And here's what I see in the future...

As the weeks of school are drawing to an end I have been wondering what I should do with my blog. Last time I had a blog, I stopped working on it, but this time I think I wanna keep it going. The world can always use a few more dorks and nerds on the internet right? =)

I've changde up my look a little bit and tried to make it easier to access some of the links. I'm also adding some personality and I really want to make it as much of a home to you as well.

Anyways, this blog is to ask what you would want to see? Leave a comment! I'm always excited to hear what you have to say!

 

10 Things a 90s kid will always remember!

Ah, to live the weekends of Saturday Morning Cartoons! Remember waking up to those? You, 9AM, a bowl of cereal, half asleep in your PJs, sitting too close to the TV? The days of Recess, Hey Arnold, Rugrats, PowerPuff Girls, Pepper Ann, Doug, Dexter's Lab, Animaniacs and so many other great long forgotten shows.That's definitely something I can't forget! :) And every time I think about it I am suddenly reminded of the past. Here is a list of just some of those things, us 90s kids will never forget.

And what about the wave craze for Nanopets and the infamous Tamagotchi? You know the handheld digital pets that chirped for our attention. We would play with them, feed them, and give them names! I know I must have had at least five myself growing up! 

Then of course there were the other toys we had to have like tech decks, koosh balls and trolls. They seem so silly and simple now, but just like the silly band craze of today these were the have to have finds! 

Koosh balls were made out of rubber bands, and named "Koosh" because that's the sound it made when it landed. They came in so many different colors and some of them even had faces and feet. Tech Decks were fingerboards, about 1:8 scaled, of a skateboard that "rides" by replicating skateboarding maneuvers with their hand. Trolls were cute, cuddly, neon-haired pot-bellied figure plastic dolls with big hair. They came with clothes and accessories. They populated video games and TV shows too. I have a huge box in my basement full of them. I loved those crazy little things!

Snap bracelets were also popular. They made a great addition to any goody bags! They are straight like a ruler and to put them on you simply slap them against your wrist and they curl. The bracelet was banned in several schools following reports of injuries stemming from improper use, but I believe they were introduced somewhat later.

 Another thing that was all the craze were Beanie Babies. When I first started growing my collection, I was attracted to Beanie Babies because they were cute, cuddly, little stuffed animals. Because there was such a variety of animals to choose from, the creatures appealed to everyone. Even adults joined in on the craze. I remember my grandmother collected all of them and they are in display in the games room at her house. In my opinion, that’s a sign of a very successful marketing effort. 

Another big things, most of us girls will probably remember, are the butterfly clips with moveable wings. They stopped making them, but they had a variety of colors and patterns. Some were even super glittery. I bring mine out every now and then to add a uniqueness to any fairy costume.

Back to School for me meant Lisa Frank. And that is not a person's name, but rather the brand. Full

of colorful dolphins, neon leopards, jewel-encrusted frogs, and rainbow unicorns in acid-trip colors. For us, if you didn't have Lisa Frank, you weren't cool. I had folders, stickers, and notebooks. My favorite were the dogs Casey and Caymus.

Gimp was a plastic coated string. Many of us enjoyed using these strings to make jewelry. The two most common types of designs used were the box and the butterfly. I even used gimp in my bead creations. I remember my cousin and I used to sit on the steps outside making all these little beaded things. Similar to this were perler beads. You used to use multicolored, soft plastic beads and you would place them on pegged plates to form designs, shapes and characters.Then you would use an iron to melt and fuse the beads together.

Another thing, we pretty much all remember are warheads. They were extremely sour then sweet little candies you could suck. A driving force behind the candy's popularity were informal competitions among schoolchildren to determine who could withstand eating the largest number of Warheads at once. Growing up we used to walk over to the video store and we would buy these as a treat for the walk home.

And finally is Sega and all other incorporating video games. I personally had the Sega Genesis handheld! Sega previously developed and manufactured its own brand of home video game consoles from 1983 to 2001. Sega was home to such video games as Sonic the Hedgehog, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, and Taz-mania! Sega even had to create the first content rating system for video games since there was controversy over some of the games in the system.It was later bought out by Nintendo, another popular industry.

