Etsy Interview Repost: Neil Slorance

Since I interviewed him in 2012 Neil Slorance has started making comic books!  So here is the interview again for those of you who didn't see it.

I "met" this guy through one of my blog friends on Twitter and he is awesome so I interviewed him about his Etsy shop, which you should all check out.


1. Tell me a little bit about yourself.

Hey! My name's Neil Slorance, I'm an illustrator from Glasgow in Scotland. I'm 25 and have a pet tortoise.

2. Tell me a little bit about your shop.

My etsy shop is where I put up my prints, pictures and other bits and bobs. I set it up about 2 years ago and so far it's been ticking over nicely.

3. How long have you been making art?

Since I could hold a crayon really. I spent most of my school days doodling in jotters and making wee comics about superheroes I'd make up. I really wanted to be an artist although I stopped for a good while in my teens while I was pursuing music but got back into it around the age of 19/20.
 

4. How long have you been selling art?

I started selling about 5 years ago, I remember I took my painting to a market stall in a library. I remember feeling totally chuffed when I sold my first painting, I guess because I wanted to be an artist when I was a kid and this was me taking my first step.

5. Why did you start making art?

I guess everyone starts making art as a kid and then as we grow up for whatever reasons some of us stop. I've kept going mainly because it's the best way I've found to communicate my ideas and thoughts, and where as I'm not a great talker and I stumble on words my pictures have given me a voice.

6. What inspires your art the most?

Life? Any part of life I feel strongly enough to make a picture about. Aside from that just when I get excited about something e.g I've been playing a lot of mario so I made a mario picture.

7. What advice do you have for new Etsy sellers?

Try and have a wide range of products, especially little things, they are your bread and butter. 

8. What advice do you have for aspiring artists?

Don't be afraid to show your work, even the stuff you're not proud of.

neilslorance.com
flickr.com/photos/osm_art
twitter.com/osmart

This collection contains all four of the issues of Neil's comic book Dungeon Fun.  I haven't read it yet but I really want to!

So be sure to check out all of Neil Slorance's stuff. If nothing else, definitely visit the shop and his Flickr stream.  He draws so many amazing things!

And definitely leave me a comment letting me know if you have an Etsy shop and would like me to interview you.

Where to Shop in Seattle: Monster Art and Clothing

I love monsters, art, and clothing, so when I heard the name of this shop I knew I had to go there.  I went after I got off work on the same day that I learned of its existence.  And I was in love.  It was all I could do not to buy one of just about everything in the store!

the sidewalk outside the shop is so pretty!

Justin Hillgrove is my absolute favorite artist!  I love his Imps and Monsters art and I picked up the first issue of his Implands comic book at the store.

These skirts are so good!  I ended up coming back and buying the Marvel superheroes one.

This store is great and I keep wanting to buy more things!  They carry art, clothing, gifts, and accessories from many different local artists.  And there's plenty of nerdy monstrous goodness everywhere you look.

Let's Talk about Superpowers

If I could have any superpower at all I would choose teleportation.  I am always running late for the bus in the morning and on the rare occasion that I'm not running late, the bus is late.  So it would be great to just teleport to work and not have to worry about the bus or having to deal with people who DO NOT KNOW HOW TO SHARE THE SIDEWALK WITH OTHERS!  Plus when I'm having bad social anxiety I don't want to ride the bus anyway, so it would minimize human interaction.

What superpower would you choose?

I got this Marvel superhero skirt by Nice Rice at Monster Art and Clothing (I'll be doing a post on their shop soon.)

Comic Books 2

My first expedition into comic books wasn't overly successful but I wasn't about to give up because of it.  I stopped by Arcane Comics a few weeks ago because I'd been meaning to check it out for awhile and I was also having a pretty bad day and thought it might cheer me up  (Spoiler alert: it did).

