Wednesday, August 30, 2017

WIP Wednesday - 2017 - Volume 9

This week, I'm sharing some of the other projects I'm working on. The stuff I've posted over the last couple of weeks are the main things I've been doing, but there are a few odd prints and projects that I'm working on because I'm not happy unless I have at least 10 different projects in progress at any given time.

One recent project I picked up was repainting our school room. We homeschool, so I have a dedicated space in our house where we keep our school stuff. We decided it needed to be repainted. It was the same yellowy creamy beige that everything in the house was when we moved in. Super neutral and super boring. The school room is in what is supposed to be a "breakfast room" but I don't understand the need for having 2 eating areas in our house. But it works well enough for my purposes. Anyways. The house came with the white molding around the bottom part of the walls in this room, and we decided to leave that. The top part of the room is painted a pale gray, and the bottom part is a pretty shade of green.
 These shelves are mostly for reference books and books not tied to any particular curriculum but might be considered educational. And also our D&D and Pathfinder role playing books. This includes a wide selection of classic literature for my high schoolers, dictionaries, and other fiction books that we deem less than fun (by our kids' standards). We value reading here. =P Anyways, this shelf used to be overflowing, but I purged half the books that had been on it. Most were not thrown away and will be going to a second hand store or used book store. One of my goals this year is to remove things from my home that I don't use and won't use. That makes less to clean up and more time for art! The bottom shelves used to be prettier too, but my 5 year old, Sophie, loves "reading" books and doesn't usually put them back correctly. *sigh* She is also responsible for the paper on the floor--all that came off her desk which you can see in the corner of the picture above. Encouraging her to keep her space semi-clean (I don't expect perfection, but stuff not on the floor would be nice) is a constant battle.

 This is the space dedicated to curriculum stuff. The top shelves have library books and stuff for Sophie's Kindergarten. The next row is for unit study material that we use for our younger kids--right now just Logan (my 10 year old), although we do encourage Sophie to participate where she can.
Below that are spaces for the 3 boys to keep their books: one for Logan and two each for Ty and Luke--my high schoolers. Below that is curriculum not currently in use but that I want available because I tend to use a fairly fluid system for moving through material. The bottom shelf has supplies mostly for science projects. Art supplies have moved to the garage because they were ending up all over the place. The kids can still access them, but it's harder for them to pull everything out, so it doesn't all end up all over the place.

 Our D&D dry erase board and the piano, for when someone feels musically inclined.... And a nice clear picture of the walls. =D

And finally this is their workspace... sort of. It's really just a flat surface that collects crap. =P There is a leaf like the open one above on the other side, and there's felt on the bottom of the table legs so I can move the table easily. I can move the table and open up both sides if I want, or fold both down, or keep one up like it is now. In theory, it's a good idea. In theory...

Anyways, that's a tour of our school space. This is a big part of my life right now, along with art and work and what not, so thought I'd share this for WIP this week. The painting is finished, but maintaining the rest of the room is a constant work in progress as is how we manage our school. I'm always looking for new ways to tweak our system. That makes me sound super organized and together doesn't it? I'm really not. We have no such thing as a routine, and we're definitely one of the more chaotic homeschooling families. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have a nice orderly life. ... Sometimes.

Monday, August 28, 2017

Legendary Play Mats

Recently my husband and his old college roommate, who share a birthday, turned ... I won't say, but it was one of the fun ones that end in "0" or "5" and deserved something more fun than usual.

We got his roommate, who prefers to go by Theorne, a Last Unicorn print from Animazement, a couple of fun things off Etsy (which shall remain nameless, since we haven't given those yet, on the odd chance he finds his way to my blog--not likely, but would rather not chance it), and 2 custom-printed play mats for his Legendary game. 

Theorne is an huge Legendary fan, and that's putting it mildly. He has pretty much every card ever made for the game, minus two that I believe were promotional cards released by Upper Deck on some occasion or another (he told me probably more than once, but I can't remember). He has them sleeved in high quality sleeves and stored in two wooden cases.

We found a game store not too far from where we live that will print play mats, so we decided to try to put together a mat based off the Legendary board since Theorne had mentioned (several times) how much he loved the mat we had with our Legendary Encounters Firefly game. He conveniently forgot his game cases at our house after one of our game nights, and we took the opportunity to scan the board. The dimensions we needed for the mats did not match the original board, but we were able to pull a lot of the images and core elements from the board and arrange them so that they fit the mat dimensions while still maintaining the original sizing for the card spaces. That was a challenge, but my husband succeeded in putting that together.

Since we'd gone to the trouble to make the one mat, we decided to make a fan-based mat using images from things that Theorne liked. It was mostly a just-for-fun kind of thing. 

