Goodnight Sandy

On Monday night, we lost power at 5:22pm. Not long after the worst of the storm arrived and lasted most of the night. While trying to fall asleep that evening, I grabbed my iPad and typed out this... poem? short story? I'm really not sure what to call it. It's just my feelings as the storm was happening that night.   It's inspired by the children's book Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. 


Goodnight Sandy

Goodnight melting clock, that ticks and tocks.

Goodnight darkness, cold and damp, not a drop of light to spare.

Goodnight trees, once proud and green standing your ground. Hope good morning doesn't find you on the ground, stripped of your leaves and limbs and souls.

Goodnight wind, blowing hard and fast, making houses creak and children weep. May good morning find you blowing a different tune.

Goodnight my little corner of the world, all battered and bruised. Fight hard and stay strong, the end is near.

Goodnight all humans, sharing concern and care. Watch over each other, for the road to healing and repair will be long and hard and in need of a hand.

Goodnight Sandy, but beware. We will forgive, but never forget. You will leave us stronger than you found us, closer than we were.

Goodnight for now, for when the dawn breaks it will be a new day and we will begin to repair the damage you have done.

National Blog Posting Month - Take 2

After spending the last three days without power due to Hurricane Sandy, I did a lot of thinking... and a lot of writing. For a long time, I've been keeping a list of post ideas for all of my blogs and would have full chucks of those posts in written in my head, yet didn't have the motivation to sit down and type them. The storm gave me a chance to sit down and write, without modern day distractions. It seems I managed to get over whatever was stopping me and I want to try to keep it going.

Last November, I tried to take part in National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) and only managed to do 16 posts. Had good intentions, but lacked something. So this November, I'm going to try it again! Here goes nothing!

Wish me luck! And I hope you enjoy all my posts!

Preparing for Frankenstorm

See that little marker... that's me, 45 East of NYC and
3 miles North of the Long Island Sound.

I've been an East Coast girl all my life, and I lived through hurricane, Nor' Easters, blizzards, heck we've even had mini earthquakes and a tornado! But this storm is something new. It's been dubbed Frankenstorm because it's Hurricane Sandy crashing into TWO winter storm fronts. Some are calling it the perfect storm... I'm calling it a bad way to start a week!

While I'm trying to joke about it, really I'm a little freaked out. Was fine until they started ordering mandatory evacuations of my city, then pretty much closed my city. Even then I was still not major worried, until my dad - a city firefighter - started to get weird. Said his spidey sense was tingling. Now it's time to worry.

We've been pretty lucky in past storms because the hurricanes have been blocked a bit by Long Island and being on the sound has spared us from major blizzards since we tend to have warmer temps than up North. And while most of the state has CL&P for power, we have UI and two plants feeding us so power outages haven't even been more than a few hours. This storm... we may not be so lucky. So we prepare.

I got plenty to keep me busy!

When it comes to storm prep, I really don't have to worry about the logistics of prepping the house, dad takes care of all that. I just help when needed. He also takes care of flashlights and all that emergency stuff, cause really who is better than a fire captain to handle all that. And when it comes to food, mom's got that covered. Though, I did some baking today... cupcakes and pumpkin bread. Got to have baked goods during a storm! My other tasks are really myself (clothes, meds, etc), Gryffin, and information. I'm the one with the smartphone, so keeping my phone and battery back-up charged is really important. As for the cat, well I sort of failed a little on that this time, because he is nearing the bottom of his food bin. Getting food was on tomorrow's list and there is a good chance I'm not making it out of the house. But there is 2 1/2 days... so it is what it is.

As for prepping for things to do if (and when) we lose power, I have:

• A fully charged iPad & laptop and a mile long list of article ideas. Kind of looking forward to getting some quiet time to just sit and write.
• Notebooks, sketch pads, tons of pencils, crayons, paints, and markers. Some quiet art time has been much needed too.
• Have months worth of reading material, so as long as there is daylight I can read. 
• Piles and piles of toys waiting to play with and review. There is even a Mega Bloks Dinosaur Train set... that's going to be a BLAST to set up!
• While the laptop still has power (it doesn't hold a charge very well, though without the wi-fi it might last longer) I can edit photos, clean up files, organize information.
• Picked up some cool 80's toys at an estate sale over the weekend. They need some cleaning and tending to. 
• Dalí's costume for the Wreck-It Ralph movie screening needs to be finished, it's hand sewing and glue, so I can finish that up.

See, tons of toys that need reviewing.. and playing with!

