The Legend of Vox Machina Part 1: Origins

Bidet Critters,

So for the last month my fellow critters and myself have been watching The Legend of Vox Machina, the cartoon adaption of Critical Role's first Campaign. The last episodes of the season just dropped this past Friday, so I decided to do this write up about it. I was going to do it after the first episodes came out, but I struggled once more to sit and be motivated to write. But better late than never. So since there's so much to discuss I decided to break it into two parts. This part will be introductions and my personal story, and part two that will be my review of the show itself.

Vox Machina POPs have gathered to aid me in this writing...**

Introductions

Now there are those of you who I'm sure are sitting there going Vox Machina? Critical Role? What is this madness? Let me explain, and it's best to start at the beginning.

A decade or so ago, some voice actors decided to get together regularly and play Dungeons and Dragons. They'd been playing for a while when Felicia Day (cue the geeky heavenly choir) told them they should do a show of them playing their game. Well in 2015, on the Geek and Sundry channel, I think on both the Twitch and then YouTube, the show Critical Role premiered, and they just kept going. The first campaign of the show follows the adventures of Vox Machina, a group of friends and heroes of different races and classes kicking butt and taking names in the world of Exandria, often in unorthodox and hilarious ways. Plus, did I mention there was a cute bear?

Our Characters:

Dungeon Master- Our game is led by the talented Matthew Mercer. With his story teller's flair and voice acting Mercer creates this amazing world for our cast to traverse, and fills it with equally memorable and lovable NPC's that are as recognizable to fans as the main characters themselves.

Vax- The half-elf rogue, voiced by Liam O'Brien, who's masterful hands can make quick work of a locked chest, and your coin purse. He's stealthy, charming, but be wary lest he "Dagger, Dagger" you. He also has a caring heart if all the rest wasn't awesome enough for you. 

Vex- Vax's twin sister and a ranger/rogue, voiced by Laura Bailey. Don't worry if you mix up the names for a bit, we all probably did that our first time here. She's protective, good with a bow, and armed with a sassy wink. She's the treasurer of the group who loves her coin, and knows how to haggle. 

Grog- He's a goliath barbarian/fighter with a giant love of ale, who's voiced by Travis Willingham. His not the brightest of the team, but he is the strongest. May his rage never fall upon you. He takes great joy in bashing in heads. He's also proud of his impossible beard, long story.

Percy- The human gunslinger, voiced by Taliesin Jaffee. Hailing from Whitestone, something he takes pride in. He's a bright man who designed and built he's own gun, well with a little questionable inspiration. He seeks to reclaim he's family home from those who took it and his family.

Keyleth- a half-elf druid of the Air Ashari tribe, voiced by Marisha Ray. She's going through her Aramenté, a rite of passage that she has to complete to become leader of her people. Gifted at her nature based magic she is often found changing into amazing beast, or chatting up chill sun trees.  She's also on a mission to locate her mother, who went missing during her Aramenté.

Pike- She's a deep gnome who's a cleric, voiced by Ashley Johnson. Her goddess is Seranrae, and she knows her way around magic weapon. Friend of Grog and object of affection for Scanlan; I feel like Pike is the sweet heart of the group.

Scanlan- He's a sassy bard gnome, voiced by Sam Riegel. He is a killer performer, with plenty of inspiration to give to his friends. He loves the ladies, especially his fellow gnome Pike. He also has a bad habit of defecating on things.

Tiberius- A sorcerer dragonborn, voiced by Orion Acaba. He was only in 25 episodes, plus he is seen by Vox Machina in one other episode apart from these. I don't have a lot to say on him cause my memory is fuzzy, it's been almost three years since I did my first Campaign One watch and four years since I saw any with Tiberius, and last few years has been in a pandemic fog. So I promise it's not cause I didn't like the character it's cause I have a crappy memory. Blame the Mental Health Hydra B----!

Trinket- Vex's bear companion, voiced by Mercer. Discovered by Vex as a cub, the two are great companions. He fights by her side as well as gives her massages apparently.

The Show:

The show picks up where the home games left off, with Vox Machina already established in the world with a few adventures under their belts. We come in as their setting out on a new mission for Lady Allura to find a missing friend at the Kraghammer mines. The adventures only grew going across the world of Exandria:  land, air and sea, even under them.

