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Ducking lasers.
Feb. 14th, 2025 03:00 pm I'm trying really hard not to panic, but it's been two weeks and I still haven't gotten the new laser working. We never managed to have a glowforge, though it was replaced twice, that wasn't lemon-scented, but at least setup was easy as hell.
I have a show to ship in a week, and need to not only make the new boxes but translate the designs from glowforge to light burn and do materials testing first. And while I finally got it to turn on, it then just makes the gantry jitter and nothing else.
This only increases my desire to learn woodworking hand tools, but that would both take months to be able to make boxes of decent quality and cutting the inlays is beyond my fine motor control.
Maybe I should have stayed a photographer, somehow.
Update: it's closer to working yay, the manualsucks and there was a sneaky piece of packing material, actual testing should happen tomorrow
I have a show to ship in a week, and need to not only make the new boxes but translate the designs from glowforge to light burn and do materials testing first. And while I finally got it to turn on, it then just makes the gantry jitter and nothing else.
This only increases my desire to learn woodworking hand tools, but that would both take months to be able to make boxes of decent quality and cutting the inlays is beyond my fine motor control.
Maybe I should have stayed a photographer, somehow.
Update: it's closer to working yay, the manualsucks and there was a sneaky piece of packing material, actual testing should happen tomorrow
Getting back out on the floor
Feb. 12th, 2025 03:04 pmI'm showing work again! Mostly at teeny shows:
I've applied a few other places, but not heard back, and no, I am not going to be at Norwescon in any form & WorldCon is undetermined.
- March 7-9 CoastCon (Biloxi) -- mailing in
- March 21-23: MidSouthCon (Memphis) -- mailing in (tentative)
- April 5: Pancakes & Booze @ El Corazon (Seattle)
- July 25-27: Confluence (Pittsburgh) -- mailing in
I've applied a few other places, but not heard back, and no, I am not going to be at Norwescon in any form & WorldCon is undetermined.
hippo birdie to me
Jan. 22nd, 2025 09:53 pm51!
That number still feels like an old person age, but I don't feel remotely like an old person. Middle-aged, though, yes, finally, I no longer feel secretly like a teenager in an older body.
Today was a really good day. This is especially notable because my birthdays usually are very Murphy's Law days. The haircut I got was mediocre, but will have grown out to an acceptable place within two weeks. Everything else, though?
That number still feels like an old person age, but I don't feel remotely like an old person. Middle-aged, though, yes, finally, I no longer feel secretly like a teenager in an older body.
Today was a really good day. This is especially notable because my birthdays usually are very Murphy's Law days. The haircut I got was mediocre, but will have grown out to an acceptable place within two weeks. Everything else, though?
- Excellent dinner at Miss Pho with Tamera
- Excellent score at Goodwill (2nd good furniture score this month)
- Free drink and free cookie from two rewards programs
- Replacement copy of a CD I've been wanting for ages finally arrived (Eurythmics, 1984, which I ended up ordering from Japan, which, weird.)
- Haircut was a pleasant experience, even if the final result was a bit dodgy.
- I remembered that, in the immortal words of Miley Cyrus, could buy myself flowers so there are happy gerbera in my life.
- Did the big "year to come" tarot spread and it was interesting and not scary, though of course it's utility will only be determined in hindsight.
- At "work", qualified for multiple interesting and reasonably compensated studies/surveys instead of slogging through nonsense for pennies
the absence of burn
Dec. 30th, 2024 02:47 pmAs has become usual, my efforts making stock for the upcoming Arisia are getting frequently interrupted by A) hating everything I paint, which is a me problem and can be mentally worked through and B) things that are substantially made on the laser failing during the lasering stage. Not a me problem.
So. I am not selling enough stuff made with a laser to easily justify getting a new laser cutter, especially given the difference between the amounts of money in my bank account and the amount the most obvious replacement costs. However, the glowforge is getting more and more unreliable, which limits how much I can make and increases my material costs, because the primary way it fails is alignment issues, so issue #2, not cutting through, on a better functioning machine, is fixable by just putting the board back in the same place and doing a second pass. No one sane would give me a business loan, but online quasi-bank places like paypal would. Gah.
Damnit.
