These Weeks on The Geekiary: 4+ Months of Highlights

Posted on December 18, 2016 by Tara Lynne

I feel bad because I was really enjoying sharing my Geekiary articles, but the past five months have been VERY busy, so my somewhat regular posts have long been pushed to the wayside. In order to play a bit of catch up, here are just some of the more important Geekiary articles that I’ve written since July 31st (more important in my opinion, at least) 🙂

Because it’s been so long, this time around I’m going to go back in time starting from some updates I made today…

December 17th, 2016
UPDATED: The Walking Dead Season 7 Masterpost
Check out my reviews and news of the current season of TWD!
UPDATED: Steven Universe Masterpost
I’ve written several SU news posts and episode reviews since I last shared my Geekiary articles 🙂

December 16th, 2016
Rogue One: Dark, Gritty, & Reminiscent of The Empire Strikes Back
Let’s be honest: Star Wars hasn’t always done the best job of telling a story to which we know the ending (see the prequels). Yet in Rogue One they did just that, and while it didn’t give me quite the sense of amazement that I felt when I saw The Force Awakens, there is no denying that it is a success in nearly every respect.

December 6th, 2016
Ashley Eckstein and Ashley Taylor at Walt Disney World
When I found out that Ashley Eckstein and Ashley Taylor were holding a signing at Disney Springs at Walt Disney World, I couldn’t wait to attend.

November 20th, 2016
Tara Lynne’s Geekiary Gift Guide 2016
I had so much fun putting together my 2015 Geekiary Gift Guide that I knew I had to reprise it this year. So for 2016 I aimed to do what I did in 2015 – include geeky items that not only speak to me, but are also suggested by both Geekiary writers and fans.

November 26th, 2016
Netflix Gilmore Girls Has its Moments, But Leaves a Lot To Be Desired
The Netflix Gilmore Girls revival is both not enough and too much, at least for this fan. Despite the fact that there was plenty that I didn’t love, I keep hoping to hear that we’ll get more than just those four episodes/six hours…although sadly it doesn’t seem like that will be the case. (At least not in any foreseeable future.)

November 19th, 2016
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Screenplay is Where It’s At
I made it very clear that I felt there were a lot of issues with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but I have to say that if you’re a big Harry Potter/Rowling fan, the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them SCREENPLAY clears a lot of things up.
Katheryn Winnick Wakes Up, Kicks Ass, Repeats on Vikings
The first half of Vikings season 4 ended on an odd note, with an episode that saw Rollo vanquish Ragnar and his fellow Vikings as they attempted to attack Paris again and then featured a time skip of several years. Season 4 returns on November 30th, and this past week Katheryn Winnick (Lagertha) was on hand to give some juicy details about what has happened and what’s to come.

November 17th, 2016
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: A Fun Frolic with Some of That Harry Potter Magic
The absolute first thing that I have to say about Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is that I wish I could write a spoiler-free review – one that people could read before seeing this movie – because I think that before you walk into a theater to watch it, you should ask yourself, “What am I expecting from Fantastic Beasts?”

November 14th, 2016
Good Girls Revolt is Mad Men for Smart Women
If you want a history lesson combined with a scary reminder of how crappy things can still be for anyone who isn’t a straight white man, all wrapped up in the drug-, alcohol-, and sex-fueled setting of the late 1960s/early 1970s, then Good Girls Revolt is the show for you.

October 31st, 2016
MegaCon Tampa Bay: A Successful First Year
I’ve been to a lot of conventions, and I’ve hosted several first-year conventions. That said, MegaCon Tampa Bay was one of the best first year cons I’ve ever attended, which was honestly a pleasant surprise.

October 20th, 2016
First Red Dead Redemption 2 Trailer Finally Released!
Here’s to all of my fellow Red Dead Redemption fans who have waited so long for the oft-rumored Red Dead Redemption 2…because not only do we have a vague release date (Fall 2017), we also have the very first Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer!

October 16th, 2016
Bojack Horseman: A Difficult Yet Worthy Recommendation
Listen, the first half of the first season of BoJack Horseman is really, really hard to get through. And to be honest, there are parts of the third season that are difficult to watch as well. But as a whole, the payoff is worth it. Trust me on this.

