Victorian Christmas(es)

One of my favorite Christmas stories is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. For me, it’s a story that cements a connection between Victorian England and the holiday forever in my mind. So, for this Christmas Eve, I thought I would write about a couple of Victorian England and Christmas related things that I’ve seen or read recently.

Scary Godmother

Jill Thompson’s Scary Godmother series is something of a Halloween touchstone for us. I’ve been a fan of the graphic novels and comics since she first created the character in 1997. While we took a bit of a break from watching the TV specials every year, we’ve put them back into our Halloween viewing rotation. The stories of Scary Godmother and her friends occupy a pretty unique niche in terms of Halloween stories, and that’s why I love them.

Toys R Me

This week, I wanted to showcase some fun toys I’ve recently received. (Well, some not so recently.) So this will mainly be a short photo gallery while I recover from a frustrating couple of weeks, and prepare for another frustrating week coming up.

Trailer Park: Upcoming TV shows and movies

I’m feeling a little exhausted this week, so I thought I would showcase trailers for some upcoming TV shows and movies that my wife and I are looking forward to, in (mostly) no particular order. Also, after blogging about the Stumptown comics the other week, I must let everyone know that the TV series is great. Check out the scene from the second episode posted above, and I really recommend checking out the show on Wednesdays on ABC. 

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Fiction

As someone who enjoys both Star Wars and the Disney Parks, I’m pretty excited about Galaxy’s Edge at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. However, we are currently on a Disney Parks break; we haven’t been to one since last fall, and we probably won’t go to one until next spring. That doesn’t mean I haven’t visited Galaxy’s Edge, even if it’s only in my imagination. Disney and Lucasfilm have published a number of stories set in Black Spire Outpost, on the planet Batuu, which is the setting for Galaxy’s Edge, and I’ve been enjoying them all.

Before I go any further, just a warning that there are spoilers after the jump.. And also, I would remind readers that this isn’t a review of these stories, because this blog doesn’t do reviews.

Edward, the Baby Rhino

Victoria and Edward from http://endextinction.org

It’s been a frustrating couple of weeks, and it’s been a little tougher for me to stay positive. Thanks to social media (which I am pulling further and further away from except for Instagram; feel free to follow me at @RumpleDumple there), it is harder and harder for me to avoid all the bad news in the world. I mean, I don’t want to bury my head in the sand, but I get that the world is currently a literal dumpster fire. but I don’t need to know all the details all the time. Fortunately, in the past month or so, we’ve seen some really good news: the birth of Edward, the first baby rhinoceros born by artificial insemination in North America. Watching the videos from San Diego Zoo Safari Park have filled me with so much joy, I thought this week I would share them with you.

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, AZ

At the end of July, I took a quick trip to Tucson to attend the Botany 2019 conference. Well, to attend just a tiny bit of it: my dad was a prominent botanist, and my family is funding an award to help fund the work of graduate students in his name. That award was announced at the Botanical Society of America’s annual conference this year. My mother and brother weren’t able to attend, so I decided to head out there to represent the family.