Cosplay - Zatanna Zatara (DC Comics)

Oh, it is that time of year again! Halloween is/was (when I first wrote this post) around the corner and here I am running around to find who I am going to be this year! Well, after some time of thinking and a quick, "what do I have in my closest?!" I thought I would try to do Zatanna!

Zatanna Zatara, whom I know from the Batman TV series but as I was wiki-ing her to show a friend who she was and for how long she has been around; I found that she was in Hawkman Vol. 1, 1964, The Atom #19, 1965, Green Lantern, Vol. 2, 1966, Detective Comics #355, 1966 and Justice League of America #51, 1967. I didn't realize how old she was, I was thinking 70s not 60s.

I know, I haven't updated my Maka Cosplay, but I will and so with this one! This one completed will probably be done around the same time I post the completed Maka cosplay though. x_x

So here it is my cheep DIY cosplay of Zatanna Zatara!

The Accessories! (the easy stuff)

• White Gloves (In the picture shown she doesn't have them) they are super easy to find around Halloween for around $3 - $4
• Tights, these can be fish net to shear black or none if you wish. (I find the the tight fishnet from a far look sheer and up close gives the fishnet look) either can be around $2 - $7 depending on what you get, fishnets are going to be a bit more.
• Wand, (I found at Party City for around $4)
• Bow, this can be made using a pattern by McCalls (or others) or bought at Men's Warehouse for $19.99. Costume store look like a clown tie.
• Hat, now for most of you you might not have abnormally small head that can't fit adult hats and few of the children so this might be easy for you. I find that I am in a spot to make it or forget it. As for making it, I would use foam board and ribbon.
• Shoes, Can find a pair of high heal, covered toe, black dress shoes at Payless for around $25 or Meijer for $30- $35.

The Outfit

•  For the underwear look.... I would use a Black Leotard, i mean are you really going to take of the coat any who? You could also use a swim suit bottom if you like but I like knowing that my bottoms are not going to fall off or my skin is going to be showing!
• Shirt, I would use a white button up shirt -much like I used for Maka. Although if you can find a dickey/tuxedo front/detachable bosom that would be good to.
• Jacket/Coat, I am going to use a simple Black Waist Coat  with no tails and calling it good! I have seen her in both and will go from that!
• Vest, this I have seen from white to Pale Yellow. Any darker and it looks funny to me! I would like using a Halter like vest. I think that is more along the line of what Zantanna would wear with either the Tux Front or a Shirt. (If you use the Shirt you don't have to worry about getting detachable cuffs. ~_^ )

Book Reveiw - Summer on Blossom Street By Debbie Macomber

Summer on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't just jump in the middle of a book series and read/listen to it, but I made a exception for this one. If you listen to audiobooks and you love the radio host Delilah you will love this book. Needles to say, that is way I had to read/listen to this book.

Delilah as a reader was nice and soothing to listen to and was very dramatic in her voice that it made it fun to listen. Only thing that I am said she didn't do well was that her voice seemed to be about the same for every person, but once you get use to it it is okay. Also her voice had enough acting to it so when she had to laugh and talk it was well played and when she had to cry and talk; things like that she was unmatched.

This book is a Delilah book, a lot of things that happen in this book are things that she helps people with when they call into her show. This story was very believable for me, for more then once did I think that she was on her show and trying to help someone.

There are at least 4 different stories going on in this book. A Women who is trying to adopt, A women who's adopted child's unknown parent comes back in her kids life, a woman who is trying to have a child, and a woman who is trying to pick up her life after a bad break-up.

The Women trying to have a child was rarely seen for the book focused mainly on the other 3 women more. It was okay in the long run for I like their stories more then her. With the one who is trying to adopt near the end of the their story I laugh so hard I cried with the sound of Delilah!

The strongest stories that made me laugh and/or cry with those of the Women who is trying to adopt and the women who's adopted child's unknown parent comes back in her kids life. Those two stories were my favorite and I feel the strongest and Delilah was unmatched in them. Surly she was thinking of her own kids when she was reading for you could hear the love and humor in her voice when it came to these two women.

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Mind Readers 'n Dinner

On the way home one night I turned on the radio and tuned in for the John Tesh Radio Show. A show that I have found I love and, if I could, would listen to religiously. He has SO many interesting facts and titbits that makes a person look at thing in a new light!

So, while I was listening to him he was talking about waitresses and how they are being trained to "mind read" or as they call it, "Table Reading". All it is is being able to read the body language of the customers so
change you plan of the survive they give. To me, it sounded like the game Dinner Dash in real life!

So when as the "table reading" goes, if you are out on a date how does the waiter know who to give the check to and not seem rude with the growing economy of women paying for things now? Simple. The give it to the person holding the whine menu. At first I didn't think that was true, but I just had a date where I never touched the whine menu and just said, "I will have the same". So yeah that was very right.

