Geek in Heels - Page 14

Aug 24, 2014 • In Entertainment, Funny, Music

Pop Songs as Sonnets

(Sorry for the lack of updates this past week. We are officially in the 2-week period between summer camp and the start of school, and I’ve expectedly been really busy with the girls. Add to that little Aerin wanting to copy everything that her big sister does — including not taking naps — and I feel like September can’t come soon enough!)

Pop Sonnets is a Tumblr blog that turns pop songs into Shakespearean sonnets. Needless to say, it’s full of delightful bits of brilliance. 🙂 Here are some of my favorites:

Artist’s Self-Portraits Chronicle His Descent into Alzheimer’s

In 1995, artist William Utermohlen (1933-2007) learned that he had Alzheimer’s disease. For the last five years of his life, he tried to understand the disease by painting himself — a series of self-portraits which revealed the progression of his dementia.

The paintings, which were shown in 2006 at the New York Academy of Medicine in Manhattan by the Alzheimer’s Association, are heartbreaking to say the least.

The paintings starkly reveal the artist’s descent into dementia, as his world began to tilt, perspectives flattened and details melted away. His wife and his doctors said he seemed aware at times that technical flaws had crept into his work, but he could not figure out how to correct them.

As you can see from the first portrait in the series, Utermohlen was a fairly naturalistic artist before the onset of Alzheimer’s. The abstract, surrealist paintings that follow are characteristic of the Abstract Expressionism movement of art — a genre he refused to embrace at his prime but ironically became the source of his fame.

The Baby-Sitters Club, 2014 Edition

They’ve returned with a face-lift. They’ve been imagined as grown-ups. Now, Kate Gavino has us wondering what types of problems our favorite babysitters would be facing if they were millennials.

The Giving Groot

Have you guys seen Guardians of the Galaxy yet? I was able to catch a showing opening weekend, and although I liked it a lot (I’ve loved Chris Pratt ever since he first stepped foot on the Parks and Recreation set), I didn’t believe it was as fantastic as most people made it out to be. 😐

I thought Winter Soldier was a better movie, TBH. And the best movie I’ve seen this year so far? The Grand Budapest Hotel. (And I have heard wonderful things about Boyhood…and you know how much I loved the Before trilogy!)

But I digress. The real reason for this post is to share with you a cute crossover I discovered online: one of my all-time favorite books, The Giving Tree, with Groot and Rocket as the main characters!

As The Nerdist states, The Giving Groot needs to be a real book!

High Expectations [The Perils of an Overactive Imagination]

I have never liked going to “tourist-y” attractions when traveling.

I know this is the cool thing to do these days — to seek out the less popular, hidden gems when vacationing — but I have always been like this, even from a young age.

And the reason for this aversion? Disappointment.

The Mona Lisa. The Eiffel Tower. The Sistine Chapel. Starry Night. The Parthenon. The Pantheon. The Colosseum. The Statue of Liberty. Notre Dame Cathedral. The Blue Domed Church in Santorini. The Leaning Tower of Pisa. The Last Supper. Saint Peter’s Basilica. Capitol Hill. The Louvre. The Palace of Versailles. Niagara Falls. The Grand Canyon. The Trevi Fountain. The Statue of David.

And so on and so forth.

Never have I been impressed and/or surprised by visiting these famous landmarks, works of art, or structures in person. Because in my mind — fueled by my love of reading and colorful imagination — they were always so much better. More grandiose, more colorful, more intricate, more impressive.

In other words, I expected more.

I couldn’t help but be reminded of this personality quirk (flaw?) when I read “Lowering Expectations Is Key to Happiness” earlier this week. According to the article, researchers at the University College London discovered that feeling happy does not depend on how things are going, but how they are going relative to expectations.

Which completely makes sense, when you think about it!

Perhaps this is why I tend to stray more to the negative side of spectrum when it comes to general life satisfaction? Because I imagine, and thus expect, all aspects of my life — whether it be relationships, parenting, career — to be better?

It’s funny, because my overactive imagination doesn’t automatically turn to the worst-case scenario. Rather, I tend to conjure up elaborate, more-than-ideal situations and outcomes. So perhaps I will continue to be disappointed more than pleased…but stay an optimist.

The Science of Star Wars

Physicist Andy Howell recently gave a talk about the science of Star Wars — yes, the actual science behind, the inspiration for, the data that supports, and the ‘how’s and ‘why’s behind the wonders of the SW world! — and wrote up a summary for Ain’t It Cool.

This is so nerdy that I couldn’t help but stay up ’til 2am, devouring the details. 😎

The topics include:

Space Fantasy
Droids
Tattoine
Holograms
Parsecs
Lightsabers
TIE Fighters
Training Remotes
The Death Star
The Destruction of Alderaan

For example, did you know that training remotes (the floating robotic orb Luke uses to practice his lightsaber skills) are a reality? And that they’re flying on a spaceship right now???!!!!!

