Club High Castle Pre-Pandemic

A grim future awaits us in this flash story of mine. Beware of the $ians, for they may snatch you up! Original photo can be found on wikimedia commons!   2065 Grandpa tells me that I was born ten years too late. I have no memory of what it was like before the world lost its way (though, he says that it had been riding I80 to Stupidville way before 2045). I frown as I gaze at his withered face. It looks serene in the candlelight. I sigh. The power outages have been getting worse. It's been out for three days straight now. When I see his chest rise and fall, I close my eyes and sit down. Good. I wrestled his mask on just in time. I glance over at the window. He likes to call the deep, dark brown hue "the marriage between a hipster and a trashy sepia filter." I have no idea what it means, but I always laugh because he likes my reaction. Sand begins to pelt against it. I rise and close the curtains. I'm sick of sand. It wasn't this bad ten years ago. Re

I had my doubts even though the trailers looked awesome. I refused to let myself get excited, and let me just say that I was blown away by how amazing this movie was! If you are a fan of Star Wars, you've either seen it or are waiting for reviews to come in because you don't want to be disappointed with yet another Hollywood "BAM, BLAM, BLING SEQUEL WITH SHINY THINGS so you better give us your money right now" sort of deal. If you fall into the latter category, go buy yourself some tickets right now. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is an exciting, action-adventure film that holds up to the original Star Wars trilogy. It takes place thirty years after Return of the Jedi . The Empire has fallen, but a sinister group called The First Order rises from the ashes while the Resistance has attempted to rebuild the Republic. TFA picks up the pieces for a seamless transition to its own story. I promised not to post spoilers, but here is a list of my favorite things abou

I'm going to be blunt: I could care less about Black Friday, and "I am thankful for..." posts are about as entertaining as waiting in line at the DMV. Does this make me a bad person? I mean, I am grateful for what I have and all... With all the fear, hype, and false quotes floating around these days about special IDs and compulsory badges, here is a little "what if" writing experiment. I refuse to defend a certain business man gone politician, but he never suggested IDs and badges. Photo of the DMV is credited to coolcaesar at wikipedia commons You are number 54. You watch as the ticker at the DMV flashes 52. Good. Just two more to go, and you can hurry up and get on with your life. You shift the paperwork in your hands as it makes an annoying crinkle sound. 53 You double check that you have everything. In the name of security, the DMV wants everything short of a blood sample. Whatever. You just want to get on with your life and go to that new cafe

I promised myself I'd never post about anything controversial on here, but...It's a cup. I work hard to make sure I've got the necessities and plus a few extras. There are important things in life worthy of getting upset about, and then there are the petty annoyances like customers behaving badly and chilly rainy days deserving of a complaint here and there. I got home the other day to find the Internet in an uproar over the color of a cup. A CUP! Is this what we've become? A nation who whines and loses it's marbles over a cup? For those who are wondering what the heck am I talking about, Starbucks recently released its special holiday cups. Instead of the regular festive designs, they opted for a minimalist approach. Photo courtesy of Starbucks Look at those evil cups. They're up to no good in their plain red dye! The nerve of them. They are the battalion commanders in the War Against Christmas. The ironic thing is that Starbucks still sells i

The nights grow longer as November rears its sleepy head. Both star studded images used in this graphic are amazing photographs by hubble/Nasa Let's say you own a telescope, and one chilly November evening, you are gazing at the night sky. As you shift to adjust your hoodie, you accidentally bump your telescope. It swings slightly downward. Shrugging, you lean forward and peer through it only to discover a celestial wonder previously unknown to humanity. Image credit:  ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt Heart pounding with excitement, you document and record your findings. You can't feel Fall's nippy grip anymore because your blood is pumping with the thrill of this discovery. Your hoodie suddenly feels stuffy, but you don't care. You found a new star! What kind of star is it? Is it a sun to another solar system? Could Vulcan lay just beyond its white glare?  What are you going to name it? Why? How old do you think it is?

