Amanda profile picture

Amanda

My headline is wittier than yours.

About Me

You may learn more by visiting: My LomoHome...(www.lomohomes.com/amagnetta) to see my photos. TATE'S Comics+Toys+Videos+More... to see my masterpiece!That's it.

My Interests

I collect things... including: Alice in Wonderland paper advertisements (not Disney), Alice in Wonderland Belt Buckles, Insects, Weird Dolls, Art, Cameras, Books, Arcade Tokens (quickly becoming extinct), Photo Booth photos of me & my family, rubber squeak toys, handmade stuffed animals, sideshow photos (cabinet cards, carte de viste's and photos postcards)... that's all I can recall right now though I'm SURE that is not IT.I'm not ACTIVELY collecting most of those things. I haven't gotten a new Alice ad in a loooong time. This is because I HAVE most of them already. The only area I'm lacking in for Alice ads is Guiness beer Alice ads. Those always go for $40+ - this is because people JUST collect all the Guiness ads. Alice has hocked a lot of things. I have her selling IBMs, Fords, Fridges, Light Bulbs and Juices. She gets taken advantage of because she is 'public domain' by now...I love my doggies, Artie (1/2 Jack Russell & 1/2 Schnauzer) and Harry (1/2 Poodle & 1/2 Schnauzer). They are both amazing and different! I love pound doggies. If you have a rescue dog, I'll immediately take an extra liking to you.As mentioned previously, MOST of my free time is taken up with the day to day of TATE'S . In addition to designing, maintaining and writing all of TATE'S promotional materials ( website , flyers, signage, MySpace ...), I order nearly all of the "odd" books, the vinyl toys, cult & asian horror DVDs, the miscellaneous strange items and all the other good stuff. ;-)I'm very proud of how great the store is and how much my influence has had on it over the years... since 1996!!
We've now begun a new venture, the soon to be world-famous Bear and Bird Boutique + Gallery, which is inside the loft area at TATE'S. Tate and I have always wanted to add a gallery space to the store and we are very excited to finally have the opportunity! This venture is going to be my "baby" - I'll be setting up my office there and running the show. I will also be offering graphic design services from up there... ;-)I think my favorite color is blue. It is the color I wear most often... I like shopping and I like shoes. I prefer perfume scents that smell like yummy desserts rather than flowers.I like cacti and succulents... I collect those too. I have loads. I like all kinds of plants... I guess that is what I currently collect! I garden! Tate is the one who cooks though. :-)

I'd like to meet:

The Invisible Man. Bruce Parry (from Going Tribal). Snuffleupagus. David Sedaris.

Music:

I'm very eclectic. Truly. But, I only like the good stuff...

Movies:

My absolute, all time favorite movie is Tod Browning's 1932 masterpiece, FREAKS. It is so deliciously campy and sincere. I love the hairdos on all the women too. So coiffed! I also LOVE My Neighbor Totoro, both Lolita movies (1962 & 1997), Photographing Fairies (not out on DVD yet), Natural Born Killers, Texas Chansaw Massacre (original), City of Lost Children, Napoleon Dynamite, Fight Club, Matlida, Lost in Translation, Sssss, Lady in White, Battle Royale, Bounce Ko Gals and lots more I really can't think of right now. I'll get back to you. Oh yeah, there's also this movie I saw at a film fesitval YEARS ago, called Der Unfisch. It was German and it was awesome. I really want that on DVD... looked for it too, even had a German guy in Germany look for it! To no avail. ...sigh...

Television:

I have TIVO, so I only watch what I wanna, when I wanna - it's the only way to go. If I had to watch TV when stuff was actually ON, I'd miss all the good stuff.I've recently found a renewed love of South Park. The good episodes totally make me laugh. There is literally NOTHING sacred on that show. The Simpsons, Family Guy are lovely as well. Man, Family Guy can really sling some non stop hilarity! We can't miss LOST and we enjoy Everybody Hates Chris when we catch it. My Name is Earl is pretty great... it runs the same time as something else. We'll watch it in reruns.I think it is over for now, but Going Tribal is amazing. Bruce Parry has the biggest balls. He's awesome.
Guily Pleasures: Number 1 Single (Lisa Loeb is too cute), Made & True Life.I love the older "Our Gang" Comedies. I absolute ADORE Spanky when he was a little tyke. Before he got all freakishly old and puffy, he was awesome. I don't like the later stuff, the Alfalfa/Darla/Froggy years are just going through the motions in comparison to the older stuff. Blah.All the above notwithstanding, I really don't watch that much TV, maybe and hour a night MAX... like I said! No FREE TIME!

