They are modern day veterans
Thank you for going and fighting the wars, and being brave when everyone else wanted to stay home.
Thank you for putting out the fires and patching up folks
Thank you for flying the helicopters
Thank you for being the smartest person I know and building the rockets and making the things that made everything else possible,
and just being all around awesome guys.

I know I never say it, but you are all my heroes.

Col. Foey "Tex" Shiflet. Bronze Star and distinguished member of the regiment.
He served in WWII. Before that he was a texas railwayman.
He wore that belt because of injuries sustained from a grenade.
He killed to save people
He took amazing photos during the war.
Italy was his territory and he walked the whole boot. Took part in the Liberation of Rome and met the pope.
One of his jobs was to find those persons who had gone missing and document the how and bring them back.

He was quite the character when I got to meet him and get to know him. He was amazingly devoted to his family and his grand and great grand children.
He passed away 2 years ago and is very much missed. Thank you for everything you did for all of us Grandpa Shiflet.

video of an awesome pop-up Lego building



Just amazing in all sorts of ways.

After sleeping my weekend away I am doing so much better this morning.
I've got some energy, and my throat is so much less painful.

Just need to not overdo it today. Looking forward to the scribes get together tonight.


Now if only some folks would indulge my curiosity and post photos of the weekend.

I can haz not-strep.
This is the fun version where you fall into the bunch that tests negative for it, but have all the symptoms. The Doc put me on a z-pak.


I just want it to not hurt to drink, or breathe, or talk, or eat...

bleah

Oh crap.
no no no no no no no

*runs thing across forehead* *bip bip bip bip bippity bip bing!*

Dammit. I have things to do and get done.

I keel you with drugs and you can damn well wait till Sunday.

Howl's moving castle built out of legos.
That is awesome in a bucket right there...

Breakfast for lunch. Home made 3 egg omelet with butter sauteed onions and garlic, shredded cheese and crumbled turkey bacon.

Om nom nom.

I am reminded that I am not really a very tall creature.

Like when I sew for other folks and look at a double length of fabric as long as I am tall and think "yeah, that is just enough for a short coat for Ed."

Mark took these photos, but I wanted to repost them for all my friends who don't read his journal.


Mason and his pumpkin


Linnet and her pumpkin


Mason is not in the Jack-o-Lantern patch because he was busy throwing a tantrum. The cute little girl with Linnet is weavedancer's daughter Faye.

I adore this rant. Comedian Rob Paravonian rants about how much it sucks to play Pachelbel's Canon in D on a cello. Recorded live at Penn State, this piece by comedian/musician Rob Paravonian has been a favorite on the Dr. Demento Show.
I also HATE Pachelbel's canon in D. It is a frikkin funeral dirge. Anyone who has ever lived in LA and had to listen to the Forest Lawn Mortuary commercials knows what I'm talking about.

The hangerock is sewn and the bands of wool applied. Spirals have been marked, the first run of stitching done and the spirals cut out.
The decorative stitch along the top band is done. I'm starting on the bottom band. Then I mark and cut the solar disks before edging them.
Decided on blue wool for the straps.
So much to do.
So much to do.

Halloween is awesome

I've been meaning to make this one for a while.
This particular pawn always looked so scared to me. SO here he is. Enjoy.





As always, no hotlinking. Save to your system and then upload it for use.
Please to be crediting me.
Let me know if you take him.

The gown is for a 1 year old toddler. Ideally it is cut wide enough that it will work as a tunic for a while after she grows a bit.
For a Rus child between 1150 and 1250 AD

Materials:
Yellow light weight linen. It is a cross weave of white and yellow
Blue bias cut medium weight linen
.25" bezants for the cuffs
Button is a fabric one made from the blue linen.


The pattern for the gown.
The outer side gores are actually rectangles when cut out. it is the sewing that "deforms" their look.

( more photos back here )

Ive gotten the hem applied and begun the cutting out. I'll be going over the edges in a double row of split and stem stitch.



I'm using the spiral (ram's horn), and the blue and gold because of a desire for a heraldic sort of tunic. The spiral gives the look of sun rays on a blue sky.

I'm making a great set of outfits for american_knight, duchess_asa, and the Holly girl.
Early viking was requested and I'm having a good time with it. I'm using the small scale stuff for Holly to test design techniques before I do them on the larger garments.

I think kids clothes are so much fun. It's like dressing dolls. Big... wiggly... dolls. Keep them durable, washable, and roomy and you can't go wrong.

