I updated my EDC recently and I’m finally really happy with my lot. One of my goals was to minimalize. While I generally have a few extra items that aren’t pictured here, this really is an accurate representation of what I have in my bag at all times. (Now, if I could accomplish this in other aspects of my life, that would be great. )
Here’s what I have now:
Leatherman carabiner accessory (I love this thing and use the bottle opener all the time.)
Fiat 500 Sport key
Swiss Army knife (I used to have these as a kid and was feeling nostalgic. I still use my Leatherman micra sometimes, too.)
4GB key USB
Eos chapstick ball
Spyderco Tenacious
Lockpicks
Reporter’s notebook (I get these free from work since I go through them like crazy. I love them.)
Moleskine cahier (I got a pack of 3 and these are great little notebooks. I’ve been using them as my personal journals.)
Gel pens
Timex Weekender
HTC EVO phone
Timberland wallet
I feel like I’ve finally accomplished a streamlined EDC with sturdy, neutral gear and a few fun, colorful accessories. I especially love my new Timex which I’ve worn pretty much non-stop since I’ve gotten it.
I like to change up my smartphone’s homescreen pretty often because I get bored easily. Android has an endless amount of customization options, which is one of the many reasons I love it. I am always inspired when I browse My Color Screen. My setup pales in comparison to all of those but mine is still a work in progress.
What I like about my current homescreen are the icons and the widgets, but I’d like to find widgets that match the icons and minimalistic text. It feels a little mismatched at the moment. It’s also time I change up my background–I change it about once a week!
I’ve listed all the apps I’m using below. I have an HTC Evo smartphone so check to make sure these apps are all compatible with your device before downloading.
I have a thing for B-rated sci-fi movies. I would say most of my favorite movies fall into this category. Anything stylistic with a cool story and some badass females usually catches my interest. Push came out in 2009 to pretty low reviews by critics, which is no surprise since critics and I rarely seem to agree on movies. But the positive user reviews on IMDB assured me that this movie was worth a shot. And of course I watched it and it’s totally awesome.
Basically, the film is about a group of people with cool powers, all who are trying to evade the Division–a controlling government agency that uses these people and tries to weaponize them. There are different powers–people can be Movers, which is essentially like having telekinesis. Others are Pushers, who can push new thoughts into peoples’ minds. There are also Bleeders who can make people bleed out, and Sniffers who can smell things to trace a person’s actions. Etc. etc. This film has been compared a lot to X-Men and Heroes but I think that’s just because those things were relevant at the time. I don’t really find it very similar other than that basic concept of superhumans. Push is set in Hong Kong which makes it feel very cyberpunk, although there aren’t a ton of cyberpunk elements besides that.
I really loved the cinematography of this movie, and I was also pleasantly surprised by how clever the story was. I was expecting a fun action film but it had a unique story. Plus, Camille Belle and Dakota Fanning are both pretty awesome.
If you like a good, cool-looking sci-fi film, I suggest checking it out!
I’ve been having car trouble lately, so I’ve started looking into getting a new one in the next year or so. While I’d love another Volkswagen, since they are my favorite, I’m kind of interested in trying something new. I love anything small and Euro with some great design details. Good gas mileage and good handling are also a must. Given that, I’m pretty much in love with the Fiat 500 Abarth. It’s compact, sleek, sporty and modern–and not too expensive, either. Reno is getting a Fiat dealership soon so I’m hoping to go test drive one.
Somehow this car has a way of looking really cute and also pretty badass.
I’ve got automobiles on the brain since I’m going to a car show tomorrow with my brother and boyfriend. Andrew has worked on classic cars since he was a little kid, and has several of his cars entered into the show tomorrow. One of his cars just got second place at Hot August Nights in Reno which is a pretty big deal! I’ll take some photos tomorrow at the show.
Somehow I missed this movie when it came out in 2004, but it came up recently when I was working on the sci-fi issue of Wildflower. I’m so glad I finally watched it. It’s one of those movies where it feels like it emerged directly from my imagination. Set in the late 1930s, it’s a fantastical adventure film about a young journalist (Gwenyth Paltrow) who pairs up with a handsome captain (Jude Law) to save the world from an evil scientists. It has robots, cool laboratories, international travel, airships, eyepatches and more–basically, everything I like is in this film. It’s pretty steampunk/dieselpunk in aesthetic. It does have a few plot holes and at times is a little silly, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it immensely.
It’s also visually stunning and incredibly stylistic! And the clothing is pretty much to die for. I especially want some aviation goggles like Jude Law.
For a while, my home office–a.k.a. the Battleroom, just to make life interesting–was not turning out how I wanted it to look. There were a few things I liked about it, like my little hackerspace and my wall color, but the desk I had bought from Target was way too small, and the flow of the room was not working at all. So I decided that I wanted to invest in changing it to make it exactly what I wanted, which meant getting rid of the desk, which I just bought. Luckily, my boyfriend and I decided to turn it into a minibar in our living room and it couldn’t be more perfect. I also managed to find an amazing desk on Craigslist for $40!
This is a picture I had pinned on Pinterest a looong time ago as one of the inspirations for my office:
I loved the white tabletop against the dark grey wall, and I loved the filing cabinets underneath. I’ve been going for a softened industrial look, so that kind of desk really appealed to me. And, to my luck, I found one almost exactly like it. It originally had a plywood top, so I decided to paint it white instead.
