Saturday, August 31, 2013

Indie Game

What made me happy today? Indie Game: the movie.
I finally got around to watching Indie Game: the movie. As the title says, it's a documentary about indie game developers. In this case: Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes developing and releasing Super Meat Boy, Phil Fish during the development of Fez, and Jonathan Blow, who reflects on the success of Braid.
At the time of the film, Braid had already been released. Super Meat Boy was released during the documentary, and Fez seemed to be stuck in development hell. I found it very interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes; what it takes to make an indie game, and how this effects everyone working on it or related to those who are working in it.
It's a documentary that really drags you along. You see everything. The joy, the anger, the doubts, the tears and smiles. I strongly recommend you watch this if you're interested in gaming. It really makes you appreciate the small gaming companies and independent developers more. I immediately went to Steam and got me all the games mentioned in the documentary :-)
So grab some popcorn, pick up a copy of Indie Game: the movie, watch it and get the games! You'll love it :-)

Friday, August 30, 2013

You win some, you lose some...

What made me happy today? You win some, you lose some...
Today was a rather uneventful day. But what made me happy was this post I came across on my Facebook feed. Enjoy, and have a great Friday evening!

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Redline

What made me happy today? Redline!
Today, I finally got around to watching Redline completely. I had seen the first 15 or 20 minutes before, but never got around to watching the full movie.
Just to clarify: I'm talking about the 2009 anime. There seems to be another movie called Redline, made in 2007, starring Eddie Griffin.
Redline is a science fiction auto racing anime film. The plot is kept to a minimum but the graphics are absolutely stunning. There's a lot of color and eye for detail. And even though the plot is minimal, for some reason this movie still manages to drag you along and get you exited. So this movie is great to watch after a long day at work, where you don't want to watch complicated stuff.
So grab a drink, a slice of pizza, put your feet up and enjoy the wild ride that Redline is!

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Come and see the show!

What made me happy today? I'm going to see a show!
And not just any show. I have tickets to go see Emilie Autumn on 12 September, and one of my best friends is coming as well!
I still remember the first time I saw her perform. It was on April 12th, 2012 in Brussels. The same friend was with me. I had been a fan of Emilie Autumn for a few years, but this was the first time I saw her perform. I was swept away, there was such a great vibe going on. It's not just a concert, it's a show with a dash of burlesque, insanity, cyanide and tea. My friend and I loved it! I hope this one will be even better!
Now I need to go and find my wayward Victorian girl's uniform ;-)

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

All in a day's work

What made me happy today? All in a day's work.
I had a great day at the office! It all started this morning, when I went to check the fax machine. Two of my colleagues were in the hall, struggling with some huge cardboard boxes. Turns out they needed them to ship a very expensive piece of equipment to Spain, along with a table. I can understand shipping the equipment to Spain. But both they and I were a bit dumbfounded as to why we'd have to ship a table to Spain. Buying one locally would be a lot cheaper. Still, we had a good laugh :-)
Then, I got an email from one of my managers, saying that he'd given me a badge of recognition for my hard work on a project! It's nice to get some recognition for the work you've been doing. It's not a physical badge, it's one that is added on my employee profile, where everyone can see it. My line manager said that I really deserved it.
And to top it all off, today was the day they also officially announced this. I got a lot of congratulations from coworkers. But the best of all was my coworker on one of my projects. He called me and said that he was a bit shocked when he saw the announcement, and that he'd miss me working alongside him on this project.
Being recognized for your hard work is really nice, and all of this made my day!

Monday, August 26, 2013

Books, books, books!

What made me happy today? Books, books, books!
Since my trip to London, I'm surrounded by books I still have to read. I love books. Ever since I was young, I've loved to read. It's my favorite way to spend a rainy evening inside. On the couch, with a cup of tea, under my blanket, curled up with a good book. You might even say I'm addicted to them!
Just in case you were wondering: this is my favorite book at the moment :-)

Sunday, August 25, 2013

The Princess diaries

What made me happy today? The Princess diaries.
After a long night out yesterday (went to Gent with another couple to eat something and have some drinks), and a nightly battle with insomnia, I didn't feel like doing much today. I did all housework yesterday, so I decided to relax a bit. Wondering what to do, I was scrolling through my Facebook feed. And then I came across this picture:


