Getting a little Steam-Punk'd

Okay, so a few days ago I saw a tweet from The Mary Sue, about a Steampunk Wedding!
Looking at the pictures, it really blew me away, I just had to share. It makes me want to have my own Steampunk themed wedding!
So the happy bride and groom, Sheyne and Glenn, did a Do-It-Yourself wedding, with the help of friends and family, I'd say this ceremony went off without a hitch.

Steampunk, from what I have gathered, can range from fashion to a lifestyle. I'm sure most people have at least heard of the word, but maybe not know the definition. Here's a more detailed definition from Urban Dictionary:

"Steampunk is a subgenre of speculative fiction, usually set in an anachronistic Victorian or quasi-Victorian alternate history setting. It could be described by the slogan "What the past would look like if the future had happened sooner." It includes fiction with science fiction, fantasy or horror themes." - Urban dictionary

Awesome Wedding Invitations!

In the words of the Bride:

"Our offbeat wedding at a glance: Glenn and I are both members the Steampunk performance group, "The League of S.T.E.A.M." We are both costumers and performers who attend over-the-top costume balls and events in and around the Los Angeles area. We decided on "The Scientific Investigation of Love & Romance" as our theme. Bringing drama and a well-executed theme was very important to us."

One of the coolest pictures I saw was the robot butler, and of course the guy from Mythbusters makes it! So now it's 20% more cooler!

"We had a robot ring bearer built by our friend, Grant. He was named Heisenborg, and he delivered our wedding rings in a test tube and Erlennmeyer flask. Later in the evening, using the remote control, Grant had Heisenborg danced with a few friends on the dance floor." -Sheyne the Bride

 

Sometimes it's the small details all together that make up a great wedding. Like the key & bottle opener gifts. Steampunk, I think, is a lot about the visual appearance and the small details. The gears, the metal, the victorian/vintage look. It's all so appealing (not to mention sometimes very expensive).

The cutest of Octopi

Some may want to know, 'Why are there octopus in Steampunk?'. The Octopus is kind of the 'mascot' of Steampunk. Some say that it's more an association with the Kraken, a nasty beastie in most Steampunk Sci-fi fiction.

Who cares, the cake topper is cute! End of story.

Homebrew in Potion bottles!

Mad Scientist Candy Laboratory

Overall, this wedding was a great Do-It-Yourself'er! One thing I feel makes a great DIY is having and knowing about the theme, a lot of friends to help, planning and of course, having a lot of fun!
Congrats to the bride and groom!

Clean all the things!

Okay, so I had this craving to clean all the things! Mostly the bathroom...
I decided to create my own cleaners than to buy icky smelling chemicals. Grabbing the recipes from here.
So off to the local Walmarts I went. My overall total, if you include bottles, was about $14.

Tub and Tile cleaner:
Fill a spray bottle with:

• 1 1/3 cup Baking soda
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil-based liquid soap
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 Tbsp Vinegar

(shake before using)
Apply with cloth or sponge and rinse well

I used this and it worked pretty well! I would recommend you get a really good spray bottle though, mine clogged up and stopped working at some point. I just dumped a little bit on my sponge as I went along. You have to rinse well, otherwise you are going to have dry patches of powder.
I also used this on the floor, I think it meant tiles that are on bathroom walls. Not laminate floor tiles. My floors didn't seem to shine after rinsing.

Glass Cleaner:

• 1/4 Vinegar
• 4 cups warm water

This works as well as Windex and so much cheaper! No streaks of any kind. The vinegar smells stronger after the water cools. Unless you hate vinegar, I'd recommend doing this.

Scouring Powder:

• 1 cup Baking Soda
• 1 cup Borax
• 1 cup Kosher Salt

Sprinkle on desired spots, wipe with sponge and rinse.

It works well on tough stains. I used this on the floors, it took the stains off without much problem. Let is soak for a minute or so.

Overall my cleaning excursion was fun! I may do another one of these when I clean other areas of the house using other green products.

Do you use any 'green' or 'do-it-yourself' cleaning products?
Comment below!

Movie sequels: Yay or nay?

Movie Sequels: Yay or Nay?

I don't know about you, but I feel that movie sequels are often at times unnecessary.
Here's my thing. If the first movie was good, why make a second or third?
Just to make money, is probably the most underlying, common answer. Perhaps, to elongate the story, see what happened after 'The End'. Maybe to have a spin off movie of one of the lesser supportive characters.
Whatever reason, there are many movies that have 'add ons' to them that may or may not be needed.

So, let's look at an example:
Shrek, that lovable ogre, as much as I love the first movie I feel that the others were a little unneeded. Let's recap through the whole series:
Shrek: An ogre finds his true love and finds his happily ever after.
Shrek 2: Shrek meets Fiona's family to try to gain their approval while, after a magical mishap, decides whether or not to stay in human form.
Shrek 3: Shrek overcomes the fears of being a father, while finding the next heir to the kingdom of Far Far Away.
Finally in Shrek 4: Shrek ends up in an alternate timeline where he doesn't exist, only to go back to his normal timeline where he still has his happily ever after.
Let's not forget the other spin offs, Shrek's Christmas, Puss in Boots and it's mini movie The Three Diablos.

