Friday Favorites: On the Move

This one is a shorty that I had to write and schedule to publish quickly. If you're reading this, I'm on the most epic road trip ever with Boyfriend and Leeloo. I have no interwebs right now!

-The Top 5 Deathbed Regrets
A morbid way to start your Friday, but something to think about

-Gaming Gender Gap (And How to Fix it)
I like articles with suggested solutions instead of just reporting the problems we all already know exist

-Cute Gangsta Cars

Friday Favorites: Pets Are the Best

This week in between packing and freak-outs about packing, I hold my dog -probably tighter than she would really like. I hold her. I hold her until the panic goes away. Sometimes I lay down with her on my chest to remind myself that I'm still breathing. She doesn't like this much either, but she lets me. Because she loves me. My dog is the best.

She's the best. She loves me even when I make her try on the sweater I knit her in the middle of July. THE. BEST.

-Wet Dog Gives You a Piece of His Mind
This is an oldie, but it makes me laugh every time

-Rats Doing Tricks
I find rats fascinating, but their hairy tails creep me out

-My Life in a Drawing
This is why I never get anything done

-Baby Shower Vodka
Many many years from now, this better be at my baby shower 

-Calling in Sick
Why is this not a legit reason?! 

-Cute Snake
That's right.


-Animals Wearing Dinosaur Costumes
Because.


On a completely different note, Her Universe just named me Fan Girl of the Day today!!! I feel a little like a failed Fan Girl since I'm not at NYCC like everyone else, but I have a lot on my plate these days and couldn't handle a convention this weekend right before my big move. Also, nothing nothing nothing could ever top last year. 

Thanks Ashley, you're a class act!!!

NYCC 2011

Memory Lane Monday: Farewell NYC Edition

I haven't posted much lately because it's taking every ounce of my sanity and energy to not die from anxiety over moving across the country in 2 weeks. 2 WEEKS!!!! My apartment is a shit-hole (more so than usual right now) and everything is chaos in my brain (again, more than usual.) To compound the throbbing panic that constantly floods my brain and the invisible belt around my chest that feels like its being cinched tighter every hour making it impossible to breath, Boyfriend got on a plane at the ass-crack of dawn this morning to go visit family and to pick up our "new" car to drive back here. So, I am trying to keep my emotional shit together while packing for the biggest move of my life by myself for 5 days. Not gonna lie, it's been a rough 12 hours.

Don't get me wrong, Boyfriend is not the bad guy here, my mental health (or lack thereof) is the big culprit. I just never realized how much I relied on Boyfriend as my constant and my support system until I was left to my own devices for a day knowing that there were still 4 days to go. But, I digress...

This might be my last "regularly scheduled" blog entry for the next few weeks, so I tried to make it a good one. But all I got was lists. You're welcome.

What I'll Miss Most About NYC

-My Friends

I have made so many wonderful friends here, the tears really started today and they probably won't stop for a month.

-The Pizza

Everyone keeps telling me I can't get good bagels and pizza anywhere else. That may have been true in the 80's, but now it's not that difficult to find good bagels and good pizza. But there's just something about going to Frankie's or 2 Bros. and getting a slice and a coke for $3 and pushing your way through the smelly crowded sidewalk with steaming hot pizza grease dripping down your chin.

-The ability to find almost anything you could possibly need at 2 am

Seriously, you can find the most random necessities at 2 in the morning.

-The skyline

There's just something magical about that skyline. Which I got to view from the Statue of Liberty for the first time this summer. How sad is that?! I was born here, lived here almost 7 years of my adult life and never went to visit Lady Liberty?

-The energy

NYC has a very special energy or aura, something about the way the city moves if you just stop and feel it, it's amazing.

What I Won't Miss

-Roaches the size of matchbooks

And bigger. Lots bigger. Fucking horrifying.

-The crazy fucking neighbors

Exhibit A.  Exhibit B.  Exhibit C.  Exhibit D.  

And those are just the ones I've written about.

-Smelly/hot/cold/sticky subway cars

You really don't want me going into detail.

-Sweating ALL the time

I never knew my kneecaps could sweat until I moved here. Humidity's a bitch.

Alright, so these lists aren't comprehensive, but you catch my drift. Despite all the crazy shit here, I am going to miss NYC. L.A is going to be very different, but this is one of the few times in my life that I can remember being ready for a change.  So, if I fall off the radar next week, don't worry, I'll be back to my normal snarky, mentally addled self soon. Also, it's 2800+ miles from here to L.A. I'm probably going to tweet A LOT. You've been warned.

Friday Favorites: Do What You Want

I'm feeling a tad moody and all "fuck-it-y" today.

-The True Power of Force Ghosts
This made me laugh so hard. It almost makes the whole Anakin ghost thing better. Almost.

-The Two Words No Woman Wants to Hear
I really thought I was alone in feeling icky and indignant when a stranger (usually male) says this to me on the street. We are not alone. Only we have domain over our bodies and ourselves. It is never wrong to not want to be told what to do with your own body.

-Sesame Street Goes Game of Thrones
I'm not obsessed with GoT the way a lot of people are, but I know it's a damn good show when ye ole Street De Sesame gets in on the action.

-One Word Comeback
Maybe we need to just pelt the news outlets with history books and they'll get a clue?

-Epic Parenting
I'm not a parent yet, and don't plan to be for a few more years, but sites like this make it seem way less scary.

-My Life As A Warrior Princess
A cool article written by Jennifer Sky about her experiences on one of my favorite shows in the 90's.

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...