I decided it was time to indulge in a guilty pleasure of mine, aka watching Disney movies! In this case, the Princess diaries.
What girl hasn't dreamt of being a princess? Castles, dresses, tiaras etc. Well, that's what happens to 15 year old Mia when she finds out that she's a princess. But Mia isn't the most coordinated girl, so she needs 'princess lessons'. Hilarity ensues. Perfect movie for a gloomy Sunday afternoon :)

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Happy skin

What made me happy today? Having happy skin!
Almost two months ago, I started using BodyTonique. Now, I've almost finished the first bottle, and I thought I'd let you know what I think.
In short: I love BodyTonique. It's the first skin-care product that I've been able to use for this long without any sort of allergic reaction.
More elaborate: BodyTonique is great for small cuts. It'll make the pain disappear in seconds. The cut I used it on was healed by the next morning. It's wonderful against burns as well. Leg + hot tea = first degree burn. Applied BodyTonique moments after the tea ended up on my leg, the relief was instantaneous. By the next morning, the burn was almost healed (although I still advise you to use water to cool larger / more severe burns!). It really is a drink for thirsty skin. My skin has never been smoother :-) Same goes for wrinkles on your face and neck. BodyTonique has a nice firming effect. My nails are very happy as well!
Red skin after getting your eyebrows waxed? Grab a cotton pad, apply some BodyTonique to said cotton pad, gently pat the cotton pad against the red area. The redness will be gone in seconds. And any wax residue will come of very easy with BodyTonique!
BodyTonique is a great travel companion, as it's a cleaning, toning and hydrating product in one bottle. Fair warning: the bottle contains 236 ml, and can therefor not be carried on to a plane. A problem that is easily solved, as 100 ml bottles have just hit the market!
Of course, all of the above is my personal experience, yours may be different. But I can show you this:

This picture was taken right before I started using BodyTonique. You can clearly see the wrinkles I have just above my nose, between my eyebrows.


This picture was taken after two months of BodyTonique. See how those lines are gone! (and yes, that's a tiara) My complexion looks better too!


*disclaimer: this is my personal opinion. I am in no way hired/paid/compensated by BodyTonique, or anyone else to provide my opinion*

Friday, August 23, 2013

Big announcement v2

What made me happy today? Having another big announcement!
In early March this year, I shared the fact that I'd be getting promoted with you. What I didn't mention at that time was that being promoted also meant that I'd be working in a different team. They didn't have a position for me in my old team, so I was moved to the other team, as they really needed someone. I like working in my team, don't get me wrong. But I always missed my old team.
A little over a month ago, I got an email saying that a vacancy had opened up in my old team. I jumped at the opportunity and submitted my application. I had my interview on Wednesday. I felt like it went well, but at the conclusion the manager conducting the interview said that there were several applicants. And some of them have more experience than me. So I didn't have much hope.
Today, I was called into my old manager's office. She told me that I got the position! They chose me because I have the experience with the team, and the work they do. And I'm super motivated and driven! This means that (probably) in October, I'll transfer back to my old team. It's not a promotion, my job will stay pretty much the same but the job content is slightly different.
So I'm extremely happy right now :-)

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Attractive fridge

What made me happy today? Making my fridge more attractive!
And you can take that quite literally.
A while ago, I stumbled across a post in one of my nerdfighter groups. It said something about the Hunger Games magnets for your fridge. So I took a look and decided to order them. My fridge is a rather boring white, so it could use some accessories :-)
My magnets were in the mail today. This is what they look like:


I can't wait to put them all on my fridge! Plus I might get a few different sets in the future, there's a Star Wars one on there too :-) If you never hear from me again, I got stuck against my fridge ;-)

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Record speed!

What made me happy today? Working at record speed!
Work's very busy again these days. I've been crossing half the country the past weeks. Add to that the fact that I had a few days off here and there (London! http://project365-oneyearofhappy.blogspot.be/2013/08/london-pictures.html) and that one of the systems we use is having some severe issues and you get one very busy me.
But I managed to do some work at record speed today :-) I had to write a report. Normally, this takes me about 4 - 5 hours from start to finish. Add to that a few days for it to be reviewed, revised and signed off, and one report can take up to 15 days to be completed. Well, today I wrote the report, had it reviewed, revised and signed within three hours. Yes, I'm a lean (stop laughing) mean report writing machine!
Let's hope this streak continues :-)

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Radio!

