Wow, it's been a really long time since I've posted an entry here. Been excessively busy working on costumes but I finally got everything done and I'm all set to go to Comic Con! As soon as Sheena gets home we'll be on our way to San Diego. YAY!

I won't be back until Sunday night so I'll see ya then. There will lots of pictures!!

Bye, dollinks!

i never tried to feel: excited

Your result for The Attachment Style Test...

The Free Agent

30% Anxiety Over Abandonment and 31% Avoidance Of Intimacy

Take The Attachment Style Test at HelloQuizzy

i never tried to feel: busy

I can't stop watching this:



It makes me want to go out and explore the world. It also makes me want to watch episodes of Mythbusters. Adam setting Jamie's arm on fire made me LOL so hard!

i never tried to feel: boom-de-yada

Back from Fresno.

I ended up not serving jury duty. They said I didn't qualify because I'm not a resident of Fresno county. I gave them my new address and they dismissed me. *shrugs*

I also never got pictures of myself on my horse in costume, and before you throw over-ripened fruit at me I have a VERY good explanation! It was over 100 degrees in Fresno over the weekend. You step outside, you fry. I was barely able to go riding in a tank top let alone in a heavy costume with a wig, hat, and cape. There was just no way I would have been able to do it without risking giving myself heat stroke. I'm going to have to at least wait until after the conventions, probably around fall when it starts to get cooler.

In GOOD news, I finally ordered my boots and the gloves should be coming any day now. Before I can finish up my own costume I'll have to get that Toph costume finished and sent.

Also, I applied to a multiverse steampunk pirates RPG called theskytides as Maxim. Should be lots of fun! We need more GG characters. *cough*

i never tried to feel: working

I'm going home to Fresno for a few days because I have to serve jury duty there tomorrow. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone but a friend of mine took my Tuesday shift so I know I at least won't be back until that night. Of course, depending on how my jury duty goes I could be gone all week. I'll try to go online and check on stuff at least once a day.

Also, I'll be taking my Maxim costume up with me and I'm gonna try to take pictures on my horse. I don't have the gauntlet/glove thingy or my boots yet but I was just going to wear that glove again, and I have an old pair of thigh-high red boot covers that I bought for another costume and never used. They'll probably look really cheap but I'll put them on over my riding boots so that should help to give them a boot-ish shape. And I can always go back and Photoshop the stuff that doesn't look quite right.

The wig dye I ordered finally arrived but I haven't gotten the chance to use it on my wig yet so it's still a faded bluish color. Again, I'll just Photoshop it.

Okay, gonna go eat something and finish packing, then I'm outta here! Laterz.

i never tried to feel: good

I've been having a lot of asthma problems lately, especially at work. I just saw my doctor today and she prescribed me ANOTHER inhaler. This one is supposed to help prevent asthma attacks, whereas the one I already have is a "rescue" inhaler if I'm having an asthma attack.

Just what I need. Another monthly expense. $30 per inhaler per month. *cringes*

In other news, Orangina is deeeeeeeelish!

That and 72% cacao Swiss dark chocolate. x_x

i never tried to feel: asthma-y...?

I just can't write. I'm not a writer. I can't do it.

Okay, I CAN write. My writing flows and I can do great dialog and my grammar and spelling are good and I have a decent vocabulary and my characters are ALWAYS IC. It's my plots that suck. They're so boring and... nonexistent. I want to write. I do! I'm good at it. My problem is that I can't put ideas together to form a story. And that's not all of it. Another problem is that I can't put into words what I'm having trouble with.

Ideas just won't come to me in the form of something that can be fleshed out into a written work, even a short one. Ideas come to me in screenshots and emotions. Sometimes I'll even get a random scene in my head, but it's a scene without a plot. I can flesh out the scene a little bit and make up some dialog, but I just can't think of a resolution, an ending, a moral to the story. It has no POINT. This is why I think I always used to hate writing. My writing was always so forced and difficult because I just didn't have any ideas. I never had anything to write about.

All the other aspects of a story are so easy. The characters, the setting, the time, the place, the emotions... but these characters are just standing around, not really doing much. And I don't know what it is I should have them do!