In just 7 days we will get to wear costumes in public without being judged for it. Want to be a badass Jedi? Do it. Craving to channel your inner witch, vampire, ghoul, or goblin? Do it. Beam us up, Scotty, because we are ready! What are you going to be for Halloween?  Share your awesome costume ideas on Facebook or Twitter ! The rules have changed at my work. I was told I could wear something as long as I am still in my uniform. You better believe I am going to push this to the limit! ;) I haven't made my final decision yet because, let's face it, pushing the limit takes some serious brainstorming. I'm leaning towards some kind of steampunk cat (cat ears, a tiny top hat, and one of my gothic/western vests). As for my characters, they don't need to follow any rules! From left to right:  Jadelynn Jackson, Elly Reynolds, Major Pierson, and Aaron Winters* Jadelynn: I found these adorable cat ears for only 5 credits! I don't care what everyone

I've watched a lot of NASA and space exploration centric films lately (Apollo 13, Interstellar, and The Martian). Original photo courtesy of Curiosity, the Mars rover  Like every other person who probably saw The Martian, I immediately went to NASA's website (well...I go there every day anyway to check out New Horizons, so this really isn't altering my Internet habits any) and flooded myself with images of Mars and selfie obsessed robots. Photo courtesy of NASA.  Find all the images of Pluto you want here! We live in an exciting era. We are on what I hope is a brink of a new age for humanity. I mean, we sent New Horizons to Pluto, and there is talk of a manned mission to Mars. Right now the possibilities of what we may discover are endless. I just hope we don't mess it up before we can even cross the bridge of a new age...We humans tend to be greedy and warlike. Until we know every last inch of our solar system and have sent a person to every viable

Dráiden's love is missing! He's tried everything to get her back, but it is as if she's vanished into thin air. When she is dragged before him, beaten and bruised, he will stop at nothing to make the elves pay. Little does he know that not everything is as it seems. Part I:  Luthandra Raikin Part II:  Dráiden Kaldor Part III: Elven Tidings Part IV: The Sham Three days. It had been three days since Luthandra had gone missing. Dráiden folded his arms across his chest as he leaned forward in his throne. He had no idea what the master of the Blacksmith’s Guild was meandering on and on about. Her maid, Braynia, claimed innocence and ignorance of the disappearance, but he had her locked up anyway. His groom was interrogating her in the dungeon below at this very moment. I cannot lose the only one who ever treated me with respect. I just...I can’t. He wanted the family that was his birthright. He wanted at least seven children, and he wanted to live to see-- “

What's on your warning label? Are you made of blunt content? Does your warning sign scream creativity? Do you spiral out of control with awesomeness? Warning labels are everywhere. They live on cleaning supplies, construction sites, equipment...you name it. I once spotted a home-made one that said "Warning: Death will Occur!" Well, at least it wasn't in comic sans. Wouldn't it be interesting if we each came with our own warning patch sewn on our sleeves?  You'd immediately know if someone is made of the same brand of awesome as you are. Strange I enjoy science fiction and all most things weird. I cosplay, collect action figures and memorabilia, and am not shy about my interests. Strange new worlds are things I like to theorize about and weave tales through. Glittertastic Cats, memes, and fabulous, oh my! I can't help but enjoy a certain corner of the Internet. Who would have thought that it would evolve into the random entity of hilarity that

I am overdue for a review. I got a little Babylon 5 gem in the mail, so here's the scoop! This is my in-depth look at the Psi Corps replica badge you see floating around places like Ebay and Amazon. You can view Amazon's listing here:  Babylon 5 PSI CORPS Replica Don't be fooled by the crappy product photo. At first glance, it looks like a cheap, plastic replica not worth your time. I'm happy to say that I scoured the Internet for reviews to confirm that the badge is metal (not that cheap Halloween-bend it-break it metal either). Imagine the way my heart sank when I pulled this out of the packaging. I was fully prepared for a broken badge. Phew! A perfect badge. My thoughts: 1. As I said before, it's made of a decent metal and has a good weight to it which makes it feel like a proper badge. Sign me up for the Psi Corps right now! 2. The clasps in the back are just as the descriptions say: military style. 3. The size is perfect. It appears to b

