Studio Eingana: Where Sailormoon art comes to life

When I was a little girl, I never really had a heroine that I wanted to emulate.  I enjoyed watching the mundane Disney cartoons available on TV but they really didn’t have a purpose other than to keep young children entertained.  Even as a young girl, I was always frustrated by the fact that Disney Princesses needed a man to get them out of a situation.  I was a serious feminist in training.  My Mother taught me well

Then, one day, I turned on the TV to watch Dragon Ball Z on Toonami and was introduced to Sailor Moon!  It has been a wonderful relationship throughout my life.  I was immediately hooked. 

Sailor Moon redefined the magical girl genre, as previous magical girls did not use their powers to fight evil at that magnitude, but this has become one of the standard archetypes of the genre.

  I loved how Sailor Moon would transform into a heroine, even though she was a natural klutz and sometimes picked on, and always help everyone no matter what.  At the end of each episode, there was always a nice message about how to take care of others or to not let people bully you.  I used to always be uplifted after I watched Sailor Moon.    

I have been an artist ever since I was little.  I got my artistic nature from my Mother.  Creating works of art dedicated to the things I love gives me a sense of peace.  I have recently gone back to working with Perler Beads and have been working on some pieces dedicated to Sailor Moon. 

 The image you see on the right is Sailor Moon’s Brooch that she would use to transform into a Sailor Senshi.  I am hoping to make every version of her Brooch in various sizes for Hair Clips and jewelry.       

     I am also working on many different pieces from classic magical girl shows.  The image on the left of the Sailormoon pendant is of Pinkie Pie from the hit show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.  I am working on some other Anime and video game related pieces as well which can all be seen on my website.

You can visit my website at: http://studioeingana.com/.  Also, please feel free to email me at StudioEingana@yahoo.com if you wish to ask me anything. 

By Guest Blogger

 Liz Gmaz

Easter egg hunt 2012: The Hunger Games edition

Our jaunt down Georgetown concluded well. After getting lost for 45 minutes, we finally arrived back at Dennis’s house. At this point, no one was capricious over my master plan. In fact, there was even tacit agreement that I had carte blanche with the rest of the evenings activities! Hurrah!

  A normal Easter egg hunt is usually held during the day and  there are often kids dressed in their Sunday best. Quite often, delicious candy is filled to the brim in each egg.

While this may be true, we decided to reverse the rules and make the game more intense. For starters, not all of the eggs are filled with candy.

 Half the eggs are filled with snickers, sweet-tarts and twix while the rest are filled with the following questionable items: fake bloody tampons, magnum condoms with dollar store lubricant, fat burners, laxatives, and  colon cleansers.

 Doesn’t that sound appetizing?

I hope it doesn’t, because it means you are truly sick in the head. Concurrently, as players are searching for eggs ( they are not allowed to open them up), they have permission to shoot silly string at each other as a way to immobilize their opponent for 15 seconds and hopefully steal their eggs. 

 Anything can go with this game and whomever has the best strategy and further utilizes Dennis’s playground to their advantage would most likely win the game.Theft is allowed since this is a free for all. As was previously aforementioned, I had carte blanche over everyone.

Meaning, as host, I can shoot anyone I wanted with silly string and not get paralyzed–since I hid all the eggs and invented this evil yet genuis plan. First come, first serve is key in this game. Anyone could grab whatever silly string can, easter basket and even food ( for survival).

 There were three prizes awarded for the night.

 First place recieved $20 worth of gourmet treats from Trader Joes including mango black tea, toffee, belgian chocolate crisps and cookies. Second place recieves a paltry amount of snickers from a red beer cup. Third place gets two douches.

 Unsure if that’s really a prize since it just means third places becomes a douche for the night.

Anyways,  if it weren’t for “The Hunger Games”, I never would’ve came up with this idea. Hopefully you’ve seen this awesome movie in theaters. If not, read the bio in this link.

Fifteen minutes, literally, passed by. Youseff from the get-go got the most eggs and even listened to my hints. Jason was super fast and Dennis outmanuevered many with his silly string attacks.

Whenever I noticed player’s hopes were up, I would spray them with silly string as a reminder that this game is not as easy as it seems.

