So, on Monday, I bought a carburetor.

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I didn't need it (my car's a 2002, well after the last carbureted US market cars were made), but I decided I wanted one while I was out in the junkyard looking for stuff for my car. And since they had everything half off that day (apparently junkyards have sales. How did I miss that?), I figured it was a good a time as ever.

And now that I have it, I kind of don't know what exactly to do with it.  I've taken it apart and fiddled with it a little (they're a lot simpler than I thought) and put it back together, but not much beyond that.  I was thinking of cleaning it up, and making a cutaway of it so you can see how parts of it work (which is easier said than done), or just putting it on my desk as a large pencil holder.

So what's the strangest thing you've bought on a whim? Was it something you've gotten and then thought, "Now what?"

After about a year or so of saving up and looking around, I finally found an apartment and I moved out of my Mom's place two weeks ago. She moved in with my stepdad when they married, and when my sister got a job in Greenville, she moved back in with her husband.  Long story short, for the last few years, I wasn't entirely happy with my living situation as we just had different ways. They were very lazy and messy, and I was less so.  Not to mention, I barely had any room for my own things outside of my room.  I love my sister, like her friend who moved in with them, and am okay with her husband, but I did not like living with them.

But now, I'm finally on my own and have plenty of space, almost 800 sq ft!  It's taken a little while to get everything unpacked and organized, and to put up curtains and all that.  I also had to wait a while to get the cable and internet set up (which is why I'm posting this now instead of last week).

I've reached a milestone in life that I've been waiting for years to get to, and it makes me feel grown-up, like I'm finally my own man.  So, I decided to celebrate this accomplishment in my own way.  By buying lots of extremely cutesy girly things.

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Here they are after an eternity of unboxing

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And I didn't stop with the toys.  Once I started moving things into my bedroom, I felt the need to spruce it up a little bit.  When I was back at my mom's old house, I had to show some restraint with the decor since there were other people who went in there on occasion, and I didn't want to go overboard.  But since I have my own place now, I can go nuts. 

So, on the one hand, I have a living room that's minimally decorated (and well-coordinated if I do say so myself), nothing out of the ordinary.

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...and on the other, a bedroom like this.

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Have I ever mentioned that I have poor impulse control when it comes to cute things? Because I totally do. Honestly, I'm not sure whether or not I did a little too much.

In any case, I was able to get most of my collection onto this shelf, and the risers I made definitely do the job (albeit not as well as I'd hoped).  But I'm probably going to end up putting this in the living room and using it for my model cars and planes, since I'm planning to get a couple of Billy bookcases soon to hold my collection as it keeps getting bigger.

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And in the case of the living room, I'm almost done, I just need to get a newer TV to replace the big CRT that Mom got about 12 years ago, but the people I'm contacting on Craigslist don't have the best communication.

I'll be moving out the Saturday after next, and I had some questions about how to move a certain few ponies my collection.  Now, I have almost all of it boxed up already, and cleverly disguised as well.


Foolproof.

(After I got the duct tape off, I found the adhesive stuck where I pressed it down to write on it, so you could see what I wrote on there . I had to rub it off with a damp cloth.)

Anyway, this is more about six brushables I have that have had their hair styled as close to show-accurate as I could get.  I've moved around one brushable that's been styled before and when I took her out, her hair came undone and I had to redo it. In that case it wasn't too bad since it was Pinkie.  But I have some that were a lot more difficult to figure out, and I'd hate to have to re-style them (Sunset Shimmer in particular). Do any of you know the best way to move these ponies?

I decided to treat myself on Thursday after getting through part of a high priority project at work (the worst of it is over, but we're still not totally finished), and take advantage of the 25% off sale at Build a Bear as well as use the $10 gift card I got when I got Celestia.  I finally got Pinkie, to fill the ranks of my ever-growing army of Pinkies.  After that, I went back the next day and got Cadance and Luna plus I was able to get 3 $10 gift cards for $5 each, which will come in handy for the next release (although I would've liked to use it online to get Shining Armor). 

