Cleo: an Updated Story

If you read my previous blog post about my cat, rest assured things have took a turn for the better. I’ve learned to accept my cat’s personality and work with her instead of scolding her for everything. I put furniture under the windows to help her jump easier to them without scratching up the walls, I got some toys; I try to give her as much attention as I can give.

Here’s a regular day with Cleo:

Wake up, cat is sleeping at my feet, give her a couple kisses and start getting ready for the day with Cleo watching me. Move on to the kitchen and check her food and water, give her a few more kisses and pet her, tell her I love her and I’ll see her later. Leave for work.

After work, when I get home, Cleo greets me at the door and sometimes tries to pull a fast one to get a glorious 2 seconds outside but she never steps further when I say NO. Bring her inside, she purrs and stretches on the doormat to welcome me (sometimes she’s already doing this inside and I open the door on her).

Then we move on to the sofa where she jumps on me and we proceed to have cuddles and kisses and petting and massages until Miss Cleo is bored and jumps off.

During evenings she’ll eat and play, sometimes I take a toy out and we play together. She likes to declaw on her favorite box and then we go to bed; with her curling up at my feet.

We also had a squabble a while back over her drinking habits, I got a water distributor cooler thing and my ridiculously smart cat figured out how it works and was having herself a sip whenever she pleased. Gross. So I went a bit crazy cat lady at Walmart, got a water fountain, auto-feeder, lazer pointer, etc for my spoiled princess.

Now that I’ve started to accept her and work around her quirks, it just works better. To the crazy point that I can have guests over with minimal, if any, panic attacks of aggression from Cleo! Serious stuff, last time my friend was over (she comes over a lot so Cleo knows her) she was actually able to PET the cat, the cat was all rubbing her head on my friend’s legs and purring. :D

I conclude this by mentioning we’re moving in with a cat whisperer in a bit and I am very hopeful it will further help with my cat’s aggression and panic versus others. Cat Whisperer has two cats already, so Cleo won’t be lonely anymore.

Ah yes, I failed to mention, Cleo has had two admirers visit her window since the new neighbors moved in. They keep trying now and then to socialize with Cleo, but they give up after negative reactions from Cleo and me.

Have a bit of AWE to help your day:

Have puurrrfect day! 

BioShock 2 : Technical Help

I've been playing through the BioShock games lately and throughout the second one, I've been plagued with many bugs and crashing.

I've decided to write a blog post so it can maybe help someone else who is in my situation.

The thing with these crashes is they're not caused by your graphics card or any hardware piece, it's really the game. I can't help but wonder why 2K won't patch this up but with Infinite out, I doubt they will.

Crashing on Startup:

When the game crashes instantly after the 2K trailers, you don't even get to the game menu (where Continue, New Game, Options, Credits are), it means there is a corrupted file in the saved files.

The good news is your saved files are fine and you can easily fix it by deleting the corrupted file.

The save files are located here:
C:\Users\%username%\Documents\Bioshock2\SaveGames

1. Paste that in Windows Explorer. 
2. Arrange the files by Date Modified. 
3. The corrupted file will have 0 or 1kB, delete it or them if there's more than one.
4. Don't delete anything else, that's your game progress.

Once that's done, the game will load again. (This crashing can also occur right after the game loads when you click continue but it's most likely to happen when it starts up.)

Saved files cannot load:

This message appears when you're gaming and go to the game menu to save. This is the same fix as the Crashing on Startup. This is when the corrupted file is created, you can save the game (even though it says the files aren't there, they are, and you can save). Close the game, then you can refer to the steps mentioned above and go delete the corrupted files. That message will be gone after.

Numerous and sporadic crashing

The bad news is this is continuous throughout the game, it's sporadic and happens at any given moment. The only fix I have for it is a workaround, you basically save every two minutes or so, it extends the game time you have to play and you won't restart too far after it's crashed.
You're much better off taking a few seconds every few minutes to save the game than playing for a while, crashing and have to redo all your progress.

Please note: the average save file is 1MB, I recommend deleting the extra copies when you're above 10 saved files. I also find I got the "saved files cannot load" message when the saved files were overwhelmed.

Crashing in battle

The bad news for this one is it's continuous as well, it's mostly happened to me when Big Daddies, Big Sisters, and Brute Splicers ram into me. Your character is supposed to get knocked out, pushed, and the screen moves around but instead it crashes the game. There's nothing really you can do about this but try to avoid getting rammed as much as possible, use Mini Turrets, Trap Rivets, Ice Plasmid, etc to avoid getting hit. Saving often in battle helps so you don't have to redo the battle every time they ram you.
It's also happened once or twice when too many splicers jumped me while my Little Sister was gathering ADAM.

