My Top 5 Lists-Favorites of 2011

This year has been really good for entertainment in my opinion. There was a lot to see and enjoy in the worlds of movies, TV and comics. So, this is going to be my second annual top 5 lists.
Movies

1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
2. Insidious
3. Hanna
4. 13 Assassins
5. X-Men, First Class

Honorable Mentions: I Saw the Devil, Hobo with a Shotgun, The Warrior's Way, The Last Circus, Priest, Monsters, Trollhunter, Paul and Rango.

TV Shows

1. American Horror Story
2. Revenge
3. Misfits UK
4. Supernatural
5. Fringe

Honorable Mentions: Criminal Minds, Breaking Bad, Happy Endings, The Killing, The New Girl, Grimm, Wilfred, Skins UK, Luther, Nikita, Big Bang Theory, and How I Met Your Mother.

Anime
(I should mention that the anime shows I've watched this year are not new but are new to me.)

1. D. Gray-Man
2. High School of the Dead
3. Nabari no Ou
4. Durarara
5. Ga-Rei: Zero
Honorable Mentions: Canaan, Black Butler, Rin: Mnemosyne, Eden of the East, and Black Blood Brothers.

Games

1. LA Noire
2. Limbo
3. Sims 3 Adventures
4. Grand Theft Auto 3 iPad Edition
5. Infamous/Infamous 2

Comics

A long time ago I use to read comics and graphic novels a lot. Over the years, my interests changed and comic were no longer important to me (I grew up). For my birthday I received an iPad and discovered a comic book app that would change my life. Now I read comics and graphic novels on my iPad almost on a daily basis and rediscovered what I loved about them in the first place. Here are the top five comics I've been reading this past year.

1. The Walking Dead
2. Hack/Slash
3. Locke & Key
4. Sandman
5. Chew

Honorable Mention: Dark Tower The Gunslinger Born, The Dream Eater Saga, Jennifer Blood, and Morning Glories.

Podcasts (video/audio)

1. Diggnation (Gone but not forgotten)
2.The /Filmcast
3. Totally Rad Show
4. Hollywood Babble-on
5. Girl on Guy with Aisha Tyler

Honorable Mention: The Nerdist, Smodcast and Shock Till You Drop.

What I'm most looking forward to in 2012:

1. Prometheus
2. The Dark Knight Rises
3. The second half of The Walking Dead season (I hope it gets better)
4. The Killing season two
5. Castiel's return on Supernatural lol!

Extras:

I decided to list my favorite apps since I'm on my iPad and/or iPod touch all of the time.

1. Netflix 2. Hulu
3. Comics X
4. Twitter
5. GetGlue

Honorable Mentions: Blastr, Facebook, Google Plus, Huffington Post, Digg, Flixter/Rotten Tomatoes, Audible, Foursquare and TweetDeck

RIP 2011

I can't believe it's been a whole year since my last post. A lot has happened to me in the last year. It hasn't all been good. It's been a struggle dealing with depression and illness. I'm glad to say that I'm on the mend and back on track. I will be so happy when that clock strikes 12 and I can kiss this horrible year goodbye. I'm looking forward to 2012. I'm optimistic and ready to move on with life. My only New Year's resolution to try to maintain my health and have a positive outlook on life. I'm ready for it.

My Top 5 Lists-Favorites of 2010

Overall this year has been pretty crappy. I can honestly say it hasn't been all bad. One of my favorite podcast is the Totally Rad Show. This week they have been compiling their list of favorite movies/TV/Video Games of 2010. This has inspired me to put out my own top 5 list of things I enjoyed this year. Plus, it gives me an excuse to finally write on my blog. So here it goes.

Movies

5. Resident Evil: Afterlife

I love the Resident Evil video games and the movies equally. Some would say the films are not that good. I'm not looking for Citizen Kane when I'm watching them. They are good mindless fun with zombies. As a matter of fact, I just love zombies period. I'll watch anything with zombies.

4. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo/Girl who Played with Fire

I lumped this two films together because I watched them both this year on Netflix Watch Instant. Plus, you really can't watch one without the other. These films are amazing and because of that, I have now started reading the books. I know Hollywood is doing its own version of the films which I doubt will as good as the originals. I love the mystery and the way the story folds out. I highly recommend both films.

3. The Last Exorcism

Ever since The Blair Witch Project I've been intrigued by "found footage" style films. I like the idea of reality with fiction. This movie scared the crap out of me because I really didn't know what was going to happen next.

2. Inception

I placed Inception at number two because of the originality of the script and the special effects. I love that it was unlike any thing else that was released this year.

1. Black Swan

I went into this film thinking I wasn't going to like it, but I ended up loving it. I love the darkness of the lead character. I can relate to wanting to strive for perfection and having that goal consume your life. Very powerful stuff.

Honorable Mentions: Splice, The Horseman (Australian film), Ip Man, Boondock Saints: All Saints Day.

TV Shows

5. Big Bank Theory

I just started watching this show. I was surprised at how much it made me laugh out loud. I am now catching up on the seasons I missed.

4. Criminal Minds

This show is my favorite show to watch. Every Wednesday I tweet about the show while I watch it. This season the show lost one of its main characters. When that happened, something in the show was changed. While I still love the show, it has lost its spark for me. That's why it's not number one this year.

3. Nikita

This is a nice little show about a kick ass girl. It's a little on the cheesy side, but it's cheesy fun.

2. Supernatural

This is my second favorite show. Last season's storyline was epic and surpassed anything I could have imagined. This current season is a little lackluster. I'm not feeling it the way I did previously. The show has moved away from the Angels vs Demons, end of the world saga and gone back to the monster of the week story line. It's number two because last season was just amazing.

1. Walking Dead

What can I say about this show? Zombies, check. Great writing, check. Good story development, check. Did I already say zombies? I love this show but I hated the six episode season. It left me wanting more.

Honorable Mention: Torchwood Seasons 1-3. Okay so I mention Torchwood because I've never heard of his show before until this year when my friend Ivy went on and on about how great this show was. So, since all three seasons were on Netflix Watch Instant, I watched them all in one weekend. Oh my goodness is this show good. I can't watch for the fourth season coming out on Starz.

Anime

5. Corpse Princess

I love anime that features strong female characters. This story is about an undead girl who must destroy 108 undead corpses in order to gain entry into heaven. This is an action packed show with supernatural elements. Awesome.

4. Ghost Hunt

This is a fun show that I discovered on Hulu. This show is about a group of teenage paranormal investigators. Some of the kids use their psychic abilities to help them in their investigations. Each case has a four-episode story arc. It's a really fun and scary series to watch.


3. Tokyo Majin

This is another gem of a show I found on Hulu. I watch a lot, a lot of anime on Hulu. This show is about five teenagers with supernatural powers fighting demons and the undead to save the world. This has a lot of action but also a lot of heart. I was hooked from the first episode.

2. Red Garden

This is a beautiful and sad story. I found myself tearing up at certain points during the series. This show is about a group of girls who go looking for their friend in a mysterious house but end up dead themselves. Again, I was hooked from the first episode.

1. Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad

This is by far my favorite anime this year. This show is about a teenage boy who discovers rock music and is consumed by it. It's through his new found love of music he truly begins to come out of his shell and grow. It's an awesome show about a teenage journey that I can relate to very well.

Honorable Mentions: I should say that I watch a lot of anime. I probably should have done 10 best anime of 2010 but I figured I should stick with five--Fruits Basket, High School of the Dead, Darker than Black, Kaze no Stigma (Stigma of the Wind). Moyashimon: Tales of Agriculture--this is not an anime but I fell in love with the show.

Games

Before I get into games I should say that I use to be a huge gamer. I use to play all of the time. Since I moved and got this new job I haven't had time to play traditional console games. This list mostly consists of iPhone game apps and computer games. My goal for next year is to play more console games or at least find the time to play more console games.


5. Plants vs Zombies

I love anything with zombies so when I discovered this game I was instantly hooked.

4. Words with Friends

It's like scrabble!

3. Sims 3

This is just a time waster and a chance to play God. The family that I created is in its 9th generation now

2. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

I stopped playing WoW for a while because I got bored. When the expansion Cataclysm came out it renewed my love of the game. Again, another time waster but somehow it doesn't feel like that anymore. The new worgen characters kick major butt.

1. Angry Birds

I have nothing to say here. Anyone who plays angry birds understands why this is my number one. This is just a fun, fun game. I hate those freaking pigs. I hate the way they smile at you when you fail the level. But I digress. I love this game.

