BlackRose

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:31:20 GMT

So, I'm not $40 something in the hole like I feared... instead I'm only about $6 and change in the hole and probably going to lose my insurance because instead of overdrafting the payment, the douchebags at my bank charged me $35 for them to sit and do nothing while the payment bounced completely.

Anime Poll thingie

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:09:37 GMT

Put a check in the brackets if you’ve watched the anime before… stolen from nikki_mischief
(Checking a series means that you’ve seen at least one episode in its entirety; for an OVA or movie you have to have seen the whole thing.)

I. Action and Adventure
(x) .hack//SIGN
( ) Airmaster
( ) Battle Arena Toshinden
(x) Bleach
(x) Blood+
( ) Burst Angel
( ) City Hunter
(x) Cowboy Bebop
(x) Dragonball
( ) Flame of Recca
( ) GetBackers
(x) InuYasha
(x) Lupin III
( ) Mai-HiME
(x) Naruto
(x) One Piece
( ) Tenjou Tenge
(x) Trigun
( ) Saiyuki
(x) Yu Yu Hakusho

Total Here: 11/20

II. Comedy and Parody
( ) 2×2 = Shinobuden
( ) Adventures of the Mini Goddesses
(x) All Purpose Cultural Catgirl Nuku Nuku
(x) Azumanga Daioh
( ) Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan
(x) DiGi Charat
(x) Dragon Half
(x) Excel Saga
(x) Fruits Basket
( ) Galaxy Angel
( ) Here is Greenwood
( ) Kodomo no Omocha
( ) Kyou Kara Maou!
( ) Midori Days
(x) Pani Poni Dash
(x) Project A-ko
(x) Ranma 1/2
(x) Tenchi Muyo
(x) Those Who Hunt Elves
( ) Urusei Yatsura

Total Here: 11/20

III. Drama and Miscellaneous
( ) Beck
( ) Death Note
( ) Full Moon wo Sagashite
( ) Gankutsuou
( ) Genshiken
( ) Glass Mask
( ) Haibane Renmei
( ) Hitsuji no Uta
( ) Honey & Clover
( ) Kaleido Star
( ) Last Exile
( ) Le Portraite de Petite Cossette
( ) Monster
( ) Paradise Kiss
(x) Princess Mononoke
(x) Read or Die OVA
( ) Speed Grapher
( ) Twin Spica
(x) Weiss Kreuz
( ) Wings of Honneamise
( ) Yakitate!! Japan

Total Here: 03/20

IV. Ecchi/Mature
( ) Agent Aika
( ) Cutey Honey
( ) Ebichu
( ) Golden Boy
( ) Grenadier
( ) Hand Maid May
( ) He Is My Master
( ) Iketeru Futari
(x) La Blue Girl
( ) Lingerie Senshi Papillon Rose
( ) Mahoromatic
( ) Mezzo Forte
(x) Miyuki-chan in Wonderland
( ) My Dear Marie
( ) Najica Blitz Tactics
( ) Negima
(x) Puni Puni Poemy
(x) Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend
(x) Wicked City
( ) Yumeria

Total Here: 05/20

V. Fantasy and Supernatural
(x) Angel Sanctuary
( ) Aquarian Age
(x) Berserk
(x) El Hazard
( ) Final Fantasy Unlimited
(x) Fullmetal Alchemist
(x) Howl’s Moving Castle
(x) Magic Knight Rayearth
( ) Mushishi
( ) Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
(x) Record of Lodoss War
( ) Scrapped Princess
(x) Slayers
( ) Tales of Eternia
(x) Trinity Blood
( ) Tsubasa Chronicle
(x) Vampire Hunter D
( ) Violinist of Hameln
(x) Vision of Escaflowne
( ) X: TV

Total Here: 11/20

VI. Historical and Alternate History
( ) Anne of Green Gables
( ) Basilisk
( ) Barefoot Gen
(x) Chrono Crusade
(x) Grave of the Fireflies
( ) Fire Tripper
( ) Kaidomaru
( ) Legend of Condor Hero
( ) Millennium Actress
( ) Nadia – Secret of Blue Water
(x) Ninja Scroll
( ) Otogizoushi
( ) Peacemaker Kurogane
( ) Porco Rosso
( ) Rose of Versailles
(x) Rurouni Kenshin
(x) Samurai 7
(x) Samurai Champloo
(x) Steel Angel Kurumi
( ) Victorian Romance Emma

Total Here: 07/20

VII. Kids and Family
(x) Angelic Layer
(x) Astro Boy
( ) Beyblade
( ) Castle in the Sky
( ) Detective Conan
(x) Digimon
( ) Doraemon
( ) Hamtaro
(x) Kiki’s Delivery Service
( ) Kimba the White Lion
(x) Monster Rancher
( ) My Neighbor Totoro
(x) Pokemon
(x) Samurai Pizza Cats
( ) Sazae-san
( ) SD Gundam Force
( ) Sonic X
(x) Speed Racer
(x) Spirited Away
(x) Yu-Gi-Oh

Total Here: 10/20

VIII. Magical Girls and Boys
(x) Cardcaptor Sakura
( ) D.N.Angel
( ) Earth Girl Arjuna
( ) Erementar Gerad
( ) Hime-chan no Ribbon
( ) Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne
( ) Magic Users Club
(x) Magical Girl Pretty Sammy
( ) Magical Stage Fancy La La
( ) Mahou no Star Magical Emi
( ) Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha
( ) Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok
( ) Ojamajou DoReMi
( ) Oku-sama wa Mahou Shoujo
( ) Pretear
(x) Sailor Moon
( ) Saint Tail
(x) Tokyo Mew Mew
( ) Ultra Maniac
( ) Wedding Peach

Total Here: 04/20

IX. Romance
(x) Ah! My Goddess
( ) Ai Yori Aoshi
( ) Air
( ) Ayashi no Ceres
( ) Boys Be
(x) Chobits
(x) Fushigi Yuugi
( ) Hana Yori Dango
( ) His and Her Circumstances (aka Kare Kano)
(x) Kimagure Orange Road
( ) Kimi ga Nozomu Eien
(x) Love Hina
(x) Maison Ikkoku
( ) Marmalade Boy
( ) Peach Girl
( ) Piano
(x) Please Teacher!
( ) SaiKano
( ) To Heart
( ) Video Girl Ai

Total Here: 07/20

X. Science-Fiction
( ) Appleseed
(x) Blue Seed
(x) Bubblegum Crisis
( ) Crest of the Stars
(x) Galaxy Express 999
(x) Gundam
(x) Macross
(x) Outlaw Star
(x) Patlabor
( ) Planetes
( ) Please Save My Earth
(x) RahXephon
(x) Saber Marionette (any)
( ) s-CRY-ed
( ) Soukyuu no Fafner
(x) Space Battleship Yamato (aka Star Blazers)
( ) Stellvia
(x) Transformers
( ) Voices of a Distant Star
(x) Xenosaga: The Animation

Total Here: 12/20

XI. Shounen-Ai and Shoujo-Ai
( ) Ai no Kusabi
( ) Descendants of Darkness
( ) Earthian
( ) Fake
( ) Fish in the Trap
( ) Galaxy Fraulin Yuna
( ) Gravitation
( ) Haru wo Daiteita
( ) Kannazuki no Miko
( ) Kizuna
( ) Lesson XX
(x) Loveless
( ) Maria-sama ga Miteru
( ) Mirage of Blaze
( ) Oniisama E
( ) Seikimatsu Darling
( ) Song of the Wind in the Trees
( ) Sukisho
( ) Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito
( ) Zetsuai/Bronze (this made me CRY.)