I believe he was well pleased with them. We broke them in at the start of their birthday game day by playing an epic game of Legendary featuring the Fantastic Four expansion. By epic I mean we won, but only had 3 turns left before losing.

This has been a fun project, and it has gotten my creative gears going. What kind of fun things could I do with this.



Friday, August 25, 2017

What I'm Watching - Wonder Woman

So, I'm sure everyone's seen the Wonder Woman movie. I got to see it in June for my birthday, which is super unusual for me. I hardly ever ask to go see anything in the theaters. It's not my thing. I'd usually prefer to curl up in the comfort of my own home, with our decently sized TV and a snack of choice. I've always liked Wonder Woman though--I'm not sure if I can claim being a legitimate fan because I never watched the old TV show, and I never read any of the old comic books, although this was partially because of lack of access when I was younger, and lack of time now that I'm older.

Anyways, I made an exception to my policy to avoid movie theaters. I think I made a brilliant choice. Wonder Woman is the best DC movie that has created since the Tim Burton Batman movies. This is my personal opinion. My husband argues that it is since The Dark Knight, but he was much more fond of those movies than I was.

Anyways... I loved this movie. I liked this movie enough to see it a second time in the theaters, which is a really big deal for me--I haven't wanted to see a movie again like this since The Lord of the Rings movies (not The Hobbit movies). I got to see it a 2nd time a week or so ago with my mom. We went out for a girl's evening and had a great time.

The rest of this may involve some spoilers. Just saying...

I loved the parts with young Diana. I totally want to cosplay Hippolyta and dress Sophie as little Diana. *squee* There is at least a 74% chance that this cosplay set will happen.

I also kind of want to cosplay Wonder Woman. Kind of. But anyways. I digress.

My favorite part after young Diana was where she climbs out of the trenches and charges the German lines. And all I could think during the entire scene is: "She's a tank. This is how a tank should function--draw aggro from enemies and let the squishy DPS go around the sides." Of course after that moment she proceeds to out DPS the DPS, so the comparison really ends there, but meh. I like it because my class of choice happens to be tank. Nevermind that I suck at being a tank because of insecurity issues and perfection issues, but I still like it and deep down wish I could be just like Wonder Woman was in that moment.

And can I talk some more about how much I loved the costume design. No, you say. Well tough. It's my blog, and I love talking about costumes. I loved the way they did the Amazons warriors. (I also loved that Princess Buttercup was Antiope--I want to be that awesome when I get to be her age.)

There is so much more that I want to say about this movie, but I don't have words for. So, I'm going to stop rambling. I was so pleased that this was done well. I really wanted it to be good, and usually that leads to disappointment. This was a pleasant break from that trend.

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

WIP Wednesday - 2017 - Volume 8

This week, I'm sharing some pictures of some crochet amigurumi plushies I've been working on. I'm working on some badge tags to go with them, too. These are similar to the ones I've made in the past, except I've cleaned up the patterns, and instead of just using scrap yarn from around my craft room, I'm picking a specific brand of yarn with lots of color options, so I can keep things consistent to go with the tags. Pictured this week is a Kitty and part of a Bunny. I'm working on redesigning the bunny tail so I'm not using the little poof balls anymore. Those were cute and fuzzy, but they're a pain to find in my area, and the colors don't necessarily go with what I want to use with the yarn, so... working on alternatives. You can see what I've come up with below. I'm debating on a small tail, which is more proportionate, or a larger tail more the size of what I had with the poofs. I'm also loving the colored eyes eye I got to experiment with this time around. Will definitely want to order more of those. Anyways, pictures were taken at work at about 2am, so lighting is meh at best. =P
Bunny

Bunny with larger tail

Bunny with smaller tail
Kitty

Will be a blue calico Kitty

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

WIP Wednesday - 2017 - Volume 7

This week I'm sharing some progress pictures on the new nerdy necktie line I'm working on. Featured in this week is progress on the Tie of Gondor and a shot of the fabric for the next several ties.





Friday, August 11, 2017

Classic Films - Episode 3

 - Guest Contribution by my husband and writer (which is kind of ironic since I write the blog)

