Speaking of woolen socks: For Christmas I got a "learn how to knit" kit. So I learned how to knit.
Now before all you knitting friends of mine start feeling all triumphant, I have to tell you that it's just as I expected. I don't like it. It's tedious and consumptive. Sure it gets faster with more practice, but it's still ridiculously slower than sewing. It also violates my greatest DIY philosophy, which is to always use as little material as possible. It uses so much yarn, no matter how you do it. And it's impossible for me to keep track of counting things over long periods of time. Just doing single ribbing took too much concentration. "Crap was that a knit or a purl I just did? I'm not paying attention because my brain is going numb with boredom!"
I'm not saying that knitting is the worst thing ever. It's just not for me. I like knit clothing, but I don't like making it. So I'm just here to tell you that now I've tried it. I mean, I don't run around telling people how awesome sewing is and how it will change their life forever if they learn how to do it. As far as time-consuming crafty hobbies go, I think I've got enough to work with between sewing and tablet weaving. Unbelievably, I don't have the time to sit around doing these things all day. Everyone says, "Just do it when you're watching TV/movies," but guess what, I don't have the time to sit around watching TV and movies. I'm not just making excuses.
However, just to placate these crazies, I think I'll try to knit some woolen socks using some of the yarn my mom has spun. I guess I'd have to find a sock pattern or something. I don't know if socks are considered hard or easy. I guess I'll see. If I utilize my new-found knitting skills further than that, I'll probably just make parts of clothing. Like collars, cuffs, waistbands. To get an interesting mixed textile effect.
Of course, if I'm going to get into the world of tedious, time-consuming, fiber-consuming fiber arts, I should be learning how to naalbind. Now the half of you who aren't saying "What the crap is that?" are saying "Why would you want to learn that, it's reportedly even harder/more time consuming than knitting!" Well, it's simple. It's a skill that not every other person on the block has. It's something that's actually useful for me in an SCA way as well as real life. Mostly, I think it looks cooler than knitting.
And on top of tablet weaving I'm going to look at figuring out fancy ways to braid. Maybe with wire. If anyone is wondering about weaving, braiding and naalbinding, this page is very useful.
2008/12/31
2008/12/20
Wrock Basics The H - W
These are my favorite bands so far (alphabetical order). I'm keeping the recommended songs to 2, believe me, there is so much more I could recommend. And regarding the "sounds like", please bear in mind that I am NOT a musical genre expert, as much as I wish I was.
So go check out their websites, and if you find you like any of these bands a lot, buy their cds! I did!
The Hermione Crookshanks Experience
Sounds like: synthpop
Songs: Ready and Prepared; Trelawny
Wins: best Hermione band
The House of Black
Sounds like: house, techno, goth, acoustic
Songs: Potter Addict; I Think My Boyfriend is a Deatheater
Wins: Techno that doesn’t really annoy me
The Hufflepunks
Sounds like: punk rawk, hip-hop, ska
Songs: A Letter for You Harry; The Prophet
Wins: has that excellent indie/local ska/punk sound
The Marauders
Sounds like: indie, acoustic
Songs: Snape’s Worst Memory; Ghost Ballet
Wins: prepubescent wrock that doesn’t totally suck—you have no idea how rare this is
The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office
Sounds like: electronica, rock
Songs: Albus’s Adagio; Occlumency Lessions
Wins: They’re like Ministry of Magic’s guitar-wielding younger brother (which is especially awesome because they’re a department in the MoM)
The Moaning Myrtles
Sounds like: jazz/hot jazz/swing, acoustic
Songs: Emo Guy; And Then I Died
Wins: So fun and whimsical, and with a delightfully dirty sense of humor
The Mudbloods
Sounds like: pop rock, filk
Songs: Zombies!; Concerning Dementors
Wins: Zombies! Seriously!
The Owl Post
Sounds like: acoustic, pop rock
Songs: Voldy is a Waste; A Different Kind with Marked As His Equal
Wins: Good use of duet
The Parselmouths
Sounds like: electronica, acoustic
Songs: Illegal Love Potion; Where is Draco?
Wins: Excellent Slytherin point of view
The Quaffle Kids
Sounds like: varied genres
Songs: The Common Welsh Green; Magical Me
Wins: There isn’t enough drinking-song wrock.
The Remus Lupins
Sounds like: indie, acoustic pop
Songs: Teenage Werewolf; Origin
Wins: This guy is so awesome, he can do anything!
The Unspeakables
Sounds like: rock, punk rawk
Songs: Time Turner; Devil’s Snare
Wins: Good storytelling
The Weasel King
Sounds like: electronica, techno, acoustic
Songs: The Flying Motorbike; Something Wicked
Wins: The Red Hair Project is such a great example of giving to the community, and great sound mixing
The Whomping Willows
Sounds like: acoustic, indie, rock
Songs: Wizard Rock Heart Throb; Seasonal Depression
Wins: Most creative use of point of view (also, I love wrock songs about wrock)
Thomas and Finnigan
Sounds like: acoustic
Songs: Trelawney’s A Joke; The Old DA
Wins: it's pretty . . .
Tom Riddle and Friends
Sounds like: acoustic, soft rock, love songs, comedy, Flight of the Conchords
Songs: This is a Power Ballad; Ginny Speaking Song
Wins: most ironic, and funniest dialogue tracks
Tonks and the Aurors
Sounds like: chick rock, pop rock
Songs: In Which Tonks Loses Her Cool; Werewolf Love
Wins: I'll fill this in later :)
Wingardium Leviosa
Sounds like: chick rock, pop rock, acoustic
Songs: Slytherin Girl; Locked Out
Wins: I'll fill this in later :)
Witherwings
Sounds like: acoustic, various genres
Songs: Oliver Wood; Letters from No One
Wins: I'll fill this in later :)
So go check out their websites, and if you find you like any of these bands a lot, buy their cds! I did!
The Hermione Crookshanks Experience
Sounds like: synthpop
Songs: Ready and Prepared; Trelawny
Wins: best Hermione band
The House of Black
Sounds like: house, techno, goth, acoustic
Songs: Potter Addict; I Think My Boyfriend is a Deatheater
Wins: Techno that doesn’t really annoy me
The Hufflepunks
Sounds like: punk rawk, hip-hop, ska
Songs: A Letter for You Harry; The Prophet
Wins: has that excellent indie/local ska/punk sound
The Marauders
Sounds like: indie, acoustic
Songs: Snape’s Worst Memory; Ghost Ballet
Wins: prepubescent wrock that doesn’t totally suck—you have no idea how rare this is
The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office
Sounds like: electronica, rock
Songs: Albus’s Adagio; Occlumency Lessions
Wins: They’re like Ministry of Magic’s guitar-wielding younger brother (which is especially awesome because they’re a department in the MoM)
The Moaning Myrtles
Sounds like: jazz/hot jazz/swing, acoustic
Songs: Emo Guy; And Then I Died
Wins: So fun and whimsical, and with a delightfully dirty sense of humor
The Mudbloods
Sounds like: pop rock, filk
Songs: Zombies!; Concerning Dementors
Wins: Zombies! Seriously!
The Owl Post
Sounds like: acoustic, pop rock
Songs: Voldy is a Waste; A Different Kind with Marked As His Equal
Wins: Good use of duet
The Parselmouths
Sounds like: electronica, acoustic
Songs: Illegal Love Potion; Where is Draco?
Wins: Excellent Slytherin point of view
The Quaffle Kids
Sounds like: varied genres
Songs: The Common Welsh Green; Magical Me
Wins: There isn’t enough drinking-song wrock.
The Remus Lupins
Sounds like: indie, acoustic pop
Songs: Teenage Werewolf; Origin
Wins: This guy is so awesome, he can do anything!
The Unspeakables
Sounds like: rock, punk rawk
Songs: Time Turner; Devil’s Snare
Wins: Good storytelling
The Weasel King
Sounds like: electronica, techno, acoustic
Songs: The Flying Motorbike; Something Wicked
Wins: The Red Hair Project is such a great example of giving to the community, and great sound mixing
The Whomping Willows
Sounds like: acoustic, indie, rock
Songs: Wizard Rock Heart Throb; Seasonal Depression
Wins: Most creative use of point of view (also, I love wrock songs about wrock)
Thomas and Finnigan
Sounds like: acoustic
Songs: Trelawney’s A Joke; The Old DA
Wins: it's pretty . . .
Tom Riddle and Friends
Sounds like: acoustic, soft rock, love songs, comedy, Flight of the Conchords
Songs: This is a Power Ballad; Ginny Speaking Song
Wins: most ironic, and funniest dialogue tracks
Tonks and the Aurors
Sounds like: chick rock, pop rock
Songs: In Which Tonks Loses Her Cool; Werewolf Love
Wins: I'll fill this in later :)
Wingardium Leviosa
Sounds like: chick rock, pop rock, acoustic
Songs: Slytherin Girl; Locked Out
Wins: I'll fill this in later :)
Witherwings
Sounds like: acoustic, various genres
Songs: Oliver Wood; Letters from No One
Wins: I'll fill this in later :)
2008/12/19
Project: Recon (Doppel)
I have two reconned projects to show you today.
First: The Denim/Fur Skirt
My idea for this originated from seeing various Saracen/bellydancer styles, but it went north from there and came out made from denim with faux fur trim. Here is the original:
There were several things I found myself not liking about this, after wearing it for a while. Try as I did, I didn't manage to get the waistband to actually fit me. It was too large. I added darts to it and it was still too large, I found myself constantly pulling the skirt up because it felt like it was falling off. I didn't like how bulky the gathers were (even though it's fairly thin denim), and the weight of the skirt was straining and eventually breaking the waistband seam. Finally, the overpanels on the sides were certainly an interesting design element, but the skirt felt cumbersome enough without the added bulk of these panels flapping about uselessly.
So it went in the mending pile and came out like this:
One of the useless side panels was used to create a new waistband, this one very high and fitted. I moved the opening to the front (the previous edition had two buttons on the side). The other panel got turned into a large patch pocket with a zipper. I kept the skirt width the same, but pleated it all in the back. I wore this a few hours after making it, and find it to be very comfortable, and it doesn't feel heavy and in the way like it previously did.
Second: A T-shirt Recon
Tshirts are my fashion nemesis, so I don't know why I keep buying them. I tell myself to stop. I got this one at the Scottish Festival/Highland Games at Thanksgiving point this summer. It sat in my mending pile for so long that I forgot it existed. Then I remembered and thought I had lost it. Then I found it.
I didn't get a before photo, so just imagine the basic boxy oversized tshirt.
I cut the neckline differently and added elastic to it, added small gores at the sides, made the sleeves a tiny bit smaller, and gathered it in the back. A very simple recon, but it works.
First: The Denim/Fur Skirt
My idea for this originated from seeing various Saracen/bellydancer styles, but it went north from there and came out made from denim with faux fur trim. Here is the original:
There were several things I found myself not liking about this, after wearing it for a while. Try as I did, I didn't manage to get the waistband to actually fit me. It was too large. I added darts to it and it was still too large, I found myself constantly pulling the skirt up because it felt like it was falling off. I didn't like how bulky the gathers were (even though it's fairly thin denim), and the weight of the skirt was straining and eventually breaking the waistband seam. Finally, the overpanels on the sides were certainly an interesting design element, but the skirt felt cumbersome enough without the added bulk of these panels flapping about uselessly.
So it went in the mending pile and came out like this:
One of the useless side panels was used to create a new waistband, this one very high and fitted. I moved the opening to the front (the previous edition had two buttons on the side). The other panel got turned into a large patch pocket with a zipper. I kept the skirt width the same, but pleated it all in the back. I wore this a few hours after making it, and find it to be very comfortable, and it doesn't feel heavy and in the way like it previously did.
Second: A T-shirt Recon
Tshirts are my fashion nemesis, so I don't know why I keep buying them. I tell myself to stop. I got this one at the Scottish Festival/Highland Games at Thanksgiving point this summer. It sat in my mending pile for so long that I forgot it existed. Then I remembered and thought I had lost it. Then I found it.
I didn't get a before photo, so just imagine the basic boxy oversized tshirt.
I cut the neckline differently and added elastic to it, added small gores at the sides, made the sleeves a tiny bit smaller, and gathered it in the back. A very simple recon, but it works.
2008/12/18
Wrock Basics N-The G
*This is a repost from my old blog. I hope to continue this series now that circumstances are more favorable.*
These are my favorite bands so far (alphabetical order). I'm keeping the recommended songs to 2, believe me, there is so much more I could recommend. And regarding the "sounds like", please bear in mind that I am NOT a musical genre expert, as much as I wish I was.
Please let me know about faulty links.
So go check out their websites, and if you find you like any of these bands a lot, buy their cds! I did!
Clicking on an artist link will take you to the artist's page (most of these are myspace). Clicking on a song link will automatically start a download (or open a page with a player, depending on your browser), except a few of them may take you to a page with a link to download the sing.
Nagini
Sounds like: acoustic, indie, female vocals
Songs: Narcissa Unleashed; Walburga Blues
Wins: best take on Horcruxes
Obliviate!
Sounds like: acoustic, indie, female vocals
Songs: Revenge (Of the Best Kind); Love Ginny
Wins: they're just good
Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls
Sounds like: indie, rock, pop
Songs: Mischeif Managed; Open at the Close
Wins: best "this is how the band started" story
Ollivander
Sounds like: punk rawk
Songs: Mars; Not Slytherin
Wins: Really excellent punk
Peeved
Sounds like: comedy, various genres
Songs: This Book is So Awesome (Percy’s Version); Expelliarmus Kid
Wins: Excellent exploration of genres
Remus and the Lupins
Sounds like: various genres, comedy, electronica
Songs: Expecto Patronum; I Hate You, the Moon
Wins: most hilarious retelling of learning Expecto Patronum
RiddleTM
Sounds like: piano + vocals, soft
Songs: Ode to Voldemort; Beans
Wins: ambiguously-gendered voice
Romilda Vane and the Chocolate Cauldrons
Sounds like: piano, female vocals, indie
Songs: Frozen; Godric’s Hollow
Wins: most haunting
Roonil Wazlib
Sounds like: acoustic, indie
Songs: SOMEONE Isn’t Getting Any . . . ; On the Wings of a Bird
Wins: Didn’t like her at first, but now I do
Split Seven Ways
Sounds like: acoustic, female vocals, indie
Songs: Slip on the Mask; Don’t Call Me Coward
Wins: straight up THE BEST character songs
Talons & Tea Leaves
Sounds like: rock, hip-hop
Songs: Fawkes’ Lament; The Sorting Hat
Wins: Take two of the greater wrock bands (Catchlove and Oliver Boyd & the Remembralls) and then realize that this is both of them put together.
The Broom Closet Diaries
Sounds like: rock, storytelling
Songs: The Beginning
Wins: makes me wish they had more songs
The Brothers Black
Sounds like: rockabilly, 50's pop
Songs: Kiss Me; Don’t Want to be a Deatheater
Wins: they’re just good.
The Butterbeer Experience
Sounds like: broadway/showtunes, piano + female vocals
Songs: Accio Hot Guy; Wrock Rocks!
Wins: most done by a single woman
The Curse Breakers
Sounds like: goth, chick rock, pagan
Songs: Full Moon; Be My Dementor
Wins: The best chick wrock band
The Gringotts Grrls
Sounds like: medieval, a capella
Songs: Draconis; Deep Underground
Wins: most cognitive dissonance between the band name and the band sound
These are my favorite bands so far (alphabetical order). I'm keeping the recommended songs to 2, believe me, there is so much more I could recommend. And regarding the "sounds like", please bear in mind that I am NOT a musical genre expert, as much as I wish I was.
Please let me know about faulty links.
So go check out their websites, and if you find you like any of these bands a lot, buy their cds! I did!
Clicking on an artist link will take you to the artist's page (most of these are myspace). Clicking on a song link will automatically start a download (or open a page with a player, depending on your browser), except a few of them may take you to a page with a link to download the sing.
Nagini
Sounds like: acoustic, indie, female vocals
Songs: Narcissa Unleashed; Walburga Blues
Wins: best take on Horcruxes
Obliviate!
Sounds like: acoustic, indie, female vocals
Songs: Revenge (Of the Best Kind); Love Ginny
Wins: they're just good
Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls
Sounds like: indie, rock, pop
Songs: Mischeif Managed; Open at the Close
Wins: best "this is how the band started" story
Ollivander
Sounds like: punk rawk
Songs: Mars; Not Slytherin
Wins: Really excellent punk
Peeved
Sounds like: comedy, various genres
Songs: This Book is So Awesome (Percy’s Version); Expelliarmus Kid
Wins: Excellent exploration of genres
Remus and the Lupins
Sounds like: various genres, comedy, electronica
Songs: Expecto Patronum; I Hate You, the Moon
Wins: most hilarious retelling of learning Expecto Patronum
RiddleTM
Sounds like: piano + vocals, soft
Songs: Ode to Voldemort; Beans
Wins: ambiguously-gendered voice
Romilda Vane and the Chocolate Cauldrons
Sounds like: piano, female vocals, indie
Songs: Frozen; Godric’s Hollow
Wins: most haunting
Roonil Wazlib
Sounds like: acoustic, indie
Songs: SOMEONE Isn’t Getting Any . . . ; On the Wings of a Bird
Wins: Didn’t like her at first, but now I do
Split Seven Ways
Sounds like: acoustic, female vocals, indie
Songs: Slip on the Mask; Don’t Call Me Coward
Wins: straight up THE BEST character songs
Talons & Tea Leaves
Sounds like: rock, hip-hop
Songs: Fawkes’ Lament; The Sorting Hat
Wins: Take two of the greater wrock bands (Catchlove and Oliver Boyd & the Remembralls) and then realize that this is both of them put together.
The Broom Closet Diaries
Sounds like: rock, storytelling
Songs: The Beginning
Wins: makes me wish they had more songs
The Brothers Black
Sounds like: rockabilly, 50's pop
Songs: Kiss Me; Don’t Want to be a Deatheater
Wins: they’re just good.
The Butterbeer Experience
Sounds like: broadway/showtunes, piano + female vocals
Songs: Accio Hot Guy; Wrock Rocks!
Wins: most done by a single woman
The Curse Breakers
Sounds like: goth, chick rock, pagan
Songs: Full Moon; Be My Dementor
Wins: The best chick wrock band
The Gringotts Grrls
Sounds like: medieval, a capella
Songs: Draconis; Deep Underground
Wins: most cognitive dissonance between the band name and the band sound
2008/12/17
Wrock Basics A-M
*This is a repost from my old blog. I hope to continue this series now that things are more in my favor.*
These are my favorite bands so far (alphabetical order). I'm keeping the recommended songs to 2, believe me, there is so much more I could recommend. And regarding the "sounds like", please bear in mind that I am NOT a musical genre expert, as much as I wish I was.
So go check out their websites, and if you find you like any of these bands a lot, buy their cds! I did!
Clicking on an artist link will take you to the artist's page (most of these are myspace). Clicking on a song link will automatically start a download (or open a page with a player, depending on your browser), except a few of them may take you to a page with a link to download the sing.
Advanced Potion-Making
Sounds like: electric guitar solos!
Songs: Arry
Wins: best single-song repertoire
Catchlove
Sounds like: punk/indie/pop
Songs: Wake Up Harry; It's Snowing
Wins: just plain awesome
Diagon Alley
Sounds like: various genres (maybe hot jazz?)
Songs: Books of Magic; Gringotts
Wins: use of violin
Draco and the Malfoys
Sounds like: indie rock, comedy/experimental
Songs: My Dad is Rich; Epilogue
Wins: most likely to turn into They Might Be Giants
Dungbombs Rock!
Sounds like: street punk, indie
Songs: Mister Minister; What's Coming Will Come
Wins: best raw, "local band" sound
Ginny and the Heartbreakers
Sounds like: indie
Songs: Voldie-who?; Hope This Christmas
Wins: fun yellow silliness
Gred and Forge
Sounds like: punk rawk
Songs: Insufferable Know-It-All Hermione Granger; Ginny Gets Around
Wins: if the Weasley twins actually existed and had a band, they would sound like this
Harry and the Potters
Sounds like: indie rock
Songs: Save Ginny Weasley; Dumbledore
Wins: use of the word "homogenous" as a lyric (*coughstartedthegenrecough*)
Harry Potter and the Magic of Music
Sounds like: comedy, electronica
Songs: Perfect Blond Hair; The Greatest Halloween
Wins: best voice acting
Hogwarts
Sounds like: hardcore/symphonic metal
Songs: Aragog; In the Forbidden Forest
Wins: weaned me onto the hardcore metal genre
Hogwarts Trainwreck
Sounds like: classic rock, with some variation into other genres
Songs: Mollywobbles; Hormones Hit Hogwarts
Wins: sounds the most like the Beatles
Hollow Godric
Sounds like: indie, acoustic + woodwind, ballads
Songs: The Lonely Half-Giant; The Grim's Lament
Wins: discovering this band was totally worth not going to church that day
Into the Penseive
Sounds like: indie, acoustic rock, comedy
Songs: Portkey to Your Heart; Confessions of the Half-Blood Prince
Wins: songs that would actually exist (and be played on the radio) in the wizarding world
Lord of the Strings
Sounds like: acoustic rock, folk
Songs: Raiding Song; You Shall Not Pass
Wins: most fantasy love
Malfoy Manor
Sounds like: electronica, distinctive female vocals, character songs
Songs: Live Fast Die Young; Second Thoughts
Wins: straight-up the best character songs (alongside Split Seven Ways)
Marked As His Equal
Sounds like: Acoustic rock, folk
Songs: Face the Dragon; Wrock Show
Wins: I just like him, okay?
Ministry of Magic
Sounds like: electronica/techno, early 90's pop, strong vocals
Songs: Snape Vs. Snape; Old Enough to Die
Wins: every single song is pure, concentrated AWESOMENESS
These are my favorite bands so far (alphabetical order). I'm keeping the recommended songs to 2, believe me, there is so much more I could recommend. And regarding the "sounds like", please bear in mind that I am NOT a musical genre expert, as much as I wish I was.
