Sunday, March 30, 2014

Steampunk!


As I said in a previous post, I'm a little obsessed with Steampunk fashion right now. I've been going to Tumblr at night, during my insomnia times, and just searching the steampunk tag. I figure, hell, I live in Hollywood (technically Glendale, but whatever), I can dress however I want. I want be shunned, or whatever. (I've been watching Breaking Amish on Netflix and there's a lot of talk about shunning on that show!)

So this is just a collection of images I've found on Tumblr and elsewhere of Steampunk fashions. 













And I can't talk about Steampunk fashion without posting this Eisley video!


Eisley, "The Valley"

Or the first ever Panic! at the Disco video:






Not Another Post About Earthquakes!



Okay, so this isn't going to be another post about earthquakes. Yeah, we had a pretty big one the other day and we're still having aftershocks, but this blog will not be about earthquakes! Ahhh! I'm so sick of talking about earthquakes!

Me, cuddled up in my My Little Pony Rainbow Dash robe after the earthquake, 
scared shitless.


It's a problem now because I'm not sleeping. I'll start to fall asleep, and then I open my eyes again, because i think I felt the bed vibrate. The aftershocks are little ones, of course, but the pessimistic side of me can't help to think that a really big one is going to hit and we'll be hurt, lose everything, or worst.

Ani felt the earthquake the other night. She was in bed, had just gone in there, and all of a sudden the floor started to shake. Of course, Bry and I run in there and tell her to get down from the top of the bunkbed. She had trouble going to sleep. We let her stay up a little after that. She calmed down, though she never cried or anything like that. She just kept saying she was scared. I was scared, but I had to reassure my 7 year old!

I may have also had a little panic attack. Or two. Or whatever. I woke up in the middle of the night crying and shaking. My teeth were chattering hard. I was shaking. I don't know if I had a nightmare or an aftershock shook me awake. Either way, Bry had to calm me down. I could just remember all of the footage I saw a few years back when I was watching some special on the Weather Channel about the Northridge quake of 1994. But I can't talk about that right now.

I'm getting my mind off of things. I was up until 3 a.m. last night/this morning. I was texting with Lidia and looking up Steampunk clothing. I then fell asleep, woke up, fell asleep, woke up, and then started thinking I was losing my mind from the lack of sleep all week. I haven't slept well since that 4.3 or whatever from last week.

So then I slept until 11 am this morning. Thank God it was Bry's day off. Then we went to this awesome Steampunk shop called Clockwork Couture in Burbank, CA. There's a real Tardis outside of the store! Not real Tardis, obviously, it doesn't travel across time and space, duh! But you can pose for pictures outside of the police box. That's pretty cool. They also have a large selection of Doctor Who things, which Bry loves. I bought a nice blouse and some really cool Steampunk goggles. Love them!



Okay, so this post wasn't entirely about earthquakes!

See the kid hand? :)


Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Still Shaken (no pun intended)



I'm not gonna lie, you guys. I'm still shaken, no pun intended. I barely slept last night. And yes, there are people who are all "that earthquake wasn't even that bad", but um, I've been here 2 years and never felt anything like that.

Yeah, back in Chicago there were tornado warnings. Never any tornadoes. Never. Perhaps there were tornadoes further out, like say, Morris or somewhere. Where I lived in the southwest suburbs, we had a crapload of tornado warnings and tornado watches. There were a few times where I had to run into the basement with baby Ani. There were times where we'd be watching the news to find out when a tornado would hit Chicago Ridge. It never happened, thank God, but we lived in fear.

I'm really hoping this is making sense. I'm really tired, really sleepy, and trying to write something about how tired I am, while watching Rick & Morty.



And I knew what to expect, coming out to L.A. But there has been several earthquakes in the Los Angeles area over the 2 years we've been here and I've barely felt any. The first one I actually felt, it was so small. Nothing was knocked down, and no one felt it but me. Bry didn't even believe me about it until we saw it on the news. The second one, I wasn't even sure it was an earthquake. I had to go to Twitter to even find out if that was one.

