So apparently one of the teenagers in my house started this thing on facebook (or brought it to the house's attention; I'm not quite sure. Facebook isn't my strong suite.). The challenge runs thus: to name 15 fictional characters that have influenced you, or your life. Not just ones you really liked...no, actual influence. And not to spend much time thinking about it. The latter stipulation guarantees that I'll later gasp at some odd moment tomorrow and go "how could I not have put X on my list?!" but so it goes.
So of course I had to do mine (again in no particular order):
1. Tremaine Valiarde
2. Kade Carrion
3. Aslan
4. Raamo
5. Eponine
6. Javare
7. Phèdre nó Delaunay de Montrève
8. Tanaros Blacksword
9. John Ross
10. Catherine Chandler
11. Adrick
12. The Doctor
13.Menoly
14. Martin the Warrior
15. Bastian
I posted a reply on facebook, but I don't have any faith in that strange bewildering site, so I am posting here as well. So, anyone know where my various characters came from? What would your list be?
Thursday 16 December 2010
Monday 13 December 2010
A New Job
Today I had my first day as administrative assistant at the law office. Hurray for a new job! It's part time which suits me great. I go in long enough to get stuff done and not long enough to be counting down the hours and minutes till I get to go, and then I have enough day left to go off to a coffee shop and write.
That's the theory anyway. Today I went to a coffee shop and updated my novel's files so all the work I did for writing sample would be integrated into the current working draft of the novel (they'd been separate files since the working drafts were divided by chapter and the writing sample was one continuous file I was monitoring for word count. But the latter had all the recent proof reading and editing.) Next I stared at the current chapter. I went over some planning notes for the novel. I stared at the current chapter some more. Then I checked email and did web stuff. I glared at the current chapter.
I did do some work on what will likely be the next chapter. That one's going to be about as tricky as this one. But I'm hoping the one after that will go more smoothly. I'm trying to resist the urge to skip ahead since one of the primary goals with this particular writing project is to practice continuity of beginning to middle to end. Most of my drafts suffer from this urge to skip around.
I think tomorrow I'm going to have to put into effect a "no internet until the first page is written" rule. With the last chapter, once I got it going again, I wrote it all the way to the end, and that one had been stuck for months.
Anyway, I'm very hopeful, both for my chances of having focused writing time and at the prospect of having some income.
That's the theory anyway. Today I went to a coffee shop and updated my novel's files so all the work I did for writing sample would be integrated into the current working draft of the novel (they'd been separate files since the working drafts were divided by chapter and the writing sample was one continuous file I was monitoring for word count. But the latter had all the recent proof reading and editing.) Next I stared at the current chapter. I went over some planning notes for the novel. I stared at the current chapter some more. Then I checked email and did web stuff. I glared at the current chapter.
I did do some work on what will likely be the next chapter. That one's going to be about as tricky as this one. But I'm hoping the one after that will go more smoothly. I'm trying to resist the urge to skip ahead since one of the primary goals with this particular writing project is to practice continuity of beginning to middle to end. Most of my drafts suffer from this urge to skip around.
I think tomorrow I'm going to have to put into effect a "no internet until the first page is written" rule. With the last chapter, once I got it going again, I wrote it all the way to the end, and that one had been stuck for months.
Anyway, I'm very hopeful, both for my chances of having focused writing time and at the prospect of having some income.
Friday 3 December 2010
Death of a Car
A few short months ago I posted here about our first ever car, our shiny red Geo Metro. Ok, run down but nevertheless rather cute Geo Metro.
Now, the car is dead. It successfully took us on a short road trip to Sacramento and back for Thanksgiving. It sounded as fine as it ever does.
The day after we returned we went shopping (unsuccessfully, I might add). On our way back from the mall, we turned a corner, continued a little ways down the block, heard a terrible wrenching noise, and coasted to the shoulder of the road.
I'm thankful there was a shoulder of the road to coast to because we were there for about an hour before the tow truck found us. Anyway, getting home that night was a bit of an adventure, but we managed it.
The car has a busted transmission. I don't know much about cars, but everyone we've asked has heard "transmission" and then asked when we're buying our new car. So apparently we're in the market for a new car already.
Not that I'm not grateful for our cute cheap little first car. It got us going, it launched Ron into the working world. And the price was definitely right. Now we'll have to see what we can find for the next one.
Now, the car is dead. It successfully took us on a short road trip to Sacramento and back for Thanksgiving. It sounded as fine as it ever does.
The day after we returned we went shopping (unsuccessfully, I might add). On our way back from the mall, we turned a corner, continued a little ways down the block, heard a terrible wrenching noise, and coasted to the shoulder of the road.
I'm thankful there was a shoulder of the road to coast to because we were there for about an hour before the tow truck found us. Anyway, getting home that night was a bit of an adventure, but we managed it.
The car has a busted transmission. I don't know much about cars, but everyone we've asked has heard "transmission" and then asked when we're buying our new car. So apparently we're in the market for a new car already.
Not that I'm not grateful for our cute cheap little first car. It got us going, it launched Ron into the working world. And the price was definitely right. Now we'll have to see what we can find for the next one.
Application Away
After much frantic work, days of rewrites and late nights of editing, I sent in my application to the creative writing fellowship at Stanford. I've been dreaming about this fellowship for years, before I'd even moved back to the bay area. At last I've actually applied. If I got it, it would mean two whole years of being able to do nothing but ply my craft, writing novels. I even know which ones I would finish first.
So keep your fingers crossed. Many will enter, only five will win. It feels a little like fiction writer's lotto.
Love and thanks to everyone who was an extra set of eyes as I did the last frantic days of proofreading!
I have to admit to some humor (and occasional exasperation) as different people's views of grammar, comma usage, style etc came into conflict over proofreading. One person said I was abstaining from commas and had me add scores of the things (I refused a fair few, but added quite a number). The next person to set eyes on it said I sprinkled commas in like salt! One short paragraph drew particular attention--the grammar was wrong but, debatably, within the bounds of poetic license. Firm lines were drawn up with two for and two or three against. In the end, I yielded the field and fixed the grammar. I don't think the feel of the scene suffered too much for it!
So keep your fingers crossed. Many will enter, only five will win. It feels a little like fiction writer's lotto.
Love and thanks to everyone who was an extra set of eyes as I did the last frantic days of proofreading!
I have to admit to some humor (and occasional exasperation) as different people's views of grammar, comma usage, style etc came into conflict over proofreading. One person said I was abstaining from commas and had me add scores of the things (I refused a fair few, but added quite a number). The next person to set eyes on it said I sprinkled commas in like salt! One short paragraph drew particular attention--the grammar was wrong but, debatably, within the bounds of poetic license. Firm lines were drawn up with two for and two or three against. In the end, I yielded the field and fixed the grammar. I don't think the feel of the scene suffered too much for it!
Monday 20 September 2010
Social For Once
Yesterday we escaped the house in the afternoon and went to see The Town, which was good, and then went to Fresh Choice for some impromptu role playing. The latter reminded me, in a pleasant way, of hanging out at the dining hall in college. It lacked the likelihood of running into more friends there at any moment. But the atmosphere of hanging out with friends, having fun, debating silly things, and being able to graze on the sidebars of never-ending pretty-good-but-not-amazing food was all very reminiscent of the college dining hall experience.
I have to say, though, the dining hall's brownies were better. ;)
We didn't have very long to play, there being a baby sitter involved and we didn't start till dinner time, but it was fun. I got to play a character I made for a one-off who our GM found infuriatingly competent. He's placed severe restrictions on anyone ever playing a warlock again in our house solely because of her. I'm really quite fond of her. I even remembered her name from nearly a year ago which is quite a feat.
Manda and I both wove on our inkle looms as we played (when we weren't eating) and at one point we had a whole gaggle of girls come over and watch us. Once we spotted them we invited them to come over and have a look and answered questions.
I'm back to weaving the vine pattern that I derived from the ram's horn pattern. It's breathtakingly easier than the Birka was. Funny to think it after all the trouble the ram's horn gave me originally only about a month ago.
I have to say, though, the dining hall's brownies were better. ;)
We didn't have very long to play, there being a baby sitter involved and we didn't start till dinner time, but it was fun. I got to play a character I made for a one-off who our GM found infuriatingly competent. He's placed severe restrictions on anyone ever playing a warlock again in our house solely because of her. I'm really quite fond of her. I even remembered her name from nearly a year ago which is quite a feat.
Manda and I both wove on our inkle looms as we played (when we weren't eating) and at one point we had a whole gaggle of girls come over and watch us. Once we spotted them we invited them to come over and have a look and answered questions.
I'm back to weaving the vine pattern that I derived from the ram's horn pattern. It's breathtakingly easier than the Birka was. Funny to think it after all the trouble the ram's horn gave me originally only about a month ago.
Saturday 18 September 2010
Beside Construction
I hate construction work. This is something I never really realized about myself before. I mean, few people actively like having their home under construction, particularly by outside forces--that is, those few people who actively like having their home under construction are probably those who like doing said construction themselves, who take a pride in their work. Most people, however, can to some extent tolerate construction. Me, I feel like I'm going stark raving mad.
This has had a positive influence of one sort however. I am definitely back in the ranks of the diurnal. The first week was partly miserable because I was waking to the start of the construction, waking to the knowledge that my chance for a shower was gone, that my opportunity to make coffee or anything else requiring running water was fast slipping away, to the knowledge that there were strangers in my home and I was in my PJs. And, of course, waking to chaotic noise, to screeches and crashes and pounding. I set alarms to wake up earlier...they arrived and began earlier still!
And even once I was up and dressed, I was trapped. Stuck listening to endless pounding, crashes and screeches. Stuck smelling the sharp scents of chemicals and soldered metal. And often stuck without running water or working toilets. Eventually, around noon or 1pm or so, I would get a chance to get out of the house. But by then, madness already had a foothold in my psyche for the day.
Today, however, I managed to wake to my alarm clock. Early. And then I was whisked away on the early bus (read: carpool) into town for several glorious hours of coffee shop splendor. Somehow the scree and whir of the espresso maker is soothing and familiar, the hubbub of voices a calming influence.
I did some job hunting. I worked on a weaving commission. I talked politics and public transit with perfect strangers in the cafe. A lovely morning.
This has had a positive influence of one sort however. I am definitely back in the ranks of the diurnal. The first week was partly miserable because I was waking to the start of the construction, waking to the knowledge that my chance for a shower was gone, that my opportunity to make coffee or anything else requiring running water was fast slipping away, to the knowledge that there were strangers in my home and I was in my PJs. And, of course, waking to chaotic noise, to screeches and crashes and pounding. I set alarms to wake up earlier...they arrived and began earlier still!
And even once I was up and dressed, I was trapped. Stuck listening to endless pounding, crashes and screeches. Stuck smelling the sharp scents of chemicals and soldered metal. And often stuck without running water or working toilets. Eventually, around noon or 1pm or so, I would get a chance to get out of the house. But by then, madness already had a foothold in my psyche for the day.
Today, however, I managed to wake to my alarm clock. Early. And then I was whisked away on the early bus (read: carpool) into town for several glorious hours of coffee shop splendor. Somehow the scree and whir of the espresso maker is soothing and familiar, the hubbub of voices a calming influence.
I did some job hunting. I worked on a weaving commission. I talked politics and public transit with perfect strangers in the cafe. A lovely morning.
Tuesday 14 September 2010
Public Displays of Weaving
Construction began this morning on the front bathroom in the house we're staying and like yesterday, someone else stayed home from work/school (a different someone) thus putting a crimp in our plans for an at home "date"--the at home kind being the best because they're free. So much for having the house to ourselves.
Nevertheless, I figured I would try to be productive. But as the banging continued followed by odd chemical smells, I was driven to distraction. I grabbed my loom, my laptop and my husband and fled. Now Ron is trying to navigate DMV bureaucracy (poor man) and I am ensconced in Great Bear Coffee. I realized too late that by grabbing the lovely window alcove table which has the best natural light, I have cut myself off from all possible power outlets. This means my time on the laptop is really quite short. I'm already down to 36% and the last 6-10% is fictional on this laptop anyway.
It's quite amusing weaving in public. It attracts attention even when I do it at an SCA event. Most people there know what I'm doing, but the non-weavers usually haven't seen tablet weaving in action and the weavers drift over out of professional interest.
