So it's finally been announced. The big Star Wars Celebration for 2019. It looks like we're finally headed to Chicago, April 11-15, 2019 at McCormick Place. Apparently McCormick is the largest convention center in the US. That sounds like a great opportunity for them to actually make use of the space and maybe make things a bit easier to get into. Maybe. We'll see.
Celebration is a mixed bag for our little group that's been going for quite a few years now. I personally still have fun, but I go in with very low expectations. What makes it fun for me is the people I get to interact with, the costumes I get to create and wear, and the moments I get to spend with old and new friends. What makes is frustrating for me is hanging my hopes on getting into a panel, but not being able to get into it because I didn't camp out all night just to get a ticket. Or when they accidentally let in a group of people that didn't have wrist bands before they let in the wrist banded people. Or when they only have ONE entrance open for security for thousands of people who need to all go through a metal detector which results in a line that wraps around the building for hours and hours just to get in.
I feel like every convention has hiccups along the way, and Celebration has been no exception over the years. I remember the "this line is capped" signs from Celebration III (my first convention experience ever). Too many people. Too small a space. What are you going to do? Plan better.
But they never quite seem to make it to the "plan better" stage.
One year, they did. They got it right - or so it felt like they did. That was when we were in Los Angeles for Celebration IV. The worst part about that was that none of the hotels were within walking distance of the convention center. You had to rely on transportation. However, the convention center felt big, roomy, and there were things to do at all hours of the day and night. It was easier to get tickets to see what you wanted (like Carrie Fisher's after-hours comedy show; buy your tickets separately on the internet before the event). The store was a simple walk-in, find what you want, and walk-out. Plus there were additional mini-store kiosks all over the exhibit hall! Talk about making it easy to shop (and easy to spend more money).
But I haven't really seen these things return to a Celebration yet. We seem to be back to the Celebration III ways of "you either stand in line for 5 hours to see George Lucas or you stand in line for 5 hours to go to exclusive store". If you don't camp out over night, you don't get in to see anything. What makes this all worse is that - honestly - you really don't even have to pay money to be there. Everything is live-streamed on the internet now, so you can "attend" Celebration without travel or ticket expenses if you so wish. I realize that's both a good and a bad thing. I personally wish there'd be at least a slight delay from the panels to the internet stream. Let us feel like we have some exclusivity since we - you know - kind of paid to be here.
None of these things though keep me from going. That's probably lack of good sense when I think about it, but I honestly think it's because there's something bigger that I get out of attending an event like this. I like to look at things. I like to watch people. I like to wear my costumes, take pictures of other people's costumes, swap stories, encourage others. I feel a sense of community at a convention like this. I don't know if that's normal or not, but it is what it is. So while some of our group are only thinking about attending a day or two at Celebration Chicago (which I respect and understand given the write-up of insanity that I posted above), I'm still planning on all 5 days. I never know what this one will be like. If that day doesn't seem like it'll work out, I'll leave early. If that day ends up being amazing, then I'll take it home with me, along with a big smile spread across my face and a skip in my step like a five-year-old kid.
Even through all of the crap that we've dealt with, I'm ready to Celebrate.
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Friday, May 4, 2018
May the Fourth be with You!
Happy Star Wars Day! That's what they're saying today, right? It's on the news - newscasters breaking out the lightsabers and having a battle. Companies are having sales. The internet is talking about a new movie, where will Celebration be, the new Star Wars half marathon races in Walt Disney World next year...everything. If you can name it and it's name is Star Wars, it's being talked about today. May the Fourth.
This is an interesting day, I have to admit. Because I remember a day when I had to hide my Star Wars novel spine inside my binder so no one could see a title. I remember that "nerd shirts" were not a thing to be worn in public. Things like that opened you up to ridicule and regret. I had one nerdy friend growing up as a child (and even that wasn't close enough to how nerdy I really felt). I met another nerdy friend toward the end of my high school years, but even then, we were both so busy hiding that aspect of who we were that we only really realized the true depth of our own nerdiness once it was time to go off to college.
Ah. College. The most formative years of my life.
The worst four years of my very existence on this planet earth. And I do not exaggerate.
The loss of friends. The loss of family. The lack of guidance within a sports-driven university. Sickness. Loneliness. Despair. Severe depression. Suicidal ideation.
And in the middle of it all: www.starwars.com/forums
The Star Wars message boards. Back in the day, see, the interwebs had these things called "message boards". Back then, we thought it was better to keep our real selves anonymous online, so we had fake screen names and avatars of anything other than ourselves. And while the names and the avatars were fake, the personalities and the people were real (for the most part - but that's another post lol). In those four years of hell, I found my solace and refuge in a little corner of the internet with people going through similar issues, trials, and thoughts. I found people who liked the same things I did and did some of the same things I liked to do. And here they all were - ripe for the friend-picking!
And picked them I did. And then I was crazy and even met some of them in person (omgoodness this was scandalacious back in the day, people. Lemme tell ya...)
And lemme also tell ya that it's one of the best things this little depressed, introverted, scared little soul ever did in her entire life. Those four years of hell made me into who I am today - a tenacious little fighter who will not go softly into that good night. I refused. And I still refuse. Because I have hope. Hope doesn't have to me this idealistic image of what things will be - and unrealistic view of the world. I hate false optimism. Hate it. Try to tell someone who is in hospice and dying of cancer to "have hope and think positive and you'll get better". The world doesn't work that way, usually, and it's cruel to offer that kind of false hope.