But now, every time things get a little too quiet, I can hear the way the sliding doors to my bedroom closet sounded when they started shaking. Or how it scared us and Ani out of our sleep. Or how I was shaking for a few hours afterwards.

 photo tumblr_n2m975K1Ie1tsq1r4o1_400.gif

I'm scared of a lot of things, I know, but I guess being an earthquake newbie, I have a right to be scared about this still. And I slept, a little bit last night, with the tv on. It kept my mind from wandering too much. I caught an episode of that old Adult Swim show Sealab 2021 and now the theme song is super stuck in my head. Now, everytime I hear that song for the next 50 years, I'll think of my very first real earthquake.


Praying there are no more. At least not for a long time. Perhaps 50 years?


Clone High Though!


Remember when way way back in the 1980s, secret government employees dug up famous guys and ladies and made amusing genetic copies??

 photo tumblr_mgo6152oRH1r4ocjpo2_250.gif

 photo tumblr_mgo6152oRH1r4ocjpo4_250.gif

Okay, that didn't really happen. I'm just quoting from the theme song of this amazing little show that didn't last very long but SHOULD HAVE! It was hilarious and gave us hilarious little quips like "Nothing bad ever happens to the Kennedys!".

 photo tumblr_mp5i9zv9sp1snpntdo1_400.gif

So here's the basics: these are clones of famous dead people. They are now teens going to Clone High and interact with one another. Abraham Lincoln is best friends with Gandhi and Joan of Arc. Joan of Arc is in love with Abraham Lincoln but is afraid to tell him. But Abe is with Cleopatra, who just broke up with JFK. Are you with me?! Oh yeah, and the principal is kind of evil and trying to fit in with the kids at the same time, with the help of his robo butler who resembles Mr. Beveldeere.

 photo tumblr_n0zt0szOTf1rl52wjo1_400.gif

Clone High premiered on MTV in 2002. It lasted one season, amid controversey over Gandhi's clone being portrayed as someone who liked to party and had ADD. It was produced by Bill Lawrence (you know, Scrubs, Cougar Town, Undateable) and written by the guys who wrote this year's huge hit The Lego Movie!

Fortunately for me, after the show was cancelled, I was able to find it on Amazon.com! If you've seen it and loved it, it's really worth buying it to have it for forever. Now I want to go watch my favorite episode, the one where Ponce deLeon dies from littering. 




Monday, March 17, 2014

"Ruby Over Diamond" by Kashmir


This song is amazing and I'm quite thankful to Stacy Dupree for making this video, many years ago. Yes, it's not perfectly clear and I'm not even sure what year she made this. I believe it was around the time I first met them, so I'd like to say about 7-8 years ago? Stacy is adorable in it with her darker locks.

Stacy Dupree


Of course, since then Eisley has gone on to make more albums and Stacy has gotten married, had a baby and made an album with her husband as the band Sucre.

Sucre

Even though she doesn't sing in this, (her singing is amazing you guys, if you didn't know), the video is fun to watch. The song is called "Ruby Over Diamonds" which is by a band called Kashmir, who are also amazing. And this is one of my favorite songs!





And while you're at it, check out Stacy's band Sucre:



Earthquake?! Tweet about it!



Yeah, we just had an earthquake. I'm fine, the kids are fine, Bry's fine. Everybody's fine. It was a 4.4, which I guess isn't huge by Los Angeles standards, but it still scared the fark outta me!


I've been in L.A. now for 2 years. The first little earthquake I felt I was like "whoa, I think that was an earthquake". The second one I felt, Bry didn't feel it and we were going back and forth on whether or not it actually was one. I was all "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was!" and then I turn on the news and they announced we'd just had one. This morning was different.


I was asleep, Bry was asleep. I remember feeling the bed moving and our sliding closet doors, which were open, knocking together and making a terrible sound! We both jumped up and ran for the girls' room. Ani was sitting up in bed and the shaking had stopped. That's how quick it was, just 20 seconds, perhaps. Mia moved in her bed, Laila didn't move. We comforted Ani then Bry went to Mia, who'd laid back down. I sat on Laila's bed. Laila was so knocked out, she didn't feel a thing!

There was no crying, thank goodness. I guess it scared Ani, but she's a pretty tough kid so she didn't freak out. Mia says now that she felt it, but she doesn't seem rattled by it. But they don't know what earthquakes can do if they're stronger or what aftershocks are.