Needless to say, the show proved to be a rousing success. It was so popular that they would host live shows that would be taped at conventions with a full house audience. It spawned fan made content, comic lines, and books. The first campaign ran from 2015 to 2017, with one shots that continued the adventures of this particular group after the dust of the campaign has supposedly settled. It soon grew to be so popular that Critical Role spawned it's own channel. Now the show is in it's third campaign. The following two campaigns also take place in Exandria,but across different continents and two new sets of main characters, though things from Campaign one have found their way into other campaigns. 

Now the latest milestone of the story of Vox Machina is The Legend of Vox Machina, the animated series that will make the campaign one story more, dare I say it, animated.

My Personal Story

I am subscribed to Geek and Sundry. So I'd been seeing this Critical Role show for a while, but it didn't peak my interest until I learned Travis Willingham was in it. I have been a Travis fan since college or there abouts, and I learned his wife Laura Bailey was in it who I was familiar with as well. The only problem was I saw the episode count which was pretty high at the time and each one being about 3 hours or so, and I already had a lot of YouTube I was watching at the time, so it seemed a bit much to tackle then (a common feeling for first timers). I did try one of their one shots to get an idea what it was like. 

Well in late 2017 or early 2018 there was a huge lull in my subscribed videos section on Youtube, I think some YouTubers were on breaks or just not putting out things I was enjoying, so I had a huge chuck of time to fill in my evenings, so I gave it a shot. I. LOVED. IT! It was spell-bounding and funny.  I loved these amazing characters that were funny, epic, and sometimes ridiculous. I watched regularly up until Spring of 2018 then I had my first manic high, and I couldn't sit still for nothing let alone these three hoursish videos. So my watching slowed down. Then that Fall I began to have my first manic low, by December I was in tears everyday. It was a horrible time period for me. Luckily I had this show to provide me with a way to get out of my head, and it gave me the biggest laughs during that rough period. So I thank you guys for that. You gave me respite when I really needed it.

When I heard a animated version was coming out I was excited. I couldn't wait to see things we heard and imagined in these sessions all these years getting brought to life. I was counting it down with them, and getting more hyped as I heard more and more about it. Glad to say it didn't disappoint, but I'll cover that more in part two of this post.

I hope you enjoyed this introductory look at the world of Vox Machina, hope to see you here for the next one. Have a a good day, be weird, and God bless!

*Thrifty Geek*

** Yes I know this isn't all of them. Fangirl, who has gifted me all these guys, is working on getting the twins and Trinket. But I mean in this picture these Funkos seem to be having fun in their own way at my desk as I write. Keyleth is looking like "You got this friend"! Pike is praying for my success. Scanlan looking the way he does is like he's pointing at me saying "YOU. WRITE. NOW"! I'm seriously thing about making him a permanent writing companion. Maybe he'll give me inspiration. Percy looks like he's so fascinated by what I'm doing at the keyboard. Then you got Grog who's like ready to kick my writing demons butts.

Monthly Randoms: Where I'm back From Oblivion and Playing Catch Up

 Hello Friends, 

I know what you're thinking: Where has she been? Or probably not. Probably didn't notice. It's okay I get overlooked frequently. Well according to this it's been right at six months since I posted, my bad. So I decided to start off with a Monthly Randoms that'll cover things for the last six months. So sit back, this one might take a minute...

Why Radio Silence?

So where I have I been? For those who have been here a bit once more the Mental Health Hydra B---- has been making a mess of things. Yes she's earned her B. Why have I decided to make her a female, cause she's frequently PMSing and she's been mucking things up the last few months. So one thing that has been getting worse thanks to her is my ability to focus and sit still. I've been wanting to make posts on things for the last few months, but motivating myself to write a blog post and focus long enough to do it... yeah... Not easy.  See I have anxiety which can cause being unfocused and fidgety, or on the rare occasion it's my Bipolar 2. Well it has been getting so bad lately that my therapist wondered if I had ADD/ADHD. So she gave me the assessment quiz for ADHD and from that she's like well it's looking like it's just this part of anxiety getting worse. Well a couple sessions later I was bemoaning my seemingly worsening state of focus and staying put and she's like "Oh is it you ADD?" and I'm like "You said I didn't have it." to which she replied "That's the problem with these things it's hard to tell." Though in out recent sessions she's pretty sure I do, but she wanted to get my Medication Psychologist to take a look and see if it was. I've had two sessions with him and we haven't breached that yet, I actually don't even wanna mention those sessions, I don't even discuss my Medication Psychologist drama for the last two to three years, it's that frustrating. 

