RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) So, after a great deal of peer pressure, we have finally begun watching Game of Thrones.

Hold your applause.

I've been hearing about Game of Thrones since it started in, what, 2011?  I have very good friends who have loved it, I've had family who have loved it, and it has been a constant part of internet culture for lots of years.  We have never had HBO, so it wasn't a thing we could just flip over to, which is probably the main reason we never watched it.  We've been collecting the episodes, though, with the intent to just cram it all in at some point when we had the time.  We particularly were waiting for it to be over so we could just watch it all from start to finish without having to wait a week between episodes.

I'll be honest, though, what I did know about it: i.e. dragons, witches, swords and stuff, wasn't really my thing.  I've always had trouble getting to fantasy fiction like that. Not because I don't like fantasy stuff, I mean, I love Harry Potter, but that is at least partially based in my own world. Trying to understand a completely new world with different rules and different borders seemed like more of a slog than I wanted to undertake. To be frank, I was OK not watching it at all, if we never got around to it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those "I've proudly never watched an episode of this thing and I don't intend to because popular things are stupid and I'm too cultured to waste my time" kinds of people. Those people suck. The idea just didn't interest me much. Then, of course, so much of the enjoyment of the show seemed to be the big reveals and twists and what-not, and whether I wanted to or not, I found out about them. Hell, you couldn't go anywhere online without someone saying "Oh, did you see this amazing thing that happened?! It was a pivotal moment in the show! You never saw it coming!" Also, my coworker (who is a huge fan) never once got the hint that I was planning on probably watching it one day and that I would've liked to go in as unspoiled as possible.  He literally would tell me a blow by blow of each episode. God love him, I could say "I don't want to know what happened." and he would say "Well, just this one thing..." and then do everything but hum the theme song. I can't blame him, I guess, he was just excited about it. I mean, I get it. I was a rabid fan of "Lost" and got all kinds of involved in the world behind that and I'm sure I talked about that to people who didn't care much one way or the other.

But we were finally worn down by Steve's cousin, Greg. I'm not sure what he did, but we started watching and I actually like it.  I don't know if I think it's the best thing ever, but I'm interested. I don't understand a lot about it yet, as we have just started on the second season, but we already hate Joffrey and love the dire wolves and like Arya, and Tyrion so that's something. I'm interested to see where the story goes, although I know a lot of what is going to happen already. Steve doesn't know, so at least one of us will see it with fresh eyes!  I kind of wish we'd started watching it from the start, because I'd like to be able to see it all fresh and get excited about it with everyone else, but such is life. Hopefully we'll still be able to enjoy it all even though we will hear how it ends! 

2) Speaking of things everyone is watching right now, we saw Endgame!  I loved it!!  We've seen all 22 movies in the series (?), starting with the first Iron Man in 2008, and it was the perfect ending for all of that, I think. I don't want to say too much if you haven't seen it yet, but even though there was a LOT going on in the film, it was great! 

My favorite scene of all was the very last one.  It was so satisfying.  Although Thor is, and always will be, my Marvel Boyfriend (even chubby Thor could get it!) I've had a soft spot in my heart for Captain America since the beginning.  I even managed to find the song from the end on iTunes!  I tried to get my personal Steve to dance with me to it, and he did for a second but he got distracted and left, so I finished the dance all on my own!  Hehe.  Ah, well, I knew he didn't like to dance, so I can't complain too much.  I'll just have to wait for Steve Rogers, I guess! 

Anyways, great movie and a good ending to that story arc, and I managed not to spoil it for anyone, so GO ME!!

3) Steve, Anthony and I went to the National Cornbread Festival in South Pittsburgh, TN a couple of weeks ago, and it was so neat!  That sounds like a weird thing, I know, but there were tons of people there and it is apparently a big, stinking deal.  There was music, contests, food, and all kinds of merchandise booths. Mainly we just walked around the vendors and visited "Cornbread Alley" which is where you can pay five bucks and get a sample of all of the different kinds of cornbread that each organization made. We over-carbed a bit, but the hush puppies alone was worth the price of admission! 

We also forgot sun screen, so Steve and I came back with a nice, bright sunburn that hurt like fire. That is our fault, so I won't complain, but I will say that I hate weird tan lines and peeling.  I forgot the sour cream trick, so we just had to suffer through it. 

It was a fun day, though. I like going to things like that.  Maybe this year I'll go to the Grease Festival in Athens this year. That doesn't sound as delicious as cornbread, but you can't go wrong with a festival of fried things!