October 11th, 2016
Gravity Falls: Season Two Makes It Worth a Watch
I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t really sure about Gravity Falls after watching the first season, but now that I’ve binged both seasons, I’ve added it to my must-watch cartoons list along with Steven Universe, Polar Bear’s Cafe, Kuroko no Basuke, and more.

September 27th, 2016
The CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is Perfect in its Imperfections
I was surprised when the CW renewed their entire lineup for this coming season, and one of the more shocking renewals was that of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, a show whose first season had some of the lowest ratings on television.

…and last but not least, there were also quite a few updates to The Geekiary’s Dragon Con Masterpost in September!

I know this was a lot to take in all at once, but I *will* try to do a better job of keeping up with my “These Weeks on The Geekiary” posts throughout the coming months…but you know, please keep your fingers crossed that I can actually do so 😉

We All Get Sick Sometimes

Posted on November 21, 2016 by Tara Lynne

I was really disappointed when I had to cancel my trip to the Miami Book Fair this past weekend…sadly, I’d been sick for nearly two weeks, a sinus infection turned bronchitis at the very least, possibly even walking pneumonia.

I really am far too human for my own good 😉

The sad thing is, my illness affected more than just the Miami Book Fair. While I’m still participating in NaNoWriMo, I don’t really expect to win – I was ahead at the beginning of the month, but the past week has seriously affected the amount of time I’ve had to write, so at this point it’s a very big “we’ll see” with the probable outcome being no, I won’t make it to 50,000 words.

Really though, I’m okay with that. I’m going to keep writing, but if I don’t make it this year, hey, it’s nothing that’s never happened before 😉 Considering I have a nearly-finished manuscript that I was working on before November hit – and another one that’s in the final stages of editing – I know I haven’t been slacking, and for me that’s the important thing.

I’ll be honest, a big part of why it took me so long to feel better is the fact that I would rest for a few days, and then “play hard”, as it were. I came back from MegaCon Tampa Bay, started feeling awful that Wednesday, and then that Sunday I spent the day at EPCOT with friends.

Last weekend was Pride, which I absolutely couldn’t miss considering it was originally scheduled for when I was in Vegas and was REscheduled for November 12th because of the hurricane.

And then I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to meet up with Sam, my best friend from high school, last week. I don’t even want to admit how long it had been since we had seen each other, but I had an amazing day hanging out with her, her husband, and their two beautiful children! I even got to say hi to her parents, which was awesome!

The very next day, tickets went on sale for Beach City Con! I also had tickets to an early screening of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them that night, so it was just “one of those days” all around…

If I thought things would slow down after that, I was wrong. I’ve had a lot of writing to do, a lot of shows to catch up on, and I’m *still* not over this cough from whatever illness I contracted. On top of that, I’m *months* behind on my “This Week on The Geekiary” posts…so for now, hey, if you’re on Reddit, please subscribe to our sub! I share what I consider my best articles there, anyway.

At least I’m finally, let’s say…95% better. Perhaps the amazing Beach City Con ticket sales have helped? Or the fact that we’ve had a successful Ice & Fire Con ticket push, too? Between that and my writing, it’s hard not to feel great right now…and as always, if you have questions about either of my conventions, I’m here to answer them!

ChicagoCon Part 2: Pokemon GO, Harry Potter, Baseball, & More

Posted on July 14, 2016 by Tara Lynne

These days almost every trip I take has a convention nickname, because so much of the time I’m visiting or vacationing with groups of my convention friends. We’ve had Not-A-Con in the fall for three years straight, with another one approaching this October. When a bunch of us went to West Virginia in February 2015, it was SkiCon (or rather, SkiKAHHHNNNN). Sometimes I even go to conventions themselves and they’re renamed, such as C2E2 in March of this year being ChicagoCon Part 1, or MegaCon in May being “KiwiCon”. (In quotes because KiwiCon existed before I got to experience its awesomeness.)

Therefore, when I visited Chicago yet again this past weekend, it was quickly dubbed “ChicagoCon Part 2”. And if I erase the awful trip home from my memory (bad weather, flight diversions, flight delays), it was yet another awesome success.