But here in the middle of downtown Los Gatos, people are mystified. And of course, I have all the people walking by on the street as well as those in the coffee shop. Some of those in the coffee shop actually come over and ask about it. With the most thoroughly mundane in outlook I find myself groping to put it in terms they understand. With the more open minded or quick witted I can give my usual spiel and answer questions pretty easily.
The people walking by outside are funniest though. There is a certain social dynamic to looking in shop windows that seems to spill over onto this. As long as I keep weaving, I can see them stop and watch me from just outside. But if I look up and smile, they may or may not smile back but they universally take it as their signal to move on. The window display just looked at them! Time to go! Hee hee.
I'm still having to backtrack with some regularity on the Birka. Anytime my concentration slips, I'm liable to forget to mark my place and then I'm doomed. If I'm unpicking I inevitably have to unpick about four rows before I'm sure where my problem was and where in the pattern I've ended up. But some of my early mistakes were more involved than that. Now I know what's gone wrong and how to fix it when I make inevitable errors.
I'm now using a paperclip to mark my place in the pattern, and moving it after every single row rather than each pair of rows--it was too easy to get momentarily distracted and then not know if I'd done the first row of the pair or now. I'm working it into my routine--check pattern, turn all cards, clear the shed, put the weft through, move the paperclip, repeat.
I just realized that given the blog I'm on now, those last couple paragraphs probably have less context than they might. I'll have to repost them on Playing with String later.
Nevertheless, I figured I would try to be productive. But as the banging continued followed by odd chemical smells, I was driven to distraction. I grabbed my loom, my laptop and my husband and fled. Now Ron is trying to navigate DMV bureaucracy (poor man) and I am ensconced in Great Bear Coffee. I realized too late that by grabbing the lovely window alcove table which has the best natural light, I have cut myself off from all possible power outlets. This means my time on the laptop is really quite short. I'm already down to 36% and the last 6-10% is fictional on this laptop anyway.
It's quite amusing weaving in public. It attracts attention even when I do it at an SCA event. Most people there know what I'm doing, but the non-weavers usually haven't seen tablet weaving in action and the weavers drift over out of professional interest.
But here in the middle of downtown Los Gatos, people are mystified. And of course, I have all the people walking by on the street as well as those in the coffee shop. Some of those in the coffee shop actually come over and ask about it. With the most thoroughly mundane in outlook I find myself groping to put it in terms they understand. With the more open minded or quick witted I can give my usual spiel and answer questions pretty easily.
The people walking by outside are funniest though. There is a certain social dynamic to looking in shop windows that seems to spill over onto this. As long as I keep weaving, I can see them stop and watch me from just outside. But if I look up and smile, they may or may not smile back but they universally take it as their signal to move on. The window display just looked at them! Time to go! Hee hee.
I'm still having to backtrack with some regularity on the Birka. Anytime my concentration slips, I'm liable to forget to mark my place and then I'm doomed. If I'm unpicking I inevitably have to unpick about four rows before I'm sure where my problem was and where in the pattern I've ended up. But some of my early mistakes were more involved than that. Now I know what's gone wrong and how to fix it when I make inevitable errors.
I'm now using a paperclip to mark my place in the pattern, and moving it after every single row rather than each pair of rows--it was too easy to get momentarily distracted and then not know if I'd done the first row of the pair or now. I'm working it into my routine--check pattern, turn all cards, clear the shed, put the weft through, move the paperclip, repeat.
I just realized that given the blog I'm on now, those last couple paragraphs probably have less context than they might. I'll have to repost them on Playing with String later.
Thursday 9 September 2010
Talking about Crafts
I've been posting lots on my new blog. It helps, I think, having a specific topic to talk about. It helps too that I'm in a particularly crafts obsessed portion of my life. It's true that I'm contemplating the possibility and logistics of using my craft talents for supplemental income, but that's really in reaction to, not the cause of, this upswing in fiber arts activity.
I'd been recommended to look at etsy as a potential way to sell tablet weaving. At first, taking a look, I was rather uninspired. There's a couple people on there who indeed sell tablet weaving, but it was priced so cheap that at the rate I make my complex stuff I'd be paying myself around $1/hour or less! On the other hand, it wasn't nearly as complex as the stuff I'm doing now. Still, I wasn't sure that I could compete against things selling on the order of $18! But yesterday I found someone who is doing stuff much more similar to what I'm doing and most of her stuff was in the $65-$100 range with a few outliers as low as $45 and as high as $325 though the latter was for fingerweaving. She's doing a lot of the same patterns I've been doing, plus a few closer to Native American in look and a few that are simpler but very tightly done. Like me she's using a lot of tight cotton string with occasional forays into other fibers. I think her edges look a bit more firm and even than mine, but I'd like a second opinion on that since I might just be peering at my own work too close. Anyway, it's restored hope that this might be worthwhile to try.
Anyway, if you want to hear about the weaving, wire work and spinning I've been doing the last couple of days, you'll have to check out the other blog!
I'd been recommended to look at etsy as a potential way to sell tablet weaving. At first, taking a look, I was rather uninspired. There's a couple people on there who indeed sell tablet weaving, but it was priced so cheap that at the rate I make my complex stuff I'd be paying myself around $1/hour or less! On the other hand, it wasn't nearly as complex as the stuff I'm doing now. Still, I wasn't sure that I could compete against things selling on the order of $18! But yesterday I found someone who is doing stuff much more similar to what I'm doing and most of her stuff was in the $65-$100 range with a few outliers as low as $45 and as high as $325 though the latter was for fingerweaving. She's doing a lot of the same patterns I've been doing, plus a few closer to Native American in look and a few that are simpler but very tightly done. Like me she's using a lot of tight cotton string with occasional forays into other fibers. I think her edges look a bit more firm and even than mine, but I'd like a second opinion on that since I might just be peering at my own work too close. Anyway, it's restored hope that this might be worthwhile to try.
Anyway, if you want to hear about the weaving, wire work and spinning I've been doing the last couple of days, you'll have to check out the other blog!
Monday 6 September 2010
Another Blog
I've started another blog. Why? Because this way I can have a place to yammer on about my crafts and SCA research without boring my friends and family to tears, and also have a place with my research on SCA stuff I can refer other people to without knowing they'll also see my blog entries about my daily life. Not that one group can't seek out the other blog, but at least you'll know what you're getting yourself into if you do.