What made me happy today? I was on the radio!
It' Robert Plant's birthday and Studio Brussel said they'd play one of three Led Zeppelin songs after having a vote. As I was early for work I sent them a message, saying that I'd love it if they played 'Immigrant song'. They called me and asked if they could do a brief live interview with me! There was no way I could say no to that!
Studio Brussel and Led Zeppelin made my day! If you'd like to hear what I had to say (in Dutch) go to this page, click 'herbeluister' and skip to about 1h38. I'm on just after the traffic report.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Home

What made me happy today? Coming home.
Some days everything seems to go wrong. It all started this morning. First off, I had a nightmare. Which isn't nice at all.
For some reason my phone decided to change the sound my alarm wakes. Instead of waking up to my usual sound (which sounds somewhat like this), I woke up to the intro of Batman 'the dark knight rises'. I couldn't find a decent example, but the one on my phone starts with a woman who is screaming is pure horror. There are nicer ways to wake up, especially if you've already had a nightmare. Don't worry, this will not happen again, as I've deleted 'the dark knight rises' from my phone.
Work wasn't much better. There were issues with one of the systems I use. The issues just don't seem to get solved with that system, even though IT is working on them. And I discovered some errors that just wanted to make me slam my head onto my desk. Plus, the nightmare I had just kept running around in my mind. I couldn't seem to shake it.
I did find some things that cheered me up temporarily during the day, but it was going home that made me feel a lot better. Home is where I can do whatever I need to do to cope with myself. Like indulge in some guilty pleasures. So I'll be having a nice supper, watch some crappy tv and go to bed early.
Tomorrow is a new day, and it'll all be better by that time :-)

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Geek out

What made me happy today? It's time to geek out!
It's Sunday and that means: Vampire role-play! My (almost) weekly escape from this world into the world of darkness :-)
It all started about 6 years ago. One of my friends came up with the idea of doing a tabletop role-play game. He was looking for people who were interested. My curiosity was piqued, and I decided to give it a go. I was hooked after the first session. And I actually continued to play this game until it ended, well over 2 years later. I still miss playing Elizabeth, my Malkavian character. Since then, we've done a lot of different things: Vampire, Star Trek, Shadowrun, Highlander, random horror and scifi stories.
I love how this can be an outlet for my creative side. Creating a character can be heard, but it's also loads of fun. And although I could play a Malkavian every time (way to let out the crazy!), I have since played a Lasombra, which was a blast as well!
Currently we're playing as a coterie of four Ravnos. Let the good times roll! And you can take that quite literal, as the game uses D20s ;-)

Saturday, August 17, 2013

The (un)usual

What made me happy today? Getting a side of unusual with my usual!
It's Saturday. For me, that's another word for grocery shopping, chores and a trip into Leuven city. So I made my usual stop at koffie Onan first. By now, they know what I want. Latte of the week, to go. There was one other customer waiting for her drinks. Suddenly she says 'Invader Zim!'. Took me a second to figure out what she meant (didn't have my coffee yet). She was referring to the t-shirt I was wearing. The culprit is below, although mine has a black background.
So we talked about how great Gir and Invader Zim are for a bit. I don't know who she was, but she kind of made my day!
Then it was on to the Metalzone. Scored three new cd's: Sonata Arctica - for the sake of revenge, Queensrÿche - Queensrÿche (the new one) and Queensrÿche - operation: mindcrime. That made my day even more!
Yup, my Saturday was great! How was yours?

Friday, August 16, 2013

Bye battlecruiser!

