Alien Hunters by Daniel Arenson

Alien Hunters by Daniel Arenson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh Captain, my captain

What a riot this book turned out to be. Much more fun than I expected. And yes, very much a nod to various fandoms, particularly Firefly - there are plenty of easter eggs to satisfy the most ardent fan, without letting the nods take over the story.

Quirky, weird crew, reminiscent of Firefly and the Wayfarer? Check. The Dragon Huntress is certainly a home, like Serenity, with nods to the best ship in the 'verse in her design. And let's not forget the sky references to LotR, Princess Bride, Star Trek, and others.

Riff can be a bit annoying, but thankfully the story isn't always told from his point of view. Yes, it's more a novella than a novel, but entertaining despite its length.

Is it going to win awards? No. Is it going to choke you up, make you worry about the crew, entertain you with quips and space battles and David vs Goliath scenes, make you chuckle and grin? Indeed.

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Spread the word

My tattoos made it into a national newspaper - today's City Press. Just a tiny piece, but aimed at breaking down the #tattoo taboo. #inkundermyskin #southafricaink
Posted by Sue-Ann Cooper on Sunday, 6 September 2015

Sci-fi/fantasy Pi Day rainbow celebration with tanks!

Want to know about our amazing, stupendous, super-awesome wedding? So do I!

Was there a theme to your wedding? What was the general gist?We love sci-fi, so it was a no-brainer for us to make that the theme of our wedding. And because we love Pi, too, the date of official Pi Day (3.14.15) was serendipitous!

We asked our guests to dress in sci-fi/fantasy/steampunk/comic gear, and prepare themselves for something not quite run-of-the-mill. It worked out just as we envisaged - about half our guests came in costume, including Kratos, God of War, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Alice and the Mad Hatter.

Stargate, Firefly and Robotech played a huge role in all our designs and planning and informed the type of venues we chose. We’re also weapon lovers, so right from the start we knew we wanted to have the ceremony and photographs at the SA Museum of Military History, surrounded by tanks and big guns.

We used rainbow colours to signify our belief in marriage equality, and my sister and parents, who flew up from Cape Town, made rainbow ribbon wands and table runners.

Michael's favourite sci-fi is Babylon 5, so we had Sin Bin make him an Army of Light uniform. I wanted a corset to show off my tattoos, and had always wanted one from Arwen Garmentry. She made me an orange halter-neck with a Serenity spaceship hand-painted in gold, while Sin Bin also made my (brown) skirts (out of curtain material), along with my utility belt - I wanted to be a Browncoat somehow!We also designed our own rings - mine is Stargate and his is Robotech - so we started the sci-fi way before the wedding!Unfortunately we couldn’t get married in front of the mighty G6, but we still had tanks and guns surrounding us. We’d decided that we wanted someone we knew and loved to be our officiant, so to overcome the legalities we had a civil ceremony in the morning (which worked out perfectly as we were officially married at 9:26:53 like Pi Day bosses!). My ex-husband was our henchman and his wife had herself ordained as a Jedi Knight to perform our “real” ceremony. She brought a light-saber in lieu of a wand to perform an Unbreakable Vow!We made sure to do our our photos before the ceremony, which allowed us to greet guests as they arrived, calming our nerves and giving the sensation of a wave of joy as we entered, instead of the nerves a sea of faces would have created.

We had our henchparty walk in to the theme music from Angel, and then we walked in together to the Stargate SG-1 theme and walked out to Robotech.

As we are atheists and were adamant that we wanted no religion, we wrote our entire ceremony and vows, incorporating Klingon vows, the tale of how we met, and as many sci-fi and fantasy references as we could manage! Because Michael was afraid he'd break down if he read his own vows, we had Lauren read them out so that we responded individually or together. A big part of the vows was about how we were making our own family, like the characters on our favourite sci-fi fandoms. 

We got a laugh from the crowd when Michael started off by promising to stick around so he could see how my tattoos looked as I aged, and I promised to help him in his plans of world domination. 

Initially we were going to do a volcano unity ceremony, but in the end we settled for kitchen science and mixed clear vinegar water with purple red cabbage water, which mixed to form a bright red.

