This here is most of my spread. I didn't ask for much this year. Trying to cut down on "stuff" was one thing I actually tried my best to keep to this year. The Norman Bates pop was a surprise, especially since I already have the Black & White one that I got at NYCC. If I knew how many gift cards I was gonna get, I would've asked for a Nintendo eShop card like I always do. Splatoon 2 is a ton of fun, but also kind of frustrating since most of the players had a months-long head start.
The toothpaste was a stocking stuffer, and some kind of omen, I guess. I was running low, but it's not the kind I like but it's Christmas and whatever, I'm using it.
These two were stocking stuffers I bought for myself. I knew that Transformers ornaments have been a thing, I already own a Megatron one, but the Soundwave one is brand new for this year. By the time I discovered this Snow Miser ornament:
It was already gone from most of the stores. Looks like it's off to eBay with me.
BUT I did get this Airplane! ornament when it was half-price. The last one the store had, too. This one was a really inspired choice to make into an ornament. I don't know if it's possible, but I fully expect an ornament of Leslie Nielsen from The Naked Gun poster on shelves next Christmas.
And since I'm 30 and thus old, one of my biggest wishes was for new work clothes, especially shoes. I really needed those new shoes, and I actually surprised myself at how finding a pair didn't want to make me pull my teeth out.
My Reddit Secret Santa this year pulled through big time with this amazing Disney Poster Art book. I absolutely love the old-school attraction posters, and this book has pretty much all of them in here. It was printed a few years ago, so there's nothing for Shanghai Disneyland but all the other Disney parks are well represented here.
My all-time favorite is probably the one for the Enchanted Tiki Room.
You probably don't know the name Paul Hartley, but he was a hell of an artist, and this was one of his best. He's also known for these posters:
My other favorite artist is definitely Bjorn Aronson, who created such iconic posters like these:
Can't beat a style like this, so much so that when you most likely see "old school" attraction posters, they're most likely paying tribute/ripping off Bjorn Aronson. They don't make em like the used to, folks.
Whereas the person I sent gifts to this year never posted what I sent her to the Reddit gifts gallery, so she'll be locked out of future exchanges. She did tell me she got them and loved them, but you don't tease someone like that who hates waiting, especially when they send gifts. Her loss, I suppose.
I went to Wintercon this past month, too. It was kind of a bust since the hall it was hosted in decided to be cut in half so the casino it was in could fit in more slot machines. There were quite a few guests this year, but the only person that interested me was Kathy Najimy. She's been in tons of things like Sister Act and Hocus Pocus, but to me she'll always be Peggy Hill. She was super nice and gracious and as luck would have it, she had a few prints signed by most of the cast of King of The Hill and I couldn't pass that up. The only major names missing are Pamela Adlon (Bobby), Mike Judge (Hank, Boomhauer), and Brittany Murphy (LuAnn. Obviously).
Managed to find Fonzie's autograph too. It was from the same guy who I bought a signed Al Lewis picture from EternalCon back in July.
It was only 30 bucks, I couldn't pass that up. I would LOVE to meet Henry Winkler, and I hear he's the nicest man ever, but for some reason he doesn't come to the New York area that often, so this is close enough for now.
This button was great.
As was this name tag.
A few weeks ago, I found out that I get MeTV, one of the latest channels started to show old TV shows since Nick @ Nite and TVLand started showing stuff from after the 1990s. And among MeTV's Saturday night programming is the old Adam West Batman show, and wouldn't you know it, last night had on a couple of episodes starring Egghead, my favorite villain from the show. Sure, everyone (including me) loves the heavy hitters like The Joker, Catwoman, Riddler, and Penguin, but give me Vincent Price chewing the scenery any day.
The egg puns don't stop and you don't want them too. While Mr. Price rarely ventured away from emphasizing "eggs," some of the puns that factored into the plot were utterly genius with how convoluted they were. This was one of the cheesiest and goofiest shows ever made, but there was a kind of cleverness with went into every page of the script. The Caped Crusaders knew something was off when Egghead hid in a caviar factory instead of a chicken egg one. Again, they don't make them like they used to.
This little beauty came from earlier tonight. It's kind of a tradition for my parents and I to go out for Chinese food on New Years Eve, and this year my mother decided to get pineapple chicken. It came served in this hollowed-out pineapple and none of us could believe it. I don't really take pictures of my food, but stuff like this you have to make an exception for. I'm not that big of a fan of pineapple, but it wasn't that bad.
Around June I downloaded an app to play my favorite travel game: The license plate game, where I check off license plates from different states that I've seen. Since I downloaded that app, I've seen 44 states and 4 Canadian provinces (including Alberta!). The only six states I'm missing? Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming, Oregon, Idaho, and New Mexico. Yeah, I somehow managed to see Alaska twice, plus Hawaii, all without leaving Long Island. And I hadn't seen either of those plates in years, to boot. Hopefully 2018 lets me see the other six states, but I know Wyoming is gonna be the tough one.
What can I say about The Last Jedi that everyone hadn't already said about it? I personally loved it, precisely because it subverted expectations at every corner. It's what a good story should do, keep you guessing, and it started zagging right at the opening crawl and didn't stop until the credits rolled. Of course, this made lots of Star Wars fans VERY butthurt to levels I hadn't seen since Phantom Menace, and this was actually a good movie! People have their own opinions, and I can see how people wouldn't like it and there are legitimate gripes about it, but I enjoyed it and I honestly I have no idea what's going to happen in Episode IX. I consider that a good thing. Surprise is an element that's not very common in Star Wars movies, and this one was full of surprises.
Pictured above is one of the MVPs of the movie, this walrus cow thing Luke gets milk from. He missed his blue milk from Tatooine, and I was honestly excited to see that come back here. Hell, I loved all the new characters, especially Rose, who was great. The only complaint I have is that there were several places they could've put Lando Calrissian, and they didn't do it. I would've been fine with a poster of Lando shilling for Space Colt .45, anything. I just hope they're saving him for the next one.
Much like the Twelfth Doctor finally regenerating (which utterly wrecked me, by the way), I see 2018 as a sign of renewal. I accomplished a lot this year, like being more open with myself, getting myself out more, and even driving out to Six Flags by myself. But I want to improve myself even more! Some goals I have for 2018:
-Be more used to being social and being part of a group. I tend to isolate myself, and I think that's part of my nature, but I still think it's totally weird. I want to improve that.
-Be more outgoing.
-Be more open, especially with telling people about stuff I want to do.
-Write more. I mean, REALLY write more.
-Travel more. Maybe drive somewhere farther than central New Jersey. Maybe Pennsylvania? Upstate New York? Atlantic City? Foxwoods in Connecticut?
-Learn to cook. And I mean not just microwaving stuff, I mean cook so I can fend for myself when I finally live on my own. Start with the basics first, then move up. Yeah, I kinda suck.
-Cut down on Stuff. I did some major cleaning out of my closets and my bookshelves this year, but now I still need to clean out my basement, and maybe get rid of a bunch of Funko Pops I don't want any more.
I hope you all have a safe and happy new year, and I'll see you in 2018!
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