it's like the eye of a duck

Also this week I:

• Booked D. and I a weekend in NYC to see a Fortuny exhibit, Epic Win again (this time with superheroes), and at long last the Gubbio Studiolo
  
• Also booked the March NAC (counts as non-passive as I've never been to Reno)
  
• yes, danabren, finally registered for Dress U.
  

Follow up on the bias cut top experiment, which would have gone faster had I not been so lazy:

( Photo )

New stuff: first time out with both silk charmeuse and rolled hems.

Results: I CAN cut silk charmeuse and have it stay where I put it while doing so, using a cutting board and extremely sharp rotary cutter. I never did figure out how to guarantee that it was laid out on grain though. Short of plucking a tiny thread which would have made the whole thing run I had to guess, and I think I was off a bit.

Rolled hems: These take time and very fine thread (I used polyester embroidery), which is what used up most of the time as it's hard on the eyes and hands to make tiny stitches invisible to the outside.

Flaws: Armhole facing was too narrow to stay put so it's anchored down with tiny threads that don't show TOO much on the outside. Also, the hem wasn't quite even despite my best efforts so I decided to go with it and make it asymmetrical. It's long enough to tuck in if I ever want it to look "normal".

Triumphs: I do not know how I survived without the full bust adjustment!! This top neither gaps at the armholes or puckers across the bust. SUCCESS!!

So it is wearable, though I'll probably always wear it under something to hide the armhole finish wonkiness.

My costume projects Pinterest board.

Why I'm just giving you a link instead of talking about costume projects [opens into TedTalk video]. Hat tip margoeve.

Why a little pessimism is a good thing.

This Christmas was unquestionably the year of the book.

D. plundered my Amazon wish list and got me a number of the fashion folios I've been drooling over for awhile. Some are HUGE: the Rick Owens and i-D monographs could actually serve as coffee tables if I stuck legs on them :P In addition there are some academic books in there - Berg Publishers owns me...

In addition, I picked up a slew of fiction and funnies for Christmas eve (book giving is traditional for my fam) including I Could Pee On This, which is funnier than it has any right to be.

These are just a few of many more; if y'all are really interested I can do up a list (opening the library!). Suffice it to say I have a lot of very good reasons to hole up in my library this winter :P

During our visit we went down to the new location of Book Nook, which is incredibly still in business and under the same management. The new layout even mirrors that which I remember as a child, when J. and I would sit in the pets/animal section while my Dad traded in sci-fi paperbacks (he kept a running tab).

Also over the holidays, we saw the Hobbit twice, once regular, once on Imax. I enjoyed it, though it's not as epic in feeling as the LOTR films I don't think it's supposed to be (I have never read the Hobbit, though I've tried twice. Yes, I know...)

Also saw Skyfall, which was fantastic. Javier Bardem's performance was breathtaking - Hannibal Lechter level creepy.

The holidays are a nice break from the everyday but always kind of disorienting, so now I'm just trying to get back into the swing of things.

I’ve not been watching too closely because while I’m horrified I’m not shocked (and if I know more details it will feed my already overactive misanthropy). This is, what, the second mass shooting this year? Fourth in ~2 years? Isn’t it terrible that I don’t find this surprising anymore?

A lot of explanations and possible solutions have been proffered. I’ve read about raising kids to be more compassionate, regulating violent movies and video games, tighter gun controls, and I think some of these (especially the latter) might help to some degree, but I suspect American's strange relationship to guns comes from deep seated, cultural values/myths that no law is going to help abolish.

( Random thoughts below )

This is just spitballing, I know I'm not showing my work with links or anything, nor do I have answers. I don’t know what kind of mental health policies would help catch potential mass shooters before they snap; I don’t know what needs to change in the culture to make people not feel like they need guns.

Feel free to debate in the comments, but keep it civil.

Been meaning to update, just... hadn't. So:

Last weekend dustdaughter and I went to Revealing the African Presence in Renaissance Europe, an exhibit up in B.more. I mostly went for lots of 16th century portraiture that I'd never seen, but as ever with history that's new to me the larger story was interesting too - how could it be possible that, for example, a Congolese delegation visited Elizabeth I's court, or Ethiopian priests studied in Rome, and I'd never read about it before? Recommended.

