Nerdy and I Know It

You may have gathered/I may have mentioned that I am a nerd. But I am not sure that I have ever posted a list of the reasons why I am a nerd. And I figure that this blog needs more bulleted lists. So here we go!

1. Every time I read "here we go" anywhere, I read it in the voice of Mario.

1. I am a word nerd.

• I love puns.
• I have loved to read books ever since I learned how when I was 3. Fun fact: I got a trophy in elementary school because I read over 1,000 books. It is the only personal trophy I've ever gotten.
• I love learning new words, and I am all about the vocabulary quiz on FreeRice.com.
• I love alliteration too.
• I also sort of collect fonts on my laptop, but only good ones that are also free (which are hard to find).
• People who insult people and use "your" where they should use "you're" make me laugh at them.
• I'm not a grammar Nazi, at least not outwardly. I keep all of my corrections to other people's grammar to myself.
• I also enjoy solving crossword puzzles, and doing fill-in puzzles (they're like crosswords mixed with logic puzzles).
• I read/devour webcomics. (This one will get its own post very soon.)

2. I am a logic nerd.

• I love logic problems.
• I also love Sudoku and its nerdier cousin Kakuro.
• I think that cryptography (coding and decoding) is fascinating.
• I have lots of different Rubik's cubes. I even know how to solve some of them.

Not pictured: I also have two ordinary Rubik's cubes, aka the 3x3. I know how to solve
the 3x3 as well as the weird segmented 2x2 in the upper right corner of this picture.

3. I am sort of a video game/computer game nerd.

• I don't play a whole lot of video games anymore, mainly because I feel bad about kicking G off his own TV so I can play video games, and I'm too poor to buy my own and still be able to pay my rent.
• I used to play lots of video games.
• My mom had a rule when my brother and I were young that we could only play video games for 20 minutes a day, and we had to set a timer.  We weren't allowed to own video games untl I was 10 and my brother was 12. At that time my mom reluctantly bought us an original Game Boy at a yard sale for $5. We had to share it and we amassed quite a few games for it. One of these was called Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle.  It was one of those annoying games where you can't save it but when you beat a level, it gives you a password that you can enter to continue from the last level you beat instead of having to start over from the beginning.  The first time I broke the 20 minute rule, it was with the Bugs Bunny game.  My grandparents were watching us while my mom was visiting my uncle in the hospital after his motorcycle accident. I played Bugs Bunny for at least 2 hours straight, but probably more like 4 hours.  I saw Bugs Bunnys running around in my vision for at least two hours after I stopped playing. It was slightly worrisome.  After that my mom realized that you can't accomplish a whole lot on any video game within 20 minutes, so she upped our time limit to one hour a day, and two hours during the summer, but only one hour at a time twice a day.
• Over the years of living at home, my brother and I acquired one lime green Game Boy Color which we shared, a Game Boy Advance SP each, and a Nintendo DS each. My brother bought consoles after moving out but I didn't.  We also amassed quite an impressive collection of games.  My favorites were anything Zelda, anything Mario, and Golden Sun.  For those of you who don't know, Golden Sun is an incredibly epic RPG. I still have my Game Boy Advance SP, but I sold my Nintendo DS at the beginning of last summer to get rent money.
• I currently know how to play music from both Zelda and Mario on both my flute and my guitar.
• I want a Link hat and I want Mario character plushies, but I won't buy them because I don't have money for both them and rent.
• I drew a really cool picture of Link when I was 12. I'll have to find my old sketchbook next time I go home and scan the drawings for you.
• I used to play Runescape, when I was in middle school.
• I learned that MMORPGs are much too addictive for me to handle, so now I steer clear of them.
• I still love to play flash-based browser games, especially point and click games and escape the room games.

5. I am a sci fi nerd.

• This post is already pretty long, so I'll try to keep this one short. I like sci fi shows, books, and movies.
• Star Wars is my one true love. Sidenote: They make real life lightsabers now, and they've been advertised on my blog sometimes in my Project Wonderful ads. They're actually lasers and not intended for use as weapons. Also? I want a Chewbacca plushie. Also also? I am a Jedi.
• I need to watch the X Files and I need to finish the 7th season of Buffy.
• I'm not sure if supernatural shows count as sci fi, but I am counting it anyway. I love the series Supernatural and I love the series Reaper, which I discovered on Netflix and watched both seasons in 3 days.
• Doctor Who also has a special place in my heart.
• There is a third Men in Black movie and it involves time travel. I have not decided how I feel about this yet.
• I took a contemporary literature class in college that was all about sci fi movies and books. It was one of the coolest classes ever.
• I have and love a Back to the Future shirt.
• Zombies aren't sci fi in my opinion. (It could seriously really happen!) But I'll put that I love zombie-related stuff in this category anyway.
• Pottermore: I know that I need to read the books, but I definitely went through the first book on Pottermore in one evening. It's kind of like a point-and-click game combined with reading and I love it.

