Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Watch The Robot Apocalypse With Bougie PB&Js

Top of the Tuesday to you, bots and tots. What's shakin'? Or jiggling? Multiple answers accepted.

Today I thought I'd share some cool stuff I'm watching and/or reading and/or eating, along with random photos from various Life Activities. Cool? Cool.

First, the movie John and I watched last night that I highly recommend:


The Mitchells vs The Machines

A family on a road trip gets waylaid by the robot apocalypse, and HIJINKS ENSUE. Super funny, extremely current with social media references and parodies galore, fabulously fun action, and heavy on the feel-good schmaltz - but not in a Pixar tear-jerker way, so we're good. I laughed out loud so many times with this one, definitely give it a watch on Netflix the next time you need some light-hearted laughs.

The Mitchells is made by the same folks behind Into The Spiderverse,  btw, so it has a little of that zany animation style. Less comic book and more story book, though. Also if they don't make a plush of the wall-eyed dog then I will RIOT. :p


Here's another way to add a little excitement to your evening:



Please tell me I'm not the only one who finds this adjective choice hilarious, because the people in line with me did NOT. Pthhp.

Also, really? A neck mask? Listen, I don't know who needs to hear this right now, but your neck looks awesome. Seriously. Save your exhilarating neck mask dollars for something better, like, uh...

Oh! These!

These were the snacks at our last Craft Night: three dollar wine from Aldi that everyone agreed tastes like a kids' juice box - but is somehow 8% alcohol so LOOK OUT - and Bamba Peanut Snacks from Trader Joe's, which taste like peanuts that have been transmogrified into Cheetos. Super weird, but good. And not too salty. Which could probably describe a lot of us here.

Kari, who brought the Cheeto Peanuts (Cheenuts? Peatos?) claims if you put both those and the wine in your mouth at the same time it tastes like a bougie PB&J, so there's your homework this week. Taste test and report back.



I'll have a proper update later, but John and I are still working our tails off most nights over at the rental renovation. Last night John was crawling around in the attic and suddenly slammed a screwdriver through the ceiling of the room I was in, so when people tell you the excitement fizzles after 22 years of marriage, don't you believe them.


Oh yeah, we keep it kooky.


Yesterday I set my phone down on the book I was reading, and it looked so pretty I had to take a picture. Which I needed my phone for, ha. But don't' worry, I made it work:





This is The Bloggess' latest book, Broken. If you've never read anything by Jenny Lawson, well first, RUN to her blog (start here), and then I highly recommend all of her books for laugh-'til-it-hurts goodness. I'm really enjoying the pace on this latest one; it's more measured, a little less breakneck speed. Jenny has interspersed her trademark zaniness with more real-life check-ins, more beautiful brokenness, and it's a good mix of laughs, gut-punches, and hope.


Weird side note: the dust jacket on this book is a tactile nightmare, so I had to take it off:



The paper feels like smooth soft suede covered in microscopic sandy grit that you can't see and won't brush off. I've never had a sensory issues with anything, but five minutes of holding this book made me twitchy, ha. Even John gave a yell when I handed it to him.

So yeah, if you DO buy a physical copy of Broken, be sure to pet it first and come tell me if it feels weird. FOR SCIENCE.


Backing up to Craft Night: we didn't just get schnockered on cheap wine and Peatos. We got schnockered on cheap wine and Peatos AND crafted stuff:


I'm really proud of my font selections here, because I'm usually TERRIBLE at picking fonts. (These are Aquerelle & DK Wayang, btw.)



I think I'm still planning to hang this rainbow yarn from it? Maybe? I thought it would be cute to clip hair barrettes on... although I don't use many hair barrettes. I don't know, should I braid the yarn? HALP.


Oh hey, remember the Harry Potter-inspired kitchen we did for our friend Dana last November? We decided he should name it The Broken Wand, because Dana is a wand maker and that sounds like a cool pub name. We even left a blank spot on the wall in the dining area for a future sign.

Well. Dana did make a wooden sign using one of his wands, which we then took home for 5 months (haha WHOOPS) for John to finish off. John designed and cut the lettering with our Cricut, wired up the light to a hidden switch, and now the sign is finally back where it belongs in Dana's kitchen:



LOOK HOW COOL. That's a blue fiber optic light at the break in the wand, so it looks like unicorn hair. Eeee! Dana found the resin hand at a home store years ago and never knew what to do with it. So perfect, right? Reminds me of the pointing hand on Knockturn Alley's sign.


From this angle you can just see the metal toggle switch John installed on the bottom.

And for reference, the sign is hanging on this wall in Dana's kitchen:

Sorry I didn't get a photo from a distance after we hung it up! I was too focused on getting fun shots like this instead:

Ooohhh. Ahhhh.

My birthday is this week, so tomorrow I will officially no longer be the answer to life, the universe, and everything. Boo. I wish I could say 42 was a better year, but you know what? The Epbot Discord is one year old tomorrow, and if that were the only thing I had to mark my 42nd year on this earth, well heck, that's still worth celebrating. I'm so proud of the community you Discord bots have formed over there, and so SO grateful for mods Phillip, Kate, Rose, & Melody. I wanted to make a safe space for people to come together online during a hard year, and you all made that happen. There's no better birthday present than that.

