Nostalgia Alert

The 1980s don't get a lot of love. When many people think of the 1980s, they think of ridiculous hair, textiles resembling Technicolor vomit, shoulder pads, and AIDS. I heard they tried to bring shoulder pads back recently. And Wal Mart was selling jelly shoes last year.

Those who were children in the 1980s, however, all think of the same thing: the cartoons. The best thing about that decade was, as anyone in the world will tell you, the cartoons.

This entry was originally about just my birth year, but I can't talk about
the 80s without talking about the cartoons. Yes, I watched all of these.
Anyway...

There was one other awesome thing to come out of the 1980s though: me! In 1983, to be more specific. Yes, 1983, my birth year, what I was originally talking about. Clearly this was the best year of the entire decade. I mean, look at that face. Look at it. You can see why I was distressed to discover that my own child would be so hideous.

While I admit I don't remember much (okay, anything) from that time, I do know some other awesome things happened that year. And so I bring you...

The Top 5 Moments of 1983

(other than my glorious birth)

 1. Nintendo released the very first Mario games. While Mario appeared in 1981's Donkey Kong and 1982's Donkey Kong Jr., he didn't start getting his own games until 1983.

And people wonder where my Nintedo fangirlery stems from. Mario and I were made for each other. Maybe literally--I would have to ask my mother about that.

 2. This happened. I mean Return of the Jedi happened. I saw it in theater! I was two months old and slept through it, but, hey, I still feel cooler having seen four out of the six movies in theater.

 3. Bill Gates was hot.

And, you know what? He's still hot. Don't judge me. I mean, look at that face! And he knows how to play coy. I may or may not have this picture framed on my wall somewhere...

It's not the money. Really.

 4. Kīlauea, on the Big Island of Hawaii, started erupting. And it still is.

That's right, 1983 rocked so hard that it irrevocably ruptured the surface of the earth.

5. Tokyo Disneyland opened. What more is there to say? More Disneyland means more awesome.

I will go to there someday.

And, yes, that is Kim Jun Il. (source)

BONUS:

I've received my very first blog award! Thanks, Kate! Simply Kate is one of my favorite blogs because it's, duh, simple. She likes Zelda and Glee and uses lots of pictures. And she likes me too, so obviously that makes me like her more. We all have our egos.

With this award comes the directive to use five adjectives to describe this blog. Let's see... 1. geeky, 2. narcissistic, 3. whiny, 4. squee-ish, 5. crafty

And soon to be more Disney-whorish. I'm all about making up adjectives. And riding on It's a Small World.

Hmm...

Now I know Poncho and I were both adorable babies, but maybe sometimes two rights make a wrong.

That is just not cute.

The Happiest Place on Earth, Fo' Sho'

I finally caved and bought a Disneyland pass. I've never had one before. I've always wanted one. I love knowing that, if I wanted to, I could hop on my bike and go to Mickey's house right now.

It's really all I need to feel that all is right in the world. Famine be damned.

(source)

Last night I saw the newest fireworks show. If you didn't know, Disneyland has the best fireworks show on the planet. I don't even like fireworks, but the Disneyland fireworks show makes me giddy. I hear the fireworks from my house every night, and, while some people file noise complaints (their lives are tragic), I get excited and have been known to yell out "It's 9:30!"

Speaking of the fireworks show, we sat down right in the middle of the street to wait for it to start, and after a couple of minutes I realized that my mother's cousin was sitting directly in front of us. It's a small world after all.

I begged and begged and begged them to give me a job, thus saving me the $239 I spent on the pass. Alas, they would not. Or at least not yet--I'm still on the waiting list for an opening for another couple of months.

I'm going again on Wednesday. Hopefully I'll get to see the World of Color show, which I have been anxious to see for a couple of years now.

Sims 3: Needle Exchange Program

On Wednesday I posted a Firefly/Serenity cross-stitch I did. Obviously it has turned into a thing, 'cause now I'm making cross-stitches for The Sims 3.

The real-life versions of these are by Etsy creators ChezSucreChez and Rachel McKay. They are available in-game for $35 under the title Needle Exchange Program.

download

mirror

Goodbye, Summer

Summer 2010 is over. Autumn is here. Officially. As of yesterday.

People never say stuff like "Have a nice autumn!" It's like summer is a holiday all in itself, all three months of it. As old and unemployed as I am, you would think that I'd be over this feeling, but I so totally am not. Summer is play time!

This summer was filled with many great things. Beach days, baking experiments, late night board games, fair food, games out on the lawn, bubbles, new friends, snow cones, camping, sleep overs, blackjack winnings, cocktails, bright lights, petting zoos, and deplorable sleeping habits. And it was good.

I Aim to Misbehave

As a never-ending dabbler, I have started... dabbling... in cross-stitching. It's one of the better crafts, I think. It starts out on the computer, where I create the pattern, and ends with me sitting in front of the TV, stitching away. The embroidery hoop is portable and the results are cute. And there are endless possibilities to incorporate my geekery into my patterns.

