I decided to do steampunk for my costume again this year.

https://youtu.be/F5xWHjO0SQE

Before today, I had never seen the Weinermobile in person. Even better than the Matchbox version!

Just a tussle and a kiss.

https://youtu.be/4Y4NgaOpg7E

Today I realized why facial masks work.

When you’re feeling like you hate your face and you want to pinch all the pimples that aren’t even there, you can put on a mask. The mask takes about 30 minutes to dry. During that time you can’t touch your face. You can’t gouge out something that isn’t there. You have to wait.

Facial masks are just a thirty-minute time period where you can’t self harm.

My game entered a whole new level of crazy with the Halloween Fishing Tournament. We are fishing for candy fish.

I feel like this should be the moment when it just breaks the suspension of disbelief and I can’t play anymore, but it isn’t. I’m perfectly willing to fish for fish that look like candy.

I may be truly mad.

I have really enjoyed the latest version of Animal Crossing. We just finished up a big Halloween event, so my campsite is all decorated.

09-01-18: I made these slippers for Stacey Vest. They’ll be great for when it gets colder.

BTW, these are MY cankles. They looked WAY better on her. 😂

08-26-18: Morning walk around Daybreak before I head back home to STG.

08-25-18:

08-13-18: First day of 11th grade for this kid! I’m so proud of him, from his multiple 4.0 report cards to his tenacious work ethic! Good job, kid! I am so proud of the man you are becoming! ❤️💕

08-12-18: We have had this Ikea chest thing (Hol) sitting in its original box for about ten years. I finally put it together yesterday and sawed out holes so it can hold our water hose for the front yard.

08-10-18: Crocheted clothes hanger for the camper. I used this pattern: https://youtu.be/OVOyQJ7w660

Just bought a 1977 Nomad 18 foot camper! So excited!

Sean Moncur finally got his learners permit! I’m so proud of him!

I am so excited about about this movie!

Sean saw it with friends last week and I’m so jealous! I am going to drag that boy back and we’ll watch it together!

Sean and his friends recently discovered the legends about beings that can be summoned by saying incantations in the bathroom mirror. This list surprised me that there were so many.

• 5 Malevolent Entities You Could Summon But Probably Shouldn’t

I tried to ally their fears about Bloody Mary by going into the bathroom without lights and a candle and saying her name the requisite number of times, but it just scared them so much that they wouldn’t let me say the last one. I remember being that scared when I was a kid and I kind of miss it.

This video collection from Top5 was pretty creepy:

The most interesting one is the Webdriver Torso story. I do believe that it’s something that Google uses to test YouTube in some manner, but it is very interesting. Why would they post it? I love fun mysteries like these!

WIL WHEATON posted this animated GIF on his Tumblr a long time ago and I saved it for the season!

Happy Halloween, my friends!

This is a really good tutorial showing you how to make it appear as if you have a reattached hand.

The technique is so good that it is gruesome.

If you are planning a scary costume this year, this technique is a great idea.

Via: She Wraps A Coil Of Wax Around Her Wrist — What She Turns It Into? This Is CHILLING…

I absolutely adore these Paranormal Pretzels from FamilyFun Magazine

These Alien Pretzels from Butter with a Side of Bread look awesome, too:

I am not bringing these to the Halloween party, but I REALLY want to eat them. Will one of you guys bring them to the party?! I promise to vote for you for the Best Potluck Dish.

This costume that makes it look like you are on a real hoverboard is AWESOME!

Of course, it only looks good from one angle and only if you’re standing in front of a black screen.

Via: Your Halloween Costume Next Year Should Be This Great Hoverboard Getup

I found this video clip on YouTube called, The Great Martian War. It was obviously faked, but it looked so good that it confused me.

The only description was this:

On its 100th anniversary, The Great Martian War tells the story of the catastrophic events and unimaginable horrors of 1913-17, when Humankind was pitted against a savage Alien invasion.