In fact, if I caught any of the players breaking any of the eggs open than I would’ve reprimanded them to put that egg back. There was a reason why I didnt want anyone to do that.

The second part of the Easter egg hunt is “Evaluation” time. During this time, everyone opens up their eggs in search for questionable items. In order for the questionable items to count, players needed to open up each egg and tell me what they see.

My favorite part, as evaluator, was seeing players sick expressions over the fake bloody tampons and over the laxatives curdling up with the warming jelly. Haha!

When the game concluded, I had to reprimand Jason for cheating. He stole the super soaker and tried to get poor Yousseff. Because of that, I made him give away two of his eggs. Shame on you Jason!

Yousseff collected the most questionable eggs so he won the first portion of the game.

 Dennis was second and seemed content with the snack sized Snickers bars.  Jason seemed happy too, he never saw a douche before. I guess everyone was a winner?

Jason had a chance to redeem himself. The second portion of this game is called the “Death round”.

I, the host, teams up with whomever is second place, Dennis, to bring down the loser. Dennis and I had full arsenal of all of the water guns, and water balloons to take down Jason–once and for all.

 For the latter duration of our version of “The Hunger Games”, Dennis and I had a rude awakening. 

Jason out ran us, stole our super soaker and stole our water balloons from right under us.  He planted his t-shirt as a decoy on the far edges of the playground, which I naively took.

 He used that distraction to trick us and he overtook us both instantly. Since I am a foot shorter than Jason, he simply tilted his super soaker down and I was whiplashed. I was wailing, crying and screaming in a corner.

Dennis got bored and started to join him. So, both Jason and him decided to corner me.  I was scared for a second and ran inside.

Jason got his revenge!  Touche’

 

Birthday coming up? Silly string them into a cocoon

  I’ve been to a multitude of birthday parties and they all start and end the same.

People congregated at a high-end restaurant, a bushel of balloons swish around the birthday person’s chair, and a weak sing-song version of “Happy Birthday” serenades ( or scares away) that same person into making a wish and blowing out x-many candles.

 This idyllic birthday vision may be great to some but to me, needs something else to spice it up.

Why not silly string the hell out of the birthday boy/girl?  It not only surprises them but it also consolidates the gift giving, candle blowing, and food eating festivities into a better package deal.

If you take a good luck at Fahad, you can easily see that he had absolutely no idea what we were all up to.

 Prior to the silly-string-shock, we all gave him delicious presents, sang a poor rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody ( his birthday song), and made reservations for laser tag.

I formulated this awesome idea at Target that day, when I saw three lonely cans of Silly string collect dust by the corner.

 I told my crew that we needed to surround our friend, shoot, and try to chase him around the parking lot for a solid 20 minutes.

  Good times! That’s all I really need to say. Moral of the story is to be  unique when you throw a birthday party, it’s more memorable than singing a poor rendition of “Happy Birthday”.

Foot Sauna? Try it, don’t hate on it

  A few days ago, one of my oldest girlfriends, Shanila and I spent the day in  Rockville.

We spent a solid hour at the Original House of Pancakes ( best coconut pancakes I ever had) and simply lounged, gabbed and supplemented our time together with jokes, pictures and colorful stories.

That one hour at the Original House of Pancakes not only fostered our friendship but also generated a new, shared experience for us.  Shanila regularly checks her ‘Groupon Now’ app on her phone and found this singular deal. For only $10, we get a 30 minute foot sauna session at Meridian Foot and Facial spa.

Best pancakes ever! Original Pancake House in Rockville

      Neither of us ever had a foot sauna session before but figure it must relax us somehow? It was a very unique experience and I do recommend it for  anyone who is always on the go and needs to relax.   

At first, we both were perplexed by the overall concept of it but after letting our sore legs rejuvenate in the wooden casket; we felt more at ease.  

 The steam simply sauntered around and enveloped closely with our pores, unleashing enough fury and ache for a month or so.  After our session, we felt fresh, poised and relaxed. 

 Furthermore, the staff at Meridian was beyond hospitable and kind. We were also treated to cups of water for hydration and oodles of candy bars to indulge our sweet tooth.