But I do believe that you can have hope in any sort of situation you're in. Personally - in the darkest of situations - my faith offers me hope beyond this world when there are no other options. In most of the everyday cases, my heart gives me hope that I (and others) can overcome our situations or work within them to the best of our abilities. I have hope that - while we might not be able to change things entirely - we can make them as good as we can in the given moment. To some people, that's a frustrating point of view, I'm sure. "If I can't fix it, what good is it, really?"
It's because - honestly - by doing one action filled with hope, you have no idea what you're actually affecting in the long-run. Every tiny little action you take might not have a reaction now, but no one really knows what it will do years from now. Decades. Centuries. To you, it's one moment. To someone else, it will shape their lifetime.
Do I have hope that me making a copy for someone at work will change their life? No. C'mon. Get real. But do I have hope that me making a copy for someone at work and then dropping it off with a smile and a kind word might make their day a little better? Yeah, I do. Because an action that small can have that kind of power. And when you empower others, there's no stopping them once they build up that strength. That's amazing. That's just astounding to me to think that we can affect that sort of change in someone through such a tiny little action.
But it's what life is about, I think. Having hope. Creating hope. Living hope.
So happy Star Wars day. May the Force be with you all.
This is an interesting day, I have to admit. Because I remember a day when I had to hide my Star Wars novel spine inside my binder so no one could see a title. I remember that "nerd shirts" were not a thing to be worn in public. Things like that opened you up to ridicule and regret. I had one nerdy friend growing up as a child (and even that wasn't close enough to how nerdy I really felt). I met another nerdy friend toward the end of my high school years, but even then, we were both so busy hiding that aspect of who we were that we only really realized the true depth of our own nerdiness once it was time to go off to college.
Ah. College. The most formative years of my life.
The worst four years of my very existence on this planet earth. And I do not exaggerate.
The loss of friends. The loss of family. The lack of guidance within a sports-driven university. Sickness. Loneliness. Despair. Severe depression. Suicidal ideation.
And in the middle of it all: www.starwars.com/forums
The Star Wars message boards. Back in the day, see, the interwebs had these things called "message boards". Back then, we thought it was better to keep our real selves anonymous online, so we had fake screen names and avatars of anything other than ourselves. And while the names and the avatars were fake, the personalities and the people were real (for the most part - but that's another post lol). In those four years of hell, I found my solace and refuge in a little corner of the internet with people going through similar issues, trials, and thoughts. I found people who liked the same things I did and did some of the same things I liked to do. And here they all were - ripe for the friend-picking!
And picked them I did. And then I was crazy and even met some of them in person (omgoodness this was scandalacious back in the day, people. Lemme tell ya...)
And lemme also tell ya that it's one of the best things this little depressed, introverted, scared little soul ever did in her entire life. Those four years of hell made me into who I am today - a tenacious little fighter who will not go softly into that good night. I refused. And I still refuse. Because I have hope. Hope doesn't have to me this idealistic image of what things will be - and unrealistic view of the world. I hate false optimism. Hate it. Try to tell someone who is in hospice and dying of cancer to "have hope and think positive and you'll get better". The world doesn't work that way, usually, and it's cruel to offer that kind of false hope.
But I do believe that you can have hope in any sort of situation you're in. Personally - in the darkest of situations - my faith offers me hope beyond this world when there are no other options. In most of the everyday cases, my heart gives me hope that I (and others) can overcome our situations or work within them to the best of our abilities. I have hope that - while we might not be able to change things entirely - we can make them as good as we can in the given moment. To some people, that's a frustrating point of view, I'm sure. "If I can't fix it, what good is it, really?"
It's because - honestly - by doing one action filled with hope, you have no idea what you're actually affecting in the long-run. Every tiny little action you take might not have a reaction now, but no one really knows what it will do years from now. Decades. Centuries. To you, it's one moment. To someone else, it will shape their lifetime.
Do I have hope that me making a copy for someone at work will change their life? No. C'mon. Get real. But do I have hope that me making a copy for someone at work and then dropping it off with a smile and a kind word might make their day a little better? Yeah, I do. Because an action that small can have that kind of power. And when you empower others, there's no stopping them once they build up that strength. That's amazing. That's just astounding to me to think that we can affect that sort of change in someone through such a tiny little action.
But it's what life is about, I think. Having hope. Creating hope. Living hope.
So happy Star Wars day. May the Force be with you all.
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
My Main Squeeze - The Nine Pound Lemon Tree
Well, there are definitely some Star Wars and Disney things to talk about here lately. And what have I been doing? Ignoring this space because "reasons". Yep, I do a lot of ignoring these days in favor of focusing on other things, but I also know that getting back into the things I once loved is also extremely important. Thus, here I am. In the virtual writing flesh.
Today I want to write about something silly because it makes me happy and because it's Disney related and because NINE POUND LEMONS. That's right. You hear me. Nine pound lemons.
Anyone who has gone to EPCOT with me has been inevitably dragged on the Living with the Lands ride. And - also inevitably - I will seek, point at, and then excitedly jabber about the nine pound lemon trees that live inside the greenhouse. Seriously, I love them. I don't know why. I like lemons. Lemons are great. Lemons are tasty, and they're cool looking, and they make great drinks and desserts and things. But they're all of this to the nth degree when they're nine freakin' pounds (and sometimes even larger).