Okay so this film is a little bit of a guilty pleasure. We watched Wargames, 1983 starring Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy in a non-John Hughes film. I really liked this movie growing up and I think it appealed to my kids in the same way.
The movie follows a high-school computer hacker who accidentally breaks into a military computer and almost starts WWIII. All the while, he thinks he’s just playing a new video games from a game company while he’s telling the military’s computers that Russia is attacking the US with nuclear bombs. My kids found the concept of a high-school hacker amusing.
The film is definitely dated in terms of technology. The computer dials up through a rotary phone. Our hacker has to use 51/4 inch floppy disks to run his programs because his computer doesn’t really have a hard drive. There’s a 7-11. I honestly haven’t seen one of those in years. Throw in the 1980s hairstyles, clothing, and Dabney Coleman and you have a quintessential 80s flick.
What I had forgotten was how much this film actually addressed some concepts that were years ahead of its time. The first idea was to computerize human jobs in order to remove human error. We’re still arguing this concept as we move steadily towards computer-driven cars. The second is, of course, AI, which I believe is technically impossible. Computers can only do what they are told. They have two settings, on and off. Here, the computer “learns” a key philosophical concept of futility by playing tic-tac-toe. Lastly, we have the idea of games versus reality.
There’s one great point in the film in which David, Broderick’s character asks the computer if they are playing a game or if what they are doing is real. The AI computer responds, “What’s the difference?” When you really think about it, this can break your brain. After all, both are real in the sense that they actually exist but the concept of game and how it relates to play are really tough to tease apart. After all, do professional athletes play a game or are they working? What’s the difference? If it’s money, then is gambling really a form of play? I teach a class in game studies so we often spend the first two weeks discussing the meaning of play and game and then we watch The Game and many minds get blown.
Back to Wargames for a moment. My kids wanted to know why the military would even have games on their computers and so we talked a bit about how games and war are similar. Both rely on tactics. Both attempt to have a winner and a loser in a contest of skill, numbers, luck, and strength. Both have rules. Both can have cheaters. Chess is really just a symbolic version of war. The military uses games like “America’s Army” for training and as a recruitment tool. Wargames is actually a clever play on the meaning of the two words.
What I noticed this time around was the acting. Matthew Broderick plays a rather meek teen. He gets very submissive around authority figures, looks at the floor, and speaks in a contrite tone when he is being addressed by most of the adults. When he talks to adults that have no authority over him, he behaves humbly and actually praises their skills. It’s a very different kind of teen then we see in movies today who are often loud, aggressive, and confrontational when it comes to adults or authority figures.
I had forgotten Ally Sheedy was in this film. Honestly, her role as Jennifer in the movie seems at first to be just to serve as a romantic interest but a careful look tells us more. She’s the Watson to David’s Sherlock Holmes. He explains to her what he is doing and thus explains it to us the audience providing a reason for the exposition. He’s portrayed as a non-athletic geek. She is his reverse. He takes the bus. She rides a motorcycle. He stays in his room. She exercises. He can’t swim. She can. When he freaks out after discovering that he broke into a military computer, she calms him down. Even though she really doesn’t do a whole lot to affect the overall story plot, she has character. The funny part is that the film doesn’t draw much attention to it.
I actually really loved the snarky general played by Barry Corbin. When the computer takes over the US missile controls and threatens to begin thermonuclear war, he turns to the computer expert and says, “You know. Your fancy computer system really sucks.” It’s just such a wonderfully sarcastic line and Corbin delivers it with comic perfection. It took me a while to figure out that Stephen Falken is actually a reference to Stephen Hawkins, the brilliant physicist. Falken is your stereotypical genius antisocial inventor. His only unique quality is that he’s given up on life after the loss of his child and wife. Somehow David and Jennifer reach him and he comes along with them. He doesn’t solve anything. His role is merely to get the military leaders to listen to David for a moment by confirming that the computer is playing a game with them.

Wargames is a cool movie. It has a simple message that no one wins in a nuclear war. I think we can pretty much agree with that idea. While our relations with Russia have changed, this film could still be made today.

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

WIP Wednesday - 2017- Volume 6

This post is brought to you by more work on the new badges. I'm working on sketching all of them out before I put them in the computer to finish. This week adds the Bounty Hunter, Mecha, Swordsman, Magic Girl, and Lycanthrope to the finished sketches. Apologies for lame photo quality. =P I was using my phone and it was kind of late, so bad lighting.




Monday, August 7, 2017

Animazement Art

This post is going to be my last post about Animazement this year. I promise.

This post is dedicated to the awesome art I picked up in Animazement's Artist Alley this year.

The first artist: I don't have a name for her. She had no cards. She said she didn't have a website. I got the impression she was a first time artist. If anyone knows anything about her, let me know so I can link proper credit. Anyways, the first print is of Saber Lily from one of the Fate games. No idea which one. I'd never seen any of the series or played any of the games when I saw the print. I loved the character design though. It's the kind of thing I'd love to cosplay. Anyways. Second print is from Sword Art Online. I loved the last story arc for the 2nd season, and I love that I found art that did not over-sexualize Asuna. I love the series, but have been less than happy with most of the fanart I see for it in the AA. I'm sure the sexy Asuna probably sells better, but it's not my cup of tea. I thought this picture was super cute. Moving on. Third print I got from this artist was from Love Live. I watched Love Live during a really depressing period I was going through last fall, and I fell in love with the series. I loved all the different costume designs, and I would love to cosplay from this series one day. It's the kind of thing though where I don't want to do it by myself--it'd be so much more fun to cosplay with a group.