I grabbed my phone after a few minutes to see what people were saying on Twitter. Of course, my timeline just looked like this "was that an earthquake?", "that was an earthquake!", and of course the obligatory joke from a comedian "Wow, it's St. Patrick's Day! I guess it was time for a Shamrock shake!", which I thought was funny. Of course my friend, comedian and actor Josh Fadem made the joke that the earthquake made his snuggie fall off! I read that to the girls and that made my girls laugh too!


So that was the first big quake I've felt. And I'm not going to lie...I'm still a little scared, and I have to act like it's no big deal because of my little girls. I've said several times today "earthquakes happen here all the time, we'll get used to them", but someone try to convince me of this!

Chicago winters don't sound so bad right now.

And in case you were wondering...my Precious Moments figurines are just fine.



Sunday, March 16, 2014

Rick and Morty: My New Favorite Show

       

       
Rick and Morty is this hilarious new show on Adult Swim. Created by Dan Harmon (Community) and Justin Roiland, it's about Rick and his grandson Morty who go on adventures. Rick is a scientist and Morty is just a regular 12 year old school student who reluctantly goes along with his grandfather's hair-brained schemes.

It reminds me a little of other grown-up animated shows that are on right now. What makes it hilarious is not only the wacky adventures that Rick gets Morty into, it's also very reminiscent of a little film called Back to the Future. The creators have said that they took inspiration from the popular films, as Rick does look a bit like Doc and Morty is very similar to Marty. Honestly, that's what drew me in to begin with, but it's not the same. Yes, Rick might be a tad insane like Doc, but he's also more gross and less caring. He puts his grandson in a ton of very dangerous situations! But that's part of what makes it so funny!


    

Also notice that Rick burps a lot. I mean, a lot. Also pay attention to how many times he says "Morty". As in "Morty, you have to understand, Morty. You have to come with me right now, Morty!".

I'm actually hooked on this show right now.


Rick and Morty photo tumblr_n2gd71ePHI1r1fejho1_400.gif


Saturday, March 15, 2014

Scott Pilgrim Though!


I love Scott Pilgrim vs the World! Okay, it wasn't a huge box office success, but it's now a cult favorite! Edgar Wright, the same brilliant man who did Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, made this film based on the graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O'Malley. I saw the film on cable one late night, fell in love, then bought it on Blu Ray. I then got the set of graphic novels. Unbelievably, the film follows the stories quite accurately, even if it spans more than one book.

I think what makes the film so full of win is the music, the adorable actors and the overall style. The friggin' thing looks like a video game and music video at the same time! 

And truthfully, the whole idea of having to fight 7 evil exes is pretty awesome. Scott is just a regular guy, dating a girl who's probably too young for him, and meets the lovely Ramona Flowers. Who wouldn't fall in love with Mary Elizabeth Winstead, especially with her blue, pink or green hair, though I don't condone him breaking poor Knives' heart! But it's okay if you're bad at him for that, because Scott gets his ass kicked...a bunch.

If you haven't seen it, here are reasons to:




 photo tumblr_n0w689L9s01r6f3q7o2_250.gif


 photo tumblr_n10lt3BMpN1ssdncko1_500.gif


 photo tumblr_n0w689L9s01r6f3q7o6_250.gif

 photo highlights.gif

 photo justleft.gif

 photo tumblr_n199zgfyhA1s8ts2bo1_500.gif

 photo ramona.gif

 photo tumblr_n1d6eeVjst1sqicduo1_500.gif


Resurrection or The Returned: Which is Better?

There's a new show on ABC or NBC or some other channel that I barely watch that I'm very reluctant to watch. It's called Resurrection and it's very similar to a French show that I just finished watching called The Returned. The premise is the same, basically dead loved ones come back to life and try to resume their lives with their loved ones, who are understandably, freaked out.


Resurrection


I started watching The Returned or Les Revenants a few weeks ago, because of the suggestion of Conan writer Brian Stack on his Facebook page. I figure, if Brian says it's good, it must be good. I was bored, thought I'd give it a try and seeing as how it was on Netflix, I could binge watch it. After the first episode, I was blown away.

The Returned


It begins with a school bus crash off of a cliff. Young Camille has just died along with her high school class. She's 15. Back home, her parents and sister have gone in in their lives, though distraught. 4 years later, somehow, Camille returns, with no memory of the bus going over the cliff or dying. Her mother is shocked, her father is shocked, her sister is shocked.

Now I don't want to give too much away, in case you still plan on watching The Returned. As for Resurrection, the American version of the show, I'm not sure what to think. I read a review before last week's premier that said that if you were into The Returned, then Resurrection will be disappointing. So I decided not to watch it when it first premiered. Now I realize that's just stupid. How many other things that I like that critics panned? Some of my favorite films unperformed at the box office and critics trashed. Empire Records, Scott Pilgrim, Dream for An Insomniac, to name a few. I don't even think Dream for An Insomniac was ever out at the movies. That may have gone straight to DVD.

Either way, they are showing an encore presentation of Resurrection tonight and I'm going to watch it. I'll come back and write about what I thought after watching it. If you've seen either, or both, tell me what you think it the comments below!

New Look! Better Blog!

Hey guys!

So I've updated the look of my blog! What do you think? It looks better, I think. I had the same layout for about 2 years! I'm trying to get more traffic to this blog to showcase my writing and just share some of the crazier things that happens in my life.



Ever since I moved to L.A., things have been way more interesting. Actually, things have been so hectic that I forgot to mark the 2-year anniversary of us moving here! We moved from Chicago on March 7th, 2012 and we were supposed to celebrate! We didn't, and oh well, and yes, that's kind of messed up, but that's okay.

I want to start covering more ground with this blog also. I don't want to just post things about my life and what I'm doing day-to-day. I'd like to add more content, such as favorite videos, lists, funny things, stupid things, etc. I'd like to also possibly do a few interviews here and there.

I got a lot of advice from looking at other blogs and from asking friends. I'd love to do this blog full-time instead of trying to find a job outside of the home so I can be here for my kids! The twins don't start school until the fall, so in the meantime, I would just like to do something here in the comfort of my home, right next to them.

That's it for now and I will be posting on this thing more often! Later guys!

Angie xo

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Busy Friggin' Week

Hi all.

I'm having a very busy week. The week started off with my 4 year old, one of the twins, losing her first tooth! She pulled it out herself and hid it! I was talking to her and looked at her and went "Baby, where is your tooth?!" She thought she'd done something wrong! I swear, these kids act like we hit them! (we don't, just for the record). Why in the world did she think she'd get into trouble for her tooth coming out?! The only thing I think is that we get on her for chewing on random things, like her stuffed teddy bear. I wonder if she thought she caused her tooth to come out because she was chewing on her bear? Who knows! Poor thing!

Then a few days later, while Anneka, my oldest, was at school, Laila ended up having a bad nosebleed! And it wouldn't stop! I had to call an ambulance. Usually their nosebleeds last a few minutes, and then she's fine. This was really bad. I'll spare you the gross and disturbing details, but now I'm paranoid about nosebleeds, so there's that.

Yesterday I went to a media luncheon for Equalizer shoes. They're doing a line of shoes designed by HGTV's David Bromstad. I got to meet him and I met a lot of other writers, bloggers and PR people. I also got to meet another HelloGiggles writer. She was really sweet. I actually got to pass out business cards!

Myself and HGTV's David Bromstad.


Today is busy, as it's my daughter's school open house! Wow. I always have a lot of mom things going on, huh?

Also, I'm in this beauty contest through People Magazine. I've done signed up for anything like this before, but it's pretty cool because all you have to do is hit "favorite" next to my picture.


No sign-up or anything. Also, if they pick me (based on my picture and people favoriting the picture), then I can be in an upcoming issue of People! How cool would that be to be in People magazine? Please vote, if you haven't already. And if you have, thanks! Here's the direct link:

http://specials.people.com/realbeauty/?id=42636

Monday, March 10, 2014

Perma releases new video for "Little Light"



Let me start off by saying, the collaborating of Max Bemis of Say Anything and Sherri Dupree of Eisley make magical things happen. Perma is an amazing band. And of course, so is their adorable little daughter Lucy! Unfortunately, Lucy isn't in the video, but if you pay attention, there's a little pink swing in the tree in the background while Sherri and Max are outside of their pink house!

Check out the new video and try not to fall in love with that little candle stick!


Followers