In the summer things I felt were good mental health wise, then September came and with the dip of temps my mood. Christmas day wasn't actually bad this year, leading up to it little rough I mean there was the usual holiday stress induced breakdown, a few holiday related anxiety stuff that's bothered me the last few years that my therapist and the Captain finally helped me overcome, plus my TV blew leaving me with no TV now, and the sudden urge to redo my room a week or so before Christmas, which I still haven't finished, boxes are still everywhere in here. Then there was the fact my lack of motivation left me not making a gift for Jesus's birthday as I usually do every year and not wrapping Pop and mine's gifts till early Christmas morning, plus my sleep suffered all the week of Christmas but other than that I actually enjoyed Christmas. The day after my sister and her partner came up and spent the day with us and exchanged gifts, first time in two years we got to have a holiday visit. After that Sunday I assumed like usual after Christmas that week leading up to New Year's Eve would be one full of rest and settling back into normalcy... heh. Sleep apparently got peeved at me and decided to leave me. I started sleeping three hours then I'd wake up and couldn't go back to sleep so get up crash a few hours for another three hour sleep and that's the way it was all through January. The was two days where I'd get six hours in one go and one night of broken sleep, but not enough to make me feel better. My mental health was taking hit from this, plus add in this bitter cold we've been having... the Intrusive Thoughts have been partying. Well last couple days of January I've managed to get some decent sleep finally. Day before yesterday I actually woke up refreshed thought I was gonna get some writing done on my book, which I don't think I've worked on the actual book since Summer, but my anxiety bothered me a bit, and then I crashed for a couple hours, woke up and still bothered me and then I crashed till 1 am yesterday morning, then fell back asleep around noon or 1 pm till 4 pmish. So good I can sleep, but I'm hoping I'm not shifting from the unable to sleep portion of anxiety to the doing nothing but portion of it. 

So yeah that's my issues and how it's fracked in a nutshell. How about we move onto some more fun topics. That good with you guys? Good!

Pumpkin Festival 2021

After a year off due to Covid she was back bigger and better than ever... Quite literally she had the largest population attendance she's ever had, which we, Fangirl and I, as seasoned attendees felt as we safely tried to enjoy ourselves. We didn't get big with our costumes. Like we usually put a year long thought into our costumes, but last year we didn't learn till like halfway through the year I think that the festival was still on, plus Fangirl had medical issues that we didn't know what would come of that. So we decided to just have a chill year at the festival. I rewore my 2019 11th Doctor costume:

 Well Fangirl wore her medieval outfit she wears for her demonstration group at Ren Faires:

We saw a few cool characters around the festival like Angel Ponies and Batman and his Batmobile:

 

 

Fangirl and I usually compete in the costume contest, but do to our lax approach to costumes and the fact Fangirl is unable to stand in the long lines, which was difficult before her even before getting hit with her current medical issue, we just sat and watched from the porch of the Crabtree General Store while playing Pokemon Go. 

Seeing Econut 

 

After the festival we went to see Econut at her job as we always do. Hugging her up was a moment, that's all I can say. It'd been two years almost since I'd last seen my sister in person, it made me so happy to finally give her something as simple as a hug. Didn't want the visit to end even when her quitting time came, so her partner and her invited us back to their place for pizza. I was excited to learn they'd begun watching Supernatural, they'd made it to season four. We talked that a bit, caught up, and exchanged two year worth of gifts. It was a great end to a good day.

Of course it made it even better when the next day her partner texted me saying they had met Chuck and if we could trust him... Well of course I had to lie not spoiling that for them. I still hate myself for ruining Harry Potter for my sibling, not doing that again. They finished the series a few weeks ago. It's been fun seeing where they get to, slowly making fandom posts on Facebook, and both of them texting me lines and parts their at, and the inevitable disgruntlement over the series finale. I'm so proud.

 

Now to our usual sections in these posts. Sadly very poor job of saving things to post here for the last few months, so I'll share what little I have.

 

Favs On My Socials

 

Ok let's share the few things I've faved or the like on my socials:

 

1. I loved this pin on Pinterest involving a Black Panther actress and how it's not too late to go for your dreams. Is this actually true she'd started acting at 88?  

2. I love this Instagram post from The Good Advice Cupcake. It's a great reminder we're all beautiful. I love this Cupcake, she's making me smile. I first discovered through Perpetual Kid, and I'd like that product.

