Let's see if I keep this better updated than my previous two years' attempts!

( reading list )

Edited to fix the link to my goodreads profile!

I made ponies of three of my WoW characters >.>

Gnadine: http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/catastrofee/gnadinePony.jpg

Cyerte: http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/catastrofee/cyertepony.jpg

Micca: http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/catastrofee/miccapony.jpg

Some days I just feel like Gildward...

Wellll.... skirt begun. I'm not certain yet how it's going to turn out. But... it's not awful. I suppose that counts for something. It fits right, and mostly sits right, and the zipper only lumps a little which for me is pretty darn good. Hoping to hem the bottom today, but probably won;t finish up the waistline until I get the main parts of the coat put together. If there's lining left over from the coat, I'd like to sew some into the waistband as a sort of included slip

1. Whining

Ugh. Sleepy lately. Been spending a lot of time curled up and reading because it takes the least energy right now. (You might think that'd mean I'm getting through more, but you would be wrong :-( ) Mom and dad are here this weekend, so I'm trying to push myself a little more, but between that and the tireds and the election stuff this past week, I'm going to feel lucky if I'm on an even keel by Wednesday :(

2. Cosplay

One of the things that doesn't actually require a lot of work on my part - I've started gathering bits for my Lady!Five costume. I've ordered the striped fabric for the skirt and the check-and-dot for the hatband already. I've also ordered a pattern for the version of the coat I'll be making, and I've picked out a Simplicity pattern for the skirt - I expect I'll pick it up at a Jo Ann Fabric once I have the coat pattern and can pick up some tan wool and red edging. So, its a good start, but a long way from an actual costume.

Things I need to do:

1. Go to the local dance store and find some appropriate-shade red tights. I'm afraid if I order from online what looks red-red will turn out sort of pink-red, blue-cast instead of yellow-cast if that makes sense

2. Buy a panama hat. Someone on the DW Cosplay site has offered to share a few resources, and I'm looking forward to seeing what they have

3. Decide on the shoes. I had an idea, but alas, the shoes I wanted no longer seem to be available. So I have to decide if I want to go with a sort of heeled boot with a similar design to the era, or stick with the sneakery sort of flats he used. Maybe we'll see how long the skirt is and decide from there.

4. Dig up my old glasses. Not only will they make excellent "brainy specs" with the right color rims if not the right shape, but I can also completely weird people out with the amount of magnification in the left lens. My glasses have been known to give people vertigo :)

5. Find a local embroidery shop that can do the question marks on the shirt collar. Either that or I start practicing now

6. Decide what to do about the vest - how to approximate it in the current design

7. Decide if I have the gumption to actually lighten my hair for the costume.

8. Trip to Jo Ann Fabrics!

9. Fake celery. I had no idea how hard it is to find. I may have to bug Rena into making it for me.

Ahh, that's hardly anything at all. This will be a breeze >.>

Hey all! I'm trying to trim my collection, and normally I just donate straight to the library or the local manga library. But I figured this time, especially since there were some books I particularly enjoyed when I read them, I'd see if anyone was interested in any of them before I sent them libraryway. So if any of you are interested, please leave a reply to this and I'll email you to work out the details. I'll even pay to ship them your way - I'd like them to go to a good home, so its the least I can do!


So, on to the stuff

Piers Anthony: Being a Green Mother, For Love of Evil, And Eternity

These are the last three in the incarnations of immortality series (Well, last three that I will recognize. Please note, the treatment of women in them is a bit problematic, especially in Being a Green Mother IIRC, but they were also pretty interesting reads.

Orson Scott Card: Ender's Shadow, Shadow of the Giant, Shadow Puppets

The non-Ender followups to Ender's Game. Unfortunately, the only characters I connected with in this line was Peter Wiggin, but then, he was one of the only ones I liked from the original book. We follow mostly Bean and Petra, but also most of the jeesh as well as Peter and other people from Ender's past as they continue his fight on Earth


CLAMP: Anotherholic

This is a tie-in to the xxxholic series of manga


Deborah Johnson: The Air Between Us

A lovely story about the south as desegregation is starting. It looks at the relationships between residents of the town, as well as looking at a practice called "ghost surgery."
It was a really interesting read, but I don't think I'll be going back to it. Definitely recommended though


Truong Nhu Tang: A Viet Cong Memoir

This was like The Air Between Us, in that I am really glad I read it, but I don't think I'll likely ever go back and reread it. It's a personal account of the leadup to the Vietnam War, and what came after, without the usual America-centric spin.


Manga
Bizhengast 1,2,5,6

Black Butler 1-5


I also have spotty DVDs of "Case Closed" if anyone is interested

Blergh. I realized when talking at the Doctor Who thing this weekend that I have way more borrowed books in my queue (6 plus 2 library books) than I have books on my own in my queue. I can't decide if this is because I need to be more careful about what I borrow, or if there's just that much awesome stuff my friends are reading. Either way, at least I love most of what my friends loan me. You all know my tastes too well :)

For that Five costume...

http://store.reconstructinghistory.com/rh1011-ladies-1910s-riding-frock-coat.html

or

http://store.reconstructinghistory.com/rh1012-ladies-1910s-darted-riding-jacket.html

or keep looking?

So, I'm getting an Order of the Stick coloring book

I am ridiculously pleased about that.

In the past few weeks, my thrice-weekly walks have been bothered by a particular two people who are apparently getting off work in the neighborhood where I walk about the same time as I go walking. Four times I've run into them, and they slow down and whistle out the window or yell something in Spanish that I'm not versed enough in Spanish to understand. The neighborhood is pretty populated and I don't feel particularly endangered by them so I ignore them, although they bug me, and I hate having to force myself not to react.

Perhaps in revenge, I REALLY want to get a man-kini for Micca. Yes, I plan to take out my aggression for being objectified by objectifying my priestyman. And now that someone shared this: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/3657610691?page=1 - It should be a lot easier to do so.

poor, poor Micca *cackles*