Just give in and save your sanity for later.

10:36pm: I just hacked the couch in half with nothing but my lucky coping saw, Nicole/KGB's zombie-preparedness pickaxe and sledgehammer, some scissors and some pairs of pliers. Needless to say, I am feeling pretty manly.

11:37pm: There's an IF Month meetup tomorrow at 6:00 in CFA. Can anyone lend me (or bring with them) a laptop with video chat capabilities?

7:20pm: Hey, remember when I was talking about maybe having an IF Month? Well, it starts tomorrow. Here's the website, and here are some other people talking about it. There are currently 23 people on the mailing list, with two of them added while I was writing this, and of which only nine are people I actually know. Get psyched.

11:35pm: A little while ago, I tossed around the idea of February as Interactive Fiction Writing Month and met with some positive feedback. It turns out that February is Real Soon Now.

( So here's the pitch... )

So, the question is: who is in? Who would be in if it were a different month (be honest)? Or if we did the second half of February and the first half of March, maybe?

12:38am: I have been trying to make a different thing almost* every day this month. Here are the results so far. I know lots of the things have bugs or are otherwise highly imperfect, but after the month is over I will fix the ones I still care about. Otherwise I will get bogged down very quickly!


*The exception is the typeface, which spanned two days.

3:27pm: By the end of today, I'm placing an order from Sparkfun. Ideally, I'd like to do some form of very-quick shipping, which is pretty expensive: $20 for USPS Express, $28 for FedEx Standard Overnight, or $16 for FedEx 2-day Air on a $10 part. Are any of you lovely people in Pittsburgh in need of anything from Sparkfun (Arduinos large and small, GPS loggers, LCD and OLED displays, audio cables, Bluetooth things etc) and willing to help defray shipping costs?


Edit: Order now placed.

1:38pm: Pony rides and dancing bears
Hey everybody [who is in Pittsburgh and is not participating in ICFP stuff], I have a gallery opening tomorrow. The exhibit is called Mashings, and it contains CMU undergrad robotic art, as curated by Ian Ingram. I will be displaying the cyborg eye piece and the Carnival button panel. They are even more fun in person than in photographs, I promise, so drop by if you get a chance. It is at the Melwood Gallery (in the Filmmakers' building), tomorrow night starting at 5:30. The exhibit runs through July 31.

7:59pm: You shook me all night long
Hey everybody!

Come see our Frame show:

Instamatique

12:34am: Everybody's entitled to a little existenstialrangle fangle bang
( My poetic discovery of the day. )

10:41pm: I need some glowsticks (about 20 of them, preferably of the about 4-6" long, 0.25-0.5" diameter variety, in whatever color, though multiple colors would be cool) for a project (neo-Haeckel) that I basically need to do over the weekend. If you have such a thing, I would love to buy them off of you. Alternatively, do you know where I can find some, in Pittsburgh? I don't really have time to order them online (again, I'd like to have them by Saturday), nor do I really need the >50 sticks that would justify an order.

(cross-posted to cslounge, and possibly multiply posted here; apologies if I fill your screen with my glowstick requests)

5:38pm: Want. Alternatively, want access to a mathematician and a Z-printer.

