Thoughts on Fat Thor (Avengers:Endgame Spoilers!)

I've seen Avengers: Endgame twice now - I loved it, and I'll probably go see it again. But I keep seeing posts about the direction that Endgame took Thor. Thor has never been my favorite Avengers but I had some thoughts I thought I'd share.

Spoilers for Endgame - don't read any further if you don't want to be spoiled!!

I thought Thor was brilliant and not a joke. It was a bit of shock for sure to see him all fat and drunk, but honestly it made a lot of sense for me.

Thor has had it rough. Both of his parents died, his mother died violently. Seemingly Loki is dead for good this time. Heimdall was murdered in front of him by Thanos, right after Asgard was destroyed with more death, including two of his friends from the Warriors Three.

Thor was struggling in Infinity War, but trying to put a brave face on it. After the Snap, he just fell into the depths of some serious PTSD. And instead of seeking out help, he drowned his sorrows in alcohol.

Beyond the first scene in new Asgard, no jokes were really made about him. Yeah, Tony make the Big Lewbowski comment, but that was just Tony being Tony. Rocket was not very gentle with him, but Rocket was hyper focused on the mission because he lost everything too.

The scene with Thor and his mom was brilliant, even the "eat a salad" line, because that isn't a joke - it's such a mom thing to say. She was super concerned about him, both mentally and physically.

And then Thor begging to be the one to snap everyone back, just showed how bad his PTSD was. The guilt he had and his overwhelming need to fix it. It showed what a complex character Thor was, and let's be honest, he was a bit one-dimensional in the beginning.

In the end, Thor is still a bit lost. I think him going with the Guardians will be good for him, though may annoy Peter to no end. His fatness was just a symptom of his overwhelming conflicted mental state.

As someone who is fat and has mental illness, I thought he was well done. His teammates didn't mock him, but I'm sure where concerned. 

Scheduling and Children

Things are different now than when I grew up in the 1980's. I remember walking to school in elementary, and it was a bit of a walk. I remember playing outside all day in the summertime. I do remember a lot of days playing on the original NES too, but electronics weren't a prevalent back then. One thing that seems to be overdone these days is extracurricular activities.

Kids are often scheduled with scouts, and sports, and other things to the point that it can make both kids and parents crazy. Add in more kids, and the crazy goes up for the parents. Back in the day, I did play soccer and softball. It wasn't my choice to do those things, because I suck horribly at sports. I also was a Campfire Girl, but that was an activity I loved. But it wasn't too much that I didn't have any free time.

I knew when I had Emily that I wasn't going to over schedule her. She's ten and in the 4th grade. She's in Girl Scouts, chorus at school and involved with choir and youth group at church. All of these activities are things she really enjoys doing. I've asked her if she wants to do a sport, gymnastics or karate and she has said no every time.

With school chorus, I did make her join because she was on the fence. I knew she would love it and she does. Beyond that, I give her the option continue with all of them, and she wants to.

I suppose some would say that I'm not making her well-rounded by not making her do a sport, but I can understand why she doesn't want to. She's just not a sporty girl, and tends to be more interested in the arts - just like I was as a kid.

Even with this little amount of groups she is involved in, it seems like we are constantly on the go during the school year - especially in December and May. I can't imagine if we added more to it.

Last night at Girl Scouts, several other parents and I had a discussion about activities. One said that she is fine with her daughter joining activities but even if she doesn't like it, she has to stick it out for the season. I think this is a good rule to have, especially with sports. Yeah, rec leagues aren't super serious but you could still put your team at a disadvantage if you quit in the middle of the season.

And then another one was talking about being on traveling teams. Apparently there are some teams you can get your kid on and they travel all over. From what they said, it can eat up all of your weekends with traveling to meets. That sounds like a nightmare to me, and completely not doable for our family since both Todd and I work on the weekends.

For now, I think we have a good home-school-activity balance going on for Emily. This summer, she'll have VBS at church and then she'll be going to Girl Scout camp twice. Once for the week and one overnight with me that she earned selling cookies.

Do you think your kids are over-scheduled?

Momo and the Evils of the Internet

So, my Facebook feed has been filled with this really creepy picture of a creature called Momo the last few days. Supposedly, this creature had been spotted in YouTube videos, basically telling kids to self harm and even kill themselves.