Total Here: 01/20

XII. Sports
( ) Ace wo Nerae
( ) Ashita no Joe
( ) Ayane’s High Kick
( ) Baki the Grappler
( ) Battle Athletes
( ) Buzzer Beater
( ) Captain Tsubasa
( ) Eyeshield 21
( ) Ginban Kaleidoscope
( ) Hajime no Ippo
( ) Hikaru no Go
( ) Initial D
( ) Major
( ) Monkey Turn
( ) One Pound Gospel
( ) Prince of Tennis
( ) Princess Nine
( ) Slam Dunk
( ) Suzuka
( ) Wild Striker

Total Here: 00/20

XIII. Surreal and Psychological
(x) Akira
( ) Betterman
( ) Boogiepop Phantom
( ) Elfen Lied
(x) FLCL
( ) Gantz
(x) Ghost in the Shell (movie or TV)
(x) Hellsing
( ) Jigoku Shoujo
( ) Karas
( ) Madlax
( ) Melody of Oblivion
(x) Neon Genesis Evangelion
(x) Noir
(x) Paranoia Agent
(x) Perfect Blue
( ) Princess Tutu
( ) Revolutionary Girl Utena
(x) Serial Experiments Lain
(x) Texhnolyze

Total Here: 10/20

GRAND TOTAL: 92/260

Stolen from Alona

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:34:59 GMT

I HAVE BEEN IN AMTGARD FOR:
[] Less than a Year
[] 1-2 Years
[]3-5 Years
[]6-10 Years
[X]10+ Years

I HAVE BEEN APART OF PARKS IN THE FOLLOWING KINGDOMS:
[]Burning Lands
[] Emerald Hills
[] Celestial Kingdom
[] Golden Plains
[] Iron Mountains
[] Goldenvale
[] Dragonspine
[] Wetlands
[X] Neverwinter
[] Blackspire
[] Rising Winds
[] Crystal Groves
[] Desert Winds
[x] Freeholds

I HAVE PLAYED THE FOLLOWING CLASSES:
[]Anti-Paladin
[X]Archer
[]Assassin
[X]Barbarian
[]Bard
[X]Color
[X]Druid
[]Healer
[X]Monk
[X]Monster
[]Paladin
[X]Peasant
[]Raider
[X]Scout
[X]Warrior
[]Wizard

MY HIGHEST LEVEL IN ANY GIVEN CLASS IS:
[]1
[]2
[]3
[]4
[]5
[X]6

I HAVE MADE THE FOLLOWING FIGHTING IMPLIMENTS:
[X]Dagger
[X]Short sword
[X]Long Sword
[]Madu
[X]Great Weapon
[X]Short Pole Arm
[X]Pole arm (Rapestick)
[X]Arrows
[X]Throwies
[X]Spell Balls
[X]Shield

I HAVE BROKEN THE FOLLOWING WEAPONS (If no to all skip following question):
[]Dagger
[X]Short sword
[X]Long Sword
[]Madu
[X]Great Weapon
[X]Short Pole Arm
[X]Pole arm (Rapestick)
[]Arrows
[]Throwies
[]Spell Balls
[X]Shield

I BROKE WEAPONS BECAUSE:
[]I was Fighting....and Losing.
[]I was fighting and Kicking ass.
[X]It was the Flurb's fault
[X]I was the flurb
[]I was drunk
[X]I was being Stupid
[X]Who ever made it sucks at making weapons
[X]I wasn't using it for amtgard
[]I was using it in a manner that would get me thrown in jail in real life.
[]I hit someone too hard
[X]They were sluffing their shots, so I made sure they'd call dead.
[X]I dont remember but I think there were hot chicks involved
[X]Some moron borrowed it....broke it then I used it....and thought I broke it.
[] (Insert link here where story can be found on Amtwiki)

I HAVE SERVED IN THE FOLLOWING OFFICES:
[X]Monarch
[X]Prime Minister
[X]Regent
[]Champion
[X]Park Idiot
[]Park Wench

MY COLORS ARE:
[]Pink
[]Red
[]Orange
[]Yellow
[X]Green
[]Teal
[]Blue
[X]Violet
[X]Black
[]Brown
[X]White
[X]Silver (White IS Silver)
[]Gold

AT ANY GIVEN AMTGARD EVENT I PARTICIPATE IN:
[X]Ditching
[X]Training
[X]Class Battles
[]Weapon Master
[X]Sparring
[X]Weapon Making
[X]Garb Making
[X]General Mayhem
[X]Debauchery
[X]Molesting the Women
[X]Watching

QUESTIONS!!!

-What's your FULL Amtgard name?
BlackRose. Many, many years before it was popular to slap that on as part of a longer persona name. I used to also have a longer flurbier persona name taken from a D&D character I had way back in Jr High, but that gave way to my old computer BBS name because I knew a number of early Falling Fire members from BBSes before I joined Falling Fire.

-What's your title?
Armour Nazi, Armour Snob, or any conceivable variation thereof. Also Master Archer. No noble titles though, in part because of a lackluster term or two in office, in part because of great terms in office where I pissed off the kingdom officials by putting the welfare of my park and it's people before a specific king's political agenda.

-Weapon of Choice?
Bear Minute Man recurve longbow.

-Style of Choice?
Shooting d00dz in the dick.

-What are you most known for?
Either my leather work or my extremely outspoken (and sometimes extremely negative) opinions of armour and how we treat it within Amtgard. Probably the latter, since that's what got me a mention in the rulebook.

-Proudest Amt-moment?
Possibly being told in front of the kingdom that my constantly expanding knowledge base and willingness to teach were what was right with Amtgard.

-Favorite Park?
Most of Amtgard will probably agree that your favorite park is usually your first park or your current park. My first park doesn't exist anymore, so Falling Fire it is.

-Favorite Amtgarder?
Ones who don't create questions intended to incite drama. And new people, cause they remind me what it's like to not be jaded with the flaws in the system and the subculture.

-Favorite Park Event?
Meh, all events have their ups & downs, so I don't have a favorite.

-If you had to chose one weapon you're not experienced at what would it be?
Madu, because it's the only weapon style in Amtgard that I don't have any experience with the real world counterpart of either. That and I don't like the way some people are playing in the grey area with them, so I refuse to use one on principle.

-Favorite piece of garb?
My black swashbuckler shirt I made, it's comfy and it fits in with field garb or court garb so it's versatile. It's also the cleanest piece I've ever sewn completely on my own.

