Tears in Rain

I have eaten nothing but cookies today. I have a bunch of no-bake cookies that are pretty much the only ready-to-go food I have, so I had some for breakfast. I brought those for lunch too, alongside an orange. But I didn't eat the orange because when I ripped it open, it had black on the inside. GROOOOSSSSSSSSSSSS. Then a coworker brought in a big barrel of gingersnaps so I had to take some of those. Then another coworker brought in birthday cookies from Smart Cookie! I should have declined, but the curiosity I felt after having read so many glowing reviews of the place won over. I'm not impressed, but I don't like sugar cookies.

Urgh, so much sugar.

In other news, I'm now a writer for mydisguises.com. You know what that means? I'm a professional blogger. I'm getting paid to blog, people. PAID to BLOG. FEEEEEEEEL the POOOOOWWEEEEEEERRR. Of course my blog entries there will be a lot better than the ones here . . .

I've already written a huge one about understanding the world of steampunk in order to design the best steampunk costumes. But I'm waiting for permission from a bunch of DA people to use their images before it posts.

Let's take a moment to muse about how my hobbies are making me more money than my educated skills are. Unless deconstructing the theory behind a genre in order to understand how it generates a certain aesthetic counts as an educated skill. Yeah, I think it does. I didn't take that film noir class for nothing.

What's really amusing is that the current in-house writer, Matthew, said he was going to post an entry on my DA page (because apparently my costumes and designs are really impressive?), but decided it would be more polite for me to do it myself. I think he should just do it because I don't know what I'd say.

Speaking of my costume designs being apparently impressive, I've uploaded to DA the designs for Boris and Karloff, who are the Flamingo's lackeys in the minigolf film.

Speaking of designing costumes, I'm going to a midsummer masquerade and I can't think of what to wear. I want to make something really pretty and impressive. But nothing's coming to me yet. I don't want to just pull things out of my wardrobe/costume stash and call it good, but I'm afraid I may end up doing that. If any of you Utahns who are my friends want to go, email me and I'll tell you all about it once I find out more (I'm looking at you, Logan!).

I think the obbious choice is to make something steampunk. Steampunk and gothy.

I moved into my new apartment yesterday. As in I transferred all my stuff and bought even more stuff. The vast amounts of money I've spent in the past 2 weeks is really incomprehensible. Nothing is unpacked or set up besides my bookcase.

After 1.5 months of stressing out over moving, I'm glad that's over with. (Still need to get some stuff done with the management and utilities, it's no problem.)

I don't really have a life or many friends anymore.

I think I should get into an rp campaign sometime. Er, sometime soonish. But on the other hand, it seems like it would take a lot of effort to find one, and I don't really know if I care that much. Not right now anyway. Someday I'll get really lonely and I'll wish I had something to do with other people at night. But the fact that I haven't rped in so long is kinda deterring me. I mean, so much effort to build a character. Then having to deal with that D&D crap, or learn a new system (because I'm not likely to find a TROS game). Having to play with people I don't know--playing with the wrong people really ruins a game for me. (back when all my friends lived in Utah, it was so easy to game.) There are so many ambiguous/uncontrollable factors that it's pretty easy to convince myself that I'm better off sitting alone in my apartment every night for ever.

After all, I need to devote time to being the costume designer for the Flamingo film. And I need to organize all my crap and aggressively figure out what to get rid of. And I need to sew and embroider stuff if we're going to have a booth at the ren faire next year. And regarding that, I need to find places to get the right kinds of fabric in bulk for cheapish.

It's pretty easy to talk myself out of doing things. Mainly that comes down to not having enough information, and/or not having any moral support. Apathy is better than emotional rollercoasters.

So my work got some passes to CONduit and my boss gave us a list of the costume-oriented panels and said that we could choose with ones to go to.