8. There's probably a ton more stuff that I'll think of later, but I think this is enough for now.

My Blog is Mid-makeover

Hello  to all of my lovely readers, and all of the not-so-pretty readers too : )  As you might have noticed, my blog banner now stretches the entire width of my blog now. Huzzah!  That took me at least four hours of my life to achieve, because Blogger was being super hateful and CSS is super duper confusing. But I finally figured it out through a lot of trial and what seemes like even more error.  I also added Google Adsense again, but I only let them have one ad in my sidebar, because I hate oversaturation of ads between posts just as much or more than you do. The hardest part of this will be not clicking my own ads, because that is against the rules, but when they keep showing an ad about the new Shabby Apple Mad Hatter collection, it takes all my will power not to click on it.  But I won't go search for it on Bing (my preferred search engine), no way, too much effort.  But I must say that the Shabby Apple Mad Hatter collection is super relevant for my blog, since lately this blog has been filled with dresses, and the title is an Alice in Wonderland reference.  Oh, and also, there will be ads after every four posts if you read my blog in a feed.

I feel like this would be a good time to mention that I am always looking for sponsors and ad swappers.  Sponsor ads start at only $3 for a small ad and even the large ads cost only $7, and of course ad swaps are free as always.

Other changes you can expect around here are a switch to a two column layout and, hopefully within the next month, the unveiling of my stuff selling blogsite.  And in tremendously exciting news, I am getting a brand new camera. It is a Nikon and I found on sale and I am in love with it, especially the 16.1 megapixels and 26x zoom.  I have to convince G to take to Fred Meyer so I can buy it, because it's only on sale this week and I don't think I can wait until Saturday to get it. Plus, I would run the risk of them being sold out and not getting it for the sale price. Also, I am kind of really impressed with how quickly I saved up the money.  True, I only saved a quarter of the price since I started saving, but with my first paycheck (which was only for 8 days of 4-ish hours each), it's more than enough.  I love having a job.  Plus, my boss has told me that he's glad he hired me and that I do a good job.

And as a reward for reading all of that, here is a picture for you to rest your eyes on.



Just look at that sexy slanted Space Needle. You're welcome.

Friday Fashion: Job Interview Outfit Edition

So as many of you know, I had a job interview a week ago on Monday and I got the job. You may or may not be wondering what I wore to said interview.  I don't care if you weren't wondering because I'm going to share anyway.  I wore pretty much the only business-y looking clothing I own.  My blazers are all either ill-fitting or too casual, so I opted for one that was ill-fitting.  (It's too big in the chest area.)  I hate dressing business-y but I wanted to make a good impression.  So I broke out my most hated skirt and nylons.  Sidenote: I hate nylons more than just about everything. They always enjoy getting runs in them when I try to put them on, or worse, holes.  Anyway, without further ado, here is what I wore to my job interview.



Awful photo taken in a mirror? Check.



My too-loved red flats which are sort of in sad shape,
but I still love them to death.

So as you can see, I wore a tan blazer with three-quarter length sleeves (the sleeve length which is the bane of my existence) over my ruffly tie at the neck brown silky fabric blouse (which you can't see), with a gray skirt that I despise, nylons that I did get a small run in but had to wear anyway because my skirt was long enough to hide it, and my red flats.

Sidenote: Soon I will be selling that blazer, along with a bunch of my other clothing, some of which (a lot of which actually) is men's t shirts. Don't judge me but I used to almost only wear men's t shirts, with jeans or shorts. And I will of course link you to the site, which I made on Blogger, where you can buy that stuff, as soon as I take the measurements on everything (Taking measurements is also the bane of my existence. It's a good thing that I'm not a superhero, because I would be so easily defeated, by three-quarter length sleeves and taking measurements).

Product Review: Sally Hansen Nail Strips

I don't know if you remember way back when I promised to review Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strips for you, but I am finally reviewing them.  I had used two of the strips before as an accent nail but they chipped after just one day.  That's why I didn't use them for quite a while afterward, but I did promise my review and I do keep my word, so I used them again.  I used them on all 10 of my fingernails this time.  Unlike last time, I did a clear top coat this time.  The strips do say that they won't dry up as long as you keep them out of sunlight after opening.  Maybe they won't for a while, but I had them opened without using them for about 3 months, maybe more, and they did dry up.  Fortunately they come in two separate plastic/foil packs, so I did have one not opened, and I was able to use those.

They come with two packs of nail strips, a nail file, a cuticle stick, and instructions.
They cost about $10 a pack at most drug stores, and probably other stores too.

They weren't very easy for me to apply, because I don't have a lot of experience with that sort of thing.  One thing that is really great about them is that until you press them down good, they are really easy to reposition until you get them in the right spot.  So it took me the length of a Lakers game, but I finally got them done.  Yes, I do my nails while watching basketball on TV; I am a complex person like that.  And like I mentioned, I did a clear top coat this time to hopefully prevent them from chipping so quickly. 

I used the Laced Up ones, because you know how I like lace.
As you can see, they looked pretty at first.

But the next morning I woke up and they were already chipped.  I know that a lot of people swear by these nail strips, but they are not for me.  I was not compensated for this post in any way, and I purchased the nail strips with my own money.