11:42pm: Monsters that talk, monsters that walk the earth
I drafted a seven piece corset pattern for myself. I'm pretty happy with it, but it's hard to tell what the final fit of a corset will be like until it's more or less finished, so we'll see. The plan is that I make a corset, or possibly two, out of denim. Denim is way more durable and washable than the velvet, brocade, and satins that my other corsets are made of, and is strong enough that it can support itself without interlining, so it will be lighter and breathe more. Which is to say, hopefully I will be able to wear it on more casual occasions and worry less about its well-being. Also, it goes way more with my day-to-day outfit (black shirt, blue jeans, docs), and maybe people will be more able to accept that sometimes, a corset is more comfortable than an underwire bra and should be acceptable as street wear.
So, in an uncharacteristically conscientious move, I pre-washed the fabric. Apparently one yard of raw denim can actually release enough dye to turn a bathtub of water deep purple. The denim is hanging over the shower, and is still dripping blue, after ten rinses.
My ginormous bedroom is finally very habitable. I've got a corner for sewing/drafting/calligraphy, I've got a nook for curling up in, I've got more than my fair share of mattresses and shelves, and quite a reasonable amount of floor spaces for pinning and cutting fabric.
In other news, I'm currently listening to Dave's radio show, "Life During Wartime." It is both surreal and awesome to hear his voice on my computer, and his taste in music is pretty excellent. It's like all those mix CDs I forced Dave to make for me, but in real time. I recommend tuning in to WRCT (88.3 FM in Pittsburgh, or you can do this through your internet machine here) on Sunday between 10 PM and midnight.
Speaking of good music, I really (irrationally, even) like the song "Ozanam" by the very sexy Pining for the Fjords, who are lucky enough to having "fjords" in their name and Dom in their band (please note: I'm pretty sure that's not a final cut of the song. It may be even better eventually).

11:29pm: People in Pittsburgh:
Mostly because I'm jealous of all the fine folks that brought us "Pittsburgh Roars," I would like to go to this "idea round up". Would anybody be interested in coming with me?

People not in Pittsburgh:
Confused when I mention the CMU KGB? Maybe this will clear things up.

3:22pm: Gigantic, gigantic, gigantic
Last night, as I was trying to fall asleep, I wondered what it would be like to play a sort of Trivial Checkers. Arrange people on a grid as game pieces. Each turn, a trivia question is asked, and only people who could answer the question can move, with all the other rules being the same as checkers (or chess, I guess). There could also be a distinction between the human-pieces and the human-masterplayers, where the masterplayers are playing che[ss|ckers], and relying on their team to be able to answer; maybe the masterplayers could see all the questions in advance, and try to maximize people likely to be able to answer in strategic locations. If the human-piece thought he or she knew the answer but were incorrect, another person on the same team could try to answer, or possibly, in Tournament Trivial Checkers, the turn would be forfeit.

Would this be fun, or would it grow quickly tiresome? Would it make a good KGB event? I've seen people playing human-sized chess before, but usually the fact that the actual people are being used as pieces is more or less inconsequential, and it is really just Chess By Committee.

I finished my polka-dot dress. It is fully lined (no exposed seams, anywhere; even the seams of the skirts are flat-felled) and has a built in underwire (made from coathangers) and very lightly boned on the sides. There's a super full overskirt (three circles), all rolled-hem (by machine, but it looks really good), a ruffled underskirt, and a solid lining skirt, and it has hand-embroidered eyelets over heavy-duty grommets, so this was an "attention to detail" project. The ribbons that form the straps lace the back. There is currently a small problem with the line of the front being slightly crooked, but I think I can fix it. It's also not terribly flattering. Or rather, it is, but only if you happen to have a uniquely old-fashioned taste in girl-shapes. Fortunately, I do.

Thirdly, the combined effect of my summer job (sorting lead type in the letterpress lab in the basement of Maggie Mo) and seeing the unparalleled jcreed more often convinced me to finally actually download FontForge and poke at it. As a result, I present to you: Bloxfoo. It's definitely, and unabashedly, amateur, and in some places there are intentional lumps and bumps to draw your eyes away from the unintentional ones. Half of the alphabet doesn't really go with the other half. However, as a test font, and as a first try, I think it's not too bad, and it'll give me something with which to learn kerning and ligatures.

Fourthly, I love stingrays. Also, Ernst Haeckel, anenomes, and sea urchins.

Fin.

10:11pm: The kisses of the sun were sweet I didn't blink
Today I woke up at an atrociously early hour to volunteer my time for scorekeeping for the Pittsburgh Regional of the 15th Annual FIRST Robotics Competition. I will do the same tomorrow.

It was all sorts of good. I obtained and will continue to obtain not only several freebies, including a T-shirt, four meals, and divers team merch, but more importantly, some [surprisingly nonbitter] reminiscing and life-path evaluation time. I get to experience this year's (and this region's) competition without actually caring who wins, and as a result I get to cheer for everyone. I'm especially rooting for two teams: the rookie team that made an (in my opinion) amazing recovery right before one of their rounds, and the team with the delightfully Rube Goldberg approach to projectile design.

