FedEx FAIL

A Gifted Coffin

Hello fellow blog world!

I hope you have all been having a merry holiday season! I don't know about you, but I'm ready for this year to be over!

My sisters, nieces, brother-in-law, and their dog are finally gone so the peace and quiet is finally back. No more Mom and what she calls lecturing and I call nagging at my big sister, Garbage Disposal, about the proper way to raise a child and infant; no more Dad muttering to Mom behind Garbage Disposal's back about his disagreement on how to raise a child; no more Mom and Dad making annoying baby noises (trust me, it sounds more obnoxious when Asian parents do it); no more Mom and Dad speaking to their grandchildren in Chinese even though they don't understand them (one is at the age she can only wail, the other only understands the words she learned in that Nick Jr. show Ni Hao Kai Lan); no more Mom trying to poorly persuade Garbage Disposal to leave her children at her home so that they can take care of them (no comment); no more waking up early because of a crying infant and a screaming three year old asking for her dad and knocking on my room door screaming, "Aunty Kristy, the sun is up!" (the three year old has one decibel level and that's LOUD); no more headaches and a stuffy nose from my allergic reaction to anything four legged and furry; finally, no more surprise pee puddles from the four legged friend, the infant, or the three year old (I need to invest in a waterproof mattress pad). 

But hey, not everything was bad. I have to say I will miss playing The Settler's of Catan with my brother-in-law and HTML even though they kicked my A*# big time. There was also the better food I've gotten to consume since the parents cook better meals when their other children come home. I also received some nifty gifts that HTML considers morbid but I consider cute. And here's my coffin with Dracula Pig, along with my Virginia Woolf signed giclee print.

Virginia Woolf by Justin Hillgrove

Dracula Pig by Alexz

Speaking of gifts, my earliest followers may or may not recall a giant package I received way back when. Here's a refresher of what it looked like.

Since I gifted the second print this month, I'm now able to reveal it to you.

Wind Moon by Nene Thomas 

Custom 2" Wide Complete Black Picture Frame (17x26) by Craig   

  

To my brother-in-law, Bender, who couldn't make it this year to our family Christmas gathering, I gave him a very early Christmas present when he dropped by with my sister Momo, and my niece Lala back in October. He's a Star Wars fan, so I had to pick this signed print up for him.

 Spare Parts by Justin Hillgrove

 

Well, that's all I have to say for now. Oh, wait, one last thing, don't forget to sign up for the giveaways! They're all ending very soon.

Making Waves by Tawna Fenske (Int.)(12/31)
The Master by Jean Johnson (12/31)
Twice Bitten by Chloe Neill (12/31)
Vampire Academy books 1-3 by Richelle Mead (12/31)

Free ebook offers from some authors

Merry Christmas Eve to all those that celebrate!

As a gift to their fellow readers, some authors are offering free downloads of their e-novellas.

From now until December 26th, Winning the Wallflower, by Eloisa James will be free to download on Amazon and Barnes and Nobles. To learn more about the book click here.

As a very special gift, Ilona Andrews is offering a never before released Kate Daniels novella entitled Magic Gifts! Click here to grab your copy!




I hope you have a wonderful holiday season!


Making Waves by Tawna Fenske (Int.)(12/31)
The Master by Jean Johnson (12/31)
Twice Bitten by Chloe Neill (12/31)
Vampire Academy books 1-3 by Richelle Mead (12/31)

Free E-Book from Jade Lee

As a gift for the holidays, Jade Lee if offering a free e-book copy of her story Almost an Angel.

Just go to her website here, and fill out the information and read the instructions Jade provides.

Afterwards you should get a coupon code sent to your email.

The offer is good until December 31.


Don't forget to enter my giveaways.
Making Waves by Tawna Fenske (Int.)(12/31)
The Master by Jean Johnson (12/31)
Twice Bitten by Chloe Neill (12/31)
Vampire Academy books 1-3 by Richelle Mead (12/31)

Indulge Yourself

 Spooky Pooky Creations

Hey everyone! I just wanted to share a website that sells beautiful wands for those Harry Potter fans. And, if you don't mind sending a belated holiday gift to someone, you could also order a custom made plushie based on anything or anyone just like the Mad Hatter I received last year. Just Click on the link above to her Etsy site and click on Request Custom Item under Shop Info. Here's a link to the owner's blog, which showcases some of her work. Happy Shopping!

P.S.
Don't forget to check out my giveaways!

Farewell Borders

Today was the last day I spent my afternoon at a Borders. I've spent many hours of my life at this store, particularly during my college days when I was stuck on campus with gaps between my schedules. When I was not purchasing books, I was sitting at the cafe studying and eating either a cream cheese pretzel, a slice of lemon loaf cake, or a blueberry scone with a cup of hot or iced chai latte (depending on the season). Very fond memories I will have of this store and I will miss it dearly. Goodbye Borders, Barnes and Noble will never be able to replace you completely with your non-snotty workers and your weekly coupons without an annual $25 membership fee. Just like I mourned the loss of Papyrus near campus, I will mourn the loss of you even more. You were my bookstore version of Target.

My last Borders purchase

As a final reminder,

Don't forget to sign up for my giveaways here and here. They both end tomorrow, August 5th.

