Memory Lane Monday: A Fair Fare-thee-well to Ye Olde Renaissance Faire, Also, Camels

You know that feeling when you write a post for your blog and then hit "save" instead of "publish," and then you try to fend off the stress and anxiety from the knowledge that you are moving across the country in 3 weeks and leaving behind everything you've known for the past 7 years by binge-watching Breaking Bad which just makes you feel shittier so then you try to cleanse your pallet by binge-playing Ni No Kuni and then the next thing you realize is you've gone an entire week without accomplishing anything? Yeah.

Boyfriend, our friend Jen, and I made our annual pilgrimage to the New York Renaissance Faire this year, probably for the last time. It was fun. I rode a camel! 
But, Faire felt different this year. Maybe it's grown stale for me since it's the same year after year, or maybe I was just melancholy that day, or maybe it was all the drunk assholes since they decided to add a Pub Crawl to the roster to boost sales but didn't think to boost security. I'm going to go with a little of all of the above. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Faire, but this year felt different. I still had fun, I rode a camel. I think I'm just blue about the reality of leaving NY.It was nice to be outdoors on a nice day and sort of push the stress of moving out of my mind for a few hours, but as moving day draws nearer, the stress bubble inside my brain grows and grows. But, I rode a camel, and that was awesome.

The first time I ever rode a camel I was 3 years old and it was at the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio. We were probably visiting my grandparents. I remember nothing about it except looking down from atop the camel to the ground. It was terrifying and fascinating and I felt a thousand feet high. I've had dreams and flashbacks to that moment staring down from the camel's back throughout my life. Yet I never really knew if these memories were real or just something I had imagined. I never knew until I rode that Camel at the Ren Faire, and I looked down from the camel's hump and felt the same feeling I had almost 27 years ago. It was a relief. Lately I've been questioning my own sanity and my ability to remember real things. I think it's just stress and anxiety and fear manifesting into me shutting things out. But being able to know that one very distinct memory of that camel ride at age 3 was not something I had invented, helped me feel sane and free for the 5-ish minutes adult me was on that camel. Thank you, Ren Faire.

So go out there and ride your camel!

I can conquer anything

Friday Favorites: Procrastination Edition

I finally started watching Breaking Bad this week on Netflix. Holy shit that show is intense and amazing. Between that and Ni No Kuni, I have been fairly useless this week. Any excuse to procrastinate getting prepared to move...OMG I'M MOVING ACROSS THE COUNTRY IN A MONTH!!!!

-A Field Guide to Procrastinators
I am all of these

-Sexism in Video Games Not Dealing With Giant Boobies
It probably doesn't help that I call them "boobies" huh?

-Baby Elephant and a Sleeping Dog
Other than the obnoxious rooster in the background, this is a very soothing sweet video

-Why Grammar is Important
Learn that shit, yo! 
(Sorry, I've been watching a lot of Breaking Bad lately. Like, a LOT.)

-Cats Knocking Sh*t Over
Exactly.

-Disney Princess Costume Swap
This is darling and I want a collection of prints. My favorite one is Belle in Beast's clothing

And on a more serious but important and educational note:

-Mental Health in the Marketplace
Useful resources and information for those struggling with mental health issues.

Friday Favorites: The Revenge

My laptop is acting crazy today. It has these wierd flickering lines on it like an old tube TV that isn't getting good reception. I think it's dying you guys. Um...other than that, I've got nothing today. Here:



-Roommate Confessions
With my series of awful roommates/living situations, I am proud to say I never did any of these things.

-Things I Never Learned in School T-Shirt
Yeah, I kind of need this shirt...

-Dear Fake Geek Girls, Go Away?
Thank you satire. Note: if you read the comments on this video, your head might explode with rage...mine almost did.

-We Can To Please Have More Doctors?
I don't claim to be a DW expert (I reserve that title for my buddy, KAnderson) but I really do hope that there are multiple Doctors/companions/other DW alums in the 50th anniversary. I really believe it will lose something if there aren't as many alums as possible.

-More Harry Potter...sort of!
When I first saw the headline, I almost rolled my eyes, but stay with it, guys.

-Dr. Lollipop the Unicorn
Oh yes, it's a thing.

-My former place of residence in under water!
Of all the natural (and unnatural) disasters I have experience or expected to experience in Colorado, massive flooding was not one of them.

