Life Hacks

My boyfriend follows this site called "Life Hacker".

http://lifehacker.com/

What they do, is basically give random tips to life: from cooking, to financing, to electronics. It's a compilation of quick-fixes and do-it yourself. Personally, I haven't explored the site too much, but I like the concept. When I finished making a case for my new electronic book, I thought "hey, this makes me think of the hack concept".

So here is the "How to hack your own electronic book case".

Instead of buying a ready-made case (I think my dad said it cost somewhere close to 50-60$), I made one out of an agenda cover. Not too complicated, cheep and exactly the way I want it.

Unfortunately, my photos are not step by step, but here it is in a nutshell:

Step 1:

Find a hard-cover outdated agenda (outdated simply because it costs less) the size of your e-book and with a pattern or texture you like.

Step 2:

Take out the agenda part, you'll only be needing it's cover. In my case, this was really simple because it was a slip-on cover; if it's not, simply rip out the pages.

Step 3:

Secure your e-book to the outer-side or the cover. If, like in my case, you found a slip-on cover, simply cut out the desired curve to be able to slip in your e-book in place of the agenda. If not, you will have to create corners to secure it. This can be done by sewing on or securely gluing on elastics (diagonally, at the corner of your cover); by finding large photo-corners; or by making the corners out of a nice solid cardboard or fabric. Personally, I think elastic bands would be your best bet.

Step 4:

Secure your e-book to the inner-side of the cover. The way I did it should work in most cases, simply secure an elastic band to the cover and slip your device in.

Step 5:

If you wish, add something on the opposite side of the cover: a photo, notepad, even a mini pocket folder! I glued a piece of cardboard under my notepad, because the book-cover itself was not hard cover and I wanted an extra protection to come over the screen when it is folded.

Step 6:

If you book cover has no way of closing on it's own (some come with clasps or close shut with magnets) then you can easily attach an elastic band to do the job.

Voila, your custom-made, unique and personalized case is now complete!

Comme dans les films

I realize more and more that real life is just like they show it in the movies. No, I don't mean that you can save your friend from a fatal fall by clinging on to his pinkie; I don't mean that some random guy will pop out of nowhere and slow-motion karate-kick the robber in your house; I don't mean that a heroic love interest will burst into a burning building to, bare-handedly retrieve your cat. What I mean is, these things happen: fires, robberies, love affairs, divorces, earthquakes, domestic violence, that's to name a few. These this happen around you. They're not just some far-off reality in the news or some Hollywood invention or part of an harlequin novel. They are there, around you. I personally know people who have suffered every one of the things I mentioned, and I myself have witnessed a couple in my life.

Realizing thins makes me see that life isn't as constant as it may seem. It makes me see the importance of living in the moment. If you're happy in the here and the now, it doesn't matter what happened before. or even what will happen after.

“If you never change your mind, why have one?”

I've realized recently that whatever discussion I seem to have, it leads me to change my mind about what ever I originally believed in. Not because I was convinced to think otherwise, but due to the fact that it gave me the opportunity to think things over, analyze and come out with a fresh result. It's like taking out a book that has been sitting on a dusty shelf, flipping through it and rewriting bits and pieces. Often, only to realize that you have to re-write them again, that there was something missing or that you no longer hold some parts true.
I often tend to take on the defensive in discussions, this makes discussing with different people interesting because I'm contradicting different things.
It's actually quite nice to be able to change your mind. People change, circumstances change, life changes. Why shouldn't your mind?

Potpourri

I've missed my blog. Countless times I've found myself thinking of a subject for a blog entry and never got around to actually writing it. Now, I've finished my most urgent piece of schoolwork (and am on my my to finishing my semester!); I'm sitting in bed bundled up in a scarf, after having tried to south my coughing by breathing minty steam; and I've still got some time before I have to brave the outside to get to work. As good a time as any to write.

I'm not a big fan of winter clothes... is it just me, who's warmest clothes look inelegant? are those skanks wearing skinny jeans, tightly fitted jackets and boots that look like they're paper thin, actually warm? Something makes me doubt that... As for me, I've just barely gotten over a cold and there are five feet of snow outside, do I want to be warm or sexy? Warm. Thank you.

(However... I do find my wooly mitten-gloves quite sexy despite their warmth =P )

I'm twenty years old. When one of my friends was turning twenty, she said she didn't feel like she had anything to show for it. It got me thinking.

My first thought was "what about me? what do I have to show for it?"

I think I'm quite happy with my overall self-reflection.

It's true that I'm still at college for an other session, while most of the people I went to high-school with will be finishing up their first year at university. But, seriously, where's the rush? What's the point of always wanting to run on and on? Why does finishing college in two years make you a success? You followed the system, here have a gold star! Bull-shit. If you did and you enjoyed it, good for you! If you're on the path you've always dreamed to be on, even better. If, however, you sped through those two years simply in oder to get to the next step, you're more lost than the guy who finished college in five years. Live. Life is not about the destination, but about the journey you take to get there.

But I'm getting thoroughly off track.

Bottom line: I'm happy with my schooling. I've loved my teachers and classes and I think I'm actually learning something worthwhile. To add to that, I'm also on the right track. On the right track to where I want to be. I'm in the child studies program and working at a daycare. Both make me very happy.

What else? Twenty, twenty. I'm twenty and I have a stable relationship with my boyfriend. This I find is also important. Here, I'm not going to start critiquing people who aren't in a relationship or who've been jumping from one to the next. For the former, it's like I said, where's the rush? you'll find it when you will. For the latter, it's life experience, learn from it.

Twenty. I'm twenty and I do draw and pose for nude art. As strange as it might sound, this makes me feel mature and proud. It's a bit funny because it's a loop: I draw nudes and pose because I'm mature enough to appreciate it but part of why I like it is because it makes me feel mature.

Tbc

The style is a little rough, but I felt like making a potpourri of thoughts.