Anyway, as I stand now, on the brink of completing my college education, I’m not convinced I should continue a personal blog. On the one hand, I have more ideas then ever, on the other I am hopefully going to turn some of these ideas into businesses and be too busy making millions (and running blogs for those companies) to spend even more time on personal things. But as I looked back on all the videos I’ve watched this week while coding various websites, I couldn’t resist writing up a little endorsement for them.

So, here are some of the video’s I’ve found inspiring of late:

The Toronto Comics Arts Festivals asks cartoonists about what they use to draw.

Toronto Comic Arts Festival: Pencil it In from Toronto Comic Arts Festival on Vimeo.

(I can’t get it to embed, but you should watch Beer Wars on Hulu, as well as most of the other subculture documentaries they host such as Darkon, We Are Wizards, and Circus Rosaire

Although it’s a fairly common story across the American economy (and most likely the world) it was interesting watching this documentary about the people fighting against the dominant beer companies.

Roll a D6 from Connor Anderson on Vimeo.

Yes it’s been making the rounds and everyone has watched it by this point, but I literally could not stop listening to it endlessly the first twenty-four hours it was out. I would still really like to buy it, but it appears only to be available through itunes at this point, and not only do I have more issues then I can count with apple in general, I refuse to download itunes, and therefor my money is completely uninteresting to them.

And that’s it I think…

Timely=

• If you cut your own hair, that’s practically instant gratification.
• When you cut often you only need to trim the very ends of your hair, and so there’s less room for mistakes if you already have a hairstyle that you like.

Avoiding Uneven Chunks*=

• Only cut ten to twenty strands at a time.
• Always cut at an angle.
• Use a shaving razor to trim the ends.

*Well, unless that’s what you’re going for.

In General=

• If your hair has a lot of body like mine, always let it dry before cutting it, otherwise it might look a lot shorter then you intended when it starts curling.
• Don’t be afraid to experiment!
• Don’t obsess over symmetry, love the asymmetry.

I know for me, embracing my inner hair stylist has meant not only meant a good economical decision, it’s also helped improve my self-image. Looking in the mirror I feel much more in charge of my appearance. I’ve never been good at communicating my vision to hair stylists – especially ones I don’t know – so instead of always feeling like it could be slightly better, I have to own up when I make mistakes, but I can also feel truly proud when I get things right.

It’s been a long time coming – I’ve wanted to change my hair color since who knows when. But ever since the eighth grade I have suffered (and continue to suffer) under the rule of very strict dress codes which stipulated that subjects may only have hair colors natural to the human species – a prospect less then inspiring.This past November however, caught up in the craziness which is final’s week, I decided to heck with it, I hate my hair color! While I still want to go green or purple some time in the future, I’ve grown fond of my not quite naturally dark auburn hair, and I really don’t see myself (despite the drawbacks of costs and damage) going back to my natural hair color anytime soon.

Why this is so amazing=

• I don’t feel the need to straighten my hair nearly as often – apparently a wild main of brilliant red hair is much more fun then a wild mess of insipid dirty blond. This both saves electricity and means less damage to my hair.
• It might be shallow, but it really does make me feel at least 10x better about myself.
• Buying the four dollar Revlon kit every two months costs a lot less than buying disposable pads and tampons, which I no longer do, but that’s a story for another day.
• I might actually get a job.
• It actually doesn’t draw attention to my acne like I thought it would, instead it actually makes my skin look paler (which Gothic ol’ me thinks is much more attractive than tan any day).
• It makes my blue eyes really pop!
• I still match most of my clothes, which would probably not been true if I had gone with my first instinct to go black.

P.S. If anyone cares, sorry for not telling you I was leaving. Last semester tried very hard to kill me. I am alive, and back, and super motivated and much happier than I have been in a long time!

This is going to be short and sweet, since I have to head off to work in very short order.

Apple Cider Vinegar

The stuff is pretty much the most amazing thing ever to me right now, because it is an amazing way to stop buying any other kind of acne medication!*

I’ve had pretty bad acne since I was about nine years old, and while I do see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, I was getting really tired of all the expensive astringents and creams and stuff that I kept buying that didn’t really seem to be helping all that much. I even went to a dermatologist for a long time, but short of seriously messing with my hormonal chemistry (and I’ve heard loads of horror stories about that junk) he couldn’t really come with anything either.

*While apple cider vinegar has not solved all my skin problems, it has worked as well as leading brands, and is much cheaper, and softer on the skin – although at this point, I’m pretty sure my skin could take just about anything. While the substance itself has a very pungent oder I’ve found that I myself do not smell – to myself or others – after about ten seconds. The containers are also much more recyclable, and much easier to find at local retailers – which is good, since I’m not buying crap from walmart no more.

Anyway, that’s all folks, good luck to you fellow skin sufferers – curses on you non-acne-prone people :p

*Might being a very key word here, since apparently I couldn't 
keep a blogging schedule if my life depended on it.

UnClutterer=

As many of you know – or have guessed – I became inspired at the start of the summer to at least dip my toes into the shallow end of the minimalism philosophy. I thought this min. article stood out from the rest because it pointed out that, despite the fact that we are getting rid of things that we can become more people over stuff oriented, we still tend to become more attached to what we still have; not only because of the lack, but also because what we still have is hopefully actually useful.

The Guild=

On a drastically different note, the fourth season of the guild is out! I only discovered this little gem of a web show this past spring, but have been an avid follower ever since; the writing is just amazing, which is not something I can say about pretty much any other TV. Sometimes it does make me feel like a poser, because I don’t actually play video games pretty much at all (I would rather be out killing real-life zombies), but then again, it mostly just reminds me of all the weirdos I hang out with, or watch playing video games, or whatever.