Why I love to Cosplay too! =)

One of my many past times is people watching. I’ve always been interested in how people interact and how they handle everyday situations. I always like to try and understand why we do the things we do and how we handle ourselves when the situation changes. This is a type of observation and it is present in almost every thing that we do. 

In observing their are the observers and the participants. Each participant seems to take on some sort of role. Cosplayers get into character. Fans seek out answers/opinions to their fandom. Everything becomes part of the set (including the convention itself) and the role in which the audience is interacting. In such it is not real, but depicts a very real situation, one in which everything is genuine. 

From an outsider point of view however this behavior might be considered weird. What is it that draws these people to a convention? Why do people take on these roles? In my own observations I realized two things- 1) everyone who goes, goes with the intent on meeting someone, being introduced to some new idea, or to make new friends with similar interests and 2) we take on these roles because the characters mean something to us and because it is fun to play the role of someone else. It allows the freedom to express creativity and break free from the monotony of how we normally act.

Another form of cosplay I really enjoy is the Renaissance Faire. I always find it fun to dress up as someone and play pretend. My favorite cosplay thus far is a tie between a lowly peasant girl, my steampunk convention character, and Ramona Flowers. I also dressed up as Hermione Granger for five years in a row for Halloween. Other times I have played a fairy and an elf (in our D&D campaign). Currently I am looking forward to dressing up as someone from Legend of Zelda for the next gaming convention and a fox girl for King Richard's Faire in the Fall. So I pose this question to you: why do you cosplay and who is your favorite to dress up as?

The arts of being a girl nerd!

So I made a few changes to my blog. First off, I added some FUN links at the top! You should totally check them out! They are right up there ^! There is a link to Kotaku, the gamer's website, Dorkly for some video game comedy, and Sporcle for online trivia and games. There is also one for my radio show and for the forum I joined last weekend.

I also added a Creative Commons License, so now my stuff is protected!! YAY!!!

Also, I rolled in quite a response with my last post. I never new that sharing online could have that much of an effect on who can see your stuff.  I got nearly 12 times as many views as I normally do, so thank you all!!



This post is gonna be about some pretty neat accessories I've seen. Most people have bags, t-shirts, belts and small collectibles, but these things really stand out as unique to me.

The first is a D20 necklace. What better way to embrace your inner D&D girl? In the gaming world this die holds the infinite power to determine the circumstances that life throws at your feet. You roll for initiation, damage, intimidation, power, checks, etc. It's pretty much your ticket to making it further in the game. Heck you can even roll for the effect these will have on your wardrobe. Some you can take out of the spiral and some are built in, but either way it's something you will love and enjoy! And they come in so many unique colors! :)


Second is a Lego ring. I don't know about you, but I grew up playing with Legos and building things! I built so many different cities, worlds, creatures, and vehicles. To this day I still have Lego pieces in my purse and things I built on display in my room. I always found it amazing how many cool things you could build out of those tiny little squares. It's a symbol of infinite imagination! This, in itself, is a piece I would love to add to my collection... one day! ♥ 

Another simple way to add to the all things dork collection you may have started is with your nails. I love doing fun little things on them! I've done Pokéballs, Legend of Zelda themed, Mario Themed, Pacman Themed, Star Wars themed, Ninja Turtles, Superheroes, Alice In wonderland, and as of late Converse Shoes. It's a simple, yet fun and overlooked way to add your own personal touch.Why not give it a try? You could even try social media nails! Like
 

Back to the nerdy... are video games linked with violence?

It's here! The next big blog I had promised! It's based off of some findings and research I had to do for my juvenile justice class, but I figured it would be interesting to talk about all the same. I'm curious to hear all of your views and opinions and maybe even get some feedback I don't know about or failed to mention! Anyways... ENJOY!

 The big question:  Are Video Games Linked with Violence?

Mass shootings take place each year. Since 1982, there have been at least 62 mass shootings across the country. Some of the mass murders include Columbine in 1999, Virginia Tech in 2007, and  the Connecticut shooting in December of 2012.