What made me happy today? Soon I'll be saying goodbye to the battlecruiser!
Yup, a new car is coming my way. And it was totally unexpected! As you may remember, I got my driver's license recently. When I went to drop off a copy at out human resources department, my colleague informed me that I still had to pick a car.
Wait. Pick a car? But I already have a car... Well, as it turns out, that was not my permanent car. I got to pick a definitive one. Sjeesj, do they spoil me or what? So I had a hard choice to make. I like the battlecruiser a lot. It's a Ford C-max grand, and has a ton of trunk-space. But once you hit 70 kph, it starts to get sluggish. It has a 1.6 diesel engine with 95 hp, but I feel like it's just not enough for a car this size. My battlecruiser can fit up to 7 people, or a ton of luggage. The way it handles in sharper turns isn't that great either. I'm also not convinced of the way the pedals are arranged, for some reason the gas pedal is a lot further away than the breaks... Again, it's a great car but it's also not very eco-friendly. It uses 6.4 l per 100 km, and has a Co2 exhaust of 120 g / km.
So keeping in mind my two most important rules for picking a car (being comfort and trunk space) I got to it. I took a look at the list, immediately eliminated several cars for being to small. And in the end I chose the Volvo V40. Fuel consumption is rated at 3.4 l per 100 km, and the Co2 exhaust is 88 g / km. It has a ton of safety options, which all come standard as Volvo is very engaged towards safety. Like it says on their website 'By 2020, nobody shall be seriously injured or killed in a new Volvo.' And if you see the array of safety features and safety options that are available for the V40 I think they might even manage that. The trunk space is about 100 l less than the battlecruiser, but the Volvo should be a lot more comfortable. So the choice was made.
And then they told me I had to pick a color. Oh dear me. It took me a long time to decide on the car, and I didn't think about that! My first impulse was 'black', as my clothes always are. But then I got to thinking. Black does get warm in the summer, it shows dirt really well and is hard to see when it's dark. Most of the other colors in the range didn't really appeal to me. Several shades of grey and silver weren't for me, I don't really like those. The copper one was a big no, definitely not my thing. That left me with blue and red. I didn't like the shades of blue, and red is a very noticeable color, so red it was!
Now I have to wait a week until I get my new car. But I don't doubt that my battlecruiser will continue to serve me well :-)

Thursday, August 15, 2013

London - the pictures!

What made me happy today? The pictures from my trip to London!

-me and my brain-twin, dressed up for her Brave birthday party (I'm the one with the tiara):

-up, close and personal:

-cider is great!

-owl tree:

-Bunkerleute must be promoted, even abroad!

-epic rage face:

-wonky tree:

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

OMGBBQ

What made me happy today? OMGBBQ!
As in 'last minute invitation to go to a BBQ :-) Great way to celebrate the fact that tomorrow is a Bank holiday! It was fun, but I called it a night rather early. I've been up since 5 this morning...
Good night all!

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Do a little dance

What made me happy today? Do a little dance!
And get a d'awww from a passing stranger. I forgot to mention this in yesterday's blog.
While in London (okay, Watford), we went to a store that sells costumes and other party supplies. My brain twin and her boyfriend were looking around the store to try and find something for him to wear that evening. My boyfriend and I already had our costumes, and after looking around the entire store twice while laughing at some of the very silly costumes he suddenly grabbed my hand.
This is not unusual, but he pulled me in and grabbed my other hand. That's when he started to slow-dance with me. In the middle of the store.
It's not the first time he's done this though. He did it once before, when we were out for pizza with some friends. That got us some looks, most of them were like 'aw, that's cute'. But this time, a lady walked by and she honestly made the "d'awww" sound, and said 'lovely' with this big, yet somewhat sentimental smile on her face. She made my day! I was expecting a snide comment or something like that...
So yay for random dancing in the middle of a store, and people thinking it's cute!