What Am I Jamming To?

At one point I was jamming to Five Days North's- Heaven Hold Us I first heard the song on Becca and The Books blog post. An awesome booktuber you should check her out.

 

Domino bu Jessie J which I found looking for the cover the group Venice did of it that I found watching this Supernatural video. Before you click be warned it is Cockles themed, so if no like no watch, but if you like that be it as a friendship or you ship it, then enjoy.

 

Also jamming to songs from Taylor's version of Red and Fearless. 

Things I Want

I want this beautiful set of Maya Angelou's entire works from Juniper Books. I love they come together to form the picture on the spines. I'd get the blue and red set. I'd really like her complete works, cause I only have her cook book and this collection of four of her poems in a book called Phenomenal Woman, and she was, I gotta say it, a phenomenal woman. I also want quarter which was release last month! I'll have to keep my eyes peeled!

 

Halloween last year Michael's had a nice Moon Phases piece that I would have totally hung on my wall, that's right I'm one of those people who utilize Halloween and Christmas decor year round. It's sadly no longer on the website, but you can view it in this Old Fashion Halloween post. Maybe I'll encounter it on a thrift store run.

 

 Ok, finally done! Ya'll I'm telling you my focus is shot. I use to be able to write post with in a couple hours this took me 24 hours or more. I hope we can do something, cause I feel like I use to be a multitasking master, now nope... Well happy 2/2/22 hope twoday is good, see what I did there, it's also middle of the week so there's a plus. I'll be back soon. I have a couple posts planned for the next few days. So here's hoping I will be starting to post regularly again. Good day, much love, and God bless.

*Thrifty Geek* and Vampire >vv< Kitty 

Thrifty Geek's Library: All About Austen

 Hello book loving friends, 

Happy Book Lovers Day! I thought what better way to celebrate than with another Library post. Dang when was the last time I did one of these posts? Well I've been sitting on the idea of this one since last year, so today I'm finally going to do this. This whole post will be Jane Austen related. I'll be doing book reviews of Austen related books and share some Austen related links. So let's jump into it!

Books

The books I'll be reviewing today are the from the Jane Fairfax series by Michael Thomas Ford. Now over the years I've seen Jane Austen's work done in various interesting ways, but this series puts a spin on the author herself. The Jane Austen in this series died way before her actual death, she was actually turned into a vampire a year before her "death". Well it's now modern times and Jane is now a simple book shop owner in New York state going by the name Jane Fairfax. Sound good so far? Well let's dive into this series, keep in mind I read these last year, and made the mistake of not writing my reviews close to the time of my reading it, so bare with me. 

Jane Bites Back- 

So as I said Jane is a book store owner in a small town, where she is getting to experience the Austen fandom at work. Her classics are popular as ever, there's weird Austen related books and items that she's now forced to sell in her store, and because she's "dead" she gets none of the royalties. On top of all of this she's been trying to get her next masterpiece publish for centuries, and it has been rejected over a hundred times. Just when it seems like she will never reclaim her former glory, she's given a chance. Of course old and new troubles find a way into her life.

I love this unique take on Jane Austen, she's a vampire first of all.  I mean yeah I seen her works get monstrous makeovers , but I don't think I've seen the author herself get one. I like seeing how Ford depicts Austen's opinions on what her work has brought to life. I can't tell you how many times I wonder what creators of the classics would think of what their works become and give birth to. I love also seeing Ford's portrayal of other classic writers who aren't so dead. It's interesting to see what immortality and the modern world does to our favorites. Also the whole Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte rivalry is touched upon in this book. Is their actually like some rivalry between fans of the two? Cause I feel like a lot of book themed works has their fans or the authors in some sort of rivalry. *ok found this article on seems Charlotte had some opinions on Austen's work. From what I can tell by this other article I found it could be cause two of the Bronte sister's works kept getting compared and over shadowed by Austen's work. At least that's what I take from it. Well explains so much in this book.* Any who great start to a series it had me from the description I read on the library's website. 

Jane Goes Batty-

 Jane's life is going good she's got a boyfriend, she's found literary success once again, one who's delights she can enjoy. Of course in every life some rain must fall. One being her new book is being made into a movie that's being filmed in her new hometown, and if that wasn't disrupting her life enough, her new beau is going to introduce her to his Mother. Which is just fun for Jane cause she's having to pass off as a normal modern day human! You all thought you had bad meet the Mom stories, Jane has it worse.

