Archive for the ‘reviews’ Category

I saw the new X-Files movie twice over the weekend. Yes, I liked it that much. I didn’t expect to like it… I went into the theater with very low expectations, but came away feeling surprisingly satisfied. The plot was weak, the pace was a bit slow, and it was decidedly lacking in supernatural creepiness, but I found that the Mulder/Scully character development made up for these shortcomings. Since the series ended, I’ve often wondered what my two favorite characters were up to, and it was nice to find out. In fact, the movie inspired me to dig my geeky* high school obsession out of the closet and dust it off. I’m going to spend the next few months re-watching the series from the beginning.

In other news, it should come as no surprise to those who know me well that I’m quite ready for fall. Summer and I have a tenuous relationship. I’m always happy to see it at first–after six months of cold winter hell, who isn’t? For a few weeks I revel in the warmth of a beautiful June day, basking in the sun. I might even forgive the humidity, because it’s so damn wonderful to walk out of the house without a jacket.

But after about a month, I’m quite ready to see summer go. Summer is like the house guest that overstays its welcome by six weeks. Summer is the clingy, not-quite-ex-boyfriend you just can’t seem to shake off, whose once warm and enveloping hug becomes a sticky, sweaty and entirely unwelcome grope.

Bring on the wool sweaters and apple cider, please.

And for a final random thought, you know you’ve reached full pain-in-the-ass status when your IT guy sees your name on his caller ID and answers the phone with, “Uh oh, what now?” Congratulate me!

* Not to say I’m any less of a geek now than when I was in high school… to the contrary, I think I may be more geeky. But at least now I have the confidence to geek with pride.

There were 69 entries total, and the lucky winner of the “happy etsy-versary” contest is… number 29! Congratulations, Stephanie

March has me quite blogged out, I have to admit, so I think I am going to celebrate the beginning of April by relaxing with Tim and making more button pins and magnets. Have a good night, all!

I’ve been up to my neck in custom work lately, which is why I’ve been absent for the last couple days (also absent-minded, but that’s the typical state of affairs no matter what I’m working on). I don’t know if it was the Real Simple blog feature a few days ago or what, but Calobee Doodles has been overrun by custom requests. Not that I’m complaining… quite the opposite!

And today I found one of my photographs featured as an “Etsy Find” in the Storque! Yay! I’m having a good day, indeed.

T & I took a much-needed break last night to go out to dinner and a movie, as it’s been eons since we’ve done a “date night.” Of course, we didn’t bother to read any movie reviews before we selected our movie of choice for the evening. We stuck to the synopsis, which sounded good in theory… but was bad–very bad–in practice. Always read the reviews; always. It will save you the trauma of spending good money to watch a rotten tomato like Doomsday.

Wow. Just… wow. One minute you’re in the midst of a 28-Days-Later-esque scenario in London, and the next you’re thrown into a society of punk-ish anarchy in barricaded Scotland. Ten minutes later, you’re whisked away (by train, of course) to a distinctly medieval society ruled by a crazy mad scientist king, where you discover that the “cure” is not so much a cure, but a rather obvious matter of genetics. And then, oh, I don’t know, let’s throw in a gratuitous car chase! Just for the hell of it!

All the while I’m trying to figure out whether I’ve just missed something or if this is a “Choose Your Own Adventure” movie… where the plot can take a 180 degree turn at any minute! No cohesion necessary! And the cinematography, if you can even call it that… urgh. I actually had to close my eyes and cover my ears at one point to get my bearings. I wanted to be sick, but I don’t know if that was because of the jumpy transitions or the terrible acting. Quite possibly both.

But that’s par for the course for us. Tim and I have a bad habit of picking the absolute worst movies to see in the theater. If you told me I had a choice between a movie with substance, plot, and good acting and something horrible with Colin Farrel and bad dialog, I’d pick the latter nine times out of ten. I’m a glutton for punishment, I guess.

Booyah! Back from Boston and feeling surprisingly energized. Maybe a vacation from the day job was exactly what I needed.

While I was away, celebrating my birthday and figuring out how to use MBTA public transportation (with the help of my friends, of course), my photography was featured on Artist a Day! Yay! I find it a bit odd that the show pieces they chose were from 2004 and not something more recent, but whatever. The extra link-age was a nice birthday gift.

I’ve got another custom doodle to tackle tonight. My shop has done exceptionally well this month–in fact, it’s been my best month for sales yet, so pardon while I brag a little. If you don’t want to watch my head swell, you should check out some of these links instead:

• I’m really admiring JennSki’s work right now. These new pieces in particular. I am a sucker for bright, vibrant colors.
• I have a new toy. I would have bought the iPhone, but AT&T gets terrible reception in this neck of the woods. I already own one cell phone that doubles as a paperweight.
• It’s the 50th anniversary of the LEGO block building toy today, and Google has a nifty new banner up to celebrate. I should have known that LEGOs are Aquarian…
• There’s a great article about Orla Kiely up at sfgirlbybay. I love the designs, but I think I love the fashion photography more.
• More new design pretties from om home at Design Sponge.
• I can has pretty house? Or maybe this one?
• I’m in a Valentinesy mood these days. Cupcakes go really well with Valentinesy.
• Monsters! Want!

Yesterday was a Good Mail Day.

First, ThisNext sent me an awesome Gelaskin (designed by Steven Daily) for my MacBook. Now my laptop is all pink and sexay.

Second, my Secret Santa gift came! Yay! My Secret Santa was revealed as being Janette of liberatingomoni.vox.com. And the loot: A hand-knit scarf made of the softest purple yarn, a bar of gourmet chocolate (the good stuff - 41% cacao), and a handful of roly-poly jingling cat toys (because kitties love Santa, too!).

Janette obviously did her research. The scarf is perfect. I always wear a scarf on cold winter days (of which we have so many, living somewhere between Better Put On A Sixth Layer and Oh My God I Can’t Feel My Fingers), and this one is so soft and thick, and my favorite color, too! The chocolate was delicious (note the use of the past tense… I have no self control) and the cat toys were promptly distributed to their respective locations under the fridge, a chair, the T.V. stand and the kitchen table, not to be seen again until the year 2015, or the next time we move–whichever comes first.

All in all, a great success. Thank you so much, Janette!

I’ve decided that I really like Good Mail Days, and I think I should have them more often. So, who wants to send me stuff? Otherwise I might be forced to spend all my money on Etsy, and wouldn’t that be terrible?