The second artist: ShavoStars. I loved this artist's Last Unicorn art. I got her unicorn version for a friend for his birthday, and got the Amalthia version for myself. Love it. So much nostalgia. Last Unicorn is one of my favorite childhood things. Right next to Labyrinth and Princess Bride. Would also love to cosplay Amalthia.


The third artist I got things from was NoFlutter. I've always loved her stuff. So, I know I complained about sexy art above, but this is a kind of stylistic sexy that I really like. I've been a fan of NoFlutter's art for a while, and I was super pleased to see her at Animazement. Anyways, I picked up a group pic of the Inner Senshi in Amazon-style Warrior designs, I'm assuming inspired by Wonder Woman. The other print I got from her was a steampunk style Wonder Woman. Both of these designs were amazing, in my opinion. I would love to cosplay them. (Do we see a theme here).


Now I just need to get these lovelies hung up in my craft room. =D

Friday, August 4, 2017

Pokemon GO

I don't know if anyone here plays Pokemon GO, but I do... admittedly only half-heartedly.

It does help that lots of Pokemon show up where I work now, and I have access to a Pokestop from my basement cubicle. Beyond casual play, though, I don't think the game has much appeal. I like collecting things, so I do enjoy playing. It spices up (somewhat) the usually dull walks around my neighborhood, which I take on days when it's not hot. I admit that my courage fails when it comes to warm weather. Over 80 degrees, and I melt. Sadly that's a good bit of the year where I live. This week I've been looking at temperatures in the upper 90s. Dying...

Back on topic. So, I play on Team Mystic because I like what it stands for, plus blue is my other favorite color. My husband and eldest son play (all Team Mystic). My mom and brother play--also Team Mystic. So clearly, Team Mystic is the most awesome team -- because I'm there... Just kidding.

The new mechanics for the gyms look fun. I haven't really played with it as I don't live near any gyms. From what I have seen, it does seem more engaging than the previous system. Maybe I'll get a chance to play around with the new mechanics some time soon.

Anyways, anyone else here still play Pokemon GO? What team are you on? Just curious.

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

A Tribute to Ferret

Instead of the planned WIP today, I'm going to share a tribute to my cat Ferret who passed away yesterday--because he was an awesome cat who deserves to be remembered, and I didn't get pictures of the WIP stuff for today because of taking care of him yesterday. 

This is the tribute that my husband wrote and posted on our personal Facebook pages yesterday after the fact. I'm sharing it here, because he is way more eloquent than I am. 

So today our pet cat Ferret passed away. When Sarah and I got married seventeen years ago, even before we had Ty, we decided that we wanted to adopt two cats. We had just started a small web business and we reached out to one of the animal shelters. Not only did we make their webpage (long gone now I'm sure) but they happened to have two kittens we could take. They were a brother and sister from a litter of kittens left in a bag along I40. We took both. This post is going to run a little long since I'm dedicating it to both of them. Initially, we thought to name them after Lord of the Rings characters but decided that they were just too undignified for that. We decided to name them after rodents instead. Ferret got his name because he was a little skittish but also curious. He would carefully poke around until he felt comfortable with a place. His tail was so long that when he was a kitten it would periodically tap him on the top of the head and he would startle himself. When the door got left open, all of the cats would be outside except Ferret who preferred the comfort of his home. His sister we called Squirrel because she was high-strung and a bit of a spaz. I remember watching her run head-on into a Television set because she wasn't watching where she was going. We lost Squirrel about ten years ago. She fell out of a window, ran off, and never came back. She was a sweet, fat cat. She was very affectionate and loved laps. She also kept Ferret clean because he wasn't really good at grooming himself. We like to think she found a home because she loved people and food and if anyone ever found her and fed her, should would have moved right in with them. Ferret, on the other hand, remained a constant with us throughout all of our moves, children, and life changes. He was a very calm cat unless you put him in a carrier at which point he would completely lose it. The first time we put him in one, the whole carrier shook and rattled until it broke apart. Ferret liked to head-butt you as a sign of affection. Ferret was also strong. He didn't pick fights but he would certainly end them. In one of the pictures in this post, he received a reward from Luke who, as part of a class experiment, measured all of the cats movements over an hour and determined that Ferret was the most active. We think he had a stroke last year but somehow recovered from it. All in all, an amazing survivor. Ferret and Squirrel were both important members of our family that were with Sarah and I from the very beginning of our marriage. We will cherish their memory. In the pictures, Ferret is the champaign cat and Squirrel is the grey one. You'll also see a picture of Bunny, the calico cat, whom we lost earlier this year. Ferret was 17 years old.