American is getting dumber.

Warning, this is one the posts where I swear. Moral Guardians, cover your children's eyes!

Okay. First of all, I was in the drug store today getting cough syrup today, and I got carded. Yes, a nineteen year old getting carded for freaking Robitussin. That's just bullshit.
Now, unto the second part of my post.
I was on facebook today and saw this on my news feed.
Click Here.
According to the article

"A 14-year-old honor student from Northridge, Los Angeles, died this week after inhaling computer keyboard cleaner."

All I can say is what the fuck.
What the fuck is or was wrong with this teenager that they would huff compressed air.
According to the parents this was her first time "dusting."
I am calling bullshit on this.

"Her older sister found Aria in bed with a can of compressed air still attached to her mouth, her nostrils taped shut. A plastic bag was found nearby."

This person had definitely been using this for awhile, or they had experience. 

Any addiction starts small, and I don't think someone trying anything for the first time would tape their nose shut.

I am going to get reamed for this, but this girl was stupid. Extremely stupid.

Yes canned air has a refrigerant in it, but who the hell would think to use it as a drug?

This stupid girl got what she deserved.

Absolute Write and Self Publishing.

Whether or not I'm going to catch heat for this remains to be seen, but this is my blog, and freedom of the press and all that still stands, right? So here goes.

I'm a semifrequent poster on Absolute Write, and by no means am I considering the self publisher route. I might down the road if I can't find an agent for the Steampunk I'm working on, or the novella currently lurking at the back of my hard drive is to short, and that it might be.

Now, I absolutely love Absolute Write, and there Share Your Work/Query Letter Hell sections have been invaluable to me.

Anyhow, I've lurked around the self publishing boards there because I was curious about the process. I've noticed that some of the users are, to phrase it nicely, prejudiced, against self publishing. I was wondering if I was imagining that so I did some googling and found some interesting things.

Namely that two users (I'm sure it's more than two, but those are the most prolific) have been banned while discussing selfpublishing on the board.

I just find it odd that these two did nothing against the rules and were both banned, but other members of the forum called them "hostile" when they were anything but.

Anyhow, that's just a random musing.

And now a random video:
Please note, it contains profanity.

Product Review: Star War's Earbuds.

Product Review: Star War's Earbuds.

Well, I've been looking for another pair of headphones. I don't really like the "big" earphones that cup against your ears, they hurt my head, so any of those type were out. 

 I was on Think Geek and I found these gems.

I ordered them and they took about three days to get here. Although they don't come with extra or different sized buds they have an excellent sound quality. They come with a microphone but I haven't tried it yet. 

The wiring is kind of cheap, and I think it would be thicker.

 They only cost about 16, and I got them on sale. You can find them here

Edited to Add:
After less than a month of owning these, and using them roughly five times, the left earbud has stopped working. I'm never buying these again, and I'll be contacting Think Geek about them.

Have any of you guys bought these, and what do you think of them? Let me know in the comments section.

Oz, the Great and Powerful

Oz, the Great and Powerful Review.

I’m not going to do a summary of the events in the movie, you can find that on imdb or wikipedia, but let me say that fans of Wicked will have problems with their personal Canon.

Oz starts slow, but the story progresses nicely, and the finale is awesome. I loved the little cameos the future heroes of Oz made (The cowardly lion attacking Theodora aka Mila Kunis) (The Scarecrow in the first battle).

The special effects were amazing, not the battle scenes which were lackluster in my opinion  but the flora and fauna scenes.

One thing I liked was how they used parallels with the characters in the “real world” and Oz, like the original film did.

The acting was so-so. I really didn’t like Franco’s portrayal of Oz, finding him Hammy, but that goes along with the character.

Michelle Williams, who played Glinda, was just creepy. I know that good witch is supposed to be all happy and sweet, but the oversweetness was downright unsettling.

While I wouldn’t recommend seeing it in theaters, this is worth a rental.

A letter to Scrivener.

Dear Scrivener: You used to be the best program ever. I could keep track of everything with you. Then you started randomly deleting things and freezing. I'm am sorry, but I can't keep up this sham of a writer-word editor relationship. I am deleting you for Word 2013, and taking the documents. You can have the recycle bin.
Sincerely Justin.

TV Show randomness

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Once Upon a time:
Season One was an interesting take on fairy tales  and the overall plot: Emma Swan, an "ugly duckling" who wants a family of her own, finds her parents, her long lost son, and saves them and  Storybrooke from the Evil Queen's curse. This was one of my favorite tv shows of the 2011-2012 Season.
Now season two has rolled around. Character derailment and flanderization abound, and I've grown tired of the little drama that could.

Revolution.
Revolution started with an intriguing plot, and had J.J Abram's as its director. This should be a winner, but the formulaic "Help Post Apocolyptia's various denizens and let's have a flashback" made me grow tired of this show quite quickly. Then the mid season finale-usually a month long break turned to three weeks.
Honestly? Had they just called it a season wrap at the end of the "mid-season" finale and then made us wait until next season I would have been fine with it, but this is just ridiculous.

That concludes this rant. Happy Trails.

What TV shows have you watched and have grown to love and hate?

What I been doing number 5? Yeah, I think it's five.

What I've been doing post five.

As readers of this blog know, I've shelved the work in progress I've been writing for, oh, five years or so.

So right now I'm working on a steampunky/school of magic idea, and a timey wimey novel. Yes timey wimey is a word. Just ask The Doctor.

The Timey Wimey novel is the one that has been on my header for awhile, so that one is going ok. The Steampunky one I'm working on is in the outline phase. No Victorian clothing though. I know Victorian clothing and Steampunk should go hand in hand, but since when have I stuck to conventions?

Any how. My second semester of college is going excellently, and I'm working on another project I"m not sure where it's going. And I'm looking for a video camera, cheap.

So what you have you been up to my loyal readers? Let me know in the comment section!