There's a starman waiting in the sky

I didn't realize the impact David Bowie had on my life until, suddenly, he was gone.  My mom would rock me to sleep as a baby by singing "Young Americans".  In elementary school, my dad played guitar in a cover band.  During their rehearsals, I did my homework on a couch and listened to countless hours of "Suffragette City" and "Ziggy Stardust".  Labyrinth is still one of my favorite movies of all time.  I spent my teenage years with my BFF (one of the biggest Bowie fans I know) riding around and listening to David Bowie.  The opening piano notes to "Life on Mars?" still give me chills.
Thank you, Mr. Jones, for making up a huge portion of the soundtrack of my life. 

It's beginning to look a lot like Twin Peaks

Want to make your holidays damn fine this year?
Start off by sending these rad cards to your friends and family.  Or keep them for yourself.  I won't judge.

Get yours here

 My log has something to tell you:  It looks delicious.

Get the recipe here

Oh Diane, almost forgot.  Got to find out what kind of trees these are.
Get in the holiday "spirit" with this Douglas Fir-inspired cocktail.

Recipe here

If BOB isn't leering at you from the branches of your Christmas tree, it might be time to re-think your decor choices.

See the whole scene here

Start planning for the new year with this adorable calendar.

Buy yours here

Adorable isn't really your style? How about a full year of the ladies of Twin Peaks?

Buy yours here

The mysticism of Twin Peaks

My favorite TV show meets my favorite divination method.

I've been a tarot enthusiast ever since I found a battered deck that belonged to my dad in my grandma's attic.  (What 70s-era teenager didn't mess around with a little occult lite?)

Artist Benjamin Mackey has been busy creating a Twin Peaks themed tarot deck.  View the entire deck here.
The Major Arcana is complete and Mackey is hard at work on the Minor Arcana cards. 
Naturally, the suit of cups is represented by none other than a damn fine cup of coffee.

Here's to hoping it becomes an actual deck or, at the very least, some kick ass prints. 

Happy Home Designer: Add it to your Christmas list

If you know only one thing about me, know this:
I love Animal Crossing.  If Animal Crossing was a religion, I would never leave the church. 
Animal Crossing: Wild World for the Nintendo DS was the game that really ushered me into the world of gaming.  I've sung its praises before so I won't wax poetic in this post.  I'll just say this "I love Animal Crossing 5 eva!" (Cuz that's more than 4 eva.)
You can imagine my complete and absolute delight when I heard the news that an Animal Crossing spin-off game was making its way to American soil and it was called Happy Home Designer and it was the most adorable thing I'd ever laid eyes on.

Let's get to the nuts and bolts of the game:

• It wouldn't be an Animal Crossing game if you didn't work for that miserly trash panda Tom Nook.   Specifically, you are a designer at Nook's Homes which is a delightful little home renovation business introduced in AC: New Leaf.  Your first client comes in willingly but, after that, you're sent out to the street to drum up business.  The more houses you design, the more furniture, wallpaper, flooring, etc. becomes available to you.  Unlike the previous AC games, you design the inside and outside of your clients' homes based on the theme they request.  

• First things first, I'm the realest you choose the location from a map of the town.  (Incidentally, you can build multiple houses on the same site.  So the perfect site for one house will still be there when another client comes along.)  There are desert plots, beachfront property, mountain top vistas.  You can then tap the site to change the season.  You choose from several styles and sizes of houses, you can change the roofing, the siding, the style of door and fence.  You can add trees, shrubbery, and outdoor furniture like picnic tables, birdbaths, various pieces of sports equipment.  So much stuff.  (The ability to customize your yard is something that is sorely lacking in the AC games.)  You can get creative by using typical indoor decor such as lamps and rugs to customize your clients' outdoor living space.  

• And decorating inside the house?  That's even more awesome.  My one criticism, though?  Even if you give your client a mansion, you are still only going to decorate one room.  You can get creative and divide it with panels and screens and large pieces of furniture.  But the absolute best part?  You can hang light fixtures, ceiling fans, hanging plants, bunting...  It's like decorating a real life house except better because there is no pesky wiring to worry with.  Did you unlock an item that you know would be perfect in a previous client's house?  Don't worry.  You can visit them and add to the decor whenever you want.  Although, sometimes you'll catch them chilling in bed.  That can get awkward.
  
  

  

  Pekoe feeling zen.

•  You can use your Play Coins to unlock "design lessons" which allow you to refurbish furniture and other things...  (To be honest, I haven't unlocked many things yet.)  

Typical me.  Sitting down on the job.

• Isabelle, your loyal assistant from New Leaf, will show up and allow you to start designing projects in the downtown area such as a school, a hospital, and a cafe.  These projects are a bit more demanding because you will be provided with a list of items that must be included to pass muster.  However, working on these projects unlocks lots of other decor items that aren't strictly household items.  Think copy machines and soda fountains.  As the game progresses, the town expands and you may be asked to expand on previously completed projects as well as have the opportunity to start new ones. 

• Last, but most definitely not least, amiiboooooos!  **read in your best Oprah voice**  (I ordered the game with an amiibo reader because I'm still using an older 3DS.)  You can add your favorite AC neighbors to the game using the amiibo cards.  There are even special characters like Resetti and KK Slider.  For the most part, these special characters give you carte blanche when it comes to decorating but special items will pop up in your inventory  that you know is meant for them.  I mean... how are you going to personalize Harriet's house without a vanity or basket of beauty products?

• The game play, overall, is entirely relaxing.  A great game to zone out with at the end of the work day or before bed.  Sure you have clients to please but they're pretty laid back when it comes to their homes.  (They are animals, after all.)   