During our "year of Disney" to celebrate the Nerd Husband's and my 5th wedding anniversary, we decided to take the Behind the Seeds tour at EPCOT. This was such an unexpectedly awesome tour, and I am so glad we decided to take it. It was relatively inexpensive for a Disney tour. The website currently lists adults prices at $25 and child prices at $20, and the tour time is listed around one hour (but ours lasted around 1.5 hours or so because of reasons I'll explain later). The day we decided to go, we just walked up the counter outside of the Soarin' ride, made our reservation, purchased our tickets, and waited for our tour time.
We were lucky that day. There were four of us on the entire tour - all adults and all home-gardeners. The cast member giving the tour seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself because we kept asking questions and were genuinely interested in everything going on. He kept us longer than usual and even led us a little of the beaten path so we could get a better look at things. We got to visit the fish farm and feed the fish (talk about feeling like a child, throwing a bunch of fish food in and then watching fish just go everywhere). We learned about hydroponics, picked up our own plan for a homemade hydroponic garden, and taste-tested veggies from the greenhouse. We learned about weird plants, how they grow things, and how they use the things they grow. We got to see and touch things we'd ordinarily only be able to look at.
And then - oh, then, my good people - we got to the nine pound lemon trees.
I squealed a little - maybe even outwardly. It was obvious I was excited for no really good reason other than ginormous citrus fruits. But the tour guide talked about things, and I listened and tried to remain calm. Then he reached into a basket and pulled out not one but two huge nine pound lemons. "Who wants to hold one?"
I was kind. I let the other couple who was there hold the lemons first, but buddy, when it was my turn, I was so stinking excited. Here I was! The fruit of my efforts (ha!) realized! I had a lemon! No! Two lemons! (The Nerd Husband gave me his to hold, too.) The thoughts that went through my head jumbled around and basically exploded into TWO NINE POUND LEMONS IN MY HANDS LOOK THEY ARE REAL OMGOODNESS.
There's a picture that goes along with this. If I ever find it, I'll post it. Because the look at my face is childlike joy. It's kind of embarrassing and amazing all at the same time.
So today's moral is do the thing. Find your happy. Find your nine pound lemon. Hold it and realize that it's real, tangible, and truly worthy of loving simply because it brings you joy.
Oh, and I bought a nine pound lemon dress. It's actually just a dress covered in lemons, but lemons are cooler when they're nine pound lemons. Love makes you do crazy things.
So today, I raise a glass of nine pound lemonade (I've heard it's tasty from the cast member who gave us our tour) to the nine pound lemon tree of Living with the Lands. May you continue to bloom and blossom and bring me citrusy joy for the remainder of my days.
Today I want to write about something silly because it makes me happy and because it's Disney related and because NINE POUND LEMONS. That's right. You hear me. Nine pound lemons.
Anyone who has gone to EPCOT with me has been inevitably dragged on the Living with the Lands ride. And - also inevitably - I will seek, point at, and then excitedly jabber about the nine pound lemon trees that live inside the greenhouse. Seriously, I love them. I don't know why. I like lemons. Lemons are great. Lemons are tasty, and they're cool looking, and they make great drinks and desserts and things. But they're all of this to the nth degree when they're nine freakin' pounds (and sometimes even larger).
During our "year of Disney" to celebrate the Nerd Husband's and my 5th wedding anniversary, we decided to take the Behind the Seeds tour at EPCOT. This was such an unexpectedly awesome tour, and I am so glad we decided to take it. It was relatively inexpensive for a Disney tour. The website currently lists adults prices at $25 and child prices at $20, and the tour time is listed around one hour (but ours lasted around 1.5 hours or so because of reasons I'll explain later). The day we decided to go, we just walked up the counter outside of the Soarin' ride, made our reservation, purchased our tickets, and waited for our tour time.
We were lucky that day. There were four of us on the entire tour - all adults and all home-gardeners. The cast member giving the tour seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself because we kept asking questions and were genuinely interested in everything going on. He kept us longer than usual and even led us a little of the beaten path so we could get a better look at things. We got to visit the fish farm and feed the fish (talk about feeling like a child, throwing a bunch of fish food in and then watching fish just go everywhere). We learned about hydroponics, picked up our own plan for a homemade hydroponic garden, and taste-tested veggies from the greenhouse. We learned about weird plants, how they grow things, and how they use the things they grow. We got to see and touch things we'd ordinarily only be able to look at.
And then - oh, then, my good people - we got to the nine pound lemon trees.
I squealed a little - maybe even outwardly. It was obvious I was excited for no really good reason other than ginormous citrus fruits. But the tour guide talked about things, and I listened and tried to remain calm. Then he reached into a basket and pulled out not one but two huge nine pound lemons. "Who wants to hold one?"
I was kind. I let the other couple who was there hold the lemons first, but buddy, when it was my turn, I was so stinking excited. Here I was! The fruit of my efforts (ha!) realized! I had a lemon! No! Two lemons! (The Nerd Husband gave me his to hold, too.) The thoughts that went through my head jumbled around and basically exploded into TWO NINE POUND LEMONS IN MY HANDS LOOK THEY ARE REAL OMGOODNESS.
There's a picture that goes along with this. If I ever find it, I'll post it. Because the look at my face is childlike joy. It's kind of embarrassing and amazing all at the same time.
So today's moral is do the thing. Find your happy. Find your nine pound lemon. Hold it and realize that it's real, tangible, and truly worthy of loving simply because it brings you joy.
Oh, and I bought a nine pound lemon dress. It's actually just a dress covered in lemons, but lemons are cooler when they're nine pound lemons. Love makes you do crazy things.