Speaking of geekery, who doesn't like Firefly? And Serenity, obviously. I don't know anyone who's seen the series and movie that doesn't love it. And by "love" I mean love. With emphasis.

So I made a Serenity cross-stitch. I think it's pretty sexy.

"Y'all got on this boat for different reasons, but y'all come to the same place. So now I'm asking more of you than I have before. Maybe all. Sure as I know anything, I know this - they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, ten? They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin'. I aim to misbehave."

- Malcolm Reynolds, Serenity

The pattern comes out to be 4"x6" on a standard 14-stitch-per-inch fabric. I used six-strand embroidery floss when I made it. The pattern comes in GIF, PDF, and PCStitch formats.

download the pattern

Sinning for Fun and Profit

I'm not much of bright lights and party person, but I do love Las Vegas. I think it's the night owl in (and on and over and around) me. No matter what time it is, there are people everywhere up and doing stuff!

If it wasn't yet obvious enough, I spent the weekend in Las Vegas. Since I have been there several times, I thought I would share what I have learned about the place so far.


Places to Stay
Stay on the Strip. Don't pull the "Oh, this one is a little off the Strip and so much cheaper! I'll just take a cab or walk!" That's poo. Stay on the Strip, preferably right in the middle. The best hotels with reasonable room rates are the Flamingo and the Monte Carlo. The former has, in my opinion, a nicer pool, but the later has a nicer everything else. CheapoVegas.com has the best map of the Strip.

Also, call the front desk sometime the day before you leave and ask if they offer late checkout. Sometimes it's a few bucks, sometimes it's free. Being able to sleep in until noon after going to bed at 6:00am is much nicer than attempting to make a morning checkout time.

Places to Eat
Honestly, walk five feet and you'll find a good place to eat. The list of places not to eat would be shorter. I prefer to not plan where I'm going to eat ahead of time and just wander into the nearest food place when I'm hungry.

Things to Do

1. Play blackjack. Do not check the time during play. Bask in the power of windowless, clockless caves of twinkling sounds when you realize that four hours have passed.
2. Go see Showgirls of Magic. Pretty girl gets locked in a box, pops out topless! Abra cadabra!
3. Order a margarita so big that it requires a shoulder strap.
4. Watch people from more rural areas become distressed by the plight of the homeless.
5. Play Who's Hotter War*.
6. Yell "VEGAS!" for no apparent reason.
7. High-five a stranger.
8. Dance to music with such classy lyrics as "SHOT, SHOT, SHOT SHOT, SHOT!" or perhaps "drink-drink-drink, drink-drink-drink," or even "Have sex. Uh. Have sex. Uh. Have sex. Uh."
9. Take photos of people passed out drunk in random places.
10. Go out to eat shortly before sunrise. Fall asleep at the table.
11. Debate about whether the growing number of people in your immediate area are still up for the night or just getting up for the morning.

♥ Bellagio Ceiling ♥

*Who's Hotter War Instructions

1. When walking down the sidewalk, collect the prostitute trading cards being passed out by people I'm sure are totally in the country legally. Note: Picking up cards off the ground is uncouth behavior.
2. Once you and an opponent have built up a deck, each flip over your top card. Whoever has the hotter hooker on their card wins both cards.
3. In the event of a dispute, consult an unbiased third party. Should they declare it a tie, place three cards each face down, then one face up. Whoever's last card has the hottest hooker wins all of the cards on the table.
4. Hooker cards with uncensored nipples automatically win.

I love Vegas. I love not sleeping ever.

Scanography

I have recently discovered scanography. It's a bit on the side of ridiculous, sticking things on your scanner and calling it "art," but I kind of love it. Something about the eerie colors and odd focus makes the resulting images look deliciously macabre, even if a lot of it is people just mushing their faces against the glass like our mothers did with their bottoms in the 80s when no one else was in the copy room.

Timur Akhmetov and Yulia Yukashova, of Russia, started a project called Face Your Pockets where, basically, you empty your pockets and/or purse onto the scanner, put your face in there, and hit Scan. Between the voyerism involved into looking into people's bags and the often corpse-like face peeking out from behind the out from behind the scattering of treasures, I found myself enthralled by the project and ended up submitting my own picture.

You can view the collection of images, as well as submit your own, at FaceYourPockets.com. There are also a few scanography groups on Flickr, like SCAN and one day in pandora box.

Here's mine, which seems to have turned out to be a bit of a testament to my immaturity. I won those little rubber fishes at Chuck E. Cheeses the other day.

If you make your own, let me know so I can check it out!

Showdown: Duck Face vs. Vilena-Style

If there isn't already a word that means the complete opposite of photogenic, then I should invent one to describe myself. Still, I try to avoid making myself look worse. So I really don't get the whole "duck face" thing, obviously.

