Kind of a Mess

Sad Bastard Songs

Oh, dear God, I love sad bastard music.

That “draggin’ your heart on the ground, pain in my soul, so deep I might drown, dear baby PLEASE WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME?!?!?” kind of music.

It speaks to my inner broken self; the one that, even when things are going well, will always go, “Well yeah…but you could still lose it all and be ALONG. FOR-EV-ER.”

My inner broken self is like an angry Eyeore. With piercings who pretends they are a cutter.

So here are some of my favorite Super Sad Bastard Songs. (There was supposed to be a music player widget here, but me and Grooveshark are in a fight.) I maybe might have listened to any or all of these songs a’la Bridget Jones; kinda drunk and alone in my pj’s, belting out the lyrics and hoping the neighbors didn’t hear.

I probably shouldn’t admit stuff like that. But we’re all friends here.

Try not to listen all the way through, though. And afterwards, go get a muffin and a hug. It’ll help. Read More

February 11, 2011 11 Comments Short URLmusic, video, youtubeI gots the music in me, You Sad Bastard

Heard in My House – A glimpse into Casa de la Mess*

If you were a fly on the wall (or a super creepy stalker) you’d hear things like this in my house:

“Jesus, Ally, when was the last time you emptied the lint trap on the dryer?”
“Suck it.”
“What?”

February 10, 2011 12 Comments Short URLHappy Homemaker

Link Love: A Practical Wedding

Something I hate about blog rolls is that you never know why they are there. What’s the site about? Are they just friends, or is it like Facebook and you add someone just you were added to theirs? Do the bloggers owe the blog rollers’ money? So I plan to try to share the whys of my blog roll with Link Love every week. Till I run out of blogs that I’ve added. Or get bored with it. One of the two.

And because of that, I was going to do a post about A Practical Wedding, the blog I am a columns editor for. It’s one of my daily reads, so of course it should be posted about.

But then I realized something. With the exception of my mom, pretty much all my readers are FROM APW. Read More

February 9, 2011 18 Comments Short URLLink Love

Life List: Dress like Chuck from “Pushing Daisies”

Pushing Daisies was, for two brief shining seasons, some of the best television out there. It was the story of Ned the Piemaker, a man with the ability to bring back the dead with a touch. He can only bring them to life for 60 seconds before something else must die in order to balance out that life-touch. The other downside is that if Ned touches that living thing again, they fall down dead. Again. Permanently. Bummer. Ned uses his gift to solve crimes, working with a PI to speak to the dead for a minute to find out the circumstances of their death. He brought back to life his childhood love, Charlotte “Chuck” Charles, in order to find out her murderer, only to leave her alive. And never able to touch her again. And they fall deeply in love. Major bummer.

Pushing Daisies was fun, quirky, and visually stunning. And because of this, too good for TV and got cancelled. (I don’t want to talk about it.)

But the best part of Pushing Daisies was how the fabulous clothes that Chuck wore on a regular basis. Leading to one of the items on my life list: “Dress like Chuck.”

A strange style icon to emulate? Possibly. But her clothes are a modern quirky mix of 50’s sweetheart and 60’s mod girl. Lots of a-line dresses, pretty florals and cardigans. (I like cardigans. I’m an old lady like that.) And it’s not just me, there are loads of bloggers who love Chuck, especially this Flickr poster who built a style guide around the character.

My favorites? (Large images abound.) Read More

February 8, 2011 23 Comments Short URLBuy Me That!, Life List, Need, TV, Want, WATCH THIS!

I’m judging you. It’s not good.

I try to be non-judgemental. No, really, I do. I want to support everyone in everything that they do, as long as it doesn’t injure or inhibit anyone else.

Even if what they are doing is stupid and wrong.

But there are just a few things that chap my hide. And if you do it, know that I am quietly judging you. Read More

February 7, 2011 26 Comments Short URLRants

Link Love: Awkward Embraces

So, it clashes with the geek girl image that I like to cultivate, but I don’t like web-series or online TV.

