New Year's Resolutions: Take 2

How were everyone's holidays? I found myself getting a plethora of geeky things for Christmas including Watchmen and V for Vendetta in comic form, Scott Pilgrim in movie form, Skyfall, a Darth Vader alarm clock, and Arkham Origins for ps3. Bonus: The game was even set during Christmas!

I also received The Historian (Review here), The Fountainhead (Highly recommended), and Cloud Atlas (To be reviewed soon), but the thing that I thought you guys might appreciate the most is this poster from our local record shop.

Another year is upon us, and boy did the last one go by quickly. I hope everyone had a great year and I wish you all a better one to come. Last year I made a list of 'resolutions', and this year I'll do the same. I put that in quotes because I'm going to think of them more as loose guidelines so I don't get too stressed out or bummed when they don't all happen.

• Read. Read and read and read. This is a resolution every year because I'm constantly absorbing books. This year I'm keeping track of the ones I've read and I'm going to try to be more active on my Goodreads. Therefore I'm following in Mary Rose's footsteps and letting you all know that you're welcome to send me a friend request.

• Improve my Comic collection. I mean, normally I spend most of my money on clothes because I have this bad habit of wanting everything at once. Which leaves little room for other things. Batman, Deadpool, Saga, Scott Pilgrim, X-Men, Avengers...the list is endless. And I'm dying  to get my hands on both the Sandman and the Hellraiser comics. Especially the latter.

• Learn to play my guitar! I've had it for months and haven't touched it because I've been so busy. Well that's going to change this year. I'm taking lessons very soon. 

• Finish my Scarecrow cosplay for Vancouver Fan Expo and perfect Cecil. I'm getting somewhere, but I feel really behind.

• Make a poster wall. I've just painted my room and I plan to litter the back wall with everything from bands to fandoms.

•  Ski more often. I forgot how much fun skiing is and now that I live close to a resort I plan on taking full advantage of it.

• Get a solid SAT score and apply to universities. I've got to start narrowing down my options. I know I want to aim big, but my problem is that I want to go everywhere. Whatever I decide, I know that I'm a liberal arts major at heart. Too bad I love both English and History equally, so deciding whether I want to be a librarian, archivist, curator, or even shooting for professor in either subject is a tough choice. And then there's that part of my brain that goes. Hey! Psychology is cool too!

• Record collection update! Dad bought me a new record player. Which means it's time to buy the Siousxie, Bowie, and Ministry vinyls I've been eying at the local record store...once I have the funds. (Why are records so expensive??)

•  Wardrobe additions. It's high time I bought a proper corset. I'd also like some more vintage-inspired items and have been leaning towards wanting a more romantic flair lately. 

And that's about it!  A shorter list than last year, but I think that's a good thing. We'll see how I do this time. How about you guys? What are your resolutions/wishes for the new year?

An Alternative Christmas Playlist

Holiday tunes are wonderful for about the first week, and after that I want to claw my ears out. I swear if I hear Michael Buble's 'Santa Buddy' one more time someone is going to suffer. But have no fear! You can always throw a few of these songs in with the classics to break up the monotony. Christmas is well under way for most of us, so time to pop in some tunes and get to the festivities.

London After Midnight- The Christmas Song

The Kinks- Father Christmas

Alien Sex Fiend- Stuff the Turkey

H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society- Do You Fear What I Fear?

The Who- Christmas

This Ascension- Carol of the Bells





Inkubus Sukubus- Hail the Holly King





Faith and The Muse- A Winter Wassail




Cruxshadows- Happy Xmas ( War is Over)





Voltaire- Peace in the Holy Land

Rhea's Obsession- We Three Kings





Dead Rose Symphony- Bell Carol





Nox Arcana- Coventry Carol

Happy Holidays!

7 Dark Christmas Movies/Episodes to Watch

Hello everyone! I've just been dead this month haven't I? Well never fear. I've returned with a holiday inspired post. With Christmas just around the corner sometimes you get the urge to see something a little more festive. But we've all seen the classics, so how about some darker things to watch before the holiday season ends?

Gremlins

I saw this when I was three and subsequently had nightmares for weeks. Nowadays, needless to say it's a lot less scary and more fun to view. Gremlins is one of those ridiculous classics that doesn't get any less entertaining as time goes on and being set during the Christmas season it becomes a great holiday movie.

Batman Returns

This isn't something that comes immediately to mind when you think Christmas movies, but it's certainly a good one. Much darker than it's predecessor, the holiday theme of Batman Returns is a nice contrast to the grim tale. Also, come on, it's Batman. Who needs an excuse to watch that?

