Why does every link on everyone else's costuming site link back to Saeru's moving wings tutorial on cosplay.com? I GOOGLED IT BECAUSE THAT TUTORIAL DID NOT MEET MY NEEDS. Goddammit. I can't use the pulley system because I won't have a hand free to constantly hold the wings open. I need a single-switch, preferably spring-oriented snap-loaded wing design, for ONE SHOT wing-opening. Once they're open they stay open until I'm off stage.

God, I pity the poor stagehand who'll be ninja-ing us offstage after our performance, they'll have to maneuver me carefully and get me to a point where someone can collapse the wings for me.

This, I might add, is why I'm planning to swap out the wing harness for a cloak in the hallways. johinnabara found this amazing purple splash-dyed fabric at Savers of all places that might make a nice cloak, if I can con her into giving it to me.

Dropped as much if not more on beads today as I have on fabric to-date. And it's nowhere near all the beads I'll need - I anticipate needing to restock on all the square beads I'm using for the broadcollar. Hope to hell I don't need any more seed beads than I got - 20gm each of silver, smoke gray, and iridescent white, plus smaller amounts of purple and green for accent. The purple cost more than the three packs of 20gms put together (goddamn Japanese seed beads).

But I'm trying to do the research on various methods of opening/moving/retractible wings before I go trying to design one of my own. I know in the past some of the hardcore Masters who present at CC and Worldcon have made wings of the kind I plan to have - but most of them probably predate documentation. ARGH! Maybe I'll shoot off an email to the Mais to ask whose brain you gotta pick to get wing designs.

The bodysuit is...constructed but incomplete. Needs some tailoring and hemming but for the most part it's together. So I feel like I'm free to start beading and embellishing, because certain parts fully need to be embellished before I can sew them together, line them, etc. GIANT PROJECT IS GIANT.

So I was not bothered at all by the idea of going to my sister's in Chicago for Thanksgiving instead of home to Wausau. My mom was weird about it - first she thought I would be disturbed or offended (by the way she kept asking me if it was okay with me) and then she freaked the fuck out about directions. Mom. I can use Mapquest. Really.

But now I get the news that we're not eating till later because of the Packer game. Now. I don't care about when we eat - I hate turkey anyway, I'm probably going to have like a nibble of meat, an assload of dinner rolls, and two pieces of pie and call it a day. Mealtime does not matter to me one bit. However...the idea that the family's schedule has to revolve around the FUCKING PACKERS pisses me off to no end.

This pretty much means that if I drive down "early" (hahaha like I'm getting my ass up before 9) I'll be sitting bored in a corner with no one to converse with while they all watch the game and get drunk. And then eat and go home. If I drive down to arrive just when dinner should presumably be served, I'll get the guilt trip about why I don't stay longer and really cats can be left to themselves for like 3 days and there's plenty of room on the couch...

I want to not go, now. I want to just tell them to count me out, and I'll stay home and eat ramen. Normal day. But then they're going to flip out that I was some how offended by the choice of Chicago over Home after all and Ellie will be the kicked puppy and...

GODDAMMIT. I HATE HOLIDAYS. I HATE THEM SO FUCKING MUCH.

I don't give a shit WHERE a family meal takes place. I really don't. But I don't want to drive two hours in ANY direction just to sit around in a corner, nibble half-heartedly at food I don't want, and be ignored while the conversation centers around Ellie's life and Jamie's marriage. But my dad had eye surgery not too long ago and he will fucking SULK like a goddamn emo teenager if I don't show up. FUCK MY FUCKING LIFE.

I'm bored. Therefore, it's meme time.

( taken from the marvelous ay )

Okay that wasn't nearly as interesting as I thought AY WE AGREE ON SO MANY THINGS.

Anyway.

Blew through the first 45 episodes of One Piece online. It's safe to say I have a new fandom.

So. Back from whirlwind trip to SR Harris. MACS might be lucky enough to see our fabrics tomorrow, I don't know. Depends on how lazy I am. However, it was a productive trip, thankfully. I didn't find what I thought I wanted, but I found some "perfect" fabrics nonetheless. Of course, since our not-so-secret-anymore CostumeCon entry is an original design, we can change anything depending on what we find.

I got a very strange but interesting black ribbed lycra for the bodysuit and a gorgeous green and black houndstooth-checked fabric for the vest, and some purple diamond lycra for accent pieces. And some dark purply faux linen with a rayon coating/sheen, it's hard to describe but it has a linen texture. I'm going to use it for a base of the pants, and applique stuff on top. I've decided what I want for other parts - like purple snakeskin-print leather, white-and-black geometric print cottons, and white fur - but I don't need to get them yet. Or I have to wait to get them. The Flik commission has bankrolled this costume for now, but come February I'll need to complete a couple more commissions in order to bankroll the wings.

