Let's get creative!

I'm back! Summer is in full swing here and the temperatures are rising. I'm not a person that handles heat well so I live in shorts and tank tops in the summer unless I'm working or it's below 65, then I throw on a t-shirt. I don't like to wear the same tanks all the time and like to layer something light over them occasionally, so I change it up.

How do I change it up, you might ask? I either get another tank top that needs a layer under it (such as a sheer one or a baggy, low-cut one) or a take a pair of scissors to an old shirt.

I've been on Pinterest for a couple of years now and have seen many awesome ideas to spice up or change up a shirt, but hadn't actually tried any of the ideas that I had found for several months. I tried this one out first, but I didn't buy a large enough shirt so it was more of a crop top. My second one I just made a mess of. I didn't follow any pattern or direction and cut the neck line way too low. I've only ever worn it to sleep in because it came out that bad. My third one, I only cut slashes in the sides to open it up a little. The first three I made in the same day and tried another technique on them that I found in Pinterest.

I tried spray painting the shirts instead of tie dying them. The designs came out pretty cool, especially because I didn't use white shirts. Using spray paint is quicker and easier than using tie dye, but it definitely needs to be done outside or in another well ventilated area. I spread one shirt at a time out on newspaper on the deck at my mom's house, scrunched up the shirt in random places, and sprayed the paint. I was wearing gloves while doing this in case I touched the paint while it was still wet. Once that color was dry, I scrunched it up in other places and sprayed another color. I repeated the process until I was satisfied with the product. Spray paint can also be used to paint around a stencil. A shirt that has been spray painted can be washed and worn normally with minimal fading and the shirt is not stiff as it would be if fabric or craft paint was on it.

I made this tank for my best friend for her birthday last year and spray painted it as well. It was pretty simple and didn't require any sewing. The next shirt that I made was using this pattern, but I used fabric paint on it and it's very crazy looking. I have yet to wear it, but I probably should. That same day, I took the shirt that I got (for free!) at UMF's 2013 Spring Fling and hacked it up. Well, I didn't really hack it up. I cut up the sides, cut the hems off the sleeves, and widened up the neckline.

The next round of shirts I did a couple of weeks ago. The first one is a Beatles tee that I picked up at a local thrift store for $4 and started life looking like this:

and ended up like this:

 Pinterest led me to this tutorial on weaving a shirt and it looked easy enough. It is very easy. The only differences are that I didn't start cutting at the very top and go all the way to the bottom and I weaved another row into the back of the shirt. No the bottom layer is not attached, I just put a tank top on the hanger underneath the shirt so the pattern would be more visible.

I used this same concept on a different shirt, but I did it on the sides instead of the back. Here's the beginning (front and back):

and the ending (only one side because I didn't feel like taking a picture of the other side):

The third shirt that I cut started out life as a distressed men's shirt with Captain America's shield on it. I didn't follow a pattern with this one either. I just cut the neckline, the bottom hem, and the sleeves. Here's the end result:

I cut enough material so that the splits in the sides reach my waist. At least now I will feel super awesome while running and I can say "on your left" to anyone I encounter (sorry, that's a Captain America: The Winter Soldier reference). I wore this to a concert last week and someone had a mini freak out because they were wearing a Captain America shirt and someone else was too (me). Today I wore it running for the first time and I really liked wearing it except there was a bit of a breeze and it kept blowing my shirt over to the side.

I tie dyed some shirts too, but I don't feel like taking pictures of them right now because I'm not sure if I'm done with them yet or not.

Lately I've been working on a birthday present for my best friend. I've gotten a lot of work done on it over the last week because I'm on vacation until Wednesday and I can bring everything out into the living room or kitchen to work during the day. You see, we're roommates and she usually doesn't get back from work until shortly before 6 in the evening. Her birthday isn't until the 30th of this month so I have plenty of time to finish her gift. 

Yesterday I told her that I was using a hot glue gun and she started to get annoyed with me because she knew it was for her present and I wouldn't tell her what I was doing. If she had waited two more seconds for me to tell her that I managed to only get glue on myself three times she would have been impressed rather than annoyed (she did let me finish my tale after she expressed her annoyance and this is a feat for me because I have a tendency of accidentally hurting myself when I'm using something sharp or hot).

