| A Brief Cosplay Story About My Dad |
[Jun. 21st, 2009|07:28 pm] |
My dad, skilled in the manly ways of carpentry, has always been supportive of my hobby. The first time I went to him with a project, "Dad, I need to build a boomerang that's six feet tall. Can you help me?" he simply agreed to help. No (okay, few) questions asked.
Years later, when I was building Avatar Kyoshi, I put in a lot of hours in his workshop making her fans. I sat with the finished product at his kitchen table, happily spreading the fan leaves out and collapsing them again. He said "Aren't you going to test them to see if they work?" I held them out and showed him how well they opened and closed. He shook is head 'no no no', looked at me like I was dumb, and demonstrated: He took the fans from my hands, did his best martial art-y pose, and with a great swoosh of his arms, yelled "SAND BLASTTT!! WIND STOOORM!!"
I love my Dad.
My sister and my Dad |
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| Moving Update and Coolest Dog Ever |
[May. 19th, 2009|12:00 pm] |
I'm mostly moved in to the new house in Rossford. Moving was a pain in the behind, but it'll be worth it for the river view. Epic parties and all that...
Chris and I went to PetSmart to pick up new supplies for Tico, and this is what we saw in the parking lot:
Apparently she won't open her eyes in the sun, so her (awesome) owner got her goggles.
She looks like she wants to fly in this one:
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| Video Game Update! |
[Apr. 9th, 2009|03:53 am] |
They're makin' a sequel to "Alice"!
D.I.C.E. 2009: EA CEO John Riccitiello announces designer American McGee is working on a sequel to his groundbreaking 2000 title for the PS3, 360, PC.
LAS VEGAS--Today at the D.I.C.E. summit, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello announced that it is publishing a sequel to American McGee's Alice, the groundbreaking PC adventure game EA published back in 2000. Helping them in this effort is the original game's creator, American McGee....
American McGee's Alice depicted the heroine of the original Lewis Carroll story as an adult who, driven insane from her strange childhood experiences, fought to claw her way back to sanity while trapped in a world of her own imagination. McGee hinted that he was working on a sequel last year in a post on his personal blog. The game is expected to arrive on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, though a release date has yet to be revealed.
Full story here: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/adventure/grimm/news.html?sid=6204914&om_act=convert&om_clk=newsfeatures&tag=newsfeatures;title;1 |
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| Tico, Drafting Expert |
[Mar. 19th, 2009|11:41 pm] |
I hate doing sleeves, so I let my cat do all the hard work. |
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| Hee-hee! I finally finished him! |
[Mar. 6th, 2009|03:57 pm] |
He's so emo. Zuko here started out life as an Eiji plushie.
9th Elsewhere is now defunct, and though Eiji's really cute, I needed to make something that's a little more economically viable. Tore his little feather ears right off! O_O XD Hence, Zuko. Lots more pictures at my photobucket.
How do you think I can best promote him for sale? I tried on the cosplay LJ group, but I don't really expect anyone to pay the big bucks there. What do you think is a fair price? I have AA tables at a few upcoming cons, but they're little local things and most of the kids are broke.
His damn outfit took me as long as a regular costume. The finishing is perfect. I do plushies as a way to "relax", and instead its even harder than a normal costume because its miniaturized. Oh well, its worth it, he's a cutie. |
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| Oh c'mon, the valve can't be THAT important. |
[Feb. 23rd, 2009|11:55 am] |
Just kidding. From NASA.gov:
STS-119 Latest News
NASA Defers Setting Next Shuttle Launch Date
Fri, 20 Feb 2009 11:51:32 PM EST
During a thorough review of space shuttle Discovery's readiness for flight, NASA managers decided Friday more data and possible testing are required before proceeding to launch. Engineering teams have been working to identify what caused damage to a flow control valve on shuttle Endeavour during its November 2008 flight.
"We need to complete more work to have a better understanding before flying," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Gerstenmaier chaired Friday's Flight Readiness Review.
"We were not driven by schedule pressure and did the right thing. When we fly, we want to do so with full confidence."
The shuttle has three flow control valves that channel gaseous hydrogen from the main engines to the external fuel tank. Teams also have tried to determine the consequences if a valve piece were to break off and strike part of the shuttle and external fuel tank.
The Space Shuttle Program has been asked to develop a plan to inspect additional valves similar to those installed on Discovery. This plan will be reviewed during a meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 25. Afterward, the setting of a new target launch date may be considered.