So go check out their websites, and if you find you like any of these bands a lot, buy their cds! I did!
Clicking on an artist link will take you to the artist's page (most of these are myspace). Clicking on a song link will automatically start a download (or open a page with a player, depending on your browser), except a few of them may take you to a page with a link to download the sing.
Advanced Potion-Making
Sounds like: electric guitar solos!
Songs: Arry
Wins: best single-song repertoire
Catchlove
Sounds like: punk/indie/pop
Songs: Wake Up Harry; It's Snowing
Wins: just plain awesome
Diagon Alley
Sounds like: various genres (maybe hot jazz?)
Songs: Books of Magic; Gringotts
Wins: use of violin
Draco and the Malfoys
Sounds like: indie rock, comedy/experimental
Songs: My Dad is Rich; Epilogue
Wins: most likely to turn into They Might Be Giants
Dungbombs Rock!
Sounds like: street punk, indie
Songs: Mister Minister; What's Coming Will Come
Wins: best raw, "local band" sound
Ginny and the Heartbreakers
Sounds like: indie
Songs: Voldie-who?; Hope This Christmas
Wins: fun yellow silliness
Gred and Forge
Sounds like: punk rawk
Songs: Insufferable Know-It-All Hermione Granger; Ginny Gets Around
Wins: if the Weasley twins actually existed and had a band, they would sound like this
Harry and the Potters
Sounds like: indie rock
Songs: Save Ginny Weasley; Dumbledore
Wins: use of the word "homogenous" as a lyric (*coughstartedthegenrecough*)
Harry Potter and the Magic of Music
Sounds like: comedy, electronica
Songs: Perfect Blond Hair; The Greatest Halloween
Wins: best voice acting
Hogwarts
Sounds like: hardcore/symphonic metal
Songs: Aragog; In the Forbidden Forest
Wins: weaned me onto the hardcore metal genre
Hogwarts Trainwreck
Sounds like: classic rock, with some variation into other genres
Songs: Mollywobbles; Hormones Hit Hogwarts
Wins: sounds the most like the Beatles
Hollow Godric
Sounds like: indie, acoustic + woodwind, ballads
Songs: The Lonely Half-Giant; The Grim's Lament
Wins: discovering this band was totally worth not going to church that day
Into the Penseive
Sounds like: indie, acoustic rock, comedy
Songs: Portkey to Your Heart; Confessions of the Half-Blood Prince
Wins: songs that would actually exist (and be played on the radio) in the wizarding world
Lord of the Strings
Sounds like: acoustic rock, folk
Songs: Raiding Song; You Shall Not Pass
Wins: most fantasy love
Malfoy Manor
Sounds like: electronica, distinctive female vocals, character songs
Songs: Live Fast Die Young; Second Thoughts
Wins: straight-up the best character songs (alongside Split Seven Ways)
Marked As His Equal
Sounds like: Acoustic rock, folk
Songs: Face the Dragon; Wrock Show
Wins: I just like him, okay?
Ministry of Magic
Sounds like: electronica/techno, early 90's pop, strong vocals
Songs: Snape Vs. Snape; Old Enough to Die
Wins: every single song is pure, concentrated AWESOMENESS
2008/12/14
Writing: Zombie Game.
Last summer I got an idea for a short film and quickly sketched out some scenes. I never really finished writing it, so here it is.
1.
Gross Guy: *with a bottle of beer in one hand and a bottle of Bawls in the other* I will destroy you undead pissheads! I am Wilhelm the Great!
Girl: Can't you do something about that guy?
Narrator: *Shakes head* Once the game is on, the game is on.
Girl: But he's . . .
Narrator: Disgusting? Be glad he's on the human's side. He might be the last one standing.
2.
Narrator: Every day, students on campus are killed. Some will rise again, but if we're lucky, they will walk no more.
*A crowded hallway. Students bearing backpacks and books mill past each other, awkwardly shoving. A tough-looking guy with a goatee and a red bandanna tied around his short black hair sees a thin, pale guy with a green bandanna amble past. The red guy's eyes widen and he pulls a water gun out of his waistband, turns and aims it dramatically and shoots. The green guy, hit with a stream of water, moans piteously.*
Narrator: And you learn--life as a college student sucks, but death as a college student, that's not so bad. *The narrator grins at the camera, affixes a green bandanna to his head, and steps outside.*
3.
*A man sits high up on a building--on a balcony or something, with one of those extreme water guns affixed to a tripod. He scans the people below with binoculars and spots one with a green bandanna. He aims with the water gun and shoots--but ti's not extreme enough, and the water falls far short of its mark, sprinkling gently onto passersby below. He looks disappointed, until he hears a shuffling behind him. He turns and grabs the gun, tripod and all, and screams as he wildly shoots the green-bandannaed person with water.
4.
Narrator: You can't stop it, man. Once the game starts, it never stops. Just look at it. Look around you. Every day there's more and more people wearing bandannas. They weren't there when it started. People choose to play.
5.
*Man on balcony/rooftop is assembling a giant slingshot. He peers through the binoculars, finds a green target, and shoots a water balloon. The zombie falls forward from the impact and water gushes around him.
Sniper: Yes.
6.
*text: Police Beat--an unidentified suspect has been bombing the student body with water balloons.*
7.
*The tough goateed guy is getting undressed in his dorm. He pulls off his black t-shirt. There is a white chalk X on the back.*
Tough Guy: Noooo!
8.
Narrator: At first the complaint was that the humans had a huge advantage over the zombies. But that's the way it is. Zombies can't hurt you until they're up close. A human's best defense is a long-range weapon. That's just how it goes.
9.
*At a store, the tough guy glances around nervously, at a register, paying for a green bandanna.
10.
Narrator: Am I afraid I'll get caught? No--no one knows who I am. As far as they know, I'm zedhed33. I post only from public campus computers. It may have been my idea, but as far as anyone else is concerned, I'm just another player.
11.
Narrator: *VO* Does college life leave you feeling drained, tired, braindead? Do you meander aimlessly, vaguely yearning for something you don't have? Do you often find yourself thinking that everything would be much better if you could just consume the knowledge of others? Help is on the way. Introducing Undeath. Ask yourself is Undeath is right for you.
*Twisted, weird angles, weird lighting, messed up framerate shots of people shuffling along in masses. Staring blankly ahead in class. A teacher calls on someone and they let out a long, low groan. Then a shot of a green-bandannaed person and a red-bandannaed person, normal two shot, normal colors. The red person has their hands in the air, mouth open and eyes wide in a pantomimic expression of shock, as the green person, with large dramatic movements, draws an X in chalk on the red person's chest. The camera slowly pans into a closeup on the red person as the colors become messed up so the red bandanna appears green.*
12.
*Dean's office.*
Dean: So why have you been terrorizing the school with water balloons?
*Pause.*
Sniper: Zombies.
Dean: *eyes narrow* Zombies?
Sniper: Uh huh.
13.
*Dean's office.*
Dean: Look out there, just look! It's chaos! I will not have this happening at my school!
*Through the large window, the student body can be seen walking about, looking fairly calm and normal. When the Dean turns away from the window, a boy outside gets taken out by a water balloon, falling forward into a large person in front of him. The large person, taking this as an unnecessary affront, turns and decks the soaking offender. This evolves pretty quickly into a large brawl. The Dean continues talking, unaware of what's going on behind him.*
Dean: This calls for drastic security measures. We need a campus-wide prohibition of water weapons. And furthermore, we will find out who's behind this zombie nonsense.
Other guy: What makes you think this wasn't just one kid performing a prank?
Dean: College kids don't do pranks, officer. They get drunk and have wild, kinky, non-committal sex. Those bastards.
And that's about as far as I got. If I could just tack some kind of ending onto this thing it would be close enough to an actual script. But whatever.
1.
Gross Guy: *with a bottle of beer in one hand and a bottle of Bawls in the other* I will destroy you undead pissheads! I am Wilhelm the Great!
Girl: Can't you do something about that guy?
Narrator: *Shakes head* Once the game is on, the game is on.
Girl: But he's . . .
Narrator: Disgusting? Be glad he's on the human's side. He might be the last one standing.
2.
Narrator: Every day, students on campus are killed. Some will rise again, but if we're lucky, they will walk no more.
*A crowded hallway. Students bearing backpacks and books mill past each other, awkwardly shoving. A tough-looking guy with a goatee and a red bandanna tied around his short black hair sees a thin, pale guy with a green bandanna amble past. The red guy's eyes widen and he pulls a water gun out of his waistband, turns and aims it dramatically and shoots. The green guy, hit with a stream of water, moans piteously.*
Narrator: And you learn--life as a college student sucks, but death as a college student, that's not so bad. *The narrator grins at the camera, affixes a green bandanna to his head, and steps outside.*
3.
*A man sits high up on a building--on a balcony or something, with one of those extreme water guns affixed to a tripod. He scans the people below with binoculars and spots one with a green bandanna. He aims with the water gun and shoots--but ti's not extreme enough, and the water falls far short of its mark, sprinkling gently onto passersby below. He looks disappointed, until he hears a shuffling behind him. He turns and grabs the gun, tripod and all, and screams as he wildly shoots the green-bandannaed person with water.
4.
Narrator: You can't stop it, man. Once the game starts, it never stops. Just look at it. Look around you. Every day there's more and more people wearing bandannas. They weren't there when it started. People choose to play.
5.
*Man on balcony/rooftop is assembling a giant slingshot. He peers through the binoculars, finds a green target, and shoots a water balloon. The zombie falls forward from the impact and water gushes around him.
Sniper: Yes.
6.
*text: Police Beat--an unidentified suspect has been bombing the student body with water balloons.*
7.
*The tough goateed guy is getting undressed in his dorm. He pulls off his black t-shirt. There is a white chalk X on the back.*
Tough Guy: Noooo!
8.
Narrator: At first the complaint was that the humans had a huge advantage over the zombies. But that's the way it is. Zombies can't hurt you until they're up close. A human's best defense is a long-range weapon. That's just how it goes.
9.
*At a store, the tough guy glances around nervously, at a register, paying for a green bandanna.
10.
Narrator: Am I afraid I'll get caught? No--no one knows who I am. As far as they know, I'm zedhed33. I post only from public campus computers. It may have been my idea, but as far as anyone else is concerned, I'm just another player.
11.
Narrator: *VO* Does college life leave you feeling drained, tired, braindead? Do you meander aimlessly, vaguely yearning for something you don't have? Do you often find yourself thinking that everything would be much better if you could just consume the knowledge of others? Help is on the way. Introducing Undeath. Ask yourself is Undeath is right for you.
*Twisted, weird angles, weird lighting, messed up framerate shots of people shuffling along in masses. Staring blankly ahead in class. A teacher calls on someone and they let out a long, low groan. Then a shot of a green-bandannaed person and a red-bandannaed person, normal two shot, normal colors. The red person has their hands in the air, mouth open and eyes wide in a pantomimic expression of shock, as the green person, with large dramatic movements, draws an X in chalk on the red person's chest. The camera slowly pans into a closeup on the red person as the colors become messed up so the red bandanna appears green.*
12.
*Dean's office.*
Dean: So why have you been terrorizing the school with water balloons?