Here it is, rashly named Playing With String before I thought about including research on things like Pictish names as well. But, in truth, it will probably mostly be about string projects, so I think it'll be fine. You'll notice the url is actually "kitten with string," a nice little reference back to this blog (especially since playingwithstring.blogger.com was taken).
Anyway, feel free to follow both if you want to continue to hear my adventures with string and wire and twine and whatnot.
Here it is, rashly named Playing With String before I thought about including research on things like Pictish names as well. But, in truth, it will probably mostly be about string projects, so I think it'll be fine. You'll notice the url is actually "kitten with string," a nice little reference back to this blog (especially since playingwithstring.blogger.com was taken).
Anyway, feel free to follow both if you want to continue to hear my adventures with string and wire and twine and whatnot.
Saturday 4 September 2010
A Car!
I keep forgetting to mention, amidst all the weaving posts, but Ron and I have our first car! It's not much of a looker (though it's not bad, I think the picture actually flatters it) and it makes funny noises, but it runs and it's ours. We've decided it should be measured in gerbils (perhaps kilo-gerbils) rather than horsepower.
Finding insurance was looking scary there for a while. Though we're not teenagers, we get a lot of the same mark ups for being newly licensed drivers (or I will, once I get my license. I will get my license!) Luckily I remembered something. You see, though I'm not licensed yet, the trick was to insure the car through me. Thank goodness for USAA. They totally rock.
Having a car that's ours has definitely improved life. The car shuffle was definitely straining tempers. Though in truth I find it a little disturbing that life couldn't run smoothly in a household of 5 adults until we had 4 working cars between us (I'm the one without my own). But I suppose that's not fair. A big part of the problem is having the toddler and teenagers that also have places to go. (Yes, toddlers have places to go: the park, the petting zoo, music class, the beach, story time at the library...anywhere that isn't the house at times.) Anyway, it's not an issue now that we have a car for the two of us. Yay transportation!
From Tablet to Inkle
Yet more weaving. Yay, weaving. This one was in record time too. I warped it up at Thursday fighter practice (also talked to one of the marshals about learning to marshal next time). Then I stayed up late weaving the first bit. Then Friday I was having a bad day. I've had headaches and wonkiness more often than not the last week after months of being relatively headache free. Anyway, I was feeling irritable and obsessive. Any attempts to accomplish things on the computer just resulted in me wasting an hour or so on nothing. So finally I just decided to weave and pretty much wove up the whole 3+ yards that day.
Today Knights Errant came to Santa Cruz and we had a fantastic afternoon. Ron got in lots of great fighting and I warped up my loom for my second ever inkle project. I had to go back and fix things about a half dozen times (forgot where the "open" vs "heddle" threads went and
reversed them, missed out some blue threads and had to add them belatedly, and so on). Nevertheless, even with mistakes, I think I had it fully warped in well less than 2 hours, in stark contrast to warping a tablet weaving project.I wove the first few feet of the inkle project and I'm fairly happy with it. It doesn't look quite like I pictured, but it's a fun simple pattern. The nice thing about inkle weaving is that the pattern also shows up on the reverse side. Since this piece is destined to be a hair ribbon rather than sewn down as trim, I though that might be a good feature.
I learned a bit more about how to do complex stuff with inkle weaving recently and it sounds agonizingly slow. Nevertheless, I may try some at some point.
The Knights Errant practice was lots of fun and the food was fantastic. Garlic steak cooked on the BBQ pit. Yum. Sky got to run around with other kids, play in mud puddles, beep people's noses, etc. She even started to sing with me, or back and forth with me. That took the cake for cuteness for the day.
Thursday 2 September 2010
More String: Ram's Horn and Vines
I've finally got some pictures up to share the tablet weaving I've been doing. Both of these shots are of the bands still on the loom. The one in purple, red, white and gold was my first attempt at this kind of pattern, the one I mentioned earlier where the tension bar broke in the middle. I'd taken a whole sequence of shots during the stringing mishaps and the process of getting it going, but most of them are blurry so I'll spare you unless someone has a burning desire to see the before and after shots.The black band with green and blue and cream is a variant on the pattern frequently called the "vine" or "flame" (depending primarily, it seems, on whether the weaver is using warm or cool colors...mine therefore being a vine pattern :P ). I was rather inordinately pleased that it came out just the way I wanted on the first try. I did spend most of a day stringing it up, as usual. I made one threading error I caught at once and fixed quickly. And one stringing miscalculation which has introduced an interesting "flaw" in the band. The last card of black has only three strands of string instead of the usual four. This means that that side is slightly more thin and loose than the other side, and it means that card tries to "fall" out of position quite routinely. That aside, it is hardly noticeable and I'm fairly pleased with the experiment. If I'd been more patient I could have added in some of the crochet yarn I bought for weft, but I was too exc
ited about beginning to weave!I've been getting lots of compliments about these recent bands and the last belt, and I think I am opening myself to paid commissions. Now I just have to figure out a fair asking price. They do take a lot of hours...but I can't charge the moon either. Bah!
Off now to weave some more... Bwahahaha! String!!!
Monday 23 August 2010
Weaving and Twining and String, oh my!
Recently I have taken up again with fiber arts, learning twining (which I'd never heard of) and inkle weaving (which I've wanted to know how to do for years). And, having acquired an inkle loom at long last, I also tried out card weaving on the inkle loom (a common practice).
I have to say I have mixed reports about my inkle loom. At first I was quite happy with it. It wasn't perfectly balanced to weave in my lap but I could make it happen, and it worked great sitting at a table. And it was in fact quite a bit easier to warp a card weaving project on the loom as opposed to the various and sundry ways I'd tried over the years to warp up a backstrap project. The most finicky part of any inkle loom is inevitably the tension bar. The need for a good tension bar is, in fact, why I didn't attempt to get one of my more hardware-inclined friends (or husband) to simply make me an inkle loom. The rest of the design is straightforward enough. But the tension bar is tricky.
My tension bar broke yesterday.
I was about a 1/3 of the way into my second full project on the loom, having also finished a very short inkle project on it. My first full project, a belt for a friend, came out beautifully. I need to get a better picture than the one here, but all I had handy was my cell phone before I gave it away. It's a pattern of diamonds based on an Anglo-Saxon archaeological find. I used 100% wool due to a desire for authenticity and temporary insanity...but despite getting bogged down for weeks when I had to back-trace a mistake which is painfully difficult and slow and tedious when working with wool, it wasn't as bad as I remembered and I think I'd do it again with enough incentive. At the very least I think I want one for myself before I give up on wool for another eight years.
That turned out well enough that I got ambitious. The next pattern I tried is easily the hardest I've ever tried. It is closely related in concept to the next hardest pattern I'd ever attempted. That previous one is still half-finished in my mother's attic. I despaired of ever getting it going again after such a long gap--I'd already been working at it for over a year off and on when it got relegated to storage. But after the project I just did, I think I could pick up the other one.
This pattern, known as the ram's horn pattern, was a real pain. I didn't start with the best directions--I used a blurry printout of a blurry scan of one page of what I think was a longer set of instructions. I recopied it once in pencil to get a better look at it and then later on the computer with color to help with my threading. The biggest problem was that I misread the S/Z threading instructions for nearly half the cards, five on one half and five on the other of the 22 card pattern.
I entered what I had threaded into Guntram's Tablet Weaving Thingy (GTT) and then played with it until it made the pattern I had expected to get. If only I'd thought to do that before threading, it could have saved me a lot of grief. Realizing that it was the S/Z threading rather than a mis-aligning of cards was bad news. I had three options at that point: painstakingly untie and unthread the mis-threaded cards, and possibly some of their neighbors given that I'd done a semi-continuous warp, and then rethread them correctly; cut the knots off to rethread, reducing the time by about half but reducing the final length of the project by several inches; or see what I could do with the threading I had.
I chose the latter option, determining that the core of the design could be salvaged by flipping some of the cards and turning them so that the outline color--white--was still where it was supposed to be. My inside and outside colors became somewhat muddied, but still came out in fairly pleasing places. This was, thankfully, a test project in cotton since I was well aware there might be difficulties with so complex a pattern with such minimal instructions to go on, so I was willing to be slightly cavalier about the whole thing.
An acceptable compromise pattern determined, I began weaving. The right half of the pattern immediately looked just as expected, but the left was off. After tweaking it about, comparing it to the pattern and the opposite half, weaving and unweaving about 5 times, I finally got it all aligned properly and I was off.
During the first 1/3 of the project I still encountered problems frequently where I would get off the pattern one way or another. The turning pattern was a lot to hold in one's head. But I got the hang of it, in both directions, and then I was off.
And that was about when the tension bar broke. I don't really understand what's wrong with it, but the cap on one end has come off and the bar itself won't loosen. It'll turn, but it seems to tighten no matter which direction it's turned and is actually marking up the wood, it's so tight. Very frustrating.
At last I decided to treat the tension bar like one more fixed bar, removed the project from one and then two of the other pegs, using other objects--a bobbin of thread, a flat package, a ball of twine with a hole big enough to fit over one of the pegs--to increase the tension again, removing them as needed to ease the tension. It was very jury-rigged, but it worked, and I finished the project.
It's a fantastic size and weight for trim, in lovely rich colors, but I may keep it as a belt until I make a more belt-like belt for myself. That might be dangerous though. The longer I think of it as all of a piece, the harder it will be to cut it for trim.
Anyway, my success with multiple projects has inspired me weave more, yet the problems with the tension bar make me hesitate to start new projects until it's fixed or replaced. In any case, it's very good to be playing with string again.
I have to say I have mixed reports about my inkle loom. At first I was quite happy with it. It wasn't perfectly balanced to weave in my lap but I could make it happen, and it worked great sitting at a table. And it was in fact quite a bit easier to warp a card weaving project on the loom as opposed to the various and sundry ways I'd tried over the years to warp up a backstrap project. The most finicky part of any inkle loom is inevitably the tension bar. The need for a good tension bar is, in fact, why I didn't attempt to get one of my more hardware-inclined friends (or husband) to simply make me an inkle loom. The rest of the design is straightforward enough. But the tension bar is tricky.
My tension bar broke yesterday.
I was about a 1/3 of the way into my second full project on the loom, having also finished a very short inkle project on it. My first full project, a belt for a friend, came out beautifully. I need to get a better picture than the one here, but all I had handy was my cell phone before I gave it away. It's a pattern of diamonds based on an Anglo-Saxon archaeological find. I used 100% wool due to a desire for authenticity and temporary insanity...but despite getting bogged down for weeks when I had to back-trace a mistake which is painfully difficult and slow and tedious when working with wool, it wasn't as bad as I remembered and I think I'd do it again with enough incentive. At the very least I think I want one for myself before I give up on wool for another eight years.
That turned out well enough that I got ambitious. The next pattern I tried is easily the hardest I've ever tried. It is closely related in concept to the next hardest pattern I'd ever attempted. That previous one is still half-finished in my mother's attic. I despaired of ever getting it going again after such a long gap--I'd already been working at it for over a year off and on when it got relegated to storage. But after the project I just did, I think I could pick up the other one.
This pattern, known as the ram's horn pattern, was a real pain. I didn't start with the best directions--I used a blurry printout of a blurry scan of one page of what I think was a longer set of instructions. I recopied it once in pencil to get a better look at it and then later on the computer with color to help with my threading. The biggest problem was that I misread the S/Z threading instructions for nearly half the cards, five on one half and five on the other of the 22 card pattern.
I entered what I had threaded into Guntram's Tablet Weaving Thingy (GTT) and then played with it until it made the pattern I had expected to get. If only I'd thought to do that before threading, it could have saved me a lot of grief. Realizing that it was the S/Z threading rather than a mis-aligning of cards was bad news. I had three options at that point: painstakingly untie and unthread the mis-threaded cards, and possibly some of their neighbors given that I'd done a semi-continuous warp, and then rethread them correctly; cut the knots off to rethread, reducing the time by about half but reducing the final length of the project by several inches; or see what I could do with the threading I had.
I chose the latter option, determining that the core of the design could be salvaged by flipping some of the cards and turning them so that the outline color--white--was still where it was supposed to be. My inside and outside colors became somewhat muddied, but still came out in fairly pleasing places. This was, thankfully, a test project in cotton since I was well aware there might be difficulties with so complex a pattern with such minimal instructions to go on, so I was willing to be slightly cavalier about the whole thing.
