary and pop culture references.
Cons: I don’t really want to compete with Lane for “best friend status” and don’t even get me started on Lorelai.

7) Rogue
Pros: She’s one of the X-Men who I have been obsessed with since I was 5. Plus she’s pretty badass with a super tragic backstory and a penchant for witty banter.
Cons: I’m in love with Gambit so that may cause a pretty big rift between us … Thou shalt not covet thy friend’s boyfriend.

8) Doctor Who (11^th Incarnation)
Pros: I would get to hang out with Amy and Rory all the time (at least until “that thing” happened), I would get to see all of time and space and have the BEST adventures.
Cons: I can’t run very fast and would probably die. Or, if I did make it out alive, I would probably end up with some serious abandonment issues when he left me for another companion.

9) Mercy Thompson
Pros: She’s a coyote shifter, super sassy, resourceful, and has a great ‘in’ with the important werewolves in North America .
Cons: I feel like her lifestyle might be a bit too dangerous for my tastes … I’m more of a “sit at home, drink tea, and speculate” kinda girl and less into ass kicking as a profession.

10) Merry and Pippin (We’re obviously on a first name basis)
Pros: They are two of the most famous Hobbits in Middle Earth which is obviously extremely cool. Plus if I managed to befriend them before the whole business with the ring I wouldn’t be seen as a hanger on, but could also manage to escape the whole fracas by “being sick that day … for 10 years”.
Cons: I wouldn’t be able to compete with their “Remember when?” stories. Plus my replica of the one ring might freak them out.

See! There is totally a space for me at the end of that table!

The Optimistic Pessimist

I am a bit of a pessimist.

Though, if I am being honest, I really prefer to be called an ‘optimistic pessimist’. You see, dear reader, I believe the glass is half full but I also know I’m going to knock it over anyways.

This is something I work on daily and I hope to one day overcome (both my dismal outlook and my knack for knocking over everything that isn’t nailed down).

Lately my Debbie Downer tendencies have started to take over and I am doing my best to not let them get the better of me, but it can be a struggle. I’ve been pulling out all the stops but things just aren’t looking up quite yet. (Thanks a lot, Brain.)

And while I am a firm believer in the healing powers of exercise and also of eating right (Chocolate Mini Eggs are so wrong they’re right which totally counts) sometimes these just don’t do it for me. I mean, it’s hard to enjoy a nice leisurely hike up the side of a mountain during the beautiful balmy spring days when you just know there are bears waking up and they are probably hungry and you didn’t bring a honey pot to bribe them with so obviously they are going to eat you.

You can’t argue with the cold hard facts. Like how cold it is outside at night. And how hard the ground is to sleep on.

And it’s not like I can run fast after all of those damn mini eggs.

Delicious mini eggs! I always knew they would be my downfall!

Not to mention the threat of dinosaurs. Sure they are obviously extinct, but that doesn’t stop me from looking around every corner and waiting for the attack to come. It’s the age of genetic modification and gene splicing, anything is possible!

Dear Reader, in the interest of full disclosure I obviously know I am not *likely* to be attacked by a dinosaur. This last paragraph could be because I have been reading up waaaaay too much on Dinosaurs over the last several months. (Ok, that’s a lie. As if a person could ever read “too much” about dinosaurs! They are pretty much the best topic ever. If anything, I haven’t been reading enough about them!) It’s also possible I just wanted to share the Dino picture featured at the bottom of my post. Man, I can’t wait for ‘Jurassic World’.

Now I firmly believe things will get better, they always do. In the meantime I have compiled a list of facts which I now carry around in my wallet for easy viewing to help cheer myself up. These wonderful insights are knowledge I can turn to when life is bringing me down. I call it “Tools for Overcoming the Apocalypse” (Or, “Things Really Aren’t That Bad”):