Other Fixes:

Now when I started getting crashes I found some other posts and guides on gaming forums like Steam but all the suggestions didn't help me a bit so I don't really recommend them. I suggest using my techniques. You can let me know if you found other fixes but these have worked for me.
This is one of those things where I'm glad I have a technical background. :)

Anyway I hope this helps anyone else out there! I LOVE these games and despaired a lot because I couldn't advance like I wanted to, after I figured out how to work around them, I was able to keep going.

Fionna Cosplay - Adventure Time

Fionna Cosplay

Who is Fionna

Fionna is a character from the show Adventure Time, it airs on Cartoon Network. Fionna is created from within the show by the character Ice King, he loves Finn and Jake so much he makes a gender-bent fan fiction. Fionna is Finn's female counterpart. We rarely see her as she's not actually a real character.

Why Fionna

To say that I love Adventure Time is an understatement, if it wasn't for lack of funds at comiccon, I would be writing this post wearing a Jake Onezie. Nothing cheers me up like an episode of Adventure Time, it's so silly and they make the weirdest and stupidest jokes but behind them it's so DEEP. I love it, it's really innocent and makes me happy. Since I'm a girl, I decided to do Fionna.
I chose to do this with my Tiny Tina cosplay as it was easy, there's a lot less work all around (including putting it on) and it was for my lazy days at comiccon.
I also wore this for the Wiggle Waggle Walkathon, my team and I had a geek theme going and some guy actually recognized me which was pretty sweet since I wasn't at comiccon or something geeky.

Creating the cosplay

 

Head

I made the bunny hat myself, I found this tutorial online and managed to make it without screwing up too much. I did manage to sew the back to the front.. but it's not terrible looking.
For the hair, I just tied my hair up under the hat and let a strand out on the side.

Body

 I found the shirt and skirt at Old Navy, sadly there were no long sleeves but if I'm cold I have a same color of blue hoodie that I wear over. I got the socks at Walmart and those are my own comfy summer shoes (same shoe I wear for Tiny Tina).
As for the backpack, I specifically wanted the backpack with Jake on it, (Fionna is paired up with Cake but I don't like that sassy cat, I prefer Jake) so it was harder to find. I could have made it like the hat, but I didn't want to and I wanted a functional backpack to carry my things around since I wouldn't have pockets. I ended up finding the perfect one from the US shop Hot Topic, it was under 20$, so I added it to my cart and got all the way to shipping to see 35$ of shipping.... Cancel that, cry, try to find another solution. I was all set to pack my car and drive to the US but then luckily, my friend tells me she's heading there herself and to save myself a trip and just call Hot Topic to put one aside for her to grab. WOO! Halleluiah, a week later I had my bag with Jake on it.

Sword

I couldn't have Fionna without a weapon of some kind, she's "Finn", they're warriors of Oo. So, by popular internet decision, I made the pink crystal sword. Literally, from scratch.
Really easy, just some foamboard, paper maché, paint, and voilà!

The result

 

I had a lot of fun being Fionna, a lot of fans loved it and took pictures with me; my sword was an even bigger hit, blew my friends away last Halloween party. I couldn't find all the pictures of me, which is lame but hey I made a kid's day by letting him hold my awesome pink sword so I guess it's okay.

Tiny Tina - Borderlands 2 - Cosplay

Tiny Tina Cosplay

Who is Tiny Tina?

Tiny Tina is a 13 year old explosive expert from the video game Borderlands 2. She is an orphan who lost her mind (sort of) after some psychos killed her parents in front of her. Now she enjoys a vulgar vocabulary, tea parties and crumpets.

Why choose Tiny Tina?

Wanting to stick to Borderlands 2, after Daisy, I figured I needed a better recognizable cosplay, none of the other female characters specially attracted me to them. Especially the sirens who have body tattoos (an annoying thing with cosplay). So although Tina has a lot of clothing and details, it's a bit "easy" since her clothes are ragged and dirty.

Making Tiny Tina

Tiny Tina has a lot going on, she has blonde hair, a mask on her head, half a dress, pants, 2 different socks, 2 fannypacks, a backpack, dynamite, a watch, 2-3 shirts under her dress, half a sleeve... It's a lot.

Head

I don't have short blonde hair, so I needed to buy a wig. (Let me just say, when the wig comes off and my magnificent real, long hair falls back on my shoulders, it looks glorious.) I bought my wig from AliExpress and it got to me under a month which was impressive and at a reasonable price!

