ZOMFG

I'm excitable. I admit it. I get on "kicks" of liking stuff or collecting a thing and then move on with my life.

But one thing that I have loved for as long as I can remember is Star Wars. I remember sitting by the big floor fan at gymnastics soley to do my Darth Vader impressions. I will never object to watching Han Solo be awesome. I will never not want see a kickass lightsaber battle. I will never want to get rid of the Star Wars actions figures and stuff I own. I will always make lightsaber noises when I have a pen/wrappingpaper tube/toy lightsaber. I watched the original trilogy last night actually (yes all of it).

I remember as a child the time I stayed up by myself (after my friend and my sister fell asleep) to watch that same trilogy before my mom took us to see Episode 1 the next day. I got the Yoda cup topper from Pizza Hut. I still have it on my book shelf.

I also love the anticipation of an event, Disney and collecting things. So what happens when you tell me that this year Disney will release 2 more sets of Star Wars vinylmations, a thing I already enjoy collecting?

Jen gets freaking excited, that's what happens.



Preview of open editions!



I am so excited to get my hands on these sets that I will tell anyone who will listen.

There will be an open edition set of 6 of Disney characters dressed as Star Wars characters. This set is due in May and I will be getting it somehow.

Then Series 2 of the blind box edition is a set of 12, possibly with variants which seem to be a popular thing. I own Series 1, which is based on Empire Strikes Back. Series 2 is going to be based on A New Hope. Which leads me to believe that there will be ANOTHER series in the future based on Return of the Jedi...and that, too, makes me excited (Admiral Ackbar and Ewoks HOLLA).



                                           

   

Movies in which the main character is green (because I am bored)

The Hulk
Shrek
Muppet Movies
The Mask
The Grinch
The Ninja Turtles
Wicked
Pete's Dragon
Gumby

Character honorable mentions:
Green Lantern
Yoda
Slimer
Mike Wazowski
The green ranger
Green Goblin (and Hobgoblin)
Jiminy Cricket

I went to a baby shower.

I gave it some thought and these are my rules:

1. When I am pregnant, do NOT refer to me as "prego" or "preggers". Calling me either of these is cause for termination of our friendship. Especially "preggers". I will kill you.

Acceptable references include:
-Pregnant
-Having a baby
-Growing a person

2. I will not accept maize and blue clothing. This is also cause for termination of friendship. I will accept Ohio State and Blue Jackets clothing. I will not reject Cavs, Bengals, Browns or Magic, but I prefer OSU.

3. If it is known that I will have a girl, do NOT bombard me with pink things or glittery things. Especially not glitter. Glitter is terrible. It gets everywhere.

4. The father and I get to choose the name. Do not tell us about that kid you knew in high school who was a dick and had that same name. That will not change my mind. It will only annoy me.

5. Do not share your unsolicited stories about how hungry/tired/weepy/in pain/moody/bitchy/irritable/sad/hot/swollen you were when your were pregnant. No pregnant woman wants to hear that from you.

Judging.

I try not to compare myself and judge myself based on how others look. It can be hard to remember to do. Especially with famous people in the news and magazines and on tv. The internet is making it too easy to get into the judgemental mindset. They get caught looking bad in a swimsuit and everyone gets all judgemental. You know what? I want to see the person behind that sneaky camera. Celebrities, for the most part actors and singers, KNOW they will be judged on appearance and take pains to make sure they look good. They have the money for the tailored clothes and the consultants. People get photoshopped. When I go to a party, I've dressed myself and my friends snap pictures with their cameras. When a famous person goes to a party, they often have designer clothes measured to fit them. And the people snapping pictures are professional photographers with expensive cameras. Not to mention they are EXPECTING to be photographed...sometimes my friends sneak up on me or catch me in the background looking goofy. So comparing yourself to someone whose job it is to look good on film or screen is not the best way to do it.
Everyone judges. Everyone makes comparissons and thinks things such as "I wish MY legs looked like that" or "I'm really glad my stomach isn't THAT big".
I try not to, but I'm as guilty of gossip and "bad thoughts" as anyone else. I learned it from people around me and the internet and it's a tough habit to shake. I try to think "Well, maybe she doesn't have the money for healthy food choices and a gym membership. I certainly don't make time to work out. Everyone's body functions in its own way".
I have friends all over this spectrum. I have friends who have overcome weight problems and are healthy and in shape. I have friends who can't gain weight or muscle no matter how hard they try. I have friends who can't LOSE weight. I have friends who have eating disorders that they work everyday to not succumb to. I have friends who run marathons and/or work out daily. I have friends (like me) who generally do nothing special and are ok with how they are.

