Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Someone is all Christmased out...

51/52 by thepaisleyfox
51/52, a photo by thepaisleyfox on Flickr.

We are still recovering from the festivities of the weekend. It was a Portal/Ponies kind of Christmas for me and I loved every moment of it. ;) Now it's time to finish off our marathon training since it's about to blindside us as the 8th quickly approaches.

So today, enjoy this piece of work...

Penny Arcade - Just Wow

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Merry Christmas!






(And congrats to Steph from Klo'ver on your recent engagement! Love both you and Jeremy!)

- thepaisleyfox

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

I know next year's Christmas movie~!

Every year the family goes out to lunch then to a movie on Christmas Eve. The first trailer for The Hobbit was just released and I am thoroughly freaking out. It's always been my favorite Middle Earth novel being it's the only one I ever finished and I lived by the old cartoon movie. I got goosbumps from this trailer, y'all.


*sigh* Is it next year yet?

Saturday, December 17, 2011

I've got a famous dog!

Koji was recently published in a Japanese magazine called Shiba Inu Fan! A pottery maker in Japan I'm facebook friends with (and bought Koji's snazzy lady yukata from) asked for people to send in pictures and names to this magazine, since they were running a special on what people name their Shibas outside of Japan. Look at his handsome mug in the lower left corner.



It's my bubs! I do look like a little bit of a crazy person, though. See, they asked for names, so I rambled off a bunch of fosters I named, figuring they wouldn't associate them all with one name, but rather just a "look at all the names people use!" Oh man, was I wrong. It looks like I own NINE dogs. oops.



Can you see them? It's the only LONG LIST, smack dab in the middle. I only own one dog, and two of those fosters I only named, and watched temporarily as a short term foster or dogsat, but wasn't actually the foster for. So now people who like Shibas in Japan thinks theres some crazy person who owns 9 Shibas in the US. Bah, oh well...

I should ask one of my friends in Japan if they can pick up a copy and mail it to me.

Oh, and speaking of Shibas and fosters, Hank (now named Mochi) is already settling into his new home with his new sister Kirra. I was so excited for him and the family we adopted him to and I wish the best of luck to that cuddly bear.



Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Farewell, Handsome Hank

Tomorrow, a wonderful family will be adopting my foster whom I've had for the past month and a half. Chunky Hanky Panky will be transported halfway down to Austin where we will hand him off with some supplies, food, adoption contract, and a surprise. I'm actually a bit excited for Hank, as I know he's going to be going to a great home, one he'll be able to gain confidence in, though I'm not going to lie I'll miss his doofy nature and I'm sure Koji will miss his wrestle buddy.

One of these days we'll get a second dog for reals. Until then, I'm good for fostering. And have first dibs on Rosie, aka "The One Who Got Away" if our president ever decides he doesn't want her anymore (which will never happen, but hey...dibs all the same.)



I've really got to finish our website redesign...

Monday, December 12, 2011

Yeah, still not fixed...

Man it's been so busy around the place, trying to catch up on work, nursing Balthazar back to health, training for our WDW marathon, getting my foster dog adopted, and trying to find a temporary full time gig to help pay bills and sock away savings until we ship off for grad school (wherever that may be) among other things that seem to be crashing down around me at the moment. So of course I go shopping for secret santa gifts for an Internet stranger's pets and pick up a new book to read.



I bought the trilogy on my nook a while back but haven't had a chance to read it, thanks to my already super long list of books to read (and several I'm still technically in the middle of.) So far, I'm really enjoying it, even if I am behind on the times since everyone and their mom seem to be talking about Ready Player One right now. But so far it hasn't disappointed in reminding me of Battle Royale, just written better. I understand we lose things culturally and in translations, but I doubt the original Japanese was written that much better, though it was an enjoyable read nonetheless. I haven't gotten very far into the first book, but I'm hoping to finish by Christmas (read: have the time to be able to finish by Christmas...) I suppose I do have until the, what, Spring to finish the first one? My friend demanded it of me while we watched the preview at the movies the other night. (by the way, Breaking Dawn was delightfully worse than we could have imagined. We knew it would be bad, I am not ashamed to admit I enjoyed reading all the books more than once and we have fun riffing in the theaters, but we rolled in the aisles for this one.)