I also learned an important lesson. Remember, kids: "Fully Autonomous Mode" and projectiles are an iffy mixture at best, and dead reckoning is rarely a good idea. Especially if there are any factors you didn't take into account. Like the other five robots on the field.

2:01am: What you take won't kill you, but careful what you're giving
February sure was a month. I knew from the very beginning that it'd be a certain amount of doom, but remember that with great responsibility comes great fun. Or something like that.

( Here we go )

( Lunar Gala )

( Beaux Arts )

12:28am: What if I'd been born fifty years before you, in a house on a street where you lived?
It's been a pretty good year.

5:18am: You took my hand and lead me down to watch a papillon parade
( [where I was] )



( [where I am] )



( [where I will be] )

2:39pm: Hearts full of passion, jealousy, and hate
"Donald Le Messurier writes:
'The gyascutis is commonly known as a "Side-Hill Lancer". You have greatly enlightened me with the more proper name for this beast. It may be unknown to you that it is quite dangerous and fast on its feet. The only known means of escape is to turn about and run in the opposite direction, in which case the longer pair of its 4 legs will be on the upside of the slope thereby unbalancing him and causing the animal to fall over and roll down the hill. I learned this at a very early age whilst spending my summers in Northern Michigan where this creature was then rather common. I do not know what the status of their population is now, but then I was always very cautious when venturing out in the heavily forested hills. I should add with pride that none ever came even close to catching me.'

To which John Barry was moved to respond:
'I believe that Mr. Donald Le Messurier has mogued you. He is likely chuffed, but let me expose the fallacy of his expostulation... Here is the flaw. Turning about and running in the other direction would have no effect on the direction in which the gyascutis is traveling. The re-orienting to which he refers could only be achieved by causing the creature to change direction - something that would require either the considerably braver action of running past, the insanely dangerous leap over, or the usually fatal path under the fell beast.'"

12:42am: Let the moment go; don't forget it for a moment, though
First, the requisite angst:
A few weeks ago, during that haze that was prep time for Project 1 final review, while helping a fellow Spike Studio archie find scrap metal, I lost my favorite needlenose pliers. Due to the aforementioned scrap metal quest, they are probably in a place that doesn't exist, and I thus have very little chance of ever finding them again, since I don't frequent those places as much as some of you do. These pliers, aside from being nicely springloaded and having no ridges in the grips (better for jewelrymaking, before you ask), were bought for me at my favorite store by a rather awesome human, and are engraved on the nose: "To L From S." I'm still rather saddened by their loss, and anyone recovering them would win a whole bunch of Lea points. They have green handles.

Moving on:
Life is good. Studio is still Studio. I went to Chicago, where I saw Waldo. I had a Halloween, but not a real one.
I have two (count 'em! two!) open electives for next semester, and I've been puttering around trying to find classes to fill them. I feel that the basic problem is that I have very few marketable skills, so I have to find interesting classes that aren't made of math or science-- which is to say, I expect the Committee to Tell People to Take OS to keep its mouth shut here. I have a few in mind, and they both involve Making Things, which is the one thing I do.
Speaking of Making Things, the rest of this entry will concern my newest adventure in design, sewing, and bureaucracy. Those of you who have been keeping up might know that I have been selected by both Lunar Gala and SURG as being worthy of their time, which means that 1) W00t! I have something vaguely resembling a commission, only without them paying me, and 2) W00t! I have someone else giving me the money to do it anyway. What this means is that I'm provided with models, a stage, and an audience, and it's up to me to make it shine. My proposal was completely kitschy, and having seen the other design sets this year, I'm a little surprised it got picked by the same people that gave the green light to the crotchless trenchcoat.
Anyhow, this Tuesday and tonight were what I am affectionately terming Meat Market, in which we, the designers, watched the models strut up and down a taped-off catwalk, shaking their asses to classy tunes by rappers with too many G's in their names. We were never actually told the models' names, oh no, we referred to them by the numbers pinned to their chest or ass. There were two nights of this because the head designer was certain that one would not be enough. On the bright side, #28 introduced himself to me (as #28, of course), and I recognized #27 from last Friday's Capture The Flag With Stuff.
In final LG news, I apparently have to select my own music. My theme is "Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," and it involves Titania's consort, done in, ahem, neoclassical (to through terms around with wild abandon), with shiny glowy lightup bits. For the music, I was thinking along the lines of electric violin or theremin, but it has to have some sort of beat for them to walk to, because I'm pretty sure most of those models have been trained such that they can't walk without a bass line. Suggest to me some music!

