Archive for the ‘ramblings’ Category

it’s moments like this I wish I had long skinny legs

Friday, January 27th, 2012

“Oh …hey …just hanging out looking fabulous in my pirate knee socks …pants-free is the way for me!”

I’m fine with my short strong legs.  I generally don’t have super model envy.  Short is adorable (and highly underestimated in a scrappy fight …I could head butt this lady in the stomach because that’s where my eye line would be …she literally wouldn’t see me coming: SURPRISE!).  But sometimes I see outfits that I know for a fact can only be pulled off with long lanky stems.  I’m not saying I’d strut around in the outfit above (or how about I totally would), but it would be nice to know the option is on the table.

It’d also be nice to be able to reach things in the kitchen cabinets without having to climb on the counters like a child trying to reach the cookies.  I’m a grownup (or so the numbers dictate) cookies should be easily accessible to me by now!  Sigh.

DIY Chanel laptop sleeve

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

Truly a personalized laptop case

When I got the pretty new Macbook Pro, the first thing I wanted to do was find something to protect it.  Turns out all the cute ones (because it has to be cute) are really expensive!  Go figure.  So I took things into my own hands.  Karl Lagerfeld (Chanel/Fendi bigwig to those who aren’t into that sort of thing) designed a print that went something like this:

I’ve always liked it and thought about making my own t-shirt.  The laptop dilemma seemed like the right opportunity to use the idea.  I went on Amazon and looked up the cheapest sleeves with the best rating.  I came across a cool one that was black faux leather (not fancy, but I prefer to refer to it as “cruelty free”) and it’s made to look like a document folder (complete with red cable tie for a little bit of “pop” but has a Velcro closure if you are too lazy to use the cord).  It had a 4.5 rating and was $9.99.  Sold!  It has turned out to be perfect.  It’s sturdy, fits just right and has a felt interior to snuggle my computer as it deserves.  BUT, the sleeve is kinda boring if left as is.

I spent some time figuring out what would adhere to pleather (it hurts me to say the word) …turns out nothing really does, not completely.  It was better than my other option though.  See, most laptop sleeves are made of real leather (which I wouldn’t want to risk fucking up this early in my design endeavors) or most commonly: Neoprene.  Think wetsuit material.  It’s so porous, it doesn’t respond to anything!  So I went with the fake leather and got myself a large, white, OIL BASED paint Sharpie (you can grab one of those for under five bucks).  The fact that I didn’t know how the sleeve material would respond is why I decided this was the perfect project to use this design for.  It only requires one paint pen, nothing complex, and if it does get a bit messed up …it makes sense with the “punk” style of it.  Also, if it got too “punk” it seemed the easiest to touch up.

The final result is at top.  Not too bad if I do say so myself.  The bonus for me is how much ol’ Uncle Karl would crap his pants in a rage over how someone dared to copy the all-mighty Chanel.  Needless to say he’s very protective of the “brand” …even if his design is meant to be tongue and cheek grunge.  Heh!  Mine is REAL grunge.  I win!  How has it been holding up?  Pleasingly well.  The texture of the sleeve is coming through a lot (you need to go over the lettering at least twice …don’t forget to let the coats dry) and there is some cracking.  But like I said, it works with the design.  I’m glad I went with this and didn’t actually draw something.  It would not have held up.  My other advice would be to not try to replicate the original font exactly.  You’ll spend too much time worrying about being exact and it will turn out badly and rehearsed looking.  That defeats the purpose.  I know this from trying some test runs in my sketch book.  As you can see, an approximation is just fine.

As someone who changes up the bag I carry, sometimes I don’t carry one large enough to put the sleeve in.  Not that I take the beast out much, I couldn’t deal with it being stolen and I don’t feel the need to look oh-so important at a coffee shop (my home has great coffee …and it’s just better).  But for school purposes and having a place to keep the charger, etc. having a laptop bag is necessary.  That part was simply left to Betsey Johnson.  It’s interesting to look at and gets the job done (and, of course, it’s made out of Neoprene …so it should be safe if someone started a water balloon fight …because it happens, all the time).  Another tip? (since I’m at it) …always check Ross before anywhere else (even eBay …that’s just people who went to Ross and are now making a huge profit off the people who are too cool or dumb to go there themselves).  Mine? $19.99.  Most other places? $30-80. Yeeeeah. It’s not that great.