Instead of a first kiss, we fist-bumped, which is much more our style!

If you had a reception, what was it like?We held our reception at a sports bar, because the Military Museum wouldn’t allow us to play music after hours (since they’re right next to the zoo). Our wedding planner, my sister and my best friend went all out setting up and making sure everything was perfect - to be honest we had only the vaguest idea of how everything would look so it was a pleasant surprise to walk in to a beautiful set-up that evening.  

My mom and aunt sewed the table runners - my sister bought the fabric in Cape Town based on my requirements of rainbow colours and “something spacey”; I didn’t even see it before it arrived. We originally planned on having 3D-printed spaceships at each table - as the tables were named after our favourite fandoms - but the printer broke down exactly four weeks to the day and we had to scramble for something else. In the end, Michael suggested that we set up photo frames, so the last week was spent printing A4 images and having frames cut from wood, adding glass, and spray-painting them black. We decided to let people take those home and added a photo booth so they could also take home pics of themselves and have a second strip to put into the guest book.As it was Pi Day, it made sense to have pies as part of the meal. Since I'm allergic to wheat, we had wheat-free pies made from coconut flour with our favourite fruit and chocolate fillings, and Pi cutouts. We had a spitbraai (BBQ) for the main meal, and the caterer even provided for our vegan guests and made sure everything was Halaal so our Muslim friends could enjoy it too. 

Oh, and you know how food is often the most talked-about aspect of a wedding, and people complain about how they had to wait too long? Because we did our photos early, no one had to wait, we ate at a reasonable hour, and we provided takeaway boxes for everyone to help us finish off the food, since we abhor waste.

We walked in to the metal version of the Pacific Rim theme, and had nerdy music playing during dinner, while we provided sci-fi movies for the TV screens at the venue.

My sister read Scientific Romance by Tim Pratt as her speech, and I did the only other speech, as we wanted to keep these to a minimum. Our first dance was to the theme song from Firefly, and then everyone came together on the dance floor, where our mothers danced their hearts out!

We had a photo booth with lots of sci-fi and fantasy props, and our guests got to stick the photo strips in our guest book (which Lauren had made by hand) and take home a set for fridge magnets.

What was the most important lesson you learned?
Things happen when least expected, and it's easier to just accept it and move along. At the same time, when you make plans, try to envisage all possibilities and eventualities. We made lists of the type of photos we liked, and passed these on to our photographers. But in the excitement of doing our photos, we completely forgot to have our henchparty with us, so we don’t have any decent pics of them in our professional shots. It also took months to get our venue(s) - we'd wanted to do everything at the Military Museum, but they wouldn't let us play music at the reception, so we had to find an alternative.

Our wedding planner was worth her weight in gold on the day of the wedding. There is no way we would have been able to set up while having a civil ceremony and getting ready before rushing through for photos.

The main thing I found was to trust the people who'd offered to help - they were outstanding. We couldn't have achieved what we did without them.

It was also important to have Michael help me in the planning. I mistakenly said in my speech that it was his idea to do the sci-fi, but it was actually mine, and his support and encouragement made it possible and helped us craft a wedding that was true to us and what we love.

Photographer: Perfect Photographic  http://www.perfectps.co.za/
Corset: Arwen Garmentry https://www.facebook.com/ArwenGarmentry
Skirts, utility belt and Army of Light uniform: Sin Bin http://www.sin-bin.co.za/
Rings: Chris Winspear Jewellery http://www.chriswinspear.co.za/
Wedding planner: Stacy of A Bowtique Touch http://www.abowtiquetouch.co.za/
Pies: Thirteen13 Events https://www.facebook.com/thirteen13events
Caterer: Spitbraai Masters www.spitbraaimasters.co.za
Venue (ceremony): South African Museum of Military History http://www.ditsong.org.za/militaryhistory.htm
Venue (reception): Pirates Sports Club http://piratesclub.co.za/
Photo Booth: Funky Photo Booth www.funkyphotobooth.co.za
Music: Cream Cheese Professional Discos http://www.creamcheese.co.za

Check out the pics and ceremony wording at our wedsite, www.wormholewedding.com!