I take my coffee with almond milk or just straight black. What is your morning go-to drink? Jadelynn Jackson has a case of the morning grumps Don't you dare suggest she have a pumpkin spice latte! The public affairs department is forcing us to "human-ify" the RIA...I mean "Oh, look! We're normal just like you guys!" ...Because being in the RIA somehow makes us Extreme!Human. It's not like we wake up just like regular civilians, whine about going to work, and shake off our crankiness by a super powered drink. Here's my top secret morning routine! I imagine a lot of this will be diluted into some sort of bland ritual involving "Oh, I must have my pumpkin spice latte before donning my perfectly pressed uniform! Emperor Be Praised!" Okay, so here it goes. My alarm goes off every morning at five a.m. unless I'm working on a special case or I just pulled an all nighter. You better believe that I slam my fist on that annoying buzz

I'm knitting socks for my 15 cats. What are you doing? Who is my alternate universe self? How many parallel universes are out there? Yes, these are questions that keep me up at night. Maybe I read too much sci-fi, or maybe my imagination is far too active, but...well, who is my alternate self? *Warning!* Humor ahead! ~ All in good fun ~ Alternate Self #1 Senior Airman Me has been stationed at the same, stateside base for 10 years, never deployed. She slips through the cracks and does a mediocre job at best. Her uniform is never ironed, but is never crinkled like a ball of foil. She knows how to touch the line without crossing it. Getting promoted or noticed is not on her priority list. Nope. Her priorities are Legolas, Misty, Bastet, Elrond, Haldir, Princess, Midnight, Thranduil, Tux, Minx, Binx, Pepper, Salt, Katniss, and Spock--her 15 cats.  SrA Me is getting anxious...she has to get promoted soon, else it's a set of civies for her! Uh Oh! Looks like

It also just so happens that I have the day off! I woke up to see that Google had a cute little graphic for me!  I've been extremely busy as of late, but I made time to sneak some fan art in (between editing several different things, work, and adulting). I'm working on a huge project that I'm excited about, but I won't say more until it's in the final stages...Call me paranoid, but I don't like squeeing, jumping up and down, and chatting about a project until it is practically ready (you never know when a serious case of unavoidable, annoying adulting busy-beeness will strike!). A vacation is just over the horizon, and by vacation, I mean I am parking my butt here and writing. It will be nice to have some time off! *Must make it...must make it!* And here's to wishing you a very Triluminary day! Delenn from Babylon 5 as a Disney Princess

My faithful bag companion has a +5 Holding attribute, but a - 15 Fashion detractor, and you're about to see everything! What do you carry? Do you carry a backpack? An awesome satchel of hipster proportions? Or are you a bold soul who carries nothing? If you're brave enough to share, join me on Facebook and make your bag take a selfie at The Command Deck's Facebook Page! Bonus points if you post your bag's stats!  Top to bottom, left to right: Wallet Lock (to secure my bag at work) A notebook A book (I mean...that one is hard :P) A leather bag of change --I needz coffee! Yes, that is an Ipod Classic (5th Generation) --mandatory for my commute! An Umbrella --I told you it had a +5 Holding stat! Hand sanitizer I've never used . Hey, it was free! Lipstick and chapstick. The lipstick is just in case my chapstick gets sucked away into the void (it has happened on occasion). My lips get extremely dry.  I need more pens. I do not hav

Luthandra must flee Westridge! To be sentenced to wed a man with a severe lack of hygiene is to be sentenced to a life of misery! Her elf companion returns and offers a way out, but little does she know that she is walking into a trap. Part I: Luthandra Raikin Part II:  Dráiden Kaldor III. Elven Tidings Wind whipped the pine trees overhead, making their black silhouettes look like seething dragons with outstretched claws. Luthandra struggled to keep from nodding off. She dug her fingers into the handle on the saddle in an effort to force herself to be alert. He had returned. He had come back for her. The mysterious elf from Adaina Pass had rescued her. "I know of an elf lord, my lady," he had said. "I've sent word to my people, and he's agreed to offer his hand! I know I am but a lowly sword-smith, but he...a powerful elf lord with blonde hair. His blade is unmatched! Some say he’s even more skilled than Avanduil." Between the sobs and t