Collection of Cunning Curiosities – May 30, 2015

Johann Georg Hainz's Cabinet of Curiosities, circa 1666. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Johann Georg Hainz’s Cabinet of Curiosities, circa 1666. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

A weekly compendium of things that delight my fancy.

Dear Internet, You can follow this collection on Pinterest. x0x0, lisa

Reading

I’ve been super lax on keeping my list updated but no more! I’ve added loads of new books as well as the comic serials I’ve been reading and finishing, so the list is mostly current now. The best book this year I’ve read is Genevieve Valentine’s The Girls of the Kingfisher Club, which I finished in one sitting. Valentine confirmed what I’ve known for quite some time: exquisite writing will be the convincer needed to get me to finish a book. Time is far too short to read bad books and I seemingly keep picking up bad books.

Links

Noon Pacific is a weekly mixtape of the best songs handpicked from the best music blogs, delivered to your inbox every Monday at Noon (Pacific Time). Definite pluses: You can listen via their app which you can grab from iTunes and Google Play. Lisa’s take:  I was recently turned on to this via somewhere and the idea I can stream it on my phone/iPad as an independent app was a great appeal as well as the introduction to new music, curated weekly.
Neko Atsume is Animal Crossing sans annoying talking creatures but populated with cats. So what exactly do you do in this game? You buy some food, a few toys, put them in the garden and wait for the cats to show up. That’s it. The cats will come and go as they please but as a reward for keeping them fed and toyed, they will leave you trinkets of sardines to continue buying them food and toys. It’s the new obsession as illustrated here, here, and here. You can pick up Neko Atsume at iTunes and Android.
How to: Perfect Winged Eyeliner! is the best YouTube tutorial I’ve seen on how to do perfect winged eyeliner. Yes, I’m almost 43 years old and need help putting on make-up but this easy to follow tutorial with practical steps (make dots on your eyelids, connect the dots, viola! Perfect eyeliner) was a huge game changer for me. Seriously. I typically like to wear eyeliner + mascara as the sum of my make-up for the day but my lack of steady hand or unable to draw a straight line means my eyeliner is always just a bit off. First go around with this technique and my eyeliner was on point.
Ceremony (the band) is, according to Wikipedia, a punk band from California. I disagree with this, naturally, because they are post-punk and this is an important distinction. They are grittier than Interpol but still have that Joy Division sound, so of course I like them. Their single Separation from their most recent album, L-Shaped Man, was demoed on some place I forget and I loved that so much, I preordered the album. So if you’re into a Joy Division derivative with hints of She Wants Revenge and Sex Pistols, this is your band.
New authorized James Bond novel will resurect Pussy Galore.I’m super excited by this announcement as I’m a huge fan of the Bond movies AND books. Yes, yes, both media should be against my feminist leanings (misogyny is but one of the fallacies), but sometimes you have to just ignore things to enjoy something. I mean, Sean Connery – amirite? If you too are interested in the Bond universe, I highly recommend getting your hands on the Moneypenny Diaries, which can be had for dirt cheap on Amazon.

