Converse Love

Converse

I do not have a lot of girly habits. The ones I do have are usually edged in something a little tomboy. Example: I paint my fingernails to match whatever I am driving. Chrome to celebrate dad’s new motorcycle (I miss my Honda Valkyrie), sapphire blue for my Mustang, red for my El Camino, pale blue and white for my old truck… You get the idea.

One habit that I do have, is an obsession with shoes. Not any shoes though. Oh, no. That would be my sister. She has about three hundred pairs and ten are shades of white. No, no, no. I am obsessed with boots and sneakers. Converse, in particular, has my heart. These are my dream shoes. The only brand that ranks right up there in my mind is Rocket Dog.

Anyway, today I was clicking around the web, checking in on some of my favorite sites, when I saw that Atomic Addiction had a post on Converse. Needless to say, my heart went all aflutter. I didn’t know you could personalize your shoes! Schweet!

But now that I know this, I have a problem. There are too many options! Too much that can be done! I’m too OCD for this! Eeepp!!! 0.0

Sorry guys, no camera on hand at the moment. Image is currently on Amazon.com. The image is theirs and belongs to them, not me. I’m just borrowing it so that you can get a link and a visual. You can find some nifty deals on Amazon, so go check it out!

Penpaling Around

I am going to preface this entry by saying that I do not advocate unsafe behavior. This article is intended for adults who know what they are doing and are looking strictly for friendship in other cultures. Kids should always ask permission from their parents and parents should always know what their kids are doing.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.

I sure some of you know that I do the whole penpaling thing. I’m not sure how to spell that (somehow it looks butchered there), but it’s fun. At least it is to me. But I have no life and love other cultures and travel a whole hecka ton.

I got started because I was homebound with the flu and absolutely had to have someone to talk to. Then I started to get addicted. Now, I am a full-fledged penpal. You can do a lot with a hobby like this really. For one, you can stick to emails or go the more traditional route and write letters. Me, I like mail I can touch and collect stamps from. You can also start swapping. Swapping is basically where you find like-minded people and trade things through the mail. Bottle caps, postcards, seeds, pens and pencils, tea, patches, little toys, whatever you like.

So maybe, just maybe you’d like to start doing this whole penpal thing too, but aren’t sure how. Well, for starters, get to a search engine and type in penpal or free penpal or something like that. Now, you are going to get a whole lot of sites you do not want. It takes time to weed through them, so here is a very short list of some of the ones I recommend or know people who use.

Interpals.net – There is a really good search menu and so far almost all of my experiences here have been pleasant.

PenPal World – I used to use this a couple of years ago and it was great.

PenPals Point - I haven’t used this one, but some people I know do and like it.

Military Penpals – Read this site carefully before begining and use appropriate behavior!

Any Soldier – This is a freakin’ fabulous site.

I realize that this is a very short list, but these are some of the most easily accesible in my opinon. Also, keep in mind that each site has their own rules of conduct and you need to be mindful of them. Use discretion, common sense, and decorum.

Don’t give out your address, phone number, or personal information! Use a P.O. Box or just email! There are a lot of nasty people out there and you don’t want a predator or killer finding you!

Basically, just keep your head, start slow, and keep writing. Be consistent and know your limits. If you can only handle one or two penpals, stick with that number. I speak with experience. Don’t get excited, go overboard, then have ten letters a day to write. That isn’t fun for anyone involved.

Some people you will connect with, some you won’t. It takes time to build up a friendship. Just relax and keep talking. If you decide to meet, make certain that you take someone with you, keep your cell phone charged, let others know where you are going and what you will be up to, check in with others at appointed times (every hour or so), keep to daylight and public places.

As long as you play it safe, you can develop long lasting friendships this way. Good luck and have fun!

