Hello to all of my beautiful nerds traveling the vast universe! It is time for the final post of 2018!
Bests & Worsts of 2018!
We are at that time again my friends and that is the bests and worsts moments, beauty items, movies, and so on of 2018! This year was a life changing year for me so let’s start with that!
New Job & New Home in a New Location! Well, last year I said 2018 was going to be my year of getting a job and hoping to move out and guess what? I just did that in November! I did get interviewed for the Adaptive Tech Instructor in Daytona and I got it! I have been a student at the Rehab Center I’m teaching at and glad that I got to move up and doing it in something I wanted to teach and that is Adaptive Tech which I use on a daily basis especially with writing Nerdy Shique Universe by using JAWS. I knew I had to also move out for this job because I can’t drive and got my own place and loving it! Me and Gondras are sharing it so he will be moving in with me so we can be a full on couple, well engaged couple here together. We will be commuting back to Orlando for conventions since we do have Omni Fandom Expo in March and also Ranger Stop if we get another press badge since we did enjoy that one too. There are conventions here in Daytona too but haven’t heard from them much. I have to get back in contact with them since one is a writing convention and there are some authors on my Net Galley shelf that will be appearing there. How do I like living on my own? Well, the good news is that it made my mental health a lot more easier because it was stressful living in a big city where the job market is still unsure about hiring blind people even in call centers and I did try going for volunteering at the Lighthouse but that didn’t go through as planned for their Adaptive Tech Department. Glad I am working in it and plus I have changed dramatically since I did take a Self-Esteem & Adjusting to Blindness class which helped me understand more and understand myself when it comes to adjusting to being blind. Plus, getting to cook my own food feels a lot better too since I did go through back seat cooking with my parents and it caused some stress too, even when I made potato salad and wanted to follow the recipe but mom wanted me to do it our way. I did get to make her black beans and it felt like home even with the Adobo seasoning for my pork chops. Plus, I get a bigger closet too which made me happy along with smaller furniture than what I had in my old room at my parents’ place. Not only that, transportation is also better here because you have more bus stops to get to and the paratransit is way better, not only that the Lift drivers are very friendly! So yeah, I am at a better place in life, I have a great job teaching, now I can write my book in peace as well since I did re-start it again. I know, this is becoming annoying when I should have finished this year. Well, living on the coast will help me out since my first two books were done while I was a student. Let’s cross our fingers!
Being Certified In JAWS! Next is another great aspect this year and that is being JAWS Certified! I have been using this software since 2010 and figured being certified in this software could help me get into the field of tech more and I was right about that. The test was hard and I had to study a lot of things from the Help Topics to knowing what the commands were, especially when they tested more on the Laptop Keyboard Commands versus Desktop, and so much more. I was glad to pass and now waiting on my certificate so it can be in my office!
Getting a Chrome Book! Speaking of tech, I did get a Chrome Book for myself this past month because I wanted to see about the operating system and since my mom returned hers after having it for a few weeks, I really wanted to see about its built-in screen reader after seeing the ones on display at the NFB National Convention. So far so good it has been working out because of how the commands are like JAWS but with a different modifier key. I have to play around more with it since I am creating a Chrome Book workbook on Excel to help me and any other instructors.
Getting to Go to the NFB National Convention! I finally got to attend the NFB National Convention for its last year in Orlando, which it will be in Vegas next year. It was an amazing opportunity since I went with the Jernigan First Time Scholarship, I tried for National Scholarship but didn’t get it and now holding off on my Grad Certificate at the moment, and got to enjoy the convention. I even volunteered at the Braille Book Fair to get my interaction with younger kids better since I wasn’t doing it in the school system at the time. It was fun and getting to talk with a mom about how she is trying to get her child’s dexterity back after a stroke was even life changing too because it was sad hearing about it but I did suggest some things since Braille does help us out. I did get a new watch from this convention along with a few other items and got to meet the many other chapters in the United States and knowing that we’re not alone in the universe. I am going to try and join the chapter here in Daytona but due to how busy it has gotten unpacking and getting things for the apartment, even working, it will be a little bit before I join since being in the NFB shows that we can self-advocate and do have family and friends to help us. Oh right…let me save that for later!
Bests
Now to start with the bests since there are tons of awesome things going on this year and I have to give it to a lot of people and moments!