Books:

My favorite book of all time? Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. It totally blew my mind up. Wicked by Gregory Maguire is another of my favorites. I really like to read memoirs by 'regular' people... not the famous ones. Try the book, "Glass Castle" if you want to be shocked by a dysfuntional family!! I also enjoy Chuck Palaniuk books. I love art books and kitschy books. Factoid books and photography books. Fashion books and insect books. Etc. Etc. I really DO love books. I love to collect them and display them. Read them and treasure them...I'm happy to report that I HAVE lots and lots of books. Literally... your jaw would drop. One of my duties in life is that I find and order all the "cool" books for TATE'S , if you like the book section there, I'm the one you SHOULD be thanking! ;-)I wish I had more time to read... I used to read TONS and TONS of books when I was a kid. I believe that is what give me a good vowkabilary! :-)I am a huge fan of audio books. I have a monthly audible subscription, so I always have something new to listen to in the car. Harry Potter is fantastic on audio book and David Sedaris reads his own stuff... he has a great voice!

Heroes:

I WORSHIP Bill from Freaks & Geeks... I'm also really stoked on Elastigirl from 'The Incredibles' - she rulez! Like totally!

My Blog

Biggest Ponytail Palm I ever did see.

I love Ponytail Palms. I call them "PTPs" for short. I have a bunch of them... I sort of collect plants. Did you know that they are a succulent? Like ALOE! They are not actually PALM TREES at all! PTP...
Posted by Amanda on Fri, 20 Oct 2006 07:11:00 PST

Caterpillars with HAIRY MOLES are eating my oleanders!!

See! They have hairy moles!!Yes, they are COOL looking, but they are stingy snd poisonous, as evidenced by their crazy markings and hairy moles.I took these photos a couple of days ago and every time ...
Posted by Amanda on Fri, 16 Jun 2006 02:28:00 PST

Smelly Jeans

Did you ever have a pair of jeans that emitted an ODD odor when you wore them? Now, I am certainly NOT talking about any sort of body odor. I am talking about an odor emitting from the fibers or the d...
Posted by Amanda on Tue, 07 Feb 2006 01:40:00 PST

I'm too slow. Too durn slow.

http://www.maryjaneappel.com/fashion/pendants.htm Damn it. These are close enough to my Shranky idea to bum me out. I saw a little article about her in Good Housekeeping of all things!! Granted, my...
Posted by Amanda on Wed, 28 Dec 2005 01:49:00 PST

Wow. It's nearly July!

I am at a crossroads with my Shranky project. Nothing is moving forward. The rock tumber didn't work as well as I had hoped. If I waited 6 months, it may work. But that is just not realistic. I have a...
Posted by Amanda on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST

Mini Update

The Shranky project is still moving along. No major news, still refining the process... encasing the pieces in urethane, tumbling, all these things take lots of TIME.
Posted by Amanda on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST

Shranky, Part Four ...the FINAL solution?

Yes, it HAS been a while since I posted an update. Minimal progress has been made. Once I figured out which shrink paper to use I had to figure out HOW to embed it into a shiny clear plastic substance...
Posted by Amanda on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST

Super Size Me!

Tate and I were in New York City this past weekend for an art opening at Fuse Gallery. We went to support our friends, Skot Olsen, Colin & Sas Christian and Francesco LoCastro. The show was beautiful ...
Posted by Amanda on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST

Dopplegangers?

Some lady just stopped Tate in the supermarket and said he looks EXACTLY like this guy: http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/constantine_maroulis/ What? People are so weird. He looks NOTHING like ...
Posted by Amanda on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST

Shranky, Part Three... AKA "Testing Phase II"

Of course, things ALWAYS have to be a paint in the butt. I tested the first brand of Clear Shirnk paper on Tuesday night. No good. I'm pretty sure it is due to the brand, but the pieces kept curling u...
Posted by Amanda on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST