"W the D" is our code for when we're talking about taking Tank for a walk, when we're not sure if it's definitely going to happen or not. We also talk about taking T for a W. He hasn't figured out what it means yet.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Friday, April 13, 2012
25 blogs you should be reading
Hey pals, how are ya today? I'm awesome. Thanks for asking. My good friend Chris Hold is doing a guest spot at the tattoo shop and today I'm totally hanging out with him there! Jealous? You should be motherfuckers, he's hilarious.
Today I want to share 25 great blogs that you may have never heard of before. These people are fantastic and interesting. They are original and funny, or glamorous and amazing, or brilliant and creative, or likable and down to earth. Or all of the above. I strongly encourage you to take some time and go through their archives.
1. My Beautiful Disaster - Erin is first on the list because I just met her the other day in real life and so she gets priority. Erin lives in Edmonton, Alberta (a city near where I grew up) with her son Ben. She just started working at the CBC and has an axotl named Murderface. I mean...what else do you need to know? Seriously.
2. Sarah Rooftops - Sarah is consistenly just a good solid blogger. She's funny, she writes about things in a down to earth way, she reads a lot, she does things that scare her and she takes nice pictures. She just seems like a real human woman without the inflated ego of so many of us blog people.
3. Ashley Quite Frankly - I've definitely mentioned Ashley before but she is always funny. Or maybe it's more that her kids are hilarious and she has mastered the art of child transcription. With a tagline like "I know why hamsters eat their young" I can't believe her blog hasn't gone viral. Little Kid and Big Kid make me laugh every time. And I don't even like hearing about people's kids. Like, ever.
4. The Life of Miss. Elly Rarg - This gal, I wish she would write every single day. She is hilarious. She's currently traveling the world, having adventures and every once in a while gracing the internet with her presence. I love her stories.
5. Bizness is Casual - "punk rock and pregnant". Dani is just all around likable. And punk rock. :) I like her because she reads books, talks about dorky stuff, she does link posts and I feel like we'd probably be friends in real life.
6. After Nine To Five - I really feel like Ashley is making a huge effort to make her blog true to herself by talking openly about blogging and telling some very personal life stories. She's opened up her space to her readers in really cool ways as well, including awesome post link-ups.
7. To Make Love Stay - Caitlin is just so real...there's no pomp or glitter or "dreamy" barf, it's just Caitlin talking about her life and just being funny in general. Truly, Caitlin is SO hilarious in our private Twitter messages to each other, but you'd never know it because she's too nice to say a lot of the things she says to me "out loud". I would recommend becoming friends with her. She also does some of my favorite link posts on Thursdays.
8. Yo Mama's Blog - I've been following "Miss. Yvonne" for longer than I've had Four Eyes Rella. In fact she's so O.G. we were in a blog gang together years ago. It was like a brat pack of humor bloggers. But then I got all serious-ish and got a new blog. Anyway she can still make me laugh and I get all excited every time she posts something new.
9. The Tales of a Tumbleweed - hey, you know those super cool wooden sunglasses everybody seems to have all of a sudden? I even have a pair that I won in a blog contest. AND I LOVE THEM. Anyway Beca is one of the masterminds/craftspeople behind those beautiful eye-coverings. She writes a lot about her life, about kitties and about being a small business owner. I like her a lot.
10. Shoplifting in a Ghost Town - If I had to choose a blogger to switch lives with it would be Chloe. She is maybe the coolest person on the entire internet. She always seems to have these adventures that are two parts silly and three parts bad-ass. And then she photographs them in interesting ways.
11. Suzy Krauze and the Skyscrapers -I hang off her every word. It's like poetry but not boring or stupid. This girl can metaphor like the wind, I tellz ya. Go and actually read, not skim, but read her posts. You won't be sorry. I always save her stuff for a time when I can actually sit down and listen to the words.
12. Dressed to Chill - link posts, photos, nice awesome non-fake girl...are you beginning to notice a pattern with the blogs I like?
13. Verbal Vomit - Hannah is SO. FUNNY. Like remember when Hyperbole and a Half was in its prime and ol' whatsherface posted her illustrations all the effin' time? Well I feel like Verbal Vomit is kind of like that. Different but soooo goooood.
