Yay! Sports!

So, I'm from Kentucky.

Yeah, yeah, I know.  Go ahead and laugh.  Get it out of the way now.

Now, for those of you who are unaware of the wonderful state of Kentucky, most of us don't run around in overalls, barefoot and pregnant.  We also rarely marry our siblings.  That's West Virginia.

But hey, I'll admit, the state isn't know for much.  Well, there is the high obesity rate, Oxycontin abuse, diabetes, but it's not all bad stuff.  We also grow tobacco.  And then there's sports and horses.

That's the big thing here.  Horses and basketball.

A pretty typical view in the Kentucky countryside.

Also a common sight in central Kentucky.

Basketball is especially big here.  Seriously, they just had the World Equestrian Games here, and they're throwing a bigger fuss over the University of Kentucky basketball team winning games.  It's almost a running gag that the fans riot when they lose and when they win.  And the school colors (royal blue and white) are freaking everywhere.  There are stores devoted to selling fan merchandise.  People are insanely serious about their sports here.  

Emphasis on insane.

I mean, seriously, don't put a sticker on your car for Duke here, especially during basketball season.  They will vandalize your vehicle.

And then you have me and my husband.  We don't care.  He used to work for the university, doesn't care.  I grew up here.  Don't care.  Half the time we don't even know when there's a game on.  I only find out because everyone else is talking about it.  Our standard response is, "Yay.  Sports."  For example, the other day there was some sort of final four game.  We were actually kind of torn, since it was UK vs North Carolina.  We have no fondness for UK, but there was the whole North Carolina incident, so either way it was going to be a bitter sort of victory.  Of course, UK won, so now we'll have to listen to all the fans go on and on until after the championship game. 

Our apathy on this subject knows no bounds.

So, while the rest of the state goes on about sports, and is sitting riveted to the tube for the game, my husband and I will be going about our business as normal.  And when the inevitable comment of, "Aww, too bad you have to work during the game," comes up, we shall boldly respond with, "Yay!  Sports!"

Addendum 4/1/11:
Was informed last night that apparently last week's game was to get into the Final Four and this week's game is the Final Four game, not the actual championship game.  Guess it just goes to show how little we actually care.

Ponies, Lesbians, and Hitting People With Sticks

So, I may have mentioned that I tend towards rather vivid and bizarre dreams in the night.  I dream all night, every night.  Sometimes it feels like I spent the entire night in REM.  Often, many of them fade and I'm left with little more than a vague feeling from them, be it happiness or just that uncomfortable feeling you have when you know you had bad dreams but can't remember their content.

And then there are the ones you don't forget.  Sometimes it's just a snippet, other times you get the whole sordid story, and half the time it's somewhere in between.  Like last night.

 First there was the dream with the My Little Ponies.  I don't really remember much, except for the pony named Maiden Form.  I expect her cutie mark looked rather a lot like this:

Only cuter.  And pink. 

I really wish I could remember the rest of the dream.  I mean, what were Maiden Form and Rainbow Dash up to?

One of the other dreams from last night involved lesbians.  I can't really say much more.  I try to keep things to a "R" around here.  I wouldn't mention it at all, except it sounded really good in the title and I figured it would get you perverted guys here (any readers are better than no readers).

My favorite dream from last night, however, involved a team building exercise at work (I'd like it noted that it was NOT my actual job, or actual coworkers).  We had split into two teams and were having a mock battle out back.  One team held the loading dock, the other the grounds.  Each team had a variety of barriers and buildings to protect.  I picked up one of the board barriers and used it to sneak up to the loading dock.  Then I broke a board off it and hid behind a wall.  Then, every time a member of the opposing team came around the corner, I smacked them in the face with my board, knocking them out.  This continued until I had single-handedly defeated the other team.
 
Once everyone was conscious and all wounds had been treated, we had a celebration.  I was hailed as the hero of the day for coming up with a winning strategy.  My comment?  "I didn't think it would actually work.  I can't believe you guys just kept coming around the corner."
Mostly the thing that got me was the fact that not only did I not get in trouble for hitting coworkers in the face with a board, I was actually rewarded for it.  Gotta love dream logic.

Puttering Part VI

Not a lot's been going on in the studio of late.  There will actually be a new studio space soon, so I'm reluctant to start anything of significance, since I'll have to move it.  But I have made a new pair of earrings, and I thought I'd share the space I'm currently working in, so you can ooh and aah more when I have pics of the new studio. 

BEHOLD!  Pi!

Every year, I mean to make earrings for Pi Day (3-14, for the oblivious) and every year I run out of time.  Except this year.  I finally got them made, just in time to wear to work.  I think I might add to them every year until they're at their most awesome.  

Anyway, the current space is pretty small.  We've nicknamed it the cupboard over the stairs, since, well, that's what it is.  Still, it's kinda cozy and at least most everything is in reach.

Here's what's along the left wall.  It's a pretty sizable closet, but not big enough for me to be able to get a full photo.  There's a small hanging shelf on the wall on the other side.

 

The loom doesn't fit in there, so it's just kind of in the middle of the apartment.  I've taken over the dining room table for a sewing table and place to put yarn and stuff.

Anyway, like I said, not a lot going on, so you may be getting some extra random posts until everything gets moved.

Ponies!!!!!!

I promised ponies last time, and I intend to deliver.  Ordinarily, this would be an artsy post, but I figure y'all deserve something lighthearted after last time.  Also, we're getting ready to move, so artsyness is kind of on hold.  Don't want to get into anything too involved right now.  And packing should probably be happening.

Anyway, ponies.

Specifically, My Little Ponies.  You should know by now that I have a weakness for these, especially if you work or live with me.  Two lurk amongst my potted plants, there's a shoe box of them around here somewhere, and there's even a small herd on my self at work.

 

Although those occasionally get into trouble on my days off.

So, it should come as no surprise that when I found a copy of season one of My Little Pony at work it came home with me.  I tried to resist, I really did, but the ponies compelled me.  And so I found myself watching the ten parter, "The End Of Flutter Valley".  Thank god it aired in a half hour block with something else, because if I had had to watch 200 minutes of that in one sitting my brain would have exploded.

Like this.

You see, I was convinced that I had somehow missed out on seeing this show as a child.  I seriously thought I'd never seen it.  But as I began watching, it seemed oddly familiar.  Especially the voice of one of the ponies.  And then I put it together--Gusty had the voice of Bart Simpson.  No really--Nancy Cartwright did the voices for both.  I think you can only image the surreal flavor this gave the show.  Now add to that the pony with gems for eyes and all the sun worshiping, and you have to wonder what the creators were thinking.

 Just look at those soulless gemstone eyes.

There's a song for this, too.  I'll spare you that.

So, anyway, our story is your basic land grab--some witches want flutter valley, and need to boot them out to get it.  Because they're incompetent, they decide to call in the bees.

 

 

Now this is when I realized I watched this as a child.  It was the bee with the mohawk and eyepatch that did it.  Well, that and his drug addict queen (yeah, she's a total glutton for the red clover nectar).  Somehow, I had completely blocked this show.  But the damn bees brought it back.  Now, long story short, the ponies are put in constant peril, but always get out of it, usually by tricking the really stupid villians.  My particular favorite is the Pony Magic song.

Now, the line that really bothers me is about how pony magic is really useful when you're in trouble.  Really?  Because they're singing this while in a fucking net.  if it was so useful, why didn't they use it to get out of the net?  But no, they trick Stupid Witch number three into untying them, and then smoothly dump her in the net like they do this stuff all the time.  Something about this extremely well choreographed bit is just plain wrong.  Of course, it's remedied in about three seconds when the ponies run into a giant sheet of fly paper.

Of course, by the end of it, they save the day and rescue flutter valley.  But oh, the acid trip to get there.

I have to go now before the ponies make my head explode.

Douchebaggery is not a Christian Virtue

On a more serious note....

So, I consider myself a practicing Christian.  That is to say, I have to practice a lot because I'm not really good at it.  Still, I make an effort to follow the basic tenets of my faith in my daily life.  I often fail, but I try.  I do my best not to shove my religion into other people's faces, and I don't act like I'm better than everyone else because of my religion.  I figure if I can show others that my life is better because of my faith they're more likely to come around than if I yell at them about hellfire and brimstone, and maybe if I acknowledge the suffering that others have put up with at the hands of the church, they'll realize that not all Christians are crazy bastards.

