As hard as it is for me to resist the urge to fill my posts with ramblings of art, comics, video games, etc. I will keep it to a minimum. However, I cannot pass up the opportunity to share one of my absolute favorites with you.

Ladies and gents, Hemlock.

Josceline Fenton has an extraordinary talent and a very unique style. I love looking at her art as much as I enjoy reading her story. 

Hemlock is a fairy tale set in the forests of 19th century Scandinavia in the form of a webcomic that updates once a week. But fear not, there is already plenty of story online for you to enjoy if you feel up to the adventure.

She has the first three chapters available in print, too and I will definitely be hinting so to my husband for my upcoming birthday. ;)

Apptastic: Any.DO

So, for the past two years, I have had a pretty archaic mobile device. Most would probably call it a cell phone, but when compared to what most phones are capable of right now, it hardly deserves that title. We're talking no camera and no picture messaging. This is a generation of cell phone that predates "flip phones". Things were pretty simple.

Well, for Christmas, we upgraded. 

A lot.

There is no denying that receiving an iPhone is pretty flippin' exciting. But it's overwhelming. I know there's a lot of things it can do for me since there are millions of apps to choose from, but where the heck do I start? I'm no iPhone pro yet, but I have found an app that I really like. 

I'm a hard core list maker. I have a shelf on the wall above my desk dedicated to new 4 x 6 index cards and the ones that I have already written all over that I "just need to hold on to". I'm an idea haver. I'm also extremely unorganized. When I got my iPhone, I immediately set out on an expedition for a free app that would allow me to keep track of my tasks and plans efficiently. I downloaded about six before I settled with Any.DO. 

First of all, this interface is the lovechild of sleek and simple.

Perfect.

I love the feature that allows you to actually cross tasks/events off of your list by simply swiping across it. I mean, that's completely brilliant. Seems simple, right? Well that's exactly why I like it. 

It has a variety of options for each individual task. You can add notes to each task, create a reminder/alarm, make them appear more urgent in your list, etc. Love. Love. Love.

But perhaps my favorite feature is the "Take a moment to plan your day" reminder. 

At ten o'clock every morning, my phone says, "Hey, here's what you've got planned today, let's take a look." I think it has actually helped me a few times remember things that were presently overshadowed by other huge/stresseful tasks I had planned for the day/week.

I'm pretty excited to do away with the index card shelf and now when I have an idea in the bathroom or worse, in bed, I don't have to sprint into my office to jot it down. My phone is usually nearby. :)