I arrived on a Thursday afternoon, but unfortunately my Chicago-local friends were working and the other two out-of-towners in our group weren’t arriving until the following night. Not that I let that stop me…I checked out Taste of Chicago, had a very interesting but delicious appetizer and drink experience at The Gage, and then did a Google search for LGBTQ+ bars nearby and had an amazing evening making new acquaintances at Brian’s Speakeasy. After several very strong gin and tonics, I headed back to my hotel room for a quick online hangout with my BFF Bekah and a good hour or so of writing. I even broke 80,000 words on my next novel, which means I’m within 20,000 or so words of finishing!

On my first full ChicagoCon (Part 2) day, I got to have lunch with a friend I hadn’t seen since 2011, and then lazed away the afternoon by devouring Red Rising by Pierce Brown. Seriously, I could have gone out. I kept trying to convince myself to do so. But I had to finish that book first. And when I did, and it was only 4 PM, and no one else was going to be around until after 8 PM? I visited the closest Barnes & Noble at DePaul University, but they didn’t have the second Red Rising installment in stock. Thankfully they were awesome and called the next closest store, who did have it in stock. This led to me walking four miles round trip to the Barnes & Noble on North State Street to pick up Golden Son. (Which also happened to be on the buy 2, get 1 free table – thanks to the associate who checked me out, I got two more books off my wishlist and Golden Son ended up being free!)

Later that night I had an amazing dinner with Brian at Russian Tea Time by the Art Institute. I have to be honest, the best part was that we were practically alone in the restaurant. I know this place is popular and that doesn’t usually happen, though, but still…the menu was lengthy and the food was great so overall I just really loved the experience.

Also I started playing Pokemon GO while I was there. And downtown Chicago is amazing for that game. Thankfully almost everyone that I hung out with while I was visiting plays it, too, which meant bonding over yet another thing we all love 🙂

Saturday was The Big Day – The Chi Wizard Tournament! Team “10 Pints for GRYFFINDOR!” assembled and did quite well getting stickers from other teams in our VALOROUS attempt to win the Chi Wizard cup (see what I did there, guys? P.S. I’m Team Valor on Pokemon GO haha). And even though we didn’t win the “Tournament”, it was still a lot of fun. While I wasn’t very fond of two out of the four bars on the pub crawl (one was just too small and the other had some really rude employees), I got to chat with some great new people AND hang out with my friends…all while wearing Harry Potter gear and enjoying this “Fantastic Drinks and Where to Find Them” event!

And even when the pub crawl was over, a group of us returned to a friend’s apartment to hang out, play a card game, and randomly re-watch the last two episodes of Game of Thrones season 6 while chowing down on delivered Lou Malnati’s pizza. So that was pretty much perfect.

(Okay, I’ll be honest, we never finished the card game 🙁 )

Sunday was a bit up in the air even after we all woke up that morning (I mean hey, we did participate in a crazy Wrigleyville pub crawl the day before), but in the end five of us gathered together for a trip to U.S. Cellular Stadium to see the White Sox play the Atlanta Braves. Unfortunately the White Sox lost, and yes it was hot as hell in those bleachers, but I’m excited that I added another baseball stadium to my list! (Which now includes many trips to Fenway along with visits to SafeCo Field, Wrigley Field, AT&T Park, and of course U.S. Cellular Field.)

After the game it was a quick trip to Kuma’s Too so that Ashley and Brian could finally experience metal music, whiskey on tap, and crazy burgers…though Kuma’s Too was a bit more trendy than Kuma’s Corner, where I ate on a trip to Chicago in the fall of 2014. And from there I headed back to my friends’ house with them, had a good evening hanging out with my friend Dave (a.k.a. “Unky Dave”) when he came home and was shocked to see me chilling on their couch, and even got to O’Hare early the next day to walk around and visit Pokestops and catch Pokemon.

I’ll leave out what happened after I boarded my plane in Chicago, because yeah, other than some travel snafus there, this was definitely a successful Part 2, and may need to become at least an annual thing 😉