I only bought two comics but I loved them both!  They were each the first issue of a new series too.  The first is called Haunted and it's by Red 5 Comics.  I bought it because the storyline (post-apocalyptic setting, science craziness, and a strong female protagonist) sounded awesome and also because I loved the art style and colors.  It was every bit as good as I had hoped it would be.  It has a female protagonist, a priest, and a scientist all banded together fighting off these crazy enemies and trying to survive.  There's a very entertaining science vs. religion argument as well as an action-packed story.  I highly recommend it!  Red 5 Comics is an independent comic book publisher and I want to read some of their other series too, especially Bad Dreams.

The second is called The Dream Merchant and it's by Image Comics (They publish Saga and The Walking Dead).  I bought this one more for the story than the art (to be honest, it's not my favorite art).  In case you guys didn't know, I am fascinated by anything involving dreams.  So this purchase was a no-brainer.  I had no idea how much I would love it.  There's a part where the main guy is in a mental hospital!  (just a recap, things I'm fascinated by include dreams, insane asylums, and serial killers)  This comic had two out of three in the first issue and I'm holding out hope for a serial killer.  (That's a weird phrase.)

I'm glad I gave comic books a second chance and I think you guys should definitely check out both of these series and publishers.  I will definitely be continuing reading both of these series.

Birthday Recap

It was my 22nd birthday on Tuesday.  The night before G took me to get a burger, fries, and a shake at Blue Moon Burgers.  My burger was huge! (as you can see from the picture)  It was called The Code Blue and had two hamburger patties, cheese, lots of bacon, Blue Moon Sauce, onions and peanut butter!  It sounds like a weird combination but somehow the onions and peanut butter balanced out perfectly.  I also had sweet potato fries and a strawberry milkshake.  It was so good!  The burger had a gluten-free brioche bun that was so good I wouldn't have know it was gluten-free if I hadn't specified three times that everything needed to be gluten-free.

Then on my birthday I worked from 9 until 1, then went to Trophy Cupcake on my way home to get a gluten-free red velvet cupcake.  Then I came home and baked myself a birthday cake.  I used Bob's Red Mill gluten-free chocolate cake mix and it turned out so moist and delicious.  Everyone loved it and even N, who said he isn't a cake person but would one bite, ate five bites.  After that I just hung out with my friends and then they gave me a "birthday card" they got me.  It was a cardboard cutout of my favorite Doctor from Doctor Who, Matt Smith!  My housemates all signed the back of it.  It's both like a really amazing gift and a prank, because before I leaned it against the wall I would see it out of the corner of my eye and get startled because I thought there was someone in my room.  I can also use it for additional necklace storage later on, if I need it.  And what better place for The Doctor than by my outer space art?!

All in all it was a great birthday.

Do you watch Doctor Who?  Who's your favorite Doctor?

Friday Fashion: Fashion Favorites

jacket: Goodwill (Converse One Star brand), shirt: Lootcrate, jeans: Forever 21 (similar), boots: Urban Outfitters (similar 1) (similar 2), scarf: Goodwill, bag: Buffalo Exchange (Sparrow True brand), necklace: Nastalgame

This outfit is super comfortable and cute yet casual and nerdy, which pretty much sums up my style.  Everything is one of my favorite pieces, especially these jeans.  I got them from Forever 21 online on sale for $8.  Forever 21 is the online place I order jeans online because I have such a hard time finding jeans that fit, but Forever 21's jeans seem to be sized the same through all of their styles and always fit me great.  I bought this bag and these boots last week and have been using them just about every single day since.  I couldn't find the perfect ankle boots in the thrift stores so I actually went to a real store.  I got these for $30, which is a pretty good price.  They are comfortable and very water-resistant and also exactly what I was looking for.  I wish they had them online so I could link to them but they don't.  And I think I've talked about this necklace before but I love it so much that I'll talk about it again.  It cost me just $10 and is very well-made and worth way more than that.  I like it because it lets me add an extra nerdy touch to my outfits.  And did I mention that it's double-sided?!  When I'm not feeling great, I can turn it around and there's only one and a half full hearts.  Pretty cool if you ask me.  I am so in love with this shirt.  It's a mash-up of Star Wars and The Walking Dead, both things that I adore.  I got it in my Lootcrate the one month that I bought one.  It was zombie-themed, so how could I not buy one?!  For those of you who haven't heard of it yet, Lootcrate is a subscription service that sends you a box of awesome nerdy goodies for however many months you sign up for it.  It's very reasonably priced at just under $20 for one month, and even less if you purchase multiple months.  This Lootcrate also contained the book The Zombie Survival Guide, some zombie bite tattoos, zombie pins (buttons), and a zombie-themed greeting card.  None of the links in this post are affiliate links and I'm not being compensated by anyone for this post.  I just really like these things and wanted to share them with you.