So today, I raise a glass of nine pound lemonade (I've heard it's tasty from the cast member who gave us our tour) to the nine pound lemon tree of Living with the Lands. May you continue to bloom and blossom and bring me citrusy joy for the remainder of my days.
Friday, July 7, 2017
Dreams and Hope and Fandom
This blog has been sitting quietly for a while now. I pull it up now and then and stare at it - wondering what will fall on the page next. But nothing seems appropriate right now. I don't feel like going back and rehashing Celebration. I haven't looked through the convention photos much at all. I haven't worked on any new sewing projects. I don't have anything super-lined up and ready to go. The basement is still a mess from April, and I work on cleaning it up piece by piece, week by week.
The truth is we've had some challenging times going on personally, and that's really put me in a down place. I struggle to maintain a positive attitude, but my personal journal is full of a lot of swearing and sadness and blah right now. I don't want to bring that over here into this space because this place is different. I want to keep this as it is - hopeful. So today, when I was feeling a bit hopeful, I decided I'd swing by and give it a shot...and maybe make it Disney or Star Wars related.
Hope is a big thing in both of these fandoms. For example, in Disney, dreams are basically just far-fetched hopes, right? When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true. A dream is a wish your heart makes. I know you; I walked with you once upon a dream. You could seriously exchange dream for hope in each of these sentences, and really your meaning won't change much.
However, if you flip on over to Star Wars, dreams take on a little darker tone in some places. They become things we hope for or don't hope for - they aren't always good things. At nine years old, Anakin has a dream that he was a Jedi. In Attack of the Clones, Anakin keeps dreaming about Padmé. In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin dreams Padmé will die in childbirth. Luke looks around Dagobah and comments that it feels familiar like something out of a dream. These dreams are still steeped in hope, even if they contain darker elements. Hope of a future. Hope of love. Hope of saving the one you love. Hope of being in the right place at the right time.
It all comes back to one thing - dreams and hope. Disney and Star Wars can be reduced down to that if you boil it long enough. And so can life, really. Those are the things that I believe sustain us through the times when we're down or when it seems like we just can't catch a break. I believe that as long as we get up in them morning and go do our day-to-day thing and then lay back down to sleep at the end of the day, then we have hope. If there was no hope of a better tomorrow, then we wouldn't see the point. Some days we don't see the points, that's true. But you know what? We keep going. And that's magnificent, isn't it? That we have that power, that drive. That we can dream of a better day even when the current moment shows us everything to the contrary?
It's astounding what we're capable of if we'd just give ourselves the chance to shine.
The truth is we've had some challenging times going on personally, and that's really put me in a down place. I struggle to maintain a positive attitude, but my personal journal is full of a lot of swearing and sadness and blah right now. I don't want to bring that over here into this space because this place is different. I want to keep this as it is - hopeful. So today, when I was feeling a bit hopeful, I decided I'd swing by and give it a shot...and maybe make it Disney or Star Wars related.
Hope is a big thing in both of these fandoms. For example, in Disney, dreams are basically just far-fetched hopes, right? When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true. A dream is a wish your heart makes. I know you; I walked with you once upon a dream. You could seriously exchange dream for hope in each of these sentences, and really your meaning won't change much.
However, if you flip on over to Star Wars, dreams take on a little darker tone in some places. They become things we hope for or don't hope for - they aren't always good things. At nine years old, Anakin has a dream that he was a Jedi. In Attack of the Clones, Anakin keeps dreaming about Padmé. In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin dreams Padmé will die in childbirth. Luke looks around Dagobah and comments that it feels familiar like something out of a dream. These dreams are still steeped in hope, even if they contain darker elements. Hope of a future. Hope of love. Hope of saving the one you love. Hope of being in the right place at the right time.
It all comes back to one thing - dreams and hope. Disney and Star Wars can be reduced down to that if you boil it long enough. And so can life, really. Those are the things that I believe sustain us through the times when we're down or when it seems like we just can't catch a break. I believe that as long as we get up in them morning and go do our day-to-day thing and then lay back down to sleep at the end of the day, then we have hope. If there was no hope of a better tomorrow, then we wouldn't see the point. Some days we don't see the points, that's true. But you know what? We keep going. And that's magnificent, isn't it? That we have that power, that drive. That we can dream of a better day even when the current moment shows us everything to the contrary?
It's astounding what we're capable of if we'd just give ourselves the chance to shine.
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Illness, Schedules, and Good Enough Lists
Man, have I been down.
Last Wednesday I was running around, checking things off my list, got home, got ready to make dinner, went to go talk to the Nerd Husband, and then stood there in the living room and said, "I feel shivery. Are you cold?"
Thus it began - the saga of the flu.
I foolishly thought perhaps I could slug through the beginnings of my feverish state by working on the costume and fighting it with some cold meds. I finished off the Jyn Erso gloves which was a huge accomplishment, but after I dragged myself upstairs (almost literally), I realized just how little energy I had. And my joints had started to ache. I took my temperature (99 at that point), took another dose of medicine and went to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night yelling at NH because I thought he was cutting me with his toes (yay, fever-brain). I took my temp again at that point, and it hit 101. The Tylenol in the cold meds wasn't cutting it, so I downed some ibuprofen and water, covered up my feverish self, and tried to sleep.
I stayed home from work on Thursday. I kept the fever. I also kept the fever for part of Friday, so I stayed home again. There was no costuming. There was no moving. There was only the couch, my pillow, my blanket, my cat, my many fluids, what food I could eat, and Netflix. Lots of Netflix. Saturday and Sunday were more of the same, sadly enough, though this time quite feverless which was a welcomed relief. Sunday night, I finally allowed myself just a little bit of work time on the costume as a way to relax. It felt so good to feel kind of human again.