Psycho mask:I bought a cheap crafting mask and a pc fan and maché'd it into this:

Body

I found several clothing items that matched color and the design in mind, a white sleeveless shirt, a fat brown apron dress, orange pants, and brown pants, at the thrift shop. I cut up some brown and sewed it at the required areas on the orange pants. I used some bits of orange to sew at the top of the white sleeveless shirt and added the pink (which I got from my cousin, it was a pyjama cardigan) to the top part. I then cut up and reshaped the brown dress and sewed it on the white shirt. I used leftovers to create straps and added a zipper to the back so it's easier to get in and out of it. I'm not entirely satisfied with my sleeveless-sleeves (because Tiny Tina kind of has her shoulders covered) but it'll do for now. I also used the pink leftover to sew a fake apron on the front with a bunny on it. Then I cell shaded everything.

Accessories

Fannypacks and dynamite: I found the perfect butt-pack on eBay, it's the wrong color but it works. Then I got this ridiculous black purse and turned it into a brown front fannypack. The dynamite is all crafted. I didn't make the backpack Tina has, I used my own that has "leather" straps.
Here's a combo pic of the buttpack and the dynamite:

Sadly the dynamite was damaged at comiccon, I can't walk straight and kept smashing it everywhere, so the thing that held it on the 'belt' gave up on me. The "wires" also gave up after a few people bumped into me and I accidentally pierced one of the dynamites with my thumb...

The sleeve: I was happy with but after seeing many other Tiny Tina Cosplays, I realize it's popularly gray, which is lame. And my is too thin, so I'll try adding layers to see how it goes or scrap it and try with some gray. I  used some brown apron bits to sew the stripes and the higher stripes are..DUN..DUN..DUN dog collars. (Kudos to my cousin for this idea.)

Shoes: The black one is my own comfy walking shoe, the brown is my mom's so I didn't cell shade them.

The final product

Here is how I am transformed, if you ignore my goofy expression.
This isn't the most flattering shot, so next we have a selfie!

What sucks is the mask was worn on opposite side of my head that I find most flattering when I smile.. so I have no pictures where you can clearly see it. And I just realized I have no photos of myself that aren't selfies or groups!! We shall rectify this next Con.

Not Another Gay Movie

So I saw a comedic, very gay, movie this weekend. It was a random funny movie like American Pie but it opened my eyes even more about the gay community. I have even less ideas why people are against homosexuality now, there's absolutely nothing different in the sense of it all.

So in the movie, it's a group of friends who all make a pact to lose their virginity before they start college and then obviously they all end up losing it on the same night at a party the night before college starts. The main guy is pretty much Jim in American Pie, there's a Jock, a Nerd and the fourth is the "girly" one, called a "flamer" in the gay community. Then unsurprisingly the nerd is 'hot' behind his glasses and ends up with the jock. The flamer finds someone he likes and Jim ends up with the rejected guys nerd and jock left, to be with each other, in a threesome.

All in all, a funny movie, though the crazy lesbian kind of threw me off cause she was a bit hill billy and gross.. but the story about the four boys was cute and typical. I enjoyed the movie and the cute love story between Nerd and Jock. The all too familiar scenes of "Jim" and his dad was seriously copied from American Pie.

Anyway, corny movie, but the message to me was powerful because it showed me that there is absolutely nothing different between heterosexuality and homosexuality.  It's exactly the same.
People let themselves be bothered by it just because they actually have no idea what it's like. Everyone should watch this movie just so it opens their eyes and they can release their unless hate.

What people do behind their closed doors is their own business, whether they be married, players, hetero, gay, asexual, etc. We're all adults and we should know better, what is the point of hating one another for something like this? We have so many things to worry about in this world that judging each other for who we love should not be an option. If two men love each other and create something beautiful, how is that more wrong than a hetero couple who verbally and physically abuse one another?

Everything we do heterosexually is done homosexually. So can everyone against it get over themselves? You don't get a say into how someone lives their lives just like they don't for your life.

Cleo: the story

Here is my little monster:

The name: it was originally supposed to be Cleopatra (a personal hero of mine), but after many of my family and friends, including the ex, shortening it to Cleo, I decided to stop being ticked off and accept it. Anyway I felt she misrepresented my image of Cleopatra so it felt okay. You can also imagine trying to tame a feral beast by exclaiming so many syllables... whereas Cleo makes it short and sweet to yell out.

Where she came from: So after posting my desire for a pet on facebook, a friend from my hometown messaged me saying her cat had recently brought a litter of fuzzballs into the world and there were two available for the picking. My last cat being of a darker shade, I picked the light gray. I was delighted to see the cute beige spot on her forehead.