Also, poor Jane having to deal with the joys of modern fandom: excited fanatics, cosplayers, and people trying to milk off all it. I'm not 100 percent sure people back in the Regency Era took to dressing like book characters, of course I could be wrong, I mean I've never really looked into such this so I could be wrong. If I am let me know in the comments. But I mean if we see it from Jane's point of view, fame and how her work is marketed in her era compared to the modern era has to be vastly different. I mean one movies didn't exist so having your book propelled by having movie made of it was not an option, the first steps to movie making wouldn't happen till after real world Jane's death. So book's Jane had to feel bit overwhelmed. Back in the first book she had to attend a convention and do a panel, that must been different, was there an equivalent to these things back in Jane's day?

Jane Vows Vengeance-

Well Jane and her Beau are getting hitched. Due to the drama that is Jane's life they decided to do it in Europe. While their Jane learns some shocking secrets about her future husbands family, and a possibility to reclaim humanity. 

This was a good ending to the trilogy, awesome surprises, all good and tidied up at the end. But the ending also made me sad, which is weird, cause Jane is on the path to a potentially happy ending life, but I felt sad about it. I, maybe cause the possibility that she might be giving up the things that made her story up to this point a strange delightful journey, it could also just be the story ending I don't know. 

So that's our journey into the Jane Fairfax trilogy. I've totally added this books to the list of books I wanna add to my permanent library collection. If your an Austenite and a vampire fan then you really need to check out this series. I really hope Ford does more in this verse. Maybe do some books focusing on some of the other characters. I'd love to see from some of the other vampire Authors.

 

Pretty Things

Okay now I'll share some of my favorite Austen items I've come across for your digital window shopping pleasure, or your actual shopping pleasure if you have the monies. 

First of all is this lovely edition of Pride and Prejudice by Juniper books. I fell in love with this edition when I saw it at Michael's and after some hunting I found it again, It's my favorite book by her, but I've yet to obtain a physical copy, and this is the one I want for my library.

Next is this lovely leather journal by Soothi that bares an Austen quote. I love a journal, ask my family and friends. Gotta thank Facebook ads for leading me to this gem.

Lastly, you gotta have an Jane Austen action figure. Archie McPhee thankfully offers this among their zany action figures, apparently they have temporary Jane inspired tattoos too. 

Things to Watch

While watching an episode of Felicia Day's Flog a while back (I just linked to the playlist cause I have no clue which ep it is), she mentioned a show called The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. I eventually checked it out and fell in love. It's basically a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice where Lizzie is a college girl making a vlog, but the story isn't just vlogs, it was a multimedia event. Chracters had tumblr and twitter accounts that helped move the story along as if these characters really existed in our time, thankfully Pemberly Digital has gathered all the story across the platforms in order they appeared so you can follow it. I also encourage you to watch Emma Approved and Welcome to Sandition, which are retellings of Emma and Sandition, and take place in the same universe as The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. I highly recommend checking this out. 

Well after for many hours I have successfully completed an actual post! Yay me! To close this post all I can say if if you haven't read any of Austen's works give them a try, you maybe surprise. I mean back in high school if you told me I was going to be a fan of her books and actually have them in my library, I probably wouldn't have believed you. Glad I gave it a try, they are good, and I can see why they are classics.

I hope you have a good week, read lots, God bless, and I love you Geek Tribe.

*Thrifty Geek*

Monthly Randoms: July 2021, Supernatural, Vixella, and Soot Sprites

 Hello Friends,

I'm so disappointed in myself, I've been wanting to get back into making posts, I've managed on my socials but not here except the monthly randoms. I wanted to get to at least once a week, but I feel like I'm living in a daze and the days string together to the point I don't even know what day it is. I'm also having trouble focusing, which I think can be linked to my anxiety, but I'm also being currently tested for ADHD, since my ability to focus is getting worse. Hence why this post is late again and I'm struggling to focus just writing this.  Any who let's get to this month's monthly randoms.

Things to Watch:

So been watching Supernatural on TNT for the last couple days.  I still haven't seen all the eps, so the plan was to watch when they started back at the beginning, but they were only on season 9, so I said the heck with it. I know what you thinking how have I not seen them all? I just got into it a few years ago, and I don't have a streaming service or anything that allows me to watch from the beginning other than the TNT reruns. Speaking of which it's Gish week. One of my friends has signed up for it. She's been talking about doing and prepping for the event. 