In 1999, MIT professor David Miller showed his students STAR WARS, and when it got to the part about the training remotes, he said, “I want you to build me some of those.” They and subsequent researchers came up with these things called SPHERES that are being tested on the International Space Station. They float because it is weightless on the ISS. And then they maintain their position and move around by shooting jets of compressed air!

Then there’s this jaw-dropper:

And you can read the calculations behind the statement at the end of the article!

I think it goes without saying that Copernicus explores The Science of Star Wars! is a must-read for all Star Wars geeks. Go bookmark it now!!!

Via Kottke.

Amazon Gift Card Giveaway! [Win One of THREE Prizes!]

When I asked if you guys were sick of my talking about Korean beauty products, reader J Lee replied, “NO NO NO. YESYESYES to more posts like these!!!” And others seem to be enjoying these posts as well. 😛

But as much as I would love to keep buying and reviewing new items, I would much rather spread the love first.

And you know what that means, don’t you? 😉

That’s right — another giveaway!

I thought about having the winner(s) choose a Korean beauty product I have talked about in my Korean beauty haul series. But I knew that not everyone has the same skin/cosmetic concerns as me.

I then considered giving the winner(s) a gift card to an online Korean beauty store. But I know that not everyone is into beauty stuff.

Additionally, not ONE online Korean beauty store carried ALL the items I mentioned in these posts. 🙁

So I figured, why not just please everyone? Since Amazon carries all the items — either directly or through third-party sellers — AND since you don’t have to buy a beauty product with an Amazon gift card…

I’M HOLDING ANOTHER AMAZON GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY!

With not one, not two, but THREE chances to win!

ONE lucky winner will receive a $50 gift card:

And the second and third winners will EACH win a $25 gift card:

To enter this giveaway, simply use the Rafflecopter widget below. Not sure how to use Rafflecopter? Watch this 52 second video for a tutorial on how to enter a giveaway using Rafflecopter. There are 5 methods of entry, with the first method (commenting on this blog post answering the question “What would you do with your Amazon gift card if you won?”) being mandatory while the third method (Tweeting about the giveaway) can be used once per day:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway will end on Monday, August 11th, 2014, at 12:01am EST, at which point a winner will be randomly chosen and announced here. If the winner has won the drawing via a fraudulent or illegitimate entry (i.e., not commenting on this post, using different accounts to enter multiple times, using a Twitter account that is only used to enter contests on a frequent basis, using the same Tweet URL to enter multiple times) I have the right to choose another winner.

This giveaway is open to ANYONE over the age of 13!

Please use a valid email address and/or Twitter handle so that I can contact you if you win! If the winner fails to respond within 48 hours of my contacting them, another winner will be selected.

Good luck, and thank you for entering!

Pop Culture Reimagined as Little Golden Books

Another day, another art exhibit I’m dying to attend on the west coast. (Srsly. I know NY has some of the best that the art world has to offer, but I freakin’ LOVE the LA art scene!)

Galley 1988, which has gotten love on this blog before, is currently showing Storytime: A Little Galley Show by illustrator Joey Spiotto.

Classic Horror Movies Get the “Goosebumps” Treatment

If It Were Stine is a Tumblr blog dedicated to reimagining classic horror movies, television shows, and video games as R.L. Stine’s popular children’s book series, Goosebumps.

Despite having been a junkie for the teen horror genre in my formative years, I wasn’t a big fan of R.L. Stine or the Goosebumps books. I thought they were predictable, contrived, and quite honestly, not that scary. (I was a bigger fan of the less-popular Christopher Pike.) However, I can’t help but admit that designer Theodore Holmstead-Scott and writer Jude Deluca have done a fantastic job of translating these on-screen horror classics to Goosebump-worthy book covers.

Here are my favorites. Be sure to read the back-cover synopses for the full experience!

The Shining:

Poltergeist:

New Harry Potter Book Covers Coming This Fall

Come September 1^st, Bloomsbury Publishing will re-release the beloved Harry Potter series with brand-spankin’ new dust jacket designs. Created by UK illustrator Jonny Duddle, these new covers certainly seem darker and more detailed than the originals, depicting specific scenes from each book. Take a look!

Pop Songs as Sonnets

You may also like:

Artist’s Self-Portraits Chronicle His Descent into Alzheimer’s

You may also like:

The Baby-Sitters Club, 2014 Edition

You may also like:

The Giving Groot

You may also like:

High Expectations [The Perils of an Overactive Imagination]

You may also like:

The Science of Star Wars

You may also like:

Amazon Gift Card Giveaway! [Win One of THREE Prizes!]

ONE lucky winner will receive a $50 gift card:

And the second and third winners will EACH win a $25 gift card:

You may also like:

Pop Culture Reimagined as Little Golden Books

You may also like:

Classic Horror Movies Get the “Goosebumps” Treatment

You may also like:

New Harry Potter Book Covers Coming This Fall

You may also like:

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