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Picking Favorites - Holiday Music

12/23/2014

Before we go on hiatus for the Christmas weekend, we wanted to send you guys a quick playlist of festive (and funny) tunes to get you through the holidays.

Next week, we focus on our 2014 Year in Review and what to look forward to in 2015!

Lauren:
This album is on repeat in my car right now - love me some aca-christmas tunes!
It's hard to pick a favorite, but this mash-up is amazing and up-beat:
Winter Wonderland/Don’t Worry Be Happy - Pentatonix (ft Tori Kelly)

A funny modern Christmas tune is Text Me Merry Christmas from Straight No Chaser featuring Kristen Bell

Heather:
By far my favorite is You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch, the original Thurl Ravenscroft version, from the classic animated special.

As a Trek fanatic, this comic gem has been in heavy rotation for me this season:

Meghan:
As I've said before, a collection of terrible Christmas music is the best way to spend as little time as possible with annoying family members and/or party guests. It's not Christmas for me without Dominick the Christmas Donkey:

If you want to start the descent into madness, check out this playlist someone made.

But for classic Christmas cuteness, Heather & Meghan agree it's all about the Hippos...

Jen:
I grew up in Miami, so this one is a must: Mi Burrito Sabanero

Oh, and I sing this one to my kids to horrify them:

Also, if you ever wondered how Silent Night sounds translated into Wookie, there is this.

Lindsey:
Caution: may cause you to crave pierogis...

But seriously, anything Pentatonix does for Christmas is amazing. Here's their Little Drummer Boy...

Ariyanna:
In the end, what we are trying to say is...

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Our Favorite Gifts - Annie

12/23/2014

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Annie's favorite gift wasn't at Christmas - but it goes to show that a thoughtful, well-timed gift can make up for a lot of crap...

It was the summer of 1989 and I just turned 6 when my sister and I went to girl's summer camp for five days and nights.

Sounds fun right?

Wrong! I vomited, fainted, got mud thrown in my face, and had to sleep in an outdoor hut that stank of urine.

That's right my roommates just peed their beds every night so after a couple of nights it was like sleeping in public restroom.

You had to leave your hut in the dark and walk to the bathroom building and I guess the task was too just daunting for them. I remember a counselor coming by on about the third night and asking “why does it smell so bad in here?”

I promptly ratted them out and got moved to another tent. It was gross in there, I had no loyalty to them.

There were also mean older girls that we would occasionally be forced to interact with “for fun.” They would turn otherwise fun games like tag and foot races into opportunities to mock us and push us around.

Let's not forget the constant mosquitoes and the quaint woodsy touch of a spider nest over my bed.

What about activities? How about a crap-ton of non-optional hiking in the thick humidity and 100 degree temperatures that central Florida has to offer.

I do remember one night that could have been fun - they planned a luau and grilled chicken legs (the only thing I remember actually eating at camp beyond cereal.) After dinner, however,, the camp counselors planned a mud fight between the older and younger girls. WTF how was that ever going to end well?

I'm not joking, I contemplated escape. I was going to climb the fence.

BUT when my parents came to pick us up from this hell they had gave us the best present ever!

I sprinted into the mini-van dirty, disheveled, down a couple pounds from not eating much and all the hiking and sweating. I jumped in the back seat so happy to be back with my parents and leaving camp. Then my parents both turned around and said, “look under the seat!” Under the seat was a Nintendo!

We had not been begging for one nor did we ever expect that our very practical and non-techy parents would ever buy us one - but there it was in all its glory!

It was a total and complete surprise to us. This was the original Nintendo, it came in a big black box and it had Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt with the cool gun. It was amazing and my sister and I jumped up and down and cheered!

The rest of the summer was spent in 'the great indoors.'

It was such a great contrast to the misery of summer camp. I loved playing nintendo with my sister, it was something we could do together with minimal sibling fighting. With every princess we saved and goomba we crushed it was clear to me that this was the best present ever and our parents were awesome for surprising us with it.

