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.
Have you always wanted to see a meteor shower for yourself? Well my friends, this weekend is the weekend.
Look to the skies tomorrow night: Orionid meteor shower is coming
Per io9: “The Orionid meteor shower — one of the year’s most spectacular natural light shows — is upon us. This weekend, Earth will plow through a dense stream of celestial debris given off by Halley’s Comet. These fragments of Halley will collide with the planet’s atmosphere at speeds approaching 150,000 miles per hour, setting the night ablaze as they streak and explode across the pre-dawn skies of Saturday, October 20th and Sunday, October 21st.”
It’s a world-wide meteor shower, so get out to the country and turn your eyes to the skies. Turns out Sunday night will be peak viewing.
Skeptical? Check out this photo.
Superhero window washers
I work on the 24th floor of a building in downtown Minneapolis and I’ve seen the occasional window washers and I tell you… I really have thought they should wear Spider-Man costumes before. Proof:
Man washing my 24th floor window. I’m freaking out for him. We need to create a league of humans with spiderman’s abilities for this job.
— Elizabeth Giorgi (@lizgiorgi) July 9, 2012
The nice thing about this though? There not just any old windows. They’re windows at a children’s hospital, so the kids get a nice surprise when Spider-Man goes by with a squeegee.
I contribute to Apartment Therapy every week. This week, I wrote about movies and stars. But not the kind of stars you’re thinking:
5 ways to bring the constellation trend into your home
10 Tips for better movie watching at home
Happy weekend!
Did you know that NASA has an image of the day every single day? It’s all brilliant and beautiful and you don’t know what you’re going to get. It’s worth checking out every couple days just to see what’s going on at NASA.
Combine the fantastic image of the day with this awesome galaxy envelope tutorial from Mini Eco and I was inspired to create a freebie for the day.
Download the Stella Star Card here.
The image is from just the other day and NASA is describing it as two star clusters merging. Here’s the details for the other space nerds:
“Astronomers using data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope caught two clusters full of massive stars that may be in the early stages of merging. The 30 Doradus Nebula is 170,000 light-years from Earth. What at first was thought to be only one cluster in the core of the massive star-forming region 30 Doradus has been found to be a composite of two clusters that differ in age by about one million years.”
So I combined the brilliance of this incredible image with the word, “Stella” which means star in Latin. I need more generic cards like this. Don’t we all have too many thank you cards and not enough generic cards for those random moments in life when you just want to say something nice?
Here’s some examples of messages you could write inside this card:
“You’re a star, baby.”
“I glow for you.”
“Reach for the… you know whats…”
It’s a 3x5 card, so go make the envelopes over at Mini Eco and then come over here and print the card. Cut it out and share with your friends and lovers.
Don’t forget… Download the Stella Star Card here.
One of my favorite summer activities is star gazing at my family’s lake place. The calm of the water and the clarity of the sky never fails to make me happy. This DIY is a celebration of that love. Your LCD screen provides the light for making your favorite constellation come to life.
The best part about this constellation iPad/eReader/tablet case? It costs less than a buck to make. Seriously. If you’ve got the tools and thirty minutes, you’re done.
Here’s how I did it:
1. Cut out two pieces of felt in identical shapes with the width and height of your iPad/eReader/tablet in mind. Allow for a half inch seam allowance around three of the four sides. The felt I used is an eco-friendly blend that is very soft and costs less than $.50 a sheet at JoAnn fabrics.
2. Using a very small hole puncher (I used Fiskars Hand Punch, 1/16-Inch, Circle), punch a hole in three of the four sides. Do this for both pieces of felt.
3. Print out a map of your favorite constellation. I used the big dipper. Now use this as a guide to punch out the constellation in the center of one side of your case. Using a larger hole punch (I used Fiskars Hand Punch, 1/8-Inch, Circle), punch out the major stars in your constellation.
4. Thread the edges with a thick yarn. You can do a straight stitch or do something fancy. Have fun with this.
Put your iPad/eReader/tablet inside and turn off the lights. Then, press any button and watch your constellation light up! Fun, right?!
You need:
Two pieces of felt
Scissors or fabric cutter
Yarn needle
Yarn
Hole punches (two sizes) I used Fiskars 12-23508897 Hand Punch, 1/16-Inch, Circle
30 minutes
Total cost: The felt was .39 a piece, the yarn, needle and hole punches were on hand.