Monday was a rough work day for me - all the way around. It felt like if it could go wrong, it did, and not just with work stuff. It just felt like it was a day of bombardment, and I was so tired by the end of it. But I started to perk up a bit more in the evening, and I allowed myself a bit more work time on the costume. Getting things put together on that vest just made me feel happy. I still didn't sleep well thanks to the cough I have, but such is the way of things.
This week will be a trial to get through, but I think it's possible to get through it. There's a lot to do - personally, work-wise, and vacation-prep-wise, but I'm moving along as best I can. There are some things that are just going to have to be written off, and that's okay. But my brain still has a hard time writing them off. It tends to think, "No, you can do this!" I think the best way to combat that is to make myself a list. Yay, lists!
The Jyn Erso "Good Enough" Versus "Ideal" Costume List
Originally, Wednesday night was supposed to be my Mom's birthday celebration, but Mom and Dad are both down with the crud, as well. Mom suggested we all get together when we're well, and that makes sense to me. So now Wednesday might be packing night. On Thursday, NH and I are going to swing by my sister and brother-in-law's place and drop off my nephew's birthday present.
Somewhere in the middle of everything, I'll rest. I need that, too, because I'm still not great. This cough makes my chest wheeze like Vader's breathing apparatus.
And you know, of course our flight leaves on Sunday. I'm not cutting it close. Nah. It's all good. Well, at least it's all good enough.
Last Wednesday I was running around, checking things off my list, got home, got ready to make dinner, went to go talk to the Nerd Husband, and then stood there in the living room and said, "I feel shivery. Are you cold?"
Thus it began - the saga of the flu.
I foolishly thought perhaps I could slug through the beginnings of my feverish state by working on the costume and fighting it with some cold meds. I finished off the Jyn Erso gloves which was a huge accomplishment, but after I dragged myself upstairs (almost literally), I realized just how little energy I had. And my joints had started to ache. I took my temperature (99 at that point), took another dose of medicine and went to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night yelling at NH because I thought he was cutting me with his toes (yay, fever-brain). I took my temp again at that point, and it hit 101. The Tylenol in the cold meds wasn't cutting it, so I downed some ibuprofen and water, covered up my feverish self, and tried to sleep.
I stayed home from work on Thursday. I kept the fever. I also kept the fever for part of Friday, so I stayed home again. There was no costuming. There was no moving. There was only the couch, my pillow, my blanket, my cat, my many fluids, what food I could eat, and Netflix. Lots of Netflix. Saturday and Sunday were more of the same, sadly enough, though this time quite feverless which was a welcomed relief. Sunday night, I finally allowed myself just a little bit of work time on the costume as a way to relax. It felt so good to feel kind of human again.
Monday was a rough work day for me - all the way around. It felt like if it could go wrong, it did, and not just with work stuff. It just felt like it was a day of bombardment, and I was so tired by the end of it. But I started to perk up a bit more in the evening, and I allowed myself a bit more work time on the costume. Getting things put together on that vest just made me feel happy. I still didn't sleep well thanks to the cough I have, but such is the way of things.
This week will be a trial to get through, but I think it's possible to get through it. There's a lot to do - personally, work-wise, and vacation-prep-wise, but I'm moving along as best I can. There are some things that are just going to have to be written off, and that's okay. But my brain still has a hard time writing them off. It tends to think, "No, you can do this!" I think the best way to combat that is to make myself a list. Yay, lists!
The Jyn Erso "Good Enough" Versus "Ideal" Costume List
- Boots
- Good enough: as is
- Ideal: add boot covers and buckles, add weathering
- Pants
- Good enough: Kohl's slim-cut black pants, minor work required
- Need to replace one hook/eye
- Ideal: slim down thrift store pants, add pin tucks, twill tape, buckles, etc., and add weathering
- Belt
- Good enough: reuse Lara Croft belt
- Ideal: create an accurate Jyn belt, and add weathering
- Gun
- Good enough: empty holster
- Ideal: 3D print or foam replica, and add weathering
- Shirt
- Good enough: blue-gray 3/4 sleeve shirt from Kohl's
- Ideal: create accurate shirt from scratch, and add weathering
- Scarf
- Good enough: as is
- Ideal: add weathering
- Green jacket
- Good enough: as is (minus the Rogue One patch I sewed onto the sleeve for fun)
- Ideal: paint yellow stripes down the sides of the sleeves, and add weathering
- Brown vest
- Good enough: some work required
- Sew on remaining felt pieces (2) - Tuesday night
- Sew on storm flap to left side (1) - Tuesday night
- Sew on hook to right side (1) - Tuesday night
- Attach elastic waist - Tuesday or Wednesday night
- Sew/attach buckles to tubing (4) - buckles at top and bottom - Friday night
- Sew/attach tubing to both sides (2) - Friday night
- Ideal:
- Version 1: add weathering
- Version 2: make from scratch
- Necklace
- Good enough: as is
- Ideal: honestly, even though mine isn't accurate, I like mine
- Pocket tool
- Good enough: flashlight from Meijer
- Ideal: 2 cylinders needed
- Vest ID Badge
- Good enough: no badge
- Ideal: create badge from craft foam and attach to vest
Originally, Wednesday night was supposed to be my Mom's birthday celebration, but Mom and Dad are both down with the crud, as well. Mom suggested we all get together when we're well, and that makes sense to me. So now Wednesday might be packing night. On Thursday, NH and I are going to swing by my sister and brother-in-law's place and drop off my nephew's birthday present.