Do the few people who browse my little corner of the interwebs have any good books they're into lately?






Sorry about the !effort posts lately, the bug my computer has is kind of a bitch to remove and I've just not had the time to deal with it with my full attention like I should. 

Friday, December 9, 2011

Anti-bullying week starts 12/15

In honor of anti-bullying week, next friday (12/16) is Wear Star Wars, Share Star Wars. This article from last year really explains this much better than I ever could, but the idea is to wear a Star Wars shirt (or anything else to declare your geekdom) in honor of Katie, a first grader who was bullied because she was a girl with a Star Wars water bottle the boys in her class made fun of her for. When the article hit the internet, fellow geeks, sympathetic readers and industry professionals poured out their love and support for a girl who was only trying to proudly show off who she was; a fan of Star Wars.

As one who dresses up at cons, plays lots of video games, and enjoys mountains of sci-fi, I'll at the very least participate in the Share Star Wars portion of next Friday (since I don't have any SW shirts in my wardrobe.) The idea is that you take a new, unwrapped sci-fi toy and donate it to a program that gives to needy children. I happen to have three lightsabers.



Nice, new, unopened, and waiting for a young Jedi to light them up and wave them around at their foes (even though they're Vader's, shhhh...) But wait, this is usually seen as a "boy's toy", isn't it? Same with any other sci-fi toys, girls usually get stuck with the dolls, art supplies, and dress up toys. Why can't they play with the monster trucks or Nerf guns? For that matter, why can't the boys pick out the My Little Ponies? So for at least the 16th, we need to do something about that.



There we go. Did y'all catch that? We need to put a note on the toy expressing that the toy should be available to go to anyone.



I loved swords and Matchbox and had so many Ninja Turtles as well as my fair share of Ponies and tea sets. If my nieces are anything to judge by, there are so many girls who would LOVE for a chance to be a Jedi. Even the Clone Wars series has a young female Padawan in one of the lead parts. So for Christmas, since money is a bit tight for us this year, the girls are each getting a lightsaber donated in their name in addition to a small homemade gift. I think they'll think it's pretty cool that some kid who doesn't get Christmas will now get something cool to play with because of them.

Join the event on Facebook: Wear Star Wars, Share Star Wars






P.S. Computer still borked, using the work computer for this post. Hopefully I'll make it rise from the dead this weekend.


Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Brought to you by the word "rootkit"

Yeah, today's post will be late due to technical difficulties. :(




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Monday, December 5, 2011

Sneak peek!

Working on a project for my boss... Detailed post on Wednesday. <3




Saturday, December 3, 2011

It's beginning to look a lot like...well, you know...

Thanksgiving is over and my friend's birthday has passed which means it's time to start decorating for Christmas!



This is the first time I've ever had a fireplace, so of course I've been over the moon with trying to decorate. If you haven't guessed, my thing for Christmas decorating is snowflakes. I just love the look of ice, lights, and the intricate designs, something that just screams winter to the Southern California girl in me that grew up with 70 degree Christmases. I think the only thing that would make our mantle complete would be a little Santa hat for Teddy over there on the left.



These are my pride and joy. Swarovski crystal snowflakes. Unfortunately, I only have 4 out of the 21, but my mom supposedly has two more hiding somewhere in her Christmas closet. They're like Pokemon, I have got to catch them all in all their sparkling glory. eBay is definitely my best friend for years past.



Foxes are also an obvious traditional yearly ornament I collect. These in particular are from the past three years, all from Anthropologie, quite possibly my favorite store of all time. It all started with the green fox painted in paisley (uh...duh?), followed by the white ceramic fox. This year their fox ornament doesn't have any sort of paisley or damask, but I'll take a felted one any day.

I've still got to set up my tree, but that is next on the agenda for this weekend.


What are y'all's festivus decorating traditions? Is there anything you collect or deck the halls with in a theme, or is it just balls to the wall holiday?


Wednesday, November 30, 2011

I Want That Wednesday - Portal Edition

Portal. It's probably my favorite series of all time. More than the Katamaris, more than the Laytons, more than the Ouendan/EBAs. It's short, has a great story, and has such a great replay value, regardless of how motion sick I might get from a few of the puzzles. Having cosplayed both versions of Chell, winning a trophy as one with my friends from TF2, hand embroidering lab coats with the logo for Halloween, and decking my car and workout bag with Portal water bottles, decals and WCCs, it's safe to say I might be a little obsessed. Doesn't help I also work for a photographer, which lets the Aperture Labs logo serve double duty. Bonus!