I also told her that she would need her phone and she gave me a very untrusting look. I should mention that I have a tendency to wrap presents and gifts in layers upon layers upon layers or tape (scotch, electrical, and duct), newspaper, wrapping paper, boxes, and gift bags. I also once gave her a sock monkey that our friend and I had glued yarn to in order for it to look like a clown (because she is afraid of sock monkeys and clowns). I had to pinky promise her that she would like it and it would not kill her (because that shit is legit).

Don'y worry folks, I will post her reaction to her gift after her birthday.

Stay shiny!

Change is coming...

...but not for a little while. At the end of May my lease is up and I'm not staying. The move is going to be ridiculously long...

Just kidding! I'm moving down the hall. I'm moving in with some friends (not the ones that I'm living with now) and we've been planning for months now. All of us are geeks/nerds/whatever term suits your fancy. We got this shower curtain for the bathroom.

We've also thought about making one or two of these this summer. I have a lot of movies (more than 100 DVDs alone) and am running out of place to store them. We also need more space to store food.

Back in January, we were looking at a bigger apartment that would suit 6 people and 2 cats. And we came up with this insane idea that we could turn the living room into a nerd cave. Nerd cave meaning we would hall all five of our game systems hooked up to its own tv and posters and movies everywhere. But we couldn't find a reasonably priced apartment that suited our needs so we ended up in two apartments in the same building, just down the hall from each other. We can still turn our apartments into nerd caves, but it won't be the same :(

My mom is also moving to a smaller house soon, so I have lots of cleaning and packing to do before the summer arrives. It's exciting, but sad at the same time. My mom is moving out of my childhood home, so it's exciting but bittersweet at the same time. When I say childhood home, I mean we moved in just before I turned 3 and I'm now 21.

Aside from all of the moving around, I plan on being more productive during the summer as well. I'm taking a geology class this summer, but the class is compacted into four weeks instead of the 14-15 weeks that classes normally run here at UMF. I can't be a procrastinator when this class starts, it just won't work.

Aside from work, my geology class, and moving I plan on reading an entire book series and at least part of another one and watch many television shows on Netflix. First I have one book to finish reading and four shows to catch up on. I also have to survive the rest of this semester.

Classes end May 9th with finals the following week. Luckily I have no final tests this semester, only final papers that are due sometime within finals week. Between now and then I have my day-to-day homework, a journal article review, a critical reaction paper, an analysis paper, a rough draft of one final, and the three final papers due as well as a show going up this weekend, a show that I'm helping with next weekend, work, and dance classes. I'm going to be busy until the middle of June so I may not be able to post for a while.

For now, stay shiny.

Hi again!

Today I shall talk my love for geeky and nerdy things. I will also add pictures of my TeeFury tshirt collection because I want to share it. I recently got a new Harry Potter/Doctor Who crossover shirt that I have yet to photograph so it lacks representation at the moment.

WARNING: THIS POST INCLUDES SPOILERS SO BE CAREFUL AND READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Harry Potter has been with me since 2000/2001. I can clearly remember my mom taking time to read to my brother and I every night before bed. When she brought home Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone from the library to read to us, I thought it would be just another book. I was so wrong. Even after my mom stopped reading to us every night, I continued to read the books. I watched all of the movies when they came out. My brother lost interest, but I didn't. Thirteen years later, I still try to read the books whenever I can and I watch the movies a lot. A lot. I think I may have all of the dialogue from all eight movies memorized at this point. I still find new things in the books and movies almost every time I read/watch them. This is just the tip of the iceberg that is my love for Harry Potter, I could go on forever. I do not wish to take up pages and pages about Harry Potter today, so I here is where I cut myself off. Hogwarts will always be my home <3

Star Wars has also been with me for a long time. My dad and brother love these movies and have watched them a thousand times. I must admit to being a bad Star Wars fan though because I have not seen all of the originals. Don't kill me or pelt me with rotten tomatoes! I plan on watching them, I just haven't yet. I can remember going to see Episode II: Attack of the Clones in theaters with my dad and brother. I can remember this so well because my dad kept trying to steal my Reeses' Cups. I can also remember being fascinated by the visual images added to enhance the film, most memorably the lightsabers. On that note, my best friend and I both have matching Anakin Skywalker lightsabers (I got mine on Halloween and she got hers for Christmas that same year) because they are awesome.