Monday, August 12, 2013

Brave books

What made me happy today? Having an awesome weekend in London!
Okay, technically, it was in Watford. But it was fun!
We (that is the BF and I) took the Eurostar on Friday. All went well, and soon I was reunited with my brain-twin! Underground we went, to take the underground! (see what I did there?) One stop later we hopped onto a train, and soon we got to our destination. Went to Tesco the next morning, huzzah for cheap, healthy cookies! We also wend book-shopping on Saturday, as both the BF and myself are avid readers. I scored a grand total of 12 books, at some really awesome low prices (yay for charity shops!)! And to top it off, we had supper at the local pub. I had the all-day breakfast :-) Yum!
That evening it was time for my brain-twin's Brave themed birthday party. As she is a dead ringer for princes Merida, we all dressed up! No pics yet, they will follow once I get them. It was a blast! I discovered cider, we played darts and pool and had loads of laughs. There was a moment in which we thought I might be secretly British, I love cider and my favorite flavour of crisps is salt & vinegar. But as I don't like queuing, and have no sentiment regarding talking about the weather it was unanimously decided I am in fact not British after all. Last call came too fast, so we relocated to my brain-twins house. Talked, laughed some more, discovered you can order booze online and watched some Black Books :-) I went to bed around 2, happy but totally tired.
Sunday, we woke up around noon. Had some breakfast, I dyed my brain-twin's hair, talked a lot more, went back to Tesco (jam-filled donuts for 65p? No wonder there's an obesity problem) and bought some food. Back home pancakes and jam-filled donuts were served for afternoon tea, after which we went for a walk, and sat in a park. A perfect way to end a perfect weekend!
Today we came home, which was totally uneventful. So now I'm off to bed, to have fun-filled dreams :-)

Thursday, August 8, 2013

London calling!

What made me happy today? London is calling!
And I will answer :-) It was my brain twin's birthday last weekend, and we'll celebrate it in style this weekend! The BF is coming as well, it'll be his fist trip in London. I'm happy he's coming along. I don't really mind traveling by myself, but it's nice to have someone to share the experiences with! It'll be awesome to see my brain twin again, it's been way too long...
Yes, my bag is packed and I'm ready to go! But first I have one more day of work ahead of me.
So London, beware because I'm coming your way!

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

The fault in our stars

What made me happy today? The fault in our stars.
I while ago I did a post about a new Youtube channel I discovered. Turns out that John Green (one of the people behind mental floss) writes books as well. I now he mentioned it some Youtube videos, but I hadn't really given it much thought until I saw that the background picture for the Adult Nerdfighter group contains a quote from a book written by... John Green! The quote is 'I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once', from the fault in our stars. This piqued my curiosity and whilst on vacation I decided to check out this book.
Wow. What a book. To say it with the words of Bernard Black: you'll laugh, you'll cry, it'll change your life. Okay, it didn't change my life that much except for the massive book-hangover. But I laughed more than once. And if you're on the sensitive side, you may want to keep a box of tissues nearby. I bawled my eyes out more than once when reading this book.
And I have to hand it to John Green: even though this book deals with a rather heavy subject (cancer in kids/teenagers), it never becomes overly preachy or whiny or something like that. Nope, he manages to keep a nice pace going and tells a fantastic story. No worries, no spoilers this time!
So all I can say is: head on over to your local bookstore and grab a copy of the fault in our stars. Stop by the supermarket on your way home to buy some tissues though... You can thank me later!
Oh, and a big thank you to the Adult Nerdfighters, without them it might have taken me way longer to find and read this book!

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Switzerland

What made me happy today? I had an awesome vacation in Switzerland!
We left on Saturday morning, around 6 AM. Blah indeed. The trip seemed to take forever. It was hot, and there was some traffic. But the BF and I had loads of fun in the car :-) And when we arrived in Vissoie, it was all worth it. The view from the cabin was just breathtaking!


I'm not going to bore you with a detailed story of what we did and where we went, I'm just going to give you the highlights.

-How to keep your drinks cool, Swiss style:

-Raclette, locally made!

-Hiking up a mountain (700m ascent), to that white building you can see at the top:

-I was so proud for doing it, even though I looked like hell:

-But it was all worth it, because they served an amazing blueberry pie!

-And we did a hike towards a glacier!

-No, you're not allowed to swim here.

-Really not! (this lake feeds a huge reservoir which is used for hydro-electricity. They open up valves as needed, so it's not smart to swim here. And you'd freeze as well, the glacier feeds this lake directly)

-Edelweiss!

-Real Swiss cheese fondue (so tasty, this one was with two kinds of mushrooms)

-The best chips in the world :-)

It was a lot of fun. I got a lot of reading done as well, had some fantastic quality time with my BF and his parents, saw some amazing sights, celebrated the Swiss national holiday with fireworks and got a bit of a tan! Too bad it all went by so fast!