I know what I want for the wig, and I have designs for the mask and armor. I still need to brain the wings, since it needs an armature that will pop open with one switch or pull, and EL wiring. I do know that the harness will be entirely external, and I'll replace the wings with a "cape" for hall wear. There's going to be a crapton of beading, and every inch of the costume is going to be embellished - etching, paint, applique, and couched beads. Of course, I can't show my sketches or design because that, at least, needs to be secret for the competition. Some MACS members have or will see it in my sketchbook, but I'm not throwing this thing on the internet for the entire potential cosplaying world to see.

...that means no updates from me, either. Well, I can't promise I'll stick to that. I may get excited and say something once in a while. But for the sake of trying to keep SOME part of this epic CC entry hush-hush, I'm going to refrain from full updates and definitely no schedule or pictures. Which shouldn't be hard - I'm lazy. But sometimes I get excited and it beats the lazy back for like five minutes.

And now for something COMPLETELY different...

I've figured out what breed of cat Mai is. No, really! We were watching Cats 101 on Animal Planet last night and they had a segment on the Norwegian Forest Cat. It sounded a lot like Mai, especially the ruff of fur around their necks and the weird tufts that stick out from between their toes. I went poking around online and the more I read, the more sure I am. She has the eyes, the tail, the face conformation, and the ear tufts too. And they say Norwegians are highly friendly and affectionate cats who purr like maniacs - yep, that's Mai. Except I didn't think she had the double-layer coat they describe, but if she's as young as we think she is, it simply hasn't grown in yet - they don't fully mature till 5 years, and the extra coat grows in around 2. I would be amazed if someone got rid of or totally lost a purebreed Norwegian Forest cat...and even more glad that we got her for the price of rescuing her.

...eh, I was bored anyway.

( meme time again )

And no, I'm gonna be a lamer and NOT TAG ANYONE because geez. Do it if you want to.

I'm feeling the November Gloom taking me over. Every day this week, once the sun goes down I've just been...disinterested in everything and ready to crawl back into bed. Hopefully going to MN to buy fabric and meet up with Zen will be a lovely bright spot this weekend.

When other people's lives are spiraling out of control and everything is suck, and mine is for once somewhat...stable, I can't help but feel wretched. I must subconsciously not like being happy(ish) when everyone else is in trouble.

That, and I have a headache. Dinner did not sit well with me. I think I'm going to go lie down for a while, and take a break from RPing for tonight.

So yeah. Hi guys. Con over with. Successful. Dead tired despite actual sleep and lots of caffeine. BUT...I am here, and tagging logs, and ready to roll. I got nothin' else to do until I actually do pass out (so don't want to go to bed before OHEY VENTURE BROS ON TONIGHT okay).

...I see my use of the english language has gone into complete fail. Nice.

Not a whole lot to report. Picked up some pencil boards. Missed the chance to buy a real steel replica of one of Zoro's swords. Wowed peoples. Had a well-run masquerade. Made lots of costume contacts. I think we are unofficially sister affiliates with the DOOM squad in MN (MACS is, I mean). This is actually a note to self to add Rae to the MACS mailing list. She wants us to be panelists at Marscon in the Twin Cities in March. I am...curious. It's a possibility.

So now that it's over I'm officially on a long break from costuming. My last commission shipped, so now I have a short time before I have to work on contract negotitations with the next one, but that means literally no sewing and no deadlines ahead for some time. I'd like to consider that a good thing, but it's actually bad, because I honestly need things to do to keep me from spiralling back into the "that's right, I'm unemployed and have no plans for my future" depression. I will probably go over to Ravenworks sometime this week to talk to Raven about contracting out some sewing work for the shop. It won't pay WELL but it would be extra money of a sort coming in, which I'll need at the end of the year to pay taxes on my unemployment.

...except that she almost tried to talk me into making satin hakama. SATIN. HAKAMA. NO. JUST. NO. *facepalm hard* I'll have to see what she has to say.

Oh, also got a Christmas present for Susan. Sorry, Rebecca, it's going to mean you have to fix up Dartz sometime. ;)

And I got the Yu-Gi-Oh stickers Fran sent me, so squee! Fran is awesome! *happy dance*

Yeah I got no reason to post, but I'm going to anyway because I'm kinda bored.

( here lies my pointless rambling, mostly about the upcoming weekend )

Well, I'm clearly not getting any notes done tonight. And the meme totally distracted me so I have no tags outstanding. I think I'mma go read until I fall asleep. And send Mai in to sleep with Junabi. So don't need cat hair in my flannel sheets.

Tomorrow I'll probably get those snaps in, and then sit on the couch prepping notes for the con. And by prepping for the con I mean making screencaps for icons from the Doma eps Fran gave me. :D Fran is awesome. And hi Toastbat and Jill! And anyone else who crawls on in from C&C. Luff you guys.