1. Things could always be worse. For example, my name could be spelled “Sara” without the H. *shudder*
2. At least I got to eat all those mini-eggs!
3. Even if the plot for ‘Jurassic World’ ends up sucking who cares? It’s not like I’m going to see it for the plot. Sometimes a girl just needs her Dino fix.
4. I don’t have to outrun the bear, only the person I am hiking with. Note to self: Feed Kevin more junk food.
5. So what if I can’t make a good carrot cake? It’s not like anyone actually enjoys carrot cake.
6. Beer is still delicious.
7. My family is pretty darn cool. When in doubt, call my brother and listen to his munchkins call me “Auntie Amie” … it works every time ❤
8. Disney! It’s important to remember that I live in a world where it’s possible to watch ‘The Little Mermaid’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ any time I want!
9. Mondays may suck, but they are also the day where ‘Moon Under Water’ offers half price appies so at least there is that.
10. I am so lucky in so many ways (and not just because I now own a ‘Cricut’ which is every crafters dream).

This list while silly to some certainly helps me to put things in perspective and perspective really is the key when dealing with pessimism.

Until next time, dear reader!

Let me set the scene: You’re out and about, hiking through the dense woods when the skin on the back of your neck prickles with an odd tension. Something is out there. Something is watching.
DINOSAURS! RAWR!

Urban Fantasy

I write a lot and every day.

I write a lot of different genres though my preferred styles are flash fiction, satire, and non-fiction humour writing. I love to write romance, crime fiction, poetry, and weird short stories. I journal and blog (obviously) and write little plot points and ideas on dozens of Post-Its that end up floating around my purse only to surface awkwardly when I am searching for my keys or my wallet and embarrass me desperately. (Inevitably it’s always romance quotes that wind up on the Starbucks counter, beginnings of stories where I use my own name in the place of the heroine for no other reason than because I can. Oh! Woe is me! Such dramatic dialogue!)

I write for myself and since I am quite narcissistic and think everything I do is amazing and delightful obviously I like what I write. (Is it possible to be narcissistically insecure? I think that’s probably the most apt description of me ever.)

But my greatest failure? My biggest disappointment as a writer?

I cannot write Urban Fantasy to save my life. (Really, I assume I can’t write any fantasy, but in the interest of full disclosure I have only ever tried Urban Fantasy. You know, aside from my Harry Potter and Final Fantasy FanFiction days, but let’s just pretend those don’t exist, OK? OK!)

No matter what I do or how many ideas I have it always seems like I am ripping off one of my favourite stories and doing a really terrible job of it. Like a bad internet dubbing of an overseas gameshow, it’s hilarious but for all of the wrong reasons.

Urban Fantasy is my favourite genre to read. Sure, I have a great respect for all types of fantasy (I am a massive Lord of the Rings fans and while I haven’t read the books yet, I really like Game of Thrones as a TV show though I could do with a bit less blood splatter) but Urban Fantasy is the genre I covet.

It’s that sense of intrigue that comes from reading a book about a world that is so much like your own but fantastical. Urban Fantasy doesn’t seem to get a lot of respect from the purists, but in the words of that one comedian I loathed at the comedy night at Hecklers a year ago: “Snarfy Snarf!” Hate all you want, bitches, these books are the bomb!

Now, I know True Blood put a spotlight on the genre and books like “Twilight” can occasionally be thrown in the Urban Fantasy section (which is wrong, wrong, wrong) but there are so many brilliant series out there and I feel the need to shine a light on them.

Those who can’t do teach and in this instance I plan to educate you, dear reader, on the Urban Fantasy series you should be reading.

So, without further ado, I bring to you my list of Top Five Urban Fantasy Series:

I stayed up waaaaay past my bedtime finishing this one!

“Mercy Thompson Series” by Patricia Briggs: Beginning with ‘Moon Called’, Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series is a brilliant collection of page turners that is now on its ninth book (and I am desperately awaiting the 10^th). Not once have any of the books felt stale or recycled.
Honourable Mention: The Alpha and Omega Series, set in the same world as the Mercy Thompson books but featuring different characters.

“Kate Daniels Series” by Ilona Andrews: Ilona Andrews is actually a husband and wife duo that writes these amazing books about a “post shift world” where magic and technology fight for dominance. It’s pretty kick ass. I love the characters and the politics of the world they have created.