So, that's it. Can't wait to see what's coming up in 2011.

House of 1000 Mirrors- A Japanese Folktale

Long ago in a small, far away village, there was a place known as the House of 1000 Mirrors. A small, happy little dog learned of this place and decided to visit. When he arrived, he bounced happily up the stairs to the doorway of the house. He looked through the doorway with his ears lifted high and his tail wagging as fast as it could. To his great surprise, he found himself staring at 1000 other happy little dogs with their tails wagging just as fast as his. He smiled a great smile, and was answered with 1000 great smiles just as warm and friendly. As he left the house, he thought to himself, "This is a wonderful place. I will come back and visit it often."

In this same village, another little dog, who was not quite as happy as the first one, decided to visit the house. He slowly climbed the stairs and hung his head low as he looked into the door. When he saw the 1000 unfriendly looking dogs staring back at him, he growled at them and was horrified to see 1000 little dogs growling back at him. As he left, he thought to himself, "That is a horrible place, and I will never go back there again."

All the faces in the world are mirrors. What kind of reflections do you see in the faces of the people you meet?

Japanese Folktale

Happy New Year. Welcome 2010!

Ah, it's the new year. I've been looking forward to 2009 ending. I have to say 2009 was the worst year of my entire life. I'm looking forward to making a fresh start in the new year. Of course, the new decade doesn't start until 2011, but who am I to split hairs. So I have my new year resolutions. Normally, I don't stick to these things but now that I'm older I believe it's time to finish what I start. So here are my resolutions:

#1--Play less of World of Warcraft and play other games.

I wouldn't consider myself a gamer per se but I've been playing video games ever since my parents bought me an Atari 2600 for Christmas in 1984. Ever since then, I've been playing video games. Over the years I've gotten the latest consoles including the Nintendo, Nintendo NES, Sega Genesis, Dreamcast, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Nintendo Game cube, PlayStation 2 and 3. No I don't have an Xbox but I'm thinking of getting one soon. So I guess you can say I'm really into video game like many other adults in my age group (29 to 39). As a birthday present in 2007 I received the World of Warcraft game. I got online and started an account and tried to play the game. I believe my first character was a human mage. The furthest I got was level 8 before I decided to stop playing. It was just too hard to complete the quests, or so I thought. A few months later Grand Theft Auto IV came out and of course I had to get the game. I love the whole Grant Theft Auto series. My favorite is San Andreas. I finished the game in three weeks. The game didn't even provide a challenge to me. In July of 2008 I ran into someone from work who told me she played World of Warcraft. When I told her that I had the game but stopped playing, she got really excited. She said she would meet me in the game and show me how to really play. So I decided to give the game another chance. Well, after a weekend of receiving her tutorial on how to play the game properly I was hooked. After that all I played was WoW. Now I'm a level 55 Night elf Druid with two alt characters one at level 40 and the other at level 39. World of Warcraft is a time suck for sure. I haven't played my PlayStation 3 in so long it has dust on it. Now I just use it as a Blue Ray player. The decision to play less World of Warcraft came when I spent an entire three-day weekend playing the game and missed going out with a friend. So, I'm retiring WoW while to live life outside the online world and I'm going back to playing console games.

#2 lose 150 pounds.

I've been overweight my whole life. It's gotten to the point to where it's dangerous. I don't want to die at age 50 or younger like my mother who struggled with her weight all of her life. Diets do not work for me. I'm going to just do it the right way with a combination of eating more healthy and exercising. I do have a plan in place and I won't get into it here. I am determined more than ever to lose this weight. My life depends on it. Wish me luck

#3 start dating again. It's been two years, and I need to move on with my life.

It's self explanatory. After my relationship ended, I've been in a funk ever since. I think now I'm ready to put myself out there again. It will be good. Who knows? I might meet the love of my life. Nah!

#4 stop obsessing over people or things I don't have in my life and appreciate the people and things I do have in my life. Try and make new friends.

I need to be more appreciative of all of the things I have. I have good friends in my life. For a long time I wished I had more but I'm grateful for the people in my life. I am a good person. I just need to be willing to let others see it.

#5 Try to accept who I am and stop wishing to be someone I will never be.