Another is what made me think of Dinner Dash, when there is a group of people they tend to stay longer so the waiter/ess will offer more drinks and appetizers to the group were as if there is someone on the phone or has their computer out they will usually skip the appetizers and go strait to the meal. And lastly, you on on your date and the atmosphere is a little heated between you and your date they will tend to say VERY little and only check up when needed and not bug you like they would a group of people out for a good time so they don't make you more mad then you are now.

So summing it up, you have the Teenie Boppers who like to stay long and ask for tons of things, the Business Wo/Men, who are on their phones, and want to be in and out pronto. At one point or-another they all come in as a group! So if you want a glimpse at what it is like to be a waitress, play Dinner Dash it sounds like.

Moving

So life moves on even though I don't get on here as much as I did and would like to. But I guess that is what gets when they have 2-3 jobs and life! So this has been pushing me to leave the area and move on to greener pastures, where ever that may be!

My friends know I have been talking about this for a while and I wanted to move to a warmer claimant. (were I will not freeze my but off) But I thought better of it when curten things happened in my life that made me think it over, so now those things are small and when I moved into this house that I am in, I told myself, "3 places, 3 strikes. If I move from this house I am leaving the state."

Well the time as come to see if I am going to keep with that idea or move into place #4. I also have a few friends that would not mind moving in with me and that makes me excited on that idea. Although there would be a kid in the house with my 3 cats I feel that this is a good choice! So I have been looking for the best why to move W/O movers (cheapest way to go) and have found 2 ways I think I might go! But let me list some of the places, for maybe they would be different for your move!

• So how should I plan for a smooth move? DOWN SIZE your stuff, you will see this everywhere! Make list on WHAT YOU NEED here, there, and now.  Have most things packed that you don't need right now and might not use till after your move but would love to keep.
• See HOW MANY miles it is from your place to (roughly) the place you are moving too, if you have the address of the place all the better for planing! 
• Now, finding the best way to move! Moving from city to city or just over town will ALWAYS be cheapest by U-Haul with their $20 Trucks, Vans, AND Pick-Ups. Yes they now have a regular truck now and vans to help in smaller moves! But this will very from city and state to other city and states. SO here are a list of movers that I looked at!

Budget Truck

Penske

U-haul

For me, unbelievably, I found Budget Truck to be a bit more then Penske. So it didn't get put on my budgeting list. Penske Only out did the others for having a web discount if you set it up there! Also both the 14' & 16' were renting the same, the big difference (beside the size) was the mpg and that the 16' can pull my car. Also, my one friend that is thinking on moving with me lives in another city so I was looking on how much it was for a truck over there and then looked at the ones in my city. There was, at least $60 difference in the reg price for renting and $2 difference in the trailer. So if you want to shop around to see if other places will be different, go and do that if you are looking in just the rental.

If you deiced to go with a truck, cheek out to see how many mpg it gets and how big the tank is. Talk with people, do web searches and so forth see if you can find the average. If you are pulling something it will also
change the mpg. The formula I used was for the basic truck and with what their site says they get. (note: numbers are RANDOM)

• HOW MANY MILES could a full tank get (roughly). Tank Size * MPG (each Gal get X miles, so  how many miles could the full get?) ie 35 gal tank*12mpg = 420miles a tank
• Now knowing how many miles it will take to get to your destination divide that with your per tank miles. ie 1202/420=2.86 fills, round up (you'll never really know how many fills till you need them, and it is better to figure more and come out with less in this case.) So I would plan 3 fills!
• HOW MUCH will gas be? Well, I am glad you asked! Think of when you are moving, gas goes up and down like Michigan weather and my weight! So hit a number you might think it will be and replan it when it gets even closer to that date to get the real amount! I planed on seeing around $4 for reg gas. (Tank Size Gal * $ per/gal) O_O Yep, if you have a 35gal tank and gas is $3.99 you are looking at $139.65 a fill! And what you say? I have do pay that at least 3 time?! Yeah, you will most likely pay around $418.95 just in gas! This is why you should keep an eye on gas and replan when you get closer to the time of the move!
• Do a gas average check for all the states you will be going through (or cities) and find the cheapest places! Then remember those miles to Greener Pastures? 1202miles? With using google map (or other) find places that you would like to refill and make that a stop so you can see where each one and the distance from place to place.

So now that you have an idea on how much it will cost (truck/accessories + gas) you can budget for your move or you can look at u-pods! And they will deliver for you, may take 11days but it will get there or you can store it with them. For my move, pods are looking like best thing. We shall see, I still have 3 cats to plan on with my move!

Book/Series Review! - Miki Falls

Miki Falls, Volume 4: Winter by Mark Crilley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I read a series of books -like this one, I tend to judge the series as a whole and at first I thought the way the others were going I was going to wind up being weird and boring! I was thinking that this series was just someone trying their hands on being a manga artist. But in the end I was wrong, this book, the last one, help redeemed some part of that for me!

In the first book I thought this guy has an unique way of drawing that he is putting to make his mangas different, distinctive! First off, he doesn't use a lot of blocks, his pictures tend to bleed together where most tend to have blocks on other blocks or over other pictures. Then the other was the art style itself, it was not all "anime-y" as most mangas try to do, even if it is NOT from Japan. So I liked that he was thinking outside the box on it!

