Inside Kimmy's Mind

I’ve decided to take part in the Brave Love Blog’s September blog challenge. BLOG-TEMBER! I’m excited because I’ve always started blog challenges before, but have fallen short on them in the past. I’m hoping this teaches me to plan ahead,  I’m gonna try to write more than one post ahead of time and schedule them. I’ve only ever schedule posts once in awhile, so that’s also a challenge I hope to beat.

Here we go…

September 1st: Introduction

Hello, welcome to my blog. I’m Kimmy and I’m excited to get a glimpse into your lives and let you see a bit into mine, so pull up a chair and get comfortable. I sometimes drone on a bit too much, but that’s just part of who I am. In 11 days I will be 26, and yes that day represents a number of different things but for me, it was the day of my existence…well, as a fully formed person and not as a sea monkey. Odd thing to say….more awkward moments to ahead. Here are a few things about me…..

 -I love crafting:  That includes a bunch of things, knitting/crochet, scrap-booking, sewing, card making (ect)

-I’m the middle child, I have two sisters. My older sis is a Graphic Designer and the younger one, who is also my roommate, is a Pastry Chef. We collaborate over here and we just launched our Etsy account. We sell handmade things so feel free to stop by our store and blog. 🙂

– I’m hoping to graduate in the Spring.

-I love visiting bookstores and miss the fact that I haven’t been reading as much as I used to. Please leave some book suggestions. I want to update my To read list and hopefully tackle it.

-I really want to adopt a kitty, but my apartment makes it impossible with the amount of fees that goes into owning a pet at my complex. Thankfully Instagram exists and I can live vicariously through other cat owners.

To summarize, I’m a cat loving, sister having, school going, and all around crafter. Pleased to meet you all. I want this challenge to highlight a positive outlook and  I know I’ll gain inspiration from my fellow bloggers,  I hope I can offer you the same. Have you completed blog challenges before? I’d like to know.

Thanks for reading and commenting.

Since having my galaxy tab 4, I’ve been getting a little app crazed and I’m totally fine with that. Here’s a list of the recent apps I’ve downloaded.

Games

• Monument Valley– I’ve mentioned this one before, but they’ve brought out new levels since then. This game remains gorgeous no matter how many times I play it. I adore it.
• Plants vs Zombies– This game is great, when it was originally released I couldn’t download it so I played it on my DS. Even now, it’s still a favorite. I haven’t played the new one yet, but only because the original is just too great.
• Alphabear– This is such a cute game, even though it makes me feel as though my vocabulary is limited to smaller words. It sort of reminded me of Words with Friends, only more adorable. The bears grow as you gain more points, and you get different bears with different abilities. Really cute.
• El– Now this game is really beautiful, and because of that I’m putting it on this list. However, I recommend you stop playing before the last level. I wasn’t happy with how it ended, but it doesn’t change the fact that the game is beautiful. Reminded me of this indie game called Night Sky, I love the shadow design.

• Webtoon– I discovered this app due to Frannerd, I love her illustrations and was excited to see her work in comic form. She and her husband have entered the comic challenge on Webtoon and it’s how I discovered the app. I’ve also found other illustrator’s that do great work.
• Marvel Comics- I bought the Princess Leia Star Wars comics and with the hardcopies came free digital copies which had me download the Marvel Comic app. This one has only come in handy for Leia issues, which was too short-only five issues, and I haven’t used it for anything else…yet. But still, I’m glad I have it for when I need it, and I just wanted to put it on my list.

Here are the apps I’ve been obsessing over lately, just wanted to share them and I’m curious to know what apps are on your list currently? That’s all for now….until next time. :3

Thanks for reading and commenting

I’ve been stuck in front of my computer finishing up a presentation for class. Due to all the work I needed to get done,  I didn’t get to spend the weekend with the Boyfriend. But I did last and the weekend beforehand. He was supposed to meet my parents then, but the weather prevented it from happening. This was the second attempt and I’m not sure when we will  be able to reschedule. But since we didn’t go to my parent’s house, we decided to go out to lunch, made a trip to Half Price, and then grabbed some ice cream for dessert. :9

We went to a different Half Price thinking they’d have more of a selection. They did!!! I’m super excited about my discoveries, plus I’m excited to share them on the blog.

