The Other Side of the Table

I'm pretty much your typical introvert: I like people, but interacting with them takes effort. And while you might think working online 14 hours a day would improve my social skills, shockingly, it hasn't. These days I spend so much time locked in my own head that I need advance warning to effectively switch gears from cerebral to social. (Of course in this context, "cerebral" = "brainstorming poo puns.")

As I'd guess is normal for introverts, I'm also easily star-struck. It doesn't really matter how famous the person is, either; I've been struck dumb and noodle-limbed by a photo op with Darth Vader. Last year.

"I find your lack of poise...disturbing."

The Muppets Do America

Since I'm still working on my next post (it's kind of long), let's take a quick Muppet break.

I love the Muppets, and Sam Eagle never fails to crack me out. Fortunately, the Muppet Studio just released another great music video for Memorial Day, featuring Sam. Check it out:





Reminds me a bit of William Shatner's "singing." Hah! Even so, I'm not sure they managed to top their last tribute, "Stars & Stripes Forever."



Yep. That's tough to beat.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Baby Boba Fett is ADORABLE

Fellow geeks, prepare to feast your eyes on the best Boba fan art EVER:

[swoon]
Must. Restrain. Girly. Squealing.

Seriously, how awesome is this? Pixar artist Austin Madison drew it to celebrate both his brother's birthday and the anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, which turned 30 last weekend. Now all it needs is a punny saying...

"Hope your birthday's a blast!"

"Have a bounty-full supply of fun!"

"Cake and birthdays are a great fett!"

...and you've got the perfect birthday card.

Austin also does fun little doodle animations on his iPad. Here's his Baby Fett:

Just try to watch it less than three or four times. Go on.

Be sure to check out Austin's blog, AustinTranslation, for more great art!

Car Update

First things first: thanks to my less-than-clear "Scrooge" remark in my last point, some of you mistakenly thought that *I* was the one who wanted a new car. Not so. I'm the Scrooge, whereas John has wanted a new car pretty much since birth. So sorry for the confusion, and for besmirching John's good name.

Ok, on to the update!

As you may have surmised, we've been car-shopping this past week. I even have the farmer's tan and frayed patience to show for it.

"What's wrong with this car? This one right here? I'll tell you what's wrong with this car, Mr. Pushy Car Salesman: I can't reach the pedals or see over the steering wheel. Yeah, that's right, I'M SHORT. Thanks for pretending not to notice. Now, lead me to your ridiculously tiny Hobbit cars, lay off the smirking, and we'll get along just fine."

Geeky Hardware

I adore quirky jewelry, and the older I get, the more I find the stuff at the mall just won't cut it. There are lots of great and geeky options online, but I always face the same dilemma: the geek in me wants a conversation starter that reflects my interests, but the girl in me wants something, well, pretty. Too often the options are either/or.

Well, after much digging, I've assembled a personal wish-list of suitable lovelies over on Etsy. And in order to call all those hours of online shopping "research," I'm now going to share my list with you guys. :) Enjoy!


For Harry Potter geeks:

"Fleur's Snitch Necklace" by trophies [$19.50]

[click the pics to go to the Etsy listing]

This is my favorite of the snitch necklaces I've seen so far - it's kind of subtle, and I like the way the gold glass looks against the textured metal of the wings. Plus, it's under $20!

How to Hose Your Old Car in 8 Easy Steps

Step 1: Forget to change the oil for about a year and a half.

Give or take 6 months.

Since my idea of "car maintenance" is chastising John for throwing his Diet Mountain Dew bottles in the backseat, this was a breeze. John's not much better: his idea of car maintenance is throwing his Diet Mountain Dew bottles in the backseat.

Step 2: When the car begins making "chugaggugug BLURRgarg" noises, take it in to the shop.

In my defense, I thought the car was fine. I figured those little bucking vibrations and the erratic engine revving were a feature. John, however, would not be convinced. (He has a ninja-like sixth sense about these things.)

Mac Out Your Mac

You've probably seen some of the nifty Macbook decals that made the rounds on geek blogs a while back. The first one I saw was Snow White, and I still love how cleverly the design incorporates the apple:


Anyway, I have a plain white Macbook, so I really like the idea of jazzing it up. Once I started shopping around, though, I realized there are tons of great, geeky options! Here are my favs so far:

A Quick Note Regarding Paid Endorsements:

I don't do them.