Sooooooo what have I done today?

Purchased the fabric for Geisha!Shelob. Spent way too much even with coupons. But then I got home to discover my mom has sent me fifty bucks for no reason, so hey. Guess that makes Ring Game paid for. I still need the wig, a fan, and some plastic spiders. But johinnabara and I are planning a trip to the halloween store later this week to take care of all extra needs. GOD I'm actually buying a cheap crappy halloween-store wig for this. Be shocked and amused.

Got the patch sewn on a t-shirt. I now have a Stark Industries shirt. Still need to get the pics for C&C to laugh at.

Been doing a lot of quality RPing tonight. But now that the thread with Starscream is winding down, I think I can go to bed. Got to watch that log with Geddoe and the traveling party, though.

But then, the dryer refused to cooperate with my second load of laundry, and the microwave seems to be permanently broken now. And discovered that I was unwittingly a victim of Stormy drama (nothing bad on my part, but I LOL at how it all played out). So it's been a back-and-forth kind of day. Got a lot done, though.

I need to finish this commission before I work on Shelob, since I doubt I'll get any work done the week of Geek-kon and then the damn thing needs to ship. I'm dreading the possibility that I have to buy buckles for the leg straps from Tandy, because that never goes well. Fuck Joann's for not having that perfect buckle in silver, only gold.

Goin to Archon. Be back Sunday night, probably not till after Ring Game lottery.

Is it sad that the only people who really needed to know that I'll be afk for two days are my LJ pals?

oh dear god there's a cat in here.

Rosanna found a cat outside when she got home from work...it has no tags but is definitely someone's pet, and we don't know if it got out of one of the apartments or not. The office is closed or we'd take it there and ask if anyone's missing one.

I guess we have a friend for the night. :/ God this place is so not petproofed...

OMG.

This is awesome.

http://wondermark.com/554/



...I love this comic. It used to be in The Onion but they stopped carrying it, now I simply enjoy it lovingly on the interwebs twice a week.

URRGGHHH sudden sinus/allergy attack of some kind. I won't be going to sleep until my nose stops running. So. Um. Memetime?

Stolen from esuzumy...

( ten band meme )

Yeah, most of my answers are related to my radio days, and the bands, but that's okay. That was a part of my life I enjoy writing about, even if I'm not the same person these days. I miss some parts of it, but I don't think it's something I can ever recapture. It's long gone. As the lyric just said, "fade away into oblivion..."

Still not sleepy, but maybe now I'll cry myself to sleep.

The easiest way to have a good RP day, and enjoy your game, is to

IGNORE THE GODDAMN MEME.

I don't know what's being said about my beloved games or good players, and I don't care. Grudgewank can't hurt you if you DON'T READ IT.

That's your public service announcement for the day.

I'm just frustrated that it's ruining people's day and causing good players to drop their games. Life is so much easier living in a blissful haze of ignorance. Anon can't hurt you unless you let them.

Since xlostgeishax totally called me out. I stole her meme.

( this is just because I'm too blargh to bother arguing with the little shits on the SJ cosplay forum )

TERRA GEOFF KIM

I MISS YOU GUYS

...I told junabi all my stories already. And watched the masquerade video. Good god entry cap next year. ;) I'll have to wait till after the MACS meeting tonight to check the SJ forums for feedback and fallout.

Hokay. Mostly for my own sanity.

Are packed. Still bringing Kou against my own judgment, mainly for the makeup.
Remembered swimming trunks this time.
Notes printed.
DVD packed.
Fabric swatches beautifully arranged.
Terra's shirt finished.
Hair...cut.
Airport arrangements made.

Still need to:
Print itinerary to pack in case (for identification)
Pre-flight checkin and print boarding pass (tomorrow)
Dye hair (tomorrow)
Go to bank (tomorrow)
Put up hiatus notices in all my games (last minute)

As far as I know that's it...if there's anything STAFF needs from me or wants to remind me to do, now's the time. I probably should email guest relations to ask about who's picking me up from the airport, but if it's at all like last year, I should just count on someone holding a "San Japan" sign at the gate.

Is it sad that this is the first convention at which I'll be able to buy a replacement keychain for the Shuuhei one I lost over the winter? I haven't been to a single anime con since SJ last year. Also, my mom sent me money...most of which is going to go to renewing my car registration, but the rest is coming along. I don't usually spend at cons but I'm going to need food in the airport.

I fly out Thursday. Back Sunday night. Probably won't get online though.

Because filling out memes when you hate the world is FUN.

Stolen from xlostgeishax

( this is random. and probably depressing )

SARAH

JOHN

http://wondermark.com/538/



I thought of you guys.

I wanted to post this picture because it makes me feel happy.

And I haven't been feeling happy.

( Geddoe on his day off )