 Shanila and I agreed from this day forward to always experiment with Groupon Now for not only spa deals but for new adventures.

 Life is short, why not try a foot sauna?

Calvert Woodley: Best place by Van Ness to get Grashoff chocolate spreads

 If you are a fan of Nutella, than you are surely missing out. Grashoff makes belgian chocolate spreads that are not only organic but go great on everything. You name it: crepes, desserts, ice cream, fruits, pastries, and even on its own.

Since its such a piquant blend of chocolate, milk and a slew of unique ingredients, it’s only sold in select stores in the D.C/Maryland and Virginia area.

 Calvert Woodley, the store a few blocks from the Van Ness metro stop off the redline, carries Grashoff chocolate spreads as well as tart wines and other scrumptious delectables.

I was at Calvert  Woodley a few weekends ago, and brought an ample supply of Grashoff chocolate spreads such as: gentelmans chocolate, blood orage, strawberry with white chocolate, pistachio, coconut, ginger, milk chocolate, and milk chocolate with hazelnut.

Each chocolate blend paired well with different pinot noires and can also be paired with moscato, white wine, chardonnays and even red wine.

If you are a D.C foodie, than you should’ve been at Calvert Woodley a few weekends ago.

We paired aged, sweet wines with full-flavored dark chocolate spreads.

This bridge between fine wines and chocolate conjured up a mass of fans that not only endeared them to Grashoff but also allowed them to envision multiple social gatherings where chocolate and wine can truly go hand-in-hand.

  If you are a true-blooded foodie, than stop by Calvert  Woodley for Grashoff’s chocolate spreads. 

  Additionally, if you are in the DMV area,  I am holding a gourmet chocolate tasting in the Silver Spring area.

 For $5, you get to pair 10 different blends of gourmet belgian chocolate with fruits, cupcakes, french pastries, desserts, and ice cream. RSVP by e-mailing me at: Sherryndaniel@gmail.com, so I can send you the addy and times for this Thursday March 22, 2012 event.

 Who needs Nutella when you can get Grashoff’s instead.

Calvert Woodley

4339 Connecticut Avenue Northwest 

 Washington, DC 20008
(202) 966-4400

Carnival Cruise: What I didnt expect to see

This year has been a year of many firsts. And many of those firsts started and ended on my 7 day cruise from Puerto Rico all the way to the Caribbean islands ( St. Thomas, St. Lucia, St.Kitts, Barbados, and St. Martin).  If you look below, here is a list of my many firsts:

1.) Been to a volcano and had a mud bath.Wanted to start a mud  war but didn’t want to be thrown from the volcano. ( St. Lucia)

2.) Played Shuffleboard and a ‘life size’ game of chess.. in which i gracelessly lost. (Unsure)

3.) Explored an actual rainforest in Puerto Rico and had the bus break down. ( Puerto Rico)

4.) Snorkled and swam away from the other novices..it was pretty bad ass.. ( St. Kitts)

5.) Swam in the ocean and I so did not freak out too! ( St. Martin)

6.) Had monkeys thrown on my back ( St. Kitts)

7.) Rode a segway.. and did not fall from it. ( St. Martin)

8.) Explored the ocean via a head-dive expedition.. and lived to see the day ( St. Thomas)

9.) Was in a submarine and saw an extremely ugly eel.. now I can see why the indie band called “The Eels” is really called that.. ( Barbados)

I am sure there were more firsts but they’ve currently escaped my mind as of now.  Aside from my many firsts, I did see some peculiarities on my trip..

This reminded me of a quasi-famous youtube clip. Toby Jones Trunk Rental and Storage facilities.. Look it up, fyi.

I decided not to go in. Only "bitches" go into that bar.

I wish I took more pictures, but then again, it was a vacation. So, I didn’t really have to do that.

Ready for a fight! A mud fight...

Social Media: Yes, it’s possible to contact celebrities through it. I did it, so can you!

Social media ( blogging, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and even Youtube) are great ways to espouse your thoughts, feelings and beliefs and is a wonderful outlet for networking too. I’ve used Twitter and even Facebook to connect with new people.

