The Boyf and I are having a wonderful time in Oregon, with the family. I hope everyone’s having an equally wonderful holidays wherever you are.

Here’s your “special gift” from me:

I make myself giggle. ;)

♥

A shortish Bits for you today, due to the fact that it’s my last day of work for the year, and that means party time.

Sometimes, I love my job.

Speaking of, this video was sent to me by a coworker. If you’re not involved in the graphic design field, even just on the periphery like I am, you might not get it. But I had to share, because it cracks me the cuss up.

True Blood news seems to be the talk of the town these days. We’ve now got ourselves an Alcide to look forward to.

There’s a new show premiering on BBC America in January that’s got me all excited: Demons.

In my mind, anything with magic, elements of the supernatural and British people—particularly if at least one of them is cute—is going to be good. No matter what.

An Iron Man 2 trailer has been released. *squee!*

(If for some reason that vid gets taken down, you can see it here.)

Some rumorish news on the Arrested Development movie, from the mouth of George Michael.

And finally, I want to make these Star Wars “environment” ornaments for the tree next year.

I doubt there will be a regular Bits next week, since The Boyf and I will be in Oregon for most of it, but I have something special for you. Make sure to check back on Christmas for that.

If you want to give me a Christmas present *wink,wink,nudge,nudge*, I’d love to get some comments on this Bits or anything else on my blog. I know people stop by for time to time in this little corner of my universe, but I rarely hear from you. So please, leave me a comment. Even if it’s just “your blog blowz.”

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday!

♥

P.S.—Watch Alice over the break, if you haven’t already!

Charlie and Hatter are is the icing to my sugar cookies.

I said I’d try to take some better pictures of the holiday decor in the apartment I share with The Boyf. Unfortunately, Texas weather, the shortened days, and the fact that the apartment’s a bit of a mess now have conspired to make that nearly impossible.

So you get the somewhat cruddy quality ones. I hope you forgive me. ;)

We aren’t going whole-hog this year, since we won’t be around on actual Christmas to enjoy the finery. We’ll be spending the holiday in Oregon with The Boyf’s wonderful family.

This:

is our happy silver Christmas tree.

The ornaments on it are a combination of vintage ornaments from my Mamaw’s collection, some I got at Target a few years ago, and some I got at World Market last year. There’s also a menagerie of Lego people on there—Batman, Catwoman, The Joker, Robin, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and Indiana Jones. I added them in just for fun.

Indie!

Here’s the tree without flash:

I got a couple of tiny turquoise tinsel trees and little ornaments (which I stuck in a couple of styrofoam cones) at Target the same year I bought the ornaments. They and a glass tree I found with the vintage ornaments in Mamaw’s closet go on top of the entertainment center.

Our stockings, altered Old Navy finds, hang underneath. I’ve really got to make one for Mollie—last year’s was … not good.

Those glass and mirror stars stay up there all year round.

On the bar is two more glass trees and a bowl full of ornaments.

David, the Tauntaun riding gnome, lives in this spot pretty much all year round. He goes with everything.

Finally, here’s the wreath I made out of a mix of vintage tinsel garland and new and vintage ornaments. I really like how it turned out.

Hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into my holiday spirit.

♥

Tomorrow, I turn 26.

Can you believe it? I feel like I should feel so grown up … but most days I forget I’m in my *gulp* mid-to-late 20s. I still watch cartoons on the weekends, I still like to make funny faces and act a fool, and I still get ridiculous obsessive crushes on TV shows/books/movies/characters. I guess I’m always going to be just a little bit silly. (And I wouldn’t change that for the world.)

Speaking of ridiculous crushes:

I fell, hard, for this Alice. If you haven’t seen it, you must try to catch it this weekend on SyFy (or at one of the other 23 times they’ll re-air it in the coming months). I know I’ll be watching it over (and over, and over, and over …;)).

Andrew-Lee Potts plays Hatter in the miniseries. ALP also plays Connor in Primeval. Which is, awesomesauce, coming back for a fourth series!

A unique international collaboration has guaranteed the return of hit series Primeval to BBC AMERICA and TV screens across the globe.

