I seriously think that I made the most hilarious typing error ever on IM the other day.

Hamgurbers!!!

Gotta love those typos. Now, someone want to hand me a good old grilled hamgurber?

Currently Listening Welcome to Diverse City By Tobymac see related

Life’s Simple Pleasures

No one probably knows, but I have a small notebook. In that notebook I write down all of the simple pleasures that I’ve experienced at some point in my life. I really enjoy simple pleasures. They can appear when you least expect it and you always have to grab and enjoy them when you can or the opportunity could be gone forever. Once you experience a simple pleasure, the memory is there to stay and is something you’ll look back on years from then and will quite possibly be something you’ll tell to your children and grandchildren. Some simple pleasures keep repeating themselves, but then there are those rare ‘jewels’ that can come and go without you realizing it. I often find myself looking for the simple pleasures that life offers, and I’ve found some of them in the most remarkable places. There are a few simple pleasures that I wish I could go back and experience again, but I know I’ll never get the chance, especially now that special loved ones have passed away. But I still have the memories to treasure in my heart.

I think it’s the simple pleasures that remind us just how precious this life of ours can be.

Some of the simple pleasures I’ve experienced:

Eating ice cream

Watching snow fall

Catching lightning bugs on a summer’s night

Being with family at Thanksgiving dinner

Giving someone a gift and watching their face light up

Watching fireworks

Experiencing new sights and things on a trip

Sharing memories with those you love

Looking at the stars

Seeing the moon shine in through your window

Hearing sleet hit your window at night while you’re in bed

The magic of Christmas Eve

Smelling Christmas cookies baking

Watching a thunderstorm

Sharing secrets with a best friend or two

And I could go on and on and on....

Currently Listening Song to the King By Pocket Full of Rocks see related

I heart swampmellows and mellowmarshes

Wow, I’m posting two entries in the same week. *faints* Nothing much has been going on around here as of late, although at the same time it’s been pretty interesting and a bit crazy, I guess. Hard to explain. I’m more and more getting excited about my family’s July vacation. Yippeee!! But it feels strange that July is just around the corner. Already we’re having 80 and 90 degree weather here. We’ve been having it all this week, in fact. I hope that doesn’t mean we’re going to have another hot summer complete with a drought. Ugh! Maybe we won't.

I’ve come to realize that I’ve amassed a ton of inside jokes when it comes to Transformers Animated. Seriously! I don’t think I will ever look at certain things the same way again after watching Transformers Animated! lol!!! Like those little tree shaped car air fresheners, sleeping bags, and swampmellows / mellowmarshes (marshmallows in case you didn’t get that one)!! And if anyone EVER says the words, ‘cha cha cha’ around me, I am seriously going to burst out laughing like there’s no tomorrow.

Great stuff!!! Ya gotta love Optimus Prime and the gang.

No Transformers tees allowed on Planes or Jets???

This has been the big news around my household for the past few days, ever since I found out about it:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1234193.ece

It has GOT to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life. I don’t blame the guy for being shocked over the whole incident. I would have been too, if it had been me. Can we say overly paranoid? I already knew that people are shook up over terrorists and everything, but come on… that is taking it way too far. The character isn't even real and it's on a t-shirt, for crying out loud!!! Yeesh!

The most ironic thing about it is that I just bought a Bumblebee tee, like, the day before I saw that news headline. lol! And, yes, he does have a gun in his hand. Remind me not to wear it if I ever get a chance to go to England. I'd hate to think that Bumblebee got me thrown in jail. Bad Bumblebee!

EDIT: Link works now.

Transform and Roll Out!

I have a new obsession. Yep, again. lol! A few weeks ago, I taped an episode of the newest Transformers cartoon series, ‘Transformers Animated’ (TFA for short) that is currently airing on Cartoon Network. At first, I mainly taped it to see how it is and to see if I wanted to start taping it regularly to add to my cartoon collection. It’s made by the same people who did the Teen Titans series, so I had a feeling it was going to be pretty good. Well, let’s just say that after seeing the first episode I taped, I am completely hooked!!! I haven’t been able to get enough of this series and have been watching and re-watching the episodes I’ve already taped over and over and over. I can’t go a day without watching at least 1 episode. lol! I am convinced that any cartoons these people release are highly addictive. I don’t know what it is about them, but it’s something.