Black Swan Collected Tales, Books 1-6 by Victoria Danann

Black Swan Collected Tales, Books 1-6 by Victoria Danann

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was a fun series of books, with protagonists whose characters developed over the course of the series, humor, action, angst and much more. The first book took a little while to draw me in - not because of the pacing, which was excellent, but because it was much more of a typical paranormal romance than the rest of the stories. Once that was overcome, the rest moved at the same cracking pace, except for the last, which I found a bit lacking in comparison - perhaps because Aelsong and Duffy weren't as involved in their own tale as the rest of the characters.

On the whole, I enjoyed the world into which Elora was thrust, and the relationships between the Black Swan B Team, their significant others, and the rest of the Knights. Not to mention the vampire, Blackie the dog, the wolves, the elves and the fae. Certainly Elora started out as somewhat of a Mary Sue, being virtually perfect, but it never went overboard and she eventually made a few decisions that showed she wasn't all that perfect, which helped me warm up to her. Also, she never took guff from the men around her and she didn't allow herself to be treated like someone requiring protection. None of the women did, with the possible exception of Katrina and Heaven, who were, after all, merely human. Still, no one was a simpering, helpless female, which made me like them all the more.

The relationships between the characters were dynamic and evolved throughout the series, and really drew me into the story. I felt close to them and their friendships, troubles and triumphs. I wish there could have been more of Kay, but perhaps his relationship with a typical human woman wasn't all that interesting, although what we saw of his family was funny and fun at the same time.

All in all, highly recommended if you enjoy thoroughly immersing yourself in characterisation and relationships with lots of action thrown in along the way.



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A Lady of Resources by Shelley Adina

 

A Lady of Resources by Shelley Adina
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book felt a lot more young adult than the previous four in the series - in fact, previously I was hard-pressed to remember that Claire was only 17 for much of the tale, given that she was in charge of a little flock that looked to her as an adult. This book, however, kept reminding me of Lizzie's youth, and not as favourably as I'd viewed Claire's, either. It's still a fun read, but Lizzie was a bit annoying with her petulance and blindness. At least it gave the opportunity for Claire to come riding in as the Lady of Devices, here to the rescue once again! Just a pity there was no Rosie to add a touch of humour to the flock.

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Her Own Devices by Shelley Adina

 

Her Own Devices by Shelley Adina
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This second installment in the Magnificent Devices series is even better than the first. Claire's adventures take her on a rollicking ride in her landau, airships and trains. Still fascinated by engines, electricks and myriad other devices, she's plunged from one situation into another accompanied by her little band of plucky kids whom she's turning into a family. And let's not forget Rosie the hen!

I could hardly put this down and found myself dipping in at every available opportunity. What fun! I will definitely be returning to this world when I need my spirits lifted, for even in the worst of moments, when I was seething with rage on Claire's behalf, I was still enamoured of this strange little flock and was cheering on their behalf.

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Magnificent Devices by Shelley Adina

 

Magnificent Devices by Shelley Adina
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

By now I'm so thoroughly enmeshed in the steampunk world of Lady Claire Trevelyan and her young charges, that I am engrossed in the fates of all of them, and uncaring that sometimes Claire is not the direct protagonist at all times. It's quite refreshing, actually, to read aboutthe others in her little flock.

The adventure just keeps coming, and keeps my heart racing faster. I'm annoyed when things go wrong, or perhaps not so smoothly, and I'm fascinated by these magnificent devices that fill her world.

Now that the story has moved from England to the Wild West, it's even more exciting - even though there aren't any horses to be seen...

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Brilliant Devices by Shelley Adina

 

Brilliant Devices by Shelley Adina
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Who would have thought that an action-filled young adult tale could delve into politics and racism, too? Sure, it's all fictional, but with just enough of real-world names and places thrown in to give a dash of authenticity. Yes, the action is still what this tale's about, although there's a bit more romance and angst in this latest installment. Still, it's not annoying, and it's really only happening to further the story. I can't wait to read Alice's story later - as I'm sure there will be a continuation of her tale somewhere in the series.

