Sew Yourself a Doctor, Ask Austen for a TARDIS, and Follow Bonnie Burton Around the Internets

Illustration of Pride and Prejudice and a TARDIS. “Seeking haven from Mister Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet chances upon a strange blue box.” Austen FTW. A print is only $17.00. [via Pinterest]

You can buy an awesome TARDIS Scarf for $30. This looks like the one I’ve been knitting at for over a year. Now that I have one from my best friend, maybe I should do something with the one I just finished. . . hmmm. [via The Mary Sue]

Or you can sew yourself a Doctor rag doll. Which is cute, but does need some adjustments to make it look better. Check it out on Three Dresses.

Perhaps all this crafting geekery has inspired you to create a TARDIS cardigan like this one? Awesome. The pattern was made up as the knitter went along, so I’ve no pattern to post for you all. Boo.

Check out these cool TARDIS coasters which I saw while watching Bonnie on Vaginal Fantasy and went online and stalked around until I found them. I love that show, it’s on YouTube and led by Felicia Day. These coasters can be found on ThinkGeek. Honestly Bonnie is the coolest, you should check her out on Pinterest and Twitter. (This is where being a fangirl and being a stalker seem like the same thing, but they aren’t. Because. Well, because.) She always has a lot of cool geeky things which seem to revolve around Doctor Who and Benedict Cumberbatch. I like seeing all her cool stuff sitting on her couch while she participates in Vaginal Fantasy.

TARDIS Coasters on ThinkGeek

Nodds & Nends: DIY Rainbow Igloo, Neil Gaimon’s animated story is lovely and scary, and Playing it Safe

With all this snow that we are having recently how about making a DIY rainbow igloo? Start collecting milk jugs now and you might have enough for next winter.

Neil Gaiman wrote and voiced an animated short story. It is both lovely and scary.

I read an interesting article by Gus Sanchez of Out Where the Buses Don’t Run, who asked if a debut novel should play it safe. He points to Ready Player One as a debut novel that didn’t play it safe and the resulting piece of work is excellent. I agree, Ready Player One was one of my 2011 best reads. It’s also interesting to note that:

There’s an adage in the publishing world, [...] that both agents and publishers will repeat with writers: your first and second novels should play it safe.

So this is why I generally don’t like a series until the third book.

This Nerd Cross Over from Dork Tower made my day. I love cross overs, but Doctor Who, Sherlock, and Downtown Abby are some of my favorite Nerd Things (think Sound of Music Favorite Things song) and so this cross over is just special to me. [via Nerd Approved]

Two little kids tell a story and these adults act it out. I laughed my head off.

Sherlock Zombiefied

So, it seems I (or the internets) are on a bit of a zombie kick lately. Here I present, Sherlcok zombiefied. [via]

 

Cartoony Sherlock

The many face of Sherlock. [via]

If Sherlock were a graphic novel. [via]

Intereview with Ernest Cline on The Sword and Laze

Starting at 5:15 Earnest Cline author of Ready Player One (read my book review here, the book was awesome!) talks what influenced his book, how he got Wil Wheaton to do the audio reading of the book bringing the voices to life, and how he wants to be on an episode of TableTop on Geek and Sundry. He also talks about the upcoming movie version of the book, and based on his screenwriting experience with Fanboy, he wrote the first draft of the screenplay and is hopeful that because it was bought by Warner’s Bros. the adaptation will be faithful to the original book.

watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7FkioqeLtyg#!

Sherlock and John Role Play

You’re welcome.

Sherlock Fan Art

From Blue-Fox a Doctor Who and Sherlock Mash-up. Fabulous.

Want your own Benedict Cumberbatch? Well, now you can crochet him as Sherlock. Yes, I said crochet him. [via]

Sherlock and Doctor Who, at it again. I hate when people rub my head, or lean on my head, or use me as a resting place just because I’m shorter than them. Sigh. [via]

And just the man himself. A wonderful illustration. [via]

A Short Story About Robot Guts

I recently read a lovely short story by Mary Robinette Kowal about a female protagonist, which begins with a woman’s hand inside the guts of an A.I. chassis. It is a story of entrails, introspection, and self destruction. I loved it.

cc Broken by http://ryugurl0083.deviantart.com/

Through the wonderful world of the interwebs and clicking around on io9, I stumbled upon Mary Robinette Kowal‘s Hugo-winning For Want of a Nail which was in the September 2011 issue of Asimov’s. It is a short story deserving of an award. In the future? an alternate universe? Rava has been given the responsibility of caring for the family’s daily recording device, an A.I. named Cordelia, aboard a vessel heading to an unknown location. For Want of a Nail,  explores issues of scarce resources, reproduction in a place of finite space, dealing with A.I.’s with personality, and committees making decisions about people’s worthiness based on usefulness.

Kowal quickly reaches into the guts of her story and pulls out gory issues. She made me  wonder what it would be like to be dropped in a world of finites, robots, and new rules. I may not always be a fan of her female protagonist, but I am in love with her prose. She writes with beautiful simplicity and emotion producing scenes. I also suggest reading her Nebula nominee novella (see that alliteration!) Kiss Me Twice,  a story which questions whether A.I. are people too. Best line? “I’m not sure. I’ve never mopped.” Kiss Me Twice was in the June 2011 issue of Asimov’s and it is an excellent read.

Did you know googling “mops kissing” garners pictures of dogs? Original art work by yours truly.

Set to release April 10,2012, is Kowal’s sequel full length novel,  Glamour in Glass. I’ve been assured by the author herself, that the main protagonist Jane, develops a back bone. Hopefully this portends great things for Glamour in Glass. After reading these two short stories I think I may have to pick up a copy and see for myself. With four books to be released in total for the series, I am hopeful that Jane will grow as a character.

I feel like Cordelia from For Want of a Nail, but it is my own hand reaching into my guts and rearranging them. Now that things have settled into place, I think my vivisection has revealed a few things. Authors do not always write characters in the direction I wish them to go, but if there is a chance for growth I should give the author the benefit of the doubt. I still have reservations because of Jane and her sister’s behavior in Shades of Milk and Honey, but Kowal has been added to a list of authors I read even if they make me angry occasionally. (I’m looking at you Karen Marie Moning. Coming to the end of Dreamfever was pure torture. ) It is their job to elicit emotions. Apathy is the real curse.

Life doesn’t always go the way we want it to. Some weeks are full of dermatological allergic reactions to food that blow up our faces, eye ticks that develop from stress, and accidentally punching a wall at work and breaking our favorite ring (seriously, it was an accident! The wall jumped out at me as I walked past it!). But some weeks are full of women in pretty dresses playing with glamour, robots with emotional intelligence, and little girls who ask us if we are Cinderella because we have on a pretty puffy dress.

Mash-up Mania

This Lego cake is super awesome. I love Lego, I do, but does no one remember Zaks? I’m so sad they no longer make Zaks. Boo. [via]

Made by Sometimes I Bake a company I can't seem to actually find. Hmmmm.

Hello Star Wars beanie babies are adorable!

This Nightmare Before Christmas and Sherlock mash up is soo cool! [via]

I Believe I Can Fly, I Believe I Can Touch The Sky, I Believe in Sherlock

So I have a totally awesome Sherlock and Sherlockian post. But due to the fact that the second season has probably not been seen by everyone, I’m going to put it after the jump. So, caught up on your Sherlockians head over here.