2:41am: Come dance the silence down through the morning
But Lea, why do you dress up on Mondays?

Well, aside from the previously stated reasons, I'm trying to build an identity. Though I probably won't find a single trademark item, like Yvette's gloves or Corbu's glasses, I can certainly try for an overall look. My goal is to provoke a reaction in people who merely know of me, as opposed to good friends or complete strangers. I don't need to impress good friends, and I won't have much luck impressing complete strangers. In the campus community, it's definitely possible to build a reputation for oneself, and I think the one I'm looking for is "awesome, geek-sexy, and completely insane." It's not an uncommon one around here, and I can probably swing it (or its general direction) if I try.

More generally, I'm definitely allowing myself to act naturally much more this year than last year, which was itself somewhat of an improvement on high school, and worlds beyond middle school. Spike (my awesome and sarcastic Studio professor) is significantly more laid-back and willing to accept more different styles, concepts, and materials than we were even allowed to dream about in the balsa-and-chipboard-centric First Year Studio. My completely bizarre People Pod project actually garnered a fair amount of praise at mid-project from Art Lubetz, the, um, painfully candid critic. We've also talked a bit about Corbu and Kahn, among others.

I've gone screenprinting with jcreed, and plan to go again after I finish the pods (final review is next Monday). Soonsoon, I will get an email out about how you too can obtain a delightful Brie shirt. I hear that there are lots of shirt plans floating in the ether.

I also recently (today!) purchased some liquid latex, since it was on my list of materials to learn. Once I get a handle on spreading it evenly and not minding the horrible smell of ammonia, I will be unstoppable with respect to very small scale moldmaking, stage makeup prosthetics, and more.

Socially, this year is awkward with the lack of lounge (though there have been some interesting subsitutes), but pretty darn good in other aspects. I've been spending an indecent amount of time at the Yurt, which is often full of delicious brownies. There are multiple new awesome freshmen. I have seen several excellent Thursday night movies, and you can too, in case you're ever bored on a Thursday and you're okay with potentially wanting to claw your eyes out.

5:07pm: I tried my best to leave this all on your machine
Here we go again with another infrequent but lengthy installment of my life, LJ-cut for your convenience and sprinkled with hyperlinks for your amusement.

( Pittsburgh )

( Interim )

( Los Angeles )

( Interim II, with a vengeance )

12:44am: It's a wonderful surprise to see your shoes and your spirits rise
As I leave to visit the main territory of the Empire in approximately four hours, I figure I shall do the LJ thing a bit to kill time.
Over the weekend, I went with Kristine to see Crowns, a play about Southern women and their "Sunday best" hats. There was some great music, mostly black gospel with some old-school rap and some African drums and dancing. Also, there were some really amazing hats. I had been warned ahead of time about the hats, so I wore one of mine. I was asked before the show, by a rather incredulous woman, if what I was wearing was indeed a hat. I replied that it was either that or a dinner plate covered in feathers, but I got it at Goodwill, so it's hard to tell. Anyhow, Crowns is a worthwhile show, and if you're in the Bay Area and need some entertainment you should see it; it was at the Lucie and was held over, so it is now playing in SF. Alternatively, go see Harold and Maude: The Musical (currently at the Lucie), which I hear is pretty decent.
We then went to Lark in the Morning, and watched a musician in the courtyard at the Cannery (at which Kristine was forced to rememeber her own advice). I saw some cool benches.

