A World of Paper Flowers

Well, Dragon*Con was like a beautiful affair-- so gorgeous in its perfection that it could only be experienced a short time (four days to be exact). But such an experience, in the fashion of Titanic or Bridges of Madison County, will forever remain beautiful and perfect and whole in the realm of memory...

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Tropic Thunder was indescribably stupendously amazing. That is all I will say. And this video. He's making hotdogs??!

Well, after realizing I wouldn't know what further steps to take in creating my costume without trying the whole ensemble on for the first time, Stacy and I took a few pics to give me a visual clue as to my direction. In layman's terms (because although I have no clue what a layman is, I certainly am one), we took some pictures in the hallway while our cats were locked in the bathroom. :D

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Your result for Test Who You Are in the Steampunk Ether City of Salmagundi...

Inspector Marie LeClerc (the Forensics Expert)

59% Cerys, 40% Ras, 20% Bell, 34% Wilde, 68% LeClerc, 23% Kendrick and 13% Fuzzy!

Take Test Who You Are in the Steampunk Ether City of Salmagundi at HelloQuizzy

I love Steampunk. Steampunk, Steampunk, Steampunk. The Victorian era is one that I've always been drawn to, it's where most of my original clothing designs come from, and I love love LOVE the idea of the Do It Yourself-er. I'm currently reading The Ruby in the Smoke by Phillip Pullman, and there was a scene where this poor disjointed "family" of friends are eating food on a bench, doing their best to avoid creating any dishes, and using empty chemical jars for their drinks. I think Steampunk, for me, is a theme of self-reliance, strength in even a small offering, DIY, beauty, and optimism. It's also an interesting view of what the world may have come to had the Industrial Revolution taken a different turn (or not happened altogether).

Speaking of Steampunk, my outfit is almost complete. I'm crocheting the gloves, still contemplating the hat/mask device, and wondering over an umbrella. Pics to come soon. I may have Stacy take some preliminary shots tonight after I get out of work. We shall see! Hopefully it all comes together so far. Ugh, WHY DO I HAVE TO GO TO WORK?? I really need money though. I have no extra money for Dragon Con and I've been relying on my credit cards a bit too often. ...But I don't want to work any more than I already am... what a horrible position to consistently be in!

Ah, in other news, for $50 bucks, Stacy and I re-made our bathroom into something museum-worthy. It's quite a sight to behold, though it suddenly makes the rest of the house seem dark and drab. It's amazing what a little bit of money can do to improve one's life. However, obviously I should be saving my money. Oh yeah, we bought a coffee pot too! It's so awesome! And I bought a picture frame, and some jeans the other day, and........ HahaHA it's all my own fault.

It's never a good thing when your checkbook is showing a negative amount of funds... When you're riding the "As long as my bills don't go through before pay-day, I'll be fine" wave. Paycheck to paycheck wouldn't be quite as bad if I just had some back-up money in my savings... but that's not to be at the moment. When I start teaching this fall, my time will immediately be zilch, but I'll have a fatter account. Win some money, lose some time.

This morning I woke up remembering that it's my stepfather and sister's birthdays this month. It'd be nice to have an idea for gifts... I think I might head to those culinary shops in the mall, like Crate and Barrel. You can always find neat things in there, at least for my sister. She doesn't cook yet, that I'm aware of, but her boyfriend does, and maybe if I got some kind of fun kit they could do something together, kitchen-y... ? Hm. As for my stepfather... hm.. I'm running out of ideas for him. Father's Day wasn't so long ago, and then Christmas before that! I'm not a factory of great middle-aged-man gifts. It's depressing when you know the presents to give your parents are out of your budget. Though I've never cared much about trying to become rich, it would be very nice to be able to do things for family and friends. So long as they didn't start expecting it. It's a double-edged sword.

The day is sunshiny, but there are dark clouds in the sky. I hope the rain is over. God, there's been way too much rain for summer. Fall's going to come before I feel I've had a good hot summer. ...I wish I could move. Contemplating Grad school, again, and still don't have a great idea of that yet. Katie's pretty set on a Buffalo/Rochester school, but they don't have theatre/costume design, which I think is the only way I can go and be true to myself. Ugh, there's a lot to do aside from thinking about this I guess.

Today:

• Clean my bedroom
  
• Buy new vacuum bags and vacuum this freakin place
  
• Think about how to construct wing pulleys for Wasp
  
• Steampunk please? Maybe paint mask
  
• Finish laundry
  
• Maybe see Hellboy 2, but with what money?
  
• Go to the college and get an ID Card and a master key
  
• Curse my mom for giving my phone number to people and leaving me with problems...
  
• Write my Aunt a thank you letter for the tv

In other news, Stacy and I (Katie's totally in on this too I'll bet) want to own a shop of immense proportions, including a little dessert/tea/coffee cafe, handbag and cute gifts store, stationary, books, imports, clothing, etc. It will be a veritable Mall of Gifting! Complete with gift-wrap center for items or food or cards; we could even have a card-writing class or service where we use Caligraphy or quill pens and beautiful papers- that would be my section of course. The stationary/clothing/handbag section. Ahh, if life could be so amazing! I should be making more clothing to sell. I need to get it to be more of a science than an art- you can't sell clothes if you haven't pre-washed them or know what their fabric content is. Not easily, anyway. I'll add that to my life-long list of goals and work on the short-term for now. God knows Stacy's not going to switch over that laundry.