I've Started Collecting Comics...

...which is the one thing my dad told me not to do when I started dating Matt.

Oops.

It's my money, anyways, and I'll be spending it as I want it. I'm the only one in my family with a job at the moment (although my dad does get retirement pay). 

Which comic have I started collecting, you ask? 

It's Harley Quinn, from the New 52 DC series. She's got a great art style, and the story's brilliant. Basically, after (who we assume is) the Joker blows up the shed she's living in, a guy comes by with a will from a former patient of Harleen Quinzel's (which was Harley's real name when she was a psychiatrist) and says that the patient left Harley a four-story building in Coney Island. She promptly moves there.

 So far, she's stopped two cases of animal cruelty and chopped up a couple of hit men. Oh, and there's a hint of a relationship between her and Poison Ivy.

I'm really enjoying this series. Only two issues (plus the zero issue) have been released, but when Matt and I go back to the comic book shop next week, I'll be getting issue three. (At least, I hope we can go back next week. He may or may not still have money. He's really, really bad with budgeting.)

At the moment, I think Harley's the only series I'm going to collect. Maybe there will be another series, someday (I thought about Suicide Squad, but that's been out for almost three years and catching up on the back issues would be ridiculous), but for now, Harley's good. I think I'm going to have a lot of fun reading these.

And yes, I did get them bagged & boarded. You kinda have to, if you don't want them to get ruined over the years.

Do any of y'all collect comics? Are you more of a DC or Marvel fan?

My First (Couples') Valentine's Day

I've had approximately eighteen Valentine's Days before this one. The earlier ones were filled with Transformers and Barbie Valentines, all placed into my bag by children who were forced to do so (although there were a few that actually really liked me). The middle ones were awkward, with the guys thinking all the girls had cooties. The later ones, though, have been a bit confusing. There's the time the Stalker admitted his feelings to me (and I ran like a bat outta hell) and the time that I spent Valentine's all alone, even though I had a "boyfriend" at the time (I use that term in the loosest manner possible). 

All through this, my parents would always get me roses and a box of chocolates. My sister got six roses, and I got six roses. This year, I got a box of KitKat chocolates as well. 

This year, though, for the first time ever, I had an actual Valentine. And we had a bonafide blast. We were supposed to go out on Wednesday, but that got postponed due to the weather, so we stayed in, exchanged presents and watched My Cat From Hell instead! I received a Batman & Catwoman tank top (he couldn't find a Joker  & Harley one, and they didn't have my size in Superman & Wonder Woman), a Harley Quinn reusable tote bag (Hot Topic was selling them), & a set of Batman earrings plus a Batman necklace.


I got Matt a Harley & Joker shirt from Walmart, a new tank and some wicks for his Halo E-Cig, and a Harley Quinn statue from his favorite comic book store (really the only comic book store around, Legion). The Harley came a little later than the other two things (well, other four, technically), because we weren't able to go to Legion until we went out to eat the next night. Where did we go, you ask?

We went out to the Genghis Grill. It's a Mongolian barbeque place that's absolutely wonderful. You get to pick what goes into your stir-fry! You can pick the meat, the spices, the sauces, etc.! You can even watch the chefs cook it up for you if you so wish (plus, the chefs get to ring a gong whenever an order comes up!). I had a fantastic time eating with Matt, and we had a wonderful waiter. The only problem with the whole night was that the restaurant we went to was so new, they didn't have their liquor license yet (and that probably put a damper on Matt's enthusiasm for the evening, but the way he ate more than made up for that!).

When we got back to his apartment, we were going to watch The Dark Knight, but wound up watching Watchmen instead. It's actually a really good movie (although I have to wonder, who had the job of animating Dr. Manhattan's man-parts?), but it was so dark. Matt calls it a "deconstruction of the superhero genre." It's based off a book by one of his comic heroes, Alan Moore. Then we cuddled on the couch and he eventually walked me back to my dorm for the night (where, much to my surprise, my room mate was still awake).

Then I got to come home today and get my new phone (I now have a Galaxy S IV) and my chocolates and flowers from my parents. It's been a good Valentine's Day, and I think my date proved that things don't have to be overly romantic for you to have a good time. You can just hang out and do dinner. Heck, you don't even have to do that. You can watch a favorite movie and snuggle on the couch. Just don't pretend that your significant other doesn't exist - that's a very bad way to spend Valentine's Day. (That's what happened to me last year. I nearly lost my mind.)

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! I hope everyone had a great day, and remember, it doesn't matter if you're taken or if you're single, as long as you remember to be yourself and take on the world! I promise, things may look grim now, but they will get better. Things will always get better. 

How was your Valentine's Day? Did something happen that you weren't expecting? Talk to me in the comments! I'd love to hear from you!

