Darkhouse on Goodreads
Red Fox on Goodreads
Dead Sky Morning on Goodreads
The Benson on Goodreads
Lying Season on Goodreads
On Demon Wings on Goodreads
Old Blood on Goodreads
Into the Hollow on Goodreads


Thursday, October 29, 2009

Forever 21 E-Gift Card Giveaway

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for all your compliments on my homemade Leela and Zapp Brannigan costumes on the previous post. I am tres excited to wear them again on Halloween :)

Just a few quick updates:

*My novel is buzzing along. I just finished Chapter Nine last night and clocked the entire novel in at 53,430 words so far. AMAZING! And while Chapter Ten has just started, I've already brought the count up to 57,080! I'm 23,000 words away from my goal and very excited.

Actually, just writing that now, I think my novel is going to be over 80,000 words which is perfect.

I'm used to writing articles or screenplays (have degrees in Journalism and Screenwriting) so this novel is a whole new direction for me but it's one that I am so glad I took a chance on. Even if nothing comes out of it, I've never been happier than when writing my story.

That's not to say it isn't challenging. Being a writer is like being on a constant emotional rollercoaster. One minute you love it, the next you are sinking to the lowest lows and doubting your ability to write anything at all.

What I have found though - what works best for me - is that I look forward. I rarely read what I have written and just keep plodding my way. I know there are some plot holes and somethings that are happening that I have no explanation for, but instead of worrying about them, I just keep writing and you know what? It works itself out. I think once you trust and know your characters they'll end up taking places you didn't see before.

*Super excited about New Zealand too - the trip has been on the backburner because I have been so devoted to my story but every now and then I remember that I am actually going back and not just dreaming!

*That said, with the upcoming trip and my busy schedule (plus constant bouts of illness) I have decided to close Wanderlusting Style Store on November 1st. So if you want to buy something do it NOW! I appreciate all your support with buying my items and I thank everyone for their patience as I've had quite a bit of bad luck with shipping and in many cases end up paying more than what I was paid for but as long as everyone gets their stuff and is happy with it, then it's all good.

But please, come visit the store before November 1st and I'll throw in another item (of equal or lesser value) in for FREE!

I WILL re-open the store in January - but that doesn't mean everything that is listed now will be available then. A friend of mine makes awesome jewelry and I want to showcase her wonderful gems (she designed my header too) and I have tons of more stuff to list but like I said I just don't have the time to deal with it right now.

OH right. The giveaway!

I'll be sending one lucky winner a $25CDN E-Gift Certificate to Forever 21 - all YOU have to do is comment on this post by answering this simple question:

What movie scares the crap out of you?


OH YES - and if you LINK to this post (let me know, natch) I will enter your name in an extra two times. That's right!

Here is my latest, favourite Forever 21 purchase - a kicky green peacoat I picked up in Portland. Tax free! God bless Oregon.






BTW - FELLOW KIWIS - Faith No More tickets are going on sale shortly for the Auckland and Wellington shows in February. Soundwave Festival in Australia sold out for FNM in eight minutes! Be sure to get those tickets while you can. That's an order!!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Costume How-tos: Leela and Zapp Brannigan

Leela from Futurama costume and Zapp Brannigan costume


Our Futurama Halloween costumes were a success on Saturday night - though there were a few hairy moments where I really doubted our ability to pull this off.

Actually I doubted MY ability, since I was the one who made the costumes.

Leela was actually the easiest. Comfiest costume ever, as well!

I wore my Lululemon yoga pants tucked into these buckled boots I had bought in Italy. A Forever 21 white tank top for the top. I made Leela's metal armband out of cardboard and duct tape. I bought the purple wig on Ebay and put it into a ponytail (just wish it was a darker purple).

The eye of course, was the hardest part but it ended up working out the way I wanted. Being an avid horseback rider, I immediately thought of horse fly masks - you can see out but not in. So I bought one off of Ebay. Sadly, the colour was more beige than white so after I cut out the eye shape, I filled it in with Liquid Paper.

Next I cut an elastic string into the corners and tied it around my head. The only problem there though is that it pulled the eye tight against my face which made it look flat - also the white out was pressed against my eyes and MAN does that stuff sting! I was probably getting high off of it all night.

Solution: a pair of reading glasses with the lens popped out. I wore the mask on top of that so it would stay a safe distance from my actual eyes. Success!

Zapp's was hard. The white rubber boots I had gotten off Ebay (btw VERY hard to find, especially in a size 11!). The velour (very important! Zapp and Kif's uniforms are velour...and scandalously tight!) was a red dress that my bf's mom found. I cut it short (very short...too short) and then added extra fabric at the neckline to create a turtleneck.

