Friday, March 30, 2012

Arise Arise, A Rose, A Rose

This is my baby. She's been really really sick, in the vet's office. She had kidney problems, and we didn't know if she was going to make it. Well, my Rose-baby is home now and she's just as good as ever! It's so good to have her sweet little face around again. :)
Isn't she just the cutest?

The opposite of Congress is progress.

Sorry about the title. I was trying to think of something with a pun relating to progress. I don't think I found the proper amount of wit, though. I'm an independent with liberal leanings, and I've been trying to stay out of politics for the past few years. I don't think I was mature enough to handle them, because they made me into an incredibly nasty person, unwilling to listen to the beliefs of others. Since I stopped watching hours and hours of MSNBC and Michael Moore films, I've been a lot nicer to be around and more understanding of the beliefs of others. Once I'm in college, I think I'll try again to get into the political scene, and hopefully I'll be mature enough to handle them then.
ANYWAY--why the progress in the title? Well, I've been working on my steampunk journal all week, and I have all of the pages dyed. I dyed them all, by hand, with coffee. I think there are about 200 total. I wanted to make extra so that I knew for certain I would have enough.
I haven't gotten to work on the cover yet, because I want to make sure that I know EXACTLY what I want to do with it before I start. Right now I'm thinking that I'll cover it with a paper bag, and use shiny Mod Podge to make it look glossy, kind of like leather. As for further adornments, I have no idea. I'm open to suggestions.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

What a Lovely Day for a Hanging

 Hmm...so I am very extremely sorry, but I have no idea what website I got this DIY from. If anyone has any idea, please comment on this post with the link, and I will edit it in.
I did this because I was in desperate need of more room, and I had nowhere to put my  belts. I don't really wear any of them, but I will someday, I promise. The problem with all of my belts is that I buy them all or acquire them will something wrong with them that I swear I will fix...and...well...I never really get around to it.
This is pretty simple, just turn a wire hanger upside down and twist the hook outwards, and it automatically becomes a belt rack, or a rack for anything you want to put on it. :) Magic.
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Saturday, March 24, 2012

Top 5 of the Week.

Hmmm...so I am no longer going to have a specific day that I post these, you're just going to have to stay on your toes!
So, I gave my short story to a "friend" to edit, and he gave it back to me, and I was horrified to discover that he had attempted to put grammar errors INTO it. I discarded the notion that it was purposeful, because hey, commas are hard, right? A couple hours later, I was in the class he and I have together, and he stood next to me and gave me a long talk about how none of my ideas are original, and then he proceeded to describe ALL of the stories that he'd written, and he went on further to tell me about how he'd written awesome stories since he ten, and how awesome all of his ideas are, and how he swore that some movie director must have found one of them online and copied for his screenplay and blah blah blah. In short, he's an asshole, and he should fall in a hole. Once my short story gets fully edited, I will post it on here to PROVE my ideas are totally original and 100% my own. He can shove it up his ass. [If any are offended, I apologize for my use of language, however, I feel I'm justified.]
Anyways, my top five this week are my top five favorite......BOOKS! You might think it's lame, but I'm a really avid reader. Here are, in no predetermined order, are my favorites.
 1. The Faery Reel-- Edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling 
This is actually a collection of short stories that I've had for years and years. I never get sick of reading it. They're all stories about fairies, and all of the stories are based on actual folklore. There are some stories, like "Oak Thing" and "Fox Wife," that I only read occasionally, simply because they're not my style, but there are some others, notably "Your Garnet Eyes" and "The Night Market," that I love so much I read them all the time. My graduation present from my mother is actually a piece of garnet jewelry (I don't know exactly what yet!), because I love "Your Garnet Eyes" so much.
 2. Flowers for Algernon--Written by: Daniel Keyes
I love this book. I cried so many tears at it. It's seriously one of the best stories ever. It changed my life and how I looked at the mentally handicapped. I no longer feel that it's alright to just casually throw out the word "retarded" to describe something I think is stupid. Charlie Gordon had that much of an effect on me.
The story is about the life of Charlie, and it's completely told from his point of view, through the diary he keeps. He is a mentally retarded man who is picked on and pushed around by everyone, but he doesn't realize it because he thinks they're all his friends. He goes to a night school for adults because he loves to learn, and he wants to be normal to fit in with these people better, and his teacher recommends him for use in a scientific experiment which will make him ungodly smart. He gets the operation, and it works for a short time, in which he discovers that he is even more lonely as a genius than he was as a retard. Through his research, he becomes smarter than the other scientists, and discovers that his operation will ultimately reverse and he will mentally deteriorate and die, so he runs away and tries to live a life on his own while fighting what he knows will ultimately happen to him.
Like I said. I. Cried. My. Eyes. Out. SO GOOD. It sounds really depressing, and that's why I didn't want to read it originally, but once I did, it was totally worth it.
 3. Frankenstein---Written by: Mary Shelley
I read this book in school, and it's another one of those eye-opening books that made me bawl my eyes out. The story follows Victor Frankenstein, who is recollecting the story. He starts out as a young scientist, who becomes a little TOO hands on with his work, and discovers how to make the spark of life. He builds a man, brings him to life, and is so horrified by his creation that he spurns it.
After this, there's a great deal of time where Victor is having a mental breakdown and his best friend must nurse him back to health. Eventually, he returns home. Little does he know, the monster is returning with him. The monster ends up destroying Victor's life, simply because Victor will not give the monster the companionship he craves and make a female monster for him to have as a friend.
Just warning you, the monster will be the one you really pity in this story, even though he kills a lot of important people in Victor's life.
 4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix--- Written by: J.K. Rowling
We all know what Harry Potter is about. I grew up with the series, so I just had to include my favorite one in this countdown.
5. Never Let Me Go---Written By: Kazuo Ishiguro
For some reason, most of these books are ones that have made me cry my eyes out.
Never Let Me Go is the story of clones who are being raised for their organs. It has all the great aspects of a chick flick love, denial, rage, frustration, sex, and ultimate death, coupled with the off-the-wall elements of debating whether clones have souls, the importance of art, forced organ donations, and teachers who lose their minds from guilt. It sounds so awful. I loved it so much.
I usually hate chick lit. I loved this so much. Enough said.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

