Femme Friday: Ms. Marvel

My boyfriend recently started a new job and I have been home recovering so I have had a lot of time to catch up on comics. In march, I discovered some new (or new to me) titles. I have been wanting to read G willow Wilson's Ms. Marvel for awhile now and since my comic shop was having a sale on first volumes I decided to pick up Ms. Marvel: No Normal. I really enjoyed reading it and being introduced to Kamala Khan. Kamala is a teenager that takes over the mantle of Ms. Marvel from Carol Danvers. I will admit that prior to this, although I knew some things about Ms. Marvel, my knowledge about the character is somewhat lacking. I enjoyed everything about this book from the art to the writing. Adrian Alphonia's art was fantastic. I am a fan of the iconic costume but it was nice to see a more realistic take on it as well. It seems like with the popularity of comics like Squirrel girl, less sexed up, "real" depictions of women are on the rise. It is possible to be the embodiment of sass in a realistic costume, after all.

G willow Wilson's writing is superb as well. It is really refreshing to see young women portrayed so realistically. One of the things I enjoyed most about reading this was that crime fighting does not come naturally to her. She had to learn to use her powers while hiding her true identity from her very concerned parents.the Overarching theme of volume one seems to be Identity. Kahn is Marvel's first Muslim character and although, it may have turned some off of the character her struggle with faith is relatable to anyone regardless of religion preference. She faces peer pressure at a party which magnifies the differences between her and the party-goers, leading her to question her faith. Ultimately she ends up saving one of her a"frenemies" from the party from drowning later on. The struggle with keeping her identity from her parents is also very real. Being a teenager is hard enough without being a superhero, you know? Her father wishes that she would focus on school, and her mother is worried that she will make the wrong choices. Again, this makes Kahn an easily relatable character.

I will definitely be picking up volume two!Are you a fan of Kamala?

Happy (un)birthday IGGPPC! (a love letter of sorts)

Last week the International Geek Girl Pen-paling club celebrated it's third birthday! I joined the club a year ago and was quickly paired with my own iggle (that's wbat members call themselves). The penpals are disburse dafter monthly rounds which are usually themed and sign up is easy. After visiting the website (here), you are asked to fill out a short form with your name and email, and provide five of your geeky interests.

I just signed up for another penpal and my list included:

• Disney

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• Horror films

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• Comic Books

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• Reading

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• Kawaii

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My first penpal and I were featured on the IGGPPC blog this month as part of their birthday celebration.to learn more about our story click here.In the year I have known Bree we have become close friends through lengthy letters, social media, and texts. This year we opened our christmas gifts on Skype so we could see each other's reactions. I am always amazed with how thoughtful she is and we have gained a deeper friendship because we can be more open, honest, and build a connection through snail mail.We live in such a digital age that it is actually nice to sit down and plan a letter. Alas, Geek Girl Penpals is more than a group of hardcore lady types who share a love of stationary goods, it is also a community of like minded individuals that are extremely active on social media. The club hosts events for everything including read-a-longs, movies, and even a digital summer camp. If I have ever wanted to discuss fandom but find that none or few of my IRL friends share that interest (like my current obsession Zodiac Starforce) the iggles are always a tweet away to indulge my nerdy whims. When I was hospitalized (see last entry). Bree organized a valentines/galentines/get well card drive for me. It meant a lot to receive that many cards from the iggles.

I also received two drawings from the lovely Whimsy and Noir (who is also an iggle) and I have Jem makeup in the smaller one. I also have a strange desire to die my hair blue and orange now!

Are you a member of the IGGPPC? Have you ever had a penpal?

an unfortunate update

I haven't blogged in what seems like forever so I thought I would post a bit of an update. About a month ago I was hospitalized again. I initially went to the emergency room thinking I had bronchitis or pneumonias because I was experiencing congestion and was having trouble breathing. At that point in time I had been dealing with the return of my acid reflux as well. I was getting sick almost nightly and on medication to help keep food down, if possible. It all started to become clear when the tech that was taking x-rays of my chest suddenly yelled, “What the heck is that?” Not exactly what you want to hear after an x-ray. As it turns out my stomach had moved up into my chest cavity and was pressing on my heart, lungs, and against my spine. It became clear that I needed to have surgery for a second time in little over a year. Because this was my second surgery, there was a lot of scar tissue and it could not be done endoscopically. I was also incredibly malnourished which made surgery even more risky. Thankfully, I was transferred to a hospital in Dallas with a surgeon that put my concerns at ease. I was on something called TPN for about a week before surgery. I could not hold down food so I had to have an 18ga IV of nutrients that went directly from my upper arm into my chest. It provided all the nutrition I would need and even had a handy port for drawing blood so that I would not need to be stuck often.