The groundbreaking deal will deliver 13 new episodes in 2011. It will also ensure that the spectacular special effects that have made Primeval such a huge success will continue throughout the new season.

The new series will be show run once again by Adrian Hodges and will feature the return of stars from the previous series, including Hannah Spearritt, Andrew Lee Potts, and Jason Flemyng, alongside special effects created by the award-winning team at Framestore CFC.

(source)

Yay!

Some True Blood news for you fans out there:

More Pam!

Check out who they’ve cast as Sam’s brother and Bill’s wife.

And some spoilers for what’s going to happen in the beginning of Season 3.

This little teaser featurette for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows makes me giddy with excitement.

I love this poster:

(Click for larger.)

I’m sad they’re all sold out.

This photography project—Before I Die I Want To …—is also very cool.

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned my love for Psych on this blog, but … I love it. The show is just too fun for words. The promos for the new season (continuation of last season? I’m so confused with all this fall finale crap …) that starts up in January kind of prove my point for me:

Natalie Portman is set to star as Elizabeth Bennett—In Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

I know I said I’d be posting pics of the holiday decor in the apartment, but it has been really hard to take decent pictures. This week we’ve had kind of nutty weather here in Texas—it’s dark and something like 45 degrees out. At 3:45 in the afternoon. *grimace* Perhaps this weekend it’ll clear up long enough for me to take a decent picture of the festive glory. If not, I’ll just post the pictures I’ve got with the promise that things look a little better in real life.

Happy birthday weekend to me! Hope you all have fantastic ones.

♥

I am a terrible blogger. I had a busy weekend, and not enough sleeping in, and I totally forgot to come back and post. Shame on me. So here you are—a special Monday Bits.

Lately I’ve been trying to infuse some of the other sides of my personality (aside from the nerdy parts) into this blog. Even if it’s just little posts, here and there, I feel like a better blogger when I have more than one post per week. I find inspiration for life in a variety of things. And, to be completely honest, the vast majority of those things are nerdy. ; ) But in my recent travels through the wild Internets, I’ve come across a lot of really great, really unique art and sites that showcase other people’s art. Therefore, today’s Bits is a little different—less nerd/pop culture news and more art. Think of it as me throwing a little culture your way.

Notebook Doodles is a place to find cute illustrations and hand-lettered quotes and thoughts, often written on lovely photos.

Wasting is a Tumblr blog—short posts, often of just pictures—filled with gorgeous photography culled from sites like Flickr. The photos/illustrations on this site really are worth more than a thousand words.

(source)

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Missed Connections is the work of Brooklynite Sophie Blackall, who takes some of Craigslist’s often infamous missed connections and turns them into works of art.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009
-m4w (L train to Manhattan)
You were reading Catch-22 on the subway this morning. I have never seen such a beautiful profile. I wanted to say hi, but then you’d turn towards me and I wouldn’t be able to look at your profile anymore. You were so into your book, I don’t think you noticed me falling in love with you. But I thought I’d ask, just in case.

Monday, September 14, 2009
-m4w (F train, 7th Avenue)
Look: historically, I’m not a morning person. And to top it off, I was grimacing through some lower back pain that flowered over the weekend. So when you noticed me (white guy, brown hair, blue/white striped shirt, earphones, red book) and I noticed you (white girl, brown hair, nosering, headphones, blue book) for however brief a moment this morning, it was bolstering and made me forget the knife in my back. Haven’t noticed you before, but if there’s a next time, maybe I can slap myself out of the morning slumber and say hey. No promises, though.

Letters to Crushes isn’t visual art, per se, but a series of anonymous love letters. (I’m a ridiculous hopeless romantic, you guys.)

funny boy,

i caught you smiling. at the floor.

now i’m not going to try so hard to keep my smiles to myself.

maybe next time we can smile at each other.

— sneaker girl

S,

I think you should let me sneak you out tonight. Not to go anywhere special. Swing sets and benches. Planets, stars and planes in the sky. Wake up comes quick for both of us. Don’t tell your parents. Leave a note: “chasing stars with JL. Love, S.”

— JL

you,

I started dancing while doing the dishes today. Your kisses have a way of doing that to a girl.