• Slog’s Dad by David Almond- The reason I purchased this one, it’s illustrated by Dave McKean!!! I love his art style, he’s magic personified. The story itself is magical yet dark and uplifting, the story and artwork just mesh so well together that I just absolutely love it. I always thought that Gaiman would be the only person I wanted paired with McKean’s art.  But boy was I wrong, McKean makes any story come to life, Almond has another book with McKean’s illustrations so I’ll be on the look out for that too. Along with McKean’s art books.

• The Unruly Alphabet by Aaron McKinney – I saw this book first, and I thought it had a McKean-esque feel to it. It’s has that grittiness to it and can be slightly disturbing in the best way possible. I know, I’m weird. But the cover immediately made me pick it up and read it and even after reading it I just had to buy it. It’s images are of the alphabet with weird personalities and alliteration. I’m fascinated by it and by McKinney, it must be  McK thing. XD

• Alien Isolation: Nostromo  Edition- I didn’t get this third item at Half Price, but I wanted to just add it in this entry. The last time  Kat and I did go home, was during Easter weekend and we found this at Hastings and couldn’t resist. I’ve been wanting to play this game since I saw the trailer. When Colonial Marines fell flat, even though I really enjoyed shooting Aliens, I was was really excited to see that there would be a new game. It’s definitely intense. Plus, I like the idea that Ripley’s daughter also faces a Xenomorph. Because of school, I haven’t been able to indulge in gaming. But I will soon once the semester is  over, what I have been able to play of the game has been difficult. I’ve screamed several times. That tense feeling you get when you’re excited and scared at the same time, it’s great.

I came home today after work to find someone parked in my spot. -.- I’m tired of this happening, I pay an extra 15 bucks a month to have a reserved parking spot in my complex. I’m not paying for someone else to park in my spot! I told myself that the next time someone parked in it, I would have them towed. With that being said, I called to have them towed. Kat and I went out to get something to eat and they said they would call but they never called me. Once we got home, the truck was gone but I have no way of knowing if it was towed or if they just left. Now I just keep looking over my shoulder, I just don’t want the punk to do do anything to my car. -.- For once I would just like to be a badass and not worry about what may happen, just be confident in my decision.

 That’s all for now….thanks for reading and commenting.

Kat and I went to Half Price Books last week where I found this comic illustrated by Matthew Forsythe. I had several books in my hands that I had planned on buying, but after I found this one I put the others down. I’ve been looking to illustrators a lot lately, they are again very inspiring and I really wish I could express myself creatively through illustrating.

Doesn’t mean I won’t attempt it. >.< I’ve been doodling a lot for fun, but I find myself getting frustrated when a picture doesn’t come out as well as I had hoped. The photo is from the comic mentioned above, how adorable is the art style? The artist is a one of the head illustrators that works on Adventure Time. Here’s the synopsis according to the cover of the book:

After eating everything in sight, Voguchi is sent to the market where a chance encounter introduces her to Jinchalo-a mischievous shape shifter. He sets our hungry heroine on a strange adventure into the sky, leaving her home far behind.

A little girl who eats everything?! Totally made for me. Speaking of which, my place is definitely in need of some groceries. -.- I keep putting it off, I’ve been eating cream cheese on graham crackers for dinner. Hopefully on my trip to the Kroger’s I don’t have to deal with a shape shifter. 😛 The ending sort of confuses me, so if you’ve seen it, I’d love to hear your interpretation of the ending. There are no actual words so the entire book is made up of pictures and your interpretation.  Moving on to Anya’s Ghost. Vera Brosgol is wonderful, she worked on Coraline and Paranorman, I can definitely see similar art styles there.  This and her comic, “What were you raised by, wolves?” is a bit darker. Anya’s Ghost is about a Russian immigrant who is trying to fit in her American high school, she’s bullied a bit and tends to see life in a negative way. And one day, on her way home from school she falls down a hole where she isn’t alone. Frannerd recommended this novel in her vlog a couple weeks ago, and it seemed interesting so I had to go and pick myself up a copy. I’m glad I did. I’m really loving this limited color pallet, along with watercolor. I want to start buying more Copic Sketch markers, they give off a watercolor effect. But they’re pretty pricy so it might take a while for me to get a decent collection. Plus I want to be able to use them correctly and I don’t think I know how to at this point. Also, I’ve been loving these illustrated notebooks from Scout Books. This post totally turned into things I’m currently loving.

I haven’t been keeping up with my disposable camera challenge, but the month isn’t over yet so I will make sure to try and get some nice pictures. I’m excited not knowing how they’re gonna turn out. Thinking back, that’s what I loved about it when I used them on class field trips back in the day. XD Of course, we would always wait years until we got them developed. I don’t intend to wait that long with this one. Let me know if you’re attempting the challenge.  That’s all for now, until next time…

Thanks for reading and commenting.