-Favorite piece of Armor?
My first leather spaulder. It was ugly and it was WAY too thick; but it was functional, fit well, and moved well. It proved that I had a talent for something at a time when I was feeling worthless and needed just that. It also disproved the myth that so many people seem to hold in this game that you have to spend tons of money to make good armour.

-Favorite Kingdom?
See above about Favorite Park

-If you could have a threesome with any two other Amtgarders who would they be?
Sorry, unlike a lot of Amtgarders, I don't see the game as an excuse to slut around and/or potentially damage other people's relationships... so even if there are any, that information would simply remain part of a private fantasy.

-Court or Fighting Garb?
I've fought in court garb and I've gone to court in fighting garb. Maybe court armour when I can afford the materials to make some.

-Favorite Class to play?
Archer

-Best weather to play in?
The absolute best is about 76 - 78 degrees with a mild breeze, but really if I'm in the mood to take the field, not even hail and lightning will usually stop me.

Ill

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 13:10:03 GMT

Had another anxiety attack last night. Relatively severe. That's about the 6th or so in the past few weeks. I wish I could say I was saying "Fuck it" and not letting them interfere with my life, but I'm too busy balling up under the covers and trying to keep my heart from exploding and not puke myself inside out.

Car is legal again, business cards are ordered, I have a second sewing machine and all the accessories (though the case was fucked from bad packing and the aluminum housing is all scratched up... got my shipping money back though... which on an all steel-gear machine is a significant amount), and Adam's "80s Jim Lee ver. Cyclops" harness is close do being done so long as I don't lose anymore days of working on it.

Random leather working tip

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:35:28 GMT

Because I decided I need to start writing down all the little leather working things I wish I'd known when I started, and because I really need to update my LJ more often, I'm going to start tossing out random leather working tips I've picked up every now and again.

Today's tip:
When sewing with two needles (sometimes known as a saddler's or cobbler's stitch) make sure that your right hand needle always passes your left hand needle the same way. If right goes over left on your first stitch, then it has to on every stitch.
If your stitches always pass the same way, your stitch line will look something like

this:
/////////////////////

or this:
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

However, if you don't keep it consistent, your stitch line could end up looking more like this:
/////\\//\//\\\//\///

Of course, you can use this to your advantage if you wanted to make a pattern... right over left then right under left, for example, would produce a consistent zig-zag effect like so:
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Writer's Block: Going to Extremes

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:47:41 GMT

If you were in perfect shape (not to say that you aren't), what would be your extreme sport of choice?

View 501 Answers

Parkour. Without a doubt. I've always loved climbing walls, jumping off of things, balancing, etc. And it just fucking looks cool. Unfortunately, the birth defect that makes my one knee all screwy ruins my coordination and makes a number of the basic moves extremely difficult.

Long time, no update.

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 01:12:55 GMT

Mostly just wanted to update my 101 in 1001 status.

Completed Goals

16.Work with local business to secure a source of scrap wood to recycle into charcoal
Talked to a local business that sells doors wholesale to contractors. They have a bin out front that they fill with palettes and damaged doors for the taking. Talked to them and got the schedule that they usually follow when they put that stuff out.

27.Refurbish a vintage/antique sewing machine
Biggest success evar!
My friend Nicole, knowing I was looking for a sewing machine, found an ad on Craigslist that simply said "Sewing machine in cabinet, free." Her logic was that even if it wasn't a vintage machine, it would give me something to sew on until I could find a nice vintage machine. Well, she went and picked it up for me since it was close to where she lives, and her phone call afterward wasn't all that reassuring "It's a Singer that looks like something out of the 70s," but she knows very little about sewing machines, so I wasn't sure what to think. It's easy, then, to imagine my considerable pleasant surprise when I go out to help her unload it and it's a 1958 (to be fair, I didn't know the year until some research later) Singer model 401... considered by some to be one of the best sewing machines ever made. It's gear driven with all steel gears and a cast aluminum case. The cabinet it was in is the original Singer cabinet that would have been sold as an option back when there was a such thing as Singer stores. A desk style cabinet, with two nice drawers and a knee lever which (to my surprise) is billions of times easier to sew with than a foot pedal.
The refurbishing was mostly a simple matter. It hadn't been cleaned in years, so there were dust balls the size of a child's fist in the oil drip pan, and some gunked up lubricant needed to be cleaned out of the gears and fresh lube applied. Also, all the brass (yes kiddies, real solid brass plates *joygasm*) was tarnished so dark you couldn't see the numbers or letters against the brown enamel, so much polishing was needed.
Here's a photo of the brass the case badge
And an image of the innards
And since a certain someone used to give me shit for not naming my major appliances, saying that's why everything broke on me, her name is Astrid (no, not Pete, or Pete 2, or even Pete the Third... this is no computerized crutch like the old Husqvarna :P ) and she's a powerhouse. Haven't really pushed the limits, but I know I can sew through 8 layers of denim without so much as a stutter and two pieces of 8oz leather seemed pretty easy.

82.Decide on a qualifier for ClockworkDragonfly (Studios, Leatherworks, Crafts??)
Had to decide in a hurry because I needed it for a signature and for my tax papers. So it's now Clockwork Dragonfly Creations. Something amusing about my business initials being CDC, heh.

Progress on Ongoing Goals

80.Ship all my commissions within a week of completion/receiving final payment
So far so good. Getting to and from the post office has been a pain because my car insurance is all messed up, but I'm doing what I can and it seems to be working.

91.Spend at least 2 days a month with the nephew beast
Last month was a few days out at the Amtgard park. This month was the first time I've been with him to the Ren Faire, and I taught him to shoot a bow. I wish he'd been in garb, but neither he nor my sister felt like wearing their Amtgard garb because it's a little out of place unless all of the Amtgard people go as a group.

101.Read at least 2 books a month for recreation
Last month was me re-reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Make Your Own Damn Movie. This month was more re-reading as I read the first three Dresden Files novels. I'm going through the whole series again because the new one is slated to come out in April last I checked.

Progress on Finite Goals

1.Gain 30 healthy pounds
I'm up 10 from when I originally made the 101 list. That means I've gained 15 since my last update. Most of it's across my back and in my calves. The back is from swinging a hammer, the legs from running in armour.

31.Make a leather travel kit for my straight razor
Talked to a friend of mine who works with stained glass and all about getting a piece of mirrored glass for the inside of the hinged lid. More of the design has set itself in my mind. The idea is to make it pretty much a self contained shaving stand. I want to seal the bottom so that it will hold water and then I can use it like a shaving basin with the lid propped so I can use the inset mirror.

83.Grow my business by at least 100%
Interest has been high, and I've made a few sales even. I've also had a number of flakes though. Still, as long as things keep their current pace, all looks well.

Setbacks

73.Eat good sushi at least once a month
Money has just been far too tight for sushi.

92.Go on at least one date a month until I'm in a steady relationship
The girl I was kind of seeing decided to end things with no real explanation, and money's been too tight to date. Add to that the fact that I'm poor and (barely) self employed and you don't exactly have prime dating material.

98.Develop the habit of updating my LJ at least every other day
What can I say about that one... I'm just fail.

Not so GIMPy & still with that new laptop glow.