It had the feel of a hundred year old film, but something about the way the Martians moved seemed unreal. It was touted as original and I just HAD to know what was going on with this example of creepiness. I found a link to The History Channel, but it still acted as if it were a real thing…

• The History Channel – The Great Martian War 1913–1917

With powerful and detailed First World War parallels, The Great Martian War fuses sci-fi fantasy with specialist factual history to explore the real-world tragedies and unique horror of World War One.

I wasn’t entirely sure it was fiction until I found the Wikipedia entry about it.

• Wikipedia: The Great Martian War 1913–1917

The Great Martian War 1913–1917 is a 2013 Canadian/UK made-for-television science fiction film docudrama, produced by Michael Kot, Steve Maher, and Mike Slee, and also directed by Mike Slee, that unfolds in the style of an episode from the History TV Channel.

It’s a fun movie to watch in a War of the Worlds kind of way. I almost fell for it, War of the Worlds style, but thankfully, Google saved the day.

I’m not one for carving pumpkins, but if you are, here are a ton of cool pumpkin stencils.

• Free Pumpkin Stencils | POPSUGAR Tech

Personally, I prefer those plastic pumpkins that never get gross and rotted, but that’s just me. It seems that pumpkin carving is still a fun Halloween activity that people seem to love. It’s one of the rare Halloween traditions that I don’t really care for…

Pop Sugar has a great collection of costumes for women:

• Creative Halloween Costumes For Women | POPSUGAR Tech

I particularly liked Katy Perry dressed up and Jane from the cartoon, Daria:

I liked this costume for sadness

I always love to see creative costumes for girls that don’t involve princesses or perfect people. Girls can be anti-heroes, too.

I laughed out loud when I saw this:

It reads:

If someone tells you it’s too early to be posting about Halloween, stop talking to them. You don’t need that kind of negativity in your life.

This is ALWAYS true. Even if it’s July… or November…

My sentiments exactly!

As always, this is my favorite time of the year. I save all my haunted and costume related costumes all year long for this very month!

I know I have done it TWICE in the last twenty years, but I’m going as Uhura from the original Star Trek series for Halloween this year. I just need to find one of these things…

The last two times I dressed up as Uhura, I couldn’t find one and felt like my costume was seriously lacking because of it. How can I be as awesome as Uhura without her little earpiece communicator?!

I’m still looking and I hope to find something or make something before the BIG day!!

Whatever your Halloween plans are, I hope they are delightful!!

It’s time for me to watch View From The Top again. I saw this quote from it and it reminded me of how great the movie is.

Did I ever tell you about a nasty habit that flight attendants pick up on the job? We learn to always keep smiling, even when we’re out of Bloody Mary Mix.

• Eric Wald

If you have never seen the movie, it is worth the watch. Here is the trailer for it:

This trailer makes it look like a goofy Mike Meyers movie, but it’s a charming and inspiring movie that always makes me feel better when I see it.

This LITERALLY happens every day in my house. I usually can’t get to my phone quickly enough to capture it, but today, I was lucky. Nina had approached Lucy to get a cleaning while Elvis calmly watched.

This cuteness happens so often in my house that I’ve become blind to it. Then I will have people over to visit and they will see it and just ooh and ahh over how adorable our pets are together. I guess I’m just lucky!

Today marks the twenty-fifth wedding anniversary for Mike and me. I have seen MANY Pinterest boards devoted to wedding dresses, decorations and food. Twenty-five years after the fact, I have a little advice about your wedding.

1. After 25 years, your wedding dress won’t matter. The likeliness of you wearing it again, it fitting your daughter, you even HAVING a daughter is so slim that it will just sit in a box, taking up space or you’ll use it for some ghastly craft project. Choose something cheap. Rented is even better.

2. The photos (and video) of your grandmother will be more precious than the photos of you and your spouse. Make sure the photographer takes NUMEROUS pictures of your parents and grandparents on both sides.

