diptych: bicycles and a heart

fake windows and eleven blogs I'm loving lately

Hi, I'm Nova and...oh hell, I'm just gonna say it: I'm a blogaholic. I follow over seventy blogs. No joke. And I read most of the posts on each of these blogs, I read them religiously, unless they're about recipes or fashion or written from a dog or baby's point of view. Or I get all backlogged and feel too much pressure to read them. Then I kind of rebel and hit "mark all as read". Yes, I do. But only after seeing if there's any awesome giveaways or pictures of tattoos. haha

I will sometimes unfollow people. When I'm feeling overwhelmed I do housekeeping in my bloglovin' list and get rid of people who feel more like a chore and less like fun. People I never grew to care about, and people who stopped posting are the first to go.

But usually for every one person I unfollow I will find two more interesting cool people to read about, thanks to lists people post telling me who is awesome these days. And so now I return the favor.

Trust me, this is not an exclusive list. I love every single person I follow. For now, here's eleven blogs I am especially loving today. They are charming, interesting, snarky, bitchy, happy, cute, take beautiful photos, are hilarious, inspire me, all of the above or none of the above. I just like them.

1. Hipstercrite.
2. Bubby & Bean.
3. Lucky Lucille.
4. Classic Copenhagen.
5. Pencil Box.
6. Losing Myself.
7. To Make Love Stay.
8. Krisatomic.
9. SK and the Skyscrapers.
10. Pretty Zoo.
11. Shoplifting in a Ghost Town.

Why eleven? I don't really know.

Things I Love Thursday!

I'm still loving my TOMS! Like mad.

I'm also loving...

"Don't Insist on English" - a ten minute video on language loss and the Globalization of English. Language Death is one of my major fears for the future. Bigger than the ozone layer depletion or global warming. I am both passionate and terrified about this subject. 

How to not die in a plane crash. Yep. Also of interest, How Black Boxes Don't Bust.  

Kristin Luna's "get to know the girl behind the blog" post. There's some insight on life as a freelance writer, as well as allusions to the rest of her amazing life. Like how she's about to embark as 'assistant field office coordinator' on a cruise ship called 'semester at sea'... paid to go from Montreal to Ghana to South Africa to Mauritius to India to Malaysia to Vietnam to Hong Kong to Japan to Hawaii to Costa Rica to the Panama Canal to Cuba to Florida. RIGHT? I mean...get over to her blog and look at everything and then subscribe because it's only gonna get awesomer, if that's possible.

Looking Through the Bush by Roger Friedland. An essay on women's pubic hair throughout the ages. 

Ready to confront your own racism? It's a tough thing to admit sometimes, isn't it?

My friend Sam's latest vlog about his epic bicycle journey across the USA (and perhaps beyond). He's made it to Iowa so far. From NYC. My favorite part is at 4:55 (Random Sam's Book Club FTW)

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These illustrations by Sophie Blackall 

Each print is signed and dated and shipped with care in a serious, sturdy, cardboard envelope which you can put to use later as a wobble board, a fan or a convenient rectangle for sitting on damp grass.

Found via Zoe's guest post on Freckled Nest!

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I also love...

Reading about weird mis-translations and culture shock. The story of the apple book is hilarious. And the best part is, I'm following two people's blogs who are on the same WWOOFing trip so you can read about the book from the point of view of Max and then check out Zoe's take on it.

How to share photos of your adorable child or pet without annoying your friends. (via Yes and Yes)

50 Reasons You Are Beautiful. (also via Yes and Yes) Yeah it's cheesy, so what?

That I finally figured out how to put that little black heart up in here. What am I talking about? Open my blog in a new tab...now look at the tab. Black heart. I AM AWESOME. Thanks to Amalie's help, of course. She rules. And so do these pictures. Also? This super easy to understand tutorial on how to make a horizontal navbar with images. Did you notice mine? I'm all proud, I DID IT!!! haha

This cover of Tool's Lateralus, by Adam Monroe on the piano. He NAILS it. It's crazy. I've probably watched this video forty times and it just gets better and better. Even the comments on YouTube are nice, which is saying something.