14. Time Won't Wait For Me - Yup, it's Kristin's blog. I can't believe, with her great writing, all the cool stuff she's doing and all the goodness in her heart that she only has a couple hundred followers. Come on guys, get on that already.
15. Camels and Chocolate - okay guilty, yeah, I write about this blog every time I get a chance, basically. But I can't help it. It almost seems like there must be five or six different Kristins, like maybe she has a cloning machine or something, because she is constantly doing amazing things. Pretty much every day she seems to be in a different country or trying a new ski resort or interviewing some celebrity. What a life!
16. Pejorative Jinx - it's frickin 'octohawk', whose real name I do not know. She has more outdoor animal rescue adventures than anybody I've ever heard of. Her photos and stories make me so jealous of her life. Manatees? Chickens? Two dogs and bare feet? Love.
17. Gala Darling - well here's that glamorous person I was talking about. I hate hearing about fashion and find self-help stuff rather trite but somehow Gala makes it all seem so amazingly fabulous. She's from New Zealand and now lives in the Big Apple and is killing it 24/7. She also does some of my favorite link posts, you probably have seen me thanking her every single Thursday for years.
18. Erban - well it's another person with a super cute dog, surprise! What else can I say? Pretty pictures, cute dog, funny stories. See for yourself.
19. Lucky Lucille - Rochelle is just so likable. She has the sweetest looking wittw puppy dog named Lucille, and she is really into sewing. I mean, like, I didn't really realize it when I started reading her blog because she hid it behind posts about how science is awesome, but lately she's always juuust finishing some amazing dress that she made from scratch.
20. Amalie's Still Untitled Blog - you'd think she'd come up with a title after all this time? JK, JK. Amalie and her husband are always on the go, traveling around to Germany or Japan, or they're chilling in Copenhagen doing what they do best. Amalie is frickin' murdering the Canon AE-1 film photography too. (In this context, "murdering" means "being good at".) Oh yeah, and Lucifer, their dog, is very pointy and cute.
21. Eeep I'm a Blogger - Suzy is getting better and better you guys. Not only does she do some of the best link posts, she has been writing all kinds of killer stuff that always has me going YEAHHH! after I read it.
22. Izznit - me and Iz connect on so many levels. You like how I call her "Iz", like I own the place or something? Anyway she talks a lot about making awesome sweaters and things...she even knitted and mailed me freakin' awesome fingerless gloves that I wear every single day I can justify it. She also has maybe one of the cutest dogs I have ever seen. And some of the nicest tattoos too.
23. Sarah's blog - well okay I'm biased on this one because I know Sarah in real life and she's basically the boss of me, but it's still a good blog. Sarah is a frickin' vegan superstar in case you don't know, and she owns a little boutique here in Victoria. But don't be afraid, her blog isn't endless "shop updates" and blah blah blah. Oh, and she may just have the best hair you've ever seen.
24. The Hope Blog - for all the weird tattoo related news you can handle, basically. A lot of it makes me angry but I like to stay informed.
25. Our City Lights - Diana takes really great photos. In all formats you can think of. She also has an all-pink Hello Kitty kitchen so there's that.
Personally I feel like sometimes it's nice to branch out of my little blog-followy circle jerks and find some new cool people tostalk follow...I thought I'd help you all just in case you were feeling stuck and bored, or just needed more blogs to read to help you kill time at work or whatever. And I hope you appreciate it because writing this post took me like three hours.
Do you have any blog suggestions for me? Are you going to write one of these posts yourself? (You should!!) If so, leave me a link in the comments. Please.
Today I want to share 25 great blogs that you may have never heard of before. These people are fantastic and interesting. They are original and funny, or glamorous and amazing, or brilliant and creative, or likable and down to earth. Or all of the above. I strongly encourage you to take some time and go through their archives.
Here we go!
---
1. My Beautiful Disaster - Erin is first on the list because I just met her the other day in real life and so she gets priority. Erin lives in Edmonton, Alberta (a city near where I grew up) with her son Ben. She just started working at the CBC and has an axotl named Murderface. I mean...what else do you need to know? Seriously.