Star Trek has recently come back into my life. My dad is a Trekkie and used to watch it all the time, subsequently I watched it all the time when I was little. I used to say that I hated it, but now I can appreciate the creativeness and general awesomeness of the storyline. I haven't actively been watching it, but I have seen some of Next Generation and Deep Space 9 lately. In fact I may have been peeking a couple of weeks ago at an episode of Next Gen titled "Future Imperfect." I won't go into details as to the story, but at one point Commander Riker tells Jordy "you're incapable of that level of incompetence." He used a fancy way to say "you're too smart for that" and it struck me as hilarious. Then there is the original series with William Shatner's over-acting and the tribbles. I've always wanted a tribble, or a bunch of them. They're cute. My dad got a stuffed one for Christmas one year and I think I liked it more than him because I kept squeezing it to engage the sound device. I know out of the Star Trek series, I have seen the most of Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. From my experiences with these three series, I can say that I both love and hate the Borg. It is like Cybermen of Doctor Who in the sense that it converts humans (and I'm assuming aliens alike) to be part of the Borg (Picard as part of the Borg is one of my strongest memories of watching Star Trek with my dad). And let's face it, Sir Patrick Stewart is awesome.

Disney. It's pretty self explanatory. Disney is awesome. Plain and simple. My favorite classic Disney movie has to be Alice in Wonderland. It is based on the Lewis Carroll books "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass." It does not stick to the books, but the visual effects and animation are great for their time. I do enjoy Disney in general, but there are some movies that I do not like as much as others. I grew up watching the classic Disney movies on VHS tapes, nowadays I want to watch them on DVD but it will cost me an arm and a leg to get the collection that I grew up with. Now that I live on my own and have rent to pay and food to buy so I don't starve, I can understand why my parents almost never bought my brother and I all of the Disney movies that came out. Disney has a bunch of really strict laws and I'm pretty sure there are a few in there that say one of their movies must not cost less than $20. $20 for a movie is not a bad price, but when you want a movie collection that includes all classic Disney movies and are a college student, you have to settle for buying one here and there or watching them online.

Doctor Who is a fantastic show that I started watching in the fall of 2012. I never considered myself to be a fan of sci-fi and fantasy until I became a Whovian. Some people may think that I have a fairly unhealthy obsession with the Doctor, but what do they know? They have never seen the amazingness that is the longest running science fiction show. I'll be the first to admit to not liking the first episode of the rebooted series. I strongly dislike the first episode, but I don't dislike it enough to hate it. I do however, hate mannequins. They just freak me out. For anyone who has not seen "Rose," the monsters/aliens/villains of the episode are autons who happen to take shape as mannequins in the shop where Rose works. But I gave the show a second chance and continued onwards to "The End of the World." And the rest is history... kind of. I love the Doctor and his zany ways. I love the repertoire that he has with his companions. His companions. Let's talk about them for a minute or two.

Nine (or really Ten for those of us who have seen the 50th and "The Night of the Doctor" and have read the articles clarifying whose incarnation has which number attached to them) and Rose were my first Doctor and companion so they will always have a special place in my heart, but I can't simply disregard all of the other incarnations of the Doctor and his many friends. As soon as Captain Jack was introduced, I was an immediate fan. Although he didn't appear too many times in Doctor Who,  Jack made enough of an impact that I had to watch Torchwood when I was finished with Doctor Who. I'll get into Torchwood later though. Martha has never been one of my favorites, but in her defense, Ten (Eleven/Twelve) was still moping from Rose's departure. Donna was too sassy to not like. She kept the Doctor in line most of the time and she was ginger. Amy and Rory and River will always be Eleven's (Thirteen's) companions in my mind. They were a family (literally and figuratively). I'm not discounting Clara by any means, by Amy and Rory were with the Doctor for two full seasons and a half a season (although Amy was in Pompeii when Ten [Eleven/Twelve] was there with Donna [and Peter Capaldi way before he was cast as Matt Smith's successor]). The title of my favorite companion goes to two characters: Rose and Clara. Rose was my first companion and her relationship with the Doctor was ready to take that next step, I swear, but someone decided that Rose had to go. She may have been whiny at times, but she indulged the Doctor in his desire help anyone and anything that needed it. Clara was the one who got the Eleven (Thirteen) to stop moping and being all broody after Amy and Rory died. She brought him back to life and she is as quick as a whip to boot.