Game of the Decade: War Frame! First is Video Game of the Decade and I give it to War Frame! All this year Gondras has been playing this game and it is also up my alley with story since it’s a science fiction story where a metallic virus turns humans into robots known as War Frames and you as the Tenno pilot these robots to travel across the Solar System to take on the threats that want to take over. You also get more War Frames along the way, especially one where it was from a secret event story that dealt with one who had darkness take over. Now the game is where you go to Venus and get to explore the now icy planet to meet robot dwarves and even have hover boards. This game is very pretty and now that we have a new tv in our living room, yes good to say that, it will look even better. For anyone who has a Nintendo Switch, it’s going to be available for the Switch! Now you can play it on PC, PS4 and Xbox! Amazing work!
Movie of the Year: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1! Movie of the year goes to Avengers: Infinity War Part 1! We all know that it has come down to this where we see the Infinity Gauntlet is completed and now the Avengers must come together along with the Guardians of the Galaxy to take on Thanos and his gauntlet. Can’t wait what Part 2 has to offer since we are getting Captain Marvel next since she will be important in that part!
Runner Ups: Black Panther and AquaMan! Can’t forget these two since they have appeared this year. Black Panther was another great movie from this year since we got to see an African-American superhero take center stage for his origin story in this movie. It also became a hit at box offices back in February and schools even took kids to see this movie as a field trip which was even more amazing. While AquaMan, on the other hand, was something DC should have done like with Marvel and start with the origin story movies before diving into the big team up films. I did enjoy Jason Mamoa as AquaMan and we get to see a mix of villains which made it more interesting. Nicole Kidman did a great job as his mom on top of it. Too bad we’re not doing MegaCon next year, interviewing Mr. Mamoa would be pretty sweet! Speaking of interviews!
Interview Opportunity: Apl DeAp from the Black Eyed Peas! Yes, another moment this year was getting to interview a Grammy winning artist and that is Apl DeAp from the Black Eyed Peas and it was during the NFB National Convention. When I first heard he was going to be performing at it, I had to get the interview and what surprised me was that he is visually impaired himself. He has Nystagmus which causes severe near sight and he did tell his story behind it which you can still see here and over on our YouTube Channel’s Interviews Playlist. It felt great to meet him and brought us another musical artist to our channel since we did interview Traverser not long after. If you get to meet Mr. DeAp, just say hi not wave because he did explain it’s hard for him to see it.
Runner Up: Trying Out Skype Interviews with J. Michael Tatum, Brandon McInnis, and Traverser! As you know being at a convention you can get busy as a guest or even as a musical artist your schedule gets packed before a show so that is why we went one step beyond with our interviews this year. We used Skype to interview J. Michael Tatum and Brandon McInnis, since there schedules were full during Holiday Matsuri 2017, and Traverser, since they were returning to the stage after three or so years. It shows how we got over the obstacle of not being able to interview people face to face and hoping to get more in 2019 since I have a list in mind for the year.
Anime: My Hero Academia! Speaking of Tatum! It is the Best Anime Category and this year it goes to My Hero Academia! GOndras did start watching it himself and then shown it to me and man it is one of the best dubs I have seen so far! It is like the movie Sky High but what if it’s an anime and your main character, Izuku, is not born with a Quirk and has one transferred to him by his idol, All Might! I can’t wait for the next season because the last season ended on a pretty good note.
Runner Up: Overlord! I have to hand the Runner Up position to Overlord because it is an anime series that deals with a video game you have never thought to be better than Sword Art Online. Why would I say that? Well, in Overlord, you get to see new worlds being built, characters going through certain adventures that help them get better in fighting, and not only that take over towns like a usual fantasy RPG. Plus, with the main character, Momonga, we not only see him in the game but see his player in the real world thinking about what to do next and how to interact with the party. I would say check this out if you can!
Male Performance in An Anime: Justin Briner in My Hero Academia I decided to include this after watching the anime and I give it to Justin Briner because he gave a stand out performance as Deku in My Hero Academia. He is a new voice to my ears and I have heard him in Team FourStar’s Final Fantasy VII Abridged as Cloud and trust me I was thinking to Cloud watching MHA A. I hope we get to interview him either over Skype or in person at a convention.
Female Performance in an Anime: Monica Rial in Shimonetta! I know, it’s a weird title but when Gondras shown me this one on Funimation Now I never thought it would be hilarious especially with Monica Rial as Ana. I bet how many takes it took for one certain line, if you are of age, watch it!
Best Supporting Role in an Anime: J. Michael Tatum in My Hero Academia! Final anime related thing and that is best supporting role and it goes to J. Michael Tatum when he played Tenya Ida in My Hero Academia.
