My Canvas: A Story in GIFs

I'm still pretty excited about having all my GIFs organized, and I'm definitely better with pictures than I am with words, so I've decided to tell you about something that happened using them.

I was getting out my canvases this week and noticed this:

It happened sometime when I was in Utah, and I don't want to point fingers but there were only 2 people that entered my room while I was gone. Anyways...

At first I was like


Then I was like


After the shock was over, I was a bit like


Which quickly turned into


I've calmed down a bit. Now it's mostly


and still a little bit of


But it's going to be


I've looked up canvas repair, and I'm going to fix it, because...

Bah humbum and all that.

I don't like this season. I admit it! Call me Scrooge, I don't care. It stresses me out. I also don't enjoy happiness and joy being forced down my throat. Give me some space, guys! Just because I don't like one holiday doesn't mean I'm Hitler.

...Aaaand in a totally unrelated note, I've organized my gifs and this makes me extremely happy.

'Tis the season already?

Can you believe how close Christmas is? I heard Christmas music in the stores last week. It made me slightly ill. Where has Thanksgiving gone?

Well if the rest of the world is getting ready for the holiday, I might start to think about it. What' the best way to start thinking about it? Christmas wish list of course!

I always feel bad sharing my list, because it makes me feel like I'm being selfish. I'm just going to try to get over that, and post it.

Stacey's Christmas Wish List
(in order of desire)

Sherlock DVD
Surprised? You shouldn't be.
I wasn't sure I wanted this at first. The PBS edits make me angry, and I have all the episodes and special features on my computer. Then I found out that the DVD has the original edits and I decided I must have it.

Earth (The Book)
The Daily Show's new book. My bookshelf cries for it.

Clock Locket (clocket!)
Isn't that awesome? The seller has lots of different styles, but this is the one I want. I've seen some great necklaces made with them, but they sell for $30+. Ridiculous! With this, I can make my own for much cheaper.

Guess Who? Silly Bandz
Yeah, I'm asking for Silly Bandz. I'm obviously 11. You shouldn't be surprised. If you look closer, you will see that this pack has Sherlock Holmes! I have friends who I can give the others to, but I want that Holmes band so badly!

Speedball Block Printing kit
I've been wanting to get into block printing for years. I did it in high school and fell in love.

Now this next part is different. These are things I want, but I'm not sure I want them enough to ask for them for Christmas or if I should just wait for my birthday/when I get some extra money.

Blue Barracuda Sweatshirt
Holy crap! Who remembers "Legends of the Hidden Temple"? Blue Barracudas was my team, baby!

Exploding Dog shirt
This is one of my favorite Exploding Dog comics (Are they called comics? I don't know) and it's on a shirt!

The Hound of The Baskervilles Shirt
I just can't say no to anything Sherlock Holmes. I'm not sure I would wear that color, though.

Back where I belong

I'm back in California. What a trip it was! What did I do after last post? Boy, what didn't I do!
I stayed with cousins, my brother, my other brother, and then my sister.
I went to another concert.
I went to Wyoming.
I saw went to the movie theaters twice.
I ate at little diners.
I made sugar skulls.
I got lost too many times to count.
I shouted abuse at haunted mill employees.
I stayed up in to the wee hours of the morning with my cousin.
I enjoyed the views of the canyons.
I saw my friend Kristi.
I watched an entire television series via Netflix instant.
I celebrated Giants baseball.
I had a blast.

The trip ended because my grandpa passed away, and while that was sad he lived a long and great life and passed peacefully. My grandpa was always a hero of mine and I feel so privileged to be related to him.

Utah-tastic

I've been in Utah for a few weeks now. So what have I been up to?

• Battling first the flu, then the cold
• Catching up with cousins
• Hanging with the siblings
• Watching summer storms
• Avoiding the heat
• Attending/watching concerts (with more on the way)
• Obsessing over "Sherlock"
• Picnicking in the canyons
• Looking at great art
• Not missing any episodes of The Daily Show
• Eating great food
• Having big laughs
• Loving every minute of it
  

Brilliant Deduction

There's a new Sherlock in town, and it's amazing.