It’s definitely cheaper than calling, texting and less time consuming than shooting up a quick e-mail. Social media is also a cheap, easy and effective way to contact celebrities too.

I was lucky to have used Facebook and even Twitter to contact so many of my favorite movie and TV stars over the past two years, and I feel really fortunate to have been opportuned with this. Thanks to Facebook, Twitter and in some cases my blog, I was able to get in contact with:

1.) Chrystee Pharris, Simone from the defunct soap opera “Passions”. I wanted to follow her on Twitter and posted that question on her Facebook wall. I was surprised, that she personally responded back. I even posted a question a few months ago about what a certain position entailed, and yet again, she replied back congenially. ( If you watch Scrubs feverishly, you may remember her as Kylie, JD’s love interest for three episodes). Click on this and any link below to add them as a Facebook/ Twitter friend.

2.) McKenzie Westmore, Sheridan Crane from “Passions”. Yes, I admit it. I watched Passions alot and was a huge fan of several of the stars from the show.  I remembered McKenzie best from “Passions” and am happy to hear that she’s a host in the SyFy channel. I contacted McKenzie via Facebook and asked her if she talks to her fans through this medium and she sweetly replied that she does ( even added a happy face emoticon). I was super happy with that since she always played a very eclectic character on the soap opera and always seemed like a sweetheart on screen. I was happy to find out she’s  uber nice on social media too.

3.) Heidi Mueller, Kay Bennet from “Passions”. Kay Bennet was my favorite character on “Passions” and Heidi Mueller was my favorite person to play Kay. I read her VLOG alot and posted a question about it on her Facebook. Lo and behold, she replied back in an ingenuous way.  That not only made my day but prompted me to write a thorough blog entry about why she’s my favorite Kay Bennet. Honestly, watch “Passions” again, Heidi is a great actress and I think everyone should agree with me on that!

4.) Farah Fath, Gigi from One live to Live. Fath also played Mimi Lockhart from “Days of our Lives” and is currently on “Dirty Soap”. I contacted her via Twitter and told her she was my favorite person on “Dirty Soap” since she was candid, real and brutally honest. She not only replied back but retweeted my tweets a few times too. I like Farah as much as I like Heidi and that totally made my day too. Please watch “Dirty Soap” and support #TeamFarah.

5.) Jenna Gering, herself on “Dirty Soap”. She is not only the wife of Days of our lives star Galen Gering ( Rafe Hernandez) but she also used to be a model. She really does reply back to fans on her Facebook page and even on her Twitter account.

6.) Parminder Nagra, Neela from “ER” and Jess from “Bend it like Beckham”. Honestly, if she ever replied back in a nasty way through social media I would still love her to death. She’s been my favorite actress ( OF ALL TIME) since I was in high school, eons ago. Luckily for me, she not only replied back and has retweeted me, but was always nice about it too.  Parminder does reply back to fans and her replies made my year

7.) Jane Velez-Mitchell, infamous host on HLN and acclaimed journalist.  I read Velez-Mitchell’s book ” Addict Nation” and was floored by it. She’s an eloquent writer, ingenuous person and very informative. I contacted her via e-mail so I could interview her for my blog and was lucky that she even gave me the time or day for it. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested about why war, consumption and celebrity can be percieved as a hardcore addiction.

I never thought for a second I would be able to get in contact with any of these celebrities, in my entire life. But social media breaks the barrier, and forages a threshold for open communication.

Take a chance, tweet Lady Gaga or even Kanye West. You never know, they may not only just read what you are saying but will holla’ at you back.

Update as of October 27, 2011.. 12:53 a.m (East Coast time)

I sent tweets, facebook messages and e-mails back to the celebs i’ve contacted from this post and so far only Parminder Nagra, Mckenzie Westmore, and Chrystee Pharris replied back.

Twitter

@Parmindernagra: nice….

Facebook

www.facebook.com/mwestmore : Thank you!

Chrystee Pharris. ( She not only liked my post but she went above and beyond.)

On my Facebook wall:

Chrystee Pharris: Just reposted the blog on my wall

Chrystee Pharris: Thanks for loving my work and for supporting it.