At this point, I have no idea what my panel is actually going to look like.
I also planned to e doing some self-reflection on what my personal goals for the next year should be, but, well, stressing out over business is still far less stressful than plumbing my own emotional depths.
So. I am not selling enough stuff made with a laser to easily justify getting a new laser cutter, especially given the difference between the amounts of money in my bank account and the amount the most obvious replacement costs. However, the glowforge is getting more and more unreliable, which limits how much I can make and increases my material costs, because the primary way it fails is alignment issues, so issue #2, not cutting through, on a better functioning machine, is fixable by just putting the board back in the same place and doing a second pass. No one sane would give me a business loan, but online quasi-bank places like paypal would. Gah.
Damnit.
At this point, I have no idea what my panel is actually going to look like.
I also planned to e doing some self-reflection on what my personal goals for the next year should be, but, well, stressing out over business is still far less stressful than plumbing my own emotional depths.
It used to be, when I was a bit more hale but still a massive procrastinator/artistically blocked that when I need to make a bunch of stock for an upcoming show I would do massive amounts of cleaning. That stopped, not only because of many fewer shows, but lacking the physical stamina for the endeavor (which also meant that the blocking piles of stuff that need to be cleared are even bigger.)
I am still significantly lacking in stamina, but have hit a decent rhythm today of 5 minutes clearing, 15 minutes doing computer work (mostly low-brain effort things like testerup (my biggest source of clickywork/microwork? revenue this year, it is in fact stupidly easy and not actually proper user testing. Just ... getting paid to play mobile games I, at least, would have been playing anyway. Yes, that is a referral link, but I'm just sharing the love in general, not campaigning.)
I hadn't really grasped the psychic weight my piles of stuff was inflicting -- it certainly isn't gone, but looking around now I can literally feel like I can take bigger breaths and my shoulders have lowered a touch.
(Still haven't found my most critical painting supplies, though. Might be a different balance of boxes etc to paintings than I was aiming for at this rate, because they aren't trivially replaceable locally or quickly or inexpensively.
We've decided to start on the 12 days of yule kind of ... half-way. Because we aren't ready for Christmas even though it is the 24th, and while my paganism is distinctly half-assed, half assed is better than no assed. Or something.
I am still significantly lacking in stamina, but have hit a decent rhythm today of 5 minutes clearing, 15 minutes doing computer work (mostly low-brain effort things like testerup (my biggest source of clickywork/microwork? revenue this year, it is in fact stupidly easy and not actually proper user testing. Just ... getting paid to play mobile games I, at least, would have been playing anyway. Yes, that is a referral link, but I'm just sharing the love in general, not campaigning.)
I hadn't really grasped the psychic weight my piles of stuff was inflicting -- it certainly isn't gone, but looking around now I can literally feel like I can take bigger breaths and my shoulders have lowered a touch.
(Still haven't found my most critical painting supplies, though. Might be a different balance of boxes etc to paintings than I was aiming for at this rate, because they aren't trivially replaceable locally or quickly or inexpensively.
We've decided to start on the 12 days of yule kind of ... half-way. Because we aren't ready for Christmas even though it is the 24th, and while my paganism is distinctly half-assed, half assed is better than no assed. Or something.
X things make a post?
Dec. 17th, 2024 01:28 pm- R has moved to New Mexico, the move is 80% done, I think, and it is odd to get used to. Worse in some ways, easier in others.
- My current psych med person at kaiser mentioned that the dosage of one of my meds that I have been on for AT LEAST 15 YEARS tends to cause cloudy brain. It would have been really nice had someone thought to mention that before, it's not like I've been struggling with it for at least a decade or anything. So meds are being rearranged and I can already feel a bit of difference.
I would really like to hunt down some of my previous prescribers and slap them with a stinky fish.
I do have hope that this will lead to more success in clawing out of the hermit-slump - I bought a small sundew, to live in the kitchen window and hopefully help with the occasional drain fly problem. I did not adequately research the needs of sundews in advance, so now I have a spiffy little self-watering pot with built in grow light for it, which will hopefully keep it alive. It might also be just straight up too cold, though.
- I am going to be taking conversational japanese at online community ed with D next term, mostly to be with D. It has a high chance of being a train wreck, but I figure it's worth a shot anyway. He and O are both really into vocaloid music right now.