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 12:34:24 GMT

Those keeping up with my 101 in 1001 will notice I'm still not doing so well on my LJ update schedule. I'm working on it.

I still have not acquired a copy of Adobe's CS4 collection, so I've been practicing a lot with GIMP, trying to get used to it. The more I use it, the less I understand why designers are all still so hyped about Photoshop, much less repeatedly bash GIMP in open forums. I also can't understand why so many people still use Photoshop considering it's ever increasing cost. It's not that GIMP is vastly better in any way, it's not. But then, neither is Photoshop unless you're sending stuff off to a print shop. And really, if you're having high enough quality prints done, chances are you're established enough to be able to afford PS. The only things that truly set Photoshop apart from it's freeware counterpart in the hands of most low to mid range designers is how many things it automates for you and how many commercial plug-ins are available... so it's not so much a superior program as it is a very expensive crutch. True, it's still an expensive crutch I'd like to own alongside the rest of the Master Collection for ease of integration with Illustrator and Dreamweaver... but it's no longer a must have to be a good designer.

In other new, am on month three of owning/using the laptop... and the new computer glow still hasn't worn off as much as I thought it would. Used to be, by now, the new computer would have gotten to the point where I was thinking of it almost as a piece of furniture and focusing on all the things I wanted to fix or change. The only things I really want for the laptop are extras... like a good laptop mouse, a bluetooth receiver, and a tablet... stuff I don't really need... just that would be nice to have. I thought the keyboard would annoy me more than it does and have me lusting for the money to fix my desktop (which has been relegated mostly to storage & peer-to-peer downloads) just to get away from it... but I actually like this keyboard more than any desktop keyboard I've had (it helps that it's "full size"). A lot of that seems to have to do with the low profile keys and how they seem to be more "springy" than any of the desktop keyboards I've had (and believe me, I've gone through tons of keyboards.. and even my Z-Board isn't perfect though I like it). I need to build a laptop stand though for when I'm on the futon instead of at the desk... the position of the AC adapter (to the side instead of at the back, which confuses me... I'd never seen that prior to owning an HP) prevents the laptop from being able to simply sit on a blanket or something. So right now it's on a cutting board which, in turn, is rested on a pillow... and that all gets rather heavy rested on my legs for any long period of time and is a bit inconvenient to move. Instructables had a good one posted awhile back, I figure when the weather warms up enough, I'll give that a go.

101 in 1001 Progress Report

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 08:10:18 GMT

Completed Goals
44. Re-string all my bows.
I made endless loop strings for my 2 recurves & my tiny kid bow I use for teaching, and I conditioned the Flemish braid string I had on my wooden self bow I made years ago. Now I'm out of Dacron and nylon serving thread... but all my bows are strung.

65. Design 2 additional styles of leather mugs to add to my repertoire
The designs are done and some rough cardboard mock-ups have been made. One of the new designs comes probably as close as I'm going to get to a stein, being similar in size and shape to my current production model but also having nicer trim options and a hinged lid. I've actually designed two versions of it, I'm not sure which one I'll put into production though... the soft leather hinge or the small brass one. The second design goes back to my early work with learning to make leather drinking vessels. It's closer to a coffee mug than a Renn Faire mug in size. What makes it unique compared to what I've been doing is that it's polygon based instead of round.

77. Get my business license/tax ID number squared away
Did all the reading and research. Found out all I need to do business via the internet and continue to sell out of state is my Federal EIN... which is set up to take effect just as soon as I'm exempt from having to file this tax season. To do business in state, I just have to file my sales tax registration and fictitious name registration, both of which the forms are filled out for and just waiting for me to have the money to file.

Progress on Ongoing Goals
3.Improve my archery
Went to an Amtgard event the weekend of Jan 23-25 and pretty much played a bow user the entire weekend. In addition to playing a bow using role, I also spent a portion of my down time target shooting with the LARP heads. The site we were at had some interesting features that allowed me to practice a variety of disciplines such as shooting through a hole in a tire swing to work on my leading a moving target and shooting the rope of said swing to improve my fine point accuracy. Still cannot practice my regular archery though, as I've no good place to shoot. The closest range/club is almost an hour's drive away and membership fees/day passes aren't cheap. Also, I still haven't been able to re-fletch any of my arrows or straighten any of my warped shafts because I no longer have the supplies to do so.

5.Take my iron supplements at least every other day
6.Take my glucosamine at least every other day
These two have been going surprisingly well. I originally set it at "every other day" so I could stand to be a little forgetful without getting too down on myself. I have, however, managed to get into a habit of taking them daily, only missing a day at the Amtgard event because I forgot to pack some in with the rest of my toiletries.

55.Practice drawing by hand at least once a week
I've been carrying my sketchbook around wherever I go and my drafting pencils. Mostly I've been practicing fundamentals of three dimensional shapes because that's the most useful to designing leather pieces. Still trying to decide whether or not it's easier to train my left hand or re-train my right (seeing as I was born left handed and forced to be right handed). I need to get some mechanical drafting pencils, despite being expensive they're far more well suited to traveling with my sketchbook and remove the need for me to carry a sharpener (which I commonly lose).

56.Practice Photoshop/GIMP/Painter at least once a week
I've set a day and time to do this every week, with practice sessions being at least an hour or a completed piece (whichever comes first). Still unable to install CS3 on the laptop and without a copy of CS4, however, most of my sessions have been me familiarizing myself with GIMPs tools and limitations.

86.Keep my laptop better organized than my desktop
So far, so good. Though I do feel kind of like I'm cheating a bit, as I've been pairing the laptop with a rather messily kept Maxtor OneTouch 320gig hard drive that's "on loan" to me until the owner "needs it" (the owner being my mostly computer illiterate father who doesn't DL music, movies, or anything I can think of that would necessitate him even owning it, not to mention actually using it)

91.Spend at least 2 days a month with the nephew beast
Because his father's a douche and is giving my sister no end of stress over custody, visitation and child support issues, this one has been hard... but I managed 2 decent days in January.

92.Go on at least one date a month until I'm in a steady relationship
Been seeing someone on a regular basis. It's not perfect, and I'm not certain there's a future in it (given past events with this person, I have to wonder if I shouldn be more certain that there ISN'T a future in it) but it fills the goal thus far.

101.Read at least 2 books a month for recreation
January was William Gibson's Virtual Light and Ian Fleming's Casino Royale. I've read alot of Gibson's stuff, and VL was as good as I've come to expect. Fleming's novel, the first of the James Bond stories, left me wondering just how it is the series got made into so many movies. If the rest of the Bond novels are better, then at least I'll understand why it took so long for them to make Casino Royale into a movie, and why it had to suck so much compared to previous Bond films (cause that would be the only part of it that was true to the novel... and for the record I still say Daniel Craig is still the worst, gayest Bond ever)

Progress on Finite Goals
11.Finish building the charcoal retort
I have a frame to stand it on, two barrels to piece together the chamber and lid. I still need to acquire the iron pipe for the chimney/burner assembly and then I can assemble it.