I figure that's more than enough projects to keep me busy for days! Plus I have my cameras fully charged... nothing like some pre/during/post storm photos for something to do!

Speaking of storm photos... here is my front yard today:

I have a feeling it won't look like this in a few days.

To all my East Coast friends... be safe, if you are told to get out... get out, and see you all on the other side of the Frankenstorm!

Update - Since a good number of my friends are in the same boat as me, as they blog about the storm I'm going to share their posts.

Brian - Stormageddon, Frankenstorm or the Super Cyclon-nami Hurri-blizzard of Terror 2012
Wendy - Prepping For a Storm - Healthy Style!
Cinny - Getting ready for Hurricane Sandy with Del Monte
Amiyrah - 7 Reasons Why I love Hurricanes
Chrysa - FREE Hurricane by American Red Cross App for Android

September Photo Scavenger Hunt

One thing I enjoyed doing in the past on Scrapping the Magic, was the photo scavenger hunts... so I decided it was time to bring them back! This time, however, instead of doing them as a part of Scrapping the Magic, I'm going to be doing them here and with my Photography Blogging Project group on Facebook. 

To join in the fun, all you need to do is take some photos of the hunt items for the month, blog about it, and link up your post! Each month I'll be posting the link-up on the 3rd Saturday of the month, with the items for the next month's challenge. The link-up will be open until the next month's gets posted, so you can do you scavenger hunt post whenever it best fits you and link-up when I post. And make sure you check out all the other blogs that have linked-up to see how they interpreted the hunt list.

The items we needed to find for September were: Bright, Happy, Learning, Stone, and Rectangle. Here are my results!

Bright: a bright and curly circus afro

Happy: A happy little polar bear

Learning: There is always more in the world to learn

Stone: A stone resin Mickey garden statue

Rectangle: My backgrounds for when I do photo shoots

Here are the details for October's photo hunt!

October's Scavenger Hunt
Link-Up Date: October 20, 2012

Scavenger Hunt Items:

• Fall
• Round
• Candy
• Wood
• Pet

Can't wait to see all your photos! Link-up is below!

Whovians Unite!

Yesterday, the Doctor Who Tumblr page posted this appeal from Chris Hardwick as a PSA to their campaign, #newtoWHO.

 

I'm taking up the challenge, so here is my #newtoWHO story.

My love affair with the Doctor started sometime around May 13, 2011. I had just started having a bunch of my medical issues, so I was spending a lot of time in bed watching Netflix. I had just finished up the Firefly series and was looking for something else to sink my teeth into. Season 6 (or series 6 depending on where you live) was currently airing on BBC America and a number of my friends were watching it, and therefore talking about it, so I got curious. It also helped that I was currently addicted to the Cheezeburger Network, which features a number of DW memes, and I was a David Tennant fan from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In fact, I started watching the week the episode "The Doctor's Wife" aired. Being a Neil Gaiman fan, the chatter leading up to the episode also stirred my curiosity. There was one issue... my cable company didn't carry BBC America! But Netflix streaming had most of the seasons, so I started at the beginning of the reboot.

At the time I was using the online site Miso to check into my shows, so I went back in my timeline to see what I had to say. Here are my entries for the first two episodes...

It took me a little bit to warm up to the series. My check-in for episode 7 "The Long Game" said:

"There is just something about the relationship between Rose and the Doctor that keeps bringing me back... cause it's not the special effects!”

By the time I hit "Parting of the Ways", I was in tears. I didn't want Christopher Eccleston to leave.. I remember Laura telling me on Twitter not to worry, because Tennant was coming.  And I loved David Tennant and was looking forward to him... but you never forget your first doctor. I did warm up to Tennant about 2 episodes into his first season and from there the addiction was born. By Christmas I was asking for a TARDIS from Santa Claus, started eating up Doctor Who crafts and blogs and memes, and I was trying to get my mom to check out the series. I had it bad! Who am I kidding, I still have it bad!

My cable company did finally add BBC America, without fanfare. One day, I was going through the channels and happened to go one pass my normal routine and there it was. Once I found the channel, I was able to watch Doctor Who a number of times a day without dealing with the connection issues I sometimes got from Netflix. The first episode I was able to watch on its original air date was season 6, episode 8 "Let's Killer Hitler".

As for getting my mom into show, I managed to get her all the way to season 3, episode 11 "Utopia" and I lost her there. Something about not understanding what was being said with the accents and just not being into it anymore. Oh well... can't convert them all! At least my brother and his girlfriend are fans, so it gives us something to talk about at family gatherings.