3. No one will remember the center pieces unless they are ugly or weird.

4. No one will remember the venue unless it is difficult to find or so exclusive that your guests have to jockey through security to get to the ceremony.

5. No one will remember the food or the cake unless it gives everyone food poisoning.

6. Plan to wear flats and have your dress hemmed for flats. If you wear heels, you’ll kick them off three hours into the reception and you’ll be tripping on your dress. Don’t forget to break in those shoes BEFORE the wedding. You don’t want blisters when you are standing for eight hours straight, welcoming guests and trying to dance.

7. Make sure the rented flower arch doesn’t have any silly ribbons or flowers hanging too low. Otherwise, all your pictures under it will have something in the way of loved one’s faces (like mine did).

8. Make sure there are enough seats. Chairs are more important than a dance floor.

9. Even at an outdoor wedding, make sure the food is inside to prevent bee attacks and fly swarms.

10. Watch placement of the podium at the bridal ceremony at an outside wedding so the pastor doesn’t get sunburned.

11. Send thank you cards. Save the addresses and send Christmas cards every year. This is how you find out who moved or died. That information will give you far more familial power than you ever desired.

I’ve seen the bridal industry get so bloated and overblown over the last twenty-five years that it disgusts me. Don’t spend so much time and money on your wedding. There is a whole life ahead of you aside from “your day.”

I have been coloring for fun for years now. It seems that there has been an explosion in adult coloring books, which I have enjoyed. Here are a few that are really nice.

• Adult Coloring Book: Stress Relieving Patterns
• Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Coloring Book
• Color Me Calm: 100 Coloring Templates for Meditation and Relaxation
• Coloring Books for Grownup: Celtic Mandala Coloring Pages

I’ve used Prismacolor colored pencils for my coloring, but the huge box, as awesome as it is, is unwieldy and bulky.

Plus, they NEVER look as good as they do in this photograph. The minute you start using them, you have to sharpen them. And then some of them are longer than others. And the whole thing becomes too much for my mind wishing for Zen can handle.

So, two days ago, I bought some Crayola Twistables Colored Pencils.

They are ALWAYS the same size because you just twist up when you need more color. The coverage is as good as Prismacolor. There are only 30 colors instead of 72, but I’m getting so blind that I really can hardly tell the colors apart anymore. You could probably hand me a 8 count box of crayons and that would be enough for me.

I didn’t like the box because I could tell it was going to be ripped and broken in no time, plus I couldn’t see the colors easily, so I made a pencil case out of some scrap material I had hanging around.

I didn’t use a pattern, I looked up pencil roll pattern on Google and found tons of pictures. After looking at all the pictures online, I just made mine based on what I saw.

The top material folds over the pencils so they don’t fall out of the case when they’re rolled up. The roll is very thick when rolled, however.

It might be bulky, but not nearly as bulky as the Prismacolor box. Plus, I have dropped those stupid pencil trays so many times that I just cringe seeing them now.

One thing I don’t like is that the Twistables don’t have the color labeled on the pencils. I have to go by the plastic color of the pencil and it doesn’t really match the colored pencil lead. So, I took the names for the colors off the back of the Crayola box and printed up a Excel spreadsheet with the names on paper. Then, I colored the boxes with the actual pencils and taped the labels onto the pencils with invisible tape. You can see how they look in the detail from the pencil roll photo.

If you want to do the same thing, you can download this Excel Spreadsheet and print it up.

• Labels for Crayola Twistable Colored Pencils 30 count

Now, I can color without worrying about pencils that want to spill and pencils that are shorter than the others. It’s portable now, so I can take it with me on vacation and enjoy it. I hope this idea helps you with your coloring enjoyment as well!

I saw this motivational poster on Holistic Cave and I need to read it every day.

It reads:

The best way to gain confidence is to do something you’re terrified of doing.

Right now, I’m working on a new trailer project. I have been so scared of doing it wrong or ruining it that I have procrastinated working on it for two months. Understandably, it’s in pretty sad shape.

It’s from that era when the canvas was made out of tissue paper, or so it would seem by the way it has disintegrated.

The shape of the canvas isn’t an issue because I’m planning on making a canned ham style of camper out of it. The interior is good, so I was VERY happy to get this camper for only $200 despite the shape of the canvas.

The only problem is that I’m scared. The other two trailer projects I worked on didn’t require that I build anything. I have a pretty good eye for these things and I think it will be epic if I can just get up the confidence to do it. The thing is, I can’t wait for the confidence. The only way the confidence will come is if I just do it.

I had NO idea that Riker sat down so weird! Here is a super cut of all the times he sat down in that weird way.

The Next Generation was a pivotal television series for me. I loved it and I wanted it to last forever. Even now, seeing these scenes makes me want to watch the whole series all over again (minus the first season, of course).

I saw this nearly perfect Geo Tracker. I see a lot of these here in town, but this one looks like it’s new. Enjoy!

A trip to the grocery store today brought another beauty.

I moved to St. George a little over a year ago. I didn’t tell a ton of people about it and I didn’t announce it here. Mostly, we wanted to be closer to Mike’s parents, who moved down here. My mom and Reed also spend a lot of time down here, so we get to see them often.

St. George is to Salt Lake City as Florida is to New York. All true Utahns end up retiring and moving down here to warmer climates, no snow shoveling and we still get to be Utahns. We just came down here twenty years too early.

After a year here, it’s not that different than living Up North. We don’t have a Noodles and Company or a Forever 21, but then again, it only takes five minutes to drive anywhere. I used to plan 30-45 minutes to drive anywhere in the Salt Lake Valley. Now, I only plan for trips to take 15 minutes. It used to take me that long to drive from Daybreak to the freeway (on a good day).

The primary difference between St. George and Salt Lake City is this: In St. George, every day’s a car show. Not a day goes by when I don’t see some gorgeous and rare old car. LITERALLY. The only way I can avoid seeing cool old cars is by staying in my house. Even if I walk around my neighborhood, I will see a cool old car because we have SEVERAL enthusiasts right near our home.

This is what we saw casually parked at the sports bar last week.

For over a year, Mike and I have been pondering the phenomenon for a year now and the best we can come up with is water. Because we have little snow on the roads and water in the air, the cars don’t rust out as quickly here. Plus, when it only takes five minutes to drive all the way across town, you don’t rack up a lot of miles on your baby.

In the end, I really miss my friends and family who stayed Up North, but I’m staying down here. 110 degree heat is nothing compared to six inches of snow overnight. Lack of noodles and fashionable clothes is nothing compared to crowded roads and the crush of too many people. We love it down here and we are staying. Plus, who can say no to a daily car show?

Mike and I have moved many times in our lives. We’ve lived in a total of six places in the Salt Lake Valley in our twenty-five years of marriage. Every once and a while, I get the urge to drive past those old homes where we used to live. Sometimes I look at old pictures I’ve taken when we lived there. We sit in the car and notice the differences in the exterior or yard and I think,

I used to live here.

The same is true for the Internet. I have lived in many places on the Internet, even as far back as the old BBSs. But unlike the old houses, so many of those places I can’t visit anymore. My favorite BBS was the one Mike and I ran back in the early 90s and I can’t go there to talk anymore. Sure, we have all the old data from the BBS on a floppy disk, rotting in the garage. Even if we could fire up that old Atari ST, I doubt we could bring that beast of a BBS back to life. And that makes me sad because I can’t go back there and say,

I used to live here.

There was a DDR forum that I used to visit every single day. When I was at work, wishing I could play DDR, I would log on and talk about the game there. It was called DDR Freak and it’s still there, just like my old apartment on 600 East, it sits there, alone. The last post I’ve seen logged was in 2011. It has been almost four years since anyone said a word there, but

I used to live here.

Even this blog has been slowly abandoned. I’m spending more time on Facebook than I do writing here. It’s not that I really write on Facebook. I just scan the feed, liking things and commenting here and there. It was kind of like what I did on the DDR forum, except about a wide variety of subjects instead of just one video game. But this blog is like a home I own, but don’t live in anymore. A summer vacation spot with no vacations taken. A rental home that no one rents. Sometimes I show up, clean the comment spam out of the corners and shine the entries where old formatting no longer works. But, mostly I go there to say,

I used to live here.

Atari Telenet image via: ATARI BBS GATEWAY

I was talking to a friend last month about hair, about how I don’t dye my grays and how I cut it myself. She was telling me about her hair and why she dyes it regularly and the cut she chose. While we talked, I realized something. Both of us were talking about the same thing. We were both sharing our personal methods for the hair of least resistance. Both my friend and I were telling each other about the easiest way to make our own hair look good.

I didn’t always search for the hair of least resistance, in fact, most of my teens and twenties was spent trying to make my hair something it wasn’t. I spent so much time in salons, changing the nature of my hair with color, perms and straighteners during those two decades that I really feel like I’ve done my time. I never again have to sit in a chair for five hours, hoping they don’t accidentally burn it all off my head.

I talked about The Tragic Black Hair Incident on this blog before. It was the event that convinced me to never again play with color in my hair, but even after that, I spent so much time trying to make my hair straighter or curlier than it was.

Until I found The Hair of Least Resistance.

It took me 45 years to find it, but here it is. All I have to do is wash and condition it and let it air dry. No styling. No curling irons. No straighteners. No blow dryers. I can throw it into a bun or ponytail to get it out of the way. I can pin it up with barrettes to vary the appearance. It is easy to do every day and easy to maintain.

I have a special gratitude for the woman who made this video because it’s the way I cut my hair.

I first tried this haircut about a year ago and I have been so grateful for learning this ability. Going to get a haircut was such a stressful activity for me because I could never find a hairdresser who could just easily cut my hair. I wish there were hairdressers who are like barbers, who just bring you in, cut your hair in five minutes and send you out the door. I don’t want to be pampered when it comes to my hair. I just need the split ends cut off. Learning to cut my own hair is such a blessing and has given me a HUGE peace of mind.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t get tempted. I see pictures like this and the inner New Waver in me WANTS it. She wants single clumps of blue hair nestled in with the brown. She wants to dye it all white so she can then choose a different color of hair every week or two. She wants to cut it a strange and unique style that is striking and difficult to maintain.

And then The Hair of Least Resistance wins out.

Because after forty-six years, I have learned one important thing:

I AM NOT MY HAIR.

So much of my identity was tied up in my hair in my teens and twenties that it literally took fifteen years to learn that simple fact. I am not my hair. I am not my clothes. I am not my job. I am not my group of friends. I am not my family. Standing alone, homeless and jobless on this world, stripped naked and shaved bald, I would still be me.

If I am not my hair, then The Hair of Least Resistance is the only logical choice. My only shame is that it took me so long to learn it.

Last week, we had Allie visit for a day or so and I caught her and Elvis playing. I thought the Internet might enjoy it as well.

I love to have Allie visit because it teaches our animals to get along with other animals. Or in Elvis’ case, it teaches him to just walk away…

Back in 2010, an antique store in Salt Lake City was going out of business. I saw a painting there that was the epitome of what it feels like to grow up in the Eighties.

It was $450 and way too expensive for me to buy, so I snapped a picture and forgot all about it until a few weeks ago, when I was looking through old photos.

The artist’s signature isn’t clear enough in the picture for me to see the name, but I remember that it was a woman’s name and it reminded me that sometimes the gender of the artist IS important because only a woman who had experienced this would be able to paint this.

I played with my camera phone photo in Photoshop and was able to make one that’s easier to see.

From the Walkman and headphones to the big bow in the pouty girl’s hair, THIS is what it felt like to grow up in the Eighties as a girl.