For a long time I hated myself for reasons I cannot describe. Lately I've realized I have to stop being so hard on myself. I can only control the things I can control. I need to let go of the things I cannot control. I am constantly doubting myself and putting myself down. I have accomplished so much in my young life. I have a career and life to be proud of. I just need to have a little more confidence in myself. This year I'm going to focus on the positive and not on the negative.

#6 blog more often.

I use to have a blog back in the day under a different name. For some reason I stopped. I use to love doing it. It was fun. So, this year I'm going to post more blogs. I'm still a little rusty. Once I posting more often, I'll get my groove back. Did I just say "get my groove back"? Sheesh!

2010 is going to be a great year. I am going to make it happen.

Not so good

Boy I'm really not very good at this blogging thing. I use to blog back in the day but I stopped because it stopped being fun. I have a lot to say I just don't feel any inspiration. I guess I'll figure it out soon.

Missing The Southwest

Last year I received a promotion to work in Washington, DC. I'm originally from Phoenix, Arizona. This is my dream job doing something that I love to do. My previous job in Phoenix was quite difficult and I was no longer enjoying what I was doing. When the opportunity came to apply for another job, I took it. At the time when I initially applied for the job I didn't realize the how difficult the whole process would be. The process of moving all of my belongings out of my house to a new place in Virginia which is where I ended up. The only thing I was thinking about was getting out of my old job and away from all of the difficulties I was having. My life in Phoenix was amazing. I had great friends, two wonderful dogs, a home that I built from the ground up, and an amazing boyfriend. But Phoenix was getting boring. It was getting hotter year after year, and the traffic was horrific. I felt like I needed a change. I was getting restless.

In November of '08 I received the news that I had been selected to for the job in DC. I was stoked....for about 5 minutes. When it sunk in that I was leaving my home, my life, my friends, and family behind, I thought, "oh crap, what have I done." I would be leaving Phoenix alone. My boyfriend decided he didn't want to come with me nor continue with a long distance relationship (bastard).

When I arrived in Virginia in January I noticed something very odd. It was cold. Yes, cold. I, Karen Marie, desert flower, had not seen snow since I was 2 years old. Nothing prepared me for what I was about to experience. In February I went through my first snow storm. I looked outside one Monday morning and could not see my car because it was covered underneath tons and tons of snow. My commute everyday from Manassas, Virginia to DC was horrific. I didn't realize the commute was so long. It's about an hour and thirty minutes every morning to DC and two hours to go home at night. When I was in Phoenix, it took me twenty five minutes to get to work. This is not fun.

By March my depression got worse when I didn't see the sun for two weeks. I've never gone outside and not seen the sun and the blue skies, (well Phoenix skies are usually brown because of the pollution). By April I was laying in my bed with the covers over my head crying my eyes out. I missed my home, my dogs (who are still in Arizona due to circumstances beyond my control), my friends and my family. I especially missed my brother who is my best friend. By the way, I still have my house in Arizona. I was unable to sell due to the economy tanking. So now I have to rent it out. Luckily my brother is my tenant so that's good news there. On top of that my step-dad is very ill and I'm worried about him. I feel powerless to help him in my depressed state. Luckily he lives in Philadelphia and I can care for him when he needs me.

It was April and I'm still wearing a coat, sweater, hat and gloves. In Phoenix, April is BBQ weather. I'd be out grilling some chicken or steaks. Why is it still so cold?

I realized that I took Phoenix for granted. Before I knew it, I began to miss all of the things I despised about Phoenix. Now, it's summer and the humidity is killing me. I miss the 110 degree dry heat. I miss the desert landscaping and the mountains. I've never even been to the Grand Canyon. Yes, I lived in Phoenix my whole teen and adult life and never seen the
Grand Canyon. I figured it would always be there. It's not like someone is going to come and fill in the hole. Now, I wish I could visit it.

I'll admit, I didn't think things through all of the way when I accepted the job. I guess the only thing I was thinking about was getting away from the stress and pressures of my old job. The new job is awesome and the people there are great. It's August now and I'm just now finding my way. The depression I was feeling is slowly going away. I've made one new friend at work. I still miss Phoenix terribly. The southwest girl in me will always love Phoenix. I will probably never get use to living on the east coast. It's getting better and better day by day.

Just thought I'd share this.