*flips table*

This is going to be more of a ranty post than anything else, so if you're uncomfortable with those sorts of things, you can just go ahead and skip this. I swear, I don't rant all this often! It's just lately - the winter weather's really getting to me.

Let's see... Where did today go wrong? 

Well, first of all, I had a Spanish test that I was completely unprepared for. I was kinda hoping for the University to close and the weather to save me from it, but unfortunately, that didn't happen. I mean, I've studied for this test, I've looked over all the material, I've tried my hardest to understand this stuff... but it just didn't work out for me. There were things on the test that I swear we didn't even go over! At least I know I got all the bonus questions right, and I do my homework so hopefully the tests won't impact my grade quite so much.

Second, school was cancelled at 1:00. I had to go to my first two classes, but I didn't have to go to my Chemistry lab, which was something very, very good. I can't stand science, and I loathe chemistry especially.

Third, my family tried to upgrade their phones today. Since I'm still at school, I can't upgrade yet, so my dad tells the AT&T person to just upgrade the THREE phones. Mysteriously, around the same time, my phone stops working, so I use my boyfriend's (Matt's) to call my sister. Apparently, AT&T burned my SIM card along with everyone else's, so they could get new ones. So I'm without a phone until I go to the AT&T store on Friday to upgrade my phone.

Fourth, I'm having a female problem. (TMI upcoming, y'all. So if you're male or squeamish, you might want to look away.) I have a yeast infection, and it's not very awesome. But I went to CVS and bought myself a little kit and hopefully everything will be better by Saturday morning. Otherwise my life is kinda gonna suck.

BUT LET'S GET TO THE FLIP SIDE. Now that I've flipped the table, the good things are starting to appear.

First, Matt and I exchanged Valentine's presents today. We couldn't go out, unfortunately, because the roads are all iced over. I got him a purple tank for his e-cig and a Harley & Joker tshirt (from Wal-Mart!). I'm hoping to get him a Harley Quinn figurine when we go out to his comic book shop on our date. He got me a set of Batman earrings & necklace, a Batman & Catwoman kiss tank, and a Harley Quinn reusable tote bag (all from Hot Topic). It was wonderful, and I'm not at all sad about missing going out tonight. There's always tomorrow, or next week!

Second, I learned how to play Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Matt taught me how to play Halo last week, and now this week he's teaching me how to play Black Ops. I'm not usually one for shooting games, but it's actually pretty interesting. (I usually play RPGs more.)

Third, I'm starting to get more hours at TreeTop! I talked to my "Momma Bear," Russia, who talked to the owner and got me more hours and in café, where I love to work. (Mostly because I don't have to deal with as many little children as I would in, say, Laser Tag.) So while my last few paychecks have been TERRIBLE, at least this week they're going to start getting a little better!

Fourth, I've started saving all my tips in a tip jar that I made myself so that I can go and buy Bravely Default in a couple of weeks. I'm so excited to go and buy this game, because I've played the demo and it's really, really cool. Plus, I absolutely LOVE SquareEnix and RPGs. So hopefully this is going to turn out okay.

If you look at it, there's really no reason for me to be stressed. I guess I'm gonna have to calm down and just take things one step at a time. Otherwise, I'll probably end up as a smear on the sidewalk when I collapse under the weight of all the stress I'm carrying.

What have y'all been up to lately? Had trouble with school? Sick of this winter weather? Talk to me!

Crying Wolf

I'm sitting in my pajamas at 11:34 a.m. on a Tuesday morning.

What's wrong with this picture? Well, the University is closed today. Again.

Last Thursday, they also let out early, because of the fear of Winter Weather. Alabama's become very, very skittish about snow and ice and possible freezing rain, ever since we were woefully unprepared two weeks ago for what has become known as The Snowpocalypse. We've become so terrified of causing another twenty-plus-hour standstill that we're scared to send people to school.

And in some ways, I get it. You don't want people to get trapped again. (My sister spent 30 hours at the high school. There were commuters trapped for DAYS on Montevallo's campus. People were stuck in cars for over 24 hours.) But at some point, you're going to have to wake up and start thinking.

What about all the stores that have run out of milk and bread? Everything's gone haywire. You can't buy milk OR bread anywhere in Montevallo because everyone went out and bought it yesterday. (I don't know what it is about the South; they run out and buy the two most perishable items the moment that snow is forecasted).

It's a madhouse. I can't even begin to imagine what it's gonna take for us to get back to normal. I'm almost ready to go and get back to school (although I'm also kinda hoping I get tomorrow off, because I don't want to study for my Spanish test!) because I'm really getting bored of sitting inside all day. And all the after-school activities are cancelled because somebody might get hurt in the rain.

I'm getting sick of this.

Come on, Alabama. You can get through this.