Aw, I just found a cover he did of my favorite A Perfect Circle song too.  It's beautiful but less technically impressive.

I'm also loving...

The idea of planning out your travel journal beforehand. Wow, I wish I had thought of that before I went to Mexico in 2007! And look at this travel journal! How cool is that?

What should I read next? You enter a book you like, and this site will recommend similar books! How useful!

These hipster bears stuffed animals. I don't like owning stuffies or receiving them as gifts, but I'd definitely give these to other people! And check out the "Polaroid cameras" in the background. 

This amazing video of the Toulambi Tribe of Papua New Guinea meeting a couple white men for the first time ever in the 70s. I love the innate curiosity all humans have, and how it eventually overpowers fear. And the way they express liking the taste of the food. :)

This Harry Potter giveaway on Mary Rebecca! Holy moly. 

SOS, send love. Halley's mom was diagnosed with a cancer that has made it impossible for her to travel anymore. Please send her a post card telling her about your neck of the woods. It'll cost you a couple bucks and five minutes of your time. Do it!

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Coffee: The Greatest Addiction Ever.

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Michelle's (drunken?) "I'm Turning Duct Tape Into A Purse" song. Could she get any cuter?

This look at the life of a touring band's stage manager. Not so glamorous. Not even a bit. But still pretty cool.

Solargraphy. I first heard the word HERE on my friend Sam's blog a long time ago...basically it's extreme pinhole-camera-ing, and takes months for a single image. It's something I've been meaning to try forever!

The Forty Elephants Girl Gang of London. Pretty bad-ass.

This is the ultimate cookie.

What Makes Nancy So Great, a note from Sid Vicious.(Ehh, mildly offensive language.)

If you live under a rock and haven't heard the story about Vivian Maier's photographs...well, you should. Click here.

This idea on how to revamp your ugly old Holga. Duh, it's so simple but I never thought to do it before.

Locked up abroad by National Geographic. A show on prisons in other countries. So. Scary.

This post on making your own luck. It's so true, you just have to put yourself out there. 

This post on being introverted, and how it may be because of an over-sensitivity to dopamine! Wow. 

And last but not least...

I featured photos by Marc Da Cunha Lopes last week but I have to show you more. He's fantastic! 

Vertebrata!

Eek! So creepy!

What do you love this week? Leave me a link here so I can come check it out! 

Oh so very green.

Ever wonder what color your kid would choose to paint his room if he could choose any color on earth?

Ryan's oldest has decided it's time to have his own room, and we agreed. They're both getting too old to have a "toy room" anyway. So...step one was to make the room his own. With paint.  He went for "Fresh Melon" which sounds a lot more soothing than it looks, hahaha.

Hey, at least he's not afraid of a little color!

lately...

I really liked doing this "lately" feature on my blog last time and have decided to make it a somewhat regular thing on Four Eyes Rella. The original idea came from Danielle, so I can't take any credit, but if you want to join me and do your own 'lately' post, please feel free to steal a stolen premise. I don't mind. (haha) So anyway, here we go!

Lately I am...

Reading: Well actually I've been listening to audiobooks lately, especially on my walks to and from the bus stop, and even on the bus if it's quiet enough. I used to think audiobooks were kind of like cheating, but now that I've gone through an entire book I've found it's nearly the same. You're getting the same information as you would if you were getting it through your eyes, and so you have to use the same parts of your imagination. It's still "work".

The only negative thing I can possibly say is that audiobooks are infuriatingly SLOW. It probably took me twice as long to listen to Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire as it would have taken me to read it. I'm a pretty darn fast reader, and he's a pretty darn slow talker. But still, I'd encourage you to give it a try, for the experience of being able to get a book into your brain and do other things at the same time. It's pretty neat.