*Pause.*
Sniper: Zombies.
Dean: *eyes narrow* Zombies?
Sniper: Uh huh.
13.
*Dean's office.*
Dean: Look out there, just look! It's chaos! I will not have this happening at my school!
*Through the large window, the student body can be seen walking about, looking fairly calm and normal. When the Dean turns away from the window, a boy outside gets taken out by a water balloon, falling forward into a large person in front of him. The large person, taking this as an unnecessary affront, turns and decks the soaking offender. This evolves pretty quickly into a large brawl. The Dean continues talking, unaware of what's going on behind him.*
Dean: This calls for drastic security measures. We need a campus-wide prohibition of water weapons. And furthermore, we will find out who's behind this zombie nonsense.
Other guy: What makes you think this wasn't just one kid performing a prank?
Dean: College kids don't do pranks, officer. They get drunk and have wild, kinky, non-committal sex. Those bastards.
And that's about as far as I got. If I could just tack some kind of ending onto this thing it would be close enough to an actual script. But whatever.
2008/11/20
MVT.
Music Video Theater. I have a great love for music videos, as they are the last remaining vestige for experimental film. Here are a few of my favorites.
Ludo: Love Me Dead
Blind Guardian: Mr. Sandman
They Might be Giants: Birdhouse in Your Soul
They Might be Giants: Don't Let's Start
Yes, two TMBG songs because they are awesome.
(I know, you were all expecting me to use "Experimental Film" from TMBG! Ell oh ell!)
Ludo: Love Me Dead
Blind Guardian: Mr. Sandman
They Might be Giants: Birdhouse in Your Soul
They Might be Giants: Don't Let's Start
Yes, two TMBG songs because they are awesome.
(I know, you were all expecting me to use "Experimental Film" from TMBG! Ell oh ell!)
2008/11/07
Dean Thomas Must Die
(Aka "Monster in my Chest." I've rewritten this a number of times but I think this time it's better. This song features blatant references to "Save Ginny Weasley" and "Save Ginny Weasley from Dean Thomas" by Harry and the Potters)
As for secret monsters
Within secret chambers
Lord Voldemort did well
The basilisk was swell
I killed it with a sword
I foiled the Dark Lord--but
A greater monster waits
For the sister of my mate
I’ve saved Ginny and Hogwarts from
Monsters and from Voldemort
Now there’s another monster that’s
In a chamber in my heart
There's a monster in my chest
That makes me want to kill
Dean Thomas every day,
In any way
I want to punch him in the face
Or hex him in the halls
Dean Thomas will pay
In every way
Dean Thomas must die
It all comes down to
That awful feeling
And I can’t stop it
I can’t control it
This secret monster
In my heart’s chamber
I need to feed it
Kill Dean Thomas!
I felt petrified when I saw them
Snogging in the hallway
He can’t take my best mate’s sister
Cause I deserve her more!
There's a monster in my chest
That makes me want to kill
Dean Thomas every day,
In any way
I want to punch him in the face
Or hex him in the halls
Dean Thomas will pay
In every way
Dean Thomas must die
Who cares about Ron?
(He's just Ginny's brother)
Who cares about Ron?
(He's only my best mate)
Who cares about Ron?
(He'd kill me if he knew
I have to) Save Ginny
Weasley from Dean Thomas!
There's a monster in my chest
That makes me want to kill
Dean Thomas every day,
In any way
I want to punch him in the face
Or hex him in the halls
Dean Thomas will pay
In every way
Dean Thomas must die
Dean Thomas must die!
As for secret monsters
Within secret chambers
Lord Voldemort did well
The basilisk was swell
I killed it with a sword
I foiled the Dark Lord--but
A greater monster waits
For the sister of my mate
I’ve saved Ginny and Hogwarts from
Monsters and from Voldemort
Now there’s another monster that’s
In a chamber in my heart
There's a monster in my chest
That makes me want to kill
Dean Thomas every day,
In any way
I want to punch him in the face
Or hex him in the halls
Dean Thomas will pay
In every way
Dean Thomas must die
It all comes down to
That awful feeling
And I can’t stop it
I can’t control it
This secret monster
In my heart’s chamber
I need to feed it
Kill Dean Thomas!
I felt petrified when I saw them
Snogging in the hallway
He can’t take my best mate’s sister
Cause I deserve her more!
There's a monster in my chest
That makes me want to kill
Dean Thomas every day,
In any way
I want to punch him in the face
Or hex him in the halls
Dean Thomas will pay
In every way
Dean Thomas must die
Who cares about Ron?
(He's just Ginny's brother)
Who cares about Ron?
(He's only my best mate)
Who cares about Ron?
(He'd kill me if he knew
I have to) Save Ginny
Weasley from Dean Thomas!
There's a monster in my chest
That makes me want to kill
Dean Thomas every day,
In any way
I want to punch him in the face
Or hex him in the halls
Dean Thomas will pay
In every way
Dean Thomas must die
Dean Thomas must die!
2008/11/05
Project: Kragelund Tunic.
I finished it on Sunday (Nov 2).
The tunic is made with 100% wool flannel in a dark brown color, and is completely stitched by hand. I drafted the pattern to make a replica of a tunic found in Denmark, which was dated to the 1100s. As you can see it's a little too big for me, especially with the sleeves being too long, but that doesn't really matter. I tried to make the measurements match fairly closely to the measurements of the original; however, it's not an exact replica.
The tunic features a bird motif embroidered near the neckline. The bird motif was based on fragments of embroidery, also found in Denmark, dated to the 900s. I have also done simple embroidery along the wrists in an x-chain, and I have topstitched most of the seams with a contrasting thread for further decoration. All the seams are finished on the inside, and the neckline is finished with facing, and topstitched along the edge.
I usually hate warm colors, especially orange, brown, and yellow, so it's strange that I chose that scheme for this tunic, which I will probably wear a lot. I think I subconsciously hoped that the warm colors would make the tunic actually be warmer.
This is my entry for the A&S competition coming up in the Province at Toys for Tots. I have to figure out how to do documentation for it. Obviously I've done research, and I know that it's period, but I don't have any idea how this documentation is supposed to be presented. So far I've basically written a short essay explaining all about the original coat and how I've based my tunic off of it, with a "bibliography" of the websites where I got my info (and the websites cite books which publish the archeological finds). I hope that's a correct way to do it. The essay even has pictures and charts! If that's not documentation, I don't know what is. But since I've never done this before, or seen it done, I don't really know what they are expecting. I guess it's not a bad thing if I go overboard.
After the competition is over, I'm going to shorten the sleeves at the very least, to make it fit me better. I will also add in pocket slits. And I will probably give it to Collin when he comes back and becomes a Viking with me.
If I use this pattern again to make something for myself, I'll keep the width in the body, but I will make the sleeves shorter, and I'll create armscyes to make it less baggy around the shoulders.
2008/10/31
Halloween
About this costume, starting from the top.
Hair: At first I dyed my hair with non-permanent black dye, because I've lived through the horrors of growing out hair dye, and I didn't want to do it again. Unfortunately the non-permanent dye only managed to get my hair to a dark brown color. I liked how it looked, but I needed black hair, so I dyed it with permanent black the next day (yesterday). Now I have to go through the horrors again.
Decorative comb (not visible): This was a gift from Lorraine (I think from Spain. Lorraine in Spain gives gifts not plain).
Skin: That is my skin.
Lips: Superstay lipstick by Maybelline. I actually had to reapply it several times during the day because parts of it would wear off (weird blotchy lips are even worse than faded lips). JB swears that Outlast by Covergirl(?) is indestructible, but I couldn't find it in a bloody enough color. Laulau pointed me towards where I can get permanent lipstick of another brand, but it was too late by then. (I'll keep it in mind for the future, though)
Blouse: I made it several years ago for Elizabethan garb. It's made with a thin, loosely-woven white cotton.
Brooch: This is also from Lorraine (she made it). I think it was a trade but I don't remember what I made for her.
Bodice: I made this (and angsted a lot over it) over the past week. There is a lot about it that I was forced to do due to time constraints. I couldn't put gores in, nor sleeve tabs, nor grommets. I had to use green bias tape instead of black because it was too late at night to shop and I didn't have time to make bias tape. I used the loopy trim on the front in lieu of grommets (have to lace it up somehow), but fortunately that doesn't look at bad as I thought it would. That said, this is made from a pattern for 18th century stays. For my own documentation, I added 2" to the bottom, took 1/2" off each center front and back (for a total of -2") and made size 14. It's made with wide-whale cotton black corduroy, interfaced with polyester twill, and lined with light blue cotton with tiny printed penguins. It has just under 12 yards of plastic boning. (Don't nark me for it, it was cheap, available, and of much higher quality than the last time I used such stuff; and I'm not an 18th-century re-enactor). Also the lacing is a delightfully Slytherine ribbon, to which I attached aglets.
Apple (not pictured): A delicious half-red, half-green apple that I bought at a roadside fruit stand. I'm just assuming it's delicious, I haven't eaten it yet. Maybe if I eat it I'll actually fall asleep quickly.
Skirt: I made this last year from a pattern for a Civil War dress. It's made with black cotton in a strange weave which gives it an awesome nubbly/scaly-looking texture.
Shoes: You can't really see them. They are my normal lace-up boots.
2008/10/29
Useful.
In the event of the apocalypse, or social/economical/governmental downfall, or anything else that would render life into a neo-medieval survivalist situation, I like to believe that I would be useful.
It's true, I'm probably no good at fighting. I'm also for sure not a leader. But I refuse to be the little girl that everyone has to defend all the time. The greens are not necessarily a useless lot. Engineers, for example. But if I'm not giving something back to the group, then someday some red is going to have had enough of my freeloading and somehow "accidentally" things will just go bad. In a survivalist group, everyone has to contribute, and if someone thinks you're not contributing, they might do something about it. Or not do something when they should.
So anyway, I am going to be useful. How useful? Depends on the situation. Maybe they need me to make clothes--that depends on if clothing can be scavenged. I know how to make very functional vestments using as little fabric as possible. Of course everyone would look pretty medieval, but that would just be ironically appropriate. It's not my fault that medieval clothing can be extremely multifunctional. I'm just a person who recognizes that fact and knows how to do it. Of course little fashionistas are welcome to contribute, but if their designs waste a lot of fabric and aren't very functional, well, the haute couture may have to crumble for the sake of the greater good.
At the very least, if we scavenge clothing (I imagine we would for the first few years) I can alter and mend it. Furthermore I can make blankets and large "HELLO" signs to put on hillsides. Theoretically I could also make tents, or something. And we're never going to run out of buttons because all that no-longer-useful money of the old world can be very useful in that manner. I guarantee I will find something to do with every last scrap bit of fabric. I can unravel it to use the thread (only useful for hand sewing), or the scrap fabric can become batting for blankets, coats, and padded clothing to be worn with armor.
I'm no good at hacking or any hi-tech specialties like that, but I can use tools pretty well, to build things and stuff. Or I could if I had to. Admittedly I don't have a lot of experience with it, but I feel confident that I could figure out how to build rudimentary necessities.