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Andy and I have tickets to see this shuttle launch, but we won't go until we can be reasonably confident that the launch will actually occur. So our trip has been indefinitely postponed.
Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes and the fabulous birthday surprise! I have the best friends ever ^_^ |
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| Its true. |
[Feb. 18th, 2009|08:48 pm] |
I love pizza rolls like Edward loves Bella. |
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| Ohayocon Aftershocks |
[Feb. 11th, 2009|01:47 am] |
My plan for post-Ohayocon life was supposed to be chillin' out, maxin' relaxin' all cool while watching copious amounts of the West Wing. However, my plan was foiled by whiny people on various forums bitching about the results of Craftsmanship judging. One person said a winner had frayed edges on their costume. Frayed edges!?! I'd blow up Ohayocon before I'd give an award to someone with frayed edges. Actually, I'd probably blow up Ohayocon just for the hell of it. Anywhoo, I had to spend a lot of time online providing feedback to the participants, occasionally yelling at stupid people, and pacifying angry cosplayers (things were f'ed up backstage, no doubt).
And I watched West Wing. A lot. Like.. bedsores a lot, and kept up with the forums. Consequently, I had a ***fabulously vivid dream*** where the people running the White House were wearing traditional gothic and amaloli fashion.
I don't dream frequently, but man.. when I do, its worth the wait. I did my best to recreate it, just for you.
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| Happy Cha-noo-kah from the Jewish Hospital |
[Dec. 9th, 2008|11:52 pm] |
Did I spell that right, Trae?
So I'm back in the hospital, but this time I get the pleasure of staying overnight. Andy was brave enough to leave his laptop for my entertainment so I'm writing from my hospital bed at midnight.
The upside is that my roommate has a crazy lip flapping snore, I have my own ghetto Arc Generator strapped to my chest, I got to experience my first CT scan, my nurse is a cool chick with a cool African name (Amaka Okonji, we played the 'pronounce my last name' game and both won), I have a yellow "FALL RISK" bracelet, and I've gathered further proof that my boyfriend is the bee's fuckin' knees.
The downside is I have STUDENT health insurance, and HOLY SHIT I JUST HAD A CT SCAN. I just finished paying off all my medical bills and now this happens... I'm going to be in debt until I die. I was walking on the treadmill at Andy's house and things went drastically downhill from there. The usual: hive attack, blood pressure tanked, and I fell over. Only this time, the Benadryl didn't help. The doctors are pretty cool here, and they're running a ton of tests, so maybe we'll get something conclusive this time, but I doubt it.
And I'm at a Jewish hospital. Go figure. It took Andy a minute to figure out why the signs are all in Hebrew ^_^
I should be out of here Wednesday morning.. not sure when I'll be back in Toledo but I'll definitely be back for the jewelry party Friday night. |
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| Selling Harry Potter & Sandman |
[Nov. 28th, 2008|02:45 am] |
Hey all,
I'm selling my entire collections of Harry Potter (all hardcover, mixed editions) and Sandman (all softcover trades), all used but in very good condition. I'll sell them for $50 a collection. Let me know if you are interested, I'm going to toss them up on Ebay at the end of the week.
Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Re: laptops - I think I am just going to fix up my desktop a bit, I wasn't impressed by the sales.
Update: Sandman - sold to the good looking man with the goatee! |
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| Dilemma: Should I get a laptop? Part 2 |
[Nov. 27th, 2008|12:16 pm] |
Thank you to everyone that responded here, in person, and other forums. Not surprisingly, everyone that already has a laptop is in favor of me getting one. Borg, much? ^_~
I should have been clearer - its not the trips OR the laptop. I just feel a little extravagant buying something so expensive when those trips are in my near future. (I got my DragonCon confirmation!)
I'm about to go check out the Black Friday ads. Finding a really good price may help seal the deal. A lot of people pointed out that laptops have gotten significantly lighter in the past year, and I had never considered using a backpack to carry it. My Detroit friends rave about Targus bags, so I'll probably get one if I do purchase a laptop.
Thanks again to everyone. Happy Turkey Day, enjoy your post meal nap, and if anyone needs a 4am shopping buddy, give me a call!!! |
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| Dilemma: Should I get a laptop? |
[Nov. 25th, 2008|04:28 pm] |
I've been informed that I'm going to get a chunk of money for Christmas. I guess this is the silver lining when a close relative dies.
