Distracted By Something Shiny

So Friday was Sis’ birthday! She took the day off & we went to Auburn Hills to one of the largest outlet malls in the state, or something, idk I’d never been there before. But it got an aquarium a few years back and Sis & Canadian Brother took all four kids back then. It’s not a huge aquarium or anything, but bigger than I expected for being in a mall. There was a wall-to-ceiling-to-wall tunnel of glass where you could walk through with turtles, stingrays, sharks & fish swimming around and above you, which was cool. They had jellyfish & seahorses, my favs. And these little teeny tiny eels that were smaller than worms and burrowed under the sand & then popped up to grab food. They looked like mini little Tremors.

There is also a Lego Discovery Center there, so we went to that too. It was mostly for little kids, as expected. There were some small rides & some building stations. There were life sized Lego people to get pictures with. There was an engineering station, where you could build and make the Legos move or something. But where we spent all our time was the front room, where they had built a mini Lego version of Detroit. There was a working car factory, the Fox Theatre, Ford Field, Comerica Park, a parade, a carnival, the walkway by the river. Every 15 minutes or so, the overhead lights went off & all the Lego lights came on & on a screen behind the river, fireworks ‘went off’. And Comerica Park — the Detroit Tigers’ stadium — was like a pinball game you could actually play. Sis struck out, but I totally hit a home run on my first try! That room, I’m not even doing it justice. It was worth our price of admission.

We also went to lunch at The Rainforest Cafe, that had vines & trees & animatronic animals that moved & wagged their tails & made noise. Every 30 minutes the lights dimmed, thunder clashed, you heard rainfall & there was ‘lightning’ and all the animals went wild & screamed & roared. We had a dessert there called The Volcano that came with a lit sparkler sticking out of the top. It was basically a giant brownie with ice cream, hot fudge & whipped cream all stacked on top. We walked around the mall, got pretzels, went to the Disney store, got our photos taken in a photo booth, bought toys at the Lego store, saw a Claire’s & a Spencer’s like it was 1990 or something, lol.

( Pics under the cut! )

Then we came home, exhausted but happy! Happy 45th to my big Sis!

First off, I did, indeed, watch Sharknado! Thanks for the heads up to all of you who pointed it out to me! It is, hands down, the best SyFy channel movie ever made - and this is coming from me, who has watched a LOT of these movies - in that it knows exactly what it is and didn't waste any time getting there. There is a sharknado within the first ten minutes and it kept up that pace for the rest of the movie, no standing around talking for an hour - (I’m looking at you, Tornado Valley!) We were yelling out what we thought was going to happen next and it was just as predictable as all that and so terribly shot - (they would show sharks in the flooded street around the SUV, but then a second later there would be the SUV driving down streets with no water around them at all). Ian Ziering was the lead, which just makes me laugh, but I was a little disappointed there was no Jason London or Nicholas Brendon in it. Sharknado was gloriously awful and I loved it.

I also recently watched the mini-series of ‘In The Flesh’ and highly recommend it. I was worried - when I heard the theme of POV of a zombie who is becoming human again - that it would just be a rip-off of Warm Bodies, a book I loved. But it wasn’t and it was supremely different from any zombie movie I have seen before. There were so many social issues layered in the subtext; bigotry, racism, segregation, homophobia, depression, suicide, second chances. It could be heavy-handed at times but I was continually amazed at how they used the issues of recovering-zombies to run parallel with the characters’ emotional issues. There were some ‘holy shit’ moments and yet, it was also oddly uplifting. It showcased the theme of humanity - like so many zombie movies do - but in a completely different way. If you have ever had a moment in your life that you wish you could get another chance at, this mini-series will really speak to you.

Also, So You Think You Can Dance - which had a really stupid format this year, but apparently they got so many complaints from viewers that they changed it up again. Originally, when they first debuted the Top 20, I called Alexis to win this thing. I am really smitten with her - (and Maleece, but her dancing often shows her youth). But since competition began, Alexis has been a little shaky and someone else has really blown my mind on the stage - Jasmine Harper. That woman is a fucking force to be reckoned with. I am repeatedly stunned by her performances and I am changing my prediction to her as the winner. If not her, than Aaron…because heeeeeello and hotdamn! That man has chemistry like I have rarely seen on this show and he can pull of any style and jfc, YES. Plus, isn’t it about time a tap-dancer won this thing? As for the other male dancers - they are all amazing and I love them, but wow do they seem young this season. My reaction to most all the dudes besides Aaron - (to which I offer the aforementioned JFC, YES) - is that I want to give them cookies and rub their little heads. ( In sadder SYTYCD news…Spoiler )

I have also been enjoying this sweet new show on NBC, called ‘Camp’ - not to be confused with ‘Summer Camp’, the reality show on USA. It star Rachel Griffiths, who I love, and is about a family camp where everyone in the family comes; adults, teens, kids. It reminds me of this movie I loved as a kid with Michael J. Fox called ‘Poison Ivy’. Who remembers that movie? It’s sweet and has an odd family dramedy/teen show mix going on. Perfect summer viewing!

So, The BFF and I are sitting in the living room the other day, both working up the energy to get up and do something productive - when I suddenly say, "Oh, by the way, I finished the porn."

The BFF is halfway up to standing when she suddenly pauses and blinks at me. I can't even aptly describe the look on her face. I instantly got what that sounded like and I said, "No, I meant the porn that I was writing - not all the porn in the whole world. Not like I watched all the porn on the internets."

The BFF is still just blinking at me.

"I finished the pwp fic I was working on."

"That's good, because I was about to ask what you planned to do with yourself next."

I just grinned like a loon because it makes me happy that someone just gets me like that.

( Click for PWP writing talk, what I did yesterday and what I thought of Shark Night 3D... )

Now I am feeling kind of crappy though - too much junk food the last couple of days maybe. Ugh. I'm going to attempt another hour on the internet before I give up and crawl into bed for more video games and Firefly (last night was Jaynestown, you guys - my hero of Canton, the man I call Jayne!)