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Nightworld by Maureen Noel

Nightworld by Maureen Noel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


An excellently-written book, delving into aspects of time travel without attempting to answer the intricacies of such a difficult subject. I didn't feel invested in Sapphire, initially - much more in Safire and her world. Then, suddenly, both were extremely important. And, what was more pressing - the fear that one or the other would fall asleep at a crucial moment. It became quite nail-biting toward the end! I especially enjoyed the battle scenes and the focus on what was really important to the character at the time. A good concept, well executed.



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Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina

 

Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this engaging romp through a steampunk London. It started out a little slowly, what with the hints at romance, but quickly turned into a rip-roaring adventure tale that had me on the edge of my seat.

Claire was a bit of a wimp in the beginning - certainly whenever she dealt with her mother - but I appreciated her annoyance at the way the world perceives females in general and young ladies in particular - not to mention the way she sought to undermine those perceptions.

My favourite part of this book? The writing. Someone who understands the difference between "rein" and "reign"! It might seem small, but the excellence of the writing throughout showed that an editor has been at work, and doubled my enjoyment.

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Prometheus - a first look

I won tickets (via Popular mechanics) to watch the Prometheus in 3D. Exciting! So off we went last night, to The Zone at Rosebank (getting lost in The Mall along the way). Just as an aside - friendly people, but not particularly adept at running an event - lots of frantic scurrying around at the last minute when we asked about the free popcorn and Coke (by which time half the people had already gone and bought their own snacks).

I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, so I'm going to try spoiler tags. Just in case they don't work, beware: SPOILERS! Seriously, this entire list is basically one long spoiler fest. You have been warned.

It's a visual feast, breathtaking in scope and with a myriad special effects that blow the mind. Ultimately, though, i think it could well be appreciated in 2D without the annoyance of 3D glasses - eventually I simply stopped seeing the 3D and everything went flat. I'd have taken off the glasses if the screen wasn't blurred.

Mouse over the next few paragraphs, as I've written them in white to avoid spoilers.

So here are my questions, having had time to think about it, and also the parts I enjoyed:

1. I still don't understand why the Engineer at the beginning of the film killed himself, to essentially create life (or that's how we were supposed to see it, which was confusing because the DNA was degrading so how did it make us?). Not to mention why the ship in the beginning was so vastly different from the half-moon Engineer ships.

2. Okay, LV-224. No, I still don't think it was meant to be LV-426. It looks like a very different planet, and as I've said before, if that were the planet where Nostromo landed, there would still be human remains, parts of Prometheus, etc - so I really don't think this is meant to be the Alien prequel (and Ridley Scott has said it's not meant to be, either). It's just not feasible, when looking at the evidence, that this could possibly be LV-426 or the planet where the Xenomorphs originated.

3. I was a bit concerned about all the awesome technology they have on this ship. If this is set years before Ripley and the Space Jockey, then why would Nostromo, Sulaco and the other ships be so far behind in technology when they would have come years later and benefitted from all that superior technology? Like the surgical unit - they could have used that to remove the xenobaby from Kane instead of rudimentary human surgical techniques.

4. Speaking of the surgical bay, that was awesome. Damn, I was impressed by that scene! It was amazing. On the downside, what the hell? She somehow gets away from the other two doctors, makes it down the corridors while stopping every few metres in agony (and they can't catch up to her?), no ship-wide broadcast to tell people to watch out for her, gets into Vickers' personal quarters unopposed, uses the machine (still a great scene), then gets out and wanders around the ship half-naked and bloody, and no one says a damn thing about her condition when she runs into Weyland and David? And she doesn't feel the need to tell them what she took out of herself? And they're all okay with travelling back into the Engineer ship without ever discussing what the hell happened to her and why she looks like shit and keeps clutching at herself? Really?

5. I thought David was fantastic. Just freaking fabulous. Michael Fassbender rocks my world. He's a great actor. BUT, if he was some advanced form of android, then what the hell did they end up with when they got basic androids Kane and Bishop? Surely these should have been more advanced?

6. Also, Weyland says David is his only son. Vickers is his daughter. So what the hell? How did Weyland-Yutani get started? Or did some other offshoot of the family take over and build it into the Corporation? (On a sidenote: Bishop was created by Charles Bishop, who shows up in Alien 3. But in AvP, set years before Alien, there's a Charles Bishop Weyland. What, did the family tree diverge?)

