making it up as i go along
Today I shall tackle another group near and dear to my heart: craftinistas. This is for all of your loved ones who just can't get enough of the crafting bug.
Craftinistas
The Print Gocco is a home silk-screening kit. It gives all of us day-jobbers a new outlet for creativity … that looks professional. The starter kit gives you enough supplies for 5 originals (designs) and virtually limitless prints. Refills are easily available. Available at DickBlick for $139.
We also got our Christmas photo taken (finally!). After many attempts near home, we balanced the camera on a rock and did ONE SHOT on the timer that turned out perfectly. I won't be posting it until after my Christmas cards go out, though. So y'all will have to wait. Until then, you know where to find other photos from that day. Continue reading “Weekends are Too Short”
Today we'll cover a species with which I am most familiar: Geeks. ThinkGeek is the logical place for all your geeky shopping, but I may have a few surprises.
Geeks
What geek wouldn't love a good distraction. This little aquarium plugs into your USB port for power and you get to watch little fishies swim around. It also makes an excellent night light with soothing blue glow. Water not included. $12 @ ThinkGeek.
Let me just say I was *floored* by the amount of cool stuff out there. And I hardly left Target's website. Pull up a chair. This is going to be a long one…
Kids
I've felt for a long time that digital cameras were perfect for kids. You get all the fun of a film camera but with instant gratification and no cost developing. They can, of course, use the family's camera, but it may be nice for them to have their own. The one pictured here is $110 at Target and shoots movies as well as 3 MP digital photos. Hello Kitty, Barbie, Bratz, and Scooby Doo also have lower cost digital camera options.
Having covered the fairer sex, now I move on to the err … not so fair sex? Dunno.
Stereotypical Guys
I was nosing around Red Envelope one day when this “digital sound bag” caught my eye. I had dreamed up a similar invention when I was little and it was amusing to see my kiddie dreams come to life. Anyhoo, that aside, this would make an excellent gift for any audiophile. You plug your MP3 player into the built-in speakers and you've got built in sound. The pocket lets you see and press the buttons on your MP3 player. It comes in 3 colors and has lots of great pockets for your other stuff. $70.
I wanted to do guides for guys and girls, but I didn't want to be too stereotypical. Then it hit me.
Stereotypical Girl Gifties
Maybe not as cute, but certainly more affordable, the Dell Ditty comes in at $100. It holds quite a bit of music in a small fairly cheap package and you can customize it with different colored caps (for the USB port).
I probably cannot stress this enough: bags. They always fit. They come in every color, shape, size imaginable and they're so damned practical. The one I've shown here is a laptop bag from Target that I thought was neat. Other bag sources that I dig include: ebags, Title 9 (for gym bags), and great indie designers Poise and cut+paste just to name a few.
Ani tagged me. Here are my answers.
2 names you go by
1. Jess
2. Baby
2 parts of your heritage
1. mostly German
2. Coloradan … hehe
2 things that scare you
1. Richard Simmons
2. Jerry Fallwell Continue reading “Two.”
Civilization has been one of the best computer game franchises around. I started playing the games with the original CIV games (running on 486) and have bought every version since. So, when a release date for CIV IV was announced, I preordered the game from Amazon. What I didn’t do was select quick shipping, I selected the free option. Well it took about a week for the game to arrive. I was annoyed at first, but it truns out that I’m really glad I waited.
Why, cause well, Firaxis shipped the game with, lets call it a compatibility problem. Turns out if you are running an ATI video card (about ½ the people out there) and not using the absolute latest drives the game won’t start. Well, my drivers weren’t up to date, and even after upgrading them I still cound not start the game. Fortunatly, the week between the game’s release and me getting it enabled Firaxis to find a fix. I was looking around Firaxis’s site and found this work around. I finally got the game running and I’m happy with it now. Unfortunately for Firaxis, a lot of their fans are really pissed. All I can say is they should have put a little more into QA. Continue reading “The Value of QA”
Well the holiday season is upon us. Hobby Lobby made it official last night by playing the first bit of Christmas music I'd heard so far this year. To help all you folks out, I thought I'd do a multiple part series on gift-giving. Today kicks that off with my first installment, Gifts $25 and Under.
Tickle Me Freud, available at Uncommon Goods would make a lovely gift for your shrink, your little brother who's a psych major, or your loopy aunt. An excellent converstaion piece and always good for a (manical) laugh. Freudian slippers are also available.
The new parents, and their sprout, too, would love one of these cool bibs from MyRetroBaby. They velcro for ease, have a soak-proof lining and come in a wide array of patterns. $18.