I need more hobbies...

Once again, I'm trying to find a new, inexpensive hobby. I used to be a photographer, but that's not cheap at all. I don't have a digital SLR, and I don't want to use my point & shoot.

I did crochet for a while, but I made a lot of things that were useless. I have a shelf full of funny little crochet cupcakes, ninjas and zombies. It's a good, cheap hobby. My friends told me I should sell some online, but I got a lot of the patterns from other people and I don't feel it's right to sell something made from someone else's pattern. The drawback is it kills my hands & if I do it for too long, I feel dizzy and have to lay down.

I was on 8 Ball Webstore & they have embroidery patterns from Sublime Stitching.

For months I've been wanting to pick up one of their patterns. They have so many that I'm drooling over.

I think I'm going to order the Ultimate kit. It has everything I'd need to get started and I can get the apron and that gives me the apron I've been wanting!

My concern is how hard is this going to be on my hands? Will it be better than crochet? Do I want to spend $32 if it turns out I can't do it? I looked up the costs of the things that come in the kit and it's a good price. It would be great if I could do it. I could decorate my own cardigans instead of handing over $50+ just because it has sparrows or guns stitched on it.

It really angers me that I can't just pick something up and do it. I actually have to think about whether doing this will cause my hands to ache and fingers to dislocate before I put any money into it. The SCC is supposed to have the kits or patterns, so I may sneak over there tomorrow.

Road Trip!

I'm getting bored not being able to work. From what Elle has been telling me, I'm not missing much. I was watching "The Hucksters" and that didn't help me not miss work. The client in that movie is awful, but work would at least help me have something to do. It would be a nice distraction.

I have felt terrible for the last 2 days. The pain has been awful, then you add stomach issues and a migraine and you have a lot of fun. I can't go anywhere because I can't be away that long.

Being stuck in the house makes me want to get out of it even more. I found a neat place that I'd like to go to on a road trip. The Caribbean Motel in NJ. I found the link on a retro lighting website.

Here's the small write up on their site:

First opened to vacationers in 1957 at the height of the Wildwoods' "Doo Wop" heyday, the Caribbean Motel was among the most daring, imaginative structures to be built in the resort during that era of post-World War II optimism and leisure when everyone had one eye on the future (a better future, of course), and the other on exotic vacation destinations in far-away lands (at least the way they'd seen in the movies).

The Caribbean rolled both of those fascinations into one with a motel that sported ultra-modern architectural elements like a futuristic "levitating" ramp, canted glass walls, and recessed "spaceship" lights along with "exotic" tropical landscaping and theming including the very first plastic palm trees to be "planted" in the Wildwoods, giving vacationers the feeling of being in a far-away tropical paradise while only a short drive from home on the Jersey Shore.

Today, the fully restored, renovated and re-invented Caribbean Motel stands as a living monument to this magical era in our nation's history - a taste of pure Americana, you might say, with a 21st-century tropical twist! Modern amenities like flat-screen TVs and free wireless internet combine with classically restored and reproduced mid-century furnishings and ambiance to create one of the most unique vacation experiences at the shore!

I just need to find someone to take with me.

I used to go on road trips all of the time. My friends and I would go through the Roadside America book to find fun/weird places to check out. When I travel for work, I try to do the same. Pennsylvania is full of fun things like that. Virginia was not.

I also found this link: http://retroroadmap.com/ The woman that writes the blog lives in PA and has featured many places here. I'm using her site as well as Roadside America to plot out my trip to the Caribbean. I'm trying to decide when I should go and who I should invite. Two of my friends have just started new jobs and they probably can't take a few days off just yet.

Hmmm...

Antique store finds!

It's been a bad week. I ran out of meds because my prescription was written for the wrong thing and they're slow to get me a new one. I don't have withdrawal effects, just massive amounts of pain. The bad weather hasn't been helping either. It's rainy and it's not helping my mood.

Friday I got a call from a friend suggesting we go check out a few antique stores and have a girly day.

The first place we went to was awful. The woman working there stalked us like we were going to steal or break everything. We left and went to another place. The second store was one that had several booths in an old grocery store. I've usually had really good luck at this place. The only problem I have with it is there are too many booth with crafts.