Somewhere in the middle of everything, I'll rest. I need that, too, because I'm still not great. This cough makes my chest wheeze like Vader's breathing apparatus.
And you know, of course our flight leaves on Sunday. I'm not cutting it close. Nah. It's all good. Well, at least it's all good enough.
Monday, March 27, 2017
If You Bleed on It, It Must Be Worth Working On
After this weekend, my fingertips hurt. The index finger of my left hand has a bandaid on it now (which makes typing uber-weird) that covers up a neat little chunk I took out of my finger with a straight pin. My middle finger on the left hand has a little red dot from where I poked myself with a needle. The thumb and index finger of my right hand have similar little red dots, and I also have a neat little "stitch ripped" line where I tried to rip the stitches from my own flesh (oops). The basement trash can is full of little blood-stained tissues. My work space kind of looks like Seymour Krelborn's work space at Mushnik's Flower Shop (you know, before he started feeding Audrey II people).
This blog entry is taking an interesting turn... Let's move on.
Since I started sewing, I've had a saying. I don't even know where the saying started in my project-line, but over the years, I keep it in the forefront of my mind every time I work on something: if you bleed on it, it must be worth working on. For me, this basically means that if you went through this much - this much pain and this much hurt - to get here and you're still going, then it must be worth fighting for. Very rarely does bleeding actually help a project. Usually you have a brief moment of panic and insert an outcry/curse (I learned how to curse when I learned how to sew - that's another blog entry for another time). Then you assess the wound, check for bleeding and then, finally, stop the bleeding before it gets on important things like fabric. (Unless, of course, you're working on a weathered Lara Croft costume. In that case, wipe that wound on whatever item is closest to you and call it "accurate".)
This weekend, I spent most of my time working on the Jyn Erso vest. This is the brown vest that I originally purchased off of eBay that I was planing on wearing "as is" and just saying "forget accuracy". This is the vest we'll be speaking off:
So Thursday night, I happened to be starting at the vest and I thought, "Wait. No. I can make this cooler. Way cooler." (This is how all good and bad ideas start, it seems, so it's difficult to differentiate between the two upfront.)
So I sat down with my stitch ripper, turned on my Rogue One soundtrack, and went to town ripping out those stitches. It didn't stop there. It got way uglier and more involved than a few ripped stitches.
Below is a rundown of how this vest saga has turned out so far:
Thursday
Saturday
Sunday
After all of that, we're looking at a project that currently looks like this:
Now I'm actually sitting in the basement trying to figure out what my "next steps" are. I received a PM from a poster on the RPF boards today in response to my inquiry about the pockets, and they were very kind to provide me with their pattern and instructions. However, I don't have those print-outs sitting in front of me right now, and my brain is really kind of tired. I'm not sure that's something I want to try and mess with this late at night. Really, I wanted to try to type all of this out so I had it out there - so I could see some of my own progress and just how far along this thing has come.
Yeah, I've bled on it. Yeah, I've taken some chunks out of my fingers, flung a few curses, and drank my weight in Diet Mt. Dew into the wee hours of the morning. But it's been worth it.
It'll all be worth it.
This blog entry is taking an interesting turn... Let's move on.
Since I started sewing, I've had a saying. I don't even know where the saying started in my project-line, but over the years, I keep it in the forefront of my mind every time I work on something: if you bleed on it, it must be worth working on. For me, this basically means that if you went through this much - this much pain and this much hurt - to get here and you're still going, then it must be worth fighting for. Very rarely does bleeding actually help a project. Usually you have a brief moment of panic and insert an outcry/curse (I learned how to curse when I learned how to sew - that's another blog entry for another time). Then you assess the wound, check for bleeding and then, finally, stop the bleeding before it gets on important things like fabric. (Unless, of course, you're working on a weathered Lara Croft costume. In that case, wipe that wound on whatever item is closest to you and call it "accurate".)
This weekend, I spent most of my time working on the Jyn Erso vest. This is the brown vest that I originally purchased off of eBay that I was planing on wearing "as is" and just saying "forget accuracy". This is the vest we'll be speaking off:
| 
|
So Thursday night, I happened to be starting at the vest and I thought, "Wait. No. I can make this cooler. Way cooler." (This is how all good and bad ideas start, it seems, so it's difficult to differentiate between the two upfront.)
So I sat down with my stitch ripper, turned on my Rogue One soundtrack, and went to town ripping out those stitches. It didn't stop there. It got way uglier and more involved than a few ripped stitches.
Below is a rundown of how this vest saga has turned out so far:
Thursday
- I ripped out stitches that held in a front zipper. I pulled the zipper and additional zipper panels off.
- I ripped the stitches out of the collar because I knew I'd eventually have to shorten in both height and length.
- I cut off a chunk of the vest in order to shorten it, with the intent of adding an elastic waistline later.
- Since the vest was a little snug, I went ahead and ripped out the side seam stitches with the intent of stitching those back up with a smaller seam allowance.
- Since I was already staring at the inside of the vest anyway, I decided it was a little too "puffy" for Jyn. I snipped holes into the interfacing that held the fluff batting, and I pulled out about half of it in each and every section of the vest. I hand-stitched these holes back up because it made them lay a little flatter and neater.
Vest guts in the basement - Then, since everything was already torn apart and it made it easier for me to do any sort of decorative stitching, I decided to go ahead and start making the decorative lines that are on the front of Jyn's vest.