Our public library offers an entire selection of audio books you can borrow and put on your iPod or whatever device you use. I'm sure yours will do the same. It's free and fun and definitely makes time pass quicker. Right now I've just started the third part of the Wicked trilogy: A Lion Among Men. Exciting stuff.

Watching: Game of Thrones. Awwwwwww yeah! We just figured out how to watch the entire series with our television provider, so it's marathon time.

Listening to: The Sword. Like, almost too much. I'm right at the peak of my fandom. You know, like where it's the first and only thing you put on ever, and you put particular songs on repeat so you learn every bass line and word to every song? Yeah I'm there.

They were actually playing in Vancouver last week and my friend Colin went and brought me back a t-shirt, which is my new favorite of all-time. Here's a picture of it I took inside the bathroom at work, hahaha. I'm nothing if not a classy broad.

YES! What you cannot tell by this terribly unflattering angle is that it fits like a dream and looks all bad-ass and medieval. And speaking of The Sword, this video is incredible. Please watch it, and keep in mind they're a band in 2011, not 1976.

And this is my favorite song by them ever. 

Eating: Sorry vegans, I eat yogurt sometimes. And today is one of those times. I started with a generous helping of lemon flavored greek-style yogurt, added a million fresh strawberries, and topped it off with a zillion hemp hearts. Oh. Mein. Got.

Loving: The Weird Al song about tattoos, having a day off with ZERO plans after working 11 days straight, dill pickle potato chips, and gloating over the spectacular wasp and honeybee photos I got this week. (You'll see!) Oh, and that just now, like three minutes ago, I let the dog out for a pee and saw this:

And it stood there long enough for me to noisily hook the dog to his leash, go inside, grab my camera, come back out, line up the shot, and take the picture. Thanks, deer!

Looking forward to: Watching Game of Thrones for hours today with my man, finding awesome things on the internet (and catching up on my blog reading... over 500 posts in my bloglovin' queue! EEK!) and my dad and step-mom's trip here and beyond that begins in a few days...I definitely don't see them enough.

Just a bird in my neighborhood!

Breaking news!

YETI CAME OUT OF THE BEDROOM!

She found out I was eating yogurt. Sneaky kitty. She just sat there and yelled down the hall at me until I finished my yogurt.

scary blossoms

Look how pretty!

When the cherry blossom trees bloom in the sunshine there is nothing prettier. But what happens when the skies turn grey, and the wind and rain descend?

I'll tell you...

 Those pretty little petals fall like rain. And then they're everywhere. In the streets, in my hair...

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Here's how the walk to the bus stop looked one chilly windy morning early this month:

It seems kind of surreal; all these beautiful pink and white delicate petals blowing in the wind, floating in puddles, and getting stuck to my glasses.

Diptych, tattoo edition.

1. Overprocessed photo of Ryan's new goalie/ghost/grim reaper tattoo, from the Tattoo Zoo flash page made for the Vancouver vs. Boston Run. He got it to remind him of our adventure in Vancouver that day, and because it's a little piece of history. And because it's awesome.
2. I found a piece of a stencil at work that I thought was from my pony tattoo...upon closer inspection I found it was actually from a koi fish but you can see how I made the mistake at first glance.

Things I Love Thursday!

Well...who doesn't love bunting? But I love seeing it around construction sites. It makes it feel like a party! 

This week I am loving...

This video of the "citizen wall" in Vancouver. You know, that whole riot thing that happened? Well the looted stores had to board up their walls, and the people of Vancouver brought their markers to work with them apparently the next day. It's pretty heartwarming, actually...it just goes on and on and on. 

These pictures of grains of sand, taken by a microscope that I found via the Dainty Squid. I mean, I knew they are tiny tiny rocks, but this is amazing. Also found on her blog? THIS PAINTING by Dieter VDO. I Must. Have. This.

This post  on ... household etiquette for bodily functions on Slice of Lemon.

How people work out in other parts of the world. 

