Sunbird

@TwiLyghtSansSparkles About Googling suspicious terms... I may have mentioned it before, but by his own admission, Dan Wells, in the process of researching for the third book of his Partials series, Googled "how big is a nuclear weapon and how easy is it to hide" and nobody's arrested him on charges of terrorism yet.

Might one of the Big Three be Frank Herbert, the author of Dune IIRC?

So this just happened on my Facebook, although I don't know if it really qualifies as a bad joke since all Star Wars jokes are innately fabulous...

See my post right above yours. 1. Isaac Asimov That's all I got right now.

CAKE

@Jondesu Ah, ok. I'm part of probably like 3% of this forum's population that hasn't read Wheel of Time.

Guy everybody else is grabbing: I TOLD you to wear your seatbelts during aerial combat!! Everybody else: WE'RE GONNA DIEEEEE.

I don't even know what your question means. Can anyone explain it to me so I at least know if I know the answer?

More hints? There are vampires. The author is female, and it's a trilogy released since 2010.

@Fedcomic Maybe not immaculately, but it's not like he looks like a hobo or a slob either.

@Turbonator That Emperor Palpatine meme! SO MUCH WIN.

That's fantastic, @Mestiv!

On the topic of cosplay: DO IT, @Quiver! It's a great conversation starter whether you're doing it for Halloween or a con or whether you're a weirdo like me who will take literally any excuse to be someone else for the day. And if you're worried about cosplaying a character of the opposite sex, don't be. I'm a woman and I've never actually cosplayed a female character at a con unless you count my "Generic Mistborn" costume. This year I saw 2 guys dressed as Anna and Elsa from Frozen, and I've previously seen a man who went as Slave Leia. The cosplay community is extraordinarily nonjudgemental and supportive, at least from what I've seen and experienced at Salt Lake Comic Con. Don't be ashamed of your physique either. Two of my first ever cosplays were Sherlock and the Tenth Doctor. They're both tall, slender men, and I'm short and a bit chunky (not to mention female), but nobody cares at cons.

@Pestis the Spider I recommend the Heartstrikers series by Rachel Aaron that I mentioned above, Soul of Smoke by Caitlyn McFarland if you want a love story along with your dragons, Talon by Julie Kagawa, Tui T Sutherland's Wings of Fire series if you enjoy MG fiction... You've probably already read Chris Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, but I'll mention it just in case. Another one of my favorites (though it's a standalone rather than a series) is Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke. The Adventurers Wanted series by Mark Forman is also good, although starting that one right now might not be a good idea since the 5th book has been postponed until further notice. Fablehaven by Brandon Mull has dragons in it too, although they're not the main focus of the series, but Brandon is coming out with a sequel series next year called Dragonwatch, which (as you can tell from the title) will be more focused on dragons.

Yeah, that's an oblique reference to Spider-Man. I think Spider-Man in Civil War might be my favorite movie version of the character yet, so I hope you get to watch that one soon! Tom Holland is hilarious.

I won two free Thursday passes to Salt Lake Comic Con!! I already bought my ticket, but this means I can take some friends along. It's a lot more fun going to the con with somebody than going alone.

Planning Halloween costumes in August? I approve. Heartily. I think this year I'm going to do what I did last year, which was Marty McFly--at least while I'm handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. Last year lots of the kids didn't get it, but their parents did. I might wear something different to classes, depending on the weather and how much walking I have to do that day... Possibly 10th Doctor or the Benedict Cumberbatch incarnation of Sherlock. (10th Doctor would not be good costume for lots of walking, since Converse have zero foot support.)

Need proof? Check out notalwaysright.com or the Facebook page "EXCUSE ME This is a Pharmacy NOT a Fast Food Restaurant!"

When you start grinning like a fool because you realized that a meme you posted to the Sanderson Memes thread has gotten enough upvotes to become a popular post. ^.^

My mom and I used to keep praying mantises as pets in terrariums, and we had to keep crickets on hand to feed them too, so I am very familiar with the foul smell of crickets. Stupid things wouldn't quit chirping either. Sometimes they'd get loose in the house during transfer from one cage to another, and chasing them down was a royal pain. If we didn't chase them down, they'd go hide and start chirping in the middle of the night. Ugh. I much preferred catching grasshoppers outside in order to feed the mantises, but that only worked when the weather outside was warm enough for the grasshoppers.

@TwiLyghtSansSparkles My bet is that the patron is thinking of a different employee and is confused. It sounds like your supervisor is a reasonable person, so I'm inclined to think that whatever the patron's problem is and whatever really happened, he'll make sure and get your side of the story. Since you don't remember interacting with the complainer, I don't see how anyone could logically blame you if they're unhappy. Given what you've told us about your family life at home, your worries are 100% understandable, but I think in this case it's the brain weasels trying to undermine you. Don't let them win! *hugs*

Gymnastics are my favorite to watch too. (At least during the summer Games) I love pretty much all the events in that category! Vault, floor routine, balance beam, parallel bars, uneven bars... The things those athletes can do absolutely astound me.

@Renoux I think if I were an Alethi man I might decide to become an ardent just so I'd be allowed to read properly. At this point in my life, I place much higher value on books than dating. Of course, if I were actually a man, my attitude might be different, but that's one thing the world will never know.

Insurance companies in general, but some specific things that have gotten on my nerves lately: When you file an auto claim and they don't call you back for two weeks. When you, after having heard nothing for two weeks, attempt to call them only to be told by their auto answer system that the office is closed because it's past 5pm Eastern time. (I live in Utah, so that is 3pm for me. I don't even get off work until 3pm.) Automated answering systems that make you talk to the shoddy voice recognition--which is highly likely to misunderstand what you're trying to say--instead of letting you choose options by hitting buttons on your phone, which is much more reliable.

@Jondesu I like your theory about Thanos possibly already having some of the other Stones. Kinda reminds me of a conversation between Harry and Dumbledore in HP #6 about Voldemort's Horcruxes. Dumbledore said something about how the fact that Voldemort gave the Horcrux diary--which contained a piece of his soul--to Lucius Malfoy indicated that it wasn't his only backup plan, because you don't just give something that valuable to a minion who doesn't even know what it is unless you have another one stashed away somewhere safe. Knowing how paranoid Thanos is, I'd say this is a good guess at his motivations.