Hey y'all! I'm on vacation, so I've asked some lovely ladies to babysit the ol' AC while I'm gone. You've met Salazar, right? If you read this blog, you should have by now! But if not: here she is :)
Hi Animated Cardigan readers! It's
Salazar here from 14
Shades of Grey, and while Jess is away on her vacation, I'm
bringing you the review of a book about, appropriately enough,
traveling. Except it's traveling between parallel worlds.
"The Long Earth", a collaboration between
Stephen Baxter and Terry Pratchett, opens when a series of seemingly
infinite parallel worlds are discovered right next door to Earth and
can be accessed with a simple device called a Stepper. There are also
natural steppers who can simply walk to these worlds - one step, one
world. The book mostly revolves around Joshua, a natural stepper who's
been assigned to an expedition to check out these worlds. It follows
him and Lobsang, apparently a Tibetan motorbike repairman who's been
reincarnated into a computer, as they travel from world to world and
see how it differs from the original Earth (now called Datum Earth.)
There is a subplot with a policewoman back on Datum Earth, which shows
how this discovery affects the world.
I pretty much worship Terry Pratchett, so
I knew I had to check this book out. The concept is fantastic, the
characters quirky, and I expected some complex, interconnected
storylines, like those in the Discworld books. But I have to say, I
was disappointed. The story never goes anywhere as Joshua and Lobsang
travel through the Long Earth. The different flora and fauna on each
parallel Earth is interesting, but that has no effect on the story,
and I soon got bored with it. Joshua and Lobsang discover a mystery
somewhere in the middle of the book, but when it's resolved, it just
falls flat. Joshua falls flat as a main character too. The book makes
a big deal out of the fact that Joshua is Very Special, but I don't
see how this Very Special quality plays into the story or how it helps
Joshua figure out the mystery (hint: it doesn't.)
The subplots - how the Long Earth is
colonized, how the economy of Datum Earth falls apart, etc. - which
frankly I find much more interesting than Joshua's expedition, are
touched on but never go anywhere either. The most intriguing subplot
deals with a group of "phobics" (people that can't Step) who forms a
dangerous movement against the Steppers, but it's only introduced near
the end of the book and is over in two chapters. I've never read
Stephen Baxter before; still, I suspect that this book is more him
than Terry Pratchett. There is a hint of Pratchett here and there,
though mostly his sarcastic, whimsical sense of humor is absent. Even
though I didn't expect to laugh out loud like with the Discworld book,
the writing really is too dry for me. There is a sequel, "The Long
War", already out, but I figure if the first book didn't pull me into
that world, a sequel won't either.
Man, I didn't mean to do such a negative
book review for a guest post! And hey, maybe that's why it's the
perfect traveling book - it's not so captivating that you can't put it
down, so you can just pick it up whenever you want.
When putting together an outfit inspired
by the book (I always try to with my reviews), I'd thought about
clothes one would wear while Stepping, but that would involve layering
and hiking boots and things that make me sweat just to think about, so
this is an outfit that mimics the book cover instead.
Big thanks to Jess for letting me rant on
her blog. Have a great vacation, Jess!
Hey y'all! I'm on vacation, so I've asked some lovely ladies to babysit the ol' AC while I'm gone. Have you met Heidi yet? Well now you have! Take it away, Heidi :)
hello animated cardigan readers, my name is heidi! my goal in life is to limit the number of breakdowns i have in front of my closet per week as i get dressed to go to work and reward myeslf by posting the successes at my blog, literate & stylish. i'm here to attempt to fill jess's shoes while she is bouncing up and down the east coast getting a tan at the beach and going to weddings.
a few key items come to mind whenever i plan a vacation or prepare for long trips like jess is currently on. sure, one needs the essentials--an atlas (gps? iphone? what do people even use these days for directions? i am old school and like printed directions from google maps), sunglasses, snacks, pillows, and of course entertainment. i bring my fair share of magazines and books, but i usually default to the ipod to help pass the time. if anyone else owns a first generation ipod like me and hasn't thrown it in a drawer to die a sad, solitary death in favor of putting music on your iphone, i hereby grant you ten cool points!
i take at least two long road trips a year and having good ipod selections is a must! i'm sure jess, being the avid music lover she is, would agree with me. sometimes having too broad of tastes or too large of a selection can easily prompt the following exchange:
"what do you want to listen to?"
"i don't know, what do you want to listen to?"
"i don't know..."