The surgery itself was extensive. Again, because this was my second go, I would need a larger incision that would go from the bottom of my chest to my belly button. The surgeon opened me up, brought my stomach down, wrapped my esophagus, and inserted a pig skin mesh to keep my stomach in place. To be honest, it felt completely like a horror film.

Recover has also been difficult. Ultimately, I spent three weeks in the hospital. As a result, I had to withdraw from my classes and am currently in the process of paying back financial aid. Emotionally, this has been a real struggle because I had formed an identity around being a student and I was so close to the finish line. This was going to be my last semester before my AA and considering I had obtained my GED and spent the last 2 years being an A student, it has been difficult to swallow.

  Physical recovery has been difficult as well. I left the hospital with twelve metal staples down the middle of my abdomen. You really never think about how much you use your muscles until you lose the ability to. I had to learn how to do simply things like using my legs and arms to push up from a chair. As a person with limited mobility already this has been a nightmare. I cannot use the walker I am familiar with because I cannot walk with my arms in front of me. I have to use a “granny style” walker instead. I also have to use an oversized wheelchair that dwarfs my small frame. My muscles are still really weak and wheelchair I currently use is so big that I have to rely on someone to push me. My insurance will not cover the style of wheelchair I want and at over $2,000 it is too much for me to afford on my own. I am still waiting to see how much of my hospital stay my insurance will cover. The hospital estimate that was sent to my home is about $94,000.

 I am overwhelmed financially, emotionally, and physically.

Thankfully, I have amazing people in my life and a friend of mine started a gofundme to help lessen the financial burden I am facing. We have raised over 900 dollars so far! The money I owed the school was $925 but gofundme also takes a cut of whatever you raise. If you would like to donate please click the link below. If you are reading this and have already donated, I am beyond grateful. Thank you.

My Favorite buffy Episodes seasons 1-5 (spoilers)

Back in february, I was browsing netflix and decided to revisit one of my favorite shows of all time.  I began watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1997 when it debuted. I was ten years old at the time and it could be easily argued that no other television show has made such an impact on my life. sadly, I have yet to complete the series and have taken to netflix to catch up. I will be starting on season six tomorrow morning.  On May 20th, 2003 the last episode of Buffy aired. In honor of that I would like to post about a few of my favorite episodes in seasons 1-5.

Season 1:

My favorite episode from season one is The Pack. In this episode xander and a group of Sunnydale students get possessed by the spirit of  Hyenas which resulted in the adopting somewhat of a pack mentality.That dodgeball scene brought me back to my middle school days and still leaves me feeling vaguely uncomfortable. Plus, when you factor in that poor pig! scary.I have always had a soft spot for Xander and even got to meet Nicholas Brendon at a convention last year.

Another episode from this season that I feel is worth mentioning is Out of Sight, Out of Mind. As I rewatch Buffy as an adult I am able to pick up on more of the meaning behind each episode. I don't think anyone could argue that they have felt invisible at some point in their lives. This is especially true in middle and High School. I know I had a lot of "Have a great summer" inscriptions in my year book and at the time this episode aired it made me feel less alone. Not that I wanted to be invisible and live at my school,
 that would be an entirely different sort of Hell.

Season 2:

My favorite Episode from season two is Halloween.I kind of enjoyed the idea that with a little magic, a costume could transform you into anyone. I have always resonated with Willow. she was always the super smart and socially awkward one. I remember the way she wanted to wear something a little less modest and then dawning her ghost costume at the last minute. as a young girl I was really self conscious as well. I also really liked that Buffy chooses a "Helpless Damsel" costume only to discover that Angel truly likes her for who she is. Until Buffy, strong teenage girls were barely portrayed in the media. I think Whedon did an excellent job exploring gender ideals by transforming Xander into a military know-it-all. I feel like Xander felt that he did not have anything to offer Buffy until this episode.

Season 3:

The Wish is my favorite episode from season three. I love wishverse Willow. In this episode Cordelia uses a vengeance demon to make a universe changing wish.I enjoyed her little boost of empowermint in this episode. Especially once she gets to the Bronze. Vampire Willow did not take any crap from anyone including  Percy the jock. I also like her catch phrase in the episode. BORED NOW and the scene where the real willow goes undercover still cracks me up! I wasn't too crazy about Anya in the beginning but I really like her now.

