The Avengers: Age of Ultron

Look guys! I went out!!!

So maybe I'm not a real fan of the Marvel Universe - I don't collect comic books, I don't know every story arc for every character, and I don't even know every character. I guess I could be called a casual fan; nonetheless, I am an enthusiastic fan of the Marvel Universe!

It started after I watched the first X-Men movie a while ago - I was immediately drawn to the whole superhero thing, and after that, I spent a lot of time (it's an embarrassing amount, and goes to show that I, in fact, do not get out often) on Wikipedia reading biographies of a lot of the characters, which led to watching the cartoons, reading a few graphic novels I could find at the library, and day-dreaming of the day I discovered my own powers and/or became a superhero (this still happens, admittedly).

Anyhow... exactly a week ago, a local radio station tweeted out a contest for advance screening tickets for the latest Avengers movie. To enter, all you had to do was tweet them what superpower you'd have with their hashtag. And so I did...

I'm pretty good at winning twitter contests... Thanks @VirginRadioTO! pic.twitter.com/L5FypAvyr5

— yvonne (@whyv0nne) April 23, 2015

(If you haven't been keeping up, I won Toronto Marlies tickets earlier this month).

I invited my fellow future OD friend to come along, who, coincidentally, had been out with one of our other friends that night, and he had been bragging about having VIP tickets for opening night. Sorry, bud!

At this exact moment, I was probably internally fangirl-squealing.

I won't spoil the movie... but it was amazing (this, of course, is a totally unbiased opinion). It was action-packed (as expected) and extremely thrilling with many funny moments and epic scenes. There were some things that were completely unexpected; but the movie on a whole was definitely not a letdown.

The Avengers: Age of Ultron is in theaters on Friday!

Epuris: two weeks

As of yesterday, I've been on Epuris for two weeks. So far, the experience hasn't been terrible, but it hasn't been amazing either. Admittedly my selfies don't show much of anything besides how red my face gets (and I don't know why!) but here's the breakdown of my experience so far:

YAYS:

- my lips have been drying out, which is a pretty good indication that the meds are indeed working.

- I've been noticing that my skin is not as oily first thing in the morning than it used to. My face used to be greasy all over, but now the oiliness has been reduced to the T-zone only. 

- it also doesn't get so oily thoughout the day. I still do need to blot once in the afternoon but whereas I've had to use the entire blotting sheet in the past, I haven't been using all of the sheet recently. 

- I haven't been experiencing any of the really bad side effects that they list in the patient education booklet. 

NAYS:

- the pills taste weird. They have sort of a garlicky taste (but I think that's just a thing with all tablets). 

- despite there being less oil on my face, there has literally been no improvement on the acne-population side of all this. In fact, I have been breaking out around my nose, forehead and chin since starting (I've also had a zit pop up on my eyelid...); all the while, the little bumps I have had on my forehead for years and whatever little bumps and blackheads I had before starting the medication continue to thrive. 

- in addition, I've noticed a new clan of blackheads on my nose. 

- and despite not experiencing the bad side effects, having dry lips 24/7 has not been fun. Same goes for having random nosebleeds. 

All hope has not been lost, though. I read that in many cases, the acne gets worse for a little while before it starts to clears up; so hopefully I am near the end of the worsening phase. I am not expecting a miracle but I would very much like to see this medication actually work soon!

As old as your omens

The Mother We Share - CHVRCHES

This is a relatively old song, but it will always be one of my favourites; and it's my intention to cover my favourite songs for my YouTube channel, not whatever just came out or is about to come out (though that might happen, as my list of favourite songs is always being added on to as new songs come out).

By far, the biggest challenge with doing this cover was getting the rhythms in the right hand and the left hand to fit into place. I do all of my covers by ear, and rarely do I have to write things out for myself, but I just couldn't manage without scribbling the intro down, and writing out the counting - takes me back to grade 9 music class!

Title for this page was "The Mother We Share: RHYTHMS BE CRAY"

And then there's also the thing my piano's doing where it... uh... is slowly breaking down...

Criticism, be it constructive or not, is appreciated. Just don't be rude. And if you know a guy in the GTA who can fix pianos, lemme know. Enjoy!

Epuris: the beginning...

If you haven't known me for a while, I've been suffering from acne for a reeeeeeaaally long time - since grade 6. I have endured embarrassing breakouts at the most inconvenient times, feeling like I was being judged by others for having huge cysts on my chin or around my nose, rare periods of fairly clear skin that were suddenly ruined by the onset of a flare up, and the seemingly permanent residence of little pimples on my forehead. I've used several prescribed topicals and antibiotics that only controlled my acne but did not prevent or stop new breakouts or pimples from appearing. I have waited for my puberty stage to be over with to rule out the whole "it's just your raging hormones!" argument but it did not get better!

And so, the drastic measure to eradicate the acne population on my face (and everywhere else) begins... 

This is my last resort.

To quickly summarize what I know, Epuris is similar to Accutane, only its bioavailability is increased (I.e. more of it is absorbed by your body). It is also a vitamin A derivative and so to be on it, you need to be on strict birth control to prevent unplanned pregnancy (otherwise, vitamin A and its derivatives cause birth defects). The major side effect is dryness of the skin and lips. I have two boxes in different doses because the dosage is calculated based on your weight (0.5 mg per kg body weight) and so I am to take 50 mg in total each day. 

Frankly, as of today, my skin isn't all too bad (it has been worse - summer of last year, ugh don't get me started) and I did think about postponing my treatment for a little while longer; but I just want all of this to be over with! All of the painful zits, the blackheads, the excessively oily skin, and the subsequent scarring!

I took my first dose this evening after dinner and I'm already feeling the dryness getting to me (unless that's because my lips were already dry in the first place... Which is probably true). But I am very  eager to see how this turns out. Hopefully for the better. Cross your fingers!