New Year! Yay!

Okay, so I'm about an hour away from 2009 right now. A few things I want to do in 2009:

• Build a guitar. I know it sounds CRAZY intimidating, but I think I can do it! I'm thinking of doing something like this. I need to look into the quality of these things first, but if all is well, why not?
• Open new doors for my Etsy shop. I want to come up with some more great product lines and have double the fun for 2009!
• Drastically improve my guitar skills. I'm not bad now, but I can DEFINITELY improve. Plus, if I can get one step closer to the solo on this song, well, it's one step closer to AWESOME!

Among other things. I guess I really have a longer list, but it's full of cliche New Years resolutions that I'll probably forget about in a week.

Yeah, like that Black Hole Sun solo isn't an unrealistic goal....but hey, the negative little voice in the back of my head likes to blog too.

Mastercard Hug Felt Pin/Brooch

This is an adorable little felt pin that looks like a MasterCard Hug! So cute. This is an original LeArmoire design/concept and will cutely decorate jackets, shirts, purses, hats, etc. This is a perfect way to give someone a hug they can have with them everyday, all the time! It's a great gift, and it's great for keeping all to yourself!

The entire pin is hand stitched, and the face and heart are glued on securely. It is just slightly stuffed with a bit of fiberfill and love.

Available for purchase here!

I Love Audioslave.

Is this not completely excellent??!?!?!?!!?!?

I Won A Give away!

Yaaaaaayyyy! I won the Sweet Figments Blog Give away!

I'm getting an awesome Olive Blossom gift set from The Garden Bath on Etsy! I'm so excited. It's going to be so great. I will definitely post about the gift set when I get it. Yay! And thanks so much to Sweet Figments and The Garden Bath!

Visit The Garden Bath here!

Sweet Figments Giveaway-AWESOME!

So, there's this give away on Sweet Figments, you should check it out.

Anyway, its hard to pick which things on the list to blog about, because they all completely rock. But I'm going have to say my favorite is MyHandBoundBooks.

These books are SO amazing, I just love them.

I especially love the journals that have a rustic feel to them, like the ones pictured here.

Such awesome books!!!!!!

Grunge Queens Only.

Awesome wristbands from LeArmoire-I love custom making these things..people come up with the raddest ideas!

Knowledge

Knowledge, the word, the meaning, the general feel of it, has always fascinated me. The idea that we control the amount of useless information we know is amazing...the idea that we can't always control it is even more amazing.

Awesome New Necklace!

So, I got this AMAZING necklace from this awesome Etsy shop, called Michelles Charm World.
It is so unbelievably cute, I've worn it almost everyday since I got it! I even center my outfits around it! Michelle is so nice and helpful, and obviously very talented and creative. I loved her entire shop, it was so hard to choose just one thing! I was so excited to receive my package in the mail, and was totally ecstatic to find that she sent me two pairs of earrings for free! This has got to be my favorite necklace ever! I'm so happy with it. Drop by Michelles Charm World and get something kitschy cute for yourself!

I am Distilled.

I am so stuck on the Distillers right now. I mean, Coral Fang is such an awesome album. I love all of it! Dude.

The World is a War

This world, this entire world, every last centimeter of it, is a war. 

Everything is a fight, a battle. Wrong is everywhere, right is in your head. And everyone makes the choice. Do you want to be wrong, and live with ease, a twisted form of happiness? Or do you want to be right, and recognize the suffering and the struggle around you, and live in a constant corner of hell trying to push to the world what you've learned?

 

Once you know something of what this world really is, there's no turning back. You can't hide it behind a credit card, you can't hide it under an expensive coat. When you lay down to go to sleep, there's no hiding it. Not even under your designer sheets. It'll keep you awake, and it will eat at you from the inside out unless you recognize it, unless you decide that you have to pick a side. The truth rots and burns and twists itself out of you, it crawls, and you have to let the world find it.

You have to realize that you have to fight the lies, fight what they're telling you is the way it should be, fight the idea that things should be left unspoken, unquestioned and unknown.

