Update of Yum!

I have this really sweet deal going on in that I live in a house full of amazing women. It's a two family house meaning one apartment upstairs and one downstairs. Heather and I take up the top and Laura and Beth take up the bottom. All of us are Christians, we all have the same tastes (for the most part) in movies, games, and entertainment in general. Laura and I pretty much share a brain which is super helpful when she editing my novel. But wait, there's more! Beth also makes lunches and snacks for us all during the week! We buy some of the groceries or, on weeks we're too lazy to shop, just give her money, and we're well taken care of all week. She makes the best lunches, too. If you've never had a Hollenbeck BLT you do not even know what you're missing. I didn't until I had it for the first time!

Anyway, in keeping with trying to help us all eat a bit better, our snacks are almost always really healthy ones. We get apple slices and peanut butter a lot which is one of my favorites. Lately, though, we've just been getting the apple. Now here's where I shamefully admit how lazy I am. I don't eat apples whole because I can't at the moment, so I haven't been eating my apples. They've been accumulating. I don't know what Heather's excuse is, but hers have been taking up shelf space, too. So today I decided to look up a recipe in which I could use them. What I found was an upside down cake. Ladies and gentlemen, prepare your kitchens!

Full recipe here.

I deviated from the recipe a bit because I am allergic to following directions when it comes to baking. Instead of sprinkling moist brown sugar all over the bottom of the pan I stuck hard brown sugar with just a teaspoon or so of water in the microwave for ten seconds. This made a nice syrupy kind of paste almost that I spread over the bottom. So delish and it makes a kind of caramel over the apples! Also, I used flax seed instead of eggs because it's better for you and I had some available to me. This cake is not too sweet, moist, and really good. I've never had it before today but I felt like I was eating comfort food. This is one recipe I will be adding to my Must Make recipe book.

Overall I'd give it a 9 out of 10. Why just a 9? Only because the cake is pretty thin. I'd like a bit more of it to balance out the sweetness of the apples just a bit better. Other than that, perfection in a pan!

Love and Tolerance

It's never been a real secret to anyone that I am a huge "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" fan. I can't say I have been since the show came out - to be honest I thought it was pretty boring the first time I tried to watch it. Sure the colors were nice and the animation was lovely but it just looked like it was another silly cartoon for little girls. So I watched the first half of the opening two episode arc and left it at then. Then a few months later, when I was bored to tears, I decided to try and watch it again for lack of anything better to do. I think I was about six episodes in before I realized I'd just watched candy colored ponies for about two hours.

For the first season the show was very much for little girls and really just a half hour commercial for toys. By the second season everyone involved with the show realized what a huge following they had and started playing to the adult fans more without sacrificing the original audience they were playing to. Little girls liked the show, older girls and women liked the show, little boys couldn't really care less in most cases, but what really shocked and appalled people (in a lot of cases) were how many grown men loved the show. They started calling themselves "Bronies" and walked around wearing clothing with their favorite pony featured and collecting toys. And they were labeled unkindly and unfairly as being gay, unmanly, pedophile. No one understood how or why these men adored ponies so much. A lot of people still don't. But I think a lot of us in the fandom are starting to realize that on some level it doesn't matter. It's a smart cartoon that is very self-aware, has beautiful animation, relateable characters with depth, and lessons that not only teach little kids but also remind all the adult fans of lessons they once knew but have long since forgotten. It gives hope to those who have forgotten how to smile and enjoy the simple things in life. In a world full of shows like "Revenge," "The Liars Club," and "Scandal," this show is definitely one of the better options for everyone to watch.

This fandom has inspired musicians to compose some of the most moving pieces of music I have ever heard. Artists who lost a passion found the desire to create again. Sewers made plushies, hats, blankets, nearly everything under the sun, while painters and crafters gained a new skill of creating custom toys from basic plastic models. Writers who felt as though the written word had all but betrayed them once again found the inspiration to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard these days). Yes there is a dark side to this fandom. There is to every fandom no matter where you look. But as far as I can tell the good far outweighs the bad.

I myself have found a lost love of painting simply by making custom ponies. I hadn't painted anything on canvas for twenty years. Until last year when I decided it was time I try landscapes again and remembered how very much I loved it. I've explored some things in my past through writing stories involving these characters. I've even written a fanfic long enough to be its own novel and now it's being produced as a YouTube drama with over twenty different voice actors, all fans of the show, who are excited to be involved in yet another aspect of the fandom.

As a woman I get weird looks when people find out I am part of this fandom. For a man it can be so much worse. The point of my writing this entry is just to remind everyone, whether you're in this fandom or not, that judging someone because of something silly they get enjoyment from (HUGE OBVIOUS HORRIBLE THINGS ASIDE) is not a poor reflection of them but a poor reflection of you. Take the time to try and understand the other person's point of view. Have a conversation. Show a little tolerance and a whole lot of love. We were not put on this earth to judge one another but to love and uplift.

Unless you're a Pokemon fan. Then I just don't get you.


~_^

Surgery and Recovery

Most people know I have a bad heart. I was born with it and it has been my constant companion from the very beginning. From pulmonary stenosis, to a ballooning of the pulmonary valve, to a possible aneurysm, it all comes down to me having a congenital heart defect. Or several, I suppose you could say. I've learned to live with it for the most part, have regular check ups with my cardiologist every four months, and do everything I'm supposed to. Well, except for stay away from roller coasters. I mean, come on. If that's how I'm going to go then bring it on.

Several months ago I was put on a medication for my reactive arthritis and this medication is known to react badly with people who already have an established heart condition. While it can never bee proven 100% that this medication caused a problem, I did develop something called premature ventricular contractions (PVC) while I was on it. Basically your heart beats top to bottom, top to bottom. Mine was going top bottom bottom, top bottom bottom over 1000 times a day. Nothing life threatening or crazy, but enough to make me know something was up. Now I am the type of person who can't even stand to feel her own pulse. It literally makes me sick to my stomach so you can imagine how these palpitations make me feel. I tried a couple different medications that did nothing, then talked to my doctor about a cardiac ablation surgery and had one scheduled fairly quickly.

What happens is they go in through different arteries or veins - in my case it was veins because mine are huge and disgusting - with catheters to look for the bad/overactive cells that are making the heart beat extra times. These cells light up when they are active and the surgeon can burn them off if they are in an area he can get to and if there are enough of them to destroy. Mine were jerks and decided to not be active enough. Because, of course. So I am back on medication for the time being. Since this is not a life threatening condition I may just decide to deal with it and drop the meds all together simply because don't want to have to start taking meds every single day until I absolutely have to. I can learn to live with the weird, gross thumping through sludge in my chest.

The surgery itself wasn't horrible. I was out for most of it, though they did wake me up in the middle of it so try and make my heart more active. I cried because it's what I do, and because the feeling was just awful. I can't even...fast beats, then slow, then it felt like it stopped all together, rinse and repeat. Then they put me out again and that was that. I had to lay still and straight for two hours and that was torture only because I had to pee so bad!

After two hours the nurse came to get me to help me to the bathroom. I walked fine until I got in there, then suddenly I was creating a small river of blood. I mean, it was all over the floor, my sheets, one of my blankets, my socks. You name it, I bled on it. So then the nurse had to hold me down on the bed and basically press her full body weight onto me to keep me from becoming a fountain. You would not believe the bruise I have from her hand alone. It looks like I got slugged with a baseball bat and it makes it more painful to walk than it would if I just had the incision sites to deal with. Eventually I stopped bleeding and after another three and a half hours of laying still and flat I was able to get up and move without leaving a trail to find my way back with.

It's been interesting keeping myself from doing a lot simply because I am not a person who likes to sit still. Even if I'm watching tv or something I have to be doing something else while I sit there. Thankfully now I can get up and move around without too much pain, it's mostly just discomfort. I haven't tried stairs yet so we'll see how that goes soon enough. Wednesday I start small group so I'm going to have to face those stairs eventually.

Until then, I have a lot of work to catch up on.

Starting Over

It's been awhile since I left behind my old blog on Livejournal and I've spent that time feeling somewhat...itchy. I liked being able to go and just type out my feelings and thoughts, but oftentimes it came without a censor. I'd say almost any old thing that came to mind and my words became my own poison. I started dreading even looking at it, much less writing in it. So I pulled away, took a break, and regrouped. And now I'm here.

I want to start blogging again but leaving behind the immature rantings and ravings I let myself indulge in before. The idea behind using this blog is that it will not only be cathartic for me, but it will also be a way of keeping more in touch with people I fail at keeping in touch with otherwise. Not because I want to, but because life just moves too darn fast sometimes. It's easy to love people but it is not always easy to give relationships the attention they deserve. This is just a small way to avoid that. It by no means replaces actual conversations with people, but I know certain people who miss my blog because they liked knowing what was going on with me. So I guess this blog is for you. You're welcome.

While I know I won't update every single day I do plan on keeping up with this on a regular basis. Things like goings on in my life, movie reviews, book reviews, publishing and writing news, health issues... a little bit of everything. Just like life. Just like me.

Diana Reads X-Men: Chapter Seventeen

Moving = MADNESS! That is all I will say on the matter.

Logan is not happy, and that is putting it mildly. The professor told him that Magneto was after him, not Rogue. And now she’s shoved in a sack somewhere after he just promised to look after her and protect her. Way to make a man look like a liar, Chuck. So, in order to get out his frustrations, he decides to punch Scott. Well, he can’t very well start pounding on a guy in a wheelchair, can he? I’m pretty sure even Wolverine has standards.

After giving Scott a little trim off the top, Logan storms out. Which is a funny way to say it because Storm follows him.

Okay, at least I thought it was funny.

She asks him where he’s going and he tells her he’s going to go find Rogue himself. There’s no way he’s waiting for Xavier and his crazy fanatics to come up with a plan. Storm says they’re not fanatics and that the world needs them because it has evolved and is different from what it used to be. Logan basically gives her the eyeroll and walks off. Except she’s not just going to let him go.

In the foyer, he finally rounds on her and tells her she’s ticking him off with her hypocritical talk, and how he can see she hates humans as much as humans hate mutants. He continues to push her by saying she treats humans like they’re children that need to be disciplined for their ignorance. He tells her he knows they hated her.

Storm, to her credit, stays perfectly calm and says she’s overcome the trials of her past. Logan’s reaction? La-dee-fricken-da. He’s still going out to look on his own.

So Logan yanks open the door, and who should be standing there? Why, it’s Senator Kelly! At least…they think it’s him. He’s kind of…dripping and oozing. That can’t be good.

After the senator passes out and Logan catches him, comparing it to holding onto slimy Jell-O (Yum!), everyone takes a trip down to the med labs. Jean examines him and decides he’s somehow become a mutant. But not just one that sweats too much, as the movie leads us to believe.

“‘He’s extremely adaptable,’ Jean said. ‘He can effectively change the shape of his body.’

‘So why does he look like this?’ Logan asked.

‘Something’s wrong with his mutation,’ Jean said. ‘His cells are losing their integrity. They’re liquefying. He’s literally falling apart.’”

When Jean tells them there is no way to reverse what happened to Kelly, the professor decides to try and go into his mind and see what happens. The results are a little different from what I thought happened. Here, Xavier sees everything the senator went through, but he also feels all the fear and the hatred. And even when he pulls out of the senator’s mind, Xavier has a hard time with the powerful emotions. In fact, he feels so much hatred that one of his first thoughts is that losing Senator Kelly would be no great loss at all. And he’s surprised by his own feelings.

Deciding he needs to talk to all of them, Xavier tells them all to meet him in his office. Storm volunteers to stay behind to keep an eye on the senator and Jean asks her to let her know if anything changes. Xavier’s parting words are, “I don’t think anything will. At least not for the better.”

He meant it in more ways than one.

Diana Reads X-Men: Chapters Fifteen and Sixteen

So, chapter fifteen? My reaction can be summed up like this:

Accuracy; you're doing it right! Yeah, you read that correctly. This chapter was pretty much the movie in literary form. The fights between Storm and Sabretooth, the fun with Toad and Scott, even the conversation between Magneto and Logan on the train. It was dead on!