The BBC has made a new mini-series of Sherlock Holmes set in modern day called "Sherlock". It's absolutely incredible. Not to mention that Martin Freeman plays Watson and I just adore him. Also, Benedict Cumberbatch (How's that for a ridiculously British name?) has the most fascinating bizarre shaped and angled face with oddly shaped eyes. It's almost alien-like

You need to watch this. It's not going to be played in America until October, but there are other illegal ways of watching it now. I suggest you do.

PS- I'm in Utah, and will be for at least a month

Random updates that don't deserve their own post

-I went to Torrid to look at the jacket and shirt, jut for funsies. They had the jacket in black so I tried it on, and holy crap! It's awesome! It's comfy! I actually look good in it! More importantly, I actually feel like I look good in it! Unfortunately none of those things change the fact that it is 48 dollars, 48 dollars more than I have to spend.

-My best friend bought a cruiser so the two of us have been going on rides. It feels so good to have someone to ride with. We push each other to go farther, which is awesome. Tomorrow we are going to ride to 7-11 for slurpees.

-In more ridiculous news, I DON'T SLEEP ANYMORE. For almost the past month, I have been falling asleep around 5 am or later and sometimes not falling asleep at all. Some stupid drama happened a month ago, and really screwed me up emotionally. After it happened, I started getting bad dreams that canter around one of my insecurities. Awesome, right? Just freaking great. I wake up freaking out and feeling like I've been beaten up emotionally. Thus my brain has not been allowing me to fall asleep so that my subconscious won't get a chance to torture my emotions. Even when I do sleep, I wake up every hour. THE BRAIN IS WEIRD.

So more than just not sleeping, being emotionally drained, and feeling like a zombie, I also have THE CRAY CRAY. Lack of sleep is making me crazy. I repeat things like 3 or 4 times a night, I walk into walls, tonight I forgot how to spell my name. Last week, right in the middle of talking to a guy at church, I told him he looked like Sherlock Holmes, "but not the Robert Downey Jr version. You know, the real one? Except your hair is too blonde." You know why I did this? BECAUSE I AM CRAZY. I have done even more stupid things that I won't go into, including more about Sherlock Holmes and the guy from church.

TL:DR
-I can't afford an awesome jacket
-My friend and I ride our bikes together
-I AM CRAZY

More cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for the 4th of July linger longer at church. They were a big hit, and quite delicious.

One Day...

One day I hope to know what it's like to be this happy:

Empty pockets

Military style jacket from Torrid, you are seriously awesome but you are not $48 awesome. Plus, you'd be way cooler if you were a dark gray.

ETA:

Military style shirt from Torrid, Same goes for you and your $34 price tag. Your color is perfect though.

Worm

I have a problem. I read to many books at one time. I don't mean to! It just sort of happens. I start reading a book, then I see another book I want to read. Instead of waiting until I finish the first, I start the second. I have piles of books that are sometimes 7 deep. I've been trying to power through my books right now, so my pile is only 4 deep.
Here's what I'm reading now (In order of how long I've been reading them):


Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell

I've actually been reading this for an embarrassing long time, not because it is boring (quite the opposite), but because I keep misplacing it. It's really interesting and quite funny, just like Sarah Vowell herself.



The Complete Collection Sherlock Holmes Volume 1 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Have you read Sherlock Holmes? These books are AMAZING. They get stuck in your head. Seriously, it's all I think about. This is a long book so I will probably be reading it for a while. Plus, I have Volume 2 when I'm done.


Are You Dave Gorman? by Dave Gorman and Danny Wallace

I've been wanting to read this for years, but it's hard to find in the US. I happened across it in a used bookstore and, to put it plainly, freaked out. Danny Wallace also wrote Yes Man, which is my favorite book. This read a lot like that, and it's just as fun.


My Life in France by Julia Child

I've actually haven't started this yet, I just got it from the library today. I'm excited to read it. Julia Child holds a special place in my heart and the heart of the rest of my family. It's not just because we love to cook, but because Julia Child reminds us all of my Grandma Bond.

