Goodbye November! I wasn’t entirely sure I’d have time for this post, but I have cobbled some stuff together.
Fave 4 from the blog
- My trip to the Cosmonauts exhibition
- Sewing Solar System scarves
- 2016 calendar mugs
- Recent photos of what I’ve been up to
New Stuff
- Lucky Bags
- 2016 calendar magnets & postcards
- Snowflake ornaments (back in stock soon – email me to reserve!)
- 5 Year Diaries
- Fabric pencil cases
Links I Loved
- Great article on the Cosmonauts exhibition & Apollo archive photos at The Guardian.
- Loved Oh Joy’s behind the scenes looks at her Band-Aids and book cover design processes.
- Spoonflower’s decor map of America is pretty cool, and my Bunny & Panda fabric is even chosen to represent kawaii (the most popular trend in Orlando, Florida)
- Every book lovers’ dream – a new hostel in Tokyo that is inside a library!
- I’d heard about the Moshi Moshi Box for tourist information in Harajuku, but this interview with the founder has some great tips.
- Good gift guide for creatives, but especially that tiny macro lens for your iPhone. Want!
Reading
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
I treated myself to the last Rainbow Rowell book I hadn’t read (and her first published) to read on the train and it was a good choice. It’s her other adult book, but I liked it a lot more than Landline, probably because of the office setting and fun email-based storyline. It’s about an IT guy whose job is to read flagged employee emails and enjoys the conversation between Beth and best friend Jennifer so much that he starts to fall in love with her. There’s so much more story than that though and as always the dialogue and email conversations are so well written. Definitely worth picking up. (Buy on Amazon)
And I haven’t managed to stick to anything else since. I am partway through a whole bunch of books, none of which have quite captured my attention.
Unread books update: 1 down, 0 added, 12 to go. Oh dear.
Watching
Doctor Who
I love Capaldi in everything and he is now definitely my favourite Doctor ever. Last season was pretty great, but this year has been non-stop awesome, especially with all the two parters. Can’t wait for next week. Except my mum is visiting so I probably will have to.
London Spy
The word “gripping” is over-used when it comes to drama but I can’t take my eyes off the screen for the full hour. I don’t trust anyone and I have NO IDEA what is going on and yet I feel like any conclusion (or inconclusive ending) will be satisfying and earned, almost even if it’s all dream – some of the sets are implausibly theatrical. If you like your drama on the surreal side and full of dread then make sure to see this. Warning: it also somehow makes Ben Whishaw unappealing. (update: wow, I was so wrong about this. As soon as the words 9/11 were said out loud in the finale, the whole thing collapsed into idiocy. Oh well)
The Great Pottery Throw Down
I was expecting to watch the first ten minutes, scoff heartily and move on, but ceramics is so interesting! The timed competitive aspect doesn’t really work as well as with the Bake Off and Sewing Bee as everyone has different styles and it makes me sad when they don’t have time to finish their work. Please do printmaking next.
The Bridge
Borgen (RIP) is my favourite Scandi-drama, but The Bridge is a close second. Saga is such a brilliant character and the new Martin is almost as much fun. As usual it is packed full of red herrings, seemingly unconnected characters and beautiful overhead shots of Sweden and Denmark but I’m just along for the ride. Tak!
The Secret History of the British Garden
I find Monty Don intensely annoying but I will put up with a lot for aerial footage of formal gardens and historical stories. As someone who tries to visit botanical gardens around the world, I am enjoying this a lot and now wishlisting books about the plant hunters.
Fargo
Not loving it quite as much as season 1, but still so great and much funnier than it has any right to be.
Alias
At this stressful time of year, I often turn to Alias, my second favourite TV show ever. I’ve made it all the way through to S5 in 4 weeks and surprisingly didn’t stall in the middle of S4 when it all gets a bit dull (Nadia, you are so boring and WHERE IS SARK? He is in like 2 episodes, such a waste). This rewatch I have really been appreciating Jack Bristow and his excellent staredowns and withering insults. Go spy daddy.
Games & Apps
Neko Atsume (free for iPhone & Android)
I have played this a little bit a couple of times, but now there’s a English version and it is so much more fun without the guessing. The title translates as Kitty Collector, and that is all you do – put food and toys in your virtual garden and then check in throughout the day to see what cats have come to play. It’s been perfect for my busiest time of year as it only takes a few seconds to check in, though you can get caught up taking cute photos for your cat album and renaming your cats for greater amusement. You wouldn’t believe how delighted I was the first time one of my cats brought me a memento (it was a collar and not a dead bird, thankfully)! I’ve almost saved up enough fish to expand my garden and I can’t wait.
Happy Home Designer (Nintendo DS)
An interior design spin off of Animal Crossing that I reviewed at length over at Super Cute Kawaii. I got mildly obsessed with this when it came out but haven’t touched it for the last couple of weeks as I don’t have the time. Looking forward to getting back to it over the holidays though.
The List App (free for iPhone)
An app for making lists (duh), co-founded by BJ Novak (best list: POST-2012 OFFICE EPISODES I WISH WE COULD HAVE WRITTEN – I laughed so much at this) and packed full of smart, funny people making totally random lists about all kinds of fun stuff. Back in the old days of the internet, this was basically what blogging was so I am loving it. You’d think a list is a list, but people are doing so many inventive things, from short stories to recipes to photo essays to crowdsourced lists. Having only launched publicly recently, it’s very small and a bit celeb-heavy, but the good kind of celebs, who are awesome and entertaining. Plus that means anyone can get a list trending and sometimes things like this happen.
Talk about pressure! I haven’t been able to look closely at my followers since, in case I notice they’ve unfollowed me (update: BJ just liked and relisted my TV list so apparently I’m still cool). I’m @marceline on there if you want to swap lists. Here all the lists I’ve made so far:
- SANRIO CHARACTERS I WOULD BE WILLING TO EAT
- THINGS THAT SEEMED MORE IMPORTANT THAN WORK TODAY
- FAVOURITE NICKNAMES I’VE BEEN GIFTED
- GREAT EXPEDITION BOOKS BY OVER-PRIVILEGED ENGLISH GENTLEMEN
- BEAUTY SALON NAMES I HAVE SCOFFED AT
- THINGS I USE SO OFTEN I FORGET THEY’RE NOT REALLY MINE
How was your month?