[cue silence while passenger slowly scrolls through ipod & driver becomes frustrated]
so here are a couple methods my co-pilots and i fall back on when embarking on long car rides that keeps us going until the next rest area or giant roadside attraction:
morning: if i'm driving before the sun is up, i like something a little light that won't put me back to sleep but also won't make me feel as though i have just guzzled a 16 oz bold, black coffee. if you start out too hard too early, you're just going to crash. i love bands like iron & wine, beach house, and death cab for cutie for the early morning stretches. the singer's tones and the musical arrangements may be a bit more subdued, but music from bands like these is easy to listen to because their music is flooded with solid melodies and great lyrics.
mid-morning & mid-afternoon slumps: these are hard times of the day to be driving. you may have stopped for lunch but you still may have hours of driving to go. you may still feel energized about the trip ahead of you or leery if you've run through most of what you can think to converse about. this is when i like to come up with a game. i like choosing an album from a band starting with the letter A to the letter Z, although it's unlikely that you would get that far. for example, we may start out with an arcade fire album, then a band of horses album, then a counting crows album, etc. you get the idea! it solves the issue of "what should we listen to next" by narrowing down the selection of artists to one letter at a time.
time-fillers: this american life podcasts are great road trip selections as they're all about an hour long but the stories keep one interested and engaged, helping the time to pass more quickly. these are also good to cue up when say you have an hour or so before your final stop for the day as you know that by the time it's finished, you've reached your destination! and if you're like me, maybe you enter another world where time passes by twice as fast just listening to ira glass's voice - just make sure your cruise control is set!
do you have any other suggestions on how to stay entertained with music during long road trips? and thanks again to jess for letting me take over her blog today -- i hope you are having an amazing vacation with quality music in the background!
Hey y'all! I'm on vacation, so I've asked some lovely ladies to babysit the ol' AC while I'm gone. Sarah's here today!
Hi, guys! I’m Sarah of The Ridiculous Sort, and I’m going to show you how to make an absurd patriotic embroidery thing. You may hang your head in shame, you may celebrate, I don’t know. Either/or.
Anyway, let’s just jump right into it, yeah? Embroidery is pretty easy once you figure out the basic stitches. This project only requires two stitches: a backstitch, and a colonial knot. Both are pretty straightforward, and you can knock this thing out in under two hours. I definitely recommend listening to a good podcast while doing this, like Welcome to Night Vale.
First things first: get your stuff together. You’ll need:
• Fabric (any print, colour, whatever. Just remember that cotton works best)
• An embroidery hoop of any size
• Embroidery needles (these have larger eyes than regular sewing needles)
• Embroidery floss
• Scissors
• A marking device if you need one
To start off, you’ll put your fabric into your hoop. Make sure the fabric is taught, as looseness just complicates things unnecessarily, and that’s the last thing you’ll want. Then you can cut off a fairly long piece of embroidery floss, thread a needle, and knot one end. Though you can do these two steps in whichever order just feels right to you.
I used a backstitch for the blue box (for the stars) and all of the stripes. Now, this flag has less than thirteen stripes and far less than fifty stars, but whatever. Limited room and all that. The backstitch is usually used for outlines and lettering, since it’s wonderfully useful.
To do a proper backstitch, make one regular stitch, whichever size you think will suit things best. Then, bring the needle up a stitch length away from that first stitch and then push the needle and thread into the hole created at the end of that first stitch. I promise that makes much more sense in picture form. Here, look:
This is what your square will look like on the back:
And on the front:
We then add stripes, in alternating colours, as per the American flag. Cause, come on, guys. Merka.
Now for those knots/stars! For a colonial knot, you bring the thread up where you want the knot. You make a loop and…
You know what, this is best explained through pictures as well.
So lovely!
For the words, I split my floss so that each was three strands instead of six. You’ll see the difference this makes. I simply did a backstitch and felt silly for what I was writing out.
Once you’re done, you can either hem and edge your thing, or you can do what I did and keep it in the hoop as a frame, cutting away all excess fabric. Here you go, here’s that lovely final product.
I dotted the I’s with colonial knots, but aside from that, it’s all backstitch and shame.
I hope you guys enjoyed this silly little thing, and I hope you go out and fill the world with terrible rhyming embroidery projects!
Hey y'all! I'm on vacation, so I've asked some lovely ladies to babysit the ol' AC while I'm gone. And now, two of my favourite things: Dani and beer.