12.Finish building the forge
I now have an electric fan that is the perfect size and am putting together a steel enclosure for it. I'd still like to have the adobe to seal the brick work better, but clay has not been an easy find (as I'll talk about in failures). Technically, though, once I finish fabricating the fan enclosure I can call this one done.

17.Design at least 5 full suits of fantasy armour
I've finished one that I kind of like, but it will be very costly to assemble as designed. I think I want to spend time refining it, but I'll probably put it up on my dA account when I get it refined to a point I'm comfortable with. I've also been designing a number of individual pieces with the goal in mind of taking the individual designs and working them into something more cohesive, so that's progress as well.

21.Make a set of riveted maille tools
A friend bought me some tools as a late Christmas/birthday present to be converted into these tools. So far I've ground the blades on the overlap cutter to be mostly how I want them and I've flattened out the jaws of what will come to be the rivet setting tongs. I still need to grind the depressions into the setting tongs, and start working on the punching tongs, but I'm satisfied with my progress thus far.

31.Make a leather travel kit for my straight razor
I've worked out everything I want to do and done up some designs on paper. I've even sorted out the best way to make a leather travel bottle for my aftershave. I need to find source for the mirror I plan to set into the lid before I can move much farther forward, as that will likely determine the total size of the travel box.

71.Rewrite some of my old recipes I lost
I've rewritten two of my cheesecake recipes and some of my bread recipes. I haven't had the chance to test any of them though, and there are a few more I want to rewrite, so it's not far enough along to call this one complete yet.

Setbacks
1.Gain 30 healthy pounds
So far, I've actually LOST 5 pounds *headdesk* I need to work out a nutrition plan that better accounts for my naturally overactive metabolism and my low body fat before I can get back to frequent exercise again. Instead of building any muscle mass, I instead burned off a portion of my already too low body fat.

2.Learn Japanese with at least a high school proficiency
My Rosetta stone Japanese LVL1 disc is borked, so I have to acquire a new on.

27.Refurbish an antique sewing machine
I really thought this one would be easier than it has been. Back when I had my really nice Husqvarna machine, I saw antique machines everywhere in various states of (dis)repair on the cheap or even free in some cases. Now that I have no machine and am actually looking for one though, it's like both Freecycle and Craigslist have dried up for affordable ones. I've found a number of them that the owners obviously either don't want to actually part with or are just completely ignorant of the value of, as they seem to want outrageous amounts for them.

50.Build an adobe enclosure to make thecharcoal retort more efficient
Still no clay. No clay means no adobe.

51.Find a good source of earthen clay on the cheap
I found one landscaper with a decent price per unit, but their minimum purchase is far above my needs and out of my range. The only other sources I've found are art supply places with clay far more refined than I need it to be at the sort of prices you'd expect from artist's clay.

98.Develop the habit of updating my LJ at least every other day
Yeah... went three weeks since my last update. It just seems like unless something goes terribly wrong or amazingly well, I can't get motivated to update. The problem is, my definitions of terribly wrong and amazingly well are WAY over the top

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:24:57 GMT

Wow... so my weekend was kind of the suck. Thursday night my friend Nicole messaged me like mad while I was asleep wanting to come over cause she did something stupid and got herself a nice big case of alcohol poisoning and her Orlando friends are clueless. Against my better judgment I let her come here instead of telling her to go home. She crashed here and felt better for a bit on Friday, so we hung out. Friday night she got REALLY sick and begged me to drive her home in her car. I didn't know then that I was going to get hijacked for 2 and a half days. As a capper, I spent most of Sunday hanging out in the Tampa General emergency room. Half an hour of waiting to be admitted and 8 hours of waiting around for them to actually diagnose and treat her... and what do they say... "Oh yeah, hangover, drink plenty of fluids." *headdesk*

Today (Monday) was also more of a waste than I'd have liked. With all the nursemaiding, I let my sleep cycle get thrown off... so I overslept by quite a bit. Then I just spent alot of time messing about on the laptop (have I mentioned lately how much I love my laptop?) and getting things a little more personalized and streamlined for my business. Also spend some time fucking about with GIMP. I love the layout, though I'm still not overly keen on the plug-in support... but then, that's why I need to practice... so I won't need the crutches.

My 101 in 1001

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 12:15:52 GMT

Crossposted from mission101_2009

Unlike many, I didn't find this community through the spotlight, though the friend whose journal I did find it in probably found it there. I live in the bay area of Florida. My chronometer just rolled thirty-ought and it bugs me. I'm a craftsperson, a gamer, a geek, and a guy who really needs to get out of the house/workshop more. The list itself took me nearly 12 hours to write, making me think that it may, perhaps, be the most difficult part of the process.

I also listed a small "reason" why I'd like to accomplish each task, to better motivate myself to actually do it.

Gain 30 healthy pounds

Learn Japanese with at least a high school proficiency

Improve my archery

Improve my welding

Take my iron supplements at least every other day

Take my glucosamine at least every other day

Work up to exercising at least 3 times a week

Donate hair to Locks of Love again at least twice

Learn to properly load a black powder pistol

Get my next 4 Orders of the Owl in Amtgard

Finish building the charcoal retort

Finish building the forge

Build an anvil stand

Build a charcoal fired foundry furnace

Work with local recyclers/scrapyards/truck yards to secure a reliable supply of scrap steel

Work with local business to secure a source of scrap wood to recycle into charcoal

Design at least 5 full suits of fantasy armour

Assemble at least 2 full suits of fantasy armour

Design at least 2 suits of historically plausible armour

Assemble at least 1 suit of historically plausible armour

Make a set of riveted maille tools

Make a riveted maille coif

Make a shirt of riveted maille

Forge a set of feast utensils

Forge a set of blacksmith's tools

Build a ballista

Refurbish an antique sewing machine

Sew a gambeson

Sew a new fantasy based outfit for feast/court

Sew a new historical outfit for feast/court

Sew new fighting garb

Make a leather travel kit for my straight razor

Build a better diffusion box for my camera

Hang pegboard in the workshop

Build an inspiration wall in the workshop

Organize the workshop

Forge a hunting knife for the neighbor

Forge a head knife or round knife

Build a crossbow

Vegetable tan a deer hide

Learn to flintknap

Start a small bamboo grove

Re-fletch all my arrows

Re-string all my bows

Make a set of arrow shafts from scratch

Forge a set of arrowheads

Fletch home made arrows with actual feathers

Build an old fashioned twin chamber English bellows for the forge

Build a Japanese box bellows for the forge

Build an adobe enclosure to make the charcoal retort more efficient

Find a good source of earthen clay on the cheap

Build a set of heavy duty workbenches

Build a jeweler's bench

Make set of leather bottles

Practice drawing by hand at least once a week

Practice Photoshop/GIMP/Painter at least once a week

Keep more accurate project notes

Make a touchmark stamp for my leather work & blacksmithing

Make more LJ user icons

Make a custom LJ layout

Build a sand casting table

Make a set of steampunk goggles with welder's lenses

Build a pipe rack to store my pipes

Build a display case for my straight razors

Design 2 additional styles of leather mugs to add to my repertoire

Learn to do embossed leather appliqué

Start baking my own bread again

Harvest a new strain of wild yeast starter

Grow my own peanuts

Start a small vegetable garden

Rewrite some of my old recipes I lost

Bake at least once a month

Eat good sushi at least once a month

Acquire new brewing equipment

Brew mead again

Get used to cooking at least 3 meals a week, even if I'm only cooking for one

Get my business license/tax ID number squared away

Finish the graphics for clockworkdragonfly.com

Finish the coding for clockworkdragonfly.com

Ship all my commissions within a week of receiving final payment

Refine my corporate identity for Clockwork Dragonfly

Decide on a qualifier for Clockwork Dragonfly (Studios, Leatherworks, Crafts??)