Gala Darling's posts on fashion bloggers and body image: Blogger Beautiful? An Examination of What it Means to be Beautiful and Valuable in Fashion Blogging, and Body Pressure in the Blogosphere: Bloggers Speak Up Part One. and Part Two.

This tutorial on using a Diana F+ camera by Kyla Roma. Because seriously, I could use a lesson or two. I SUCK! haha! I should show you guys what a disaster my first roll was. Only one photo was okay, which is quite terrible for me. I have to get a 35mm back for sure!

This skate deck totem on Pale Horse design.

Everything by Lena Hoschek. The dresses are killing me, they're so good.

All these links I found via Nubby Twiglet this week: what I actually wore, The 100 Greatest Non-Fiction Books, and these behind the scenes photos from older movies!

Interview with a female funeral director. 

How to Self-Promote Without Being a Jerk.

Morgan's Ride. A seven week bike tour through India on a hand-pedal bike to raise money and awareness for spinal cord injury recovery. The actual ride is over now, but the videos are delightful and it's still totally worth checking out.

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Todd McLellan's photography! 

These are great, but my favorite photos of his are the newest...he took stuff apart, arranged it like the stuff organized neatly site, and then threw it in the air. Awesome. Here's a typewriter, a camera and a clock:

See more here.

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I'm also loving...

Get out a skeleton... you can help CupKay out by anonymously posting a deep dark secret you have on her Formspring. She's going to publish it in her zine, so watch what you tell her!! :)

Being on Leigh Ann's blog...along with like sixty other people, haha!

Danielle's post "Jordan Catalano and my "Mom Reality".  Personally, I have recently realized that Bill Cosby was kinda good looking in the Cosby show days. Um...what the hell?

How 'bout those catacombs under Paris that people go exploring in?  Anything that can be described as "filled with human remains" is not something I want to be crawling through in the dark, I can tell you that much! Although it does seem very interesting.

Shops Helping Shops! Ashley at After Nine to Five is including other businesses' cards with the orders from her online store. She's including a little note that says "Here are some other shops you may enjoy." And best of all, she's doing it for free. What a cool idea!

Watching the process of changing a yucky vintage motorhome into the coolest damn motorhome I've ever seen on Volume 25 Blog.

Jurassic Park's Velociraptors were actually something else. Read about it here.  Also? I just found out that the Smithsonian has a "Dinosaur Tracking" blog. You like dinosaurs? You're welcome.

Are you a fan of ampersands? Then click here, my friend, and enjoy. 

Living so close to a temperate rainforest. No joke, this place is just up the highway a few km. This year I'm gonna try to check out the "eagle extravaganza"...usually I just make it to the very stinky end to the salmon run and see fish corpses everywhere.

Strongman plasters, please.

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This Indonesian underwater hunter:

And Tete, man he's brave.

I found this video via Thought Catalog.  

Click here see more of the BBC's Human Planet videos.

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Rosie Hardy's photography! Wow!

This forest clock.

This disturbing picture of Barbie dolls in a very Dexter-esque scenario. This is the type of thing I used to do with my Troll dolls when I was a kid.

Andy Warhol's celebrity polaroids, especially the Debbie Harry one. 

You know that thing where you make tea and then don't know what to do with the teabag when it's done steeping? Voila...tea bag coasters! So. Cool.

These idiotic questions asked on Yahoo Answers about sex.

I can't for the life of me think of any occasion a person would need a plush steak or a stuffed ham, but if you find yourself in that situation, you can buy them here.

This article on laws and changes in a human's brain. So interesting!

Echo Park Time Travel Mart.

A cat wearing a hat, and apparently being happy about it, which makes it even cuter.

These killer ways to reuse an altoids tin. Because those cute little boxes are just too hard to throw in the garbage, aren't they?