To me, it had the feel of a hoax, but I asked Emily about it. She had heard about it but hadn't seen it in any videos she's watched. Though she tends to only watch verified YouTube accounts like DanTM. She mostly watches DanTM, which I don't mind him but Todd finds it annoying.

I asked her what she would do if someone on YouTube, like Momo, told her to commit suicide. She looked at me like I was crazy and told me that, of course, she wouldn't listen. I showed her the picture of Momo and she was also unfazed by that. Honestly I was more creeped out by it than she was, to the point that she found a bunch of pictures of Momo on her tablet and kept trying to show them to me to freak me out.

In the midst of this uproar, I've seen posts from other parents that say they aren't going to let their kids watch YouTube anymore. Of course, it's up to them but I think it's an overreaction. I watch a lot of YouTube too, though for me it's mostly Disney World vlogs. There is a lot of great content on YouTube.

But this kind of goes back to the old adage that the internet is evil. Social media, too, is supposedly not a good thing either. I honestly get really tired of hearing both of those. Neither is evil, the internet and social media are really quite neutral. They can be used for good, they can be used for evil, though I do think that different sites and platforms try to keep the evil at bay as best they can.

The internet is an incredible tool. As someone with chronic pain, it allows me to have contact with people even when I'm not able to leave the house (or my bed in some cases). And I don't think there is any reason to keep kids off the internet.

It may be because I only have one kid, but I tend to know exactly what Emily is watching or playing. I've sat through god knows how many unboxing videos on YouTube and I do like watching some of the video game walkthroughs with her. I also let her have her own YouTube channel - I'm the one who puts up her videos. She doesn't have a lot of followers - it's pretty much a couple of my friends and a couple of hers. But she'll film her own walkthroughs and do unboxings. She enjoys it and loves to be able to call herself a YouTuber.

In the end, I think if we keep up with what our kids are watching and playing, and have honest communication with them, things will be ok. Though I'd be happy if I didn't have to see that Momo picture again! It is really creepy!

Disney and the Yearly Price Hikes

Mickey wants your money!

It's a new year so it's time for a price hike from Disney. Disney Parks, especially Disneyland and Walt Disney World are extremely popular vacation destinations for fans of all ages. If you've read this blog before, you'll know that I'm a huge Disney fan and love going to the parks.

The price hikes don't bother me. Yes, it may cause me longer to save for my next trip. It doesn't effect my trip in December since I'm already book at the old prices. But I'll pay more to have less crowds, and crowds are just going to go up.

I had planned on going to Disney World last month to experience the holidays, Disney-style. I wanted to go in 2018 because I knew the clusterf*** that is going to be Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge this year. But kidney stones made it that I had to reschedule for this year.

I am looking forward to going. If Galaxy's Edge is open, I look forward to trying to see that area. I told Emily today that if it is open, we are getting to the park before opening. She seemed indifferent. We'll see how it is when I wake her up at 5 am for our Hollywood Studios day!

But until Disney announces the open date for the Star Wars expansion at Hollywood Studios, it's just planning just in case. But, my point is, that Star Wars is coming and the rides look amazing.
This land is going to appeal to many a Star Wars fan who may come to see it without being a Disney fan.

I remember when Pandora: The World of Avatar opened at Disney's Animal Kingdom. For a movie that wasn't half as popular as Star Wars was, the crowds to see the new land were insane for a long time. With something as beloved as Star Wars, the crowds are going to be even worse.

So that goes back to the price hikes. While it's something that happens every year at this time, I think they have a few things in mind. Maybe this will price some people out and it might decrease the crowds. Though I don't have a whole lot of hope for that. But Disney could also probably use the money. They are putting in all kinds of new rides in the parks (in Disney World - and I'm sure in other parks, but Disney World is my park so I focus on their news). Disney World is gearing up for their 50th Anniversary in 2021, and it's going to be a big deal. And they want as many new attractions as they can by then.

And of course there is a big chunk of change they are spending on acquiring Fox. I'm only speculating, but that could have something to do with it as well.

Any of the Disney Parks are expensive, but people seem to think that Disney should be cheap because Disney should be a rite of childhood. And while it can be a rite of childhood - it certainly was for me - that doesn't mean that people are entitled to a Disney trip.

I know I'm lucky and Emily's lucky. I went to Disney World twice as a kid - once when I was 9 and once when I was 16. Emily will have three trips come December and she'll only be 11. I foresee at least a couple more while she is still a child. Todd also went a bunch when he was a kid - 3 trips, I think. He had a grandmother who lived in FL so his family would visit and go to Disney.

