Third one is from Finland. When I joined postcrossing I was hoping that maybe someday I’ll get a card from Finland too but, as I said in a previous post, those Finns are a majority on postcrossing which makes me think of them as avid postcard and stamp collectors. Who knows what else they are collecting?!
Finlandia as I like to call it, it’s simply surprising. Each time I get a card from there I find out some new things and I’m amazed by the beauty of the country side. 
I’ve came across some bookmarks again. This time they are artistic, whimsical, fairytale-ish and even steampunk-ish. You can visit RusticGoth on etsy for some more designs. And also be sure to check out her sad and surreal, at times whimsical and weird original paintings, digital illustrations and art prints.
Martyn from the Netherlands sent me this. It reminds me of Milka, the purple chocolatish cow from commercials; very sweet.
On Wednesday I have my conference presentation. All it’s good. The paper was finished long time ago and the ppt file I managed to have it done last Friday so I can have the time to actually prepare my speech. But, as you can see, this is not going to happen’ any time soon ‘cause I’m always doing something else then the things I’m supposed to.
And today I made envelopes, from calendar paper. I event took pictures to make it like a tutorial.
Here I go. You need:
My calendar paper is bigger then an A4 sheet so I had to cut it using the A4 as a model. If you are using a magazine cover you don’t need to cut anything yet, it’s already rectangular.
Next you fold the paper into three parts, two equal ones, like you were to fold it in two, leaving the upper part smaller.
Then, fold about 1 cm margin along the both sides of the paper.
Now you cut the margins from the bottom and the upper part.
You fold the remaining margins and put the bottom part on top gluing it. Or you can let the margins on the outside like I show you in the pic but I don’t usually do it ‘cause I don’t like the way it looks.
For a more elegant envelope you can cut the top flap with curved corners.
And that’s it.
You have a fun, colorful and big envelope to send to someone you love.
Grigiodesign has awesome and out of the ordinary pieces of jewelry. Her love for skulls, creepy skeletons, bats and all creatures of the night has turned into things like these. How cool is that?!
For some time now I’m caught into a research project held by the Curtin University of Technology from Perth, Australia regarding the role that blogs and other online media have in the formation and maintenance of relationships and communities.
I have been randomly selected as part of a small group of bloggers and blog readers and invited to play with a new blog reading software named Social Reader. With this tool you can keep up with the blogs/feeds you read (all just in one spot, rather than hopping all over the web) and the conversations among bloggers.
From time to time the developers add new improvements such as the one that impressed me the most today: a feature that indicates the mood of blog posts and comments, as well as estimates how well different bloggers know each other.
They want the posts depending on the author’s mood to be ranked automatically by colors. For example red is for rather angry, blue for feeling sad, yellow for happy and so on.
Anyway, I’m telling you this because I also had to complete a survey on this topic and the questions were very well put and consistent that it got me thinking in a different way about this project.
Although I find it difficult and not quite exact for the system to automatically classify a post by some words that are supposed to indicate a certain mood, my biggest concern is that colors aren’t enough.
It’s quite difficult for me to think of colors in a certain predetermined way. For me yellow doesn’t mean happiness but boredom or sickness, orange would be more appropriate for this mood; blue is not necessary feeling sad but also being serene, calm, you know, chillin’ …
Sometimes you feel awfully happy or lovely let alone and emotions like these can be mismatched.
So, I made the suggestion that the colors should be on a more wide variety and, if possible, chosen by the post author.
I saw bloggers that add a song of the day at the end of their posts and sometime I do that too.
I think that songs or lyrics describing your mood would be more appropriate. This way you can check out someone else’s song to see what it is about and at the same time you would be aware of what he’s feeling and also what you feel when listening to it.
Oh, there was also a question asking if you would want to know how friends from your social network are feeling and why would you want that or not.
For me it would be nice to know what they are feeling in order to connect and interact in a proper way and not being intrusive. Also, another reason is that I’d like to coordinate my mood with someone else’s, to experiment different feelings or intensities on my own.
Overall this project is quite interesting and addictive for me.