Portal Long Fall Socks. They look like the boots! Aah! Not that I can really think of an outfit they would be fabulous with like other patterned socks, but I don't really care. In the words of Tim Gunn, I'd make it work. From Jinx.



Jeff and I LOVE the Keep Calm and Carry On posters from little known WWII fame, and while I thought I'd get sick of all of the parody posters and shirts, I just keep getting amused and think up more to make. They're really quite genius, honestly (our favorite so far being the Layton parody.) From Jinx.



Not like I need any more coasters, but y'all I NEED these coasters! They feature 8 of the test warning signs from Portal 2 in a lovely ceramic coaster. Comes with a holder! My other four sets of coasters don't have holders, though I could use more of those "thirsty coasters" I suppose. Hmm...rule of cool trumps practicality, I think. From Think Geek.



Portal. Bookends. I don't think much else needs to be said! Besides the fact we have way too many books and it's the reason we moved to a bigger apartment. Oh yes, we have an "office/library" room now because of our FIVE BOOKCASES. Bookends would fit right in. From Think Geek.



COOKIE CUTTERS! For my birthday I got paisley shaped cake pans. If I get these cookie cutters, I swear people will only get paisley cakes and Portal cookies and they will like it, damnit. From Think Geek.



I was an idiot and didn't jump on this scarf when it first came out and of course they are sold out everywhere. I've signed up for email alerts to let me know when they are back, and lucky for me, and early January projection still leaves plenty of cold months this winter to sport possibly one of the greatest scarves. From Think Geek.



I might need to get one to hang onto it for our future test subject down the road, and lord knows Jeff's sister wouldn't let us get one for her upcoming child. I can store it with the baby Mickey hats I've been hoarding. From Valve.



Wednesday, November 23, 2011

And may flights of dragons sing thee to thy rest...

Y'all, it's a sad day indeed. Anne McCaffrey of Dragonriders of Pern fame, passed away at the age of 85 11/21/11.

Ms. McCaffrey meant a lot to me while growing up. Her books allowed me to escape the no good terrible experiences of puberty and awful middle school classmates to a world of wonder, chivalry, and most importantly, dragons. I cried when characters died and literally whooped and cheered when others were discovered at their talents. She set the bar in what I would read regarding any fantasy or dragonlore book, and none have matched her prowess for storytelling for me.

I highly recommend someone pick up some of her works, maybe starting with the Harper Hall Trilogy, as I did. The Masterharper of Pern will always be my favorite, with All the Weyrs of Pern following, but Moreta is also amazing. You really can't go wrong with any, to be honest, and while there is a timeline, it's easy and comprehensible to jump around the books.

Ms. McCaffrey, you will be so very missed, and I will always treasure the books you wrote. They stood as a rock for me in a very difficult time in my life and I am not ashamed to admit I cried for you when I heard the news of your passing.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone (because our Internet is still broken!)

Monday, November 21, 2011

You know what gets really old?

When your Internet and cable has been off for the past week because some creature keeps eating the fiber.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thursday, November 17, 2011

You have got to be joking...

Oh PeTA...will your wonders and crazies never cease?

Apparently with the new Super Mario 3D, PeTA has taken it upon themselves to poke at the Italian plumber's infamous Tanooki suit, saying that it promotes wearing fur, and that they are using this time to bring to light the very real tanuki (raccoon dog) raising for fur.

By making another flash game.


Oh lordy... Because their Cooking Mama ripoff from last year did wonders for sharing the perils of eating a turkey at Thanksgiving, I'm sure. When the nerd outrage apparently hit them, they had this to say:

"Mario fans: Relax! PETA’s game was meant to be tongue-in-cheek, a fun way to call attention to a serious issue, that raccoon dogs are skinned alive for their fur. We wish real-life tanukis could fly or swat enemies away with their tails and escape from those who profit from their skins. You can help them by never buying real fur."


Whatever, I'm still going to eat my sea kittens.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Yesssss!

