July 31, 2013

Favorite Things: July

Kickstarter
Nerdy candles for nerds from Frostbeard Studio.

I recently ordered Ravenclaw (House pride!) and Sherlock's Study candles from their Etsy store. I can't wait to get them! The nerdy smells! If smells can be nerdy that is... at least the candle names are nerdy. Close enough. They also have the packs of wax if you like to use a warmer instead of a candle.

They're trying to buy some new stuff for their shop, hence the Kickstarter, and as perks they have some awesome new candles with themes like Doctor Who, Zelda, TMNT, Pokemon, and Adventure Time! It ends August 6th so hurry and check it out!

Music
I've been loving the new EP from Emma Blackery- Distance EP (itunes). I've been watching her videos on Youtube for awhile and when she said she was putting out 4 songs I decided to check them out... and I love them. I listen to them all 1 or 2 times a day- more the first couple days I downloaded the songs but I didn't want to over do it. Check out her video for Go the Distance!


Geek-wear
I want both of these things

They have some seriously awesome clothes/accessories/figures and more over at Superhero Stuff. As an added bonus, you can search by superhero if you're looking for one in particular. They have a crazy amount of stuff!

Comic
 
Mr. Lovenstein is an online comic that I like to check out from time to time. One of my favorites is Awkward Superman.

TV/Movie
If you haven't seen SyFy's Sharknado yet, you are missing a horrible yet awesome movie. It's one of those movies that are so bad and ridiculous that they are good.


*Note: Nobody sponsors me (not that I wouldn't mind) to mention their stuff. It's just genuinely stuff I like that I hope you will like too!

July 29, 2013

And Then They Forgot To Invite Me To The Class Reunion...

Nothing makes you feel good about yourself like being forgotten when invites are sent out for the 10 year High School reunion. Especially when you graduated with a class of 23. Yup, this JUST happened. They celebrated without me this past weekend. And it was a Facebook event page so it's not like they couldn't find my address.

The good news was that my Cousin was getting married so I had somewhere else to be anyway. However, nobody likes to be left out. It was like recess in Elementary school all over again. Nobody can claim I'm not a geek when I spent so many recesses by myself. I once spent an entire recess organizing the class library in alphabetical order by author. Take that self-righteous geeks!

I think I need this shirt

Now that I think about it they may not have forgotten at all. Maybe at some point they came across my blog and were like "she's weird, can we just not invite her?" Or they saw my blog and were so impressed by it that they were self-conscious and my awesomeness makes them feel bad. In that case, my apologies. I have to admit that my awesomeness is hard to contain and it can be overwhelming. But that awesomeness is also pretty restricted to the internet. It's confusing, I understand. I promise I'm still as awkward now as I was in school, but I only do that to make people feel better about themselves. Because I am a caring person. Yup, that's why.

July 25, 2013

Insecurities

I don't know why, but it seems like I transfer a lot of my insecurities on to other people. Not that I'm making them feel insecure, but I'm imagining them thinking things about me that are making me feel insecure. This is my messed up mind working here...

For example, I went to get lunch today and a guy in the restaurant was staring at me with a scowl on his face. At first I thought, "well that's weird" but then it turned in to "do I not look ok? Why would he be looking at me?" And even if he was staring and thinking bad things about me why would that even matter? I've never seen him before and will likely never see him again, so why was I putting the blame on myself?

In honor of Billy Madison

I think part of the reason is that I'm not the skinny young girl I used to be. When guys stared at me up until about 6 years or so ago, I felt good about myself. Now I start to squirm and get uncomfortable. I'm just glad I can remind myself what matters and I can work my way out of that kind of thought.

So to counteract the weird feeling I get when people look at me, I've decided I can do one thing: smile. This has benefits. 1) If they do think I'm cute and not a monster like I'm imagining, they might smile back and then I'll feel awesome. 2) If they are annoyed by me and I smile at them it might annoy them more. And that would be awesome. Because you don't know me, man!

July 24, 2013

My Introversion Does Not Need Fixing

Warning: This post is a rant

I was more than a little ticked when I read the article "How an Introvert Can Be Happier: Act Like an Extrovert" written by Sumathi Reddy of The Wall Street Journal.

The study sited does not seem at all valid. Especially to someone who is an introvert. I feel better when I have quiet and I recharge my batteries with alone time. I am not "just shy" and there is nothing wrong with being introverted. That being said, there are times when I do go outside my comfort zone but it does not necessarily make me "happier" to have done it.