Makeup Brand of the Year: Cover Girl! I decided to give this year’s Brand of the Year to Cover Girl because this year they made a huge change from being a brand that wasn’t Cruelty Free to one that is now is and Leaping Bunny approved! Brands are trying to get away from animal testing and glad to hear that Cover Girl is the first even close to the end of the year, especially many months after Nars has joined in being sold in China during the beginning of this year. Hoping Cover Girl leaving China and being on this list can be an example to others and saying, “Join us and be Cruelty Free!” Now China is fighting to have better ways of testing at the moment, so more news on the horizon!
Runner Up: Urban Decay! 2018 has been a huge year for Urban Decay since they have released a lot of collections and discontinued a beloved product and that was the Original Naked pallet. Trust me, it was sad for me to hear since I was doing my Urban Decay Look Series on the YouTube Channel. But they have released many pallets this year that have been a success so far and they are the Beached Pallet in the summer, Born to Run, Naked Cherry, and Elements for the holidays. Now they have announced Naked Reloaded which is the Naked pallet but with new packaging and shades. Plus, the Naked Honey, and Naked AF soon to join the series! Will 2019 have all three? We will have to see!
Collection of the Year: Wet N Wild Flights of Fancy! I have to give this award to the Wet N Wild Flights of Fancy Collection because it has been a really good collection that was released during this year. Not only it had new items like a lip scrub and baked blushes but it also had donations from each box set go to the Audubon Society to help with a species of hummingbird that is native to California. A great cause for a great box! Let’s see what WNW brings to 2019!
Set at Electric Daisy Carnival Vegas 2018: Alan Walker! Even though I can’t take a flight to Vegas every year for EDC but this year’s videos shown a lot of great sets but I have to give it to Alan Walker’s set! I like his music the most because it has a science fiction feel to it and of course I did create a makeup look to his song “Ignite.” His newer stuff is pretty good too and I highly recommend. If you can’t make any of the EDC events this year, you can always catch it on YouTube!
Worsts
I do have a few worsts this year since I felt like not that many had happened but I will get to it!
Moment at a Convention: My Cane Breaking! I never had this happen before and that is my cane breaking at a convention. Someone pretty much stepped over and got caught in my cane and caused it to crack. Still makes me mad that people are blind to blind people and well, thinking we’re are like Terezi from Homestuck which we’re not, the cane is real. Hoping this year with cons I don’t experience this again because it’s not fun meeting an annoyed mobility instructor at work, even though it was not my fault because I was using proper cane etiquette and the person just shown up out of nowhere.
Makeup Moment: Being Makeup Shamed! Apparently, this year there has been a bit of makeup shaming taking place, more recent actually and I became a victim of. Seriously people? When did we came down to this? I understanding roasting someone for laughs but doing it with makeup is not cool. I did hear there were Cosplay Shaming Groups but there are groups for makeup and a newer one came up and someone from the What’s Up In Makeup Group did use my pic for it. I don’t get why we feel the need that this should be okay when makeup is a creative outlet for a lot of people, especially me. At least the person got kicked out for it because in the group you are being watched.
The Most Okay Movie: Solo! I had to mention an Okay Movie but not necessarily a Worst Movie either and that goes to Solo. It’s the movie that tells the story about how Han Solo got the Millennium Falcon and we get to use Lando get his butt kicked for it. It was not that bad and it did get bad reviews for it, when you look at it, it was competing against a Marvel movie at the same time. We did enjoy it.
Game: My Hero Academia! I have to mention this one because Gondras was looking forward to this game but it didn’t come out to being the one he was hoping for and it was the My Hero Academia game. It was supposed to play like Ninja Storm where you got to play the different story arcs but the only ones you get the arcs from the Stained arc through rescuing Bakugo! Even though those are nice arcs but Ninja Storm started from the beginning so you could play through them while here it’s the best arcs being played. Not only that, they didn’t use the English cast for this either. The Funimation dub of the show is one of the best dubs they have done and wishing they recorded this with them because they picked a lot of great actors to be in the dub. Sorry My Hero Academia, we prefer the anime.
What’s Up For Us in 2019? Well, another year at Omni Fandom Expo and just in time for new promo material. Even though we have business cards but we need to step it up and we will get it in time for this year’s convention. We aren’t sure about other cons but shooting for another year at Ranger Stop and of course new content for the YouTube Channel including new playlists to come! Also, I just re-subscribed to Boxy Charm and glad to get it back! It will be separate from Ipsy so stay tuned for our new stuff in 2019! Until next time everyone, have a safe and Happy New Year and see you in 2019!
Nerdy Shique Universe 