Well, except for maybe this other birthday present I bought myself:



MUWAHHAAAA LOOK HOW CUUUUUTE!!

(It's the Made By Robots knit vinyl. There's also a special toasted version with angry eyebrows(!) and a Slimer.)

This Friday is Movie Night over on Discord, by the by, and we're watching Bringing Up Baby, an old Carey Grant & Katharine Hepburn flick I've never seen. Care to join us? I'll bring the $3 wine!

Or if you can't make it Friday, we also have a matinee showing Sunday afternoon. Smaller crowd, but that makes chatting easier.  :)

I hope you're having a happy, healthy, hilarious week out there, my friend. And if not, grab onto someone you love and hang on; the better stuff is coming.

44 comments:

  1. I knew before I clicked the link to Jenny's blog which post it would be! Always start with Beyonce! Lol! I just felt my Broken(?odd sentence!) and I've had book jackets that felt like that before. It's odd, but doesn't bother me too much. And I think maybe the yarn rainbow would look cool braided, but, dude, make sure you turn it the right way around! Backwards rainbow bugs me like the book cover bugged you! Ha!

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    1. Yes to Beyoncé! and another big NO to backwards rainbows. Incorrect rainbows give me the shakes!
      I did notice that Broken feels a bit weird…

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    2. Knock knock motherf***er (just noticed the * is conveniently placed as the secondary character on my f-button. Ha)

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  2. https://thebloggess.com/2013/09/17/i-doesnt-take-much-to-make-me-happy/ This is the Bloggess' funniest post EVER! I've read this post so many times and I laugh until I cry. Every. Single. Time. You and she are tabbed together in my web browser shortcuts so, to me, you two are peas and carrots. Mwah!

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  3. We watched The Mitchels the other night and it made me so happy! There really are some laugh out loud moments.
    And I am all on board for all the Monchi the dog merch!!
    And the voice of Pal, I knew I knew it but couldn’t place it. 😆 I was so enjoying the movie that I didn’t even look it up!

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  4. Loved the Mitchells vs the Machines! I've rewatched it a few times because I love the extra animation that's over-layed that looks like Katie's artwork. And I need to read Broken. It's on my very long tbr list that I will hopefully power through this summer.

    An author I adore reading does these little short snippets of 'small gods.' One of them is Beyoncé the chicken.
    https://leemoyer.wordpress.com/2021/01/06/beyonce-small-god-of-impulse-buys/

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  5. That fuzzy dustjacket finish has been the Hot New Thing for publishers for a few years now, and as a bookseller I. HATES. IT. If you put any sort of sticker on it and leave it there more than a couple weeks, getting the sticker back off again is a nightmare that requires goo gone and lots of cursing. Even the low-tack stickers designed to be easily removeable! It's one of my biggest pet peeves.

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  6. Also, I have been listening to Broken on audio and HIGHLY recommend it! I love hearing Jenny speak, and since she recorded it in her closet you can hear one of her pets every now and again :D

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  7. Yup, it's not just you. That dust jacket feels too weird for me to hold for long, too. It's not just this book, though, I have a few that feel the same way to me. It's like the publisher was trying to go for a "silky matte feel" and ended up with something pretty but not nice to touch.

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  8. Use ribbons or fabric instead of yarn and it would make a beautiful place to display a Muppet enamel pin collection.

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    Replies
    1. This is a fantastic idea.

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    2. Ohhh, not to mention an excuse to start a Muppet pin collection! YES.

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  9. Fun fact about bamba - it's what my son's pediatric allergist prescribed to treat his mild peanut allergy! And after a year of eating 10 pieces a day, his peanut allergy is gone! We're continuing to enjoy bamba in our household, as he needs them as a maintenance dose to prevent a reacurrance of the allergy, but there's no cap on the volume anymore!

    Basically, bamba are a stable baby food in Israel where they're made the the rate of peanut allergies there is way below the rest of the Western world, which caught the attention of allergists all over.

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  10. I just felt up my Broken book jacket and then stared at my fingertips for a very long time. What...is this feeling?

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  11. I love your cloud mirror! I would also suggest ribbon for the rainbow. (I actually bought a bunch of colored ribbons years ago when I saw the cutest kid's plushie made in the shape of a cloud with the ribbons as the rainbow, but I never actually made the plushie. Ah well. "Buying supplies for crafts I never make" is kind of my religion at this point!)

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    1. Oh, and I have a book with a jacket that is exactly the same texture as you describe! It feels almost...greasy? Like I need to wash my hands after I touch it. So weird.

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    2. Greasy is what I felt too! Now I am feeling all my book covers. That's my day, thank you. :)

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    3. YES! I've been told I am a collector of projects... so it seems that I'm a "Buying supplies for crafts I never make" adherent as well!

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  12. Um, I definitely cried *at least* twice during Mitchells, so I do give it proper tear-jerker credit. I just recognized a lot of myself and a certain family relationship of mine reflected in the Mitchells' dynamics and, yeah, no stopping the tears at that point. :P But it's a very fun and sweet movie for sure!