I've started watching Vixella on Youtube, she's just this fun Youtuber. I was watching Laurenzside doing some new Sims video. It got me hankering for more, so I looked up more and found Vixella who's been mentioned on her vlog. I've watched a few and I've been enjoying them.

Seem's fidget toys are back in style, for better or worse, but a crafting Youtuber I follow aPasos Crafts DIY she recently made some homemade fidget toys. I love the egg one. Eggs are one of those food items that I think their products are cute, like sushi, just cute little food. 

I came across this One Shot Questers bit from last year where D&D meets Among Us. I love this two awesome games coming together. This is hilarious. 

Favorite of my Instagram Saves:

I saw my friend for the first time in months last month. She tells me that in her new space she has her Dean Winchester plush guarding her yarn stash. I was gonna ask her to send a picture of this. Lucky for me she posted it on her Instagram. He just looks like I've fought demons, angels, and monsters, now I'm guarding a Fangirl's yarn.

Random Things I've Found This Month:

 

So over at Epbot, she's been cranking out the crafts as usual, but she recently shared this cute post for DIY Soot Sprites!!!!!! I love the soot sprites! Their so cute!!!!!!

Ok that's my latest random. Hopefully I can get my butt in gear and start getting better about posting. I can hope right? So have fun with Gish those participating, God bless, and love you Geek Tribe!

*Thrifty Geek*

Monthly Randoms June 2021

 Hello Friends,

Sorry if June's is a little late I've just not been able to sit still long enough or focus long enough to do one on time. Plus not really a lot going on in June on my end. I usually have like a few links and stuff to share, but not last month. I felt like I was in a daze most of last month. 

Things I Want:

Tiny shelves... Yes you heard right. I want little shelves. I have various dressers and big shelves that I've just set stuff on, but most things are on one level, I want little shelves to put on them to create various heights. Plus I have received a bunch of Funko's at Christmas and some for my B-day and I need to create a space to display them. So I'm looking at thrift stores for something to use or I could do what Epbot did, but I fear I'd just mess it up. 

Things I'm Watching: 

Apart from my usual TV schedule which mostly consists of Good Witch, CW's Arrowverse, Legacies, Walker, New Charmed which I'm very behind on those last three. I've been watching a lot of Phineas and Ferb that DisneyXD channel has been marathoning. I actually had a funny moment where I woke up one day and the one where they cross over with Marvel is on, I can't sleep without the TV on, well I'm just laying there listening to the special and Red Skull comes on, but behind my closed eyes I'm not seeing that character I'm seeing Liam O'Brian doing Caleb Widowghaust, hope I spelt that right, from Campaign Two of Critical Role. For those not in the know Liam voices both and Red Skull we know has a German accent and when Caleb speaks in his native Zimmian accent Liam uses his German accent voice, so my just awakened brain was confused I guess, but when I realized what I done I just smiled. 

I have also been binging Helloiamkate on Youtube. I discovered watching Sundee's Among Us game play. It surprised me when one day a woman was in his game play cause it's usually all dudes. I got a kick out of her antics, so I was so happy to see she had her own channel. I've been watching her Among Us videos some of which contain her side of the videos I've already watched. I love when she's imposter she's like this ball of killing fluff. She goes hardcore on her fellow players will laughing and singing it's great. 

Music I'm Jamming To:

Rainin' Fellas by Toderick Hall- The infamous Toderick is back with a new album called Femuline. His first single from the album is awesome! I had to get the song once I saw the video my friend shared with me last month. I have been jamming heavily to this song for the last month. When Spotify does my top songs of the year this year it'll probably be up in the top five most listened. It's an awesome song, you totally need to listen to it. I saw on his tour dates he's going to be coming nearby and I'd love to go. Although not sure what to expect, if the stage performance will be like the video, so... let's say revealing. 

Top Instagram Save:

So my favorite picture is one my sister took while on her roadtrip of my furniece tapping into her inner cowgirl/dog. She just has this look that says "I so over this Mom."

Well that's it. That's all I got for you for lasts months random. I hope you all have a good weekend, have lots of adventures, God bless, till next time Geek Tribe.

*Thrifty Geek*

My Birth Story

Hello Friends,

This post was suppose to come out the day before my birthday, but the day before my birthday and most of my birthday I was physically sick and sleep deprived. So posting wasn't going to happen. I've been still trying to get back to normal from my sickness. So finally I'm ready to tell my b-day story. I've decided to extend my birthday celebrations, since I was sick, so still good to post this. 

Ok, so first things first I was born a month late. Yup, the Doctor my parents went to calculated my birthday wrong. Around the time I should have been born the doctor said I had another month. Well fast forward a month. It's the day before my birth, and my folks went camping with my Dad's brothers at a campground on the Cherokee Reservation. Well unknown to my parents who thinks all is still well with me, I'm actually dying. My system was poisoned and I had my cord wrapped around my neck. Well, my mother decided to take a dip in the campground pool, which turned out to be the smartest thing she could have done. The cold of the water made me jerk and according to Mom it wasn't a full water break, cause they had to break her water at the hospital, but a dribble that alerted her I was probably on the way. So my folks had to pack their stuff quick, and speed back to our county to our hospital. One of my uncles who had rode over with them was plastered to the back seat as the raced back. Well they got to the hospital, where they were into the next day, Some point the day I was born they realized my Mom wasn't going to be able to have me on her own, so they did a C-Section on her, and discovered I had the cord wrapped around my neck, I was gray, and upon further inspection showed all the signs of being a month old! The doctor who delivered me was not the same one my parents had been going to, so he saw the other Doctor's foul up. Well I obviously had to be incubated, and in the hospital a little bit. 

Yup, that is my birth story, crazy right? If it hadn't been for some cold water I might not be here. Thankfully everything worked out and I was born. 

Well, that's another post. It's not long one, but it is the promised birth story. Well, I hope you all have a good week, God bless, and love ya Geek tribe.

*Thrifty Geek*

Monthly Randoms May 2021: Mental Health, life events, and Tornadoes

Hello my Friends,
I'm so sorry for the radio silence. I've been wanting to start getting back into writing on this blog, I have a back log of ideas to write, but the mental health hydra has been waving it's new head about. I was going through my second massive manic high that I've ever had that I know of. Like the first I was really happy, couldn't sit still long, and messed up my sleep. The first high in 2018 I would sleep 4 hours and be fine, but this time my body, which felt like was vibrating with energy, and my brain wouldn't settle, I could take a melatonin and it'd not have an effect, though we adjusted my dose and it seems to be working now. But at some point I hit like this weird in between state of manic high and maybe like regular anxiety. When I told my therapist that I was going through the manic high again, they upgraded me from just a mood imbalance to Bi Polar 2 . Since so many people are misdiagnosed with Bi Polar and in 2018 I'd only had that one major manic episode, though I think before that and since then I might have had some minor ones hard to tell if it was anxiety related or just creative juices getting me excited, cause if I get into creative mode I sometimes will stay up longer. But for a few days I got settled down sleep was back to normal, and just the regular amount of anxiety not letting me sit still long. But for a couple nights my sleep has been getting off again, and I hit a major inanity and depression yesterday that had me ugly crying, which has been a bit, and my anxiety is out of sorts and I'm really tired, but not sleepy tired. I fear I'm hitting the manic lows which I hope doesn't frell with my birthday coming up in a week. But all that not sitting still and focusing, plus trying to get back to book writing and just having my mind everywhere, and lack of want and being out of habit has got me off with writing this blog. I know I read somewhere offering explanations why you've not been posting is not really good, but this is my life. I have mental health problems, and I hope other people see this who maybe think their alone will see their not. It's a messy life that sometimes leaves you not posting on your blog for a month. Yes just looked my last post was the last Monthly Random. So with all that explanations out of the way let's get into the Monthly Random.

Events That Have or Will happen
 

Last month I forgot to mention my 4th Blogiversary, I started this blog in 2017. So yeah still limping along.