7. I'm still confused as to the pile of dead Engineers. If they died due to the disease, okay. But they were chest-bursted. So where the hell are the things that came out of their chests?

8. The Engineers needed their space suits to walk around on LV-224, apparently. They could breathe in Earth's atmosphere - which is why the inside of their ship had breathable air - but needed suits elsewhere. So how in the hell did that Engineer make it from the alien ship to the crashed shuttle without his helmet? Could he just hold his breath that long?

9. The running. Always in a straight line under the massive fucking ship that's rolling down to crush them. WHAT THE FUCK. I thought these were super-smart people. RUN TO THE SIDE, MORON! Gah!

10. The xeonomorph at the end is not the Alien we have come to know and fear. Its face and teeth are too human, for one thing, and its skull is pointed and very different from the dome shape. Yet another reason I don't think this is the proper Alien prequel; that's not where the xenomorphs come from, at least not the ones that Ripley et al encounter. Also, Ridley Scott has said his prequel will have two parts, so chances are somewhere in there will be those two who blasted off in the other Engineer ship. It's entirely possible that one of the ships carrying the bio-agent had a spot of bother, ended up with a form of xenomorph roaming the ship, and crash-landed on LV-426, providing the weirdness of the Space Jockey being completely out of place.

11. What the hell happened to the biologist's body? (Which, hello, STUPID MAN, what the hell kind of biologist is he to try and pet an obviously aggressive alien creature? NUMBNUTS! He deserved what he got.) There was zombie-geologist, which was completely out of place and made no sense - just there for shooting and explosions and shit; but he wasn't infected, just killed. But biologist-dude was impregnated. So where is his body, and where's his alien? Ooh, SUSPENSE.



I loved, loved the Prometheus; one of the sexiest ships I've seen in a while (it's the space-pod engines; I think they remind me of Serenity. Serenity's big brother!). The cinematography was incredible, the world-building was amazing, I enjoyed the acting for the most part, and I liked the special effects. Still, there is something missing; I'm not completely satisfied. But I'd watch it again, and probably buy it for my collection.

Demon Possession (Shadow Quest, #1) by Kiersten Fay

Demon Possession by Kiersten Fay

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A sweet little story (if sweet can be appended to a book in which several protagonists are demons). I enjoyed the banter between the characters; it's obvious that some of the main characters will be getting their own spin-offs in the future.

Although the writing needed some serious editing (knowing how to spell words doesn't mean they're being used in the correct context - e.g. 'culminate' instead of 'ruminate'), the story sped along quite nicely.

Initially i thought Analia/Anya was just a little wimp and I was prepared to sigh at the thought of yet another Barbara Cartland-style heroine. However, she turned into quite the little kick-ass fighter. Could have done without the angst, but I suppose it was necessary to the development of the characters. The sex scenes were also quite sweet (there's that word again!), albeit hot.

My favourite aspect of this book was the little world Kiersten Fay created. Being on the ship felt like a larger version of Serenity, and the variety of aliens on board was quite satisfying (although all of them were humanoid). There was a sense of security and family, which I really enjoyed.

Looking forward to reading the next in the series.



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Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Still not sure what I ultimately thought about this book ... I enjoyed it, but at the same time, wish I hadn't read it. I didn't want what happened to have happened, for Katniss to have been an unwitting pawn so many times to so many people, even those she trusted with her life. I didn't want the ending to have been that way, although I can see how and why it was necessary for the unfolding of secrets to have come to fruition. What she went through was unconscionable, what Peeta suffered was horrific, and frankly, I don't get the almost hysterical love some people have for Gale - I wanted to smack him so many times.

Still, despite what sounds like a negative review, I couldn't stop reading it. I needed to find out what happened, as I was so invested in these characters by now. Buttercup the cat made me choke up, that's how involved I became in their lives. And that's despite the first-person method Collins employs. I really wanted everything to work out well for them all.

But don't expect that this book will end with happily-ever-after tales; that's not how Panem works.



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Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I enjoyed this one far more than The Hunger Games, likely because there was far more motivation for Katniss do carry on as she has been doing. We gain more insight into why she doesn't want to get married and have a family, which works powerfully throughout as influencing her reason for wanting to keep Peeta alive.