Tales From the Crypt: All Through the House

Who remembers this wonderful show? If you're lucky boils and ghouls, you'll be able to find this one on Youtube somewhere. Most episodes from this delightfully cheesy show ere good and this one sports a murdering wife and even more murderous Santa Claus.

Edward Scissorhands

Not quite a Christmas movie, but it's got enough holiday elements to warrant watching it and I don't think most of us would turn down this lovely movie. It's emotional and snow-covered, which is enough to make it count in my book.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

This Finnish horror film cover the gruesome and gory side of Christmas quite well. The Santa unearthed in this film 'punishes' naughty children instead of rewarding the good ones and the results are not pleasant. The Saint Nick here isn't the one we know and love.

 A Very Supernatural Christmas

Supernatural is a great show full of ghost, demons, myths, and one liners. Of course, after nine seasons it's a getting spread a little thin, but I remain a faithful fan. This episode has pagan gods, dark humor, and a creepy-cheerful holiday vibe. It's highly recommended.

 Christmas With The Addams Family

Ok so The Addams Family is always a delight and this Christmas themed episode is as adorable as ever. We should all strive to have a Christmas as unique as theirs

I didn't put The Nightmare Before Christmas or Black Christmas up here because I think they're pretty obvious choices. However, you guys get a bonus if you watch Gingerdead man and let me know how bad it is. Happy holidays!

30 Day Clothing Challenge~ Day 16 and 17

It's Valentines day! Normally, I'm not very fond of today because it's a Hallmark Holiday, capitalizing on people's relationships. Personally, I would much rather receive something on an ordinary day with no warning, but that's just me. But it's great to see people having a good time with their significant others and the sea of red and pink at school is always amusing. The balloons on the other hand....not quite as fun. I kept a tally of the times I got smacked in the face by a balloon going up the stairs and it totaled to fourteen. I contributed a little itty bit to the aforementioned sea of pink today with a bracelet.

Just for the record, my eyeshadow is also pink ^^

I was just looking through some old posts of mine from the very beginning (A little over a year now) and am shocked at how much difference a year can really make. I was barely starting off into the Goth subculture a year ago (and it certainly showed XD) and now I'm starting to build the wardrobe I want. My outfits nowadays are a million times classier and sophisticated than they used to be, and I'm just really proud of how far I've come. I can't wait to see how I've evolved in another few years. I mean heck, I'm not even halfway through highschool yet! But, that's enough of my indulging in an ego boost, it's time to get on to the challenge.

Day 16 is you and a friend wearing matching outfits. Well, I've never done one of the twin days at any of my schools, but you can bet there's an outfit from a school function that managed to do the trick. Does this count? ;)

I promise you I'm in there somewhere.

Day 17 is an outfit that you've made or altered. Well, I have a ridiculous number of hand-made patches lying around, but none of them are actually attached to my jackets yet... the DIY stuff I do is normally really simple because I'm terrified I'll ruin anything I try to sew. My trusty thrifted blazer and eyeball headband will have to do as examples.

Re-using a pic

Well I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day, attached or not. All of you lovely people have some Valentines from me~

New Years Resolutions

Well it's that time of the year again! Normally, I don't make New Year's resolutions because I know I'll forget about them within the week and never follow through. This year though, it's going to be different. Instead of calling them resolution I'm going to think of them more as goals and I'm not going to set big, generic goals that I won't ever meet. I'm going to focus on smaller, more personal things. We'll see how many I'm able to get through by the end of the year.

• Write more. This is really important to me. A lot of times I sit down to write and get sidetracked by other things. Ignoring my writer's block instead of pushing through it is not how I should be doing things. I'm going to write more frequently, even if it's just blogging.
• Read more! It's hard to find anything that rivals my love of literature. I've been discouraged lately, not being able to find anything in my school library but your average teen paranormal romances. However, I'm going to start visiting the library more frequently to dig around for some new stuff. 
• Bring up my math grade. I'm not a math oriented person, but I'm still in the highest class for my grade. I don't know what possessed me to take it, (Well actually it was probably stubborn pride) but I'd like to have a B in the class...
• Learn to manage my stress. School this year is not having a positive effect on my health so I need to relax. My mental health is more important than my GPA.
• Save up for a pair of Doc Martens. In my last post I showed you guys what happened to my beloved combat boots so I'm in dire need of a new pair. 

• Buy more accessories.  Considering how much I love to accessorize it's almost blasphemous how little I own.
• Do something adventurous with my hair. I really want something like this and after I've reached this goal I'm considering a deathhawk.

• Get my record player set up.
• Purchase a bike from the 60s. Ever since I rode my grandma's up in Sweden I've really wannted to buy my own. They're just so cute.