Surgery and the Sea

It has been crazy times around here. After a month of not being able to hold down even water, I was diagnosed with gallstones. There was quite an adventure between the Monday morning I was diagnosed and the Friday night that I actually got the whole dang thing taken out of me. I don't want to bore you with hospital talk, so I will spare you the story. I will, however, tell you this: at my follow up appointment this past Monday, the surgeon told me I had 3 gallstones, one of which was about the size of a golf ball and too hard to break! She also said the gallbladder was a little bit inflamed. It's a good thing I got it out when I did.

After a couple weeks of recovering, my brother Brian came into town and took us on a trip to Pismo Beach. It was perfect. The family used to go there every summer when I was little, so it was nice to go back. We even stayed in the same hotel (The Pink Hotel aka Oxford Suites) that we stayed in when we were little. We drove down on (Highway 1, or the Pacific Coast Highway) which for those who don't know, it is the highway that follows the California Coast. It is straight up beautiful all year long, but that particular day was incredible.

I took a few pictures, and I will probably post some of them later, but I love this one I took with my camera phone:


The first night, we went to the pier to watch the sunset, and atthe end were two very large pelicans hanging around. I believe that I have mentioned before that pelicans are one of my favorite animals. It was so great to be so close. I was about a foot away from one of them at one point.

Between seeing Conan live, being sick, and going to Pismo Beach, this past month or so has been a horrible experience sandwiched between two amazing ones.

Blech

I just thought I'd mention that I've been sick with a stomach ache for 2 weeks now. This is not okay. Does anyone have any miracle cures for stomach aches?

Seriously?

I can not take a blog seriously when it looks like this. Seriously people, why? Do you think it looks cute? Is it because sometimes you want to make sure people read the important part of the sentence? Or is it because if it is another color, the reader will know you are a little fun or spontaneous? Especially when it is impossible to read against the color of the background? Don't forget to change the fonts! You are so silly and so random! And the Italics? What are those supposed to do? Do you want me to find these part important or just fancy? (Why do you make the words in parenthesis bigger? Doesn't that defeat the point of parenthesis?) Also, what is the point of the bizarre formatting? Ooh, you right from the center, or all the way to the left! You are original! You do not have to follow the rules! But make sure you add a giant winky face to know that you are just kidding! ;) You don't want to lose readers.

It hurts my eyes and my head and I usually just skip to the pictures.

St. Patrick's Day

My family is like most families when it comes to St. Patrick's Day dinner. Every year my dad makes corned beef and cabbage. This is great, except that my sister and my mother do not like corned beef. I decided to be nice to them this year and I made the St. Patrick's Day meal.
I don't feel like getting into the process, because I spent 6 FREAKING HOURS in the kitchen. I guess I have to be grateful St. Patrick's Day is only once a year.

The menu:


Cottage Pie (which tasted way better than it looks here)


Irish Soda Bread


Cabbage


Jello Shamrocks



Rainbow Cupcakes

CoCo in San JoJo

Guess who is coming to San Jose? Now guess who got tickets? That's right! Conan is coming to San Jose and this girl got tickets! On May 5th I, along with 3 dear friends, will be seeing Conan's live tour at SJSU's Event Center. I would also like to mention this is the same place where my High School graduation was held. That part will be kind of weird.

It's going to be amazing.

I could pee my pants in excitement.

Maybe I just did.

Maybe I didn't.

You don't know.

Spectrum of Light

It has been brought to my attention that I need to blog more. I agree with this, I really do. Unfortunately I'm just not that good at the whole blogging thing. Right now I have no interesting stories or events to recount. I have had the stomach flu for almost a week, but no one is interested in hearing about my adventures in vomiting.

I will tell you about something that happened today. I was opening the back door for the dogs to go out, and I saw the most beautiful double rainbow! I don't think I've ever seen a rainbow so bright and vivid before. It was so appropriate for March. I got my parents and they were also impressed. I ran to get my camera but by the time I got back, the second rainbow had faded quite a bit.



Straight up beautiful.

Heeeey!

I've decided I'm not going to post about the Conan rally because everyone who follows my blog is also my friend on Facebook and I posted an album about it. I did just figure out how to save a still from a video on my camera, so I will show you this:



Conan, running by me.

Not to be too cheesy...

... but Sir Arthur Conan Doyle sure knew a thing or two about friendship.