too

Grow my business by at least 100%

Organize my MP3 folders

Properly tag all my untagged/mistagged MP3s

Keep my laptop better organized than my desktop

Organize my desktop computer

Sort my old comic book collection

Improve my familiarity with Linux

Attend an anime/comic/gaming convention

Spend at least 2 days a month with the nephew beast

Go on at least one date a month

See more local bands live

Dress up for Halloween

Travel to at least 2 out of state Amtgard events

Save money for a trip to Australia

Participate in NaNoWriMo

Develop the habit of updating my LJ at least every other day

Write at least 20 decent short stories

Write at least the first draft of a novella

Read at least 2 books a month recreationally

Bring out the GIMP.

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:56:44 GMT

I forgot just how much every other graphics editing program wishes it was Photoshop... that is until I started working with GIMP again. I have such a learning curve ahead of me. I really should have stayed in practice.

And using a laptop with a touchpad, not helping much. For some tools it's better... almost like finger painting. For most tools though, not so much.

Anyone want to buy me a Wacom tablet or at least a decent mouse for the laptop?

I'd still take a quasi legal copy of CS4 ;)

Long updates seem to be the only kind I make ;)

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 06:38:00 GMT

I haven't updated in awhile, and I have alot to say... so in the interest of being kind to my friends' already cluttered friends lists, I'm LJ Cutting the whole post pretty much the whole thing

I'm pretty sure I beat the upper respiratory infection I had been suffering the past couple of weeks... so I have no idea why I was so fatigued today. I went to bed somewhere between 5 & 6AM after spending some time talking with a lovely friend in Australia and a new friend in Indiana who has the same weird sleep habits/issues I do. the plan was to sleep in, get up around noon, go out to the workshop and check on some mugs that I was having trouble with the lining on & gather up my Amtgard stuff (which now has a lovely permanent home out there) and then drive over to the park. Needless to say, I was more than a little confused and frustrated when I woke up and it was dark outside. I had evidently slept for 12 hours and right through my alarm. I guess I really haven't given my body enough time to recover since I got over being sick, seeing as how I've been aggressively job hunting among other things. It's probably not all that big a deal, but it just seems to me that it might come off a bit flaky that I've missed three Sundays, and all after making a big deal to my Amtgard friends at midreign about how I was going to start coming back out regularly.

I made charcoal a few weeks back. That was an interesting learning experience. I'm not certain I'd ever want to do it using the method I used ever again... but I think it was necessary. I made it using what some people have dubbed the "campfire" method. Basically you start a campfire going, periodically you shovel out the hot coals and douse them with water, leaving the flaming wood that hasn't burned down to coals to keep the fire alive and adding more wood. It was filthy, it was hot, it was tiring, and it was a surprising amount of fun. It's nice to have been able to make charcoal in the same way the first people to use it would have. And I think I may have just enough to test fire my forge. I was very surprised at the yield I got, seeing as I wasn't sure exactly what I was doing and thought I'd waste way more wood than I did. I was also surprised at how much usable material even a very small branch can provide. I made a number of mistakes as well though. I left alot of usable coal behind when I was sifting through removing coal from ash, because it hadn't occurred to me what the right size for an individual bit of natural charcoal actually is. After it rained a few days back though, I noticed that the ashes in my waste pile had been washed away and there was way more usable material left behind than I had realized. My mistake was picking out only the really noticeably large pieces (which varied in both size and consistency) and leaving behind smaller pieces that were even in size and consistency and that should likely be what makes up the usable bulk of my coal supply (since the smaller, more evenly sized pieces will likely burn more evenly).

Also, after my shamefully inadequate display of fire building prowess at midreign, I realized just how out of practice I am. So I practiced a little primitive fire building this week. Sometime soon I want to make a fire piston, but I still don't have access to a lathe. I can make one without a lathe, but it wouldn't be pretty and it would be harder to use.

Got my Giftymas present from my parents early by just a little over a month, but it was a necessity. My desktop computer's slow death was causing me much inconvenience and stress. So when they saw a laptop that was quite close in specs to the one I was stalking for a price drop, they took me to look at it and it was immediately bought. It's got the AMD equivalent dual core processor to the other one (which was Intel), same amount of RAM, same HDD, same card reader, same number of USB ports, same HDMI out, slightly lower end speakers, lacks Bluetooth (big deal, adapters are relatively cheap now and I don't really need it all that bad), and doesn't have native high def (again, big deal... I don't plan on watching alot of video on it). But it has a larger monitor (though working on widescreen takes some getting used to for me) and the price was WAY better meaning there was no debate or selling them on the idea. I'm extremely happy with it overall. I'm already frustrated with Windows Vista... but it's still not as bad as I'd heard. Yes, it's a resource hog in its default configuration, but that's fixed easily enough since most of it is visual effects and gadgets in the sidebar. No, my big bit of irritation with it is that Adobe CS3 won't properly install on it no matter what I do. I just cannot get it to install Photoshop. So if anyone happens to know of a retail version of the Adobe CS4 Master Collection that happened to fall off the back of a truck, keep me in mind, yeah? Until that happens (before which, hell will more than likely freeze over *pout*) I'll probably be installing the most recent build of GIMP. I do like GIMP rather a bit, but I have a ton of plugins and brushes that only support Photoshop that I became a little overdependent on. No one to blame but myself and my own laziness in image editing... but it's still REALLY annoying.

In summary:
Overall things are good, except the job issue... and that's fucked all over, it's not something that's just happening to me so I'm trying not to let it get to me too much.

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:22:16 GMT

From a joy0327's journal.

If you saw me in a police car, what would you think I got arrested for?
Answer me, then post to your own journal.

It is an interesting way to see what people think of one.

My "State of the Roy Address"

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:56:45 GMT

The current state of things is mixed at best.

Phone: Still not fixed. The bill has supposedly gone into collections. Nothing I can do about that, not really as concerned as I probably should be.

Car Insurance: I have until next Monday to gather $180 or my policy is revoked and I have to go turn in my tags so my license doesn't get suspended. The good news is I have $75 (Well, $80 actually, but $5 of that is shipping money) coming from a leather commission. The bad news is that I had two buyers for other pieces flake on me and I have no contingency plan for the money. Hoping maybe to put a few pieces on eBay, but even with a REALLY short auction that's cutting it far too close to be comfortable.