On another note, I've noticed Build a Bear is the only place I've bought pony merch from where they ask who it's for.  First time I went there, the lady asked me that and it was kind of a deer in the headlights moment. I get that they're trying to be friendly and chit chat, but it's an awkward moment when you're buying it for yourself, but don't want them to know it. Fortunately, I've gotten better at making a cover story since then.  Even 'It's for my sister' can work if you sell it right.   Although since I came two days in a row, if the same lady who stuffed Pinkie on Thursday was there Friday, I probably would have had to admit they were all for me.

Anyway, in addition to the ponies, I picked up something to drink as well since I got through part of the project on time, had a productive week overall (I'm close to figuring out something that's been eluding me for months), and my employee review went fairly well, to boot.

The ponies got in on the celebration, as well.

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I had a good time, but the Applejack was kind of disappointing.  Only the first drink I took even tasted like apples at all.  At least it went down pretty well when chased with some Dr Pepper.

Anyway, tonight I was able to fix their hair and get them all prepped for display. I think Luna turned out nicely, but Cadance was a lot more difficult and I just did the best I could with it.

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I think both her and Celestia's coronation outfits look better on the plushes than they looked on the show. It wasn't well liked there, but I think it's really cute on her now.

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Wow, this picture sucks. I really should have paid more attention before uploading it...

I'd say of the two, I like Luna more than Cadance. I can't say for sure why since I love Cadance's design, maybe it has to do with the fact that they actually have a dark blue Luna out.

In any case, both of these lovely ladies have to go back into the closet since I've run out of space to put them, and also because I'm moving in a couple of weeks and have to start packing up my collection.

We've finally gotten around to putting the tree up at my Mom and Stepdad's, and I was hoping to find a sitting Pinkie ornament like this one.

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I wasn't able to find it at either of the TRUs around my area, nor Target or Walmart (though I may not have been looking in the right places.)

Has anyone seen these around?

This is a lot smaller than the other brags I've had, but it's definitely something to feel good about.

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I saw this on sale at Target and picked it up on a whim.  When I first saw pictures of these I thought they didn't look right, but in person they're adorable, especially Twilight's.

I've been looking forward to November for a while now, since the Black Friday deals make it an opportune time to once again binge on buying brightly colored horses.  However, real life decided to throw a curveball at me, a curveball that hit me square in the groin. 

In the middle of last month, my car started getting these annoying vibrations at idle (worn motor mounts) and at speed (bent wheel).  After getting the wheel fixed, I went to have the front end aligned as the guy who repaired my wheel recommended.  I go over to a shop near work the next to have them find the passenger side ball joint is worn and needs to be replaced, and that one of my tires was close to worn out. To top it all off, that was also in the week that I rear ended a truck. Fortunately, his truck was undamaged and I didn't get a ticket.

Needless to say, over the past month I've had to spend a lot of time and money trying to fix it all, so the huge haul I was hoping for wasn't really going to happen. But this week, I've just gotten in the last parts I need (with the exception of one bolt), so now I can finally start spending money on things I want rather than things I need.  If I can finish up the repairs myself (the repairs for the things that aren't my fault, at least), I can say I've earned the right to treat myself.

Good things come to those who wait. In this case, it means that the CMC dolls are now no longer an online exclusive and are now available in stores! *Manly squee*

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Apologies for the godawful photo, but I snapped the picture without looking at it afterward. 

Here's a little something I've been putting on the backburner for a while, and was able to finish up recently.  There are a few pony-related things I've been wanting to draw for a while, and this is one of them. It's the first pony drawing (or any kind of drawing) that I've put some real effort and attention to detail into.

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I don't think it turned out half-bad, especially considering I admittedly don't have much in the way of drawing talent. (Ironically, as a drafter, I make drawings for a living, albeit a different sort of drawing.)

Interesting tidbit about this one: This actually started out as a ponified heavy metal album cover (something I'd like to do more of), but I ended up removing the text, thus the large amount of relatively empty space at the top.  I figured I'd make a version without it since the text was Cyrillic (the album cover this is based off of is from a Russian band), and most people don't know how to read it (I also may have made a spelling error).

In any case, I know a number of you here are quite good artists, and I was wondering if any of you had any kind of advice to give me to get this looking good.