This is an excerpt from the Sherlock Holmes story, "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs":

In an instant he had whisked out a revolver from his breast and had fired two shots. I felt a sudden hot sear as if a red-hot iron had been pressed to my thigh. There was a crash as Holmes’s pistol came down on the man’s head. I had a vision of him sprawling upon the floor with blood running down his face while Holmes rummaged him for weapons. Then my friend’s wiry arms were round me, and he was leading me to a chair.

“You’re not hurt, Watson? For God‘s sake, say that you are not hurt!”

It was worth a wound — it was worth many wounds — to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask. The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain. All my years of humble but single-minded service culminated in that moment of revelation.

“It’s nothing, Holmes. It‘s a mere scratch.”

He had ripped up my trousers with his pocket-knife.

“You are right,” he cried with an immense sigh of relief. “It is quite superficial.” His face set like flint as he glared at our prisoner, who was sitting up with a dazed face. “By the Lord, it is as well for you. If you had killed Watson, you would not have got out of this room alive. Now, sir, what have you to say for yourself?”

I don't know why, but I find that beautiful.

Sorry guys :/

I know I promised to tell you all about the rally, but things are pretty crazy with Melissa's wedding. Hopefully all will be calm after Saturday.
Until then, here's a preview:



Hint: That's Conan.

So that happened

Can I just say,

HOLY EFF! THE CONAN RALLY WAS AMAZING.

More to come later.

So this is happening...

Monday. 12 to 4. Universal lot, Universal City, LA. Rally for Conan. Who's going to be there? Oh yeah, me!

This is going to be ridiculous. Ridiculously awesome.

Passion for a Cause

On this your wedding day...

Grandma and Grandpa Bond on their wedding day


Grandma and Grandpa Almond on their wedding day


Mom and Dad on their wedding day

Looking good! I think...

I think I may have finished blog construction. A big "thank you" goes to my girl Kristi for making believe I might just have enough talent not to rely on blog template sites.

Oh blog...

I've done it again! I've made another blog. This one is about Synesthesia, something I've been becoming very passionate about recently. I'd appreciate if you helped support this one, as it is a subject near and dear to my heart.

http://synestheticallypleasing.blogspot.com/

Serious Construction

This blog is getting a makeover. Well, sort of. As soon as I can figure out what I want to do with it. Until then, it just might look a little like a mess. Sorry.

That being said, does anyone know anything about this sort of stuff? I can't find anything that I want on these silly little sites.

What? What?! WHAT?!

I (think I may have) FOUND IT!!!

I think painting was involved...

What I'm looking for:



What I found:



That middle one could easily be it. Is this what it's like to be a detective and finally crack a case? If it is that couple and has been painted, I'm so excited. I'm also slightly bummed because it is a set. All three of those couples are sold together for 16 dollars. Dang son. The moose is about 6 dollars.

I just looked it up on a site and they are not in stock. Of course. There is one on eBay for 14 dollars. I might do it. I just might do it!

Today is a Palindrome.

I once heard that you are more likely to commit to your resolutions if you share them with someone. That being said, I present you with my 2010 Resolutions.

1. Work on portion control - I know if I say lose weight or diet it won't happen. I'm keeping simple with something I can do. Portion control. Stop snacking. Stuff like that.

2. Ride my bike even more - This was one of my goals last year and while I did ride more than 08, I'd like to ride even more. I don't know why I don't. I'm rarely as happy as I am when I'm on my cruiser.

3. Dress nicer - I'm not saying I'm going to become the next fashion icon, I don't want to look like I belong at Santana Row. What I am saying is that I'm turning 23 this year. I think it's time I stop dressing like I'm about to go paint a garage.

4. Go to more concerts - Confession: I did not go to a single concert last year. What a crap way to end a decade full of amazing shows. I need live music like I need air to breathe. Hopefully Ted Leo will come by this year. Rogue Wave and Fences are playing at Noise Pop this year so I will keep that in mind.

5. Learn to drive - This is my year. I can feel it. Panic attacks, step aside!

6. Be more outgoing - Stop being such a shut-in. Get over my anxiety and go out with friends more.

7. Breathe everyday/Turn one year older - My go to resolutions. A gentler way of saying "Don't die."

There they are. Hopefully this will give me motivation. 2010- You are going down!