Car: Battery issue sorted out mostly. It was, as I suspected, an issue with the screwed up security system. It's drawing far more juice than it should be when the car sits. If I drive frequently, it's not a problem as my battery and alternator are in great shape and charge up wonderfully. However, lately I've not had the gas money to drive as much as I need/want to. Quick stints to turn in job applications, and runs to game are about it.

Crafts: My area of the best news.

I have all the materials I need to set up the forge, plenty of mild steel to start making a few sets of tongs and any other random odds and ends I want, and some tool steel of varying quality to practice knife and tool making including a thick sawblade that might find itself repurposed as a new leather working knife. The redneck neighbor, fascinated by the fact that I'm planning to make all my own charcoal from scrap wood (a local business puts out pallets and damaged doors for whomever wants them to take), is bringing me some 55 gallon drums so I can put together a charcoal retort, and I already have a fairly large woodpile built up. I'm still looking for a hookup on better scrap steel. What I'd really like to find is a reliable source of damaged leaf and coil springs & half-shafts, but all the "you pull" places want to charge full price even for broken parts and I'm not comfortable enough in my own skin to argue/haggle/etc with them. I'd also like to get my hands on a good quantity of earthen clay to mix up some adobe to shore up the gaps in the bricks as well as make a housing for the retort to channel the heat and improve its efficiency. Unfortunately, living in Florida, clay isn't exactly something I can go dig up as I would in other parts of the country and the cheapest I've found it for sale (where I don't have to buy it by the dumptruck full anyway) is $1.50 a pound. Things I still need (and am doing with rather makeshift solutions for) are a blower, an anvil stand (which I'll likely be making before long) and a metric assload of steel pipe to route the burner on the charcoal retort.

The workshop is now organized nicely... at least my part of it is. I'd like to wall in my area, but I'm actually able to swindle a little (about 50 square feet) extra space by leaving it open to the rest of the garage. I now have a nice bench top drill press, a mechanic's standing tool chest and a decent sized Craftsman workbench with a good amount of built in storage. I moved the small pine desk I was using as a worktable into a corner and set up a dedicated painting/finishing station, so now I don't have to pack the airbrush & compressor away and take them out every time I need them, instead all that stuff has a permanent home. That has really improved my turnaround time.

Sometime today I'll be splitting some oak that was trimmed out in the yard so it can dry the way I want and check out the lathe in the other garage. It's old and looks much abused, so I don't have high hopes of it working but if it does or if I can fix it, I want to use it to turn some tool handles and maybe make a fire piston.

Work: There's so little out there. Fortunately it seems as though if I keep slowly building interest in my crafts I might be able to stay "self employed" until the job market smooths out some. I don't actually need enough to call it a living (though that would be nice), I just need to make enough to stop hemorrhaging money until things improve. I was also supposed to be doing some editing for someone, which is probably one of the things that has kept me from totally panicking and losing my shit thus far, but I guess it's time to pack that plan in.

Computer: As in, this one is dying. I was hoping I just had a stick of RAM going bad, but it turned out to be the motherboard. I can't run WinAmp anymore. I can run Photoshop or GIMP for very small images, but the RAW format images from my camera will crash the thing every time. Pretty much all I can do is browse, check my mail, and convert e-books over for my Kindle. Fortunately I was able to convince my family to band together towards a single holiday gift for me, so I'll be replacing it with a laptop (so I can carry my crafts portfolio with me digitally) and will be doing so early. Unfortunately there is some argument about what the budget should be (not from me, I just want them to set the bloody thing in stone so I can pick one out and get it here). If things go well, though, it'll be a really nice one and I'm looking forward to it. It's been a long time since I've had that "new computer" period... you know the one, where you totally geek out and play with every little feature, even the ones you'll never use once you really start USING the thing.

Social/Dating: Not really doing anything of the sort. I game on alternate weekends. I've played at the idea of going out to Amtgard, but I really can't justify the gas money until I have a steady cash flow. It sucks, when I had the security job I had plenty of money and no time. Now I've all kinds of time and no cash. As for dating... I'm still pretty much a hopeless case I guess. I suck at meeting people... I'm awkward and out of my element and afraid of making all the same mistakes over again, despite not always fully understanding what they even were. Besides, I can't have what I really want anyway. I can only hope that while I keep chugging along and fixing all the other bits, that bit works itself out.

I know it sounds lame, and weak, and "the ghey". I'd just love to be falling in love for the first time again. That sort of innocence and naivety. What I wouldn't give to be able to experience it all over again without the taint of paranoia and caution. To look across a crowded Taco Bell and see those swash top boots, that satiny skirt, that fuzzy top, those Midwestern apple cheeks... all for the first time all over again. The memory is just too faded and worn with too much time like an old Polaroid and just so damaged with the ravages of so many wrongs... both behind the camera and in front... to bring much of the old nostalgic comfort or joy.

I'd almost settle for just any love at all.

*EDIT* I REALLY like my Lew Ashby icon. I need to make more Californication ones when I get the laptop.

Fox hunting.

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 01:16:26 GMT

You know... you actually start to understand fox hunting when you have to tool one of the little bastards onto leather at less than two inches tall.

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:15:50 GMT

Silver Linings

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 07:36:02 GMT

Been wrestling with a stomach bug the past few days. At least being ill has given me time to get caught up on my webcomic reading a bit.

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 03:15:09 GMT

Things are bad. There's really no other way to put it. To say anything more extreme just seems to overshadow how bad it really is with a sense of unneeded drama. Fact is, when things are this fucked, "bad" is really the only fitting term.

I've sold just about everything anyone has given me an offer on. Even selling my Kindle has come up, though no takers (and I say that with a mix of relief and disappointment)

My cell service is gone... to the point where I'll have to pay an excess of $200 to fix it. I got a pink envelope, which I'm hoping none of my friends who are Geico customers have ever had to deal with. My battery on the Jeep is fucked. And as if to add a bonus kick in the ass, my rear view mirror fell off when I was attending to the battery.

I've been turned away pretty much everywhere I've gone to look for work. A few have been kind enough to at least give me interviews for the sake of politeness, but nobody's really hiring for jobs I'm qualified for.

I hate this. I had my life all put back together for awhile there (aside from the crushing loneliness). A person can only rebuild so many times before it starts to seem futile to even bother.

Dexter promo image.

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:55:14 GMT

Saw this and it reminds me so much of the way my moral compass is skewed....

File under WTF??!!??

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:07:17 GMT

Okay, so everyone knows I love remixes and covers... even kind of crappy ones (except the 311 cover of Lovesong... that was just shit)

But who in blessed-fucking-Darwin remixes Rasputina... and strips out ALL the cello?!?

*head asplodes*

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:55:58 GMT

Things are fucked... no, wait, that lacks proper emphasis. Things are ROYALLY FUCKED.

When I found out that Fox Protective got bought out, I started saving up because we all knew there was a shit storm just around the corner. By the time Fox let me go I had saved up a little over $1k. Enough to carry me for 3 months if I scrimped, saved, and even starved a little. I made it last 4 months.