Next I added a girdle. Yes, Captain Zapp Brannigan wears a girdle on the show haha, and actually my bf wore my beige SPANX if you can believe it, because we needed to cover him up lest he flash someone. He could not even bend over lol.

Then came the gloves. White gloves were very hard to find. We looked everywhere. Finally I turned a pair of rubber gloves inside out and then stapled on two peices of white foam board to create the top.

I then cut out gold paper from a discarded gift bag and stapled and pinned that to his red "tunic" to create the fancy space-looking shoulders.

Interestingly enough, it was the wig that was the part that didn't really fit. We couldn't find a proper wig anywhere and ended up having to paint one.

Luckily we are dressing up again on actual Halloween, so we have this week to get the hair just right.

I guess you could say the party was a trial run...I must also mention that it was the most amazing Halloween party ever. The host must have spent a week getting it ready. It was insane the amount of detail that went into it. There was projection screens outside with the theme from Halloween and ghostly faces. There were cages with monsters inside. A spider the size of your bed. A graveyard with mist (real and fake!). A haunted maze complete with padded walls and cells. A woman that rocked back and forth and watched The Ring on repeat. A scary clown that started singing Black Sabbath when you sat down on the toilet. Totally rad.

Leela cyclops mesh eye mask from Futurama costume and Zapp Brannigan velour costume

























Spider Baby - Fantômas

PS I know I've talked about Fantomas being the best, coolest, awesome Halloween music before - If anything go download this song in full "Spider Baby" from the Director's Cut CD - you won't be disappointed. It should be up there with the Monster Mash and Thriller for everyone's Halloween - plus it has that Mike Patton charm ;)

Friday, October 23, 2009

Dressing for Day of the Dead



OK, so Day of the Dead doesn't actually happen until November 1st but I wasn't about to not wear these shoes until then.

Aren't they gorgeous? They are custom-designed vintage shoes by the same seller who made my Faith No More Angel Dust boots (see here) and you can peruse her Etsy store and make special requests by clicking here.







Dress + Blazer = Forever 21
Necklace = ASOS
Shoes = Scholarly Articles


Hope you are all as excited as I am about it being Friday.

I've got a Halloween party to go tomorrow night which should be EPIC.

It's been a great week so far too. The weather has been shit, but ever since FNM announced they will be coming to the States next year (April in San Fran! - unofficially, of course) I've been on top of the world.

Also, I had made a comment on a Faith No More blog. Then Mike Patton himself linked to that blog on his Facebook status, so the zillions of fans he has went to that blog and then click on my link and well...Thanks Mike Patton for increasing my blog visits by 200+ people! As if I couldn't love you more :)

My writing is coming along swimmingly as well. Yesterday marked the end of my "30 day challenge" and I'm proud to say that this whole getting up at 6AM to write will continue!

So far, while holding down a full-time job, I have managed to write 41,201 words in 29 days. I need to write another 40,000 in the next 30 days and my writing goal of 80,000 words (average length of a novel) will be completed just in time before I go to New Zealand.

In fact, today it's already at 47,282 words so I am confident I will reach my goal with time to spare. At least time to fix all the typos before I send it off to be edited.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Faith No More to play San Francisco in April 2010

It has been confirmed by Bassist Bill Gould that Faith No More will in fact be coming to the USA this year.

This comes a few days after I deduced that FNM would be coming to San Francisco in April, after reading between the lines of keyboardist Roddy Bottum's Twitter response to the question "Come to SF!" from screenwriter Dave Eggers (author of my fav book ever, "Giraffes? Giraffes!!").

You can bet your bottom dollar that I will be going to San Franciso (already called dibs on my friends couch) and probably to Seattle or Portland if they play there as well...come on guys, now you just have to add Vancouver, BC to your list and all will be right in my world.
my own remake of Hitchcock's Vertigo, with me as Kim Novak (see original Vertigo post here) and whathisface as Scottie Ferguson:



I'll leave you with the smexy "A Small Victory" video:


Faith No More - A Small Victory

Angel Dust MySpace Videos




PS - for anyone is now vaguely aware of FNM (I realize my blog audience isn't entirely made up of rock chicks), I wonder what your dream set list would be?

Mine would consist of:

From Out of Nowhere
Absolute Zero
Be Aggressive
Chinese Arithmetic
A Small Victory
Last Cup of Sorrow
The Cowboy Song
Crack Hitler
This Guys in Love with You
Everything's Ruined
The Gentle Art of Making Enemies
Stripsearch

Encore:
Midlife Crisis
King for a Day
Zombie Eaters


HAPPY DANCE!!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Obligatory Blog Post

AND THE WINNER OF THE PERRICONE MD CLEAR SKIN CLEANSER IS:

*drumroll*

Comment #6 (as chosen by random.org) which belongs to= GOURMAMA! Congrats! Contact me to claim your prize (love your name, btw :)

Thanks to everyone who entered! I'll be having another Forever 21 giftcard giveaway this Friday so be sure to check back then for that awesome contest.