I can make rope, but the strength really depends on the materials available. At least I understand that there's more to a (useful) rope than tying long pieces of fabric together, and that puts me one up over most people. However, I can weave pretty strong straps using any type of yarn (without needing a loom). Plus, I know how to start fires without matches, and how to make oil lamps, and I can make candles and soaps out of kitchen wastes. (Bacon grease, mostly. Let's hope we catch a few bears, those are nice and greasy and their fur is so warm!) I also know how to build small traps for catching small animals. I can make baskets, too. Don't underestimate the necessity of basketry.
I would probably also end up being a sort of chronicler/historian, thanks to my incessant journalism.
What I like about this post-apocalyptic world is that it's a world in which pop-tab scale mail is actually valid. That's basically the only thing that pop tabs in fashion has going for itself. I actually don't have any idea if that stuff is useful, but it's theoretically better than no armor at all.
And then, just think . . . eventually enough nomadic survivalist groups would join together, and go off into the countryside, and form a little community . . . They could build a giant wall to fend off zombies, mutants, government assassins, or rival survivalist groups. And then instead of scavenging they will actually start to produce things themselves. Growing crops, breeding herds, re-learning the ancient art of surviving the winter. Man, I really wasn't joking when I said neo-medieval. It just seems to be the logical strong of events--though that really depends a lot on how much technology survives and if the survivors can get their hands on it.
So think about it. Would you be useful in a survivalist situation? Do you have anything to contribute to a society in which, if you're not useful, you're out?
As Alyssa and I discussed recently, all those useless girls who have no real skills, well theoretically they could be useful in making babies, but who wants babies with useless genes? Hopefully all the useless people will have died by doing something really stupid in the midst of the apocalypse, like running out into the zombie horde, or running out into a battlefield, or whatever. Unfortunately, surviving an apocalypse has more to do with chance and a bit of luck, than with survival know-how. It's surviving after the apocalypse that your skills are important. We only want smart, useful people in our post-apocalyptic survivalist society.
It's true, I'm probably no good at fighting. I'm also for sure not a leader. But I refuse to be the little girl that everyone has to defend all the time. The greens are not necessarily a useless lot. Engineers, for example. But if I'm not giving something back to the group, then someday some red is going to have had enough of my freeloading and somehow "accidentally" things will just go bad. In a survivalist group, everyone has to contribute, and if someone thinks you're not contributing, they might do something about it. Or not do something when they should.
So anyway, I am going to be useful. How useful? Depends on the situation. Maybe they need me to make clothes--that depends on if clothing can be scavenged. I know how to make very functional vestments using as little fabric as possible. Of course everyone would look pretty medieval, but that would just be ironically appropriate. It's not my fault that medieval clothing can be extremely multifunctional. I'm just a person who recognizes that fact and knows how to do it. Of course little fashionistas are welcome to contribute, but if their designs waste a lot of fabric and aren't very functional, well, the haute couture may have to crumble for the sake of the greater good.
At the very least, if we scavenge clothing (I imagine we would for the first few years) I can alter and mend it. Furthermore I can make blankets and large "HELLO" signs to put on hillsides. Theoretically I could also make tents, or something. And we're never going to run out of buttons because all that no-longer-useful money of the old world can be very useful in that manner. I guarantee I will find something to do with every last scrap bit of fabric. I can unravel it to use the thread (only useful for hand sewing), or the scrap fabric can become batting for blankets, coats, and padded clothing to be worn with armor.
I'm no good at hacking or any hi-tech specialties like that, but I can use tools pretty well, to build things and stuff. Or I could if I had to. Admittedly I don't have a lot of experience with it, but I feel confident that I could figure out how to build rudimentary necessities.
I can make rope, but the strength really depends on the materials available. At least I understand that there's more to a (useful) rope than tying long pieces of fabric together, and that puts me one up over most people. However, I can weave pretty strong straps using any type of yarn (without needing a loom). Plus, I know how to start fires without matches, and how to make oil lamps, and I can make candles and soaps out of kitchen wastes. (Bacon grease, mostly. Let's hope we catch a few bears, those are nice and greasy and their fur is so warm!) I also know how to build small traps for catching small animals. I can make baskets, too. Don't underestimate the necessity of basketry.
I would probably also end up being a sort of chronicler/historian, thanks to my incessant journalism.
What I like about this post-apocalyptic world is that it's a world in which pop-tab scale mail is actually valid. That's basically the only thing that pop tabs in fashion has going for itself. I actually don't have any idea if that stuff is useful, but it's theoretically better than no armor at all.
And then, just think . . . eventually enough nomadic survivalist groups would join together, and go off into the countryside, and form a little community . . . They could build a giant wall to fend off zombies, mutants, government assassins, or rival survivalist groups. And then instead of scavenging they will actually start to produce things themselves. Growing crops, breeding herds, re-learning the ancient art of surviving the winter. Man, I really wasn't joking when I said neo-medieval. It just seems to be the logical strong of events--though that really depends a lot on how much technology survives and if the survivors can get their hands on it.
So think about it. Would you be useful in a survivalist situation? Do you have anything to contribute to a society in which, if you're not useful, you're out?
As Alyssa and I discussed recently, all those useless girls who have no real skills, well theoretically they could be useful in making babies, but who wants babies with useless genes? Hopefully all the useless people will have died by doing something really stupid in the midst of the apocalypse, like running out into the zombie horde, or running out into a battlefield, or whatever. Unfortunately, surviving an apocalypse has more to do with chance and a bit of luck, than with survival know-how. It's surviving after the apocalypse that your skills are important. We only want smart, useful people in our post-apocalyptic survivalist society.
2008/10/28
Rocks.
I'm tumbling rocks to make jewelry out of them. Really simple jewelry, the kind I'd wear since I made it myself, but I wouldn't buy because I could just make it myself. Mostly just brooches.
Rock tumbling is a simple process which simulates the conditions under which a rock will normally erode over hundreds of years to become smooth and shiny. Instead of tumbling through a river, chipping against other rocks and slowly wearing down, it's a somewhat faster method where the rocks are put inside a spinning machine with water and grit.
The first step does most of the hard work. You tumble the rocks with coarse grit (this is like iron filings) for at least 2 days, longer depending. By the time step one is done, the rocks should be totally smooth. All the sharp edges are gone first, and then it might take longer to wear down all the various gouges and uneven bits.
Here's a photo of my first batch of rocks, after 2 days of tumbling with coarse grit. They're pretty smooth but they need to be tumbled a little longer still.
I like the brown rectangular one the most, as it has lots of shiny gold flecks in it which weren't visible previous to tumbling.
Step two is the longest step. You tumble them in fresh water with medium grit for about two weeks. This sands them down even smoother, on an invisible but important level, smoothing out the microscopic scratches made from the coarse grit.
When that is done, you need to clean the rocks and the machine very thoroughly, and then you put the rocks in with new water again, and this time put polish in there too. I haven't done this yet, obviously, so I'm not sure what the polish looks like or how long it needs to tumble with the polish. Furthermore, my tumbling machine only came with one usage of each (coarse grit, medium grit and polish) so hopefully I'll be able to find more of these things at a craft store or something.
So you know that analogy of how humans are rocks and we go through the trials in life in order to become smoothed down and polished? I'm not so sure this is working out for me. I'm definitely getting worn down (and rounder!) but it doesn't seem to be making me any better of a person. Worse, really. I'm beginning to suspect that I'm not actually a rock, but a very hard dirt clod. I'm eroding all right, but not becoming perfected. Instead I am just slowly dissolving. At the end of it I won't be a shiny stone, but a soggy lump of sand with lost deposits all along the river bed.
I definitely feel like I'm dissolving, no matter how much you want to convince me otherwise.
Rock tumbling is a simple process which simulates the conditions under which a rock will normally erode over hundreds of years to become smooth and shiny. Instead of tumbling through a river, chipping against other rocks and slowly wearing down, it's a somewhat faster method where the rocks are put inside a spinning machine with water and grit.
The first step does most of the hard work. You tumble the rocks with coarse grit (this is like iron filings) for at least 2 days, longer depending. By the time step one is done, the rocks should be totally smooth. All the sharp edges are gone first, and then it might take longer to wear down all the various gouges and uneven bits.
Here's a photo of my first batch of rocks, after 2 days of tumbling with coarse grit. They're pretty smooth but they need to be tumbled a little longer still.
I like the brown rectangular one the most, as it has lots of shiny gold flecks in it which weren't visible previous to tumbling.
Step two is the longest step. You tumble them in fresh water with medium grit for about two weeks. This sands them down even smoother, on an invisible but important level, smoothing out the microscopic scratches made from the coarse grit.
When that is done, you need to clean the rocks and the machine very thoroughly, and then you put the rocks in with new water again, and this time put polish in there too. I haven't done this yet, obviously, so I'm not sure what the polish looks like or how long it needs to tumble with the polish. Furthermore, my tumbling machine only came with one usage of each (coarse grit, medium grit and polish) so hopefully I'll be able to find more of these things at a craft store or something.
So you know that analogy of how humans are rocks and we go through the trials in life in order to become smoothed down and polished? I'm not so sure this is working out for me. I'm definitely getting worn down (and rounder!) but it doesn't seem to be making me any better of a person. Worse, really. I'm beginning to suspect that I'm not actually a rock, but a very hard dirt clod. I'm eroding all right, but not becoming perfected. Instead I am just slowly dissolving. At the end of it I won't be a shiny stone, but a soggy lump of sand with lost deposits all along the river bed.
I definitely feel like I'm dissolving, no matter how much you want to convince me otherwise.
2008/10/19
Ideas.5
I realized that I can use my basket-weaving skills to make rugs. They would look something like this. That's definitely another way to use scrap fabrics, but I would have to figure out what to use for the skeleton. Perhaps those plastic bag ropes I was talking about earlier.
Kinda kitschy, though. I don't really like DIY stuff that looks blatantly DIY. I would have to be smart with the design. And I don't know if I can do that.
Also I said I would keep you updated on the tunic for A&S, so here's a photo of the embroidery which I finished last week or something.
Kinda kitschy, though. I don't really like DIY stuff that looks blatantly DIY. I would have to be smart with the design. And I don't know if I can do that.
Also I said I would keep you updated on the tunic for A&S, so here's a photo of the embroidery which I finished last week or something.
2008/10/17
Redundant.
I could write a very long article proving that there are no original ideas in fashion, but that would take too much effort.
I've been browsing online the Met's Costume Institute collection, and I am really surprised. I would consistently see an item, think "That's probably from x era," and then click on it to see the information, and discover that I was completely wrong! And it's not even the 20-year fashion retro-generation that's been going on since the 70s or so, or the popular "vintage" look of today. I'll see a jacket for example, and think, "that's from the 60s," and then see that it's actually from 1894. Or a tunic that's completely medieval-looking, but it's actually a cocktail dress from the 70s! A lolita-looking dress that might be now, or the 80s at the earliest, is actually from the late 50s. An evening coat from the 40s looks like a doublet from the late 1500s. You know that puffy-bottomed style that's pretty popular these days? Turns out it was also popular in the late 50s/early 60s . . . and in the early 1600s. You know those awful stirrup pants from the 80s? I saw a pair from 1820! I saw some psychedelic, multi-colored boots and thought "That must be 60s gogo boots," but no, they were from Asia in the 1800s (Paisley! This is not a lie!). A dress from 1915 which looked like a psuedo-pirate ren faire costume. A hat from 1930s that I could have sworn was a French hood and veil from the 1500s. An early 20th century American "teddy" which is basically a Nordic apron-dress. Not to mention a headdress style that lived from the early medieval period until the 1800s, across several continents, with only small changes along the way. Items will have really strange design details that look like they belong on those DIY boutique fashionistas of the online auction world, or on fantasy or sci-fi costumes, when really, it was being done in the 1700s or something like that.
