Fables: Wolves (Volume Eight)

Fables: Wolves (Volume Eight)

Bill Willingham

I’m a psychic!  This volume focused on Mowgli and his search for Bigby.  Of course, our favorite scruffy wolf is found and brought home, though not before being put on a secret mission.  I enjoyed following Mowgli around, and was especially delighted when we got to spend time alone with Bigby.  I’m not exactly sure how I feel about them introducing that other chick (I forgot her name already), though I have a feeling there will be something coming out of her in a later issue.

The wolf cubs are completely awesome, and of course, I was pleased as punch when a certain event took place.  I’m beginning to wonder if there is a budding romance between Flycatcher and Red Riding Hood, which I’m pretty okay with.  She’s still a mystery to the reader, so whenever she drops bombs, like recognizing Bigby, I suspect it to be more than just a passing remark.  We’ll see what becomes of her.

Finally, I am so glad they made Cinderella into the kind of character she is.  I absolutely love her.  At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about her, but now I am certain that she is by far the coolest of Prince Charming’s wives.  Well done, Billy!

The extras in this issue featured a map of Fabletown and a script for one of the chapters inside.  Since I’m not often interested in reading the scripts, I skimmed this one and moved on.  For those of you interested in seeing how words go from paper into pictures to bring an issue to life, this extra will surely be worth reading.  This issue gets a 4.5/5

True Grit

I’m a bit slow hopping on this movie train, but better late than never, right?  I enjoyed the movie overall, but found that it moved very slowly through the plot.  While watching, I also felt like everything was calculated and rigid and the humor was stale.  I enjoyed the Texas Ranger played by Matt Damon, especially after he bites his tongue, but he seemed to only be around to counter the serious, one-eyed marshal.  The best points of the movie are when the three main characters were together, which sadly, didn’t feel like most of it.

When I saw this movie, I wasn’t aware it was a John Wayne remake.  I found that out when I got home.  I quickly searched for the older movie, and watched the trailer.  Most of the scenes in the trailer matched scenes in the new movie almost exactly.  I’d be interested in seeing the entire older version, just to compare how much was kept the same.  While this movie was entertaining, I give it a 3/5.

Week Thirty-Five

This week I gained almost two pounds, which is probably a combination of hormones and sodium.  On the bright side, it gives me an opportunity to save some more money, haha.  This week I have a few important goals I’d like to meet.  I’ll let you know how I do in next week’s post:

1. Get to my first class without being late or getting lost.

2. Speaking of lost–Finish Lost.

3. Hit the gym at least 4 times.

4. Clean the left side of my room.

5. Successfully teach Simon to lay down.

6. Clear my parking spot some more so I don’t have to parallel park into the box I’ve manage to carve out of the snow mountain.

Have any goals for your week?  If so, I hope you complete them all!  Happy week!

Chicken and Rice Wrap

Here’s a recipe that started as chicken enchiladas, and ended as basically a wrap with chicken and rice.  Here’s how I made it:

In a pot, put–

One cup uncooked rice

One can of black beans (I used Goya), washed and drained

One cup of Old El Paso Salsa

One can Old El Paso Enchilada sauce–but save about two teaspoons for the chicken.

I added some water to the rice as well (about a cup), and set this on the stove at low heat to cook until it was done.  While this was cooking, I got three chicken breasts, cut them in half, and seasoned them with some of the enchilada sauce.  I’m sure they’re taste just as wonderful if you modify this step to use whatever seasonings you enjoy most.  After, I set them on a grill to bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.  Half-way through, I turned them over and added some more enchilada sauce to the other side.

Finally, when the rice and the chicken were both done, I took one whole wheat wrap, put down a layer of rice, sprinkled chopped up chicken breast on top, and closed it up.  Next time, I think I might add some shredded cheese as well.  My brother really liked it, and since we used medium salsa, it had a little bit of a kick to it.  Enjoy!

Simon in the Snow: Part Two

Well, nature went and did it again: she covered us with snow.  Our backyard is covered by about 2 feet in most places and five feet in some areas.  Of course, we let Simon do his thing while we did our best to shovel a path through all the snow.  At one point we ran out of places to put the snow we were shoveling out of the way.  Simon discovered he loves being tossed on top of piles of snow.  He hops up and begs until he’s tossed, then he hurries back and begs again.  Here’s the latest installment of his adventures:

Is it spring yet?