Comic Book Haul

I bought some comic books yesterday.  I wanted to get something small for my 7 and 8 year cousin for Christmas but don't have much money, so I thought comic books would be good.  I bought all of these for them, except for Hoax Hunters, but then I read through them after I got home to make sure they would be appropriate and I'll actually be keeping two of them.  Princeless was hilarious but did talk about killing, which isn't exactly child appropriate and Wonderland #2 was great except at one point Mary Ann says "Bloody Hell!" and that's not a phrase the girls need in their vocabulary at this age.  I really enjoyed all of these comics and want to read more of all of them.  Road to Oz surprised me.  It's a completely different story from The Wizard of Oz, which I like.  Also Dorothy is an awful child.  I really adore the art style in both Oz and Wonderland.  Princeless made me laugh out loud multiple times.

I'm really excited about all of these comics and I hope that the girls like the ones I give them.  I think they will because one is a voracious reader and the other has a short attention span but will read books with pictures.  I'm a little disappointed that Princeless wasn't appropriate though because they love princess stories and their mom and I both love stories with strong female characters.

Webcomics I'm Loving Lately

I discovered a pretty cool site about a month ago that is a feed reader for webcomics.  It's called comic-rocket and it's awesome because it allows you to know exactly where you are in all of the webcomics you're reading and also discover new webcomics you might like based on the ones you read currently.  (They aren't paying me to write about them.  I just really think they're cool and wanted to share.)

Here are my favorite four webcomics I'm reading right now, not including the ones I shared before.  And the links go to the first strip in each webcomic.

Pizza for Guys:

It's a webcomic about the webcomic it's about.  This is a webcomic with a stick man and a talking slice of pizza.  They argue a lot.  It's funnier than I'm making it sound.

Romantically Apocalyptic:

My favorite rockstar recommended this one to me and it did not disappoint.  It's super silly but there's incredible artwork.  And I'm a sucker for a post-apocalypic setting.

Seriously, check out this art!

The GaMERCaT:

An awesome nerdy webcomic about a cat who is a gamer.  Lots of video game humor and adorableness.

Invisible Bread:

A hilarious webcomic full of stick figures and snarky quips about life.  Plus there's a secret hidden panel in each comic!  I didn't even know about that until I was about 30 strips in, so I had to go back and read all of the previous bonus panels.

What are your favorite webcomics?  I would love some recommendations.

I Read Some Comic Books

So remember how I said I'd never read comic books, aside from Sonic the Hedgehog?  Well I can't say that anymore.  I bought all of these at my friendly (seriously super friendly) neighborhood comic book shop about a month ago.  Sidenote: I discovered this place after I was super stressed and starting to withdraw from socializing with humans IRL.  It pretty much saved me from becoming a hermit, but now I haven't been back for awhile and am kind of pretty much a hermit, because work is super stressful and that's my coping mechanism.  Anyway I asked for suggestions for comic books on Google+ and bought some of those and some of my own picks.  I bought all of these with my own money and my opinions are my own.

I bought: American Vampire, Astonishing X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, Star Wars Knight Errant: Escape, Hoax Hunters, and The Secret Service.