It's all over the place. (I guess I shouldn't be too surprised at what I saw in the 60s and 70s, since they were all up in postmodernism, but still. There were plenty of non-60s coincidences to go around.)
I'm somewhat educated in historical dress. Just think of how confusing this might be for an everyperson with only the vaguest idea of what other historical periods wore.
My conclusion--All you fashion designers out there, you think you're so original and that some design detail is exclusive to your line, but chances are that it's been done before. Can we all just accept the fact that fashion has become this huge melting pot of everything ever, and stop being so pretentious?
I've been browsing online the Met's Costume Institute collection, and I am really surprised. I would consistently see an item, think "That's probably from x era," and then click on it to see the information, and discover that I was completely wrong! And it's not even the 20-year fashion retro-generation that's been going on since the 70s or so, or the popular "vintage" look of today. I'll see a jacket for example, and think, "that's from the 60s," and then see that it's actually from 1894. Or a tunic that's completely medieval-looking, but it's actually a cocktail dress from the 70s! A lolita-looking dress that might be now, or the 80s at the earliest, is actually from the late 50s. An evening coat from the 40s looks like a doublet from the late 1500s. You know that puffy-bottomed style that's pretty popular these days? Turns out it was also popular in the late 50s/early 60s . . . and in the early 1600s. You know those awful stirrup pants from the 80s? I saw a pair from 1820! I saw some psychedelic, multi-colored boots and thought "That must be 60s gogo boots," but no, they were from Asia in the 1800s (Paisley! This is not a lie!). A dress from 1915 which looked like a psuedo-pirate ren faire costume. A hat from 1930s that I could have sworn was a French hood and veil from the 1500s. An early 20th century American "teddy" which is basically a Nordic apron-dress. Not to mention a headdress style that lived from the early medieval period until the 1800s, across several continents, with only small changes along the way. Items will have really strange design details that look like they belong on those DIY boutique fashionistas of the online auction world, or on fantasy or sci-fi costumes, when really, it was being done in the 1700s or something like that.
It's all over the place. (I guess I shouldn't be too surprised at what I saw in the 60s and 70s, since they were all up in postmodernism, but still. There were plenty of non-60s coincidences to go around.)
I'm somewhat educated in historical dress. Just think of how confusing this might be for an everyperson with only the vaguest idea of what other historical periods wore.
My conclusion--All you fashion designers out there, you think you're so original and that some design detail is exclusive to your line, but chances are that it's been done before. Can we all just accept the fact that fashion has become this huge melting pot of everything ever, and stop being so pretentious?
2008/10/15
Your Blood is So Pure
(A retort to "Your Family is Poor" by Draco and the Malfoys)
You wake up in the morning
And play with some new Dark toy
And prance around like a git
Because you're a Malfoy.
Does your mother always look
Like something died under her nose?
Or is it just when she's with you
That her disdain shows?
Because your blood is so pure
It makes you so sure
You're so much better than us
But you're so immature
'Cause when Purebloods are through
It'll be us and not you
At the end of the war
Mixed blood will endure.
Only Slytherins would care
If your blood is here or there
I'd rather mix with Mudbloods
Than be a millionaire
Your hair looks like it's slicked down with glue
When you see a Hippogriff, you scream like a girl
Just like every time that we see you
We have to hold back the instinct, the instinct to hurl
Because your blood is so pure
It makes you so sure
You're so much better than us
But you're so immature
Cause when Purebloods are through
It'll be us and not you
At the end of the war
Mixed blood will endure.
(I like to imagine that verse 1 is Hermione, verse 2 is Harry, verse 3 is Ron and verse 4 is Fred and George. But that's not actually going to matter or be discernible in the song.)
You wake up in the morning
And play with some new Dark toy
And prance around like a git
Because you're a Malfoy.
Does your mother always look
Like something died under her nose?
Or is it just when she's with you
That her disdain shows?
Because your blood is so pure
It makes you so sure
You're so much better than us
But you're so immature
'Cause when Purebloods are through
It'll be us and not you
At the end of the war
Mixed blood will endure.
Only Slytherins would care
If your blood is here or there
I'd rather mix with Mudbloods
Than be a millionaire
Your hair looks like it's slicked down with glue
When you see a Hippogriff, you scream like a girl
Just like every time that we see you
We have to hold back the instinct, the instinct to hurl
Because your blood is so pure
It makes you so sure
You're so much better than us
But you're so immature
Cause when Purebloods are through
It'll be us and not you
At the end of the war
Mixed blood will endure.
(I like to imagine that verse 1 is Hermione, verse 2 is Harry, verse 3 is Ron and verse 4 is Fred and George. But that's not actually going to matter or be discernible in the song.)
2008/10/14
Advanced Potion-Making (aka, No-Poo).
Why are you worrying about You-Know-Who? You should be worried about U-No-Poo--the Constipation Sensation that's gripping the nation!
Actually, it's a hair-washing sensation, which is a bit less frightening.
As I've mentioned on my old blog, I don't wash my hair with shampoo. In fact it's been almost two years since I stopped using shampoo, and my hair has, as yet, failed to go into shock and die.
What I do is called no-poo (or no 'poo, however you'd like to punctuate it.) I do the basic, which involves baking soda and vinegar. There are other methods that other people have tried, involving clay, henna, flax seeds, or other natural compounds.
Here is a followup about using bath salts instead of baking soda.
I've convinced a few other people to try it, and they like it as much as I do. Mostly I am met with reactions varying from, "Yeah I should try that sometime," to vehement arguments about how finicky their hair is and how they could never deviate from their current regime because their hair would freak out. All I can say is, how do you know that more natural hair care won't help your hair? You don't know unless you try. (Maybe I should ask if they would rather try U-No-Poo.)
The ingredients:
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
Apple cider vinegar
water or tea
other things if you want
Most people prefer apple cider vinegar. As a vinegar made directly from fruit, it has more beneficial properties than grain or wine vinegars, and it's one of the cheaper options. A lot of people think that it helps bring out golden and rosy hues in their hair color, too.
This is a personalized way of washing your hair and you should start out with 1 Tbls baking soda per cup of water and 1 Tbls. vinegar per cup of water. Then you can adjust the amounts as necessary, after evaluating what it's doing for your hair and what changes might be needed. Give it a week or more between each change you make, just to give your scalp time to adjust and to truly evaluate the effect the change had.
Since my hair is very dry I use less baking soda and a lot of vinegar, and the vinegar also helps my hair not be as frizzy.
I mix the solutions in old shampoo bottles. It's okay to make a batch and have it sit in your shower as you use it, just like with shampoo. It's not going to go bad. You can use other types of plastic bottles, like condiment bottles, or you can just mix it in a cup right before you shower.
For the shampoo I mix 1/2 Tbls. of baking soda per 1 cup water.
For the conditioner I mix 3 Tbls. of apple cider vinegar per 1 cup of tea. I use water when I don't have time or am too lazy to make tea. I also sometimes add in essential oils (3 drops/cup), and/or spices, and/or honey (honey is a moisturizer). As you can see this is the part where you can really experiment and add in more ingredients to help you hair, or to make it smell nice, or whatever.
Additionally, I sometimes put a small amount of olive oil through my hair before it dries, after washing. Like I said, my hair is very dry. Olive oil works as a conditioner/moisturizer, and it also serves as a sort of hair gel to help define and soften my curls. Most people prefer coconut oil for this, and think olive oil is too greasy, but I like working with liquid oils more, and it's only too greasy if you put too much in.
The method:
1. Get in shower and get hair wet.
2. Squirt some baking soda solution onto your head. It's easiest to just squirt it directly from the bottle. Apply only to your scalp and roots, avoiding the length of your hair as much as possible.
3. You know you have enough when your hair starts feeling slippery.
4. Rub it in and massage your head.
5. Quickly rinse it out with water.
6. Squirt the vinegar solution onto you hair. Get it at the roots and all throughout the length of your hair.
7. Rub it in and massage.
8. Leave it in for the reminder of your shower to give it time to condition.
9. Rinse it out with cold water.
10. You shouldn't wash your hair every day. Even if you feel like you must shower every day, washing it with only water is sufficient at least half of the time. Just use the solutions when you can tell your hair is dirty or that it otherwise is needed. (I will oftentimes use the vinegar solution without using the baking soda solution.)
11. Brush your hair with a natural-bristle brush, or a wooden comb. As long as it's natural it will pick up your natural skin oils and help distribute them through your hair. Plastic doesn't do it too well. Because I have curly hair I don't brush my hair, but that is probably why I have to put olive oil in my hair instead.
Note: if you use a lot of products in your hair, you will have to wash your hair (with the rinses) more often. Ideally, using no-poo will make your hair healthy enough that you don't need to put in tons of products, but a lot of people don't really understand that. And a lot of people don't believe that hair can look good natural, without being tortured with heat and chemicals. I'm just saying--hair products will add lots of nasty sticky build-up into your hair, so you will need to wash more often. Using more vinegar will help dissolve out the buildup.
The science:
This is how normal shampoos and conditioners work: Shampoo has rather harsh detergents in it (such as sodium lauryl sulfate) which totally strip the scalp and hair of all their natural oils. Thus we put on conditioner. Unfortunately, conditioner sucks. The main ingredient is mineral oil, which is an industrial byproduct. Since it's not natural, it doesn't work how natural oils work. Natural oils will be soaked in by your skin and hair providing a true conditioning effect. Mineral oil doesn't get soaked in, it just floats on top like an oil spill. So your scalp thinks that it's been totally drained of oils and it's not getting anything from the mineral oil, so it produces even more oil to make up for its barrenness. This is why greasy hair is such a huge problem with people.
(The history: Back in the day at the beginning of the modern age, people used plain old soap to wash their hair. All was fine and dandy until there was a change in the processing of water and people started getting hard water pumped into their water closets. The problem with hard water is that the minerals and chemicals in it react badly with soap, forming soap scum. Horrors! Hair plus soap scum equals not clean hair, which is why they invented shampoo. The only reason shampoo was invented was because it behaved the same way in hard water as in soft water. Certainly it gets the hair clean, the problem being that it's too clean and your hair ends up unhealthy because of it.)
This is how no-poo works: The baking soda opens up the scales on your hair, and it reacts with the natural oils on your hair and skin to create a mild soap. Since it can be very drying, depending on the person, you need to rinse it out quickly, and always follow up with the vinegar rinse. (You can use the vinegar rinse by itself sometimes if your hair needs it.) The vinegar rinse restores the natural pH balance of your scalp, and closes down the scales on your hair, making the hairs smoother, which allows the natural oils of your scalp to travel down the shaft of the hair, making less grease on your roots and more conditioning down the rest of your hair. This smooth surface also helps to prevent tangling (because the hairs are not snagging on each other) and makes your hair shinier. The cold water rinse is also important because it helps make sure the hairs are all closed off, and also closes off the pores in your skin which is healthier for the skin. Seriously my hair is so much less frizzy when I rinse with cold water. It sucks in winter, though.
