I'm Back!

I've been away for a little while, pretty busy with work and other things. Whoops! Back now though.

One of the things keeping me busy in my offtime has been a returning love for rifling through the racks at thrift stores. Goodwills and Salvation Armies are the prevailing names around here, although we have other small ones and the DAV (which I haven't hit yet). Salvation Army has been stepping it up with their sales. They have had something called a 'bric-brac sale,' where anything 3.99 and under is a dollar if you get ten items. So that's ten for ten for any dishes, boxes, candles, etc. Small appliances aren't included though.

Also there was a particular store that had a similar deal with clothes. Five for five with ANY clothing items except formal and outer wear. I just walked out of a store with eightteen shirts and two ties the other day for twenty bucks. And not all thrift store merchandise is trashy. A lot of nice things can be found, REALLY nice. Sure, it's hard to find things that fit just right, but now that I have a sewing machine it's not too much trouble to take most things in a few inches.

Old School Love

I have been hooked on this track lately. It's a remix of the Zeal Palace theme from the classic SNES game, Chrono Trigger. Zeal was always my favorite part of the game. For those who aren't familiar with CT, Zeal was a skyborn floating continent in the far past (the dark ages) of the game's history. It was inhabited by humans who had the ability to use magic, and studied the mysteries of the universe through dreams. As I mentioned in a previous entry, I've always had an interest in the Atlantis myth, and that may be why Zeal has always been so fascinating to me.

I Love Rocks

I collect a few things. Clothes, jewelry (specifically rings, more specifically sterling and gemstone), and beads. Last night I began my latest endeavor to combine the latter most two. So I consulted eBay for ideas, and decided on a multi-strand design with a big-ass pendant. I have had some amazonite chips lying around and decided I wanted to use them because their color is a good match for my favorite ring, which has a big square cabochon of chrysoprase (raw gem is pictured right). Prehnite (the light, clear green stone chips) is another favorite stone of mine, and I decided the colors worked well enough to use them both. Also I have a prehnite ring that I love but the stone is loose so I don't wear it right now.



Ta daaa! It took a little while because chip beads are irregular (obviously) so it takes a little longer to find the hole and string them, but joining the wires at the ends was the biggest pain in the ass. I accidentally cut the first two wires too short, so I realized (too late) I had very little slack to work with. Trying to get short wires into a loop around a chain and then back through a crimp bead is meticulous work. Too meticulous for me, because I gave up and just used bead tips instead (which worked out really well actually). The pendant by the way is a big slice of dyed turquoise, about three inches long. The small yellow/green rounds are some yellow jade I've had for a while and didn't know what to do with. I'm pretty happy with it, but the loop holding the pendant on I might rework later because there's a little slack which shows the wire between beads. I already have requests from some friends to make them some accessories, too!

Jennifer's Body

I just watched this movie the other night on HBO and found it surprisingly entertaining. It stars the gorgeous Megan Fox as well as the also beautiful Amanda Seyfried. If you haven't seen this movie, skip this entry because I'll spoil it for you. It's part chick flick, part horror film. The story goes that Jennifer (Fox) and Needy (Seyfried) and high school students and were childhood best friends, although in their adolescence they have drifted apart. Jennifer, a common element in any high school, is beautiful, popular, two-faced, bitchy, and kind of a slut, but also deeply insecure, unsure of herself, and doesn't have many close friends. In fact, though not as close as they used to be, Needy would be the closest thing to a BFF she has.

When a mediocre indie band comes to perform at a high school band, Jennifer gets rather friendly with them, even throwing out the falsehood that she is a virgin (which Needy explains later hasn't been true since junior high). Later that night, Jen goes for a ride with the band in their old van and becomes worried when she notices the abundance of occult paraphernalia. When they refuse to let her leave the van, she panics and they restrain her, then taking her to a small cliff out in the woods overlooking a waterfall. There, they gag her and bind her to a large, table-like stone before explaining that they plan on using her as a virgin sacrifice to procure their fame. She is then stabbed multiple times and bled after a short incantation.

Jennifer later explains to Needy that she somehow found her way back to her childhood BFF's house, but along the way she ripped apart and ate a foreign exchange student. Apparently Jennifer was resurrected, but she has a deep feeling of hunger that can only be sated by human flesh. After she has been filled, her skin is bright, her hair is shiny, and she can endure great wounds that heal within moments. When she is empty, she becomes weak and ugly... Well, ugly for Megan Fox anyway (which isn't bad at all).