An acceptable compromise pattern determined, I began weaving. The right half of the pattern immediately looked just as expected, but the left was off. After tweaking it about, comparing it to the pattern and the opposite half, weaving and unweaving about 5 times, I finally got it all aligned properly and I was off.
During the first 1/3 of the project I still encountered problems frequently where I would get off the pattern one way or another. The turning pattern was a lot to hold in one's head. But I got the hang of it, in both directions, and then I was off.
And that was about when the tension bar broke. I don't really understand what's wrong with it, but the cap on one end has come off and the bar itself won't loosen. It'll turn, but it seems to tighten no matter which direction it's turned and is actually marking up the wood, it's so tight. Very frustrating.
At last I decided to treat the tension bar like one more fixed bar, removed the project from one and then two of the other pegs, using other objects--a bobbin of thread, a flat package, a ball of twine with a hole big enough to fit over one of the pegs--to increase the tension again, removing them as needed to ease the tension. It was very jury-rigged, but it worked, and I finished the project.
It's a fantastic size and weight for trim, in lovely rich colors, but I may keep it as a belt until I make a more belt-like belt for myself. That might be dangerous though. The longer I think of it as all of a piece, the harder it will be to cut it for trim.
Anyway, my success with multiple projects has inspired me weave more, yet the problems with the tension bar make me hesitate to start new projects until it's fixed or replaced. In any case, it's very good to be playing with string again.
Wednesday 21 July 2010
Tired
Teaching is exhausting. And hard. And exhausting.
Get up. Go to work. Make last minute photocopies. Look over lesson plan. Teach. Supervise recess. Teach more. Supervise lunch. Teach. Supervise recess. Teach very restless kids. Greet parents as they come for their kids 7 hours later. Supervise afterschool kids for another hour and half. Have something go wrong so I have to go home even later. Ride home. Eat dinner in a haze. Realize it has become 7pm. Frantically prepare lesson plan and worksheets and handouts and activities for the next day. Fall into uneasy unconsciousness far later than is a good idea. Possibly wake in the middle of the night for more preparations.
Rinse. Repeat.
And that's without the minute by minute attempts to coax kids who would rather be swimming or playing to write hour after hour at writing camp.
Get up. Go to work. Make last minute photocopies. Look over lesson plan. Teach. Supervise recess. Teach more. Supervise lunch. Teach. Supervise recess. Teach very restless kids. Greet parents as they come for their kids 7 hours later. Supervise afterschool kids for another hour and half. Have something go wrong so I have to go home even later. Ride home. Eat dinner in a haze. Realize it has become 7pm. Frantically prepare lesson plan and worksheets and handouts and activities for the next day. Fall into uneasy unconsciousness far later than is a good idea. Possibly wake in the middle of the night for more preparations.
Rinse. Repeat.
And that's without the minute by minute attempts to coax kids who would rather be swimming or playing to write hour after hour at writing camp.
Wednesday 14 July 2010
A Teaching Job!!
Written Sunday...
I got a job!!
I'm going to be teaching Creative Writing at a summer day camp, probably to 6-8 year olds. I'll let you know next week when I know more--as in first hand knowledge. I plunge in feet first on Monday. I know it's full time work with a flexible end time because the teachers pitch in with day care afterward...so whenever the last kid goes home that's when we get to whether that's 5:15 or 6:00.
I'll have a set curriculum but I'm not sure yet how detailed it is. I hope I get it soon--I only have this weekend before I start!
Because it's a summer program, I'll probably only have a few weeks of work. But it will be good to be teaching again and I think it will be fun to teach Creative Writing for once, a subject near and dear to my heart (I snuck it into my college composition courses too). And of course it will be a welcome change of pace--and quite likely a shock to the system. Going from my amorphous schedule where sometimes I pull 12 hour days and sometimes take the day off and often work a few hours here and a few hours there to plunge into a 40-43hr regimented work week...We'll see how I do.
At any rate, I'm hopeful and I'm excited and I hope this works out well.
By the way, to sneak in the distressing news at the end, I was a passenger in a car accident earlier this week. We're all fine. It was one of those crazy ones where it sounds like it should be horrific and yet blessedly everyone walked away. A semi truck lost control on the down hill on the 17 just as we were all having to stop for construction ahead. It hit something on the order of eight cars and another (smaller but still big) truck. We were the very last car hit so it had slowed down quite a bit. We were jolted and I've been stiff and achy (and today had a weird experience with my arms while trying to swim that may or may not have been related, though I can't think what else it could be) but I'm very, very thankful it was as minor as it was.
I got a job!!
I'm going to be teaching Creative Writing at a summer day camp, probably to 6-8 year olds. I'll let you know next week when I know more--as in first hand knowledge. I plunge in feet first on Monday. I know it's full time work with a flexible end time because the teachers pitch in with day care afterward...so whenever the last kid goes home that's when we get to whether that's 5:15 or 6:00.
I'll have a set curriculum but I'm not sure yet how detailed it is. I hope I get it soon--I only have this weekend before I start!
Because it's a summer program, I'll probably only have a few weeks of work. But it will be good to be teaching again and I think it will be fun to teach Creative Writing for once, a subject near and dear to my heart (I snuck it into my college composition courses too). And of course it will be a welcome change of pace--and quite likely a shock to the system. Going from my amorphous schedule where sometimes I pull 12 hour days and sometimes take the day off and often work a few hours here and a few hours there to plunge into a 40-43hr regimented work week...We'll see how I do.
At any rate, I'm hopeful and I'm excited and I hope this works out well.
By the way, to sneak in the distressing news at the end, I was a passenger in a car accident earlier this week. We're all fine. It was one of those crazy ones where it sounds like it should be horrific and yet blessedly everyone walked away. A semi truck lost control on the down hill on the 17 just as we were all having to stop for construction ahead. It hit something on the order of eight cars and another (smaller but still big) truck. We were the very last car hit so it had slowed down quite a bit. We were jolted and I've been stiff and achy (and today had a weird experience with my arms while trying to swim that may or may not have been related, though I can't think what else it could be) but I'm very, very thankful it was as minor as it was.
Sunday 20 June 2010
Quick Update
2010 continues to be plagued by illness and injury. Stop.