I've tried brainstorming, I've tried getting story ideas from my art, and I've even tried asking other people to help me think.

How do you writers get your ideas? Or do you just wait for an idea to hit you? Do you always get your ideas as complete stories with an intro, middle, climax, and end? What inspires you? What do you think my problem is?... because I'm not too sure I know for sure myself.

I would REALLY appreciate some answers to these questions. It would help me a lot. Thanks, guys.

I'm going to go write nonsense for a while and see if something comes to me.

i never tried to feel: frustrated

And now! The moment you've all been waiting for (srsly u guys)...

( MAXIM!!! Grab those bibs, people! )

i never tried to feel: enthralled

I call this one "a glimpse of Maxim".

( Makeup-y awesomeness. )

i never tried to feel: productive

.. Guys, srsly.

I win at everything.

Srsly.

Guys?

i never tried to feel: ecstatic

MORE PICTURESZOMG.

( Like the subject says, wig dying sucks just a little. )

Whew! I think I'm going to work on my cape while the wig dries.

i never tried to feel: accomplished

(Click to see full-size)

i never tried to feel: giddy

Crap.

I went into the living room this morning and discovered that the straightening I did yesterday removed some of the color from my Maxim wig. It's a faded medium purple now and that just won't do at all. I'm going to have to dye it. *sigh*

You know, I'm looking at those pictures I took last night and it looks like it had already faded by then, I just hadn't noticed it at the time.

...Actually, I'm a little intrigued now because this means I get to experiment with different colors and see if I can get it that really unique almost-black-magenta color.

Well, I guess it's better that I'm learning all this stuff on my own wig than someone else's. And at least there's still more than a month before Comic Con. I can always buy another wig if I royally botch this one up. That Ivy wig in "Black Cherry" would be perfect if I took a magenta-y pinkish sharpie to it. I would just have to do a lot of cutting and styling.

Hokay, time for a trip to Michael's and Rite-Aid.

i never tried to feel: disappointed

Well, I didn't get all the stuff done that I wanted to but I did get into what I have of the costume (sans makeup) and took some MAJOR pictures! Maxim fangirls, have your bibs ready and stand near your fainting couches.

( Picspam of Jägery DOOM )

Welp, I need to eat something and then I'll keep working on that list.

ETA: Wow. Looking back on those pictures I realized that I did a really good job of giving myself a masculine figure. Mmmm... are we impressed or creeped out?

i never tried to feel: sexy

Me talking to myself:

Okay, Genevieve. You cannot keep sitting here on your tush. You NEED to get up and do stuff!

LIST:

- Work on getting some floor space in room. Unpack some boxes, put away books and clothes, etc...
- Clean off table enough for sewing machine. Set up sewing machine.
- Cut out and sew cape. Come on! You KNOW the cape is the thing that'll totally pull the whole costume together. You KNOW you're excited about it. Just do it!
- Do Brooke's Agatha wig so you can send it to her while there's still plenty of time before Comic Con.
- Do Maxim wig (straighten, trim, dye, style) ... hehe. If you put your finger over the word "wig" it says "Do Maxim". Hehe... *immatureOMG*
- Take in pants at hips.
- Sew clasps onto inside of pants and onto compression shirt so it stops rolling up.
- Finish shirt (sew on trim, buttons, clasps, & undersleeve).
- Make hat band.

*kicks self in the butt* Now get to it! I want to see these things dropping off the list like flies!

Me: Ow! *rubs behind* You call that motivation?
Me: Okay, how about this. If you get all this stuff done today I'll let you put your entire costume on (yes, makeup, ears and everything) and you'll get to look like THIS: http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/ggmain/strips/ggmain20070209.jpg
Me: O_O ... *dust cloud*
Me: That's what I THOUGHT. *eyes flist* ... What? Oh, come on. You can't tell me you don't have motivational conversations like this with yourselves all the time!

i never tried to feel: properly motivated

OMG WANT.

Curse the little voice of reason in my head telling me they are an unnecessary expense that would only deplete my already depleted finances. Grrrr!

i never tried to feel: envious

My internet got installed yesterday morning thanks to my wonderful friend Kris. He had the morning off so he offered to be here when the cable man came because myself and my roommate were at work.