Next week as I've mentioned I'm leveling up, I saw that on Facebook refer to your birthday age as levels. Last year because we were three months into the pandemic I couldn't have my friend come over. I couldn't even tell you what we did last year. I live with my family thankfully so I wasn't alone, but it was weird not doing something for it. Usually my friend Fangirl takes me out for a few hours to do something cause while I have many family members just do cake and gifts and stay home, which I do the cakes and gift at my house, but I just feel a need to celebrate my life more. See I about didn't even make it into the world, I'll tell you the story in my birthday post, so I guess it's made me see the beauty of celebrating each year, plus I feel like it's my day. It's my one day out of the year I don't have to feel guilty about doing things the way I want. Well this year I'm not sure what's going to happen cause we can go out now, and I'll be vaccinated, but sadly Fangirl has been currently advised not to drive, cause she's got some unknown thing wrong with her and half her body is numb and they've yet to figure out what's wrong with her and I don't have my license, long story, so I can't pop in to see her, or go do something on my own to treat myself. When my folks brought it up the other day I hadn't really thought about my B-day and I was like, it'll probably be the same as last year not doing much cause Fangirl can't come, and my folks are home bodies, they only go out if they have to and also because we have a tank of a truck that takes a lot of gas, so going out has to be planned since were on a fixed income. But when birthday talk came up again, I pretty much said I won't be doing much since I can't go out and my Mother said Oh you'll be going out. So my folks have got something cooking, which has me actually intrigued about how they're going to make this special day, actually more special this year than I originally thought it'd be. 

Things I want
 

The Dream Keyboard-

Ok so last month I mentioned my dream keyboard. Well This Story Ain't Over has changed that. In a vlog of hers from February, I'm so behind on cleaning out my watch later YouTube Playlist. Well she got a new keyboard from Azio. I love this the classic typewriter look I love but back-lighting. If the rainbow backlit keyboard from last month could have a baby with this keyboard and it be an all black classic type keyboard with rainbow backlit, it'd be the perfect keyboard. If any of you comes across something like this let me know. 

Author's Dream Pen and Ink Set-
I have always wanted to have a fountain pen. Well a Facebook ad led me to discover Truphae Inc  that has lead me to my dream pen and ink set. I think if I ever got a book published and did signings I think it'd be fun if it was possible and I perfected my hand writing and learned how to use this pen to sign books in this way to add a bit of flair.
The pen is a Benu Scepter Fountain Pen. While blue is my favorite color, I found I loved this glaxayish colored pen the most, it's probably cause it reminds me of this galaxy ink pen with foil art and writing on it I saw in a dream and I'm bound and determined to find it's real world equivalent. This pen isn't it, but it gives me the same vibes.
And of course what is a pen without ink. My favorite on the site  is the Robert Oster Blue Black Ink it reminds me at the sky at night. I wish I could get one of the multi colored ones in colors similar to the colors of a sunset. That'd be perfect, but this is gorgeous too.
 

Favorite of the Deviantart Likes

My first is this piece called Tea with Owls by one of my favorite artists I follow Saimain. I love owls so this one got me all excited. I love this artist's work. I started following them back in college I think when they were showing off their art the made for what was going to be their novel. I also love their fan art especially the Doctor Who. When they had them I wanted to get a small print or card of their Time and Space piece. 

Then there's a new to me artists Lun-art who is doing some amazing fan art. I first saw their Crowley from Supernatural and they've done our favorite angel in the Garrison Castiel. They also have some Doctor Who as well with the Tenth Doctor! 

Check these artist other works out, you won't be disappointed they are amazing!

 

Favorite of My Instagram Saves 

My first offering is of the sisters of Junk G. I love their outfits especially Aime's. I love some of their outfits and products. Miss their show.

Next we have the Mistress of the Manners of the Gothic Charm school celebrating getting her vaccination in Gothy stye. 

 Random Things I've Found This Month

Tornados-

I recently watched this BasehuntersChasing video from a active day they had in 2011. I find Tornados fascinating, yet scary, meaning I probably won't be pulling a storm chaser if we get a rare one here in the backwoods (mountains can be very useful). I think the fascination started  in the 90's cause we had allot of Tornado movies on the big and small screen about the time I was in Middle School.

Russian Tea-

Next is this Southern Living article about Russian Tea. This is not traditional Russian Tea this is the tea that is now a Southern staple. It's the only way you can get we to drink ice tea type of teas. I know it's rare, but I'm a southerner who's not crazy about iced tea, bleh. Mom keeps a jar of the mix on the counter, and the recipe in her recipe box. The first article I saw on it's history was on Atlas Obscura.

And that closes another Monthly Random. I hope your week is good. I gotta get off here and reconstruct my entire book series' timeline and story notes and ideas document. I saved it last night and when I brought it up today when I went to work on my book outline, the page was blank. Thankfully some of it is in my physical notebook. So I can piece it back together hopefully. Writer struggles am I right? Well have a good night, God bless, and Love ya Geek Tribe!

*Thrifty Geek*