Ambitious endeavor

I got a sewing machine for my birthday yesterday, so that means of course more #cosplay! And what have I chosen for my first creation?

Yep. A #TARDIS dress. I have tons of blue fabric, plus some blue TARDIS print fabric and some black-and-grey Doctor Who fabric. Don’t know if I’m going to use the black-and-grey on the dress yet, but I’m going to start working on designs tonight. I think I’ll go the steampunk route with lots of gathers in the skirt & a bustle. I’ve accomplished something similar before, so I don’t think that part will be a problem, but it’s the top that’s going to be tricky. I’ve never done any sort of top from scratch. I’ll most likely make it sleeveless since I’m so new at the whole sewing thing, but we’ll see.

Go big or go home.

Birthday Blog, Take 2

Okay, so I typed up a nice, long post this morning about birthdays and whatnot–and after I posted it, the links were saying “Error 404-page not found.” Thanks a bunch.

Anywho, today was a pretty good birthday. I got to sleep a bunch this morning (though our cat Rory woke me up frequently with his throat-kneading), my husband made me breakfast burritos, I had a short, easy afternoon at work, and a great dinner with my family & a friend of ours who is visiting from out of town.

I also got my first sewing machine, which has me excited because it means I can do more #cosplay and fix/alter my own clothes if needed. I’m able to hand-sew, but this will make things so much easier!

My first two goals: Make a dress out of the blue fabric and TARDIS fabric I have, then possibly a skirt or corset out of some black-and-grey Doctor Who fabric I have. After that? Who knows! I have several links and tutorials saved on Pinterest for different types of sewing projects, so I might be able to keep myself busy for quite some time.

I’m going to start this weekend with finishing up the laundry bags I’ve started, then I’ll be designing and drafting until I believe I’ve come up with the perfect use for my fabric 🙂

Monday, Monday

Well, I’m back in the swing of things this morning. The lazy weekend has passed, and I’ve gotten two critiques and a sketch done this morning. Granted, it’s not the best sketch ever, but for my tremors & my lack of a ruler, I’d say it turned out pretty good.

TARDIS sketch

For those not in the loop, it’s a TARDIS. Watch Doctor Who. There’s almost 50 years of material to choose from, though I’m one of those hipster nerds who only likes the new series. (That’s Doctors 9-12, in case you were wondering–not counting the War Doctor). Eleven is my favorite Doctor (Matt Smith’s portrayal is amazing, and his character development throughout his stint as the Doctor is flawless), and his adventures with the Pond family–which is a whole new level of complicated–are my favorites as well.

Anywho, productive morning, confident of a productive work day, and tomorrow it’s my birthday 🙂

Lazy day

So aside from a couple album reviews and an interview, I’ve gotten next to nothing accomplished today.

Thanks to my wonderful, supportive mom I got my #projectsemicolon tattoo today. But that doesn’t count as an accomplishment really. I just sat there while the artist did all the work.

I guess I’m entitled to a day like this every so often. I’m normally not the type A person that has to be doing something all the time, but I’ve been keeping myself occupied with so much for so long that I have forgotten how to just be.

So this is me. Being.

Backpedaling

After suffering from rapid burnout, I made the decision today to cut back on my work at Talk Nerdy With Us. I’m just getting too old lol

I’m still going to be covering the occasional band and still covering a couple of TV shows, but I’m cutting way back. It’s something I just had to do. I got so excited when I first got the position as a contributing writer that I took on as much as I possibly could, not knowing how much that was exactly.

Well, now I know. I can cover a couple of things at a time, but not as much as I would like to. It sucks, but at least I still get to do the job.

And my day job. And the book writing. And the art. And cosplay.

Okay, so maybe I should have realized I was taking on too much…

As I ponder, weak and weary

When do you know you’re ready for a second edit? I think I’m ready, but I’m not sure.

I’ve been over the new chapters and the revised scenes over and over again. I think I’m overthinking. Which means it’s ready for edit, right? When I can’t find anything else to change? Who knows. So there’s the pondering.

