Heard this for the first time today. :) ~sigh~ I love Weezer.
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Archives for category: Media
~image courtesy Al Young Studios~
With budgets tightened everywhere, I think many of us are kind of hunkering down and buying less “stuff.” Instead, I know at least in my home, when we do buy things, they are things of worth to us. We’re spending more time figuring out how to make things/cook things/grow things ourselves. Even entertainment has changed here. We don’t have cable tv anymore. We listen to the radio a lot, get out of the house, get movies from Netflix or read instead of watching tv.
I love magazines still, but I’ve been letting most of my subscriptions end and only keeping the ones that really enrich me, my family and my home. The Storybook Home Journal is the only magazine I’ve newly subscribed to and I absolutely LOVE it! There are so many really cheap magazine subscriptions available today. So, at first glance this publication may seem pricey. But keep in mind that it is bi-monthly, ad-free and FULL off gorgeous images! I heard about it over at Children of Eve in this post. Go find out what intrigued me. Then subscribe here and visit the Storybook Home Journal’s blog here.
A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
-John Keats via Mary Poppins 
I picked up a few gluten-free cookbooks this week and LOVE them.
Erin McKenna’s Babycakes (as in Babycakes NYC!) Yeah, pretty much every recipe in here made my mouth water just from looking at the absolutely gorgeous pictures! Cookies, cupcakes, cakes, muffins, scones, brownies… yep, all in there. Some of the recipes do use spelt. So, be aware. The most, however, are truly gluten-free!
Elana Amsterdam’s The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook. Yes, Elana as in the delectable Elana’s Pantry! One of my ALL TIME favorite GF food blogs. I like this little book because it covers everything from breakfast to dessert. Orange Apricot Scones, Shrimp Fritters, Pecan Pie, Vanilla Cupcakes with Raspberry Fig Filling… tempted yet? Me too.
Allergy-Free Cookbook by Publications International. I found this in the bargain section at Barnes and Noble and wasn’t expecting much. Seriously SO MANY recipes I want to try! Very uncomplicated, but delicious looking. The book has photos for almost every recipe and clearly states whether or not the dish contains gluten, dairy, eggs or nuts with a symbol under the recipe’s title. Nice when you want to find something quick while flipping through the book.
If I make anything post-worthy, I’ll share. If I make anything (um… or a lot of things) not so post-worthy, I’ll share anyways so we can laugh together
If you’re looking for more gluten-free recipes, see my last post and head over to some of the blogs I mentioned before. Lot’s to see and TASTE! mmmm…. If you have any other gluten-free cookbook recommendations please comment or email me (1geekygirl[at]gmail.com)! The selection at my bookstore was pretty scanty. I REALLY had to search for these even after asking for help from a salesperson.
~image courtesy Oscilloscope Laboratories~
No Impact Man is available to stream for free from Netflix if you’re a subscriber. Read more about it here. Because I had a little road trip planned for the last half of last week, I tried to get ahead of my posts and managed it. So, I spent the free time that left me watching this movie. I really liked it. There are some parts that were a little horrifying, like the thought of giving up my fridge or toilet paper. I’m REALLY glad that the Beavens did it though. Now I don’t have to experiment myself. I can just know it’s not something I want to try.
~image courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories~
Don’t get me wrong. I already do a lot of the things they tried in the film. We did cloth diapers for my little girl’s first 19 months and now we do these (I was even able to pass on her newborn clothies to an expecting friend. Yay!). I make my own laundry soap (1part Borax: 1part (1 whole box) Arm&Hammer washing soda: 1 bar fels naptha soap) which works SO great! We use re-useable shopping bags… stuff like that. There are plenty of things I would like to try now though. There isn’t a great farmers market near me, but I have a small orchard that also has vegetables you can harvest yourself down the road. There is also someone with chicken a few blocks down that offers fresh eggs. So, I could take advantage of both of those resources. I think one of these would be pretty great:
A Madsen Bucket Bike (found via Inhabitots here)
Or a chariot type trike like they had in the movie. We go through an insane amount of paper towels. So, I recently ordered some of these re-useable ones from Made In The Red Barn. Love them!
So, I guess No Impact Man had an impact on me
So, I originally hoped to put together a collection of handmade Anime influenced items for your viewing/purchasing pleasure, but I try not to put “stuff” up just to slap together a post. I have to really like something and want to watch, read, buy, use, bake… it myself before I pass it along. Well, I couldn’t find many “things” that I absolutely loved that corresponded to the specific anime series that I love.
