I wish this all was a book I was reading and that I could close it and make it stop. That there’d be some hero that could swoop in and teach everyone a lesson and save the day and make it so that no more kids would die.
But it’s not.
I’ll see you in the streets.
It may be the fact that I’m a total 80’s baby but this 8 bit Fireplace by JamesBit on Etsy warms my nerdy little heart.
I don’t even own a fire place but I’m actually considering getting this anyway just because look at it! It’s beyond bad ass. In case you’re wondering it’s a painting on a canvas that you can order in different sizes to fit your fireplace. Personally I think this is a zillion times cooler than putting a candelabra from target in there. Just saying.
But for apartment dwellers lacking in fireplaces fear not James has other 8bit awesomeness to adorn your living spaces. Check out the Secret Passage floor decal
If I were a child this would blow my mind. I’ve had Vinyl floor decals in my place before and they are not only neato they’re easy to clean and can generally tolerate being walked on. They also come up easy when it’s time to move or you get sick of them without leaving a mess. So you know you can get your savings deposit back and all of that.
Remember we’re adults that means we get to live how we want. Decorate your castle with things that make you smile.
You’re welcome.
I don’t know who Daily ReHash is but I owe them a cookie bouquet because I haven’t seen anything that has made me this nostalgically happy in months. Guardians of the Galaxy is the film that made me the happiest in 2014 and Land Before Time scared me for life but it’s also one of the best cartoons of my childhood. So here you go internet, I hope it makes your Monday a little bit easier.
If there are any former scouts here you might be amused by this little piece of modded nostalgia, Geek Merit Badges from The Storied Threads etsy shop.
And I have to admit if I were still in High School this would be sewn on to my pants in a heart beat.
I’m pretty sure my Earth Sciences teacher would have been down. Mr. Coleman was a cool dude.
I’m a huge fan of diary comics. Julia Wertz is probably one of the best. Erika Moen of Oh Joy Sex Toy fame had a great one called DAR. Even Lucy Knisley had Stop Paying Attention . For many diary comics seem to be a way to get started. The problem with that is that sometimes life just isn’t interesting. I spend a good 8 hours day at my office day job. There’s maybe one thing a week that happens that would bring amusement to anyone else and that’s if I’m lucky. I see a lot of up coming diary cartoonist that give me faithful representations of their day but not of the human experience. There needs to be a context, readers need a reason to care about a diary comic beyond voyeurism. A good diary comic is able to catch the absurdity that is much of our every day lives. The specifics of events make them interesting but their universality is what makes the comics meaningful. A good diary comic shows that even when you feel like you’re the only person on the planet who does or feels a certain way there’s always someone out there who feels just like you.
I really wish my first reaction to the new Barbie about coding being ridiculously sexist was shock. Look people this is still Barbie, what about her makes you think she’s on the feminist ball? I know you can make a look at all those jobs she’s had argument but at the end of the day we all know those jobs are more about selling outfits than empowering girls. Don’t believe me? Then why does Doctor Barbie wear high heels?
Anyway in case FB has yet to inform you Mattel put out and doosy of a picture book called Barbie: I Can Be a Computer Engineer. It contains jems like this.
The book continues to the obvious lesson that if girls want to use computers they need help from boys. It’s facepalmingly bad in places. Here’s why I’m not shocked. I’m appalled, and disappointed but not shocked.
It’s not even a secret anymore that women in the tech industry are abused so badly they LEAVE. Two different women who work in the games industry (the very thing Barbie wants to do) were threatened with rape and murder and forced to leave their homes. A different woman was Doxxed just because she said she was scared. What exactly was it about our current culture that made anyone think a book could come out about girls and tech and not be terrible?
Children’s media especially has to get through a lot of gatekeepers and they for the most part aren’t the liberal parents we’d all like them to be. Those gatekeepers sometimes have views that make most of us cringe at the Thanksgiving table because Crazy Aunt Maude is talking again. When the media run by our generation can’t even handle this topic without literally police being called how can we expect anyone else to do better?
It’s why I take feminist issues in things so seriously because we are no where near the point where a book like this is shocking, it was just Wednesday.
My first thought when seeing these cufflinks was that they’d be perfect for a really classy literary drug dealer.
Showing off your nerd pride when your have a real adult office job that requires the most stuffy and boring of uniforms takes some extra effort. Thankfully stores like ElegantCuff offers a huge array of super bad ass cufflinks to add a dash of geekery to your suit.
So whither your deal is catching them all.
Making mother fucking earthquake machines
Or just being the all seeing eye of evil
This etsy store has your covered.
I’ve been a chip tunes fan for basically a decade now (pause while I feel old) and I’ve seen the scene go through lots of changes over the years. The addition of lyrics to our chippy anthems is a pretty new but super welcome change. 8BitBetty’s Hedgehog Dilemma is probably one of my favorite chip tunes songs of all time. It tells the story of every shy introvert everywhere. It’s especially relevant for all us shy New Yorkers with lyrics like “why am I alone again tonight/ In a city filled with possibilities.” It’s kind of a love song for everyone wishing they could find the nerve to find the shy person whose just right for them. Check out 8BitBetty’s Bandcamp page for the full lyrics and a chance to download the song for merely a dollar.
More Than Fables 