And finally, I'm going to include something that I read this week but did not like:

-10 Things You Didn't know about Playing Video Games
Normally I really like a lot of the stuff written on LifeHack.com, but I found this article to be slightly condescending especially since it was written by a female gamer who is addicted to The Sims just like me! Feel free to leave your opinions in the comments. Maybe I'm too sensitive. 
Also, for the record, (and not to sound all hipstery or troll-y) yes I did know all of those things about playing video games, because I read technology-based publications regularly, and most of the studies the author referred to (that ABC and NYT just now appear to be reporting on) came out last year. But maybe I'm just splitting hairs...

Memory Lane Monday: When Childhood Gaming and Being a Classy Adult Get Together and Make an Awesome Baby

Last Friday night, Boyfriend and I did something that, as a child, I always imagined every cultured person in NYC did all the time: we attended an art show at a gallery. Now this was no ordinary art show, thank you very much. This was the 3 NES Show at the Bottleneck Gallery, featuring a multitude of pieces in every medium imaginable, all inspired by the Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid games. So in other words: Best. Art Show. Ever.

To be honest, I was only mildly excited about going to the art show opening. Firstly, the gallery was in Williamsburg, which is not only mildly annoying to get to from Astoria, but we all know how I feel about Williamsburg. Secondly, going to a crowded art gallery (aka a small space) did not sound very appealing... you know, that whole social anxiety thing.  However, once we got inside and I got a free beer in my hand (thank you Brooklyn Brewery) I felt ok. Then I just reminded myself that I was surrounded by other nerds like me who probably all had their own awkward inner demons, and we were all there because we liked video games and/or free beer. But once all the people who were only there for the free beer cleared out, and I started documenting things for the blog, I felt a lot better and really enjoyed myself.

My t-shirt was designed by ShayLei and can be purchased on Redbubble

There was so much amazing art at this gallery! I wish I could have taken pictures of everything to share, but then no one would go to the gallery to see the show. So here are just some of my favorite pieces:

These gorgeous portraits of Peach, Zelda, and Samus are painted with acrylic by Kathleen Sanders and are available to purchase for $300 each. If I had a thousand extra bucks laying around, I would have snatched these up in a heartbeat.

Peach

Zelda

Samus

This amazing paper mache sculpture, entitled "Chomper Plant with Fireball" was done by Art Lopez, and stands approximately 13" high.

Boyfriend and I did end up buying 4 limited edition prints of some pieces we really liked. That's right, bitches, we bought us some art, like adults! Because we're all classy and shit.

"Armoured Beauty" By: Javier Jimenez

 Boyfriend and I bought a set of 3 of these giclee prints of your favorite video game beauties all tattooed and bad-ass-looking. We also bought this signed limited edition archival print of Link and dark Link in the Water Temple. I wanted this not only because it's awesome, but also because of the piece's title:

"The F ' ing Water Temple" By: Kim Herbst

I won't comment on all the pieces that I documented except this one last giclee print. I'm only going to share this one because it made me feel icky and it falls into the category of "things you can't unsee" and I need to share that pain with you all. I cropped the photo to be as SFW as possible, but it probably still isn't. Behold, your childhood game heroines as call-girl posters: (After the break)

Friday Favorites: Powerful Nerdy

Yup this week is pretty much all geek-tastic nerdity! I finally beat Bioshock Infinite without anyone spoiling the ending for me!! (It's a goddamn miracle, I tell ya.) And now I've moved on to Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, and all I can say is gorgeous! Gorgeous, delightful, charming. Aaah! My heart may explode with love for this endearing game!
Anywho...on with my favorite distractions inspirations this week on the interwebs!!!

-Inside-Out Grilled Cheese?!
Yes. All the yes.

-On of My Favorite Movies of All Time is FINALLY On Blu-Ray!!!

-Video Games are Saving Mankind
I knew it!!!

-One Teething Ring to Rule Them All
It almost makes me want to entertain the idea of possibly thinking about considering having a baby. Almost.

-Custom Lunch Boxes FTW!
Some are not the most appetizing, but it'll keep people from stealing them, won't it? 

-The Bloggess has designed a track jacket for the rest of us
Because.  

-My Buddy Kyle Shared Simon Pegg's Strar Trek cast prank
Love me some Simon Pegg 

-Badass fast food cosplay
You heard me. Fast food cosplay. It's epic.

-A Mighty Girl
A website designed after my own heart: "The world's largest collection of books, toys and movies for smart, confident, and courageous girls." Stuff like this makes me less fearful of having a daughter in this world.

-The Fox
AKA the sleeper song of the summer. Ok this was originally going to go on next week's edition of FF because this one seems out of control long. However, since I discovered this last night it has almost tripled in views, so I gotta jump on this before CNN "discovers" it. I can't post something awesome after CNN has reported on it. My soul would die.