The Doctor. *sigh* he does not compare to anyone, real or fictional. I have seen very little of the classic series, so I do not feel comfortable saying who is my all time favorite incarnation. But my favorite of the new series is Ten (Eleven/Twelve). David Tennant. *sigh*Not that I hate any other incarnation, but Eight (Nine) is my second favorite if I include the movie. I love the silly, childish side that David Tennant and Matt Smith exhibit, but I love his dark side even more. Eleven's (Thirteen's) dark side when he has been partially cyberized in "The Nightmare in Silver" is phenomenal in my opinion. He was trying to push the dark part aside and win the chess match that he was playing with himself and keep everyone safe. In general, the Doctor is so clever and awesome that it almost hurts.

Have I mentioned that I tend to rant and ramble a lot? No? Well, here's the proof.

Torchwood is a Doctor Who spin-off that lasted just a few years (well anything only lasts a few years compared to the 50 years of Doctor Who) and featured Captain Jack as the main character. As one of my favorite characters from Doctor Who, I had to watch Torchwood for Captain Jack (Barrowman!). It ended up being a pretty good show. Now that I think about it, Torchwood is the BBC's answer to Angel (Buffy the Vampire spin-off). Russell T. Davies revived Doctor Who in 2005 and created Torchwood shortly thereafter. I linked his Wikipedia page because I was reading it and started to fangirl... a lot. Turns out Davies borrowed the idea of series (or season) long story arcs from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and asked J.K. Rowling to write for Doctor who, but she declined. Anyways, Captain Jack. That is the only thing left I can really say about Torchwood. Oh, besides the fact that James Marsters guest stars in a couple of episodes as Captain John (who just might have a thing for Captain Jack).

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is fairly new to my repertoire of favorite shows and fandoms, but that doesn't mean I like it less. I watched almost the entire series in the summer of 2013 (splitting my free time between this and NCIS). My middle school best friend was obsessed with the show and made me watch a few episodes with her back in 2005-2006ish (my concept of time back then is really bad) and I hated it then because I couldn't understand the hype about vampires and demons and killing them. Now I know the hype. Many of my current friends have watched the show and kept telling me "you need to watch it, you need to watch it." I decided one day to give it a try and I liked it. I wanted to watch all seven seasons before I told anyone and then surprise everyone with my knowledge of the show, but it didn't happen that way. I was watching it one day in the living room and my roommate came home from work, scaring me. I didn't have time to close out of Netflix before she saw it and laughed. I got four and a half seasons under my belt before she caught me. The great storyline, character development, plot, and theme come together to make a fantastic show. And I love the actors, leading me to watch some other shows and movies which they appear in. As far as characters go, Cordelia is my favorite, hands down. I'll delve into my reasoning for that when I talk about Angel. I hated Spike from the beginning, but *spoilers* (still can't read or hear that word without River Song popping into my head) I loved him in the end when he sacrificed himself to save Buffy and everyone else.

Angel is currently in-progress as I haven't sat down to really watch it for a while. I am currently in the middle of the entire show (mid season 3). My favorite characters are Cordy (still) and Lorne. The dynamic of the show has changed so much since series pilot episode that it is almost hard to believe it is the same show with the same characters. I have suffered from the feels more times than I can count watching Buffy and half of Angel so far, but I know I will no longer have feels after I finish Angel because Joss Whedon. If you are not familiar with Joss Whedon's work, you should be. He produced/directed/wrote/was a part of the making of The Avengers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Serenity, Dollhouse, Cabin in the Woods, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Toy Story, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and most recently Much Ado About Nothing. Within the last year and a half, I have discovered that I love supernatural shows and movies and Angel is the epitome of (almost) all things supernatural. Not only that, but the cast is full of fantastic actors including some that are in some of my other favorite shows such as David Boreanaz (Buffy, Angel, Bones) and Alexis Denisof (Buffy, Angel, How I Met Your Mother). For some reason, I seem to be attracted to shows that feature characters that are centuries old, but I have no qualms about it. I love Angel almost as much as I love Buffy, but I could never say that I love for former more because I watched the latter first.

