What to do, or not to do, when you turn 21!

Today is one of my friends' birthday, Sonik0731, and it's the big 21 today. So I decided to do a special post today!

What to do when you're 21:

Ah, to be 21, basically it means that you can now drink! So cheers to your new ability!
Feel free to drink in my advice!

Celebrate with your friends (who are also 21+):
When I turned 21, the way I spent my birthday was in a bar, with my mom and her friend. What I would've loved was to have spent it with my peers and colleagues. I probably would have had more fun.

Try many different types of alcohol:
There are so many kinds of drinks, and they're producing new ones all the time!
When you first start out, word of warning: do not mix your liquors. From a mother who was a bartender, this is really helpful. If choose wine, have wine for the rest of the night, maybe even a little vodka.
Otherwise you shall be worshiping the porcelain gods for the rest of the night. (that's 21 talk for the toilet)

Learn what type of 'drunk' you are:
Just like there are many different Smurfs, there are many diffrerent types of drunks. Here's a video to show just a few.

Get hungover at least once:
Do this so that you can have the experience of saying "I have no clue what the hell I did last night". Or even the "Shh, keep it down, I have a headache from too much tequila". I have yet to experience a major hangover. (Thanks Mom)
Depending on what, and how much, you drank you may notice:

Fatigue
Thirst
Headaches and muscle aches
Nausea, vomiting or stomach pain
Poor or decreased sleep
Increased sensitivity to light and sound
Dizziness or a sense of the room spinning
Rapid heartbeat
Red, bloodshot eyes
Shakiness
Decreased ability to concentrate
Mood disturbances, such as depression, anxiety and irritability

When not to drink:

Sometimes, it's best not to drink at all. Whether your family has a history of alcoholism, you have substance abuse problems, if you have problems with your liver, and many other health related reasons.
Remember, it's your personal responsibility to drink and keep yourself and others safe at all times.

Stay thirsty my friend!

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?

Products and services I use and recommend

Products and services I use:

Phone Service: Straight Talk

Straight Talk is the best, just pay $45 a month and have unlimited talk and text. You could save money buying the yearly card (at the high cost of $495). Almost everyone in my area uses this service. The coverage is great and I can cancel anytime. Not that I will be canceling anytime soon.

Internet Browser: Firefox/Google Chrome

It's a tie between Firefox and Chrome. I've switched to Chrome, because I heard it was faster, with all these apps and games I could download, and the integrated address/search-bar makes searching easier. But I've had Firefox for many years, it's been like a good friend to me. Firefox is super customization, plus it doesn't watch what you search, unlike Google. For now, they tie, having a special place in my desktop.

Email: Gmail

Before I swapped to Chrome, I had Mozilla Thunderbird as my mail client. It easily took my Verizon email address, plus I could create filters and folder, much like any other email service.

E-Reader: Kindle (w/ Keyboard)

I'm an Amazon girl, when I shop online, I go there. So naturally when E-readers came out I wasn't sure which one to get. Nook or Kindle? After researching, I chose Kindle for the fact that it's based with Amazon. Two for one deal!

Laptop: Acer One

Technically this is a netbook, due to the fact that it doesn't have a CD drive. I mainly bought this laptop for school. Since the semester is over I've been using this one for my main internet usage. It took a few weeks to get use to the screen size. Now, I need to adjust to larger screens.
My other computers are a Dell, which I use for my art, and a crash-happy desktop. Besides crashing, I also don't use my desktop because it's currently residing in my my brothers' bio-hazard of a room. I try not to venture there if I don't have to.

Game Console: Xbox 360

If I were to have to choose on one console, I would have to choose my Xbox. I also own a Wii, PS2 and SNES. Out of all of them I use the Xbox the most.
Runner up: Nintendo DS
For handheld gaming I mainly use my phone or DS. Since a phone isn't technically a gaming console, the DS wins.

Facial Lotion: Aveeno positively radiant moisturizer

Since I have pale, sensitive skin, not many products can go on my face without irritation. I have found that Aveeno are one of those products that are perfect for my skin type. Even though it's a little expensive. I love how this lotion makes my skin smooth and has spf 15! It has a little pump, perfect for portioning out lotion.

Hair Straightner: Instyler

I have a massive head of hair, so having something like the Instyler is a lifesaver! It cuts down my straightening time in half. It's basically a rotating flat iron, it has three settings, I tend to use it to the highest setting. Be warned, it is very, very hot. I have burnt myself once and I had a pretty good burn for a few weeks. It comes with a burning shield that I seem to often discard and misplace. Overall, I love this! It normally costs just under $100.

Headphones/Microphone: Fatal1ty Creative

A friend gave these to me because they didn't fit him, they feel perfect for my ears. They go right over and are so comfy I almost forget I am wearing them. Plus, they have a detachable microphone! As much as I like the earbuds of smaller headphones, they sometimes hurt my ears.

What type of products and services do you use and why? Do you recommend something else? Let me know in the comments below!