Courtesy of artist Zina Saunders; featured in Entertainment Weekly

Hollywood is brewing up something wicked and my adolescent self couldn’t be more excited about it. Bravo, Entertainment Weekly for calling attention to the mass of coven-inspired recent/upcoming shows and films, including Rob Zombie’s The Lords of Salem and season 3 of American Horror Story that will feature witches in New Orleans.

As an Oz fanatic, I enjoyed the CGI-indulgent technicolor fun that was Oz the Great and Powerful at an advanced screening, but this Hollywood trend has captured my childhood days of pouring over Wiccan books and attempting to call the four corners or play “light as a feather, stiff as a board” circa The Craft. Witches were the source of my curiosity for as long as I can remember; I recall a few slumber parties spent attempting séances to channel JonBenét Ramsey with my own miniature coven of middle school girls who were inspired by a graveyard scene in Now and Then. We spent our Indiana summer nights basking in the moonlight in our backyards for as long as our parents would let us, letting our imaginations run wild with magic. We were almost always fueled by something we saw on the silver screen. With secrets and spells on our lips and just the right mix of nail polish and incense in the air, our Ouija Board quests radiated youth like the rouge on our coming-of-age cheeks.

My serenity, even in the winter. And my family doesn’t even farm. 

Don’t you?

Fast Company blogger–and motivational guru–Amber Rae provides a few encouraging tips on how to take hold of your life and make your dreams a reality. I tend to avoid self-help speak, but I have been making a conscious effort to put my ambitions first, in time and energy. St. Patty’s Day weekend was a complete failure for me, but someday is today, so I sought out a piece of encouragement and this is what I found:

In “3 Steps to Pursuing Your Ideal Career,” Amber Rae suggests the obvious, that the greatest opportunity your life will grant you is the ability to dedicate it to pursuing your dreams. Here’s how:

“1. Gain clarity around what to focus on.

2. Define the world you imagine.

3. Replace old thoughts with new ones.”

See? It’s that simple. At least it is in theory (read the full article here for details on how to put it into practice). So, for me, this basically means investing more time into writing, valuing my thoughts and encouraging my creativity. And it has a helluva lot to do with confidence. So go forth, be confident, and do whatever it is that you love to do–without guilt, shame, or hesitation. Every single day.

To learn more about the Domino Project, Bold Academy, and the other innovative ways Amber Rae is encouraging people to be passionate about life and steer from the mainstream, check out her Tumblr.

This is just one of many piles of toys ResourceWest is preparing to go to families in need in the Hopkins and Minnetonka area for the Toy Chest Drive this year.

Toy Drives: Giving isn’t always better than receiving, but in this case, it definitely is. Nothing is more satisfying than giving gifts to children on Christmas, and a shiny new toy is the best present a kid can get. There are hundreds of drop sites for a spectrum of toy drives across the metro area, but ResourceWest puts on a program that really stands out to me. The Toy Chest Drive lets families in need stop by and pick out the presents for their children; one small toy, one big toy, stocking stuffers, used books and one stuffed animal per child! ResourceWest is a Hopkins-based family resource center that has been around since the early ’90s. Each year, they help more than 1,000 kids have happy holidays and my support goes out to them because that is pretty incredible.

Facebook Timeline: Facebook is always coming up with new ways to present information (and confuse us) and Timeline is their newest attempt at that. Don’t freak out everyone. Timeline probably won’t ruin your Facebook experience and even if it does, is that really worth crying over? If anything, it will enhance your stalker capabilities because it lets you navigate the most popular posts, photos, statuses and more in a yearbook-esque manner that is categorized by year. It won’t go public quite yet, but I urge all Facebook users to take the tour beforehand to know what you are up against as it will eventually replace your profile. On a personal level, seeing what I was up to 5 years ago in a nutshell is a little daunting, but the concept itself is quite impressive.

Gotye and Kimbra from the video for "Somebody That I Used To Know" off his third-studio album, Making Mirrors.

Making Mirrors by Gotye: This Belgium-born Australian musician has one of the most hauntingly captivating voices I have ever heard. Making Mirrors may be this third studio album (released in August), but I have never considered myself to be above the curve when it comes to music. I first fell in love with the track “Somebody That I Used To Know” after I stumbled upon the music video featuring fellow Australian musician Kimbra on YouTube and I have been neurotically listening to it since. His aching vocals flow against entrancing music that takes me places and his videos are a good inclination of the depths to where his songs can travel.

ThisIsWhyImBroke.com: This aggregated shopping site is full of quirky, nerdy and downright astonishing gifts and gadgets in just about any price range. Want a Russian-style AK-47 lamp or ninja star coat hangers? ThisIsWhyImBroke.com has ‘em. Lightsaber chopsticks and an Apocalypse survival guide? Yep. As ridiculous as some of these products seem (and definitely are), I just can’t get enough. From ThinkGeek to Etsy and even Amazon, this site’s staff scours the web for blow-your-mind brilliance worthy of breaking any bank. There are so many desirable products on this site that it is overwhelming, but most of the items I really want, I simply can’t afford (and will likely never be able to), so I will continue to salivate on my MacBook over them and if you are bored, I highly recommend doing the same.