Firefly and Serenity are two of Joss Whedon's works that are very new to my fandom collection. I watched the entire show in less than two days time, which is not that hard when the show is only 14 episodes (and one movie) long. I stand withe Dr. Sheldon Cooper when he says Firefly should have lasted longer. I blame whoever decided to air the episodes out of order and confuse viewers. Before I go into a rant about that, I never thought I would like the show. I had tried to watch it once, but it didn't capture my attention. I gave it another try (or maybe I should say that I gave into peer pressure once again) and ended up liking it a lot. As I type this section, I am wearing a Serenity shirt (the first one). I am having a hard time choosing a favorite character because they are all so good. In a way, Kaylee reminds me of Fred from Angel. It's hard to describe, but I think it's because they both seem simple and none too bright at first, but then the opposite is revealed. When we first meet them, they are not girly, don't seem very smart, and have a southern accent. Later on it is revealed that they enjoy getting all dressed up, are very smart, and far from simple.

How I Met Your Mother. How do I describe this show? Legen-I-hope-you're-not-lactose-intolerant-because-the-next-word-is-dary. And Neil Patrick Harris. The show follows five people in New York City and how one guy met his wife, as told in stories and tales from the much older version of this guy. His name is Ted and I guess you could say that the show follows Ted's eight year long quest to find his wife. The star-studded cast includes NPH as Barney Stinson, Jason Segel as Marshall Eriksen, and Alyson Hannigan as Lily Aldrin. It's a comedy that is absolutely insane, hilarious, and legendary all at the same time. The title of my favorite character from the show has to go to Lily, because she is the voice of reason almost all of the time and she is the person that everyone else goes to for advice. She is also a teacher, which is what I am studying to become. I didn't get into HIMYM until several years after it first aired. At this moment in time, I have watched every single episode (thank you Netflix!) that has aired. But with only half a season of the show left, I am getting sad that Ted is that much closer to meeting the mother. To be fair, there is only so far that each character can go before their storyline just does not make sense anymore and is irrelevant to the broader storyline of the show. Plus, Ted has all but given up and he never gives up. I usually watch drama and sci-fi shows, so HIMYM is a nice break among all the death in the other shows.

The Big Bang Theory about the only other comedy show that I actively watch. I have not watched all of the episodes, not even close, but it is still a great show. All of the male main characters are nerds and I love it! They are constantly talking about Star Trek, Doctor Who, Firefly, super heroes, other time traveling shows/movies/books, Harry Potter, and science. The show is full of nerdy humor and cheesy pick-up lines from Howard. How else can I describe it?

Bones is fairly recent as well, but I quickly fell in love with the show. It stars Emily Deschanel (sister of Zoey Deschanel) and David Boreanaz (Buffy and Angel) as the main characters Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan and Special Agent Seeley Booth. It's a crime show, which I am no stranger to, and also a definite drama. I used to watch CSI and Law and Order: SVU with my parents all the time, but now I usually stick to Bones and NCIS for my daily dose of crime. The first couple of episodes of the show are really tense because no one knows exactly how to act around everyone else and who is the boss of who is on sketchy grounds too. It is obvious from the start that Booth and Bones want to be something other than partners, but Booth has made a metaphorical line (between partnership and something more) that they cannot cross for they will never return. Thankfully, Booth says to hell with the line and season five, however Bones is not ready to return his sentiment at that moment in time. It isn't until they spent the better part of a year on opposite sides of the world and he brings a girlfriend back home, that she realizes her horrible mistake. Literally. She confesses her feelings to him when he has a girlfriend and he tells her that he would never cheat, so they can't. He conveniently leaves out the fact that he still wants to be with her. At the end of season seven, they finally get together (hallelujah!). Although later, they encounter the evil b@$^@*# Pelant who wants to keep them apart and have Bones to himself. I have many, many bad things to say about Pelant, but I shall refrain from saying them because they are not nice at all. I love the show, but it is very easy for me to predict what is going to happen next. Not that I mind, because I love spoilers (it drives my friends nuts).