— me

And because it just wouldn’t feel right not to get at least a little nerdy—

Emo-cute versions of your favorite superheros from Etsy artist JSalvador:

Some great Wonder Womans from the 2009 WWDay auctions.

And visions of Commander William T. Riker from one of my favorite web comics, Kate Beaton. (Check out the rest of the Number One tumblr too; if it’s not nerd art, I don’t know what is.)

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

♥

This week’s Bits is postponed, due to a work-induced migrane. I’ll try to get the post up later tonight or tomorrow.

<3, M

The Boyf and I started putting up Christmas decor last night. (I’ll post some pictures when I can take them, hopefully this weekend?) I made a hanging swag-thing two years ago, with craft foam and crystal baubles, but it no longer goes with our decor. (Our decor is what I would consider semi-mod, with a silver tree and blue, pink, silver and lime ornaments.) So I’ve decided to make a new one.

To work with, I’ve got yarn and felt galore, and a large box filled with vintage glass balls I got when we were cleaning out my grandparents’ house last spring. I also have a large amount of silver tinsel garland.

Some inspiration:

(Source)

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I bought the hedgehog in the one below for my mom at Target last Christmas. :)

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(Source—Red Velvet Art’s Autumn=Love class)

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Not a wreath, but definitely cute:

(Source)

I’ll probably work on ours some tonight, while The Boyf’s at work. We shall see what I can come up.

In other crafty news, I got an early birthday present last night.

A YUDU!

For those not in the know (*wink*), a Yudu is a personal screen printing set up. I am going to get into ALL SORTS of trouble with this. :D

How are you decorating this season? And what kind of crafty gifts are on your wishlist?

♥

(Yeah, terrible title. Blame all the food I’ve eaten in the past couple of days. It’s affecting my brain.)

Happy day after Thanksgiving, friends! I hope everyone had a great day, and aren’t experiencing too much of the turkey hangover today.

I meant to spend the entire day at home, avoiding the mess that is outside. But we went out to lunch for my cousin … and I scampered back here as fast as I could. I just don’t get the deal with Black Friday. I know the deals are great, but couldn’t we just spread them out over the course of a month or two? I’m guessing people would save just as much money, and there would be a lot less stress and car accidents.

Just a thought.

I love these “alternate Disney” images. Particularly this one of the Wall-E cast:

In Twilight news: This video is super funny. It’s how Twilight “should have ended.”

I posted superhero Facebook status updates a while back, and recently ran across a bunch of Star Wars ones that are similarly hilarious:

Speaking of, I love this Star Wars-inspired Adidas Originals collection. Definitely want those Han/Chewie holographic shoes.

And another something sort-of related: A full trailer for Something, Something Dark Side, the Family Guy retelling of Empire Strikes Back.

The teaser trailer for the new Clash of the Titans has been released:

Looks pretty … epic. (Har, har.)

The Nerdy Bird posted about a very cool “magic wand” remote control. *Wishlisted!*

And finally, because it never hurts to try to win something while promoting a great comic, some post-Thanksgiving thoughts from Wondermark:

(Click to embiggen.)

See you all next week, same Bits time, same Bits channel!

♥

I am thankful for a lot of things in my life. My friends, my family, my health, the roof over my head, my good job, etc.

One of the things I am most thankful for, however, is The Boyf.

I sent him this picture a few moments ago, describing it as our future bedroom.

(via)

His only response? “Could we please have a little bigger bed?”

Now that’s love right there, folks.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! See you on Friday with some Bits.

♥

I am beat. But in a good way. Saw New Moon last night and was really happy with the outcome of the cast and crew’s hard work. I’m more than a little enamored with Chris Weitz, too.

I’ve also had a busy week, so I haven’t had as much time to gather Bits. I know: *slaps wrist*. Bad Mandy.

So, I hope you all don’t hate me forever when I say I’ve got no Bits to post today. I will try to make it up to you next Friday, when I am hiding from the masses at the malls and trying to digest the previous day’s ridiculous amount of food.

♥

P.S.—New Moon’s broken the all-time midnight box office record. Suck on that, disagreeable reviewers.