For the record I still hate camping, unless there's booze, and even then can it take place inside with a bed and a bathroom? Nope, on second thought I just hate it.

Also, for the record, my parents have apologized to me many times for sending me to camp, they had no idea it was going to be totally awful.

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Our Favorite Holiday Gifts - Heather

12/18/2014

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The Christmas Kraken

I recently posed the question "What is your favorite all-time holiday gift you ever received?" to the GGInc. staff. Turns out this is a hard question, but it brought out some good stories.

So in this time of gift-giving remember, it really is the thought that counts!

How much you spent isn't what people will remember years later - it is that you listened, cared and created a memory for someone that will stand the test of time!

This week's favorite gift story comes from Heather...

My favorite gift of all time was a Garmin Nuvi. Several members of my family went in together and bought it for a Christmas present for me.

This was at a time when smart phones were not readily available, and the GPS systems weren’t exactly inexpensive.

To say that I’m directionally challenged is a severe understatement.

I call all signs on the interstate hints because that is how I always thought of them. My sister says they are implicit directions, but to me they were just a general indicator that I might actually eventually get to where I was going sometime.

When I first move to Georgia 15 years ago, I spent every weekend for 6 months driving around the Marietta/Smyrna area trying to learn my way. Every time I went into Atlanta I printed out directions for how to get there and back (I needed directions back because of all the one way streets). Once I had my directions, I could never detour from them. The thought of doing that would send me into a panic.

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Fun Games You Aren't Playing - Cook, Serve, Delicious!

12/18/2014

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“Casual” games get a lot of knee-jerk reactions from the Anti-Candy-Crush Brigade, but I’m not sure why.

Actually, most everyone disagrees on what a casual game actually is.

For some, casual games have simple, easy-to-pick-up gameplay. For others, a casual game is something that can be played in short bursts, instead of a more “hardcore” experience with loading times and multiple snack breaks. For a few, any game played by women in any significant proportion gets put in the “casual” bin, even the graphic-intensive, complex time sink that is The Sims.

The stigma of playing a “casual” game is so strong, it’s little wonder that Cook, Serve, Delicious! saw the warning signs (mobile! cartoony graphics! simple mechanics!) and went ahead and billed itself as a “hardcore restaurant sim”.

Is it, really? No.

But if it helps to assuage the worries of the casual-fearful, that’s probably for the best, as it is an amazing game with plenty of attention to detail.

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Dear Geek Girls, Inc.

12/18/2014

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This is the first major gift-giving holiday with my girlfriend of 10 months. (Her birthday is just after Christmas and we met right after that.) She is a huge geek girl, but she is pretty independent and buys her own nerd swag through out the year, so I don't know all the stuff she has or doesn't have.

She has many fandoms and doesn't wear much jewelry... so my question is what to I get the geeky girlfriend who has everything AND make a good impression on Christmas? Help!

-Chris in Christmas Crisis

It's no crisis, Chris, we got you covered!

Our first idea requires quick action (today, if you want December's box under the tree) but you can make the Twelve Days of Christmas into the Twelve Months of Christmas with a subscription for her to Loot Crate!

Once a month she'll get a mystery box full of just geeky stuff - t-shirts, figures, stickers, gadgets, games and more! It's also pretty affordable - $11.67/mo + $6 S&H for 6-months of awesome geeky surprises!

Other ideas are to map a day of geeky fun with gift certificates/cards to her favorite local shops - book stores, comic book shops, museums, or places like 2nd & Charles - and anchor it with a fun dinner - that way she can pick her favorite stuff out herself. (Remember to pay attention to what she likes and what she buys for clues to the future!)

For the ultimate - plan a trip to a geeky destination or get passes for a local (or not-so-local) convention - there are plenty out there, big and small - if you Google around! Sometimes clubs or groups have a theme parties like a 'Harry Potter Wizard Ball' or 'Doctor Who Time Travel' night to look out for too.