Here's a few (million) more movies with sequels:

• (Most) Super Hero movies
• Land Before Time
• Lethal Weapon
• Back to the Future
• Borne Series
• James Bond Series
• Die Hard
• Mad Max
• X-Men (Especially Wolverine)
• Fast and Furious
• Saw Series
• Species
• Scream
• Final Destination
• Police Academy
• The Karate Kid
• Legally Blonde
• The Godfather
• Star Trek
• Star Wars
• Lord of the Rings
• Jaws
• Chucky series
• Friday the 13th
• Smurfs

(and so on...)

So which is it?

Yay, Sequels!: It elongates the story. Spin offs happen here. We learn more about the characters. It's a great series!

Nay, Firsts!: It's what made us love the movie in the first place. It's completely original. It's pure! First movies are best movies. It's not dull and repetitive.

Mini Yay or Nay: Movie from a book?
I love books, sometimes I love the movies more, but movies can make or break a book.
Isn't it funny how sometimes the books will be read after the movie is made. Then you think "the book was better".
We forgo the pleasures of reading a book and instead watch the movie because many of us don't have time. Or so they say.... There is always time, no matter how small, to read books.
Since we're talking about books being turned into movies, *cough*HarryPotter*cough*, movies should have the most important elements in the story, or at least a summary.

Cut off 50% of the book, but still tell a good story? Great!
But you are missing a lot of the book itself, so read the book!

But you don't have time to read the book... Then make time!

Oh, or watch the movie!...

but it doesn't look like how it was when you read it in your head...

oh well...

Yay, Movies!: It saves time, it gives you a reference when you actually read the book (if you actually read it) 

Nay, Books!: You're stuck with the characters on the big screen as a reference *cough*twillight*cough*. You miss half of the book, or see things that weren't even in the book.

What did you think? Are sequels that bad? Are movies made from books better than the original book itself?

Comment below!

Til next post

Nerd Fitness: It's for the Nerds

"Level up your life, every single day"

I'm a geek, and I am creating a healthier lifestyle for myself. One of my best resources I go to, and highly recommend, is Nerd Fitness.

Meet Steve Kamb, creator of Nerd Fitness, fellow geek, and inspiration to all geeks and nerd who want to change their life for the better. He talks a lot about fitness such as the beginner body weight workout, also what to do after you injure yourself, he even has a definitive guide to Bacon! Other more nerdy posts, like Role-play gaming in real life and Angry-Birds Workout, keep the geeks in us happy and fit! The first post I ever read was beginner's guide to Paleo, and I've been hooked on his posts ever since.

There are a ton of resources to help many fellow geeks. There are free resouces and workouts, apps, and gear. He's even created a couple of fitness guides, which I would recommend for anyone who was as 'lost' as I was.

A good way to get connected with fellow geeks and athletes is to join the Nerd Fitness Forums, be sure to read the rules of the rebellion. We share our stories, take on challenges, write about our daily battles, and support one another. You will not find another awesome, and nerdy, community like this one. I don't know what I would have done without these awesome bunch of people.

There are a ton of inspirational stories and transformations, first there was Joe, the amazing Nerd Fitness transformer (and he still being awesome). Some of my other favorites are power-lifting super mom, Robin, the Scout who lost over 100 pounds, and Anne, the cosplayer. These people always inspire me to become better. I always think 'if they can do it, I can do it'

So come join the rebellion!

The geek shall inherit the barbell.

Let's do the time-warp!: Things I would tell my younger self

Time warp instructions

Sometimes there's just something you wish you had told yourself back then, that would've saved you weeks, months, or even years of frustration, anger, grief and all those other nasty emotions we all dislike.
Here are a few things I would fix:

"Find an active activity you like, eat less to no breads and sugars, go paleo if needed":
Currently, I am a good... 80 pounds overweight. Losing weight is an obstacle and I when can't get the scale to budge, it feels like I'm wrong for trying to lose weight. 'If I'd only just been better to my body when I was younger, it wouldn't be this bad'.
I have been overweight pretty much all my life. Even if I had been more active, like in high-school, I would still be slightly overweight. It would have been so great to have found an activity I would have liked, like Larping or parkour when I was younger.

"Stop wearing black, read up on fashion, get a hair straightener and get some bangs":
Because I am so pasty white and have red hair, I prefer darker colors. It would have done me a great service to have added more color and had more 'style'. I just really needed some sort of style that wasn't just jeans and a T-shirt.
Also, my hair is thick and coarse, so straightening is a godsend. I always wore it in a ponytail. It would have looked so much better loose, and with bangs, like I wear it now.