---
2. Sarah Rooftops - Sarah is consistenly just a good solid blogger. She's funny, she writes about things in a down to earth way, she reads a lot, she does things that scare her and she takes nice pictures. She just seems like a real human woman without the inflated ego of so many of us blog people.
---
3. Ashley Quite Frankly - I've definitely mentioned Ashley before but she is always funny. Or maybe it's more that her kids are hilarious and she has mastered the art of child transcription. With a tagline like "I know why hamsters eat their young" I can't believe her blog hasn't gone viral. Little Kid and Big Kid make me laugh every time. And I don't even like hearing about people's kids. Like, ever.
---
4. The Life of Miss. Elly Rarg - This gal, I wish she would write every single day. She is hilarious. She's currently traveling the world, having adventures and every once in a while gracing the internet with her presence. I love her stories.
---
5. Bizness is Casual - "punk rock and pregnant". Dani is just all around likable. And punk rock. :) I like her because she reads books, talks about dorky stuff, she does link posts and I feel like we'd probably be friends in real life.
---
---
7. To Make Love Stay - Caitlin is just so real...there's no pomp or glitter or "dreamy" barf, it's just Caitlin talking about her life and just being funny in general. Truly, Caitlin is SO hilarious in our private Twitter messages to each other, but you'd never know it because she's too nice to say a lot of the things she says to me "out loud". I would recommend becoming friends with her. She also does some of my favorite link posts on Thursdays.
---
8. Yo Mama's Blog - I've been following "Miss. Yvonne" for longer than I've had Four Eyes Rella. In fact she's so O.G. we were in a blog gang together years ago. It was like a brat pack of humor bloggers. But then I got all serious-ish and got a new blog. Anyway she can still make me laugh and I get all excited every time she posts something new.
---
9. The Tales of a Tumbleweed - hey, you know those super cool wooden sunglasses everybody seems to have all of a sudden? I even have a pair that I won in a blog contest. AND I LOVE THEM. Anyway Beca is one of the masterminds/craftspeople behind those beautiful eye-coverings. She writes a lot about her life, about kitties and about being a small business owner. I like her a lot.
---
10. Shoplifting in a Ghost Town - If I had to choose a blogger to switch lives with it would be Chloe. She is maybe the coolest person on the entire internet. She always seems to have these adventures that are two parts silly and three parts bad-ass. And then she photographs them in interesting ways.
---
11. Suzy Krauze and the Skyscrapers -I hang off her every word. It's like poetry but not boring or stupid. This girl can metaphor like the wind, I tellz ya. Go and actually read, not skim, but read her posts. You won't be sorry. I always save her stuff for a time when I can actually sit down and listen to the words.
---
12. Dressed to Chill - link posts, photos, nice awesome non-fake girl...are you beginning to notice a pattern with the blogs I like?
---
13. Verbal Vomit - Hannah is SO. FUNNY. Like remember when Hyperbole and a Half was in its prime and ol' whatsherface posted her illustrations all the effin' time? Well I feel like Verbal Vomit is kind of like that. Different but soooo goooood.
---
14. Time Won't Wait For Me - Yup, it's Kristin's blog. I can't believe, with her great writing, all the cool stuff she's doing and all the goodness in her heart that she only has a couple hundred followers. Come on guys, get on that already.
---
15. Camels and Chocolate - okay guilty, yeah, I write about this blog every time I get a chance, basically. But I can't help it. It almost seems like there must be five or six different Kristins, like maybe she has a cloning machine or something, because she is constantly doing amazing things. Pretty much every day she seems to be in a different country or trying a new ski resort or interviewing some celebrity. What a life!
---
16. Pejorative Jinx - it's frickin 'octohawk', whose real name I do not know. She has more outdoor animal rescue adventures than anybody I've ever heard of. Her photos and stories make me so jealous of her life. Manatees? Chickens? Two dogs and bare feet? Love.
---
17. Gala Darling - well here's that glamorous person I was talking about. I hate hearing about fashion and find self-help stuff rather trite but somehow Gala makes it all seem so amazingly fabulous. She's from New Zealand and now lives in the Big Apple and is killing it 24/7. She also does some of my favorite link posts, you probably have seen me thanking her every single Thursday for years.