Now, how about you? What do you think about this mood detector and how would you do it?
A few days ago I was saying that I finally got the Screamworks album. Actually, I won it on a contest back in March and I’ve been waiting to receive it since then. It took awhile but I’m delighted since it mixes HIM’s best aspects from over the years into a single piece.
I must admit I love better Razorblade Romance and Deep Shadow and Brilliant Highlights but I think that’s because those were the first albums I came across and usually what you like in the beginning it stays stuck to your heart and mind forever and becomes for you the label of that artist.
Every album is great in its own way. It takes a very wise and great band to reinvent themselves on each album and HIM is great at doing it.
I’m not going to do a review of the new songs, neither am I going to talk about the backgrounds and influences that made Screamworks a Love in Theory and Practice play. You can check out some interviews right from the source if you are interested.
I’m just going to say which are my top tracks and why. And I’m not going to do any ranking ‘cause I love them equally.
Disarm me with your loneliness – is very melodic and emotional like the band’s songs back in the ‘90s. It gives me the feeling of despair and hope at the same time; it’s like giving up on oneself in the face of world’s beauty. And tragedy.
Love, the hardest way – has great lyrics and “Baudelaire in Braille” I think it’s a masterpiece. Maybe I am too fond of the French language but I don’t think anyone can deny the verse’s rhythm; it sounds so good that is no wonder the acoustic version of the album has the same name. If I have to describe what I’m feeling and thinking when listening to this track, oh well … my mind is a tricky one and takes me back to Anne Rice’s vampire stories “dine on glass, wine on blood”. Just wonderful!
Shatter me with hope – that’s me. The song suits so well to my heart that I can even find myself as being the “girl who cry at love” …” won’t you come and play with me”. Being a pessimist under the skin of a realist, some hope will be like a blessing.
And of course all the other chapters are beautiful in their own way that I have to mention Acoustic Funeral and The foreboding sense of impeding happiness.
I’m already waiting for the next volume.
Please listen and tell me which song resembles you and why is that.
We all are a symphony of the stars and music therapy it’s just about rediscovering ourselves.
And that’s why after 2 and 1/2 years I decided to change my “La Parfumerie d’Ayda” theme in “Pulbere de stele ” (Stardust)
I have it. It’s finally here and it’s all mine.
It’s not the special edition Baudelaire in Braille with the bonus acoustic tracks but it’s definitely a Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice. 
Today I present you one of my favorite places: Helsinki by night.
Mia says that if you arrive by ferry from Stockholm or Tallinn this is the harbor where you’ll dock.
Emily from Sweden was kind to send me this lovely card bought from a store which sells magical stones, mindfulness books, incense and all sort of “magical” items, along with a very intriguing quote in Swedish language and translated into English :
“You should be who you are when you didn’t become who you were meant to be.”
Facand ordine prin sertare am dat peste perechile mele de ochelari demult apuse. Cum nu m-am indurat sa le arunc atata vreme am zis ca ar fi bine sa gasesc o noua intrebuintare cel putin lentilelor pentru ca, in cazul meu, nu pot fi refolosite.
Asa ca le-am transformat in brose.
Pentru a refolosi lentilele vechi de sticla aveti nevoie de:
– lentile
– adeziv pentru sticla, hartie, etc.
– hartie de impachetat sau hartie din calendare vechi ca in cazul meu
– foarfeca
– ac de brosa
– adeziv ceva mai rezistent pentru a lipi acul de brosa
Decideti care este imaginea care va place pentru a fi designul brosei.
Aplicati lipici pe partea din spate a lentilei, adica pe acea parte care era orientata spre fata voastra atunci cand purtati ochelarii.
Potriviti hartia pe suprafata si presati usor lentila astfel incat surplusul de lipici sa dea pe dinafara. Cand considerati ca hartia s-a lipit taiati surplusul din jurul lentilei cu foarfeca.
Odata ce s-a uscat puteti picta spatele lentilei si apoi puteti lipi acul de brosa.
Nimic mai simplu! Spor la mestereala!
The book of Meow 