Hope this helps and good luck!
Your Friends at Geek Girls, Inc.

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Our Favorite Holiday Gifts - Ariyanna

12/15/2014

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How much you spent isn't what people will remember years later - it is that you listened, cared and created a memory for someone that will stand the test of time!

This week's favorite gift story comes from Ariyanna...

Jump into your Delorean and travel back in time with me to Christmas morning 1983...

I was 11 years old and Christmas still held it's magical mystery to me. Ok, yes I knew about the real Santa (no spoilers here kids!) but each Christmas morning was always a surprise as to what my younger brother, sister and I would find waiting for us under the tree. On this particular year, as we awoke and meandered into the living room to the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree and the soft sounds of Bing Crosby singing carols on the radio, we wiped the visions of sugar plums from our eyes and beheld our family's first pc computer sitting on the piano bench.

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Our Favorite Holiday Gifts - Lauren

12/12/2014

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How much you spent isn't what people will remember years later - it is that you listened, cared and created a memory for someone that will stand the test of time!

This week's favorite gift story comes from Lauren...

The one gift that stands out the most is a bit outdated by today's standards, but at the time it was a sign that my Dad saw me as an adult and an equal.

Growing up, I have very vivid memories of my Dad and his camera. He had a gorgeous Canon AE-1 with all kinds of lenses, filters and such.

He has always been the photographer at all the gatherings and vacations.

He took it with him everywhere - because "you never know when a perfect picture moment will come along." We have a lot of sunset pictures in boxes at the house...

The rule was NEVER EVER TOUCH DAD'S CAMERA. He was a pretty lenient father, but man, was he protective of that one thing. Maybe it was because I couldn't use it, maybe it was because I saw the pride he took in the creativity of his hobby or that his pictures gave me insight into how he saw the world - but I was ALWAYS fascinated by that camera.

As I got older, every once in a while he would let me use it. He'd show me what the dials did, the adjustments, change the lenses - it was a special thing, a huge responsibility. He let me borrow it a few times and I was SO scared something would happen to it I could barely use it.

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Geek Shopping Guide - Our Favorite Etsy

12/12/2014

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by Lindsey

With Christmas around the corner and Hanukkah even closer, we've put together a list of our favorite handmade geek gifts.

This hoverboard necklace and NES cartridge ring from Ohmygeekness

These dragon eggs from TripleMoonGallery

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Fun Games You Aren't Playing - Puzzle Agent

12/11/2014

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The weather is starting to cool down, so let’s get into a game you can enjoy with a hot mug of cocoa in a comfy chair. This time of year, I like to bring out the puzzles and brain teasers. You all know I love adventure games, and I’ve lately been playing one of my favorite puzzle solving à la Professor Layton games, Puzzle Agent.

The titular agent is Nelson Tethers, an FBI investigator attempting to solve a suspicious mystery in small-town Minnesota.

The story is very Fargo-by-way-of-Twin-Peaks: at first, Agent Tethers is under the assumption that he is investigating the closing of an eraser factory, before learning that the factory’s foreman has “disappeared”.

The locals are largely unwelcoming, and our hero is increasingly nervous about the supernatural presence in town. The eerie story paired with Graham Annable’s charmingly dark illustrations create an atmosphere that draws you in and keeps you guessing.

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Last Minute Geeky Gift Ideas

12/11/2014

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by Lindsey

It's getting close to the cut-off for Christmas shipping, so here's a helpful list of geeky gifts still available for your favorite fandom fanatic.

Perhaps for a certain adorable geek girl whose name begins with L...

Doctor Who skirt from heruniverse.com

Supernatural or Sherlock wallets from hottopic.com

Star Trek jewellery set from Amazon.com

Adventure Time pjs from thinkgeek.com

Star Wars Ewok backpack from kohls.com

Marvel Tee from target.com

Find out the fandom of the geek in your life - there are tons of fun things out there for everyone!

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