Domestic Dimanche: Post-College Dreams and Everything Changes

For a movie about Moms and Daughters, her Dad is pretty freaking awesome!

First of all, Happy Father's Day! To my Dad, my brothers, my grandpas, and all the awesome Dads that I know, I love you and send you all my best wishes!

So I figured I'd give you guys an update on what's been happening with me lately. First big news is that I graduated in May! (Whooo, yeah! Go Sorcha! I knew you could do it!) I now have a degree in English (Well, I will when they mail it to me. I have no idea when that happens...) which is pretty nice. I don't have any pictures for you since I decided not to walk. Sabrael and I went to Renaissance Festival instead which was infinitely more fun than sitting through a bunch of people's names being called.

Since then I've been quasi-unemployed? My job is tied to the university so I can't work if I'm not a student. I get a grace period until August when the next semester starts up again. I was planning to work with my Dad over the summer so I told my job I wouldn't really be around. Except there's all kinds of craziness going on in Hannibal (The river's flooding which always drives away tourist though does practically nothing to us, there's intense construction going on which blocks our building, and there was a large tornado a few weeks ago which people are still trying to clean up after though thankfully none of our buildings were harmed) so he's postponed opening until July. Which means by the time I got this information, schedules had already been made at work and I wasn't on them. So I've had a nice break from working for like a month now.

It's not as nice as you might think. A lot of stuff has happened in that time. I moved for instance. "Moved" though is a word that connotes completion which has not happened. There's still a small mountain of boxes in the middle of the room which I just cannot conceive of places to set their contents. It's slightly maddening. Also, Sab and I have gotten a kitten. We rescued him from a friend of mine who was going to have to give him away. He's fluffy and adorably and occasionally cuddly but he's developed quite a bad biting habit (He's in his carrier at the moment for biting me particularly hard on the face because I was writing this article and not playing with him) which can be difficult to deal with. We've tried almost all advice we've been able to find to get him to stop but nothing works. Spray bottle is next on the list.

Everyone, meet Vashta Nerada: Count the Shadows, or just Vash for short

 So in my time period of joblessness I've had a lot of time for contemplating my future. I've gone back and forth on a lot of future careers I want to have: teacher, librarian, museum educator, etc, but I had an epiphany yesterday. I've always seen these jobs as a means to an end, a way to save up money to do what it is I *really* want to do. I've always wanted to own my own bookshop. I can hear you already (because I've heard it a thousand times before), "In this economy?" "No one buys books any more." "You'll never be able to beat out Barnes and Noble!" But hear me out! I've got some good ideas. I want it to be a bookstore so that I can drag in the type of clientele that would be interested in the other things I will offer. I want to have an auditorium type area where local bands can play, small theater groups can perform, authors can do speaking events, classes on a variety of topics could be offered, movie nights and marathons could happen, and businesses could rent the space for meetings. I'd also want to support local artists and crafters, bring in gaming groups, and establish active book clubs. I think it could work really well as a kind of community space  and a safe space for other book nerds like me to meet people (which is often hard for us) and to have a good time inside of their interests.

So this is what I've decided to start working on. Instead of making this some far off in the future plan that may or may not happen, I want to start studying up, making decisions, learning the trade, and deciding that this will happen. I don't think anything could be more fulfilling than that.

So how about you guys! What's been going on in your lives lately? What have you been working on? What's your big dream either that you're working towards or that you've kind of forgot about? I'd love to hear it!

Domestic Dimanche: My Story Ideas

I'm sure most of you know this already because even those of you who don't know me personally have probably already figured out that I'm the type, but I don't just read, I write as well. Or at least, I write occasionally. I hate that I've fallen into that grown up thing where I'm like "OMG! I never have time for anything!" when I've watched the first two seasons of Supernatural this week and I've gone a good chunk into the third (seriously, why did I wait this long to watch it? I should go back and slap my past self!). It's more of a matter of: I go to class, I go to work, I do homework (which is 99% of the time just reading so it turns something I love into a chore >.>), and then with the energy I have left I don't want to do anything productive. I just want to watch Sam and Dean exorcise things and throw salt everywhere for a few hours!

So, as a kind of way to kick myself in the pants about some of my writing projects I've decided to list each of them here with a bit of a description. Maybe having them gathered here will be a helpful reference and maybe some of you guys will poke me about ones you like so I'll have more motivation. Either way, here's some of the ideas that have been floating around in my head for a while. Oldest first!

Inbetween - Ella
This is probably one of my more complicated stories that I thought up. The main character, Ella, has dropped out of college in an attempt to finish the book she's been writing for years. She's almost done but can't get the ending quite right when she's in a car accident and falls into a coma. The story flips back and forth between her internal world which mirrors the world of her book except that it is continually being attached by shadows and whole pieces of the land go missing, and the external world where the taxi driver who was driving her when the accident happened is slowly falling in love with her and obsessively inserts himself into the lives of her friends and family.

I've been holding onto this plot idea since around 7th grade and it's changed in minor ways but for the most part, it still follows the original idea. The reason I've been so hesitant to start on it is I basically have to craft two worlds, the dream and the real, and figure out how to splice them together so they work. Not to mention I have a CRAP TON of characters I wanted to put into it and I keep getting distracted by trying to tweak them.

10,000 Miles Away - Pirates!
If you were to ask the people I know to tell you one fact about me, one you would hear a lot is that I love pirates. I'm obsessed with their history (which is freaking fascinating... maybe I'll write an article about that later...) and their "mythology" and their music! Which is how this story was born. It is based on a sea shanty called "10,000 Miles Away" in which the main character is a Navy sailor who leaves home and when he returns finds that his love is being taken away in chains and he wishes he was a strong/brave enough man to save her.

The story follows Meg and Liam. After Liam joins the navy his ship disappears and Meg turns pirate in an attempt to find him (as no navy ship would ever allow a woman on board). He makes his way back to England and becomes a high ranking pirate hunter. Who's his target? Meg! Does he know who she is? Nope! In the end one of them will have to choose a side because there no way that pirate and navy can coexist. Right?

Lisbon Corp - CATS!
Ok, so I'm not going to tell you what this idea was based on because 1) you'll think I'm crazy and mock me for one of my favorite childhood VHSs and 2) it's so far removed from the original that it's barely recognizable at this point.

There is a corporation called Lisbon Corp which specializes in immortality. They run a program called the Cat Program where, if you are extremely wealthy, you can have your consciousness transferred to a new body. No more will terminal illness, violent attack, or old age destroy you. However, you only have 9 chances at this. Some people are really good about taking care of their bodies, able to live around 900 years old! Some, called Body Burners, aren't so lucky. Garnet is one such person. About to lose her 9th body to the same disease that has been stalking her since body 1, she's desperate to get another chance. However, upon discovering the corruption behind Lisbon Corp she finds a way to destroy it and chaos ensues!

This is meant to be a collection of 9 short stories, each of which follows a different character and what happens to them as they begin to realize the immortality is no longer within their grasp.

The Vampire and The Ghost - Children's Story
This is my newest and quite possibly my cutest story idea XD There is a young girl named River who is lonely because she is a Vampire. She isn't allowed to go out in the daytime and none of the other kids are allowed to go out after dark. She really wants to go to school and be around other kids but she can't. While she's playing in the graveyard behind her house she meets Walker, a young ghost boy who becomes her friend and they learn they don't need to be normal because they're perfectly awesome the way they are.

This one is my current favorite. I don't think it will take me long when I actually get to writing it but I've been dawdling. I also need to get an artist to illustrate it for me. I know so many of those it can't be too hard right?

So, those are my stories ^^  I hope they were at least mildly entertaining. Let me know in comments what you think about them and if you like writing/if you have any projecting hanging around like I do.

Domestic Dimanche: The Best Game Series of All

I'm not ashamed to say. One of my first big crushes as a child was this guy.

Oh Link! My Link!

The only problem was, I was terrible at Zelda games! My Aunt had the classic Ocarina of Time on Nintendo 64 and every time I would visit my cousin and I spent hours in the basement playing. Despite all this (granted, we were often yelled at for spending too much time on it and booted outside) it was years before I even got to adult Link and not long after I beat the Forest Temple, the game was lost and we never got to finish.

I know! One of the most horrible fates to befall any gamer! But don't be too upset. See, I'm an adult now and as I'm quickly learning, that position comes with perks. My favorite of which is the ability to buy any game I want and play it as long as I want to. Last summer I bought my first game system (the rest of which had been handed down by my awesome brother), a little Game Cube named Merlot. Yeah, she's old and outdated and her internal battery is shot so she's constantly asking me to reset the time BUT for this, it's totally worth it.

Look! It's totally me ^ 3 ^ Malon is definitely my favorite character.

It took me a while and lots of screams of "Gaaaaaaaah! I hate Volleyball!" but I finally beat this game! I don't even think I could express to you how excited I was. It was like a little piece of my childhood that I got to revisit and give a satisfying ending to. It felt great. So what next?

"We got this?" "Yeah, we totally got this."

TWILIGHT PRINCESS! Sab got this one for me at the BEST ANNIVERSARY PRESENT EVER! (thank you!) and I beat it just before our next anniversary. In my defense, I took a bit of a break from it half way through but it was more because I got distracted and forgot than anything else. I'd played a little bit of this game after it came out (true story: my math teacher sold it to me for $30 in high school but the GC I played it on wasn't mine and the owner took my game with them when they moved... no, not bitter at all...) and I looooooved it! It was my first time really playing a game on my own and even though I didn't get very far the huge sense of accomplishment I got from killing my first big boss on my own was great.  Quite honestly, this is probably my favorite of the series.

So what distracted me from Twilight Princess you ask? It was when one of my friends was kind enough to lend me this! Ta da!

So jwoienflkgo freaking wmeoirjowei CUTE!! <3

Oh my god! Windwaker is one of the most adorable things ever! I love this game if for nothing more than the derpy pigs and SPLOOOSH sound effects and little bird girls that play harps and everyone nubby limbs! Though seriously, the gameplay was great too. My main problem was that the items were so different from typical LoZ games and I kept forgetting about stuff I needed to solve puzzles >.> Also, the Forest Temple is the most evil thing in the world. I literally lost my voice after screaming at the TV in rage (ask Sab if you don't believe me! o 3 o).

So, after beating all three of these I settled down into the thought that my time with Link was over for a little while. I was a little sad but I figured, hey, I've got some good memories and I can totally start replaying if I feel nostalgic. And then... *insert heavenly choir here*

I don't usually ship Link/Zelda but in this game, how can you resist?

Skyward Sword!! O 3 O I didn't think we had the money to get a Wii but once again on our anniversary Sab surprised me with video game goodness! I'd resigned myself to not being able to play this for another few years but I'm ecstatic I don't have to wait. I haven't been playing long and I'm not really used to Wii controls so I'm a bit awkward (you know that warning screen it shows to keep you from hitting people in the face? yeah, totally almost did that today trying to do a spin attack >.< Sorry!) but I'm having fun with it. Also the music and the graphics are beautiful.

So I wanna hear from the other gamers out there. Obviously, Legend of Zelda games are the best but what are some of your other favorites and your stories about them? I'm especially interested in games you felt kind of defined your childhood like Link did for me. See you in the comments!

~ Domestic Dimanche ~ The Science of Homelessness

So, pretty much the biggest thing in my life right now is I work here! *points down*

St. Louis Science Center!

Well, ok, I intern but that doesn't mean I don't work, it just means I don't get paid. I actually don't mind though because I'm really, really enjoying it which, quite honestly, I didn't think I would. I'm working in the Research and Evaluations department as a Visitor Studies Intern. This basically means, I'm doing lots of data entry from visitor surveys as well as getting out on the floor and handing out comment cards. Yes, I know, this sounds horrible doesn't it? BUT IT'S NOT! It's actually really fun and entertaining. There is probably something wrong with me if I enjoy coding but oh well! I was so worried I would be stuck all summer doing something I hated but now I'm really just relieved. All the people I work with are super nice and really fun.

Also, this is the guy that guards my office. That triceratops deserved it for trying to access private files.

 Also, fun perk is that I'm encouraged to explore the museum whenever I want to. The other day they ran out of stuff to do so I got to go look at the Star Trek exhibit which, despite my never having watched more than clips of that show, I really enjoyed. They had a lot of neat props and costumes from the show as well as some cool information about the technology of Star Trek and how close we are to making it happen. If any of you guys are in the STL area I would definitely recommend stopping in before it leaves after Memorial Day. Also, every Saturday they're playing the new Star Trek movie in the omnimax. How cool is that? I am also encouraged to go see all the omni shows so I can take a nice 45 minute break and watch some adorable polar bear babies. Quite relaxing!

The other, more troublesome, thing that I have going on right now is I'm essentially homeless! I finally got to move out of the crappy student apartments and I will be moving into my own...next week. So that means until then all of my stuff is neatly piled into boxes and wedged in my mom's apartment. Oh how I hate living out of a suitcase but I've done it often enough, I'm a suitcase pro. On top of that, last weekend I packed up all the stuff in my room at our actual house so I officially have nowhere to call my own for the next couple of days. It was a little saddening actually, I didn't really expect it to affect me as much. Though, by the end I was about ready to throw all my belongings in the garbage if it meant I didn't have to pack another box. We're back again this week to clean up some more stuff for my parents but that should be the last of it. I'm looking forward to some more relaxing weekends later on this summer.