Conforming is allowing yourself to be owned. Be your own person. Fight what is considered right by these corrupt governments today-war, lies, murder. Stop letting them run you like another multi billion dollar business. Become conscientious of where you shop, what you support, and what you really want in life. 

Be free, and fight. Everyday is a revolution, everyday is a new battle, and everyday you are a soldier in this war.

Uninsured Americans

I just joined a new group on Flickr called Uninsured Americans. Above is my photo contribution to the group. Please read the 2 group rules, and consider contributing to the photo pool.

Nameless and faceless no more!

Human Rights Matter. Stand Up and Fight Back!

Sami El Haj was arrested in December 2001 by the U.S government, and thrown into Guantanamo Bay. If you are not familiar with his story, I beg of you to read this article, in which he speaks about his experiences in Guantanamo Bay. Please, take the time to read the article and really listen.

This is a form of murder, an unimaginable crime, and a severe violation and defiance of human rights. This cannot be allowed to happen anymore. Although Sami is now free, he is still imprisoned in many ways, mentally. The horrific tortures he endured for seven years are not easily forgotten. He now asks that anyone who is against Guantanamo Bay makes their voice heard. Stand up and tell the American Government that it's not okay, and fight it.

If you want to do something for someone who is still not free, read this article about Omar Khadr. Omar was taken into custody in 2002, when he was just 15. He is still in Guantanamo Bay, withstanding the torture of American military personnel. You are able to send a message of support to Omar's family, and are able to write him a letter. You are able to write to American and Canadian authorities, demanding justice. More details on how to take action are included in the article.

Please, take the time to stand up for human rights. Take the time to help someone who thinks the world had stopped caring. Take the time to let corrupt government superpowers know that you refuse to sit still.

Choice? What Choice?

Barrack Obama sucks. John Mccain sucks more.

Seriously, it's barely even a choice. It's more like voting for the lesser of two evils. I must admit, I had the smallest amount of hope in Barrack Obama's campaign when it began. Not that I like him personally-just that I thought he might actually CHANGE things. But now that he's going on about residual forces in Iraq, I'm done.

And McCain? If he gets to be president, you might as well just kill me now. Tom Morello said it best:

"Can a country that elected George W. Bush, twice, elect someone who comes across like that is unclear to me," he said. "If America elects [Republican Senator John] McCain, well, then maybe we don't deserve better than McCain. In the most recent congressional election, the Democrats were elected to stop the war, and like cowardly dogs, they failed to do that. No matter who is in office, it's our responsibility to take the wheel of history in our hands, if we want to see a different and better world than the one we live in now."

Helium is Rad.

So, there's this website called Helium where you can freely voice your opinion, participate in debates, and so on and actually get paid for it! It's great. You can check out some articles I've written here!

Bizzare Foods Entertain Me.

"Bizzare Foods with Adam Zimmern" is an incredibly informative, culturally enlightening show on The Travel Channel. I stumbled across it last night while I was looking for something on TV that I could actually LEARN from. It was a breath of fresh air from the usual Vh1 and MTV nonsense, or the sugar coated media on the other end of the spectrum.

I was overjoyed to see a show on TV that showed such raw culture through something as simple (or in some cases VERY elaborate) as food. I especially loved to see Adam experience the traditionally rich customs and cuisine of India-the people's love of milk, and rich, tangy spices used in everyday snacks and meals, sold on the street.

Needless to say, I would kill for this job, regardless of the oddities Adam frequently faces. There's not a lot of food that turns my stomach, so I think I would do just fine. The opportunity to eat, travel, and meet new people is an incredible one that anyone would be lucky to have. I highly recommend watching this show!

Starting at 8:00 p.m. ET, Bizzare Foods with Adam Zimmern!

I Am A UG'er.

I am a UG'er! Meaning, I have a profile on Ultimate Guitar!

I am a UG'er because of the following reasons:

1) I am a guitarist
2) They have a lot of tabs, and other informative music related things
3) Its easy to find other guitarists into the same music as me. This is the only place in the world where I find a large community of grungers that I actually want to talk to. And we all know grunge=happiness.
4) It's a great place to find new bands, like Hellfire!
5) Because I am a nerd and I do nerdy things.