(No-poo does work better in soft water than hard water, but I have used hard water for most of the time without problems.)
The results:
The positive results of no-poo are many and varied! However, let me first address one result that turns a lot of people off really quickly.
Most people have a transition period where their hair will seem super greasy for a while. It's your scalp getting used to the different chemicals. Remember what I said up there about shampoo destroying your natural oils and conditioner not doing anything to help, and your scalp producing way more oil than is necessary to make up for it? So for a while your scalp will continue to produce way too much oil, until it realizes that it's not getting taken away all the time anymore, and it will scale back production to a more necessary amount. Then your hair will not be that greasy anymore. It usually takes just a few weeks. If your hair is still pretty greasy after a month, you might want to adjust your rinses (use more backing soda, use the same amount of baking soda more often, use less vinegar, or use lime juice instead of vinegar, for example).
This is a green way of hair care. Not only healthier for your hair and skin, doing this also means you're not supporting the mass industries that do bad things to our earth and society. You're not dumping bad chemicals down the drain and into the water supply. You're not throwing away a lot of non-biodegradable plastic.
It's also way cheaper to make your own rinses, rather than spend a lot of money on shampoo or conditioner. For about the same price as a bottle of shampoo and a bottle of conditioner, you can buy a huge jug of apple cider vinegar and a large box of baking soda which will give you hair cleaning supplies for years to come instead of a month or two.
No-poo is excellent for people who have skin allergies or otherwise sensitive skin. Shampoo and conditioner have skin irritants as various ingredients--the SLS, the fragrances, the mineral oil (it can clog up your pores), sometimes even various alcohols. These ingredients can be responsible for such things as acne on the back and head, other mild allergic reactions, and very dry or damaged hair. (My hair was seriously damaged from using shampoo, but I never knew until I stopped using it and saw how healthy my hair could be. It was previously extremely dry, frizzy, tangled, and well, damaged; with a sort of crunchy texture. Now it's much softer like real hair instead of polyester batting, barely frizzy at all, very easy to untangle, and only moderately dry--I do live in a desert after all.)
If you dye your hair, no-poo helps color stay in longer. First off because the chemicals are not as harsh, and secondly because you're not washing your hair as often.
Anecdote:
I went to a concert this summer which was in a very small outdoors venue. The place was packed, and it was very hot. I was sweating like crazy and when I sweat, most of it comes out of my head. For most people this would leave their hair absolutely disgusting, sticky, stringy, smelly, greasy, etc. My hair was pretty gross while it was wet from the sweat but as the evening cooled off my hair dried off, and it became very lovely and soft, with perfect curls. That, my friends, was all due to the power of no-poo. (Unless someone cast some kind of a hair-charm on me, because it was a Harry and the Potters concert, after all. But I'm pretty sure it was the no-poo.)
Actually, it's a hair-washing sensation, which is a bit less frightening.
As I've mentioned on my old blog, I don't wash my hair with shampoo. In fact it's been almost two years since I stopped using shampoo, and my hair has, as yet, failed to go into shock and die.
What I do is called no-poo (or no 'poo, however you'd like to punctuate it.) I do the basic, which involves baking soda and vinegar. There are other methods that other people have tried, involving clay, henna, flax seeds, or other natural compounds.
Here is a followup about using bath salts instead of baking soda.
I've convinced a few other people to try it, and they like it as much as I do. Mostly I am met with reactions varying from, "Yeah I should try that sometime," to vehement arguments about how finicky their hair is and how they could never deviate from their current regime because their hair would freak out. All I can say is, how do you know that more natural hair care won't help your hair? You don't know unless you try. (Maybe I should ask if they would rather try U-No-Poo.)
The ingredients:
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
Apple cider vinegar
water or tea
other things if you want
Most people prefer apple cider vinegar. As a vinegar made directly from fruit, it has more beneficial properties than grain or wine vinegars, and it's one of the cheaper options. A lot of people think that it helps bring out golden and rosy hues in their hair color, too.
This is a personalized way of washing your hair and you should start out with 1 Tbls baking soda per cup of water and 1 Tbls. vinegar per cup of water. Then you can adjust the amounts as necessary, after evaluating what it's doing for your hair and what changes might be needed. Give it a week or more between each change you make, just to give your scalp time to adjust and to truly evaluate the effect the change had.
Since my hair is very dry I use less baking soda and a lot of vinegar, and the vinegar also helps my hair not be as frizzy.
I mix the solutions in old shampoo bottles. It's okay to make a batch and have it sit in your shower as you use it, just like with shampoo. It's not going to go bad. You can use other types of plastic bottles, like condiment bottles, or you can just mix it in a cup right before you shower.
For the shampoo I mix 1/2 Tbls. of baking soda per 1 cup water.
For the conditioner I mix 3 Tbls. of apple cider vinegar per 1 cup of tea. I use water when I don't have time or am too lazy to make tea. I also sometimes add in essential oils (3 drops/cup), and/or spices, and/or honey (honey is a moisturizer). As you can see this is the part where you can really experiment and add in more ingredients to help you hair, or to make it smell nice, or whatever.
Additionally, I sometimes put a small amount of olive oil through my hair before it dries, after washing. Like I said, my hair is very dry. Olive oil works as a conditioner/moisturizer, and it also serves as a sort of hair gel to help define and soften my curls. Most people prefer coconut oil for this, and think olive oil is too greasy, but I like working with liquid oils more, and it's only too greasy if you put too much in.
The method:
1. Get in shower and get hair wet.
2. Squirt some baking soda solution onto your head. It's easiest to just squirt it directly from the bottle. Apply only to your scalp and roots, avoiding the length of your hair as much as possible.
3. You know you have enough when your hair starts feeling slippery.
4. Rub it in and massage your head.
5. Quickly rinse it out with water.
6. Squirt the vinegar solution onto you hair. Get it at the roots and all throughout the length of your hair.
7. Rub it in and massage.
8. Leave it in for the reminder of your shower to give it time to condition.
9. Rinse it out with cold water.
10. You shouldn't wash your hair every day. Even if you feel like you must shower every day, washing it with only water is sufficient at least half of the time. Just use the solutions when you can tell your hair is dirty or that it otherwise is needed. (I will oftentimes use the vinegar solution without using the baking soda solution.)
11. Brush your hair with a natural-bristle brush, or a wooden comb. As long as it's natural it will pick up your natural skin oils and help distribute them through your hair. Plastic doesn't do it too well. Because I have curly hair I don't brush my hair, but that is probably why I have to put olive oil in my hair instead.
Note: if you use a lot of products in your hair, you will have to wash your hair (with the rinses) more often. Ideally, using no-poo will make your hair healthy enough that you don't need to put in tons of products, but a lot of people don't really understand that. And a lot of people don't believe that hair can look good natural, without being tortured with heat and chemicals. I'm just saying--hair products will add lots of nasty sticky build-up into your hair, so you will need to wash more often. Using more vinegar will help dissolve out the buildup.
The science:
This is how normal shampoos and conditioners work: Shampoo has rather harsh detergents in it (such as sodium lauryl sulfate) which totally strip the scalp and hair of all their natural oils. Thus we put on conditioner. Unfortunately, conditioner sucks. The main ingredient is mineral oil, which is an industrial byproduct. Since it's not natural, it doesn't work how natural oils work. Natural oils will be soaked in by your skin and hair providing a true conditioning effect. Mineral oil doesn't get soaked in, it just floats on top like an oil spill. So your scalp thinks that it's been totally drained of oils and it's not getting anything from the mineral oil, so it produces even more oil to make up for its barrenness. This is why greasy hair is such a huge problem with people.
(The history: Back in the day at the beginning of the modern age, people used plain old soap to wash their hair. All was fine and dandy until there was a change in the processing of water and people started getting hard water pumped into their water closets. The problem with hard water is that the minerals and chemicals in it react badly with soap, forming soap scum. Horrors! Hair plus soap scum equals not clean hair, which is why they invented shampoo. The only reason shampoo was invented was because it behaved the same way in hard water as in soft water. Certainly it gets the hair clean, the problem being that it's too clean and your hair ends up unhealthy because of it.)
This is how no-poo works: The baking soda opens up the scales on your hair, and it reacts with the natural oils on your hair and skin to create a mild soap. Since it can be very drying, depending on the person, you need to rinse it out quickly, and always follow up with the vinegar rinse. (You can use the vinegar rinse by itself sometimes if your hair needs it.) The vinegar rinse restores the natural pH balance of your scalp, and closes down the scales on your hair, making the hairs smoother, which allows the natural oils of your scalp to travel down the shaft of the hair, making less grease on your roots and more conditioning down the rest of your hair. This smooth surface also helps to prevent tangling (because the hairs are not snagging on each other) and makes your hair shinier. The cold water rinse is also important because it helps make sure the hairs are all closed off, and also closes off the pores in your skin which is healthier for the skin. Seriously my hair is so much less frizzy when I rinse with cold water. It sucks in winter, though.
(No-poo does work better in soft water than hard water, but I have used hard water for most of the time without problems.)
The results:
The positive results of no-poo are many and varied! However, let me first address one result that turns a lot of people off really quickly.
Most people have a transition period where their hair will seem super greasy for a while. It's your scalp getting used to the different chemicals. Remember what I said up there about shampoo destroying your natural oils and conditioner not doing anything to help, and your scalp producing way more oil than is necessary to make up for it? So for a while your scalp will continue to produce way too much oil, until it realizes that it's not getting taken away all the time anymore, and it will scale back production to a more necessary amount. Then your hair will not be that greasy anymore. It usually takes just a few weeks. If your hair is still pretty greasy after a month, you might want to adjust your rinses (use more backing soda, use the same amount of baking soda more often, use less vinegar, or use lime juice instead of vinegar, for example).
This is a green way of hair care. Not only healthier for your hair and skin, doing this also means you're not supporting the mass industries that do bad things to our earth and society. You're not dumping bad chemicals down the drain and into the water supply. You're not throwing away a lot of non-biodegradable plastic.
It's also way cheaper to make your own rinses, rather than spend a lot of money on shampoo or conditioner. For about the same price as a bottle of shampoo and a bottle of conditioner, you can buy a huge jug of apple cider vinegar and a large box of baking soda which will give you hair cleaning supplies for years to come instead of a month or two.
No-poo is excellent for people who have skin allergies or otherwise sensitive skin. Shampoo and conditioner have skin irritants as various ingredients--the SLS, the fragrances, the mineral oil (it can clog up your pores), sometimes even various alcohols. These ingredients can be responsible for such things as acne on the back and head, other mild allergic reactions, and very dry or damaged hair. (My hair was seriously damaged from using shampoo, but I never knew until I stopped using it and saw how healthy my hair could be. It was previously extremely dry, frizzy, tangled, and well, damaged; with a sort of crunchy texture. Now it's much softer like real hair instead of polyester batting, barely frizzy at all, very easy to untangle, and only moderately dry--I do live in a desert after all.)