My Songs, You Say, Are Poison

Ah. It's been so long since I've posted on here...sorry about that, I've been busy getting my sea legs back. I went into overdrive, putting all of my time and effort into writing a short story and by the end of it I was 11 single-spaced pages richer, as well as wrapped in an even tighter web of planning for my next one, and completely and utterly exhausted mentally. My plan is to create an entire book full of short stories, all about this post-apocalyptic world where America has totally shut itself off and is its own dictatorship, putting constant pressure on its people to remain "Useful." Those who are not Useful become either Marked (which means they are given two months to live) or Exterminated (which means....yeah, you get it). The POINT in writing these is to warn society of what might happen if industry, science, and progress become more important than the human life. I'm not sure if everyone who reads it will get it though.
Some of you might wonder about my Heine-inspired title. Well, actually, probably not, because I have just discovered that Heine is a much more obscure poet than I thought. I have found numerous other translations of that quote, including "my songs, they say, are poisoned" but this is the translation from my literature book. God I love Heine.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Top 5 of the Week.

Hmm...okay, so it's one day late. Big deal. Haha, I was actually shooting a movie yesterday. No lie. We have this tea shop downtown where I live, and some indie director is shooting his newest film partially in my town, and hiring actors from here too. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Three weeks or so ago, he was scouring a place for the scene, and while he was in Perry's Place, my two friends and I just happened to be there as well, sipping our chocolate chai. We were just extras, nothing important, none of us even had any lines, but it was still really really fun. All of the actors were absolute sweethearts, as was the entire production staff and the super cute acting director who meowed at us a couple of times. Totally awesome, and great food as well.
Alright, so this week, it's my top 5 favorite....MUSIC ARTISTS!!!!
Yayyy! So here they are, in no particular order.

 1. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club:
I love them so much. There's something very vintage-y about their sound, which would make a lot of sense, because several of their album covers and their name are inspired by old movies. They're so unique, but totally awesome.
 2. Chevelle:
A little harder than BRMC, that's for sure. I've been listening to Chevelle for years, I've loved them for years, and that love is definitely not ending anytime soon. It has survived and grown for many years.
 3. Paul Dempsey:
A much softer, acoustic sound. The former frontman for Something For Kate, Dempsey's solo lyrics are incredibly insightful and deep. They kind of remind me of literature from the French Decadence Movement, but in the best possible way.
 4. Rise Against: 
Another heavier band that I've listened to for years. Rise Against was actually the first rock band I ever listened to. Back when I was in 8th grade, I would listen to their music and it inspired me to want to change the world, and it made me feel like I really COULD change the world. Now that I'm older, I'm a lot more pessimistic about these things, but I still feel like I identify with the lyrics on an incredibly personal level.
5. Smoke Fairies:
I was originally drawn to this band because of their name. Their voices, however, are the real stars here. They harmonize together perfectly. It's really amazing to listen to them sing. My greatest wish is to see them in concert. I love them so much.