First things first, I want to know why they bold words seemingly at random in comics.  It drives me crazy!  Second thing, despite the randomly bolded words driving me crazy, I would be interested in reading more of Hoax Hunters.  There's some serious foreshadowing in this one and I must say that I'm intrigued.  Everything else, not so much.  I love the X-Men movies to death but the comic books weren't my cup of tea.  Maybe it's because I didn't get the first issues, since they weren't at the shop, but I think it's more like it just seemed repetitive to me.  They did make me laugh out loud, but I expected more from Joss Whedon.  I think I disliked The Secret Service the most.  I really don't even know why I chose that one.  It's about action and politics, which is a combination I only rarely enjoy.  American Vampire was kind of interesting, but not enough that I want to read more.  However I did buy issue number 34 so maybe if I had been following the story from the beginning, I would enjoy it more.  But the art in it was my favorite of the whole batch.  And I wanted to love Star Wars Knight Errant, but I just didn't, and I'm not even sure why.  Maybe it was all of the weird names that I couldn't get straight.  I don't know.

I am not saying that I'm completely opposed to comic books.  I just think I made some poor selections and one really great one.  And honestly it takes a lot to live up to Sonic the Hedgehog comics.  I'll definitely be trying out more comics and also reading more of the Hoax Hunters series.  I love that comic books are so inexpensive to try, compared to most things.

Window Shopping: Tee Shirts

I don't need any more tee shirts, and I certainly don't need to spend any more money.  So all of my shopping lately is of the window variety.  I have found a bunch of really cool shirts that I wouldn't mind having, so I wanted to share them.

for everyone who puts stuff on the internet; also it's in the store for an awesome webcomic so double win

Link has a lot  in his inventory.  This is what it would look like if he was carrying it all without a magical storage system.

This one's pretty adorable.

He's a Stormtroopa.  Get it?  This one is out of stock, but that's okay when you're window shopping.

Wishing For and Wished For

I've been wishing for some things lately, and allowed myself to purchase some of them.  These are a few of the things on my wish/wished list.

1. Dress-Center.com: circus style leggings 2. ThredUp: strapless dress 3. SammyDress.com: short sleeve lace dress 4. SammyDress.com: high low peplum top 5. Etsy: reversible pixel heart necklace 6. Dress-Center.com: tiered dress 7. SammyDress.com: pale green lace dress 8. Etsy: Star Wars hair bow 9. Cage City: striped skater skirt 10. Atterley Road: peplum top 11. Thinkgeek: Star Wars tee shirt 12. Cage City: polka dot dress

Some of those are affiliate links (meaning I'll get a % commission if you buy from the site through those links) but these are all really products I want.  I only share stuff that I really truly love.  I bought the Star Wars shirt, the Star Wars bow, and the reversible pixel hearts necklace, and I got them all in the mail today except the necklace, which I'm so excited for.  Since I make jewelry for a living, I never buy jewelry unless it's super amazing, and this necklace is definitely super amazing.  And that bow?  It's the fifth one I've bought from that seller on Etsy.  She's one of the best sellers I've done business with there and I will continue to turn to her for all of my cute hair bow needs.  In fact, I'm so in love with her stuff that I'm going to dedicate a whole post to her shop in the future.

Okay, let me tell you about some of the sites I'm partnering with.  You may have seen the name ThredUp on other blogs lately (I have.)  It's a pretty cool concept that's pretty much an online thrift store.  You can even sell them your own gently used clothing.  Just like any thrift store, not everything is super fashionable or on trend, but there are some super cute things for low prices, and there is new stuff added all of the time.  I really really love that strapless dress I found there.  How cute would it be under a blazer or cardigan (I'm planning ahead for fall), plus it's great for this hot Seattle weather that's been happening lately.  SammyDress.com and Dress-Center.com are both pretty great sites for cute clothing at amazing bargain prices.  I haven't purchased from either of them yet, but when I have shopped on similar sites in the past the clothing has always been high-quality and I've been astounded that I got it for such a low price.  Of the two, SammyDress.com is definitely the one with the lowest prices.  I'm super excited to share more of these brands with you and at some point I will buy things from them and let you know how I like their products and service and all that.

Friday Fashion: Star Wars Cosplay for Lazy People

I love Star Wars.  I'm pretty sure you realize that by now.  Do you love Star Wars?  Do you want to dress like your favorite characters but lack the time, energy, or money to do so?  I have a solution.  All of these items can work separately or together for a lazy yet awesome cosplay.

