The cold never bothered me anyway.

I feel like that's a cliche title.

Oh well.

Hi!

It snowed again. And because it's still January, I'm actually kind of happy it's here. (it's only during like... March..... that I really, really hate snow.)

But seriously, it's so pretteh. (it helps that I didn't have to shovel it this time.)

But the weather made me all creative. 

So this is what the kitchen table's been looking like that past couple of days.

Mah drawing supplies. Pencils, music, coffee.... the essentials.

My friend got me this awesome journal a while ago, and it was so cute and adorable that I didn't want to write in it.

Well.... I did.

But I didn't.

YA FEEL ME?

So instead of journalling in it, I just started writing in the lyrics to my favorite songs.

It's ridiculous how happy it makes me.

And I drew some stuff, which I'll show you in a minute.

But first!

The snow was super nice and pretty today, so I informed Bella that we were going to have a photoshoot.

And I discovered something: Bella is really bad at taking pictures. 

There were like.... three good ones. Yay!

(I took this one)

We were outside for a long time. 

And it was cold. 

So I went from

To:

Le me:

Le me trying to keep my hands warm

Le me doing a weird pose

Le me hiding from the school bus and all the people on it. 

And another cliche pose. 

All done!

Ehem.

So then I came inside and drew some more.

This is my first attempt at a dragon!!

 I think I can do dragons. I like dragons.

ROOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRR

*Fire*

Cheers!

God Bless!

Picture Saturday // Compilation

My dear mother has taken to matching me up with country singers.

"Scotty McCreery," she says, "is cute and single."

I nod.

"Hunter Hayes is also cute and single."

I peer over the top of my laptop.

"Teresa," she says, waggling her eyebrows expressively, "you're cute and single."

*Giggle*

I am. Mwuahahaha! We'd be a great match, Hunter and I.

And I have no idea why I just told you guys that.


Anyway! Picture Saturday is making another appearance, because I'm awesome and drew a lot this week. Scrolling through other people's drawings on pinterest makes me really competitive, like, "Why are they better than me? I need to practice to be better than them. Huehuehueh. That'll show 'em." 

I need so much help. 8D

Right so, first picture!

I drew a character sketch of a fellow for Jack. He's kewl. (And yes, I spelled 'cool' like 'kewl' because I'm kewl. Wow. I am being really weird.)

And then when I finished, I was on a drawing high, and decided to also draw a map. But all I could think of was fandoms for the names, so it ended up being a fandom map. (Click for detail. It's fun, I promise!)

I've gotten spoiled with the paper I use for drawing. I used to use computer paper, because it was nice, and white, and.... was pretty much the only paper in the house that didn't have lines on it.

But when I illustrated Jack's book, I used actual nice  paper. And all of the sudden, computer paper is rubbish. Then, for Christmas, my awesome (and only) brother got me an entire sketchbook full of nice drawing paper.

So, armed with my new sketchbook and some pencils, I produced these.

 

I like them.

I like drawing.

I like life!

I'm really happy today.

Which is most likely the reason why I feel so incredibly weird.

Here comes the Evil Minion scream.

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

FIGHT THE FAIRIES!

*POOF*

Lately.....

Lately.... My lovely cousin came up to visit over the weekend again! She was very brave to do so, because my whole family is still pretty sick. (I'm almost well, but my voice is all wonky and I have a cough that sounds worse than it is.)

We had quite a load of fun in spite of the great illness afflicting us.

Sammi came over too, and we partied. (Which, ultimately means we talked and had coffee and cookies until we could see sounds.)

I apologize for the cruddy picture quality. They were all taken on my iPod. :)

We went out for Starbucks and donuts, and then hung out at the lake for a while. It was really pretty there.... and I LIVE here, so I get to rub in how beautiful the scenery is. Allow me a cruel chuckle. Muwahahahaha.

in

Terrible selfie!

And then we might have gone home and watched The Incredibles.

I love that movie.

We consumed lots of food and enjoyed many conversations about life and movies.

L-R Sammi and Angela

We also watched Elf. First time seeing it for me, and now I feel the greatest of urges to go around saying, "Fransisco. Fransiiiiisco. Fransisco." Over and over again.

Lately.... We tried to watch Sherlock last night. It didn't work. There were tears involved. And consolation tea and shortbread.

Lately... I plowed through Arrow when I was sick. Arrow is really good. (A couple of dirty scenes, but it's hard to find any show these days that doesn't have that.) The characters grew on me a lot. I really ended up liking Oliver. And Tommy. And Diggle. And Felicity. (Mostly it makes me want to work out again. I mean seriously. His workout is... insane. Who knew this was possible?)

Oliver

Tommy!

Oliver has a cool outfit.

And the fight scenes are really kind of beautiful.