That said, I have encountered far too many people in my daily life who talk about how wonderful God is and how he's changed their lives who then commence to be utter douchebags.  If you've ever worked in customer service on a Sunday, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  I'm talking about the people who just got out of church and then come in for lunch and berate you because extra sauce costs fifty cents, or who have screaming horrid children and a party of twelve and then don't tip, or the jerk who comes in and complains because a dollar is too much for a clearance book.  As a manager I once had put it, they just got out of church and they're ready to sin.  This is not Christian behavior, and if you find yourself acting like this, you should be ashamed of yourself.  Being Christian is more than showing up to church for an hour or two on Sunday and then doing whatever you want the rest of the time.  Behavior like that is what is driving young people away from the church in droves.  We're all human, and none of us can live up to the impossible expectations set by our religion.  So let's not pretend we're perfect and then go out and be assholes. 

And while I'm up on this soapbox (I'm going to do my best to keep this the only religion related post on here, so bear with me), I'd like to address another issue I keep seeing with so called Christians.  It is the refusal to explore anything that is "ungodly."  I see this the most often with fantasy books, and many of the young adult books that are out right now.  They'll refuse to read a book because it contains witchcraft and devil worshiping, not even realizing that it doesn't actually contain either.  They blindly follow close minded "pastors," and won't even consider thinking for themselves, because that would be "sinful" and they would be kicked out of their church and all their friends would abandon them.  And, of course, this happens with a lot more than books.  Either way, what the hell sort of Christianity is that?  Abandoning your friends because they want to think for themselves?  Because they want to be able to defend their position with something other than a rote response?  Maybe I have the wrong understanding of the whole thing, but I thought God wanted us to follow him of our own free will.  While blind faith in God is all well and good, mankind is infinitely fallible. And while I get the impression that following God without any solid proof is preferred, in these times, some kind of proof is helpful, and if the story of Doubting Thomas is any indication, God will give you something that will convince you if you ask persistently enough.  So why not ask questions if it'll strengthen your faith?  Oh, but wait, that's the problem.  Many of these people avoid certain subjects because they're afraid it'll weaken their faith.  But if their faith is true, nothing they can read or watch can ruin that.  And if you don't really believe, you have no room to be condemning others because they don't believe what you do.  Now, getting back to the ungodly materials.  God has given us all gifts, right?  Many of us were given the gift of creating things, be it stories, films, music, or art.  So if he gave us those gifts, wouldn't he want us to enjoy the fruits of these labors?  So how about instead of being douchebags, we try actually living our faith and be the loving individuals that our religion calls for?  Because douchebaggery is NOT a Christian virtue, and if you're going to act that way you are almost certainly on the road to a dark place.

That is all.

(next time:  Ponies!!!!!!!!!!)

Puttering Part V

Well, I've got some finished stuff for ya today.  I finally finished the Christmas place mats for my brother and his wife.  They're 100% cotton, hand dyed and handwoven.  It's a set of six, with hand knotted fringes.

Yay!  Place mats!

Detail shot.

And they're reversible, too!  

Detail of other side.

In other news, I've been continuing my explorations in bobbin lace.  Here's some in progress shots and the finished  sample.  For those following along, this is still lesson 2 in Lessons in Bobbin Lacemaking.  It's the Crown and Triangle edging.  I used a 10/2 cotton weaving thread for this sample.

I ordered a small lace kit on ebay.  It finally came in, so I decided to test out the new pillow.  It looks better than the one I made, but it's not as sturdy.  My first pillow is filled with upholstery cushioning, while this one is almost definitely styrofoam inside.  I do like the nice flat working surface, though, and it's a bit bigger than my pillow.  I'll eventually try out the new bobbins, too. 

Here's a closer detail.  If you're wondering about all the pins, the way the lace is formed is by crossing the threads in a particular sequence.  A pin is then put in to hold it in place until everything has been secured.

 

So, here's the finished sample.  Still a little wonky, but definitely tighter and cleaner than the last one.  It was also a lot more complicated.  It was really interesting to see how the spaces were formed.  I like the pattern.

Anyway, next on the list is to finish my Mom's place mats, do the next sample in my  lace book and make some meeple jewelry to hopefully sell in my husband's shop.  And for those of you who have no idea what meeples are, allow me to leave you with this delightful picture of my earring supplies.

Yay!  Meeples!

Why Don't I Have More Nightmares?

Okay, so I'm a gamer.  I love me my video games.  Now, I've never considered myself a serious gamer, but the hubby says my choice of games indicate that I am.  Before we get into those games, I would like to briefly discuss my general strategy when it comes to video gaming.  I go into any game with two goals in mind:
 
1) Kill everything
2) Fuck everything

The order of these goals doesn't matter.  Obviously, not all games allow for both of these objectives, but I like to pursue them as far as I can.  For example, when playing The Sims Bustin' Out on my GBA, I hit on everything that moved.  If I could romance a character, I did.  In GTA IV, I don't really bother with the missons.  I go to the strip club, spend all my money, then run down pedestrians until my car explodes.  Repeat.

In order to keep an R rating, we'll be skipping most of the other games that allow for objective #2.  But know they exist.

So, what kind of games does Linda naturally gravitate towards?  While I enjoy a variety of games, mostly I'm drawn towards Japanese role playing games, particularly anything related to the Shin Megami Tensei franchise.  One of the first ones I got hooked on was actually a spin off from the series: Persona 3.  This game is one of my favorites.  It's basically half dating sim (a type of game where you work on your relationships with other characters) and half dungeon crawl (go and kill things).  The most notable thing about this game is the sheer creepiness of it.  It's a good sixty hours of nightmare fuel, and is definitely not for kids.  If it wasn't such a niche game, the parent groups would have raised a bigger fuss over this one than GTA San Andreas and the hot coffee incident.

This is from the opening credits.  Yes, that is your character blowing his head off.  What's more, this is how you activate your magic abilities and summon your persona.  You will shoot yourself in the head at least 1-10 times in every battle.  So will all your friends.

In the game, at midnight every night there's an extra hour--the Dark Hour.  You and your buddies are special in that you're awake for the dark hour.  Everyone else transmogrifies.

Into coffins.

But that's for the best, because pretty much the whole world transforms during the dark hour.  For example, here's your school:

You spend many hours climbing this seemingly endless tower.  It's divided into blocks, so every 20-30 floors the decor changes into something creepier.

This is pretty typical, and, disturbingly enough, not the creepiest thing in the game.  

Neither is the strange boy who visits you in the night.  Every month.

Although the swimsuits are surprisingly good armor, at least on the lower levels.  There's also a maid suit.  Oh, we love you Japan.

This is one of your boss battles.  This is not the creepiest thing in the game.

Neither is this, although it's probably close.  And yes, those are hand guns. 

So yeah, creepy, weird, and full of awesome.  If you get your hands on a copy, play it.  You won't regret it, I promise.  

Anyway, this game got me totally hooked and I started seeking out everything persona and mega ten related.  Currently I'm playing Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne.  Basic plot synopsis is the apocalypse has happened, you got turned into a demon and I think you have to save the world.  Not entirely sure yet.  You get to kill things, and isn't that what's really important?

This is you.  Apparently having weird tattoos makes you a demon.

Now, I'm less than ten hours into it, but it's already really freaking creepy.  Actually I think I'm in hell.

Definitely hell.

...Or the theater?  No, wait, the theater in hell!

 Plus this kid and his old nurse are stalking me.

I think this might be the kid and his old nurse.  Except, she's young and he's old.  I think one of them may be siphoning energy off the other.

Now, one of the fun things about the game is you fight demons, but you can also recruit them to help you.  The demons themselves vary widely, from this:

Get your mind out of the gutter.

To this:

And some of them aren't even humanoid.  And then you'll be walking around and a big firey hole will open up beneath you and you'll be sucked into it into a desert with lightning and this guy will challenge you:

Yeah, he totally kicked my ass.  I'm picking a different hallway next time.

 And then there's the creepy shit that's on your side.  Like the manikins.

You have to buy supplies from this guy.  He hits on you a lot.  Not pictured: the unnatural creepy jiggly twitch all of these have.

Well, I guess the healer isn't too creepy, but I still don't understand why she's not wearing clothes.

And this isn't even all the creepiest shit.  These are the screen shots I found on the internet.  And all of this is less than ten hours into the game.  You know this has to be a good 30-60 hours long, and it's only going to get worse from here.  And when do I usually play?  At night.  Before bed.  I should definitely have more nightmares.