Monday Blurb

The week always starts off with a bang. Too much to do and not enough time to do it.  I have a paper due on the Confederacy tomorrow morning.  That said, I wanted to take the time to say hello to readers new and old and thank you for taking time to read my ramblings!

News:

• Top honors go to Mom and Anita for faithfully checking in every week!
• Also, apparently I already had a lot more followers than I thought. I'm looking at you Ashley. and Jami.
• Thank you Sarah for your tip on links! I'm honored you stopped by. Your site is what my blog dreams it wants to be when it grows up.  :) I'm also a fan of your fiance's work.
• I am now a member of 20 Something Bloggers . It's like the long lost internet family I never had. Still figuring out how to add the badge to my page though...
• Advertising yourself on Facebook and Twitter does wonders to increase site traffic. (A 'duh' moment, indeed, Ellie)
• Still trying to figure out HTML to jazz up my layout. But thanks Bryan for the links you shared!

 Well, I must get back to my paper, the Civil War awaits! Before I go, a sweet little stop-motion video for you nerds:

Adobe Photoshop Cook from Lait Noir on Vimeo.

Photoshop & cookies FTW

(Thank you Michelle for sharing on Facebook!)

xo

Interesting Finds on the Internet

Happy Saturday, World!
As a college student with an extremely low-maintenance job, I spend quite a bit of time on the Internet when I'm at work. To break up the monotony a bit, I decided to skip Things I Love Thursday and share my most interesting finds on the webernets. [Links are in blue, ctrl/click to open in a new tab so you don't leave my page!]

(1) Tumbleweed Houses - This company custom builds tiny homes for people trying to reduce their carbon footprint and simplfy their lives. How tiny? The smallest is only 65 sq ft! The smaller homes have to be built on wheels--they are too tiny for regular housing codes. The largest home on wheels is 130 sq ft. That is exactly how big my dorm room is. I cannot begin to imagine squeezing a bathroom, kitchen, and living room in with my bedroom furniture! They build homes with foundations too, but the largest one is only around 800 square feet. Here is the inside of one of the larger models. Tiny but adorable!

(2) Anthropologie Housewares - One day in Chicago I wandered into this store and nearly drowned in the whimsy and pure joy of it all. Unfortunately, Chicago is the closest location with a store. Whenever I'm having a really bad day, I check out the website and sigh with longing and happiness. Some far off day, when I get my own apartment and am making more than peanuts, I will outfit my life in Anthropologie.

<<--Flower-shaped measuring cups = domestic bliss

(3) Poladroid - I am in love with Polaroids. They are the ultimate in point-and-shoot. You can't change the aperture or shutter speed or adjust the focus. You can't even edit in post. It's snap, print, shake. Anyone can create amazing photos with a DSLR camera and Photoshop. But a good Polaroid is magic. I have been trying for a long time to buy a camera on ebay but I always get outbid at the last minute. In the meantime, this is free downloadable software that makes any photo look like a Polaroid. Fantastic!

(4) Readymade - This website and the print magazine it spawned from are chock-full of DIY projects for home and garden. They range from organizational tips to interior design ideas. Their lighting projects are especially inspiring. While most of them are irrelevant to my dorm lifestyle, there's a lot of cool projects to do that I would otherwise just buy in a store. I plan on doing this over spring break. Well, not all of it, but the creating my own duvet cover bit.

(5) SocialVibe - SocialVibe is an innovative website that is capitalizing on social networking and internet marketing and using both to promote charitable causes. By creating a profile and choosing a cause, you complete "activities" from the sponsors to earn points. The more activities you complete and share, the more points you win, and the more money (and awareness) you raise for your cause. I currently support Surfrider Foundation, an organization focused on protecting beaches and keeping the oceans clean. Click on the widget in the upper right to earn points for me!

(6) ThinkGeek - The Mecca for tech nerds. I can hardly be described as such, but items such has the USB LED Beverage Cooler and Grassy Lawn Charging Station fill me with 400 gigabytes of happy. Until Sam showed me this website, I never knew how much I needed a pocket-sized synthesizer.

(7) Blippy - I am definitely pro-sharing my life on the internet. Exhibits A-F: I have accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, SocialVibe, Photobucket, and YouTube, as well as three working email addresses. That doesn't even include the social networking sites I've used and abandoned (see: Hi5, Bebo, Myspace, and Xanga). But I draw the line at Blippy. Here, you enter in your credit card information and it publicly posts to your profile everytime you spend money on that card. It shows what, where, and how much you spend. Everything from movie rentals and where you ate for dinner, to how much money you spent on gas yesterday. I mean everything. I thought Mom was kidding when she told me about this website. Social networkers, in my opinion, fall into three categories. There's "Hey, here's a glimpse of me!" and then there's "Hey, here's my daily life!" and then there's "Hey, here's my filing cabinet, medicine chest, and underwear drawer. May I show you the attic?" Blippy is firmly in the third category, a place I hope to never reach.