- I went to bed quite happy with where this was all going.
- We ended with something like this at midnight:
- Trip to JoAnn's to pick up some fabric for pockets, details, additional stuff, lining, etc.
- I added the decorative stitching to the other side of the vest.
- I shortened the collar in all ways it needed to be shortened and stitched it down.
Saturday
- Trip to JoAnn's (again) to pick up coordinating thread that I forgot to pick up on Friday. Also picked up some stiff felt pieces to use as "webbing" because I can't find any dark brown webbing. And this is "good enough".
- Decided the back of the vest would look "super awesome" if I actually quilted it like Jyn's in the movie. So I ripped more stitches, pulled out more stuffing, did some research on tie quilting, and then measured and marked and quilted. By hand. Ouch.
Learning new things - like floss tied quilting - Then, because the torture wasn't quite exquisite enough, I decided that I could totally change the lining of the jacket from tan to the screen-accurate red. So I got down on the floor, put a piece of tissue paper over my vest, drew out a rough pattern with seam allowances, and then cut out my two side lining pieces.
- I hand-stitched one of the side lining pieces, and I pinned the other one in place.
- I cut up some of the stiff felt to use as the two webbing pieces on the vest front and tested placement.
- I decided to hand-stitch the yellow stitch lines that go from the shoulder to the waist band of the vest. I completed one of four which allowed me to place the faux-webbing.
- I stitched down the faux-webbing.
Sunday
- Turned on my sewing machine to realize I'd blown the light bulb. Cue the third trip to JoAnn's in just as many days. Light bulb found. Got caught in store by thunderstorm. Looked around. Remembered I needed elastic. So remembered to get that.
- Decided I could do a back lining piece, too (I'm so glad I'm making this "easy" on myself). Did the same pattern mock-up with the tissue paper, cut my fabric piece, pinned it in.
- I finished hand-stitching in all three lining pieces while watching movies with the Nerd Husband.
- I finished hand-stitching in the last three yellow stitch lines from shoulder to waist band.
- To cut down on the bulk of the garment (because it was currently outer layer, batting, interfacing, original lining, red lining), I decided to cut out as many portions of the original tan lining as I could get to. Some areas were hard to reach and other areas were kept to help stabilize the whole thing.
- I tried to play with a pocket pattern and drafted out two patterns that didn't work out for me. I'm trying to figure out how to add the gusset and make it look decent. It was late when I started, though, so I gave up and went to bed.
After all of that, we're looking at a project that currently looks like this:
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Monday, March 20, 2017
A Mixture of Things and Stuff
Just a little lunchtime update - because I need to share the awesome.
The baby shower (which was the second column on my massive to do list that I've been keeping for weeks now) was yesterday, and it went off without a hitch! It was so awesome to have everyone come together for the planning, set-up, and clean-up of the whole event. Our whole bunch worked together so well, and it made things so super easy. I think everyone had a great time.
So now, that column on the to do list will get hidden, and we focus on only two columns - "Personal" and "Celebration" (as in Star Wars Celebration). It's so satisfying to see the time dwindling down toward vacation, and yet I'm also slightly panicky on occasion. However - just like the baby shower - I think this will all come together and be a pretty awesome event.
Costume-wise, I didn't do anything over the weekend because I was working on baby shower planning and whatnot. But I did have some fun little costuming things that popped up last week at various times. I did do some work Thursday and Friday nights, so we can talk a little bit about that, at least.
Thursday night I decided to take some time to work on yet another Asajj Ventress make-up test. This one went really well, and I'm thrilled with the new make-up style that I'm testing out. I managed to find some great matte eyeshadows for shading and defining, too. I'll have to write-up a more detailed post on this later when I have time, but I think it'll work out really well.
Friday was St. Patrick's Day, so I wanted to follow tradition and wear some green but with a nerdy twist. I pulled out my Her Universe Death Star Plans dress (because it has green in it), my almost-complete Jyn jacket, a Rogue One patch that I quickly stitched onto the jacket sleeve, and some shamrock socks. I put it all together for a pretty nifty outfit, if I do say so myself. Not one person noticed. I so felt like a Rebel spy. It was awesome. Also, a little part of me was sad that no one noticed, but the other part of me felt cool for being such an expert undercover operative. So points for me on the Imaginary Scoreboard of Life.
I also finished up the Kyber Crystal necklace on Friday night by adding the findings onto the leather cord and adding a dab of glue to keep it all secure. I'm kind of proud of this little project for a few reasons. First of all, it allowed me to use some items I already had sitting around the house (leather cording, wire, jewelry findings and jump rings). The only things I purchased for this particular part of the costume was some E6000 glue (which I have never used before in my life and really need more practice with) and a little quartz crystal from a fun little local shop called Accent on Nature. Secondly, I got to visit this awesome little store I otherwise might not have run into, and I actually ended up spending way more time looking around than I intended. I found the employee working that evening was so engaging and willing to help out. He wanted to see the image from the movie, and then he walked around to help me find ways to replicate the project. It was extremely helpful for a person like me who has little to no experience in jewelry-making. They also had shop kitties that roamed around and helped you out with your shopping experience. It was pretty excellent.