I’ve always loved blog entries where the blogger shares the contents of their bag. I don’t know why, I guess I find the photos interesting so I figured I’d try my hand at posting my own.

On a normal day out, I’ve been using my olive green satchel that I bought from Forever21 a couple months ago. It’s on the smaller side so I can’t carry as much as I usually do. This bag causes me to condense the items I choose to bring with me so I enjoy that. Sometimes I add or remove a few things from the list, but this is what I carried in my bag the last time I went out.

1. Pocket Juice: This is my favorite new thing, as long as I remember to charge it after using it. It gives me enough battery power to last the day after I use my cell to take tons of pictures and navigate me on my travels. It’s a nice thing to have and a good size, I’ve seen smaller but this one is rechargeable by outlet not double AA batteries. I absolutely love it.

2. Keys: These don’t really need an explanation, apartment, mailbox, bike lock. That’s it.

3. Mini wallet: This is what I carry when I use my smaller bag. It has my Q card, debit, license, campus id and some loose change. It’s actually falling apart so I’ll be needing a new one soon. But it’s a nice size.

4. Ipod: I love having my ipod around, it’s an older one so it only holds 1000 songs but it saves me from having to use up my cell battery listening to music.

5. 3DS: I love my Ds, and after buying Bravely Default I have been carrying it around more often but I don’t always carry it with me all the time. Especially when the weather is poop.

6. Altoids: I love mints compared to gum, and I love Altoids, but these are pretty chalky so it does get in my bag…I miss the sour ones but those were more like candy than actual mints. I’ll probably switch back to Tic-Tacs…got to have some type of mints.

7. Nivea bliss chapstick: a kiss of shimmer, I love how soft these leave my lips feeling. But I also have a fruity one that tastes yummy but sort of defeats the purpose of chapstick. So it’s nice to have this on hand, I have very thin lips so lipstick looks odd on me and lip gloss is messy. -.-

8. Star Wars Moleskine: When I use a bigger bag I carry my Star Wars planner but with this bag I like to carry this smaller notebook. It’s the perfect size and having something to write notes or ideas in is important.

9. Cell: HTC DNA. Like everyone else, my cell phone is something I carry with me everywhere. It’s my GPS, and contact with the rest of the world. Makes meeting up with people a lot easier. Of course I remember a time before cell phones were a necessity.

So that’s pretty much all I carry in this particular bag, like I said it changes when I change the bag I use. Now I’m off to make some dinner and finish washing some clothes. I start my first event on Thursday for Houston Press. I’m hopping it goes well, I’m a bit nervous about it. Wish me luck and until next time…

Thanks for reading and commenting.

So last week was definitely a brighter one, and I’m so glad to have people in my life that make the difficult times more endurable and the fantastic times more well….fantastic. :3

First off, I should warn you that this entry will be filled with lots of pictures…I just want to share them all instead of posting them in more than one entry. >.< I had my interview at the Science Museum on Wednesday, and it went GREAT! The ladies I interviewed with were just wonderful. They gave me stickers to walk around the museum for free, while I was instagraming some dino bones they found me and asked me to fill out a background check information sheet. They said they couldn’t wait and wanted to start the hiring process…however, anything could happen so I don’t want to jinx it just yet. But I’m really excited about working in a museum. After walking around for a bit more I called all my family to tell them how well it went. I know, a bit premature but I was just so excited. Anyway, I headed home to get ready for my night out with Melissa and Kat. We had plans to go out for some tiramisu and then after that to an evening of great music at the House of Blues. Melissa introduced us to the band Merriment and Eisley and invited us to the concert. I’m so glad she did, because it was just wonderful.

… continue reading this entry.

So today was the Houston Indie Book Fest and I couldn’t be more excited. This is my favorite event that happens every April here in Houston, it is the reason I discovered my love for the literary world. Well…for the publishing world.