Darth Vader is probably the easiest guy to dress like.  Here are a few of my favorite Darth Vader items.  (and yes, I am a Jedi, but that doesn't mean you are, and I am totally cool with it if you want to dress like Darth Vader or any other Sith)

This is a hoodie that you can zip all the way up past your face. Click the picture to see what I mean.

This apron is perfect for those people who enjoy their barbecues with a side order of cosplay.

You probably shouldn't wear this shirt if you're a female, or you can't tell guys "My eyes are up here!"

There are some pretty cool options for R2-D2.  These are my favorites.

This one zips up past your face too, but it looks kind of weird if you do that.

This is a really fun option for ladies. And it's handmade!

And then there's Chewbacca.

This would be a super cool winter coat.

And if you want to dress like a stormtrooper but don't want to wear the traditional stormtrooper suit, try this hoodie on for size.

I'm not affiliated with any of these sites and will not earn any money if you purchase the products I shared.  I just think these items are pretty cool and I wanted to share them.

Let's all Go to the Street Fair!

On Saturday I went to the University District Street Fair with my friend Kelsey.  It was super duper fun.  This is either the third or fourth year I've gone to it.  I've gone every year since I first got to Seattle.  This was the first year that I had money to spend on things.  Kelsey and went to the park to swing on the swings and to a pizza place before the street fair.  I'll tell you about the pizza place in a different post.  After we got pizza we went to the street fair and one of the first booths we saw was the henna tattoo booth.  I have wanted to get a henna tattoo at the street fair every single year, but didn't have money for it until this year, so I finally got one!  And I love it!

This photo is from the day I got it, when the paste was dried on.

This was from the next day when the paste was removed.

The lady took only a minute to do my henna tattoo. I asked her how long she's been doing them and she said 13 years.  She does them free-hand, without using a stencil.  It was only $12 and I had expected it to be around $20, so I was pleased.

Next to the henna tattoo booth was a booth selling monsters and I instantly fell in love with one of them.  I have some seriously awesome stuffed animals, including a Sonic the Hedgehog and a Yoshi, but they are all really small and not great for cuddling.  This monster was big and soft and adorable and only $10, so I bought it immediately.  Also, it was the only one made out of this super soft material, so it was basically fate.

There's a monster in my closet and I couldn't be happier :)

As you may have noticed, my bed is in my closet.  That's just what happens when I have very little space and a closet big enough to fit a bed in.  It's called maximizing space.

My third and final purchase of the day was at a booth with an overwhelming amount of bead strands and cool rocks.  I nearly bought a strand of quartz points but then I saw a box of big colorful smooth stones for $2 each, so I bought five of them.

Future awesome pendants (I'll edit this picture later so you can see the great colors but right now I'm just trying to post this stuff before I go to bed.)

Aside from that, there were a whole lot of amazing creative people including sculptors, jewelers, and artists.  And there was this.  I had to have my picture taken and Kelsey was less than into it but she was the Han Solo to my Chewbacca because that's what friends do.

I couldn't fit my face in properly because of my big hat.

And I also got business cards from all of the coolest booths, because their stuff was unique and wonderful and I have to share it on my blog sometime.  You guys, people are really cool.

And next week I'm going to Northwest Folklife Festival for the first time ever!  I'm excited because people hacky sack there and also because I'm hoping I'll be able to buy a hula hoop there.  Also, there was this guy performing at the street fair who is the best hack sacker I have seen in my entire life.  He can juggle two hacky sacks with one foot.  I put some money in his tip jar and then talked to him for a little bit.  Unfortunately he doesn't live around here or I would hacky sack with him sometime, in the hopes that some of his skills would rub off on me :)  I asked him how long he's been hacky sacking and he said 13 years.  I have been hacky sacking for 10 years, but there was that whole 9 months where I couldn't walk and then I had to relearn everything.  But once the weather gets nice, I'll go hacky sack in the park when I get off work again.  I'm out of practice.