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  13. My birthday is tomorrow too! Though I’ll be 46. Have a wonderful birthday and drink some of that delicious wine for me since I can’t get it here!

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  14. Hope you have a very special birthday tomorrow, Happy Birthday.

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  15. Oh no, I know EXACTLY what you mean by that dustcover. It's even worse when it's mysteriously on a speaker system. Thanks for the movie recommendation, and happy birthday!!! <3

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  16. Macrame seems to be cool again. You do a macrame design (possibly with a little less yarn), so it's a rainbow, but a rainbow with it's own cool pattern.

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  17. OMG THAT PUG IS HILARIOUS.

    Girl, I just turned 53 on May 3, and I sleep on my side. I wake up with bizarre wrinkles in my neck/chest/boobular assembly, and I think I might just make my own neck mask thing at home. I've been watching both of the Welsh Twins on YT, and I'm all into skincare and new make-up tricks.

    Hey, you guys finally got Trader Joe's in Florida? AWESOME! It's the only place The Vulcan and I (13 years since my Trek wedding! People said I was weird for having a costume wedding, now EVERYone does it) can both shop for our culinary needs/desires. He's a vegan and I'm a carnivore, it's a mixed marriage, we're very progressive.

    And I am trippin' BALLS that you guys have chosen "Bringing Up Baby"! It's one of my 10 faves of ALL TIME, YO! I can't wait to see what you think!

    I can't give you anything but love, Baby!

    Storm the Klingon

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  18. Once you've been the answer to life, the universe, and everything, you are a certified hoopy frood ever afterward. Wishing you the best of birthdays, with a generous helping of the joy you help spread.

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  19. Those peanut things are super common in Germany, we call them "Erdnussflips". Which just means "peanut flips", so really nothing at all. And now I'm kind of craving some.

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    1. We have them in the Netherlands too. They used to have them with a black peper flavor, unfortunately they were discontinued :(
      ps. Happy Birthday, Jen!!! I've got another 6 weeks of being the answer to life, the universe, and everything.

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  20. Happy birthday, Jen!! Thanks for all the comfort and delight you've given me over the years...

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  21. I totally agree about the book jacket.but only the back has that weird gritty feeling, I don't know, it's weird.

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  22. 'Bringing Up Baby' is hilarious - the quintessential screwball comedy. You're going to love it.

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  23. Jen,

    Large beads on the yarn that might look like raindrops? Maybe give it a macrame vibe?

    Maureen

    P.S. It was great to see you in Pittsburgh!

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  24. Bringing up Baby is one of my absolute favorites! "I was born on the side of a hill!" OMG it's SO good. Enjoy it and report back what you thought!

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  25. Just an odd note, delete this post if you see fit. When a magician dies (like an actual Muggle magician)sometimes as part of the funeral observances, a magician friend will perform the "broken wand" ceremony. The idea is that the magical ability rested in the skill of the dead person, not in the props, so they are "useless" now that the owner is gone. The two pieces are often given to signifcant people in the dead magician's life--a bereaved partner, children, etc. At the Magic Castle (private club for magicians) in LA, they have a special picture frame on a stand that will hold the photo of a recently passed magician, with a broken wand depicted above. All the members know what it means. So here is some anthropology for you.

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    1. That's beautiful, and today I learned something! Thank you for sharing. <3

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  26. More and more books nowadays have that type of matte finish on the cover, and it gives me the instant shivers when I touch it. (Which is an issue as I work in the books department of a thrift store �� If I really want tor read a book with such a cover, I cover it with packing paper or something.

    Apparently quite a lot of people like how 'soft' the cover feels...

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  27. <3 <3 <3 Bringing up Baby! It might be my favorite single movie of all time!!! - flseel

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  28. for sublime Hepburn/Grant zaniness watch "Holiday" it's even better than Bringing up Baby. and BUB is incredibly funny. then move onto Philadelphia Story.

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  29. I loved the Mitchells movie and, as the reluctant owner of a pug, I have to tell you that portrayal is Spot. On. Example: I recently had to spend over $1,000 for a procedure to investigate a possible mass (tumour) up inside the pug's nose. The vet could hardly contain herself when she called to tell me they'd found ... an unpopped popcorn kernel which she had apparently huffed and then been unable to snort out ... I now have it in a test tube, and any suggestions of how to display it would be gratefully received!

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  30. Bamba is to Israeli toddlers like Cheerios are here in the States. They also have a fruit(?) flavor that tastes like Crunch Berries. And some filled with nougat or hazelnut (think Nutella) or my absolute favorite in the whole world, halva. If you don't know what halva is, it's ground sesame seeds and sugar and it crystallizes to a sandy consistency. You can add whatever you want to it, but old fashioned plain or vanilla is most popular and also, imo, the most delicious. Great, now I want filled Bamba.

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  31. I'd super love you forever if you'd share the file for the cloud mirror. Please?

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    1. Of course! I'll ask John to clean up the file and share it soon here on the blog. (This is also the good kick-in-the-pants I need to finish it, haha.)

      Delete

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