2010 continues to be an intense & fun time for playing in the SCA. Stop.
Recently begun Viking wire weaving. Stop. Just learned inkle weaving at long last. Stop. Still trying to find time to spin and tablet weave. Stop. Taught a class on bardic music -- went well. Stop.
End of Transmission
2010 continues to be an intense & fun time for playing in the SCA. Stop.
Recently begun Viking wire weaving. Stop. Just learned inkle weaving at long last. Stop. Still trying to find time to spin and tablet weave. Stop. Taught a class on bardic music -- went well. Stop.
End of Transmission
Saturday 24 April 2010
Bios and Characters
I don't feel up to covering life tonight. So I'll cover two "problems" that are at a little more of remove.
One has to do with writing fiction. For once I find myself with a real conflict between world building and character building. Normally my stories tend to start with concept and people. The characters aren't all that hard--their names, yes, even the details of their backgrounds. But who they are, how they'll react in a given situation, that comes whole cloth as often as not.
But now I find myself with world building reasons to have certain characters conform to medieval humors. Specifically, I have two characters who should be more phlegmatic. Actually, one of them is decently phlegmatic to begin with (thank goodness). But our hero? A phlegmatic hero. Goodness. And it doesn't help that while sources seem pretty consistent about definitions for, say, choleric, they are all over the map for phlegmatic. Do I believe that they are "loyal, easygoing, quiet, witty, and a good listener. But they are also indecisive, not goal oriented, sarcastic, teasing and resist change." Or do I believe "Sluggish, pallid, cowardly" or perhaps "calm, unemotional."
I mean, it could be funny to try to have a hero who is "sluggish, pallid, and cowardly" but I just don't think that is this story. Ok, maybe pallid.
Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge, claims, "Phlegmatics tend to be self-content and kind. They can be very accepting and affectionate. They may be very receptive and shy and often prefer stability to uncertainty and change. They are very consistent, relaxed, rational, curious, and observant, making them good administrators and diplomats. Unlike the Sanguine personality, they may be more dependable."
So are they loyal, kind and affectionate or unemotional and cowardly? Are they sluggish--one site even said lazy--and not goal oriented or are they curious and dependable?
And whatever they are, do I really want to change my hero to be that? Or do I want to rewrite my world some more instead?
The other problem on my mind this evening seems simple by comparison: how to write a biographical blurb about myself. It has to be a serious academic one, thus ruling out the lighthearted fiction author style ones I know best which enumerate the number of cats the author has and throw in a witty joke or two. But it's hard to write a serious academic bio when most would cover things like where I teach now (er, independent tutoring? not quite what they had in mind) or where I'm studying for my PhD (um, nope, not doing that either) or the cool internationally renowned awards I've gotten (uh un, none of those either. I have yet to undergo the painful nowning process, let alone become re-nowned, nor do I have any re-nowned awards).
So, I think to myself, I can talk about my "research interests." That's always a good one to go on about for a while. But my research interests are...disconcertingly diverse. I mean, I just spent a day doing research at Stanford. In fact, I was so excited and absorbed that I missed lunch. But was I researching a new article on Shakespeare? No. I was researching Pictish women. Pictish women. That's what? Only 7+ centuries earlier and the other end of the island. And the classes I taught? Science Fiction as Social Commentary. Changing Climate.
You have to admit that Renaissance literature (English with a splash of Scottish), medieval literature (especially Irish and Welsh), medieval material culture, Pictish history and material culture, science fiction and fantasy, mythology, writing on topics in environmental science, religion, and ancient Christianity are pretty darn diverse. But that's what I work on. Mostly.
One has to do with writing fiction. For once I find myself with a real conflict between world building and character building. Normally my stories tend to start with concept and people. The characters aren't all that hard--their names, yes, even the details of their backgrounds. But who they are, how they'll react in a given situation, that comes whole cloth as often as not.
But now I find myself with world building reasons to have certain characters conform to medieval humors. Specifically, I have two characters who should be more phlegmatic. Actually, one of them is decently phlegmatic to begin with (thank goodness). But our hero? A phlegmatic hero. Goodness. And it doesn't help that while sources seem pretty consistent about definitions for, say, choleric, they are all over the map for phlegmatic. Do I believe that they are "loyal, easygoing, quiet, witty, and a good listener. But they are also indecisive, not goal oriented, sarcastic, teasing and resist change." Or do I believe "Sluggish, pallid, cowardly" or perhaps "calm, unemotional."
I mean, it could be funny to try to have a hero who is "sluggish, pallid, and cowardly" but I just don't think that is this story. Ok, maybe pallid.
Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge, claims, "Phlegmatics tend to be self-content and kind. They can be very accepting and affectionate. They may be very receptive and shy and often prefer stability to uncertainty and change. They are very consistent, relaxed, rational, curious, and observant, making them good administrators and diplomats. Unlike the Sanguine personality, they may be more dependable."
So are they loyal, kind and affectionate or unemotional and cowardly? Are they sluggish--one site even said lazy--and not goal oriented or are they curious and dependable?
And whatever they are, do I really want to change my hero to be that? Or do I want to rewrite my world some more instead?
The other problem on my mind this evening seems simple by comparison: how to write a biographical blurb about myself. It has to be a serious academic one, thus ruling out the lighthearted fiction author style ones I know best which enumerate the number of cats the author has and throw in a witty joke or two. But it's hard to write a serious academic bio when most would cover things like where I teach now (er, independent tutoring? not quite what they had in mind) or where I'm studying for my PhD (um, nope, not doing that either) or the cool internationally renowned awards I've gotten (uh un, none of those either. I have yet to undergo the painful nowning process, let alone become re-nowned, nor do I have any re-nowned awards).
So, I think to myself, I can talk about my "research interests." That's always a good one to go on about for a while. But my research interests are...disconcertingly diverse. I mean, I just spent a day doing research at Stanford. In fact, I was so excited and absorbed that I missed lunch. But was I researching a new article on Shakespeare? No. I was researching Pictish women. Pictish women. That's what? Only 7+ centuries earlier and the other end of the island. And the classes I taught? Science Fiction as Social Commentary. Changing Climate.