Movie Review: Wreck-It Ralph

This is one of my new favorite movies.  I rented it from Redbox and I loved it.  A lot of people think that it's a movie for kids, but I actually think that adults will enjoy it more than kids will.  There are so many video game references that kids won't get.  One example of a reference that will go right over kids' heads is the Alcoholics Anonymous style group for video game bad guys.  There are lots of recognizable characters including Sonic the Hedgehog, Dr. Robotnik, Pacman and a Pacman ghost, and Bowser.  This is a movie about a bad guy from a video game who wants to win a medal instead of being thrown into mud at the end of every game.  So he goes on a quest to win a medal so the other characters in his game will love him as much as the game's hero, Fix-It Felix.  He ends up finding more than he bargained for, and finds out that there might be more to people than just whether they're good or bad.  The movie is mostly hilarious, partially heartwarming, and occasionally shocking (I'm talking about twists, nothing that will make you have to cover childrens' eyes).  I think that everyone should watch this movie, especially adults who like video games.  I give it a 5 out of 5.

Introducing Nerdish Delight!

Welcome to the first Nerdish Delight post ever!  What is Nerdish Delight?  It's a post where I share some of the nerdy things that I've found around the internet lately that I find delightful.  These things include, but are not limited to: webcomics, video games, technology/gadgets, and science.

I adore the game Coma on Kongregate, by Thomas Brush AKA wittyhobos.  It is a point-and-click game, which is my absolute favorite kind of game ever.  It is not a difficult game.  That isn't the point.  It's beautiful and artistic and slightly creepy.  I also really like that the game doesn't just tell you outright what it means, but lets you draw your own conclusions.  I feel like that's something all good art does.

The Hubble telescope found a galaxy that supposedly looks like a Space Invader.  I think it looks more like a skull with glowing eyes.  To me, it would look like a Space Invader it it had the antennas and longer arms.  Nice try, galaxy, nice try.

A man had 75 percent of his skull replaced with a 3D-printed piece!  This makes me ask so many questions, but the first one is, 'How?!'  75 percent is a lot of a person's skull.  And skulls have eyes and noses and lips and ears on them.  I just don't even know how they did it.  I have always thought that 3-D printing was really cool, but I never even thought about something like this as a possible application.  It's super cool, but I wish that the article was more elaborate.

Here is a cool gadget in the world of 3D printing.  It's the first ever 3D printing pen.  It is by far the most affordable way to print in 3D.  The Kickstarter campaign for it still has 13 days left and over 2 million dollars has already been pledged, which is well over the $30,000 goal.  This thing is just cool.  I can't wait to see what amazing creations people make with it.  It works in a similar way to a hot glue gun.  You put in plastic and the pen heats and extrudes it.  The plastic cools so fast that you can actually draw in the air!  It kind of reminds me of that episode of Spongebob Squarepants with the magic pencil, only the drawings don't magically come to life and attack people.

And last, but certainly not least, is Codecademy, which I discovered through one of the people I follow on Google+.  I've been meaning to learn CSS and refresh my HTML knowledge for quite a long time.  I had found a few different sites that offered free online courses, but none of them that I really loved.  Enter Codecademy.  First of all, you earn badges when you complete lessons, and I am instantly drawn into any site that lets me earn badges.  (See Kongregate.)  They have lessons in CSS, HTML, PHP, jQuery, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, and APIs.  I can't really comment on the other lessons because I haven't done them, but the HTML and CSS lessons are really good for beginners.  I completed the HTML lessons last week.  It was really interesting to learn about lots of basics that I was never taught and also some basics that I was taught incorrectly.  I have moved onto the CSS lessons, which are new to me entirely.  I have been picking up CSS really quickly and I wish I had learned it earlier.  Each Codecademy lesson is made up of a number of exercises based around a concept, such as tables.  The first exercises teaches you the absolute basics, including any new syntax, and tells you exactly what to type and where to type it.  The following exercises do the same thing, with more advanced steps and less guidance until you can do it by yourself.  If you can't remember how to do something, you can go back to the exercise that taught you how to do it, or you can look at the hint.  It's a really great free resource for coders and programmers.