Season 4:

Restless is my favorite episode from this season. to be completely honest, I wasn't a huge fan of the Initiative storyline. I'm not a huge fan of Riley, either. I really enjoyed this episode because it gave some backstory to what it means to be The Slayer. I liked that they went all the way back to the first slayer in this one.  also, everyone loves cheese.



Season 5:

As much as it was a heartbreaking episode, The Body was my favorite. It was so eloquently written. as someone who has lost a parent, this episode captures it beautifully. When you lose a loved one a thousand and two scenarios play in your head, "If I had just done this or gotten there sooner." The confusion of loss is suddenly unbearable, I feel like Tara's words to Buffy also cement her as a character and in that moment a bond is made between the two of them.

What are your Favorite episodes of Buffy?

Neopia awaits!

I am finally on summer vacation and that means I can devote all summer to successfully updating this blog with all my  toy conquests and adventures. As a toy collector I really enjoy visiting the toy sections of thrift stores. Usually I can find some pretty good reasonably priced toys from my childhood and since I am not a stickler concerning toy condition aspects. A lot of my toys are opened and displayed on shelves to save space unless they are exclusives, high value, or if I really like the packaging. There is just something magical about opening a new toy and creating a new display or adding a piece to an existing shelf. I manage to  make out pretty well at thrift store or flea ma. However, there are a few things that I watch out for like visible writing and missing clothing.

I am a huge, huge, huge, collector of stuffed animals. 

Fun fact:

The Huckleberry Pie cloth doll next to Rainbow Brite is the first toy I remember owning as a kid. The original was purchased for me on a family road trip at an IHOP restaurant. I remember throwing it out a window sometime later and screaming my head off until my parents turned around to retrieve it. After that, he lived a very long and happy life as a constant companion to my childhood whims, eventually, he got so battered that my mom had to patch him up using one of my father's t-shirts. The one in the picture was purchased as a christmas gift by my boyfriend three years ago.

Recently, I went to a local thrift store and found a treasure trove of Neopet plushies for five dollars a bag. I loved playing neopets in middle school and high school but the toys which were sold at Target and Limited Too were pretty hard to find and pretty pricey for a kid. Most of these even had the tags still attached and they even gave away a Petpet Noil! I think the rainbow Poogle is my favorite. Not pictured are a Pink aisha, and plushie paintbrush Wocky that I found. On previous trip, I found a talking Kacheek. I think my cat thinks he is a little neopet as well.

Naturally, this glorious find revamped my love for the little digital pets. sadly, I could no longer access my old account under an email that I have not used in years. Thus, I made a new one. I love playing Spellseeker on my foldable laptop because it has a touchscreen. This time, I made a Uni!

What is your favorite Neopet? do you still play? What are your favorite games?

Arendelle just got a bit colder!

I just had the pleasure of viewing the new Frozen short and Cinderella on the big screen. Naturally, I wanted to show up in style and show that I  have come down with a case of  Frozen Fever!

One of the many souvenirs I brought back from my trip to Disney World in January was this Olaf pin. I normally keep my pins on my Pin Trader lanyard or on a button curtain that I made from a piece of Dumbo fabric. However, occasionally I use them to accessorize outfits, so I pinned it to my black denim jacket. I thought this pin would be perfect because Anna and Elsa's  costumes in Frozen Fever are so bright and adorned with flowers.  

In addition to the pin I also wore my supper comfy Anna dress that I bought from Hot Topic around Christmas time. Although, I still love Elsa, Anna is my favorite sister. This is largely due to the fact that we both love to shove chocolate in our face and also because her name is similar to mine. we also tend to ramble a lot!

The short itself is really cute and I loved the new song. I am really hoping Disney store makes little plushies of Elsa's new creations. I think I might just have to buy the them in threes. I have been snatching up the new merchandise as I see it but have yet to display the pieces I purchased.

first I found these dolls at Toys R Us. When I purchased them they were roughly 17 dollars a piece. Their arms and legs appear to be pretty stiff but I love the hair and intricacy of the outfits for the price range. They also had a more expensive two pack featuring Anna and Kristoff but I did not have the money at the time.