The story, really I would of been happy just to jump into this one and be fine, being that some time has passed between each book. I mean look at the titles! Spring, Summer.... But to truly know how Miki felt and how powerful her love truly is you would have to read the whole thing.

There is where it got me! At first in book #1(Spring), I was like what the heck kind of story is this!? This guy, Hiro, gives and takes love away from people? And there is only a set amount of love in the world because it dies, NEVER to come back? I mean I can SEE were the writer got his idea came from with a world with more divorce rates then ever and people always leaving for something bigger and better sometimes leaving over something small. I mean I can see it but really? I never would of dreamed that one up! And prayed that the writer will redeem himself with this twist in the story. To my happiness he did and made me start to think about my own love/loveless life.

There is one part in book #3(Autumn) where Hiro talk about about the four different types of lovers. Sustainers, Wanderers, Selfers and Neverfinds. From the title of these I thought of myself as the first and last finding out that really Neverfinds are just a Sustainer that lost love and will never love again! <_< That hit me like a ton of bricks. And I think there is were I was really getting into the series wanting to know a bit more on this and hope that Miki would not be a Neverfind.

So here in book 4(Winter), we find these two still running away from the world so that they can love one another in peace. (view spoiler)[ How close they come, well needless to say that they don't make it and this looks bad for these two. Really bad. And knowing that she is a Neverfind makes it all the more harder to think that anything good will happen to them. (hide spoiler)] What makes this one so much better then the other three and makes me want to keep reading the pages again and again was that near the end you see her true power of love! (view spoiler)[And a question that everyone who find true love asked themselves, "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?" And in this final volume we see her answer to this age old question we ask ourselves. And she chose the path I would of if I was her and the guy she loved was the one I fell in love with many years ago. (hide spoiler)] I like the ending! I was so expecting somethings ells by the way the artist was leading it to be and if he did that I was thinking that he could create another series based off of that! He still can, but it is good were he left it. So for the RIPPING emotion that he brought back to me, the creativeness he brought to the art and the story I gave this book high marks!


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Looking Back on the Years and Now Forward ho!

皆さん, よいお年を持っているや明けましておめでとう! Everyone, congratulations on entering the new year and please have a good year! So, 2013 is finally here. Looking back I think that I have lived though an area that will never (hopefully) repeat itself! Yes, I know it is no longer the 1st of the year but it is still the 1st month of the year! I am working on what ever I have... (my computer took a dive and is being fixed)  But on to my thoughts... not that most would care. But looking back on the last 12 years of my life I remember....

Y2k, back when the year 2000 was on the brink of a "world wide" power outage or the "Millennium bug". Basically it would of been much like the TV show Revolution on NBC. I remember My friend's mom having a million types of food that would NEVER go bad in the basement with on a self. The self was much like the selves that my own mother used to store all HER can goods, she did make most of it. All I remember was thinking, "we are never going to get ahead of all this food!" X_x  I think that is way I love this show, it was a "what could of happened but never did." I am a little sad it didn't really happen but in some ways glad. 

As the year 2000 came and left new threats were on the horizon! Mad Cow Disease,West Nile Virus, Bird Flu, Swine Flu, 9/11(USA), 3/11(Japan), threats of ab airborne version of Small Pox, and the dreaded December 21st 2012; the day the Mayan calender ends!

My generation and the one before me has seen AND lived through all of these, few remember some will never forget. The last 12 years as been very busy with people always in panic mode. I might be missing some, but after all those who wants to remember more? Many deaths have happened with each one. Thankfully I never lost anyone to any one of these. I and a few others I know have had the N1H1 (1 of the 3 strands) but it was after the scare. And 9/11, thankfully a new job position took my family that lived there away before the hit. But for me, it felt like Pearl Harbor.

Now a New year has begone, new chances to change the path you were walking on, change your plans! With the end of there year gone and past we are in a new age! Hopefully with less panicking people. But I am proud of all the people who lived through these fears and has come out on top! Our generation is something that people will be looking back and wishing they could of lived with us. (give them a year and they would change their minds) So now what?

Well for me, I am going to make this the year of my life! I am going to do .... about the same thing I have always done... Work, sleep, see the family, work, work, sleep, play a game, work. But somehow through all that I do wanna make it a year that in between that I will make it a blast! So when I look back on it I will be like, "man that was Soooo much FUN!!! Lets do some of it gain?" And I will find a way to do so the next year.

Some things that would make it a blast (but more then likely wont happen) would be a trip to Japan or to land a HUGE part in something that could get my name out there as an actor! Hey, I can dream right?

But for real, my goal for me this year it to learn Hangul (Korean) and keep up with my Nihongo (Japanese) and French so that I will be able to translate music, mangas/books, and movies.Well, that is one goal for me, Studying of foreign languages! -_^

  明けましておめでとう!

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