Japanese artist Sakizou...

...is like the MOST AWESOME ARTIST EVER. Ughhhhh look how cute and frilly and pretty and AMAZINGGGGGGGGG afajsfljashalskdfaflkjshaksdfg. And the OUTFITS OMG!! To die for~~! I love all the elaborate, sumptuous Victorian-y elements!! And delicious foods too, wtf. I especially like the illustration sets she (he?) does, such as personifications of desserts and beverages. So gorgeous!

(Click to view the illustrations in full-size OR ELSE YOU WILL REGRET IT FOR YOUR ENTIRE LIIIIIIFE.)

I've been trying to track down some of her artbooks to purchase, but they're like, super rare. Like freaking Mewtwo or something. So hard to find. -n-

For more awesome illustrations, check out Sakizou's official website!

via Sakizou's official site and her pixiv.

Chopin vs. Liszt

This set of Hark! A Vagrant comics (a series which I previously introduced in this post) made me laugh really hard. As with many of Beaton's comics, they are best appreciated if you have some background on the topic, which in this case is the relationship between and individual personalities of Chopin and Liszt - who are both, of course, famous 19th century pianists and composers. This article gives a general idea of the characterization of these two gents; basically, Chopin is more reserved and his public concerts were infrequent, while Liszt is more showy and gave many more performances. Armed with this vital knowledge, read onward, ho!

(P.S. My favorite one is Razzle Dazzle, hands down. WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM!) 

More recent and equally amazing is Beaton's set of Brown Recluse Spider Man comics. I'm sure most of you know what brown recluse spiders are like. Ugh. But when combined with Spider Man, not ugh! :D

So, as always, go check out the rest of the H!AV comics, if you haven't already!!

via Hark! A Vagrant....duh.

Om nom yom yom.

I would like to share with you....some delicious Ehhzhon (aka Asian, aka actually just Japanese) meals that my mama is nice enough to cook for lazy-ass me. Followed by some also-delicious sometimes-Ehhzhon meals that I was un-lazy enough to cook for usually-lazy-ass me. ONWARDS!!  

(Oh and btw, I included info and recipes (!) where ever appropriate/possible. YOU'RE WELCOME, BRO.)

A veritable tempura feast!!
Green beans, broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms, sweet potato,
chicken and shrimp. THANKS MOMMMM.

Hiyashi chuuka, YUM!
I love this stuff so much. It's especially good in the summer!

Japanese-style curry rice. This is one of THE DISHES OF MY CHILDHOOD.
I think it's infinitely more delicious than Indian or Thai curry. Sorry.

Hiyashi chuuka again, omnomnom! I told you I love it.

And now, some things that I cooked for my own lazy self!
Osekihan, OM NOM NOM! One of my favorite foods.
The black gomashio really takes it over the edge.
THE EDGE. RIGHT OVER IT.

Some badass Vietnamese spring rolls with nước mắm sauce.
Not only tasty, but healthy as well!? That's crazy talk.
(P.S. Them rice paper wrappers is tricksy, sticky, delicate fellows.)

Spaghetti alla Carbonara is a delicious and easy go-to recipe.
I could (and sometimes did) eat it every day, yummm!

THE MOST DELICIOUS PIZZA! Seriously, this thing was amazing.
Garlic glazed chicken pizza, made by me and Alan.

I also make a pretty mean omelet-frittata thing.

Pasta with spicy red clam sauce - my specialty!
I like to make huge batches and eat it for many meals in a row.

OMFG I pretty much had a freaking heart attack just now when I went to the find the original cooking-blog post which contained that last recipe and found that it NO LONGER EXISTS OMFG NOOOOOOO!! Luckily, when I googled it I found the same recipe recorded at the link given above - PHEW! I have that baby copied down and saved on my hard drive, now. I learned my lesson.

P.S. Hey, my digital camera takes pretty decent photos for a point-and-shoot! I♥U pink Sony Cyber-shot.

The new(ish) Jane Eyre movie is awesome.

I saw the 2011 Jane Eyre movie with Emily about a week ago! It was very good.

Although...it contained many awkward times that made me and Emily laugh a lot. I mean, they weren't out-of-place awkward moments, they were totally accurate. But still just super funny to us. Like, there is this one scene where Rochester is wearing really tight pants (aka BRITCHES) and he is standing kinda sassy and...oh man, hahaha. And I literally went "GRAHHH!" and cackled wildly at the part where he tried to choke a bitch, aka actually a dude. SO AWESOME.

Really, though, it was an excellent adaptation. Which it better be because otherwise I'd be pissed, since Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books OF ALL TIME. Along with The Count of Monte Cristo, the Harry Potter books (obv) and the Wheel of Time series. SUDDENLY, A MOVIE PICSPAM OUT OF NOWHERE!!

Mia Wasikowska as the titular heroine.

Michael Fassbender as Edward Fairfax Rochester

Dame Judi Dench (!!) as Mrs. Alice Fairfax

Some ladies as Mary (L) and Diana Rivers

Some dude with nasty mutton chops as St. John Rivers

Some lady with huge sleeves as Mrs. Reed

Lady with cool dress but questionable hair as Blanche Ingram

Jane and ROCHESTERRRRRR omg.

Aw man, I wanna live at Thornfield.

DAT BONNET.