The cat: I noticed fairly quick she was a biter and would not stop. At least she only bites when offended or angry (which is 85% of the time we interact) and she hardly uses her claws on me (which I cut regularly anyway).
I posted my concerns on facebook, and my friend who has given her to me found it really cute and funny cause the mom-cat is EXACTLY the same. How adorable to own a vicious, angry pet who hates everyone! I can't have anyone over without Cleo losing her shit cause she's so used to being alone and the outside world is frightening.

I recently started taking the cat out for "walks", which is mainly walking around the doorsteps. This brought on a pre-teen petting my cat without her losing her shit and biting the child!!! (Note: the child had bent and pet the kid before I could stop her.) That kid even had a dog with her (dog knew to stay extremely far away from cat). My brother and his boyfriend even came over one time without Cleo freaking out! She's didn't want to be pet but at least she didn't attack them?..!

As happy and exciting this is developing for her, it has brought on a new side to the cat that I never saw before. Cat's inner wild animal is awakening and she now spends the better part of her time when she's awake just meowing at the door to be let out. (I always bring her out on the leash.) Last time, I took her out twenty minutes and she still spent every hour after that meowing in the door, scratching at the cracks and trying to get back out. 
This is driving me crazy.
I really thought I would be able to turn her into a dog-cat, taking her out for walks but when we go out, she just wants to sniff everything and attack bugs...

Cleo is known by all my friends as the evil cat and no one comes over or likes to come over just cause she attacks them.. Really annoying. She's also been traumatized by the vet, because she wasn't cooperating, he mistreated her and made her literally lose her shit while scaring her. So now I can't bring her for yearly examinations, she's never been examined, only operated and first shots.

I love my cat a lot but because of her attitude I always feel like I'm the one who causes it and that she's not getting the full of her life. I can't imagine being stuck for life with someone as grumpy as we both are. I know she loves me because she purrs when I pick her up or when I come home but I feel like she deserves more than what I have to offer.

I'll eat your soul.

 Paint me like one of your french girls.

Friendships, in person & online

Friendships

As an introvert, making friends is a new thing for me. I used to always have just 1 friend and some acquaintances. That friend would be the world to be and I'd try to do everything social with only that one friend. When I finally escaped high school with my diploma, I went to college and met a whole new world of people. I finally started making different friends, I eventually got A BOYFRIEND!! (Crazy right?) So when I finally graduated with my degree and my job, I had a few circles of friends and my boyfriend.
This was all new to me, I liked talking to everyone, I would open up telling anybody anything because ohmygosh they like me and like talking to me.

Today, after a few years of experiencing friends and social activities, including having to talk and listen, I've realized over the years that you can't just BE social, you have to LEARN to be social. It's hard work to be social and keep people liking you. After a few trial and error friends, some peaked, some burned down, some never happened. I know what friends I like, who deserves my friendship and who just plain annoy me. I never knew that I could actually not like talking to certain people, I thought it was all the same.

Actually that's not even what I wanted to talk about, what I meant to talk about is the difference between in-person friendships and online. There's some friends I LOVE to talk online too, no boundaries, they can't see me, I can say anything. But as soon as I meet up with them, it's like suddenly I'm an open book. Which is a bit crazy because online they can keep valid proof of what I've said.

STORY TIME

In grade 10, people I hardly knew got this guy from another school to add me to MSN and chat me up, get to know me and get my secrets. This guy would then send our conversations to those people and after a major school dance where I spilled the beans about everyone I didn't like and my crush, they modified some of the stuff I said and printed it. They brought it to school and showed a lot of people (these people were popular so they showed A LOT of people).
Needless to say, I'm now worried about spilling secrets online and learned my lesson... sort of.

/ END STORY TIME

And then there's people you get along with in-person, you know the people, the ones that you make eye contact with and you just know that you're compatible, you open your mouths and discover just how compatible. There's some people, it's CRAZY how along you get and everything just makes sense. Then there's the rest of them, the people you get along with just enough and the people who make you wonder and re-question your life and social skills.

Now some of these people, I adore them in-person, I'm in my game, we chat, we socialize, it's perfect; especially in a group of three. Three, by the way, is the perfect group to be when socializing, I completely believe in group of three and enjoy the hell out of it. Anyway, when we part and later meet up again, except ONLINE this time, it's like they've turned into one of those others... the conversation shrivels up and dies when you get past "how are you?" it's sad, it's lame, it's depressing. It completely ruins my social game and I'm unwell until I see them in person again.

Anyway so if I can conclude this mess, I just wanted to vent about great in-person friendships that completely SUCK in online chat or texting. Why is online so different from in-person? Does the person not like me anymore? Makes no sense.