A while ago I became aware of another odd photo trend, this time from Russia. It's called Vilena-style, apparently so named because this woman, named Vilena, posted the following image on a social networking site and instantly became all kinds of popular.

Uhm, what?

I cannot decide if this is better or worse than the duck face. Duck face is, essentially, purposefully making your face less attractive. Vilena-style, on the other hand, makes you look stupid, but... at least it shows off some booty. I saw a couple of sites where guys were like "Ooooh yeah, Vilena-style," but I've never seen something similar for duck face.

Let us compare them directly.

Duck Face vs. Vilena-style

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am just... so confused. And is that a pig in the last one? Most of these girls are probably good-looking, right?

I don't know. I can't decide which set is more ridiculous.

Duck face does have its own music video though.

Experimental Crafting: The Quilt

My grandma, she quilts. She has a whole room for quilting. Her embroidery machine is so crazy that it has it's own operating system. Seriously, it runs Microsoft Windows.

So, I'm like, Hey, I'm a lot like my grandma, let's make a quilt.

So I did. Obviously. 'Cause I try to be the kind of person who follows through on what they say.

It was... kind of evil. Being generally pretty fabulous, I love the materials I picked out, and the general layout of the quilt. The white fabric was a bad choice and is just way too wrinkly. I had a ton of fun sewing together the little squares, but putting them together into one big quilt was a pain and no fun at all. Of course, after I was finished, my grandma decided to let me in on the secret that I could fully quilt the small squares, and then put the whole thing together after. Which she totally does herself. Thanks, Grandma.

The back is that super soft bumpy fabric that baby's love. Which, by the way, is not a good choice for quilting. But it's soft. And that's important because...

...the quilt was a gift for Peanut! I love you, Peanut~! Look how cute he is. Who cares that he already has like fifteen blankets that other people made for him? People who actually know what they're doing, no less. Besides the poo quality, this blanket is clearly the best thing he owns.

And it's extra special because it is the only quilt I will ever make ever. Screw quilting.

Today I have a guest post featured on Ramblings of a Singleton! You can read the story of my first love here.

Mess-Making

Some might say that I've been feeling... restless. Unaccomplished. Stir-crazy. I have no job, no children, and the home I live in isn't mine (housesitting, remember?) and so I have very little control over the place. (Less than I previously realized, but that's a story for another day.)

I've been working on channeling these feelings into something creative. These attempts usually involve the computer, simply because the magical Undo button keeps me from turning into a gurgling wad of frustration; however, these intangible creations have become less and less satisfying, and more and more mind-numbing. So much clicking, so little texture.

I've always wanted a "craft space." Basically, Poncho hates... stuff. If something is sitting on the table, then the room is a "mess." My computer desk, which has what a normal person would call glorious trinkets, Poncho calls a disaster. He is neat where I am... Well, I'm not messy, but, dammit, my stuff goes where it goes.

So I've been eyeballing other people's craft spaces and getting all envious. They're so full of stuff, and that stuff can be used to make other stuff. And that is awesome.

For posterity, here are a few of the craft spaces I've been eyeballing.

 

Little Miss Crafty has a lot of goodies.   |   Jessica at Shizuka Urusai believes in the power of cute.

Olivia at secretly loves pink is all about bright colors

and adorable yet geeky mascots.

 

Kristen, the Shabby Vintage Mom, has a lot of good vintage stores in her area, apparently.

Jen at the fabled needle has a cozy nook to relax and craft in. And beautiful flooring too!

So, if it's not obvious by now, I have moved a bunch of boxes and hollowed out my own craft space, so that I could fill it will stuff, and then use that stuff to make other stuff. And it is awesome.

That's right, I have turned a corner of Poncho's grandpa's office, with its walls of tweed, into a girl-zone. A girl-zone with an excessive amount of lamps.

And now I am happy.

Manga Monday: Half & Half (Oneshot)

Half & Half

~ Downloaded from Goldlily's Media Gallery  ~

Mangaka Sa-sook

Genre(s) one shot, romance, shōnen, supernatural, tragedy

Year 1996

Volumes 1

Summary  taken from Baka-Updates

Shinichi Nagakawa and Yuuki Sanada are both involved in an accident and die together. But they're given a chance to live again. God lets them live for seven more days. But the catch is that after the time limit, one of them must die again.

There's more. God decrees that their lives will be shared, including emotions (guilt) and physical sensations (pain). They are told not to leave the other's side, else both of them die. What will happen during those seven days?

Scanlated by Red Hawk Scanlations

Translation B-

Scan Quality A+

Editing Quality B+

Review

If this were longer, I would probably feel as though my precious time had been stolen from me. Fortunately, it's short length makes it a fairly pleasant read. It's pretty predictable based on the description, but it's not a bad story.

Story       

Art         

 Download in .PDF format

 Read online at MangaFox.com