Thing is, I'm extremely likely to run into my ex at that thing. Combine that with the fact that I already know everything about making costumes, and it turns out it'd be a real waste of my time. There is a panel on chainmail, but since my ex is very likely to go to that one, and it's on Saturday when I have other things to do, and I can probably learn everything I want about making mail online, it's just not worth going to.

Mainly I'm being lazy too.

So I got an email from my boss. It said that our company blog now has a community section and he wants us all to sign up for it. So I did. And then another email saying that we should feel free to go around, leave comments, and participate in general, to get the site going.

Okay Jeff. You're seriously telling me that I can spend precious worktime on an online community that's all about costumes?!?! Sweet mother of pearl! It's all I've ever wanted in a job!

Unfortunately, the website is bugging out for me and I can't actually do anything. It's working fine for my coworkers. :(

The blog is mydisguises.com, and the community is mydisguises.ning.com

It is actually pretty cool!

Ideas for tea parties:

Normal
Mad
Steampunk
Titantic Ghosts
Gothic
EGA/EGL (not to be confused with Gothic)

I'm going to give it up as a bad job, unpack some of my stuff, and start living again until next week.

I've called the managers of my new place every other day. They're not giving me information, they're not calling me back. Last I heard, the people in my apartment hadn't turned in their keys yet. The managers said they would call them to find out what's up, and then they'd call me back to let me know.

At first I suspected that maybe they didn't have my phone number down correctly. But yesterday I told them my number in a voice mail, and I still have heard nothing. This is really stressing me out because I was planning on moving this week. Actually I was planning on moving last week. I can't just keep going on like this.

So I'm going to call them again sometime today, but I'm not going to have sudden hopes. I'll just plan on pushing back the moving date another week, so that I can stop stressing out and get some things done with the few remaining days of this week.

I wonder just how much sewing I can finish before Saturday. I need to make 5 hoods, but those are easy. The real question is what else I can get done . . . like in my wild fantasies, a linen napron, 4 extra-large tunics/gowns (cotton/linen), 2 regular-size gowns or surcotes (cotton/linen), and a large male tunic (cotton/linen). It's absolutely crazy talk, of course. In my more rational fantasies, it's just 2 extra-large tunics/gowns and the male tunic. Plus the 5 hoods in either case. Oh, and I need to finish my brooches. Yeah, I'm crazy. I probably won't do anything besides the hoods.

Lords and Ladies its once again time for the 3rd Annual Utah
Renaissance Festival and Fanatsy Faire. Fun for the entire family.
Come for the jousting, magic shows, belly dancers, celt singers, bag
pippers, puppet shows, and much much more.

May 9,10,11 and 16,17,18

10am-dusk

Location: 3105 W Pioneer Rd. Marriott-
Slatersville. Take I-15 just north of Ogden to exit 346. Go west on
Pioneer Rd through the light its about 1.5 miles down Pioneer Rd on
the left. Look for the yellow URFFF signs.

$10 Adults
$5 Children under 12
$5 Military
$5 Senior Citizens
$5 If you come dressed in Renaissance Period Costume

www.utahrenfest.com


My mom sent me this email.

I want to go! I need people to go with! I think I can force Brynn to come with me. At least I'll tell her she can wear my Irish peasant garb. I'll wear the viking garb. If they don't consider that "Renaissance Period Costume" then I'm okay with paying $10.

I've never been to a Ren Faire! If I can't get anyone to go with me I'll be really sad.

Also, the Kingdom of Artemesia will be there! That means I'm likely to run into Club people, right?

ETA: Hey! Good news! Turns out pretty much my whole family is going! Turns out on the 9th and 16th, homeschoolers only have to pay $1 to get in!!! And I count as a homeschooler! Man I will forever be reaping the benefits from that. Free plays, workshops, and now, reduced prices to Ren Faires. I am so lucky.

I don't know when yet, there seems to be confusion. Jill can't go on Friday because it's "David Archuleta Day." Apparently he's coming to Murray to film something and she swore she'd go with her roommates. I personally want to go on a Saturday so I can spend all day there. But we'll see. And out of six days, I can probably go more than once.

