I would be a movie critic, but I’m too nice to actually critique

/ Taralyn Nicole / Leave a comment

I typed up a post for this week, but it’s very personal and I’m having a debate about  whether or not I should actually post it. Instead, I’m typing this up last minute. What could go wrong.
This weekend, I saw How to Train your Dragon: The Hidden World. The thing is, it’s not out in theaters for another 3 weeks. How did I manage to see an early screening you ask? I have connections 😉 

I actually just saw an add on TV, Facebook, email, and everywhere else, so I bought a ticket. Fandago was hosting an early screening event and anyone in the public could take advantage of it. (It sounds less impressive when I explain it). 
The film has a 8.1/10 rating on IMBD and 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. Dreamworks has accomplished something that has rarely been done before, especially for an animated kids movie – a great trilogy. I hesitate to add “kids” since the reason it has done so well it because it truly is a movie for everyone. The attention to detail with the animation is incredible. If you look closely, you’ll see Hiccup even has a subtle stubble for this movie. The emotional story lines and one liners jokes are pretty consistent with the standard from the first two iterations of the series. This is mostly thanks to the marvelous writers and great cast of actors involved in the process. Not to mention the soundtrack! Basically everyone who worked on the movie did awesome.

Without including any spoilers, it picks off where HTTYD 2 left off. The village of Berk is saving dragons, but realize they need a plan for what to do with the dragons after they are saved. Hiccup’s quest is to find the Hidden World (roll credits) of the dragons to take shelter from their new dragon hunter enemies. As you can tell from the posters and trailers, Toothless gets a girlfriend which leads to hilarious mating rituals and emotional depth. There’s also development between Hiccup and Astrid relationship as they work out how to led together.

I have so much to say about the ending, but I honestly don’t even want to describe it, good or bad. I want the full experience and not go in already knowing the jokes and plot. So, don’t look for any hints about the ending here. You know what…No….forget that..

IT WAS A PERFECT ENDING. P.E.R.F.E.C.T.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World opens everywhere Feb 22 and I highly encourage everyone to see it. I also encourage everyone to watch the other HTTYD movies if you haven’t yet causing they’ve been out for years and they’re amazing. 

Also, there is no end credit scene. 

Live the Life of a Sim 24 Hour Challenge.

/ Taralyn Nicole / Leave a comment

Who doesn’t want to live the life of a Sim?

I fell into a YouTube hole and discovered a series of videos that seemed to start in the second half of 2017. These YouTubers created Sims and recorded everything the Sim did for 24 hours. Now I’m not a YouTuber and I have no reason to be doing this besides the fact it sounded like a fun way to spend a Saturday. I should have known better from the videos I watched.

A week before I did my challenge, I created Kara, my alter ego. I assigned her the traits of Computer Whiz, Bookworm, Childish, Couch potato, and Natural Cook; Hopefully, giving myself an easy challenge. I built my apartment and let her loose for 24 hours. I wrote a record of activities and timestamps of Kara’s day, so I could reenact it.

Quick Notes:

-Can I just say what “Natural Cook” makes a microwave meal, bread and jam, and yogurt. I wanted real food…

-Also pointing out, there’s only one bathroom break for 24 hours.

-If you notice in the video, I added a treadmill (that I don’t have irl) to the living room in case she wanted to exercise. Praise Jesus, Kara didn’t.

So, in addition to the video, here is the schedule I recorded and my thoughts reenacting it. Scroll down to the bottom for final thoughts =)

8:00am Wake up

I took time to change and throw on some foundation before starting the day. Not everyone can look Sim perfect first thing on a Saturday morning.

8:10am Eat a microwaved meal

               Chicken Dumpling soup should be a normal breakfast meal.

8:20am Finish Breakfast

               I wasn’t able to finish all my soup for breakfast, so I saved the leftovers

8:30am Chat with someone on the computer FOR THREE HOURS

               Kara was chatting with someone named Connor and found out he was single.

               I ended up being on Facebook and Instagram for most of the time. Thank you to everyone who helped and kept me entertained. I spent an hour on the phone with a friend, not technically online but it’s still social interaction. I ended caving in the last 20 minutes and went to comment on YouTube videos because I was struggling through the last hour.

12:00pm Read Something in bed

               Kara read Core Coed Curriculum

               I read An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon. The seventh book in the Outlander series. Tears were shed as I was nearing the end of the novel and I was having to cope with main character deaths and kidnappings. Honestly, typical for the series.

2:42pm Play Computer Game

               It looked like Kara was playing a GTA rip off

               I started out playing Dream Daddy because I wanted to finish my date with Damien. Don’t ask.

               Ending with Lego Marvel.

5:24pm Go to the bathroom FINALLY

               Kara took 20 minutes…

5:45pm Shower

I kind of combined bathroom and shower time and had to throw in changing clothes and drying my hair.

6:24pm Prepare Bread & Jam

               10 minutes to prepare means making tons of sandwiches and eating them all, because I was starving.

6:39pm Eat Bread & Jam

               Apparently, Kara is like me and hates PB&J

7:00pm Clean Up Dinner

7:12pm Dishes

7:25pm Watch TV

               Kara picked a romance

               BANDERSNATCH and then Friends because I needed to calm down.

9:55pm Sit with TV off

10:00pm Chat with someone on computer

               Went back to Facebook and Instagram

11:00pm SLEEP

7:00am Wake up

7:10am Get Yogurt

               In this case, it was applesauce.

7:25am Eat Yogurt

               Eat Applesauce*

7:50am Clean up

8:00am Challenge Complete!

Overall, the challenge wasn’t awful. I needed more food and bathroom breaks but managed with the rest of the activities. Weirdly, the thing I appreciated the most was the single tasks throughout the day. It was nice not being surrounded by distractions as I usually attempt to multitask. I also appreciate a good schedule, and this had that. What would my day be like without this challenge? Probably sitting on the couch and not moving for hours with TV on in the background and scrolling aimlessly through my phone. Maybe finding a project to keep me productive, but it would have been a very mindless day.

Post 1: Attempting to Blog

/ Taralyn Nicole / Leave a comment

This won’t be posted on a regular basis. 
There won’t be a regular theme to these posts.

This won’t be regular.
This will be a forum for me to talk about anything from lifestyle, recipes, travels, movies, books, podcasts, short stories, and PMS problems. I may post weekly or once in a blue moon. The post may be 250 words or 1500 words.

Writing a blog is something I have been thinking about doing for awhile, but I often felt I didn’t have good content to share. Feel free to suggest any topics you would like  to hear my opinion. Don’t expect intellectual and informed posts. This is just me having a conversation and I encourage you to converse back. And while I love writing, I will not pretend to be an expert so please forgive any mistakes. I can’t afford to hire an editor. Also, I’m still figuring out how to use WordPress so give me some time to figure this blog thing out.

This isn’t necessarily a New Years Resolution despite the fact I’m writing this in the first week of January. One of my resolutions for 2018 was to write every day. While I didn’t meet that goal, I filled an official looking moleskin journal and started 2 books projects (that may never actually be finished). So obviously, I would add writing blog posts in 2019 to my writing projects list. 

So please accept this official welcome to the wonderful journal through my thought process. I warn you, it is a crazy ride.