I have to say that I’m really excited about this series. It’s given me a chance to really get to know the older Transformers characters in a new, refreshing way. The only Transformers series I’ve watched in the past have been the Beast Wars and Beast Machines series, of which have a totally different cast of characters in them except for Optimus Prime and Megatron. Watching Transformers Animated, I’ve been introduced to the original characters finally—like Bumblebee, Starscream, Ratchet, Prowl, Jazz, Soundwave, Blitzwing, etc. And that’s really been exciting for me. I can’t believe I haven’t been introduced to these characters before now. True that I saw some of them in the Transformers movie, but it didn’t really give me a chance to ‘get to know them’. The only ones in it that I was familiar with at the time I first saw it were: Prime, Megatron, and Scorponok. And that’s only because I used to watch Beast Wars.

Truthfully, I think I love Transformers Animated a lot more than Beast Wars now. I love the whole story and the part about the Autobots living on present day earth and trying to adjust to our way of life and culture. It makes for really humorous and sometimes cute content. With Beast Wars, there wasn’t that kind of humor since the story of it takes place during ‘prehistoric’ times. There was humor in Beast Wars, but I never got to see a Transformer exploring the wonders of city life. There’s just something about an alien robot learning about our world that is completely priceless.

I know that a lot of fans (mainly those who are die-hard G1 Transformers only) have a lot of issues with this new series. It’s understandable. But I, for one, think it’s a really great cartoon and that the creators did a good job on it. It’s cute, sweet, overly funny, lighthearted and at the same time has a lot of action and suspense that’s common to anything Transformers. I really love the animation style and the re-design of the characters. The voice acting and story writing is outstanding too. All of the characters are really sweet and lovable and seeing them just makes you want to hug them and take them home with you. It has actually got me interested in seeing the original Transformers series, of which I’ve never seen but have wanted to (if only I could afford them on DVD). I think that a lot of fans need to stop bashing Transformers Animated and stop comparing it to the original series and give it a chance. Naturally it’s not going to be the same as the original series, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it for what it is.

My favorite character is Bumblebee. I loved him from the Transformers movie, and I knew he would be my fave in the series too. He is just SO adorable and highly hilarious. He never fails to crack me up in every episode. Seeing him in TFA makes me feel like they cheated us when it comes to him in the Transformers movie. I really hope they do a lot more with him in the next two movies. Personally, I love all of the characters, but Bumblebee has got to be my top fave.

Another thing I really love about Transformers Animated is that the main human character is a little 8-year-old girl. I don’t know why, but I just found that to be a refreshing change. I was a bit surprised that they chose a girl to be the main human because usually with Transformers people have this thing where they think it’s for boys only, so they usually try to make it for boys. Putting a little girl in there changes that concept and way of thinking. And having a little girl as the Autobots' human friend just makes for sweet friendships and wonderful chemistry between the characters, of which you wouldn’t have if the human was male—for example, the sweet friendship that Sari (the little girl) and Bumblebee share. The whole story is like, ‘a little girl and her robot friends’. I just think that’s so wonderful and different from the rest of the Transformers series. Sari can be a bit annoying sometimes, but then again what child isn’t at some point? She’s the typical little hyperactive 8-year-old who thinks everything is fun and play and that it’s totally cool that her best friends are alien robots.

In closing: Transformers Animated has really gotten me back into the Transformers fandom (of which I haven’t been into since the days of Beast Wars, sad to say). And it’s also made me a deeper fan of it. Before, I was always confused about certain things in the storyline, and TFA (as well as the movie) helped to clear some of that up for me. I feel like I have a better connection with the characters than what I had before, and my heart just goes out to them. I’ve come to realize more that these robots aren’t just machines—they’re living creatures or 'robotic life forms'. They have hearts (sparks), they can feel emotions, they can feel physical pain, they can learn and think for themselves, they have individual personalities, they can make choices, they can fall in love and have mates, and (like in Beast Wars) they can even eat food if they choose to. They can laugh, cry, and enjoy life.

I just love the idea of living robots. It stirs the imagination.