I mention this because I plan to talk about lots of cool stuff on this blog, and I don't want you thinking I'm getting commissions, kick-backs, free products, or what-have-you in return. I profit from my banner and side-bar ads, and the occasional Amazon referral link. That's it.

I take the blogger disclosure thing very seriously, so if I ever mention something here that I *have* gotten for free (which I don't expect to, but you never know), I'll tell you.

And in that spirit of full disclosure: Jules, the maker of the cute robot necklace from my first post, recently surprised me with one. She sent it as a birthday gift, which was both incredibly sweet and incredibly unexpected. Still, I just wanted you guys to know.

Now, let's hear a word from our imaginary sponsor, 30 Rock:

I Want a Baby Sloth

Can I have one?

Meet the sloths from Amphibian Avenger on Vimeo.

What's that? You want to see one falling asleep?

Your wish = my command.

I would love him and squeeze him and call him Cinnamon, because that's what I like to imagine he smells like. Cinnamon, and rainbows.

Show and Tell

We've all got 'em: collectibles, artwork, figurines, souvenirs, etc. In other words, stuff we want to show off. The only difference between regular folks and us geeks is that our stuff is less Hallmark and more...well...this:

The little guy is actually from 1984. That counts as an antique, right?

Anyway, I absolutely love finding unique ways to display my stuff, because let's face it: working StayPuft into your home decor is NOT easy. And since I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem, here are some of my own display solutions to (hopefully) give you some ideas.

Bio Shocking

So John and I are playing Bioshock 2 together.

And by "playing together," I mean he plays and I sit next to him offering valuable tactical advice, like:

"BEHIND YOU!!"
"Shoot him again!"
"Shoot him again!"
"NOW IN THE HEAD!"

This, naturally, leads us to the question of whether video games promote violence. My opinion? Absolutely. Why, the instant some drug-addled, tommy-gun-bearing mutant crawls across the ceiling in my direction, I am totally firing a frag grenade in his a$$.

Hiii-YA!

First!

What's this? Have I really just started another blog? Am I INSANE?

Well, yes.

This blog is an experiment. A prototype, if you will. A blog...[dramatic voice] of tomorrow. Or today. Or Tuesday. Take your pick.

Look, I started Cake Wrecks to have fun. I like writing, and trying to be funny. The challenge of making ugly cakes funny/funnier was always the emphasis for me. Fortunately, cake is still something I'm crazy passionate about, and CW isn't going anywhere (I begin work on the second book soon), but the price of popularity has been a very narrowly defined box of what I can and cannot write about. (That thing being cake. Keep up, now.) It also means some readers are just there for the pics, and find my incessant yammering on annoying. But, durn it, I WANT to be annoying!

Wait, let me rephrase that.

I want to write about more than just cake. Yeah, that's what I meant. And have fun doing it. So this is where I plan to do that.

In fact, this is where I'll post all the fun/funny/fascinating stuff I can't find a way to make cake-related. If you're a fan of CW or follow me on Twitter, then you can probably guess what to expect. (Is there a way to combine Star Trek, Steampunk, the Muppets, Darth Vader, Ghostbusters, and the Princess Bride? If so, I WILL FIND IT.) Then again, some of the things I love may surprise you - I hope in a good way. After all, I've been immersed in the online world nearly 24/7 for two years now, so I have a lot of goodies to share.

For example, I'd really like to have this necklace:

Source

Anyone want to buy it for me?
(What? I thought we could use a visual here. And it's a robot, so it's related. Kind of. And it's adorable. And it's my birthday. So...[bambi eyes]...?

In addition to the occasional geeky wish-list item, you'll also hear more about John, the day-to-day joys and terrors of running a blog like Cake Wrecks, the blogs *I* read and love, the things I'm obsessed with, the things I'm making, etc, etc. Have a question or request? Ask! I want to interact more with you "inner circle" readers here: the ones who don't find my incessant yammering annoying. The ones responsible for all the good things that have sprung from CW. The ones who make me laugh and cry with your sweet/funny comments and e-mails. You know, the cool ones.

So, now that you have absolutely no idea what I'm going to be posting about, let's get on with it! [virtually cutting virtual ribbon on virtual blog door] Epbot is now open!!!

Er, hope you like it.

- Jen

PS - Say 'hi' in the comments!