The Plastic Surgery Of Digital Art

I decided to redraw Hawke in his wolf form for my Kiss of Snow review. The original was too brown and gray for my liking so I decided to redo it to make him look more golden. Too bad during the time that I drew the original I wasn't "layering" so I had to erase the original wolf and a third of the background before putting in the new one. It would have been much easier if I initially had the wolf and background done separately so that I could have just swapped the wolves out and be done with it. Oh well, lesson learned.

Don't forget to sign up for my giveaways here and here. They both end this Friday, August 5th.

Sunday, Monday, Happy Days!

 The Usual Suspects by Justin Hillgrove

Another print I need to buy a frame for. This is the only recent print that I own that's not signed by the artist :(

¡Buenos dias!

I hope no one ended up in the slammer this weekend like the shady characters above. If you did, all I have to say is, "Please, do tell."  

Well, I just wanted to remind everyone I won't be posting much after this week since I'll be out of town. Sadly, I won't be posting much this week if at all since I'll be too busy packing and meeting up with old friends before I go. I'm not sure if it matters to you, but that means no reviews of any kind.

Before I sign off, I'll like to remind you to don't forget to sign up for my giveaways here and here. They both end this Friday, August 5th.

That's it for now, have a wonderful week and for those heading back to school soon, good luck with classes!

A surprise inside every paper or plastic!

Goodbye Borders! I'm pretty sure we'll see one another once more before we truly go our separate ways :(

Music Review: Papercut Chronicles by Gym Class Heroes

My heart's a stereo

It beats for you so listen close

Hear my thoughts in every note

oh oh

Make me your radio

And turn me up when you feel low

This melody was meant for you

So sing along to my stereo

Gym Class Heroes has finally produced a promising song with Stereo Hearts! I like to refer to this song as Cupid's Chokehold Pt.2. It's been years since this group released anything worth listening to except for maybe Billionaire by Travie McCoy, which doesn't count since it's off his solo album. Add in Adam Levine from Maroon 5 singing the hook and the song is all gold if not platinum. Hopefully by naming their upcoming album Papercut Chronicles II it will be just as good as its hit predecessor Papercut Chronicles released in 2005.

The music video for Stereo Hearts is pretty cute. It's hard not to smile while watching it.

Rating Of Stereo Hearts: 5/5

Gym Class Heroes can be considered a hip hop group though their backtracks to their songs are atypical of the hip hop genre. They released their first album Papercut Chronicles back in 2005 with their hit single Cupid's Chokehold. A few tracks in the album are purely instrumental, however, these tracks help make the overall album more cohesive since they sort of act as preludes.

Other noteworthy songs are Papercuts, Faces In The Hall, and Kid Nothing Boy Vs. The Echo Fator


Here's the music video for Cupid's Chokehold. After watching this video again, I just realized the last girl in the music video is Katy Perry

Overall Rating: 4/5
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Completely on a tangent: I've mentioned once before that I love buying and looking at clothes, but have been holding back on any purchases since I don't have a job. Well, yesterday I finally caved and bought a dress! It was too pretty to resist and it fit me perfectly without additional alterations! I heart the petite section at Ann Taylor!

I've Got Nothin'

Edgar Allan Poe by Justin Hillgrove

(I still need to buy a frame for this print as well as find a place to hang it)

Hi everyone. As usual I hope you had a good weekend.

I won two giveaways last week, so I would like to thank Stella from Ex Libris and Kristin from My Bookish Ways for hosting their events. Thank you girls for adding to my reading addiction.

I have a few books from my personal collection that I plan to giveaway in the upcoming weeks, so stay tuned for that.

Anyways, my head is hurting, so I can't think of much to write today. I still need to find the energy and motivation to open the packages I received last Friday.

strangely enough I could've opened one of these instead of taking a picture of them

Harry Potter

Hey everyone!

Even though I don't follow the movies, in honor of the final Harry Potter movie release, I thought I'll post these funny clips featuring some of the cast members. Enjoy! :)

American Talk Part One (2010)




American Talk Part Two (2011)

I Don't Know...

The Excesses In My Last FOUR Days:

Consequences Of The Excesses:

Lack Of:

What I Wish There Was More Of:

A Busy Monday

Good evening fellow blog world!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! My pale self developed a tan this weekend since I dared to venture outdoors instead of staying cooped up indoors with the air conditioning. Today it reached 90 degrees and I was unfortunately getting cozy with the sun once again. :(

The good news is, I got to meet up, catch up, and shop with one of my friends from college! I also finally gifted one of the Nene Thomas prints to a different friend, so now I can post a picture of it here!

So, here it is!

Moon Amethyst by Nene Thomas12x17 Ornate Silver Frame by Craig
Well, that's all for today. I'm way too tired to write or draw anything relatively amusing.

Off the Mark

Here's a reply I just wrote to a potential buyer. What happened to my professionalism?

*The subject of inquiry being the condition of some novels

sent to aLiveJournalMember

Hi,
There is some yellowing to the volumes, but other than that they're in like-new condition. Actually, I take that back, Volume 19 has a slight bend or residue on the back cover (I can't really tell since the so called bend doesn't effect the inside of the back cover, so might be a scratch? Is that even possible? (O_o)). However, if you order all those volumes you will get that one free anyways. I have pictures, just that I will need your email account to email them to you. Just to warn you though, I'm not the best at taking pictures...wobbly hands and no sense of esthetic and all. If you're still interested, let me know and PM me your email address.

Kristy