You have to admit that Renaissance literature (English with a splash of Scottish), medieval literature (especially Irish and Welsh), medieval material culture, Pictish history and material culture, science fiction and fantasy, mythology, writing on topics in environmental science, religion, and ancient Christianity are pretty darn diverse. But that's what I work on. Mostly.
Thursday 11 March 2010
Musings of the Sick and Tired
I would like to say for the record that I am sick and tired of being sick. One of the various reasons why California edged out Glasgow in decisions of where to live was that I seemed to get sick more often in Glasgow. But here I am in "sunny" California, recovering from my fifth? sixth? flu/cold/illness this winter.
This last one was a real doozie. The first two days I could hardly keep anything down besides slow careful sips of water. I finally worked up to Jello and widely spaced crackers and then finally toast. I'm back on real food now (day 5) but everything is still a bit wonky and odd. Food is a really strange thing. I actually felt better--clearer headed and able to walk around and do things--during day 2, living on Jello and fizzy water having had nothing substantial in around 48hrs than I typically do in a sugar crash when I go a few too many hours without food. I mean, I didn't feel great...kind of faded, washed out (plus, you know, a pounding migraine that was possibly part of the illness but more probably caffein withdrawl). But I was able to walk around calmly and hold reasonably intelligent conversations. It was actually something akin to, though not as pleasant as, that odd walking on air sensation I get on the far side of an all nighter when you've left "sleepy" and even "exhausted" far behind hours ago and managed to convince your body not to sleep dispite the fact that's what it craves. And at some point it stops asking for sleep for a while and there is this surreal period where everything is a little slow and very light and jokes are funnier. I remember wondering once, long before I'd had alcohol but was already in the habit of pulling all-nighters for writing papers, if that was what being drunk was like. It's not, but it's interesting that it came to mind.
Come to think of it, it's usually food that breaks the spell. I'd be "walking on air" all morning and then I'd have lunch and come crashing down.
The other interesting thing, going back to my food-deprived days, was how wonderful that first piece of toast tasted after a day of Jello and flavored fizzy water. Actually, before the toast was a cup of chicken broth since I was craving non-sweet and yet chicken broth is still darn close to "clear liquid". I stuck a few herbs in the broth (and got a very funny look when someone looked up and saw me sprinkling basil into a coffee mug!) and drank it down, savoring every warm savery sip. But that was nothing compared to the first slice of toast with just the thinest veneer of butter. That first bite...it was indescribably. It was like tasting the essense of toast. In Platonic terms, the perfect idea of toast that lies behind every earthly example of toast. And yet one of the best things about it was how down to earth, how tacktile it was. The slight crunch, the resistance of biting down. Wonderful.
I'm not quite back to taking food for granted, so I thought this might be the moment to record my illness-induced thoughts.
Anyway, in addition to wacky fun with a string of more-or-less-minor illnesses, I'm also taking an academic class for the first time since grad-school. It's also my first largely online class, something I'm still figuring out (it's easier to go to class in person, in my opinion). It's been tricky keeping up with the coursework amidst colds and stomach flus, but the class is genuinely interesting and hopefully useful (if I get back to my prefered line of work one of these days). It's about teaching writing to ESL students, which I hope will add to my bag of tricks teaching writing classes in general, since I inevitably have a few ESL students. Maybe I'd even be up to teaching a whole ESL writing class.
This last one was a real doozie. The first two days I could hardly keep anything down besides slow careful sips of water. I finally worked up to Jello and widely spaced crackers and then finally toast. I'm back on real food now (day 5) but everything is still a bit wonky and odd. Food is a really strange thing. I actually felt better--clearer headed and able to walk around and do things--during day 2, living on Jello and fizzy water having had nothing substantial in around 48hrs than I typically do in a sugar crash when I go a few too many hours without food. I mean, I didn't feel great...kind of faded, washed out (plus, you know, a pounding migraine that was possibly part of the illness but more probably caffein withdrawl). But I was able to walk around calmly and hold reasonably intelligent conversations. It was actually something akin to, though not as pleasant as, that odd walking on air sensation I get on the far side of an all nighter when you've left "sleepy" and even "exhausted" far behind hours ago and managed to convince your body not to sleep dispite the fact that's what it craves. And at some point it stops asking for sleep for a while and there is this surreal period where everything is a little slow and very light and jokes are funnier. I remember wondering once, long before I'd had alcohol but was already in the habit of pulling all-nighters for writing papers, if that was what being drunk was like. It's not, but it's interesting that it came to mind.
Come to think of it, it's usually food that breaks the spell. I'd be "walking on air" all morning and then I'd have lunch and come crashing down.
The other interesting thing, going back to my food-deprived days, was how wonderful that first piece of toast tasted after a day of Jello and flavored fizzy water. Actually, before the toast was a cup of chicken broth since I was craving non-sweet and yet chicken broth is still darn close to "clear liquid". I stuck a few herbs in the broth (and got a very funny look when someone looked up and saw me sprinkling basil into a coffee mug!) and drank it down, savoring every warm savery sip. But that was nothing compared to the first slice of toast with just the thinest veneer of butter. That first bite...it was indescribably. It was like tasting the essense of toast. In Platonic terms, the perfect idea of toast that lies behind every earthly example of toast. And yet one of the best things about it was how down to earth, how tacktile it was. The slight crunch, the resistance of biting down. Wonderful.
I'm not quite back to taking food for granted, so I thought this might be the moment to record my illness-induced thoughts.
Anyway, in addition to wacky fun with a string of more-or-less-minor illnesses, I'm also taking an academic class for the first time since grad-school. It's also my first largely online class, something I'm still figuring out (it's easier to go to class in person, in my opinion). It's been tricky keeping up with the coursework amidst colds and stomach flus, but the class is genuinely interesting and hopefully useful (if I get back to my prefered line of work one of these days). It's about teaching writing to ESL students, which I hope will add to my bag of tricks teaching writing classes in general, since I inevitably have a few ESL students. Maybe I'd even be up to teaching a whole ESL writing class.
Friday 1 January 2010
Oh look, another new decade is upon us
Happy New Year!!
Welcome to 2010!!!
PS: Agricola is fun. ;)
PPS: 3:30am...there goes my plans to be diurnal.
Welcome to 2010!!!
PS: Agricola is fun. ;)
PPS: 3:30am...there goes my plans to be diurnal.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)