The next day, I went back to San Francisco, and rejoiced in museuming. There were Rem Koolhaas flashbacks, but all in all it was rather inspiring. We then visited the new tenants in what used to be my grandmother's house, to fix their doorbell. They are two rather awesome older ladies that are artistic and cheerful, and have good taste in furniture. I'm happy to see the house looking significantly less stodgy and dreary.

I talked to Chris briefly. That was interesting. At some point, I made the mistake of sewing under the influence of Picnic, and the teen-girl angst seeped into the clothing a bit and I ended up with a vaguely gothy sundress (unfinished in the picture). I also made a rather cute stuffed thing for Ms cdinwood, who should not click on the picture link if she wants to be surpised by it, and some pineapple pajama pants, which are fairly ridiculous but took like five minutes to sew (and I'm all about instant gratification). I had the opportunity to modify a blazer for the inimitable and spectacular Ms Fall. Today was somewhat tedious, as I had an medical appointment (I have no love for ear infections) and a Java final. Both went by decently, though, and now I think I have killed enough of my time and yours. I shall go read the new issue of Make, which arrived to-day. Au revoir, which in the case of Pittsburghers, will be soon.

11:04pm: You want thingamabobs? I've got twenty.
...
...
OMG HARRY POTTER SPOILERZ
...
...
...
...
Just kidding, of course (and in the most loving way possible, before you fangirls complain)-- I have a few other things to find or finish before I even think about starting Half-Blood Prince.

Yesterday I went to the Legion of Honor fashion (wearable art) exhibit, which was small but full of awesome. I wore my newly finished Poetry Corset (complete with Stephen Crane!), and when I was gazing lovingly at a Kruk dress, a museum docent cornered me and asked me questions about the corset. She concluded that she wished she had "the talent to make that, or the youth/beauty to wear it;" I mumbled something about how I'd always found a lack of concern for aesthetics to be an acceptable substitute in both cases, and moved along to discover an amazing hat which was jointly inspired by sea creatures and punks.

Then I went to the beach, as it was Konni's last night in town. Sadcore, but there was gelato.

Today was flameworking day one, which, though a tiny bit demoralizing because I was completely new to it, was all sorts of fun. I did get appreciably better over the span of the day, and hopefully I will not regress by tomorrow. I made several marbles, a horribly misshapen but serviceable dragon, and several other things. All in all, it was good Quality Time with Daddy. Possibly in subconcious tribute to Mindy (whose birthday it was today), but more likely because of the assumed glassworking-related swelteringness, I wore my new Pizza My Heart shirt, which is white. It was a little disorienting. I should get used to it or something, though, because Jas bought me an awesome, but bright yellow, Kafka shirt while he was in Prague.

11:40pm: And you're back again only different than before, after the sky
I saw a production of Into the Woods that involved two family friends (no Wozniak this time). It was open-air and the weather was beautiful. Of course, there were a few sound issues, which are to be forgiven in the setting, but it was generally very polished and well acted (the Witch actress was trying a little too hard to be Bernadette Peters, though, and that's the sort of thing I rarely forgive). Into the Woods is a generally fabulous play anyway, of course-- one almost doesn't notice that it's three hours long.

So here's the schedule for the rest of this summer, which actually looks to be not bad at all:

7/9: Dead Hensons show with Cort Danger
7/16 & 7/17: Flameworking class with Daddy
Some Tuesday in July: Palace of the Legion of Honor fashion exhibit with Mother and several other mother-daughter sets (Lovgren, Loomis, and Bramlett, last I checked, but I've been known to be incorrect)
7/23: Crowns with Kristine (yay comps!)
7/28: Last day of Java class
7/29-8/6: Pittsburgh
8/11-8/14: Los Angeles. I will be at Venice beach on the 13th, in case anyone feels like purchasing for my birthday that house I fell in love with several years ago.

And the rest of the time, I sit at home and try to be awesome and innovative. It's kind of scary how little summer is left-- I still need to hang out with certain people-- though also somewhat comforting to know that at the end of it, I'll be in Architecture's firm grasp again.