SOTD

Fly Free by Fifty Foot Hose

Excuse the video's quality- I couldn't find any other versions online except for this one.

This song is just too good not to share.

House Plans #1 - "Underground Delight"

This summer I will be sharing some of my favorite house plans that I've found around the web starting with one of my favorites - The Underground Delight.

From the website - "This three bedroom, underground masterpiece is designed to fight the high cost of living through its many energy-saving features, including the use of passive solar energy. The large master bedroom on one end shows an abundance of closets. Each of the three bedrooms has sliding glass doors to the front lawn. Also featured in this area is a multi-purpose room, easily converted to individual use, graciously separated from the entry by ornately carved wood room dividers. This calls for 2 baths, one delightfully designed with a whirlpool. The family room opens to a greenhouse via sliding glass doors. A two-car garage completes this home."

Reasons I love this house -

There seems to be a perfect fusion of modern and natural elements. It's as if the earth is eating the house, reclaiming the space for nature. It reminds me of the ending of Planet of The Apes.

I love the way the bedrooms open outside. The cat and dog would go crazy with that many glass doors and they would probably want to be let in and out all day long. I would want a nice patio running the length of the front with tons of big square planters between each set of sliding doors. The greenhouse is fabulous. I would finally have a place to keep all the plants I want to grow.

Plus I think it's awesome that the designer of the house refers to the mud room as the air-lock. We refer to our mudroom as the air-lock as well. Whenever our cat wants to be "spaced" we have to throw her out the "air-lock".

What I would change-

I would turn the first bedroom into an office/craft room and the sewing room would be the gaming room. I would get rid of the closets in the master bedroom and add a door from the bathroom to make it en-suite. The family room would probably be used as the formal dining area. Two garages is one too many, since I don't drive anymore. I plan to ditch my old broken car for a nice light blue Vespa once we move someplace warmer. An extra wide one car garage would do just fine.

I would also plant a field of sunflowers on top! Too much? Yeah I thought so too. Scratch the sunflowers. I'll add Don Featherstone Pink Flamingos instead.

May Game Madness

This month so many great games are coming, and I'm already behind since I still haven't picked up a copy of Portal 2. Valve didn't offer anything I wanted with the pre-order and the PSN has been down all week so it didn't seem all that dire.

Now I shall list every game coming this month that I want to play -

Fable 3, L.A. Noire and The Witcher 2 are all coming out on the 17th. That week is going to hit our budget hard because I plan to go on an all out RPG binge. It may even rival the week Burning Crusade came out and we all rushed Outlands, downing energy drinks and eating artificially flavored snacks. I am so glad I beat my World of Warcraft addiction.

Then, if I am not in a caffeine burned out coma by the 24th, I'm planning to play F.E.A.R. 3. I loved the first F.E.A.R. game, the second one was meh, but I'm hoping the third rocks.

Then on the 27th Dungeon Siege III is coming out. I haven't played a top down RPG since NwN but the local two player mode is very appealing to me.

Then in June Alice: Madness Returns comes out. One of my favorite games when I was younger was American McGee's Alice. I played the whole thing through about 4 times and thought it was really creepy and artistic. When they announced the American McGee Oz game and released some of the art for it, I was super super excited. When that project was shelved I have to admit I might have shed a few tears.

American McGee is such a huge part of gaming history, with his work at id on Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake. Those are the games that made me the gamer that I am today. Playing those games was a huge defining moment in my life. Now that he's finally made a sequel to the Alice game, I hope it lives up to my expectations.

Then Infamous 2 comes out and I want to give that a play through as well.

All in all, I think this year in gaming will have a lot to keep me busy with until Elder Scrolls: Skyrim and Star Wars: Old Republic come out. I've been waiting for both since they were announced. People who have known me for a few years can attest to how many times I've mentioned SW:OR in the last four years.

Other games I am looking forward to - Twisted Metal, The Last Guardian, Rage, Max Payne 3, Uncharted 3 and Mass Effect 3! So many threes this year.

2011 - so many games and so little time!

Space Dogs!

I took pictures while K hung the shelves around our "A Flying Dog in Outer Space" canvas.

As I was taking photos of K, Iggy started to complain he wasn't having his picture taken. So I turned the camera on him and he posed for a few shots.

In the daylight

I picked up this little peeing cherub at a flea market last summer but I never found a use for him. Last night we found him while organizing the miscellaneous stuff in our craft room and decided to attach him to the lamp harp. Every time I look at him I can't help but laugh a little.

I think he was originally a stopper to a vinegar or salad dressing bottle.

We got the rest of our drilling and hanging done so we can now return the borrowed drill to my father in-law. The walls of our house are made of lath and plaster so we must always pre-drill holes before adding wall mounts, screws or nails. We learned the hard way that if you don't pre-drill, you get a nasty crack in your plaster.

I want to paint the drab off white of the living room, but I just don't have the time or money right now. I might have to settle by painting one accent wall this July.

Storage ampersand Organization equal Relief

Woot! In our house we have three bedrooms. One of these bedrooms I have claimed for my craft room. Just a few hours ago I would not have let anyone walk into my craft room, for fear they would think I'm some sort of hoarding slob who shoves all of their mess into one room and closes the door. In fact I was, and I had been ever since I was five years old. My mother used to tell me to clean my room but I would just shove everything under the bed, straighten the bed ruffle and call it good.

But now I have changed my ways! Organization! Order! Storage! I am no longer letting my craft room build up into a messy catch all. The sterilite shelves have been assembled and all of the mess that was piled into the closet and into boxes on the floor is now an organized! The whole mess was weighing heavy on my mind and causing what my husband calls "mental anguish".

Now that it is clean I can look forward to my summer of fun projects!

Marüshka Canvas

Things have been a little crazy around here. I'm thinking of starting a shop on etsy to sell some of my thrift finds. Once K is done with school, we are planning on leaving the state and we can't take everything with us. I used to sell thrift stuff on eBay and LiveJournal back in high school for extra income. It was a lot of fun, but I just haven't had the time to continue. Hopefully soon I can get it all set up.

Found this awesome Marüshka screen print canvas on Craigslist and I had to have it!

I had my husband pick it up from the guy selling it after work last week. I have the perfect place for it above the door in the living room. I'm absolutely in love with it!

If anyone has information on what this specific print is titled, please share.