Currently, I'm watching 3 episodes a day of DW - 10am, 11am, and 4pm. Except on Mondays when for some reason BBCA likes to air Top Gear at 4pm. The 10am & 11am episodes just reset in the airing, so it's all the 9th Doctor. At 4pm it's Matt Smith's first season. Someday I hope to be able to go back and watch the original, original episodes, at least the seasons they managed to save. I have a feeling I'll never be able to enjoy the very first season... but I'll take what I can get!

I wanted to share some of my favorites with you. If I HAVE to pick a doctor, I've got to go with #10 - David Tennant. Favorite companion... hands down Donna Noble. And here are some of my favorite episodes, broken out by doctor and companion, because I can't just pick one:

• Ninth Doctor - "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances"
• Tenth Doctor & Rose - "Fear Her"
• Tenth Doctor & Martha - "The Shakespeare Code"
• Tenth Doctor & Donna - "Partners in Crime"
• Eleventh Doctor & Amy - "Vincent and the Doctor"

My least favorite episode... "The Doctor's Daughter". Not sure why, I just don't care for it. And I'm not really a Martha fan, because I didn't love the "Why doesn't he look at me/love me/want me like that". I get what it was all about, just could have done without it.

So, that's my #newtoWHO story. From my first viewing to my current day dressing my mascot up like the 11th Doctor. I am a Whovian!

Since I have a number of friends that are fans of Doctor Who, I though I'd turn this into a link-up party. I'm also hoping to meet some new Whovians from the links! Link-up is open until the new season of Doctor Who premiers on BBC America, which is Sept. 1 at 9pm EST!

The BlogHer `12 Aftermath

I am now 4 days post BlogHer `12. The manicure has started to chip, con crud is slowly creeping in, and the stack of business cards & info sheets loom over me begging to be dealt with. My head is swimming with ideas and things I wish I did different and longing for more time. To say I am overwhelmed is an understatement. And I have no idea where to begin. So, I guess I'll start with the easiest thing... telling you how it all went.

What seemed like months of planning all came down to a very fast 3 days. There was good. There was bad. And there was downright terrible. No amount of planning could prepare me for the event, even though I thought I have every possible detailed covered. Nothing like 5000+ people gathered together to quickly make you reevaluate at your plans. Since my head is so full of thoughts and crud, I'm going to just list it all out.

The Right

• The Buddy System - I cannot stress this enough... Laura was my saving grace. Planning to attack the conference with a buddy was the smartest move I made. From sharing a room, to getting the most out of sessions, and a sounding board when I just needed to talk things out. She was my rock. I knew Laura was a great friend... but this weekend clearly proved I don't get to see her or talk to her enough. I truly love her and value everything about her. And I couldn't have done the whole thing without her!

Don't Blink!

• Staying at the Sheraton - While this was more due to the Hilton being sold out, I am very pleased I ended up staying at the Sheraton. It was a quick walk from the Hilton and after reading the many, many complaints from those that stayed at the convention hotel, I have zero. No issues with the room, the elevator, the bill, or the staff. And it was nice to be able to leave the hub of the conference and to get away from it all. Though I will say I could have done without the Weeping Angel in our room... even if it was a perfect tribute for a couple of Whovians!

• The Sessions - Am I ever glad I attended the sessions that I did. I ended up going to all the ones I planned on and they were fantastic. I learned so much and came away with tons of things to do and think about. The one on Affiliate Marketing alone was worth the cost of the BlogHer ticket!

• The Private Parties - no matter what your feeling is on outboarding, the private parties were worth it! I only went to three, purposely selected for how they fit with my "brand". The connections I made, the info I collected, and the good times... totally worth it. And the swag was amazing! I can't wait to either review it or give it away! I got more out of these events than the expo.
• Free Wi-Fi - I had heard horror stories about convention wi-fi. It worked perfectly for me the whole day. It was great because my phone decided it didn't want to play nice.

Hasbro Party

• The Location - Who doesn't love NYC?! Nothing like a quick train ride to get to and from the action. Being a semi-local made a lot of difference for me because I wasn't also trying to cram in sightseeing as part of the event. If there was something I wanted to see, I can easily go back. It also help save on cost because I only need one night in the hotel and didn't have to deal with flying.