Can't believe the next ones are already out again! :D




- thepaisleyfox

Sunday, November 13, 2011

I'm back. In POG form!

So, after one move, one shift change, one visit from family, two fosters, one dead computer, one dead card reader and one pink slip, I'm back. It's been a stupid crazy month but I'm ready to move on, better than mama.

I've got cablebrity and webrity visits, pictures of dawgs, and workspace questions lined up, so don't go anywhere. This isn't over yet!




- thepaisleyfox

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Excuse my absence...

I just moved to midnight shift in addition to us physically moving to a new place. So while we get all unpacked and settled in (I only just now got my computer set back up), enjoy a picture of my dog in a moving box.


Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Best. Anniversary. Ever.



Today is the relaunch of the Sailor Moon and the premier of the Codename Sailor V mangas. It also just so happens to be our anniversary today. Boy, does he know what a woman wants or what? ;) Probably the single most favorite series of mine (being followed closely behind Card Captor Sakura) that is full of girly things, magic, talking cats, and princesses. Anyone around to remember the travesty that befell the series back in the days of Mixx/Tokyo Pop should rejoice that not only is this redone (with the relaunch covers they had in Japan when the live action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series came out), but released by Kodansha themselves, who was the original publisher in glorious Nippon.

Side note, Kodansha has probably some of the best Japanese language resources coming out this side of the Pacific now, and it would behoove anyone studying the language to pick up some of them.

Now I get to cram my face full of sailor suited justice before we sachet off for our traditional anniversary steak.

P.S. - Yes, I really did have a black cat growing up, but his name was P.J. and he was, sadly, not from the moon (or the planet Mau). Nor did he appreciate me trying to tape a moon on his forehead when I was in Jr. High. Go figure.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Being crafty





But apparently none of my sewing needles are slim enough to fit through the small glass seed beads. :( I'll also be making Shiba heads, but figured I'd start with something easy.

Also, Craigslist is amazing, in case people didn't already know. I decided to browse for a drafting table to see what was out there, and I came across one someone was selling for :20bux:. Apparently the guy's son had used it as a desk for projects involving, but not limited to, epoxy, markers, pencils, paint, scissors, exacto knives, burning tools, ink, super glue, regular glue, Scotch tape, masking tape and Bob the Builder stickers.




Needless to say, it was a little bit of a mess. But for $20, I wasn't about to let it get away. So with a little bit of elbow grease, a straight razor, and a DVD of PGSM, I set off to work. Once it was cleaned up, I managed to find the damage to be fairly minimal and concentrated on the bottom center left edge. I might decide to go in and sand down the top and fill it in with some wood putty, but for now, I think it'll do the job.


Now I just need our bigger apartment so I have a place to put the damn thing...



Wednesday, September 7, 2011

What I'm Reading Wednesday

Woo, under the wire here, Steph.

Anyway, here's part of what is taking up part of my time. I'm currently dipping my fingers into a few literary pies at the moment.


Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of WWII - A bit self explanitory, but it's a history book about the Allied occupation of Japan from August 1945 to April of 1952. Currently about 20% through it. Great read for a bit of more recent modern history of Japan, though I am looking forward to finding something good about much older periods, next.

Japan at War: An Oral History - Heh, sense a theme? This one focuses more on personal oral reports of the Japanese during the war. Only thumbed through the first few pages so far, but I'm afraid if I start reading I won't put it down, and it's a fairly thick book and I have other things to do.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - The UK edition. After the 8th (7.5? 7 2.0?) movie came out, I decided I wanted to re-read my Harry Potters, but this time plow through the UK editions I got for Christmas a few years ago (yes, there is a difference!) I got up to the climax of the story then life and other books barged their way in. I'll finish it soon, though, as well as the other 5 books. The second one has always been low on the list of favorites in the series for me, anyway (6th is still the worst, bleh.)

The Hunger Games - Even though I'm loving my WWII books, sometimes you need a break from the serious. I'm looking forward to picking up my nook copies of this trilogy this week and sailing through it, especially since I liked Battle Royale so much, even with the guy's obsession with the song Born to Run.

Next on my list will probably be the Game of Thrones series. And I'm about to go to a book discussion group this Monday on The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Excellent read, I highly recommend it to anyone interested in science.