Friday, March 9, 2012

WTF is in my purse?

Hello hello. :) Checking in before I do my top 5 tomorrow.
Here's a taste of what's in my purse. Honestly, when I emptied it out, I thought there was going to be a ton more crap than this.
The picture of my purse refused to load, so you just kind of have to take my word that I own one. :P
 Firstly, we have several red pens. Yep...I'm an editor for my school newspaper. Copy editor, actually, which means that I edit every bit of text we put out. Every name, caption, title, story, etc. I usually end up bringing part of it home with me. Obviously, I need a lot of red pens. Mainly because I lose them constantly.
 Dr Cleangreen's All Natural Hand Purifier! Ahh! I love this stuff. It works just as well as that smelly old hand sanitizer, except it smells like pumpkin pie and has an added moisturizer to keep your hands soft. Amazing stuff, worth every penny. I would never leave home without it.
 My mp3 player, Kurt; my en-V phone; and my library book. I could not survive a day without all three of these. I just started Stars to Steer By not that long ago. It's an old children's literature textbook, and it's absolutely wonderful. The first chapter is all about wanderlust and the gypsy heart. Kurt, the mp3 player, has only 8 gigs on him. I constantly have to cycle my music because I don't have enough room for it all. My phone is just my connection to Twitter, Facebook, and all of my friends.
 Two coupons for Pizza Hut (they're good for the rest of the year, I don't need to use them anytime soon), my Hello Kitty mirror, and my bindies.
 This are two other items that I can't leave home without: my Hello Kitty perfume and Vitamin-E stick. The perfume was a gift from my sister at Christmas, and it's my go-to whenever I'm on the go. The Vitamin-E stick keeps my lips moisturized and also has some spf in it. It's also for use around the eyes, but I'm not sure why my eyes would need any Vitamin E.
Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, which I am reading for my Advanced Literature class, a calculator lent to me by the school, and my set of keys.
Last and not least, my wallet! With my Hot Topic card, my license, and various other cards, this is another very essential item. Ironically, it's the thing I leave at home the most. I don't ever need it at school, and I don't want to risk losing everything in it. Because I would.
The entire wallet is actually made of recycled billboards...which is totally awesome.

Monday, March 5, 2012

DIY--Canvas Wall Pocket

It feel so good to be DIYing again! This was made from an old painting of mine that I did last school year that didn't exactly work out....haha. Good news is that my screw up turned into a cute organizer for my mom's bills. :) 

Haha, I put some of my papers in it so you could see what it looks like. I hadn't hung it up for her yet when I took it. She really loved it when she saw it though, which made it all totally worth it. :)
I didn't follow the tutorial, but I was inspired by the picture in this link:
http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2012/01/project_reverse_canvas_wall_po.html

Sunday, March 4, 2012

The Quiet Things No One Ever Knows.


I've been so obsessed with this song recently. This picture just reminds me of it for some reason. Yes, I did both take and edit this picture. It is one of mine. This was taken of the base of a tree outside a nursing home, which I walk past every day. It's beautiful. Or, at least, I think so.
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My Top 5 of the Week.