As Katniss explained more fully her reasoning and motivations, I was drawn closer to her. I felt a kinship with her in her declarations of tomboyishness, lack of interest in 'girlish' pursuits and her avoidance of people.

Suzanne Collins does well in creating an underlying sense of dread throughout the book, particularly in the scenes where one would expect Katniss to feel somewhat more secure. Simple, effective writing.



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The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


While I didn't fall all over myself for this book the way I expected, I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. Suzanne Collins' writing is solid but not stolid, engaging and drawing one into the story and working well at making one care about the characters.

I must admit I wasn't a huge fan of Katniss in the beginning, as she felt quite abrasive and, yes, selfish - as she admitted even to herself. I think that's when I started warming up to her.

I thoroughly enjoyed all the action throughout the book - it's wonderful to have a female protagonist who really doesn't want to be involved in a relationship - or even think about one - as opposed to someone wanting to ensnare the boy right from the get-go.

Collins' descriptions are sparse but she managed to build a whole, believable world for her characters that drew me in and captured my imagination.



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Bring the pain part 2: Serenity matters

Serenity gets her hyperdrive

Time to have Serenity completed, ahead of the photoshoot MadCat and I will be having in April (from the voucher we won via Bellydiva's dancer performance). Ryan insisted that the ship had to be completed before then, and I couldn't have agreed more. Serenity's really the most important part of this piece - if I have nothing else, I'll have her.

But oh my word, the agony. I couldn't make it to three hours this time; I barely withstood an hour and a half of inking time. Every touch of the needle was a burning fiery hell. I moaned and whimpered and swore and groaned my way through this session; thank goodness for loud punk rock!

Flames on the hyperdrive

Somehow I managed to read most of my JD Robb book - thank goodness she's so distracting - but I had to close the book by the last half hour. In fact, I actually bent it almost in half - and it's a hardcover. MadCat tried to find things for me to bite down on; in the end I ripped the covers off his notebook and clamped that between my jaws, dug holes in my arms and bruised my elbow and knees clinging to the stool.

I don't know why it was so painful this time - maybe because it's right over the muscle. That really doesn't bode well for the Stargate, which is on the opposite shoulder. Ryan eventually moved to the 'open' side of Serenity, where he hadn't been working before, and it was like hot needles pushed under nails. Good lord.

Hyperdrive engaged

Well, it's supposed to be no pain, no gain, but I don't know if I can do this on a regular basis. Maybe I should just tell Ryan we'll do more frequent short sessions than more widely-spaced longer ones. Because I honestly can't go through that for an extended period of time.

Still, take a look at the final product -w ell, not completely final, the shading of the galaxy is nowhere near complete - and see what kind of magnificence he hath wrought. Apparently he was nervous as hell the first time, before I arrived. Honestly, he's outdone himself. Kelektra was so impressed she wants to fly him over to Canada!

It's brilliant. It's beautiful. It's worth all the agony.

Bring the pain part 1: Serenity

We finally, FINALLY got started on my sci-fi back piece yesterday.

Golden Tiki Tattoo Parlour has moved from its original spot in Linden to Greenside - opposite the iconic Odd Café. We'd already had breakfast to prepare me for the coming ordeal, but we didn't realise Odd Café was so close, so we went to Doppio Zero instead. Next time ... which should be in two weeks.

Fortunately, I'd already printed out the full piece in colour, on A3. Ryan Busta Bolton (or Boltoon, depending on his preference) is my artist, and owner of Golden Tiki. His normal style is quite cartoony (hence his preferred nickname) but his colour skills are phenomenal. And I'd seen some of his realism pieces before, so I knew he was good. I just didn't realise how good.

Serenity is flying in from my left shoulder, pointing towards the centre of my back, with the bridge just to the right of my spine and the crew area and part of the port engine crossing the spin. Tthe SG-1 Stargate looms in on my right shoulder. We didn't get to that part as we ran out of time, unfortunately. 

First, though, let me talk about the pain. It was completely unlike my first tattoo, which I'd expected to be more painful as it was over the bone. Well, Ryan started on my spine area and I wanted to scream within the first five minutes. It felt like torture, dragging on forever but, in reality, was probably only an hour.