This desk was incredibly heavy, since it’s all made out of metal, so we took it apart to bring it upstairs. I’m so happy with how it turned out!
(That’s my map of Skyrim hung above my desk, but the glare from the window made it hard to see.)
I love the color and texture of the cabinets on the desk. I think it compliments my lamp and the grey wall, and it will go well with my lockers that will soon be going against the opposite wall.
It’s great to have such a large, clean surface to work on.
By the way, my desktop wallpapers are from this post. Feel free to use them!
Originally, my old desk was situated in the middle of the room, kind of like an island, because it was so small. Now that my desk is against the grey wall, it leaves room to show off some of my favorite items under the window.
I got some new plants, too.
I feel like these changes are making my room into what I had originally intended for it to look like. I’m finishing up my lockers this week, and I’m looking for some more wall art, but overall it’s almost finished!
I’ve been a diehard Volkswagen fan since I was a little kid. My family used to have an old VW Bug, and my uncle would drive my cousin and me around in it. It’s one of my first memories of being in a car. Then, the first car I got after I got my license was a black 1999 Jetta, which I christened Sebastian the Batmobile (after Sebastian Bach, because my car was flamboyant, according to my friends). Last year, I traded my Jetta in for a silver 2008 New Beetle, which I refer to as the bubble. Someday, I’ll get a 1972 orange Karmann Ghia and drive it across Nevada with a Derringer on the next seat (that’s one of my bucket list items). More realistically, I’ll probably get a GTI next.
Anyway, that’s a little about my love for VWs. I just started watching Mad Men, and they were talking about these early VW ads. One of the things I love most about VW is their originality. These vintage ads were so before their time–so modern, using a lot of negative space and clean, bold typography. I love that VW hasn’t changed their style much in the past fifty years or so.
Today was one of those Mondays where I just wanted to be outside hiking in the mountains or driving along the coast of California in the rain with a canteen full of hot chai… sigh. I’m actually having a pretty good day but I could really go for a nice rainstorm or something. I feel cooped up. So since I have to spend so much time staring at my computer screen, I decided to change things up on my desktop. Looking at great photos of nature often makes me feel calm, especially epic storms and grey skies. I know some people think it’s silly to have images of nature on a technological device, but as someone who is equally interested in both the outdoors and gadgetry, I find it’s a nice way to bring the two together.
I wrangled up a few of my favorite wallpapers that feature some epic stormy skies. They are all from http://www.wallbase.cc. Just click on the image to go straight to Wallbase and download the size that works for your computer. Enjoy!
That last one is just because I’ve been watching too much Top Gear. But doesn’t that look like the coolest thing ever? Driving through the stormy mountains in an Aston Martin? Yes, please!
If you end up using one of these wallpapers, take a screenshot and send it to me! I love seeing other people’s desktops and homescreens… which reminds me that I should do another Rainmeter post here soon.
P.S. After I posted this, a friend of mine sent me a link to RainyMood.com if you need a little help creating a moody, stormy atmosphere in your office or home.
This weekend was one of those weekends where all I did was lounge around, play video games and watch Top Gear. And it was awesome. I did leave the house briefly to go buy new video games and get some Chinese food, but other than that, it was pretty much lazy central here at my house.
I did get a chance to get caught up on some racing games that I’d been meaning to play. Perhaps it was all of the Top Gear, but I’ve had cars seriously on the brain for a while. Here are a few that I played in depth.
WipeOut
WipeOut is probably my favorite racing game ever, and it doesn’t even have cars. Go figure. It actually features some sort of spacecrafts that you race around these amazing, totally futuristic tracks with lots of lights and cool symbols. I think I like this game so much because I want to live in this world. My first introduction to WipeOut was WipeOut HD for PS3, but I have since played 2048 on the PS Vita and both Pure and Pulse on the PSP (both of which I got for like $7 at GameStop. I love used games). HD is still my favorite just because the graphics are so stunning, and I think Pure and 2048 are tied for second. Pulse is really beautiful looking, but I have a hard time getting through races without dying, which gets kind of frustrating after a while, whereas in Pure, my health levels never seem to get as dangerously low so I’m able to actually focus on winning races. 2048 is just all around exciting, but I don’t own a Vita so I haven’t played it as often as the others. (I really want a Vita.)
For game footage, check out these two videos. The first is of HD, and the second is a preview of 2048.
Blur
I’ve been wanting to check out Blur for a while since I, obviously, like racing games with really unique graphics. What I like about Blur is that it has all of the cool colors and lights like WipeOut, but uses real cars, so it’s both realistic and stylistic. This game is really exciting, and unlocking new challenges and cars is pretty fulfilling. This game has some cool variety–some of the maps are races, others are time laps. You can add mods to cars and play different challenge modes. I’ve only played the first two levels, but I really like it so far.
ModNation Racers
My boyfriend and I have played the demo for this game a hundred times and we finally decided to just buy it. I’m glad we did. This is a really unique game–it’s kind of like Little Big Planet, because you can make your own character, build a custom car, and design custom maps. Here’s my little character and car.
It’s also like MarioKart, primarily with the cartoon-style graphics and game play. Some of the races are easier than in Blur or WipeOut, but the challenges can be pretty difficult. I haven’t even really begun to try out all of the features in this game, since there are hundreds of maps and customization options, but it’s definitely a fun game to check out.
Feel free to add me on PSN if you want to race sometime! My screen name is arcadie1021.
I’m bummed the weekend is over! Have a great Monday!
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