“Cassie Palmer Series” by Karen Chance: These books are so chock-a-block filled with details and awesomeness that they are not for skimmers but it’s the attention to detail that makes them so special. They are definitely books that require your full attention and are ones I never get tired of rereading.
Honourable Mention: The Dorina Basarab Series is also really, really good, though I highly recommend reading the Cassie Palmer books first.
Honourable Mention Part Deux: Karen Chance has a lot of free short stories available both on her website and as ebooks (Kobo.ca is where I got mine). They are definitely worth checking out!

“The Hollows Series (Rachel Morgan)” by Kim Harrison: Definitely one of the best Urban Fantasy series of all time, the Hollows series recently released its thirteenth and final book. Set in a world where the witches and supernatural beings of the world were forced to reveal themselves after a large percentage of the human population died from a plague caused by genetically modified tomatoes (trust me, Kim Harrison explains it much, much better), these books are brilliant and funny and definitely worth checking out.

“The Walker Papers (Joanne Walker)” by CE Murphy: Another series that recently released its final book, this one is a classic good versus evil series that explores a lot of Celtic and Native American Mythology. It’s a great series and now that I’ve fully digested the final book I can’t wait to reread them.

So go forth, my dear readers, and read something new! Also, if any of you have any recommendations for Urban Fantasy novels (or any novels, really) please share them in the comments. I am always looking for something new to read.

I even love the art associated with Urban Fantasy! So beautiful. Perhaps this was why I clung to Magic Cards for so long? … Is that something I should admit in public?

 

Further Acceptance of Addiction (or, I really love Board Games)

So. Let’s make this clear right off the bat to spare both of us any embarrassment. I know you have absolutely no interest in what I am about to post. I know that board game reviews are best left to the experts (or at least the people with accounts at Board Game Geek). Honest, I know all this.

But I don’t really care.

It’s my blog and I’ll post a list if I want to. Get it? Got it? Good!

So, without further ado, I bring to you dear reader a list of my “All Time Top Five Favourite Board Games!” And, to show how much I care, a bonus list of my least favourite games (and they don’t just suck because I lose all the time … At least that’s not the only reason they suck.)

1. Small World: You must leave these lands! At first glance Small World looks a lot like Risk. Luckily it is nothing like Risk. It’s adorable and aggressive at the same time and it is probably one of our most played board games.
2. Pandemic: SAVE THE WORLD RIGHT NOW FROM ALL OF THE DISEASES OR EVERYONE YOU HAVE EVER LOVED WILL DIE AND IS PROBABLY DYING RIGHT THIS SECOND! This game was our first co-op game and it is honestly my favourite. It’s super intense, and unbelievably difficult. (The sweet spot is 3 players, that’s where it starts to seem possible to save the world.)
3. Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation: I’m not going to lie, we definitely listen to the Lord of the Rings soundtracks as we play this game. It’s basically Stratego but much, much better. The variant version kicks serious ass. Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation is my favourite 2 player game.
4. Ticket to Ride: Europe: I love trains! And colours! And geography!
5. Sentinels of the Multi-Verse: So, this game is technically meant for 3 players or more, but we each play 2 characters which allows us to bypass this. It’s pretty great, a super intense super hero co-op game. Definitely worth looking into, even if it’s just for the comic backstories.

And now for some dishonorable mentions:

1. Island Siege: The game was actually kind of fun, but super aggressive. I mean, it’s honestly impossible to win without destroying your opponent. Boo.
2. Munchkin Quest: So, I love Munchkins. Honestly. It’s awesome, funny, and very easy to pick up. But the board game is confusing as hell and we still haven’t managed to play it complete through. (Though I imagine once we finally get the hang of it the game will be removed from this list.)
3. Rivals for Catan: Settlers for Catan the card game built for two? There is a reason this game ranks so highly on Interactivity’s Divorce-O-Meter. It is awful! Awful, awful, awful and I hate it forever. (Can you sense my bitterness?)
4. Lord of the Rings: (by Reiner Knizia) So, apparently this game is better if you have four players, but since we have no friends and usually play games as a twosome, this game sucked. Seriously, it was impossible. And not the fun “impossible” feeling you get when playing Pandemic, but the aggravating impossible feeling you get when you know your efforts are futile.