Also went through a round of veterinary visits with both cats. Kisia was diagnosed with high blood pressure, which explains why her pupils have been dilated for the past 2 months. We caught it before it could impair her sight and she's on medicine, which she doesn't like but has made a huge difference in her eyes and her friendliness in just a week.

Yesterday I competed at a moderately scary local fencing competition, and against all odds kept my head on and got to do 2 direct elimination bouts! I finished in the middle of the pack, and am pleased that I stayed loose and smart. Next weekend, doG help me, I'm in a regional Very Scary event, in which I'm sure to get slaughtered but I figure it's a good "managing the anxiety" exercise.

The library is coming along. The books are all on shelves, now it's just getting them on the right ones. And D. set our first fire last weekend :)

Sewing was/is on hold as I discovered that silk charmeuse facings just aren't stable enough on their own. I got some Touch o' Gold lightweight fusible interfacing, and will give it a go this week. Hopefully I can still do the rolled hem finish.

Still jumping rope 4 days a week, plus some weight exercises for fencing. I think I may have lost a bit of weight.

And after typing all this I'm suddenly very tired...

Over the past few weeks I've been learning to flick (to non fencers, this means handling the foil rather like a bullwhip to land a touch indirectly).

Yes, I know every time I l flick, [$deity] kills a classical fencer.

Yes, yes, I know that I myself have said repeatedly that if I wanted to flick I'd use a whip.

But V. has demonstrated to my satisfaction that there is a use for such a thing in modern sport fencing. Specifically, when my opponent has a quick or very protective parry, it's a way to get around it without contorting my arm/body/everything to "go around the corner". It can also be a surprise finish after circular parrying (around and around we go!) as the constant blade motion hides the attack.

It is kind of rough on my forearm and wrist, so I'm being very careful, using a lighter blade than I would usually to practice. V. also suggests as homework making parrying motions while holding a dumbell bar to strengthen it up. I'll try this, with both hands because if I'm gonna look like Popeye I want to at least be symmetrical :P

Lesson: never say never.

One out of four practices, I am a good fencer.

Body and "no mind" align, if not in perfect synchronization, then enough that I can see what I'm doing but stay loose enough to keep doing it. On very, very rare occasions I'm so in the "flow" that everything is effortless and time goes away because I'm so in the moment.

The rest of the time is like today: first 20 minutes of lesson I'm able to stay calm and pay attention to the "feel" of what I'm doing, then coach pushes a single new variable to the stack and my conscious mind cuts in. Once the thinking hamster is on it's wheel I have a hell of a time stopping it, with the end result that I'm mentally and physically trying too hard to do something, wearing me out and pissing me off.

"No mind" (or as the other coach calls it, the "inner zombie") is a state I can get to and it does work - I know this from experience (see: one out of four). But I can't find a reliable, repeatable way to get there.

Alternately if I'm TOO relaxed, the part of my brain doing strategy doesn't work, so I can execute something technically well but at the wrong time.

Don't think I'm getting down on myself here, I don't think I'm stupid. But my anxiety does a good job of making me do stupid things.

Whilst cruising Tumblr for pix of Tilda Swinton for my Style Inspirations Pinterest board*, I happened across: So apparently there’s a movie coming out where Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton are two vampires in love and this sounds promising:

( movie poster )

More plot here, but "Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton are two vampires in love" is enough to convince me I'd watch this movie every day and twice on Sundays :P My only question is why Hiddleston gets first billing. After all, he is not The Tilda.

*As an aside, I'm loving Pinterest. Takes up lots less space and effort than my old method of cataloging fashion pictures I like by cutting up magazines!

We weathered Sandy just fine.

I was a bit concerned on Sunday night that we hadn't taken the threat of downed power lines, wind damage etc. seriously enough, so in a last ditch effort we stored some water, taped up the windows, checked the attic and cooked everything in the house.

Our power didn't even flicker, though at times it sounded like we were inside a dishwasher. I'm glad they did close the government and schools though, because having fewer people on the road in that mess was probably safer.

I teleworked Monday and Tuesday, and was back to work on Wednesday.

Based on the news coverage NY and NJ will be recovering for weeks, so I think DC got off extremely easily.

Also, after hearing about the HHS Bounty, I was doubly glad the Picton Castle was still in port.