Thank goodness I discovered the Cortona tunic. The gore pattern off it is a life saver. The tunic preserved in the Church of Saint Francis in Cortona in Italy was made between 1155 and 1225, coinciding with the lifetime of the "Poor Man of Assisi," as the saint was called, due to his voluntary casting away of all worldly possessions and his preaching of a simple life. The tunic is very well preserved as it is believed to be a relic of St Francis.
That amazing side gore from cuff to hem makes all the difference in the world to fitting a wiggly kid.

Is it possible the Large Hadron Collider is being sabotaged by its own future?
This article seems to suggest it.

( Text of the Article for the link phobic )

Hey all,

Just a refresher You can find all of the LJ user Icon's I've made over here

Please do not hotlink. Save the icon to your computer and then upload it from there.
Enjoy
Please credit
and please let me know which ones, if any, you decide to take.

He's about to make a very bad choice.

Just being silly. Watercolor pencils again.
Thinking I might put it and the other one up for the Dragon's Horde Auction. (which would of course make them ACEO's)

Lunch? Friend? Your call...


20 minutes playing with water color pencils.

Because Bertana got out the clue hammer and yelled.

SCA Name	Award/Recognition
Ismey of Whytby	Flower
Corynne Macleod	Light
Allason inghean Fhaolain	Flower
isabail de lockeford	beacon
raven mayne	Commander of Light of Atenveldt
Shoshana Drakere	Fleur de Soleil
Eabha inghean Domnaill	Flower
Zigumn Broghammer	Pilgrim
Waine Nogard of Green briar	Commander of Fleur
Ari	Beacon
Léot mac Grigair	A&S Champion

Category winners (Edit to the full list because raventhourne found the list I could not find.)
Michael Sinestro, Populace Choice, Performance, Open
Seadna Mey of Caithness, Populace choice, Static Novice
Caoilfhionn of Mons Tonitrus, Populace Choice, Static, Open

Category Winners
Alchemy-Charles Veitch
Camping and Homesteading-Tatiana Verlioni
Clothing-Mina Fioravanti
Decorative/Fine Arts-Seadna Mey of Caithness
Demonstration Projects-Allasan Tamelyn
Glass- Aurelia Chrysanthina Dalassene
Heraldic Display- Allasan Tamelyn
Instruments, Models, &Tools- Caoilfhionn
Jewelry / Decorative Pieces-Ivan Petrovich
Leatherwork- Caoilfhionn
Manuscript Arts-Eaba Inghean Domhnaill
Metalwork-Charles Veitch
Needlework- Aurelia Chrysanthina Dalassene
Performing Arts-Michael Sinestro
Textile Arts-Meadhbh ni Dhubhthaigh
Toys and Games- Michael Sinestro
Woodworking –StorVarr Orvarsmior
Writing- Aurelia Chrysanthina Dalassene

Novice Division:
Seadna, Accessories

Subcategory Winners:
Clothing- 1100AD - 1430AD-Aurelia Chrysanthina Dalassene
Clothing - 1431AD-1599AD-Mina Fioravanti
Clothing- Accessories-Finola Sutherland
Performing Arts-Musical performance-Michael Sinestro

Children's Division:
Who What item they entered
Siobhanna, Rose Beads
Jasmyna, Fury Hat
Jasmyna, Baklawa
Breandan, Quill Pen

What are the Mercury Retrograde dates for 2009?:
The dates are January 11-31; May 6th to 30th; September 6th to 29th; December 26th to January 15th, 2010.

Gods give the Valkyrie peace and grace,
A place at the table,
A fine steed to carry the burdens,
A strong sword to part the skies.

the Offended Cat Icon


don't hotlink. save it to your computer and upload it from there.

Soon this will become an animated icon, but for now it is still in its ATC form.
weavedancer is such an inspiration. She has the best counterpoints to rants.
Made this at scribble last night for the fun of it.

Dr Horrible as seen at the 2009 Emmy Awards




*fangirl squee*

And it did win the emmy for its category.

Benjamin Franklin, the oldest and perhaps the wisest of the delegates, expressed the prevailing mood on the last day of the Convention: "I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a general government necessary for us, and there is no form of government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered; and believe farther that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupt as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other.... When you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly can a perfect production be expected?
...Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure that it is the best. The opinions I have had of its errors, I sacrifice to the public good."

The Price of Union - Herbert Agar, 1950

Purina Kraken chow!
"Now with real pirate in every box! Full and balanced nutrition for even the most finicky of sea monsters. Buy yours today!

chow, chow, chow!"

That one doesn't need a caption. The picture pretty much says it all.


Belly!!!

They did look awesome!

This is the song that was on the radio, when we turned on the car to take my daughter home from the hospital after she was born.

I still adore it all these years later.



Dreams - by the Cranberries
Oh, my life is changing everyday,

In every possible way.
And oh, my dreams, it's never quite as it seems,
Never quite as it seems.