Boston Warehouse

Boston Warehouse has a line of products called Animalhouse. They are kitchen and office supplies with a quirky, colorful sense of fun. I have about half of them all ready. My sister is to blame. She got me a small selection for Christmas. I have this thing with collections. If I start one, accidentally or not, I must finish it. Some of these guys I don’t really need. Like the squid baster. I’m a vegetarian. What kind of veg do you baste? (Is that even how you spell it?) But, I’ll get it anyway. You know why? Because while I might not use that squid the way it is intended, I’m a wizz at modern art. ^_^

Boston Warehouse Animal House

Aren’t they cute! I get positively hyper when I see them. Especially if they are on sale. You can find them online and get them directly from Boston Warehouse, amazon.com, or where ever else you shop for nifty and fun gadgets. Me, I buy mine at Target. That’s where I first saw them and the only local place that sells them consistantly. If you are in the Winston-Salem/King, North Carolina, you can check on Kohls and Pier One (not listed online). The Hanes Point shopping center on Hanes Mall Boulevard has a Target, Kohls, and Pier One all together, so you could try all three stores at once. I love one stop shopping! Now having typed that, I think I have also seen them at Home Goods and Ross’ (just across the street).

The prices will change a little bit between stores, but, for the most part, each retailer will only be a couple of dollars off. So if you find it cheaper one place and bought if for a little more somewhere else, don’t freak. Of course, you could do the cheapskate thing and return the more expensive one (as long as you use good morals and didn’t use it) for a refund and then buy the one that costs less. Just sayin’.

Has anyone else seen these guys? Do you love them as much as I do? Or do you just think ‘way too much color and childishness’ the way my mother does? Better yet, do you know anyone who has them on sale? ‘Cause I could totally use the mouse cheese shredder!

In The Library

With a Tolkien compendium.

Fireplace

This is my fireplace room. It is in what is affectionately called the library. I can’t start to redo this room until I get book shelves. I gave away all of my old shelves because they just couldn’t hold the weight of all those books. I have just under 5,000 at the moment. Yes, I do know that for a fact. Yes, I do track them. Yes, they are organized using the Dewey decimal system. And yes, I realize how insane that might seem to some people. I choose to believe that having all of the books on floor to ceiling shelves will act as insulation. If not, then at least I will always have something to do on those days when the power is out.

Today I will be taking down the curtains, stacking the boxes (not shown) in a more logical (read as stable) way, and moving my mother’s furniture (table to the left) out of there. I would like to think that this will only take an hour, maybe two. However, the part of my brain that is still screaming over the recent discovery that the bathroom, hallway, downstairs bedroom, office, and basement are all on the same electrical circuit, knows better. This small list will take at least four hours if the current pattern holds true. Mental note: get Ludo queued up.

Oh, and shelves. I need to decide on new shelves. They need to hold a lot of weight. I have many, many hardbacks and very few of them are thin. Walmart is not an option. Partly because I consider it The Evil and partly because all previous shelving purchased from there has sagged after less than a year.

I’d prefer actual wood and not that flimsy painted pressed paper stuff. Oooo…. maybe metal?! *gasp* I could go all kinds of steampunk in here! That would so totally work with my claw-footed recliner! And the globes and terarriums would be perfect in that setting! Hrm… I wonder what Home Depot has? Suggestions anyone?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

As I still don’t have internet back (yet), this is going to be a wee bit shorter than I would like. But soon, soon I shall amaze all with my astounding blogging skills! (Oh how I miss writing…)

Anyway, moving on to the main attraction as I know that’s why you are actually here and not at all interested in my mumblings about technology withdrawl. I found a few good sites that I though everyone might be interested in and that are holiday related.

First up, if you have some spare change, plan your visit to Ireland. I didn’t have enough money for that, so I hiked down to the wheel of death and got a very festive Mountain Dew.

Before you go, learn some of the lingo. Or learn it just because! You might also want to try this out and learn more than just a few phrases.

Of course, being a history major, I would also highly recommend knowing some basic Irish history before you head in that direction. Oh, and if you like that sort of thing, you’ll dig the history of St. Patrick’s day. Horray for learning!

Or maybe you’d like to just do the cooking thing instead and celebrate at home.

So, who’s up for buying me a Guinness?