• Go thrifting more often.
• Get really dressed up and super gothed out to go somewhere. I'm not clubbing age, but I'm sure I can find some occasion.
• Go to Megacon because I'm a huge nerd. Bonus if I can go as Harley Quinn or Lady Loki.

• See a favorite band in concert. I have really never been to a concert. It's horrifying. The problem is that so many of my favorites aren't together anymore or don't tour down in Florida. I'm hoping that maybe MCR will tour again soon because they're a modern band I have a chance of seeing ^^

• Make a bucket list. Why don't I have one of these?
• Improve my piano playing. I never had lessons, so it's pretty basic at the moment.
• Learn to use vibrato on my oboe.
• Start learning Guitar.
• DIY. Lots of DIY. I need to sew patches onto a bunch of jackets and I want to hand stud my leather one. Then there's a million other projects I have in mind.
• Come to terms with the possibility of moving and spend more time with my friends while I can. I've already got Harry Potter World at IOA, a few movie nights, and laser tagging set up ^^
• Improve my self confidence.
• Figure out a plan for the future. What exactly I want to do when I graduate. Where I want to live.

Obviously, that's a lot of things for me to accomplish, but I think it's manageable. They're all fairly easy for me to achieve, I've just got to stay focused. And now I've got them on this blog to remind me!

What are your New Year's resolutions?

Xmas Haul

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! (Or any other holiday you celebrate) Normally, mine turns into a day of watching screens, as I always have this urge to see if I can beat the video games I've received in record time. (This year's winner being Resistance 2 which is a fantastic game, though not as good as the first one) So this year's haul...

Because I love the Joker. The Killing Joke is a classic after all.

Norse myths because of my Swedish heritage and love of Loki <3
And Edgar Allen Poe because those Barnes and Noble leather-bounds are gorgeous.
Now to get Sherlock Holmes and The Picture of Dorian Gray.

This little voodolls name is Siouxsie. She's "an old school
Goth who rejects conformity".
I love my parents ^^

A talking Dalek because it's adorable. And a Converse
piggy bank. When I opened it I thought they had only gotten me one shoe XD

The original Addams family! And a fishnet hoodie from my family in Sweden.

 

A Tones on Tail record I was eying in the record store and a
collection of 80s songs.

Bringing back my love of Loki. Marvel movie-verse this time ^^

Finally, The Hobbit because I haven't read it since 4th grade and desperately
want to see the movie. And a bracelet made out of bass strings. Isn't that neat?

Of course, there are a few things I didn't get. My Sherlock shirt, (The one The Infamous Blujay was wearing in the picture Jillian Venters put up on her Tumblr) a slytherin scarf, colored contacts, and a spiked collar being the things I didn't receive. So now I know what to spend my remaining money on ^^

I'm going to go see The Hobbit soon. I am so excited. For anyone out there that's already seen it, how was it?

Xmas Walk

Christmas in three days! I cannot wait.

There's little old-fashioned town nearby always puts up lights on the first of december. They have an annual christmas walk where everyone goes down to enjoy the lights, listen to music, buy treats, and do a little shopping. All of the stores stay open late so you can browse and there's some sort of performer on every intersection. Unfortunately, the juggler that normally comes has stopped showing up much to my disappointment, (He was awfully cute. And funny too.) but the lights are still as gorgeous as ever.  These pictures are from the park since it was difficult to get pictures of the town while on the crowded streets.

That last picture of the angel? Yeah, well that was a real person. She moved when I got close to her and basically gave me a heart attack. We also stopped by the used bookstore I like to frequent. They have a cat! A bookstore with a cat. What more could I ask for?

We also made Lussekatter. (A Swedish saffron bread) They're my absolute favorite thing to bake around christmas and I alway look forward to it.

If anyone wants here's a quick version oft her recipe we use. You'll need one of those big electric mixers unless you want to make bread the old fashioned way...

Ingredients

17 deciliters flour. (Swedish flour is different, but we've found that bread flour works the best here.)
1 packet saffron
2 packages yeast
2 deciliters sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
14 tablespoons butter
5 deciliters milk

1) Preheat the oven to 435.
2) Using a mortar and pestle grind up the saffron. Combine all of the dry ingredients in the mixer. Only use about 12 deciliters of the flour.
3) Melt the butter in a pot. Add the milk. Using a thermometer, let the temperature rise to 47 C.
4) Add the liquids to the dry ingredients and mix. Add the egg. Add as much flour as needed until the dough isn't sticky.
5) Let the dough rise covered for about 35 minutes. Roll out pieces of the dough into long ropes. Form s shapes and curl the ends into spirals.
6) Insert raisins into each end. Let the dough rise covered another 30 minutes. Glaze with egg and bake 8-12 minutes until golden.