Disney isn't cheap though it's not too bad when it's just me and Emily going. But only having one kid is definitely a perk when it comes to travel. But if you really want it, there are a lot of ways to save. I'm a on Facebook group that's called Couponing to Disney that has lots of different ways to help you save for a Disney vacation.

Some people may never be able to afford a Disney vacation and that's sad. And says more about the state of our country, I think, than Disney. I feel very lucky that I can go to Disney every three years or so. It's my favorite place in the world. But I save, and I book my trip as soon as I can to lock in prices because lately the prices have been going up a couple times a year.

Yes, it probably will take your average American family a few years to save for a Disney vacation, but it's possible. Barring any apocalyptic / doomsday scenarios, Disney will still be there and if you can take your kids, I know it will be magical!

Dragon Con 2018 - Saturday

Me and Tom Cavanagh 

This is the 2nd post of my Dragon Con 2018 recaps, to start at the beginning click here! 

Even thought I wasn't going to be in the parade, we still headed down to the con pretty early. We were going to get some autographs and then leave the con to do some other things.

We got in line to meet Tom Cavanagh who plays Dr. Wells in The Flash tv series. We had to wait for a while, but finally he showed up. He was really nice, and I got my picture with him.

Next we met Mike Coulter who plays Luke Cage in the Netflix Marvel shows. He was also super nice. We got a picture with him and wow, he smelled good. He's a nice looking man and I was a little swoony after

Me and Mike Coulter

him. Thankfully Todd is not a jealous husband!

We met Catherine Tate who is Donna in Doctor Who and got our autograph. She was awesome! She is my Doctor Who companion so I was excited to meet her. We did tell her we'd be back with our daughter the next day for a picture. 

The last person we met was also a Doctor Who guest. It was Pearl Mackie who plays companion Bill Potts. She was in a separate room - same room as the 12th Doctor, Peter Capaldi. He had a long line but she didn't. We got to talk to her for several minutes and got our picture with her. She was super nice and very tall!

After that, the con was getting crowded so we headed off. We took the train to the Center for Puppetry Arts. The only issue was that the museum was several blocks away from the train and it took us about 15 minutes to walk there. I was feeling pretty tired, but we got our

tickets and went into the museum.

The first place we went was the new Dark Crystal exhibit. They had all kinds of puppets from that movie, and it was so cool. Dark Crystal is one of childhood favorites. So seeing those was really a blast from my childhood. Todd's too.

We went to the other exhibits afterwards. They had historical puppets and puppets from different areas of the world. They also had a whole section that was just Jim Henson's Muppets. It was really cool! We got to see Big Bird and Kermit and I nearly cried when I saw Emmett Otter and his Ma. I wasn't expecting that and I love that show. They also had a replica of Jim Henson's office. Just all the puppets I've ever loved in my life in one spot!

Todd and I agreed that we would need to take Emily there at some point too. It didn't take us long to tour the whole museum but it was beyond cool.

After that, we went to the mall. Hit up the Disney store and a few others before heading back. I was not feeling great so I need to rest up for our last day at the con!

Up Next - Sunday!

The Date Rape Christmas Song

image: www.misskatecuttables.com

It's Christmastime in 2018 and the Christmas song, "Baby, It's Cold Outside" is in the news again. A radio station in Cleveland has banned the song saying in this day and age of the #MeToo movement it's not appropriate.

Now, I don't really have any strong feeling about this song, though I have been internally calling it the Date Rape Christmas Song for a few years since if you listen to the lyrics, it's kind of rapey. At least, listening to it in 2018 it can be viewed that way.

"Baby, It's Cold Outside" was written in 1944 - over 70 years ago! The world was a lot different back then. Women had a lot less freedom in general back then, and the woman in the song is seemingly making excuses in order to stay longer with her date.

Thankfully, things have gotten better for woman. We get to wear pants, and have a variety of jobs. We have a lot more freedom, though not as much as we ought to have. And we still need to worry about things like date rape. The #MeToo movement has highlighted the issues women still have today.

I don't mind listing to "Baby, It's Cold Outside" if it comes on the radio. But it's not a song I would put on the Christmas playlist I have on my phone. There is only Christmas song I hate, and it's that wretched "Christmas Shoes" song - hate that song so much!