There are also always comics involved, but such is another post for another day. I'm very much looking forward to the relaunch of the Sailor Moon series (plus the never before released in the US premier of Sailor V!) More on how I wished the black kitty I had growing up would have told me I was a magical princess from the moon on Tuesday. :V

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

I Want That Wednesday

Ever come across something totally fantastic? Today I have 5 things I think I might need, pronto.

Star Trek bathrobes. Even though I'm more of a TNG fan, I have to say the Kirk one is pretty sharp (and of course the most expensive at $59.99 bloobloo). Also comes in Scotty red and Spock blue. via ThinkGeek



Piranha plant earrings! How adorable are these?! They are currently on backorder by the etsy seller, so you  might have to wait a while (we'll see how impatient I get, I might attempt to make my own...) via lizglizz at etsy



I'm huge into minimalist type shoes, so I tend to be a fan of almost everything Vibram or Merrell. The Evera MJ heel isn't exactly minimalist, but it's a HEEL for BIKES. Oh yeah, I totally need to rock a pair of these when they come out this February and I hope the other two colors are either blue, red or nude. via Merrell



Quite possibly the greatest thing EVER. The Wacom Inkling. Why is it so great? It's a special ballpoint pen that will take what you draw and save it as a vector or bitmap image. AND LAYERS. I am going to need one of these and a shit ton of refillable ink cartridges... via Wacom






Bills always get in the way of fun toys. :(

edit: Wow, I'm an idiot, I just realized I said FIVE things and only gave four. Okay, fine, here's number five. ;)


The Ihrin Shirt dress. This is just too adorable and looks like a men's dress shirt with a cute flaired skirt. Not only does it come in my favorite green, but a rich plum color as well. If I had an extra $300, you know I'd just have to get both colors. Picture this with those cycling pumps on my old World Tourist Schwinn...I'd be one hot mama! via Anthropologie

Monday, August 29, 2011

Mmmm Books...

It's getting hard to keep up right now, what with me about to move to the graveyard shift and we're currently trying to find a new place to move (which is proving to be a headache...bleh.)

So here, check out some of my all time favorite books on NPR's top 100 science fiction list (which is the best genre, IMO). There's only one series on there I did not like, and I've read a fair chunk of them. Might need to pick some more up for the upcoming terrible shift...

NPR's top 100 Sci-Fi Fantasy books

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Are you color blind?

Why oh why do they keep making Princess Celestia toys pink? She is not a pink horse. And yet toys keep coming out and she's friggin puce. What is the deal, Hasbro?

In other news, I got a new webcam, which makes it evident that my apartment is a mess. In other other news, we're moving out of this messy apartment to a new one end of September. It's bigger, so hopefully it won't be such a hovel.

P.S. Happy Gotcha Day, Koji. You've ruined my life with your dust and your fur for the last two years, and I hope you'll be around to do it for many more to come.

edit: I think I need a new office chair. That or I need to not sit down for 10+ hours at a time in this one, but that seems like extra work.

edit 2: Ooooh it's about to get all kinds of unproductive up in here...

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Furin Cosplay: Wheatley

Any Portal2 fans should make their way over to Furin Cosplay. Holy cow, I thought I'd never want to lay hands on Wonderflex again, but this project has just made me realize how awesome Wonderflex can be. Took me back to my Zora Link helmet days... I think I have another project to add to the stack of things I'd like to make but have no money, time or room.

Furin Cosplay: Wheatley

Yesssssssssssssssssss






Better than what I'm doing on my days off, I'm editing wedding pictures. Must...make...Sailor Moon wands.....ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff...

edit: Aaaaand, my fan just died. Time to melt into a puddle today. Texas summers have not been kind this year.

edit x2: I broke down and ran to Target while the pictures converted. C'mon little desk fan!  

Monday, August 8, 2011

Free at last!

The reign of terror working 13 straight 10 hour days is over! I almost didn't know what to do with myself this morning. Now time to catch up on doing post for all of those weddings that have piled up, but all I want to do is sit around and draw, which I haven't been motivated to do for years.

Being responsible sucks ass. But not having any money sucks slightly more.

At least I get to do this in the comfort of my own home, dog hanging out with me while I watch episodes of Sailor Moon or Hoarders, so that's cool, I guess.
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