Race Title: Fantastic Beasts 5k
Distance: 5k
Company: Hogwarts Running Club
Charity: End7
I was glad that HRC went back to a more manageable distance for me! This medal is really cool, it opens like a suitcase! I also got to be a House Elf for the packing of these medals which was really cool as well.
It’s no secret that I’ve been wanting my next big tech purchase to be a 3d printer. I have no idea what I will make, but I want one. (I actually wanted to try and make new pieces for my leg brace because they are so expensive, but it’s probably best to leave that to the professionals) Of course, with my camera dying and needing to be replaced sooner rather than later, when I found out that I could review the 3D printing pen from Smarson I was pretty excited.
I admittedly jumped in on using it a bit too quickly and need to take the time to read all of the instructions thoroughly and figure out what the heck I am doing. I dove in and thought I could build the Eiffel Tower, but I probably should have put wax paper down over the template so that it didn’t end up ruined. (In my defense, I did a test “dot” and it pulled off the paper without a problem. Anything I tried after that, did not!) Once I got frustrated with the tower I ended up doing something that I figured I’d have no problem doing and signing my name and making a 3d (glow in the dark!) rendering of it. Pretty cool.
I know I will be able to do a lot more great things with this pen once I am able to take the time that is needed to figure out what I’m doing – whether that be to watch videos on YouTube or just the old trial and error.
I will say that you don’t want to give this to little kids. The tip needs to heat up VERY hot in order to melt the filament that comes out of the pen and even myself holding it I found my fingers getting too close to the tip and if I got too close I could probably easily get burned. This also needs to be plugged in the entire time you are using it, so be sure that you have a desk set up near an outlet to keep your pen powered!
It did do some weird things when I started it up to use it as well – there is a little LCD screen on the front that tells you the temperature, type of filament, etc when you turn it on. When I went to load the filament the LCD screen slowly started to fill with black. I thought for sure that I didn’t follow instructions correctly and that I killed the pen before I had the chance to try it. Turning if off and on again did the trick and I was then able to use it, but it was a very strange thing that happened.
I received this product for a deep discount in order to write this review and I was not otherwise compensated. All opinions are my own.
As I’ve mentioned before, Hanson has an EP called “Play” coming out October 10. If you pre-order the EP on Hanson.net you can get a download of one of the tracks – “Do You Believe In Love”. The EP is available as a digital download for $7 or if you are a Hanson.net Member, as a part of an LP set paired up with this years Members Only CD, “Loud” (Get it, L. P. Loud. Play)
Play was recorded both in studio and live in Tulsa as a part of Hanson Day weekend so yes I am in the crowd you hear singing at the end (and you can also apparently see me in part of this video as well!) I am digging the song, although it started out in a stream of them recording Loud as what seemed like more of a Zac piano ballad so it is kind of interesting to see it go from that to a The Darkness / Queen inspired track – one of the fastest tracks they’ve ever recorded.
I am looking forward to hearing the whole EP in October – it includes a track that we didn’t get to participate on called “Freak Out” and based on the clips of the songs in the Hanson.net store, they’re all going to be pretty great and I hope they make it into the setlists down in Disney!
Isaac’s solo show. It wasn’t the first of the solo shows but I tend to sort things in their age order so he’s up first. Included on these pages are some stamped tapes that I used embossing powder on. Using more stamps on my layouts was part of my crafty to-do list for the year.
Trap Jam was a pretty easy read. It is under 200 pages and from what I am seeing on GoodReads seems to be geared towards the more casual reader than one who reads all the time. Since the book is so short, the story line moves pretty quickly which I liked. But unfortunately that left little time to expand on the characters and I would have liked to know more about them and their backgrounds.
The book is about Olivia – she is 16 and in high school but has dreams of being a drummer. She auditions for a band that friends Eddie and Lucas are in. She lets them believe that she is in college and 19 years old, even goes as far to get a fake ID. She drunks with the band and has started sneaking drinks at home too (even though she knows that her Dad has the liquor bottles marked with how much is in each of them).
Lucas ends up falling for Olivia – hard. She has been helping her friend Raymond get in to school and when he shows up to let her know that he got in – Lucas loses it and beats Raymond unconscious. He convinces Olivia that it is her fault and she will get in trouble too and after Raymond’s brother shows up at his dorm room looking for him, he takes Olivia and they run off in his roommates van. Lucas is stealing, drinking and wanting to have sex and Olivia knows that she needs to get out, but isn’t sure how. She tells him that she lied and that she is 16 but Lucas doesn’t care – he loves her either way.