A f**kin' jet pack for the water? Absolutely. But only if you have $130 Gs to spare. This bad boy is capable of cruising up to 20 ft. high and forward at a rate of 22 mph. (Shown on ThisIsWhyImBroke.com, from Jetlev-Flyer)

This labyrinth aquarium looks like something out of my dreams, but at $6,500, that's probably the only place I will ever see it. (Shown on ThisIsWhyImBroke.com, from OpulentItems.com)

Evernote: This app is the best thing to happen to my MacBook. You can organize your thoughts, ideas, files, favorite photos and web pages; there really is no wrong way to use it. Best of all? It is free and syncs smoothly with all of your devices. Since I downloaded it last year, I have created 15 notebooks. I keep track of my finances, Christmas lists, brainstorm ideas for articles and screenplays, etc. I Evernote daily, religiously. If you have any writing aspirations whatsoever, this is a must, but anyone can benefit from its brilliance. I have read blogs by lawyers, private investigators, personal trainers and journalists who all have great things to say about its functionality and capabilities. It’s a modernized Moleskine. What’s not to love?

Melancholia: It’s a Lars von Trier film, so before I even knew what it was about, I knew I was in for it. Dunst plays Justine, a distraught wife-to-be who deals with some serious depression but it has a sci-fi element to it; mysterious Melancholia, a new planet, threatens to collide with earth. Visually, the despair channels the celestial collision that is on the horizon; it’s breathtaking in every sense of the word. More intriguing than entertaining on many levels, this is one of the rare films that will continue to linger in my mind. The concept and composition is immaculate, regardless of the troubling content, and Dunst radiates in flickers of light and dark in a performance that is as Oscar-worthy as it is pensive.

Stadium Burger: At the Gold Nugget in Minnetonka, this award-winning burger is the epitome of delicious. With a pretzel bun and made-from-scratch nacho cheese sauce (with a kick) for dipping, it puts a spin on the classic cheeseburger. It comes with  fresh-cut fries and a pickle spear, but I recommend adding the cherry on top: fried onions! Executive chef Eli Renn originally created the burger as a special of the week (one of 52 each year!) but it was so mouth-watering, it eventually landed a permanent place on the menu.

Mod Cloth: In lieu of Christmas shopping, I have been cruising web sites, browsing for potential presents for my friends and family and finding a few things to add to my wish list along the way. Mod Cloth is one of the best sites out there for retro, vintage and indie gifts. They have amazing vintage dresses but their accessories and gift ideas are really unique and offer something for everyone. Check out Gift Land for interesting gifts categorized by person, price and interest. Happen to be shopping for me (ahem, Mom!)? Conveniently, here are my two must-haves:

I am in love with this clever cuckoo clock necklace, Flock Around the Clock by British designer titiMadam. (Mod Cloth, $37.99)

This tote channels A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess as part of the Bookshelf Bandit collection. (Mod Cloth, $17.99)

melted crayon art « Mr. Kate by Meg Duerksen (clipped to polyvore.com)

I found this on Mr. Kate from the refreshing DIY queen who also contributes to Hello Giggles (from Zooey Deschanel, Sophia Rossi and Molly McAleer). This melted crayon art is exhuberant, nostalgic and easy to create. Read all about how to make one on a blog post by Meg Duerksen

Something wicked … by nikkiraesmith featuring a pin brooch

I treasure old photos, like this one of my grandma, Stella Mensche, during a crazy hat party at the bar in Brooklyn where she used to work. Historypin provides a visionary platform to organize and share photos like this by year and geographical location.

Historypin is a compelling way to connect the past and present, online and all over the world.

The site provides a platform for people to share their old and new photos and “pin” them on a large virtual map (Google map) of the world. You can search them by a combination of year and location and through “tours” other users have created. Right now, more than 50,000 photos have been uploaded so far. While I’m assuming it will take people a while to dig through, scan in and categorize their old family photos, this can can become a truly groundbreaking interface as more and more people start to contribute. It could change the way we see the world and relate to the past.

I know I can’t wait to browse the collections out of curiosity. I’ve always been fascinated, like most, I assume, about what it was like to grow up in a different decade and I get lost in old photos of my family, so this site is definitely filling my vintage void.

This is my great grandfather Nono in Brooklyn. The photo was taken in the early 1940s and will likely be one of the first photos I contribute to Historypin.

I haven’t uploaded anything yet, but I’m already sifting through the Brooklyn photos during the time that my parents lived there, for inspiration, information and any revelation that may come of it. Eventually I plan to add their photos to the mix. Recent photos are also encouraged and will be great for comparisons of locations and lifestyle changes through the years, but I’m much more impressed by the exchange of history and perspective.

On the right is a photo of my great grandfather Nono in front of the USS Talamanca (AF-15), a ship acquired by the U.S. Navy during WWII. Nono was a merchant marine and sailed on that ship when it was a fruit ship. My Uncle Billy is a Navy veteran and holds a lot of valuable stories and knowledge about my family. He put the photo on a flash drive he gave me for Christmas a few years ago and estimates that the photo was probably taken sometime between 1944 and 1946, before the ship was sold and renamed. This will likely be my first contribution to Historypin because I actually know the relative location and year it was taken and I feel like it says a lot about the pride and work ethic of my great grandpa and is a bit of an ode to the interesting life my family led in Brooklyn.

This video shows you the basics and introduces you to the site and it’s initial capabilities. I have a feeling there will be much more to come. Check it out: