Fannish Argosies

As promised, here are some of the chainmaille projects I've been doing lately (click for larger pics). So far I'm sticking with bracelets, as they go faster and are a good way to learn weaves without getting bored. I don't wear much jewelry but I do like wearing lightweight things like this - so far I'm using anodized aluminum rings, which come in tons of colors and are super light, light enough that I can forget I'm wearing them after a while.

To replace the ace pride bracelet I broke, I've made one of the ace flag in Helm Chain and one for the aromantic flag in Byzantine.





It took me two tries to find the right size rings to match the broken bracelet, so first I got slightly too large ones and ended up with another ace flag as practice.



It's a bit bulky for my tastes, so it may end up as a gift or something.

Several coworkers liked these, so I've made two Hufflepuff themed bracelets, one in Helm Chain that I didn't get a pic of before I gave it to the recipient, and this small Byzantine one that I'll deliver Monday.



I also just finished this one for my mother, who surprisingly really liked the look of the chainmaille and asked for something as well. She wears a lot of blue, so I went with that.



Lastly, I wanted to experiment with Mobius flowers, so I strung some in a chain using my grad school colors, just as a happy reminder of Wales.



Next I'd like to try working with some copper and niobium rings, maybe do something Ravenclaw themed. The possibilities are endless, really, so there's plenty to experiment with for a while. I haven't done any sheets of mail, yet, or anything three dimensional, so I may see if the library has any books on the subject in addition to all the online tutorials.

Have car back, yay! Have less money now, boo.

I have mainlined almost all of Welcome to Night Vale since yesterday and am really enjoying it. Cecil/Carlos = ♥ I really hope it's nominated for Yuletide this year.

A lot of my fannishness is based on the radio these days, tbh. Cabin Pressure, of course, which led to John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (so much love), The Unbelievable Truth, etc. I wish we did more radio comedy in this country.

I do need some new shows, so I'll be checking out Agents of SHIELD and the new Sleepy Hollow series this fall. I may be done with Dr Who until Moffat goes away, so until Warehouse 13 comes back for its final season I won't really have much sci-fi to watch. I've been busy instead with period shows like Bomb Girls and Call the Midwife instead, and trying to watch everything Miranda Hart has been in. And of course there was Broadchurch, and I'm currently still watching The Almighty Johnsons. I've been really remiss about posting about things, possibly due to Tumblr but then I was never very good at keeping up with posts anyway. Oh well.

DragonCon is sneaking up on me this year and I am so not prepared yet. Two weeks to go!

Amazing new Merlin vid from obsessive24 focusing on Morgana: Blinding

Seriously amazing. What a brilliant showcase of Morgana's arc throughout the show, with better storytelling than the show itself. This one hurts.

Bletchley Circle gets a second series!

This makes me ridiculously happy.

I have learned to make panna cotta.

It's very, very easy.

Also cheap.

Uh oh.

Festivids is probably my favorite gift exchange of the year, so today has been an awesome day. I haven't watched everything (master list is here!), but here are the ones I've enjoyed the most so far.

High Treason (Brisco County, Jr) - Focuses on the two-part finale. Very cute.

Turn to Stone (The Bletchley Circle) - I was hoping someone would make a Bletchley vid. They did, and it is awesome. More people should watch this show.

Just a Girl (Hogfather) - Because Susan kicks ass.

Glad You Came (Downton Abbey) - Although this song will always say "Avengers" to me now, it worked really well for DA as well. Surprisingly joyful and feel-good considering all the awful things that tend to happen in the show, which is a nice change. Dancing!Drunk!Molesley will never not be hilarious.

Nothing Left to Say (Falling Skies) - Awesome vid I was not expecting, damn. It almost makes me want to go back and catch up on this show, as frustrating as it was.

Devils (Gormenghast) - Someone did a Gormenghast vid and I am thrilled. Beautiful and epic and tragic and everything the series and miniseries are.

If I Was A Great White Shark (Jaws series) - HAHAHAHA. This was cute. I appreciated the message at the end, too.

Seven Devils (Kings) - Same song as the above Gormenghast vid, which usually throws me, but it's just as epic and awesome. Still makes me ache that this show was canceled so soon.

And we got three League of Their Own vids!!

1) Back to Avalon
2) Revolution
3) Va Va Voom - This one is my favorite. I just love how it focuses on the baseball skills of all the women, their camaraderie, their strength, etc. So joyful.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are (Still Alive) (R&GAD) - I had some trouble with the song (mostly the singing voice), but overall liked the vid itself.

Toy Sack (Toys) - Okay, I did find the song itself a bit distracting, and I was sad there wasn't much Patrick or Gwen, but dude, a Toys vid! So cool.

I sold a few things and ended up with money in my Paypal account, so I ended up buying more art off Etsy. It's a sickness, it really is, but having fun art on my walls makes me smile so much (my little retro rocketships I got at con this year are right above my computer desk and they cheer me up every time I glance up at them).

This one's for the kitchen:



And I haven't decided where this one will go yet. Maybe the living room.



I seem to be on a tea theme this time 'round, but that makes me happy as well. My do-over birthday with seachanges was yesterday, with fun at the local medieval faire and then comfort food at Panera, plus Blackadder the Third. It was nice to have a mostly lazy day after the 16 hour stress-fest that was Saturday - I slept about 10 hours after that and feel much better now. Hopefully this week at work will be better, and at least it's a short one thanks to the holiday.

I have had a shitty day and have therefore committed cake. However, I feel justified because:

1. Stress. Very little went right today, the wrong things including dead battery on the generator at work, traffic that delayed us getting to our event site, and annoying people once we got there.

2. The cake is made with olive oil and is probably about as healthy as you can get with cake. Or at least, this is how I'm justifying it to myself.

It's an extremely, extremely simple French Yogurt Cake, which has become my new favorite cake. It comes out with the most perfect crisp outside, fluffy moist center, and a really interesting and lovely flavor thanks to the yogurt and olive oil. I adore it. It goes well with fresh strawberries and cream or fruit sorbets (especially mango), but TBH I like it best just plain.

I've been baking a lot of cakes from scratch lately (and mostly taking them to work to get feedback on them so I can have an arsenal of desserts for the upcoming holidays), but this is definitely my favorite.

I wish I had better coping mechanisms for bad days than baked goods, but oh well. Caaaaaaaaaaaaake.

I really need a food icon...

Since getting my raise and having things settle down a bit at work to the point where I think I might be able to deal with staying here for a while (until something else in the organization comes open or a better thing comes along, anyway), I've been, well, nesting, I guess. I like my apartment, if not the location, so I've been trying to make it look and feel more put-together.

The last hold-out of "cheap, college-dorm-esque" furniture is my futon. It's sturdy, serviceable, not actually that uncomfortable for people to sleep on, and it stands out like a sore thumb. I'm starting to hate it. I'm ready for a grown-up sofa, damn it, and since pretty much every other piece of furniture in my living room (and much of the rest of the apartment, for that matter) is second-hand, I feel I can be justified in getting something new. Or at the very least, find something not-new and get it properly reupholstered.

So, I have begun that most awful of quests, the Search for the Perfect Sofa. And lo, it sucks.

I didn't realize how incredibly picky I am about sofas, as probably 99.9% of what I see in furniture stores is boring and ugly to me. This being Florida, it's also generally white, tan, or some variant on beige. So, so boring. I want color!

Somewhere out there exists the perfect teal/turquoise sofa - tufted, damn it - in an apartment size (under 80") that won't set me back too crazy much but is also good quality and worth the investment. I'll also settle for other nice blues, and black if I absolutely have no other colorful options. I also want it to be as eco-friendly as I can afford, made here in the US, and low/shallow enough that I with my short stature can sit in it and have my feet touch the floor.

This is turning out to be a tall, tall order. I found something today that would work perfectly and really appealed to me style-wise, but at the low end of the price spectrum it was $3100, with the fabric/color I wanted pushing it up to $3600. Holy shitballs, furniture industry!

I know I've saved a hell of a lot of money by buying the majority of my stuff used, but I still shudder at the thought of paying over $2000 for a sofa. I know it might be worth it in the long run if the quality really is there, but damn. I had even considered leather for the sake of longevity, but now I'm doubting it'll be in the budget.

/1st world problems