I feel a very strong urge to sew some hoods for my family. And some gowns . . . Toss on a dress and a belt and you've got some nice 9th century Druid action going on. Seriously the easiest garb ever. I just have this uncontrollable desire to dress everyone else up.

Also, I just ate lunch outside and it was really warm. Like maybe I should look into making a linen napron. Like maybe my wool viking stuff will be too hot. (I would test this when I get home, but of course, all of my garb is packed up.)

TOO BAD MY SEWING MACHINE AND ALL MY SEWING STUFF ARE PACKED UP IN BOXES. I do have a few items to loan out but really, it's not enough. And for some, it's not big enough. (Hey! I designed those larger chemises for a reason.)

Holy crap I should not be this excited. I shouldn't go crazy making things for one event when I might not do anything else all summer long.

But I can't suppress the thought that I should drive up to Murray tonight and get to work.

( Read more... )

Vests were creating a problem for me. I really like them, but I just kept wearing them wrongly. So I sat down and asked myself, "Self, how can I wear vests without looking stupid?"

The answer was simple. There are actually a lot of options. For some reason I kept doing the one thing I shouldn't have been.

Here are my vest-wearing guidelines:

Yes: with short skirt
Yes: with pants (any length)
Yes: with long skirt and jacket
Yes: with short skirt and jacket
Yes: with pants and jacket
No: with long skirt

Don't ask me to justify my reasoning, it's just what I feel I must do.

Regarding the types of shirts to be worn under vests: Woven fabrics, with colors equal in darkness to, or lighter than the color of the vest (ie, the vest is always darker in color than the blouse is, or else it is the same color). Wearing t-shirts under vests is not acceptable.

Side note. Regarding jackets: Unusually lengthy jackets must always be worn with pants, as to avoid looking too Edwardian, unless it is with a particularly wide skirt (eg, to be worn with a hoopskirt or plentiful petticoats).

Hilariously, this all delves into the strange psychoses I have about liking costumey clothing but not wanting to look too costumey. I don't know. It's messed up. The conclusion for this round of the battle: It is acceptable to look steampunky, but not ren-fairy. No wait, broader generalization: It's okay to look science-fictiony, but not fantasy-y. (as long as the science-fictiony doesn't lean towards the Matrix, just out of a desire to avoid the lame Hot Topic goth teen look.)

Which leads to the question: What do I do about my medieval-looking dresses?

My wardrobe. Hmm. Probably a strange complaint to some, but it just has too much variety.

The problem being that it’s far too easy to put things together which shouldn’t go together.

The problem being that when I’m getting dressed in the morning, I’m very tired and can’t think clearly. My only thought is “can’t wear jeans or t-shirt to work.” Even though jeans and t-shirt account for a rather small amount of my wardrobe, this still causes problems. Mostly because I’m tired and can’t think clearly. I’m not thinking about constructing a good outfit. (And it's too difficult for me to remember that I can wear jeans or a t-shirt, just that I have to dress them up somehow and not wear them together.)

I keep telling myself that when I move I’ll just switch over to my summer wardrobe and that will solve a lot of problems.

It will solve a few problems because I’ll be very happy not to see some certain items for another 4 months. But that’s just avoidance. It’s not solving the root of the problem.

I know about fashion. I know the syntax. I know the semantics. I know how to build capsules. I know what looks good on me and what doesn’t.

So what’s my problem? I just like too many different things! I need to be stricter with myself when I make and buy clothing. I need to get rid of what doesn’t work. I need to make decisions and stick with them. I need to define and refine my taste.

I know how to make capsules, but I don't actually do it. That takes so much work! Can’t I just do what I want and have fun? No, that’s what got me into this mess. I can’t just continue to run amok pulling gobs out of whatever appeals to me and sticking them on.

I need to figure out better ways to wear the things I have.

I need to streamline,

but that requires making sacrifices and getting rid of things I like.