All in all, I would certainly recommend this movie, especially to people who like the novel. It is quite faithful to the book, although leaving out some parts, and chronologically organized in a really interesting way, features all-around great acting, and the cinematography/visuals are awesome. Plus there are some intentionally+unintentionally hilarious parts. Aw jyeahh.

all images via IMDb

Betsey Johnson's dresses make me smile a lot

Especially the ones from the prom-themed Spring 2008 RTW collection!

This one is probably my absolute favorite.
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL COLORS. *gurgles*

Look how huge the skirt is!! *w*

The color layering gives a really cool effect to the skirt!

Lavender + gold = awesome.

This one is pretty ridiculous...
But I loves me some pastel rainbow, mmhmm.

The Dahlia dress! Done kind of edgy and cool.
(P.S. This model reminds me of Paris Hilton here... *grimaces*)

That little star really makes it for me, lol. Also: it's pink...

OMG that ice blue color is AMAZE.
(Baby blue and pink suit is also pretty amaze.)

Pink and hearts and frilly, what more could I want!?

Ahhh the heart-shaped glasses make this outfit extra cute!!

And they are even MORE especially smile-inducing when they are being modeled by Cintia Dicker. Cintiaaaaa~~! ♥

Pink dress is SO CUTE. Plus Cintia equals YUSS.

My fave model 4 LYFE.

If only I had ALL THE MONEYS, then I could have an entire closet stuffed full of Betsey Johnson dresses. Someday...!! (?)

via Style.com and New York Magazine....I think. Most are, at least. A few are a mystery.

This is doubly - nay, TRIPLY relevant to my interests.

Harry Potter: check.
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: check.
Ridiculous photoshopping à la teh internetz: check.

Aw yisssssss.

ILU RITTER SPORT ERDBEER JOGHURT ♥

So yesterday as I frolicked about town while frittering away my money running some errands, I ran across a display of Ritter Sport chocolate bars which included the flavor referenced in the post title - technically, Strawberry Yogurt, but translated here as "Milk Chocolate with Strawberry Creme."

Looking at the picture below, it is obvious why I was drawn to it. SOOO PIIIINK AND BEAUUUUUTIFULLLLLLL I HAVE TO BUY IT NO MATTER WHAAAAAAT myyyyy preeeeecioussssssss~~~~~~ *gurgle gurgle* .....I am just an advertiser's dream-customer, aren't I. But besides....that....I was also quite drawn to the flavor, as strawberry and milky/creamy/yogurty-flavors, especially combined with chocolate, are super awesome and need to occur in the US more often (they are rampant in Japan and, I'm assuming, at least certain European countries).

So prettyyyyyyy! From The Candy Enthusiast.

So anywhoo, I snatched that shit up along with a bunch of other junk I did not originally intend to purchase and away it came with me to my home where I immediately clawed gnawed tore it open and hungrily consumed it while crouching, Sméagol-like, in the corner. J/K, I was just sitting on the couch eating it like a normal person. Don't worry.

So, anyway, what was my verdict....?

Highly accurate diagram from Food Junk.

YOU GUYS, THIS CHOCOLATE IS AWESOME. SERIOUSLY, YOU GUYS.  It's so awesome that now I want to go and buy all the rest that the store where I got it has in stock and I also don't even want to say where I got it for fear of sneaky chocolate-poachers snatching up all that's left in Walla Walla. It's all creamy and delicious, and the little strawberry bits provide a nice tart pop that counters the sweetness of the filling really nicely, as well as provides an interesting textural element, as do the little crispy rice bits which make things good and crunchy, and the chocolate also balances out the flavors well, and everything is all smooooth and riiiiich, and and AND AND AND ANDDDDD I love it the mostest omfg.

So I am going to go back to my corner (aka couch [aka probably actually a corner]) now and munch on my chocolate bar and be the happiest little Sméagol there ever was. I bid you adieu.


P.S. The Ritter Sport website is awesome. I love to stare at the chocolate. It's in German, but it is often not too hard to guess what German words mean....except "erdbeer," I had no idea what the hell that was supposed to be at first, wtf. I especially enjoy staring at their wonderfully color-sorted product....treadmill??  .....Treadmill.

P.P.S. That was waaaay too long of a post about a bar of chocolate. Oh well, it's to be expected from a food-obsessed crazy such as myself.

P.P.P.S. I am very pleased with myself for already knowing the html code for a heart (seen in the title) without having to look it up. YEAH-YUH!

Images via The Candy Enthusiast and Food Junk, as noted above.

OMGEEZIE, if you like Harry Potter at all you have to check this out.

These. Are. AMAZINGGGGGG. Basically, this artist/comic-writer named Lucy Knisley made these one-page comics summarizing each HP book. AND THEY ARE AWESOME. So far she has done them up through Half-Blood Prince.

Here is the one for Sorcerer's Stone, for example. (Hint: click to enlarge it.)

HELLO LADIEZ.

So good! And quite accurate/appropriate summaries, I think. My favorite thing in these comics are all the parts with Snape in them. Because he is frickin' hilarious.

Want to read the rest of them? OF COURSE YOU DO DON'T LIE YOU LIAR.
So you better go -->RIGHT HERE<-- and ch-ch-ch-check it!

via Lucy Knisley's LiveJournal