Slowly Olivia begins to realize that everything Lucas has been telling her are lies and that he is dangerous. She tries to get away… but can she before it’s too late?
I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.
About the Book
Drinking. Lying. It’s all for the music.
Olivia is living a double life — high-school student by day, drummer by night. Olivia doesn’t know when hanging out in clubs and drinking to appear older and enjoy the music scene became a habit, but she finds herself hungover at school and sneaking alcohol at home. Her bandmates Eddie and Lucas think she is older, and Olivia keeps up the pretence even as her real life starts to fall apart.
When Lucas catches Olivia talking to her friend Raymond in the women’s washroom, he beats up Raymond in a jealous rage. With Raymond unconscious and seriously hurt, Lucas tells Olivia that Raymond’s criminal brother is looking for them for payback. They go on the run, sleeping in a borrowed van and stealing to get by. Lucas keeps Olivia drunk and off-balance, telling her he loves her and pressuring her to have sex with him — even when she reveals she’s only sixteen. Still, through an alcoholic haze, Olivia sees that Lucas is delusional and dangerous. When she finally discovers that the story about Raymond’s brother is a lie, she realizes she has to get out of Lucas’s obsessional trap.
This book was absolutely fantastic. In the first chapter, we meet Dagmar Kostopoulos. She is getting fired from her job for not sleeping with the boss in order to get ahead. When she gets home, her boyfriend tells her that he got a job in LA. She’s pretty pumped that now she has no ties in NYC and can go with him – except that he has no intentions of taking her with him or trying to long distance thing, she’s been dumped. Her boyfriend has told her terrible things about herself and how she is boring and will never find anyone else, etc. Dag decides to do a total 180 and makes a list (and a blog) about how she is just going to be a total F*ck up now. No more by the book, responsible and honest Dag. She applies for a job at a coffee shop and tries to sleep with the manager. She goes to a bar and creates a complete alter ego for herself – Giselle, a flight attendant. She is no longer Dag that used to work editing books. (Although I love how she corrects the people around her’s grammar from time to time!)
And this is when Dag ends up getting in trouble… and things get interesting.
She ends up meeting a really sexy writer at the bar. She intends to just take him home, have sex with him, and that will be that. Except he has decided that he doesn’t want to have sex with her without having a proper date yet so the lie continues… and continues.. and continues. Dag’s best friend Mel keeps telling Dag that she HAS to tell the truth because if it comes out any other way, things will not be good.
Well, this is a book and a dramatic one at that so what do you think happens… her blog identity is revealed, sexy writer guy finds out from someone other than Dag… and blocks her from contacting him.
Can she get him back? Is her life ruined – again? What will happen with the blog? Will she get a book deal? TV deal? Movie deal? and what other ways can Dag and Mel f*ck everything up? Find out in the hilarious and fun 667 ways to F*ck up my life!
I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.
About the Book
Sometimes, there’s nowhere to go but f*ck up…
If you love ‘Broad City’ and Bridget Jones, you’ll adore Dagmar Kostopoulos…and her colossal fuck-ups.
Twenty-something Dag has always been the ‘perfect’ woman. Responsible, honest to a fault, hard-working. Even her bras are no-nonsense. And for what? Her boyfriend dumps her for being boring, and her boss fires her for not sucking on his nether regions to get promoted. What’s a perfectionist overachiever to do? A complete one-eighty.
To heck with rules—Dag orchestrates a spectacular fall from grace by ruining her life exactly six-hundred-sixty-six times, and finally has a little naughty fun. Some scandalous Spandex and a few bar lies later, tame little Dagmar becomes Giselle, ballsy siren.
The wild thing is…it works! Dag gets a better job and meets the sexiest man she’s ever known. Well, Giselle meets him. Dagmar doesn’t exist. Except that she does, and her escapades just became a ticking time bomb, one that might blow her heart to smithereens.
Join Dag for her irresistible and hilarious fuck-ups, because every good girl needs to inject a little bad girl sizzle into her veins.
Headliner: Push Play
Opener(s): N/A
Venue: North Haven Fair
Cost: $9
Setlist: Unknown
Katie