Update on my Car

Apparently, it's a good thing Garrett noticed my flat tire on Saturday. That was my right rear tire, for any of y'all keeping track. Why's it a good thing?

My right front tire had a huge gash in it, and was essentially a ticking time bomb for a blowout. I could have had a wreck and been either seriously injured or killed, depending on where the wreck happened and if I'd been able to keep the car under control. (I've never been in an accident before, you see.)

I'm thinking that my tire probably got the gash when I had to run into a curb. I was trying to pull into this last parking space at TreeTop, right next to the fence, and all of a sudden, this kid throws open his door and hops out, forcing me to make a choice: I could either hit him or the fence. So I chose the fence. Thankfully, I didn't hit the fence, but I did scruff up my rim really, really bad on the curb (and also probably gashed my tire at the same time). 

So, my car will be fixed...sometime. No idea when. At the very least, the car place was able to catch this before it got any worse. Thank goodness they do all-over inspections!

Anyways, I've got a paper to get back to, so I've got to wrap this up. Have a great day!

English 300: "Jane Eyre"

Welcome to a little mini-series that I'm starting! It will only go on for this semester, and there will only be ten or so entries into this series. This series will be about each book that we had to read this semester. Just a few short thoughts on the story and whatnot.

What better way to start off this series about books than with Jane Eyre? 

I actually got this book for Christmas last year (2012), but I had never been able to read more than ten pages into it. I have to be in the right mood for "old" books, and I was never able to get in the mood to read about Jane. Now that I had to, though, I was able to finish it in just a few days (I would've finished it sooner if I'd had no other homework).

Jane Eyre was...iffy. It was a good story, don't get me wrong, but it just read like a really, really long morality tale. You know the type, from Victorian England: poor humble girl is so pious and righteous that she ends up winning big.

So, (spoiler alert?) that's how it was with Eyre. I predicted what would happen before it actually happened, and I wasn't disappointed. I knew she'd end up with Rochester, but something bad would have to happen first. There were too many suspicious things happening around Rochester's estate for anything to go smoothly for them.

I don't know if I'd read the book again, but I did enjoy it the first time through. It just seemed so long-winded. I really prefer Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights to Charlotte's Jane Eyre. The villain is more pronounced, and I love the relationships between the Catherines and Heathcliff. (Also, is there not a better name than Heathcliff? So Britain-y.) 

Long story short, if you like romantic Victorian novels, you'll probably enjoy Jane Eyre. Although I'm not quite sure if it was billed as a romance, but there was way too much of the lovey stuff and the doubting in there for me to see it as any other sort of novel.

Finality

If any of you remember the beginnings of this blog (back when it was still named Not in Nottingham), you'll recall that it started out as me trying to get over a really, really nasty breakup. 

I'm happy to say that I have moved on. Completely. In fact, I've done something that has absolutely sealed the finality of this, something symbolic.

I've burned everything.

 Please, let me explain before you go all, "WHAT?!" on me. I had all of my ex's stuff sitting in a box on my dresser. Letters and pictures. (And wrapping paper from my present last Christmas.) The only thing this boy ever "gave" me (and even then he did it grudgingly!) was five books. Four for my birthday, and one for Christmas. He wrote me two letters from BCT, I wrote him over 400 pages.

He had given me his bandanna for my birthday as well, so maybe we'll count that. Anyways, I decided it was time to burn that stuff. My boyfriend offered to add stuff to the pile. (You can see it to the left.) I ripped apart all the pictures (I tore them between my ex and me) and laid out all the letters nice and neat on the bandanna. Matt got an Build a Bear certificate to light the fire.



You're probably thinking, "Why did she do this? Why did she burn all this stuff?" It's not like he ever gave me anything fancy. He gave me some friendly letters; that's it. He didn't get me anything for Valentine's last year (even though he said he'd send me a love letter, he didn't do that, claiming "it got lost in the mail"), he never gave me any jewelry or anything like that; he simply existed. He was a thought. And how do you get rid of thoughts?

You burn them.

And so that's what we did last week. I had gathered up everything (including the mask I had received at his prom, which was masquerade-themed) and wrapped them in his bandanna. Matt got a pot his ex-roomate had left behind (he had not left on good terms), and we dropped the stuff inside.

Matt picked up his certificate and used it to set the stuff aflame, then fed it with some hairspray. 

It was glorious.

It burned and burned, and left me with nothing but ashes where this jackwagon had been in my life. There is absolutely nothing keeping me from loving Matt with all of my heart. He treats me with dignity and respect, and actually believes that I have feelings.

I never knew that love could be so fulfilling, so complete. 

And now I'm free to enjoy that love. There is nothing holding me back.

I am free.

(Also, Let It Go was the soundtrack to writing this post. It fits. It fits so well.)