Fake Plastic Fish=

This week FPF is trying to argue against Old Spice, and dares to claim that good old fashioned soap is just as good, and better for the planet, then Old Spice’s over-hyped/over-packaged product. My nose most hardily agrees! I know people who practically bathe in the stuff, and apparently is this not only wretch-inducing, but also bad for the environment.

And that’s all for now folks. Hopefully I my allergies won’t kill me this weekend, and I’ll be back on Monday!

Level 1= Walk with Purpose

• Try to walk as many places as possible.
• Take along your camera.
• Bring along a friend and some interesting/necessary conversation.

Level 2= Brainstorming

• New physical movement can help inspire creative mental movement.
• Bring along a music player (so you don’t go completely crazy devoid of any way to multi-task).
• Bike.

Level 3= Stroll Through The Here and Now

• Notice the details around you that you usually just walk by.
• Learn how to never get lost, deliberately walk through areas that you’ve never been to before.
• Remember different things that might have happened in this place (or places like it) and how it looks during different times of year.
• Deliberately walk away from the stress of your life for a couple of hours.

Is driving somewhere, just to walk around for a while, come across as more then a bit oxymorononic to you?

1. Fold the entire piece of paper in half, leaving a one inch edge to fold over the open top as a flap.
2. Fold over edges, one inch on each side.
3. Unfolding again, cut out the outside-bottom segments and outside-top, as illustrated above.
4. Glue outside tabs under folded over middle section.

In other news=

• It was misreported that Justin Bieber could not visit North Korea.
  I am 99.5% sure that Canadians can visit this American hating country, as I read a graphic novel by a Canadian about his year in North Korea.
• I started piecing together my Quilt Quest -  Now to be known as my Angry Quilt Quest!
  Who knew, the sounds of a sewing machine roaring forward could be so soothing on my heat frazzled nerves?
• There is only 1 more month of summer left.
  Then my final year of school, and then the rest of my life; however long that might be.

What’s the 1 thing you HAVE to do yet this summer?

So yeah, not dirty laundry, not clothes I actually wear, but clothes that I am hoping will be useful sometime in the future!

In my defense, most of these are bits and pieces of things that I can’t sell or give away, and so remaking is the only thing between this explosive mess and a landfill – trust me, stuff doesn’t decompose there, I was planning on making paper two weeks ago, and when I finally returned yesterday, the paper I hadn’t already broken down was still whole, just soggy…

Anywayz,  this week I made myself a little t-shirt backpack. With the heat wave, I’ve been doing a lot more thinking about walking then actual walking; one thing I always wish I have, is a small backpack to equally distribute the weight of my camera and water etc. instead of stuffing them in my pockets, or doing the one shoulder purse thing that makes my shoulders ache.

As you can see, it still has some modding out to go, but I’m pretty happy with how things are looking so far.

4 Steps to Upcycle Cuteness=

1. Sewed 2 t-shirt backs, back-to-back.
2. Insert rescued yarn into hems as a drawstring closure.
   -a must for all my t-shirt mods it would seem-
3. Sewed 2 more t-shirt hems in as straps.
4. Sew in bling!
   - or not so shiny witty stuff -

I got my first “freelance” job today, making memory verse bookmarks for my parent’s church’s VBS, but it will -hopefully- count as hours towards my “internship”, so it doesn’t really matter. <<

They’ll just be the coolest bookmarks those kids will ever seen.

Confession = I actually collect bookmarks, so I really can’t drop the ball on this one.

So, would you rather hand-sew or use a sewing machine?

Wait! You say, it can’t possibly be time again for this nonsense…

Let me be the first to break it to you: IT’S TIME TO DO SOME SCHOOL SHOPPING!

So, since I’ve sort of become an expert at buying textbooks* over the last three years, I thought I would share with the rest of you some simple tips I’ve learned along the way that can really cut back on the textbook budget.

*for my art/gen. ed./graphic design/writing classes, sorry science and math people, you’re stuck.

Buying On a Budget=

• Glance at your campus bookstore, but the price of convenience is high!
• Know thy ISBNs = both to be sure you’re getting the right edition, and because they often help you find the lowest prices online.
• Keep shipping in mind = 1 book might be cheaper, but a deal on shipping could actually get you a better edition for less in the end.
• See if there’s wiggle room when it comes to editions = sometimes, especially in gen. ed. classes, you can get away with having a cheaper older edition.
• Renting = I have never tried the online venues, but I have rented from a number of fellow students on campus, and it has always been a good deal.
• Buy from other students = most schools have some kind of classifieds system, and most students on there are just interested in making a quick buck; plus, there’s no shipping!
• Buy early = like most things, if you buy in the off-season it is much easier to find a good deal.
• See if anyone in your class wants to share books.

Getting The Bang 4 Your Buck*=

*It’s not just about buying cheap, saving the most of on your textbooks is about getting the most money back at the end of the year.

• Be pro-active and keep your textbooks in good condition throughout the semester.
• Rent your books again every semester until you graduate – especially with books that start out at the lower end of quality this is less of a gamble.
• Sell online – unless your books are of low quality, then your best bet is probably to offload it locally.

I usually end up buying all my books from Amazon, but I always compare prices at Abebooks, half.com, and textbooksrus.com among some others.

This next semester is probably going to be one of my most expensive, with 13 graphic novels to buy, but hopefully they won’t depreciate in value like traditional textbooks… What are you reading?