Here are a few things that caught my eye:
1. Your Friend Totoro at LapTatt 2. Robot Retractable Badge Holder by NancyM4 3. Animeye Painting by Thomas Deininger 4. Kumagoro Fleece Hat by Shori Ameshiko
Yes, I know that robots don’t specifically represent anime. It’s a way funner way to display your work badge though right?! Anyways, there are plenty of robots in anime *sniff*
I started thinking. One of the reasons I really love anime and, more recently, manga is because of the wonderful artwork. I love how artists can convey such a wide range of complex emotion with these characters. Some of the story lines are just so deep (or SO hilarious! …and many times both). Many times I have started a series thinking, yeah this is silly, only to find a much deeper theme the more episodes I watched. The very first anime series I watched was Elfen Lied. Whoa! Pretty much gore from the start. It was the only time I ever guiltily looked around my house expecting my mom to walk in and scold me for watching something so bloody. Of course I was married, in my mid-twenties and NOT living at home. So, the chances of this happening were pretty slim, but you don’t know my mom… ninja. No, seriously! NIN.JA!
Back to my story though…
Elfen Lied actually has a lot of tender and hilarious moments. So, if you’ve never watched any anime, remember that you can’t always judge a series from the first couple of episodes. Please make sure that if you’re not into violence you do your research! There are plenty of anime shows and movies that don’t contain gore, nudity and violence. Just make sure to check ratings and descriptions. Some of the series I have listed below contain all of the above. Some I’ve had playing ever since my little girl was born and are her favorite movies ever! The images I’ve chosen to represent each title are all original pieces and link back to the artists.
My Top 20 Anime movies and series: (available for purchase here)
1. Nana (image by Hybreed Rainbow) 2. Elfen Lied (image by Synister Smile) 3. Appleseed (image by Tyrant Of The Arts) 4. Serial Experiments Lain (Image by Moosaka)
5. Paprika (image by Softmeanie) 6. My Neighbor Totoro (image by Sxan) 7. Trigun (image by Retrolex) 8. Berserk (image by Tobiass85)
9. Spirited Away (image by Niki UK) 10. Howl’s Moving Castle (image by Tirael) 11. Bleach (image by Nekozumi) 12. TekkonKinkreet (image by Coey)
13. Ouran High School Host Club (image by Kyate) 14. Full Metal Alchemist (image by Dark GX) 15. Kiki’s Delivery Service (image by VL Arancia) 16. Cowboy Bebop (image by Vintana)
17. Death Note (image by Katikut) 18. Gunslinger Girl (image by J. Trojen)19. Samurai 7 (image by Black Saiyan) 20. Blood + (image by Miss It Girl)
To learn more about anime and specific series check out:
Many series are available to stream for free online at:
Netflix (if you subscribe to their service)
If a specific episode is missing from any of the above sites I usually check out sidereel.com or veoh.com
Happy watching!
I’ve really been loving The Wheepies lately:
Hideaway:
Orbiting:
Little Bird:
I already have one Hideaway video up, but I thought this version was just SO creative!
To find out more about The Wheepies go to their site!
I remember being so irked sometimes in college because the professors teaching style and my learning style were completely different. So, even though I was paying for a class, I had to go home and spend hours teaching my self um… physics… organic chemistry… yeah, no fun. The tutorials I have for you today though, fun! :)
I’m having a lot of success with my little ukulele. Very unexpected, and very rewarding. Well, along the way I’ve come across some great music-related tutorials and thought I’d share.
First off, these have to be the easiest to follow ukulele lessons:
Thank you for the wonderful instruction Michael Lynch! I love how each lessons builds upon the last one and has you playing actual songs in no time. By lesson 5 you are playing This Land is Your Land and lesson 6 is The Yellow Submarine. Nice!
The next tutorial shows you how to make finger picks for a portuguese guitar. No, no aspirations to be a portuguese guitar player, but for a regular guitar player who uses finger picks I thought this might be useful. The second video (below) actually uses and old prescription bottle to make the picks. I bet, with a bit of practice and experimentation, these could be tweaked into something great for the guitar player in your life.
Lastly, I had to share these voice lesson techniques with all you singers out there. They are by Saher and are so different from anything else I’ve found. I’m no singer, but his methods make me want to sing along anyway. I’m always amazed by the courage of all the talented people I find just putting themselves out there. Wow.
Saher also has 2 cd’s with voice lesson techniques available here and a new cd out of his own music here.
I found this animation over at Zakka Life:
I LOVE it so much when I see a musician perform and the sound is just as captivating (if not more) than the radio version. Be captivated and soothed for the week ahead by JJ Heller’s song, Your Hands
eta: The video I originally had with this post was of JJ performing live at KLOVE with her husband, but it’s been removed from YouTube. So here’s one, not live 
but still with the melody that I wanted you to here 
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