I know I've felt like this before, but now I'm feeling it even more,
Because it came from you.
And then I open up and see the person falling here is me,
A different way to be.

I want more impossible to ignore,
Impossible to ignore.
And they'll come true, impossible not to do,
Impossible not to do.

And now I tell you openly, you have my heart so don't hurt me.
You're what I couldn't find.
A totally amazing mind, so understanding and so kind;
You're everything to me.

Oh, my life,
Is changing every day,
In every possible way.

And oh, my dreams,
It's never quite as it seems,
'Cause you're a dream to me,
Dream to me.

8 years ago today I was watching the news in Austin while getting ready for work, and everything came to a stop. Tower one was on fire and I watched the second plane hit Tower 2. We spent the day at work not getting anything done. Dell had to have lost money that day. But our bosses brought in the TV's and we kept them tuned to the news channels. All of it, every horrible moment of the change in our country was there and we saw it. We lost friends, coworkers lost family members.
I think about it, and looking at the pictures and videos still makes me cry. Remembering hurts, and I will watch and remember then I will change the channel. Because doing this all day is just too much and numbs us to what happened. I want my memories sharp and painful, so that I don't forget or become complacent to what is still happening. I brought my children into this time and hope to teach them to be great people in this new world. My country, the one I grew up in and love is forever changed.

As the years pass I only become angrier. The answer to the gauntlet slap was not strong enough, not painful enough, not the reminder of what REAL hell is. Instead we turned the other cheek, showed an amount of mercy that was neither appreciated or expected. What has it gotten us? A false sense of security a breath away from panic. A tightening cage around our own people while the cage around the villains is loosening.

The answer was simple. Should have been simple. A swift response, 15 minutes to pray and a lifetime to claw out of the grave only to find a glass ceiling and air that will melt the flesh from bones.

Thank your gods we showed compassion, exercised mercy... many of us did not want to.

prologue to King Edward II, a play by William Blake:


"Oh for a voice like thunder and a tongue to drown the the throat of war!
When the senses are shaken, and the soul is driven to madness,
Who can stand?

When the souls of the oppressed fight in the troubled air that rages,
Who can stand?

When the whirlwind of fury comes from the throne of God,
When the frowns of His countenance drive the nations together,
Who can stand?

When Sin claps it's broad wings over the battle.
And sails rejoicing in a flood of death;
When souls are torn to everlasting fire,
And fiends of Hell rejoice upon the slain.
Who can stand?

Oh who has caused this?
Who can answer at the throne of God?

The Kings and the Nobles of the Land have done it!
Hear it not heaven, Thy ministers have done it!"


I like this one. Had to translate it to Klingon many many moons ago in University, when I found myself a senior in a freshman linguistics class picking up a missed credit. My prof had a good sense of humor and irony. Klingons... Speaking against war.

*snerk*

Change the fur to match the carpet and you would have my Aramis.

Hence the nickname "Suicide cat." She makes going down the basement stairs an act of suicide.

For the first time in years, 5 years to be more precise, my Sia-mutt Aramis was the cat snuggled up to me last night. I suppose I've finally been forgiven for having the kids and moving her fuzzy butt to Arizona.
This would be the same Aramis, known to visitors as "You have a third cat?" or "Basement cat" or more frequently "Suicide cat" (for her habit of sleeping in random places on the stairs whose color she matches precisely.)

She has been losing weight due to an enforced diet, and has been in the last week testing the waters by venturing upstairs and actually become her old affectionate self again. When we were living in Las Cruces and Austin she was the one cat most frequently waiting to pin you to the couch or chair or floor for pettins, and was renown for her cuddles and LOUD purr. I am so glad to see that version of her coming back around.

Saturday's event was fun, and robomarkov shot a video or two. I do believe this one is the first time I've ever gotten to see a video of myself dancing. It is pretty long, and a bit of a crowded floor, but fun none the less. I am the one in the red floral kaftan with the green and gold veil. Countess Mariana is in the white and blue floral kaftan with the red belt and white veil. Posadnitsa Ianuk is in the green kaftan with the blue veil, and Dutchess Asa is in the blue shirt and green mintan with the white veil. There are all sorts of other folks I do not know the names for dancing as well.

Some of us sort of got the giggles and had to leave the floor because we got it in our heads that the rhythm sounded a bit too much like a cha-cha. I'm a dork.

My latest scroll
Premier of the Order of the Boar Counter Ermine of Barony Tir Ysgithr.
It was awarded to posadnik_ivan at the Knight light tournament on the 25th.

My Girl Genius book 8 arrived along with its snazzy book plate.

( you know you want to see it )