Today I found out my cell phone service was cut off cause I miscalculated my payments somewhere. It took the last $80 I had in the bank to fix it, because I cannot be without a phone in case a prospective employer calls. Now I have no gas or food money, and when my car insurance comes due in 10 days, I've got nothing for that either. Technically I still owe another $80 to Sprint on my phone for this month.

Funny how things happen. A few months ago I was just getting myself out of debt. My credit was clearing itself up. I had all my ducks in a row and my midway pellet gun at the ready, about to start shooting for the top shelf stuffed animal prizes. Now I'll be lucky to walk away from it all with a zero balance, no cell phone, and no car insurance (and thusly, no car and maybe even a suspended license again).

Tue, 27 May 2008 11:15:11 GMT

Sometimes you see a picture... and it's not even the person you think it is at first... but it's enough to absolutely crush the breath out of you and leave you winded and dizzy.

The mind and heart are cruel creatures chaining all these foolish attachments to dates that should have long ago become meaningless, but instead scar you with their importance... and as they approach, you grow ever so much more weary.

I've not felt this old, tired, and so very alone in a long time, and for at least a week, it's only going to get worse.

Oh yeah... this is me surprised

Tue, 27 May 2008 10:04:02 GMT

Your Score: The Raven

You scored 34% domestic, 48% gregarious, 50% trickster, and 70% intellect!

Wild, Solitary, Serious and Intellectual: you are the Raven!

Raven is a strong symbol of both creation and destruction. Wisdom through intelligence, observation, and challenge. Raven is strongly tied to the spiritual world, living in a constant state of otherworldly awareness. Raven people tend to be very introspective and savor time spent ‘alone’.

This test categorized you based on four different axes of personality, which were then associated with a different animal. The four axes, as well as all possible results are explained below.

Wild/Domestic: This first axis categorizes you based on how much you are drawn to the outdoors, versus how much you are drawn to civilized situations. Domesticity has many shapes and forms, and varies from the joy of dolphins leaping next to a ship to the steadfast loyalty of a family dog.

Gregarious/Solitary: This axis measures how solitary you are. If you scored high, it means that you enjoy the company of other people, while a low score indicates that you prefer a more solitary lifestyle.

Trickster/Serious: This axis measures how well you line up with conventional trickster archetypes. People who fall into this archetype have a sense of humor and an excitable, highly chaotic streak. Scoring low doesn't mean that you don't have a sense of humor; it just means that you probably don't think dynamite is very funny.

Intellectual/Emotional: This last axis determines whether you are more emotional -- acting based on feelings and instinct, or rational and intellectual -- acting more on thought than on your gut feelings.

Wild	Gregarious	Trickster	Intellectual	The Hyena
Wild	Gregarious	Trickster	Emotional	The Otter
Wild	Gregarious	Serious	Intellectual	The Antelope
Wild	Gregarious	Serious	Emotional	The Wolf
Wild	Solitary	Trickster	Intellectual	The Weasel
Wild	Solitary	Trickster	Emotional	The Coyote
Wild	Solitary	Serious	Intellectual	The Raven
Wild	Solitary	Serious	Emotional	The Frog
Domestic	Gregarious	Trickster	Intellectual	The Fox
Domestic	Gregarious	Trickster	Emotional	The Dolphin
Domestic	Gregarious	Serious	Intellectual	The Horse
Domestic	Gregarious	Serious	Emotional	The Dog
Domestic	Solitary	Trickster	Intellectual	The Rat
Domestic	Solitary	Trickster	Emotional	The Ferret
Domestic	Solitary	Serious	Intellectual	The Cat
Domestic	Solitary	Serious	Emotional	The Squirrel

Link: The Animal Archetype Test written by crumpetsfortea on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test
View My Profile(crumpetsfortea)

A little music game

Fri, 09 May 2008 15:14:09 GMT

I stole this from darkmaya

Step 1: Put your music player on shuffle.
Step 2: Post the first line from the first 25-ish songs that play, no matter how embarrassing.
Step 3: Strike through the songs when someone guesses both artist and track correctly.
Step 4: For those who are guessing -- looking the lyrics up on a search engine is CHEATING!
Step 5: If you like the game post your own.

I was nice... I skipped anything that was in Japanese... I also pretty much skipped any song who's name is in the first line (except I think maybe one or two) because you never realize how many there are until you're typing lyrics for something like this.

1. When there is trap... set up for you... in every corner of this town.
2. I need someone, a person to talk to, someone to care, to love... could it be you, could it be youuuu?
3. In the future, start at this next groove following a short pause, and always place your parakeet near enough so that he can plainly hear the inflection and sound of every word.
4. Did I... see a moment, with you... in a half lit world?
5. You whisper in my ear "It's time to go," I grab you by the hand and wouldn't let it go... you wanna see it, and know the truth... but you hesitate a moment so your advances don't seem uncouth.
6. Waitress.... can I get a vodka martini, with a twist or sub-lime? Thank you.
7. I feel hypnotized... oh the ground don't touch your feet... and deep within your eyes ohhh the spiral comes to meet...
8. Know that it would be untrue, know that I would be a liar, if I was to say to you I didn't set your house on fire.
9. Sexcuse me, but what good is all the violence in the world unless it is tempered with limitless sex... bring on, the limitless sex objects... and allow me, the Sexicutioner, to sexplain the seriousness of this subject.
~~10.~~ I feel so extraordinary, some thing's got a hold on me...
11. It's buried deep within the past and I hope it doesn't last (It's something I already, chase. I already chase)
12. Ummmm hello! I was wondering, how goth is my frock? See I got a thing for horror movies and mope rock but I can't shock my hair up (I ran out of stock) and just like that, Frontalot ran out of talk
13. I'm under your spell... god how can this be, playing with my memory?
~~14.~~ Upon the sand, upon the bay there is a quick and easy way you say
15. Yo I'm a freak. I'm so unique. I'm rockin' dubs on my Honda Civic. My woofers woof, my tweeters tweet. I've got a different ride for every day of the week.
~~16.~~ Walking down the streets at night, I see her stumbling through the rain... a skinny figure in the dark, her face a shade of grey
17. You're made of my rib baby, you're made of my sin and I can't tell where your lust ends and where your love begins
18. You called me up last night in tears, and said you missed me after all these years. Well I've been waiting here so long, I've gotten over it since you've been gone.
19. My daddy, he was a gambler, abandoned mama when I was four... all he left us, was his old Gramaphone player, his 45 records he kept under the floorboards.
20. That crybaby sonofa bitch no talent mother fucker, bastard ass dick head ball slapping dick sucker baggy shirted depressed, Dean loving bonehead, making lots of money with boring songs like Suedehead...
~~21.~~ I am tall and I am thin, of an enviable height... and I've been known to be quite handsome at a certain angle in a certain light
22. I'm the order of the Bat'leth, Son of Kahless... your family has no honor but I couldn't care less I was born to kill Federation swine, and I celebrate with a barrel of bloodwine
23. I don't understand, how you've done these things to me. I cannot comprehend your lack of loyalty.
24. There once was a boy... a robotic boy... with a crank sticking out of his head.
25. You hold the candle I once bled you shine your light when you forgive I cry