On her own Facebook wall:

Chrystee Pharris: Hey everybody, here is an blog that mentions my name. Thanks Sherryn Daniels for writing about it. Glad I answered your questions lol. It might be a different article lol. http://tinyurl.com/4yjy9xd.

Dirty Soap: Why Farah Fath is my favorite character

Does anyone in the blogosphere watch the new E show “Dirty Soap”? I know I am not the only one since Dirty Soap’s Facebook page and twitter account is inundated with thousands of followers.  I normally don’t watch reality shows since I only watch the following on a weekly basis : Days of our lives, Community, Parks and Recreation and The Office. Yes, I am a fervent lover of anything on NBC.

On the contrary, I watch only one show on the E channel, which is “Dirty Soap”. Most of the stars on the show were from “Days of our Lives” and growing up, i’ve always been curioused over the soap stars personal lives. I’ve always wanted to know if these actors/ actresses were just like the characters they played.

After watching the first episodes, I realize that some of these characters were not what I thought they were from when I have previously seen them on “Days of our Lives”.  I was surprised after watching the show, that I am a hard-core Farah Fath fan.  She’s pretty much the only reason why I watch the show since she’s the one character I feel like is the most relate-able to the average, every day person.

She has friendship struggles just like everyone else, relationship problems that are actually legit and is very, brutally honest. She plays no games and is very straight-forward. Watching her is simply a breath of fresh air since I feel like we can all relate to her.  She has her confident moments and her not-so confident moments, but is the one person on the show ( in my opinion) who holds nothing back.

She shows no apprehensiveness over her emotions, feelings or thoughts. She could careless what people view her as on TV and puts it all out. She has no veneer over being better than anyone else and is simply living life and just trudging through her own trials and tribulations. Not to mention, her fashion sense is kick-ass and I like her sardonic sense of humor.

Though I also like other actors/ actresses on the show, she’s the only one in my opinion who keeps my interest the longest. Even if you are not a Soap Opera fan, just watch it because of Farah. She’s as real as it can get.

Follow Farah Fath on Twitter: @farahandJP

The Paris Hilton Theory: Why Kim Kardashian and Nicole Richie have it all

Kim Kardashian recently wed NBA star Kris Humphries in a highly televised event that will eventually premier on the E network. Though this tidbit doesn’t seem to relate to the title at hand, it will soon enough.

Kim Kardashian, Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton used to be best friends.  They grew up together, and were seen in millions of pictures togethers from ages 6 years old well into their early twenties. If you are an avid pop culture enthusiast and scrutinized each image floating around the web, you will notice that Paris ALWAYS positioned herself at the forefront of most pictures. Kim and Nicole were always basking in the background, while Paris flaunted herself as the “prettier” friend.

If you’ve read my previous blog entries than you’ve probably skimmed through my past entry on the beauty standard drastically changing as of the last few years. The whole theory that being really tall, fair skinned, blond and blue-eyed is the beauty standard has quickly fell apart. Women of different ethnic origins, with fuller figures, darker skin and even petite frames are currently ( and hopefully forever) the beauty standard.

Paris Hilton’s time was up, thankfully. Both Paris and Kim had lewd sex tapes that propelled them to the top, but it was Kim who had staying power. Kim is more attractive than Paris and a lot more smarter at marketing herself. Nicole also has more staying power than Paris since she’s still well talked about in several tabloids ( but in a more positive light, like Kim).

Kim was smart enough not to do drugs, drink like a fish and help her family get in the spotlight. Unlike Paris. Miss Hilton was too busy sniffing cocain, trying to run over common folk and warding off a jail sentence.  While Paris was making a consistent disgrace with her life and make believing with herself that she’s the beauty standard, her friends Kim and Nicole were too busy cleaning up their act. Nicole Richie, who is half African American and white, was heavily influenced by Paris to do drugs and partake in breaking the law in several occassions.