"Find a few people you can become close friends with, and hang-out often":
Like in my previous post about friendship, I made the mistake in school to have a lot of acquaintances. If I gave myself this advice I hopefully would have had a close knit group of friends in high school that would hopefully last for a long time.

"Don't go looking for a relationship, please wait, become yourself, and love will come.":
I have a confession to make. My first serious relationship was secretly planned by me.
When I graduated high school, still being a single virgin, I decided to force my way to have a relationship. I found a guy, semi-stalked, found out his name, and PM'ed him on Facebook. We then proceeded to date, become a couple, lost virginity, etc...
He wasn't the type of guy I should have been with to begin with, he was messy, a know-it-all, and somewhat of a jerk. When I finally ended up letting my walls come down and start to fall in love, he dumped me because he fell out of love with me. Leaving me with a broken heart, it hurt like hell, but it was going to happen eventually.
It would have been better to have become more "me", let guys come after me, and court me the natural way. I would've been happier, had more options, and less heartbreak.

"Just because you're intimate with a guy, doesn't mean he's looking for a relationship":
This would have given me back about a year of heartache. There was this other guy, (there's always this one guy, right?). I immediately liked him from first sight, he seemed to have this magnetic pull about him. However, he wasn't into a relationship. Somehow, I became intimate with him, and things just continued that way.
He wouldn't call me, I'd have to call him or message him on AIM. When we did hang out, we'd always become intimate, but it frustrated me to no end why we weren't in a relationship.
In my head my head I had this equation [Sex = Relationship] (or I really, really like you enough to want to mush bodies together and share my life with you...).
I kept breaking my own heart, over-thinking about possibilities and under-thinking when I was with him.
Had I been smarter, that whole incident would've been avoided from the start.

"You're more beautiful when you smile":
One day when walking by a mirror, smiling about something I was thinking about, when I noticed my reflection while passing. I stopped, looked back at my face and thought "You really are more beautiful when you smile". I immediately posted that quote on Facebook and Twitter to remind myself of that day.
When I was younger I was moody, fat-ish, and didn't smile or felt pretty. I really felt like I didn't deserve to be happy, because I never was.
It would have been a great help had I smiled more and took better care of my body.

"Find a way to go back in time!":
No, not really. Of course, if those things were to have been erased, newer events similar to these would have happened anyway. It's good to know that we're all continuously learning, because I don't want to make the same mistakes over and over again. I have my experiences that I learned from and give the same advice to others.

What would you tell yourself in the past if you had the chance?

Why I've chosen writing.

I've decided to start writing recently because I don't want to hide anymore. I want others to be a part of my life again. For too long I've been hiding myself, afraid of what others would do if they knew certain things about me. Using that knowledge against me and rendering me powerless. I know now that only I have the ability to give my power.

I have this dream of becoming a writer and writing a few fictional books. One day I had this strong urge to write and share my stories. You could say that I am practicing my writing through this blog. Just with this blog, I am realizing the time and dedication I would need to have my dream be accomplished. I feel that every dream needs work in order for it to become a reality. My writing could inspire others, but I don't want to get too ahead of myself...

This wasn't a rather large post, sometimes you don't need a whole lot of words to say something meaningful. Everyone has something to share, so I would like to share my own experiences, thoughts and dreams, hoping that others are willing to listen.

I hope you all enjoy whatever content the future of this blog will have.
Until then, stay posted!

Laundry day turns into 'Aha' moment.

Just a bear with underwear (www.daddytypes.com)

So last week, there I sat waiting for all of my clothes to finish drying. Thinking and becoming bored, I thought about the day ahead of me. What needed to get done today? What was important today and what can I put off later?

But then that got me thinking...

What have I been putting off for a long time?

I immediately grabbed my phone and got reacquainted with a few of my friends I haven't talked to in a while. Making some plans to meet up with some of them later this week.

I've been putting off a lot of big changes that really need to be seriously considered and then acted upon.

(www.noodle.org)

One of my main problems is that I'm going for my second semester this year at NHTI, do I really want to live on campus this year? Getting accepted into a residence hall would change a few important things. My mother wouldn't be receiving rent from me, which means, she might end up struggling to keep the house. This would also mean that I am going to live on my own for the first time with an unknown roommate. Also for income, because I am going all the way to Concord, I would either have to quit my current job or transfer.

Deviantart.com: Be Happy by Bleach___Lover

Another thing I have been putting off is choosing my own happiness. I know it sounds selfish, to put my own happiness first. But wouldn't life be so much easier if you were living one that you really enjoyed?

I have been unhappy for far too long. Unhappy with my weight, my job, my lack of friends, single life. Now if I were to choose my own happiness, my life would dramatically change. I would quit my job, find or create a job I love, take better care of my body, spend more time with friends, and (hopefully) find true love!

These thoughts and decisions are all thanks to a huge pile of laundry! If I hadn't been forced to wait and mull over things, I wouldn't have started this blog and written this post today!

So, what have you been putting off that needs to get done?