So of course I had to keep reading until I had something worth writing about. This brings us to the next chapter.

Jean is a crazy driver. I mean, I'm pretty sure she's going forty in a thirty-five zone. Who knew she had such a wild streak? Xavier is doing the right thing and "reaching out with his mind" so he doesn't actually have to be in the car to see his prized student go all Dom Toretto down the side streets of Westchester.

Mags, Sabes, and Toad leave the train station with Rogue-in-a-bag to find the cops have come to party as well. This is not a thing Magneto is happy about. So he takes all the guns aimed at him and turns them around to face their owners. It gets even less fun when Sabretooth randomly reaches over to take Magneto by the neck and cut off his air supply. Mostly. Through Sabes, Charles asks Mags what he wants Rogue for. Magneto tells Xavier he'll have to choose between an answer to that question and the lives of all the men and women with guns now aimed at them.

We all know what Xavier decides, though it is not without reluctance. Xavier has to think about it for a minute.

Jean and Xavier don't actually get there until after Xavier releases his hold on Sabretooth and the trio of evil fly off in a helicopter piloted by Mystique. They do get there in time, however, to see Scott trying to help both Storm and Logan away from the train station and to the car. When everyone is situated and has seat belts on, Jean takes off to head back to the mansion.

Their first real encounter with Magneto and his boys has left them damaged, but alive.

Unfortunately, they lost Rogue, but...you know...grand scheme, here.

Diana Reads X-Men: Chapter Fourteen

Oh hi! Didn't see you there. So...pretend the past few days I actually posted and wasn't lazy. Thanks.

Rogue is sad and running away. And she's feeling more than a little sorry for herself. Not that anyone could blame her, really. The boy she thought was super cute told her to leave, she can't ever have a real physical relationship with anyone, and there was the small matter of almost killing Logan. Yeah, I'd be down in the mouth, too.

But then Logan shows up to say, "Look! I live!" and tell her how to avoid the ticket taker when he comes around since he totally knows she doesn't have a ticket. Illegally hitching a ride on public transportation. There was a reason why he liked this kid after all.

Back at the mansion. Bobby has a rash. It doesn't seem to itch or anything, but it's spreading pretty quickly. Oh wait, no that's just Mystique. So that would mean...wait...was that Bobby or Mystique who told Rogue to leave? Because now she's gone professor Xavier from the neck up. Will we ever know the truth?!

"The real Bobby sat in his room, studying, wondering why Rogue had left. Feeling vaguely guilty for not defending her and hoping she was all right."

Well...there's the answer to my question.

Meanwhile, Mystique is doing her best to mess with Cerebro. Again, there is a deviance from the movie for no reason at all in which she doesn't do anything so sinister as injecting something nasty into the inner liquids of Cerebro. No, here she just finds the "brain" of Cerebro and starts stabbing it over and over with a screwdriver. Because that makes more sense?

Jumping back to the train station, Cyke and Storm have split up.

Jumping back to the train itself, Logan and Rogue are having a heart to heart. No, really. Rogue is crying because Logan has told her he felt death when she touched him. For so long he wanted to die and even tried killing himself several times over. But when she touched him and he thought it was going to end, he realized he didn't want to die. So he didn't really go to try and stop her from running, he went to tell her thanks for almost killing him.

And I thought I was messed up. At least his "wonderful feeling" is explained a bit better now. I am not nearly as weirded out by this as I was before.

He tells her to follow her instincts, but he kinda thinks Xavier is one of the only people in the world who will be able to understand and help her. The train is now leaving, but they decide together to get off at the next stop and head back. Logan even promises to take care of Rogue. He promises, you guys. As long as they don't have to have anymore heart to heart conversations.

Suddenly the moving train is jerked to a halt, sending Logan flying through the air over the seats. Because, even with all the adamantium in his body, he apparently weighs less than Rogue and everyone else who is just jostled and still seated.

And now the train is moving...no, it's being dragged...backwards.

Let the games begin.