Being Geek Chic is a blog for stylish geeks, sophisticated nerds and people who enjoy the musings of a complete dork. Join us as we dream of driving the TARDIS, cuddle with our eBooks and test out an iPad sleeve. It's written by Elizabeth Giorgi and a team of brilliant lady nerds. Meet the team.
Editor’s Note: This is a RERUN from the Being Geek Chic archives. I’m taking a bit of a break this week, so please enjoy these classics from the BGC archives while I’m away.
Minneapolis is acting a lot like it’s west coast cousin lately. It has been raining for hours, which has made cranking out this DIY really wet. But the showers let up for an hour this afternoon so I was able to put together my LEGO flower pot and take some good pictures. I think it’s adorable!
This little LEGO flower pot also bears some resemblance to the evil flower pipe in the Mario games, which makes it all the more delightful. Plus, it’s super easy to make and I imagine a little kid would get a kick out of it, if you have one of those.
Here’s how you make it!
Every once in a while, I have a moment of genius. Yes, genius. I’m going to be that bold and call this particular project a genius idea. Here’s how it went down:
Get yourself a dollar store ornament, plastic or glass, that’s clear and has a removable top. Remember, the smaller the ornament, the smaller the top, the smaller the hole = the smaller the LEGO piece that will fit inside.
Make a collection of them and put them on the tree. Hell, they’d make great gifts too!
I have a really important announcement to make: Chanel’s new chunky clutch is not a certifiable LEGO handbag. They did not collaborate. Chanel did not ask to make a LEGO-esque bag. They may not even know they did.
I am totally in love with it and I too want to own one. But I think it’s important that people get the facts about these things. Proof here. If you’re going to spend your money, you should know that LEGO isn’t going to get a penny.
Also, it really is kind of a rip. I know, it’s not EXACTLY a LEGO shape, but it’s damn close. And the colors are damn close too. This is why everyone is calling it the LEGO handbag, but really, it’s not. It’s a Chanel bag inspired by LEGO… or so it seems. I feel better now.
i09 posed an important question this week: Could The Hunger Games get published today?
The reasoning is straight forward enough: dystopia is everywhere, YA has gotten less violent because of outside pressures and on and on. But not a single publisher said they disliked The Hunger Games books, so of course it would be published. And we’d all be obsessed all over again.
My favorite thing in life is seeing my name in print… did you know that? Probably makes me a narcissist.
Wreck-It Ralph: How video games should be?
Lucky Seven: TV Series Worth Streaming on Netflix
Working from Home: Remember to Reward Yourself After Completing a Major Project
This week has felt disproportionately long. Maybe it’s because my birthday is coming and I wish I could run away from it. I don’t want to get older, but yet, it’s what humans do. And with no time machine in sight, well, yeah. It’s happening.
I’m celebrating the only way I know how: with copious amounts of ice cream. I’ll let you know how that goes, because there’s a DIY coming that makes sense of this caloric binge-fest, but that will have to wait for the weekend.
Until then, here’s the things that have been making me happy.
I’m not sure how else to explain this… so I’ll let the New York Times do it:
Cosmic Supermom Discovered
“Scientists have found a cosmic supermom. It’s a galaxy that gives births to more stars in a day than ours does in a year. Astronomers used NASA’s Chandra X-Ray telescope to spot this distant gigantic galaxy creating about 740 new stars a year. By comparison, our Milky Way galaxy spawns just about one new star each year.”
Yeah, that’s exciting. While everyone else is freaking out about the “supermom” - I’m way more excited about the star babies. SO MANY STAR BABIES. I feel like that was a toy of my 80s childhood, but Google is failing me. Anyone else remember something like this?
Get Out of a Writing Rut
I’m notoriously manic about my writing methods. It’s all binge and purge. (Sorry for the gross analogy, but it’s true.) I write in these psychotic whirls of emotional vomit and then I go through these crazy edits that leave me with very little copy. Then, I get irritated with myself and the inevitable distaste for said habit leads me to skip the keyboard altogether. I needed a boost to get back at it. These 30 tips from crazy great authors really did help.
I just wanted to share this picture of my Lord of the Rings LEGO set with you because those damn shorty legs get me every time. SQUEE.
Hey, did you know I was a tech contributor for Apartment Therapy? Gee, hucks, wow. There’s lots of good stuff to read there, including this:
Don’t Be Afraid of Neon in the Office
Mini Smartphone Projectors: Bringing Movies to a Backyard Near You
(Picture via NASA’s Chandra)
I just want to talk about LEGO for a minute. You know when you are a kid and everyone asks you what you want to be when you grow up? I always said novelist or children’s book author or roller coaster designer. (I fracking loved roller coaster tycoon.) Why didn’t I ever say LEGO designer?! Shit. I love those toys. They’re so freaking cute and loverly and the creations are always pleasing. Part of the inherit problem with this career choice would be that I would have to move to Billund, Denmark… which brings me to the loveliest blog post of week.
Inside the LEGO ideas house
I now want to visit Billund. This journalist found himself with an inside tour of the LEGO mecca and produced a few good tidbits. For instance, LEGO is planning on building a public museum, which would detail the history of the toy, its various iterations and an inside look into the design. This would be a great stop on a geeky vacation.
Fight for Space
Bill Nye and Neil DeGrasse Tyson are a part of a new Kickstarter project to make a documentary on the decline in funding for space exploration. They’re still short by about $10K, so go support if you love space. Trailer is here and Neil is all adorable and whatnot in it. I hope they interviewed at least ONE woman. Maybe Sally Ride? It seems like a lot of this was shot in advance. The trailer is a bit of a dude-fest, but I’m still jazzzzed.
This Hobbit video diary is so fun.
MARTIN FREEMAN IS SO CUTE. SQUUEEEE. ELIJAH WOOD, YOU ARE SUCH A FANBOY. LOVES IT. Yes, all caps was necessary. It’s a controversial opinion, but I love the Hobbit SO much more than LOTR, so this is a very good thing to me.
I write stuff for other internets pages…this is that:
Bring the outside in with these desktop wallpapers (And details on your desktop background says about you.)
I had never heard of ScreenFunk before… And then this awesome bromance celebration by Marie Bergeron crossed my Google Reader. Love that Bruce Banner/Tony Stark bromance so hard. Yeah, I SHIP THEM. I know, I know. Everyone is supposed to be a Stark/Rogers - but whatevs.
Other beautiful designs for your iPhone/tablet/Android loving sort, below.
Poison Ivi in a simple style.