I've been contemplating purchasing a laptop for awhile and now that I'm going to be a teacher, it seems like a good idea. It must have a number key pad on it, but that requires a larger laptop. A large monitor is nice, but I've observed several of my friends opt to leave their laptops behind because they are so big and heavy. I don't know how to reconcile getting a nice, tricked out laptop while keeping it very portable. It would need to travel with me daily.
So now I am just considering doing minor upgrades to my desktop. Everything can be kept on a flash drive, which will always be more portable than a laptop. Most high schools have a decent laptop in every classroom for the teacher's use.
I'm also figuring in my plans for 2009. I'm going to Japan, DragonCon, and hopefully Florida. I'm not sure how comfortable I am spending money on an unnecessary item given my travel plans.
Opinions, ideas, and general thoughts would be appreciated. In particular:
1. Should I get a laptop? Why or why not?
2. What features do you have on your laptop that you love/can live without?
3. Do you think your laptop is worth the amount you paid for it?
4. How do you travel with your heavy ass laptop? |
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| Awesome Addictive Game - How Good Are YOU? |
[Nov. 23rd, 2008|01:19 pm] |
A friend just sent me to the Eyeballing Game.
It measures your ability to visually estimate things like distances, center points, angle bisections, etc. You need to play through three times and it will calculate your average error (lower the better).
I am strangely accurate at finding the midpoint of a circle, but suck at the rest. Give it a shot, post up your score. Mine was 5.39 after two full tries.
Edit: Link fixed. |
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| T is for Ten Things... |
[Nov. 17th, 2008|05:33 pm] |
... that I like. Kelly tagged me with T, so here I go!
1. Tico!
2. Three Nine Six Eight Marburg Ave.
3. Toothbrushes
4. Traveling to Tokyo (Summer '09! Woot, I say, woot.)
5. Textiles
6. Thai food
7. Totino's pizza rolls
8. TLC (The Learning Channel, not the musical group)
9. Tyrannosaurus Rexes!
10. Tim, Tina, Tony, Trae (my T friends, in alphabetical order)
Did I forget anything obvious?
Respond if you want a letter! ^_^
(And yes, my cat IS about to attack Legolas on a My Little Pony.) |
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| ^_^ |
[Nov. 14th, 2008|01:59 am] |
I just got my membership for DragonCon '09. See you there!!! |
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| My Crazy Life ( or Why I Wasn't at Youmacon ) |
[Nov. 4th, 2008|02:37 pm] |
October has been a hell of a month. My Gramma died earlier this month. My mom and I were very close to her and its been pretty rough. It was totally unexpected, she was in good health. She didn't answer the phone for two days, we went to her house to check on her and well.. details aren't appropriate to post here.
Then the car accident happened two weekends ago. As I said in my previous post, they walked away unscathed. Thank you everyone for the well wishes.
Then, hours before we were going to leave for Youma, my mom called to say her boyfriend, Jim, had a stroke and was taken to the ER. Amazingly, it happened just after a race and there was an ambulance nearby. Additionally, one of their runner buddies is an ex-neurosurgeon. He went to the ER with my mom and Jim, and recommended the use of a clot busting drug. Apparently, the ER docs don't like to use it because if there is a tear anywhere in the circulatory system, the patient could easily bleed to death. However, they took the chance and Jim started to recover immediately. I saw him yesterday and he looked perfectly fine. In fact, he acted like he was going to flash me but he had on running shorts under his hospital gown. He is hoping to get out today so he can go vote.
So I opted to stay at home with my mom and keep her company rather than go to Youma. I was a little sad because I wanted to see all my Detroit friends and con buddies, and I won that free badge (thank you for picking up a calendar for me, Erik!) but we had a nice night in Toledo. |
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| Go kiss your mom. |
[Oct. 27th, 2008|01:16 pm] |
Or dad... Loved ones.
Mom and Jim were on their way back from Mackinac Island on Sunday after a race when a storm blew up suddenly. They were going about 70 mph and the road got icy very quickly. They flew off the side of the road, fell 20 feet down the embankment, rolled the car a few times, and stopped the way it is in the picture. Mom has a sore shoulder and Jim has a little scratch on his hand from when he pulled himself out through the driver side window. Fucking amazing. Thank you, Pontiac.
They're perfectly fine. The car is totaled. A lot of other cars went out of control at the same spot and there were cop cars and ambulances all over the place. I can't believe how lucky they were.
So go tell your family you love them .. .. and always wear your seatbelt. -_- |
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