This day in Lisa-Universe in: 2001

two pints of lager and a packet of crisps

Dear Internet,
Randomly discovered today this week is Mental Health Awareness Week. I’m not sure if I had found out sooner if I would have done something to celebrate, you know, other than going off of Lithium. So we’ll just chalk it up to it’s the thought that counts.
Hello there.
I’m coming down from my last dosage of Lithium and the last few weeks have been kind of an emotional nightmare. Keeping it all together has been much more exhausting than I would have figured and I’m attempting to save all of my energy when I head to California at the end of the month for Internet Librarian conference, of which I’m on a panel. Professional development for the fucking win! The cost of the trip is bordering on staggering as flights are more expensive (GRR is a large but not really airport. Monterey is the same.) then if I had flown out of a metro area. The conference and pre-conference times start from the weekend until the middle of the week, which jacks the flight price higher. So then, of course, I have to have more days at the hotel (5 nights, 6 days). Now I’m whinging about money and time, which wasn’t my intent.
I just hope I’m somewhat back to normal by then. By back to normal I mean not what I’m feeling right now.
At first the way I would describe myself is sharp, like a knife. Anything coming close to me will get poked. My physical boundary space is highly protected. I shut down how I feel emotionally, about anything really, unless provoked. Being provoked could range from someone outwardly doing something to me to someone annoying me enough in some capacity I snap and give them a what for. Or, more often then not, I’ll just choose to ignore them. It’s much easier online, and as expected, in person is much more difficult.
As one would expect, it’s quite lonely here.
Some days I grasp at the straws of which I proclaim, silently mostly, I AM Lisa Motherfucking Rabey! I have done great things! Before turning into a sobbing mess a few minutes later. Those brief seconds are the sign I know not is all but over. I’ll keep taking those flashes, no matter how minute.
One of the small steps I did to help with, well, everything was getting rid of using our bedroom (and bed) as my personal office space. The tired laptop hobbling along I’ve been using as my desktop has finally bit the dust and I just decided to dock my Air.  Moving all of my electronics out and also forcing me to sit up and use a desk should start the mental separation of tranquility and solace (bedroom) and pew pew of the digital world (physical office).
I should move my DS3 as well but you never know when you have to check turnip prices in Animal Crossing.
x0x0,
Lisa
 

This day in Lisa-Universe in:

about last night…

Inspiration on how the paper should have been written came to me as I. was. driving. to. class. buh. hah.
Matt showed up at 3pm on the dot, we covered exam material (again) and I typed up his paper (at five bucks a page man!) I edited the shit out of his paper because he repeated himself with quotes galore, more than he needed need to. When I mean quotes I mean like a full TYPED page for a quote. Thanks to kethryvis, I learned the beauty of spacing, margins, fonts and leading. She is da bomb shiz.
Matt and I had planned on getting to AQ at about 5pm, hah! We left at 6pm and got to school with ten minutes to spare before exams.
I ROCKED that exam! I’m emailing Nazi prof on Monday to find out my exam grade. Wooo. The final essay question was in the form of a theological quote which essentially said what is deeper: the depth of spirit or the depth of god. I said depth of god. Re-reading what I wrote over before I turned it in, I sounded like I was xtian 😮 heh. Oh well.
I met the gang on the front stoop at school and we headed over to Bombay Cusine for fud. mmmmm. Got mine spicey level of 9 out of 10 and the chefs went to town. Had to add a little yogurt sauce there, you know, I am a white girl after all. Will go with an 8 next time. Though I have left overs in the fridge. mmmm.
Sucked down a few black and tans and Paul and I were the only ones who wanted to go to Mulligans for after dinner drinks and pool, everyone else was “i’m tired.” etc. His wife I wanted to beat with a platform flipflop. She got all preachy about how I was an atheist (which is NOT true) and she is one of those people who get penny pinching about dinner bills. I kept stealing glances at Matt during dinner because I don’t get it! She was so fundie and everything Paul liked, she didn’t. And the whole penny pinching at the dinner table really irked me well. I had thrown in the 40 bucks matt gave me for typing his paper to pay for my share. I had no idea what my share was but then Amy brought out a checkboo! Ugh, it was terrible.
As we walked outside, Matt stole up to me and said if we were going to ask Paul out again, and I doubt that we will. The wifey made it clear that she is not having him have female friends. Very clear. Ugh, whatever sister. Amy wanted me to call her for drinks (so what, that you can bring your checkbook??) and Matt and I are already going out this week.
Then I nearly got into a car crash as some hippie fucker pulled out in front of me, running a red light. Cheeky monkey. Came home, played Animal Crossing for a few hours, to unwind and now it’s back to the grind as I finish my week o’hell out.
I was in bed by midnight, which is RARE!

Lily and Wednesday, circa 2003.
Lily and Wednesday, circa 2003.