The Fourth of July Means Nothing

Today is the 4th of July, a holiday commemorating the freedom and independence of the United States.

While our government oppresses countries around the world, how can I celebrate this holiday? How can I celebrate when freedom of speech in this nation is dead? How can I celebrate when our government is overlooking basic human rights?

As long as a place like Guantanamo Bay exists, as long as there is an unjust war being fought, as long as there is a war criminal for president, how can I? As long as the Palestinian people are being bombarded with U.S backed Israeli aggression and occupation, I refuse to celebrate.

Drive In Theaters Are So Rad.

I went to a drive in a couple weeks ago with my mom and saw "The Strangers." It was a double feature, but we didn't stay for "Prom Night." We went again last week and saw "Don't Mess with the Zohan" and "Jumper." It was so rad. They have the best food ever, and it's such a mom and pop thing. There should be way more drive in theaters in America.

I'm Special.

Today is my 10th day of doing 365.

Yesterday was my burfday.

Please, Just Impeach Him Already.

Why why WHY isn't he getting impeached? I refuse to celebrate the 4th of July this year. Not when this war criminal is president. Why would I want to celebrate our freedom while our government is oppressing other countries and people? If that's what our 'freedom' is built on, I don't want it.

I've Wanted One of These Forever.

I've wanted a messenger bag FOREVER but none of them seem just right. So I made my own! I'm thinking of putting some of these up for sale sometime, if anyone shows interest in them. If not, I'm still really happy because I have one I LOVE!

This bag has a Palestinian flag on it, and a quote from a Rage Against the Machine song (Voice of the Voiceless). It reads, "You'll never silence the voice of the voiceless."

I'm so psyched about having such a personalized bag! YAY!

365 Days Project

So I joined a new project on Flickr! It's called 365 days object project. You pick one object and you take a picture of it in different settings everyday for a year! I joined a little late, of course, but it's okay. I chose my Chuck Taylors for my object, because I just got them on the 14th and it will be interesting to see them change. I love this project so much! You can see my progress here!

Beautiful Dress, Good Cause

So an Etsy friend of mine recently emailed me and told me about a horrible tragedy.

On June 4th, some very good friends of hers lost their 15 year old daughter in a terrible car accident. She decided to list one of her gorgeous, one of a kind concoctions on Ebay to sell, and help the family with funeral costs. This a great oppurtunity to help someone who is facing immeasurable pain and suffering, and if you are interested in a beautiful and unique dress please do look here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Custom-Designed-Dress-Fairy-Faerie-Costume_W0QQitemZ270246373702QQihZ017QQcategoryZ63861QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

If you think you might know someone who wants a dress like this, please spread the word.

Mary E. Robbins Designs

I recently ran across a website that greatly captured my interest.

It tells of the art, travels, and life of a woman named Mary and her family.

http://www.robbinsmarye.com/

Mary runs a shop called MothDesigns, on Etsy. She sells incredible T Shirts, featuring arabic words or sayings, and handbags and purses that tell stories of Moroccan women and girls she knows. One example of her work is the Chaimae shoulder bag, which tells the following story:

"chaimae is my sister-in-law. she is 10 years old. 3 years ago, when i was last living in morocco, she was avidly exploring the early realization of her femininity--strutting around in her mother’s worn pumps, slinging her pocketbooks over her shoulder. when i visited her earlier this year, i saw a new reserve in her eyes--her hair grown long, her book bag grown heavy. i imagine this bag on her shoulder--all her very own--after practicing for a few years with her mother's."

The Chaimae Shoulder Bag

Mary's website offers a unique view of a world that is seemingly, somehow, unexplored. Her art is a reflection of an attempt to bring people together, and to educate the world about our brothers and sisters in the Middle East/Northern Africa. This fascinating blog is definitely worth reading on a daily basis. Also, please visit her Etsy shop at:

www.mothdesigns.etsy.com

Westboro Baptist Church=INSANITY

I ran across a website called God Hates Fags today:

www.godhatesfags.com

And I was disgusted. The people who run it, the Westboro Baptist Church, are purely hateful and intolerant of EVERYONE. APPARENTLY, God hates American soldiers, homosexuals, Mexicans, Canadians, and the Swedish and Irish. Members of the church often show up at the funerals of American soldiers wielding signs that read, "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "America=Fag Nation." Their hate is pretty much blind, they'll hate anyone for anything. Here's that sick bastard Fred Phelps saying it himself:

http://www.thesignsofthetimes.net/videos/signmovies/ghf.html

Honestly, if someone came to a funeral of one of MY family members or friends and tried to pull this crap, I'd want to kill them. What sad, sick, pathetic, lonely, hateful, ignorant people.

