Parchment Paths

This Christmastime was wonderful and yet strange. It all seemed to happen within the last week  leading up to Christmas Eve.   Last Christmas I had more time to celebrate throughout December, going to my niece and nephew’s play, a church dinner, going Christmasy places with friends, and shopping.   This year, I had a cold the first week, worked a great deal, and found myself missing my mom very much around Thanksgiving.   I still enjoyed Christmas music, and movies but felt as though I was only working and resting. Thankfully, the cold went away and I was able to get out Christmas shopping with my dad. I had already ordered gifts online and bought some earlier, but it was nice spending time with him and helping him pick out gifts. Work was, as usual in retail during the holidays, stressful and exhausting.   At home, I wrapped presents and watched Christmas movies, and was finally starting to enjoy what I call real Christmas, which is when I’m not at work dealing with all th

Like many women this time of year, I’ve been binge watching Hallmark Christmas movies since Thanksgiving week.   While I do chuckle a bit at the predictable plots, the overly adorable kids, and the perfect holidays, I still enjoy the movies. Sometimes I sit down and just watch, sometimes they are nice background as I wrap presents or do the dishes. Despite some of the unrealistic even cliche` bits of the movies, I think there’s a lot to be learned from the stories.   Aside from caring about Christmas, people care about each other  and their community.   If only real people cared as much for each other  in real life. If only we took time to enjoy the holiday, without treating retail workers and other customers badly, without overspending for the sake of getting everyone we can think of something we think they may or may not like. While reality will never be as Christmas card perfect as the movies, we can still treat each other kindly, help each other, and yes, enjoy the holid

This past weekend I attended my first Steampunk convention with a friend. Though I looked at the event’s website and Facebook page, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect at the Steampunk and Fantasy Showcase.   After navigating the crowded parking lot and traveling through the sports complex section of the building, we finally looked up and saw a cluster of parasols on the second level. Encouraged by this old timey beacon of Steampunk goodness, we made our way up the stairs to the registration desk. After getting our admission wrist bands, we strolled along the vendor lined hallway. Almost instantly, something shiny caught my eye, a wooden pin with a silver ribbon and dragon from Design by Night.   After buying it and chatting with the man working the stand, we moved along, each stand pulling us forward to examine hats, jewelry, plaques, coats, soap, magic wands, and the afore mentioned parasols, even a magician.  Aside from buying a few more things,

Once Halloween is over I have trouble remembering that autumn is not over for several more weeks. I’m not sure if the Christmas items flooding stores makes me forget or if concerns about work makes me want to forget about Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Until I know what I’m working Thanksgiving, I can’t enjoy the holiday fully.  .  I’ve completely missed Thanksgiving dinner before due to work and it’s always a possibility.  My mother passed away several years ago the week before the holiday, so I tend to guard Thanksgiving and other family centric holidays a bit jealously.  I know that working in retail means I need to work many holidays, but every year is seems that stores are open earlier and later on holidays we used to be closed completely or only open for a short amount of time.  It does make it difficult to be excited for the holidays, especially Thanksgiving since that day is over and done with in a flash, squished between Halloween and Christmas.  These are the thought

Now that autumn has officially arrived, I am getting increasingly excited for Halloween and all things spooky. While I am not a horror movie fan, I do enjoy a creepy tale and have found some great choices on Netflix. 1. The Curious Creations of Christine McConnel    - One season, rated PG- 13  Part cooking, craft show, part kooky story, all with a deliciously dark tone.  If one season is not enough, she does have a You Tube channel, From the Mind of Christine McConnel. While it does not feature the same plot and characters as the Netflix show, Christine is still cooking, sewing, and constructing gothic style items. 2. Creeped Out - Two seasons, rated PG  Reminiscent of  the Nickelodeon teen show,  Are You Afraid of the Dark? , this show is geared teens. The stand-alone episodes follow a creepy collector of stories, called The Curious as he, she, maybe it, observes but never interferes with the stories. 3. Murder Maps -Three seasons, rated MA. This true crime show

As a fan of the 1982    Jim Henson movie, The Dark Crystal , I was both excited and apprehensive about the Netflix prequel series, The Dark Crystal : Age of Resistance. My apprehension came from knowing what befalls the Gelfing race since that sad fact is outlined in the movie. I also was unsure of how the movie would translate to a modern series. Don’t get me wrong, I love the movie, but the world building is a bit lacking. Perhaps this is an intentional device to show the devastation the Skeksis have wrecked upon Thrall, but it does leave the story feeling a bit empty. The characters, likewise seem a bit flat, the brave but clueless hero, the brave, smart hero, and the evil villains.   I need not have worried one bit; the series took all the missing pieces of the movie and gave them life. The first season was breathtakingly amazing, the puppetry, the scenery, the music, the characters, and the story. All of those wove together an incredibly rich and vibrant world, something

The PennsylvaniaRenaissance Faire is always a magical place but this past weekend the grounds were even more magical than usual. The reason? Wizarding Weekend, of course.  While the Harry Potter series was emphasized, complete with a Horcrux hunt, The Lord of the Rings, Dungeons and Dragons, and other magical stories were also celebrated.  A wizard looking through D&D dice I attended the Saturday with my Dad, nine year old niece and twelve year old nephew. We all had a, dare I say, magical time?   We participated in the kid’s Horcrux hunt, which after a shaky start, ended up being pretty fun. We followed the clues to pieces of a spell that later on we used to help destroy the Horcruxs. Garrett found a clue! Destroying the Horcruxs  There were mermaids, a unicorn , amazing food, a joust, and a visit to the dungeons, as visitors of course.   It’s always a great time taking the kids to the faire and experiencing a side of the shire I don’

The answer I’ve come up with is not quite but it’s getting close. Walt Disney’s original plan for EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) was not a theme park at all but an actual, if futuristic, living and working community.   So, in that regard, no, Epcot is not being transitioned from theme park to community.             What makes me feel as though EPCOT is almost living up to Walt’s initial dream is the fact that the park is actually making substantial changes and upgrades. A great irony of the park is that while its main theme are change and growth, there has been very little of either in the past years.             While plenty of attractions, even entire buildings of attractions have closed, such as The Wonders of Life Pavilion, the only new attractions in recent times have been Mission Earth and Frozen Ever After. Then, bit by bit, Disney began announcing even more new additions to what some naysayers call the least popular park.               At firs

The gates of the Shire of Mount Hope, aka, The Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, have opened for the 2019 season. Aside from longing to be back, I was excited to meet with good friends to enjoy the weekend. We talked, saw shows, mingled with people of the Shire, ate good food, and just enjoyed each other’s company.   While the Shire is a wonderful place to be no matter the company, but the company always changes and enhances the day. Good times and places are always best shared with good company after all. After the second day of the faire, some of us visited the delightful town of Litiz where we tasted exotic cheeses and bought chocolate . Then because, you can never have enough chocolate, we visited Hershey Park and Chocolate World, where we made our own delicious candy bars.  Revisiting my second home at the faire, catching up with good friends, and having adventures; what could be better?