Hi everyone, I'm Dani! When Jess asked me if I would guest post during her vacation, I happily said yes of course duh. But I was even more stoked when she said I could talk about one of my favorite things ever, beer. So let's crack open a cold one and talk about how to host a beer tasting party for your friends, ok? And no worries, you don't have to know a single thing about beer to have a good party, just that it's tasty and gives everyone the warm fuzzies.
1. INVITE 'EM! To host your party, of course you'll first need to invite people. Facebook events, texts, or even handwritten, snail-mailed hipster invitations are all good ways to go. Since a beer can only be split so many ways, I'd aim for at least 4 people total, no more than 6. Or you could buy duplicates of your beers and have as many people as you want, whatever works for you. OR you can be really smart and make your friends bring along their favorite craft beers. That would give you total freedom with the guest list and save you some ca$h (and you'd get to skip the next party-throwing step).
2. FIND 'EM! If you're providing the party beers, try to find ones you've never heard of or ones you've never tried. It's more fun if you steer away from the Bud Lights of the beer aisle and go more for the Ugly Pugs or Hoppy Boys of the world. I've personally experienced that the sillier the name or more fabulous/ridiculous the label, the better the par-tay. To find such awesomeness, hit up your local alcohol stores and look for the section where you can buy single bottles. It usually costs about the same to get a six pack of amazing singles as it does to get a pre-made sixer of frat house party juice. If you have any breweries nearby, maybe stop in there as well, and don't forget to check your grocery store, too. Mine just started carrying a small, decent selection of craft beers, whut whut.
3. FEED 'EM! Omg, snacks. Salty but light munchables are my preferred beer pairing of choice, and since I work so hard finding great beer, I usually get kinda lazy and just mix up a bowl of hard pretzels, popcorn, and whatnot. Really though, you can do whatever you want as far as the food goes. Loaded potato skins, jalapeno poppers, or even just potato chips would be good. Keep it simple or go crazy, it's up to you, just make sure there is some kind of snack. Friends feed friends, y'all.
4. DRINK 'EM! Once you have your beer and your friends and your snackies, it's time to whip out the bottle opener and start pouring a bit for each person. Preferably into glasses, so pull out some smallish ones. Or relive the glory days of college with red cups. Things aren't super serious here, so whatever you drink out of is fine. Brewmasters might shoot me for saying that, but they aren't invited to your party and I am (right?) so oh wellsies on them. The important thing is to have fun! And getting a good head on your beer, that's important too, so pour down the side of the cup/glass to encourage just the right amount of foam. Watch THIS to see what I mean, then let's move on to numero 5.
5. RATE 'EM! Because you'll be drinking and having a grand ol' time with your friends, it's also important to rate your beers as you taste them. It'll be fun to conversate about who likes which beer best and why, plus you'll be a cooler human because there will be written proof of your beer judging qualifications and who doesn't want that? A side benefit to rating your drinks is that the next morning, after the fog clears, you'll be able to remember which beer was your favorite and which one you never ever want to drink again. I whipped up a printable beer tasting scorecard HERE in case you don't feel like making one yourself.
6. PLAY 'EM! Totally optional, but for a smaller-ish party, I recommend throwing a board game into the mix for added funsies. Or do as we Texans do and put on your poker face, your your poker face. Really though, a game of any sort will give y'all something to do other than stare at each other sipping beer. Because even though we're friends, that might be sorta awkward, yeah?
If you want to know more about beer or get more ideas about hosting a tasting party, well you're in luck because I've started a Pinterest board dedicated to all things beertastic. You can find it HERE. I've pinned recipes that look delicious and would pair great with beer, snazzy infographics about choosing the right beer for you, and beer humor that made me giggle. Enjoy, and drink responsibly, y'all! :)
xo, Dani
Hey y'all! I'm on vacation, so I've asked some lovely ladies to babysit the ol' AC while I'm gone. Make Gracey feel welcome, will you?
Hello, Animated Cardigan Readers!
I am Gracey, from Fashion for Giants, and Jess has graciously let me guest post on her lovely blog while she’s out gallivanting. After considering, and rejecting, such varied subjects as Glitter (the movie, not the craft supply), 80s fashion and what the heck pearl jam is, I’ve decided to write about things that rhyme with orange.
Let’s get started, shall we?
So, what rhymes with orange? Nothing. Unless, of course, there is some word in the now defunct Mura language of the Amazon that rhymes with orange and then the answer is something but nothing anybody knows any more. With the caveat that if the word is in the Piraha dialect of the Mura language then there are still some people who know a word that rhymes with orange.
Still, that’s a pretty darned slim probability so let’s just say nothing shall we? Now, I know your kind-hearted inclination is to pity orange for not being able to be used in a Jay Z rhyme, but don’t worry. Happily for us and for orange, there are a lot of things that go with orange.
Like blue and purple and white and khaki and olive and pink and gray and, oh, lots of things. For example, I am the proud owner of some orange corduroy pants that have become a closet workhorse for me due to orange’s uncanny ability not rhyme with anything but to go with most everything.
Like blue:
And cream:
And turquoise:
And peach:
So, don’t pity orange; instead, celebrate it by wearing it with all the many, many colors that go with it.
And come visit me at Fashion for Giants! I wear other colors too!
Gracey
Hey y'all! I'm on vacation, so I've asked some lovely ladies to babysit the ol' AC while I'm gone. Say hello to Brynn and her two dear puppies!
Hello! My name is Brynn, and I blog over at brynnash. I'm so excited to be posting for Jess while she is off vacationing this summer (JEALOUS.)! I mainly post about my personal style, but I also add in some nuggets about my life.
One thing that you'll learn about me really quickly (both in real life and on my blog) is that I am a complete dog lover! I grew up with dogs and have always loved them. I lucked out with a partner who is as much a dog fanatic as myself, and after we got married, we couldn't wait to get our first pup together!
For our first anniversary, we decided to adopt our little Pippin, a 2-year-old beagle/blue heeler mix. We were looking for smallish dogs (the place we lived at the time had a weight restriction of 35 lbs) and both of us wanted a dog that looked a little different. Pippin's face popped out to me on Petfinder and I knew she had to be ours. I immediately started crying and told Kevin we needed to adopt her. We went to meet her a few days later and took her home with us.
Pippin is named partially for Lord of the Rings (we'rd nerds) and partially for the musical Pippin (I love musicals). She's so funny and makes us laugh all the time. Pippin is often cat-like, and loves to lay on the back of the couch. She also is the biggest cuddler of all time. Whenever we're sitting on the couch, she needs to be RIGHT NEXT TO US. She'll literally stick her nose under my laptop to shove it out of the way when I'm working on homework. Pippin is quiet, curious, and incredibly smart.
After adopting Pip, I became head over heels in love with animal rescue. I knew I needed to foster dogs at some point in my life, because the thought of a dog being euthanized due to lack of space in a shelter breaks my heart. We were introduced to a fantastic rescue in Minneapolis called Safe Hands and I knew this was the rescue I wanted to get involved in. They have such a fantastic, compassionate attitude towards animals and will go to great lengths to save the lives of innocent dogs. Every couple of weeks, they put out a call for people to foster new dogs and have the dogs' pictures on their Facebook account.
One day, I was looking through one of the albums, and this darling little black puppy with the saddest eyes yanked on my heartstrings. Her name was Delia. She and her three brothers had watched their mother get shot when they were just 8-10 weeks old and had been left alone to die. Safe Hands was going down to the high-kill shelter in Kentucky in four days to bring the puppies to safety, but they needed foster homes. I sat in my office looking at her picture, crying because I wanted to save her so badly. Kevin agreed that we needed to foster her, and four days later, Delia came to our house.
We had been looking for a playmate for Pippin for so long, and couldn't believe how wonderfully she and Delia got along. I have always wanted another black lab (I grew up with one), and Delia was perfect. Both Kevin and I fell in love with her, but we were still trying to place her in a family (at this point, we were honestly just trying to foster her). After taking her to several meet and greets and having several family visits that fell through, we were heartbroken for this beautiful, smart, sassy, clumsy little girl. We decided to adopt her ourselves. We renamed her Rooney, and ever since June, she's been our second pup. There hasn't been a minute that we've looked back on that decision.
Having dogs is the most rewarding thing. I absolutely love waking up to these two little nuggets and coming home from work to their wiggly little butts. Life has so much more meaning when you have something to love and take care of...and Pip and Roo have certainly done their fair share of taking care of me as well. When I've had a rough day, I'll sit on the couch with a dog on each side. Rooney will snuggle next to me, and Pippin will lick my tears away. They know exactly how to make me laugh, comfort me, and keep me active. I love having dogs and will never again be without one!!
And since there's nothing cuter than two little puppy noses, here you are:
Thanks for reading about my two most favorite things in the world: Pippin and Rooney!!