Silence The Voices: An Anti War collage

Finally, I've cranked out an anti war collage. Here's to the crappy government and pointless war! (I wish I didn't have to use the glue I used. I should have just picked up a glue stick. I keep forgetting though.)

Art Revolution!

There has been an art revolution! I've been having so much fun starting new art projects. I just started an anti war collage, and so far I'm happy with it. Although I didn't have a glue stick, and I used Elmer's plain old white glue, which made some of the paper gross and weird. But who cares! It still gets the message across-George Bush sucks, war is stupid, let's light stuff on fire!

Always Awake

Always Awake,
I wish I wasn't
An insomniac with dreams
Every second is a waking moment
Life is an infomercial
It's pointless and never ending
Sleep looks like a vacation
That I can't afford
I'm stuck in this cubicle
Every second of my days

Not so much a poem as it is random thoughts.

Pringle Bastards.

Okay, this is the funniest thing I've read in a long time. You can just feel the rage here:

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/lax/182862349.html

Ha. That was just pure awesome.

All Washed Up.

Today I woke up and realized that my iPod Shuffle got put through the washer, and the dryer.
I am tuneless.
I am rockage-less.
I am angry.

Stuff I Like

So here's a bunch of stuff I like, 50 things to be exact.

1. My guitar, and making music
2. Listening to music
3. Art (writing, drawing, painting, etc.)
4. Books
5. Etsy
6. Doing political things
7. Euphoria Morning (all things Cornell, really)
8. Self sufficiency
9. Dreaming
10. Individuality
11. Sarcasm
12. Talking to people I actually like
13. Prank phone calls (I'm good at them.)
14. Singing and/or playing guitar to really loud music
15. Perfectly not hot, not cold weather
16. Playing air guitar (that's right, I'm an idiot)
17. Grass. Not the smoking kind. The kind outside.
18. Helping people out
19. Hating the American media
20. Oversized sweatshirts
21. Old Black and white films
22. Daydreaming
23. Going out at night
24. Being busy with fun stuff
25. Money (oh you know you like it too.)
26. Saving money
27. Rainy days (but only when I have stuff to do indoors. Or outdoors I guess. I like being in the rain.)
28. Laughing really hard
29. Long, good, interesting conversations
30. Being home alone and doing whatever I want
31. Knitting
32. Designing stuff
33. My camera
34. My iPod shuffle (it's so tiny, yet it produces so much rockage)
35. Buttons (the pinback kind.)
36. Playing the guitars at the music store (music stores are great)
37. Basements
38. Traveling
39. Showers/baths
40. My bed
41. Learning things (oh so nerdy)
42. Key necklaces ( necklaces with keys on them! They are so brilliant. Check some out at www.azhuresjewels.etsy.com)
43. Food (Mmm)
44. Drinks (I always have to have one in my hand. Especially iced tea. or iced coffee.)
45. Animals
46. Sleeping
47. Skin products (they just make me happy. Soap, lotion, whatever. I like smelling nice.)
48. Nina by Nina Ricci (this is an amazing perfume, but I can't have it because THEY TEST ON ANIMALS! EW!)
49. Computer stuff
50. Lip gloss. Yay.

So there it is. I'm very boring, no?

Life

Is it just me or are people completely inverted lately?

I mean, honestly, everyone is in a mad dash to have 2 cars in your garage and a nice house, and live in absolute suburban paradise. Doesn't matter if you loathe your job, or if your family never sees you. Or if everything at home is in the crapper. Why is it so important to have all this stuff? You know, stuff that sits around your house, the kind of house that looks like no one is living in it. Pristine galleries of breath taking interior decorating skills, gorgeous art gracing your walls, all kept immaculately clean by a nameless maid.