I’m not really “weak” at the moment–maybe a bit hungry–but I’m definitely weary. It was my first day back at work after a 5-day mini vacation, and starting the short work week off with a 10-hour shift is a bit of a jolt to the system. My body is fighting wakefulness with every second. I still have things to do tonight, though, so I can’t go to sleep yet (and I’ve already had a short nap, so any more would just be obscene).

Listening to some new music to review right now, but even the hard rock screaming is not keeping my lids open. Perhaps tomorrow morning I’ll have more luck.

On the road home

It’s been a nice long weekend at my in-laws’, visiting and vacationing.

It was a tiny bit of a working weekend, though, because last night I went to a concert to review a band.

Went much better than the last concert attempt. I got my photo pass, had some food and a couple beers, and got to listen to some music and take photos (no review of the concert here; check out www.talknerdywithus.com later today for that) 😉

Off to the gas station and then Costco for some foodstuffs then home, then to my parents’ house to pick up the Rory monster.

Joining the movement

Have you heard of www.projectsemicolon.org ? Well, if not, look it up. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

You back? Good.

I’m a big supporter of programs that help raise mental health awareness, and the message–that the semicolon represents a place where the author could have ended a sentence but chose not to, and we are all the authors of our lives–is one that has a lot of meaning to me. I’ve never been suicidal, but I’ve been very self-destructive in my day.

I paused that sentence, though, and I’m starting a new one.

image

I have also seen several photos of the semicolon as the body of a butterfly, which is extra symbolic. The caterpillar is the first part of the sentence; the butterfly is the rest.

Soon I’ll have my semicolon tattoo. I’ll join the movement. I’ll spread my wings and all that poetic stuff.

Spanglish

At work, I have learned/remembered enough Spanish (thank you, high school and college Spanish teachers whose names I no longer remember) to be able to make it through an eye exam, give discharge instructions for cataract surgery, and explain that it’s been many, many years since I studied Spanish.

Last night I found out about a new Facebook group–an offshoot of the Fiction Writers Group that I’m already part of–for Spanish authors. That’s when it hit me: Here is the perfect opportunity to learn more.

So yep, I joined the Spanish version of the Fiction Writers Group. Not because I write in Spanish, but because I want to learn better Spanish.

As I read the posts I’m finding that I already know more than I thought I did, but then again reading Spanish and translating into English has always been easier for me than speaking and translating the other way around. Still, I can pick up new words and learn better grammar, which I need.

I am such a dork.

Let me tell you a story…

…about a crappy fast food joint. This establishment sits at the junction of I-10 and Cortaro Road in Tucson, Arizona.

Two orders placed: one for a fish sandwich with tomato and onion added, and one for an A1 mozzarella bacon cheeseburger.

Orders received, the patrons sat down to eat their meal.

First to dig in was the one who ordered the fish. One single bite revealed that the onion and tomato were not there. Was the order entered incorrectly? Checking the receipt, she found that the extra items had indeed been entered and charged.

She took her sandwich (minus one bite) to the cashier and, receipt in hand, pointed out the discrepancy. The cashier took the erroneous sandwich to a cook and brought it back to the patron.

The sandwich was returned rather quickly, and the patron suspected that this was not freshly-cooked. Sure enough, when she sat back down at the table and opened the wrapper the “new” sandwich with the tomato and onion added was inside–complete with the missing bite from where she had started to eat.

The first patron was hungry, though, so she ate this dubious dish.

At this point, the second patron had finished his fries and was opening his own wrapper. Lo and behold, the A1 mozzarella bacon cheeseburger had neither mozzarella nor bacon.

Being hungry himself, the second patron ate the disappointing burger, though he took the time to fill out the online survey as directed on the receipt, making sure to be as thorough as possible in his report.

Once the two were done eating, the second patron walked back to the register to ask for the manager on duty.

To say that the manager’s reaction was indifferent would be an understatement. The manager simply did not care that their staff had risked food contamination by taking a partially-eaten sandwich back into the kitchen.

The moral of this story?

Don’t go to the Burger King on I-10 and Cortaro Road in Tucson, Arizona. They’re fucking disgusting assholes, and they don’t give a shit about getting orders correct.

The end.