Our View from The Big Toy Book Event

The Wrong

• The Crowds - I just don't think the Hilton was meant to hold 5000+ people. To have to see people eating meals on the floor and having to wait 20-30 minutes for an elevator... well, your venue is overbooked. I hope next year there is a limit on tickets, because I don't know if I could deal with that many people again.

• The Geek Bars - These were a disaster. Disorganized, you couldn't hear sometimes because of the other sessions in the room, and sort of a waste of time. I did a Design Audit and would have rather seen a full session on just basic blog design tips than try to audit 8 people's sites in a 30 minute session... and not get to everyone. I'm hoping there will be some good follow up with the presenter, because she did seem to have a great grasp on the material.

• The Expo - This was so not what I was expecting. The booths I had high hopes were a bust and some I didn't think about visiting ended up being little hidden gems. The swag was fine, not better, not worse than what was predicted. Just different. It made it easy to pick out what was of use. I will tell you I ended up with 20 reusable totes, 35 coupons, and 7 pens... all which made my mom very happy. And the 7 flash drives will come in handy because I'm down to about 1GB of space on my laptop, which will be gone the minute I download the photos from BlogHer. Overall though, the expo was more trade show than here's how we can work together. I don't need a new vacuum or phone, I need to know what we can do for each other as a brand and a blogger. That was sorely missing. I wish I took the time to go to more sessions instead of spending so much time at the expo.

The best "swag" of the convention... business cards and information!

• Relying on Twitter - A bunch of things at BlogHer relied on Twitter. Entering contests, finding other people, catching news. I just didn't want to spend my entire time staring at a phone. Maybe I'm just not a tweeter, but I just didn't get why it was needed so much.

• The Pack Mule Effect - I just packed too much stuff I thought I was going to need. My hands were constantly full and I was seriously weighed down. I really wish I had a better phone or a point & shoot, because bringing the DSLR was a mistake. It was so bulky I barely used it. Between business cards and a phone and a camera and swag and handshakes and even Dalí, my hands were full All.The.Time. It was insane. And I'm never doing that again.

• My Confidence - Leaving BlogHer I feel my confidence in myself and my work a little shattered. I feel like I now need to do complete overhauls of everything I do. Full redesigns, different photography, different topics. In some cases I even feel like I might have to adopt a kid to be able to "compete" for the attention of some brands. Some of this feeling may come from being sick and completely exhausted. In a few days, after some meaningful online conversations, some connections made, and some information better absorbed, I should be okay. Just have to keep telling myself I am good enough, my work is good enough, and if people don't like me or my "brand", oh well.

The So Very Wrong

• The Heat - I hate summer... I always have. The sun is not my friend and if I never have to deal with heat & humidity again it'll be too soon. But it's August, it's NYC, it's expected. It wasn't like there was a massive change in the weather for me... I only live about 45 mins West of New York. But I didn't expect summer to be INSIDE the convention. From the crazy hot expo, to hot session rooms, to lots of bodies pressed together. I don't think there wasn't a time I wasn't hot and sticky. If I had thought about bringing enough clothes, or had the time, I would have showered a million times a day. Add to it that I was wearing jeans and a knee brace... it was not fun. If I didn't hug you, it's not because I didn't want to... it's because I was saving you from the hot mess that I was.

• The Food & Drink -  Ugh... food. My kryptonite. I love some kinds, hate most other. And this food was a bust. And because I relayed on the Hilton and private parties to get my meals... my intake was nowhere near where it needed to be and I paid for it by Saturday. I should have know that I would have food issues, and I even brought snacks... just should have planned for meals on my own. And while I get that BlogHer is trying to go green, those water coolers and little cups were not enough. I'm all for going green, but maybe in the swag bags there could have been refillable bottles, something more portable than a little plastic cup. And plastic cups? That didn't get recycled and no one used more than once. Not sure how "green" that really ended up being. I even had a water bottle I refilled and I just didn't drink enough water. Too many sweets and carbs and soda. Not enough of anything green or protein or of real substance. Not that there wasn't some of those options... it was just nothing I would eat.  

• Sparklecorn - This was wrong not for what it was, but for my expectations vs reality. I expected a lot of drinking and dancing and even some shenanigans, but it was so much worse. It was super loud, dark as night, and some of the behavior was shameful. But I really can't put that on the party goers. It is just not my scene, and while I'm not the most classy chick on the block... there was so crass behavior that caused my jaw to drop. I think I managed to stay 30 minutes. And even that was too long. I will say the cake was yummy... even if there is some disagreement on what the filling was.