However, I do have lots of plans for the next set of dolls that I purchased. The Disney store currently offers a two pack featuring Anna and Elsa and it is stunning.  The first thing I noticed was the fact that this set of dolls was ball jointed which makes the dolls easier to pose. I am thinking about buying a Japanese model kit and setting up my own version of Anna's birthday party with Cake!
The paint detail on the facial features of the dolls are fantastic. Look at Anna's natural blush! I  also love the tightness of the bun and the way her bangs fall just right. It was well worth the price. I am really torn about opening the package for these two.

Check back tomorrow for my thoughts on  the live action Cinderella and some pictures of the new Cinderella merchandise I picked up!

Rockin' In My Roadster (Jem Collection)

I am on spring break this week so that means that I can use my time off to catch up on blog posts. If you have ever meet me in real life you already are aware that I love anything 80's especially toy wise.  as a kid, one of the cartoons that I found truly outrageous and totally rad was Jem and the Holograms. I am really excited for the live action movie and also for the new comic that IDW is coming out with. I have already ordered the first issue box set all of the various covers from Collected Comics in Fort Worth and have set up a subscription service as well.

Jem was also one of the first characters I ever Cosplayed at a convention. I bought the already made costume from Halloween city. The costume came with her signature earrings, a spandex dress, microphone, and the belt that you see pictured. I paired it with pink legwarmers,  pink fishnets, and glitter filled bangle bracelets that I already owned. I wore pink flats because it is difficult for me to wear heals and I try to be as comfy as possible. 

My makeup consisted of bubble gum pink lipstick and the pink triangle-shaped eye makeup that I drew on with Halloween makeup crayons.

I also had to buy the wig separately and styled it myself. It was deliciously 80's and I had lots of fun. I was actually surprised at how many people recognized and loved the character.

As far as the toys go, I have been collecting them for some time. I started with the Glitter and Gold Comic Con Exclusive and received several complete dolls for Easter two years ago.  My boyfriend also collects toys and insisted that if I were to get any of the original dolls it would be best to hunt them down individually so that they had their clothes, shoes, and instruments. Previously, I owned a Kimber that we found at a Thrift store and she was a little worse for wear and missing everything BUT Kimber was always my favorite and I have the fatal flaw of never passing up a lonely toy.

 After some searching he purchased several dolls off of E-BAY that even came with the cassettes. Oh, if I still owned my little pink walkman circa 1992! Seriously, I would be jamming to The Misfits right now because everyone knows their songs are better.

For Valentine's Day this year my collection grew even bigger with the addition of a Rockin' Roadster. It was purchased off of E-Bay and shipped all the way from Holland. It was opened but came pretty much mint with the plastic casing still on the roadster.

The seller even said that the FM Radio still works. It is common for the roadster to be missing the headlights, hood ornament or removable convertible top but mine is complete.

 Jem had to take it for a spin but Rio was unavailable. Thankfully, our new Starlord Hot Toys figure was more than willing to take his place!

What toys do you collect? What was your favorite 80's Cartoon?

Gaining some XP with Marvel. The Marvel Expierence

My 28th birthday was on Monday and in true nerdy fashion I wanted to celebrate it with some of my favorite heroes. I had wanted to check out The Marvel experience at Fair Park in Dallas, ever since I heard it was coming to Texas.  I thought that my Birthday would be a good excuse (like I *REALLY* needed one anyway) to see the interactive exhibit starring the likes of Captain America, Spider-Man, Hulk, Black Widow, Wolverine ,Thor, and a certain billionaire philanthropist. Iron fist and She-hulk also make appearances as well.

The experience begins by allowing you to make your own S.H.I.E.L.D. Identification card  S.H.I.E.L.D which stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division (pretty official sounding, huh?) is lead by Nick Fury and often teams up with The Avengers to fight various villains. After you create your badge the computer will send it to the email you provided but you can also buy hard copies of it in the gift shop, I thought this was super cool and probably one of the neatest souvenirs I have ever gotten.

Isn't it awesome? I am  5'1,  so I am really short. the computer screen was actually two high up to take a picture of me. thus, my boyfriend actually had to lift me up ballerina style to take this photo. It says superhuman because Mutant was not an option. My goal is to one day become an X-Men, seriously.

Next you enter a series of domes and are briefed by several heroes. Stan Lee can even be spotted. Once inside the major doom there are lots of interactive activities, like "hulking out with hulk" and posing with your favorite superheroes on the big screen. The Hulk one was really fun because you stand in front of the interactive screen and throw punches as big green, himself. to summon your favorite heroes, you had to stand on mini platforms and make certain poses.

This was difficult because many of the poses required both hands which is difficult for me because I have to maintain balance with my walker.In truth, a lot of the interactive activities were difficult because they were designed for able bodied people in mind.  I could not enjoy the activities like climbing up a rock wall with Spider-man or the Black Widow Agility maze which I totally understand but my walker hindered things like flying with Iron Man and pretty much everything in the interactive area. this confused me because I had read that the Marvel  Experience was accessible. I did however get to do the blaster training which was so fun we did it twice,

At the end of the interactive portion you are given a shield charm fr the wristband you are given  in the beginning. from here, you enter a transport where you are attacked! I thought it was really neat to end the experience with a simulated ride,  However, it would have been super cool if we were given fake blasters in this area. It would have allowed visitors to use the "training" we received and made this part interactive,

This section conveniently lead into the gift shop which had various items featuring the superheroes from the experience but overall it was slightly disappointing for the serious marvel collector, I did however buy a hard copy of my badge, I wonder how many times I will accidentally hand that to someone instead of my ID? It was fun regardless of the setbacks I experienced but it could use improvements to accommodate everyone.

I can feel it in my code....time for an update!

oh, wow. I haven't updated my little part of cyberspace in forever! Lots of things have happened since my last update in march including, summer internships, semesters of college, hospital stays, Disney Vacations and of course conventions and lots of toy buying. I have been meaning to get back into blogging for a while now and wish to share my adventures with you!

 I feel like I should start with a general update and post pictures and slightly embarrassing completion stories of my Vanellope cosplay,  which I did manage to debut at Dallas Comic Con!

This cosplay was the very first costume I ever completed from scratch! It gave me a whole new level of respect for the hard work that goes in to cosplaying. My costume was by no means perfect but I loved the process and the final product. I want to break down the individual pieces before posting the final product. 

Vanellope's hoodie was VERY hard to find. I searched thrift shops relentlessly. I finally found a teal hoodie that matched Vanellope’s but it was a zip up instead of a pull over. Sometimes you have to work within a budget and with what is readily available to you. I used yarn to add the licorice hood strings and embellishments. The flash unfortunately distorted the colors a bit so you may get a better idea from the final product photos.

The Leggings were just as tricky to track down and duplicate. Thankfully, I found a pair of teal/ mint colored tights at my local target. I do not remember the price but I know they were pretty inexpensive. Target is the place to go for Tights if you are looking for slightly oddball color choices. At this point, I enlisted the help of my friend Kat for panting the stripes. This is largely due to the fact that I have very little artistic talent and frankly, she would be painting the tights while they were on my body.  This act of true friendship, resulted in standing backyard on a warm day while singing Disney songs (badly on my part but Kat has a wonderful singing voice) at the top of our lungs. She expertly wrapped the stripes around my legs using a Martha Stewart fabric paint with a small paint roller.  Once the paint dried ( in like 20 minutes) she used a purple sharpie to add detail. Could we have found an easier way? Yeah, probably but where would the fun be in that?

We also coated candy pieces in Mod Podge to add to the wig I bought from ebay but I failed to take pictures of that process. Now, on to the finished product. It was imperfect but for my very first Cosplay it was not Bad! 

The second is my favorite photo because a racer is still a racer regardless of what galaxy she is in. Sometimes you just feel it in in your code!

I have lots of other cosplays planned like Lydia Deetz and a school girl version of Madoka from Madoka Magica. Plus, a blog about my recent trip to Disney World!

fighting evil by moonlight at Animation celebration! (animation celebration part one)

I was very fortunate to attend Animation Celebration in Lewisville, Texas this weekend. Normally I just arrive and   search the isles looking for comics, toys. Not to mention, spending endless amounts of time waiting in autograph lines and panels and fawning over the hard work of the talented cosplayers I see. This weekend offered up an entirely new experience because I was fortunate to be on the other side of the convention as a volunteer.

the experience gave me an entirely new prospective on the super-secret workings behind the scenes. I was in charge of the green room one minute and filling my walker with snacks and beverages the next.  Today I felt like I ran a 5k over the weekend., every time someone needed something I happily got it for them, I mean how often do you get to assist amazing voice actors and comic book artists? As a con goer, I never really thought about the volunteers before but after this weekend I understand how a volunteer can make all the difference and make a very chaotic event run smoothly.  The troubleshooting staff was amazing and I feel as though I made some great new friends. So if you’ve ever volunteered at a con, thank you!

The highlight of my weekend was meeting Linda Valentine and Toby Proctor from Sailor moon.  When I met them,  felt like a twelve year old girl again and shared with them how the show had such a great impact on my life. I shared that when I was in middle school , Sailor moon was my gateway to make friends with the girls that worked with me on the school paper. Anyone who knows me in real life knows how introverted and shy I was in those days. I would always race home to watch it in the afternoons and then talk about it while typing up articles to be published. Although my time on the school newspaper didn’t last long, I credit show with helping me make the friendships that came out of it.

Linda Ballantyne was one of the most down to earth celebrities I’ve ever met. After  I  paid for my personal autographs (she was only charging 10 dollars can you believe it?) I told her that I was going to get her to sign something for the suicide prevention walk that my campus is hosting (see last post for more information) when I went to pay her for the things for the walk she refused to take my money and gave me the prints.  I cannot express how amazed I was by her generosity and hope to ruse them to raise money and awareness for our cause. It really touched me that she took the time to sign stuff for our school.  It always amazing when your favorite superheroes transition to real life role models. 

In part two of this post, I will be doing a write up on my favorite cosplayers at the con and talking about my "convention haul" so check back for that!

a bit of an update

I just wanted to take some time to give anyone that could be reading this a little update on my life. If you have read my first ever post you might have been privy to some juicy tidbits about me. I believe I mentioned that I am currently going to school to become a children's librarian because it is my dream to infect unsuspecting childerbeasts with a love of reading. I remember being a little girl and going to the library with my father. I remember him pushing me in my wheelchair through the big glass doors and entering the rows of books that comprised their children's section. It was like entering a magical land where I could be anything or anyone I wanted to be, I just had to open a book. I remember nightly readings that would transport me to the Hundred Acre woods or Fern and Wilbur's farm. 

As I grew older, I would spend more and more time in the library. I would befriend every librarian to the point that they began setting aside every R.L. Stine, King, or Rice book that came in. After spending some time in college and years of contemplating how I would leave my own special mark on the world, I decided I wanted to return the favor and pay it forward. I decided I wanted to become a librarian and reach out to others.

Last week, I became a volunteer for my local library. I am proud to say that I am now a volunteer that teaches low income or kids that are struggling with school better reading skills. the program I volunteer for is from ranges from Pre-k to second grade. I will say that upon volunteering for this program. there was a tiny shred of doubt if I *really* could work with kids. Last Thursday proved without a doubt that this is a field I am meant to be in. The little girl I work with went from reading one book on the first visit to enthusiastically reading six! I really enjoy seeing the sparkle in a kid's eye when you compliment them for finally mastering gerunds when they struggled with it the week before.  I'm really excited to impact her learning and am excitedly making flash cards from lists of second and first grade words. I meet with her once a week for an hour and we work on reading, pronunciation, and sentence structure.


In addition to my volunteer work at the library I've also been keeping busy organizing a walk to raise money for a suicide prevention walk. as a teen I spent several years battling depression so this walk is very close to my heart. I want to raise awareness and help others from experiencing such a dark mental place. If you are interested in learning just how I plan to help raise money, or make a donation please click the link below.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention!


There are also a lot of other things I've been up to. I had the pleasure of attending the Indiana Jones exhibit in Fort Worth last weekend and I am spending this weekend helping out friends at Louisville's Animation celebration. I should be updating tomorrow with plenty of exciting things including convention photos, stories and maybe even segments with my favorite local cosplayers. So stay tuned at the same bat time, on the same bat channel!

An Adventure Under The Sea

In 1989, Disney breathed new life into the classic The Little Mermaid. Loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson story, The Disney adaptation told the tale of a young mermaid named Ariel that desires to be part of our world upon the surface. After saving the life of a sailor, that is later revealed to be a prince, Ariel makes a Faustian bargain with an evil sea witch in order to become human and be with the human she loves.   Now in 2014, Ariel, Eric, Ursula, and everyone’s favorite crustacean conductor have left the ocean again courtesy of Dallas Summer Musicals and Fair Park Music Hall. 

