Amanda Victoria Duncan

    20 Dec 2011

    Iceland Photo Archive: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Reykjavík, 1950s

    icelandphotoarchive:

    This is a photo of Austurstræti, one of Reykjavík’s oldest streets, taken at Christmas time in the mid- to late 1950s. The parking lot on the right was originally the site of the city’s fifth oldest hotel, the Hótel Ísland, which opened in 1882 and was destroyed in a fire in 1944. In the sixties the car park became a gathering place for the city’s youth, and got a particularly hard-to-translate nickname, Hallærisplanið. (“Uncool Square” or “Insufficiency Park” come close, but not really). In the mid-nineties the city built a new square, Ingólfstorg, to replace what were by then car parks on both sides of the street. Still popular with young people (skaters have replaced punks and hipsters), it’s used for concerts and other events in summer. In winter it has occasionally been turned into a skating rink.

    Photo: Óskar Gíslason 

    Reblogged: icelandphotoarchive

    15 Dec 2011

    A movie trailer that’s a mashup of all the movies of 2011. AMAZING!

    2011: The Cinescape from Matt Shapiro on Vimeo.

    [via Huffingtonpost]

    Tags: movies.

    9 Dec 2011

    Get up before dawn tomorrow for a glimpse at the last lunar eclipse until 2014.

    Get up before dawn tomorrow for a glimpse at the last lunar eclipse until 2014.

    Tags: eclipse. space.

    6 Dec 2011

    my Monday.

    my Monday.

    Tags: geeky. tech.

    29 Nov 2011

    What I made for Thanksgiving, in the year 2011

    Holiday season is here! While most of us have our holiday traditions to look forward to, I think its fun to mix it up every year with something new. For Thanksgiving this year, I was in charge of desserts (a big, sorta scary first for me) and table setting (old-hat, but I still tried to make it interesting). I also learned a quick way to make quiche. Here’s the scoop on each:

    Thanksgiving Dessert (both recipes from Diana’s Desserts)

    Cranberry-Pear Crisp

     Fruit goes in ramekins  Topping goes on!  Baked to perfection

    Spiced Pumpkin Torte with Nut Topping

    Springform makes this possible  Browning the nut topping  the finished product!

    Thanksgiving Table Setting (fold instructions here)

    Waterlily Napkins

    my new favorite folding skills  Table setting coming together

    Thanksgiving Breakfast

    Quiche

    This one is crazy simple: Get a frozen pie shell, fill it with desired ingredients until is about 2/3 full (I used cubed ham, cheddar, parsley). Beat three eggs and a cup of milk together and pour over your toppings in the pie crust. Bake it in a 350 degree oven for an hour. Check with a toothpick. enjoy!

    so delicious!

    29 Nov 2011

    This tiny printer is just one of the cool things I’ve learned about from this new site: hellobrit.com founded by one of my friends, Brit Morin. I’ve signed up to learn more about this printer on the company’s site (click through to Brit’s write-up to get there), but I’m already on the name train as well: Tiny Tim? Big Larry? Kevin Flynn? (via brit: Meet the littlest printer you’ll ever own.) I’m going to name mine Tom, the paper boy, and keep him on my bedside table.

    This tiny printer is just one of the cool things I’ve learned about from this new site: hellobrit.com founded by one of my friends, Brit Morin.

    I’ve signed up to learn more about this printer on the company’s site (click through to Brit’s write-up to get there), but I’m already on the name train as well: Tiny Tim? Big Larry? Kevin Flynn?

    (via brit: Meet the littlest printer you’ll ever own.)

    I’m going to name mine Tom, the paper boy, and keep him on my bedside table.

    Reblogged: brit

    Tags: tech. design. toys. geeky.

    29 Nov 2011

    4D Projection, London and Deadmau5 - Yeah, Nokia did some cool stuff yesterday.

    Tags: music. nokia. tech.

    23 Nov 2011

    Earthships. So Cool. http://earthship.com/

    Earthships. So Cool.

    http://earthship.com/

    21 Nov 2011

    That’s right. These are made out of crayons. Meanwhile, the fanciest I’ve ever gotten with that annual 96-plus-bonus-metallics pack was to make some candles in a milk carton for my babysitter…

    (side note and/or continual topic of conversation with my friends: do you pronounce it cray-ons or crans? me, I say: crans)

    Herb Williams constructed melting flame-shaped sculptures outside using 60,000 Crayola crayons to raise awareness of wildfires.

    (via orientaltiger) 

    Reblogged: orientaltiger

    Tags: design. what?!.

    10 Nov 2011

    I’ve mentioned my ability to fold fitted sheets a few times and finally found a simple how-to image & instructions. Go Forth and Fold my friends!1. With the sheet inside out, place one hand in each of two adjacent corners.2. Bring your right hand to your left, and fold the corner in your right hand over the one in your left, so the corner on top is right side out. Next, reach down and pick up the corner that is adjacent to the one that was in your right hand (it will be hanging in front), and fold it over the other two; this third corner will be inside out.3. Bring the last corner up, and fold it over the others so it is right side out.4. Lay the sheet flat, and straighten it into the shape shown above.5. Fold the two edges in, folding the edge with elastic in first, so all elastic is hidden.6. Fold the strip into a smaller rectangle.7. Continue folding until rectangle is the size you want.note: directions made for a right-handed person; if you are a “leftie” then use the hand opposite the one suggested aboveimage via Martha Stewart instructions via Stephmodo

    I’ve mentioned my ability to fold fitted sheets a few times and finally found a simple how-to image & instructions.

    Go Forth and Fold my friends!

    1. With the sheet inside out, place one hand in each of two adjacent corners.

    2. Bring your right hand to your left, and fold the corner in your right hand over the one in your left, so the corner on top is right side out. Next, reach down and pick up the corner that is adjacent to the one that was in your right hand (it will be hanging in front), and fold it over the other two; this third corner will be inside out.

    3. Bring the last corner up, and fold it over the others so it is right side out.

    4. Lay the sheet flat, and straighten it into the shape shown above.

    5. Fold the two edges in, folding the edge with elastic in first, so all elastic is hidden.

    6. Fold the strip into a smaller rectangle.

    7. Continue folding until rectangle is the size you want.

    note: directions made for a right-handed person; if you are a “leftie” then use the hand opposite the one suggested above

    image via Martha Stewart

    instructions via Stephmodo

    Tags: organization. home.