So set guidelines. Without even looking at what I have. Figure out what I should have. Then apply those standards to what I have, but more importantly, apply them strictly to what I acquire. Very fine words, but I won’t be able to put them into practice.

I watched like 5 episodes of What Not to Wear today. There was a girl whose chief problem (beyond the pink, glitter, and over-accessorizing) was that she bought a lot of separates without regard to how to put them into an outfit. THAT is my problem. Obviously you've got to put things together into an outfit when you get dressed, and if nothing is bought/made to go with other things, then nothing really goes together.

Obviously, just making things I like, and hoping it'll work out and go with other things, isn't working for me.

My only issue with What Not to Wear is that, after repeated viewing, I come to realize that all the girls come out of that show with essentially the exact same wardrobe, and just tiny little personal details. Not too personal, of course, being store-bought clothing. But like with the pink girl. They let her suit skirt have some tiny pink piping details. If I was on that show, I'd end up with a black skirted suit with some shiny, bright-colored slinky blouse underneath (something that would "complement my skin tone and keep the black from washing me out"), and black rosette details on the suit jacket, or something. Actually, that's a bad example, because I would like that outfit (if the blouse wasn't too brihgt). Yet I don't have anything like it. Hmm.

See, I know what to do, I just don't do it. I need to do some seriously painful-yet-cathartic wardrobe out-cleaning.

And I have to be honest with myself. A lot of my clothing is pretty costumey. What do I do with that stuff? There are really only two things to do. Figure out a way to wear it and not make it costumey, and failing that, put it somewhere else, not a part of my wardrobe. (Ouch. That hurts to think about. It's like murdering my own children. By burying them alive. "Please let us out, mommy! We want to play with you!" *shovels dirt over them*)

Also, I should probably purchase or in some other way get my hands on a full-length mirror.

Today the 100 Hr Board had a question about a student film.

I'm pretty sure their answer is wrong.

I remember the film itself . . . but since my memory is absolutely awful, I can't do anything to answer the question. I think it played at Final Cut my freshman year (2003). But there's the unfortunate possibility that it played at FC Retro in winter semester 2004, which means that it could be from any previous year.

I remember having a conversation with someone about the film, who knew the filmmaker and said it was inspired by the works of Edward Gorey (that much is obvious). I don't remember who this person was and I don't remember how they knew the filmmaker. Maybe it was Megan, Shane's wife. But I don't think I knew her back then. But if it was, that would mean that the Board's answer is correct.

Still, I have a very hard time believe it was a 185 project, because the film was rather lengthy and 185 had pretty strict time limits on the assignments. Although it's probable that Shane had a different professor than I did for 185, and therefore different requirements in the class.

Also, I'm pretty sure that the film had a much longer title than that, and that it contained some kind of nonsense word. Reminescent of "The Gashlycrumb Tinies." In fact, even though I loved the film, I could never remember what it was called, not even right after I watched it. I think I'd remember something simple like "Woman's Tonic."

This is very frustrating. Maybe I should watch all my final cut dvds when I get home and see if that dredges up anything.

Here's the info on the film if anyone has a clue (from the question):

1-It was a film about a bunch of brothers and sisters that lived in a big house together.
2-The characters were wearing old fashioned clothes (victorian?)
3-The characters didn't talk at all and their actions were very silent-film like.
4-The narrator described one of the characters as "always getting in the way" accompanied by a shot of him lying on the floor in front of a door while another character is trying to open it.
5-It was filmed in black and white.
6-It was a comedy. The humor was based on the narrator describing the quirkiness of the family's activities.
7-I was a student from 1998-2004 so it was probably made during that time.

I would add that one of the characters was constantly making fruitcake, and she had a secret recipe box that was full of fruitcake recipes. They didn't have any parents, for no discernable reason. They liked to throw dinner parties.

Still, if Tom Russell says that it's "Women's Tonic" by Shane Atkinson, then it probably is. Tom Russell knows stuff.

It just doesn't feel right, though . . .