My MacBook is the safest MacBook there ever was …and the most snappily dressed.

a new take on “breakfast at tiffany’s”

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

THIS is what is hanging over my stove (har har …breakfast …kitchen …har)

And THIS is what I’m going to replace it with when the day comes.  Yesss!

Hanging something over your stove or sink …well, you have to do it with the understanding that its shelf life may be shorter than other parts of your home.  I don’t mind replacing my Breakfast at Tiffany’s poster knowing this is out in the world waiting to be hung up!  Perhaps I’ve shown too much of my dark sense of humor?  Nah.  I love Holly Golightly.  The movie version more so than the book (don’t hear that very often) …too much literal hookerdom …I found it harder to want to emulate.  I don’t actually want to see Cat attack her …but yeah, it’s pretty funny.

Most people find Banksy on the over-exposed side.  I think he’s successful for a reason.  It does sort of contradict the principles of street artists in certain ways, but whatever, I love most of what the man does.  Just assume you’ll be seeing more of his work here (and in my home …prints not originals …obviously, I’m not Daddy Warbucks, geez guys).

No, seriously, I love Holly Golightly …I own a replica of the sleep mask …and I’d be sad if a cat mauled it.

fresh white lilies = best thing in the whole world

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

Mine are in a more personally preferable receptacle …but the point is …flowers are pretty, get you some!

I mentioned this ages ago when I was excited about peony season, but, it never hurts to repeat:

Everyone ought to indulge themselves with fresh flowers in their space.  If you are one of the poor souls who is so allergic you can’t have them around, I’m a jerk just rubbing it in and never mind this.  If you’re just straight up poor, pick some flowers and put them in a Coke bottle (or any other cool bottle you washed out …there are so many out there …Mexican beer bottles are another suggestion).  In the right season, I enjoy picking a handful of wild flowers on my hikes with the dog.  It’s free and brightens up the room.

My absolute favorite is to treat myself to fresh cut white lilies.  I adore everything about them.  Their smell is up there with gardenias and peonies for me (those are more season specific, so casablanca lilies are my favorite go-to).  They look just as cool closed as open.  I’m not a big fan of bouquets.  Stems alone are perfect, and as they die (the part that makes me sad every time, despite the inevitable living being factor) you simply put them in smaller container and move it to wherever its new size makes sense in the room.  The ol’ vase-to-jar-to bottle change-up.

I’ve been keeping fresh flowers in one form or another for as long as I’ve had my own space to keep them and to this day I look over at them and feel good.  If I had to pick between flowers for the week or a new bottle of nail polish for the year, I’d still pick the flowers (assuming I still have my little drawer of pre-existing bottles stashed away …hey, my toes need the extra help).

I keep mine on the end table where I sit on the couch so I can see/smell them as much as possible.  Even when I’m just walking by, I almost always stop and smell the …lilies.  Roses don’t get all the fun.  It’s good to have something that makes you want to stop for a minute and enjoy the simple things.  Bowser is too good at that job.  I find myself constantly stopping to have a love fest.  Flowers take less time and keep you out of trouble because they won’t make you late for things.

If I have to sell you on the idea, your loss.  I just think people consider it an elective.  Consider this, my fella has admitted on more than one occasion that having cut flowers in the room makes a big difference to the environment.  I don’t think they delight him in quite as extreme a way, but he likes having them around.  It’s not something he’d have done for himself (I doubt most straight guys out there would think to) but hey, better late than never.  Then again, he didn’t use trash liners in his garbage can before I met him…

Sigh.  Just go treat yourself will ya?

OH!  Before I forget, I was looking up “fresh cut lilies” on an image search and experienced shock and awe when this came up in the results (no …no I couldn’t just keep to myself, now you have to have it burned in your retinas too):

raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens …well, we all have our own set of favorite things…I guess…

don’t call them new year “resolutions” just call them “optimistic goals” and do your best

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

So January is already coming to a close …that’s not to say I haven’t been working on this thing “behind the scenes” …and hey, this is why it’s called an “optimistic goal” …HAPPY NEW YEAR!