He completed Serenity's bridge within about 20 minutes, then moved on to the crew area and the port engine, at about 20 minutes per section. I'd expected that he would first do the outline and then colour in, but as Serenity is a modular ship, it was easier for him to do the colouring at the same time - pain I wasn't expecting. I had to stop myself from screaming several times and I'm afraid I was a real wimp. But no one thought that of me, except me. In fact, people were quite impressed that I did my best to joke throughout the session, which ended up lasting about three hours, excluding a total of 20 minutes in breaks.

By the last half an hour, when he was working on the living quarters, I was starting to jiggle and move around, on the verge of crying. It felt like now he was hitting nerves (yes, I know the back is full of nerves, I guess I should have expected the pain given that the back is so sensitive to the lightest touch). He got to the section where the muscles generally knot up from stress and I don't know how I didn't leap up from my chair and start beating him about the head. That was around the time he figured we should rather call it quits, as he'd finished most of the ship except for the hyper drive.

I'd managed to spend most of the intervening time either reading on my phone, talking to MadCat or engaging Ryan in conversation, or even talking to the people who kept coming over to check out what he was doing (did I mention that this was the first real starship that's been done in the parlour?) and comment on its awesomeness. I don't know if that was due to the concept or his phenomenal work, although I'm leaning mostly towards the latter, with a bit of the former thrown in.

And boy did he outdo himself on the colour. She looks battered, beaten, but proud. A home, a ship with a life, a real work of art. She's bronzed and glowing and glorious. She's my Serenity. I still get goosebumps at the thought, and I can't stop grinning. She's freaking fantastic, and she's not even finished.

Next session is in two weeks' time. He finishes the hyperdrive and may start on the SG-1 Stargate - which we've decided can actually be a lot bigger, because there's so much space available on my right shoulder.

One of the things we discussed was how much more likely I am to start exposing my skin now that I'm having my back tattooed. I'm always covering up because I hate the way my back looks - my hereditary bad skin, which both my dad and Mama Jo have and had. As Ryan said, what many people don't understand about tattoos is that they make people more comfortable in their own skin. It's a side effect I'm planning to embrace. 

I'm terrified of the coming pain, but in the end? It'll be totally worth it.

Getting there

Had my first meeting of 2012 with my tattoo artist, Ryan 'Busta' Bolton at Golden Tiki in Linden. Contrary to what I expected, he isn't creating a specific image from which to work. Rather, he printed out the images I'd sent that he thought conveyed the best sense of motion for each ship,  then suggested a completely different layout for my Stargates (essentially, we will be focusing on only a quarter of each gate, to allow for greater detail in terms of the chevrons on each, rather than a whole, but small, gate with little to no detail).

The gates will now be positioned at the top right and bottom left of my back, with the other ships creating a sort of S between them. And I'm taking out the Whitestar, which was only in there for MadCat's benefit, since I've never watched Babylon 5 in my life - not even one episode.

My first session will be on 11 February ... another month to wait, but hot diggitty damn! I finally have a sense of expectation and not merely longing!

Busta says he'll be doing the full linework first, and then colouring in as we go along ... not quite what I was expecting, as I didn't think it would be possible to do the full outline in one session, but he seems to think it can be done so yay!

I'm actually thinking - now that I know which pics he wants to use - that I can create the image myself via Photoshop. Wonder if it'll work ...

MadCat also spoke to him about his UN-Spacey symbol, and I think it's going to look awesome!

Eeee, now I REALLY have something to be excited about - it's coming! FINALLY!

Dr Who?

A month or so ago we got an HD PVR, because I hardly ever watch TV and MadCat was missing all his shows (mainly on Discovery). The advantage of the PVR is that you can set it to record all sorts of shows and catch up when you have time.

I'd been reading about Dr Who and Torchwood, and thought i should add them to my list. Initially, I started out with Torchwood, and boy, am I glad I did! Captain Jack Harkness is a super-hottie, and cute to boot. It helped that the very first episode of Torchwood that I watched included Spike, and a rather steamy kiss between him and Captain Jack. "Oh, it's that kind of show!" I thought, as I settled in more comfortably.