At one point in the article it says:
"Introverts kind of underestimate how much fun it will be to act extroverted," said Dr. Zelenski. "You don't think you want to go to a party and then go and have a great time."
I don't know what kind of parties Dr. Zelenski goes to, but unless it's a small group that I'm comfortable with, I don't have a great time. I leave with the feeling of more stress and wonder why I would put myself through something I knew I wouldn't be happy with.

 Thank you, Susan Cain, for explaining this so well!

It seems like they are an extroverted person who is trying to tell us introverts "see how much fun it is! You're missing everything! You won't be complete as a person unless you go against what you are comfortable with because something is obviously wrong with you!"
"We didn't find a lot of evidence for…the idea that acting like an extrovert would wear out introverts," said Dr. Zelenski. However, he said: "We found acting like an introvert tended to wear out extroverts," who performed worse on cognitive tests.
I find this highly unlikely. Is it impossible to believe that if extroverts going outside of their usual are worn out, that introverts would feel the same? We are not broken. We are people happy with who we are and we don't need fixing. So in conclusion to this rant, to the people who wrote the study: You can take your study and shove it... thanks!

July 19, 2013

Happy Friday!

This Friday is extra happy because I'm actually doing something other than sitting at home and watching TV! I have plans! Of course, those plans are to go over to a friends house and watch many episodes of Supernatural so we can play the Supernatural drinking game (courtesy of tumblr). Or just drink a lot while watching the show... I'm guessing this will be more likely. I think there are some kind of "rules" to follow but knowing me, I'll get so caught up in the show that I'll stop paying attention to them and I'll just drink a lot anyway. But I won't be on my couch so technically it's still getting out of the house. Progress!

Thanks, Tumblr!

If you wanted to play it's easy... Google! Plus with the interwebs I'm guessing there is a drinking game for any show or movie you could possibly want. And on the off chance there's not, just make it up as you go. After Supernatural I'm expecting a lot of Ghost Adventures and Doctor Who. After watching Sharknado last night I can't wait until someone figures out a drinking game for that. Because I am too lazy to come up with something myself. Have a great weekend!

July 15, 2013

7 Years Later

Warning: This post contains marriage advice and occasional mushiness.

7 years ago I married a guy... and somehow we've managed to stick it out and we're still living in the same house. And most of the time we're happy to be there. I say "most of the time" because I'm realistic and believe in being honest about marriage. It's not all sunshine and rainbows, but that doesn't mean it's gloomy all of the time either. If I've learned anything in the past 7 years it has been about give and take. A partnership works best if things are well balanced.

I'm no expert here, but to be honest, sometimes balancing everything sucks. Sometimes I want my way and sometimes he wants his. Sometimes there are fights (stupid or not) and sometimes you still feel so full of love for that person that you just want to hug them so hard that you wish cartoon hearts and butterflies start popping up. Or maybe that's just me...

 We appreciate the humor in things like a law office with a name like
Ryder & Swogger (Swogger was particularly funny to us) and Nut Liquor

We have things that both of us appreciate: video games, humor, an occasional good cigar, etc. We also have things that one person likes but the other doesn't. He still doesn't understand my love of the original Star Trek and Star Wars and he complains about my constant reading of books and Walking Dead comics. And I don't get or want anything to do with some of the stuff he likes to do. But that's okay because it means we have things we can do together and we have things we can do separately so we aren't always around each other. We have our own lives that we are happy with, but we choose to live them together. And I think that's why we work.

P.S. I am no expert so please don't look to me for marriage advice. Last year I compared marriage to being stabbed in the face by a cute monkey. So, you know, grain of salt or whatever.

P.P.S. Nut Liquor is funny to me because I have a dirty mind. But seriously I'd never drink peanut butter flavored liquor... anything peanut butter flavored that isn't actually peanut butter is just gross.

July 12, 2013

Book Blogging Challenge

This part of my blog is being slightly neglected this month because I'm doing a 30 Day Book Blogging Challenge over on my book blog. There are posts coming but I'm a bit behind!

But in the meantime (if you're not interested in books) check out the blogroll for some other posts you can read in my absence.

July 4, 2013

Happy Birthday, 'Murca


Happy Independence Day!



 
Even though the movie was dumb, I love the song...

I like that some of us can make fun of ourselves. I, for example, love the whole "'MURCA" thing. I use it as a tool for humor. That's my thing. But I also appreciate the sacrifice of others and the history of my country.


Yes, there are things going on that many of us would like to see change, but today is a day when we remember how the country began and those who lost their lives fighting for our country. Have a happy and safe 4th of July! Careful with those sparklers and fireworks! Also, make sure your meat is grilled to a safe temperature. Because I care about you.