2012 in Retrospect: The Good, The Bad & The Beautiful

Every year around December 31st when the weather gets colder and the year is coming to an end, I tend to spend some of my time inside reflecting on what I learned during the year, things I've accomplished, and things I want to spend more time improving upon in the coming year.  I'm so pleased to say that 2012 is shaping up to be an incredible year for me.  There is no doubt that it has also been one of the most chaotic and dramatic years of my life to date, but overall the great things that have occurred highly outshone the bad.  I have so much to be thankful for that I wanted to write it all out and document the things that have contributed to my happiness.

An Unexpected 80's & Hello Kitty Weekend

I'm still recovering from what was quite possibly one of the greatest weekends ever, but I had so much fun that I felt compelled to write a blog post about it before attempting to catch up on some sleep!  I only spent a total of 9 hours (including sleep) at my house this weekend but it was worth every minute!  As a long time LOTR and Hobbit fan I knew that I had to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on opening night.  I was overcome with joy at the thought of spending more time with Gandalf and seeing Bilbo's adventure finally come to life, so I brought my plushies of Gandalf and Bilbo to snuggle with during the film.  But before heading to the theater, I unintentionally stalked my good friend Alan (@SizzlerKistler) via Twitter who happened to be filming at Midtown Comics.  Melissa (@mechamelissa) and I met him there to buy a graphic novel for Thursday's Super Villains Comic Book Club and then stumbled into a Ricky's to buy wigs for the next days festivities.  Before arriving at the theater we met the birthday girl, Jill (@TheNerdyBird), her boyfriend Brad, and one of my closest friends, Dan (@DanSlott), at an adorable restaurant that was decorated beautifully for the holidays!  Next, we proceeded to stock up on movie snacks since we knew there was an almost 3 hour journey ahead of us.  We all agreed that the film was rather lengthy, but I really enjoyed it anyway.  I did not however enjoy the 48 frames per second 3D aspect of the movie.  It was just plain odd.  Everything looked too real so it was as if you were watching a documentary.  But I adored seeing Gandalf again, and Martin Freeman did a wonderful job playing Bilbo.  Plus Thorin is the hottest dwarf in Middle Earth.  But my favorite scene of the whole film was towards the end when Gollum and Bilbo were exchanging riddles.  The same scene in which Bilbo happens upon the ring.  I was pleased that the film was much more action packed than I was expecting, and I would really like to see The Hobbit again in 2D before it leaves theaters.  

Super Villains Comic Book Club!

The events that transpired between Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year were unlike any other I had previously experienced.  We all tend to save up and shop a little more than we probably should during the days following Thanksgiving, but it was a purchase I made this year that quickly snowballed into one of my favorite projects thus far.  One of my best friends, Jen (@jennifermarie), has always had an affinity for Namor, and seeing as how Amazon had some of the trades on sale, I decided to buy two and see what all the fuss about Marvel's Atlantean was all about.  Naturally I texted Jen as soon as I placed my order and she wanted me to let her know what I thought about them when I finished reading.  We had been trying to schedule a Skype date for after the holiday (we're on different coasts) and that's how the ball started rolling.  We thought it would be great to discuss the trade during our chat, which we quickly decided would be made even more fun with the addition of wine.  We joked that it would be like our own little comic book club.  Both of us possess really enthusiastic personalities coupled with a love of comics, so it was only mere minutes before we realized this should be something we do every week.  As we continued to get excited about our new weekly chat, it dawned on us that other people may want to join in the conversation as well! And so, the Super Villains Comic Book Club was born.  I mean, what could be better than attending a weekly book club from the comfort of your own home?  We filmed our first issue last Thursday, based on Namor The First Mutant Volume 1: Curse of the Mutants.  In case you missed the video, you can watch it below or on YouTube.  And you can even subscribe to our channel and take part in upcoming issues!