No, seriously, I don’t.

I think it’s because I haven’t fully given over to my computer as my TV of the future. I still like plopping in front of the boob tube, with a remote in hand, beer in the other and too many channels to even contemplate at my fingertips. (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone, “We HAVE that channel?!?” while surfing around. We’re ridiculous.)

So when I heard that my friends Jessica, Candis and Lydnsey were putting together a web-series, I was all “Eeeeee!” on the outside for them, but “ehhh..” on the inside. Because I knew I’d have to watch it on my computer. Sure, I could move the laptop to the couch, but it just wouldn’t be the same.

Again, ridiculous.

There’s also the chance that it might suck. I mean, yeah, these ladies were some of the most talented that I went to college with, so it was a really slim chance, but even hall-of-famers strike out, ya know? Then I’d have to do the “No, no, it’s good! Yeah, I reeeeeaaaallly liked it! No, it’s good!” dance over the phone and email. And that’s just embarrassing.

But…I watched it. And it was good. Like REALLY good. Funny, fun and a little nutty. Just like those ladies. Read More

February 4, 2011 9 Comments Short URLGeekery, Link Love

Eatin’ Pants Recipe: Lemon Risotto

If you’re like me, there’s company food and then there’s YOU food. The stuff that you may or may not need a recipe for, but most definitely won’t look great. In fact it might look downright unappetizing. However, it is nummy and excellent, and you might eat it standing up in your kitchen because if you dirty another dish you’ll just have to wash it and you just don’t wanna. These kinds of recipes are the kind you need your eatin’ pants for, the ones with a stretchy waist and some room in the seat. (Don’t even play like you don’t have eatin’ pants. All Messy Girls have eatin’ pants.) Lemon risotto is one of those dishes for me.

Oh, risotto. Risotto is way easier than you think it is. It’s the pull out of your ass dish that you make for people to make them go, “Ooo,” and think that you love them extra special. Because you’d have to love them to make such a time-consuming dish that requires lots of love, care and attention, right?

Horseshit. Read More

February 4, 2011 16 Comments Short URLEatin' Pants, Recipes

Ask, and ye shall receive.

Y’ALL. You’re a little ridiculous. I put the 25 comments thing up as a joke, and you came through in like 12 hours.

This proves one thing.

Y’all love bewbs.

So here is it. Misshapen ta-ta’s, red nipples, crazy serial killer writing and all.

And don’t be disappointed.

I never said it was epic. I just said it was boobs.

February 3, 2011 19 Comments Short URLUncategorized

Bewbs.*

You ever start something and then, about halfway through, realize that things are going HORRIBLY wrong? And yet still you solider on, hoping that it’ll get better even though there’s no snowball’s chance in hell?

Yeah.

That’s the story of me and my Boob Cake. Read More

February 2, 2011 68 Comments Short URLHappy Homemaker, I fail at life.

My Happy Writing Place

No one told me that when you got married, the person you married would be able to touch all your stuff.

I mean, I KNEW Jethro would touch my stuff, it was now our stuff after all, but living together didn’t prepare me for the marital touching of stuff. And moving of stuff. And rearranging of stuff. And, God forbid, the cleaning out of stuff.

Not that you could tell from the title of this blog, but I’m…less than organized. (That sound you hear is the hooting laughter of former roommates and my mother. Don’t worry, karma will get them in the end.)

But I do have a method to my madness. I have piles of stuff. And I’m usually in the middle of several projects at once, so when I move from one to the other, I like to leave my pile where I put it. Neatly arranged, but still WHERE I PUT IT.

Now, Jethro isn’t a cleaner. Actually, that’s not true. He’s a slob on most days, until some random hormone hits him and he’s “MASTER CLEANSER.” Suddenly, my piles give him hives and he must attack them. Vigorously. Until they are dead, dead, dead.

Or at least stacked somewhere. Read More

February 2, 2011 18 Comments Short URLGeekery