In the musical adaption of the film, Chelsea Morgan Stock’s singing voice rivals that of Jodi Benson, who gave voice to Ariel in Disney’s animated feature film.  In addition to the original songs from the film, the stage production offers new musical scores by Howard Ashman and Glen Slater that will become “Part of Your World” and just as beloved as the original soundtrack. The song “Beyond My Wildest Dreams,” is an original number that helps showcases Ariel’s childlike infatuation with the human world as she finally  finds herself on land and inside her true love’s palace.  Pleasantly, the Musical adaption also offers more insight into the villainous mind of the evil sea witch Ursula who is denied much of a backstory within the Disney film. Liz McCartney embodies Ursula in the stage production effortlessly and her performance of several original numbers details her previous deeds to include murdering her sisters in “I Want The Good Times Back.” 

Stock’s portrayal of the beloved Disney princess was made all the more believable thanks to the swimming sequences choreographed by Paul Rubin. The wire work featured within the stage adaption allowed for the clear separation between the underwater world and that of the surface. The seemingly effortless swimming acrobatics and the consistent rippling of cast members via subtle body movement as choreographed by Billy Spague showcased a great attention to detail. The precise movements by Stock and the rest of the cast encouraged the audience to believe they were partaking in an underwater adventure right along with Ariel. 

The costume coordination and design by Amy Clark and Mark Koss also deserves a bit more than an honorable mention within this critique. This is perhaps the most true when it comes to considering the use of LED lighting in  the costuming of  Ursula’s dubious henchmen, Flotsam and Jetsam. The timely use of the lighting allowed emphasis to Scott Leiendecker and Sean Patrick Doyle’s chilling performance of “Sweet Child” in which they coerce Ariel into meeting with her less than honorable aunt, Ursula.  Clark and Koss’ use of silks and other flowing fabrics made the transition for Triton, Ariel, and cast of the other Merfolk from screen to stage seem effortless as it allowed for movability within the several wirework sequences featured within the performance. 

Charlie Morison’s lighting was a valuable contribution to the stage adaption as well.  The ambiance of the lighting by using subtle blues and greens created a believable ambiance that embellished chirography the underwater sequences. This use of subtle lighting greatly contrasted the bright over the top lighting used to differentiate the surface world from Triton’s underwater Kingdom. 
Music Hall at Fair Park itself invited the attendees of The Little Mermaid musical to be submerged into a world under the sea, that for me, became much more than simply seeing a musical based on one of my all-time favorite Disney stories.   

As a venue, the music Hall showcased exuberance with its high ceilings and fanciful chandeliers. Also, If you were fortunate to partake in a meal before the performance you may have been delighted to see items like “Triton’s Tuna and White Bean Salad” and “ Scuttle’s Spinach and feta  stuffed Chicken breasts,” among other delectable gourmet dishes.  I felt that these names, although a tad morbid added to the experience as a whole.  I was also enchanted by the fact that you could purchase your very own Dingle-hopper hair brush at the merchandise booth because at some point every little girl attempts to comb their hair with a fork after seeing the film. 


I must admit that besides loving all things Disney, Especially the Little Mermaid, my main reason for attending this performance was due to the fact I am required to go to three art exhibits or performances for my art appreciation class. I am a college student after all! After giving us the assignment my teacher informed us about Student Rush Seats, which is when events offer low cost seats to students usually the day of the show. This is done in order to give students affordable access to the arts (usually at the cost of the lowest seating arrangement available. For example a last minute floor seat may cost a student the price of a nose-bleed balcony seat) and to fill the floor seats which may go for a price of 250 or more depending on the venue and performance. This news while making me super giddy, made me slightly upset because no one had told me this information previously. Had I have known I would have used it to my advantage. Hello, Wicked! I would have been defying Gravity right along with Elphaba instead of opting to miss out on one of my all-time musicals because as a student, I could not afford the 100-200 dollar asking price. I mean why isn’t this common knowledge? I believe that If more people could afford the arts than more people would support them. Right? 

I would also like to thank Fair Park Music Hall for having disability friendly seating available on the floor and offering it for the lowest ticket price available. Needless to say a lot of venues do not offer this. I remember seeing the off-Broadway version of Hairspray while living in Cleveland and having to pay a large amount (120 dollars for tickets) just so that I could sit in a seat that I could get to because the building was old and had very limited wheelchair access. I think it’s important to praise venues that offer options to handicap people and for this reason I will continue to go to their performance hall and support the arts.

Lastly, Here is a photo of me taken after the show because I loved my Ariel dress so much. Yay!