Lately... I really need to start drawing again, because I haven't in a while, and I feel a considerable need. Especially since I just flipped through The Hobbit: Official Movie Guide and saw the concept art and sketches. And now I'm like, "Oh. I have to practice."

And this is yet another pointless post, brought to you by your favorite blogger! (haha)

For some reason I'm having a really hard time thinking up a clever way to end this.

So I'm just going to smile, because smiling's my favorite.

And bid you all, a very fond farewell.

Concerning Supernatural

So here's the thing...

Huh. 

Wow, this is harder than I thought it was going to be!

Anyway.

Hmmm.
 
It has come to my attention that a lot of people have started watching Supernatural because of me.

PLEASE DON'T DO THAT!!  JUST DON'T!!!! 

Because, here's the thing about Supernatural:  I actually really kind of hate it. 

"So why are you still watching it, and obsessing over it, and posting gifs?" you ask?
To which I reply, "Because I love Dean and Sam!!!"

Let me explain.

The first three seasons were really good! (And this is coming from a girl who doesn't go in for paranormal scary stuff normally. You ask me to watch something like The Grudge with you, I will giggle like a hyena who just inhaled helium and politely decline.)

The first three seasons of Supernatural deal with Dean and Sam hunting down monsters and demons and sending them back to hell. Which I thought was really cool. Who doesn't like it when bad things get their own? There was a clear-cut line between good and evil, which doesn't happen a lot in modern shows, and it was crystal  clear. The demons, werewolves, vampires, and other manner of horrific specimens were evil, and the good guys were actually good guys.

It showed how heroes don't always, if ever, get happy endings. Being a hero is hard, and requires a considerable amount of self-sacrifice. Doing the right thing isn't always easy. Family is important.

And it also showed that hell is not a nice place at all, and that the things you do will have consequences.

Bing, bang, boom! I liked all that.

But then they had random and unnecessary dirty scenes, and inappropriate conversations. However, the show is rated TV PG14, so I guess that's to be expected.

On top of the goodness of the stories, Dean and Sam were freaking awesome. Quite honestly, they are some of the best characters on television. Everyone I know who has made the mistake of joining the fandom agrees with me on that note. They are the best brothers ever. Their story is cool.

Right, are you with me so far? I got obsessed with the show really quickly, and watching seasons one through three fueled my obsession.

And it was too late for me to turn back. 


BUT THEN WE STARTED SEASON FOUR.

And the moronic writers decided to introduce angels and God into the mix.

And I went from lovingly drooling over the boys, to going:

It is by far the worst portrayal of God and the angels that I have ever seen. I mean ever. 

The sad thing is, I started out liking the angels. Castiel, or Cas, as everyone calls him, was cool. Everyone, the monsters and demons included, were afraid of the angels. Good start. 

But Castiel went rapidly downhill from there. He starts doubting God.... yeah.

Quite honestly, I can't list all the things that the writers got wrong, theologically, but I'll give you the basics:

Over the course of season four and the ones after that, you find out that:

The angels need to possess people to be able to have a form on earth. Excuse me? Say what? Angels are more powerful than that. The people the angels possess (formally called "vessels") do need to give their consent, but still. What the heck? Angels are able to manifest however they like. It should be easy for them to manifest as a human. They do not need an actual human body to possess.

Angels will give up their grace and willingly leave heaven because earth is happier. (Excuse me?)

Lucifer is apparently an archangel, not a Cherubim.

God has lost control of heaven.

God is in hiding.

God doesn't care about anyone but Himself anymore. (Yeah. Right.)

Angels are rebellious little twerps that act just like sleazy politicians.

Demons aren't fallen angels, Lucifer created them.

Angels will lower themselves to making a deal with the King of Hell (who, weirdly enough, isn't Lucifer) in order to become a god and take over heaven. (Yeah, that happened.)

Purgatory isn't a place you go to be cleansed before you go to heaven. It's where really bad monsters live.

And apparently there are still a crudload of fallen angels in heaven.

And that's just the major stuff! There's bunches of little things that grate on my nerves.

To be quite honest, if I had known even half of what was wrong with Supernatural, I probably wouldn't have started it. I came so close to just throwing my hands in the air and giving up on the show during Season Four.

In fact, the only reason I didn't stop was because I had a friend (who's opinion I trust very much) who was a season ahead of me. She informed me that after Season Four it did get better. If I hadn't known, much as I loved Sam and Dean (and that is a lot), I would given up on the show, because the writers got so much wrong, heaven wise.

The really frustrating thing is, it's obvious that the writers did a load of serious research to do the show. The demons, and Lucifer were perfect: evil, manipulative, cruel liars.
The writers, then, did enough research to know that the way they were portraying God and His angels was abysmally wrong.