When I write the following I am going to try to not sound judgemental myself:
What I don't like is when people judge others based on how they look. As I said, I'm guilty too and I try to keep myself from thinking harshly of others. Just please don't sit and complain about how others are.
When you're overweight and you dislike "skinny" people it isn't fair. They might work hard to look that way. Or maybe they wish they had a bigger butt or more muscle. Writing a facebook status about how thinking about going on your beach vacation with skinny relatives makes you want to stay home is hurtful. 
When you're fit and judge people for being overweight, that isn't fair either. They might not have the resources or drive that you have. Maybe they don't even want or need to lose wieght. Tweeting about how some girls look like "busted biscuit cans" in tight pants is mean. Implying that people who don't work out daily or eat fastfood are lazy and unhealthy is rude.
Just think about what you say and how it might come across to others. That's all I have to say about that.

You have 3 freaking years left to get me a hoverboard, toy industry. Get on it.

Musings on my accumulation of things

Everyone collects something at some point in their life. Clothes, tshirts from vacations spots, dolls, thimbles, pins...something.
Over the years collections of mine have come and passed:
- Cat figurines (I was obsessed with getting a cat from ages 4 to 11. But my dad was allergic so my relatives bought me posters and stuffed animals and stuff instead).
- Beanie babies (It was the 90s).
- Dolls.

I don't collect those things anymore, but I still have some of them. A few dolls are still out, but most of them are packed in their boxes in the attic. The beanie babies are in giant ziploc bags up there too. Some of the cats are on my bookcase. I've just outgrown those collections I guess (Not that I'm a grown-up. I don't think I'll ever be entirely a grown-up. Plus I still have way too many toys).

Now it seems I collect:
Books.
Vinylmations (Disney. See previous posts or Google it or something).
Dvds.
Family photos.
Movie action figures (Pirates, Star Wars, and Star Trek mostly).

My mom collects mice. We have mouse figurines of all sizes all over the place. We have music boxes and ornaments. We have Mickey Mouse items for the kitchen and the guest bathroom used to be Mickey themed. I've taken to rotating the collection based on the season. I put the ones making a snowbunny on the sofa table during winter, then in the summer swap it out for the ones in a sand bucket. Fall gets the one in a pumpkin and the one picking apples, and so on.

So I was thinking, when I move out into my own place (if I ever get a freaking job related to my degree), how will I display the oddities I've collected over the years without my place looking like it belongs to Mr. James B.W. Bevis sans the taxidermy?

Luckily, books and movies can be given simple shelves or cabinets or even a little "library" in a study or something. Pretty easy there.

Family photos are also pretty easy I suppose. Frames can be hung on walls or on a mantle or put on end tables (or any spare bit of bookshelf or desk). And photo albums and scrapbooks can fall into the "books" category.

So that leaves my strange and varying collection of collectibles. I guess action figures and Vinylmations can get little display shelves like my mom's mice. The figurines and dolls I've kept can be strategically placed as decor...maybe in a guest room or something. Everyone has knick-knacks (which reminds me of a billboard for a store I once saw called St Nick Knacks...it was a Christmas store! Genius! But I digress) so it wouldn't be weird to have them about. Plus a lot of my little things can be "seasonal" decor depending on what holiday is coming up.

Maybe some of the toys I've saved will stay at my parents' house. Perhaps someday my kids or some nieces and nephews (if my only sister ever changes her mind and decides she would not, in fact, "irreversably screw up a kid") to play with when they visit. I remember playing with my much older cousins Barbies when I visited my aunt and uncle. And playing with my aunt's old toys from the 70s when I went to my mom's parents'. My dad's parents' had a few things like that, but they didn't have any daughters so it was limited (also Grandma gave us things like jars of pennies or buttons to play with. We just sorted or counted them. I'm surprised how long a jar of buttons could entertain us. It's called "imagination", kids. But again, I digress).

I think I like the idea of tasteful wall display cabinets for some of my things. My boyfriend likes and collects Star Wars things also so if I ever live with him there will be no conflict with that. Then I can have spots for my Disney and OSU stuff and HE can have spots for all his Lord of the Rings stuff (God damn, typing that paragraph made me realize how nerdy we are. We belong together. For example, my Star Trek wall clock placement would be up for debate not because he doesn't like Star Trek, but because of the TICKING NOISE it makes).

I always feel like I have too much stuff. So I go through my old clothes and dig through stuff to get rid of the excess. Then I realize, a lot of the excess is because I have stuff that I had for an apartment (at school) that I'm storing. I have extra rugs and lamps and shelves and posters and bedding and curtains. Luckily my sister can use some of that, but we don't always have the same taste so she buys her own stuff too.

My conclusion is that my main problem is not that I'm a mild hoarder, but that I've outgrown having "my room". Kids only need their room. They have their bed, their clothes and their toys. That is all kids have in the world. College age kids and "twenty-somethings" stuck with their parents have furniture and two decades worth of stuff. We've lived away from home and bought stuff for ourselves also. We need our own space.

The point of this whole ramble is that I need to move out. Someone HIRE ME.