• Blogger Time - While there seemed like there was enough time for everything, there just wasn't time to network with OTHER bloggers. Other than breakfast and maybe waiting in a line, there was no time to connect. You almost need to preplan to meet people. Lunch was paired with keynotes, so no speaking to each other there. And there was just no real place to sit. Only one or two seats in the lobby and none anywhere else. There were times when it would have been nice to grab a seat with someone and chat... other than the floor. 

Overall, I got a lot out of my experience. BlogHer 2013 is being held in Chicago and while I think I'd like to go, I really need to see what my return is on BlogHer 2012. I learned a lot of lessons, good & bad, and I'm a lot wiser in the ways of a blogger convention. I just really need to see were I can take it from here before I invest in another event... be it BlogHer or a different convention.

Welcome to The Land of Melted Clocks

Welcome all my new friends from BlogHer `12! I'm so happy you stopped by!

The Land of Melted Clocks has been around almost 1 1/2 years and I outside of a few things, I never really spoke about who I was or what this blog is about. I think it is now time. For starters, the name Land of Melted Clocks was inspired by my favorite painting, Persistence of Memory by the great Salvador Dalí. I picked this painting to represent me and my blog, because most days I feel like the world is melting around me and I'm just standing still. It's also a little out there, sort of like myself.

This is me.

Now on to me. Writing about myself is always pretty hard to do, mostly because it makes me admit to certain things I may be in denial about. But here goes, I'm April Baker, a blogger, an artist, a toy lover, and a geek. I'm 30 something years old and I live in Connecticut about 45 minutes West of New York City. I'm single, kidless, and the owner of the greatest cat in the world. I'm obsessed with toys, Disney, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I adore wearing jeans, tees, Chucks or flip flops, and funky rings & bracelets. I'm pretty average in just about every way... except one. I'm not the most healthiest individual. I suffer from Crohn's, fibromyalgia, an anxiety disorder, and issues with my back. I'm really just a big mess. But I have a great support system that really helps cope with everything. I could tell you more, like I was an Air Force brat, have two associate degrees, and I have a brother... but then what stories would I have to write about in the future? ;)

Most days you can find me blogging, taking pictures, or doing some kind of craft. Or playing video games and watching tv if I'm not feeling all that great. But mostly I'm on the computer. I run four other blogs besides this one, and I'm in the process of creating two more. The Magic Family is a group of three blogs - Scrapping the Magic, Crafting the Magic, and Enjoying the Magic. All are more or less Disney blogs with their only sub-specialties, namely scrapbooking, crafting, and life. Then there is The Toy Box Geek, a newer site that is getting ready to launch in September. Toy Box is all about toys and things related to toys. Little Pink Pumps and One Brick, Two Bricks are Barbie and Lego blogs, respectively. I'm hoping to get those up by the end of the year.

I'm also very active on Facebook, sometimes on Twitter, and participate on all your standard social network sites. And I have a Tumblr blog called April in Progress. That's were I post all my projects in process and things like Doctor Who images, memes, etc. Stuff that I don't want to clog up this site with.

So what will you find on The Land of Melted Clocks?

• Photography - I love photography and I plan to fill this blog with it. Photo projects, challenges, and whatever else photo wise that inspires me.
• Travel - If I ever manage to take a trip, you can expect to read about it here.
• Art - Talk of art, my art, artsy things. Just art type topics.
• Crafts - The occasional craft project will show up here. 
• Geeky Stuff - I love all things geeky and I love talking about them even more!
• Book & Movie Reviews - If I ever find the time to read a book or go to the movies.
• Other Blog Stuff - Updates on all my other blog projects.
• Friends - I love my friends. And I plan on talking about them more.
• Me - My life, my health, my cat, just things I have going on.
• Randomness - Really I tend to write what I feel and what I like at the moment. And since I'm all over the place in my mind, it's only natural that you can expect this to be all over the place.

What you won't find on this site is adult content, swearing, politics, or religion.

Another thing you'll see on this blog is tales of its' mascot, Dalí. Dalí the Amazing BlogFox. He'll be coming with me to BlogHer and having a bunch of adventures of his own, so he'll be a regular feature on the blog. And I really need to thank my friend Kerri of The Maven of Social Media... she coined the term "The Amazing BlogFox".

So to sum everything up, I'm a geek, I have a lot of blogs, and I'm an artist. Oh, and I love toys. That is the nutshell that is me.

If you would like to get in touch with me, friend me on Facebook, message me on Twitter, or email me at abaker413 [at] gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you!