NCIS is an old favorite of mine. I used to watch JAG with my parents when I was little before they created NCIS as a spin-off show. It's been a long time, so I don't really remember what happened in JAG, but I will watch it eventually. NCIS will always hold another special place in my heart because I watched it with my family for years. I have since come to own the first eight seasons and have watched every episode of those eight seasons. It is very difficult to have a favorite character for everybody is fantastic. I love Abby for Gibbs for his fatherly essence, Tony for his sarcasm and wittiness, Kate for her ability to put up with Tony, McGee for being sweet McGee, Abby for her bubbly personality, Ziva for her tenacity and fearless nature, Ducky for his stories to go with everything, and Palmer for being the underdog. How can a person not love NCIS after watching it? I believe it to be simply impossible.

Grey's Anatomy has been one of my favorite shows for years. I started watching it in the very beginning, but stopped watching it for a couple of years. I started watching it again around the time I graduated high school and have stuck with it since. I love the show, but I will be the first to admit the dynamic of the entire show has changed so much from the very first episode. Now well into it's tenth season, there is not much further they can take the show without completely throwing out the original premise. Sure, the five interns that started the show are no longer interns (one died, another left, and the remaining three are attending surgeons). Meredith and Alex have come a long way from the timid interns in 2005 while Christina is still the intimidating surgeon she was in 2005. Sure there are some aspects of the show that can be followed, but the show as a whole does not have much more I'm afraid. I cannot imagine my life with out Grey's, but I know it will come to an end sooner rather than later. 

Stay shiny.

Oh hello, I didn't see you standing there.

I suppose I should introduce myself. Hi, I'm Lauren! I'm very excitable at this moment so please bear with me. Like many college students do when they have free time, I took a nap today. Although I was curled up in an awkward ball in the living room chair, it was nice to sleep for a little while.

Let me back up a few steps. I'm a Secondary Education student at the University of Maine at Farmington with a concentration in social studies and a focus in history. I don't live on campus. I never have. I also work and take dance classes on top of going to school full time so the free time I had to nap this afternoon was rare.

I'm in a class known as practicum. Most students either groan or nod their heads in understanding when the "p" word is uttered. For education majors, practicum is a 12 credit block of classes that is a combination of classroom learning and field experience. It is a lot of work. Half of the semester is spent in a local middle or high school teaching and gaining field experience while the other half is spent in the classrooms learning about how to plan classes, write lesson plans, integrating technology into classrooms, and manage the classes. Even though practicum students are only in the classroom for half of the semester, the amount of work is the same, but it is compacted into a very short amount of time. It is a fantastic journey, but a very tiring one.


Working also takes a lot out of me. While I was in the classroom, my manager was good enough to schedule me to work mainly on the weekends so I had the week to do my homework. When working 20 hours a week, that usually means a long shift or two. By long shift I mean 8-10 hours. I'm used to working 10 hour shifts, they don't bother me. But when I'm running on a few hours of sleep and have a crap-ton of homework for Monday, then it's going to bother me. Or working when I've had little sleep, that's fun too.

As I type this, I realize that it's quite negative and I titled this blog "A Sunny Disposition." Whoops. I usually have a positive outlook on life. Like over the summer when my roommate brought home a kitty. We had been talking about getting a pet for a while and one morning I got a picture from her of this incredibly cute kitten that was a stray and wouldn't leave her alone. We decided to give him a home and he was very happy about that. He may be a pain in the butt because he loves to shred cardboard boxes and paper, but he's still our Demitri.

This is Demitri Sheldon Hobbs. He forgets how to cat sometimes.

Demitri loves to cuddle and run around. We often find him laying in weird positions and/or in weird spots. Like the other day when he shoved his head between the cushion and the back of the couch while he was sleeping. Or the time I got back from grocery shopping and he hopped into the reusable shopping bag once it was emptied. He's our special goober kitty.

We have only had Demitri for four months and I already have so many stories about him that I just have to share because they are cute, funny, or they make me shake my head. I've told so many in class that my classmate probably know as much about him as how to integrate technology into a classroom.

Well I need sleep, so I'm going to bed now. Stay shiny.