Lopez can't wait for me to leave so he can chew on the furniture.

The best mashup in the history of mashups

I love The Golden Girls.  I got the entire series for my birthday this year and it was everything I'd ever dreamed it could be.  But, to be honest, I set the bar pretty low when it comes to my hopes and dreams.

When I'm not binge watching TV shows, I am summoning the dead.  No big deal.

Of course, Twin Peaks is another favorite so I was stoked to see this post from Welcome to Twin Peaks show up on my Facebook feed.  The intro mashup is, of course, hilarious but the David Lynch-directed Golden Girls  may have caused my TP/GG lovin' heart to have a minor infarction.
By the time you read this, my house will have been invaded by four extra people but I will have a Freaky Friday post up for you written by the oh-so-charming Mr. Coffee.

The Fangirl's Guide to... something

Back story:  Amazon had been hounding me to buy The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy.  I guess that's what happens when your shopping history consists mainly of Harry Potter movies and Pop! Vinyl figures.
I was about to cave when I visited my local library and I spotted the book sitting on a center table display like a beacon shining directly into my nerdy heart.

One of us!  One of us!

After reading it, I realized this same beacon was only masking the song of bad book sirens that were waiting on the rocks to crush my geek girl heart into dust.
Ok... no more seafaring references.
Sam Maggs, if that's your real name, I really wanted to like your book.  I really did.  The title grabbed my attention and the book's petite size made me feel like I was reading the personal journal of a fellow fangirl.  And then I read it...
If I was 12 or 13 and looking for a ready-made identity to morph into, I'd probably think Fangirl's Guide was an awesome book.  The first chapter explains what exactly a fangirl is.  Um... it's in the word.  A girl who is a fan of... something.  Then Maggs goes on to detail various fandoms such as Potterheads and Trekkies. 
Personally, I believe you can be a fangirl for chemistry or General Hospital or craft beers.  Someone can "geek out" about something that isn't a stereotypical "geeky" subject.  Fangirl's Guide just seemed so... basic.  If Tumblr had published a book about its biggest fandoms, it would be Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy.

Other low points:
The little interviews with geek girls who made it big scattered throughout each chapter were not insightful at all.  They were asked to define what a "fangirl" was and they all basically stated a person who is passionate about something.  Thanks for that brand new information!
At one point, she described "levels" of fandom and how a fangirl might acquire a tattoo to represent her queen bee fan status among her peers.
Her tips for con going were nothing earth-shattering that you couldn't find with a quick Google search.
She gave the impression that geek girls will always run up against some form of discrimination from geek boys at conventions, comic book shops, gaming tournaments, etc. based solely on the fact that they are female.  Throughout my years of being a fangirl, I've only run across one rude person, who happened to be male, and who chose to act from the safety of his keyboard via Facebook.  (A simple unfriending solved that problem.)  Maggs gives the impression that cons and comic book shops are full of meanies just waiting for the chance to quiz some poor unsuspecting geek girl on her knowledge of Starfleet ships.
At the end of the book, she touches on feminism and the roles of women in fiction.  Because the subject of over-sexualization of women in comic books and video games has never been broached before this revolutionary book was published.

In the end, this book was a huge disappointment (that I'm glad I didn't actually pay for).  I was hoping for a book of personal anecdotes about forays into cosplaying or the first time someone got schooled at a Pokemon tournament.  What I got was a "how to" guide and no one can tell you how to be a fan of something.  You don't need a book or a website or a blog to tell you how to love something.  You only need passion.
That'll be $19.95 please.

Fangirling: Anaïs Nin

I thought instead of reviewing a book or movie or game, I could talk about one of my favorite authors.
**Full disclosure:  I wrote this post forever ago for my old blog but my AC has been out since Thursday, and I think the part of my brain that is capable of stringing together coherent sentences melted and ran out of my ears at some point yesterday afternoon.**
Is there a book you could read over and over again?  One of those books, for me, is White Oleander by Janet Fitch.  One of the main characters, Ingrid, is a poet and often "prescribes" books to her daughter Astrid to help her cope with her life as a teenager.  One of the authors she brought up was Anaïs Nin, and was immediately curious.  The only thing I'd ever heard about her was that she wrote dirty books.  Why would a mother tell her teenage daughter to read smut?  I had to know!

While Ms.  Nin did write a few volumes of erotica, her published diaries are where the really juicy stuff is hidden.  (I swear I'm not a perv!  Maybe a little bit of a perv.  But a harmless perv.)
A few years ago, I picked up a copy of Anaïs Nin's journal Henry and June and fell instantly in love.   The writing is both poetic and raw and her journaling draws you not only into her life but into her brilliant mind.
I'm going to assume 
Anaïs never fell victim to a boring day in her life.  Not only was she a writer, but also a dancer, an analyst, a mistress, and a muse.  A combination of lover and muse for the author Henry Miller.  She was married to a somewhat reserved banker, but desired her independence during a time when women's desires and dreams were often put on the back burner for household duties and child rearing.  She wanted to venture out to the dive bars, the whorehouses.  To experience life on the fringes while knowing she always had a comfortable house with servants and hot food and clean sheets to scurry back to when shit got real.  She was the queen of slumming it.
I am into my fourth diary now, and I've found them all hard to put down.  While I don't agree with her extramarital activities, her story-telling and poetic language captivate me.  She lived life fully, but she also observed and recorded every tiny detail.  I think writers, with their observation skills and seemingly photographic memories, really know how to exist in the present moment.  
I only wish I could write/blog/journal half as beautifully as Anaïs did.  Or travel the world.  Or be able to pick the brains of sculptors, poets, musicians, actors...
But a little vicarious living  never hurt anyone.