Hmm...so in order for this blog to feel a bit more personal, I want to start doing a top 5 every week. This week, my top 5 are my top 5 favoriteeeee.......MOVIES!!!!
Here they are, in no particular order:
 #1: Constantine 
I'm not particularly a fan of Keanu Reeves (not many people are) but when he gets combined with tons of demon-exorcist action, I guess I am. I really loved the demons, with their heads cut in half. There's really no way to describe it, with water and cats being portals to hell and heavenly brass knuckles, it's really amazing, and a totally new spin on the heaven-versus-hell story line. Well not new, because it was based on the graphic novel and it came out several years ago, but you know what I mean.
 #2: No One Knows About Persian Cats
Alright, so this one isn't as well known. And this is actually the cover to the soundtrack, but the movie poster looks almost exactly the same, so I didn't worry about finding another picture.
The movie follows Negar and Ashkan, two struggling musicians in Tehran attempting to reform their band and flee their country to play at a music festival in Great Britain. In their country, rock music (and many other kinds of music) is illegal. They travel the city, sampling bands, attempting to get Visas.
 It was so controversial when it came out that all of the members of the on-screen band (in real life, they were the now-broken-up Take It Easy Hospital) had to seek asylum in Britain because they would have been arrested upon their return to Iran. It's really a phenomenal story with a phenomenal soundtrack. I cried at the end of it. Although, a warning, it's a foreign film, so the entire thing is riddled with English subtitles.
 #3: Pan's Labyrinth
Another foreign film, though this one is Spanish. It's about a little girl living in 1944's fascist Spain, who begins to see fairies upon going to live with her stepfather, a cruel general. One of the creatures she meets is a faun who lives in a giant labyrinth. He tells her that she is a lost fairy princess and she must perform a three tasks to prove that her soul is pure enough to return to claim her kingdom.
I am in love with the music of this movie as well as the story. A little warning to the weak of stomach though, there is a lot of gore.
 #4: Serenity
The only way you would understand this movie is if you watched the TV series Firefly, which stars the same cast. The series and the movie are both the brainchildren of Joss Whedon and stars Nathan Fillion, who in my opinion, is good in whatever he acts in. The movie acts as a conclusion to the television series. It is absolutely amazing. River Tam has been my hero ever since I watched this movie. She's such a badass.
#5: Whip It
Haha, I bet anyone who's reading this is thinking "Finally, a movie that's not entirely depressing!!!" Yes. I have a weakness for both of Ellen Page's early indie comedies, but I could watch Whip It any day of the week. I love it so much. It's so funny, and the cast has so much on-screen chemistry. The actors were picked for the roles perfectly; there's not one of them that I look at and think "Oh, they're good but they could have found someone better."
For those who don't know, it's about a pageant girl named Bliss with an overbearing mother. On one fatal shopping trip, she grabs a flier for rollerderby exhibition match. She attends, falls in love with the game, lies about her age, etc. It's a cliche story presented in a wacky way, which is why it works. I'm going to go watch it now. :)

Until next time.
Mari.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Last post for today...I PROMISE!!

I'm so sorry about posting three times in a day, but big news (well, not really, but big to me) I'm on Facebook. Or, at least, I started a page for my blog on Facebook. Now I can legitimately say LIKE ME ON FACEBOOK!!! :)
http://www.facebook.com/FistFightsAndFairyLights

DIY--Reinvented Lingerie

Mmmm...so I used to have an obsession with buying lingerie, because when I was younger I thought that I was going to wear it as clothing (I was a disturbed youth, I know). That is where this piece came from, and it was not only tragically large, but totally recyclable. :) Case in point:
Yes, yes this is it. The monstrosity itself. Alright, I'll admit, other than the color it's pretty. But I decided that instead of uselessly large lingerie, what I really needed was something to make my short skirts longer. So I chopped off the lace top to use in later projects, and used the bottom as such. 
Whoopsies! Haha, here's a better picture that doesn't show as much of my chicken legs.
Cute, with that little lacy pop! Perfect perfect perfect for when I want to be a little flirty or a little anything! Sorry about the mess in the background, by the way.
Shortly after this picture was taken, I was struck by a terrible sickness called BOREDOM.
Then, this idea came about:
Yes yes yes, that is my idea of a summer look! I might actually wear this, though with a different belt at the waist. I was thinking maybe one of braided leather-ish material or something. I don't actually use leather in my projects, or any animal products unless they're given to me by a friend. So if you see feathers, leather, anything of that nature, it's been donated, not bought.

Playing with food and other distractions.

Sorry, I haven't posted all week. There's a DIY to come later. I promise. :) I just have to get back on top of things. We were sending our latest issue in Newspaper, and then there was the entire reading of James's Turn of the Screw to complete before Friday for my Advanced Literature class, among other things. I was really busy.
I've spent the past two days reading the entire Hunger Games trilogy. It wasn't AMAZING or anything, there were a few grammar errors here and there that stuck out to me, but it was still a good and engaging read. Until the last book. The end of the last book nearly killed me. No spoilers though. I let out a bunch of them accidentally with my friends already. I really want to see the movie now, and I hope that they don't cut out Cinna or any of the other not-quite-minor-not-quite-major characters. I also hope that they don't make a second or a third. I know I would never go see the third. I get emotionally attached to my favorite characters when I read books, so when they die in horrific ways, it really upsets me. A warning to anyone who hasn't read the series but wants to, the entire thing is written in first-person present tense point of view. It's distracting for the first few pages, but once the action of the story gets started, it's not as noticeable.