Every time a violent tragedy occurs in the United States gun control and video games are once again the discussion of public vernacular. In fact, one of the many debates that circulate the controversial topics today is whether or not media, influences violence and negative behaviors. For some they say that video games can make people violent over time, but for others they say it is impossible to link such games to such criminal behavior.

However, we can't help but wonder why. With all these shootings there seems to follow a huge press story and even when we look at the rising popularity of these games and the rate of crime, the growth of video games has led to a parallel increase in the number of studies evaluating their impact on our minds.

It is true that video games make up a huge part of entertainment for children and young adults today. Video games are a social activity, a means for entertainment, and a way to release frustrations or pent up aggression. These games serve as an escape, a place to connect and meet others without judgment or pain, but do these games and their systems contribute to the rate of crime?

Video games are considered aggressive because they are an active involvement as opposed to a passive one. When you play these video games you are in the first person (or third person) point of view and you have to make the decisions for the character.  In some of these games, you also have to consider people will rush right at you with intentions of hitting you with an up-close attack, not caring how many bullets they take in the process.

I have played most of these games. And while I don't particularly find them all favorable, I usually notice that I prefer the thrill of adventuring and side missions more than I enjoy actually shooting at people. The thing is, people have great difficulty judging influences on events especially when they all seem to be happening so fast.

Such games, like Mortal Kombat you fight to win and often there are intense and gory fighting scenes. With games like the Halo series and Call of Duty or Black Ops you have no motive to kill, but are rewarded for attack damage. With a game like the Uncharted series you kill because you are being pursued and you're on a quest to uncover various historical mysteries. With Grand Theft Auto you are the bad guy and you score points by stealing cars, running away from the law and causing mischief with the cops. In L.A. Noire, you are the investigator to violent crimes and sometimes have to be brutal yourself. But I don't think it is necessarily these games that cause the crime.

The  single cause of mass shootings can be the result of many different things. Studies seem to show a direct correlation with exposure to video games and academics, decreased empathy, and a higher possibility to consider violence when dealing with issues, particularly with youths and those with behavioral or mental problems. Whether this extends to real-life cases of mass shootings, however, is uncertain. Researchers ignore evidence that doesn't fit with preconceived notions of what classifies someone as a violent video game player.


I think the media is to blame. Why do companies pay millions for product placement and advertising in video games if the media has no influence over behavior? Perhaps one solution is to further the restrictions for marketing children or how we market children. Furthermore, news stories are more likely to deny the harmful effect of media violence. If they deny it after all, the games will sell and they will make a profit. The entertainment industry is probably reluctant to admit that they are marketing a harmful product.

Of course, you can't back up an experiment or hypothesis without evidence and statistics. Here are 22 charts & graphs on video games & youth violence to back it up. http://videogames.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=003627 The charts and graphs are split into gamer demographics of age and gender, video game sales, and youth violence trends.

When we speak about violence in our society we're talking about violence as part of our everyday lives. Because of this, video games, as with TV, films, and other media has a rating. This rating system is one that is much more detailed and explicit. The ratings are meant to keep materials in check and to keep those who aren’t old enough to see it in terms with discretion. There are also parental settings, which allow parents to limit what children can and cannot have access to. Nowadays, children and teens seem to know more about sex, drugs, violence, and guns than we do. The main "bad" part about playing these violent games is desensitization.

Perhaps we should consider social factors as well within the research.  While it seems likely that violent movies and games play an attributing role in increasing violent behavior among the young and, more specifically, those with behavioral problems, I do not think it is the cause. Rather it raises the question of how these two behaviors can be linked if youth violence has declined over the last several years during the same period violent video games gained a rise. Also, I think the bigger issue is why it is acceptable entertainment to kill human beings? I understand the right of freedom of expression, but does violence have to surround us in every aspect of the media?

Just an update

So hopefully tomorrow will be a good day to do the next big assignment for class! I have some ideas I hope you will enjoy! :) It's going to be based off some of the ideas I have discussed in another class cause I wanna know how other people feel. Oh, and i'm bringing a bit of the nerdy back.YAY!