YAY!

And I don't really have anything to show for all my days spent without internet. I really want to get my cape done this weekend and maybe even order my boots though I'm thinking that should probably wait until I get my deposit back from the old apartment.

COMIC CON IS LESS THAN SIX WEEKS AWAY! *dances*

i never tried to feel: working

Alright, folks. I'm taking my computer to the new place and I'll have to use the library to get online for the new few days. They're coming to install our service in the new apartment Friday morning.

Don't expect many updates if any until then. Later!

Looks like I'm going to be without a steady internet connection for a few days. Time Warner Cable needs about a week to transfer our service to the new apartment.

Not sure when it'll be going down yet or when it'll be back up but while it's down I'll be going to the library to check e-mail and GG updates and stuff.

If you don't hear from me for a few days, that's why.

Laterz.

i never tried to feel: annoyed

My roommate and I are moving tomorrow. We're staying in the same complex but to a newly rennovated apartment and they're going to rennovate the one we're currently in. There'll be a brand new fridge, stove, microwave, dishwasher, cabinets, counters, plumbing, sinks, bathtub, toilet, carpets, linoleum, and paint. Soooo pretty! Will definitely take a bunch of pictures.

i never tried to feel: hungry

Sure enough. The package in the office was my sword.

Here's a photo of just about everything so far:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v118/sweetpea_grubb/maxim/494d3721.jpg

I'm starting to look like Maxim!

i never tried to feel: cheerful

IT CAME! IT CAME! IT CAME! IT CAME! ...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v118/sweetpea_grubb/maxim/9216b83a.jpg

(we're looking at the wig, BTW)

It's a little bit on the long side but I can cut a couple inches off easily enough.

And oh yeah! I forgot that I haven't posted any pictures of the shirt. Obviously it's still not finished but it's getting there. Didn't work on it at all tonight. Didn't work on anything tonight as a matter of fact. I'm going to bed right now because I keep falling asleep in my computer chair. Have more pictures, will post them later.

Also, I think my sword came and it's in the office. I know I have *something* for me down in the office. Usually they put our packages in the big mail boxes but obviously this was too big even for those and my sword is the only thing I have coming that wouldn't be able to fit in them. However, I won't be able to get it until Saturday because I'm always working during office hours. I was off a little earlier tonight than usual and I would have been able to get it if traffic hadn't been RIDICULOUS. My normally 10-15 minute drive (30 tops in bad traffic) from Disneyland to my place took an hour. ONE HOUR. Did I mention that it was ridiculous?

Oh, so I got a notice e-mailed to me that my buckles shipped. Turns out I didn't ship them to my parents' address after all. Yay! They should be here within a couple days. I should also be getting the extra makeup I ordered (got some white to blend into the purple I already have) and Brooke's Agatha wig soon, and then I'm guessing my sword is in the office.

Okay, bedtime. I'm falling asleep in my chair.

i never tried to feel: sleepy

Well, I got most of the shirt done. It's definitely recognizable as a shirt and has most of the lining in. Didn't even start on the cape. I expect if I hadn't been distracted by the Girl Genius update I would have gotten a lot more done. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

I took some pictures but it's too late to upload them now. I really gotta sleep. Nighty night.

i never tried to feel: restless

Such a long period of time has past since I last updated on my Maxim costume and I feel like I've hardly done anything at all. I HAVE done quite a bit of ordering, though. I believe all I have left to order are the boots. The wig should be here any day now (SQUEEE!!!) and I just ordered the sword and belt buckles so they should be arriving within a week. However, the buckles I accidently sent to my parents' place so unless I can convince my parents to ship them down here to me once I they get there I won't have them in my hands until June 23 which is when I plan to visit them next. That's okay, though. All I plan on doing to them is coloring them with rub n' buff and that stuff takes, literally, 30 seconds to dry.

Still... I was hoping to have everything together very soon for a photo shoot... *sniffles* Maybe I can photoshop some buckles into the pictures, lol.

I'm STILL cutting out the pieces for the shirt and plan on sewing it today. The cutting part is always so tedious and frustrating. Once I get it all cut out the rest will be fun and engaging and I should have no trouble getting the sewing done quickly.

