A friend of my husband’s attended Star Wars Celebration VI at Disney World this over the weekend and one of the surprise guests was Dee Bradley Baker who (among many other roles) we all know is the voice of all the Clones on The Clone Wars.  Our friend was kind enough to get us his autograph!

On top of that, this friend made sure to mention that Mr. Giant Robotology and I are naming our son (who is due in September) Rex after Captain Rex and that got us an autographed head shot made out to our little Rex from Rex.

How awesome is that? 

So these are the newest additions to the Church’s collection of Clone Troopers and Clone Trooper swag.  Well… the first three are. The Rexes are old, but it’s not a clone wars post unless Rex is there, right?  

Also, fun fact, if this baby I’m growing/incubating/renting out my uterus to is a boy Mr. Giant Robotology and I unanimously agree that we are going to call him Rex.

Oh Leon, it’s oddly comforting to know that even after 14 years you’re still rocking your 90’s hair cut. 

A Mary-Sue is a character that is an idealized version of the author used as self insertion into the story.  People seem to forget that bold bit there.  Author Self Insertion. 

That’s all.

Seriously.

Stop saying every strong female protagonist is a Mary-Sue just because she is a strong female protagonist.

Stop it. Stop it right now.

If the bold words above do not apply to the character then it is NOT a Mary-Sue.

This concludes our lesson for today.

You remember the Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark books right? Of course you do. But in case you don’t, allow me to jog your memory.                                                                

These were wonderfully eerie tales I’m sure we all read as children.  But, I bet more than the stories themselves— not to say those weren’t great, you remember the eerie artwork that accompanied each story. Well, now brace yourself, the iconic artwork by Stephen Gammell that we have all come to know and love i s nowhere to be found in the 30th anniversary edition. It has been replaced with art by Brett Helquist who is most known for illustrating the Series of Unfortunate Events books.  And while Helquist is talented artist to be sure his work is much different than Gammell’s. Where Gammell is a master of eerie and grotesque, Helquist’s strengths lie in simple detailed scene depiction.  Here, let’s compare.

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              You like that logo? Well you should. My husband and I designed it.

Today I’ll be taking a break from my regular Nerd-blogging to bring you a semi-educational— get back here and sit down! Ahem… Semi-educational post about Chiropractic and Acupuncture.  Alright. Everyone ready? Been to the bathroom? Because I’m not stopping once we get going. What? No there’s no punch and pie.  Who told you there would be punch and pie? SIT DOWN!

Okay. Ahem…. Let’s go ahead and get started. I’m going to walk you through a typical visit to my Chiropractor/Acupuncturist to show you what it’s like. So if you’ve ever considered visiting one perhaps this will help encourage you to make that first appointment.

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I’m sick. I’m sick and because corporate America is a bitch I can’t take sick time tomorrow without losing my holiday pay for Christmas and the New Year (don’t ask. It’s completely ridiculous.) Soooo I am determined to be better by morning and have grabbed a few things to help with that.

Tea for drinking…check. Meds for drugging…check Red Green for falling asleep to…check. And Rex for snuggling…totes check. Operation Feel Better By Tomorrow is a go! Let’s do this thing!

*Not pictured: Wonderful husband who loves me and wants me to get better even though he is in Missouri… Long Distance Check!

Mr. Giant Robotology and I both got ForceFX Lightsabers for Christmas.  Oh yeah, let the shenanigans ensue.

He got the Luke Skywalker saber and I got the Darth Vader. They are both quite nice and are surprisingly durable. The responsiveness of the sound effects is fairly spot on when you swing and make contact with objects.  My only complaint is that on the Darth Vader saber the activation button is smack in the middle and makes is slightly uncomfortable to hold whereas the Luke Skywalker saber has the switch is at the bottom giving you a better grip. 

That is my only complaint. Other than that they are pretty sweet for $30.

I wear my heroes on my shoulders.

On the left I have Zero’s “Z” and on the right I have Jaig Eyes inspired by the ones on Captain Rex’s helmet. In the center are my wings… those were actually a birthday gift and are not related to the other two.

I’ve had my “Z” for over 4 years but recently got it touched up.  I just got my Jaig Eyes last week. Zero’s been my hero since I was 12 (that was 18 years ago) and Rex is definitely an extremely close second.

I have them as reminders that I can go through some tough times (and there have been some pretty dark times in my past) and come out on the other side not just still standing but stronger. And that no matter how tough, scary or hopeless things may get and no matter how much I want to give up, I will always dig in my heels and keep marching on and never give up, give in or lose hope. 

So there ya go. Zero and Rex.  My heroes on my shoulders.

From all of us at The Church of Giant Robotology: MERRY REX-MAS!