Victory is mine! I have sufficiently passed almost an entire work shift writing this post. Hopefully all the links work. Aside from my blog (of course), where do you like to go?

Things I Love Thursday

AAAGH quick, post something! There are only 55 minutes left in this Thursday!
I promised myself a while ago that I would be better at this. I think a small part of me hoped that by forcing myself to write here, no matter how irrelevant or pointless it may be, I will be more inclined to work on my thesis.

well, HA. joke's on you, self. If my thesis was an animal, it would be a tiny fish, flopping about on the shore and gasping for air.


too bad, little fish. You're only 45 pages shy of thriving.

But that's depressing. And that's not why we're here. Let the happy musings begin!


Rainbows and butterflies, activate!

(1) Twitter - I love Twitter. It is the silliest of Internet phenomena but something about it is so addicting. Condense your life into 140 characters. And then do it again 15 minutes later if you so choose. It is microblogging at its finest. Some people are frustrated by the character limit but I see it as a challenge: how can I pack wit, insight, and a coherent thought into such a small string of letters? I don't know if I've quite figured it out but I sure try. Sometimes multiple times a day. I am 100 percent aware that it is self-indulgent and meaningless. But there is something so satisfying about being able to take a whim, a moment of frustration, a stream of consciousness and publish it immediately. I often think, "what a pompous creature I am, to expect the world to want instant updates on my life." But then someone retweets me or @replies. The pompous creature adjusts her crown and smirks. And the cycle continues.

(2) Sudoku - Speaking of addictions, how about those Japanese number puzzles? When they first became popular in 2005, my math teacher loved to give them to us as busy work and extra credit. Since they were associated with math class and numbers, I was predisposed to despise them. I didn't understand how to do them and was frustrated that they were irrelevant to the mathematical concepts I was allegedly learning. However, once on a long trip, I bought a book of Sudoku, mistaking it for a book of crossword puzzles. (Apparently proving that I was predisposed to illiteracy as well.) Stuck with nothing to do but these cursed number games, I slowly figured out the way to solve them. And I was hooked. Now, I cannot tell you how many boring lectures, clerical meetings, and waiting rooms Sudoku puzzles have helped me suffer through. Until I get to the five star ones. Then I just count ceiling tiles.

(3) Long walks - on the beach. Kidding. This is not my online dating profile. Because I don't have one.

Maybe.

What?

But seriously. There's nothing that clears my head like a long stroll outdoors. Not just any outdoors, it has to be a rather calm setting. I don't often walk around outside at school because let's face it, even if the sidewalks weren't teeming with noisy college kids, there would still be the constant hum of traffic. and the sirens. and the construction. Oh, how I hate the construction. Living in a cluster of buildings that has been undergoing renovation for the last three years is definitely taking its toll. But that is a story for another time. Moving on...
I just adore taking a jaunt around the neighborhood when I'm home, like last weekend. Saturday dawned so very clear, feigning innocence of the ferocious winter storm it hurled down on us the night before. The blue sky/white snow was a dazzling combination that beckoned me outdoors. What a pleasant refreshing walk it was! Until I fell into an unsuspecting creek. Yet another story for another time...

(4) Valentine's Day - "What a cliche you are, falling for that corporate-sponsored myth of a holiday. You don't even have a boyfriend! HA! Loser." (That was the voice of the Pompous Creature who Twitters. She is also my alter ego who is not allergic to cats, and likes to lord that over me too. ) Well stuff it, Pompous Creature. Go crawl back under the figment of imagination you came from. I'm not ashamed and I will declare it from the rooftops: "HEY. I LOVE VALENTINE'S DAY!"

Yes. I appear to be a bird. Hey, I work with what Flickr gives me.
I love the shades of pink and red and white. I love the hearts, the x's, the o's, the glitter, the conversation candy, the saccharine poetry, the heart-shaped boxes of chocolate, the flowers, and the sweet signature of a child on the back of a store-bought card. I love exchanging cheesy gifts with my sister and my friends. Most of all I love love. That king of emotions that everyone wants so desperately to have, to feel, but defies explanation. But more importantly, the Love that is boundless, true, deep, and everlasting; the Love that is not of man, but is given without reserve and extends beyond the grave. That's the love I love the most.

(5) Making Lists - duh. The reason I enjoy Things I Love Thursdays the most: I can write in a list format. My life exists in lists. Case in point, I made a list during class today of the five things I was going to include in today's post, and have been checking them off as I type this. Also, upon finishing, I will be checking "update blog" off today's to-do list. And then will be checking "complete 2/11/10 list" off of this week's to-do list. I could go on, but it dissolves into an M.C. Escher scenario.