Any radio station can do what they want. If someone really likes that song, there are a gazillion versions of it out there. And maybe before banning something, you should consider the time frame that the song was written. But, of course, if you dislike any song, don't make yourself listen to it!

Dragon Con 2018 - Friday

Because of my kidney stone surgery, Todd had to switch his days off so he had to work the Thursday before Dragon Con. We got up in the middle of the night on Friday, got our car loaded up and headed down to GA.

We got Emily dropped off at my aunt and uncle's house, I got changed into my Alice Angel costume and we were on our way down to the con by 9:30 am. I was a little worried about several things. Mostly my stamina and partly my costume. My character is from the video game "Bendy and the Ink Machine" and it's honestly the shortest, most cleavage bearing, sexiest costume I have ever worn.

But it ended up being comfortable, and my dress had deep pockets which was great. And someone knew who I was on the train down to the con! Several people during the day knew who I was, and one person even asked for my picture!

We made it to the con and walked to the Sheraton to get our badges. The walk isn't long but it involves a giant hill of doom. But we waited about a minute to get our badges, and I got to see my friend, Jessica because she was volunteering at badge pick up. We then went to disability services to get my sticker. I always get the 'seat in line, end of row' sticker and it always helps my con be better. But I could not have done Dragon Con this year without it and the many chairs that it let me sit in.

From there, we went to the Peachtree Center to get some food. They are renovating the Peachtree Center and it's a massive project, suppose to take 18 months. The seating was a lot less and the ceiling was completely open so you could see wires and tubes. Because of the ceiling it was much darker than usual. Every time we went in there, it was post apocalyptic food court, which kind of fits for Dragon Con.

After we ate, we headed to the dealer's room. I went right to the BPAL booth and talked to Beth (the owner of BPAL) mostly and got some hugs. Todd had wandered off because he knows that I tend to spend some time there just gabbing. None of my non-labbie friends were there, so I also wandered off.

When we were in the food court, I hadn't been able to eat much. The kidney stone had made me so sick before surgery that I hadn't eaten really anything for a week. My stomach was still recovering

Catherine Tate!

from that. But as I was walking around the dealer's room, I started feeling really light headed and felt a little freaked that Todd wasn't answering his phone.

But finally I got a hold of Todd, met up with him, and then headed over to the Walk of Fame, where you get to meet the celebrities and can get autographs and selfies. The Walk of Fame wasn't open up yet, but the line had formed to get in so we joined the line. As soon as it was 1 pm, the line started moving and we got in.

There wasn't a lot of people there yet, but Nick Frost was right by the entrance and had almost no line so we got his autograph. We took a lap around the room, seeing who was there and if there were signs on when other people were going to be there.

Gina Torres had a sign on her table and she was going to be there in a couple of hours. I had time to go upstairs for the Catherine Tate panel. I wanted to see the panel but I also really wanted to sit down too.

When I got to the handicap corral, I saw my friend Joey and her husband Matt. I talked her to her some, and got a badge ribbon from her. She had decked out her scooter with a unicorn and also had cosplay repair supplies. She had a giant D20 that I got to roll too!

I got to sit down and it was so nice. Once we got loaded into the room, I sat by Joey and her husband. When they let in the regular line, we saw more friends - Chris and Tina so they sat next to us too! It was fun! I generally don't see friends that much at Dragon Con, let along have anyone I know to sit next to.

Catherine Tate was a hoot! So funny and nice! While I had been waiting for her panel, Todd had gotten her autograph, but I would get to meet her on Sunday. I slipped out early and found Todd in line for Gina Torres.

We were in line for a while, but we were by someone I had kind of known online. Chuck, who is the mod for the unofficial Dragon Con Facebook, was in line right by Todd. I asked him if he had any of the over 40 badge ribbons (which is another Facebook group) and he did! We ended up talking him about quite a few things while we waited for Gina to arrive.

She did and we got the last autograph we needed for my Firefly poster! She was super sweet and I was super, duper geeked to meet her!

After that, Todd came with me to the con suite. He said he wasn't going to do it again because it involves climbing stairs, but I was happy to have some snacks and another chair to put my butt in.

We went back to the dealer's room, but I was shedding spoons like crazy at that point. I hadn't slept very well the night before and I was teetering on the edge of exhaustion. So we headed back to my aunt and uncle's house.

Despite the lack of stamina, I had a really good day. I basically took a shower and then passed out once. I slept for nearly 10 hours, and that helped a lot!

• Up Next - Saturday!