If that's life, then it's not worth living.

Guitarage?

So I play the guitar, and I'm really getting into a lot of Tom Morello's work. He is an incredibly innovative guitarist, and I find his techniques endlessly fascinating. Plus he's not a complete moron, so that's nice too. That guy knows his stuff. So if you haven't heard of him, he's the guitarist for Rage Against the Machine, and formerly Audioslave. He also does some solo work, and he's called the Nightwatchman for that. So check it out if you want to hear some mind numbingly creative guitar work!

Yay! Buttons!

I got these AWESOME pinback buttons in the mail the other day, and they are the coolest buttons ever. They are from one of my favorite Etsy sellers, Buttonhead (her link is on my page) and they look fantastic on everything!

Check it out if you want some super badly bad (in a cool way) buttons.

Top 10 Albums

Okay, this is just my current "Top Ten Albums" that I'm into right now. It'll probably be different in a week. But this is what I listen to a lot nowadays:

1.Euphoria Morning (Chris Cornell)-I've been addicted to this album for almost a year now. Still not tired of it. It's GENIUS. Every song on it is incredible. If you don't have it, get it.

2. In Utero (Nirvana)-In my opinion, the best Nirvana album, and just awesome in general.

3. Down On the Upside-(Soundgarden)-Pure lyrical genius. And some really great riffs too. I mean, it's not exactly thorough riff rock, but it's clever. Now Badmotorfinger, THATS riff rock.

4. Live Through This (Hole)-It's one of those albums where all the songs get stuck in your head. It's really good, lot's of different elements, from abrasive to mushy. It's a really great album.

5. Superunknown (Soundgarden)-This album is SO good. The vocals are awesome (as always) the guitar is FANTASTIC, and it's CATCHY! This album is grunge gold.

6. The Battle of Los Angeles (Rage Against the Machine)-Okay, you want the finest rap/rock there is? RATM is the band for you! With often political subject matter, the songs on this album are full of creative guitar parts, (the solo on Sleep Now in The Fire is nice) in your face lyrics, incredible bass playin', and AMAZING drums, this album is one of the best.

7. Nevermind (Nirvana)- Nirvana makes it twice on my list! This album contains original grunge glory. It smells exactly like Teen Spirit.

8. Audioslave (Audioslave)-This is like an album full of singles. You get the awesome instrumental power of Rage Against the Machine, with the addition of Chris Cornell's unrealistically powerful voice.

9. Louder Than Love (Soundgarden)-Soundgarden also get's to make the list twice-This album is a pretty early SG album, and has some really original stuff on it. It's fun to listen to, at times it's actually funny.

10. Coral Fang (the Distillers)-A great punk band, fronted by Aussie chick Brody Dalle, who has a nice abrasive voice and is great at writin' songs (nice gory subject matter). This album is actually The Distillers calming things down a little bit, if you can imagine that.... It sounds like Hole, Nirvana, and Rancid, all stirred up in one awesome spit in your face punk band.

So there it is, my top 10 albums list. Do with it what you will.

Photography=FUN!

I've been getting into photography lately, and by photography I mean taking extremely random pictures of extremely random things. I'll post them on my Flickr page soon, but right now my camera is being stupid. So when I do get them posted, they'll be on my Flickr page. (www.flickr.com/photos/fromthecloset) Right now my Flickr page mainly consists of pictures of things I sell on Etsy. Yay!

God, my life is boring.

This is The Tank.

Welcome to The Tank! Full of random postings and general internet fun stuff.
My name is Nadiah, and here's some stuff about me:

• I own an Etsy shop, (http://learmoire.etsy.com)
• I have a weird liking for TV characters doing everyday things on TV shows. Like eating and stuff.
• I'm super political.
• My favorite color is purple, but I keep trying to convince myself it's still orange.
• I am in love with grunge, and grunge related things.
• I play guitar, and it=best hobby ever.
• I will watch Friends whenever it's on, even if I've seen the episode like 100 times. And I don't even like TV.

So keep checking it out...The Tank is always fresh.