---
18. Erban - well it's another person with a super cute dog, surprise! What else can I say? Pretty pictures, cute dog, funny stories. See for yourself.
---
19. Lucky Lucille - Rochelle is just so likable. She has the sweetest looking wittw puppy dog named Lucille, and she is really into sewing. I mean, like, I didn't really realize it when I started reading her blog because she hid it behind posts about how science is awesome, but lately she's always juuust finishing some amazing dress that she made from scratch.
---
20. Amalie's Still Untitled Blog - you'd think she'd come up with a title after all this time? JK, JK. Amalie and her husband are always on the go, traveling around to Germany or Japan, or they're chilling in Copenhagen doing what they do best. Amalie is frickin' murdering the Canon AE-1 film photography too. (In this context, "murdering" means "being good at".) Oh yeah, and Lucifer, their dog, is very pointy and cute.
---
21. Eeep I'm a Blogger - Suzy is getting better and better you guys. Not only does she do some of the best link posts, she has been writing all kinds of killer stuff that always has me going YEAHHH! after I read it.
---
22. Izznit - me and Iz connect on so many levels. You like how I call her "Iz", like I own the place or something? Anyway she talks a lot about making awesome sweaters and things...she even knitted and mailed me freakin' awesome fingerless gloves that I wear every single day I can justify it. She also has maybe one of the cutest dogs I have ever seen. And some of the nicest tattoos too.
---
23. Sarah's blog - well okay I'm biased on this one because I know Sarah in real life and she's basically the boss of me, but it's still a good blog. Sarah is a frickin' vegan superstar in case you don't know, and she owns a little boutique here in Victoria. But don't be afraid, her blog isn't endless "shop updates" and blah blah blah. Oh, and she may just have the best hair you've ever seen.
---
24. The Hope Blog - for all the weird tattoo related news you can handle, basically. A lot of it makes me angry but I like to stay informed.
---
25. Our City Lights - Diana takes really great photos. In all formats you can think of. She also has an all-pink Hello Kitty kitchen so there's that.
---
Personally I feel like sometimes it's nice to branch out of my little blog-followy circle jerks and find some new cool people to
Do you have any blog suggestions for me? Are you going to write one of these posts yourself? (You should!!) If so, leave me a link in the comments. Please.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
links
HI HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED ON THE INTERNET THIS WEEK.
Operation Midnight Climax; how the CIA dosed San Francisco residents with LSD.
Are you as busy as you think? (Thanks Nubby)
Suzy on pink lego for girls.
Sun city - fun photographs of a retirement colony in the Southwest USA.
On fearless living. (Thanks Kellie)
Old age, wrinkles & the earlybird special: are you afraid of aging?
Blue trees.
5 motivational speeches I hate.
How and why Canada is getting rid of pennies. (video)
ALSO, Canada is coming out with glow in the dark quarters. WHAT UP BITCHES (Thanks Caitlin)
6 questions you must answer before quitting your job. (Thanks Gala)
"mature" looking colorful nailpolish.
This map of the wind patterns in the USA is really cool!
The ruins of Detroit. (Thanks Caitlin)
The immortal. Actually all of Books of Adam is great.
Look at this cute Leica camera. D'aww.
This friggin' dog's face.
How to make a camera obscura. (Thanks Sarah)
The best nanny money can buy - on high paid nannies in NYC. (Thanks Danielle)
On letting the right one in.
One of my nerdiest tattoos was featured on Gadchick.
How to stay smart.
What I know about beauty now that I'm in my 30s. (Thanks Sarah Von)
Tips for capturing your everyday.
The dirty little secret of overnight successes. (Thanks Nubby)
Dealing with people who don't 'get' self-employment. (Thanks Ashley)
---
Vintage photos turned into spooky GIFs by Kevin Weir!! AAAHSOAWESOME
See more here.
Thanks Dani.
---
The black cat auditions of 1961. I must have shown this to you all before, but just in case I haven't, here it is again. (Thanks Larissa, who doesn't have a blog but I think reads this.)
