Candlestick holders

I saw some GREAT pictures of painted candlestick holders on pinterest and around the internet (example here) and so I made my way down to the thrift store a block from work to see what stuff they had that I could spray paint. I've said it once, and I'll say it again: I'm obsessed. There are always tons of sad brass candlestick holders for super cheap at thrift stores, and they are just waiting for me to make them beyootiful again!

 

Layer of primer (same Rust-Oleum primer as the lamp from before)

 

Spray paint!

This was my first attempt at spray painting anything, and I really bonded with the guy who does work on his fancy cars down in the last level of the parking garage while listening to crazy dubstep music. This first time I laid the candlestick holders on their sides, but this turned out to be a mistake because I couldn't constantly monitor them (didn't really feel like hanging out down in the parking garage...) and the paint dried to the newspaper. So this happened:

 

:(

I had to let them completely dry, sand off the newspaper, re-prime it, and then re-paint it. SO much work. But totally worth it, I think. 

Next time I think I'll lay them on plastic bags or something and try to do lighter coats so the paint doesn't drip onto the paper. I went back to the thrift store and bought literally one billion other candlestick holders, so I guess either I will have a ton (my power goes out constantly so it might not be a bad idea), or people should start getting ready to get painted candlestick holders for Christmas! 

Expedit part II

A couple weeks ago I went to Ikea and went a bit nuts, aka I spent about $160, but I also got a TON of stuff. I don't get people who don't like Ikea. I bought two expedit shelves, one of which I turned into a bar (see below), and the other one I decided to use as a place for my dvds.

 

Before they were just in a sad little pile.

I bought the dark brown/black shelf, and it was a bit too dark, combined with my black TV stand and the black tv. I mean, black is my favorite color, but it turns out you CAN have too much of a good thing. So I went to Home Depot, bought some primer and teal paint, and went to town. 

 

I was really bummed because the primer looked all splotchy and it got all over my hands and was REALLY difficult to wash off. I kept at it though, and after it dried, I added the teal paint.

 

I moved the operation from the floor to my dining table because bending over to paint was hurting my old body. Also the lighting in my dining area is much better.

 

After I was done putting what felt like fifty bajillion coats of teal paint to make sure the coats were even, I removed the painter's tape, but realized that some paint had still managed to drip onto the outside surface. Plus, it just wasn't even and didn't look neat. SO I took some silver Washi tape (I want to cover EVERYTHING with washi tape) and covered up the edges. 

 

Ta-Da!

I guess if I had one gripe about these Expedit shelves, it would be that they are a little too deep. But honestly, it doesn't really matter. Now that I painted the insides a lighter color, it's a bit easier to see everything. I also really like the teal color because it pulls in the art I bought from a girl I went to high school with (her Etsy store is here!) I also have a black dresser from Ikea that I want to paint with a mint green pattern or accents. I'll just save the pretty much full can of teal paint for...something else.

Ikea hack! - I made a bar

When I was trying to decide what to put in this space next to my side table, I decided I wanted a bar.

How sad and pathetic.

I mostly wanted to clear out some space in my kitchen cabinets that were being taken up by the couple wine glasses I have, and to not have to put my wine bottles on the counter.  But most bars were either too big or too expensive. Sorry, Crate and Barrel, I'm just not fancy enough for a $300+ bar with a bunch of compartments and doodads.

So instead, I decided to make my own using much cheaper Ikea furniture! I guess it's a thing to repurpose Ikea furniture for something other than what it was intended for. There's an entire website dedicated to it (www.ikeahackers.net) and it's pretty great. I bought an Expedit bookshelf/organizer thing ($40), an wooden win rack, and a wineglass holder, all from Ikea. It's like they WANT you to make things with their incredibly affordable products.

 

This particular wine rack is a tiny bit too big for the expedit, so I had to cut about half an inch from each leg. I bought a hacksaw at the hardware store and spent waaaay too long cutting those tiny pieces off. If I had real tools (and like...an actual workspace), it would have been much easier. Anyway, the final product looks like this:

 Complete with fancy painted candlestick holders!

Et voila! Insta-bar for around $60. It felt weird having that space in between my side table and the wall, and the expedit fits that place perfectly. I barely drink that much wine, but it's a nice place to put the few bottles I have in one place. Plus, now that Christmas is close, I needed a place to put all the wine I'll get from people at work! :)

I'm crafty

I have no idea how I got started on the idea of crafting/home decorating, but I started reading blogs on home decor one day (at work, okay, I admit it!) and I am officially obsessed. I guess I'm getting the nesting urge? That explanation is better than my sister's which is that I'm a sad spinster lady who does crafts (which is also true...).

ANYWAY. When I first moved to my place I bought a brass lamp at a garage sale, and it was just eh. It wasn't gross, but it wasn't exactly cute either. So I went and bought a TON of spray paint, found a spot in the parking garage of my building, and went to work.