Friday was also a test of some fabric paint for the Jyn jacket. I tried a mixture of yellow acrylic and white Tulip "puffy paint" again to get that screen printed puff quality, but I'm either not mixing it at the correct ratio or the puffy paint properties just get lost when you mix in the acrylic. I can't really mix too much more white in, though, because then my yellow starts to turn to a pastel, and Jyn is not an Easter egg. I've been playing with mixing up some colors along with the yellow acrylic I have, too - just to see if another shade needs to be used. But I can't find anything I like. The black made it green. The tan did almost the same thing as the white and turned it pastel yellow again. And honestly, I kind of like how the yellow looks on its own. So I might just go with that. We'll see.
Finally - today - I decided to throw a bit more costume stuff together. I grabbed the Kyber crystal necklace and the almost-complete Jyn jacket on my way out the door for work. The Kyber crystal held up fantastically. No issues. However, the second run of the Jyn jacket actually caused some popped stitches in the back area. I had created a little shoulder vent by using a blind hem stitch because I thought it looked better than an actual seam would down the back shoulders of the jacket. However, two of the stitches popped when I tried to throw it over my shoulder this morning and pull it into place. It tugged at the fibers of the fabric weave, too, and it kind of messed them up. Not a big deal, really, but definitely one I'm going to have to revisit (do I care to add a seam or simply leave "as is").
Despite all of this, I think my next stop on this little project is working on the gloves. I need to shorten those, add the wrist strap, and then those should be done and ready to go. Once those are done, I'll figure out the next step and then the next, until - finally - we'll have something that's "close enough" and hopefully still looks pretty darned fun.
The baby shower (which was the second column on my massive to do list that I've been keeping for weeks now) was yesterday, and it went off without a hitch! It was so awesome to have everyone come together for the planning, set-up, and clean-up of the whole event. Our whole bunch worked together so well, and it made things so super easy. I think everyone had a great time.
So now, that column on the to do list will get hidden, and we focus on only two columns - "Personal" and "Celebration" (as in Star Wars Celebration). It's so satisfying to see the time dwindling down toward vacation, and yet I'm also slightly panicky on occasion. However - just like the baby shower - I think this will all come together and be a pretty awesome event.
Costume-wise, I didn't do anything over the weekend because I was working on baby shower planning and whatnot. But I did have some fun little costuming things that popped up last week at various times. I did do some work Thursday and Friday nights, so we can talk a little bit about that, at least.
Thursday night I decided to take some time to work on yet another Asajj Ventress make-up test. This one went really well, and I'm thrilled with the new make-up style that I'm testing out. I managed to find some great matte eyeshadows for shading and defining, too. I'll have to write-up a more detailed post on this later when I have time, but I think it'll work out really well.
Friday was St. Patrick's Day, so I wanted to follow tradition and wear some green but with a nerdy twist. I pulled out my Her Universe Death Star Plans dress (because it has green in it), my almost-complete Jyn jacket, a Rogue One patch that I quickly stitched onto the jacket sleeve, and some shamrock socks. I put it all together for a pretty nifty outfit, if I do say so myself. Not one person noticed. I so felt like a Rebel spy. It was awesome. Also, a little part of me was sad that no one noticed, but the other part of me felt cool for being such an expert undercover operative. So points for me on the Imaginary Scoreboard of Life.
I also finished up the Kyber Crystal necklace on Friday night by adding the findings onto the leather cord and adding a dab of glue to keep it all secure. I'm kind of proud of this little project for a few reasons. First of all, it allowed me to use some items I already had sitting around the house (leather cording, wire, jewelry findings and jump rings). The only things I purchased for this particular part of the costume was some E6000 glue (which I have never used before in my life and really need more practice with) and a little quartz crystal from a fun little local shop called Accent on Nature. Secondly, I got to visit this awesome little store I otherwise might not have run into, and I actually ended up spending way more time looking around than I intended. I found the employee working that evening was so engaging and willing to help out. He wanted to see the image from the movie, and then he walked around to help me find ways to replicate the project. It was extremely helpful for a person like me who has little to no experience in jewelry-making. They also had shop kitties that roamed around and helped you out with your shopping experience. It was pretty excellent.
Friday was also a test of some fabric paint for the Jyn jacket. I tried a mixture of yellow acrylic and white Tulip "puffy paint" again to get that screen printed puff quality, but I'm either not mixing it at the correct ratio or the puffy paint properties just get lost when you mix in the acrylic. I can't really mix too much more white in, though, because then my yellow starts to turn to a pastel, and Jyn is not an Easter egg. I've been playing with mixing up some colors along with the yellow acrylic I have, too - just to see if another shade needs to be used. But I can't find anything I like. The black made it green. The tan did almost the same thing as the white and turned it pastel yellow again. And honestly, I kind of like how the yellow looks on its own. So I might just go with that. We'll see.
Finally - today - I decided to throw a bit more costume stuff together. I grabbed the Kyber crystal necklace and the almost-complete Jyn jacket on my way out the door for work. The Kyber crystal held up fantastically. No issues. However, the second run of the Jyn jacket actually caused some popped stitches in the back area. I had created a little shoulder vent by using a blind hem stitch because I thought it looked better than an actual seam would down the back shoulders of the jacket. However, two of the stitches popped when I tried to throw it over my shoulder this morning and pull it into place. It tugged at the fibers of the fabric weave, too, and it kind of messed them up. Not a big deal, really, but definitely one I'm going to have to revisit (do I care to add a seam or simply leave "as is").
Despite all of this, I think my next stop on this little project is working on the gloves. I need to shorten those, add the wrist strap, and then those should be done and ready to go. Once those are done, I'll figure out the next step and then the next, until - finally - we'll have something that's "close enough" and hopefully still looks pretty darned fun.
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