If you dye your hair, no-poo helps color stay in longer. First off because the chemicals are not as harsh, and secondly because you're not washing your hair as often.
Anecdote:
I went to a concert this summer which was in a very small outdoors venue. The place was packed, and it was very hot. I was sweating like crazy and when I sweat, most of it comes out of my head. For most people this would leave their hair absolutely disgusting, sticky, stringy, smelly, greasy, etc. My hair was pretty gross while it was wet from the sweat but as the evening cooled off my hair dried off, and it became very lovely and soft, with perfect curls. That, my friends, was all due to the power of no-poo. (Unless someone cast some kind of a hair-charm on me, because it was a Harry and the Potters concert, after all. But I'm pretty sure it was the no-poo.)
2008/10/09
Ideas.4
1. Make plushies with the small pieces of fabric that are too small for clothes. Stuff plushies with plastic bags, all chopped up for easier stuffing. Plushies can also be stuffed with even smaller scrap fabric.
2. Plastic bags can be used to make rope, but failing that I have plenty of cording. I want to put up a clothes-drying line in my apartment. On the other hand I still have to go to Murray to wash my clothes, so that might be kind of pointless.
3. I've been looking at DIY self-watering plant pots and I think this would be efficacious for the balcony garden which I failed to do this year, but hopefully, with greater inspiration, will be able to set up next year. I am willing to accept donations of 2- and 3-liter bottles (as well as other, larger plastic containers) to this end.
I had a bamboo plant that I put on my balcony, watered once, and three days later "checked" on it to see that it was thoroughly dead. Self-watering containers are going to be necessary if I want this to work.
2. Plastic bags can be used to make rope, but failing that I have plenty of cording. I want to put up a clothes-drying line in my apartment. On the other hand I still have to go to Murray to wash my clothes, so that might be kind of pointless.
3. I've been looking at DIY self-watering plant pots and I think this would be efficacious for the balcony garden which I failed to do this year, but hopefully, with greater inspiration, will be able to set up next year. I am willing to accept donations of 2- and 3-liter bottles (as well as other, larger plastic containers) to this end.
I had a bamboo plant that I put on my balcony, watered once, and three days later "checked" on it to see that it was thoroughly dead. Self-watering containers are going to be necessary if I want this to work.
2008/10/07
Ideas.3
Eyeball cheesecake: Like this, only designed to look like an eye. White cheesecake filling, cheesecake filling of whatever desired iris color (the color can also indicate flavor like blueberry or chocolate), and black cheesecake filling (this can be dark chocolate flavored). The colored cheesecake filling doesn't have to be flavored differently, it can just be food-colored. Also use raspberry/strawberry/cherry syrup for bloodshot eyes. I think this is better than the eyeball sundae idea, unless you can get the eyeball sundae to be more spherical.
This 1-Up mushroom burger wins in the burger category.
Man, food that looks like other things, I am taking this so far beyond the rolls-that-look-like-teddy-bears of my youth.
This 1-Up mushroom burger wins in the burger category.
Man, food that looks like other things, I am taking this so far beyond the rolls-that-look-like-teddy-bears of my youth.
2008/10/02
Daily Sewing.
I have just gone insane with sewing.
First I was like, "Well, I have to make a bodice for my Snow White costume. And it needs to have lots of visible lacing. I know! I will make 18th century stays! That is basically the style I want it in."
Now please note, I have made modern corsets before, but they are not anything like 18th century stays (12 yards of boning!). It's also noteworthy to mention that my corsets never turned out that well. Still, I have like a month to do it, so I can get it right by the time comes, right?
Then I found out about an A&S competition in my province. At first I was like, "Eh, I'll pass this time because I don't know how to properly document, and I don't know what I'm up against," but then they mentioned that this is the first competition since becoming a province, and so to become the very first A&S champion of the province is a Big Deal. My latent competitiveness kicked in and well . . . Let's look at it this way. All the other contests I've lost, it was because it was more about popularity than historical accuracy or awesome sewing skills, right? This time it will be different. This time historical accuracy and skills are actually important. Furthermore, there is stress placed on objective judging. I thought, "I can do this. I'm a good seamstress. Maybe I don't know what I'm up against, but I know what I can do, and I can do some pretty freaking awesome stuff."
At first I wanted to try out my new pellote pattern, and make a nice set of Spanish court garb. But I'd never be able to use it, and I hate making stuff I can't use. But I have another new pattern that I want to make--the one I based on the Kragelund tunic*.
I thought, "That's pretty impressive. Drafting a to-scale, by-measurement reproduction of an extant period piece is pretty impressive. But you know what's more impressive? Hand-sewing it. And you know what's more impressive? Hand-sewn embroidery, not that blah trim crap! But it can't be any old boring fancy-stitch embroidery. I need to fill in a whole motif. One that looks really awesome and Nordic." I ended up drawing a design based on some fragments of embroidery they found in another bog. (Ah, bog findings--my bread and butter.)
Well guess what kids? Hand-sewing takes a really long time. And this A&S competition is a lot more important to me; therefore my Halloween costume is going to be ignored, and then, in all probability, hacked together at the last second with an ill-fitting corset like my pirate costume. Did I mention that this A&S competition isn't until Nov. 15? By any logical management of time I should make the stays first, then devote time to the tunic. But no, logic is the minority entity in my mind, and is being totally overwhelmed by the emotional demand to DO. (Good lord! Orange? In ME?)
I'll probably keep you updated. I'm planning on getting a lot done during conference.
*Technically I can't use this tunic either, since it's way too big for me. But at least it's from a period and culture I'm more familiar with.
First I was like, "Well, I have to make a bodice for my Snow White costume. And it needs to have lots of visible lacing. I know! I will make 18th century stays! That is basically the style I want it in."
Now please note, I have made modern corsets before, but they are not anything like 18th century stays (12 yards of boning!). It's also noteworthy to mention that my corsets never turned out that well. Still, I have like a month to do it, so I can get it right by the time comes, right?
Then I found out about an A&S competition in my province. At first I was like, "Eh, I'll pass this time because I don't know how to properly document, and I don't know what I'm up against," but then they mentioned that this is the first competition since becoming a province, and so to become the very first A&S champion of the province is a Big Deal. My latent competitiveness kicked in and well . . . Let's look at it this way. All the other contests I've lost, it was because it was more about popularity than historical accuracy or awesome sewing skills, right? This time it will be different. This time historical accuracy and skills are actually important. Furthermore, there is stress placed on objective judging. I thought, "I can do this. I'm a good seamstress. Maybe I don't know what I'm up against, but I know what I can do, and I can do some pretty freaking awesome stuff."
At first I wanted to try out my new pellote pattern, and make a nice set of Spanish court garb. But I'd never be able to use it, and I hate making stuff I can't use. But I have another new pattern that I want to make--the one I based on the Kragelund tunic*.
I thought, "That's pretty impressive. Drafting a to-scale, by-measurement reproduction of an extant period piece is pretty impressive. But you know what's more impressive? Hand-sewing it. And you know what's more impressive? Hand-sewn embroidery, not that blah trim crap! But it can't be any old boring fancy-stitch embroidery. I need to fill in a whole motif. One that looks really awesome and Nordic." I ended up drawing a design based on some fragments of embroidery they found in another bog. (Ah, bog findings--my bread and butter.)
Well guess what kids? Hand-sewing takes a really long time. And this A&S competition is a lot more important to me; therefore my Halloween costume is going to be ignored, and then, in all probability, hacked together at the last second with an ill-fitting corset like my pirate costume. Did I mention that this A&S competition isn't until Nov. 15? By any logical management of time I should make the stays first, then devote time to the tunic. But no, logic is the minority entity in my mind, and is being totally overwhelmed by the emotional demand to DO. (Good lord! Orange? In ME?)
I'll probably keep you updated. I'm planning on getting a lot done during conference.
*Technically I can't use this tunic either, since it's way too big for me. But at least it's from a period and culture I'm more familiar with.
2008/09/19
Ideas.2
Social ideas that will probably never come to fruition:
Tea parties (I’ve been over this)
Noir night (where I become ridiculously OCD and want to watch all the films mentioned in my film noir book, in chronological order)
Super club (We all wear masks and have nyms and just hang out pretending to be awesome—Like “Emokid and Chemokid” from Head Trip)
Time travel club (We go out in public pretending to be from the future, past, or parallel dimensions—costumes or at least odd dress mandatory)
While some of these are fairly ridiculous and whimsical, the main reason these will never come to fruition is that I am very bad at social planning, and it stresses me out quite a bit. If only there was an orange out there that could make my ideas happen. So to anyone who wants to leave a comment like, “Yeah, I would totally be involved in that, let me know when you put it together”—too bad, because unless you put it together, it’s not going to happen.
Tea parties (I’ve been over this)
Noir night (where I become ridiculously OCD and want to watch all the films mentioned in my film noir book, in chronological order)
Super club (We all wear masks and have nyms and just hang out pretending to be awesome—Like “Emokid and Chemokid” from Head Trip)
Time travel club (We go out in public pretending to be from the future, past, or parallel dimensions—costumes or at least odd dress mandatory)
While some of these are fairly ridiculous and whimsical, the main reason these will never come to fruition is that I am very bad at social planning, and it stresses me out quite a bit. If only there was an orange out there that could make my ideas happen. So to anyone who wants to leave a comment like, “Yeah, I would totally be involved in that, let me know when you put it together”—too bad, because unless you put it together, it’s not going to happen.
2008/09/17
Ideas.
Awesome ice cream ideas:
Zombie ice cream (or Brains ice cream): Black licorice flavored (gray color) with caramel swirls, marshmallow crème swirls, and the occasional cherry for a blood clot.
Hot chocolate ice cream: dark chocolate or milk chocolate, with cinnamon or mint, and marshmallows. Choose any combination.
Eyeball sundae: A thin layer of chocolate syrup and cherry or strawberry syrup for the base, a large scoop of vanilla ice cream with the center hollowed out. Swirl cherry or strawberry syrup over it to make it bloodshot, and fill the hollowed out portion with chocolate ice cream for the iris. Make an eye shine with whipped cream and press a black licorice gumdrop into the center of the iris for the pupil.
Cookie dough ice cream, with gingerbread cookie dough instead of that lame chocolate chip stuff.
Zombie ice cream (or Brains ice cream): Black licorice flavored (gray color) with caramel swirls, marshmallow crème swirls, and the occasional cherry for a blood clot.
Hot chocolate ice cream: dark chocolate or milk chocolate, with cinnamon or mint, and marshmallows. Choose any combination.
Eyeball sundae: A thin layer of chocolate syrup and cherry or strawberry syrup for the base, a large scoop of vanilla ice cream with the center hollowed out. Swirl cherry or strawberry syrup over it to make it bloodshot, and fill the hollowed out portion with chocolate ice cream for the iris. Make an eye shine with whipped cream and press a black licorice gumdrop into the center of the iris for the pupil.
Cookie dough ice cream, with gingerbread cookie dough instead of that lame chocolate chip stuff.
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