"I'm Christian unless you're gay." (Thanks Suzy)
I think this article makes a lot of leaps of logic to make a point, but it's still an interesting read. Why the world needs more ambitious women. (Thanks Susannah)
I really really want a golden half camera!
Owen the cat's day.
I just bought myself this hoodie as a treat. You should get one too and we can pretend to be in a gang. Or a baseball team. Because get it? They're baseball bats.
Texts from dog. It keeps making me laugh out loud so yeah, it's that good. Ah, dogs.
Ashley Judd slaps media in the face for speculation over her "puffy" appearance. (Thanks PGPT)
The five most insulting ways products are advertised to men. (Thanks Caitlin)
I am so doing this next time I eat radishes.
This piece on a conversation with someone's grandfather made me so angry! How can people still think someone deserves to be sexually assaulted EVER? (Thanks Suzy)
I totally agree with Suzy's perspective on blogging and writing about yourself and blogger egos and stuff.
This is the most amazing product I have ever seen.
The way Kyla talks about having bright red hair in public? That's how I feel about my My Little Pony tattoo.
And I also agree with the other Suzy's response to Samantha Brick's ridiculous "articles". And Lindy West's too! Hilarious. And so true.
The art of color coordination. (thanks Kelli)
Victoria is doing Q&A posts, but she's answering them in interesting ways. Check out the first one here.
How to use a dash in a way that is grammatically correct.
Minihagen.
All around cowboys.
Some really cool infographics. And here are a bunch of infographics about tea. (Thanks Suzy)
Lugless is an amazing, brilliant idea! They pick up your bags at your house and deliver them right to your destination. Rather than checking your bags at the airport, paying tons for them, waiting for them at the carousel and bla bla bla they're just wherever you're going waiting for you. (Thanks Gala)
How come nobody ever makes cameo pins of me? Boo hoo.*
How to make your blog posts stand out.
THIS SHIRT. This entire store, actually. And at such low prices too!
Are you still freaking out because Picnik is where you edit all your photos and Photoshop is to expensive and what is going on with Google Plus anyway? Well worry not, here's a giant list of other photo edity things. You're bound to find another one that you can get comfortable with! (Thanks Kellie)
Want more? See where I thank people? Click their names...they all have their own link posts too! There's like, hours upon hours of time-wasting potential at your fingertips.
*Nah, it's okay, I actually know exactly why and think it's a brilliant business move.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
seen on a walk...and I met an internet friend
ALSO, I met Erin Disaster the other day. I didn't get any photos because I was all flustered and totally forgot that I'm a blogger and it's my responsibility to show you 85 perfectly styled photos of us eating some sort of fancy food together.
Funny story, that morning I got so excited and nervous about meeting an internet friend that I waaaay overthought my outfit and ended up putting on my favorite brooch because bloggers like brooches, right guys?
It was all a waste of nerves because Erin and company were so nice and down to earth it doesn't even matter. She even let me hold her friggin' heavy (and I assume expensive) camera.
They stopped by my work and basically all I said was like "Oh my gosh you're a real person, yes you can take photos but not of that girl with her pants off back there. Welp, gotta go clean tattoo equipment, see ya later." Because yeah, that's my work/social skills in a nutshell.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
the oh so interesting bus stop **updated - now with pictures**
I did end up looking in the sketch book and it was just ugly sketches of furniture. So weird. The suitcase was really cool, if only it hadn't been filled with underwear (????) I might have taken it.
Also recently a man at a bus stop stared at my chest for an uncomfortably long time and then asked me if I had a tattoo of a dragon there. A dragon? Really?
And then that evening a crazy person was listening to super loud hiphop, like not even using headphones, and straight up headbanging to it with sunglasses on. For forty five minutes. I tried to ignore him by turning my music up and looking out the window but I could see his reflection! Raaa!
I know I said I say things to people when they're being idiots but not when they are clearly on drugs and would probably just punch me in the neck. Ah the bus.
***UPDATE***
I may not have instagram but I hardly ever leave home without a camera. Unfortunately my bus came as I was shooting, and I was trying to make the pictures not just look like ... pictures of piles of garbage at the bus stop so I only got these two photos but still...you get the point.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
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