Breaking Out of a Creative Slump

I'm not actually in a creative slump right now, but working with a medium other than the one you normally work with is a great way to break out of a creative slump.  I have a whole pile of jewelry made that I haven't listed yet because I haven't sold any since before Christmas.  So instead of making even more jewelry I decided to make a Space Invader on my wall out of Post-It notes.  Because I'm awesome and also because I have a lot of Post-It notes that I never use because I prefer virtual Post-It notes.  It was pretty easy and also slightly time-consuming to make.  I found a picture of a Space Invader on Bing and then I drew it in pixel form.  Then I got my Post-It notes and started putting them on my wall.  Then they started to fall off so I grabbed my duct tape and attached it to the back of each one.  It wouldn't have taken nearly as long if I didn't have OCD.  As it is, it still isn't perfect.  The bottom arms don't line up.  But I'm happy with it.  The whole thing took me about an hour and a half.

 

 

 

 

I also finally fixed my feather earrings after forgetting they existed for about a year and then discovering them in a bag full of hair ties (along with my black heart earrings which have been missing for the same amount of time).  I bought them for $20 at the University District Street Fair my freshman year of college.  I wore them all the time and then one of the feathers fell off of the leather strip that it was glued to, which attached it to the earring hook.  I removed the other feather from the leather (heehee it rhymes) and attached them both to tiny metal clamp things that I purchased on Etsy.  I also added lightning bolts that were on a different pair of earrings because I thought it would look cool.  And it does.  And yes I am wearing a Back to the Future shirt in these photos which I thrifted from the men's section at Goodwill two years ago.  Go ahead and be jealous.

My Favorite Video Games I've Ever Played

Golden Sun II via

In no particular order, these are my favorite video games I've ever played.

1. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap for Game Boy Advance
Partially because of the fact that this is the only Zelda game I've actually managed to beat (unless you count single player on Four Swords, which you really really shouldn't) and also because of the fact that the shrinking thing is really cool and also because of the addictiveness of the figurine collecting, this is my favorite Legend of Zelda game. Judge all you want.

2. Golden Sun 1 and 2 for Game Boy Advance
I'm not sure how many people have actually played these, but I adore them.  I also beat them both, which is a huge factor in whether I love games.  It's sort of like Final Fantasy.  I would describe it as a turn-based fighting strategy adventure puzzle game.  It takes a long time to beat and it's replayable as well.  You can focus on just beating the game, leveling up your characters as much as possible, collecting all of the Djinn, or a combination of everything.

3. Gex: Enter the Gecko for Game Boy Color
I'm pretty sure that this one is the most obscure on my list.  It's like if Mario was a lizard and the game was even more of a trip.  It's very bizarre.  There are a ton of levels and I never beat it, but I loved it anyway.

4. Spyro Season of Flame (or Season of Ice) for Game Boy Advance
I beat both of these games.  I love that are lots of things to collect.  Also if you get stuck in one world, you can just go to a different world instead of dying over and over again until you beat it like on some games.

5. Little Big Planet for PS3
Another game with lots and lots of things to collect.  It's extra fun (for me anyway because you can decorate your rocket ship with stuff you find and also wear different outfits that you collect).  It's a really great puzzle game with lots of levels of varying difficulties.  The bosses are crazy and the whole game is very artistic.  And I beat it too, with G's assistance.

6. Donkey Kong Country 2 for Game Boy Advance
This game is sort of a puzzle platformer.  There are lots of challenges like shooting out of a barrel when it's at the right angle so you don't die.  It can be frustrating at times, but I have beat it after a very very long time playing it.

7. Earthworm Jim: Menace 2 the Galaxy for Game Boy Color
This game is weird.  You're a worm with a gun.  You can get killed by big falls or by electricity or by lots of other things.  Sometimes you're in a city, others in outer space, others in a house.  It's always weird and kind of confusing.  If I remember correctly, the final boss is a mutant fish guarded by electricity.  You can also teleport through toilets, which is always fun.  I beat this game.  I think I love it so much because it's so weird and a huge part of the game is figuring out how to do things, like teleport through toilets.