Seems Captain Jack is what's known as omni-sexual - yep, he'll take on man, woman or alien (as long as said alien is humanoid), as I've been seeing through most of the episodes. Currently he's involved in a relationship with one of his team members, Ianto - don't you know you should never get involved with someone at work, Jack?

After about six eps of Torchwood, I thought it time to start watch Dr Who and see what the fuss is all about. Luckily for me, the PVR had recorded three episodes of a trilogy (and what I suspect was a season finale, though it didn't say so on the write-up). Fortuitously, not only were they three eps that ran consecutively, but they contained Captain Jack! Nice to see a familiar face. then it was back to Torchwood, and hey! Three eps that contained Martha Jones! Someone was watching out for me in TV-viewing heaven, I think.

I don't know what it is that's pulled me into Dr Who. International House of Geek recently wrote a dissection of Dr Who, to try and find out what the attraction could be. I said I think it's that I'm invested in the characters (already!) and I'm also concerned with the fun, fear and adventure. You never know when someone important is going to die! Or leave, actually, as Martha did at the end of the Dr Who trilogy.

I've placed the Dr Who box set on hold at Amazon, all five seasons, because I'm pretty sure it's going to become a set that needs a prominent place in my collection. I'm not a huge Tardis freak - not as yet - but I can see that the day is coming when I'll become a Whovian and start Pinning Tardis pics willy-nilly. Just thinking about the two series makes me happy and feel goofy (and that's even though Torchwood is a lot more adult and serious in many of its themes).

I'm off for the next week and a half, and I can already see that it's going to contain a substantial amount of Torchwood-watching. Sadly, Dr Who is off the air in South Africa at the moment - yet another reason that box set is going to be so important ...

Fading away

Although my tattoo hasn't even been sketched yet (I think), I'm still wildly excited about getting it. I can't wait to have Serenity and the SG-1 Stargate tattooed on my back, followed by all the other ships, gates and galaxies I've chosen for my piece.

I get that, while tattooing is becoming more mainstream, it's still not really accepted as something a "good girl" would do. Fair enough; I'm not a very good girl, although I'm nowhere near as bad a girl as I'd like, or as bad as some seem to think tattooing will make me (a whole other rant).

What really bugs me, though, is the assumption people make that I'll somehow end up regretting getting myself inked when I'm older. As though these things that i have specifically chosen to be put onto my body, because of the meaning they hold for me, will suddenly become unacceptable to my brain and I'll be desperately trying to get rid of them, covering up at every opportunity and ashamed to show myself.

Look: I'm almost 40 years old. I'm pretty well aware of the fact that skin sags as one ages, and tattoo ink fades, and wrinkles happen. None of that matters to me. I'm not getting tattooed because I think it's going to make me look hot, badass, or whatever it's supposed to be doing in some imaginary world of why-the-fuck-would-she-do-this. I'm not having ink stuck under my skin for anyone but me. I've chosen my themes and my images very carefully, because they have real meaning and purpose for me, and they represent important things in my life, things that make me who I am today. I don't care that they're from TV shows, or books, or movies, or comics, or are imaginary creations that don't exist. In fact, that's pretty much the point, if you've read my post on my sci-fi back piece.

Is it supposed to be about how the tattoo will sag as I age? That it'll wrinkle and fade and look bad? Newsflash: I'm no supermodel as it is. I'm not hot, sexy or mysterious; and I'm certainly not getting tattooed to turn anyone on. Again: it's for me. And as my whole body ages, so will my tattoo; it's meant to be part of me for the rest of my life, just like everything else will (hopefully) be part of me for however long I live - hair, teeth, arms, legs, skin. My ears will get bigger and I'll lose my hearing; my eyes will get saggy and wrinkled and I'll have trouble seeing; my face will droop and I'll get jowly and my butt will sit behind my knees and my boobs will hang down to my waist and SO WHAT? It's called GETTING OLD. So my tattoos will GET OLD with me!

Besides, as someone else said, when I'm old I'll be too damn busy worrying about my arthritis and senility to give a rat's ass about being ashamed of my ink!

Age is a state of mind