Fables: Arabian Nights and Days (Volume Seven)

Fables: Arabian Nights and Days (Volume Seven)

Bill Willingham

Here’s another volume I didn’t really care for.  It was definitely better than the last one, but not as good as the few others before it.  Again, I think the reason I found it boring was because Snow White and Bigby don’t play a big part in it.  Boy Blue is back, though he doesn’t really have a big part in the story.  One piece of this volume that I enjoyed is the redemption of Beauty and the continued actions of the likable Beast.  Prince Charming also got chewed out, so that made me pretty happy.

In this volume, as you can probably guess, we get to see a small bit of the Arabian fable world.  Again, I’m not quite sure what the criteria is for including characters, but at this point, I like the series enough to just roll with it.  I wish we could have seen Aladdin, but the series seems to think I should be content with a name-drop.  Hopefully a meeting takes place in a future issue.

Finally, the extra in this volume was an issue featuring wooden characters from the homelands.  While cute, I found it very long and the script font they used was very difficult to read.  I do wonder, however, if these two characters will be showing up in any future issues.  I hope not.

With all the foreshadowing going on in regards to Bigby and the mad search for him, I’m hoping the next volume takes care of that.  He really did add something special to the series, so here’s to hoping he not only is found, but he returns and that whole matter of his invisible cub is settled.  This volume gets a 3/5.

Thanks a lot, winter.

Have I told you enough that I hate winter?  Apparently the universe thought it would be hilarious if we got just enough snow to make my life difficult, but not enough to give me the day off.  When I was told that the library was closing early, I was happy and relieved.  My joyful skip towards the exit was cut short when I noticed the entire parking lot was coated in ice.  And I am not cleverly using hyperbole here–there literally was not one inch of sidewalk where ice did not exist.  I am terrified of falling on ice.

My solution was to walk like the parking lot was covered in mines.

So I slowly made my way to my car, stepping along the ice coated sidewalk as if my life was a cartoon mystery and I was the sly, devious villain.  By the power of Grayskull, I arrived at my car without falling, only to discover that my entire car was coated in a thick layer of ice.  I kid you not.  I took this photo of my windshield from inside:

It took me 15 minutes of heating the inside of my car and frantically trying to scrape the ice off with my pathetic plastic snow/ice brush before I could even see enough to drive.  What the hell, Universe?

Dear Kid Who Left This Note,

I’m sorry you think we’ve stolen all the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books.  I promise we have at least ten copies of each one.  They are just super popular at the moment, so they keep being checked out.  I can tell you’re really disappointed because your smiley is extra angry and you said please twice.  I hope you find a copy of the book you want soon, but until then, why don’t you look at the new summer books for some other really awesome things to read.

Love,

The chick in the blue shirt

PS: Your note totally made my night.

On Being Brave

I’ve been trying to up my bravery without having to buy a magical vest or farm for xp.  Instead, I’ve been trying to push myself to do things I wouldn’t normally do, and most of the time I’ve come out with favorable results.  Recently I went swing dancing and they were having a pin-up girl contest.  I signed up (and forced a friend to sign up as well). I didn’t win, but I got several compliments when I returned to the dance floor.  That’s almost as good as winning, right?  Well, minus the cash prize.  And that ugly sash.

The contest made me realize that the worst part of taking risks is the several minutes before the event itself.  Possibly a few during the event.  However, the blissful high of knowing you just did something insane is worth the anxiety, I think.  Though I am no professional at doing things outside of my comfort zone, I am incredibly skilled at faking it (ask Ally about the times when I’ve run into my old roommate).  I’d like to challenge everyone this week to do one thing you normally wouldn’t.  Don’t forget to tell me what you did!

Dear Squirrel Chewing On The Electrical Wires Above My Car,

Was it really necessary for you to chew on the ice coating the wires right when I was cleaning the snow off my car? I don’t know if you remember me, but I used to leave acorns out for you and your friends every autumn. And this is how you thank me? By dropping a clump of ice the size of a tennis ball on me? You must be the jerk that poops on my car all summer. I hope your teeth fall out.

Love,
The chick who thought she was going to die of blunt trauma to the head this afternoon