8. Banjo Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge for Game Boy Advance
I beat this game as well but it took a very long time and some frustration.  There are lots of things to collect: honeycombs, music notes, special abilities, and puzzle pieces.  I liked but also hated the ability to mutate because I never actually figured out how to get some of the mutations so I died a whole lot more than I should have.  I liked that there were so many minigames and also the levels were all pretty open for exploration.  Also before you can fight the final boss battle, you have to win at trivia, which appealed to me.

9. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 for Game Boy Color
I like skating games, but I'm terrible at sports games.  I love this one because you make money for accomplishing different objectives and you can do some pretty crazy tricks.

10. Frogger Temple Adventure for Game Boy Color
It's a puzzle game with Frogger!  I loved it because while the controls were very simple (move and stick tongue out), the puzzles get pretty difficult.  There are even floors that dissolve under you during one of the boss battles.  I beat this game too.

11. Lego Star Wars
Part of why this appealed to me is that I love being able to destroy parts of my environment in video games (like cutting weeds and breaking pots in Zelda games).  The large majority of why I loved this is because it's Star Wars.  I beat this game.

12. Escape from Monkey Island 2 for PC
This game was great because it's point-and-click type of adventure where you have to figure out how to advance by using items.  It's a very elaborate game and there is also a lot of humor.  I got pretty far in this game, but I got stuck after a while.

13. Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland for Game Boy
This one's pretty old school.  I love Kirby.  It's fun to play as him on Super Smash Bros.  and also he can eat things and gain their powers which is always cool.  This game has lots and lots of levels.  It is very artistic and I beat it.

14. Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade for Game Boy
Another old school one.  I love the Indiana Jones movies, which is probably why I loved this game so much.  I can't remember a whole lot about it other than crawling through catacombs and the fact that I loved it.

15. Scooby Doo for PC
I can't find information about this game online anywhere (including the title).  It was a default game that came with my grandma's HP desktop computer.  It was one of those demo games that you can only play for 48 hours and then you have to buy it.  I beat it before the 48 hours was up.  It starts out with a haunted carnival and then you end up in the wild west and have a showdown that turns out to be a pie fight after escaping from jail.  I loved it because it was a complex point-and-click adventure with lots of challenges.

16. Animal Crossing: Wild World for Nintendo DS
I loved this game because there was SO MUCH to do.  There wasn't really a way to beat it.  In the winter snow fell and you could make snowmen who talked.  You could dig up fossils, catch bugs, and catch fish, which you could donate to the museum or sell.  You could also decorate your house with things that you find, buy, or shoot out of the sky with a slingshot.  It was really fun.  Sometimes your neighbors would reward you for doing quests for them too, like delivering a letter to another neighbor within a certain time limit.

17. Super Smash Bros. for anything
I love this game because even though I button mash, I almost always win.  I like to play as either Zelda or Kirby, usually Zelda.

Friday Fashion: What to Wear When You're Being Attacked by a Dalek

When we went to the EMP, my favorite exhibit was the Icons of Science Fiction exhibit.  And my favorite part of the science fiction exhibit was that they had a Dalek!  For those of you who don't watch Doctor Who, a Dalek is one of the many bad guys from that show.  So I present to you What to Wear when Being Attacked by a Dalek.

There are times in life where you will be happily minding your own business.
Then you might turn a corner and be confronted by a Dalek.



As any Doctor's companion knows, it is important to look stylish at all times.
I accomplished this by wearing my new (to me) thrifted blazer over a ruffled blouse,
with black skinny jeans with studded pockets and blue floral printed flats.
Smile uneasily when you notice the Dalek so it thinks you aren't afraid.

Make a resolved face.  (Not pictured: Scream "No one is going to die today!"
Defeat the Dalek with the perfect combination of biting wit, expert cunning, and a little bit of luck.
Hope that you're a main character so you'll survive.  After defeating the Dalek, celebrate with a snack of fish fingers and custard.)

Also not pictured: my shoes.

So that's how I got attacked by a Dalek, but then defeated it and lived to see the rest of the exibits, all while stylishly dressed.