So, I've been really quiet lately. I guess I subscribe to the "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all" theory. In a nutshell, we will likely be moving as soon as possible. We haven't been paid for almost a quarter. So, I think we're officially throwing the towel in and trying to find a job elsewhere. Which sucks. I've really enjoyed living here and all of the wonderful people we've met. In an effort to not dwell on the suck-fest, here's a funny thought that occurred to me.
Where is the strangest place you've ever been hit on?
For me, I would have to say the catacombs of Paris. I really wanted to go, but my friend Anna was really creeped out by the idea. So she went somewhere else while I did the tour of the catacombs. I bought my ticket and they directed me to an elevator. I took it down and when it opened, it put me in this small very clinical entirely white room with a door. No signs. Thought I was in some weird movie where everyone is screaming, "Don't go through the door!!!" So I went through the door. This took me into a very narrow stone spiral staircase. So I went down... and down... and down... and thought about turning around. But then it dumped me out at a corner of two narrow hallways. Now I'm not hugely Closter phobic, but I was starting to get a little weirded out. There was a sign this time. But it was in French and there were no arrows. Felt a bit like I was in a real life D&D session and had been separated from the party, and very badly wished I'd put a skill point or two into French. So I went left. Always go left. ;)
Right as I'm starting to wonder if I'd chosen the wrong poorly light hallway, it opens up into a nice spacious room that's sort of domed. I pause for a bit and notice there's a guy sitting on a folding chair. I must have looked really confused because the guy stood up and started talking to me in French. Which earned him a momentarily puzzled look and a stammered "Parlez-vous anglais?" Thankfully he did and I asked him if I was in the right place. He was very animated and happy and I guess so surprised to see a girl down there that was actually interested in the catacombs. So he took me over to the entrance with the first skull art and started telling me the story about the design. He shined his flashlight on it and I said, "Oh! Could you shine it just there at that angle so I can take a picture?!" He did and I took a picture then showed him the picture. He thought it was so great and rushed over to the next one to say I should take a picture of that, and so on. He loved trying the flashlight at different angles and seeing how it effected the pictures.
So then I got a private guided tour through the whole catacombs, and really cool eerie lighting pics because of the flashlight help. :D Then when we get to the end, he tells me to hide my camera before I go back up because you're not supposed to take pictures down there! LOL!! He also said that he'd get off in 30 minutes and was wondering if I'd tried some certain restaurant or type of food and would like to grab a coffee with him and go to that restaurant. It was very surreal. I'm thinking, "Am I really being hit on how many hundreds of feet below Paris surrounded by centuries old human remains arranged into art?" He was a very sweet guy though. So I told him that I'm sorry but I was married. He said he wouldn't tell if I wouldn't! O_o What's with guys? Why do they always say that? That is the third time (that I recall) that I've had that line since being married. Anyways... so, help me find happy and share the weirdest place/situation that you've been hit on.
- Mood:resigned
I recently purchased a betta fish and a really cool large vase for him. Today I got a bamboo plant and a sucker fish. Mike and I were discussing names for the newly acquired sucker fish and he came up with Monica. Lol! No, not the one from friends. Yes, I know it's wrong. ;-) It was too funny though and I decided that I had to keep the name. I'd been trying to think of what to name my betta fish. I wanted it to be something majestic 'cause he's just so pretty. With Monica the sucker fish in place I decided that I had to go with either Richard for Richard the Lionheart, or William for William the Conqueror. Because... well... the nicknames for Richard and William are just too funny with the whole Monica thing. In the end I went with William since you not only get the Willie nickname, but Bill is a nickname for William and the "conqueror" part is quite amusing too. Hehe! Yep, I've got the tank of wrong!The Locks Smith was pretty slow this year, but it's understandable due to all of the crazy stuff that happened. Originally the Locks Smith was supposed to be Wednesday and Thursday at 11am. Yeah... that didn't happen. First the weather was unbelievably horrible and we were unable to get the tent for Locks Smith setup till Thursday morning just after 11am. Naturally I was not able to start *at* 11am since there was some considerable setup time involved once we were able to get into the tent. Sadly I had a pretty fair number of people come by while we were setting up that said they'd come back but were unable to in the end. :( Bummer. We also decided to open it up on Saturday since it was just far too much setup for one day; especially since that one day got a late start.