How dare they use the Bible and pick and choose what they want to portray accurately? I'm sorry, that's my Bible, and my religion, and my God that they  are portraying as silly and cowardly. They have a lot of nerve, taking people's religion and messing around with it to suit their story. It makes me really, really mad.

So, why am I still watching it?

Because after season four, it didn't make me as furious.

But mostly it's because I am head-over-heals in love with Sam and Dean Winchester. And not just because they're excessively attractive. (Though, that's true too.)

See, I love brother stories, and friendship stories, even more than I do romances. But there aren't a lot of brother stories out there. Normally you have a good brother story and one of the brothers dies, or they both fall in love and end up hating each other. Same thing with friendship stories, although they're a little easier to find.

Dean and Sammy have the best brother relationship in the history of ever. (Again, everyone who has watched Supernatural agrees on that.) They bicker and fight like normal people, but underneath they have an unbreakable bond. They're willing to die for each other. (And they do, frequently.) They will tear the world apart to keep each other safe. They're willing to sacrifice everything for the other (and they do that frequently, too). They've both lost so much over the course of the show, they keep getting closer, and it's a wonderful sibling relationship. I want need them to have a happy ending.

They really are the only reason I'm still watching Supernatural. If they had been less cool, or if they were different characters, I would not have considered it worth the pain and frustration.

But they are that cool, and I can't help myself, I love them too much to stop now.

However, if you're considering watching Supernatural because of me, please don't. Just don't. It would be better for you all around if you didn't. (Not to mention how much emotional trauma you will avoid...) I can't recommend the show anymore without cringing at the idea that someone is going to get as angry as I did about the theological issues in it.

I really don't want people to go, "Oh, Treskie likes it! It must be good, she usually has good taste," and then watch it and be scandalized.

If you've read this post, and still feel like you wouldn't mind watching the show, please, please let me email you a list of episodes to watch and skip. I would feel better about it.

I just really needed to get this off my chest, because I think I've mentioned Supernatural so much that it's a necessary warning.

Anyway, I hope I haven't shocked or scandalized anyone with this "ALL MY FEELS" post.

I just needed to let you know.

And now you know.

So cheers and God bless!

Treskie

Epiphany!

FIRST OF ALL!!

If you will direct your attention to the right side of this blog, you will see a new page. An 'about me' page. Do check it out, because I think it's fun, and would appreciate your thoughts on the matter.

Things I noticed since I got sick:

1.) It's really nice to sleep as long as you want.
2.) Re-reading the Attolia series makes me happy.
3.) I really don't like people having to bring me in food or drinks or Aspirin, it makes me feel like such a bother.
4.) When I'm better I really need to get something to clean all the cobwebs off the ceiling of my room.

Haha! To be honest, I don't feel so horrible. (it comes in waves.) I woke up this morning and immediately thought of that Alicia Keys song: "MY THROAT IS ON FIIIREEEE! MY THROAT IS ON FIRE!!" which made me giggle, and then wince, because giggling hurts.

Anyway, I thought I'd share a Tradition that we have concerning the Feast of the Epiphany.

A lot of people have no idea what Epiphany is, so I shall tell you. It's the day the Wisemen found the Baby Jesus. It's kind of a big deal, right? 

So anyway, back to the Tradition. Every year, we set aside on pressie to leave under the tree until Epiphany. This way Christmas stretches a little longer. (Contrary to popular believe the 12 Days of Christmas are not before Christmas, they're the 12 days between Christmas and Epiphany, which is on January 6th.) And then on the eve of the Epiphany, the Wisemen come and leave one more pressie under the tree, and we have another Little Christmas. (if you want to find out more about it, go to Amy's blog here)

HOW COOL IS THAT???

Who's ready for some pictures?

We got up early and put the Wisemen in the Creche.

Then we had Italian sausage on buns, and donuts, and coffee, and orange juice.

And opened pressies...

And basically had a riotous good time. Like we do. Always. *grin*

Anyway, after that...... I slept a lot, because I was really kind of exhausted. And in between sleeping, I read some of The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. (See the cool bookmark? SEE IT!?)

My exceptionally wonderful friend Sammi found out I was ill and bought me flowers to make me feel better. It was so sweet, and so unexpected that I was quite overcome with feels.

For dinner, we devoured some home-made gnocchi and meatballs.

And then we ate cake and watched Despicable Me 2, and it was really a lovely day, overall.

Incidentally, since we were on the subject of pressies earlier, I am now the proud owner of the Doctor's Journal. (That came with a sonic screwdriver... which means I now own two of those lovelies.)

And since I'm showing off pressies, I might as well show you a couple of the geeky things people got me for Christmas.

Is chocolate good for sore throats? I want chocolate.

And now I must be going.

Cheers, m'dears!

Treskie