If you look at past pictures, Paris clung close to her when Nicole was the overweight friend. But after Richie dropped the pounds, and developed a svelt figure, did more attention swing over to Nicole—thus Paris didn’t want to be near the “prettier” friend.  Later on, Nicole broke away from her drug addiction, became a succesful fashion designer and an immiment philanthropist. Nicole was smart enough to drop Paris fast and move on with her life. She knew in her heart, she had it all the whole time and didn’t need to be second fiddle to someone who was beneath her the whole time.

Kim did the same thing. She dropped Paris fast after she was behaving rather jealously over Kim’s rise to fame. Like Nicole Richie, Kim is heavily devoted to charity work and with helping her ethnic origin ( Armenia) develop stronger peace tactics with U.S aid. Nicole, like Kim, is married and very happy with life. She even has two kids and a very stable life.

Paris, on the other hand, is still a stray cat looking for someone to keep her indoors. If you read her Wikipedia page, it sadly displays how Paris is crossing fingers that some man will make her a wife and as soon as her pleas are heard, she gets kicked to the curb. It’s pathetic, really. She’s begged like 10 men to marry her and she gets rejected, dejected, and permanently ignored. Nicole and Kim never begged since they were confident and happy with themselves. Men went after them because they can smell a confident and realistically beautifull woman from miles away.

The Paris Hilton Theory which may not seem obvious after reading this entry is that karma is a bitch. Paris was obviously never a good friend to Nicole or Kim, mainly hanging out with them to make herself out to be the prettier friend. Kim and Nicole were always prettier than Paris, but didn’t have the confidence before to stand up to her. Kim and Nicole have it all, thanks to confidence and by loving themselves. Paris Hilton doesn’t have it all, and is still waiting for some Tom, Dick or Harry to propose to her. Just so she can feel loved by anything besides her beloved Tinkerbell ( toy dog).

This theory can easily spawn into uneven friendships too. Are you a woman and have a “best friend” who steals your spotlight and is only friends with you just to make herself out as the prettier friend? I’m lucky not to have that anymore but I did for 9 years. I guess I was Kim Kardashian (minus any sex tapes) and like Kim, threw out Paris as quickly as I could.

Reasons why Esmeralda should be considered a Disney princess

Six years ago, when Facebook was first incepted, I created my very first Facebook group.  The facebook group titled “Esmeralda is an actual Disney Princess” started out with only 40 fans. I was surprised when I recently went back to it in 2011. It blossomed to 103 members. I was even more surprised that the group had an active discussion board.

So many women out there, all across the globe, feel that Esmeralda should be a Disney princess. She’s always been my favorite since the movie “Hunchback of Notre Dame” came out. Before the movie came out, I always noticed that I didnt feel like I could relate to the other Disney princesses. I’ve had people say that Princess Jasmin is relateable but she doesn’t look like me at all.

Also, Princess Jasmin doesn’t look South Indian at all, she’s Arabian actually. Though Esmeralda is from Spain, if you read up more on the history of gypsys you realize  that the first gypsys came from South India and have migrated since.  Esmeralda was not only easy to relate to physically but emotionally and mentally, she’s alot more real than the other princesses.

She’s a very independent woman who depends on her own senses to get by. Unlike the other princesses, life was never easy for her but she always continued to thrive.

The aforementioned reasons are my very own on why Esmeralda should be considered a Disney princess. I posted a Facebook group question a few weeks ago asking the group’s members why they think Esmeralda should be considered a Disney princess, and this is what they had to say:

Esmeralda Alfaro: because she is smart,brave and adventurous plus my name is Esmeralda

Devika J. Singh: Esmeralda is a princess of the people. She may never hold that title but doesn’t need to in order to be as revered as the princesses we so often see glorified by Disney. This woman is strong, stands up for those who are in need (lest we not forget “God Help the Outcasts”) and is very, VERY charismatic while doing so. She may not be royalty on paper but has every single trait that the best of the best need as leaders.

And so what if she’s not rich and living in a castle? She’s free, she’s resourceful and knows what she needs to do to find her happiness. The world is her castle (as it is her oyster, after all)!

Amanda Chesher: Because she’s a gypsy and therefore can be a princess if she wants to be.

I wish Disney could amend their rules and exact a proclamation that promulgates that Esmeralda is indeed a legit Disney Princess. Oh well? Maybe in 50 years? Anything is possible.