I had a blast! I worked the CLMP table from 1 to 5, it was so much fun but I came home exhausted. I immediately passed out and didn’t wake up until 10:30. After being surrounded by so much fiction and writers I actually find myself being inspired. So I’ll start writing my story for workshop on Thursday. I just wish the weekend was longer. >.<

I only bought two things, I’ve been planning on buying hard copies of this journal for THE longest time and I finally did today. The First Line has to be one of my favorite literary journals. I keep wanting to submit a story to them but I always miss out on the lines that I want. The line for may is...”I started collecting secrets when I was just six years old.” And submissions are due May 1st. I didn’t even get to really look around the Festival too much because I was already so tired. But I got what I wanted to buy and I had fun manning the table. I’m definitely going to start my story after I post this blog entry. My sister went around and filmed the festival so I plan on making a small video so you can see how awesome it was. Also, I had a surprised visit from my dancing partner, Julian, mentioned in this entry. It was nice catching up with him and he even stayed awhile to help me sell books. You’ll see in the video I post below. It was nice seeing him, it’s been awhile. Anyway, so I’ve just been craving some time to just create something. Be it writing, knitting, sewing, or even filming a vlog about something. There are several vlogs I want to make. Like about products I use, or an outfit of the day, especially this Houston series I desperately want to start. Which would  basically be a vlog where I introduce my favorite shops and restaurants that make me love living in Houston.

… continue reading this entry.

I love when these type of tags are going around the blogosphere. It’s just nice to show love to your fellow bloggers and there are tons I adore. I was nominated by my lovely sister Mija and I love just having any excuse to update my blog.

VBA Rules
If you are nominated, you’ve been awarded the Versatile Blogger award.

1. Thank the person who gave you this award.

2. Include a link to their blog.

3. Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!) Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site.

4. Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

So here are the 15 I nominate. These are bloggers that inspire/entertain me and I’m always happy when they update. So keep blogging my fellow bloggers. Obviously I know you might be too busy to update about this so don’t feel as though you have to. 😀

Seeing as the person who nominated me is my sister, there isn’t anything she doesn’t know but still..here are 7 things about me.

1. I knit and sew- haven’t had much time to do a lot of crafting but when I do, I always have a lot of fun.
2. In elementary school, I played the Wicked Witch of the West in our production of The Wizard of Oz.
3. I have an irrational fear of sloths and optometrists. >.<
4. I hate cinnamon toothpaste.
5. Like Mija, I’m also obsessed with my 3DS.
6. I love French films.
7. I’m the middle of two sisters. (Mija and Kat)

So there you have it, 7 things about me. I’m excited to see what my nominees 7 things are. And even if you weren’t nominated feel free to do this anyway. It’s all about spreading some blogger love. 🙂

I’ve always had a love for writing and reading, I don’t think I could be who I am if I didn’t. But it wasn’t until I reached the fourth grade that I discovered this fact about myself.

So yeah, I own a Nook Color. The weirdos gave it to me, I have been reading a book on it for pleasure and one for class. And let me just say how satisfying it was to push that confirm button and end up with a book before me…it was 2 in the morning. I should admit this now, but I am horribly addicted to online shopping. Thank goodness I don’t have any credit cards or I’d be in serious trouble. I enjoy ordering things online it’s the waiting process that I hate…anyway. So of course the ability to purchase a book in my pajamas and get it within minutes is pretty awesome. Also, I can watch Netflix…that has nothing to do with books or reading but is still is pretty awesome. Not to mention I can carry multiple books with me. This is great for school…minus the part where I can’t sell any books back. But let’s be honest, I’m lucky if I get five bucks back for the novels I buy for lit classes. Some teachers want me to get certain versions of the books so I won’t be able to use the Nook but for the ones I can it will be nice. This does not mean nor will it ever mean that I will stop buying hard copies of books. Nothing could ever stop me from that. Click the books or the, I pledge to read the printed word button on my sidebar. Speaking of books, I have tons of things to read at the moment but last week I picked up the book, The Underachiever’s Diary and I’m loving it so far. Bought it at Half Price for a dollar. Love Half Price. And it’s moments like these that I will always enjoy buying and reading the printed word.

Nook or Kindle? How do you feel about Ereaders, or books for that matter? Also, if you’re in Houston in the month of April then you must come to The Indie Book Fest. If you’re a bookstore owner, self published author or small press owner and are interested in getting a table I can also help you with getting you on the right list, let me know. Just shoot me an email at Kim at mind-speaks dot com.

Thanks for reading.

Kellie over at Give a Girl a Blog started a really cute Currently segment over at her blog. So naturally, I decided to take part in it as well. 😀 She is one of my favorite scrapbookers. I’m always in the mood to create after visiting her blog and her current post totally inspired me. So here I am reporting what I’m currently working on…or attempting to work on. >.< … continue reading this entry.