And that's that! I hope you all are having a great holiday season (Whatever you may celebrate) and I'll be back after Christmas.  To wrap this post up, here's what I wore to the Christmas walk.

 

Happy Halloween!

My trick or treating plans blew up in my face so I'm tagging along with my friend to a party her church's youth group is having. Not the most fun thing I could be doing but hey, I get to dress up, there's candy and games, and well, I've been before and the pastor's son is really hot so... ;)

I'll get full pics later when I have more time. And by that I mean real ones. This was a costume test run from yesterday and I didn't even put my hair under the wig... They'll probably go up with the Sophistique Noir challenge I'm doing tomorrow. But behold...Grell!

Yup, I'm a dork. I want to perfect this eventually and get a longer red coat and the real shoes, but this will definitely do for now. I also need to start my Lady Loki and Harley Quinn costumes since there are a few cons coming up. I think I'll start with Harley. She's a lot easier. I'm caught between the Arkham City version with a corset, pants, and pigtails, or a more classic version with a dress or bodysuit with the cowl. We'll see.

I'll leave you with a cartoon and song in the Halloween Spirit.  Until tomorrow!

DIY~ Crayon Pumpkins

Autumn is officially upon us! (More or less) Of course, here in Florida it's likely we won't get much cold weather until January and the leaves don't change color, but it's nice to sit inside with a cup of hot cocoa, turn the AC down, close the curtains and pretend it's cold enough to wear layers of velvet and stompy boots. (In reality, last Christmas I sat outside on the dock in shorts and ate icecream.)

Right now, I'm in the hospital trying to navigate blogger on this stupid phone and get a post out to you guys. Basically, the infection and blood poisoning has gotten worse and the antibiotics weren't helping. (In fact not only am I allergic to Penicillin, it seems I'm allergic to that as well. Only small hives though, nothing like what happens when I take penicillin.)

They took some blood already. *shudder* Honestly, I'd rather have someone cut me or something then stick that needle in my arm. I'm deathly afraid of needles. I don't like any kind of thing under my skin that isn't a piercing.  That's the main reason I'm doing this now. (with only my left hand) I'm trying to distract myself from the IV drip and new antibiotics they've got me on. Moving my right arm results in burning pain as the catheter thingy touches my vein wall so that's a no-go. And you guys get to listen to me blather on in an effort to think about something else.  If I'm lucky and my white blood cell count is good then they'll send me home. I don't know what I'll do if I have to spend the night here.

I was going to do OddGhoulOut's obituary challenge, but it seems a little too morbid when I'm in the hospital. I promise I'll get to that next! Instead I found this.

I was on pinterest (The link to mine is somewhere over to the right) and I saw the most adorable idea for pumpkins! I don't like to cut mine, for the simple reason that I don't like cleaning all the guts out of them. Normally I'll paint them or think of some other new creative way to spruce them up. So I saw these and decided I might just have to try it.

You'd have an endless amount of crayons to choose from. Just imagine the color combinatons! I see a few black pumpkins in my future, perhaps with orange or red or purple and silver! I wonder how time-consuming it'll be. It can't take that long I don't think. Though you'll have to be careful with the hot wax. I can't imagine that would be pleasant to get on your skin.  

This was my favorite pumpkin last year.
The other two are my little brother's.

Well it's taken me a very long time to type this so hopefully they'll be back with my blood work soon. *crosses fingers*

Happy World Goth Day!

It's World Goth Day! Can I get a round of applause?

 Well I'm not going to do much special, unfortunately. I'm not old enough to go to clubs and the only one around here doesn't excite me much anyway. *tear* HOWEVER I WILL TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO PAMPER MYSELF.

I need to refile my nails for starters. They're less pointy and more shovel-like at the moment. *shudder* Goth maintenance time! I need to pluck my eyebrows, paint my nails, trim my bangs, etc. Then I'll throw on some music, get to ripping the fishnets I've been meaning to, and paint those skeleton shorts. I've got a new book called Bloodline to devour (If you haven't already guessed, it's about vampires. I'll put up a mini-review when I'm done) and I suppose I'll either have a little Dark Shadows marathon later or watch a new horror movie.

Here was my outfit for the day. Nothing too extravagant.

Derrrp  >.<

Striped tank top: $5 Marshalls
Bolero: $5 Bealls
Skirt: Thrift. It was white and when I tried to dye it black it came out purple-grey. I still like it though.
Shoes: $10 Marshalls
Necklace and gloves: Hot Topic. $5 each.

 And to top it all off here's a little song to do a celebratory World Goth Day dance to. It's fun :3

I hope you all have a marvelous day!