After that I'll have to figure out the cape. I'm not using a pattern so I have to do all the measuring and pattern-ing by hand. It shouldn't be too difficult, though. And I'll only have to cut out two pieces. The sewing will be ridiculously fast. The hardest and most time-consuming part of the cape will be figuring out the pattern.

I'm wondering if I can get the shirt and cape done tonight... >_> Shall I challenge myself?

... LET'S DO IT!

Although I have to note that finishing the shirt will NOT include the cuff on the right hand. See, I'm now considering actually doing the prosthetic arm/glove/gauntlet/whatever that thing is. I even found someone who's willing to do the arm part and then make the red pieces that go on the hand. I could probably do the rest no problem. All I'll need is a black glove, probably leather, and maybe use some craft foam. I might even look up some tutorials and look into using other materials like plastics.

So for now I'm foregoing the cuff to wait and see if I end up doing the arm. If not I can always whip up the cuff fairly quickly. And I may just make the cuff later on anyways so I have some variation.

Along with all of this I'm also helping my roommate with her Zeetha costume. We're probably commissioning the swords but we're making everything else ourselves. Or rather, Sheena *wants* to do everything herself but she's not exactly experienced or skillful in the sewing and crafts department so I'm basically doing everything and letting her help wherever she can (i.e. cutting out pre-marked pieces of craft foam, painting stuff the colors I designate, being a live model for the measuring, etc...).

I'll also be helping yanocchi with her castle!Agatha costume which may be difficult considering we live a state away from each other. I'll be styling her wig for her and probably doing the vest and some stuff on the pants.

And now I ALSO received a commission request for a Toph costume. This one will probably be the easiest of all the costumes I'm doing for Comic Con. In fact, I KNOW it'll be the easiest. The hardest part will most likely be the headband, or maybe the cuffs. Yay for quick and easy costumes and getting paid to do them!

As you can see I've REALLY got my work cut out for me this summer. Let's see how it all goes. My first priority will be the Toph costume because I'll be on contract to finish that one by a specified time. Next will be my own because... well, it's my own costume and I started that one before any of the others. Sheena's and Brooke's will be on a when-I-have-time basis. Sheena will need more help with hers than Brooke will. Plus, I live with Sheena so it'll also be easier to help her.

I'm really not worried about getting all these done on time. Two months is plenty. I'm more worried about money. As long as everyone pays for their materials and I manage to save up enough for my boots, (possibly) the arm/gauntlet/glove thing, and the hotel I'll be good. The money from the commission will help a lot and Sheena also owes me a bit. I also just paid my dad all the money I've owed him for the past year so I'm in almost no debt whatsoever. I'm also doing a TON of show-rate shifts at work and will be doing those almost every day throughout the summer. That should help a lot.

In other news, the apartment Sheena and I went to look at won't work. Apparently the girl that is moving out forgot to ask her roommate (who we'd be living with) if she's allergic to cats. She is. ARGH! However, Janel, my roommate who just moved out, said that she talked to the people at our current appartments and said they'd be willing to give us a discount if we wanted to move into another apartment in the same complex. I'm going to go down to discuss this with them today. It would be awesome if Sheena and I could get a one bedroom and have it all to ourselves.

Okay, things to do today:

- Go grocery shopping
- Talk to people in office about apartment
- Shower
- Get shirt done(ish)
- At least get started on cape

First, go grocery shopping. It's the middle of the day so everyone in the office will be out to lunch until around 2-ish.

Okay, I'm outta here! Will report again tonight.

i never tried to feel: busy

Actually, my best friend is. But that's where I'm headed for the weekend. I'm going to be a bridesmaid in tolerin's wedding tomorrow. YAY! I'll be back Sunday evening so don't expect to see me online until then.

ETA: I'm healing VERY well. The pain is completely gone (unless I accidently pull my shoulder too far one way or another) and I can already lift my arm all the way above my head and move my shoulder all around just like I do while puppeteering. Being able to do my first day of Playhouse next Thursday should be a piece of cake. I'll have my mom help me take the bandages off tonight and see what it looks like. Eeeewww.

i never tried to feel: hot