Being Geek Chic is a blog about one woman navigating the male-dominated industries of production and tech. It's written by Elizabeth Giorgi, Founder, CEO and Director of Mighteor - one of the world's first internet video production companies. Learn more about Mighteor here.
I love DIYs that are crazy easy, yet have a big impact. This is one of those. Wearing lots and lots of beautiful bracelets and bangles is really in right now (and not just with fashion bloggers, I promise.) - but if you don’t want to invest a ton of cash on some new sparkle, this project is easy and lets you share a bit of your personality by using comic book art.
1. Pre-string a piece of stretchy cord with half your beads. I used silver and blue faceted glass beads - and here’s a tip - they’re 50% off at Michael’s Craft stores this week, so it’s $2.50 for a 9 inch strand.
2. Scan the portion of your comic book that you want to appear in your charm. You can use a couple different panels or a cover. I think 80s comic book covers are some of the best art out there, so I chose a Thor Journey Into Mystery cover from ‘86 and an Avengers West Coast Annual cover from '89. I scanned them and shrunk them down to about a half an inch. Then, print out two for each side of the charm.
3. Remove the stock photo in the charm and keep it. You’ll need it to stiffen the comic book prints. Tape a copy of your comic book of choice to each side and then trim the excess.
4. Now, use another piece of clear tape to create a lamination effect on the paper. You want to be careful not to touch the tape, because it will put fingerprints on it. Sandwich it in and cut the excess tape off.
5. Slip your comic book into the photo frame charm - being sure not to damage the tape.
6. Now, put your charm on your stretchy cord and finish beading. Tie it off and enjoy!
You need:
Comic book
Printer
Tape
Scissors
Stretch jewelry cord
Beads
Photo frame charm
Needle
20 minutes
Total cost: $3.50 per bracelet (Note: I bought my charm at a Michael’s store for $1, but you can find larger packs online for about the same price.)
You are forewarned: this blog post is about anger. Deep, uncontrollable anger that makes you want to physically harm others. It’s not glamorous or fun, but it’s a real emotional reaction to life that women often don’t talk about. For whatever reason, we’re trained to control our anger and frustration and never discuss it’s implications. Today, I’m talking about it.
This morning, I had the best intentions. Teej, my brother and his GF and I headed out to an old-school arcade for a couple of hours of air conditioned Tetris. Together, we had nearly $30 in quarters, which we intended to spend. Pretty straight forward outing, right? Well, we got there 30 minutes after they supposedly “opened” and despite the Open sign glowing in the window, the shop was in fact closed. We searched the window for a sign indicating that perhaps someone was out to lunch or taking a potty break, but no “We’ll be back in 15 minutes” was found. We called their number, but got voicemail. Checked Facebook. No mention of being closed. Checked Twitter. Same thing, as in nothing. Since it was a beautiful day, we chocked it up to someone calling in sick and our bad luck and decided to do an outdoor activity.
We then drove over to Minnehaha Falls. If you’ve never been to the Twin Cities, we have an incredible park system, which the Falls are a part of. Well, because it was an absolutely beautiful day, there were a lot of other people who had the same idea. We drove around the park for an hour looking for a parking spot. The designated parking lots, the street spots four blocks in all directions around and all the meters on the nearby streets were full. After several loops, we took off without any idea of what else to do.
At this point, things weren’t looking good for my mood. Sometimes, going home is all that you can emotionally handle.
My bloodline is full of ladies who were unafraid of a curse word and who didn’t shy away from a shouting match. As a result, I’ve always been fairly honest with others about when I’m upset or need to be left alone. It’s both helpful and scary in a relationship, because Teej always knows where I stand. Today, my anger was like another person attached to my back and it was not pretty.
From the Falls to my place, it’s a 20 minute drive depending on traffic and as we made our way home, I could feel my frustration boiling to the surface. I have a very complicated relationship with time and the fact that I spent 2 hours failing to actually enjoy this beautiful Sunday gave me the jitters. Instead, I found myself standing outside closed arcades and failing to find a parking spot. I tried to remember a Buddhist theory:
I do not OWN time. In fact, the idea that I could posses time is a fallacy.
As I got closer to my couch, I could feel myself wanting to cry. It was one of those moments where I just wanted to let go of the anger, but I couldn’t mentally and my body was just trying to get rid of it any way it could. I held back the tears and just tried to forget.
To my boyfriend, the day was a wash and he was ready to move on. He kept saying, “it just didn’t work out, so just move on.” But I couldn’t, because in my mind we had wasted 2 hours and didn’t get to do any of the things we intended to. Logic and anger are a cocktail that don’t mix well. So I just told him like it was:
“Right now, I just have to be a rage monster. Today, I’m She Hulk.”
Not quite the She Hulk from the 90s kids series. (In retrospect, that cartoon was weirdly erotic.) More like Marc Ruffalo’s controlled power with Edward Norton’s rage face. I wish that wasn’t my reaction. I wish I didn’t feel like violently smashing something or someone, but I just had to give in to the frustration and let it pass.
It was more than I could physically handle. So I took a nap. And when I woke up, I tried to imagine starting a new day.
It’s hard to talk about anger and hard to be honest about it. Do you ever feel like She Hulk?
(Image via Marvel)