Also, I got my pomegranate martini fountain working!!! It was awesome! ... and then... it got cold. But... that comes in a later post. I have to get the fountain components unpacked and take some video. It's pretty sweet, and now that I know the gotchas I have hopes that next year's will work for the entirity of war and not just the first day. ;-)
While the tent was going up on Wednesday night, I ran my uber long 75' extension cord to the tent. It wasn't long enough! So we bought another short one and were good to go. For the full day spa experience, I had brought all of my medieval CDs and a CD player to stash under the table. In the end, we mostly just listened to the Medaeval Baebes. Who, btw, are going to be at the renaissance fair this weekend (http://royalfaires.com/arizona/index.php?o
( Cut for lots of pictures and descriptions to the best of my ability on how I achieved the hairstyle... )
- Location:can't sleep because I just start coughing
- Mood:
sick
- Mood: tired
Due to the weather being so miserable, the Burgundian that the Locks Smith is going to be in has not been put up yet. That means no Locks Smith today. As a result, we decided to reschedule that day to Saturday. Besides, we had a couple of people that were disappointed it was too early in the war. The new days are tomorrow (Thursday) and Saturday. So please come on by! I did manage to get my pomegrante martini fountain working! Yeah! Finally got to incorporate fun period fountain mechanism in a sotelty! :-D
- Mood: tired
( Hang Out... )
( Artisan's Alley... )
( Suit Up!... )
( Take in a Show... )
( The Locks Smith... )
- Location:distracted by war at work
- Mood:
busy
- Mood:
amused
There's a tiny quest that I've been on for the last several years. I keep my eye out for silk stockings. Not silk hose or tights. Silk stockings. I desperately want a pair of knitted ones *just like* Eleonora's... but I don't knit. :( So today I decided to hop over to the site that I go to to purchase my stockings (see pic to right). It's an 18th century site, but they have 100% cotton knee high white stockings with black clocking (http://jas-townsend.com/product_info.php?c*and then*...
THEY HAVE SILK STOCKINGS!!!! OMG!!! :-D SQUEEE!!!! Not only do they have regular silk stockings(http://jas-townsend.com/product_info.php?c
- Mood: excited
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
jenthompson , it looked fun. Wow. What a surprise... I want to be the pretty peacock ;-) After reading the description, I'd have to say I agree. I love historical accuracy, but the challenge for me would not be meeting 100% accuracy but making the anachronisms look plausible and appropriate. Now if only I had somewhere to *play* steampunk...
Your result for The Steampunk Style Test...
The Aristocrat
79% Elegant, 66% Technological, 53% Historical, 20% Adventurous and 3% Playful!
You are the Aristocrat, the embodiment of steampunk elegance and poise. For you, dressing steampunk is first and foremost about simply looking good, with accessories and details to follow. However, this does not mean that you ignore the demands of creating a “steampunk look.” Your outfits weave together a balance between technology and style, and between period accuracy and beautiful anachronism. While your fashion inspiration may come from anywhere across the Victorian social spectrum, you always find a way to make your outfit beautiful. You will probably be found in the clothes of the steam age elite simply because of the greater elegance available to them. Chances are you dress this way because you like it, and you would still dress in this manner even if steampunk was not a popular interest.
Try our other Steampunk test here.
- Mood:
contemplative
This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
- What I create will be just for you.
- It'll be done this year.
- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to put this in your journal as well. We all can make stuff!
- Mood: amused
2. Add three SCA-related things to the bottom that you've done.
3. Bold everything in the list that you've done.
( Behind the cut for those that aren't interested ;-) )
- Location:home half in my PJs
- Mood:
lazy
- Mood:wishful
We took him in to the vet a couple of days ago. Since there were no crystals (yeah!), the next thing the vet said that she thought it might be was the kidneys failing. Crap! There was one more thing that she suggested that was equally incurable, but I think I was still too focused on the renal failure. I said, "Isn't it possibly some sort of bacterial infection?" She said that very rarely cats do get UTIs, so she'd run the tests and check but that it was more likely the kidneys. I never thought I'd cheer for a UTI! Well, thankfully, it was indeed a UTI. The vet said that it had one of the highest counts that she'd ever seen and she was going to have to put him on at least three weeks of antibiotics before she could check again to see if that did it.
Three weeks of twice a day pills for the grumpy cat. ... ... Yeah. I then remembered someone on LJ mentioning those pill pocket things (I think it was
ashnimehal ). I asked the vet about them and she had some sample packs she gave us. These suckers are AWESOME!!! I gave him two unleaded ones just to make sure he liked them and didn't think we were tricking him, then I loaded a pill in the third one. It doesn't fit exactly, but the treats mush easily enough to make a little meat coating on the pill. He eats them! No fuss, no muss, easy cat pilling. Finally!By tonight/tomorrow morning there should be enough antibiotics in his system that it should be hurting less. I feel so bad for the poor kitty. No wonder he was peeing on the floor! Poor Baby! :( But at least it's something fixable!