As soon as we walked in, I spotted a train case for $5! I pounced on it. The tray is missing, but I don't really care. I can either find one or make something myself. The man working at the shop told me I could leave it in the front so I wouldn't have to carry it around. We were rummaging through a table full of costume jewelry and the man came over to tell me one of the locks was broken. I got it to close and the man made a joke about his manliness. I wear braces on my hands because my thumbs don't work, so it was even funnier that I got it closed.

I found a necklace that I kind of liked, but didn't get. After a few hours of wandering, I just didn't like it as much. I was tired, sore and hungry. S found a teapot and I had my train case and a hair bow. We got some noodles for lunch and went to her house so we could look online to see how much our stuff would be elsewhere. Her $6 teapot is Noritake from the 60's and apparently hard to find. We debated putting it up on eBay.

My train case isn't as valuable, but $5 is still much cheaper than I could find it online. They're usually $20 or more, not including shipping. There are a few scrapes, but they're minor. There aren't any funky stains inside at all. I cleaned it up after I took pictures. There is a tad bit of rust on one of the hinges, but I've gotten most of it off. I'd like to get keys for it, too.

Here it is:

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith (Pride & Prejudice & Zombies)

I was so excited for this book to come out! I thought the idea was great and the trailer was a lot of fun. The trailer is here.

The book is written using excerpts of Lincoln's private journals that were said to be lost. The Introduction explains how these came into the hands of the author.
One thing that I was concerned with was how much time would be spent on Lincoln's political career and thankfully, it was brief. Politics bore me, so I was happy to not have a detailed description of campaigning, etc.

It starts with Lincoln's childhood, his family life and his first encounter with a vampire. From this point on he swears he will hunt down every vampire and kill them. His first attempt is successful, but the second does not go as easily as he planned. He is rescued by a man named Henry, who nurses him back to health and teaches him about vampires and better methods of eliminating them.

Lincoln continues to work hard during the day and at night, he hunts.

The author does a good job of adding the vampire hunting aspect of his life to facts, but changing a few things to fit. People in his life will die from vampire attacks instead of tuberculosis. It's done very well.

I'm not sure how much Southerners would enjoy this. It's written from a Northern perspective and the Confederates are in league with the vampires. I know some people take that pretty seriously down there and probably wouldn't appreciate themselves being portrayed as traitors to the human race.

There is a minor amount of gore, which is to be expected when killing anything, but it's not overdone or overly detailed. It's a very fast read (I got through it in 3 days) and doesn't have any points that drag. There are some photographs included that have been Photoshopped to fit with the vampire theme and they add to the fun.

I have a tendency to get excited about things and be let down by them, but this did not let me down at all. I enjoyed it just as much as I hoped and highly recommend it.

Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter

Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter by A. E. Moorat

I wasn’t so sure about this book when I picked it up. Since PPZ & S&S&SM came out, there have been numerous other titles jumping on the bandwagon. I found it for $2 and snatched it up.

One thing to think about when reading this is the author was able to take more liberties with the story than with the PPZ. It is a fictitious “what if” story. Don’t go in expecting classic writing with zombies or sea monsters carefully woven in. The writing style is modern. There are a few instances where foul language was inserted, which makes me wonder why they felt the need to use it at all. I don’t get offended by that sort of thing, but it could have been left out and no one would be the wiser. In one instance, I could see what he was going for, but it still seemed out of place.

I did enjoy this book quite a bit. It was fun and a quick read. It was perfect to bring to work and read on a lunch break and I found myself getting sucked in and kept reading until I had exceeded my lunch hour. Ooops!

I did have my doubts when I read the first few chapters. One of the main characters, Quimby, is bringing people together for an orgy and is discussing the new process of photography with someone who has come to show him the new process. They are interrupted by zombies that begin feasting on the prostitutes and Quimby’s servant, Perkins. The photographer takes a picture of the grisly scene and later attempts to blackmail Quimby, who has resurrected Perkins with a potion so he may resume serving him. Perkins complains of being hungry after his resurrection and is allowed to eat Quimby’s dog.

This is what put me off a bit. I did not want to read about the escapades of a pervert. I'm also a dog lover and don't even like fictional harm to come to fictional dogs.

The story then goes to introduce Maggie Brown (Protektorate of the Queen), Victoria, her mother, Conroy (her mothers partner) & the Prime Minister. The King dies and Victoria becomes the Queen. Maggie rushes to her to protect her from demonic forces. The two battle a succubus in Victoria’s room and the two are introduced. The fight scene allows them to give a glimpse of Victoria’s fighting instinct that she will use later in the book. Maggie addresses Victoria as “Your majesty” and this is how Victoria discovers she is Queen.

The chapters alternate between the various characters’ storylines. There seems to be quite a few characters, but they do serve a purpose & it comes together toward the end.

I was expecting more demon hunting action on the part of Queen Victoria, but she only engages in battling demons for one reason. I won't give it away. The demons are plotting to take over England.

There is a bit of gore in the book, so if you are squeamish, you might want to take a pass on this one. The concern I had in regards to Quimby ended up being unfounded. He is smarmy and will occationally mention a past conquest, but it is not detailed.

I don't want to give away too much of the story line. I do recommend this if you enjoyed Pride & Prejudice & Zombies & Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters. It's a fast and fun read and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Medical freak out...

Another week of doctor's visits and I'm in the middle of a medical freak out.

I had some bloodwork and the standard tests taken on Monday. No big deal. Yesterday, I had lunch with friends, ran some errands and got home around 7. I didn't notice that I had a missed call on my phone from my doctor's office.

They left me a message saying they found something on my tests. One thing was a bladder infection, which is odd because I don't have symptoms.

What has me worried is they said they found somthing else and they need to talk to me as soon as possible. The tone of her voice was very worried and urgent sounding. There was much emphasis on "else." Now I have to sit here wondering what it could be. I have no idea and I'm trying not to freak out, but it doesn't help that they sounded so worried on the phone.

I left them a voice mail and will just have to wait...I didn't mention anything to my parents about it. I don't know what it is and don't want to worry them if it's nothing.

I HATE this! What could they find that was so awful? It's obviously not ER bad, so what the hell is wrong with me this time???

Nothing to do except wait until Monday and try to keep my mind occupied.

Other than that, this week has been decent. I did have something odd happen when I waiting for my friends for lunch...

While sitting at the table, a man came up to me and asked "would you like to buy a puppy?" Um? What? "I have 2 puppies, would you like to buy one?" I really can't. He leaves, but returns a few minutes later to show me a picture of the pups. I tell him that I travel a lot for work and can't get a dog. I'm trying to be polite, but I think it's weird and I'm getting the feeling he's going to get pushy. He walks away again and my friends arrive.

I was telling them about the puppy guy and I looked around and he vanished. Who tries to sell puppies like that? Did he think I looked trustworthy or like I had money?

Back to watching my Pirates lose and the end of the Penguins game. Thursday night the hockey game went into 3 overtime periods and this one looks to be going into OT as well.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is on It's Alive Show tonight and I'm pretty excited about that. I haven't seen it in a while.

Weekly update...

I was hoping things would be a little more relaxing this week, but I was wrong. A majority of the week was spent in doctors offices, both mine and my father's. His treatments aren't working, I may need another surgery. My pain levels are still up and I've had a migraine almost all week.

We did go to the Pirates home opener and they won. It was a nice day and it was packed. I didn't get the giant pretzel they're selling now. The line was really long, so I'll get one next time. I thought about going to another afternoon game, but it was supposed to rain, so I stayed at home.

That was the highlight of my week. It has been a down week for me. I decided I needed some retail therapy so I ordered a few things from Pin Up Girl Clothing. They're doing Bombshell Blowout sale weekends and I picked up a few tops. They were out of the skirt and two other shirts that I've been eyeing, but the one top I got, I've been wanting for a while. I shouldn't have spent any money, but sometimes you just have to. I spent about $35 and got 2 shirts and some lip gloss.

I really wanted this but I didn't feel like spending $36 on it. Maybe it will go on sale soon.

I was good and talked myself out of the Barbie Loves Stila 1959 bucket. I really only want the lipstick and wouldn't wear it because it's not a long wear lipstick.

I really don't feel better, but I can obsess over waiting for my package and once it gets here, I can get dressed up and go sip some coffee and read and be seen. I don't know why I do that, it's cliche. I'm not a club/bar person though. Maybe I'll go to the casino this time?