SPACE STUFF

Why is outer space so captivating? It's as beautiful as it is horrifying. Think about it: a gigantic vacuum full of rocks and gas surrounds us on all sides. Void, cold, expanding and contracting...I can't even stare at the sky for very long without thinking about the thin layer of atmosphere that is standing between all life on earth and nothingness. 

Funny talk coming from a girl named Nova.

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"A ribbon of gas, a very thin section of a supernova remnant caused by a stellar explosion that occurred more than 1,000 years ago, floats in our galaxy. The supernova that created it was probably the brightest star ever seen by humans."

Weird!

Space is so cool.

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I mean, just look at these photos.

Then look again while telling yourself "THIS IS REAL".

It's hard to believe.

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You'd expect unicorns and wizards to come flying out of this.

But no, it's space. They'd die. It's just a nebula. No big deal.

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SPACELOG.ORG is a really cool website that has documented communications between Major Tom and the ground control. (Total David Bowie up in this bitch. BTW, did you know that song is actually about a heroin overdose? Now you do. My dad told me.)

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 Here's the Orion Nebula.

cool huh?

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2010 Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar. Every day until Christmas The Big Picture is going to put up a photo from the Hubble Space Telescope. The first one's already up. It's fantastic. And scary! EE! 

SPACE STUFF!

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This is called a crab nebula. 

It's what's left after a supernova that was recorded 

in the year 1054 in China and Japan. 

Can you believe this thing?

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 Dark Matter!

 I didn't even know that was a real thing.

Sounds evil.

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Good ol' planet GJ 1214b ...aka one of the"super earths". Either it's steamy or hazy, they're not sure. I'm hoping for hazy because water = aliens = extreme terror.

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 Antennae Galaxy

"These two spiral galaxies, drawn together by gravity, 

started to interact a few hundred million years ago. 

The Antennae Galaxies are the nearest and youngest 

examples of a pair of colliding galaxies."

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Here's a recent article on the "super earth" and the fact that there are way more stars than scientists thought.

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 "Extreme" star birth.

"This image, released for Hubble's 17th anniversary, shows a region of star birth and death in the Carina Nebula. The nebula contains at least a dozen brilliant stars that are 50 to 100 times the mass of our Sun."

Ho. Ly. Shit.

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Scratch n Sniff photos of the moon. Apparently it smells like gunpowder. 

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This is called the Sombrero Galaxy. WOW!

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Here are the prettiest and most unbelievable photos you've ever seen: HubbleSite gallery 

All the images used in this post are from there.

Dear Mom (and everyone else, I guess) here's My Christmas List

Stuff. I love it. Here's some things I'd love to get all wrapped up in ugly paper under a Christmas tree. 

:)

1. Socks. Yes. I said it. Socks. Ryan and I get into full out passive aggressive dig wars over socks all the time. Something about me wearing his...holes...something something...I should just get my own, bla bla bla.

These are fantastic.

And who doesn't love a good striped knee sock?

Socks by Athleta, American Eagle Outfitters, American Apparel, and Sock Theory.

2. Along the same line: tights.

These are all from SOCK THEORY...what a great little internet shop! 

I also like these for some reason.

3. And even more boring...UNDERWEAR!

I found these HERE

I would also love a subscription to Panty by Post. They mail you new panties every month!

4. Books. Especially if they are from a second hand book store. I like a book to have a used feel to it. Not that grimy "sat in a garage for ten years" yellowed pages thing, just not completely brand new. I'd like a "shopping spree" in a used book store because I love the thrill of the hunt as much as I love getting rad, under-appreciated books for a dollar.

5. House shorts. Black ones that wouldn't kill me of embarrassment if I went outside in them.Something like this from Old Navy would be perfect.

6. House pants. Same thing. Any color. Capri style are the best for those walkin' the dog in the mud mornings.

Again, these are all from Old Navy. They know their comfy clothes, apparently. 

7. A new umbrella. Something sturdy in black or brown would be awesome. Oh, and it must be a collapsible travel size one that I can throw in my bag.

8. These plugs. Or pretty much anything from Omerica. I'm a 00 gauge.

kitten plugs from Omerica

9. A gift certificate to the Gap or Old Navy. Don't ask. A woman has needs, okay? Clothing needs.

10. V-neck t-shirts. I like Ryan's American Apparel ones way too much and try as hard as I can not to steal them every day.

American Apparel

Nothing fancy, just deep v-neck in grey or black or something neutral. They're so comfy!

11. Stuff with gnomes and matroyshka dolls on them.
For example: this this this this and especially this.

12. A new bathing suit! I've had the same one for almost ten years. It's okay I guess, just a basic black halter bikini, but sometimes a girl doesn't want to wear so little! I'm especially partial to these space and scenery themed one pieces.

 bathing suits from Black Milk

13. A freakin' filofax! I LOVE ORGANIZATION!

I'm really into this mint and pink one. 

(from filofaxusa)

14. T-shirts that look like they have stuff in the pockets.

Ice cream pocket shirt by Shana Logic  

I also like this: Fox In My Pocket by Urban Outfitters

15. Nerdy necklaces. 

I love these from shanalogic.com. 

Oh, and also, THIS.

16. Film and novelty disposable cameras. I have all these film cameras at home and can't afford to use them very often. Any old 35mm film would be awesome. Or 120 film for that matter. 

I found some cool ones at Urban Outfitters here here here and here.

And check out these disposable cameras. They put fortunes and funny sayings onto your photos. 

17. Savings banks. You know, for saving money. They don't have to be pig shaped either. They could be buddhas, dog, or owls too!

18. OFFICE SUPPLIES! DRAWING STUFF! NOTEBOOKS! I'm crazy for this stuff.

This moleskine pacman gift set is FANTASTIC!

Know-it-all Pencils from here

I'm also into this this and this from Urban Outfitters. 

or, um...pretty much anything from here. 

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Ahh consumerism. Isn't it grand? 

What's on your list?

testing - please ignore!

Ahh so that's how you put a gif on your blog! Woo! Figured it out.

p.s. Isn't this total nightmare material? Scary!

tizzent the season yet.

It's December. In case you were not aware.

Most of you are probably all Christmas spirit, or debating the use of "x-mas" (I'm for it, by the way.) or buying presents or feeding people at homeless shelters. You're probably dreaming of sugar plums, sugar cookies, sugar candy canes...Joy to the World...Santa and Jesus holding hands at the North Pole looking out over a field of x-mas trees and mangers and children singing about drummer boys and making snow angels.

Or snow angles.  If you're that type of nerd.

But not me! Guess where my brain is.

Go ahead. I'll wait.






...no, that's not it!





...nope, not that either.







...okay, why don't I just tell you?

I'm going to CUBA in two weeks!

Here's what I think of when I imagine Cuba. (Thanks, Hispanic studies class.)

I have no idea what contemporary, touristy Cuba is going to be like. Probably more like this:

 

We are going to the most touristy city you can possibly imagine. I don't even know if it's a city, it might just a pile of resorts on beaches where we're staying.  I wish we were going to have more time, we're only going for a week, so other than a quick trip to Havana there's not much time to plan anything else. I'm going to do my research this week and see what else the island has to offer. It's going to be super fun no matter what, even though I'm really not a lie on the beach and suntan and drink booze all day kind of vacationer, because I'm going with my sister and her boyfriend (who's never ever been on an out-of-Canada-or-Northern-USA vacation), and my dad and step-mom, who are really fun. 

We are also going with like ten other people, some of whom I don't know very well or at all, including someone's girlfriend, her ex husband, the kid they had together and the ex-husband's wife...I asked my dad if we were secretly filming a reality show or what...that might get interesting.

Have any of you been to Cuba before? Any suggestions? Travel tips? Things I must see? Please let me know! Any input would be very valuable, as, like I said, we're only there for a week! I want to make the most of it. 

Tank takes me for a walk...

Isn't it funny how I turned the words around, so like, it sounds like he was dragging me around. Not really. He's a good walker and everything but after a while it's like "where the hell else could we go?". He showed me. First we found this interspace time travel portal made from snow.

 We found some...wood. And clover. That part was kind of boring. 

But he peed on it and I thought it was funny. Good boy.

And then he took me to this army bunker, also made from snow. 

You can see the windows for canons or rifles or what-have-you.

After that we found the tracks that were obviously made from some kind of UFO and not the neighbor's 17 year old son's friends when the parents were out of town, 

because he swears he didn't have a party. Of course we believe him!

And then Tank took me to the end of the road. Where there is just like, a wall of scary trees. Or so I thought. I guess the other neighbors with dogs take their dogs for walks up there and Tank could smell them, 

or else my dog is just super smart, because he immediately found a trail! 

 

I was kind of like "no, I dunno, maybe we shouldn't...I don't know if this is these people's yard..." but he insisted, and I was bored at home anyway so off we went into the great unknown woods. 

Turns out other humans had been there before, as evidenced by this bottle in the tree. Real nice, jerks!

It was a really pretty walk. 

There were mossy trees, mossy rocks, fungus of all shapes and sizes...

...and a bunch of old wrecked cars! WHAT THE?!

 How cool is that?

INTRODUCING....

my new dog TANK!!!

He's an English Bulldog we scored for next to nothing from a family who were on their way to having their fourth kid and couldn't justify taking care of a dog as well. 

We're still discovering things about him. I casually said "stay here" and went into the other room. I came back like five minutes later and he was sitting patiently where I left him. I've never known such an obedient dog! Lucky us!

Look at this guy! He's all muscles, snorting and under-bite!

He even knows how to roll over!

We are all thrilled to have him in our life. 

Well...almost all of us. 

YES AND YES INTERVIEW

EE! How exciting! I'm over at Yes and Yes today! I did  this interview with Sarah Von about where I work months ago and kind of forgot about it. Do yourself a favor and check out all of her real life stories. They're fantastic.

no matter how hard you try not to...

...you will end up twisting your knee and/or ankle while trying to navigate this icy slush mess in gripless winter boots.