Speaking of, I won't actually be doing any posting this week until Friday. I've been feeling very "blog" uninspired lately which I think is because I have been feeling very "fashion" uninspired lately which I think is because I've got my sights honed in on other things at the moment.

This also explains why I haven't really been around to visit your blogs lately. I am sorry for that - I know the blogging world is very reciprocal and that half of you would forget about lil' ol' me if I didn't make the rounds but to be honest with you I don't have the time and the time I do have is spent on other things. SUCH AS:

* My novel. I am at over 30,000 words now and 40% of my goal, which is awesome in some ways. But also reminds me that I have 60% to go! And I have one month to do it in....because....

*In one month (and a day) I leave for New Zealand. AAAAAHHH! I was so busy planning this trip in Sept and August....then I started writing the novel and I totally forgot I was going anywhere. I mean, I have blinders on and all I can think about is my story. That is a GREAT thing mind you, because I have an ADD mind that is easily distracted and easily loses interest in things. But on the other hand, I also easily get obsessed and consumed by things and I am embracing the fact that I am being consumed by my novel at the moment.

*This Thursday will also mark the one month of my writing - remember the 30-day challenge I started? For nearly 30 days I have IGNORED the fact that I am NOT a morning person (seriously - I am NOT a morning person...Night Owl all the way) and gotten up at 6AM to write for an hour before I leave for work. This of course hasn't happened on the weekends, though I have still managed to write, but it at least has stuck to the weekdays. Funny thing is, since I get up so early now, I've found I'm turning from a Night Owl to a ...Day Owl...Are there even Day Owls? Anyway, with each day I start off writing, I am more inclined to write the whole day (well during down times at work at least) and I find my creative juices are flowing full tilt.

*What else? Oh yes, Halloween! Success!! I have my entire Leela costume now, INCLUDING the homemade Cyclops eye. It works and everything and looks awesome, though I am starting to think this might be the first Halloween where I don't look attractive lol. My eyes are my best features, right, so when you cover up both my eyes and replace it with one big ugly cartoon eye, well...let's just say I've got nothing on Leela herself. Oh well, the point is that the costume is hilarious.

Oh, I have got to show you these vintage "Angel Dust" album cover boots I am loving these days. I got them from this excellent Etsy seller. I can't remember her name at the moment but I will link to her on the next post. I've got a pair of AMAZING "day of the dead" vintage red pumps from her as well - will show them off next post for sure (also look for my Portland ghost adventure and "Inspired By: Mike Patton" and "Inspired By: Smashing Pumpkins" posts too).

Also, this dress was for sale in my store but I decided to wear it anyway. No longer for sale! Only problem is my DAMN HIPS! I hate how clingy dresses ride up when I walk...doesn't help at all that I have a small but long waist. And an ample behind. Thank god for tights.














Dress + Necklace: ASOS
Leather Moto Jacket: Vintage
Boots: "Angel Dust" Vintage, custom-designed
Bag: Ringspun




OK, well I am off now to start booking the remainder of my New Zealand trip...I've got LOTR tours to book, Dolphin swimming trips, flights, rentals cars, hikes, you name it. EEEEK! One month of work left and then one month off of work =)

See you all Friday and congrats again to Gourmama!

PS _ I was also wondering if a few of you readers could help me out - I've got 106 followers, apparently, yet my comments are at a all-time low (another reason why I am not posting as much because it literally feels like no one is reading this).

My sitemeter readings are not reliable either so can any of you followers let me know if my posts are actually popping up in your feeds when I publish them? Because it really seems like all of my followers are A) dead B) given up on my blog (why?) or C) just aren't aware of my blog posts.

Kthnx.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Pizza in Portland

Hi folks.

So, I feel as if I may be on the cusp of le swine flu so I'm taking a nice "work-from-home" day which usually translates into "suntan in the backyard day."

However, I realize it is mid-October and our Indian Summer is forever gone (man, was it nice though) and today will instead be "take lots of naps day" - uh, and work. A bit.

So I'll admit I won't be putting too much effort into this post, but I will say that my trip to Portland was AWESOME. I heart that city so much. The ghost/walking tour we did on Friday night was really interesting but before I get into that, I'll give you an idea of what we did on Day Two.

Day Two - went to Powell's Book Store, finally. This famous bookstore has all the books in the world...located on an entire city block. I was even able to find an out-of-print book which I used to have, Charles Berlitz's World of Strange Phenomena.