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This amazing video put together by Ohadi Ahram of 36 people doing okay covers of Radiohead's song Paranoid Android. I was incredulous at first but by the end I had chills and maybe a tear or two fell out of my eyeballs. If you're a Radiohead fan you should really take a few minutes and watch it. 

It's powerful, not only because the song sounds amazing this way, but because it's so many people coming together from all over the world and doing the same thing unknowingly, and together the pieces make a beautiful whole.

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And last but not least, LULU AND HER WHITE MOUSE by Marc Da Cunha Lopes

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What are you loving this week? 
Post a link to your own list of cool stuff! I promise I'll stop by and say hello.

Diptych: what I almost stepped on yesterday. Yes, both of them.

And the day before I tripped and fell while walking the dog and skinned my knee. I can't even remember the last time I skinned my knee, what am I, seven years old? Maybe it happened because I've been walking so much lately that I forget to look where I'm going.

Are Twinkies real, papa? (please help)

Ryan's kids love the movie Zombieland. And so do I. And so does everybody because, um...Woody Harrelson. Need I say more? I think not.

But I will say more because Bill Murray has a hilarious cameo for like ten minutes which rules. Anyway if you've seen the movie you know that Woody's character is raging around, being bad-ass and killing zombies every which-way, but all he wants deep down inside is to eat a Twinkie for some reason that I forget.

Here's a trailer for the movie in case you're totally lost, and also because I want to put it here. 

It's my blog, bitches.

One day, after multiple viewings of this movie, one of Ryan's kids asked him "Are Twinkies real, papa?"

*record scratch* They've never had a Twinkie! They've never even seen a Twinkie! What kind of world are kids today living in, where Twinkies may or may not be mythological food?

We set out the next day to secretly buy Twinkies and surprise them. But alas...Twinkies are not available in Canada. Literally, they are nowhere. Not even WalMart. (Yes, we checked EVERYWHERE.) And that's where you come in, my awesome internet buddies! I know many of you live in the good ol' US of A and totally have access to those disgusting little submarines of cake and goo. Please, oh please, can you send me some? I'll send you something back. Something totally Canadian. It'll be fun, I promise. If you can help us with our terrible dilemma, give me a shout at novaisawesome(at) gmail (dot) com.

Please, help us make their dreams come true.

(LOL)

A little blogging secret...

I "drew blogging" for you guys there. I suppose it's kind of like a brainstorm? Whatever. 

For the next week or so I'm not really going to be around this blog too much. Life is happening, and by that I mean our new girl at work who was working my Tuesday/Wednesday weekend went to Mexico and I was all like "Can I work every single day for the next two weeks?" ... I'm not complaining about working all those days at all, it's really fun, plus my paycheques will be large enough for me to finally buy myself something amazing like this or this. Big plans, I tell ya.

Anyway, my general blogging strategy is this: every Tuesday (or "my Saturday", as I like to call it) I spend a few hours putting together fun posts for the next week that are not date specific. (i.e. photos, etc.) as well as adding to my Things I Love Thursday posts for the following week or two. Then, if something rad comes up or I want to actually write things, I can just shuffle the photo posts around and post whatever on a specific day. You dig? So, because this week I don't have Tuesday and Wednesday completely free, I may not get around to doing anything spectacular.  Or maybe I will. But expect a lot of photos.

But here's something you can learn from me today:

Scheduling posts is awesome and the easiest way to blog.  

Do you wonder how those big bloggers do it? How do they write stuff every single day by 8am? Well I bet they don't. They probably wrote all that stuff two weeks ago and scheduled it to post at a specific time. It's so easy. 

I dare...nay, challenge you to try scheduling a post if you've never done it before. Just try it out.  I bet you'll like it. It's nice and relaxing, it takes all the pressure off. And then when you really feel like writing, just go for it. You're not limited to one topic, one blog post. You can write six and set them up for the entire week. 

Go forth and schedule, my friends. Go forth. And schedule.

What a little cutie!

After I snapped a couple pictures I moved this little guy off the sidewalk so he wouldn't get crunched.