You get the picture.

This has gotten quite out of hand. I hope this Thursday finds you happy. And so I leave you with a pretty, vintage Valentine's Day image that will make the Pompous Creature cringe.

Now I need to go brush my teeth after all that sugary sweet.

Things I Love Thursday

Good evening my pretties!

I realize this makes three 'Things I Love Thursday' posts in a row but at least I'm blogging again, right? This Thursday finds me in a great mood so let the list commence!

(1) my iMac - I ADORE my new computer. Aside from the fact that it is a gorgeous machine, it has so much to offer! A 1 TB hard drive (so much space!), the new Magic Mouse with touch scroll, a user-friendly interface, and fantastic multimedia programs. iPhoto and iMovie allow me to edit and share my photos and video with such ease! One of my favorite features is the built in iSight camera, allowing me to Skype with my nearest and dearest.

Apple, I am completely open to being paid for selflessly promoting your products. Get in touch with me.

(2) Talking to my thesis advisor - I have the greatest mentor in the world. Professor J is so fantastic. She always says the right thing. Like today, I came into our meeting feeling like I was in over my head and that all my writing was useless and incoherent. But 45 minutes later I walked out with a game plan and renewed confidence. She told me exactly how to organize my research and how to set up both a timeline and outline so I will arrive at April 1st with the best writing I have ever done in my college career. She is the reason I want to go to graduate school and pursue my passion in history.

(3) Chewing gum - Anyone who knows me well knows I really like my gum. I have a voracious sweet tooth and nothing cuts the urge to snack than a piece of good old-fashioned bubble gum (sugar free of course). Thanks to the tendency of our society to buy in bulk, brands like Eclipse and Orbit have come out with the Big-e pak. I pretty much keep one on my desk at all times.


Hey, go get your own!

(4) Doing crafts - after perusing the DIY website etsy.com at work one evening I was struck with the crafting FEVER! The next day I went right to Hobby Lobby and JoAnn Fabrics and spent my hard-earned money on two projects. I decorated large wooden initials for a friend's birthday and started a collection of headband accessories. When I am finished with both projects I will do a post about them with pictures. I am quite pleased with the results!

(5) This website - I find the coolest things at work (since usually I have nothing to do but surf the web). This particular gem is NOT recommended for anyone on a diet. It is a delightful collection of recipes for the most delectable goodies. Most intriguing are the recipes for cake pops and a recent post on how to make macarons (no that is not a misspelling, it is the French version of macaroons). I don't know how they taste but they look like tiny doll cakes that should only be served on little plastic plates in the company of your favorite stuffed animals. I forsee many an experimentation of these recipes....


Mr. Rabbit, you may only have another if you promise to stop kicking Madam Sprinkles under the table!

Time to get back to work! What tickles your fancy today?

Things I Love Thursday

Edit: I know it's Friday but since I started this on Thursday, it still counts. And since this is my blog, I can make the rules. So there. :)



Hello lovelies--

It's Thursday again and due to a gloomy day with terrible weather and boring classes, I feel it is all the more important to think about the things I love.

(1) Peonies - I recently discovered these flowers while shopping for a sympathy bouquet for a friend. When I say "discovered", I mean I saw them in a photo in a florist book since they are not in season. They are only around for a short period in May and June but these lush blooms can be found in delicate shades of white and pink or vibrant hues of red. They make me think of lace and paper hearts, having tea in a delicate china cup, and happy sighs. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present, my new favorite flowers:

(2) This video - What appears to be 12 and a half mindless minutes of architecture footage is a captivating work of art that is made entirely from CG animation. I don't quite understand it all myself but once you grasp that it is 100% animated and not real footage, it will blow your mind. Regardless of how it was made, it is hauntingly beautiful.

(3) Colored pens - Nothing makes taking notes in class more entertaining than using bright, fun colors. It helps me later when I'm studying if I wrote in one color and underlined in another; I know what is especially important. And let's be honest, sometimes changing pen colors is the only thing keeping me awake.

(4) The word 'Magnificent' - I am a huge fan of the English language and all the ways it can be used. As such, I believe everyone should command a robust and luxuriant vocabulary (You see what I did there? 'robust'. 'luxuriant'.) You can instantly add class and style to any conversation by throwing in such an adjective as 'magnificent'. Here's an example:
Boring: "Look at that statue. How neat."
Exciting: "Look at that statue. How magnificent!"
What depth, what keen insight! You're welcome.


(5) Adam Zagajewski - Or rather, his poetry. All of his work is originally written in Polish so I have to read the English translation but it's amazing how beautiful poetry can transcend language. The phrasing and imagery paint such a rich, dynamic scene that if I close my eyes, I can see it. A sampling of his work can be found here. Also check out the poem "Great Ships".


What do you love today?