My brother used to read me this book when I was young...maybe that's why I have a fascination with the macabre. It is full of short episodes of true, weird events like The Dover Demon, a skinny monster with really long fingers, green eyes and a watermelon shaped head that has been spotted in Boston.



And I found it here, in the "Metaphysical" department, under "Anonmolous Elements" - this bookstore is DEEP! (found the book...not the Dover Demon).



Afterwards we checked out some record shops, Chinatown and revisted some "haunted" places.









For lunch/dinner we went for some tasty pizza at Old Town Pizza place. We actually started our ghost tour here the night before - it's haunted - but I'll save that tale for later. For now, we just wanted some of that delicious homemade pizza, as featured on Rachel Ray's Tasty Travels.







I had Proscuitto and Zucchini while my bf had olive, pepperoni and sundried tomatoes - both our own creations! Bliss.





Afterwards we went for a walk on the river then to the Ad Agency bar where we watched some American College Football. It seemed all Oregonians in the bar were mad cheering for the Michigan Goblins...not even their home team! The fun atmosphere was off the charts.










We capped off the night with a visit to an infamous oyster bar for fresh shucked oysters and a shot of jaeger (just cuz). Had the most awesome server there ever - very generous. And cool. We were lucky. Oh and the bathroom is haunted too.

Finally we stopped by Voodoo Donuts. No visit to Portland is complete without their bacon and maple donut. That's right. Maple glazed bacon donut...

It. was. STUPENDOUS.



Shirt: Lochers

Jacket: Vintage

Bag: Ringspun

Jeans: Forever 21

Boots: Bata

Bonus points to the first person who tells me what my shirt says ;) 'tis awesome.


PS Only ONE more day to enter the MD Perricone giveaway - click here to do so.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Best Halloween Music Ever: Fantomas, Director's Cut

It's the most wonderful time, of the year.

Every year, since I was a child, I have partaken in Halloween festivities to the extreme. I used to have spectacular Halloween parties, some of which involved setting up a "Haunted House" in our garage.

I love to scare the crap out of people. So it's fitting that the novel I am working on is essentially a ghost story (sort of ). It's scary, nonetheless. At least, it scared me writing it late at night, in a big empty house, while listening to Fantomas "Director's Cut."

Speaking of which, if you want awesome scary music for Halloween but are sick of sound effects or the Monster Mash/Thriller/Ghostbusters played a million times, download Fantomas Director's Cut. Or at least sample a few songs at Amazon HERE.

Fantomas is yet another one of Mike Patton's bands (I am sorry I keep bringing him up but he keeps being relevant- though I don't actually like this band of his. They are too loud and noisy for me (I do have some standards) HOWEVER, their album Director's Cut is AWESOME!

It's basically creepy rock/electronic-based covers of scary/weird movie soundtracks. That song that is/was playing right now? That's "Rosemary's Baby" (what have they done to its eyes?)- there is also The Omen, The Godfather, Cape Fear, Twin Peaks, among others. And Charade....which is one of my fav movies ever, but not necessarily scary. Though their cover of the Henry Mancini theme is amazing.

Anyhoo, back to Halloween.

Sometimes I think I am a pretty sadistic person at heart. I used to leave my friends alone in the woods and take off with the flashlight. Or I'd write them threatening notes and tell them that a glowing-eyed monster was watching them (SORRY AYNSLEY!). One year, at a sleepover, I told my friends that my pool (which my bedroom's large screen door looked out on to) was haunted and had my mother dress up as a ghost and roam around the yard at night and tap at the windows. GOOD TIMES! For me. Haha.

I even continued to trick or treat until I was about 15 years old and then I guess I looked too old and people stopped giving me candy. But I always kept up with the tradition of dressing up - even when in countries like New Zealand that don't do Halloween.

I started with a movie/tv character theme in 2000 and have done it for nine years now, starting with: Rogue from X-men, Holly GoLightly, Marilyn Monroe (from Gentleman Prefer Blondes) and one year from The Seven Year Itch, The Bride from Kill Bill, Cinderella, Peggy Bundy...

...Lindsay Funke (from Arrested Development) and my bf was Ferris Bueller:



....Phoenix from X-men:





....Selene from Underworld (my bf was Robert Downey Jr in Tropic Thunder -the dude playin' the dude, disguised as another dude):






And this year? I'm going as Leela and my bf is going as Zapp Brannigan:




SO - I wanna know, what are YOU going as this year??!

PS - I am in Portland right now as this post is getting published. We are here for the long weekend...I'm doing character research for my novel. We also just went on a ghost-hunting tour. I'll be sure to share that experience with you all real shortly!



Rosemarys Baby (Lullabye) - Fantomas