- I am signed up for the Arisia art show, which means I need to make all the things. Whether or not enough sketches make it out of my notes to require the itty-bitty miter box is I think currently at 1 in 10 odds, but those are the things I am most excited about.
Blessed yule to you all.
Dec. 21st, 2023 08:31 pmMy wheel of the year practice has been not remembering the sabbats are happening until dinnertime of that day. That's pretty on-brand for how my year went, though.
But tomorrow I will get up and watch the sunrise and give thanks for the return of the light and hope that will carry me into a better new year.
But tomorrow I will get up and watch the sunrise and give thanks for the return of the light and hope that will carry me into a better new year.
Exhibiting two dimensional thinking
Sep. 26th, 2023 10:06 pmI've been going hardcore on adulting the past few days, getting R's move back to Shoreline complete and cooking more etc and then I attempted to learn a simple CAD program so when I want to design a new complex box I'm not dependent on S who is working a fuckton of hours or torturing the output of automated box generators in Illustrator to try and make it work
I've been using graphics programs for decades. I used to write software manuals.
Even with a well written companion book I can't wrap my brain around fusion360. I could actually feel a headache start and get progressively worse with every chapter or tutorial I attempted.
Gah.
I've been using graphics programs for decades. I used to write software manuals.
Even with a well written companion book I can't wrap my brain around fusion360. I could actually feel a headache start and get progressively worse with every chapter or tutorial I attempted.
Gah.
So, having someone from a legitimate licensing company asking to license a random work from a website is one of those things that I thought never happened anymore, and certainly didn't expect to happen to me, but, well, holy crap.
And it's a piece that only appeared on my blog once on a page I don't think even works anymore. And I was gutted because my only file of it was in the catastrophic data loss that wiped out pretty much the vast majority of my photography career, and it was a weird photogram experiment that I expected to had faded into nothingness even if had kept said random pile of monoprints.
I found the prints, They are still intact, from being stacked in a dark place in twenty-fucking-ten.
Given that I've sold pretty much nothing, especially not via licensing, in several years, it feels a nudge from the universe that I shouldn't just give up on art and become a office assistant.
And it's a piece that only appeared on my blog once on a page I don't think even works anymore. And I was gutted because my only file of it was in the catastrophic data loss that wiped out pretty much the vast majority of my photography career, and it was a weird photogram experiment that I expected to had faded into nothingness even if had kept said random pile of monoprints.
I found the prints, They are still intact, from being stacked in a dark place in twenty-fucking-ten.
Given that I've sold pretty much nothing, especially not via licensing, in several years, it feels a nudge from the universe that I shouldn't just give up on art and become a office assistant.
Ink thoughts
Apr. 16th, 2023 11:05 am My brain has suddenly decided that most of my drawing issues would be solved with a fountain pen. I do not know this to be true, but am starting to think it is worth a try - I dislike markers for how they *feel* as they draw, both in how it feels to my hand and the drag of the ink across the paper, and the regularity of the line. In the drawing class where we used ink, I loved working with a really thin brush or reed and pot of ink (which is too messy for working portably.)
Brush pens seem like the easy solution but in practice I start getting painterly with them immediately, and I want a comfortable way to work with line.
So. Have any of you used a fountain pen? How do they compare, action wise, to something like a good ball point?
Brush pens seem like the easy solution but in practice I start getting painterly with them immediately, and I want a comfortable way to work with line.
So. Have any of you used a fountain pen? How do they compare, action wise, to something like a good ball point?
Happy new year
Jan. 1st, 2023 12:13 am I decided to symbolically deal with the train wreck of 2022 with a small banishing ritual. I'm still not in the right mindset to find a UU fellowship so instead I'm going to make a concerted effort to get my Witch on to support my goals of increased clarity and momentum. Blessed be, everybody.
How did Brussels Sprouts become the latest "it" vegetable? I mean, they are tasty if cooked properly, but it's hard to find them cooked properly and there are so many other more accessible veggies. Did the Brussels Sprouts Growers Association have a rich person die and decide to devote their inheritance to promotion?
current state of things
Nov. 17th, 2022 06:57 pmFamily life continues to be a cluster fuck of kid health/school issues and being in the middle of S/R breakup issues, that I do not care to detail. Continuing to be glad that the emotion chip in my robot body continues to be only semi-connected. Whee.
I'm doing Pancakes and Booze this Saturday, and Cascade K8 Winterfest on the 3rd, which is at least forcing me to paint. It's been so long that I have forgotten what order to layer the persnickity metallic inks in, but I will make it work, because I always do.
There is TV I keep intending to watch, including finishing Owl House with D, and Sandman, and Ms. Marvel, but all I've managed is weekly Bake-Off simulwatching with Tamera. This is both an attention span and a flashy bright lights hurt my eyes issue.
I've been in a very Harry Potter mood, fanfic-wise, but no way in hell am I watching any of those movies and supporting Rowling financially.
The number of new HP fics that have found a way to include trans characters, even if just in passing, as a "fuck you" to Rowling, is quite pleasant. It's getting to be a bit like the feel of people working in the Cthulu mythos, which is to say, everyone acknowledges that the original material & author is a hot yucky mess, but what new eyes can make riffing off it is fabulous.
I'm doing Pancakes and Booze this Saturday, and Cascade K8 Winterfest on the 3rd, which is at least forcing me to paint. It's been so long that I have forgotten what order to layer the persnickity metallic inks in, but I will make it work, because I always do.
There is TV I keep intending to watch, including finishing Owl House with D, and Sandman, and Ms. Marvel, but all I've managed is weekly Bake-Off simulwatching with Tamera. This is both an attention span and a flashy bright lights hurt my eyes issue.
I've been in a very Harry Potter mood, fanfic-wise, but no way in hell am I watching any of those movies and supporting Rowling financially.
The number of new HP fics that have found a way to include trans characters, even if just in passing, as a "fuck you" to Rowling, is quite pleasant. It's getting to be a bit like the feel of people working in the Cthulu mythos, which is to say, everyone acknowledges that the original material & author is a hot yucky mess, but what new eyes can make riffing off it is fabulous.
paintings and shyness
Jun. 4th, 2022 04:19 pmI am supposed to be at a birthday party right now, but like a small child, I got to the reality of putting on shoes and just couldn't. I did fine vending Tammy's table at a cat show for a couple hours last month, but actual personal interaction is just a step too far, I guess. I've been listening to a ton of Big Beat and dancing awkwardly in my room with the door shut.
Reaction to the new, larger paintings has not been great so far, but there have only been three shows. I just realized I didn't post them here yet! They are both forward and reverse painted on plexi, sometimes two pieces of plexi, in wooden frames.
( images behind cut )
Reaction to the new, larger paintings has not been great so far, but there have only been three shows. I just realized I didn't post them here yet! They are both forward and reverse painted on plexi, sometimes two pieces of plexi, in wooden frames.
( images behind cut )
they are all still 8, i don't understand.
Jan. 14th, 2022 01:32 pmThe last of my nieces and nephews is getting married, which feels like some kind of milestone. Given that I'm in my 40s and 10 years younger than my youngest sister it shouldn't actually be surprising, but the symbolism is there.
It will be the first of the weddings I'm missing, but given how the omicron surge is going, I don't want to commit to traveling in April. I'm feeling like I dodged a bullet with the trip to North Carolina, and we're considering pulling D out of in-person school; he's too scared to go right now anyway, so isn't like he's learning much and our district has shown no signs of putting a digital option back up. His particular school is, for reasons unknown, the worst. (3% of the student body has tested positive for COVID since September, almost half of which are since January, and that's without the mass first day back testing that caught the asymptomatic that Seattle Schools did.)
It will be the first of the weddings I'm missing, but given how the omicron surge is going, I don't want to commit to traveling in April. I'm feeling like I dodged a bullet with the trip to North Carolina, and we're considering pulling D out of in-person school; he's too scared to go right now anyway, so isn't like he's learning much and our district has shown no signs of putting a digital option back up. His particular school is, for reasons unknown, the worst. (3% of the student body has tested positive for COVID since September, almost half of which are since January, and that's without the mass first day back testing that caught the asymptomatic that Seattle Schools did.)