…It really takes the pressure off.  But seriously, make good goals and try your best.  Resolutions can be broken, then you shrug and don’t bother to try again until the next year.  In most cases, that’s a lot of time to say “oh well” and not self improve.  With a goal, you can drop the ball (Ha, get it? Just a little belated new years humor for you) …then just pick it up and keep trying.

Oh!  Why hello there. Yeah, I know, it has been a while.  Maintaining my blog is one of my major optimistic goals for the year that I hope to carry into future years.  For a while, I had some legitimate excuses (put all my woman hours into being sumpremely awesome at school …yes, I went back, more on that later …my lil’ old computer got tired out and died after an honorable run of service…)  But here I am with a little break between semesters and a sexy MacBook Pro powered up and ready to do my bidding.  No more excuses, time to start writing again.  Well, unless school starts taking it out of me again …but we’ll jump that bridge on a flaming motorcycle when we get there.

One of the things that was inhibiting me was that I wanted to try handling my blogging in a different way than I had in the past.  More me, less the “Perez” format.  That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy what I was doing before and that it was any less “me,” but I think I’d rather be a little more personal.  Not SUPER personal, c’mon, it’s still a Google-able entity (maybe way down on the search results…but still…).  It’ll still be pretty random; news tid bits that are of interest to me from time to time, movies that I thought may or may not have sucked …but I’d like to make more of an effort to write about the things I do, see, hear, say, etc. Essays, rambling, whatever you want to call them.  I refrained from that in the past because most people said the same thing my teachers would say when I was the only person in the class that would turn in a paper that not only hit the minimum criteria of the word count …but they’d then enforce a maximum word limit to papers.  So, if you complain about things like having to read too much (and hi, if you’re a teacher…that’s sorta your job, you just got lazy with all the two paragraph papers written with Courrier New font …1.5 or double spaced) you can just skip what you don’t like.  This isn’t required reading.  I just hope if you’re here, it’s because you enjoy what’s here. Skim as you see fit.  Besides, on my busier (or lazier) days the post(s) will probably stay on the concise side.

Let’s see, what has changed and what is still so in terms of what I have blathered on about in the past:

Lady Gaga…Yes, I do still love her.  I don’t feel the need to give updates on her as she has hit that point where she can easily do that for herself (I was still talking about her even when she got “big” but you know what I mean …no need to post something daily).  I would like her more if she stayed more cryptic and simply remained a wacky entertainer …because when she opens her mouth in magazines, etc. most of the time she sounds like a douchette.  I think that comes with the territory of being an entertainer.  In such a line of work, you have to have a screw (or more) loose and you have to have a LOT of confidence in yourself.  I mean that in a good way, I can attest. For better or worse, that’s what it takes.  I care about her ultimate message and I enjoy her as an entertainer.  …but I like her a lot more when not paying much attention to her interviews.

Glee…Nope. Not into it any more.  I know that’s crazy given how much I enjoyed the first season, and parts of season 2 …but I have to say, I haven’t watched a single episode of season 3.  I’m just not interested anymore.  They veered so far off the original path by paying all attention to guest star and “tribute” gimmicks.  Loved me some Britney tribute, but it all went downhill from that (Rocky Horror “tribute” crushed my heart …to put it in the non-dramatic sense).  No care for story at all. Meh.

Drew (Barrymore …duh)…Uh, YEAH!  She will always be my favorite.  Good or bad, always.

Gay folk and their civil rights…Yup, that’s always going to be something I fiercely have opinions about.  It feels trivial mentioning this in the same list as all the pop culture stuff mentioned above…but I have certainly brought it up a lot in the past, and I more likely than not still will. It’s because of those fierce opinions and all…

Re-makes…Still HATE them (for the most part, with rare exceptions) and will continue to rant about them even though it doesn’t do any good and they will continue to be made since dumb asses keep going to them.  The nerve.

I’m sure there’s more, but you get the gist.  Besides, like I said I plan more on writing from a more personal point of view from now on, versus the pop culture blurbs I’d been churning.

So, there’s plenty to catch up on, and we will.  Perhaps I’ll try to span it out over a few entries vs. spilling into the world’s longest “So how have you been?” response that was actually meant to be rhetorical by the other party.  But then, if you didn’t want an answer, you wouldn’t be here …I think.