I took out the lightbulb and covered the top and the cord with painter's tape:

Then I covered the lamp with a few thin layer of primer (I used Rust-Oleum's Painter's Touch White Primer): 

After that was dry, I painted it this almond color, which turned out awesome. I like how you notice the lines of the lamp more when it's painted a matte color:

The lamp shade is from IKEA (my happy place), and I think it looks MUCH better now--more elegant and less garage sale-y. WHOOOO crafts! I may or may not be in the process of becoming a hoarder though. I just want to go buy cheap thrift store lamps and paint them! I'm going to be a crazy lamp lady, and I'm sort of okay with that.

Space

This is one of the most beautiful videos I have ever seen.

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

Dunce Haus of Gaga

Okay, so I heard Gaga’s new song “Born This Way” on the radio, and I hate it. Here is why:

1. It is a legitimately bad song. I’ll sometimes hear Poker Face or Paparazzi on the radio, and despite having heard those songs hundreds of times, I STILL sing along and love every second of it. So Happy I Could Die and Monster are two of my favorite Gaga songs, and they are INFINITELY better than the tripe she came up with this time. The stupid Born This Way song has a ripped-off tune--it doesn’t even sample; it’s straight up Express Yourself but slightly faster and with painfully one-dimensional and pandering lyrics.

2. It is condescending. There’s something about lyrics that are so obvious and feel the need to spell its message out for its intended audience that is SO annoying. It’s like Gaga/her writers feel that her audience isn’t savvy or smart enough to understand subtlety. Here’s a snippet:

No matter gay, straight or bi
lesbian, transgendered life
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born to survive

It may as well say “HEY GAYS, THIS SONG IS FOR YOU, JUST IN CASE YOU DIDN’T KNOW. ALSO DON’T BE A DRAG JUST BE A QUEEN.” She has taken a very powerful and poignant issue, and turned it into a one-dimensional problem. Lots of songs highlight a specific aspect or are simplified, but her lyrics are meant to ingratiate herself to the gay community. I feel like the only people who will actually like the song are non-gays in...Ohio or something who want to be supportive of the gay rights movement, and think this is the best way to do so. But that’s only because they DON’T KNOW the true multi-faceted nature of the gay struggle.

3. Every time I hear the song, I am reminded that Lady Gaga is SUPER condescending. The fact that she is PRESUMPTUOUS enough to basically appoint herself a gay icon is the most patronizing thing I can think of. I’m really glad that she is so supportive of gay rights, but bitch, you can’t decide that you’re an icon. “Hello gays of the world, I have emerged from my EGG to grace you with a song about your struggles. Use it as your anthem! YOU’RE WELCOME. Gaga OUT. (...or AUT).”

Seriously WHAT was up with that egg bullshit at the Grammy’s this year? I think it’s incredibly rude to attend an awards ceremony but refuse to emerge from your vehicle (that’s basically what it was...) until it’s YOUR turn to perform. Her ME ME ME attitude is really getting on my nerves. I like some of her outfits, but she’s getting a little nuts. Can you imagine how annoying it was to sit behind her when she wore that red lace bodysuit+crown number? Or remember how she had some crazy beekeeper get up for her sister’s graduation? “Congrats on graduating from high school honey, but I’m going to use this opportunity to get more attention for myself! WHEE!!” Fifty years from now, Gaga’s sister’s kids are going to be like “Um mom, why is there a psycho beekeeper in this picture of your high school graduation?”

She always says that “this is who I am” or whatever, but really? What you are is RUDE. She is just one giant publicity stunt, and frankly, I’m getting tired of it. Especially since she isn’t making good songs to make up for her famewhoring.

PS. Go HERE to read James St. James' (of Party Monster fame) feelings about the song. Spoiler alert: he also hates it. Whoo!

Step two: Judgment Day

Last night I drove up to WeHo to hang out with Aubrey and Will for Valentine’s day. As soon as I arrived, I was hurried into the apartment so we could watch the end of Jeopardy: the IBM challenge, where an IBM computer with an AI program (See the Wiki article here), played against the Jeopardy champion who had won the most money ever, and the champion with the longest winning streak. It was simultaneously amazing and TERRIFYING. The computer has a voice, and answers questions like it’s a person. GAAAAAAAAAAH! Seriously if this was a movie, a static-y clip from this Jeopardy series (it’s a three-day tournament) would be the opening scene, and the next scene would feature humanity in a dusty wasteland hiding/running from the machines who have decided we need to be destroyed, or something. Yayyyy....

I was seriously sad every time Watson (that’s it’s name) would get an answer wrong, because the color on Watson’s screen would kind of dim and get “sad”. It reminded me of GERTY’s faces in Moon:


But don’t be fooled--it’s just how it makes us feel sorry for them so we don’t prepare for the coming apocalypse.

And IBM has been up to this since the 90s, when it created a computer (called Deep Blue) that was able to beat Garry Kasparov, the reigning chess world champion. So if we do end up as slaves to the machine overlords, at least we’ll know who to blame.