After a series of local murder/mutilations, Needy begins her own research into the occult and discovers that the original ritual that turned her childhood friend into a flesh hungry monster should have left her dead... If she had been a true virgin. Since she was no longer an unopened flower however, she became a demon of sorts. The only way to slay the demon is to stab it in the heart when it's hungriest.

Long story short, Jennifer kills Needy's boyfriend, Needy kills Jennifer (but not before being bitten on the shoulder) and is put away in a mental institution. Then she breaks out (using what appears to be super-human strength) tracks down the crappy band that started this all, and kills them in their hotel room before making a quiet getaway. Go Needy!

Something Interesting

A friend just pointed this site out to me tonight. Paybox is apparently an up and coming online payment processing company, much like the popular PayPal. Right now they have a special where new users who sign up are labeled as Early Birds. By taking surveys and giving feedback, you earn money in an online account on a daily basis before the full version of this service is launched. Users can also earn money by referring their friends at a rate of five dollars per referral. From what I was told, you can't cash the money in, but once PayBox is launched, you'll be able to use it for goods through a number of online stores, including eBay which I use very frequently.

There are a few rules. You must take at least one survey per week, and you must subscribe to them either through e-mail, or through a number of available social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter.

All in all it sounds like an interesting experiment to try out, and I'd advise anyone who's curious to go ahead and sign up!

I Need Life Insurance

For a better life, haha. Back in early August I was laid off from my job because of red tape with the Department of Inspections and Appeals. I was told I would be back to work by the end of the month. When I didn't hear back from them, I called in the fourth week and was told they just received my case and hadn't even started investigating! Apparently, someone else had turned the nursing home I worked in for deficiencies and they would have to resolve that case before even opening mine. So I've been sitting around like a bum practically unemployed, just waiting. Of course I was denied unemployment, so I'm grateful to my parents for helping me. But the thing that has helped me most of all has been my own forgetfulness!

I started filling out my FAFSA for student financial aid and realized, "Whoops! I forgot to do my income taxes back in April!" Luckily, I never claim any dependents, so I never owe the IRS anything. In fact, the IRS owes me every year! So I ended up getting a nice chunk of change direct deposited two weeks after filing, even though I was a few months late. Just in time, too. I have State Farm Auto Insurance and they don't like when I'm late. My auto insurance bill jumped up almost ten dollars a while back because I was so late they had to reinstate my account. I wonder if anyone out there can recommend a better source for auto insurance? State Farm is okay, but I pay 102 a month just for liability. Sure, my driving record is less than spotless, and yeah I have a little debt and some issues with poor credit (although I've been doing pretty well to consolidate). Does that mean I have to pay a hundred bucks just to fix the other guy's car if I wipe out in a snow storm?

Speaking of automobiles and forgetfulness, I really need to get the oil changed in my car. I always forget until my dad asks me, and then I just top off the oil for fear of him checking it and yelling at me for having it low. Ridiculous considering I'm 22 and moved out of his place after high school. Another thing I'm horrible at remembering is checking the air in the tires. I have been driving around with a little bulge on my front driver's side tire for a little while, and winter's coming so I'll have to be more diligent. I love my car though, it's very reliable. I got it last year from a private seller I found through Craigslist. It's a 2002 Ford Taurus and had 76,000 miles on it when I bought it. I've actually grown to respect Ford Taurus because my first car was a Mercury Sable (which is almost the same thing) that I drove head on into an oncoming van at 45 miles per hour. After pulling the front end back out and replacing the radiator and fan, it worked find until I totaled it during a winter storm that same year. My last car was a Ford Taurus station wagon, a '94 I believe. Never gave me any problems, and even after I fell asleep and rolled it off the on ramp of the interstate, all we had to do was put new brakes in. I gave it to my sister, and she's driving it to this day!

What kind of car do you drive?

Mark Ryden

One of my favorite artists! His painting are usually of a surreal nature, often featuring child-like figures with bloated heads among a wide variety of other recurring figures. Figures like strange eyes in strange places, Santa Claus, Jesus, strange occultic symbols, meat, bees, and even Abraham Lincoln! I adore the painting to the right for a few reasons. First of all, it's a great piece by my favorite artist. Secondly, the subject is my favorite musician, Bjork! And third of all, the vintage look of the pastel colors is just a great look. In fact, it was one of the reasons I began admiring his work. Mark has done a variety of works based on celebrity subjects such as Christina Ricci, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jimmy Hendrix, and Sarah Michelle Gellar. And now I must ask the question: was GaGa inspired by Ryden or vice versa?



If you yourself are a Ryden fan, you may have noticed that my current profile picture is a snip of one of the paintings from his exhibition "Tree Show." Who's your favorite artist and why?