- Location:trying to focus at work... and failing
- Mood: relieved
Plus this award is red and gold with fleur de lis in a circle that looks like a flower. Hello? Have we seen my wardrobe? Red and gold is one of my favorite combos! Your awards are even super awesome! :D
- Mood: ecstatic
My first finished project of 2008 was started late 2007. It's my 16th century Italian pink parasol project! ...which I really should get some pictures of and post now that I think of it. You can see it in my icon and these blog entries: http://lorelei01.livejournal.com/4562.ht
Next is my machine run of my effigy corset. I haven't put the binding on yet as I need to lower the neckline some more or snip the tab slits in more. I haven't decided which yet. http://lorelei01.livejournal.com/7190.ht
Most of this year's projects have been jewelry related. I made an art nouveau inspired necklace and earring set, began an art nouveau peacock necklace, did my first run of my Bella Nani belt buckle in gold plated silver, and began carving a really cool 16th century Italian fork. The gimmel ring attempt has been scrapped for a different method and I think that the wax pendant will be done using reposse once I get the tools. http://lorelei01.livejournal.com/8140.ht
I made a wedding ring for a friend out of white gold: http://lorelei01.livejournal.com/9672.ht
Somewhere in this time frame I made a 16th century Italian camicia with needle lace looking lace that I stitched up on my wonderful embroidery machine. How awesome is it that my embroidery machine makes lace? I don't think I have any pictures of it online yet.
Then there was my 1495 Durer dress for my role as Columbina in my local group's Commedia del Arte: http://lorelei01.livejournal.com/10672.h
Next up was Halloween! I recycled a costume for myself, but I did make my husband's tunic, belt, and shoulder pieces/boots. The awesome helmet and sword were all him: http://lorelei01.livejournal.com/13652.h
I also did a second semester of silversmithing from Scottsdale Community College and made a spider necklace pendant, a silver and blue topaz ring based on a 15th century ring, an amythest and peridot ring based on a 16th century ring, a hinged pendant with changeable cabochons, and I almost finished a custom piece to wrap around a piece of sea glass for a friend.
http://lorelei01.livejournal.com/15649.h
Well, that's my year in review! Hey, that made me feel much better! Here I was thinking that I hadn't gotten much done at all what with trying to sell our house, moving, and unpacking. But, it looks like I was pretty productive after all! Yeah! Go me!
- Location:home, but soon a friend's house for a New Years party!!!
- Mood: accomplished
Ok, I finally got a moment to post the results of my second jewelry class. Smaller images link to hi-res large pictures. First I'll do my historically based pieces.First up is a ring based off of a 15th century ring from the Fishpool Hoard, but this particular style enjoyed a lot of popularity for some time throughout Europe. Mine is sterling silver with a blue topaz cabochon in it. One of my Christmas presents was "Jewels and Jewelry" by Clare Phillips (http://www.amazon.com/Jewels-Jewelry-Cla
"Stones were chosen not just for colour but also for their supposed healing and spiritual powers, which were extensively written about and widely accepted. According to the treatise on lapidary written by Marbodus, an eleventh-century Bishop of Rennes, the sapphire's virtues included not only protection against physical injury, fraud, fear and envy but also the promotion of peace and reconciliation, healing for ulcers, eyes and headaches and the safeguarding of chastity. If the stone were drilled or pierced, as in William Wytlesey's ring, its effectiveness was believed to increase." [pg.28]
LOL! And here I just thought that they were a nice shade of blue. It makes me really want to make rings for friends with underage daughters with something akin to "jail bait" inscribed in it in Latin. Or I suppose for the more tactful or Christian ones, something like "Love Waits". I wonder if it's effectiveness would be diminished if it's lab created sapphire versus natural... do you think drilling a hole in it would counteract that? ;-) I also think it's neat that if you look really closely at his ring you can see the drilled hole through the center of it. I noticed the line when I first saw it, but my brain must have simply interpreted it as light reflection. So cool!( Cut for LOTS of pictures and the rest of my projects... )
- Location:home
- Mood: accomplished
matticrafts ! I hope this year's is better... my birthday is on December 22nd, so I completely understand about people forgetting you ;) Best wishes and have a blast!- Mood: happy
I was originally going to use white rabbit fur for the lining, but fur seems to have been less common than linen or silk shag. I don't want to line it with linen; I will line it with fur before that. There's slashing on the bottom decorative band, so it's not going to ever get tossed in in the wash (which would normally be a disadvantage of a fur lined garment), but I'm kind of leaning towards the shag fabric idea now... if I can only find some! This is where I need help.
Does anyone out there know where I can get something that will closely approximate silk shag? Most faux furs scare me because I'm afraid they'll mat up and look bad over time, plus I'm not a fan of acrylic, but I'm open. Also, has anyone messed with this new "minky" fabric? (http://www.fabric.com/apparel-fashion-fa
- Mood: creative
What?! The software engineer at a gaming company is a nerd? No way! Sorry about all of the meme's lately. I have a jewelry post planned since my class ended last week, but I have to get good pictures of my pieces first.
- Location:work
- Mood: tired
| Which creature of the night are you? Your Result: Sorceror Control is the name of your game. You are a studied tactician and scientist and you seek a kingdom where things make sense, damn the morals, even if you have to create it. You are cold, calm and calculating. | |
| Cthulu Spawn | |
| Werewolf | |
| Demon | |
| Vampire | |
| Ghost | |
| Incubus/Succubus | |
| Which creature of the night are you? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz | |
- Mood: amused
